Yes, I'm back. I'm never escaping this damn fandom.
Chapter 1: A New Year
Homura was quietly enjoying a glass of wine on her apartment balcony when Madoka appeared at the corner of her vision.
Such was the business of the divine; that was, utterly disregarding one's preconceptions of how the world worked. Even in Homura's world, or rather the one she had left behind, sudden materialization usually meant danger. The kind that usually called for immediate destruction.
But perhaps that was simply reading too much into it, or maybe her instincts had dulled over time. Either way, the time traveler only set her glass down on the little table beside her and turned to face the Goddess fully.
In spite of her lack of visible surprise, this was indeed a first. She had communicated with Madoka through various means ever since her ascension, of course, and in the months that had followed her official retirement from magical girl activities, the girl had occasionally murmured into Homura's mind. But never had the Goddess manifested herself within the physical plane, and unannounced, when there wasn't an immediate crisis.
Or perhaps there was a crisis, and she simply wasn't aware of it yet.
"Not like you to just drop by like this," Homura commented, using a thumb to wipe away a drop of wine from her lip.
A bit of her surprise must have leaked through, because Madoka smiled knowingly. "It would be an abuse of my powers if it was. I'm not supposed to meddle too extensively in mortal affairs, you know."
"According to who's rules?" Homura asked, though she didn't expect a real answer.
The pink haired girl's smile deepened. "My own, I suppose. Though I didn't make them."
Another non-answer. It figured.
"Well…" Homura began, lifting her glass and swirling its contents before her nose. "I don't imagine you came for some alcohol."
Madoka giggled, holding one slender hand to her mouth. She was dressed in her ordinary looking school uniform, and not the flowing robes of her divine form. It eased Homura's mental state some, though that was probably the reason for it.
"Of course, not, silly. Goddesses don't drink!" Madoka exclaimed. Homura quietly filed that bit of information away in her mind. "I just came to wish you a happy new year."
Oh, yes. Of course. She should have known. It was late in the night of January 1st, and they had returned from the mass celebration Mami had hosted in her apartment not too long ago. Kyouko was actually collapsed on their bed in the room behind her, snoring away the effects of the booze. The redhead was going to have a splitting headache in the morning, but Homura had no sympathy. She had warned her girlfriend multiple times not to overdo it.
Besides, a hung over Kyouko meant Homura would be on parental duty for a day. And Homura secretly liked to spoil Kyouko, just a little.
"Do goddesses celebrate the new year?" Homura asked teasingly, taking a small sip from her glass. Mitakihara was unusually lively below her, still caught in the revels of the new year. The city seemed to glow contentedly.
She expected an equally lighthearted response, but Madoka just sighed wistfully and leaned back in her chair, golden eyes disappearing behind her eyelids. It appeared that part of her physiology would always betray her divinity.
"Oh, you know me," Madoka said, waving a hand flippantly. "I exist in the past, present, and future simultaneously. Time doesn't mean much to me. I barely remembered to stop by here today!"
Homura snorted at that, tilting her head back and finishing off the wine. It burned pleasantly down the length of her throat, and she actually found herself wiping her mouth with her sleeve as she set the glass down again.
Madoka watched her with a bemused expression. "I never took you for the drinking type."
"I'm really not," the shield user sighed, turning her chair so she could talk to Madoka directly. Her friend did the same. "But I'm learning how to enjoy myself."
"Learning from Kyouko's example, I assume?" the Goddess asked, eyes flitting briefly towards the curtains that separated the balcony from Homura's bedroom.
Homura felt a small smile tugging at her lips at the redhead's mention. "Maybe not that much."
"Oh, but you two are so cute together," Madoka gushed, almost bouncing up and down in her seat. For a moment she was reminiscent of her former self. "I check in from time to time, and seeing you guys cuddle is very therapeutic."
Homura flushed hotly at the revelation. "Is there a way to goddess-proof my room for when I need privacy?" She tried to take another sip from her glass to hide her face, before remembering it was spent and putting it back awkwardly.
"Oh, don't worry. I've got an NSFW setting, just in case," Madoka assured her. "I don't expect you to live like a nun."
"A what?" Homura asked, but her friend was already speaking over her.
"Though I can't say the same for Sayaka," Madoka quipped, resting a cheek in her hand. "I always tell her not to mess with the observation room, but of course she does it anyway. She's very impressed by Kyouko's, uh, 'technique.'"
Homura burned hotly at what her friend mean by that, but her embarrassment was briefly abated when Madoka's hair shifted gently around her small face.
The Goddess didn't wear pigtails anymore. Even when she appeared before Homura like this, the spitting image of her human self, the golden eyes weren't the only thing that gave everything away. Those pink locks had hung free every since the ascension, falling just past her shoulders. It added to the air of sophistication that surrounded her former love, along with the glowing irises and the general sense that Homura was talking to someone who could obliterate her in an instant, because Madoka probably could.
It was a firm departure from the way she had sort of babied Madoka in the past. They weren't even equals anymore. Homura was the inferior one now.
At least it had made giving up on her a little easier.
Her mind was tugged back into the present moment by Madoka's voice, and she refocused on the girl sitting in front of her.
"So, tell me how everyone's been doing!" she commanded, dropping her chin into both hands and leaning forward intently. "I'll admit I'm guilty of checking up on you more than the others…"
Homura just smiled bemusedly, not knowing whether to feel flattered or intruded upon. Opposite extremes tended to meet often when one dealt with gods.
"We just got back from Mami's place," she said, brushing a black strand of hair aside. "All the parties are held there, for some reason. I suppose she has the largest apartment."
"And Kiku had convince the store owner to sell them booze," Madoka added dryly.
Homura chuckled at that. She wasn't used to hearing the girl make crude comments like that, but it wasn't exactly bad.
"Everyone's more or less doing fine," she surmised, shrugging. "Things are normal, or as normal as they can be for people like us."
"I'll have to admit even I was surprised when you decided to quit hunting entirely," Madoka said, drumming her fingers against her cheek. "Kyubey was right when he said this peace probably won't last forever."
"You're the goddess," Homura sighed, more than a little tired of hearing that argument. "Does it ever end?"
Madoka's eyes flashed, and she smiled slyly at Homura. "You know I can't answer that."
Homura tried to maintain eye contact with those golden irises and found that she couldn't; her body wouldn't let her. Perhaps it was the wine doing its work. She was still blushing slightly from earlier, and the alcohol was the only thing keeping her from feeling the winter chill. It hadn't started snowing yet, but she supposed it would soon enough.
"So did anything interesting happen at the party?" Madoka asked, scaling back her aura a bit.
"We watched the countdown," Homura replied, trying to remember what else they had done. Just a lot of talking. "Kyouko was all big on doing that New Year's kiss thing."
The Goddess grinned. "Did she get it?"
Now it was Homura's turn to smile. "Of course she did."
"Anything else?"
Homura frowned as she thought back to the long night she had just had, and remembered something that made her lip quirk up briefly. "Yeah, there was something else."
"Do tell me."
"Kiku kissed Mami and confessed to her in front of everyone," Homura revealed, smiling despite herself.
Homura felt a weird sort of pride upon realizing she had just made a goddess gape. "You're lying," Madoka whispered, both hands covering her mouth.
"You know me better than that," Homura countered, grinning wider the more she thought about the memory. "I mean, I was surprised too. She didn't tell anyone what she was planning. But Mami was caught off guard the most, I think."
"What did Mami say?" Madoka asked breathlessly, obviously delighted by the news. Homura resisted the urge to giggle herself, since it would be unlike her, instead crossing her legs beneath the table.
"She said yes," she replied, raising her hands in a noncommittal way. "They're giving it a shot, at the very least. Which is a relief, actually. I half expected her to say no."
"Same," Madoka murmured, still digesting this latest development. Homura would have assumed that the Goddess of all people would already know, considering Kiku and Mami were both magical girls, but she supposed the girl was busy in her own right, running the universe and everything. "Well, you and Kyouko were all the rage last year, so I guess it was their turn."
Homura rolled her eyes. "We were not 'all the rage.' Besides, Kiku has wanted to be with Mami before I even met Kyouko. It was long overdue."
"Mmm," Madoka agreed, waving a finger in the air as if to add emphasis. A shower of golden dust seemed to follow her finger around, or maybe it was just Homura's imagination. "I've been shipping those two since Kiku contracted, for crying out loud. Do you realize how terribly romantic I found it when she made her wish? I just had to see it though."
Homura raised an eyebrow, skeptical at the idea that a goddess had any business shipping her patrons with each other. Next she would be hearing that Madoka watched divine sitcoms in her free time, but who was she to dictate the habits of a goddess?
"You should pop by sometime and congratulate her," she suggested, half joking and half not. Though her friends more or less believed her when she said the Goddess really existed, a little tangible proof wouldn't hurt either. It was a little selfish, maybe.
Madoka just smirked the way she always did when she was about to say no. "Sure, that visit will go over well. 'Hi, I'm Madoka, your local goddess. Just wanted to say congrats for getting hooked up!'"
Homura sighed. "Well, you don't have to say it like that. And you aren't exactly local."
Her friend just giggled. "I know," she admitted, clasping both hands together and turning to gaze down at Mitakihara. "But a lot's changed for you in the past year, hasn't it?"
"I feel like I think that every year," Homura said, playing absentmindedly with her wine glass. She strangely felt like having more.
Madoka's eyes followed Homura's, and her lip curved momentarily. With a wave of a hand, the glass in Homura's hand suddenly refilled itself to the brim. The time traveler flinched at the unexpected happening, accidentally sloshing a bit of the drink onto the table.
"I'll admit the past two years have been rather transformative for you," the Goddess said, "But I imagine that's better than stagnating."
Homura just stared at her friend, wondering if the girl knew just how utterly Jesus-esque that wine filling had been, but decided not to comment.
"Well, I hope I hit equilibrium soon," she said, taking a hesitant sip from the wine. It tasted sweeter than it had before. She continued taking timid gulps as Madoka watched her knowingly.
"No one runs out of problems to fix," the pink haired girl corrected, tracing more pixie dust behind her. "First you had to eliminate your literal demons, and the past year was spent eradicating your personal ones. The only question is…what's next?"
Homura thought about that for a moment, before deciding the question was probably rhetorical. "I don't know," she admitted, growing increasingly invested in the wine. It was dizzyingly good.
Madoka smiled almost enviously. "That's just the thing, Homu-chan. You have the luxury of mystery, of discovery. If there's one thing I miss about being mortal, it's the option of ignorance. Omniscience gets boring pretty fast."
"I don't know," Homura shrugged. "There were times when knowing the future would have come in pretty handy."
"But you've left those times behind, haven't you?" Madoka countered, and Homura raised her glass briefly in admittance. "Enjoy the unknown, Homura. Enjoy your days with Kyouko, which may or may not be numbered. I can't really say."
That last thought made Homura purse her lips a little, but the Goddess wasn't wrong in the slightest. Still, it was a little ironic. Exactly a year ago she had stood atop a hill with her lover and decided to face the unknown, despite her reluctance.
Now she was embracing it wholeheartedly.
"This wine is rather good," Homura replied at last, in lieu of deepening the conversation. She had lost her stomach for intense dialogue.
Madoka just sighed affectionately, rising from her seat. "I suppose my time is up," she said, cocking her head as if listening to an internal voice. "Sayaka's telling me to get up there and help her with the souls claimed by the Cycle. There are no off days for a goddess."
Homura laughed. "I can't imagine Sayaka volunteering to pick up your slack while you were here."
"I'm her boss, so she didn't have to volunteer," Madoka replied with a wink. "I've got to get going. It was good to see you again, Homura. Tell Kyouko hello for me, would you? And that I also greatly approve of her 'technique.'"
She made air quotes as she said that, laughing to herself. Homura went beet red and rushed forward, but the Goddess was already fading away, the lights of the city visible through her torso.
"Madoka!" Homura barked instead, frustrated.
The girl's mirthful laughter seemed to echo around the time traveler. "Good night, Homura," she chuckled. "And happy new year!"
Then Homura was alone, standing abandoned on the balcony with a half filled wine glass in hand.
Grumbling to herself, she downed the rest of it in one gulp and went back inside, muttering about cheeky goddesses getting away with too much.
Once in her apartment, Homura changed and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth, trying to get the taste of alcohol out of her mouth. She knew how bad the stuff smelled if left overnight.
Ready for bed, she walked into her bedroom and stopped when she found Kyouko sprawled haphazardly across the mattress, placed diagonally so that she took the entire thing up for herself. Shaking her head slowly, Homura leaned over and scooped the redhead up in her arms, her enhanced body making the taste easy.
That seemed to rouse her lover, who squinted blearily up at Homura through a drunken haze. "Hommmraaa," Kyouko slurred, her cheeks and neck flushed from drinking. She was also perspiring gently, and Homura found her eyes following a lone bead of sweat down the redhead's collarbone before checking herself.
"Get out of these clothes," she commanded, sitting Kyouko down on the bed and unbuttoning her shirt. The girl was still fully dressed, having not bothered to do anything other than fling herself on the bed, and Homura had been too tired to say otherwise.
"Who'r you?" Kyouko muttered to herself, stuck between being drunk and half asleep. When Homura tried to pull the redhead's shirt off she fought against it, trying weakly to push the shield user away. "Geroff me! I've got a wife!"
"I'm not your wife, Kyouko," Homura sighed, though she was somewhat touched that the redhead remained faithful, even when she was too drunk to recognize her lover.
Eventually she managed to get Kyouko down to a tank top and underwear, leaving the discarded clothes on the floor for now. Circling the bed, she crawled in beside the redhead and pulled the blanket over both of them, before reaching over to turn off the light.
Turning, Homura nuzzled close to Kyouko's chest, putting up with the smell of alcohol to share some of the girl's warmth. Kyouko draped an arm over her and sighed, obviously exhausted from partying so hard. The girl had zero restraint, but that was one of the things Homura liked about her.
"Wife," Kyouko muttered again, before falling asleep at last. Homura had to fight the urge to laugh out loud.
"Maybe one day, Kyouko," Homura whispered, pressing a brief kiss to the girl's jaw before falling asleep herself.
All in all, not a bad way to start the year.
A couple days late as usual, but here's this year's New Years oneshot. I figured it was a good way to start (yet) another foray into the Madoka fandom, though this time I'm keeping it purely restricted to oneshots, and it will be updated at my leisure.
Also I will mention again that this oneshot series is based almost entirely on the universe found within Silent Melody, which is the other meguca fic I've completed. This should become rather apparent with the reappearance of OC's like Kiku, who finally has a shot with Mami because I felt bad for leaving that end loose in the original story.
But for those who have never even touched Silent Melody before and don't wish to read it (I don't blame you, shit's hella long), you should at least keep the following things in mind:
1. This world entirely ignores Rebellion.
2. Kiku Hanezawa is an OC I created to pair with Mami, so no, you didn't not miss something huge from the anime. I don't know about including any of the other OCs, such as Mishki or Four, until I know how many people are open to the idea. So please let me know. But at the very least, Kiku x Mami will be getting some much needed closure.
3. Homura and Kyouko are now sharing a soul. Take that as you will, it's just something that happened in Silent Melody, which I suppose is completely spoiled for you now that you've read this. Oops...
4. There is magic per usual in this universe, but the various magical girls of Mitakihara have quit their previous lifestyles, for various reasons I lack the time, space, or energy to explain now.
5. There will be smut chapters (because I am shameless).
But other than that, all other usual assumptions may stand.
I wasn't even planning to write for Madoka Magica ever again, but, well...I'm a liar. Yeah. Let's leave it at that.
Thanks for reading!
~Banshee