Walpurgis Night was over. The battle was won, but only at the cost of everyone who had been lost along the way and, in a few moments, Madoka and Homura's humanity.
"So, this is the end for us..."
The pink-haired Puella Magi spoke tiredly to her black-haired colleague, and Homura only gave a simple weak nod as her eyes grew watery. The girls were lying in the flooded ruins of what had been their hometown before the final battle, and their arms sprawled across each other as their two fully-tainted Soul Gems rested in their open palms.
"Now we'll become monsters together, and we'll turn this world upside-down. Doesn't that... sound... nice?"
Homura struggled to choke her tears as she spoke in labored breaths, trying to make the best of where fate had landed her. This was not the victory she had intended, but she had at least fulfilled her wish of protecting Madoka until the end.
Homura's thoughts were interrupted when she heard the soft ruffling of Madoka reaching into a pocket in her tattered school uniform. She gasped when Madoka withdrew the one thing that could possibly ensure her mission would be a more positive success: A single Grief Seed.
"I lied before. I saved one."
Madoka tried to give the most authentic giggle her despairing state would allow when she spoke.
"I was saving it for you in case you wanted to go back again, but..."
Homura gathered what little strength she had left to desperately interrupt her friend's words.
"No, Madoka! Don't worry about me! Just purify your Soul Gem and get out of here before I transform!"
Madoka returned Homura's concern with a comforting smile. As she looked past the pigtailed girl's glasses and into her eyes, Madoka saw only a reflection of her own self-sacrificing self. She then closed her eyes in an attempt to dam her own tears.
"What good will that do? You said all Puella Magi become Witches at some point, right?"
Homura briefly peered away from Madoka before she responded, knowing her argument was defeated.
"Yeah..."
Madoka opened her eyes again before softly questioning her suffering companion.
"Just tell me, how did it turn out those other times?"
Homura sported a noticeable frown as she recalled her tragic memories.
"I became a Puella Magi because you and Mami originally died beating Walpurgis. The second time, only Mami didn't make it, but you had used so much magic you wound up becoming a Witch afterwards. That's when I realized Kyubey was using us. Since I could still use my Soul Gem that time, I had another chance to go back again and warn you..."
Madoka mirrored Homura's sorrowful expression.
"And now you're here?"
Homura weakly nodded as she added.
"Sayaka wasn't even supposed to become a Puella Magi."
Madoka gasped in shock.
"So, every time you try harder to save me, it just makes things worse..."
The dark-haired girl peered downward in regret, knowing where Madoka's logic was heading.
"Madoka, don't blame yourself..."
Madoka slowly turned her head to glance at the Grief Seed. She studied the artifact carefully.
"I don't want to become a Witch, but..."
She spoke in a sad voice as her eyes turned from the Grief Seed back to Homura. She then looked deeply into the dark-haired girl's eyes, trying to measure the full extent of the agony Homura herself must have been feeling.
"...I almost lost my mind just seeing what happened to Sayaka and the others once. I can't imagine what it's like living through it over and over again."
Madoka tried to maintain an optimistic attitude as a new wave of tears began leaving her eyes.
"Is there any hope for us, Homura?"
Homura did her best to respond honestly.
"I... I don't know. I could still try doing everything on my own, so you never have to become a Puella Magi."
Madoka smiled cheerfully at Homura's proposal.
"You'd fight all of those Witches just to protect me..."
However, she saw nothing but a desperate, futile effort in this idea. Even if it partially worked, Homura would be trapped in the same cycle of tragedy indefinitely.
"I don't want you to try it, though. It would just be too much for you, and I'd make a contract with Kyubey the moment I saw you in trouble."
Homura gasped as her eyes grew wide.
"Madoka! You don't know that for sure!"
The fallen Puella Magi's own protective nature suddenly glowed in a genuine smile.
"Yes I do. Don't you think I'm the first person who knows how I would act if that happened?"
Homura thought to herself in silence. She knew she couldn't argue with her friend's current train of thought.
"The only way you could ever prove Kyubey is tricking us is if I let Sayaka..."
As Madoka continued speaking, her drowsy eyes briefly widened with fright at the prospect currently haunting her mind. She then slowly shook her head, causing the clear puddle of rain water under her to slosh about quietly. This was followed by her giving a gentle, painful laugh toward her situation before she spoke again.
"It's funny. No matter what choice I make here, I'm going to make people suffer."
With this, Homura understood the full scope of Madoka's dilemma. She responded in a shy, uncertain voice.
"Madoka, if you really want me to..."
Madoka didn't allow her doubtful teammate to reach the words "give up" before she made her decision. With a single flick of her wrist, she sent the last Grief Seed skipping down the damp street behind her, far from both her and Homura's nearly paralyzed bodies. Once this was done, she responded to Homura's incomplete statement with a friendly nod.
"Yeah, I want it to end here. This way we'll be powerful enough to always protect each other."
Homura paused for a moment before returning Madoka's nod. She found herself feeling happier than when this conversation began, and accepted the fate that awaited her with only slight fear.
Madoka and Homura gazed toward each other with the same warm smiles as they both closed their eyes. They then shifted their palms so they could hold hands, allowing their Soul Gems to softly roll and clatter against each other. The two girls' hands now formed a womb which held the two blackened stones, and the painful spasms both girls soon succumbed to marked the beginning of the birth of their new forms. After their sharp gasps and squeals stifled, there were a few seconds of complete silence. Then, a pillar of dark energy suddenly exploded from the nest in the girls' now-lifeless hands. From Madoka and Homura's Soul Gems emerged a pair of twin sister Witches.