Chapter 2

Incertus

Kyoko hadn't even transformed back to her normal self yet.

Still clad in her red magical girl dress, the girl flew as fast as the wind could carry her, Sayaka's Soul Gem clutched tightly in her hands. Brows scrunched in expectation and eyes wide with regained hope, she hastily jumped from roof to roof. The bright light from the full moon above illuminated her long red hair that she still wore down.

Though the nature of her Soul Gem had prevented her from experiencing the pain she otherwise would have when battling the witch, it hadn't absorbed all of it. However, right now, the veteran could barely feel any of it.

My goodness… my goodness… Am I dreaming?! Damn, please don't let this be a dream…

With how bad her luck had been throughout her life, it was an absolute shock to Kyoko's system that something had actually gone right. She had shut herself off from false expectations for so long that this sheer exhilaration was already such an alien feeling.

She shook her head. No time to celebrate yet! I need to see this through… I need to see Sayaka's eyes fill back with life… I can't be sure if this isn't a trick or something…

Making her way through Mitakihara, Kyoko eventually landed on the roof of a tall skyscraper – one of the many that made up the gorgeous cityscape of the urban metropolis. She made her way down from there back to the hotel room on the topmost floor, paying little to no attention to the amount of noise she made or how conspicuous her obviously unearthly powers of levitation were.

Swiftly opening and then closing the door behind her, Kyoko immediately rushed to the bedroom. Seeing the lifeless body of the blue-haired magical girl on the bed – just as she had left it – made Kyoko's heart lurch before she went to her side.

Eyelids firmly closed and shoulder-length hair sprawled on the pillow, Sayaka didn't seem any less dead now than she had before Kyoko had gone to duel with the witch.

For now… for now…

"Sayaka!" Kyoko exclaimed, putting the girl's Soul Gem in the palm of her hand. Damn, her skin is stone-cold already...

At that moment, Kyoko reverted back to her normal appearance, now wearing her usual loose green hoodie and denim shorts. She pulled out her own Soul Gem, hoping that its warm light was going to be enough to do the trick. It was somewhat tainted from the fight, and she had to use a little more of its power, but she would worry about that later.

She was seriously thankful that fire was her element – no other method would've been nearly as effective otherwise.

"Don't you dare die on me now, Sayaka! You owe me after the beating you gave me. It hurt, y'know!"

Her sharp gaze flickering, Kyoko watched Sayaka's face with anticipation as she knelt next to the bed, holding up her Soul Gem next to her kohai's. The dark bedroom was dimly lit in red and blue, the colors emanating from the Soul Gems of the two magical girls.

Come on, come on…

Frozen in spot, waiting for Sayaka to show any sign of life, Kyoko's heart was threatening to beat out of her chest from the sheer anxiety. Every second that went by felt like eternity. One passed after the other – and nothing was happening.

Why? Her body's getting warmer, and her Soul Gem is right next to it. This should be working!

Don't tell me… I was too late? Is Sayaka—

–Gasp.

A sharp intake of air resounded throughout the room as Sayaka's blue eyes suddenly opened, followed by a series of violent coughs while the girl's body shook on the bed.

"Sayaka!" Kyoko exclaimed with a sudden burst of joy. She then released a breath that she hadn't realized she was even holding, the shock almost making her drop her Soul Gem on the floor. "You shouldn't have scared me like that, stupid! You are alive!"

The blue-haired middleschooler was still in no condition to answer. She had closed her eyes while she let out a few more coughs and then took several deep breaths, her body slowly relaxing as she did so. Kyoko watched her with relief written all over her face, having had to calm down almost as much as Sayaka herself.

"You're alive…" she repeated quietly to herself, sighing. Her eyes watered just a little.

Sayaka blinked as her mouth gaped, her gaze first registering the sight of the ceiling above. Everything about her expression spoke complete and total confusion.

"Sayaka?" Kyoko said and in so doing made her presence known to her kohai. There was concern in her voice, but it was overshadowed by the sheer mirth at the fact that her plan had worked and they were both alive. Seeing the life return in Sayaka's eyes was simply priceless.

"Wh-where… where am I?" Sayaka asked with a blank look on her face, slowly turning her head to look at Kyoko and noticing the blue Soul Gem in her palm.

"You're—You're safe here, don't worry," Kyoko answered after some hesitation. Probably not the best idea to immediately tell her that I've sort of… commandeered this hotel room.

She stood up and then sat on the edge of the bed next to Sayaka's lying body. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"

"I…" Sayaka uttered, glancing at Kyoko before gazing at her Soul Gem again. "What… what's going on?"

"It's fine, it's fine," Kyoko spoke as she tried to calm her friend down. She's a friend, huh… a friend I risked everything for. My only friend, really. Who I tried to kill a few days ago. Man, I really have gone nuts. "You're alive and well, that's what matters. Your Soul Gem is not corrupted."

"My… Soul Gem…" Sayaka weakly looked at the orb, and within the span of a few seconds, her features showed that she had a moment of abrupt recollection. "But I… died, didn't I? I… I thought I did – when I talked to you on the station…"

Kyoko looked away towards the window of the bedroom, glancing at Sayaka out of the corner of her eye.

Crap… she doesn't seem to remember what happened to her. She was already losing her mind because of all that 'Soul Gem being your true body' business, so I can take a guess how she'd react when I tell her that we also turn to freaking witches. I didn't bring her back so she can go all berserk on me again. I have to break it to her gently…

"What's the last thing you remember?" Kyoko asked in a few moments with a mix of curiosity and caution.

"I…" Sayaka looked at the ceiling, obviously trying to piece together her thoughts. About a minute passed until she replied, "I don't know why, but I seem to remember… music. There was a concert, an orchestra… it was like a nightmare."

It sure was.

Sayaka looked like she was still struggling with her memories, so Kyoko stayed quiet until her kohai said more.

"The only other thing I can remember is hearing voices too… but I can't think of anything else. This is… really strange."

"Voices?"

"Yeah."

Kyoko closed her eyes and shifted her legs a little as she folded her arms. She had to admit that she was curious if it was her voice that Sayaka had heard.

Heh, get real. It was probably Kaname – they've been friends since forever after all, while I tried to goad Sayaka into fighting me to the death twice. And sort of bullied her. We weren't exactly best buds, were we? Though… why does it even matter as long as the plan worked?

"Hey…" Sayaka said, breaking the redhead out of her reverie. There was unmistakable grief in the girl's voice as she asked, "Tell me, please… why am I alive? I should be dead."

Kyoko gritted her teeth in a flash of anger. Though she tried to stop herself, she couldn't help but snap.

"Do you want to be dead, now? I thought you wanted to keep Mitakihara safe from even the smallest, tiniest bloody Familiar you come across. I thought you wanted to help people! And you can actually continue doing that now!"

"I told you…" Sayaka looked at her Soul Gem ruefully, tears welling up in her eyes. "Not if I bring equal despair too, not if I become… a monster… full of hatred and jealousy."

Kyoko shuddered. Sayaka didn't realize how close to the mark she hit as far as the true nature of their Soul Gems was concerned. The redhead exhaled, already regretting her outburst. She then remembered what she had meant to say to Sayaka – what she could've said – before Sayaka turned into a witch.

"I almost… I almost…" Sayaka continued as she sobbed, struggling with her words. "I almost killed two people… only because of what they said… and… Madoka! Madoka, where is she?"

Shit, Kaname. Right. She probably thinks Sayaka is dead… She probably thinks I'm dead, too. I can't just leave Sayaka and go tell her and Homura what happened right now, though. The reunions can wait.

"She's fine, don't worry about her," Kyoko abruptly spoke, really hoping that Homura had managed to take care of the pinkette and ensured her safety as she had promised she would. All she ever seemed to care about was her anyway. "Listen to me, Sayaka. I was kind of hoping we'd share a little snack first, y'know, start off slow, but it looks like I need to get this out of the way now."

On instinct, Kyoko grabbed Sayaka's hand with her own and squeezed it tightly, looking at her with an intense look in her eyes – with as serious of an expression as she could manage. She could tell that Sayaka was startled, but she had to get the point across through her thick skull.

"Sayaka, you're not a monster. You're one of the kindest and well-intentioned people I've ever met, and your heart is always in the right place. Hell, you're still half-dead and you sit here worrying about your girlfriend Kaname instead," Kyoko began saying to her, watching the younger girl's flickering gaze look right back at her.

"A kind person would not even think of the things I've—"

Kyoko sighed with exasperation. Honestly, I don't believe I've met anyone this headstrong before. Though I guess that's what piqued my interest in the first place.

"You have to stop seeing the world in black and white, stupid," Kyoko said as she raised her voice at her. "We all have a selfish side to us, but it's what we do that counts. You need to realize that or you'll keep destroying yourself. None of us are saints, but that doesn't mean we're monsters, either."

"But… but you said that—"

"Forget all that crap I filled your head with," Kyoko shook her hand, feeling no need for Sayaka to clarify further. "I was wrong too. Hope and despair do not equate themselves to zero. And I have proof – you're here, and you're freaking alive. So for the love of all that is good and holy, stop moping around and listen to your far more experienced senpai! Um, I mean this time…"

Some color returned to Sayaka's cheeks as the girl stared at Kyoko with a conflicted expression and what looked like surprise. Kyoko gave her a grin before she chuckled, hoping that some lightheartedness would help get all of this through to her. And indeed, the fact that she wasn't saying anything to refute her this time was a good sign.

Pulling her hand away from Sayaka's, she then made use of the brief silence that had fallen between them to walk up to the pile of junk food that she had on the bedroom floor. Though she wasn't exactly famished, she could still feel a little hunger, and it was already reminding her of a time of her life that she wanted to keep locked away.

"Now, I don't know about you, but I'm starving," she said with a grin, grabbing a pair of pocky boxes and walking up to Sayaka again to give one of them to her. "And I think I prefer philosophizing on a full stomach."

Kyoko practically beamed at the sight of the faintest of smiles on Sayaka's face. She even spent a few seconds fixing and straightening the bangs of her blue hair with her fingers, and there seemed to be no more tears forming in her eyes. The girl then slowly shifted her body on the bed, sat up and slouched on the wall – visibly with some difficulty.

"Ugh… my body's a little numb," she spoke. The smile she previously had on her lips was unfortunately short-lived, however, as Sayaka took on a forlorn expression again. Her eyes drooping somewhat, she asked, "Just tell me… what happened after we spoke on the station? I can see that you're trying to hide something."

The redhead sighed as she opened her box and needily began chewing on one of the pocky sticks. She'll find out sooner or later, so I might as well tell her. Hopefully she won't react as badly after what I just said.

She pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed, her eyes making contact with Sayaka's. Obviously struggling as to how to start, Kyoko eventually gave up and decided that she was going to be blunt about this.

"You… you turned into a witch," she said as she looked away for a second, hearing the expected sound of her friend's gasp. After a short pause, broken only by Kyoko's continuous chewing, she continued, "That's what happens to us, magical girls… When our Soul Gems become fully corrupted, we don't just die. We turn into witches. One more thing that bastard Kyubey neglected to tell us about, heh."

"We… we've been fighting… magical girls?" Sayaka spoke after almost a minute, looking positively horrified. "All this time, all those witches we slayed, the Familiars… they were magical girls?"

"Well… they weren't magical girls anymore," the older girl answered, shaking her head and frowning a little. "It's not like they could control what they were doing – much like you couldn't help but beat the hell out of me while you were a witch. And I'm sure you didn't mean to."

Kyoko then chuckled while she began eating another pocky stick, opting for a more light-hearted approach to the subject. As much as that was possible given what the subject was, anyway.

"When you think about it, Grief Seeds do look a lot like Soul Gems, huh?" she asked, rubbing her neck a little as she gave a wry smile. Sayaka reacted just as I expected… it's a wonder why I'm so calm, really. Well, I actually know why.

Sayaka's eyes, still widened in shock, looked at the Soul Gem in her hand. "But… why isn't this a Grief Seed, then?"

"That's the good news, Sayaka," Kyoko beamed at her, grinning from ear to ear. "There seems to be a way around. I…" She could feel her cheeks flush a little, but she went on anyway. "When you turned, I… I didn't want to give up on you, so… I thought that, if like, you managed to hear a friend's voice calling out to you or somethin'… you might remember who you are."

Sayaka's fixed stare in Kyoko's direction wasn't helping. Judging by the intensity of her gaze, she was thinking hard on what she was just told.

"The music that was playing, that concert… that must've been from back when I transformed," she extrapolated, still looking at Kyoko thoughtfully. "And the voices I heard, I remember now… I heard Madoka, and I heard you, too. That's what made me try to escape and… get back here."

Oh, so she did hear me too, then... I wonder if she remembers exactly what I said? Wait, what am I getting excited over?

"That was the plan," Kyoko spoke, smiling at Sayaka after she gulped down her next piece of pocky. "I thought that you'd hear Kaname, at least, and in the end I didn't have to strike you down. You just… kind of disappeared at one point and your Soul Gem just appeared out of the blue on the ground. A part of me didn't really think the plan would work, but it did, Sayaka. I thought I would get despair equal to the hope I had, just like before with my father… but instead, I got even more hope this time in return."

"Madoka… I didn't hurt her, did I?" Sayaka asked nervously, her hand hardening its grip on the unopened box of pocky that she was still holding.

"Well… I was the one who brought her there with me, so it's not your fault," Kyoko answered tentatively, but was quick to add after seeing Sayaka's eyes beginning to widen, "But she's with Homura now. I know how you feel about her – I'm not a fan of her either, hell I think she might be a witch already – but for some reason she cares about Kaname's safety a lot. I know she's taking proper care of her right now. Trust me on this."

Sayaka blinked a few times, still looking dumbfounded and contemplative, but not nearly as horror-struck as she was a couple of minutes ago. She seemed a little reluctant, but judging by her relaxed grip on the pocky box, she had opted to trust Kyoko.

"And… you?" she then asked her concernedly.

"Hah, who, me?" Kyoko replied, putting a hand on her hip and scoffing nonchalantly. "Nothing but a few scratches. I mean, don't get me wrong – you were good, but not that good. You still have a lot to learn, I'm afraid."

Not entirely true, but right now she was feeling pretty much perfect.

"Let me take a look at your Soul Gem," Sayaka suddenly spoke with evident worry in her tone.

Damn, I forgot about that.

"It's okay, it's not—"

"Just let me see it."

Kyoko knew this was a fight she couldn't win, so she conceded with a sigh. The girl pulled out her Soul Gem from her pocket for a second, which was clearly more black in color than red by now. Sayaka gasped again.

"Kyoko, you can't risk getting into any more fights, I will find a witch and—"

"Sayaka, you have to rest now," Kyoko laughed, returning the oval-shaped Soul Gem in her pocket. Of course this was what I thought she'd say. But… I think that's the first time she's addressed me by my first name, right? I didn't expect to hear that, but it's… really nice. "I've been in worse situations before, trust me. Besides, if push comes to shove, Homura can get a Grief Seed for me. You really need—"

"You saved me, I can't just sit here and—"

"The best way to repay me, if you really insist on doing that, is to stay here for a while, wait to get better, and open your damn box of pocky and eat some with me."

Silence fell upon them again. Kyoko had expected – and wanted – to see Sayaka smile again, but she was still obviously worried about the whole situation, eyes looking down at the floor wistfully.

Not that I blame her – it isn't every day that you die, then get brought back to life, and learn that you were an abomination in the time between and can still become one. Man, this so messed up.

"I know this is a lot to take in, heh… I'm still kind of shaken by all that's happened too," Kyoko finally said after a minute, standing up as she started to pace around the room. "But… point is, you were right to be hopeful, Sayaka. We can defy the odds, and I'm sure we can find a way to beat Walpurgis Night too, especially now that you're here. If we do, we won't have to worry about turning into witches. I mean, Kyubey didn't think we could bring you back either, but we did."

"Kyoko…" Sayaka eventually said, making the redhead stop pacing as she turned her head to look at the blunette. The veteran didn't fail to notice that she referred to her by her first name again – she wanted to get used to hearing that. "I don't know what to think about all of this yet and I'm still feeling pretty weak, but… what I want to say is – thank you… and… I'm sorry for everything and… for being so hostile to you before. I really was wrong about you."

"Heh, don't worry about all that, stupid," Kyoko waved her hand dismissively as her cheeks went almost as red as her hair was. "It's not like I gave a very good first impression, eh? I did sort of try to kill you, after all."

"Well… in some ways I was kind of asking for it," Sayaka gave a faint, but very much a real and infectious smile. Now there's the Sayaka I wanted to see. Man, I still can't believe she's actually here. "I am one of the most stubborn people on the planet. Madoka can attest to that."

"Oh, I don't need her to," Kyoko playfully stuck her tongue out at her.

"It seems like that has rubbed off on you a little though," Sayaka observed, raising one of her brows at her curiously.

"Well… I guess you could say that," Kyoko muttered with a small smile, suspiciously stuffing herself with a couple of pocky sticks and averting her gaze from Sayaka for a brief moment, her blush reappearing again, now more intense than ever.

However, she couldn't help but look back at Sayaka as soon as she heard the girl finally opening her own pocky box.

Heh. Sayaka's really back.

Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews, everybody - I appreciate it! Glad you're enjoying the story so far! Hmm, as for whether flipping of desks will be required... well, I can't quite answer that, can I? :P But you might want to stick around...

Anyway, I know that Homura and Madoka are still absent, but don't worry - they'll be making their first appearance in the next chapter.