As she opened her bleary violet eyes, Akemi Homura was greeted by the familiar fuzzy sight of off-white ceiling panels and the blue drapes of hospital windows.
Sitting up almost mechanically in her hospital bed, Homura manifested her soul gem in her hands without looking. She went through the process of healing herself automatically, having done so many, many times.
As she raised her soul gem to heal her eyes, something caught her eye.
Underneath the murky purple crystal in her hands were two red ribbons.
Madoka's ribbons.
Just seeing them was enough to send her reeling out of her trance-like state as her breath caught in her throat. Homura remembered.
No one else would.
No one else ever would.
No one else would remember kind-hearted and sweet Madoka, who had given up her very existence with her wish to prevent the inevitable fate of every puella magi.
No one else would remember Madoka, who had saved her, had tried to be her friend regardless of what she said and did, had kept her sane throughout the multitudes of timelines she experienced.
No one else would remember Madoka, the girl she loved with all her damaged heart.
Homura clutched the ribbons to her face and sobbed.