"Sayaka!" Mami said, shocked, pointing out the window.

Kyoko, nearby, choked on her food.

"I win!" Natsu shouted, with a mouthful of food. "I told you I would win the eating contest!"

Kyoko ignored him and got to her feet. She ran towards the window, but Sayaka was already pushing open the door to the guild.

"You're here," was all Kyoko managed to say.

"Of course," Sayaka said, grinning.

"But how? You're dead! Or should be, anyway..."

"Let's just say me and a friend took advantage of one of the laws of the universe to be with our greatest friends. Or, maybe more than friends."

"Yeah? And maybe if you hadn't died, you wouldn't have had to take advantage of the laws of the universe and you could have come here normally with everyone else."

"It's not as fun that way! Besides, I wouldn't get to see another one of my friends that way."

"So this other friend is more important than me?"

"No! She's just a childhood friend. No one compares to you, Kyoko."

Both of them were crying at this point. The entire guild watched them, not saying a word to interrupt their reunion. Mami watched as well, beginning to sip her tea again. She was glad Sayaka was back, but certainly not to the extent that Kyoko was. She was more wondering where Homura had gone off to, and if Sayaka's sudden resurrection had been her doing.

Later, while Kyoko and Sayaka sat at one of the guild's tables and talked about their time apart, Mami watched the darkening skies to the east out the window. Something about them gave her a bad feeling, and she instinctively knew that Homura was involved with whatever was going on there. Mami considered traveling to go help her, but decided against it. While Homura usually wasn't the type to ask for help, she usually knew when she was out of her league. She'd be okay.

Just as Mami was finishing her cup of tea, the doors to the guild went flying open. The cup fell from Mami's hand, spilling her tea once again. Everyone at the guild looked up to see a small girl attempting to carry a girl who definitely had 3 inches on her. As she came towards the light, Mami gasped. The small girl was crying, and the girl she was attempting to carry was completely unconscious. She almost looked dead. And she was incredibly familiar.

Homura.

The small girl, sniffling and wiping away her tears, looked around at everyone before her eyes stopped on Mami. "Please," she whispered. "Help her."

Mami just stared at her in shock.

"Madoka!" Sayaka said, jumping up from the table, Kyoko close behind. "What happened?"

"She... she... fought my witch form, and won... but turning the Grief Seed back into a Soul Gem used too much of her power... and... and..." Madoka started to cry again.

"She didn't... she didn't turn into a witch too, did she?" Sayaka asked, realization dawning on her face.

Madoka just sniffled.

Mami and Kyoko just gave each other blank stares. Kyoko mouthed, "Do you know what they're talking about?" Mami shook her head in response, and both of them just shrugged. The rest of the guild had generally lost interest as well, since Homura didn't really have any friends there.

Sayaka was making an attempt to reassure Madoka that they could, in fact, save Homura, but it wasn't working. Sayaka herself wasn't even convinced that they could, after all. More than likely, they'd have to truly kill Homura's witch form. It would destroy Madoka, but it was the only thing that could be done.

Drawing in a deep breath, Sayaka asked, "So, where is her witch form, anyway?"