"What an idiot!"

I raised my soul gem and was about to fling it to the ground when Hitomi grabbed me by the wrist. I turned and snarled at her, too angry to think clearly.

"Don't!" Hitomi pried my soul gem from my fingers and backed away. "Sayaka sacrificed herself for us. We can't waste that sacrifice!"

I stepped toward Hitomi and tried to grab her by the collar, but she sidestepped out of my way and I nearly tripped on my own foot. I growled and spun around to glare at her. "We WON! No one needed to sacrifice anything!"

Hitomi shook her head, looking away from me with a frown. "Something happened to Sayaka… she was too far gone to save. So she protected us from herself."

"Why?! Why did she have to give up like that?!"

Hitomi sniffled. "Would you have rather fought her like we fought Madoka?…"

I was about to continue, but then I realized something. In just under a week Hitomi had lost her two closest friends. And here I was, yelling at her like she didn't understand how upset I was…

Snarling, I transformed back to normal and turned away from Hitomi. "Sorry…"

I looked down at my hands and realized they were shaking. Why did Sayaka have to remind me what it was like to have hope? I was better off the way I was…

A hand touched my shoulder, almost gently enough for me to mistake it for the wind. Another hand took my own shivering hand and placed my soul gem in it. Then I felt Hitomi wrap her arms around me and start crying.

"Dammit. Don't cry…" I sniffled, choking back tears of my own.

I don't know how long we just stood there, trying not to break down into tears. Eventually we moved Sayaka's body so that it would look like she was killed in the "storm." At this point, there wasn't much else we could do for her or her family…

I walked Hitomi back to the shelter her family was staying at. With the witches gone, it was only a matter of days before the emergency situation was lifted and everyone would go home like nothing had happened.

Before she went in, Hitomi hugged me. I realized I had let tears streak down my cheeks and tried to wipe them off while Hitomi clung to me.

"What will we do now?…"

I sighed. "What we usually do, I guess. Kill witches, collect grief seeds, try not to die…"

The world seemed to be getting a bit brighter and I looked to the side to see the sun rising over the horizon.

"She didn't even get to see the dawn one last time…" I muttered, choking on my own words. I returned Hitomi's hug, suddenly feeling incredibly lonely.

"We'll keep fighting. It's what Sayaka would have wanted." Hitomi sniffled into my chest, shaking slightly.

I nodded, feeling the warmth of the rising sun that Sayaka would never feel again. I wouldn't let her down.