Ding Dong

Chapter 1:

The Good Old Days Have Come

"I don't want to only see you in my dreams."

The terse response came against tears that flowed like waterfalls. Her fists were clenched and she was inconsolable as she sat next to the only one she knew that could comfort her. Her long black hair flew slightly against the wind, the red ribbon secured nice and tight. The ribbon that bonded these two souls into the depths of eternity.

"Why not?" she asked, concerned as she wiped the tears from her friend's face.

"You don't always need to be out there in heaven, protecting everything! You can come here to comfort me, too. And seeing you in my dreams is not enough! It's not, it's not, it's not!" She shook her head violently before she rested in a lap of sympathy, her crestfallen black eyes fixated on the golden irises of her counterpart.

"But this is how it has to be. You know that. Right? You're the only one that can see me. The only one in this world." She stroked one of the Anthony helpers to keep it company.

"I want to live a normal life. If the world I know has you in it...I will regret nothing from the decision I have chosen."

"But didn't you already make your wish a long time ago?"

"I don't care what happens if I want to make another. I don't care. I would rather live a normal life than to be who I am without you in my life completely...because I love you." The frown turned into a smile.

"No use now," a certain familiar said. "You can go ahead and do it. Kyouko and Mami can handle this by themselves. And I can always recruit someone else."

"I know," she said. "Homura-chan has suffered long enough."

"You need to be with her even more. I won't stop both of you."

The girl with the long black hair continued to cry as she was comforted. "Madoka...Madoka..."

"Madoka...Madoka..."

Homura Akemi slowly opened her eyes as the birds began to sing outside her apartment in Mitakihara Town. Outside, the trains were rolling down the track, and traffic was at a standstill. The new school year was about to begin, and as a third year student at Mitakihara Middle School, the decision as to which high school to attend became important. Well that, and her obvious obligations.

"Heh. Like hell my second wish is ever going to happen," she laughed bitterly as she perused the different curious while playing "Classical Gas" by Mason Williams. "This is my life. Why would I be foolish enough to think that asking something so selfish is ever going to happen? I only get one wish, that's it. I'm telling myself, no, I will be a Puella Magi forever, and that's that. That's THAT!"

With a grunt of exasperation, she took a bath, put on her uniform and made some toast before going off on a quick excursion to Sayaka Miki's grave.

"These flowers I have should do it," Homura said, holding a bunch of white roses with blue ribbons. White for purity, blue for Sayaka. Ever since she was sacrificed months ago, she made it a priority to visit her grave at the local cemetery. The fact that she got up at 5:30 a.m. to do this meant that she had time to return to the school for the first day of the new year.

Homura walked over the the headstone that had the named of all those in the Miki family that passed away. As she laid the roses next to the headstone, Homura noticed that a certain string of kanji was in red letters.

It spelled: Sayaka.

Homura had to smirk a little. "Has to be a joke by Kyouko. Maybe she wanted to ink up the text just to be funny." She raised her head to the sky. "Sayaka...wherever you are, Kyousuke is in good hands. We'll make sure it stays that way."

Then she looked at her watch. "6:15. I can walk over to the school if I want. Who cares, I'll just run down there. Here goes nothing." With the feet of Hermes, she went for a freerunning feast, passing through obstacles and making the most of her surroundings to get to the school faster. Homura Akemi was going to have an athletic aspect to herself, whether or not she was a Puella Magi. Not even traffic could stop Homura, who gracefully leapt off the roofs of cars and trucks on her way to campus.

As she reached the outskirts of Mitakihara Middle School, Homura looked at her watch again. Darkness gave way to bright blue skies, speckled with white clouds dancing across the horizon. "6:25, and not a person in sight. Oh, the gate's open, and there's a few people inside the place."
'

Homura walked through the gate, and snapped her fingers. "That's right, shouldn't Kyubey be with me right about now? Maybe he's just sleeping back at home." Even familiars like Incubator needed some down time from the demon hunts. As a matter of fact, Homura, Kyouko Sakura and Mami Tomoe didn't have to hunt that many demons; in fact, in the past month, they just needed to take down five, and they finished them off in 10 minutes. So for the most part, the coast was clear.

Homura took a look at the list of students in her class, looking for her name. Class 3-1, and her seat was in the back. She made her way up the steps, finally reacher her seat in the room. A few students were already inside, talking with one another about the latest trappings of pop culture.

"This is all going to be a boring day to start the year," Homura lamented. "I've got this, then I need to hear from Kyubey if there are any demons I have to take out." She watched the petals fall from the trees planted outside.

"Madoka..." she thought as the others students in her class made their seats. "This world looks too safe now. Everything is just too normal. Do you think...today will be different?"
Homura flipped her locks as she broke her silence. "I'm just talking to myself. This is just going to be the easy part of my day. Just let all the periods pass by and let me take out some demons when Kyubey get his ass back over here."

At last, her homeroom teacher, Ms. Kazuko Saotome, entered the room. "Third-year students, welcome to another school year, and the last year of your time here at Mitakihara. I hope that you will make this the best year of your lives as you begin the transition to high school."

"Tell us something we don't know, Sensei!" hollered a smart-alecky student in the middle of the classroom.

Miss Kazuko looked at her roster. "Kato, is it...please step outside."

"Yay, I get to hold water buckets!" he said with a whoop and holler, marching out before slamming the door behind him. The others were forced to laugh. Homura looked the other way, continuing to watch the cherry blossoms. "Bloody clown," she muttered.

Miss Kazuko went on, "As I was saying before, I hope that you will make this your year, because you earned all the success that you gained up until this point. Now, in my many years of teaching at this school, I have never introduced a transfer student to any of my homeroom classes. For me, this is historic. Boys and girls, allow me to introduce the transfer student who will be with us this year. Come on in."

The door opened. In came a young girl with long pink hair, partially tied back with twin white bows, wearing the same outfit of the school. Homura had to gasp.

"Whoa, she looks cute!" one student said.

"Love the hair!" another said.

"She must come from a rich family to look so refined," a third remarked.

"Please, you may introduce yourself," Miss Kazuko said.

"Hello everyone, my name is Madoka Kaname," she said with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Homura could not believe it. It was too good to be true. But it was.

She was here.

Madoka, the girl she tried to save so many times before.

Madoka, the girl that prevented her from the cruelest fate imaginable.

Madoka, the girl that she fell in love with for all the right reasons and all the wrong reasons.

Madoka, the girl that she shared a selfish wish with in her sleep hours ago.

Madoka, the goddess that continued to protect and watch over a vulnerable world.

She was here. Madoka was here.

"There's a seat next to Ms. Akemi, right over in the back," Miss Kazuko said, pointing to an empty seat.

Madoka went over and took her seat and looked to her left. "Homura-chan, it's been a while."

The tears were beginning to flow again from Homura's smiling face. Everyone else was looking on with inquisitive glares, whispering to one another. None of that mattered to her.

After days and days of anguish, of despair and loneliness, it was all over. It was done.

"Madoka...my wish came true...after all!"

END CHAPTER 1