Hibiki stared in shock at what he had done, space around them lit up from the after affects of the intense explosions that caused invisible ripples to rock the Nirvana. Tears fell silently down his face, not wanting to end. After everything cleared, there was nothing left of the enemy. Nothing. He slowly turned his head to the radar that was located behind him, indeed the radar could not detect anything around them.
She was gone.
He killed her.
And there was nothing more he could do.
Hibiki hovered down to his knees, keeping his tear filled eyes on the scene. Not wanting to believe that he had finished what he was destined to do, to finish off a life that wasn't his to be taking.
"Dita... I'm sorry." Hibiki said feeling as though he was about to burst. He wanted to end it all, without someone who he had spent years with, without someone he had children with, wasn't there by his side any longer. And was never going to be. He could still smell Dita's scent, he could still feel her long burgundy hair. He could still see her bright blue eyes. But what he felt could no longer happen, what he felt was no longer a reality but rather a fantasy. A stupid fantasy, that no matter how much he wished for would never ever come true. He was now alone. Even if the whole Nirvana was like a family to him, it still wasn't enough to replace his true love. It wouldn't be enough to replace his future. And to make matters worse...
He was the one who killed her.
He was the one who took her life away.
He shut his eyes, he was afraid to open them. Hoping that all of this was a dream. But to his dismay, nothing was a dream. Hibiki soon found himself kneeling down in front of the navigation deck, the entire crew looking down on him in confusion. They had clearly no idea of what happened to Dita, for the conversation that went between him and the fleet were private. All they knew was that Hibiki had destroyed them, but with the absence of Dita. That did manage to raise a few eyebrows. Finally, Ezra stepped from the crowd, her eyes looking down in distraught.
"Where's Dita?" she asked kneeling down to him. Hibiki couldn't let them see his face, he didn't want them to see the state he was in, he couldn't let them see the endless stream of tears flow over his cheeks. But he couldn't suppress the pressure of someone's death weigh heavily on his shoulders. He was also unaware that...
... he was sobbing.
"Hibiki! What's wrong?" asked Ezra. "What happened?"
He looked up to her, his vision blurred.
"I... killed... her."
"Who?" she said now shaking him.
"Dita" he said, trembling. "I had to, it was the only way I could save the rest of us."
Everyone gasped.
"Why Ezra?"
Ezra stared at Hibiki, her eyes half open. She tried to figure out the question.
"Why what?" she asked.
The room was quiet.
"Why am I given all of these decisions that I must make, and regardless of what my answer is, someone is always being taken away from. Stripped from me, why are people given the decision to sacrifice a life that I love to say thousands that I care for as well." he said sobbing under his words.
Ezra couldn't give him an answer, even though there was one to offer.
That life was both the easiest thing to lose, and yet the hardest thing to maintain. The only solace she could find was to comfort.
That in the end, they had lost a valuable team member, a mother...
... and a friend.
Disregard what the title chapter says, this is not the ending.