Somewhere in the Bavarian Forest
8:53 PM
New Year’s Eve

„Auntie Asu has to tell us another story,“ Julia said. She stood in the doorway to the kitchen, rolling her eyes as Asuka looked at her. „‚Otherwise we won’t fall asleep!’“ she continued, mockingly placing her hands on her hips.

„‚Auntie,‘ heh heh!“ Robert chuckled. He was carrying dirty plates into the kitchen, where Shinji and Touji were cleaning up the aftermath of the battle known as ‘raclette dinner’.

Asuka made a face and punched Robert’s shoulder as he passed by. „Ow! Watch it, I’m carrying fragile stuff!“

„You better watch it, or I’ll break something fragile in you!“

Shinji appeared beside Asuka and took the dishes from Robert. „We’ve got this,“ he said, kissing Asuka on the cheek.

„Thanks, my dearest Baka!“

Robert gagged. „Oh God… Too much mushiness…“

„Oh, shut up, Bert!“ Asuka said. Julia slipped past her and kissed Robert on the mouth. „Quiet and wash dishes, sweetheart.“ To Asuka she said: „Hikari’s still upstairs, go ahead.“

Asuka nodded gratefully and stuck her tongue out at Robert one more time before leaving the kitchen.

On the first step upstairs she paused briefly and looked at her phone. She scrolled through her messages, watching the video from Kaji again, him with Misato in his arms, wishing them a Happy New Year. Fireworks illuminated the black sky behind them. In Japan, it was already 2020. She hadn’t shown it to Shinji yet. He still hadn’t forgiven Misato. She sighed, put her phone away, and continued upstairs.

Jonas’s bright laughter and Anna’s little giggles drifted toward her. Asuka smiled. In the past few weeks that she and Shinji had been staying with the Brunners, a bond had quickly formed between her, Shinji, and the children. Sometimes she thought she caught a jealous glance from Julia when Anna fell asleep in Asuka’s arms again, or when Jonas would only accept bedtime stories from Asuka. Shinji also thought they should move back to their own place soon. But where was that? Here in Bavaria? In Japan? They could choose, would have to choose soon, even. But they’d been putting off that decision.

Besides, Asuka liked the commotion here, the chaos, and the constant background noise. It drowned out her thoughts, images, and memories of her birthday. Strangely, she felt safer here than alone with Shinji. Also, Shinji still had nightmares almost every night, waking up drenched in sweat and gasping, clinging to her. She couldn’t imagine those would disappear in a new, empty environment. Asuka, on the other hand, had no dreams at all anymore. Nothing. Only black emptiness when she closed her eyes.

A soft glow illuminated the upper floor. It came from the lights recessed into the floor. The hallway was square with doors in all directions. But only the door to her right stood slightly ajar, and she could hear Hikari’s voice and quiet giggles again.

„Hey,“ Asuka said as she entered the children’s room. A nightlight made dozens of colorful stars dance across the ceiling and walls, which were covered with dozens of children’s drawings. Flowers, houses, stick figures, and abstract circles and shapes. Asuka recognised herself only by the long mane of fiery red hair that grew from a head that was far too large. Even the windows were decorated with handmade paper snowflakes and Christmas trees.

„Hey.“ Hikari nodded to her. She was sitting with Anna on the lower bunk.

„Asu!“ Jonas called from the bed above. He shot up and bounced around on his knees.

„Careful, little guy!“ Asuka said. She had to dodge various small cars, building blocks, and stuffed animals scattered across the floor to reach the bed. „Or you’ll fall off.“ Jonas jumped from the ladder into her arms, even though Asuka was still two steps away. „Oof! Did you get heavier in the last two hours or what?“

„I ate so many chips!“ Jonas said, grinning.

„You should’ve eaten something proper instead,“ Asuka said, tickling him until he squirmed with laughter in her arms. „Scoot over, you two.“ Asuka let the giggling Jonas tumble onto the bed next to Hikari and sat down herself.

„Asu!“ Anna said, crawling over to Asuka.

„So I’m supposed to tell you another story, hm?“

„Yes! Yes!“ the two children chimed.

„Well then, snuggle up.“

„We don’t understand Hikari and her phone talks funny,“ Jonas said. He snuggled up next to Asuka at the headboard and Anna crawled to the other side, so Asuka sat in the middle. Hikari took a spot at the foot of the bed. „I tried using my phone’s translator,“ she said. She held up her phone. Asuka could see a translation app on it. „But it can’t handle fast and sometimes screaming children’s voices.“ She winked. „And my German is terrible to nonexistent.“ The phone began speaking shortly after, translating Hikari’s Japanese into German.

„That sounds pretty good though, don’t you think?“ Asuka asked. The phone now translated from German to Japanese and Hikari held it to her ear.

„No!“ Anna and Jonas answered, laughing.

Asuka winked at Hikari. „I think it does. Okay, let’s tuck you in, then it’ll be cozier.“ Anna snuggled up to Asuka from the left and Jonas from the right.

„Asu? Why is your hair so short?“ Jonas asked, running his hand over Asuka’s head.

„Pretty hair,“ Anna said.

Out of the corner of her eye, Asuka saw Hikari flinch. A small stab hit her too. She ran her hand over her head and could at least feel hair now. Stubble. Not like right after her… rescue? She’d woken up in the hospital room completely hairless. She stole a glance at her wrist. Nothing. Flawless skin. Like new.

„You know,“ she said, grabbing Jonas’s hand on her head. He squealed in surprise. „Your papa and Shinji and I had that bad car accident a few weeks ago.“

„The car was all broken!“ Anna said loudly, pounding her little fist on the blanket.

„Exactly. And unfortunately my hair disappeared too.“

„Will it grow as long as before?“ Jonas asked.

„Even longer! Like—“ Asuka thought for a moment. „Like Rapunzel!“

„Really?“ Anna said.

„But Rapunzel’s hair is yellow,“ Jonas pointed out.

„No, it’s gold,“ Anna insisted.

„Yellow! Gold doesn’t work!“

Anna stuck her tongue out at her brother.

„Do you want to hear a story,“ Asuka said, „or should Hikari and I leave so you can argue?“

„No! Story!“ Anna said, snuggling back against Asuka.

„We won’t argue anymore!“ Jonas said.

No more dreams, no more hair, Asuka thought, smiling. But something else instead. She looked down at the two small creatures. This is what she and Shinji could have now, too. Asuka had needed to hear it again separately from Ritsuko, since she hadn’t believed Misato. She’d even gone to a gynecologist, but he’d confirmed it too: Asuka could have children again. And Shinji was fertile again too. It seemed like the universe was saying: ‚Sorry for all those years of pain, fear, and shit. Here’s a gift, make something of it!‘

And they would. Once most of their wounds had healed. Once they had their own roof over their heads, they could finally start living. Completely normal, without Evangelions or Mors Caeli or tests… Asuka pushed the thought away. How could they even get in an EVA now? The consequences of both their healings hung between them and LICHT like a dropped prog-knife. Nobody wanted to catch it. But it would fall. Eventually.

„When are you finally going to start?“ Jonas asked, interrupting Asuka’s thoughts.

„Sto—“ Anna yawned. „—ry.“

„Yes, yes!“ Asuka said.

Hikari stood up. „Then I’ll leave you alone and see if I can help clean up downstairs.“

„Where’s Hikari going?“ Jonas asked.

„She’s helping clean up your pigsty downstairs,“ Asuka said.

„No, she should stay!“

„Yes, stay!“ Anna said, reaching her hand toward Hikari.

Hikari looked at Asuka questioningly, her phone translating. Then she said: „Only if you don’t mind.“

„I don’t,“ Asuka said to Hikari. In German she asked the siblings: „Should Hikari stay?“

„Yes!“ they called in unison. „But only if she doesn’t say anything and her phone doesn’t either,“ Jonas added.

„But then Hikari won’t understand anything.“

After the translation pause, Hikari raised a finger and fished wireless earbuds from her pocket.

„Handy,“ Asuka said. „Alright then…“ Asuka cleared her throat and began:

„Once upon a time there was a strong, proud, and beautiful warrior with long, fiery red hair.“

„Like you!“ Jonas said.

„Exactly. From childhood on, the warrior had to learn how to fight against big evil monsters, because she was a child of prophecy.“

„What’s a pro-fussy?“ Jonas asked.

„A prophecy. It’s like an old story that can come true. Can I continue now or are you going to chatter after every sentence?“ Asuka poked Jonas in the side. „Ow! Okay, I won’t say anything more.“

„Good. So, where was I? Ah yes, the prophecy. The warrior wasn’t alone. An initially shy and… somewhat strange knight with dark hair and blue eyes, and another warrior with blue hair and red eyes stood by her side. They had also been chosen to fight the monsters.

„The monsters were so big that the three heroes had to wear enormous armor just to reach them. This armor was very uncomfortable and hurt the three again and again…“ Asuka’s voice grew quieter and she rubbed her wrist. „Sometimes… Sometimes it hurt so much that the warrior with the fiery red hair couldn’t or didn’t want to move anymore. But they still had to fulfill their duty and fight the monsters, because otherwise they would have destroyed the world.

„But the knight helped her. His voice was enchanted, you see. And when he sang and made music, this music healed most of the warrior’s wounds and it didn’t hurt quite as much anymore.

„Together, after many battles, the three were able to defeat the monsters. When the monsters disappeared, the warrior with blue hair and red eyes disappeared too. No one knew where she had gone.

„The warrior with the fiery red hair and the knight no longer needed their big armor and could finally lead a normal life. And they did. They traveled the world, danced from sunrise to sunset, laughed until their bellies hurt, and the knight with blue eyes sang the most beautiful songs for the warrior. And finally… Finally they fell in love with each other.“ Asuka smiled and kissed Anna and then Jonas on the head.

„Yuck!“ Jonas said. Anna giggled sleepily.

„But one day…“ Asuka said. Her smile slowly faded, erased by the next words. „One day something terrible happened. The warrior and the knight didn’t know that once, during a battle against the monsters in their armor, they had destroyed a village… And in the village had lived the family of the wicked witch, and the family was killed in the battle.

„The witch swore revenge and lured the knight and warrior into a trap years later. Without their armor, they weren’t as strong. No matter how much they fought back, in the end the witch won and locked them both, bound, in a stinking, cold, moldy dungeon…“ Asuka closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She counted to three in her head before slowly letting the air escape. „It was dark there and damp. No light reached the cellar. The evil witch wanted to know why they destroyed her village, but the warrior and knight didn’t know… They thought they were freeing the village from monsters, but that was a lie…“ Asuka grimaced. „The witch told them the truth: There were no monsters in the village at all. Their armor had played a cruel trick on them.

„When the warrior and knight learned this, they wanted to apologize… They said how sorry they were and that they didn’t know, but the witch wouldn’t listen. She was too bitter and too angry at them both. And so she stabbed the warrior with a dagger of ice in the chest, right here…“ Asuka took Jonas’s hand and tapped it against her chest. Where there was nothing. No scar, no pain. Only skin.

„And then?“ Jonas asked with wide eyes. Anna was already asleep, snoring softly.

Asuka squeezed Jonas’s hand. „Then the warrior suddenly woke up in her old room. She was lying in her bed. As if she’d awakened from a dream. And you know who else was there? The missing warrior with the red eyes! She had transformed herself into an angel — an angel made of blue light — and could now perform magic. She healed the warrior and sent her back to the knight, and gave him magic powers, too. Together they were able to defeat the evil witch and escape from the dungeon.

„And they grew old together and wrinkly, with long gray hair.“

Jonas breathed deeply and evenly, his eyes closed. Asuka stroked his brown curls. „Their many children had children of their own…“

The last second of the old year passes. It’s cold, but Shinji’s hand in hers is warm.

„…and they would always come visit and wanted to hear stories. Stories of the warrior with fiery red hair and the knight with blue eyes and the magical voice.“

Asuka sees Touji lighting rockets with Robert. She sees Julia and Hikari, both with glasses of champagne in their hands, smiling as they look up at the sky. Colorful stars of red and green bloom up there in the black void.

„Sometimes… Sometimes the days were still gray despite everything, and the warrior was sad. Then she always had to think about all the evil monsters and about the witch, who actually wasn’t evil herself, but just lonely and sad too…“

She sees Shinji looking at her. She sees him, sees so much more: Their shared life, red and blue, spreading out before them like fireworks. The sparks branch out and grow back together. Get smaller and fade away.

„‚Sing for me,‘ the warrior would always say to the knight. And he would sing for her and drive away the darkness inside her and make the small light in her heart shine again.“

„Happy New Year,“ he says and kisses her.

„Happy New Year, my Baka.“

„The End.“