My avis here are always Shinji; I've had him blissful, agonised, mistrustful, and just getting on with life:
In the manga, Sadamoto makes hands a significant metaphor for how relationships work. At times the hands may seem incidental, but there are two key moments where they become the entire focus.
In stage 54 (almost dead-centre in the story), Shinji and Rei are in the garden, and Rei recalls the times that Shinji has touched her - then asks if they can hold hands again, which they do:
After Rei II is destroyed, Shinji remembers this (stage 66), and wonders how Rei felt at that moment.
Then during instrumentality (stage 94), Shinji recalls, with examples, how hands have hurt or consoled him, and how his hands have hurt others. As a result, he decides to return; and this time
he asks Rei to hold hands one last time - this seals the bargain, and is the instant at which instrumentality is broken:
So there we have my new avi!
Stage 54:
Stage 66:
Stage 94: