This is a rather interesting continuation fic for NGE, and with a bit of work could have been a lot better.

Like most continuation fics, this story picks things up following the death of Kaoru/Tabris the Seventeenth Angel. The first couple of parts has Shinji, as the title implies, basically trying to figure out just why he pilots EVA in the first place, despite all the pain and suffering it seems to cause for him and those around him. Once he does, however, the story takes an unusual twist when Yui Ikari, Shinji's mother and Gendo's wife, is freed from Unit-01 and joins the rest of the crew. With Yui now free, a wrench is thrown into the plans of SEELE, as Gendo cancels his own agendas and therefore prompts SEELE to up the ante a bit. But with Yui on their side, things just may be a bit more into the favor of NERV.

This isn't a bad fic, and is in fact one of my favorites. However, it has its share of problems. Characterization, for one, is a bit off for most of the characters. Yui, for example, seems to be a bit too forgiving of both Gendo and Ritsuko. One might think that she'd be a bit on the pissed-off side with her husband, given all that he's done since her disappearance (abandon and neglect their son, have affairs with other women, and other questionable things that are too numerous to list). Same with Ritsuko, given her affair with Gendo. While Yui's getting Ritsuko freed to help them out is a good idea, one would think she'd let the blonde-haired scientist know that she'd better watch herself. The only person who does give anyone a bit of grief is Shinji in his anger towards his father, though that seems to make Shinji a bit OOC.

Also, people tend to repeat themselves a bit too much in this story. The two most common things that are repeated on a regular basis is Yui's explanation of her release and Shinji's of his reason to pilot EVA. Sure, it would seem necessary to do this for those who weren't there to hear it the first time, but there's no real need to repeat the scene almost word-for-word, albeit with different characters. The first couple of times is okay, but after awhile, it tends to get kind of annoying. A quick scene cut may have worked better.

All in all, though, this is a quite enjoyable fic. A lot of the main cast is there, and many of them, despite a few goof-ups, are still their regular selves that everyone has come to love/hate. There's plenty of the usual introspection that made NGE famous, as well as quite a few fight scenes (some of them, though, seem to wrap up pretty quickly and conveniently, but are pretty interesting and keep things moving). This fic is definitely worth checking out, especially since the author has apparently done an alternate version, entitled "Shinji's Decision" that tells the same story but with a different twist. So give it a look. If you don't mind the goof-ups, you may enjoy it as much as I did.

Until Instrumentality is needed again...