The Price of a Wish

Summary: On her way to school Homura Akemi stumbles across a strange shop, one that grants wishes. Spoilers for Episode 10 inside. XXXHolic crossover.

I always wondered what happened to Homura's glasses.

April 25th, this was her first day at school. Not her first day really, Homura Akemi knew that this time, she would stop Walpurginacht before she destroyed Mitakihara City, she would keep her best friend Madoka Kaname from contracting with Kyubey, she'd prevent her very best friend from dying again or turning into a witch Kriemhild Gretchen, she'd give this tragic story a happy ending.

She dressed and prepared to head to school, for some strange reason, she decided to take a different route than the one she'd used in all the previous timelines, she kept walking, she would relive these events a thousand times over if it meant she could save Madoka.

Homura looked up, she saw a strange shop, she hadn't ever noticed before. It was quaint and simple. She saw a young man sweeping the front and he looked up at her.

"Oh, you must be here to see Yuko," he greeted her. "I'm Kimihiro Watanuki."

"I didn't come here on purpose," Homura said quietly. She kept her voice quiet and straightforward, she didn't have the best people skills.

"Oh look, a customer for the Mistress!" Maru exclaimed, taking her hand. "A customer for the Mistress!" Moro took her other hand and they walked through the doors. Homura felt her legs moving on their own.

"What's going on?!" Homura tried to activate her magic, but it didn't work.

"There's no such thing as coincidence, only the inevitable," a voice said to her. It was a woman. Homura looked up and she saw a woman, dressed in strange clothes and smoking a pipe.

Yuko Ichihara looked at her newest customer. She wasn't like any of the others and she knew why.

"May I see the object in your pocket?" Yuko asked.

Homura reached in and pulled out her glasses. She didn't need them anymore after she used her Soul Gem to heal her eyes.

Yuko examined the glasses, they were cracked and stained with tears, she knew this girl had suffered so much, paying the price to grant her wish, but she said nothing.

"What's your name?" Yuko inquired.

"I don't have to tell you that!" Homura snapped. She was suspicious, normally she wouldn't have minded people asking for her name but this woman was different.

"You are very wise, if you tell a stranger your name and birthday, you give an opportunity to capture your soul and if they learn your birthday, they can own the paths of your past and your future."

"But no one will believe me about the future, they never did, no matter how many times I tried to change it," Homura said sadly.

"What is this place?" Homura looked at the woman curiously. She'd never seen anyone like her before.

"It's my shop, the merchandise here is…wishes," Yuko replied.

Homura flinched. She never wanted to hear that word again.

"I'm Yuko Ichihara and they call me the Dimensional Witch and I grant the wishes of my customers for a price, in order to maintain balance."

Homura panicked, this woman was a Witch, Witches were born from the Grief Seeds of Magical Girls who had given into despair. She couldn't fight this woman with her weapons and her powers weren't working in this shop.

"I'm not like the witches of your world, Homura Akemi, you're in a place that is between all dimensions, and you wouldn't be here if you didn't have a wish."

"How do you know my name? You're like that Incubator Kyuubey!" Homura glared. Yuko laughed.

"I have met Kyubey, he didn't like me at all! He also talked about you. He dislikes me because my power to grant wishes is different from his, and I don't hide the truth from my customers. You know he lied to you but you only learned that because of your powers that you obtained because of your own wish."

"Mokana dislikes Kyubey, Kyubey was mean to Mokana!" Mokana piped up and returned to his Sake.

"Please, if you really can grant wishes, and you aren't like Kyubey please grant my wish to save Madoka Kaname!" Homura pleaded.

"You have already sacrificed your soul for that wish, but that is not what drew you to this place. It was something else. What is it that you really wish for?"

"I wish…for someone to listen to my story, so they can understand what I've gone through since my friends won't believe me about the future."

"Now I know your true wish, shall I grant it?" Yuko asked.

"Yes," Homura replied.

"The price for your wish is these glasses."

Homura nodded in agreement.

Yuko put them in a case and Maro took it to the storage room.

"Watankuki, prepare something special for our customer, would you like something special Homura?"

"But I have to go to school!" Homura protested.

"As of this moment you are between dimensions so my shop is unaffected by time, so you can eat and you won't be late for school."

Homura felt better about eating food offered to her and asked for her favorite food, and Watanuki went off to prepare her food.

Watanuki returned with food and sake for Yuko and Homura ate some as she began to tell her story, how she was a hesitant and shy girl who had transferred to a new school. Plain and ordinary, she felt she couldn't do anything right. Meeting Madoka Kaname had made her feel inferior, because she was so confident and talented. She had been rescued by Madoka Kaname and Mami Tomoe, two magical girls, like something out of Cardcaptor Sakura or Sailor Moon.

Homura saw Yuko smile mysteriously and wondered why.

Homura told of the girl's battle with Walpurginacht, how Mami died and Madoka bravely went off the fight the witch, leaving her behind.

"Madoka died, defeating Walpurginacht, I couldn't bear it," Homura began to cry. "She shouldn't have bothered saving someone like me, who couldn't do anything. So I made a contract with Kyubey, and wished to meet Madoka all over again so I could protect her."

Homura looked at Yuko, "I wanted…to change her fate."

"Changing her fate is a difficult thing, but you chose to relive your time with her, why not just wish her back to life?"

"Because a wish like that is selfless, and my wish is selfish, and those kinds of wishes never turn out well," Homura sighed. "If I can save her, she'll never have to die a magical girl."

"There is no such thing as coincidence, only Hitsuzen—the inevitable," Yuko explained. You were meant to come here, if only to share your burden with me."

"The second time I went back, I began to work with them again, and everything was fine for awhile, but then Madoka fought Walpurginacht and used up all her power, and turned into a witch! It was too horrible, and I never dreamed that magical girls in my world become witches, so I started over again, in order to warn everyone."

Yuko had sent Watanuki on an errand and only Yuko, Moro and Maru were there.

Homura saw the door open and a young woman with brown hair and green eyes walked in. She was very pretty and Homura thought she looked familiar.

"Hello Yuko," the woman greeted the Dimensional Witch. "I'm sorry; I didn't know you had a customer."

"You were supposed to come here, if not to meet her," Yuko smiled. "Are you here for your wand?"

"No, I was just coming here to ask about the other Sakura, if she's all right, because of the price I paid."

Homura was confused by the conversation, but Sakura was such a common name, the woman must have known another girl with the same name as her.

"She is still traveling with her companions," Yuko informed her. "This is Homura Akemi."

"Call me Sakura," the young woman smiled, she wasn't much older than Homura; she had just gotten out of high school.

"Sakura, I'm Homura Akemi," Homura introduced herself.

"Please, continue your story."

"I turned back time again and I tried to warn the others that Kyubey was trying to trick them into contracting again. They wouldn't believe me. Sayaka Miki turned into a witch and I had to destroy her. Mami was horrified that Magical Girls turned into witches, and shot Kyōko Sakura, destroying her Soul Gem. Madoka killed her to save me, and we tried our best to defeat Walpurginacht. We won but we didn't have any Grief Seeds to absorb the despair to cleanse our Soul Gems. We were both going to become witches, but Madoka sacrificed herself again, giving me Sayaka's Grief Seed. She told me to turn back time and stop her from becoming a Magical Girl."

Homura looked over and saw Sakura crying as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"She asked me to shoot her Soul Gem, so she wouldn't become a witch, and I did as she asked…and I decided I wouldn't rely on them anymore. So I fought Witches by myself and tried to defeat Walpurginacht, but Kyubey convinced Madoka to contract with him before I could kill it, and Madoka destroyed Walpurginacht with one shot…and she turned into the witch Kriemhild Gretchen and destroyed the earth within a week and a half. So I turned back time once again, and I'm doing this month over. I don't care how long it takes; I'm going to save my very best friend."

"How many times have you done this? Going back in time to save your friend Madoka?" Sakura asked.

"I gave up counting a long time ago," Homura sighed.

"She means a lot to you, Madoka, I can tell that much, and being a Magical Girl in your world, is very hard."

"I have to go now," Yuko said, leaving the room. Homura got up and began walking toward the door.

"There's something I want to tell you," Sakura looked at her.

"What's that?" Homura asked.

"Everything will surely be all right."

Homura looked over at Sakura.

"No one will believe me about the future, no one will accept the truth about the future."

"But you're doing your best, and searching for a way to save your friend," Sakura hugged her. "I'm sure you'll find the way out."

"You sound so optimistic…like…"

"Like who?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura Kinomoto, the manga character," Homura actually smiled, "When I was little, I read that manga and wanted to be just like her. She was cool and she was special. Perhaps, that's why I look up to Madoka, because she's that way too."

"I'm not that special, I blundered into an adventure," Sakura sighed. Homura stopped.

"You're…you're really her, but…but our world isn't like yours!" Homura sobbed. "You can be a Magical Girl, and you have everything, your family, your friends, even your boyfriend, and being a Magical Girl in my world, means you lose everything! Please, tell me what I'm supposed to do!"

"Don't give up hope yet, Homura," Sakura replied. "As long as you don't give up, you'll find a way to save Madoka. And when you do, I want you to come back to this shop, and tell me the happy ending to your story."

"Sakura, thank you, I wish we didn't have to meet like this, and that you didn't have to hear my sad story."

"It's all right, I'll make a wish and give something to Yuko, and I'll wish for a happy ending to your story." Sakura let her go and Homura left.

"I hope you find a way out of that endless maze, and that your story will have a happy ending."

Homura Akemi vanished.

"Yuko, do you think she'll really be able to save Madoka?"

"That's all up to her," Yuko smiled,

"I wish her all the luck in the world, and that her story will have a happy ending," Sakura smiled sadly. "I never thought of myself as a hero or an inspiration to others, but in her world I guess I am."

"You've always inspired others around you," Yuko replied. "I do think we'll see her again one day."

"What makes you say that?" Sakura asked.

"Because I sense that this time, someone else will give her a way out."