They did not go to 'Avdol'. None of them even knew where to find her. Instead, they went home, quietly, with dazed faces and swirling minds. After a few minutes, Sayaka split off and made her own way home; he barely noticed her go, but vaguely felt he should go after her. He didn't, and stayed with Madoka.

There was something bothering Jotaro about Homura's Stand, on top of everything that had happened. Something important. But… what? Dammit, why was everything so hazy? He lit a cigarette and tried to think.

"Jotaro-kun!" Madoka's voice was horrified, as if he'd just tried to kill her mother. "Isn't smoking unhealthy?"

"None of your business. I need to think after… that."

She sighed. "Well, I suppose I can't blame you for feeling bad. I can't believe… Mami-san, we only just met her and now..."

"Yeah."

She wiped her face gently and sniffed. "If we could get her back…"

You could wish for her back. Kyubey twirled around her shoulders. (And he was another one that seemed to show up out of thin air. What was it with people doing that?) I could grant you that, if you so desired.

"I…" Madoka hesitated. "No, I don't think wishing for her back will do any good. As Homura said, she's gone for good, and that sort of wish never ends well. I mean, look at Sayaka-chan."

"What happened with her?"

She smiled sadly. "She…regrets her wish, I think."

"What wish?"

"Ah, it's… not my place to say." With a delicate hand, she rubbed the back of her neck. "And I wasn't there, so I'm not sure of the exact wording."

"I see." He fiddled with the golden chain hanging from his collar. "Something to do with wishing someone back?"

"Yeah." The pink-haired girl smiled. "And now she transforms into Blue Chariot and has to fight witches for grief seeds, and even though she likes the fighting… I think the person she wished back was… uncooperative. Unhappy with her meddling in fate."

"Hm." Jotaro nodded and turned away. Somehow, a story like that seemed right for a person like 'Polnareff', the girl who brought a baseball bat to a witch fight. A wish that had its consequences…

A thought flickered through his head, and he blinked. Oh. Oh.

"Are you okay, Jotaro-kun?"

"Yeah, I… I think I just remembered what my wish was." He bowed his head, watching the pavement go by beneath his feet.

"That's good, Jotaro-kun! Maybe it'll provide you with a clue!"

I would also be interested in hearing this, Jotaro.

He looked sidelong at the cat-thing and grunted noncommittally. No way was he going to tell that weird-looking cat bastard what was up. Madoka seemed to catch on to his thoughts and waved her hands.

"Ah, it's probably personal! We shouldn't intrude!"

"No, it's fine," he heard himself say, frowning even as the words left his mouth, "I think you – Madoka-chan, at least – you need to hear it. Kyubey can piss off."

The long-white ears twitched, jingling those floating golden rings. I understand. With a swish of his tail, he scampered off into the dark.

Jotaro waited a few moments, took one last puff of his cigarette, then flicked the butt away. "I wished… I wished for my mother to be healed."

"You mother?" Madoka put a gentle hand up to his sleeve, a careful gesture of support that wasn't anything like the people who came up behind him at school. He almost flinched away, even so.

"She had been affected by… a witch, I suppose. If they spread sickness. I wished that she would become well."

"Ah…yes. I see." She put a hand to her own cheek and began to stroke it, as if running her fingers through an imaginary beard. "You know, I think I remember something like that as well." Her fingers tapped one by one against her cheek. "I… that is, the person that I dreamed I was… he wished for something similar, I think. I wished for something similar, in my dream."

She let go of his sleeve – finally – and held up her hand, a smooth, delicate hand without any scars, and started absent-mindedly cracking the knuckles. The sound was... mechanical, almost. Familiar, as if something like this had happened before, a long time ago. Her face turned away from him, and she sighed. "I wished for the health of my daughter."

Daughter? "Aren't you a little bit –"

"Young? I don't know. In my dream, I had a daughter, and I wished for her to be well. I wished beyond anything in the world…" Her hand closed. "I don't know if the wish came true." A tear rolled down her cheek. "Perhaps… perhaps she died, after all…"

"She's not dead." Jotaro looked out at the darkened streets of Mitakihara City, and tried to ignore the tears pricking at his own vision. Pathetic. "I know it. She's not dead yet."

Madoka sniffed. "I know. She isn't. Thank you, Jotaro-kun."

He pulled his hat down over his forehead and said nothing.

Sayaka stayed out that night, hunting witches and familiars indiscriminately. A cleanse with a grief seed, a sword slash, a knock with a baseball bat.

That was for Mami. This was for Mami. That was revenge on the big old bug-eyed monster. And this… this took the pain away again, fading the image of Mami's corpse in her mind one grief seed at a time. She had no brother nor sister. No father nor mother. No lovers. And… none of them, either. What had they been called? Allies, comrades, or….? She didn't know and she didn't care. All that mattered was another slash, another grief seed to wipe everything away.

And when she was done and couldn't stand upright anymore, she slept soundly, her soul gem clear and bright, like an unbreakable blue diamond.