I

After departing from Madoka, Sayaka had gone to the hospital to meet with Kyusuke. She stayed with him for a while, listening to music and trying to cheer him up. It was sad; he didn't seem to want to say much these days and mostly just stayed quiet, staring out the window with a lost expression in his eyes. He must have been horribly depressed after the accident left him crippled and unable to play his violin. Still, she thought there was at least some happiness in him when they listened to classical music together, and she was happy to share that with him.

She got home just as the sun was starting to go down. She kicked off her shoes as she came through the front door and yawned. She was hungry, so she went to the kitchen to make herself some noodles. Before she made any progress with that, however, her phone started ringing.

"Who could that be this late?" she asked herself as she walked away from the stove and to the phone on the other side of the kitchen.

She checked the caller ID and when she saw it was Madoka's home number she smiled and answered, "Hey Madoka, what's up?"

"Sayaka, is that you?" It wasn't Madoka after all. It took Sayaka only a moment to realize it was actually her mother.

"Oh, Mrs. Kaname, how are you doing? Um, yeah this is Sayaka. I'm sorry, I thought you were Madoka."

"I see... I suppose that means she's not with you then?"

"No, we were together for a while after school but we parted ways a few hours ago."

"Did she say where she was going after that?"

"Well, I thought she was going to go home... but she didn't actually say. Has she not been back at all yet?"

"No, I haven't seen her since this morning. I'm starting to worry, it's not like her to stay out past her curfew like this. I was hoping you knew something."

"Well, I could call a few people and see if they have seen her."

"Thank you Sayaka. If you hear anything, let me know right away."

"Ok, and don't worry Mrs. Kaname, I'm sure something just came up."

Sayaka hung the phone up and dialed Hitomi immediately. She said she hadn't seen Madoka either since leaving the cafe after school. Sayaka then tried a couple other friends from school, no one knew anything. She thought about calling one of the teachers, thinking maybe Madoka forgot something at school and went back, but decided not to. That scenario was a bit unlikely anyway, and she didn't want to get Madoka in trouble.

Sayaka was starting to worry herself, but being out of leads there was nothing she could do so she started cooking her noodles. She decided to wait a couple hours and call the Kaname residence again. Hopefully Madoka would be back by then and everything would be explained. She could not help being troubled, though.

She stirred her noodles and thought... what if something bad happened to Madoka? She shook her head to stop herself from thinking like that. It was too early to jump to any conclusions; Madoka was just late coming home, that's all!

"Stupid Madoka," Sayaka whispered to herself. "Making me worry like this... If she doesn't hurry and get back home soon I'll never get to sleep tonight."

When her noodles were done she poured them into a bowl and sat down at the table. She ate slowly, her mind too occupied to fully focus on eating. "Tomorrow, when I see her at school, I'll have to bully her for making me worry like this."

Just then she thought she heard something. Her head shot up and she looked around. She had thought she heard someone call her name.

"Sayaka." There it was again, this time there was no denying it. She stood up and looked around. It sounded more like a whisper, like someone was speaking directly into her ear, but there was no one around.

"H-hello?"

"Don't be scared, Sayaka Miki. Come outside."

"Am I going crazy?" She whispered to herself, but the mysterious voice seemed to have heard it all the same.

"You're not crazy. There's someone out here who wants to meet you."

Sayaka rushed to the door and looked out the window. She didn't see anyone at first, so she unlocked the door and stepped outside. The concrete step at the front of her house felt cold against her bare feet.

Then, she saw them. Standing in her yard there was a blond girl wearing a strange costume, and standing by her feet was some kind of animal Sayaka had never seen before. It was dark, but a nearby streetlamp lit them just enough for Sayaka to be able to see them clearly. The animal at her feet could best be described as a cross between a cat and a rabbit. Its red eyes glowed so brightly in the darkness that they dampened the rest of its features.

"Sorry to startle you," said the girl. She stepped forward and bowed, "My name is Mami Tomoe, it's nice to meet you!"

II

They ascended the flights of stairs without any mishaps which would require stopping time. Homura helped Madoka along, since her legs were completely worn out and with her arms tied behind her back she couldn't even use the railing to help herself climb. Homura had one arm around Madoka's shoulders, holding onto her firmly to reduce any chance of her losing her balance and falling backwards. Her other hand was on Madoka's side, and with each step Homura would pull her up to make it as easy for her as possible.

Madoka accepted all of this in silence. Part of her didn't want any help from this girl, another part was grateful for any relief on her legs. She had trouble making sense of this situation she was in. Being tied up, and at this girls mercy, there were no choices at her disposal and no decisions to make. She just had to accept whatever Homura asked of her and go where she was told to go.

When they made it to the top story (Madoka counted twelve) Homura stuck her head out of the door and looked up and down the hallway before continuing.

They went to the last door on the right. Homura bent down by the doorknob and used a hairpin to pick the lock. It only took her a minute or so of fiddling around with the pin before she heard a soft click and the door creaked open. She used this room as a home base in many of her past lives, and knew it would be a safe place to keep Madoka for at least a little while. At this time of year the top floor of the building was completely deserted.

This room was also on the corner of the building and thus it was bigger than the average hotel room. An additional advantage to this is it only shared one wall with another room. Homura knew from past timelines the room beside them would also be vacant for the next month. Even though they were in a relatively public place the chances of being discovered here were actually very slim.

Inside, there was a good sized living room with a widescreen TV. The kitchen was separated from the living room by a marble bar which had seating on both sides of it. There was a bedroom next to the kitchen and the bathroom was directly to the left of the front door where Madoka and Homura now stood.

Homura led Madoka inside and locked the door behind herself.

"Not bad, right?" Homura asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere, but Madoka wasn't in any mood pleasantries. No doubt she still had plans of escape in the back of her mind but it seemed she was willing to be obedient for now. "I'll have to make a trip outside to get food and clean clothes for us tomorrow. Or I could steal some from downstairs tonight if you're hungry now."

Madoka looked around the room, fidgeting against the ropes. Now that they weren't in motion, she was more aware of how uncomfortable the rope felt. Her legs were sore from all the running and climbing and her shoulders ached.

"Can you untie me now, please?" She asked, her voice was soft and resigned. At first Homura wanted to deny her this request, but realized how impractical it would be to keep her permanently tied up. Plus, there would be zero chance of them having a friendly relationship if she went with that approach.

"Ok," said Homura. "But I'll need to tie you up again when we go to bed. I'll make sure it's not as encumbering as this current tie, though." She walked over to the couch. "Come sit down over here, and I'll do it."

For the first time since the park, Madoka wasn't forced to move in any one direction. The rope leash which was tied to her chest hung down to the floor, and Madoka looked down at it. There was a sense of bewilderment on her face. Perhaps even now she hadn't fully grasped this situation she was in.

They both sat down on the living room couch. Madoka turned her back to Homura, and let her get to work at undoing the rope. Untying her arms was easy enough, although Homura did notice ropemarks were left on her skin. She figured that would go away by morning, though. When that was done, she had to get around to undoing the ropes tied around Madoka's chest. Homura tried her best to do this without being too invasive, although it couldn't be helped that her hand brushed Madoka's breast. If Madoka noticed, she didn't say anything about it.

When all the rope was gone and she was completely untied Madoka breathed a sigh of relief. The feeling of being constricted like that and then suddenly being set free was such a relief it almost felt pleasurable. A tingling sensation swept through her body. She rubbed her arms and examined where the rope had left marks. Homura wanted to apologize for the rope marks and explain that she had never tied someone up before and didn't know that would happen, but she thought better of it and just kept her mouth shut.

"So how long are you going to try and keep me here?" Madoka asked, as she started massaging the stiffness out of her arms. Homura didn't answer right away. The truth was she was planning to keep Madoka her captive indefinitely, meaning not just days or weeks but maybe years. She knew Madoka probably hadn't realized this was her intention yet. Right now Madoka probably thought she would be back home in a few days or so. Homura worried how she would react when she was told the truth, and couldn't bring herself to say it.

"I'm not sure yet," Homura answered. "It depends on some things." She sighed and brushed her hair back. "There is a lot we need to talk about, and you deserve an explanation for all of this. The problem is there is so much, and I don't know where to begin."

Madoka didn't seem to pay much attention to her, she was looking towards the bathroom, her expression unreadable.

"Mind if I take a shower?" she asked. Apparently she wasn't ready to hear whatever it was Homura had to say to her.

Homura didn't see any reason not to let her shower. There were no windows or other ways of escaping from the bathroom, so she said, "Okay."

III

Homura sat with her back against the bathroom door. She was wondering if this plan could really work or not. How could she possibly keep a watch on Madoka twenty four hours a day? She would need to go out and buy (or steal) food for them every day, as well as other living necessities. She would have to sleep sometimes and take showers herself. Not to mention she still needed to fight witches in order to keep her SoulGem clean.

Was she suppose to just tie Madoka up and gag her every single time she had to go somewhere? Even doing that, there was still no guarantee that nobody would find her here. Not to mention Kyubey was a clever little rodent, and the full extent of his powers were unknown to her. She wasn't even one hundred percent sure he wouldn't be able to just find Madoka anyway.

And to think, she planned to keep this going for years, until Madoka was an adult and unable to become a magical girl. It seemed impossible. She hated herself for doing this. For all her efforts to try and save Madoka this is the best plan she could come up with. Still, this was the best path she could see right now and as long as it worked and kept Madoka safe from Kyubey, it would all be worth it in the end.

She sat back and listened to the sound of the shower running, and then she heard something... She heard the sound of Madoka crying…

So, that's why she rushed into the shower... because she didn't want to cry in front of me.

Homura buried her face in her left hand and her right hand punched the carpeted floor. Tears silently streamed down her own face. Her body heaved as she suppressed her emotions, and she gritted her teeth to hold back the sobs, not wanting Madoka to hear her.

Damn it! Why does it have to turn out this way? Madoka… I don't want this. Believe me, I don't want this! I've tried everything else…. I can't see another way!

Then she suddenly stood up and shook the tears away. She left the hotel room and started walking down the hall. She figured she had at least a few minutes to gather some things while Madoka was showering. Plus she couldn't stand to sit there and listen to Madoka cry, knowing that it was all her fault.

She didn't notice it, but her SoulGem was slowly turning blacker and blacker.

IV

Madoka stepped out of the shower about half an hour later, feeling at least little better now that she was clean and had a chance to get some of her emotions out. Little swirls of steam danced around her body and fogged the mirror. She used her hand to wipe away the fog, and took a good look at herself. She had taken her ribbons off before getting in the shower, so now her long pink hair was down and wet against her back.

She examined her body, taking note of the red rope marks all over her chest and arms. The marks on her arms were the deepest, but there were also some lighter imprints around her breasts from where they were tied. She ran a finger along those lighter imprints and frowned.

She still had no idea why this was happening, but she honestly could not bring herself to think Homura was entirely a bad person. Still, she wouldn't allow Homura to keep her like this. She had to come up with an escape plan, she just didn't know how yet. The fact that Homura had the ability to stop time would make things extra difficult. How could she get away from someone who could just magically appear in front of her? She didn't know, but she would have to think of something. There was simply no way she could stay like this!

It was amazing though, seeing the world stand completely still. It was a bit scary, but she never would have thought before that something like that was possible. She no longer thought that any of this was a dream either. She had abandoned that fleeting hope, because this was just too real for that to be a possibility.

She started drying herself off with a towel and looked toward her school uniform which she folded up on the counter. It was dirty now, and probably was starting to smell, but she had no choice but to put it back on.

Then, there was a light knock on the door.

"Madoka, I found some pajamas you can wear. I'm tossing them in, okay?" Then the door cracked open very slightly. Homura only stuck her hand in enough to toss the clothes onto the counter, then shut the door again.

Well, that's one problem solved, Madoka thought. She finished drying off and put the pajamas on. They were made of a soft comfortable material, but both the top and bottom were just a tad too big for her. It was close enough, though. It also had long sleeves so at least the rope marks on her arms and wrists would not be visible anymore.

Part of her just wanted to stay in the bathroom all night and not have to face Homura. For some reason she did not feel that she hated her, although she was kind of scary, Madoka just felt stuck between a mix of emotions and not understanding why she was in this situation. As long as she was stuck here though, it wouldn't be possible to completely avoid Homura. So, she took a deep breath and exited the bathroom.

She could smell something cooking, and she heard Homura banging around in the kitchen area. She got closer and could see that Homura had a small frying pan cooking a piece of bread with an egg on top of it.

"What's that?" Madoka asked.

Homura looked up, just now noticing Madoka was out of the bathroom. "Egg in a basket," she said, "I believe it is a British recipe... I saw it in a movie once. This is my first time actually making it, though." She flipped the bread off the pan and onto a plate and offered it to Madoka. "Here. All I could find were eggs and bread for food. I hope it's ok. I'll get something better for us tomorrow." Madoka didn't bother asking where she got the food from, or the pajamas for that matter. She just assumed Homura had stolen it from another hotel room while she was in the shower.

"Actually, I'm not really hungry."

Homura nodded and set it down on the counter. "It's here if you change your mind." She then turned off the stove, and sat down on the kitchen side of the bar. She rested her chin on the back of her hands and looked at Madoka, trying to gauge her current emotional state. She seemed to have calmed down, at least. She was still just a bit bewildered, and who wouldn't be? Less than three hours ago it was just an ordinary day for the poor girl. "If you're ready to hear my story, I can explain everything to you."

"Um... I guess." Madoka then took a seat at the bar opposite from her.

Homura sighed and brushed her hair back. "Like I said before, there is so much that it is hard to know where to start."

She seemed to being thinking deeply on this. After a few moments, Madoka said, "Well, what exactly is a Magical Girl? Why don't you start with that?"

Homura nodded. "Alright, a Magical Girl is...


-Atomyst

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