Full Summary: Tomoe Mami has been falling for Madoka for who knows how long, but everyone has her pegged as a mother figure. Desperate to prove that she's eligible to her younger classmates, Mami sets her sights on the lonely and solemn Akemi Homura, the isolated magical girl who could use a (girl)friend.

Little does she realize that this plays right into Homura's plans to have Madoka for herself, but Homura is happy to play the part of the lovesick girl she once was.

A fluffy romance played straight (for now).

Author's Notes: I'm not actually familiar with most of the Puella Magi canon - just the show and Rebellion. If I've violated canon somewhere along the line, feel free to tell me, but I'm not going to be trying very hard to stick to other sources. Please let me know what you think of this idea down in the comments!, I'd love to continue, but I must admit I'm ambivalent about whether to write straight fluff with Homura's sinister designs only hinted at, or to play up Homura's obsession into a central plot.

The day started out much like any other – Mami Tomoe woke up soon after dawn, put on a pot of tea, and checked her soul gem for the presence of magic through heavy eyes. No glow in the gem, no miasma outside her apartment's window – it looked like a quiet morning in Mitakihara City.

The walk to school was peaceful and cold. She lived far enough away that she could just take the tram, but recently this quiet hour was one of few she spent alone. Even when she started encountering other students, they were all paired off with their friends, expecting to be out of earshot. It wasn't until she reached the courtyard of the high school that she could hear her own friend's voices, slowing down until they noticed her.

"Mami! Hey, Mami!"

Mami finally paused, plastered on a small smile, and turned to face them. Sayaka walked ahead of the others, waving with her bag over one shoulder. Kyoko and Madoka followed close behind, chatting as they approached – though Madoka turned and smiled brightly before they formed into a small circle.

"Sayaka. Girls. Good morning."

Mami tilted her head towards the school, and the four of them started walking in a line. She said, "I trust you were all right getting home last night? No trouble with the wraiths?"

"As if," Kyoko scoffed, and their morning greeting was complete.

"Oh, hey Homura!" Madoka said, drawing everyone's attention to the girl walking briskly past them without seeming to notice they were even there.

She paused, looking over her shoulder for a second before she and they all paused. "Hello," she said, eyes scanning over all of them quickly. She paused at the end of the line, however, staring at Mami silently. By the time Mami blinked, however, she had turned to continue her fast pace towards the campus, and Mami convinced herself that she hadn't been staring at all.

Homura had always been a strange girl, withdrawn and sullen – an outsider to the school, like Mami herself. She'd never made the effort to befriend any of the other magical girls of Mitakihara City, but she never stepped on their toes, either, so Mami was convinced they had a long-standing truce of coexistence.

Mami secretly suspected that Homura resented how many magical girls she'd helped Kyubey make contracts with, dividing the spoils of wraith-hunting further and further. For Mami, it was an easy exchange – she was more restricted as a magical girl, but less as a person, as she was free to have friends and even take a day off if need be. But if Homura had any friends or anything to take a day off for, Mami had never seen it.

As long as Homura didn't decide to break their unspoken truce, however, Mami decided not to make Homura's business her business. Their lives were all easier for how little they interacted – a small respect among girls who rarely have the option of mutual respect.

Having lunch on the roof every day was a habit they all picked up in middle school, back when it had still been important for them to discuss magical girl matters in secret. Dozens of stories in the air, the wind never stopped blowing, and they were afforded a rare look at the sprawling, rapidly-growing city. Mitakihara probably never would have had the opportunity to grow like this if the murder rate had stayed as high as it had been when Mami and Kyoko first contracted.

Waiting for them on the roof was a small, bright-eyed girl on a middle school uniform – Nagisa, the newest addition to the team. There had been little reason for Nagisa to make a contract with Kyubey, and she hadn't had much potential, but on her fourteenth birthday, she had a party at Mami's place where she made a wish for a beautiful party and giant cake. Mami scolded her, but she knew her chances of surviving probably went up if she could defend herself, considering how often she tagged along during wraith hunting.

"Jeeze, Mami," Kyoko remarked, jabbing chopsticks in her direction, "How do you manage to make your lunches so . . . pretty? Practicing being the perfect mom?"

Her lunch was divided neatly into fourths, including the macarons she'd been practicing making lately. The truth was, she had just been a picky eater as a child, and keeping her food neatly separated had just continued as a habit once she started making her own food. If it was pretty, it was only because she couldn't stand for it to be anything else.

Mami laughed graciously though and said, "Oh, I don't think I'd make a very good mom, ability to separate my food notwithstanding. I hear musket blasts can be harmful for children's ears."

Madoka quirked her head to the side, not pausing as she ate her sandwich.

Meanwhile, Sayaka quirked her eyebrows and said, "Good one, Mami, you're totally not a mom."

Mami glared, but Nagisa shrugged and continued, "You're not nurturing or caring at all," her tone flat even if she was clearly joking.

"Just an absolute bastard," Kyoko nodded, opening one of her endlessly variable snacks.

Before Mami got a chance to protest, though, Madoka followed up with, "You're kind of already the Mom of us magical girls, huh?"

"Hey now, hey, I didn't sign up to have a mom," Kyoko said with her mouth full, "I'm just sayin', you've got the look. The attitude. The goods."

Mami replied, nonplussed, "The 'goods?'"

Kyoko immediately reached up to clutch her own chest, but Sayaka swatted her hands down without hesitation. She said, "Dude, don't sexually harass my mom."

Mami rolled her eyes at the both of them, but whatever they were trying to get across, it just left her self-conscious. When they had all been younger and the other girls needed a mentor, it had been natural for someone who contracted so young to teach them. But now, as peers, she didn't want them to see her that way, even if she was a year older.

She couldn't exactly put her finger on why, even as Madoka's reassuring smile made her heart flutter.

By the time her last class of the day was coming to an end, Mami still hadn't put together what made her uncomfortable about the 'Mom' title. After all, she had worked hard to make them feel like a family – relying on one another, seeing each other for holidays, working out their issues and apologizing when apologies were due. She even liked taking care of them – making food for Nagisa and Kyoko, talking to Sayaka about her friendships and relationship with Kyoko, helping Madoka pick out clothes and pin her hair up all pretty. It all came from a place of love, didn't it? Why was it so important that they see her as one of them?

Mami's phone buzzed, and she was surprised to see Homura's name in the preview.

Homura: do you have time to meet me at a café this evening?

Mami glanced up at her teacher, but she sat in the back, and it was probably safe to respond.

Mami: Why?

Homura: I'd like the chance to spend some time with you, if you don't mind

That hardly sounded like Homura, but if she had information to share, it wouldn't be much like her to say so over a text anyhow – she always seemed fond of appearing suddenly and beginning to speak as if you should already know to listen. She must have a motive to ask for a meeting, even if she insisted on being cryptic. The only thing that left her suspicious was that Homura was planning on keeping whatever it was from the other magical girls.

Mami: I'm free after school, but I live far from the school. Can we meet further from downtown?

Homura: actually, the café I have in mind is between here and your apartment. Why don't we walk together?

Mami hesitated, but she couldn't think of what danger walking with Homura would pose that meeting her alone wouldn't already – in fact, this way the other magical girls could probably intervene if things went south. Once she was in the hall after class, she responded.

Mami: Meet me in the courtyard in 5.

"So, what are your plans for when you graduate?" Homura finally asked, stirring sugar into her coffee. "Are you staying in Mitakihara City?"

She hadn't made eye contact or said anything about why she'd invited Mami here the entire time it had taken them to walk here, much to Mami's irritation. Even as she waited for a response, she lifted her stir stick to her lips without so much as glancing up to indicate this was supposed to be a conversation.

"I have no idea," Mami said with a shrug. "I never expected to live long enough to graduate from high school, never bothered to make plans for it. What about you?"

Homura chuckled quietly, propping her head up on her hand as she took a sip of coffee. "I'm afraid I'm no different. I don't think I ever learned how to think more than a month ahead since I became a magical girl. I guess I have you to thank for giving me the chance to do otherwise, even if I haven't taken you up on it."

Mami's eyes wandered, a subtle blush rising in her cheeks. Homura was different than normal: relaxed, kind, self-deprecating without undercutting her own humanity. It threw her off guard even to see Homura laugh, never mind acknowledge the work Mami had accomplished these past six years.

She coughed to clear her throat and said, "Well, I didn't do it alone. I never would have made it without the other girls – especially Madoka, she keeps everyone's spirits up."

Homura was still smiling as she set her coffee down, but the smile on her face was fake now. Mami got the impression she'd said something wrong.

The thought faded along with Homura's smile as she said, "Well, Mami Tomoe, I'll at least commend you for being able to put together such cooperative friends." She paused for a second, a glint of sadness in her eyes, and continued, "Unfortunately, I've never known how to do the same . . . I thought the fate of a magical girl was to fight silently for your wish, cutting all ties to anyone who might feel sad when you one day, inevitably, disappeared."

Any thought that Homura was tricking her died along with the conversation. Mami only nodded solemnly in response, stirring her tea while they both avoided eye contact. Homura had been alone all these years while Mami's circle of companions had grown bigger and happier. She had probably thought, like Mami had back after Kyoko left Mitakihara City, that isolation was the only way to protect yourself and anyone you had ever cared about. She had never considered that that extended so far as to keep Homura away from other magical girls, but, then again, she had never bothered to ask.

This was an extended hand, wasn't it? Homura couldn't just ask after all this time alone for it to stop, but she needed it to.

Mami had finished her tea before she was comfortable responding. She said, "I . . . still feel that way sometimes. Like my happiness will be turned against them, someday."

Homura finally looked up from her coffee, meeting Mami's gaze with quiet eyes. There really was a girl somewhere in there, wasn't there? The look was long and more intense than Mami anticipated, and she felt her pulse quicken as Homura refused to look away. On one hand, it was a little unnerving, but on the other, she felt so seen, it was hard not to felt magnetized to that stare.

Homura said, "I think you're the only magical girl who understands how I feel, Mami."

Mami's chest began to feel tight from her heart rate spiking, and the blush was back worse than before. "Homura," she said softly, placing her hand in the middle of the table, "Would you like to come spend lunch with us t-"

They both jumped as Mami's ring glowed bright suddenly.

"I guess this will have to wait," Homura said, rising from seat without hesitation.

Mami was after her a second later, and the two of them opened the door of the café to find the streets filling with miasma, a smoggy mist that rolled through the city like a sudden power outage. High above them, wraiths began to form on buildings where they could overlook the same city that cursed them into existence.

The two of them were transformed within seconds, dashing away from the most obvious windows they might be seen.

"Hold onto me," Mami said, reaching out her hand. To her surprise, Homura complied without hesitation, and Mami paused to wrap her arm around Homura's waist. She reached her free hand to the sky, catching a ribbon that formed in the air as they were lifted high, high above the city streets.

There were many wraiths – more than expected, at least – and it was sunset as they destroyed the last of them. The range of their weapons plus the mobility their magic allowed made wraith-hunting even easier, and even when they got crowded in together, they moved as if they had been fighting together for months rather than minutes. When it was finally over, Mami's ribbons stretched about in every direction, mostly in bridges connecting the rooftops together, but some hanging a hundred feet below where Mami had flung the winged meguca into the air to clear the area.

The bridges made it easier to retrace their steps and collect grief cubes, and a Kyubey arrived shortly, just watching them from a distance.

There were moments in the fighting where Mami was acutely aware of how much they were touching and how little they had to speak to know what the other wanted them to do. At first, they split up to grab grief cubes more quickly, but by the time they were on their third roof, Mami tired of that – this newfound chemistry emboldened her, and she didn't want it to disappear with the setting sun.

"Homura," Mami started, brushing her hair behind her hair nervously.

Homura glanced up, quirking an eyebrow curiously. Before Mami could continue, though, Homura closed the gap between them and offered out her hand, a small pile of grief cubes in her palm.

She said, "Here, you've got other people to look out for. Why don't you-"

Mami didn't need to be told twice, and Homura was acting awfully cute. Mami reached out and placed her hand over Homura's, not immediately picking up the grief cubes in favor of holding the contact. A sharp smile cute across her face as Homura nervously met her gaze again, but this time, her pulse was already high enough she couldn't feel any more anxious about this.

"Thank you," Mami said, squeezing Homura's hand before taking the grief cubes.

Homura broke eye contact as soon as their hands weren't touching, returning her attention to the look for grief cubes.

Mami didn't move, however, crossing her arms over her chest, the smile not dropping from her face. She tried, for the third and last time, to say what she wanted to say, "Homura, do you like girls?"

Homura spun back towards Mami, eyes wide.

Mami expected some sort of stumbling response, but Homura quickly regained her composure and asked, "What do you mean?"

It was guarded and keen, self-protective, not an innocent question. It was almost the same as an answer.

Mami cleared the distance between them confidently, and Homura did not respond beyond looking up at her as she got quite close. Mami placed a finger under her chin as if she were going to kiss her, holding that intense stare that Homura always had, the one that Mami hoped today truly held another girl instead of whatever Homura pretended lied underneath.

Mami spoke softly but quickly, "I'm asking: if I ask you out for tea again this weekend, would you recognize I'm not asking as a concerned friend or as a magical girl, but because I liked the Homura I met today, and I'd like to see her again?"

She didn't reply quickly, but it wasn't the dreadful silence their conversations had before – they were nervous and breathing quickly as if the fight had ended only a minute ago, and for a moment Mami knew they both wondered if they'd kiss.

Homura said softly, "Yes."