If Rebellion (while a good movie) had a happy ending:
A terrifying scream filled the air as a young girl desperately backed away from the creature looming over her. It's appearance flickered - moving like static - as it moved forward and encompassed the girl.
Resigned to her fate, the young girl closed her bright green eyes.
An inhuman cry filled the air.
But, when the girl looked up, she realized the Wraith had made the noise, not her. Another magical girl had taken care of it before it killed her. To the left, a teenager with short amber hair stood, gun still aimed at the monster. The first girl relaxed for a moment, stunned at her savior.
"Get up!" the older girl yelled. "The night's not over yet!"
At her words, the green-eyed girl finally stood; the older girl relaxed, knowing rookies usually followed the instructions of older magical girls. She turned back to the hoard, immediately jumping and joining the continuing battle with the wraiths.
It would be a long night.
Finally, as dawn approached, the two stopped for a breath. Despite their exhaustion and weariness, they all knew the next night would be the same. And the night after that. And the night after that.
It was what they had agreed on, when they became magical girls. No thanks should be given, expected or recieved.
But as the one with amber hair stood to return home, she was suddenly stopped by one of the girls she had saved earlier that night. Emerald Eyes stared up at her with religious awe and gratitude, before disappearing into a deep bow as tears fell to the ground.
"Thank you! For-for saving me. I-I know I'm new, but I can't-Thanks!"
Amber raised an eyebrow at the stuttering, instantly cataloging the girl's experience. Normally, the veteran girls would take advantage of or ignore the newbies, and normally so would Amber.
But normally the girls did not look at her like Green was, with more respect than should be humanly possible for knowing each other only an hour or two and having maybe 1.5 conversations.
But normally the girls did not have eyes the exact same shade as her sister's.
The sister she loved. The one she guarded. The one she should have protected. The one who used up all her magic defending from the same attack as the one that nearly killed Green. The first girl she saw swept away by the Law of Cycles.
After staring at the still-thanking-her girl for a moment or two, Amber made her decision. Very few magical girls were strong enough or stupid enough to be willing to take others under their wings - a girl named Mami Tomoe was infamous for doing it about ninety years ago - but something about Green was captivating; Amber found she could not look away.
"...Would you like to come back to my house for a bit? If I educate you on a few magical girl things, you might not need the saving again."
For a brief moment, suspicion and confusion clouded Green's hopeful gaze - apparently she was less naive than she liked to appear - but excitement won out in the end.
"Yes, please!"
"Wow…" Green-eyes muttered, "there was so much I didn't know."
Amber once again raised an eyebrow, both glad her lesson had been helpful, and shocked Green had not known what she said. Forget new, this had to be Green's first day!
"How… long have you been doing this?"
"A week! But thanks, I feel a lot better now that I know so much."
"Well you have a lot left to learn; that was just scratching the surface."
"Eh?"
Amber rolled her eyes and (barely) held back a sigh. Learning how to track large clusters of wraiths should have been one of the first things she learned, what had Kyubey been teaching her?
If this was one of the girls who signed on without listening to the fine print and then proceeded to ignore him because 'We have people to save I can't sit around listening to this stuff' then Amber was shocked she had survived so long.
"Do we have any cute things?" Green eyed asked.
"...What?"
"You know, we're magical girls. Do we have any, like, stories or anything? I like what you're teaching me, I really do, but do we have anything that's just for fun and games? All this practical stuff gets kinda boring."
Ah. That would explain why she did not know anything.
Amber sat back in thought for a moment, scowling. Magical girls might be known for unnecessary flair and bravado, but they had few things just for fun.
No, wait. There was one.
"Okay, well, we do have a sort-of mythology." Green perked up, eager to hear. "According to Kyubey, it's based off the lives of actual girls, but was changed slightly to be more of a story and get tied into the Law of Cycles."
"How is it tied into the Law?"
"Most girls don't know, but I asked Kyubey once. It's supposed to be about the six girls who the Law of Cycles knew before becoming the Law. Apparently one of the girls saw everything bad that was happening without her and became a magical girl, using her wish to become the Law of Cycles. I have no idea how that story came along, but the incubators heard it, told the magical girls, and then other girls created the rest of the myth. I mean, supposedly."
"Oh, I want to hear it!"
"Well, there's a few different stories. The angel and the knight, the God and-"
"Tell me about the angel!" Green excitedly demanded. "Er-please."
Amber rolled her eyes yet again, but nodded and began the story.
Midnight. The sky was a vast void - no clouds, but no stars either. Bellow an endless pool of water reached out as far as the eye could see. Within the water, a girl with navy hair sank deeper, pulled in by weights and chains. Each weight glowed briefly, becoming different pictures - memories.
A boy playing a violin, then at a hospital, then with a different girl. A near-emotionless girl with flowing hair in a purple-midnight, speaking to one with pink hair held up in twin-tails. A girl with blond hair; shining and soaring and magic and life then killed-eaten-dead.
For above, a girl with fire for hair and burning wings was chained to the sky, reaching desperately for the blue one. Images played, forming in the air through magic.
"Me and my stupid ideas. She shouldn't have come, take care of her."
- "Wait," Green stopped her, "Is that what she really said?" Amber shrugged "Doubt it, I think the words were just part of the story Kyubey told. When he told other girls they added it in." -
So Red continued to struggle, reaching for the sinking blue girl. It was futile; blue continued to sink farther and farther down into the murky depths. Red leaned down, reaching, gasping, but grabbing nothing but air.
"You can't fight and carry her, you'll just get as both killed."
Red fought harder.
"And you were right. You've gotta find the one thing that means the most to you and protect it to the end…. It's funny, this entire time, that's exactly what I thought I was doing."
SNAP
With these words, Red broke through a chain which had been binding her left arm. Her right arm soon followed, and the wings regained their freedom as well.
"Get out of here, I'll take care of her."
Red looked down, suspended in the air by her own wings at last. For a moment, fear crossed her face as she looked between her fire and the cold water below. Her crimson hair flickered in the breeze, and her expression calmed into a regretful smile.
"I know Sayaka, it sucks to be alone. Believe me, I know."
The girl seemed surprised by the words, as if hearing them for the first time. Then, she gave a rueful smile, looking down at the water again and waiting for the voice to continue. This time, when the disembodied voice began, she joined it in speaking.
""But it's okay now, because you're not alone anymore….""
The wings tucked, and she dived into the water, grabbing Blue's hand and halting her descent; her wings fizzled out behind her.
""Sayaka.""
Then, in accordance with the original story of the little mermaid, the blue haired girl turned to foam, while the red haired girl was extinguished. Both disappeared with a smile on their face.
Amber raised an eyebrow, staring in disbelief at the girl in front of her.
"Are you… crying?"
"It's just-it's just so sad!"
"It's just a story…."
"Still!"
Amber rolled her eyes, then glanced at the time. While magic could help with making up sleep, there wasn't much she could do about school.
"Okay, well, I've got classes soon, so I'm gonna get going. Maybe I'll see you again and I can teach-"
"Oh, I would love to, but I really need to get going!"
"Eh?"
"Sorry, but my family's only here on vacation."
"Ah, right…. Well, if you're ever in the area again…"
"Yeah, I come find you! Thanks!" Green yelled, throwing herself onto Amber and continuing to smile with tears in her eyes. Amber awkwardly patted the girls head as she waited for the crying to stop.
"Um, well," Amber stuttered slightly as she dragged the girl clutching her out the door. "Bye."
"Goodbye," Green whispered, putting far more emotion into the word than Amber thought was really needed. They parted ways. Amber walked on the path to her school; Green walked through the city on a rarely traveled road, humming as she went.
"So? Are you happy you came to see her?" a body-less voice of a young girl asked. "It was a rather short time, considering it was a reward for your hard work."
"Yeah," Emerald-eyes responded. "I just wanted to say bye to her. I've really missed my sister, so I can't thank you enough for letting me see her, Kaname-sama."
Madoka's cheerful laugh filled the air as Green's body began fading, vanishing in the light.
"Though," Green giggled, her last sounds on the Earth, before she disappeared. "As one of your angels, I feel it is my duty to tell Kyoko-nee and Sayaka-nee about what they've become from the story Homura told Kyubey."
"Yes, I'm sure you'll enjoy that."