I

Homura crept back into the hotel room with an arm full of clothes and a plastic bag full of food.

After taking care of Kyubey she had made a detour over to Madoka's house. She snuck in while time was stopped to grab some of Madoka's clothes out of her room and anything else she thought Madoka might like to have. She had considered the stuffed animals, but decided against it. Partly because all the stuffed animals were too big to carry and also she had an ulterior motive for coming here.

She figured if she took some clothes and other necessary things she could make it seem as if Madoka had run away. On top of that, she was planning to convince Madoka to write her parents a letter to confer that story. She thought Madoka might go for it just so her parents would not worry as much. She could add things like don't worry and I'm safe. Homura hadn't quite worked out how she would go about asking her to go along with this yet, nor had she considered all the possible ways Madoka might react to such a request. She figured it would be worth a shot, though.

After Madoka's house, she had made one last stop inside a grocery store to steal some food and other necessities.

Now, back at the hotel, she stocked the fridge with the food then peeked in on Madoka. She seemed to be sleeping at first, but then her head moved up and her eyes opened slightly. When she registered that Homura was standing in the doorway her eyes opened more and some muffled noises came from behind her gag. She pulled towards Homura, shaking the ropes which bound her hands to the bedposts.

Homura opened the door all the way and walked in, the light from the other room was bright enough that she did not need to turn the lights on in this room.

"I brought some clothes for you," she said. "There's also some decent food in the fridge now." She set the clothes down on top of the dresser then sat on the bed next to her captive. She looked down at Madoka, who looked up at her with those deep expressive eyes. Homura could not help but think how cute she was when she was like this, and her hand started to move involuntarily. Madoka's eyes followed the hand, and she sighed when it reached the top of her head and started stroking her hair. Madoka turned her head over to look at the noose around her left wrist, then shook her wrist and looked back to Homura. She was asking to be untied.

"Sorry," said Homura, still stroking her hair. "I still need to get some sleep myself." Madoka shook her head away from Homura's hand, and looked at her with more of a pout in her eyes. "It's only three-AM, just go back to sleep. I'll untie you in the morning and we can have a nice breakfast." Then she stood up and looked down on Madoka for a few moments longer. Madoka pulled towards her and made a muffled complaint into the gag. Homura just smiled at her and turned away, unable to help herself because of how cute she looked.

As Homura left the room, Madoka thrust her body one more time and screamed into the gag to vent some of her frustration. Homura had left the door open a crack, and through it Madoka could see the couch in the living area where Homura laid down. Madoka watched Homura fall asleep, then sighed and looked at the ceiling.

She could have at least taken off the gag, Madoka thought.

II

Mami's had a nice little apartment on a high floor, and outside her window there was a great view of the city skyline. Sayaka stood at the window looking around while Mami busied herself with making some tea. It was late, but neither of them felt like they could just go to sleep right away, especially not Sayaka.

She found herself caught up in the romanticism of what it must be like being a Magical Girl. Sure, the witch was scary, but that was mainly because as a normal human she was helpless to do anything. Besides, once Mami got to doing her thing, Sayaka wasn't scared anymore.

Sayaka stared out the window and thought about it. Magical Girls are needed to fight witches and keep people safe. Not everyone could be a Magical Girl, and for some reason Kyubey thought that she was capable. Considering that, how could she possibly turn down the offer? If she was capable of doing some good in the world she thought it had to be her responsibility to help.

On top of that, there was also the wish. She could have one wish, anything she wanted. Although, she did not know what that could be. She didn't really want anything for herself, not having any craving for money or material possessions. Her life might not have been perfect, but there wasn't anything she felt she was lacking.

What if she wished to end world hunger? Could Kyubey even do something like that? She thought about it for a while then decided she would ask Mami what her wish was, maybe that would help her decide. As she was thinking that, she realized that from this window she could see the hospital Kyosuke was staying at, and another idea for a wish crossed her mind.

She looked away from the window and saw that Kyubey was sitting on a lounge chair, his legs were folded up under his tiny body and his little red eyes stared at her. He had disappeared from their group some time during the fight with the Mugger Witch and only now showed himself again.

"Ah Kyubey, where have you been?" Sayaka asked.

"I tried to follow Homura, to see if she would lead me back to Madoka, but she must have caught on to me because next thing I knew she disappeared without a trace and I lost her. Sorry about that."

"No, thank you for trying," Sayaka said, "I'm sure we will get another chance."

"You are planning to become a Magical Girl too, Correct?" Kyubey asked. "Why not just wish for Madoka back? If you like, I could make it so Homura can never come near her or any of you ever again!"

"Kyubey is essentially a good guy," Mami said as she stepped out of the kitchen, holding a tray of tea and pastries. "He can be a bit pushy sometimes, though."

"That's mean," Kyubey's ears twitched. "How could you say something like that?"

Mami laughed, "It's true isn't it? Not that I blame you, contracting Magical Girls is your job after all." Mami was no longer in her Magical Girl costume, she was now wearing some loose fitting nightclothes of yellow and white. She set the tray down on the table and took a seat. Sayaka came over to join her, and Kyubey remained on the lounge chair, his head turning to watch the two of them.

"Mami, what did you wish for?" Sayaka asked as she sat down. Mami's smiling face suddenly grew rather serious, and Sayaka realized she had just breached on a sensitive topic. "It's alright if you don't want to tell me!" she said quickly, waving her hands and hoping she hadn't offended her new friend.

Mami poured the tea. She seemed to be thinking very deeply on something. She offered Sayaka her cup and then spoke. "It's alright," she said. "It's just that when I made my wish I didn't have the luxury of thinking about it. I kind of had to do it on a whim." Sayaka sipped her tea and listened quietly, giving Mami time to gather her thoughts.

"My family was involved in a bad car accident. Everyone other than myself died instantly, but although I was alive I was in really bad shape. All I can remember is one second it was a totally normal day, then the next second the whole world spun around me, and everything changed. I was pinned behind a seat inside the car. I was calling out to my mother and father, but they wouldn't respond. Somehow... I think I already knew they were gone...

"Smoke was pouring into the car, and it felt like I was choking on it. I knew it was over for me. That I was done for... but then, Kyubey showed up." She sipped her tea. "Honestly, I don't even remember exactly what it is I wished for, but next thing I knew I was outside of the car completely unscathed, just watching it burn. Of course, when I told the authorities that a magic cat granted me a wish to save my life they didn't believe me. I think the official story is that I had gotten thrown from the car somehow and by some miracle didn't suffer any injuries.

"I found my SoulGem in my pocket that night and didn't even know what it was. I thought it was pretty, so I just hung onto it. In spite of all the sadness that had suddenly come into my life, somehow looking at that pretty little jewel could make me smile.

"Anyway, there is a lot a kid goes through when she is suddenly orphaned. I wasn't alone for any real amount of time that week, so I guess that's why Kyubey wasn't able to contact me again and explain exactly what it was I had signed up for. I was a Magical Girl for a full week without even knowing it. Isn't that something?

"Then, strange things started to happen. I realized I was stronger than any little girl my age had the right to be. I could run faster, jump higher, even hold my breath underwater longer than I ever could have before. One day, I was sitting on the side of my bed playing with my SoulGem, and suddenly this bright light appeared. Next thing I knew, there was a cup of tea sitting on my nightstand. Funny right? My first ever spell I cast was for a cup of tea. I think that happened because I was thinking of my mother at the time. She used to make tea every day."

Mami sighed, staring into her cup for a moment. She took a sip, and then continued.

"Somehow, I knew the SoulGem was responsible for all of this. I also knew that I had to keep it secret. Luckily, it wasn't long before Kyubey finally showed up and explained everything to me. He told me all about witches and why he made me a Magical Girl.

"I was terrified on my first witch hunt, but somehow I managed to get through that ordeal alive. Then it just got easier and easier from there on.

"I like to think that even though my family died, it wasn't in vain. Now that I'm an experienced Magical Girl who fights witches I have a chance to save people every day." She took another sip of her tea and a smile returned to her face, "That's what keeps me going, I just want to help people. Guess I'm kind of like a superhero, huh?" She laughed.

Sayaka smiled, "Yeah, you're really amazing Mami." She thought she had already decided to go ahead and do the Magical Girl thing, but if she had been on the fence about it at all Mami's story had just inspired her. "Mami, I want to be a Magical Girl too!"

"I'm glad, but why don't you take a few days and really think about it? You should also take some time to think about what wish you want. I didn't have that chance, but since you do you should really take advantage of it."

"That's true... but, aren't you going to be fighting witches in the meantime? I mean, I would feel bad about you doing that alone when I could be helping you."

"Don't worry about me," said Mami. "I've been going at this Magical Girl thing solo for a long time. I would much rather you take your time and wish for something you really want."

III

Meanwhile, a few miles away in a town called Kazamino, another Magical Girl was finishing up some business.

"Too easy," she said as she lazily thrust her spear through a defeated witch's chest and watched as its body wriggled and dissipated. She bent over to pick up the GriefSeed that was left behind, and then held it up to the light. "How lame, there's barely any juice in this thing. Guess it can't be helped, that one was a weakling after all... Oh well."

She held her hands behind her head and whistled as she walked away from the disappearing labyrinth. Her clothing became covered in rainbow light as her Magical Girl outfit disappeared. For a moment the light outlined a perfect silhouette of her slender body, then began morphing into her normal street clothes: A pair of short blue jeans and a dark-green hooded sweatshirt.

She took a box of pocky out of her back pocket and stuck one in her mouth, then with her hands in her back pockets she continued strolling down the street.

Kyoko Sakura was a veteran Magical Girl. She was technically homeless, but through thievery and magic she still managed to live a fairly comfortable life. When she lost her family, social services tried to put her in a foster home, but she was rather uncooperative about that idea, to put it lightly. She ran away from every home they have ever tried to put her in, preferring to make her own way out on the street.

Although, being a teenage girl wandering the streets alone at night tended to grab attention from the authorities, so she tended to get picked up from time to time and brought back to one home or another. Other times she would be picked up for being caught stealing. After being annoyed by those kinds of situations one too many times she finally started fighting back.

Being a Magical Girl meant no ordinary human could ever boss her around. One day, after leaving a cop with a broken arm and a giant hole slashed in the roof of his squad car, she walked away wondering why she hadn't just handled things like this all along.

There was some unspoken code about Magical Girls keeping their powers secret, but she didn't care much for it. Not that she made a habit of just displaying her powers out in the open for no reason. It's more that if she just happened to find herself in a situation where keeping her powers secret was too inconvenient, she simply wouldn't worry about it and go ahead and use her powers anyway. She figured it didn't even matter if no one really understood what they were seeing. In time, it would just turn into one of those urban myth type things that no one pays much attention to anyway, so she didn't see the harm in it.

She was growing bored with this town, though. She felt like all the witches that were actually worth killing had already been taken care of. All that were left were the weak trash like the one she just killed.

There was another town nearby that she knew of, though. Mitakihara Town. As far as she knew there was only one Magical Girl working that area. Her name was Mami Tomoe. Mami actually had once been a good friend of hers, a long time ago.

Mami was sort of like a teacher to her back then. She helped her get her feet off the ground as a Magical Girl and they went on many witch hunts together. But those days were long over by now. They did not see eye to eye on how exactly a Magical Girl should behave, and thus their friendship had a falling out. These days, they were more like enemies.

Kyoko saw Mami as a hypocrite. She talked big about how serious being a Magical Girl is and what a big responsibility it is and what not, but the truth is it was a game to her. She was way too wrapped up in the idea of being a hero of justice. Kyoko hated that. Kyoko also knew her way of thinking was going to get her killed someday, so she decided to just keep her distance.

A true Magical Girl understood that she had to fight only for herself. That's what Kyoko believed, at least. Besides, she had tried to help someone once before and it ended up being the biggest mistake of her life.

Sometimes, when she closed her eyes at night she could still smell the smoke of her father's burning church.

She didn't like thinking about those days, but she wouldn't let herself forget it either. Trying to help people just screws things up, and will eventually make things worse in the long run. She had seen it enough to know that was the truth.

She would never let herself forget. She would always remember who she was, and who she had to be...


-Atomyst

Follow me on twitter- at /Atomyst_fics