Angelic Haven *COMPLETED*

"Shinji...darling, wake up."



Shinji groaned a little, slowly opening his eyes. He found himself staring up at the ceiling. He sat up with a yawn, looking at the face he\'d missed for so long. Her short, brown hair and vibrant brown eyes filled him with a glad warmth.



"Darling, if you don\'t hurry, you\'ll be late for school." she smiled.



"Mom..." he whimpered.



Yui simply smiled at him. A knowing smile. She hugged her son, whispering,



"You did very, very well."



She smiled, heading back into the kitchen where the smell of breakfast was the strongest. Shinji looked around the room, seeing his desk, books, posters, video games and everything he\'d had in his own room. He dressed in his school uniform and looked in the mirror. His hair remained somewhat long, but barely going past his shoulders. He smiled and grabbed his schoolbag. As he walked into the kitchen, he saw his father pour himself a cup of coffee.



"Ah, good morning, Shinji."



For a moment, Shinji felt a cold hatred running through his veins. Yet, there was his father, acting like a father. No white lab coats, no machines, no nothing. His mother was even dressed in a skirt and blue sweater-vest, wearing an apron. Shinji sat down with a smile.



"Good morning, father."



Gendo simply smiled at him and went back to reading his paper.



"Now, now, where on earth is Rei? She\'ll miss school." Yui said, placing her son\'s breakfast in front of him.



As if on cue, Rei walked into the kitchen, all smiles. Shinji smiled happily.



"Good morning, Aya...I mean, Rei."



"Good morning, Oniichan."



Shinji smiled. Her voice was still that same, soft whisper. They sat down and ate as a family until they heard a knocking on the door. Yui answered it, revealing Toji, Kaworu, and Aida. They all bowed to the beautiful mother of Shinji Ikari.



"Good morning, Yui-San." they said in unison.



"Good morning, boys. We were just sitting down to have breakfast, would you like to join us?"



Kaworu was the first to speak.



"That\'s very kind of you, Mrs. Ikari, but we\'ll have to decline for today."



"What?! Why?!" Toji yelled.



Kaworu ignored the comment and smiled.



"Is Rei ready to leave?"



Yui smiled at the silver-haired boy with a smile.



"Rei-Chan, Shin-Chan, your friends are here."



Shinji blushed at the petname, but was more than happy to see his friends. Especially Toji. He fought back the urge to start crying. God, how he missed all of his friends...



"Yo, Ikari, let\'s go! We\'re gonna be late and Misato-Sensei is gonna slap us with clean-up duty AGAIN." Toji barked.



Shinji wasted no time in getting ready to go. Rei waited for him by the door and the boys ogled Rei for a moment. She was just too damn cute in that little blue and white plaid skirt. Rei\'s rather busty chest was just beginning to stretch out the front of her white, sailor blouse with the blue flap which let them know her mother had to let out her top once more. Aida was especially fond of the school-girl sailor uniform, especially in the spring when it was getting warm. While most of the girls wore the traditional one-piece school blue uniform with the long skirt, a few select girls didn\'t, opting for this variation of the uniform. Shinji put on his shoes at the door and in unison with Rei, both announced,



"We\'re leaving!"



"Have a good day, kids." Gendo replied.



"Here are your lunches." Yui smiled, handing the children separate bento lunches.



The kids began heading off. While Shinji hung back with Toji and Aida, he noticed Rei and Kaworu walking very close together in front of them.



"Ah, that lucky bastard...!" Toji growled.



"Give it up, Toji. Besides, what would Hikari say?" Shinji smiled.



Toji couldn\'t help but blush, but grinned.



"Don\'t worry, I love my Hikari. Ain\'t no girl a match for her."



Aida and Shinji looked at their friend. Aida whispered to Shinji,



"That\'s probably why he hardly has to stay for clean-up duty."



"I HEARD THAT!"



Shinji laughed. Really laughed. He looked at Rei and Kaworu in front of them. Rei was smiling with a blush, even laughing a little, at Kaworu. Shinji was very overjoyed to see Kaworu. He was happy to see all of his friends and he felt this reality was iron-clad. Not just what he wished and not just a convenient fabrication of what he wanted reality to be. This was reality.



"Allo! Gut morgen!"



Shinji turned, seeing Asuka walk up to him with a smile with Hikari by her side.



"Morning, Shinji. Where were you?"



"Sorry I took so long, Asuka."



She shrugged and grabbed his hand with a blush.



"Don\'t worry about it. Just make sure it doesn\'t happen again."



Shinji returned the hold on her hand, smiling softly at her. It was a smile of pure and complete joy. As they approached the school, they saw Ryouji Kaji speed by in his silver convertible, swerving before landing perfectly in his assigned parking spot with Misato Katsuragi at his side.



"AHHH! KAJI!" Asuka squealed.



"He\'s a total dream, alright!" Hikari swoon.



"HEY! HEY! HEY! What about us?!" Toji yelled.



Asuka and Hikari headed onwards, Asuka stopping for a minute.



"Rei, come on!" she smiled.



Rei blushed and broke into a smile.



"Coming!"



The boys stood dumbfounded as the girls ran over to Kaji who was handsomely dressed in a pair of white pants, a white blazer and black undershirt. His hair was pulled backwards and a cigarette was lit and in his mouth. He extinguished it before the girls got to him.



"Well, well! How are my three favorite students?"



Rei blushed while Hikari and Asuka just squealed excitedly.



"We\'re just fine, Kaji-Sensei. So, is it true?" Asuka asked mischievously.



"Is what true?" he chuckled, playing dumb.



"You know! We all heard you were gonna marry Misato-Sensei!"



"Now, now, class rep! Surely you don\'t believe those rumors."



Rei looked at Misato who was putting on her make-up in the mirror. She pointed out the large ring on Misato\'s left hand.



"But she\'s wearing a ring."



Kaji turned around and Misato grinned a little.



"Sorry! I couldn\'t resist wearing it."



"Misato, Misato..." Kaji sighed a little.



Everyone headed inside, Shinji realizing that everyone\'s dreams had come true. He walked past the nurse\'s office, only to be stopped by Ritsuko. He smiled at her.



"Something wrong, Dr. Akagi?"



"Make sure you remind Kaji that today everyone has to do their sports physicals, alright?" she smiled.



"Alright. Will do."



As Shinji continued to walk through the once-destroyed school, he was very much so at ease. Asuka was walking towards him, with Rei at her side. The three walked together for a while in silence before all stopping in front of an enormous window that revealed to them the large blue ocean. Kneeling in the water, encased in stone were three, angels with large wings.



"What do you think became of the Evas?" Asuka asked, resting her chin on her hands.



Shinji shrugged a little bit.



"Eva is forever. I heard some kids saying they wanted to skip stones by the ocean later where the \'Three Stone Guardians\' were. I think as long as there is a need for them, Eva will continue to exist."



"But what purpose could they possibly serve now?"



"Maybe they are just...\'sleeping\' for now. But, if we, or humanity ever needs them years and years from now, we can only hope they use it for good to build a future for humanity worth creating." Rei replied.



"Not bad, Wondergirl." Asuka smiled.



Rei could only smile at the nickname. Somethings never changed.



"As long as we can maintain this peace we have worked so hard to create, Eva will never have to be used again." Asuka sighed a little with a smile.



"That\'s good. So, are you girls finally happy?" Shinji asked, looking at the blue skies.



Rei and Asuka nodded, looking out of that same window.



"We are."



The three pilots continued looking out of the window at the beautiful, clear horizon, a symbol of the clear, hopefully future in store for them.



The End