for your sake

Timeline 1

"My name's Kaname Madoka! You can call me Madoka! Is it okay if I call you Homura-chan?"

Madoka...my first friend. She was the first person who called me "Homura-chan."

"Who are you...?"

"They're Puella Magi. They hunt creatures called witches!"

"Looks like our secret is out, Mami-san... Don't tell the rest of the class, okay?"

During that first timeline, she was already a Puella Magi.

"Are you really...safe? Aren't you scared?"

"Well, it's never safe, and of course I'm scared. But if we kill the witches, it helps a lot of people, so it's a good sacrifice!"

I was amazed by her bravery. She was willing to trade her own safety for the well-being of everyone else. She was benevolent...

...and she had hope.

"...Okay, I'm going."

"Wha-but, Tomoe-san is dead..."

"That's why I have to go. The only person who can defeat Walpurgis Night now...is me."

"We can't win... Let's run away! Nobody would be angry at you, Kaname-san..."

"... Homura-chan, I'm so glad we became friends. I'm still proud of that time when I saved you. I think I'm really happy that I became a Puella Magi!"

"No, don't go!"

"Goodbye, Homura-chan."

Even her farewell overflowed with hope.

"Instead of me, I wish you were the one who had lived..."

"Do you really mean that? Akemi Homura, is that a wish you would trade your soul for? If you have a wish that you're willing to fight for, I'll give you the needed power."

"... If I make a contract with you, can you grant any wish?"

"If it meets the requirements, then yes. Now, tell me: with what wish would your Soul Gem shine?"

"... I want to redo my meeting with Kaname-san. Instead of being protected by her, I want to protect her!"

This time, it would be my turn to bring hope to her.

Looking back, I realized I didn't want to just protect Madoka. I wanted to be with her, to fight as fellow Puella Magi, to hunt and defeat witches together, to protect our city of Mitakihara.

I wanted to be her friend. Her best friend.

Maybe that should have been my wish.

Timeline 2

Madoka and Mami trained me as a Puella Magi. They helped me learn how to use my time-control powers, and they encouraged me to use physical weapons. During school, I considered using a variety of weapons and eventually chose explosives. They're small and portable, they can be thrown to hit a distant target, and they inflict a large amount of damage. The only drawback was that they weren't available in stores, so I needed to make my own.

Soon after I learned how to make the explosives, the three of us found a witch to fight against. I was on standby for a few minutes as Madoka and Mami fought it; before the battle began, they said to wait for them to give a signal to me.

"Akemi-san, do it now!"

I removed an explosive from my shield before pausing the time, then I ran forward to throw my bomb at the witch. When I resumed the time, both the witch and I recoiled from the explosion, but I was unharmed and it was destroyed. It was the first witch that I defeated; I dealt the killing blow, so I received the Grief Seed.

"That was amazing, Homura-chan!"

The three of us celebrated our victory together and used the Grief Seed to recharge our darkened Soul Gems. We fought together, so I wanted to share the prize with them. Still, it was the last Grief Seed we obtained before fighting Walpurgis Night.

"Ugh...why..."

"What's wrong? Kaname-san, hang in there!"

"But we defeated...Walpurgis... GAH...AAAAAAAAHHH!"

Timeline 3

We had been lied to. Kyubey tricked us into becoming Puella Magi. We didn't know that we could turn into witches. Madoka must have experienced so much pain when she became a witch...

I won't let it happen to her again. I won't let her suffer through that transformation anymore. I'll let her know before it happens. I'll tell everyone so they won't transform into witches.

I didn't consider the possibility of them not listening to my warning.

"Okay, listen up. What would Kyubey gain from telling a lie like that?"

"Well..."

"Are you trying to pit us against each other? Is that weird girl Kyouko your cohort?"

"N-No way!"

"Sayaka-chan, now you're being the bully."

"... Well, whatever! I'm against teaming up with this girl! She's always setting off random explosions here and there... I'm always worried I'm gonna be caught up in one!"

If that's how you die, Miki-san, then you'll be lucky.

Despite my warning, Sayaka still turned into a witch, but she was somewhat weak, so we easily defeated her. Apparently, knowing the truth doesn't prevent us from falling into despair. It actually seems to speed up the process.

"Tomoe-san..."

In that timeline, Mami killed Kyouko, and she tried to kill Madoka and me.

"If our Soul Gems turn us into witches...then we all have to die! Both of us!"

I was tied up by Mami's ribbons, so I couldn't stop time to save the two of us. I was thankful to Madoka for shooting at Mami and saving me.

"... No...no more!"

"... It's okay. Let's defeat Walpurgis Night together, okay?"

Previously, we needed everyone's help to defeat it, but this time, Madoka and I did it by ourselves. But defeating the witch didn't give us a Grief Seed, so our darkened Soul Gems were about to turn into Grief Seeds. I had already given up any hope of remaining a Puella Magi.

"So...I guess we're going to turn into monsters now. Do you want to turn this world upside-down with me? We can make it so that sad and painful things never even existed, and destroy it all... Wouldn't that be gre-"

But, as usual, Madoka still had faith...

"I lied. I did have one..."

...and a Grief Seed.

"Why...? But I...!"

"Homura-chan, you can go back into the past, right? You could make it so that this kind of ending wouldn't happen, right? So...please...could you save me...before Kyubey...tricks me again?"

"... I promise. I'll turn back time as many times as I need to save you!"

Timeline 4

I won't depend on anyone anymore.

I promised Madoka. I promised to save her before Kyubey tricked her again. I would protect her from Kyubey, from the witches, from everyone. I would become strong enough to defeat everything in my path, including Walpurgis Night...

...and the other Puella Magi.

Mami was trying to find the "Madoka" whom Kyubey had spoken of. She wanted Madoka to form a contract, to become a Puella Magi.

I wouldn't let that happen. Not again.

"Who are you? What are you doing he-"

For someone who nearly killed me in a previous timeline, Mami was surprisingly easy to kill. She must have let her guard down.

Sayaka never listens to me. She always makes the same mistake. Every time, to heal Kyousuke's hand, she tries to contract with Kyubey. Every time, Madoka becomes sad when she finds out about the contract, when she learns that her friend had sacrificed her soul for practically nothing.

I won't tolerate it. I won't let her bring sadness to Madoka..

"I want to heal Kyousuke Kamijou's hand. I want him to be able to play the vio-"

If that's how it's going to be, then I'll just have to keep stopping her from doing so.

Sometimes, Kyouko grew fond of Sayaka. When I killed her, Kyouko became angry and tried to kill me.

As if it wasn't obvious, she never succeeded.

"You bitch! Don't you even fucking thinkyou can get away with-"

After all, I have time on my side.

Timeline X

It's not a difficult thing. Killing someone, I mean. Murder is easy to commit. It's even easier when you can prevent the bodies from being found.

I do have a motive for committing so many murders. It's all for that one person, for my first and only friend, for Kaname Madoka. Even if I have to sacrifice myself or everyone around us, I'll save Madoka from falling into despair. I'll do whatever it takes to prevent her from losing hope. If I can protect that kind person, then I'll do whatever it takes.

I'll repeat it. I'll continue to repeat it over and over. Visiting the same time again and again, searching for the single exit out. Searching for the path to save you from a fate of despair.

If it's for your sake, Madoka, I'll do anything and everything. Something as simple as murder-it's no problem. If it will save you, then I'll do it as many times as I need to. I'll kill one, ten, twenty, one hundred, one thousand times. I'll kill everyone, so there will be no one left who can hurt you.

It's too bad, but it really wasn't that easy.

Author's Notes: This is heavily based off episode/chapter ten of the anime/manga. Everything in italics is from the official series. It's basically an expansion of that part of the series, since I wanted to write more about Homura's previous timelines and her thoughts as she progressed through them.

The story was written for the yandere challenge in the Madoka Magica forum. I chose to write about Homura going yandere over Madoka, since it seemed too obvious to me, and it didn't look like anyone else was writing about them. I didn't finish in time to be considered for the contest-the deadline was August 30th, and I finished it yesterday evening, on the 3rd of September-but I doubt I would have won, anyways. Everyone else's entries are better than mine, so if you're reading this and you're not from the forum or haven't read the other yandere stories already, then you should check them out. They're a lot cooler and more original than mine is. XD;

Sorry about all of the breakers, by the way. I originally wanted to have "-"s between each paragraph and a breaker to separate each timeline, but doesn't like that kind of formatting, so breakers it is. e-e