Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion. It belongs to Studio Gainax and its creator, Hideaki Anno.

Fate Is (Not) Unchangeable Chapter One: A Dream That Is (Not) Impossible

On a hill overlooking Tokyo-3 stood two people: one, a young man who had thrown away his past, and the other: a young woman who had thrown away the shell surrounding her heart and followed the young man. They stared at the fully repaired city that once housed the most powerful weapons known to man and Angel alike: the Evangelion. To the people who saw them standing on that hill, they looked like angels. Not the "bringer of destruction" Angels which these people had survived attacks from, but like angels from the bible. Finally, the silence was broken between the two.

"It's been two years since Third Impact. Yet, NERV still functions, but now, as a medical research facility. I'm surprised that NERV's current commander has been able to hold out." said the young woman, smiling at the thought of NERV's current commander dealing with piles of paperwork. "It's about time, right? We've waited a year and a half for this moment, Rai."

Rai gave her a rare smirk, and finally said, "Yes, I know. Let's go, Kyouko. It's about time we go see her." He took Kyouko's hand and walked away from the hill, and, upon reaching the road into the city, they disappeared into the streets of Tokyo-3.

In the absence of Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki, Misato Katsuragi had been unanimously appointed commander of NERV, and NERV had received a name change, and was now known as the United Nations Research, Development, and Defense Facility.

Misato hadn't changed much since Third Impact, although she still mourned over the loss of her two charges from time to time. She had hoped that she would see Shinji and Asuka again, but her hope was for naught when the JSSDF had found Shinji's tattered school uniform and Asuka's damaged plugsuit on a hill without their respective owners. She still lived in the same old apartment, but she had kept it rather clean, although her definition of clean is anything but clean.

As per her norm of thinking for awhile to get her mind of Shinji and Asuka, she was absorbed in her thoughts when there was a sudden knock on her door. Misato, knowing only Ritsuko, Kaji, or Rei would visit her, pulled the gun hidden under her couch out. She slowly walked over to the door, and quickly asked, "Who is it?" but there was no answer, and so, she opened the door, only to fall onto her gluteus maximus in shock. There stood a young man who looked quite similar to the late Gendo Ikari without the beard, and a young woman who looked somewhat similar to Asuka's departed mother, Kyouko Zeppelin Sohryu.

"Misato, it's been awhile, hasn't it? Are you surprised by our return? Well, you shouldn't be. I hope you've been keeping our rooms clean." said the young man who looked eerily similar to Gendo.

Misato stared wide-eyed at the young man who looked like Gendo, and realized, after hearing his voice and carefully ingesting what he had said, was actually Shinji. She then put two and two together and realized that the young woman next to Shinji was the fiery Asuka, who didn't seem as fiery as she had been before. Crying, Misato leapt up and hugged the pair gently.

"Where have you been?" Misato asked while the tears continued to stream down her face.

"Well..we've been...away." Shinji said quietly. "Kyouko...I mean Asuka, and I have been getting our lives together. We've been fixing the bonds we have with our families and things like that."

"What else could we have been doing? I mean, Rai here...I mean, Shinji has come to terms with what his old man did. He's accepted the fact that his father was willing to forsake the entire human race to be with his mother." Asuka said. "I, on the other hand, finally got to speak with my father and stepmother, and we spent time as a family. They immediately thought Shinji was with me so we could get their 'blessing', though."

Shinji then quickly added, "We picked up aliases so the UN wouldn't bother us and whatnot."

Misato, who had finally calmed down, had burst into laughter with Asuka's last statement. She then noticed that Shinji and Asuka, who had taken up the aliases Rai and Kyouko, had been holding hands the entire time.

Misato decided to tease him, saying, "Well, well, looks like little Shin-chan's grown a pair."

"I've always had that thing called guts, but it was hidden behind the me you all saw. You know, the one without a spine? Well, I've been doing more than just holding her hand, Misato. If you look at her hand carefully, you would notice that she has a ring on her finger." Shinji stated with a little hint of arrogance.

Misato stared at the ring on Asuka's finger, and then looked at Shinji with pride. "My little boy is all grown up now! So, when can I expect grandkids?" She had expected blushing and stuttering. Of course, it didn't go as planned.

Shinji and Asuka, to Misato's surprise, didn't blush. Instead, Asuka moved her hand down to her belly and said "A lot of things have happened, Misato. One of the biggest changes was about two months ago. Shinji and I had a little unprotected fun, and now I'm two months pregnant. So, you're going to be a grandmother! You're only, what, 31? Sucks to be you, doesn't it?"

Shinji continued where he had left off earlier and said, "So, you don't mind if we move in again, right? I mean, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. First, we'll have to bring our stuff in, if you don't mind."

Misato, who was just barely able to keep her composure after everything she had just heard, gave them a warm smile similar to the smile a mother give her children. "Of course you can move in again! It's been really lonely in here."

Letting the pair inside the apartment, Shinji and Asuka noted that it looked exactly the way they left it before everything went to hell: like home.

-One Week Later-

It had been barely a week since Asuka and Shinji had moved back in, but news of their return spread like wildfire around Tokyo-3. The first group to visit the Katsuragi residence was Kensuke, Toji, and Ikari. They were ecstatic to see their old friends again, and they talked for hours on end about what they had been doing for the past two years while Asuka and Shinji had been away. Toji and Hikari had apparently started dating several weeks before Shinji and Asuka had arrived, and Kensuke was courting Rei. Shinji looked rather surprised at Kensuke's admittance, but simply said he approved with a little threat of dismembering him on the side if he broke Rei's heart. Other groups visited, including the odd trio of Ritsuko, Kaji, and the once-angel-now-human, Tabris, otherwise known as Kaworu Nagisa.

With Asuka pregnant, and Shinji not making nearly enough to support her all on his own, Misato, as the acting commander of NERV, placed both Asuka and Shinji back onto the payroll. Asuka was given the spot of vice-commander, since Ritsuko decided to back out and lead the dismantling of the Evangelion. Shinji, on the other hand, was handed the seat of commander by Misato, who returned to being head of Tactical Operations.

For Asuka, Shinji and Misato, all was right with the world, and nothing could change that.

Author's Notes: It's my first time writing a fanfic, so please don't be TOO harsh on me if I mess up here and thee. I've kind of just taken different styles of formatting and such from the multitudes of fanfics I've read and mashed them into one. Anyways, thanks for reading, and reviews are welcome with open arms~ Now, time for an omake~

Omake:

The Wrong Things in the World

For Asuka, Shinji and Misato, all was right with the world, and nothing could change that...aside from Shinji having bought out the entire property they lived on and having it renovated so that Rei, Kensuke, Toji, Hikari, Ritsuko, Maya and Kaji could live with them as well. Asuka wasn't really happy about that, and Shinji then realized that he would be sleeping on the couch and doing all the chores for quite some time.