1

Mami felt like a third wheel around these two, even in her own apartment. From the moment they'd rescued her, this new girl seemed to make a point of asking questions the instant they popped into her head.

"So, Kaname-san... you're fighting things like that all the time?"

Maybe what annoyed her wasn't really the questions - she couldn't really blame Akemi for wanting answers - so much as who she'd been asking.

Madoka, at least, was obviously uncomfortable, and kept trying to redirect the conversation to include her Senior.

"Not really all the time... Mami is the Veteran. I just made the contract with Kyubey last week..."

"But in today's fight, you were much better than earlier, Kaname-san!"

Completely ignoring Mami, Homura continued with her impromptu interview.

"Is it okay? I mean... aren't you scared?"

What a question...! Madoka nearly shook her head in disbelief.

Well... it isn't like we can expect her to understand right away...

"Uh, it's never really okay, and of course I'm afraid... but, defeating a Witch helps a lot of people... so, it's kinda worth it, right?"

She turned to Mami expectantly. The older girl's lip twitched almost imperceptibly as she forced herself to smile and nod, rather than admit her uncertainty.

She opened her eyes, and deliberately met Madoka's.

"Kaname-san... You'll be a pro before the Walpurgis Night..."

Homura left after bombarding Madoka with a final series of awkward questions.

Now washing and drying dishes together, a conversation that had been innocent enough at first quickly became something much more complicated.

"Akemi-san seemed... nice, didn't she?"

"Yes."

Clank

"I'm sure that... She's a... Potential, isn't she? That's why... How else could she have seen everything...?"

Cling

"...That's true."

Smiling widely, Madoka looked up at her partner.

"Do you think that maybe-"

Clink

"No, I don't think that would be... very wise. There are already too many of us in this area, as things stand."

Disappointed, the pink-haired girl returned to her dishes.

Chink

"Oh... Well, it's probably better that way, then... Still..." Madoka closed her eyes wistfully. "I think it was worth becoming a Magical Girl... If I could... protect more people like that."

Cling

Mami abruptly shut off the faucet and turned to face her.

"D-Did I... say something wrong...?"

"No, I..." Mami began, now drying her hands with a small towel. "Actually, I think I agree with you."

"Y-You do?" With a smile, the blonde yanked her startled partner into her arms.

Shatter

Grateful that the younger girl had already taken out her ribbons and pig-tails in preparation for bed, Mami buried her face in soft, pink hair.

"I'm... glad I got to save you."

Madoka Kaname was a natural - no, a prodigy. That much was certain.

Just two weeks earlier, she and two other innocents had wandered deep into a deadly maze. At the time, she could only stare, paralyzed in terror, as her best friend was torn apart... as her essence was devoured by the Garden Witch's precious roses.

Back then, she could only cry out in agony as thorny vines - freshly stained red - wrapped around her remaining classmate and tore into fabric and flesh alike, with little effort; bravely, she'd clenched her teeth and tried not to scream as the same shears that ended Sayaka began cutting her to ribbons.

Mami couldn't remember how she had allowed Gertrud to become so bothersome... the sheer number of her minions had hindered her in getting to those girls.

In the end, the seconds the heroine wasted fighting to get past Familiars had been what killed the other two. Blades were mere inches from Madoka's jugular when Mami arrived; when the labyrinth disintegrated, there was no trace of Sayaka. Hitomi died sobbing in her friend's mangled, bloody arms.

Days later, a broken Madoka wished that she had the power to protect people.

Mami knew better than to blame herself for what happened; this sort of tragedy was not uncommon, and Magical Girls had to learn from their failures, if they themselves were to survive long enough to help others.

Now, the stunned gunslinger watched in awe, as the sky rained beautiful, pink beams of death upon the Dessert Witch.

Madoka's lethal shower of arrows easily wiped the area clean of most of Charlotte's familiars. Despite their apparent victory, she backpedaled in the air, presumably to get a better angle on the scene anyway; "Always better to be safe than sorry," she'd learned early on in her career, from none other than the blonde observing the battle from below.

Madoka wouldn't let it show until later, but more than anything else, she was seeking the older girl's approval.

The maze began to flicker. Reality came back into view, and Mami dropped her guard prematurely. Already smiling, she whistled and waved for the younger girl's attention. Madoka's body tensed in acknowledgment, and Mami realized that the maze hadn't truly disappeared...

This wasn't over yet.

First and foremost, Charlotte was a survivor. Playing dead, using decoys... Her tricks were just simple enough for many a seasoned Puella Magi to fall for.

Without warning, a second body - a massive, grotesque, caterpillar creature - rose with startling speed from the settling dust, dripping with frosting and blood. It fixed its hungry gaze on the distracted blonde's hair as Yellow... Like cheese... registered in its limited awareness, and rushed towards her, mouth agape.

Mami, sensing the impending danger, tore her eyes away from the girl above her and raised a rifle. Calmly, she lined up her sights with the center of the foolishly impulsive Witch's forehead.

...Too easy...

Amber eyes locked with Charlotte's just as her index finger barely grazed the trigger... not nearly hard enough to fire. The playful, murderous intent in the Witch's stare was paralyzing. The Veteran froze, her knees betraying her and locking up in mid backwards step.

...Oh my God...

With the confidence and grace of one who'd had much longer than two weeks experience as a Puella Magi under her belt, Madoka landed in a defensive stance a few yards in front of Mami.

The monster stopped its approach abruptly, seemingly frozen in fear of the pinkette's glare in much the same way that Mami had been of Charlotte's, moments earlier.

Instantly regaining her composure, the Veteran Puella Magi smiled inwardly, and moved to join her junior, rifle still at the ready.

Talk about close calls...

All parties unwilling to be the one to make the next move and risk leaving themselves open, the three of them simply faced each other, still as statues.

Before long, Mami allowed her conscious attention to shift from her enemy to her ally.

With a sidelong glance, she took in her partner's every feature. Her softly toned muscles were relaxed, but more than ready to spring into action at a moments notice.

Her frame, although petite and still developing, was imposing... Mami found her Junior's posture and fierce expression strangely intimidating. Madoka had pulled her bowstring taut, with at least four arrows nocked at her fingertips. For an awful moment, the Veteran wondered what would happen if they became competitors for this territory in the future.

Maybe, she would stand a ghost of a chance if it happened while Madoka was still... Mami shook her head and pushed the thought away.

Just who is this girl...?

The monster licked her lips and grinned, determined to get some kind of meal out of this for her trouble. Rainbow eyes flitted from one girl to the other, undoubtedly imagining which one would taste better, and unable to decide who to try first.

Now drooling and panting excitedly, the witch closed her eyes. Her flower-nose twitched as she sniffed the air.

...Smells like Yellow... Good... like cheeeese...

It was obvious who she'd chosen, and although she tried to pretend like she wasn't about to make her move, her head tilted ever so slightly towards Mami.

Charlotte waited a few more seconds, letting her imagination fill with the taste of the blonde's head in her mouth. Her entire body tingling in anticipation.

Charlotte's eyes locked with Mami's again, effectively trapping her. Grin widening, the Witch shot forward.

Mami had been the one playing dirty, this time.

Although they hadn't wordlessly communicated any particular strategy, the Girls moved in unison at the last possible second, both seeing this as a chance to end things.

Before Charlotte could process that she'd been deceived, Mami lept from Madoka's side, onto the nearest platform, and raced to something the novice Magical Girl had been too preoccupied to notice earlier - the real Charlotte.

Meanwhile, Madoka killed the Witch, over and over, ensuring that it would focus on her instead of Mami. After the tenth caterpillar spat out the eleventh, Madoka turned on her heels and ran away, inviting Charlotte to give chase. Enraged, and forgetting about cheese for the moment, she obliged.

As Mami drew closer to the real, defenseless body of the Witch, the decoy body was alerted to the danger. Its head flinched, then snapped to the side, its course of motion taking a seven-ten split.

Madoka fearlessly somersaulted over it's head, landing directly in its path. From there, she resumed destroying Charlotte's bodies as quickly as they came forth.

A resounding "Tiro Finale!" had both Madoka and Charlotte's heads snapping to the source of the sound.

Surely enough, Mami stood on the table in front of a smoldering, rapidly evaporating rag-doll.

Without looking back, Madoka fired a final arrow into the Caterpillar. The dimension collapsed.

Mami, teacup in hand, kicked the fresh Grief Seed over to Madoka, who bent over to collect it, and fainted, beaming.

Madoka wouldn't cry... not in front of the defenseless girl she swore she'd protect.

Mami wouldn't have done that... no way.

She knelt beside her trembling classmate, but tried not to watch as she situated Mami's corpse in as dignified a manner as the heroine deserved. Homura had been around long enough to see the Veteran Puella Magi meet her end, just moments earlier.

It hadn't been pretty...

Mami had meant... more to Madoka than words could express... It was just like her to throw her life away, protecting the pinkette in her moment of distraction.

Even so, now was not the appropriate time, nor this the place, for the only surviving defender of Mitakihara to break down.

She would mourn her friend, mentor, and lover sometime later, regardless of whether or not she was still alive to do so.

Someone had to be strong enough for both of them.

"Well... Here I go..." She really didn't want to say goodbye yet... not like this. Although they had explicitly forbade her from making a contract, ever since they'd saved her from Izabel, Homura Akemi had gone to great lengths - often needlessly putting herself in danger - to support the famous Puella Magi Duo.

The girl had known that there was little she could really do to help them, and that she was more of a burden than anything else... Mami herself had made that abundantly clear. Still, she chose to follow Madoka (to the point of stalking her) everywhere, in the hopes that she could someday repay her for saving her life.

Above all, Madoka didn't trust herself to hold it together once she had to accept that she was likely to die.

"But...! Tomoe-san just... died..."

There she goes again, stating the painfully obvious... Madoka smiled, although the other girl didn't see, and a solitary tear escaped her closed eyelids.

In spite of her determination to keep up her heroic front, Madoka started tearing up. She stood and turned around, as gracefully as possible, so Akemi wouldn't see.

"That's why... Now I'm the only one left to face the Walpurgisnacht."

The tear rolled off her cheek, and the cool, dusty air dried her cheek.

She heard Homura come unhinged behind her, unwilling to accept Madoka's probable fate, and something inside her chest cracked, just a little.

"It's impossible! You can't win alone against that!"

Why does she care for me... so much?

"L-Let's run away! No one... No one would blame you..."

Madoka turned to face her, fully aware that it would be for the last time. She smiled.

"Homura-chan... Back when Mami-san and I made it in time to save you... I'm still proud of that."

Homura looked up at her, still shaking. More than anything, Madoka wanted to fall to her knees and comfort her. They didn't have the time for that, though.

"Goodbye... Homura-chan..." She took one last, lingering look at the girl she still hardly knew, who was crying so hard for her.

For a moment, she was tempted to take her offer.

2

Mami nearly laughed out loud watching Akemi fall. She whimpered pathetically as the blonde eased her down, only as gently as she had to.

The Veteran wasn't pretending that she liked the new girl, but if Madoka wanted them to work together, she would be civil.

Homura looked bewildered, as if whatever she'd done during her time-stop was forgotten.

God... What a ditz.

"I did it...? I did it...!"

Without warning, the gunslinger retracted her ribbons.

Big deal. We could've taken care of it without this weirdo...

"You did it!" Madoka basically tackled the girl in an energetic embrace.

Mami's lip twitched in annoyance, and she looked away. They had just met this girl, still knew next to nothing about her, and already Mami felt like a third wheel around the two.

"Congratulations..." She offered, still feeling awkward.

"Amazing! You're amazing, Homura!"

Whatever. It wasn't that special... I did most of the work, anyway!

Changing out of her Magical Girl outfit, Mami began walking away.

"We shouldn't loiter here..."

"Oh... Right! Let's go celebrate, Homura-chan!"

Mami glanced back just in time to see Madoka take Akemi's hands in her own and help her up.

She didn't fail to notice that rather than letting go immediately, Madoka tightened her grip around one of Akemi's hands, and continued holding it as they took her home.

"But... What? I don't under-"

"That's right. You don't understand much of anything, do you?" The blonde snapped, nearly crushing a glass she was drying with her bare hands in her frustration.

Madoka opened her mouth to respond, but closed it right away. Where was all of this coming from, all of a sudden?

Mami didn't really mean to hurt her; she was sure that particular feeling was mutual.

They loved each other... at least, they definitely had when they were still the Puella Magi Duo.

It was just that Madoka didn't seem to 'love' Mami in the same way she seemed to love Akemi, now.

Then again... perhaps that was just her imagination. It wasn't like she'd started dating the weirdo or anything.

Yet...

"I... I'm sorry... Madoka, I didn't mean that..."

Still confused and hurt, the pink-haired girl didn't say anything more. She put her soaking wet plate back onto the counter, and moved to walk away.

"It's just that... you're so... heartless..." She whispered.

Before she could think better of the impulse, Mami gently took her by a shoulder and pulled her back. She pressed the younger girl against her, earning an adorable, surprised squeak.

"W-What do you... mean...?" Madoka whispered into the blonde's neck. Both of her hands held the fabric sitting atop the older girl's collarbones in tight bunches.

Mami's fingertips, formerly stroking Madoka's jawline and ear, moved to her bottom lip, and slid up again to caress her flushed cheek. She leaned forward, slowly, and pushed an idle hand against the small of the younger girl's back.

"And... oblivious..."

Madoka stopped breathing.

Always the gentleman, Mami tenderly tilted Madoka's head upwards, forcing her to make eye contact. Faster than lightening, she pecked her on the nose.

The pink in the girl's cheeks couldn't get any deeper. Probably.

Mami raised an eyebrow, hints of a playful smile working its way onto her face.

"...Forgetting something?" Reading the confusion in Madoka's eyes, Mami took a deep, shuddering breath, and puffed out her cheeks instead of exhaling.

The way Mami scrunched up her eyebrows made Madoka giggle, take a deep breath automatically, and realize she'd been holding hers.

The blonde used her distraction to plant a kiss, lighter than air, on her burning cheek, and used her gasp to bring their lips together.

Mami smiled when she felt a small tremor shoot through the other girl's back, her heart fluttering in turn when Madoka wrapped her arms around her neck and deepened the kiss herself.

Pulling away was almost painful for her; Mami, both hands now wrapped around her partner's waist, tried to speak, but Madoka was leaning up and pulling Mami back down before she'd even taken a breath.

Now not even breaking for air, Mami marched Madoka backwards, out of the kitchen.

Mami-san had died protecting her, again.

Madoka poured all of her frustration and misery into her next attacks on Walpurgisnacht, unknowingly increasing their effectiveness exponentially with her suffering.

Now, Homura held Madoka as she writhed in agony.

Her Soul Gem, usually radiating with warmth and glowing a bright red, had grown as cold as it had black over the course of this single battle. Madoka hadn't noticed until it was too late.

It hurt to even hold it in her hand. In the back of her mind, Madoka wondered how such a small object could possibly be so heavy...

She wasn't aware of exactly when it happened, but some of the workings inside of her Soul Gem must have imploded.

"W-Why...?"

The thing in her hand was strange; unknown to her, but familiar. It was even heavier that her Soul Gem, at first.

With great effort, she lifted her palm to the sky and closed her eyes.

3

"If I can have a say, I'm against teaming up with this girl."

Sayaka always had to have her way. It was annoying, but if Madoka wanted them to work with her, Mami could be civil.

For now, at least. After all, having four, possibly five Magical Girls work in a single area was unheard of. And for good reason: it wouldn't be long before they had to go their separate ways, or fight each other for this town.

Not that Mami had any personal vendetta's against the other girls, but she had been there first, and definitely for the longest. She'd leave on her own time, and they'd have to deal with it.

"Akemi-san, don't you have any other weapons?"

"Let me think about it..."

While Akemi went off and did... whatever it was... Madoka and Mami listened patiently to Sayaka as she ranted about her love life.

Kyou-whoever was really bothering her.

Madoka tried valiantly to console her friend, while Mami contemplated ways to murder her.

Mami and the others were right there when Sayaka turned.

She'd finally had enough of the blue-haired girl's immaturity, and decided that an intervention was in order.

The instant Madoka was out of earshot, leaving the two alone to talk to Homura privately, Mami was grabbing Sayaka by the shirt collar and slamming her against a wall.

Her teeth gnashing together in annoyance and bone-chilling glare freezing Sayaka in place, Mami tried to communicate her 'feelings' to Sayaka.

Sayaka had never seen the usually calm, well-mannered upperclassman behave in such a... brutish way.

"You do realize that you aren't the only one of us with problems?"

Sayaka opened her mouth and Mami tightened her grip, glare intensifying.

Nod

"Good. Do you also understand that it is no one's responsibility but your own to deal with your personal issues?"

...Nod...

"Are you sure...? Because it seems to me like you believe that Madoka is the one who should be up all night, tossing and turning because of what you've told her... I'm sick of it."

The girl started crying, and Mami, almost regretting that she'd said anything, let her go.

Mami walked a little ways away, and Kyouko appeared beside her out of nowhere.

"Well... that was harsh..." Kyouko winced before taking a bite out of an apple.

"She needed it." Mami replied, trying more to convince herself than anything. Kyouko frowned, but shrugged it off.

Madoka, returning from the direction of Homura's apartment, met up with the two.

The explosion of Sayaka's grief sent all of them to the floor.

"What was that...?"

They shared a glance, and broke out into a full-run back to where they'd left Sayaka.

The Witch's dimension threw them off completely.

She'd had the entire battle to plan this out.

Kyouko was borderline hysterical, Madoka on the verge of tears... Meanwhile, Mami was off to the side, completely uninvolved.

It wasn't very difficult to piece together what happened to Sayaka... and that the same fate awaited all of them.

A few wheels caught Madoka off-guard, and knocked her down.

More were coming her way, and Mami jumped up to shoot them down.

In a flash, those wheels burst into dust.

Akemi...

Only seconds later, Sayaka was caught in one of the random explosions she'd been so fearful of.

Mami would immobilize Homura first. Prevent her from stopping time...

Kyouko would probably have been the hardest to take care of under different circumstances, but she was easily the most shaken by Sayaka's... demise.

Yes. First, dispatch Akemi... then... Kyouko... then find Akemi's Soul Gem...

But...

Then there was Madoka...

Well.

She could never...

A/N

I don't consider myself a Mami/Madoka fan... at all. This is probably one of my weaker stories; I don't really think that I wrote her character correctly all the way through in this...

*shrug*

This is a three-shot in progress, with each respective chapter exploring a different pairing. Next chapter: HomuKyou