Chapter 15

A Flower Blooms in the Netherworld

It proved to be somewhat slow going through the city. Rubble and raining fire aside, the Heartless were omnipresent. Homura lamented that she was so weakened away from Mitakihara, else she could have easily eliminated these Heartless. As it stood, she was forced to ally herself with these strangers.

And Madoka was nowhere to be seen.

Every time there was an explosion, or the ground shook, or a building collapsed, more knots formed in her stomach, and her breathing hastened. She was so weak now, and this city was falling apart. Madoka was in peril and she was failing her!

Why had she been so slow to respond? It had started with the dream, but she had dismissed it to go play dress-up in a castle. Then there had been the attack on her island. She could have ended that fight in a second but she instead felt the need to toy with the invaders. Then she didn't stick around after she checked on Madoka and missed everything! By the time she got back on track, it had been too late. And when the problem was right in front of her, instead of keeping Madoka close, she had warped her away so she could go throw a tantrum. What the hell was she even doing here?

"You've got that right." Homura heard the voice of Homulilly. "Did you really think you could protect her? Homura, the sad joke of a girl thought she could protect somebody. You failed, like you always do. You really should have ended it that day. Madoka was worse off the moment you entered her life."

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to face Homulilly. Instead, she was surprised to see Sora.

"What is it?"

"Homura? I know it looks bad, but you can't lose hope. I know you'll find her."

"How? You don't even know me."

"Maybe not, but I understand what you're feeling. A lot. I've lost friends too, and spent so much time searching for them. It was hard, and I almost gave up hope several times. But in the end, we've been reunited. Whatever happens, you have to see this through. And for what it's worth, I believe you'll find each other in the end."

"Yeah Homura! Madoka's countin' on ya'!" Goofy said.

The words felt… strange. Unreal. She wasn't sure what to think. Fortunately, she was interrupted by a female sounding scream.

"Help!"

"Madoka?!" The scream was coming from a burning building nearby. She could see Heartless pouring into the place. Homura immediately rushed towards the building, firing a shot that blasted the shadows gathering at the entrance.

As she entered, she paused, disappointed. The cry had come from a family. A father, mother, and daughter were surrounded by Heartless, cowering behind an overturned couch. She looked around the room, but it was obvious Madoka wasn't here. She sighed.

"What are you just standing there for?" She heard Sora behind her. She turned, and saw a jet of water shoot forwards as if from a fire hose and slam a Heartless into a wall, while simultaneously extinguishing several fires.

The Heartless immediately turned to Sora as he leaped into action. "I'll draw their attention, you keep those people out of harms way!"

"Y-yes." Homura said. All confusion exited her mind. This was a fight. She knew that. Everything else could be shoved aside, at least for the moment. She immediately shot an arrow at the Heartless nearest to the civilians destroying it, and then leaped forward, kicking away the next one to approach and then shooting it.

A calm rhythm fell over her. Use slow on the Heartless that drew too close, while picking off the farther targets. The Heartless were barely more than animals, much like many familiars tended to be. Their tactics were simple, repetitive.

Sora, for his part, practically flew across the battlefield. She noticed a similar aura to Madoka's as he moved rapidly, though his was blue. His fighting style also differed from Madoka's as he didn't rely on this power as much as her. Instead, he mixed magical attacks in with Keyblade swings, even combining the two. He would dash forwards, cutting his way into the middle of a crowd of Heartless, before causing fireballs to spin around him, engulfing all those too slow to get out of the way. Then, with them scattered, he directed the flames onto his keyblade, and then hurled it, a spinning disk of fiery death.

While the Keyblade was separated from Sora, Goofy leaped behind him, intercepting attacks to Sora's back. He then struck, battering the Heartless into a wall, where a bolt of lightning from Donald's staff eliminated them.

Then, as the Keyblade returned to Sora, Goofy tossed his shield towards him, which Sora struck like it was a baseball, sending it bouncing around through another crowd of Heartless like this was some sort of pinball machine. When it reached the center, Donald held up his staff and shouted "Aero!"

A miniature tornado formed, sucking the Heartless into it, and mercilessly battering them with both the winds and Goofy's shield. Once the Heartless were defeated, a gesture from Donald's staff blew Goofy's shield back into his hands. The trio simply nodded to each other.

They were a well-oiled machine. Watching them fight like that, Homura was reminded of her early days, fighting alongside Mami and Madoka. Or even better when all five of them were facing the Nightmares and…

Homura abruptly ended that line of thought. She wasn't part of a team. She never truly had been. It was a lie. It always was. Trust and cooperation were always a lie. A veneer over selfishness. She was only with them so she could find Madoka. They were looking for someone as well. They wanted something from her. She wanted something from them. An alliance of convenience. A transaction. Nothing more.

There was a shuffling sound behind her. Homura jolted, only to remember the family she was protecting. They were starting to make their way to the exit, escorted by Sora. These must have been the people Sora was looking for.

She walked of the house after them, to hear Sora speaking.

"There's a safe area in town square that the guards are setting up. Be careful on your way there."

"Alright!" The father said. "Thank you. C'mon, lets get going."

The daughter however, looked over at Homura. She then ran over to the front of her house where a flowerpot had been knocked over. She picked something out of it and rushed over to Homura, a big smile on her face. She handed her a blue flower, a hyacinth.

"I don't have much left, but this is thanks for saving me! You were amazing! I hope I can be brave like you some day!"

Brave like me?

Homura said nothing as she took the flower, simply staring blankly at it. The family took off around a corner.

Eventually, she placed the flower in her time-shield and turned to Sora, Donald and Goofy. They were looking out over a balcony, surveying the city. She looked back to where the family had been, and then back to them.

"Where is he?" Goofy asked.

"Dunno, it's a big city." Sora replied.

"Why did you let them go like that?" Homura asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Weren't they the ones you were searching for?" She asked.

"No?"

"But then..." Homura asked. "Why go to all this trouble to rescue them?"

"They were in danger. Why else?" Sora answered with a grin. "That's what heroes do! Like Herc!"

"And us to now!" Goofy said. "We ain't junior heroes no more."

"Herc?"

"Hercules." Donald clarified.

"Yeah, he's the one I'm looking for. Herc once lost his strength, but then he gained it back. I used to be a lot stronger than I am now, but some thing happened to me, and I'm weaker. I was hoping Herc could help me with that. There are a lot of people who are depending on me, and I don't want them to suffer. But, now… " Sora suddenly looked glum. "Now, I don't know if I can still do it like I am."

Homura was about to reply, when she heard a sudden laughter behind her.

"Aww… now if that ain't music to my ears." A male voice said.

She turned to see a dark portal. Out of the vortex emerged a strange creature. It looked like an anthropomorphic fat cat wearing a weird looking jumpsuit. He kind of resembled Donald and Goofy.

"Pete!"

"Well, if it isn't Sora and the Kings pawns. And extras." Said another voice. This one female. It echoed, and made Homura's skin crawl. Out of the portal stepped a demonic looking woman. She had no hair, instead having black scales and horns that framed her sickly green face. Her eyes were yellow, with slit pupils. She wore a flowing black robe and carried a staff with a green gemstone at the tip.

Sora immediately dropped into a fighting stance, as did Donald and Goofy.

"Maleficent! Pete! Are you the reason the Heartless are here?"

This was Maleficent? When Xehanort had called her an evil fairy, this wasn't what she had pictured in her head, though she did still look suitably sinister.

"Certainly not!" Maleficent dismissed.

Pete looked over Sora and sneered. "Not sure about the other punks but the key kid is definitely weaker now! I say we finish him off while we can!"

Maleficent rolled her eyes. "Waste no time with the boy, he is inconsequential. We have a far more pressing matter to attend to."

Pete looked confused for a second, before confidently crossing his arms. "Oh! We gots ta' find that black box!"

"Be silent you fool!" Maleficent snapped and Pete flinched. "As for you all. We shall meet again… when I have time for such trifles."

She turned to leave, only to be interrupted.

"Maleficent! Answer me!" Homura said. "What you you know of Madoka!"

"You dare to make demands of me, girl?" Maleficent said, sounding incredulous at the thought. She then grinned. "Though, now that you mention it. I encountered a Madoka Kaname not too long ago. A foolhardy, insubordinate girl. She got what she deserved."

"Yeah!" Pete laughed. "Last I saw that brat was about to be torn apart by Heartless! Serves her right!"

He didn't laugh for long, as an arrow of purple flame hit him head on, sending him flying into a wall hard enough to crack it. He slid to the ground with a groan of pain.

"You hurt Madoka! Where is she?! What have you done with her?!" Her voice resonated as she aimed another shot at Maleficent. The evil fairy gestured lazily with her staff, and the purple flames were intercepted by green ones.

"Watch yourself child. You know not who you are dealing with."

Homura didn't care. Her vision was filling with red. She had hurt Madoka. She would die for that. She gave an inhuman yell. A glowing blue shimmering arm extended from Homura's body, reaching for Maleficent. She responded by slamming the base of her staff against the ground. A mass of thorny vines and branches emerged from the earth and intercepted the hand. They then jerked and pulled the hand, and Homura along with it.

She was slammed into the guard over the balcony. Homura ignored the pain from the impact, and forced herself up, bow pointed at Maleficent. However, she was already prepared, her staff pointed at Homura.

"Lightning strike at my behest! Devastate this insolent pest!"

A blindingly bright flash of lightning erupted from the tip of Maleficent's staff, blasting Homura through the guard and out over the city. She was sent flying, to come crashing through the window of a building, just in time for a quake to cause the structure to collapse.

"Le Grand Bistrot. Sounds fancy!" Sayaka said.

"Looks fancy." Madoka observed.

"Tastes fancy too. And I'm not just saying that because we did some part time work there." Pence said.

"I dunno." Mami said. "It looks pricey."

"Hey, you have all that prize money. Should be easy." Hayner said.

"Yeah… it's just..." Mami said.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Well, you gave up your place in the tournament for us." Mami said. "We only really need money for the train. It doesn't feel right to just spend it frivolously like this. I'd rather give you the extra."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You earned it. There's always next time anyways." Hayner said. "Besides, I'd feel worse if I'd just left you guys stranded."

"I guess…"

"He said it was fine. Why deny their generosity?" Nagisa added.

"If you really feel you need to pay us back, then you can treat us to dinner! Besides, you all look like you really need it!" Olette suggested.

Madoka's stomach growled. She recalled that the only thing she had eaten was a small sandwich in the morning. All that fighting had worked up an appetite.

"Yeah! C'mon Mami!"

Mami smiled gently. "Well, I suppose it can't be helped."

Everyone cheered. They sat down at a table outside the restaurant, and a waitress came over with menus.

Madoka looked it over, and was amazed at how high class the menu items were. Her family was fairly well off and could have afforded things like this without trouble. However, they preferred to eat at home because her fathers cooking was incredible and healthier, only really eating out when convenience was necessary.

Eventually, she made up her mind and ordered the crab bisque. Sayaka chose the bouillabaisse. Mami the stuffed quail and Nagisa the caprese salad. After Hayner, Pence, and Olette placed their orders, the group leaned back, finally relaxing, only to hear a voice.

"Room for one more?" Kyoko was back. Madoka winced as she saw that she had bandages with red stains wrapped around part of her left hand.

"Kyoko!" Mami said. "You're back?!"

"You must not know me as well as you think if you thought I was going to miss out on food." She said. She looked over towards Madoka, and then awkwardly looked away before taking a seat. She ordered the filet mignon poêlé. "Besides, beats being chased by weird fans. Had enough of being asked to pose for pictures with a bunch of fat otaku."

Kyoko turned to Hayner. "So. What made you want to help us in the first place? Are you in the business of going out of your way for complete strangers?"

"Not really." Hayner said. "To be honest, it was when we saw Madoka's Keyblade. We overheard that you needed help and we could just ignore that. We've met some other Keyblade wielders before."

"You know about other Keyblade-wielders?" Mami asked.

"Well, just a couple. Sora and Mickey. I don't know the whole story about what's going on with them, but it seems very important, so I wasn't going to let another one get stuck."

"Right..." Kyoko looked back to Madoka, and when their eyes met, she awkwardly looked away again. She couldn't let this keep going on.

Madoka took a deep breath. "Kyoko? Can we talk?"

"What?"

"Uh… just… come with me?" Madoka stood up and gestured for Kyoko to follow.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Madoka bowed.

Kyoko sighed. "It's not your fault."

"But I wasn't thinking about you! I was so happy that I could get Mama and Papa and Tatsuya and everyone back that I wasn't thinking about your losses! You, or Mami, or Nagisa. I was ignoring all of you. I was being selfish and sp-"

"No, you weren't. You're fine… You… You're... Dammit! I'm not good at this stuff!" Kyoko said. Madoka had already been through her share of trauma, as the scar on her face demonstrated. She didn't like how things were going but she also really didn't want to add any more trouble on top of that. "Look. I miss my family, yeah. As do Nagisa and Mami. But that doesn't mean we don't want you or Sayaka to get yours back, if you can. I'd rather you did. It's not fair, but the worlds not-"

"I'm sorry!"

"Again with the apologizing. Jeez! Grow a spine!" Kyoko shot back.

"I'm…" Madoka trailed off.

"Damn, I didn't mean it like that." She said, her eyes widening. Damn it all, why was this so hard? She scratched her head awkwardly, before tentatively placing her hand on Madoka's shoulder. "Look. It's been a hell of a day. Everybody's high strung and stressed out. I don't know how were going to save a World, but what I do know is that we can't do it when were starving to death! We've been out long enough. The foods probably ready! Sound good?"

Madoka laughed a bit, though it sounded a little forced. "Yeah. That sounds good."

So, this is the first time I've really tried writing something like this, dealing with loss (especially the unequal forms of loss in Kingdom Hearts). What does everyone think?

Again, thanks to The Name Of Love for beta-reading and idea sounding!

~Dragonexx