Chapter 3: Wouldn't You Do the Same?

Memories of Madoka returned when she joined the new universe, as if she had always been there. Mami and Kyoko hung around with her like old friends, and her parents weren't sure why they were so irrationally happy to see her wake up in the morning. More than anything, Homura was happy to be able to actually see her again, and the others could finally know her too.

Kyubey had spoken with her about it, at first skeptical of her claims, but he remembered having a similar conversation with Homura years previously. Above anything, he was interested in a sudden spike of energy that followed Madoka's return.

"If your story is correct," he said, "then it's possible being tied to so many timelines caused the energy around you two to become culminate together now."

"What does that mean for us?" She was responsible for the universe, and needed to know as much about it as she could.

"With this sudden influx of energy, it's possible for us Incubators to leave the planet. You two have created enough energy to hold back entropy for longer than we can calculate!"

Madoka thought briefly before speaking again. "So you aren't staying any longer?"

"We've surpassed our quota for this planet overnight." He stared at her, tail flipping back and forth but not moving otherwise. "It's likely that we'll be called back, and will find another planet."

"And what about the magical girls that are still alive?"

"We aren't going to form contracts with any more girls. Some of us may stay and collect the remainder of their energy, but it won't be profitable enough to stay much longer."

Madoka nodded. That sounded efficient, but it didn't work for her. "Are you planning on staying?"

"I can't say for sure, but I'm the only Incubator assigned to this area. I'll most likely stay because you and Homura Akemi are the focal point of so much energy."

"Could you do me a favor and do your best to stay?" There was a good chance her own plan could work out.

"I'm not entirely familiar with your concept of favors, but do you have a particular reason for my staying?"

"I wouldn't ask you to stay if I didn't have a reason." She looked at him as seriously as she could. "And I can make it worth it for you. If energy can still be collected through despair, you'll want to be here."

"That's an intriguing offer. Can you elaborate?"

"I'm still not sure how well it will work. That's why I need your help." Good, he was willing to stay and work with her. He was the only one who could help her and would keep quiet about it.

"I'm afraid I won't be much help if you don't explain what you need."

"I just have a question, and you can help me test some things out. Like a trial run." Or a lab rat.

"I'll help as much as I can until I have to leave this planet."

"Do you think it's possible I could take something from a different universe and bring it into this one?" She hadn't tested crossing the universes with anything except herself yet.

"I don't know anything about your abilities, so I couldn't say for sure."

Madoka looked him over and nodded once more. He was something that even if destroyed, would just come back. "I thought so. Come on, I'm taking you to another universe to find out."

"Homura-chaaan." Madoka flopped over onto her lap, pinning Homura's arms between her own legs and her body.

"What is it?" As much as it might have inconvenienced her, she didn't show any indication.

"Guess what?" She rolled over to face her.

Homura sighed and asked, "What is it?"

Madoka stuck her lower lip out in a pout, but didn't force any guesses out of her. "I have a surprise."

"If it's a surprise, why would you ask me to guess?" She raised an eyebrow as she looked down at her.

"Well…." She hadn't actually expected an answer at all from her, so a guess wouldn't have ruined anything.

"Care to explain what it is?"

"Nope!" She was excited for it, though. When Homura opened her mouth to speak again, she held a finger up to her lips to close them. "I can show you." She'd been practicing for so long to get this right.

Homura watched her as she pointed to the opposite wall. A hole tore in it, revealing a strange emptiness inside. "Isn't that..." She trailed off, apparently unable to place it.

"I learned I can transfer things from one universe to another." She sat up and pulled her off the couch towards it. "It's a space between realities, you should see."

It was out of place against the off-white wall, a dark streak of splotched colors. Blue, purple, black, red, and some even unidentifiable smeared together like a madman's paint canvas. A few white blurs came and went like falling stars. The floor was solid, but indiscernible from the rest of it and it seemed to go on forever. She led Homura in by her hand, and the hole to their apartment closed behind her.

"What is this?" Homura held her hand tightly and stood close to her, eyebrows furrowed.

"I already told you." It was impossible to tell just by looking at it, but it was a plain room, no more than 20 feet across each wall. They didn't need any more than that.

"Doesn't this look like a witch's barrier?" She visibly tensed as she said that, and for good reason; witches and their labyrinths didn't exist in this universe.

"I was able to pull one into our reality." She beamed, ecstatic that it had gone so perfectly. "And I was able to take control of it and manipulate it."

Homura was silent, clearly unsure how to take this. She supposed she would be surprised too, if she just found out. These were so dangerous, but she had been practicing and it was totally harmless on its own now. Eventually, she was able to ask, "Why?"

Madoka turned to face her and pulled her into a hug. "I wanted to see if I could, so I could show you. I didn't think you'd be so scared." There were so many bad memories associated with these, but she had her reasons.

"No, it's impressive." She hugged her back, face down against the side of her head. "I'm sorry, it's been a long time since I've seen one."

"It's all right to be scared." She ran her hand along her back. "I thought I could help you stop being so upset whenever you think back on it." Any time the past was brought up, she would freeze and become too uncomfortable to speak.

"Thanks." She didn't deny being scared, that was perfect.

"You know I love you, right?" Madoka tilted her head back far enough to look into her eyes.

Homura looked at her like she wasn't even sure why she asked that. "Of course, I love you too."

"I'll help you, we'll work on it together." She stepped back and held her at arm's length. "Okay?"

"I'm not sure this is necessary, it's all over." She bit her lower lip and looked off to the side.

"That's great." Madoka smiled one last time and looked her over. "I'll be back soon."

Homura snapped her head up when she dropped her arms. She stepped back and opened a hole in the floor to drop through back into the living room and sealed it behind her, only hearing a cut-off "Madoka!"

She checked once more that it was completely closed before saying, "It worked, you can come out now."

Kyubey stepped out from under an end table. "I have to be honest, I didn't expect that to work as well as it did."

"All that matters is that it did work." She turned to look down at him.

"So what's your next course of action?"

"Waiting." She sat on the couch, and Kyubey followed her up. "You won't need to come back for at least a week, and even then I could make do without you."

"And what about her?"

"She's probably confused right now, or scared, and waiting for me to come back." She sounded so wonderfully panicked in that last second. "Maybe she only thinks it's a joke. I'll explain it to her eventually."

"I don't understand your human values, but isn't this sort of behavior considered cruel?" he tilted his head in her direction.

"Of course not, I love Homura-chan," she said as if it was obvious. "Wouldn't you do the same for the person you loved?"

"We incubators don't understand love, either. But Sayaka Miki said what she did was out of love for that boy. This seems like a much different motivation."

Madoka laughed; it was amusing how little he understood. "Sayaka-chan had already seen Kamijou-kun broken and was given the opportunity to fix him. Why shouldn't I have the same chance?"

Kyubey lowered his head and sighed. "I'll never understand you humans and your morality."

"You don't have to understand it." As long as he continued to help her, it didn't matter if he understood why she needed to do this.

"Then I should go, I have other things that need taken care of." Kyubey turned, but stopped to look back, paw still raised in the air. "Before that, can I ask why you chose this path?"

"I thought I explained this to you." She thought for a moment, but couldn't sort out the countless years in her memories. "It must have been during that repeating month."

"You and Homura Akemi have both already told me of this repeating month."

"It's about that. In one of the earliest ones, I asked you about it. You said that her time magic revolving around me probably gave me the ability to remember each one." They never were able to confirm why, but she didn't need to know why to continue.

"That does make sense, but it doesn't explain anything." He sat back down to listen.

"Homura-chan didn't know that I knew. I wanted to see how far she would go before giving up." She didn't expect much from her at first; she was quiet, not very brave, and seemed to stumble through life more than herself, in an endearing way. "But about a year later, she changed. She really was serious about saving me."

"If she wanted to save you, then why would you do this?"

"I told you, it's because I love her." He was usually so perceptive, but didn't seem to pick this up. "She was just mentally deteriorating each time, and I got to see it. But by the time I let her go, she still hadn't broken."

"And you wanted to watch her break?" Now he was getting it.

"Exactly. Those 12 years built up, and she's a complete wreck now!" She couldn't stop smiling at the thought. They were long, long years, but she got to watch her the whole time. "But she's still too observant, so I have to do some of the work myself."

"And what's going to happen in the mean time?"

"I have everything arranged, but she'll be fine. Without a human body, the only thing I have to watch is her soul gem. If it blackens completely, I'll have a hard time getting her back."

Kyubey looked at her almost incredulously, but she might have been imagining that. "Do you really think it'll work?"

"She's either so far gone it won't take much effort, or she's too adjusted to it and I won't be able to push her any further." Madoka felt her chance of success was high enough that it was worth it to try.