Title: The Calm after the Storm (title may change as I write more of it)
Characters/Couples: Madoka/Homura
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mentions of suicide and violence, spoilers for the whole series (especially the ending)
Timeline: After the last episode
Disclaimer: I don't own "Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica."
Summary: "I hate that you make me like myself." Madoka/Homura. Spoilers for the ending.
Notes: Originally this was going to be a one-shot fic. But as I was writing it, I found somehow my ideas didn't fit into one section, so I thought I'd make it into several very tiny chapters – just small little moments of the anguish Homura feels after Madoka is gone. So here's chapter one! Please let me know what you think, thank you. :)

"The Calm after the Storm"
By: dreaming-in-pretenses
Chapter 1

A week ago the park was desolate and still. If the swings moved at all, it was because of the harsh wind. If the gate propped open, it was due to the negligence of one sole person running away. If the sound of any voices filled the air, it was the screams of horror as whole buildings collapsed to the ground.

Yes, it had been stagnant and empty - the very embodiment of the cliché ghost town, right out of a horror movie: if the people weren't hiding, they were dead. If they weren't dead, they were dying. Thus there was no one to greet the newcomers in the movie, as they stepped into the empty town and discovered a vacant park – a cheerful, vibrant park, full of slides and swings and merry-go-rounds; a park that could be perfect, if not for its distinct lack of ecstatic screams and giggles.

A park that could be perfect, if not for its distinct lack of life.

Akemi Homura had been the newcomer discovering that park last week – and although she was only a newcomer to the timeline, not to the town itself, she was still struck dumb by the eerie silence. It was louder than the kids' shouts used to be, when they would excitedly move from monkey bars to jungle gyms and back. It was disturbingly unnatural, that silence, the way it had pervaded the atmosphere and her mind – and more than once she had found herself wondering how she could possibly think over its obnoxious presence.

She had lost so much, in all those timelines, that she had become almost numb to the idea of violence and death. But the distinct lack of humanity in that park still distressed her more than anything else in this specific timeline had.

She, quite simply, didn't want things to stay this way.

She didn't want to be alone.

And now, a week later, she isn't alone. As she lies underneath a large tree, eyes closed and ears focused on the yells of numerous children, that simple fact is apparent to her. This park has changed so much in a week, that it is hard to believe it is the same park at all.

But, of course, it really isn't; it might look exactly the same, but it's the park of a new timeline. A timeline where Homura doesn't have to fight witches anymore. A timeline where people aren't forced into hiding by the corrupted souls of young girls. A timeline where, quite simply, Homura isn't alone anymore.

The soothing breeze and the relaxed atmosphere, the children's voices and the crowded park - all are a testament to that.

Just a week later, and the world has changed so, so much. There's no more painful emptiness or obnoxious silence. The park is full of life, and Homura is no longer alone.

So why, then, does it feel as though nothing has changed?

Why does she still feel so terribly lonely?

She shouldn't feel so alone. Each day, she returns to this very same spot, sits under this very same tree in this very same spot, and tells herself:

"I shouldn't feel so alone. I should be happy. After all, the park is full of happy voices again, and I'm not alone anymore.

"I shouldn't feel so alone."

But Kaname Madoka is gone…

And Homura feels more alone than ever before.