CHAPTER 14: Possibilities
"Thanks, Homura." Sayaka expressed as they both entered the TARDIS, Nagisa still passed out in her arms.
"Thanks?" Homura questioned. "For what?"
"For that second chance." Sayaka crept over from the exit door to the interior door.
"What chance? Defeating the witch?"
"No, not that." Sayaka turned back toward Homura. "Can you keep a secret?" Homura tilted her head, implying the affirmative. "Back in the other world, when Hitomi told me that she was in love with Kyosuke, I," She gulped. "I had this really awful thought in the back of my head: 'What if I hadn't saved her? Then Kyosuke would've been all mine.'" An unwiped tear dropped from her cheek onto Nagisa's school uniform. "And I regretted it. I even confessed what I thought to Madoka, I guess I hoped that crying in her arms would absolve me of guilt." She shook her head. "But it didn't. It festered and grew. I... I even pretended that the next witch I wailed on was," She sniffed. "I dunno… All the things I hated about myself molded into a monster. God." She looked over at Homura. "But now that I've been put in the same situation, I didn't even have a second thought about saving her, I understand now that my bad thoughts aren't the real me. And that even if I have bad thoughts sometimes, that doesn't make me a bad person." She smiled and tearfully stroked Nagisa's hair. "So thanks. I've got one less regret weighing me down now."
"Ah. So that's how you tick." Homura muttered as Sayaka took the sleeping Nagisa through the door to bed.
"Auuuughhhhh!" Miss Jones stumbled into the TARDIS door. "If I were just five hundred, juuuuuuuuust five hundred years younger, I'd be sooooooooo much more into this land's idea of building coworker camaraderie through heavy alcohol consumption." She shuffled cautiously over to her futon and splayed herself out on it. "Picked a hell of a lifetime to quit drinking. Certainly didn't expect Asagiri to be the one who'd win the night. Three cheers for the musician. Ehehehe." She covered her face with a pillow.
"The witch appeared as predicted, in the vicinity of where it was predicted. We successfully dealt with it."
"Good to hear. What about the other mission?" Miss Jones said through her pillow.
"She… Still doesn't appear to have figured out how to properly utilize her healing magic."
"Ehhhhh… I'm sure she'll come around in the end. I'm confident." She took the pillow off her face and rubbed her eyes. "But I was really asking about your "other" other mission. How'd that go?"
"I was able to briefly take one captive. But the others quickly came to its aid."
"What'd they try?"
"They threatened to revive a captured Grief Seed if we didn't release it."
"Can he do that?"
"I wasn't inclined to find out. But I will say it's the boldest move I've ever seen Kyubey make."
"So self-preservation isn't just an act to impress the ladies. They do take the welfare of the individuals into consideration." She hiccuped.
"I took it to mean that they would do anything to prevent the taking of a body for study. They don't want us knowing anything useful about them."
"You could be right. You probably are." Miss Jones tried sitting up. "I'll take consolation in that our theories are not mutually exclusive. Could be both."
"Does your plan rely on their individual self-regard to succeed?" Homura glanced toward the pet carrier sitting beside the control console.
"Actually, that was my plan." Miss Jones scratched her belly. "But at least the op gave us a preliminary data set, for whatever I think of next time." She burped.
Homura took a Grief Seed out from behind her buckler. It was adorned with a series of patterned square shapes and a half-wing on its top.
"The fruit of today's labor?" Miss Jones asked.
"I used to only see it that way. The sweets witch too." Homura stared into its dimly pulsing glow. "This girl… And Nagisa… As objects to obtain, consume, discard, and never think about again." She paused. "I probably hunted this particular witch dozens upon dozens of times, yet not once did I ever think of who this Grief Seed used to be. What they were like, what their hopes and dreams were, what could've put them in a situation to make a contract, or what brought them to despair." She choked up as she spoke.
"You chose to focus strictly on who was important to you." Miss Jones consolingly interrupted. "On Madoka Kaname."
"Hitomi Shizuki is Madoka's friend, and I know she gets captured by this witch, because that's also happened dozens upon dozens of times. Yet I never thought the notion of defeating the witch as saving her life. Because Shizuki's never mattered to me. That's how I once saw the rest of them too, as little more than as resources, assets to exploit, and liabilities to plan around." She gasped a deep, ashamed breath as another lost memory billowed its way to the surface. "Resources… I remember Kyubey even referring to us Magical Girls as such…" She dropped the Grief Seed on the floor. "God, was I turning into something like... Kyubey?" Her knees buckled as she collapsed to the floor.
Miss Jones slowly propped herself off the futon, slid over on her knees, then put her arms around Homura. "You're not like that creature. For you bear the weight of your actions. Whatever his ultimate goal is, I'm betting he's never engaged in any type of self-reflection."
"If I'd known I'd be recovering so many lost memories," Homura cried. "I would never have let you into my mind. It's made me do nothing but question every decision I've ever made." She shuddered. "All those plans backfiring, all the hearts I've trampled, all those timelines I abandoned, I don't want to remember all the death and tragedy I'm responsible for." She turned to Miss Jones and sobbed, "Can't you make me forget it all again?"
"You don't really want me to do that to you?" Miss Jones pulled her closer. "No. What you want," She hugged her in a full embrace. "What you need , is to share those memories with another." She comfortingly patted her on her head. "And to share the feelings they've revived in you. Because those feelings, and our capacity to empathize, are what separates us from them." Miss Jones sighed a deep, soothing sigh. "So you can either dwell on those memories alone and fall deeper into guilt and depression, or you can share them, and reshape it into something that helps you walk a wiser path."
"I-" Homura slowly got to her feet. "I'll try." She wiped her tears on her sleeve. "What about you?"
"Me?" Miss Jones stuck to her as she rose. "Much as I'd like to play therapist, I-"
"No," Homura interrupted. "How do you live with your-"
"Nagisa kinda woke up while I was trying to tuck her in." The interior door slid open as Sayaka entered. "So I recapped the plot of an anime I watched at her age. She fell asleep right in the mid-" She looked over to see that Homura and Miss Jones were in an embrace. "What were you guys up to?"
"Auuuughhhhh!" Miss Jones let out a noisy, obnoxious burp. "Asagiri and Yamazaki… Such cards. Definitely gonna go drinking with them again soon." She burped an alcohol-laced breath, as the two stepped slowly and deliberately over to the futon, where Miss Jones swiftly fell. "Thank youuuu, oh mucho, my Homo… Homu… Hameru… My Homieee."
"She went out drinking with our music teacher and our phys-ed teacher." Homura let out an exasperated sigh. "She needed help making it over to the futon."
"Had lotsa fun too." Miss Jones turned over and scratched her back. "Seeing the two of them in action together, they really make such a lovely young pair."
"Looks like someone really enjoyed their night out." Sayaka took Nagisa's Soul Gem from her pocket. "May as well clean it for Nagisa too, while she's resting." Then she brought out her own.
"It's all set up, ready to go." Miss Jones unfurled a blanket over her body and yawned. "All three together. Thirty seconds on high. I trust you two have seen enough to know how to do it once yourselves." She threw the blanket over her head and tried to snooze away the alcohol.
"Why in the world do adults do that to themselves?" Sayaka mused.
"I never quite understood the point of it either." Homura set the microwave timer.
"Kyoko… Where did he go? Where did Papa go?" Momo Sakura tearfully asked her big sister.
"He's close, Momo. Don't cry." Kyoko tried to reassure her younger sibling as she discovered they had just passed by the same public park for the fourth time.
They had come to this humongous Mitakihara City from the smaller, neighboring Kazamino City together as a family, but while their father's mission was to take to the streets and preach the word of God, they were told to stay beside their mother while she ran errands. But they had snuck away and gone off to watch him spread the gospel, for they loved listening to his sermons, and wanted nothing more than to see him enrapture the masses. Only now, they had lost sight of him, and had gotten hopelessly lost.
"One, two, three…" Sayaka's yellow-clad father blew his whistle standing atop his elevated platform, as he waved the pedestrians onward. "Walk!" Young Sayaka was standing down beside his feet as she mimicked his gesturing.
He had taken her along on his routine traffic duty this morning. The daycare was being renovated, and Sayaka was getting curious to learn about the sorts of things her father did as a police officer. Okay, so directing traffic wasn't the most glamorous part of the job, but with the way she was admiring him, so eagerly emulating his every move, it may as well have been the most important duty in the world.
"Stop!" He blew his whistle again and signaled the stopped cars to move along.
"Hey Miki!" Another officer waved at her father from the crosswalk. Time for a shift change. Time to take a break. Just enough time for the young father to walk his daughter back home and get lunch.
"It's time for you to go home now, Sayaka" He blew his whistle and signaled the passing cars to stop one more time.
"Hey Miki, can we chat?" His replacement for the rest of the day was approaching them.
"Actually, I was just about to take my daughter out to lunch." A new restaurant had just opened in the mall. His plan was to take her and meet up with his wife there once their lunch breaks hit.
"It's important." The man briefly glanced at Sayaka. "Very. The grub's on me if you stick around for it."
"Ummm," He did sense an unusual tone of urgency from his colleague. "Sorry, Sayaka," He apologized. "You'll have to go see your mother without me today."
"But you said we'd eat together!" Sayaka's disappointment was palpable. Her folks were always so busy. The opportunities to eat as a whole family were few and increasingly far between. "You proooooomised!"
"I know I did," Sayaka's father knelt down and consolingly rubbed her shoulders. "I know. Tell you what," He thought to himself. "Next weekend, how 'bout me and you and your momma all go to that big banquet restaurant you love downtown?" He had already made plans for an expensive date with his wife that night. She may have wanted a night off from the kid, but she most likely would be tolerant of the sudden change of plans and the switch to a cheaper venue.
"Really?" Sayaka's spirits lifted. "You Promise?"
"Cross my heart," He said in English.
"Hope to die," She added, in English.
"Stick a needle in my eye!" They both finished at the same time. It was their little personal way of making an unbreakable promise with each other.
"Can you get there all on your own?" There was an empty taxi waiting in the intersection. He was tempted to flag it down for her.
"It's okay, Papa." She let go of him. "I know the way there." She pointed in the mall's exact direction.
"Still," He handed her some change for a payphone. "Call me when you get there, please?" Sayaka nodded enthusiastically.
Secretly following their father around turned out to not be a good idea, Kyoko realized upon gazing into her little sister's tear-soaked eyes. "Where did he goooooooo? She bawled.
"Let's rest here for a while." Kyoko tried to wipe her sister's tears with her own sleeve. "Sit." She picked her up and plopped her on a park bench. Kyoko then turned around and dried her own eyes, for if little Momo saw her big sis cry, she'd be certain that they were in trouble and would go into an absolute panic.
Kyoko realized that they had reached a point where they needed help. Getting the attention of strangers was their only hope, finding someone who knew their way around this town. But who could they turn to? There were joggers with their dogs, listening obliviously to their music players. There were salarymen, distracted by their phones and their PDAs in their hands. There were other parents, but too preoccupied by their own children to pay the girls any mind. Was there nobody around who could hear the crying? Was there nobody nearby who wanted to help them? Kyoko couldn't hold it back anymore. Desperate tears began to occlude her vision. Her knees buckled as she collapsed to the ground.
"Hey!"
"Huh?" Kyoko whipped her body up.
"Why are you two crying?" The girl approaching looked to be about Kyoko's height and age.
"We can't find papaaaaaa!" Momo sniffed. The girl nervously glanced at her sister.
"I lost sight of him." Kyoko couldn't look her help directly in the eye. "Now we're lost."
The young girl scanned around the park. "Do you know where you last saw him?"
"No." Kyoko hesitated. "We don't know anything about this town." She added.
The girls weren't from around here, the young girl deduced. "Do you remember seeing something that stood out to you? At the time?"
The two girls mournfully shook their heads.
The girl thought about what other details she could ask them. "Did you hear anything? Meet anyone weird? Or smell any food?"
"Yeah, food!" The younger sister blurted out. "I smelled bread!" She hopped off the bench.
"There's a bakery down that street. I smell that place's bread around here all the time! We can start there." Their helper scampered to the crosswalk and pointed down the next street. "Don't worry! I know lotsa stuff about this town. Follow me!" The two girls reluctantly came along.
"It's the smell! That's the smell!" The younger sister's crying had abruptly ceased with the familiarity of the smell. Kyoko was a bit more apprehensive, but at least they weren't going in circles anymore.
"What else do you remember?" Their helper asked.
Kyoko surveyed the street. Immediately she recognized the spot where they had snooped on their father. "There!" She pointed at the street corner where he was preaching. "He was right there!"
"Did you see which way he went after that?"
Kyoko shook her head.
"That way!" The younger one pointed back towards the park.
"You're sure?"
"Why didn't you say something before?" Kyoko snapped at her sister.
"I thought you saw him go that way too! I thought that's why you went that way!" The sibling apologetically answered. They proceeded to the next crosswalk.
"Posters!" Kyoko pointed at a poster taped to a streetlight. "That's right! I remember now! He had pictures of our church he was going to put around this town!"
"We'll follow the posters, then." The girl walking with the siblings said. "Let's look for them as we go!"
"Sakura…" The siblings' Father turned around. "What are you doing?" It was the Mitakihara City Pastor confronting him right in his face.
"I am spreading God's word." He answered succinctly. Calmly turning his cheek, he taped up another copy of the poster displaying his church just outside Kazamino. "That's all."
"Is that what you're choosing to call it?" His counterpart swiped a poster from underneath his arm. "You know, I've been seeing more than a few new parishioners from Kazamino City. And they tell me you've been saying some very unusual things of late. And straying very far from the word of the good book."
"I'm simply offering a more nuanced understanding of its teachings. Nothing heretical."
"That's not what they've been telling me. They would seem convinced that you're rewriting the scriptures on your own whim. That you've somehow molded it all into an unrecognizable hodgepodge of glorified gobbledygook." He crumpled the paper. "I did not believe it at first, but then more and more came along telling similar tales. And now... Seeing this… If I didn't know you better, I'd say your behaviour was more befitting of a cult."
"You are entitled to believe whatever you wish." He straightened his neck and wrist collars. "My ultimate judge is God. And only God."
"No." His counterpart dutifully countered. "I'm alerting you, right here and right now. And I'm telling you, quite sternly Sakura, because I consider you a friend." He grabbed the man by his shoulders. "If this mass exodus of worshippers continues, then I warn you, I warn you, that you will eventually leave me no choice but to report your outlandish behavior to our superiors in the Church. Do you understand me?"
"Do whatever you must." The man took a deep breath and shook himself free from the other's grip.
"You'll be excommunicated!"
"I am unafraid."
"Think of your family! Their livelihood! Think of what'll happen to them if you become a pariah!"
"Whatever happens next shall be God's test." He added, with a devout resolution "And we as a family, I am certain, shall pass it."
"Papaaaaa!" Momo Sakura ran down the street to him.
"Momo?" He swiftly strode away from his interrogator. "Shouldn't you be with your mother?"
"Thank you." The relieved Kyoko uttered to the young girl standing beside her.
"I have to get home now." Their savior let go of Kyoko's hand. "Will you be okay?"
"I'm going to be in a lot of trouble." Kyoko dried her eyes. "But I'll be fine. Thanks."
"Maybe we'll see each other again sometime!" The two young ladies waved goodbye.
"You're calling me a lot later than I expected." Her Father said to Sayaka over the phone. "Did something happen to you?"
"Yeah." She answered. "It wasn't a big deal, though. I met these two sisters who got lost and I helped them find their papa, is all."
"Oh? That so?" He chuckled. "Who were they?"
"Shoot!" Sayaka slapped her forehead. "I forgot to ask her name!"
"Did you hear what happened to her?" One girl whispered to another while Hitomi Shizuki walked by.
"You remember, she wasn't in school that day…"
"... They found her in a factory, among a group of people who were all passed out."
"They say it was some sort of mass delusion…"
"... But I think it was really a death cult and they're keeping a lid on it." She could hear the petty ones gossip.
"Why would she do that?" She tried ignoring them.
"Who knows?"
"... Maybe her parents' high expectations have gotten the better of her…"
"... Maybe Kamijo broke up with her…" It wasn't really working.
"... Maybe he's seeing someone else…"
"... Who could that be?"
"Didn't you read between the lines when Sayaka…" She bravely held back the tears.
"... I'm sure I couldn't go to school under those circumstances. What's she thinking?"
"Madoka." Hitomi approached Madoka by their lockers. She checked around the hallway. "Is she here?"
"Who?" Madoka asked.
"You know who." Hitomi dare not speak her name. For it might be what triggers the tears.
"I haven't seen her at all today." The class bell rang. "Is something wrong?"
"It's…" Hitomi reluctantly answered. "Complicated." She added, "And I would have preferred not to involve you in the matter." She took out a sealed envelope. "But I don't seem to have much choice. Please deliver this letter to her. You're the only person I trust to do so."
"O- Okay." Madoka politely nodded.
"Gah! Stupid squirrrrrrrrrrel!" Sayaka awoke to the sound of a tree branch snapping right outside.
"Kyoko?" Sayaka wearily rolled over and checked the bed next to her. Kyoko wasn't in it. Sayaka hopped out of bed and looked out the open window. Kyoko was laying in a bush, splayed open and looking disheveled. "What the heck is going on?"
"Fricking squirrel!" Kyoko grumbled. "Stole my food!"
"Food?" Sayaka glanced back at the bag of food at the foot of the beds. "What food?"
"My sandwich!" She said, "I unwrapped a ham and cheese sandwich, and the damn thing snatched it right outta my hands when I got to the window."
"And you tried to chase it?" Sayaka hopped up and over the window. "Are you as full of nuts as that squirrel? You shouldn't be chasing things with a hole in your leg." She reached out for Kyoko's hand.
"Hole?" Kyoko grabbed Sayaka's entire arm. "What hole? I'm fine!"
"Did you hit your head, too?" Sayaka helped her up. "That Mami chick shot your leg. You bled out so badly, you were unconscious for more than a day! You're damn lucky you're still alive!" She tried to prop Kyoko up with her arm.
"It's all good now!" Kyoko pushed it off. "Great, even! Ya' see?" She jumped up and down on one foot and the other. "Fully healed up!" Her ankle swiftly gave out and she collapsed to one knee.
"Sure. I'm convinced." Sayaka rolled her eyes.
"I'm jus' hungry is all." Kyoko propped herself back up. "More than a day, ya' said? Sheesh, No wonder my leg's still wobbly."
"Then get something else to eat." Sayaka got on a knee and pushed Kyoko back up and into the window. "Don't go chasing squirrels in trees for sandwiches. Sheesh!" She leapt and climbed back inside. She went over to the bag, reached for an apple and tossed it to her.
"Meat." Kyoko chomped hard into the skin. "I'm cravin' meat."
Sayaka ferreted through the bag. "Mostly snacks, you've got."
"I know." Kyoko took another big, juicy bite. "That's why I went for the sandwich." She said with her mouth full. She swallowed hard. "Dang it, I want a hot dog."
"You serious? A hot dog?"
"Yeah. Sounds delicious." She took another big, ravenous bite. "Never tried one before."
"I've had plenty."
"Really?" Her eyes lit up. "How do they taste?"
"They're…" Sayaka struggled to describe something so simple yet so taken for granted. "Meaty and…" She squinted. "Juicy and…" She swallowed. "Fills your stomach in a pinch." A food critic she was not.
"Perfect!" Kyoko threw the remnant apple core out the window. "Let's go get some!"
"Now?" She watched Kyoko head for the door.
"Yeah! Why not? I'm freakin' hungry!"
"But I gotta get to school!"
"School?" Kyoko opened the door. "I'd guess it's at least noon by now. You're way too late."
Sayaka checked the sun's position outside the window. She was right. They had both overslept and she would assuredly be marked as absent. "Crap!"
"No use fussin' about what you can't help. Go tomorrow and say you were sick today."
"I... Suppose I could try that." Sayaka knew she was already skating some pretty thin ice with the teachers, thanks largely to Kyoko.
"Good." Kyoko smiled. "Seize the day!" She stopped and felt through her inner pocket. "Oops, hold up." She backtracked to the bedside, removed the floorboard and opened the shoebox. "Now let's seize it." She snuck an extra Grief Seed and a box of Pocky into her pouch pockets.
Sayaka stood alone in the bedroom for another minute, wondering what impending trouble awaited herself and her new friend. She looked down into the shoebox, at its other contents, which included a partially-torn photograph. She flipped the photograph over, it was a picture of a family gathered in front of this very church. The two adults' faces were charred off, leaving only the faces of their children. "Kyoko?" She whispered.
"Kyoko!"
"Parry! Parry! Thrust! Thrust!" Miss Jones effortlessly dodged Sayaka's maneuvers. "Goooood!" She twirled around and countered. "Oh, dear! This is actually starting to make me sweat a little!" She slashed Sayaka in the back. "Game!" Sayaka fell to the ground.
"Dammit!" Sayaka got up and dusted herself off. "I'm never going to beat you, am I?"
"Try not to think of it in terms of winning and losing." Miss Jones advised. "I am your Sensei." She slightly bowed. "Teaching you. We're doing this so you may learn much more than fight." Miss Jones thrust her colored sword at Sayaka, who parried and leapt into the air above her. "See? Just like that!"
"I wasn't in school today." Sayaka landed and thrusted at Miss Jones' abdomen.
Miss Jones dodged with a last-second hop and a pivot turn. "You?" She attacked with a neck-high slash, which Sayaka swiftly ducked under. "Oh. 'Her' You. Gotcha."
"I hope she's not up to anything stupid." Rings of musical notes materialized under Sayaka as she prepared to charge.
"Yeah, I know Miss Yamazaki's getting very cross with her, but if you're worried that she's made a contract." Sayaka accelerated, full blast at Miss Jones. "We can check with the TARDIS biosigns sensors for her DNA signature when we're done. Just got those patched up." Miss Jones leapfrogged over Sayaka's body as her attack failed to make contact. "If she's still human, she'll show up."
"Thanks." Sayaka landed, whipped around and replanted her feet. "Can I ask you another question?"
"Go ahead." Miss Jones said. "It's what I'm here for."
"Why am I here, and me? With you?" Sayaka awkwardly phrased. "And not there and her, wherever she is?" Sayaka leapt to the air, backflipped and prepared to perform an aerial charge attack.
"You mean why are there two of you?"
"Yeah." Sayaka huffed and launched at her instructor.
"That's an excellent question." Miss Jones sidestepped her second try with a practiced ease. "I'm afraid I don't even have a decent theory to offer on it yet." She casually slashed Sayaka's ankle as Sayaka's body cracked the ground beneath them.
"Crap!" Sayaka collapsed as her slashed foot went numb.
"You've gotta find another ace-in-the-hole." Miss Jones coached. "That charge attack is so totally telegraphed even a neophyte could counter it."
"What difference does that make?" Sayaka propped her body up against a rock. "It's not like any witch is going to be able to read my moves."
"Huge tactical mistake you're making there." Miss Jones explained. "Assuming you already know the opponent's fighting capabilities. Never do that." She thrust her weapon at Sayaka's other leg. "We have no idea whether they're creatures of raw instinct or if they have functional intelligence. You could make a case for either." Sayaka pushed off the rock in a quick escape. "Got it?" She jabbed another attack at Sayaka's chest.
"Yes, Sensei." Sayaka averted the attack with a one-footed vault upward. She then pushed off the hilt of Miss Jones's weapon and spun and counterattacked with a slash on her wrist.
"Way to go!" Miss Jones cheered as she dropped her sword. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not left-handed. She caught it mid-air with her right hand and struck Sayaka's head as she landed. "Once again, from the top." Sayaka reluctantly got back up. "That's the second lesson: Don't go all-in on your foe immediately. Gauge them first, then adjust how you counter accordingly."
"Thank you, Sensei." Sayaka dusted herself off. "What theories do you have then?"
"Hmmm." Miss Jones thought to herself. "My best guess is that Homura's magic somehow interacted with my TARDIS's Temporal Navigation Matrix." She licked her upper lip. "And she drug us along when she jumped through time."
"That explains Homura and you." Sayaka's shoulders slouched. "But not me and her."
"Indeed." Miss Jones smiled. "You really have been reading up, haven't you?" She sat down on a large rock. "I suppose it depends on precisely how her traveling ability works. If she were hopping into a full-fledged parallel timeline, that would potentially offer an explanation to why there are two of you."
"And that would explain why everything's the same, but got so…" Sayaka paused. "Different?"
"Yeah." Miss Jones shook her head. "But that wouldn't explain why there's only one of her. That, to me, is more suggestive old-fashioned time travel, and the creation of a tangent timeline, an offshoot existence in which she merges her untethered soul with her past self. It would also explain why there's also still the presence of the Blinovitch Effect for you."
"The Blino- What?"
"That thing that happened in the bathroom when those pocket mirrors of yours touched. The mirrors zapped each other and busted. Remember?"
"Of course I do." Sayaka sighed and rolled her eyes. "Madoka gave that to me. Wonder how I should apologize."
"But if that were the case, then there shouldn't be two of you." Miss Jones took a flummoxed breath. "Y'see, temporal paradoxes used to be a big recurring problem in the olden days of time travel, so defective models like the Type 4, Type 13 and the Type 40 were summarily recalled and decommissioned." She could tell she was rapidly losing Sayaka. "Anyway, this one's a Type 57. It's fully-featured, with built-in Paradox Protection protocols, the TARDIS should have merged you and your other self together as one entity with memories of both timelines. Maybe it didn't have enough power to do the merger?"
"So what are you saying? I'm just an accident? A mishap?"
"No, not at all." Miss Jones got up and comfortingly patted Sayaka on her shoulder. "I'd quite like to believe you're here for a damn good reason."
A string of humongous bubbles popped and exploded in the air at a disconcertingly close distance. The two ladies scrambled and hid behind a big rock.
"Soooooorrry!" Nagisa's voice apologized in the distance.
"Geez! Seriously… What do bubbles and trumpets have to do with a cheesecake?" Sayaka commented.
"No clue." Miss Jones smirked. "What do swords and capes have to do with healing?" She playfully tugged at Sayaka's cape.
"I dunno." Sayaka pushed her finger against the hard blue plate adorning her chest. "I guess I kinda-sorta pictured myself as a… Caped superhero, when I made my wish. An ally of justice."
"Well, Ms. Ally of Justice," Miss Jones took her hand. "Let's get back to business. Shall we? I've got an idea that might just supplant that ace-in-the-hole of yours."
"Sayaka? Are you there?" Madoka spoke into the apartment complex's microphone again. "Is anybody there?" No reply. She tried calling her friend on her cell phone once again. No response. "Where are you?"
She was worried. Sayaka wasn't home. She hadn't been to school since yesterday morning. The teachers were growing impatient with her. She'd been seen hanging around a dangerous magical girl. And now, this letter. She held Hitomi's envelope up to the light of the Sun. She couldn't make out anything the note said through the light.
"Your friend's absence troubles you?" Kyubey asked beside her.
"Of course." Madoka tried the phone one more time. "I don't know what's gotten into her lately." No answer. "I hope she's not in trouble."
"What are you going to do?"
"I have to find her." Madoka put her phone and the envelope in her pocket and picked up her bookbag.
"Not an easy task." Kyubey commented. "Of course, I can provide you a way that would make it much easier."
"Thanks." Madoka replied. "But I'm going to do it on my own for now." She stared at the city skyline.
"If that's your desire," Kyubey said. "I will respect it." He looked at the envelope. "Perhaps the note itself could serve as a clue. It may be prudent to open the letter and read it."
"No," Madoka dismissed. "I think Hitomi wants Sayaka to be the only person who reads it."
"Then I can only advise that you begin your search by visiting the places she typically goes. Is there somewhere that she frequents usually on her own?"
Madoka thought to herself for a moment. "The hospital." She perked. "She goes to visit Kyosuke Kamijo almost every day."
"Then that should be where you begin first."
"Mmmmmm… Oh, thish ish delishioushhh." Kyoko scarfed on the hot dog, her mouth full while she spoke.
"Glad you like it." Sayaka lightly dipped her french fry into her ketchup.
"Wonder what they're made of."
"We probably shouldn't know."
"Whaddaya lookin' at?" Kyoko caught Sayaka peeking under their booth table.
"Your boot. I just noticed how bloody it got."
"Huh. I guess it did." Kyoko slid her bloodied leg further underneath the table. "Now would you quit gawkin' at it? Toldya I was fine!"
"You're absolutely sure?"
"Yeeeesss! Us magical girls heal from injuries a lot faster than humans can!" Kyoko stood and hopped up and down her booth seat. "Ya' see?"
"Okay! Okay!" Sayaka pulled her down. "I believe you. There's no need to make a scene," She sipped her soft drink. "Man, what I could do with a power like that." She muttered while she sipped.
"So why do you look so worried?" Kyoko slid back into her seat.
"Because I am. I mean you still look really pale."
"Eh. 'Cuz I'm still hungry. Need another hot dog." Kyoko craned her head over Sayaka's food. Sayaka took the cue and slid her other hot dog to Kyoko.
"And there's still got that scar."
"Pssh! That'll be gone in a few days."
"Plus you lost a lot of blood."
"It'll take more than that to keep me down." She fiercely chowed down.
"And then you said you were dead!"
"Bwahahahahaaaa!" Kyoko hastily covered her mouth while she guffawed. "Well I didn't mean it that way!" She pounded the table uproariously. "Oof, those woulda been some really, really lame ass last words. Can't imagine more pathetic words to go out with than 'I'm deeeeaaaad'!" She slumped back in her seat and slurped her drink.
"So why'd you say that?"
"Because I really am dead!" She grabbed a trio of french fries and dipped them in Sayaka's ketchup. "Far as the rest of the world knows, anyway. 'Kyoko Sakura' is dead." She chomped them. "Far as it cares."
"For reals?"
"I mean, yeah probably." Kyoko finished the last of her own fries. "My name was on the news and stuff. Least that's what Mami told me." She started on the rest of Sayaka's fries. "Think about it. A dead girl, suddenly showin' up at the hospital, all bloody with a hole in her leg? They'd ask way too many questions. I could never put up with it."
"So that Mami chick was telling the truth? You were together once?"
"For a lil' while, yeah." Kyoko stopped eating long enough to slurp up some of the melted ice in her soft drink. "We fought witches side-by-side. Learned a lot of what I know from her."
"What happened?"
"Didn't work out." She slouched and slid even lower in her seat. "Mami's got a stubborn ass moral code. Determined to save everyone, help anyone, do the right thing if it's for the sake of others. Thinks us other girls should be the same as her. Not welcome around her if we don't." She snatched a couple napkins from the dispenser. "But reality don't work that way. Not unless ya' got the raw might to back it up, like she can. But I was such a fool. Back then I was too taken in by her talent, her looks, and her power to see that she was preachin' pure bullshit. Not until it was almost too late for me." She took to clacking together the salt and pepper shakers as if they were her little toys. "Huh. 'I'm such a fool.' That'd be a pretty sad line to go out on too, I think."
"What happened to you?"
Kyoko curled into the inner corner of her booth seat. She poured a handful of salt into her palm and licked it, reluctant to say anything more.
"Kyoko?"
"It went wrong."
"What wen-"
"My wish." She interrupted. "Went wrong. They died."
Sayaka took the damaged photograph out of her pocket, and slid it across the table. Kyoko briefly glanced at it, then flicked it aside with her fingers. "You wish for happiness, someone else has to suffer equally in return." She poured some pepper on her other hand and licked it. "It all has to balance out. That's how the world really works."
"Kyoko..." Sayaka leaned closer. "What'd you wish for?"
Kyoko pressed her thumb on one of the beheaded adults in the photograph. "The church we slept at… Used to be my Dad's. He was an honest, caring man who'd tear up when he'd read about all the bad things happening in the world in the papers." She sniffed. "'Cause ya' see he couldn't figure out how to make things better. He thought religion hadn't adapted enough. He wanted something new, something that would make sense in today's world." She shook the shakers around as if they were a pair of puppets. "So one day, he started preachin' things to the congregation that wasn't in the Bible. But the people got upset… They stopped comin' to his sermons. So The Church kicked him out, and after that, nobody cared what he had to say."
She poured and licked more salt. "Go figure, right? I mean, from the outside, I bet he looked like he was trying to start a cult." She set it down and stirred around excess salt with her fingers. "It didn't matter if what he said was right, or even if it made any sense. Everyone treated him like he was a psycho." She set the shakers aside, and reached for a couple fries. "It got so bad for my family that there were lots of times where we didn't have any food."
She nibbled on them for a moment, and swallowed. "I couldn't understand it. I mean, my Dad wasn't doing or saying anything wrong. It was just different from what everyone was used to hearin', is all." Sayaka hunched in ever closer to her, sympathetically listening along. "If people woulda just calmed down, gave him five minutes and really listened to what he had to say, they woulda seen he was right. But in the end, nobody did." She slammed the table with her fists, sending the shakers spilling onto her lap.
"So I got mad. Like, you know, really pissed off." She continued. "I hated that nobody tried to give my Dad a chance, and understand the things he was talkin' about." She picked them up. "But then, Kyubey showed up and I made my wish." She bobbed them up and down rapidly. "I wanted everyone to listen to my Dad and take the stuff he was saying seriously." She put them back near the table's edge.
Sayaka astoundedly gasped. "The next morning," Kyoko continued on, "Everybody came back! The church was packed with so many people! Every day, more and more people came who wanted nuthin' but to hear my Dad preach!" She sniffed and smiled. "And me? I started doing the whole Magical Girl thing… I figured, no matter how awesome my Dad's sermons were, they weren't going to take care of those witches anytime soon! It was my job! So, like a rookie idiot, I threw myself into hunting witches full time." She sat up in her seat. "In my mind, we were gonna save the world together! Him doing it out in the open, and me from the shadows!" She grabbed the last handful of fries and brusquely shoved them in her mouth. "So now you see how easy it was for me to go along with Mami's whole schtick, right?" Sayaka nodded along sympathetically.
"Then one day," She paused. "My Dad found out about what was really going on." She put her finger on the photograph and flipped it around. "I'll never forget it. When he realized everyone was there, not because of what he was preachin', but because of my magic… He totally lost his mind!" She took a deep, pained breath. "And then he called me," She ashamedly put her hand to her forehead, "He called his own daughter, an evil witch that corrupted his flock!" She angrily slapped the table. "Heh! Isn't that hilarious?" She chuckled bitterly. "I'm the one out every night hunting real witches and he calls me a witch!"
Kyoko hunched over, then bitterly buried her face in her arm on the table. "After that, my dad had a total breakdown. He got really depressed. Started drinkin' a lot, and then one night he went crazy. He killed my family and then he committed suicide." She flicked the shakers over, as they rolled off the table to the next booth. "Leaving me behind. And Alone."
She paused and wiped tears from her eyes. "Mami found me later that night, hurtin' real bad just waitin' to die. No... Wantin' to." Her eyes dejectedly stared out a faraway window.
"Sounds like she at least cared about you."
"Riiiiiiight." Kyoko sarcastically rolled her head with her eyes. "Y'know, I remember when I was first startin' out as that starry-eyed Rookie, she and I were walking to her place one night. She had just met my family, she had seen all the newfound joy in their lives because of what I'd done. And as I told her exactly what I'd wished for, she suddenly got this really weird look in her eyes, and then said something to me about one... Being able to better withstand the price of a wish if it's for themselves." She disgustedly shook her head. "Like she just knew … It was all going to go crashin' on me someday."
"She couldn't have kno-"
"Bullshit!" She slammed the table. "She knew! Much as she and Kyubey gab, she must've heard some real horror stories. And if it wasn't from him, then from any of the other girls that she's met, much as she gets around. No way she couldn't have known. We were supposed to be friends, yet all she gave me was some vague, offhand warning? Absolute Bullshit!"
"And Kyubey didn't tell you anything?"
"Tch! No! That ain't how he works." Kyoko grumbled. "If you don't ask about something, he won't tell you about it. Learned that much about him pretty quickly." She sniffed. "Prolly so he can stay neutral whenever us magical girls have it out."
"Huh. That actually explains something." Sayaka uttered, just loud enough to perk Kyoko's ear.
"Eh? What somethin'?" She asked, sensing an opportunity to pivot the topic away from her sordid past.
"Oh, uh-" Sayaka stammered. "I- It's personal is all. None of your business."
"Oh, really?" Kyoko stared across the table. "Hmph! And here I was, spillin' all my guts to somebody I only met a couple of days ago, and she has the nerve tellin' me somethin's none of my business!" She scowled.
"Okay, okay!" Sayaka relented. "But promise me you won't do anything drastic."
"Well that depends on-"
"I mean it!" Sayaka warned. "If you get involved, then that Mami will get involved, and I don't wanna lose my friend to that wannabe queen bee."
"'Wannabe queen bee'. Heh," Kyoko snickered. "That's pretty good." Then she saw Sayaka's face. "Alright. I promise." She tokenly offered a peace gesture. "So spill it on me, already!"
"You remember my friend in that picture I showed you? Madoka?"
"The one you caught flirtin' with your guy pal?"
"No, the other one." Sayaka took a deep breath. "I think Kyubey might be trying to recruit her."
"Oooooh?" Kyoko's eyes went wide. "Why do ya' think that?"
"Mami and I had a little bit of a dust up at school yesterday. When Madoka came to break us up, she already knew who Mami was. Then Kyubey showed up beside her."
"That soooooo?" Kyoko leaned in. "I take it you don't want her becomin' a magical girl?"
"Nope! No way! Nuh-Uh!" Sayaka shook her head. "She's not tough enough to fight monsters like the thing you and I took down."
"I might've had the same opinion 'bout you 'til that fight, ya' know."
"Yeah," Sayaka conceded. "But it's not only that. Madoka's probably the bestest friend I'll ever have. And the idea that I could possibly lose her to some witch in some horrible battle," She worriedly sighed. "I don't think I could ever live wit-
"Will that be all today, ladies?" A waitress interrupted their conversation.
"We're done." Sayaka collected the empty plates in front of them. "Thanks."
"Here is your total for today." She handed Sayaka the bill.
"Crap. It's going to be close." Sayaka fished through her pockets for her wallet.
"Hey no worries." Kyoko flipped out her own wallet. "I had most of it. I got this." She paid the total, and the waitress promptly collected their dishes and left.
"Where'd you get that wallet?" Sayaka asked her.
"You remember that guy I accidentally bumped into at the door?" Kyoko slyly smiled. "Not an accident."
"You took his wallet?" Sayaka's expression immediately changed to one of disapproval.
"Would you relax? I'll stick it in the 'Lost And Found' before we go."
"That's not the point! You can't go around picking pockets! It's not right!"
"What am I supposed to do? Get a job? Ride around, delivering mornin' newspapers? How's a dead girl supposed to do that?"
"Look…" Sayaka rubbed her eyes as she spoke. "I know there's really no way I can stop you from doing the things you wan-" She paused. "You have to do. But promise me you'll refrain from taking anyone else's money as long as you're around me? Please?"
"It really bothers-"
"Yes!"
Kyoko dejectedly scrunched her body in the booth while she slid the wallet over to Sayaka. "I proooomise."
"Thank you." Sayaka snatched the wallet then stashed it in her own pocket. " I'll take it to the lost and found."
"Ah ha! There you are!" Miss Jones keyed instructions into the control console. "Or rather… Here you are? The Other 'You' is right here in the mall. And fortunately still registering as one hundred percent human."
"I wonder why she's here." Sayaka mused.
"It could be that she's with Kyoko Sakura." Homura was sitting on the futon in the control room drinking tea next to Nagisa, who was quietly sampling cheeses. "She frequents the arcades and entertainment venues."
"Yikes! Wouldn't that be ironic." Sayaka put her hands to her hips.
"What would be ironic?"
"That Kyoko's would be the one keeping her nose clean."
"You know what I'd wish for now, if I had the chance to make a wish all over again?" Kyoko said as they left the restaurant.
"I give up. What?" Sayaka replied.
"I'd wish to be able to create a delicious, fully prepared Taiyaki, right in the palm of my hand whenever I wanted one." She cupped her hand right in front of Sayaka's face. "With whatever filling I'd wanted to try, of course." Sayaka cooly pushed her hand aside. "What?"
"For reals?" Sayaka incredulously asked. "You're all about food?"
"I mean, why not?" Kyoko slipped a Pocky in her mouth. "If a big wish'll go wrong and create just as much misery in the world, then the key is not in makin' any sort of big world-changin' wish, but rather makin' a small one. Then I might've used my power to make my own life a little better off." She took a second while she suckled on her Pocky stick. "And my family too. In whatever way I could manage."
"With Taiyaki?"
"It would've kept them fed at least!" Kyoko hesitated. "I would've definitely shared some with my sister. She wouldn't have asked any questions." She pointed at a concession stand as they passed by a cineplex. "Or, I coulda opened my own Taiyaki stand. Used the money and helped us out some."
"Small wish, huh?" Sayaka scratched her cheek "Well it's food for thought I suppose." She slung the bag she was carrying over her shoulder as they made their way across the main food court.
"Now I'm hungry again." Kyoko sniffed around while she bit into her snack.
"Later. I gotta go do something quick."
"Oh? Whaddaya got in that bag?" Kyoko inquired.
"A bathing suit I bought a little while ago." Sayaka answered. "I figured, since I'm already here, I might as well return it."
"Yer takin' it back?" Kyoko stepped beside her. "Why ya' doin' that?"
"Because I could really use the extra money right now."
"For what?"
"Do you really have to ask?" Sayaka stopped briefly and read the advertising signs. "I'm going to put that money back, then take it to the lost and found. I've decided I can settle on one of the cheaper suits on sale."
"Why? Ya' goin' to the beach?"
"Well no, not anytime soon." Sayaka checked to see if the receipt was still in the bag, "But my aunt and uncle own an inn on the coast, and I've been meaning to go back there sometime." She took it out. "Can you wait here for a bit?"
Kyoko rolled her eyes and groaned. Then she peeked over Sayaka's shoulder towards the arcade behind her. She beggingly smiled and held out her hand.
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine." Sayaka took out some change. "Stay out of trouble. Please?"
Kyoko grinned playfully.
"You whaaaaaat?" Sayaka turned to Homura.
"I achieved all the high scores in Kyoko's favorite games." Homura repeated. Miss Jones was unsuccessfully stifling a huge fit of laughter behind them. "She gravitates towards rhythm games, fighting games, and shooting games. Basically whatever tests her reflexive skills."
"Why?"
"Kyoko is the sort of person who is naturally driven to compete. So I figured one way to keep her out of unnecessary conflicts would be to keep her preoccupied with such frivolities like game scores."
"You actually know how to play those games?"
"They're not difficult to master." Homura briefly glanced at Miss Jones. "Once I remembered how to play them, it was like riding a bicycle."
"Well I for one applaud your initiative," Miss Jones walked over to her leather coat on the hanger. "And your innovative thinking."
"Where are you headed?" Sayaka asked Miss Jones.
"I can tell by the look on your face that you're not content with a check of the life-signs sensor. You want to personally go make sure that bunnycat isn't haranguing her." She buttoned the first two buttons together. "You leave that to me."
"Bu-"
"She would be the logical choice." Homura cut her off. "Sending you, I or Nagisa would either arouse Kyubey's interest, or make Kyoko suspicious. By far her most refined skill is sensing other magical girls in proximity."
"Precisely." Miss Jones acknowledged. "But to those two, I'm another face in the crowd."
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiine." Sayaka relented.
"Before you leave," Homura approached. "I would like to know how to calibrate the machine to search for someone else specific."
"Certainly," Miss Jones pointed at the console. "Use the Psychic link. Put your hand on that spot and picture the person you're searching for." She stepped towards the TARDIS exit. "And I'd like to thank you for all your cooperation up to now." She took a step out then peeked her head back in. "And your restraint."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sayaka wondered.
"She managed to convince me to not follow Madoka as vigorously as I have in the past." Homura put her palm on the console. "To intervene only if either her life or her soul were in imminent danger."
"With Kyubey hanging on her twenty-four-seven, that's gotta be a lot of restraint."
"You have no idea." The map of the city displayed before them zoomed out, then closer again as Homura pictured Madoka's face. The screen turned bright red as the message "SECURITY ALERT - UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS" flashed before them.
"Oops! Crap! That's right!" Sayaka snapped her fingers. "Miss Jones totally forgot to put you guys in as crew members." Homura was visibly displeased. "I'll do it for you."
"A 'crew member'?"
"Yeah. Can you believe it? I'm supposedly the 'Co-Pilot' of this thing." Sayaka put her hand on the console. "At least my touch can fix something around here." The screen map zoomed out, then back in as it zeroed in on their target.
"She's human." Both girls said with a sigh of relief. "Where's she at?" Sayaka said as they studied the map.
"That's the hospital." Homura identified.
"What in the world is she doing there?"
"Friend or family?" The receptionist asked.
"Uhhhhm, a friend." Madoka twiddled her fingers. "M-More of uh, friend of a friend's."
"Wait here a moment." The receptionist typed away. "I'll sign you in."
"With so many vulnerable humans congregated together," Kyubey noted, "Locations like these are a common place for witches to manifest." He added, "I advise you keep a wish in mind in the event one attacks."
"You're signed in." The receptionist jotted a note. "Here's the room where he's recuperating. You may proceed." She handed it to Madoka, who promptly tiptoed to the elevator.
"This doesn't make any sense at all." Madoka made room for a squad of doctors crowding into the elevator. "Blood work, normal." They were all huddled around a rather frail-appearing woman in her wheelchair. "CT Scan, negative. EEG, normal." The doctor continued down the list. "There's nothing that could explain this patient's full recovery."
"Na… Gi..." The disengaged woman in the wheelchair uttered. "I'm… So… So..." The elevator's doors slid open, as the team whisked her away.
"This is the right floor." Madoka took a deep breath as the elevator dinged. Madoka proceeded down the hallway, and turned the corner. She spotted Kyosuke's room number. But there were no bookbags, no belongings anywhere placed next to the door. And the room itself was dead quiet. No indication at all that Sayaka was here. Madoka promptly turned around to leave discreetly.
"Then again…" Madoka paused and thought. "If Sayaka hadn't gone to school, she wouldn't have brought along her bookbag." If she were in a big hurry, she might have left her other things at home too, she deduced. She turned around again. She figured that she at least needed to take a peek inside, just to be absolutely certain. A peek wouldn't be too intrusive.
The door crept open little by little. Madoka saw a human-looking shadow cast against the patterned wall behind his bed. Slowly her head poked inside. Little by little she opened it further. His bed was empty. There was a chair placed next to the window. The only sound that could be heard was the slow creak of the door.
Madoka abruptly threw the whole door open as she let out a deep, shocked gasp. Before her teetered Kyosuke Kamijo, standing on the edge of the outer window frame, holding onto a rail and ready to take the very last step of his life.
"No! Please don't do it!" Madoka rushed into the room.
"Stay back!" Kamijo's head jerked around.
"Pleeeease! Don't jump! Madoka cried out.
"Go away!" He cried, his tearful face looking back at her with a combination of fear, anguish and surprise. "Leave me alone!"
"You don't want to do this!" Madoka approached closer.
"Yes I do!"
"No you don't!"
"My doctor… Told me to give up!" His voice cracked as he explained. "He told me that it was useless! That my hand was never going to feel anything again! That I'm never going to be able to play my violin again!"
"But you mustn't give up on life!" Madoka desperately pleaded.
"Why shouldn't I?" He sniffed. "Without my violin, I'm nothing! I'm worthless!" His lean tilted ever so slightly farther from her, his feet precariously perched on the ledge. "I'm just a burden!"
"I calculate that there's an even chance that he will jump." Kyubey said to Madoka.
"Please! Don't go!" Madoka's own voice cracked. "Think about all the people who care about you! What would it do to them? Think about how sad your Mom and Dad will be without you in their lives!"
"They don't care!" He whimpered. "My parents… They're gone all the time! They only ever noticed me when I practiced! They only loved my talent!"
"That's not true! No!" Madoka scrambled to think of other examples from his life. "What about your friends?"
"They don't care either!"
"Yes they do!" She slowly toed closer to him. "I know they do! I know Sayaka comes to see you every day she can!"
He shook his head. "She hasn't come in days." He spat. "Some friend!"
"What?" Madoka hesitated. "Wha- what about the rest of the class?"
"No one wants to see me this way!" He sobbed. "Even Nakazawa only ever sent stupid cards and texts!"
"There's me!" She tiptoed past the bed by this point. "I'm here for you." She crept ever-so-slightly closer and closer to him. "Please come back inside!" Her voice cracked.
"You're…" His teary eyes were just visible through his disheveled hair as he glanced back at her. "Really here? F- For me?"
"Yes." She tearfully nodded. "Please come back over, and I'll stay for you. Pretty please?"
"I- A- Alright." His eyes widened. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to turn around and climb back over the window, he had been so committed to jumping that he didn't ever consider an exit strategy. Slowly his feet turned, his heels pivoted, he took a deep breath and turned the rest of his body around.
"Easy." Madoka encouragingly uttered. She stood on top of the chair, as he slowly attempted a climb back over the edge.
"Waaahhhh!" He wailed as he'd suddenly slipped off the ledge.
"I've got you!" Madoka caught his right hand just as it lost its grip on the top railing.
"Don't let me go!" He screamed.
"I won't!" She reassured him. "I- I'm going to pull you back!" She tried to pull him back with all her might, but was simply too small and too weak to make headway.
"Madoka!" Kyubey approached them. "You are not physically capable of lifting a body of his size. If you are absolutely determined to save his life, you have to make a wish!"
"Y- You've got to help me!" She was seemingly deaf to Kyubey's words while she called out to the young boy. "Y- You've got to grab the rail with your hand!"
"I caaaaaan't!" He shouted. "My other hand's worthless! It can't do anything."
"Then I-" She struggled. "I'll bring this hand as close as I can to the rail. You can grab it and give me your other hand!"
"I- I…" He stammered.
"You have to try!" The look in her eyes made the urgency abundantly clear to him.
"O- Okay." She pulled him up as close as she could with all her remaining might.
"On the count of three, give me your other hand!" She said through her teeth.
"I'll try!"
"I'm counting to three!" She said, "Ready?" He nodded slightly. One… Two… Threeeee!" She quickly let go as he lunged his damaged left hand up at her. She grabbed at it, and held on to it tightly, while his right hand latched desperately to the window's railing.
"Now help me pull your body up!" Madoka commanded. "You can do it!" Kamijo mustered all his remaining might and courage as he pulled himself up to her body. She grabbed him by his abdomen, and he flopped over the rail and back into the hospital room.
"You did it, Madoka!" Kyubey congratulated from on top of the bed. "You once again surprise me!"
Madoka laid out on the floor flat, her teary eyes closed as she tried to catch her breath and collect her wits. She wiped them away and opened them, her head gradually turning towards the rescued Kamijo. To her utter astonishment, he didn't appear to be relieved. He wasn't at all frightened, either. He wasn't even stunned. He was laughing. A most joyous, uplifting laughter, as if he were the happiest person to ever laugh on Earth. He was almost certainly the luckiest right now. Madoka didn't know what to make of it.
"That Doctor was wrong!" He gleefully held out his bandaged arm. "I felt it! I really really felt it!" He sobbed. "I felt yoooour hands touching miiiiiine!"