I

Homura finished cooking the pancakes and set a full plate in front of Madoka. She peeked over to the notebook to see what she had written so far. So far, she only had one word: Dear.

Madoka didn't react to the food that was placed in front of her, she just continued staring at the mostly blank page. Homura watched her, trying to read her expressions, but there was little in the way of expression to be read. "Madoka?" she asked.

"Hm?"

Homura didn't really have a question to ask, she just wanted to see some motion out of the girl who was sitting there as still as a statue. Without anything else to say, she stated the obvious, "Foods done."

Madoka's eyes looked over to the plate of pancakes for a moment. The pen was still poised in her hand, hanging over the blank page. "I'm not hungry." She said, her eyes drifting back to the notebook.

"What are you talking about?" Homura said, "You haven't eaten since last night, it's almost noon, of course you're hungry." She reached her hand out and scooted the notebook away. Madoka's hand still held the pen in the same position, in spite of the notebook no longer being under it. "Why don't you eat first? Then you can get started. Even if you are not hungry now, you will be in a few hours." Homura watched Madoka for a few more seconds. She was still motionless, and seemed completely lost.

"I didn't drug your food or anything like that... If that's what you are thinking. I told you I would never do something as underhanded as that."

Madoka shook her head. "I know."

Homura felt a certain twinge of frustration hit her heart. She grabbed Madoka's hand and moved it to the side, then slid the plate in front of her. "If you are doing this purposely to try and slow me down, I don't find it very amusing. What I have to do today is important. It's for Sayaka's own good as well. So please hurry."

Finally, she seemed to react to the sound of Sayaka's name. "Oh... I'm sorry," she said, her voice soft and detached. She set down the pen and picked up the fork. Once Homura saw her take the first bite, she was satisfied that the girl was going to eat, and went to fix her own plate.

As she was putting the pancakes on her own plate she looked over to Madoka, who was eating at least, but rather slowly and without much passion. Homura just watched her for a while, now starting to feel bad. She had never seen Madoka like this before; she looked tired and beaten. Perhaps she had been too rough with her last night? Well, what choice did she have? Madoka tried to escape last night, and had to be brought back. When she was resistant, she had to be brought back forcefully. Really, considering everything, Homura had been almost too accommodating with her. She had tried, at least.

She brought her plate over to sit across from Madoka and started eating herself. "Your parents will be happy to get a letter from you," she said, trying to start a conversation, but Madoka didn't respond, she just continued with her slow eating.

Homura couldn't take it, she hated seeing Madoka like this. She set her fork down and stared at her. Madoka could feel Homura's eyes upon her, and she became motionless once again. "Madoka, are you feeling okay?" Homura asked, trying to sound comforting.

Madoka nodded. "Yes, fine."

"You don't look fine..." Homura brushed her hair back and tried to think. "Aren't you at least a little excited about sending your family a letter? So you can let them know you are alright?" Madoka started eating again, seeming like she didn't want to respond to that. Homura sighed, realizing Madoka was in one of her moods, and decided to just leave her alone for now.

Things were going to be alright, Homura assured herself. This is still only day three with Madoka as her captive, she just needs more time to adjust. Maybe after a few weeks, or a few months, they would be able to start having a more pleasant relationship with each other. Besides, Madoka was probably just upset about last night. She would get over it soon enough; Homura hoped she would, anyway.

They both finished eating in silence and Homura took the plate from her. "I've got to go in one hour," she said. "That should be plenty of time to finish writing the letter, you can take a shower too, if you're quick enough." Before taking the plates to the sink, Homura slid the notebook back in front of Madoka, to reiterate the point that she would like for her to get started right away.

Madoka picked up the pen, and stared at the one word she had written. Finally, she touched the pen down and wrote, 'Mom and Dad,' then, her hand stopped again, not sure where to begin.

"I was thinking…" Homura approached the subject cautiously. "That you could tell them you've run away, and you are somewhere safe…"

Madoka didn't seem like she wanted to respond to that at first, but eventually she shook her head and said, "I don't want to lie to them. I don't want them to worry either, so that's why it's hard…"

Homura sighed, and sat down across from her. "Actually, I would really like it if you did tell them you ran away… You can be vague, perhaps say there's something important you have to do. I won't tell you what to write, however. It's your choice. If you don't want to take that approach you don't have to, but it may make them-"

"Can you go somewhere else while I do this?" Madoka's voice was toneless. "I can't think while you are sitting right there." Homura was taken aback at first. She wasn't sure if she heard resentment in Madoka's voice as she said that. She stared for a moment, then nodded and stood up. She wanted to take a shower, but she couldn't trust Madoka to stay in the room while she was out of sight. Instead, she sat down on the couch and turned the TV on. She figured she would give Madoka thirty minutes before checking her progress. Hopefully it would be done by then.

Madoka eventually got the pen moving. She crossed a lot of sentences and words out along the way. She wished there was some way to give a hint of where she was at, but then again, there really was no point. Even if she did manage to give her location away to the police, somehow, it's not like there's anyone who could help her. She knew all too well how powerful Homura's magic was and as long as she could be pulled into her timeflow there's no way for her to get away. Besides that, if she got caught trying to do something sneaky, Homura would just get angry with her again.

When she finished with the letter she read over it, and then tore it out and started again from the beginning so she could make a cleaner copy without all the edits. Just as she finished the last sentence and was signing her name, Homura got up and walked up behind her to stand over her shoulder.

"Can I see it?" Homura asked. Madoka became tense and put her hand over the page, almost as if she wanted to protect it. "I'm sorry, but I need to proofread it… you understand." Eventually, Madoka slid it to the side so Homura could see.

Dear Mom and Dad,

First of all, I want you to know that I'm alright. I'm not being hurt, and I have been eating properly over the last few days. I don't want to scare you, but you deserve an explanation. The truth is, I'm being held against my will by someone. I don't think she is a bad person, and again I want to make the point that I am not being harmed in any way.

Homura picked up the pen and crossed out the word 'she', Madoka watched as she did this, but did not complain. "You'll have to change that to a gender neutral word." Homura explained. Madoka nodded.

She hasn't told me how long she plans to keep me here, but she has agreed to allow me to send letters as often as I like. I may even be allowed to make a phone call sometime, but I was told to be careful about what I say.

I know it would be pointless to say "Please don't worry," and honestly I am a little bit afraid, and lonely because I miss you all so much. But it's important to me that you know I'm not being harmed.

Anyway, I don't know what more I'm allowed to say for now, but I will continue to send you letters, and hopefully we can talk soon.

I love you all so much, and hope that this all isn't too hard on you.

Please let Sayaka know I miss her too, and wish I could see her.

Love, Madoka.

Homura crossed out the word "she" everywhere she saw it, but other than that she didn't see anything else that could be a subliminal message. She did focus on the line about Sayaka for a while, wondering if that was meant as a call for help from her friend who was now a Magical Girl. The pen hovered over that line for a while, she wanted to cross it out, but couldn't really think of a good enough reason to, so she left it alone. "This is okay," said Homura. "Just find a way to avoid using the word she, if you can." She looked up to the clock. "I need to leave once you're finished with the last draft, so hurry up."

II

"So, that must be the rookie," Kyoko said to herself, popping a lollipop out of her mouth. She was sitting indian style atop a building that was near Mami's apartment. She was dressed in her full Magical Girl attire, with the tail of her crimson red tunic blowing in the wind. She watched as Mami left her apartment with some blue-haired chick walking by her side.

After Kyoko had finished "shopping", she patroled around the center of the city where she suspected Homura was staying with her pet girl. She realized it was pretty unrealistic to expect to find her with so little to go on, so she abandoned that mission and went to stake out her other competition. It had been a while since she saw Mami in person but she did not seem to have changed much physically. The fact that she was once again taking a rookie under her wing showed that mentally she was probably about the same as well. "Idiot," Kyoko said as she stood up and chomped down on the lollipop. She tossed the stem over the edge of the building and it slowly glided back down to the city streets below. "When are you going to learn?"

Kyoko was the last rookie that Mami had taken under her wing, and in the end it ended up being a mistake for both of them. It was a mistake for Kyoko, because Mami filled her young naive head with all those foolish ideas of fighting to protect people. It was a mistake for Mami, because in the end her precious kohai betrayed her.

Kyoko had zero regrets about it, because her eyes were opened to the truth of what it meant to be a Magical Girl, while Mami's eyes stayed shut. Mami preferred to go on believing in her fantasies about fighting for truth and justice, even while the cold hard reality was staring her right in the face. Kyoko decided that she would never have any respect for anyone who acted like that.

Kyoko walked along the edge of the building, keeping pace with the two unsuspecting Magical Girls below. She had her spear in her right hand, balancing it over her shoulder, and the tail of her tunic trailed behind her.

If they were going on a witch hunt Kyoko decided she would crash the party and snatch the GreifSeed for herself. That would send a clear message to Mami that she was back in town. She would make sure Mami understood she was back in town and planned to take Mitakihara Town for herself. It was a large piece of territory but there simply was not enough to go around if there were four Magical Girls here, so that meant it was time for war.

Taking care of the rookie would not be a problem, Kyoko thought. Mami, on the other hand, might be a fool, but her power could not be denied. This Homura girl added another interesting piece to the puzzle. Perhaps Kyoko could sway Homura over to her side, and use her to help get Mami out of the picture. Homura already owed her one anyway, since she shared her GreifSeed last night. Homura seemed the type to understand these things; it was not just a bling act of kindness, Homura now owed her a debt. She had better realize she does, anyway.

Once Mami and the rookie were out of the way it would just be herself and Homura in Mitakihara Town, which would not be too much of a problem. If it did turn out that Homura was a problem for her, she supposed she could always stab her in the back sometime when her guard was down. Perhaps while on a witch hunt together? Well, she figured she was thinking too far ahead for now.

"One step at a time," she told herself, with a grin, using her free hand to unwrap a fresh lollipop. She stuck it in her mouth and let the wrapper float away on a gust of wind and slowly descend to the city streets below.

III

When Madoka was finished with the final draft of the letter, Homura read over it again and decided it was okay. She rewrote the sentences with the word 'she', using 'the person' instead, or avoiding the use of the word all together. Homura folded it up and put it in her pocket. "Alright, it's time," she said, getting up from her seat and gesturing over to the bedroom.

Madoka just looked towards the open doorway, her hands fidgeting together the way they tended to do when she was nervous or uncomfortable. 'Am I really just going to let myself be tied up again?' she thought, 'I should do something. I should try and run away.' She stood up and started following Homura into the room. 'I can't, though. It would be pointless to try… but…' She entered the room, and stood just inside the doorway, looking at the bed. 'I don't want to do this again…'

Homura went into the closet and dug around for a while. She produced the rope and walked over to the bedside. She noticed Madoka wasn't moving from her place in the doorway, so she motioned her hand over to the bed. "Here, come lay down." Madoka did not move. Her eyes slunk down to the floor, and a distressed look came over her face. "What's the matter?"

"How long are you going to be gone?" She asked in a small voice.

"Only three hours, four at the latest," Homura assured her. "Then you will be free for the rest of the day, until you are ready to go to bed."

"I-I… um…" She was subconsciously looking for a way to stall. She didn't want to be tied up again, but in the end she knew there was no way to avoid it. So, the next best thing to avoiding it, was to delay it. "I need a clock!" she finally said. Homura just raised an eyebrow. Madoka's hands fidgeted around, "I-it's hard, when I don't know how long I've been there… Maybe it would be easier if I at least knew what time it was, and I knew when you would be coming back."

Homura sighed and set the rope down on the bed. She walked past Madoka and went out into the living room. Madoka peeked out of the doorway and saw she was disconnecting the DVD player from the TV. She came back in with it, set it on the dresser and plugged it in.

"There," Homura said after she programmed the built in clock. "Are you ready now?"

"Um…" She took a moment to think. "Would it be possible to play some music… somehow?" Homura just gave her an unamused stare. "You don't have to turn the volume up very high…" she explained, "Just loud enough for me to hear it. I-I'm sure it won't be heard out in the hall."

"I'll get a small radio for you while I'm out. For now, I don't have anything." Homura gestured toward the bed once again, but Madoka still remained motionless. Homura looked over to the clock that she had just set and let out a frustrated sigh. She did not have time for this.

She walked over to Madoka and softly put a hand on her shoulder. Madoka flinched at the touch. "It's okay," Homura said as softly as possible. "I understand, but you need to learn to start accepting this." Madoka just continued to stare at the floor. Homura put a hand on the side of Madoka's face, and with a gentle touch she forced her head to turn and face her. "I would never do anything to hurt you." Madoka's nervous wide eyed stare got a smile in return from Homura, and Homura started leading her forward by the shoulder.

She had to admit, she didn't entirely hate seeing Madoka like this. Not the fact that she was scared, or clearly sad about being kept away from her family. Homura truly felt bad about that. It was this submissive side of her that Homura liked. It was rare, because despite the silly schoolgirl Madoka appeared to be, she could also be quite stubborn and strong willed. She was brave and would sacrifice herself for the good of others, which would be a good trait if it did not make protecting her such a seemingly impossible task.

Homura could never make her listen… but, now she would. She did not have a choice. Even if not willfully, Homura at least had her under control and she hoped that would be enough to finally keep her safe.

Madoka climbed onto the bed and sat up. She watched as Homura grabbed the rope and started tying a noose at the end. When that was done, she held out a hand which asked Madoka to offer her own. Madoka crossed over her chest and she hugged herself tightly, hiding her hands, still resisting Homura's orders.

"Give me your hand," Homura asked out right.

"How are you doing it?"

"Spread eagle," Homura said plainly. "That way I don't have to worry about needing to chase you across town again when I get back." She reached forward and grabbed Madoka's wrist. She had to use some force as Madoka was not entirely willing to comply, but the resistance she did show was rather weak.

"Were you and Sayaka friends?" she asked, abruptly. "In your past lives?"

Sayaka again... her mind is always on Sayaka!

"Sometimes," Homura said, as she put a hand on Madoka's chest and pushed her down until she was fully laying on the bed. She then got the noose around Madoka's wrist, pulled it until it was snug but not too tight, and tied the other end to the bedpost. "Sometimes I was able to get along with her just fine. Other times, not so much."

"You're really going to try and protect her, right?" Madoka asked. Homura climbed up onto the bed so she could tie Madoka's other hand. She positioned one of her knees between Madoka's legs, which warranted a slight blush from the pinkette.

"Of course," Homura answered, not really lying. Truthfully, she did not care what happened to Sayaka, but she did care about Madoka, and in order to keep Madoka happy she would have to try and save that foolish friend of hers.

She finished tying Madoka's wrist, then leaned over her as she started working at securing it to the other side of the bedpost. Madoka watched with a certain resigned distance in her eyes. "You said Kyubey always gets to me, and I end up making a wish. It's because of Sayaka, right?"

Homura stopped for a brief moment, and thought over how to answer. Then her hands started moving again and she finished the tie, giving it a quick pull to make it tight. "Sometimes," she said.

Homura had been leaning fully over Madoka's body as she did that tie, and now that her hands were securely bound it was time to get her feet. Homura got off the bed and went down to the end with the remaining pieces of rope. Madoka looked at her left wrist, then looked at the right, lightly pulling on each to verify what her eyes were seeing.

Is this real? Is this really happening again?

Of course it was real, and it would not be the last time. This was her new life, and this was going to keep happening to her.

I really hate this! Madoka screamed inside her head.

Homura grabbed Madoka's left ankle and pulled it down to the bedpost. When she was all done securing both legs to the bottom posts she stepped back and examined her work.

"It's not too tight anywhere?" Homura asked, as she started testing the tension on Madoka's left ankle. Homura held Madoka's bare foot in her hand, to make sure it wasn't getting cold which would signal a loss of circulation. Both feet seemed fine, so she went around to check Madoka's hands. "Go ahead and pull a little bit," Homura said to her. "I want to make sure it's secure."

Madoka had been watching Homura as she walked around her, but now she looked away stubbornly, although she still obeyed the request and pulled against the rope. She had barely an inch of wiggle room on either side, so it didn't do much. "Alright, looks good," Homura said. "Do you want a pillow behind your head? Or are you okay like that?"

"I-it's fine…" Madoka said, in her small soft voice. Her eyes stared at the wall, narrow and intense. Homura nodded, and then walked out of the room to look for something to gag her with.

Now that Madoka had a moment alone, she took a closer look at her bindings. She lifted up her head to look at her feet, then watched each of her hands as she tested them again. Why me… Why is this happening to me? Then, against her will her face started to scrunch up, and she could feel tears stinging the corners of her eyes, but she tried to hold them back. No! Don't cry! she told herself.

She thought about Sayaka, and how much she missed her, and how she might be in danger. She thought about how worried her parents must be. She thought about school, Mrs. Saotome, Hitomi, her little brother, brushing teeth with her mom, helping her dad in the kitchen. When Homura walked back into the room, holding a rag and roll of tape, Madoka could not hold it in anymore.

She let out a sob and tears started pouring from her eyes. Her chest heaved up and down, and she turned her head as much as she could to try and hide her face against the bed.

"Madoka…"

Homura walked over to her and set the rag and tape on the nightstand. She put one knee up on the bed and leaned over Madoka, looking down at her. Madoka's futile attempt to hide her face just made her look all the more pitiful. Homura did not know what to say, but she wanted to try and comfort her.

"Why me!?" Madoka cried, seemingly more to herself than to Homura. Homura raised a hand and touched it to Madoka's face, she tried to wipe the tears away, but as soon as Madoka felt Homura's hand touch her she started thrashing her head back and forth.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed.

Homura's hand instantly receded away. Madoka looked the other way and closed her eyes, her chest moved up and down with heavy breaths. "I-I don't like you touching me!" she said again, through gritted teeth. Homura just stared at her while she refused to look back. She was pouting softly, but trying her best to hold it back as much as she could.

Then, Homura climbed fully on the bed, and climbed over top of Madoka, straddling her. Madoka looked up to see what she was doing, and Homura put a hand on each side of Madoka's head. Her thumbs each set themselves under one of Madoka's eyes, then moved down her cheeks, wiping the tears away.

Madoka whimpered, now having no choice but to look at Homura as her head was being held still. She didn't know what to say - should she just scream? Madoka spoke soft, in almost a whisper, "I-I said don't touch me..." Something about the look on Homura's face had subdued her. Homura didn't seem mad, or hurt, or upset. She was smiling. Homura's fingers combed through Madoka's hair, and her thumbs pulled down on the bottoms of her eyelids, forcing them to stay open. "Let me go," Madoka said again, in a slightly stronger tone, though it still didn't hold much authority. Her arms and legs were bound to the point of being motionless, her head was being held still, and she could not even close her eyes if she wanted. In such a position it was hard to hold any kind of resolve in her voice, yet she tried again with a weak whisper, "L-let me go."

Homura leaned forward to put her lips on Madoka's forehead, and she kissed her there. When she pulled away, she had a soft yet distant smile on her face. Her eyes looked Madoka over with the adoration a child might have for some beloved toy. Madoka's eyes were widened partly by shock and partly by Homura's thumbs holding them open.

Homura whispered, "No."


-Atomyst

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