Sayaka lay on her stomach on the couch. She had been alone in her apartment for several hours. Kyouko hadn't walked home from school with her that afternoon, having been asked by Homura to talk after school. Although Kyouko hadn't known what it was about, Sayaka could make a pretty good guess. She couldn't mention it to Kyouko though, not with the observant Kyubey hanging around. Even though he spent all his time near Madoka, Sayaka suspected that the Incubator somehow had a way of monitoring them all. She couldn't let it be known that she had all of her memories. It was vital that Kyubey didn't know that she was aware of the truth about Homura.

Sayaka rolled over onto her back, and held her soul gem up in front of her. It still had its bright blue shine, although it was dim around the edges. Sayaka shivered when she thought of how, over the span of many timelines, that soul gem would be completely black, and she would turn into a witch. As much as she and Homura didn't get along in the past, Sayaka did not want her to go through that suffering.

Sayaka sat up abruptly at the sound of the door opening. Kyouko entered the apartment silently and leaned on the door to close it behind her, her solemn expression confirming Sayaka's suspicions about Homura. The redhead walked over to the couch and flopped down next to Sayaka.

"You were out for a long time," Sayaka mentioned.

"Yeah, I know," Kyouko mumbled.

Sayaka waited for a more specific answer, but it never came. She decided to change the subject and get Kyouko's mind off what Homura had talked to her about.

"I have some food for you, Kyouko," she tried to lighten the mood with her cheery tone.

Kyouko perked up at the mention of food, especially since she hadn't eaten for several hours. "What do you have?" She sat upright from her slumped position on the couch.

"There are plenty of noodles left over from when I made dinner, and there's also a cake in the fridge for dessert."

"Sounds good," Kyouko grinned.

Sayaka smiled in relief to see Kyouko's lifted mood. She stood up from the couch and made her way into the kitchen. The noodles had already been heated up in the microwave, Sayaka having been ready in advance to get the food ready for Kyouko, who she was sure would be returning home hungry.

It was nice living with Kyouko, Sayaka said to herself. Although the redhead was lazy, always hungry, and quite the slob, the two of them had been very comfortable together in the same apartment. If there was anything to be thankful to Homura for, it was the fact that Sayaka got to live with Kyouko in the made-up Mitakihara.

Sayaka walked back into the living room with the plate of noodles in hand, and handed it to Kyouko, who was sitting up on the couch eagerly awaiting her dinner. Kyouko instantly began to devour her meal, so quickly that Sayaka couldn't help but giggle at the girl's sudden burst of energy.

"What are you laughing at?" Kyouko frowned.

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Sayaka hastily replied.

Kyouko obviously didn't believe her, but after giving Sayaka a suspicious glance, she continued with eating her noodles until she had completely cleared the plate. She suddenly jumped off the couch with the plate and dashed past Sayaka into the kitchen. Sayaka heard the clatter of the plate being carelessly placed on the kitchen bench.

"What are you doing now, Kyouko?" Sayaka called out as she followed the redhead.

"You said you had cake, didn't you?" Kyouko was taking the dessert out of the fridge when Sayaka entered the kitchen.

"That didn't mean you could go and grab the whole thing for yourself!"

"Relax," Kyouko put the cake on the bench and opened the drawer to grab a knife, two plates and two spoons. "I'm not having the entire cake, only about half."

Sayaka exhaled in exasperation. "You're unbelievable."

"It's a fairly small cake," Kyouko cut through the centre of the cake and served herself the full half. "Half of this cake only amounts to about a quarter of a regular sized cake."

Sayaka rolled her eyes.

"How much are you going to have?" Kyouko asked.

Sayaka grinned. "I'll have the other half!"

"You're as bad as I am, Sayaka." Kyouko smirked as she served the other half onto Sayaka's plate.

Sayaka grabbed her plate of cake and walked back into the living room. She sat down on the floor next to the coffee table to eat her piece of cake, Kyouko sitting down next to her. Kyouko was the first to finish her piece. She looked on hungrily at Sayaka, who was still taking her time eating her cake. Sayaka scooped a large spoonful of cake onto her spoon and held it out to Kyouko.

"You can have some of mine if you still want more."

"Thanks Sayaka!" Kyouko leaned in to take the offered spoonful in her mouth. She licked the spoon clean, making sure to get every crumb of cake and every last bit of icing.

After finishing their dessert, the pair lay on the floor next to each other.

"I'm so full…" Sayaka groaned.

Kyouko was as full as Sayaka, although she refused to admit it.

"Kyouko?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you end up finishing your homework?"

Kyouko rolled her eyes. "No, not yet. I will though, don't worry."

Sayaka sat up with a scowl. "You said that yesterday, but you ended up watching TV instead."

Sayaka stood up off the floor and went to where hers and Kyouko's schoolbags were left. She pulled out a workbook from each, as well as some pens. She set them on the coffee table, the pens clattering as they fell on the surface.

"We're going to work on it right now," Sayaka declared.

"Seriously?" Kyouko dragged herself over to the coffee table.

Sayaka sat down and opened the workbook.

"Out of everything our magic can do, it can't get my homework done for me?" Kyouko muttered.

Despite the initial complaining, Kyouko also set to work with doing her homework, occasionally looking up and around the room as she daydreamed.

The pair worked solidly for some time, neither speaking since they were so focused. At least, Sayaka was concentrating. After a while, Sayaka started to notice how odd the silence was, especially for Kyouko.

Sayaka looked up from her workbook to check that Kyouko was actually doing her homework, only to find the girl with her eyes closed, sleeping on the coffee table. The events of the day had caught up to her, and the exhausted girl had fallen asleep while working.

Sayaka sighed, but smiled as she stood up and went over to the other girl. Kyouko was to be commended, since she had surprisingly gotten more than half of the homework finished.

Sayaka bent down and scooped up the sleeping girl in her arms. Kyouko's head rested against Sayaka's chest, giving her a feeling of warmth. Sayaka carried her over to the couch and placed her down, resting Kyouko's head on one of the cushions. Once Kyouko was laid out on the couch, Sayaka headed towards her bedroom. She opened her drawers in search of a blanket Kyouko could use. After searching through every drawer without success, she decided to look in the closet. At the bottom of her closet, underneath a mess of clothes, Sayaka found the item she was searching for.

When Sayaka went back into the living room, Kyouko was curled up on the couch, breathing heavily as she slept. Sayaka spread out the blanket over her, making sure that it covered her from her feet to her shoulders. It was a chilly night, and she wanted Kyouko to stay warm.

Sayaka kneeled down next to Kyouko. The sleeping girl's face was especially cute up close. Sayaka lifted her hand to Kyouko's head, and gently began to stroke her red hair. The softness of Kyouko's long tresses under Sayaka's fingers was soothing to her. She carefully brushed away Kyouko's bangs to give her a light kiss on the forehead. Kyouko didn't stir, being the heavy sleeper that she was.

Sayaka looked up at the clock. It had been a couple of hours since Kyouko had returned home. If Homura really had begun to realise where they were, she would most likely be taking matters into her own hands by now. Soon, Homura might be running into trouble. Sayaka knew that she should go to Homura as soon as possible. She looked back down at Kyouko, who was still sleeping peacefully.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into all this," Sayaka whispered, giving Kyouko one more kiss, this time on the cheek.

Sayaka stood up and transformed into her magical girl outfit before making her way out of the apartment to search for Homura.

She hated leaving Kyouko behind, hated keeping her away from the truth. But at the same time, she knew that it was better to leave Kyouko out of the situation, and let her believe, for now, that her happy life here was real.

Sayaka wanted to protect Kyouko, just like the red-haired girl had protected her, and sacrificed herself, so many times throughout all those timelines.

Sayaka's responsibility of looking after Madoka's memories and saving Homura may have been a difficult job, but as long as she could be with Kyouko, it was all worth it.