AUTHOR'S NOTE: …

Hi. *waves*

So yeah…I'm still here. I've not been eaten by wolves or been contracted and had my soul ripped out by Kyubey or anything. To be honest, I kinda forgot I'd started this story till I was looking at my traffic graph one day and was all, "Madoka's Saviours? What be this? Oh yes, that story I began to write which I haven't updated in 3 MONTHS."

My excuses could range from exam stress to other story commitments to pure laziness but the truth is that I had no freaking idea of what to do with this story for about a month so I just left it alone in the corner to gather dust and grow questionable looking mushrooms on it. Somehow though people are still finding this story and reading it, so I feel like I owe it to all of you to actually try and get a story out of this thing.

I am one of those people who get very annoyed if someone starts a story and doesn't finish it so to avoid becoming my own pet peeve I am going to get this story done one way or another. I now have a fairly clear(ish) of how this story is going to end; however I'm not 100% (or even 50%) sure on how to get there from where the story is at this point in time. SO. If you have any ideas about this story, even if it sounds pants, PLEASE let me know either in a review or in a private message.

Anyway, one excessively long AN later, here is said chapter you have all (probably not) been waiting for! Sorry for the annoyingly long wait. Oh, and if it's been so long since I updated that you've forgotten what's already happened, here's a quick rundown: Homura's gone to Alaska where there's a group of four other Magical Girls to help them fight those distortion things (which I have since found out have a different name but WTH I'm sticking to it).

This chapter is mostly backstory, but I promise more interesting stuff will happen soon.

And if you're still reading this AN 362 words later then props to you.

This chapter is dedicated to Markus Ramikin, MsAmiClassified, LinkinYM and Jebli.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Puella Magi Madoka Magica or its characters. I do own my OCs.

Chapter 3 - Contracts

Sammy lived right on the edge of town, and there were no other houses near it, so the two girls didn't pass anyone on their walk after they'd split away from Maya, Tessa, Anastasia and Beebe. They were quiet for the most part, Homura still walking with her head tilted back to gaze at the stars and Sammy having to make sure she guided her new friend properly so she didn't walk into a lamppost.

Soon the house appeared round the corner. It was quite small; only on one floor and from the looks of the outside it must have only had a few rooms. It was painted white, and Homura wondered for a moment if Sammy or her mother sometimes couldn't see it if they were walking back from the main part of town and it was snowing heavily.

"Well, here we are!" Sammy announced, finally letting go of Homura's hand. "It's not much, but I like it!"

Homura shook her head. "It's lovely!" she assured her, thinking back to the apartment which she lived in by herself back in Tokyo. "I'm still worried that your mother might be annoyed though."

Sammy sighed. "I already told you, she'll be fine with you staying! We have a spare room anyway, and she likes the house being lively. She's always telling me to have the girls around."

Homura frowned, still uncertain. Sammy ignored her and pushed open the door, motioning for Homura to follow her and, even though she was still hesitant about staying at Sammy's house, she walked in quickly, eager to get out of the cold especially as the snow was starting to fall again.

Sammy shut the door behind them, and Homura resisted the urge to run over to the radiator and push her hands and cheeks up against it. Sammy pulled her coat off and hung it on a coat-hanger above the radiator before Homura did the same, also kicking off her shoes as was normal to do in Japan. Sammy noticed and copied her, not wanting Homura to feel alienated.

"Mom! I'm home!" Sammy called out in English. "And I brought a friend!"

"I'm in the kitchen!" a woman called back.

Sammy smiled and nodded to Homura before walking down the small hallway towards the second door on the left. Homura quickly followed after her.

In the kitchen there was a young woman standing over a stove stirring a pot of something steaming. Homura inhaled deeply; it smelt amazing. She had the same copper coloured hair as Sammy but it was longer, reaching the middle of her back. She had a few loose bits pulled back off her forehead with a lilac hairband. She also shared the same bright green eyes as her daughter. She turned to Homura and smiled.

"Hello! I've not seen you around here before. I'm Emma, Sammy's mom. What's your name?"

Homura just stood there, her hands clasped in front of her looking down. Sammy nudged her mother.

"Mom, she's from Japan. She doesn't know a whole lot of English," she explained quietly.

Emma raised an eyebrow but apart from that her facial expression didn't change. "Well, could you tell her what I said then?"

Sammy nodded and turned to Homura. "This is my mom," she said in Japanese. "Her name's Emma. She asked what your name is."

Homura glanced up at Emma and bowed. "N...nice to meet you," she said in shaky English. "My name is Homura Akemi."

Emma smiled again and bowed back, knowing that it was custom in Japan even if she didn't know as much about the culture as her daughter did.

Sammy turned back to her mom. "Is it alright if Homura crashes here for a few nights?" she asked. "She's here for a while and doesn't have anywhere else to stay."

"Of course it's alright!" Emma replied. "You guys head to your room Sammy. I'll bring you some soup then I'll make up the guest room."

Sammy grinned and hugged Emma around the waist. "Thank you mom!"

She turned back to Homura, still grinning. "She said you can stay!" she translated. "Told you she'd be fine with it!"

Homura smiled back and bowed to Emma again. "Thank you very much!" she said, her English sounding slightly more confident than earlier.

Emma smiled. "You're very welcome."

Sammy grabbed Homura's hand and pulled her out of the kitchen before walking back down the hallway and going into the room on the right hand side of the front door. She flicked on the light and closed her door before flopping down on the bed.

Homura looked around. Sammy's bedroom was really small, but it was cosy. Her small bed with cream coloured bed sheets took up one side of the room. The other side held a wooden desk littered with various papers and knick-knacks – most of them anime related, Homura noticed – a computer chair even though there wasn't a computer in sight, and a wooden chest of drawers.

Sammy pulled herself up from her face-down position on her bed and sat up properly, patting the cover next to her for Homura to sit down. She complied with a smile and sunk down onto the comfortable bed.

"Your mother's very kind," Homura said.

Sammy rolled her eyes and flopped down on her back. "You should see her when she gets angry."

Homura chuckled. "I can't see that happening very often."

"Well, that's true," Sammy agreed. "And don't worry, she won't ask any questions. She'll just take it that you're staying here for the foreseeable future and she'll start cooking for three instead of two."

Homura smiled again. "Well, I'm very grateful."

Soon Emma knocked on the door by kicking it gently, holding a tray carrying two steaming bowls of soup and two tall glasses of lemonade. She set the tray down on the desk before winking to the two girls and walking back out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Sammy had jumped before her mother had even left the room and was practically throwing Homura her soup and juice before digging into her own.

"Thanks mom!" she called loudly with a mouth full of soup.

Homura laughed lightly again before also beginning to eat. It was a vegetable soup, very warming, and to Homura it tasted like home.

Sammy plopped back down on the bed, her spoon still in her mouth, reminding Homura of how Kyoko would walk around with Pocky sticking out of her mouth.

"This is gooooooood!" Sammy declared.

Homura nodded in agreement. "Your mother is a really good cook."

They ate the rest of the meal mostly in silence. Once they were done they took the bowls and glasses through to the kitchen before heading back to Sammy's room to talk. They both sat back down on Sammy's bed, Sammy pulling her knees up to her chest.

"I was the first one out of up to make a contract with Beebe," Sammy began without any prompting by Homura. "My wish was pretty stupid in hindsight. My dog was dying and Beebe said she could heal him. She did, and my dog was fine for a while, but she got hit by a car a few months later." Sammy shrugged sadly. "I'm glad I got a few more months with her though.

"Anastasia was next. I didn't know her very well before hand. I knew she went to my school but so do hundreds of other kids. We ran into each other in the forest when we were chasing the same familiar, although by Stasia's recollection we were chasing a distortion. She never told me what wish she made though.

"Tessa and Maya both made contracts at the same time. They're neighbours and were sharing a taxi to get to school one day when they were late. It crashed off the road cause it was really icy. Beebe found them and they both wished that they wouldn't die. They both woke up in hospital with soul gems. I was friends with Tessa, and Stasia knew Maya really well from elementary school, so we both went to go visit them. That was when we found out they were now Magical Girls. We decided to make the tree-house that me, Tessa and out friends from elementary school made together. The other girls had all practically forgotten it existed.

"It was about a year and a half ago that Julie made a contract. She was new to the area and made a wish that she would make some friends. The next day she was the most popular girl in school. The girls and I noticed her hairclip had a gem in the centre of it and pulled her aside to ask her about it. When she realised that we were Magical Girls too we became friends immediately. She always seemed weaker than the rest of us. Beebe told me that it was because we had made wishes to help other people – or animals in my case – whereas Julie had made a 'selfish' wish. Julie was a lot less experienced than us, and during a fight she took a sudden hit from a distortion and died. We had to tell her parents a bear attacked her. Her mom, dad and little sister moved away not long after."

Homura sat quietly, taking this all in. Sammy looked up at her.

"What about you?" she asked. "How did you get roped into all this?"

Homura opened her mouth to tell her but Emma walked in.

"Girls? It's pretty late. Homura should probably get to bed now."

Sammy translated and Homura nodded. Both Sammy and Emma showed her to the guest room. It was about the same size as Sammy's room, the bed covers the same as those on Sammy's bed. There was a small wardrobe where Sammy's desk was in her room, and a large plastic box stuffed to the brim with soft toys.

"They're mine from when I was a kid," Sammy explained, pointing to the box. "I couldn't bear to throw them out."

Sammy let Homura borrow a pair of pyjamas, pink with little cartoon ice creams on it, and both her and Emma bid her goodnight. Homura quickly changed into the pyjamas, hung her school uniform up in the wardrobe and flicked the light off before getting into the bed. It didn't take her long to fall asleep.

Again, sorry this was mostly backstory. Better stuff soon, I promise! And a lot faster than it took me to get this up! Please review!