That... that she didn't know. She didn't know Rei wouldn't leave them completely. She kept thinking about how they would get their old Rei back and then...

But oh god... to ask that of Rei.

"We can't ask her to choose," she whispered as she felt her heart sink. "We can't be mad at her choice either, the others were her family in our stead, they loved her when we weren't able to..." but a life without Rei...

She already felt her eyes burn and she closed them. She swallowed and looked over to her.

"But I don't even know if that is possible, Minako. I don't know if, when this is all over, we'll even get a chance to meet them again."