I

Madoka sat at the kitchen bar, playing a game of solitaire with a deck of cards she had found in a junk drawer. Homura sat on the couch, watching TV. Homura had tried to start up conversations with her throughout the day, about things unrelated to the whole kidnapping situation, but it hadn't really worked. Madoka's cheery mood from the morning quickly dissipated. After seeing her disappearance reported on the news she no longer had it in her to even talk to Homura.

She had planned on being more outgoing, hoping to gain Homura's trust and eventually getting her to let her guard down. Unfortunately, she was bad at operating under false pretenses, and she was always a bad liar. This resulted in her just quickly brushing off Homura's attempts at communication.

All day her mind had been preoccupied all with escape plans, none of which were any good. She thought about sneaking up on Homura while she was watching TV and whacking her over the head with a frying pan, then making an easy escape while her captor was unconscious. She knew that was a lousy plan, though, and didn't actually make an attempt at it. Maybe it could work if she was strong like Sayaka, but she was not, and it simply wasn't in her to be violent in the first place.

If she had gone with that plan it would not have ended with an unconscious Homura. It would have ended with an angry Homura with a bad lump on her head and Madoka desperately apologizing just seconds after the blow. More to the point, who knew what Homura would do to her after that? She didn't think Homura was entirely a bad person, but she didn't think it was outside her personality to start getting mean. She had been mean before, and Madoka was afraid of what she might do.

Would any escape attempts be punished? Madoka thought back to that look in her eyes back when she was tied to the bed. Madoka didn't want to acknowledge it, but it was there. Homura had gotten some kind of pleasure out of seeing Madoka like that. Madoka thought that should scare her more than anything, and it did a little, but somehow there was something too... loving... about it for it to be truly scary. Creepy? Maybe, but not scary. Getting whacked over the head with a frying pan might change that, however, so Madoka thought she had best be careful not to provoke her captor.

There was one idea that lingered in her head, however. The letter. Homura had promised to let her write a letter to her parents. There was a notepad in the hotel room, but it was of a brand the hotel itself provided so Homura wouldn't let her use that. She claimed that it could be enough for a clever detective to start honing in on their location. Therefore, Madoka was going to have to wait for her to go out again and get some neutrally branded paper.

Madoka was already thinking of ways she could fit a secret message in. She didn't know how, though. Surely Homura would proofread it before making the delivery, so it would have to be something very vague that she couldn't pick up on. Madoka now more than ever wished she was a little smarter. She hadn't even thought to check the name of the hotel or memorize its location when Homura dragged her here. Even if Homura allowed her to make an actual phone call, she still wouldn't be able to reveal her location because she didn't know where she was! She cursed herself for being so stupid.

She stared down at her solitaire game, discovering that she was out of moves with only two aces pulled from the deck. She started to become very frustrated with herself. Not just because of the card game, but because of her total lack of a decent plan to get out of this. If Sayaka were in this situation she already would have gone through a handful of escape plans. If it were Sayaka she probably would have been completely out of this by now! All Madoka herself had managed to do all day was sit around and lose at a lousy card game! She sat back and sighed heavily to relieve some of her stress. Homura must have noticed, because her head turned from the TV to look at Madoka.

Madoka wouldn't look back at her, she was stuck in a moment of anger and self pity and just wanted to be left alone. Still, she could feel Homura's eyes on her, and that only made her more upset.

Homura stood up and walked over to her, taking a seat across from her at the bar. "We should talk," she said.

At first it seemed Madoka wouldn't respond, but Homura waited her out until she said, "What's there to talk about?" in a sullen, dismissive voice. Homura continued with the silent approach. Her past attempts at communication were brushed off so she thought she would force Madoka to start this time. Finally, she did. "I want to go home, but you won't let me. I have a life you know. What about school?"

"If you like, I can get some textbooks so you can keep up."

Madoka sighed and started gathering up the cards, still refusing to actually look at the girl who had whisked her away from her normal everyday life. "That's not the point!"

"I wish there was a better way," said Homura, "but I can't think of any. For what it's worth, I acknowledge that this is hard for you. Also, I haven't done the best job at making things any easier. For that I apologize. This is for your own good, though." Madoka didn't seem to want to respond, so Homura pressed on, "You do believe me when I say that, don't you?"

"I don't know what to believe. I don't think you're doing all this just to mess with me, but none of it feels very real. I think there are things you are not telling me."

Madoka was right, but Homura had no choice but to keep the danger vague. It was enough for her to have just the small glimmer of the truth that she had given to her. If she knew the whole truth it would only make things worse. "I'm right, aren't I?" Madoka said, "That's why you won't respond."

"It's complicated," is all Homura could think to settle on. They were both silent as Madoka got up and returned the cards to the junk drawer. After closing the drawer, she just stood there in silence.

Homura felt this was a crucial moment, but she didn't know what to do. What happened to the cheery Madoka from this morning? She could see now that it was an act, one that was so far from the truth that Madoka couldn't keep the mask on even through one afternoon. She hated this, she just wanted to have Madoka, have her be safe, and have her love as she did in a past life that was now so far and gone that it lingered only as a half remembered dream.

"Why are you doing this?" Madoka finally said.

Homura looked up, not sure if it was an accusation or an actual question. "I'm trying to keep you safe," she said, which was something she already explained many times.

"I mean why? This time travel thing is hard to wrap my head around, but if it truly is the way you have explained it, why go through such a horrible ordeal for my sake?"

"Because, I-" I love you? Could she really just say that? "Because... I... I made you a promise."

Madoka looked at her for the first time since this conversation started. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. She was asking, is that it? Just like with Homura's refusal to tell her about Walpurgisnacht, Madoka could see she wasn't saying everything. Homura's half truths and lack of explanations were finally getting to her, and she was in no mood for it. Madoka walked past her without a word, making it clear that she was done with this conversation.

She walked into the bedroom and slammed the door behind herself.

Homura still sat at the bar, her head resting between her hands, staring down at the counter, silently.

Because you saved my life, and I made you a promise, and I love you.

II

Mami raced across the rooftops of Mitakihara Town. She had no way of knowing how long ago Kyoko had visited her apartment, or how far she had gotten, but she didn't want to miss this chance to see her again. They had departed on a sour note all those years ago, but given the chance Mami would like to at least try to repair the distance. Although, she also knew she had to be cautious. It was entirely probable that Kyoko had come back to Mitakihara looking to start a war.

Mami still wanted to think of her as the kind-hearted girl she once was, but the truth is Kyoko had changed. Mami honestly didn't know this person that she had become. Mami didn't know the limits to her violence, or how cold and unforgiving she could be. The Kyoko who she had known before never could have broken into someone's apartment, or betrayed a friend's heart the way she had those years ago when they first separated.

Mami jumped from rooftop to rooftop, using her ribbons to pull her across any gaps that were too far for her to jump. When she landed on one of the city's higher rooftops, she stopped and crouched over the edge. She looked all around the city, spending some magic power to improve her eyesight. Where could Kyoko be? It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Mami had no way of knowing even if Kyoko was still in the city or not, maybe she was just passing through earlier and was already on her way to some distant place.

Mami sat down completely, letting her legs hang over the edge of the building, and watched the city's dancing lights, all nestled below the purple sky of a setting sun. If it was Kyoko's first day back in Mitakihara, where would she go? Well, Mami already knew the first order of business for Kyoko would be getting food, which she apparently had already achieved. So where would she go next? Find shelter for the night? Or was she on a witch hunt?

Mami figured it would be impossible to tell for now. If Kyoko did move back to Mitakihara permanently, however, then there was no doubt that they would cross paths sooner or later.

III

The south side of the city was a poor and desolate place. The street was littered with garbage and anywhere you looked you could see boarded up windows. Down an alley, there was a group of degenerates rolling dice, down another street there was a stumbling man with a crazed look in his eyes.

If you were to look through one of the boarded up windows, you might find a group of people who were lost to the world; laying amongst one another with fresh tracks running down their arms. In one specific window, you would see something else. You would see a girl, all alone, laid down with a duffle bag between her back and the wall. To one side she had a small wooden crate with a glowing jewel atop it, giving her light. To the other side she had a bag of chips, and in her hand there was a manga she had stolen earlier that day.

Kyoko crunched down on a chip, then giggled as she read something she found particularly funny in her manga. She turned the page, and reached for another chip. She reached into the bag and her fingers grabbed nothing but plastic. She held it up and looked inside with a frown, seeing that her chips were now all gone. She sighed, tossing it to the side, and looked back to her book.

Through the corner of her eye she saw a face staring at her from atop the crate her SoulGem was on. She jumped, startled, then sighed when she realized what it was.

"Oh, it's you. I was wondering when you would show up," she said to Kyubey.

"Sorry about that," said Kyubey. "There were a few other matters I've been attending to these last couple days." His tail waved. "Have you found any GriefSeeds since then?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I did." She reached behind her head and into a pocket on the side of the duffle bag. She pulled out a spent GriefSeed and tossed it over to him. "Here, enjoy."

Kyubey lifted his butt in the air as the flesh upon his back opened and snatched the GriefSeed out of the air.

"That's really freaky, you know," Kyoko said to him.

"Is it really? Personally, I think you humans have much more oddities about you than I do."

"Riiight," said Kyoko as she turned back to her manga. "So is there anything else you need?"

"Not really, I was just surprised to find you here in Mitakihara, is all."

"Yeah, Kazamino is tapped, and I needed a change of pace. Figured I'd stir up trouble over here for a while." She grinned, "It's still just Mami running the show around here, right?"

"Actually, that was the case a few days ago but..."

Kyoko set down her book and raised an eyebrow. "Buuut?"

"Well, I actually had just contracted a new Magical Girl less than an hour ago, and aside from her there is another one who showed up a couple days ago completely out of nowhere."

"Aw man! Are you kidding me? So there's three Magical Girls working in this town now?"

"Four, if you are counting yourself."

Kyoko folded her arms with a huff and said, "So there's Mami, and there's a rookie. What can you tell me about the third one?"

"This third one is an anomaly. I'm not sure where she came from, and somehow she became a Magical Girl without directly making a contract with me."

"Is that even possible?" Kyoko asked.

"It shouldn't be," Kyubey agreed. "But she seems to be the competitive type of Magical Girl. After only one day in town she stole a GriefSeed right out of Mami's hand and even kidnapped another potential Magical Girl to stop her from making a contract with me."

"Is that right? Sounds like a lot to go through but I think I kind of like her style."

"The girl who she kidnapped was a good friend of the new girl who I had just contracted. Mami had already promised to help the new girl rescue her friend, so it looks like the two of them will be teaming up."

"So Mami is still doing that shit, huh? I swear she will never learn." Kyoko put her hands behind her head and laid her head back down on her duffle bag. She thought over everything Kyubey had told her.

It seemed she had stumbled into a rather bizarre situation, and was wondering how to use it all to her advantage.

IV

Mami patrolled the city for a while that night. Hoping on the off chance of an encounter with Kyoko, but not actually expecting it. It was a big city after all. She followed some leads on witches, and thought she was getting hot on one's trail for a while, but eventually lost it and decided she'd pick up the hunt again tomorrow.

On her way back though, she did spot a familiar hanging around outside the park. She made one of her guns appear, morphed it into a long range sniper rifle, and took the familiar out from a distance before it ever even knew what hit it. She dispelled the gun, and took another quick look around with her magic enhanced eyes. She figured at least now the night hadn't been a total waste, and decided to go back home.

She found a safe place outside her apartment complex to morph back into her street clothes. Then she returned up the stairs as normally as if she had just finished running an errand. She wondered what Sayaka was doing right now. She was excited about the prospect of having another Magical Girl to team up with again, but she also had some deep concerns about it. Things had ended so badly with Kyoko and she never wanted to go through that again. She shook the fear away though, and thought that what happened to Kyoko just meant that she would have to try even harder for Sayaka (if she did become a Magical Girl).

As she reached the top of the stairs, and turned the corner to her floor, she saw the blue haired girl who she had just been thinking of. She was sitting down, with her back against Mami's apartment door. She was looking at something resting on the palm of her hand.

"Sayaka!" Mami called to her, running over, excited to see her. She slowed down when she noticed Sayaka's lack of enthusiasm. "Is... everything alright?"

Sayaka looked up at her with the tired eyes of someone who had just been through a trying ordeal. "Yeah," she said, with a bit of a forced smile. "Things are great. Well, now they are anyway."

She held up her hand, revealing a newly born SoulGem that reflected its rainbow light into her deep blue eyes.

With a gasp, Mami took a step back. She paused, then smiled, and with her soft voice she said, "Why don't you come in for a while?"


-Atomyst

Follow me on twitter- at /Atomyst_fics