>>4099929>>4100010 is right about how the line came into being, but I don't think it was only meant as a reactionary thing. I mean, after all, the line would need to make sense even without the knowledge of that conversation, so I think they were trying to convey something more than just that.I think the point was for it to be something of a declaration that Asuka's climbed out of not only instrumentality, but also the cycle of despondency she fell down in during the show.
I say this because there was that cut alternate version that had Asuka kick down the gravestone that Shinji set up for her, or the cut line that goes something like "no way I'd die to a worm like you". So I think she was meant to be to back to a state of equilibrium-ish, like how Shinji was. Not normal, mind you, but at a point where she could choose to push forward, the same way Shinji could.
Alternatively, you could see it as a literal thing, since she had a sort of aversion to intimacy, and did technically walk out of the world's biggest spiritual orgy.
