Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/715647.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death Category: Gen Fandom: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica Character: Kaname Madoka, Akemi Homura, Miki Sayaka, Tomoe Mami, Sakura Kyouko Additional Tags: Slice of Life, Aging Stats: Published: 2013-03-10 Words: 3409 A wonderful life.by Faust91x (Arthur91)
Summary
"And with strange aeons even death itself may die" - Lovecraft. In the end she succeded, after spending what could only be summarized as lifetimes Akemi Homura finally gets to have her happy ending, but...is it really the end? On the nature of mortality...Notes
Hi there, here's my second fanfic ever, along with being the second PMMM fanfic I've made. To prove an opposite viewpoint on my much more gruesome story "Brain Bleach" this one's designed to provide some sort of catharsis but without losing the bitter-sweetness that I've come to love. Hope you like it!See the end of the work for more notes
At long last she made it...at long last!
She was falling, falling towards the familiar ground filled with the rubble that served as a testimony of that day's battle. She felt very bruised and tired, she had battled her impossible enemy, the greatest witch that had ever been born...and she had succeded! With a powerful explosion on what had quickly escalated to a battle of attrition, Homura Akemi had finally disintegrated the source of all her despair, the grand obstacle between her (and Madoka's) happiness, and as the Walpurgisnacht gave away its last laugh, or was it a scream? She could never tell, the battle was over.
Her body felt very heavy and she was very bruised with purple patches and gashes on her skin everywhere, product from the flying shards and rubble at high speeds that had been thrown her way as she fought the Walpurgisnacht. Some marks of burning here and there, with the worst of it being on her right hand which was now burnt to a crisp after having received the brunt of the witch's flame.
On this timeline Homura Akemi, after having faced uncountable failures had finally managed to reunite all the magical girls and prevented Madoka from contracting, having shot Kyubey and having him reveal his plan to all present he had lost their trust and retired. It had all been worth it, Madoka was going to finally live a happy life surrounded by her family and friends, people that loved her, go to college, maybe even marry, she had finally done it and nothing that would happen from them on would matter anymore, it didn't matter if she was going to die there, alone and forgotten to the world in a wasteland, it didn't matter.
Her soul gem dimming dangerously, she felt the poison slowly coursing through her veins with the promise of witchdom, but she wouldn't let such a thing happen, she had to protect Madoka's happiness, even at the cost of her own. With a titanic effort she transformed for the last time and took her trusted Beretta from her shield aiming it at the murky soulgem on her hand...
Bang!
A loud shot was heard as flying shards of glass exploded and shattered. The glass windows fell completely leaving a cracked mess and Homura looked at her hand, her hand that had countless times shot through without fail, her aim improving after every failed timeline, with spirit and technique flawless and firm she thought as she looked at the hand that had deviated her aim causing her to fail on her suicide attempt. And there she was, small, vulnerable and oh so innocent, the pinkette for which she had sacrificed oh so much and for which she would give it all. "Please stop Homura!" said Madoka among tears, "We'll find a way, there's always a way, but don't leave me here!" pleaded Madoka as she retrieved one black and strangely familiar object, pushing it towards Homura's soulgem.
The poison instantly receded and her mind cleared. A grief seed, Madoka had a grief seed, but why? Had she...? "You'll have to thank Sayaka-chan for this, it was the only grief she had left" said Madoka with a timid smile. "Now lets to the shelter, everything's going to be okay, I promise...".
And so they went, in the end despite how much Homura struggled to save Madoka, she would never be able to repay her for everything she had done for her and for all the times she had ended up saved by her, no matter which timeline.
And so the endless loop was over.
March gave way to April as a disconcerted Homura Akemi watched the cherry blossoms falling through the window on her home, the eternal clock that hovered over her room that marked her endless struggle that she used to keep track of the events as they happened had dissappeared along with all the hovering holograms she used to keep information on the witches in order. All that was left was an empty room with white walls, bluish paper scrapping and blood stains, memories of previous struggles. A simple bed on a corner and that was all that was left of Homura Akemi's old lifestyle. She looked through the window, trying to make sense to what in her mind now seemed like an impossibility. "You know, when it all started, I honestly never believed that I would succeed. I kept going, because it was the only path...but deep inside I never thought I'd finally be able to see your smiling face again..." said Homura adressing the pinkette sitting on her bed and looking at her with nostalgic eyes, like it was the first time she finally allowed herself to look at Madoka clearly.
"But you did it Homura-chan, you did it and I'm here, thanks to you" said Madoka standing from the bed and going towards Homura, embracing her long lost friend for the first time. "I didn't knew, but you truly are my best friend" said Madoka as Homura started tearing up.
The first months were the hardest for Homura as she started having nightmares of Walpurgisnacht, the witches and everybody dying. She usually woke up at night screaming and crying, "Madoka where are you? Madokaaaa!", and staring at enemies no one could see. After learning about it and much pleading, Madoka finally convinced Homura to stay at her home, something to which Junko reluctancly agred to when suddenly one night Madoka came home with the ebony asking for her to stay.
Madoka's constant companionship lessened Homura's nightmares making them more bearable and being able to look at Madoka at night helped her feel more at ease.
The months passed and graduation came, Madoka, Homura and Sayaka finally went over to study abroad, it was a new experience for Homura to have new subjects unlike the ones she had so painstakingly memorized after the endless repetitions, but, having had several lifetimes to adapt to the rigors of schoolwork and having performed herself academic feats way beyond what a standard high school student went through (what with assembling and calculating the trajectory of a mortar in the middle of battle or sniping an enemy capable of predicting your next 20 moves at 450 meters and in the middle of a storm at night...) that she actually rose to the top of her class and finished school one year before the rest.
"Wow congratulations Homura-chan!" exclaimed a beaming Madoka the day she told her she had been admitted at a prestigious University to study physics (with specialization on balllistic of all things) .
"Yeah way to go transfer student" exclaimed a much older Sayaka-chan. After the years passed she had grown up to become quite a looker and had finally thrown away the tomboyish look. Her blue hair now longer and her body much more developed, getting to match Mami san's in her...attributes. Wow so Sayaka has really grown up, thought Homura as Sayaka punched her in the arm with more force than expected and making Homura fall to the floor. Okay maybe she hasn't matured that much, thought Homura as she rubbed her arm.
"Don't be so mean Sayaka-chan! She has worked really hard to get that!" exclaimed Madoka, "are you alright Homura-chan?" she asked with a worried look on her eyes. That's Madoka, always worrying over others even when its nothing of importance. "Yes Madoka...thanks" said Homura with a small stutter in her voice.
"Sorry sorry, its just...I feel kinda jealous, its not easy to see everybody going to college while I'm hold back a year you know?" said Sayaka with a look of sadness in her eyes. "Am I such a fool?", "You're not a fool Miki Sayaka, you're one of the most tenacious people I've ever met, and if you focused I'm sure you would make it without much effort" said Homura in her monotone tone, even all these years and she still kept her cold exterior, something that she believed would never go away. Still, what she said was only the truth as she remembered the Sayaka from all those timelines that became her biggest obstacle on more than one of them, her refusal on changing her ways being her greatest weakness...and her biggest strength.
"Yeah you're not a fool Sayaka-chan! And I'll help you in anything I can! I promise!" said Madoka in the hopes of raising Sayaka's spirit.
"You know what, you're right, I'm awesome, hahahahah!" laughed Sayaka making Madoka and Homura exchange a look of she's doing it again...
"And have you heard anything about Kyouko lately?" asked Sayaka. During the Walpurgisnacht battle Kyouko had been the one to save Sayaka's life from a falling building, shielding her with magic and staying by her side all the time. Such an action had changed the caped crusader's view of Kyouko making it do a 360 degree spin and forming an inseparable bond between the two.
"Last thing I heard was that she went over to Kasamino along with Mami to battle some witches there" said Homura in an impassible tone. One of the hardest but biggest achievements on this timeline was to finally had bridged the gaps in Kyouko's and Mami's relationship. After several attempts at convincing them, sempai and kouhai had finally solved their differences and Kyouko had gone to live at Mami's apartment. The companionship gave Mami a rest from her loneliness and gave Kyouko a place to stay, it was a win-win for everybody.
The years passed, Homura graduated as the top of her class and got a job at Junko Kaname's company, something dynamics...tried to remember Homura when she was told the name, it started with V, Vextor dynamics? Varidan dynamics? She couldn't remember. All she knew was that she would be working on the systems for several robots. Being the wiz kind she quickly rose to research head of her division much to Junko's approval. Madoka made a career in economics and came to occupy the same position as her mother, becoming the coolest worker and a mentor figure for everybody that worked there.
Mami-san went over to work on television of all things, becoming an idol and getting her own personal brand of tea.
Kyouko and Sayaka on the other hand preferred a simpler lifestyle, with Kyouko staying as a freeloader on Mami's apartment until finally moving on with Sayaka at their own house after admitting their feelings for each other, to the surprise of everybody (but not to Homura).
"I'm going to get married!" excalimed Madoka to everybody's delight at a dinner she personally organized to give the news to everybody as she introduced her boyfriend to her family and friends. "...Its curious...because we were planning to say the same on this evening..." said Kaname Tatsuya to everybody's surprise, a surprise that reached its peak when he presented his soon to be bride: Homura Akemi...
Madoka and Homura chose to marry together on the same day, the church was filled with cheerful faces as both brides walked together with their husbands, Homura's face as crimson as it had ever been and Madoka beaming as if nothing could ever be better.
Life went by, the endless tick tock never making a stop for anyone as the Puella Magi made their lives and their way on the world. Thanks to their cooperative efforts battling witches came easier and they managed to clean up the city of witches faster than they thought. They stockpiled the grief seeds and got into a major effort uniting Puella Magi across neighbouring cities to better organize their work and lessen the dangers of their "job".
Still, to someone that could understand the flow of time like Homura Akemi, it was certain knowledge it would all come to an end given enough time.
And true to that, the first one to go this time was Miki Sayaka, much to Kyouko Sakura's grief. She ended up blowing herself up in an heroic effort to stop another Walpurgisnacht when it arose. Her funeral was attended to by all her close familiars and friends, finishing with powerful and emotional words from a griefstricken Kyouko. Miki Sayaka, aged 37 years old and on the cusp of her life, gave it her all for her fellow magical girls as a true defender of justice.
Mami Tomoe and Kyouko Sakura went away together several years afterwards, having depleted her magical energy after finishing off several familiars, Mami Tomoe was left on the verge of witchdom and ended up being mercy kiled by Sakura, who, having no ties left to the mortal world, had her life taken together with Mami's, as a true friend staying with her till the end.
They were 76 years old now, in order to keep the facade she had aged herself with magic, having now a wrinkled frame and whitish hair, still, she looked quite younger than her age indicated and her body was as strong as the first time she became a Puellae, if not better. What hadn't fared that well with the passing of years was her soul though as she looked at the purple gem with dark clouds hovering lazily inside of it. They refused to go away no matter how many grief seeds she used to clean her gem and she learned from Kyubey that as time passed the soul deteriorates until it becomes impossible to clean up, which is one of the reasons there were no long lived Puella Magi that he knew of. Homura didn't know if that degradation was caused by the contract or it was as natural as a girl's loss of magical potential. She leaned for the latter as Kyubey had lost all interest on Madoka when she reached 30, saying that her magical potential had diminished to become almost non existential, such a case had made Homura breathe of relief and let her recover more of the life she lost. Still, if this keeps going on one day I'll have to put a gun to my soulgem and pull the trigger, thought Homura darkly. "Mama!" said a small figure that jumped to Homura's back, startling her. "Hey Madoka-chan, you scared me!" said Homura embracing the black haired girl that clinged to her, her adoration.
After several years of convincing on Kaname Tatsuya's part, Homura had finally consented on having children, but the fear of her being a girl and as such the possibility of her getting contracted by Kyubey robbed her of her sleep for long nights. In the end the pressure was too much for her and she decided to confide on Tatsuya her magical nature. The boy, no, man, could only stare in awe as her wife transformed and could only shout...
"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen!"
Having received his full support till the end of time Homura Akemi finally had given birth to a healthy daughter. When asked what would they name her, Homura could only think of one possibility "Madoka".
Meanwhile Madoka had given birth to a boy and she and her son would often come to visit Houra and Tatsuya to relive old memories.
They were 83 now, and Homura stood by the side of Madoka's bed listening to her last words. Madoka and Homura had made succesful careers and had retired, using the money to travel around and having a happy and fullfilling life. But age had taken its toll on Madoka's body and now she laid there, whispering on her last breaths "Homura, please don't leave me, I'm scared". "I'll be by your side, ALWAYS, I promise!" said a tearful Homura Akemi to the older daughter of the Kaname's. Just a year before Tatsuya Kaname had perished victim to a witch Homura had been battling, that casuality had surely affected Madoka's frail health. Such an event weighed heavily on Akemi Homura's conscience.
"Do you think...it could have gone any different?" asked Madoka between raspy breaths, it was obvious she wouldn't last much longer. "I know a thousand ways it could have been worse" said Homura trying to give her best smile to her best friend, but it was useless, there was only a mockery of a smile left in Homura and she decided to instead show her expressionless self, the one she had complete control over.
"Still, I have no regrets...it has been...a wonderful...life..." said Madoka, and then she closed her eyes forever...
Homura Akemi cried like she hadn't in all those timelines, releasing the pent up sadness that had been building up on all those lifes that never came to be.
Having no relatives left and her daughter having grown up and gone on her own, Homura Akemi chose to find a new meaning for her life. Her life had always been Madoka and now that she was gone, having fullfilled her mission, there was nothing else left. She sold all her possessions and embarked on a quest around the world to find a new meaning in life. She visited many wonderful places and met many figures and experts on what people so called life. Still, not knowing about her magical nature and being the oldest magical girl to ever live, Homura Akemi sought to find a path for her own, a path she could be proud of. In the end, she decided that if this was the world Madoka wanted to protect, she would do her best to become guardian of it just like Madoka once wanted.
Traveling to the farthest places on earth, Homura Akemi battled against the witches that lived on the more remote places, witches that had been left alone to grow until they became mad engines of destruction. She led the world's Puellae in several crusades against them and, after singlehandely felling another Walpurgisnacht on her own, she became quite a legend. The angel that came to save all magical girls some called her, others called her the prophet as she came wielding the ideals of a being, someone she called Madoka. They thought it was a godess and more than one started worshipping her as godess of the Puella Magi. If only they knew how real and human Madoka had been...
Having spent close to a century eliminating the scourge of humanity, Homura Akemi's soul gem had finally murked beyond repair. Still, it refused to die and Homura's extreme efficiency and knowledge in battle let her eliminate enemies without exhausting close to nothing of her limited magical reserves. Finally, when the worst of the witches where destroyed and a network of Puella was established to better protect the world, Homura retired.
She returned to her old residence, deciding on what to do next. Everything that could have been done was done, she had saved Madoka, had lived a happy life, had felled the worst beings in human history, and even had a daughter, a wonderful lady that was now studying at one of the most prestigious Universities of the country. Then why did she feel so empty? She transformed, looking at her old self in the mirror. After the facade was scrapped Homura had faked her death to avoid suspicion and had changed back to her younger self, now the pale and young face with purple eyes stared back at her.
She summoned back her buckler, it felt strangely familiar on her arm. After having depleted the sand Homura Akemi was only left with a reset, something she didn't dare to do as it would put in risk all she had done. So she discarded it and learned to use a different kind of magic to battle her enemies. After much convincing by Madoka, she had chosen to use a bow and arrows to battle her enemies, keeping her distance and felling them from afar. It had worked well. But now, the old shield rested on her arm, as new as ever, as if no time had passed since that battle with the Walpurgisnacht. Do you think...it could had gone any different? echoed an old familiar voice in her head, and Homura wondered. She gave one look at her blackened soulgem, did she really make a difference? And...could she do it again? What wouldn't she give to see her smiling face again? But then, it could be worse, much worse...
What wouldn't I give to see you Madoka? She thought as she flipped the hourglass...
End Notes
I wanted to expand it more, but have issues with time, I need a time control buckler too! And who can find the hidden references? XDPlease drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!