"Miss Akemi?" a voice said from above Homura as she opened her eyes. She was on the floor surrounded by a group of girls in their gym uniforms. She gasped and tried to get up and look for Madoka but he fell back down the moment she stood up. "Akemi-san, don't overdo it. You fainted during our warm ups. Are you okay? Did you have breakfast?" Homura blinked and looked around. She didn't know this girls and couldn't see Madoka anywhere. "Maybe this was all a bad dream" she thought and fainted once again.

When she woke up again, she was in the nurse's office with Madoka staring down at her. "Madoka!" Homura squeaked with joy. Madoka put a hand over Homura's mouth and giggled. "You're going to scare the nurse." "What's going on? Where are we?" Homura asked trying to piece everything together. They had been in Mitakihara, they had fought Walpurgis, they had been about to die and Madoka had made a wish! "I don't know for sure. I guess my wish worked and we are in a place without incubators or witches. But I don't fully understand. I tried transforming into a Magical Girl but I couldn't. Do you think that maybe now we're just… normal girls?" Homura's eyes lit up when she heard Madoka say this and smiled from ear to ear. This was the first time Madoka had seen her this happy, and to be honest it was a bit creepy. Madoka helped her get up and they started walking towards the door, however they were stopped by a girl on their way out. Homura recognized her as the blue-hair girl who had asked if she was okay when they were outside in gym class, but she still didn't know who the girl was. "Sorry but you can't leave the infirmary yet. The nurse need to write you a pass." The girl said in a friendly tone. Homura and Madoka nodded and followed the girl. The nurse ran a few quick tests and wrote them a pass to class. Just then it dawn on them that they had no idea where they were supposed to go! "We don't know our classes." Homura blurted out before she could stop herself. "We also don't know you name…" she added awkwardly. The girl blushed and introduced herself, "Sorry, I didn't really introduce myself. My name is Mato Kuroi. You can call me Mato if you'd like. I'm supposed to take you to the counselor so you can get your classes since you guys are new. She'll help you with that. Right now everyone is at lunch though, so maybe we should eat something first." Homura waved her hand dismissively but Madoka agreed with the girl and so they all went to get lunch together.

Homura and Madoka both sat down with Mato but were soon joined by two other girls. The two girls sat next to Mato and asked each other the question "who are they" with their eyes. They didn't know why Mato was sitting with the new girls but knew she was always friendly so it wasn't too surprising. "Hi, my name is Yomi Takanashi and this is Yuu. We're Mato's friends." One of the girls said. Homura nodded and Madoka introduced herself and Homura as new transfer students. The girls nodded and smiled. Mato prompted them to keep on talking by asking about their old school and friends. At the mentioning of the word "friends" Madoka dropped her chopsticks and turned to Homura. "Homura-chan! What do you think happened to them? Do you think they were saved?" her voice was shaky but her eyes were hopeful. Homura was about to respond and say that they probably weren't, when she suddenly caught a glimpse of two girls arguing behind Madoka- one of them with long red hair and the other short blue. They appeared to be arguing and were causing quite the commotion so she did not have to tell Madoka to turn around. "Miki!" Madoka squealed with joy. The blue hair girl glanced over to where Madoka was sitting but only raised an eyebrow before returning to her argument. "You know Miki and Sakura?" Mato asked in surprise. Madoka explained how Miki had gone to school with them as well. Yomi and Yuu looked at her in confusion. "Miki-san has gone to school with us since we were children." Mato explained. Madoka was about to argue about it but Homura interrupted her and apologized saying she just looked like someone they knew back in Mitakihara. The three girls nodded and continued to talk about other subjects, without noticing Homura giving Madoka a silencing stare.

After lunch ended, Mato took the two girls to the counselor so they could know their classes. The counselor opened the door and smiled offering them a cup of tea. The girls took it and Mato excused herself and went to class, leaving the new girls with the woman.

"You must be Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi." The counselor said. She was a young lady with a kid expression on her face. The girls nodded and sipped their tea. The counselor introduced herself as Saya Irino. Homura and Madoka smiled awkwardly as they had nothing to say in response, she already knew their names. Just then, Homura remembered why they were there to begin with. "We need our classes." She said matter-of-factly. Saya nodded and took some papers out. After handing them the papers, the girls stood up to leave, however they were stopped. "Oh please, finish you tea. We're still not done talking." Homura's guard automatically went up and she stopped drinking her tea. She didn't trust this lady anymore. Madoka didn't seem to notice this and continued to drink her tea. "So what is it you want to discuss with us?" Homura asked in the least suspicious voice she could muster. The counselor smiled and asked "Have you ever felt full of despair? Or maybe just really sad? Then suddenly felt a lot better but not even remember what caused you that pain to begin with?" The girls exchanged suspicious glances but shook their head in the negative. The counselor looked at them in surprise. "You haven't?" Homura stared at her and responded in a monotone voice, "Of course not. We don't have the luxury to deal with despair. We fight the fears and worries of others but we ourselves are forced to live in empty oblivion." Saya nodded and put down her own cup of tea. "You're not from this world, are you? You're one of them." She said expressionless. Madoka shook her head and protested, "No, that's not true! Homura, you've felt pain. We all have. We're not magical girls anymore. We're normal!" The counselor raised an eyebrow and Homura grinned remembering this was true. She was normal; she was alive, and most importantly, she had Madoka with her. The girls explained how they had become Magical Girls and what they did and how they had ended up there while Saya silently listened and nodded form time to time. When they were done talking the counselor smiled and told them they could go to class however, just before they left, Homura looked directly at Saya and noticed something she knew only too well- a cold soul hidden behind a smile.

"I don't trust her." Homura confided to Madoka as they walked home. Madoka looked at her in confusion. Who was she talking about? They had met dozens of girls. "That counselor lady. I can see it in her eyes. I think she might be one of us." Homura explained. Madoka reminded her that there weren't any magical girls in this world and she was too old to be one anyways. Homura nodded, a bit more reassured this time. "Homura-chan, why didn't Miki-chan recognize me?" she asked with sadness in her voice. "Because we're not in the same universe. It's like when I traveled through different timelines. The people are the same but their memories are different. For the most part, they just change memories with you in them." Madoka nodded grimly and the girls continued their walk in silence.

They arrived at a small two story house and read the name outside. MADOKA. They walked to the door and were welcomed by Madoka's younger brother before even reaching the door. "Madoka! Madoka!" he screamed in joy as he jumped up and down to great his older sister. Homura smiled awkwardly before saying her goodbye. Just as she was about to leave though, Madoka's mom crashed right into her. "Homura! Where are you going? It's already getting late." She said with mocking disapproval. Homura looked at her in confusion. She had never spoken to Madoka's mom before so how did she know her? She didn't dwell on this too much though since she knew they were in a different timeline/universe. She smiled and went inside with Madoka. Her father had made dinner for them and was waiting for them at the table already. They all sat down and ate while Madoka's mom talked about her day at the office and how the new CEO didn't have a clue about what he was doing. After dinner, Homura and Madoka did the dishes and then went upstairs. They noticed there were four rooms, one for Madoka's parents, one for her younger brother, and the other two… for them. The girls exchanged looks and each opened a door revealing opposite rooms. One room contained a pink bed by the window with a white pillow and a yellow stuffed animal. There was also a desk with school stuff and a cushioned rolling chair. Obviously this room belonged to Madoka. The other room also had a window but it was covered up with a purple curtain. The bed wasn't next to the window, instead it sat in the middle of the room covered in a white sheet and a dark purple pillow. The only other thing in the room was a drawer and some shelfs with several worn out books and a vase with flowers next to some pictures. Homura approached the shelf and gasped when she saw who was in the pictures. Madoka was next to her a few seconds later and they both stared at the picture with equal astonishment. In the picture in front of them were child versions of Homura and Madoka smiling with their parents. "This doesn't make any sense." Homura thought out loud. Madoka nodded in agreement. Their parents had never met, much less raised them together as children. "I guess we met earlier in this life."

Madoka was about to ask Homura where her parents were when she noticed a newspaper article on top of the shelf. Homura took the paper and gulped as she read what she already knew was written on there. Her parents were dead. They had died in a car crash several months ago. Madoka read at the paper and glanced at Homura expecting to see grief or sadness but she saw nothing. "I guess some tings stay the same." She simply said as she put the newspaper inside a drawer. Madoka started to express her sympathy towards her but Homura cut her off with a smile. In this world, it had only been a few months since her parents had died but to her, it had been a lifetime.

The two girls were on their way to school when they saw Sayaka Miki and Kyoko Sakura. They were walking next to each other, laughing and talking like they were the best of friends. Homura reminded Madoka that in this universe, these girls had only seen them the day before for the first time. Madoka nodded but still ran to catch up with them. The two girls looked at her a bit puzzled but did not push her away. "Hi, I'm Madoka Kaname." The girl said with a warm smile. The blue hair girl smiled back and introduced herself and her friend. "Oi, is that your friend over there?" Asked Kyoko as she pointed to Homura with some pocky. Madoka nodded and waved at Homura to join them. Homura sighed and walked faster to catch up. She didn't have her powers anymore so any mistake she did would stay. There was no re-start anymore.

By the time the girls were at school, even Homura was laughing along with them. The three of them said goodbye to Kyoko as she went to a different class and they went to class together. Halfway through the class, Homura was asked to go to the counselor's office. Madoka glanced at her with a worried look but Homura reassured her everything would be fine. At least, that what she was hoping for.