[ If this was Rei, she might have started crying as Terry talked about his struggles and his hopes. All of this is touching and hearing it from him means a lot, but Niko can't find it in herself to cry again. She used up her tears earlier when the physical pain got so difficult for her. Instead, she just feels a lingering and seemingly hollow pain inside her that makes it hard to believe that all this hope for happiness won't be ripped away from them. ]

... but are we still a family? Even after everything that happened? Between all of us?

[ She immediately fell into her ego death after the incident with Terry and Kido's Shadow. She doesn't know that they've made up. She's also referring to how she just tried to kill Kido and Terry in a selfish attempt to drag them to the afterlife with her. ]

Hope isn't a guarantee. Hope is just a wish that may or may not come true and when it doesn't, you're only left with bitterness and despair.

[ She grips the edge of the bed a bit tighter. ]

I had a lot of hopes when I was still alive, before Rei came into existence. I hoped that my mother would come back, that she'd regret leaving me behind, and that I'd be able to have a family. I also hoped that I would be able to find my Prince Charming, to fall in love, and get married. I even had small hopes, such as being able to well enough leave my room and go to the school nearby to visit, even if it was only for a short while. But none of that happened. Niko died with none of her hopes coming true.

[ She then looks up at Terry. ]

I don't want to have that happen again. Not to me and not to anyone else.