XX

Written in the Stars

Summary: A prayer ended in despair, but it wasn't the end of the story. In which two hopes are fulfilled, each by the other party involved in the matter. Captain America: The Winter Soldier/Madoka Magica Crossover

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship

Rating: K plus

Disclaimer: All I own is a book about the DC Cherry Blossom Festival. And the idea for the fic. I don't own the characters, but I wish I did.

Notes: When I first sat down and wrote Starry Heavens I didn't expect for this to be a theme. But now I've written 4.5 stories with the "Madoka shows up in front of X and brings hope." (And We Pray is the .5 because all the other stories are pre- Rebellion except for that one.) But that's okay. I really like PMMM, and I like writing these crossovers.

This is my 100th story on the site, and I'm glad I could cross it over with my newest fandom with a fandom I like so well. One of my reviewers for Starry Heavens was hoping for another Marvel or DC crossover, so I hope they're reading. I'd also like to thank the TV Troper who put Starry Heavens on the Thor fanfic recs page over there. That was really cool to see.

With that, I give you Written in the Stars.

The Cherry Blossom Festival was beautiful, but Steve's heart just wasn't in it.

He had been invited to be in the parade by more than one party involved, but he had declined all the invitations. He had always hated the spotlight. Today he had even disguised himself again, with a light summer jacket and a ball cap pulled low over his face in hopes that he could watch the parade without being recognized.

The parade was over now and the festivities, including the crowning of the Cherry Blossom Queen, had moved further down the street, leaving a wake of food and merchandise vendors behind. Steve turned away and began making his way back, intending to go back to his apartment.

"Woah! Watch out!" A small voice cried, and he reached out and grabbed a white-haired girl who tripped out from behind a stall, catching her before she could hit the ground.

"Sorry," She gasped, and giggled. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Where are your parents?" Steve asked.

"I'm with a friend." She said, and sure enough, a moment later a taller girl with blue hair, wearing a school uniform, came around the corner.

"Nagisa! Come on, this is no time for playing." The blue haired girl said. She smiled at Steve. "Sorry about that. She's excited to be here."

Steve grinned. "It's alright. I don't mind." He had noticed that they were both wearing the same uniforms, with an insignia of a strange butterfly in muted colors. "Are you here on a school trip?"

"We're here for the Festival." The blue haired girl said.

Nagisa looked at Steve for a long moment. Her eyes grew large and mouth opened into a very large 'O.' "You're-!" She started, but the blue haired girl slapped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry. She's…loud."

"It's okay. Call me Steve."

"I'm Sayaka. This is Nagisa."

"Why are you two wandering around here alone?"

Sayaka removed her hand from Nagisa's mouth. "We got separated from our friend. We're trying to find her."

Steve gave them a long look. "What's her name?"

The cherry trees by the Reflecting Pool were in full bloom, and he seemed to be looking at the fallen petals that were floating on the water. But he was staring, neither the water nor petals really registered.

A face of gentle cheerfulness appeared next to him, reflected in the water as he was. "The flowers are lovely, aren't they?" She asked, and he started.

A tall young lady stood next to him. Her hair was pink, tied up on either side with white ribbons, and trailing in the back to indicate it was twisted up at the base of her neck. Her eyes were gold.

She wore a kimono embroidered with pink flower petals, and a stripe of soft pink around the bottom. The wide sash of her kimono was pink, accented with gold. Her tabi were pink, and her geta plain wood. She carried a parasol of pink with a ring of gold around the edge. Most spectacularly, when he looked up, he saw the inside of her parasol showed a starscape, and the stars were moving and turning in their paths.

And he looked worn. The clothes he wore were mismatched and ragged, his long hair was only loosely pulled back to keep it out of his way. The long sleeves made him stand out, but it was the only way to hide his robotic arm.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"I don't have a name." he replied.

"That's not true. Everyone has a name." She told him.

He looked at her for a long time, and she stood patiently waiting. Finally, he spoke. "Someone once called me Bucky." For a moment, he looked lost, then he asked, "What's your name?"

"Madoka." Sayaka replied to Steve's inquiry. "Her name is Madoka."

"Gretchen." She replied. "My name is Gretchen."

"That's a German name." Bucky growled.

"It is." Gretchen said, unconcerned. "But I'm not German. I'm Japanese. Will you walk with me?" She came around him, and her looped her right arm through his left. "I've gotten separated from my friends. We were here to watch the parade, but I don't know where they've gone." She said as she guided him away from the water. He let her do it. There was no place he needed to go, anyway.

"Why don't you just call her?" Steve asked.

Sayaka started digging into her packets, and then grimaced. "I forgot my phone."

Nagisa suddenly reappeared, with a box of fried cheeses curds. "We'll have to find her the hard way." She announced, popping another curd into her mouth.

"Nagisa, stop vanishing. I don't have time to look for both of you." Sayaka said, annoyed.

"Okay. Let's find Madoka!" Nagisa said earnestly.

"How long has she been missing?" Steve asked.

How many times had he heard that question before? The news reporters on TV interviewing the police: How long have they been missing?

And now that question meant something completely different to him.

Just how long now had Bucky been missing?

"Not long." Sayaka replied, interrupting his reverie. "Like I said, we were just here to watch the parade. Will you help us look for her?"

"Sure." Steve agreed. "What does she look like?"

"She has pink hair, and gold eyes, and she's wearing a white and pink kimono. She's got a pink parasol, too." Sayaka said.

Steve looked at her, and at Nagisa, then pulled out his notebook and pen. He turned to a new page, and added 'Hair color (?)' to his List. Then he put the pen and notebook away. "Alright. Let's go find her."

When Gretchen took his arm, the change was instantaneous. The heavy clothes he had been wearing to try and hide himself as much as possible were suddenly changed, and though they were still dark and fairly similar to what he'd been wearing, long pants and a long sleeved shirt, now they were summer weight, and only one fingerless glove was on his left hand. Bucky paused only for an instant before that hand clamped onto Gretchen's arm.

"What did you do?" He demanded.

"I thought you'd be more comfortable without those heavy clothes." She said, taking his hand and gently tugging it off her arm. It wasn't until they started walking again that he realized that she should not have had the strength to do such a thing. He was more comfortable, but unwilling to admit it for fear that she would demand something from him in return. And there was another problem.

"What are you?" he growled.

She smiled and took his arm. "Think of me as your guardian angel." She said. "And walk with me, Bucky."

They had walked everywhere.

All over the parade grounds, around all the vendor booths, past all the performers. They had searched everywhere, and it was becoming obvious to Steve that Madoka was nowhere to be found. (After all, it's not like a person could really miss a girl with pink hair. Right?)

"It's like she's just vanished." Nagisa sighed.

"I don't know." Sayaka replied. "But we've got to find her. We should have set up someplace to meet."

"Let's keep going!" Nagisa said determinedly, and marched off. Steve chuckled at her youthful enthusiasm and followed her. Neither of them noticed Sayaka staying back as they walk off. She turned and looked behind her.

Madoka was there, her arm linked with Bucky's. He didn't see her, but Madoka did, and winked.

Sayaka pumped a fist in the air in response before turning to hurry after the others.

"Madoka! Madoka!" Nagisa called as she wandered down the latest side road. Steve kept watch on all the surroundings, looking for a girl with pink hair in a white kimono.

"So…Steve, um, if you don't want to help us search, you don't have to." Sayaka said. "We can look by ourselves."

"Captain America doesn't give up." He answered glibly.

"You just don't seem comfortable helping us," Sayaka replied. "I mean, we're complaining that we can't find Madoka, but when we do, you seem different, somehow, like we're saying something more." This was untrue. Steve had hidden his emotions well, but Sayaka had not become what she was without further information.

"It's okay." Steve told her.

"It doesn't seem okay." Sayaka replied.

"I…lost a friend. Twice." Steve admitted. "I only came today because I wondered if I would find him here."

Even Nagisa had stopped calling for Madoka and was watching Steve now.

And then Sayaka asked the next question.

"What is it that you want?" Gretchen asked.

They had been wandering around the festival grounds, and Gretchen had occasionally explained things about the festival or about the part of the city they were in. It meant nothing to Bucky; obviously there were no memories here to be uncovered, but it was a nice distraction.

Until she asked that question.

They were standing in front of a display of a full Japanese tea set when she spoke, and he turned ever so slightly to look at her.

"What is the wish, the deep desire in your heart that drives you on?" Gretchen asked, her gold eyes meeting his hazel ones.

He hesitated.

"Do you trust me?" She went on.

And then he decided to tell her everything.

"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky. I've got to find him." Steve finished.

Nagisa's lip was quivering, and she looked ready to cry. Sayaka looked determined.

"You should have told us sooner. We could have helped you look for him while we were looking for Madoka."

"It's okay." Steve said. "I was watching for both of them."

"Now the three of us will watch for Bucky and Madoka!" Nagisa interjected suddenly. "Come on! Let's keep looking!"

In halting, broken words, he told her everything he could remember. She said nothing, but stood there, her parasol now casting shade over both of them.

When he was finished, Gretchen asked, "What is your wish?"

"I want to remember."

She smiled. "In that case, I promise I will do everything I can to help you. Trust me a little longer."

He looked into her eyes, and then nodded.

She took his arm again and led him away.

Someone had dropped a paper parasol; a grey one with a blue band around the edge. Sayaka paused to pick it up. They were further from the festival then they'd been since they started.

"Not this way." Steve said. "We're getting further form the crowds, not closer, and you said Madoka was with you to watch the parade."

"You're right. There's no one here but us; we must be outside the festival entirely now." Sayaka agreed. "Come on Nagisa. We're going the wrong way. Let's go back." Nagisa nodded, and the three of them turned and headed back.

They were leaving the crowds behind. Bucky didn't mind that fact at all.

They walked on and the only sound they made was the clicking of Gretchen's geta as she walked.

Gretchen steered Bucky around the corner of a building, and they started down a side street that was lined with trees and completely deserted.

Nagisa suddenly took off running and rounded a corner.

"Hey! Come back! Nagisa! What are you doing now?!" Sayaka shouted, before she and Steve took off running after the girl.

But Sayaka already knew.

Bucky stiffened as little girl with long white hair darted around the corner of a building and came out in front of them.

"Madoka!" She called, and came to a stop.

"Madoka?" Bucky repeated as he looked at Gretchen.

She smiled. "My other name."

Then Sayaka and Steve came around the corner.

There was a moment of recognition between the two men, and Steve stepped forward. "Bucky?"

Bucky tried to step back, but Gretchen tightened her grip. "Do you trust me?" She asked again.

He met her eyes again, and she nodded. "Trust me a little longer." She repeated.

Steve looked at Madoka, and then at Nagisa and Sayaka. Sayaka twirled the parasol around, and as she did, in a flash, it became a sword, which, when she rested it across her shoulders, transformed her in a flash of light back into her Puella Magi form. But under the short cape she wore, a starry field wheeled. Nagisa had changed as well, and another starry field showed under the long edges of the shawl-shirt she wore.

"I'm a bit confused." Steve admitted, looking at Bucky and Madoka.

"What are you?" Bucky asked Madoka, again.

"I'm glad you asked." She replied, releasing his arm and pulling her parasol down. She closed it, and in an instant it became a kaleidoscope of the same butterflies that Steve had seen earlier on Nagisa and Sayaka's school uniforms. As they fluttered past Madoka, she changed, and so did the scene around them.

Madoka's pink and white kimono became a pink-trimmed white dress with a long train. She wore short white gloves and a white choker. Accenting her dress where five red stones, the largest in the middle. Her legs were cased in long white stockings, and her heeled pumps had wings sprouting from them. Madoka herself was held in the air by a pair of white wings that looked to be made of pure energy, and under the train of her dress was the starscape that her been seen in a smaller version under her parasol. Part of her hair was still tied up in white ribbons, but teh rest of it flowed freely and trailed out behind her.

And now all of them were standing what looked to be a dome, surrounded on all sides by the stars. Behind Madoka was the close of the dome, and it showed in turning lacy wheels of energy. Behind Steve was the Earth, with the sun just beginning to peak over the edge of the planet. The floor was a strange circular pink symbol, connected by straight lines and angles.

"I am Madoka Kaname. I am also Penitent Gretchen. I bring hope to those who need it." Madoka said, floating back down to Bucky and staying aloft by her wings. "I am here because you called for me." Then she looked at Steve. "I am here because you both called for me, though I didn't know it at first."

"I am also here because of your despair."

A scream came from behind Steve and the other two Puella Magi. The three of them turned back towards the Earth, and watched as Kriemhild Gretchen appeared.

Nagisa gasped. Sayaka took a step back. Steve just grimaced and wished for his shield. "Run!" Sayaka suddenly shouted, and shoved Steve away. The three of them turned and ran for the other side of the dome.

Madoka held up one arm, and in a flash of light her bow appeared in her hand, burning with pink energy. She flew forward, past Sayaka and the others, and came to a stop at the edge of the platform.

"All of the despair here cries out to Kriemhild." She said, and then drew the bowstring. "But hope never gives up." A pink sigil, the match for the one on the floor, appeared in front of her.

"There is no despair for you here, and you will not take them either!" She cried as she released the bow string. The arrow on it flew straight and hit the center of the sigil, and from the circles in the sigil came a rain of arrows.

And Kriemhild was gone.

"Your despair called out to her." Madoka said as she landed on the sigil, her energy wings erect behind her, and turned to face the four of them. She was speaking to Bucky. "You have so much despair and so little hope. But when you unknowingly called her, you also called me, because I am her opposite." She said as she walked towards all of them. "I exist to bring hope, and hope always triumphs over despair. But I didn't know how to help you."

Then she looked at Steve. "Until Sayaka heard your wish, and brought it to my attention."

Steve looked at the blue-haired girl, who balanced her sword back on her shoulder and said nothing.

"You have so much hope, even when you shouldn't. Even when most people have already given up. When Sayaka heard your wish, I knew what needed to be done. And quickly, before you began to lose hope, because you have already begun to lose hope." Madoka finished. By now she was standing in front of them.

"Your wish, Bucky, is to remember who you are. Your wish, Steve, is to find your best friend. You are the answer to each other's hopes, which is why I brought you here. I brought you here to reunite you."

"I can't. I can't go back." Bucky said.

"No one can ever go back." Steve said suddenly. "You can't, and I can't. But we can still go forward. You don't have to run anymore. I'm always looking for you and worrying about you and wondering where you are and if you're okay. It doesn't matter what happened in the past. The present is what matters."

A sleigh pulled by cartoonish sparrows and shedding cherry blossoms behind it landed quietly, waiting for the two Puella Magi to board it.

"You want so much to remember, but you run from the one person left who can help you." Madoka said quietly to Bucky. "Don't be afraid. Don't give up on yourself. Steve has worked so long and so hard to try and find you, his best friend. Let him help you."

"It hurts to remember."

"Yes." Madoka said after a moment. "I can see that it would." She closed her eyes for a moment. "I can't take away the pain. But if you want, I will ease it for you."

He nodded.

Madoka took to the air again and flew over to Bucky. She took his head between her hands, and pulled his head towards her, then kissed him on the forehead. She released him, and flew back just a little bit.

Bucky turned, and looked at Steve for a long moment.

"I know you don't remember. But it's as true now as it was when I said it on the Helicarrier, and when you said it to me so long ago when I was left on my own. I'm with you to the end of the line." Steve said, holding out a hand towards Bucky. After a long moment, the Winter Soldier took it.

Nagisa clapped her hands together in glee. Sayaka smiled, a little sadly.

Madoka's smile was not sad, it was knowing. "Our work here is done." She said.

"Goodbye." Nagisa waved to everyone before she boarded the sleigh. Sayaka just nodded, and followed the other girl aboard. The sleigh took to the air, and turned to fly into the circles behind them.

"Learn to leave despair behind, Sergeant, and Captain, never lose hope." Madoka said, turning away so that her back was to the circles. She was moving away from them now, following her heralds into the rings.

"Thank you, Madoka." Steve said.

"Thank you." Bucky told her.

She smiled.

And then she was gone, the outer space dome was gone, and the two of them were standing there, on the deserted DC side street, alone.

"I'm really glad you're back." Steve said. "I was worried."

Bucky a noncommittal sound.

"Where do you want to start?" Steve asked.

"You said …I've known you my whole life. Tell me how we met."

And the two of them walked off together as Steve began to explain.

[A/N:] Powering through writer's block is such a funny feeling. Usually I don't run after a muse, I wait for it to come to me, except when I go through writer's block instead of around. I'm glad I got to reuse Madoka's kimono design. I really liked using it Cosmic Love, so I was glad I could bring it back. This is probably the most involved of the Madoka as Hope Bringer since for the first time we see Sayaka and Nagisa working with her. Usually it's just Madoka and the other character. But this time it was even more than one other character that Madoka was helping.

I hope you liked it and I hope it was interesting. And if you've read the whole thing, please leave some feedback and tell me what you thought!