I

"It's almost ready!" The young girl said to herself, rocking back and forth on her heels as she kneeled in front of the oven, watching her cheesecake through a small glass window. The kitchen counters were a mess, covered in flour and used utensils with gooey cheesecake batter all over them.

When the oven let out its high pitched ding, she instantly got up and pulled the door open. She reached inside, nearly forgetting how hot the pan would be, but stopped herself just before actually grabbing it. She quickly slipped on the oven mitts she had left next to the oven, and then proceeded to pull the cake out.

Its outer layer had turned into a nice golden brown crust, except for that there was a single crack in the surface that revealed a soft inside which was still bubbling. She hoped it would be good. She had never baked a cheesecake on her own before, but she was sure she followed her mother's recipe exactly.

Mama once told her that eating good cake was the secret to happiness, and whenever Nagisa had a bad day that's exactly how her mother would cheer her up. Nagisa's favorite kind of cake of all was cheesecake, so she would always request it if her mother was in the baking mood.

"You're so like me," Mama once commented, with a smile. "Cheesecake is my favorite too, you know."

Lately, her mother had been very sick. She was in the hospital for two full months, and she seemed to be getting worse and worse every time Nagisa went to visit her. Usually, her mother was very hopeful, and would try to put on a smile. Even though all her hair was gone and her voice had become thick and raspy, she tried her best to assure her daughter that she was happy.

Last time Nagisa went to visit her was different, however. Mama didn't smile at all, and barely said a word. Except, when Nagisa found herself on the verge of tears, her mother grabbed onto her with a weak hand. She looked at her daughter with dark, pain stricken eyes, and tried to smile as her lips parted and croaked out the words, "It's….O….K…"

Although Mama tried to pretend she was happy, Nagisa could see that she clearly was not. That's why, as soon as she was finished with school the next day, she came right home and started baking a cheesecake. Eating good cake was the secret to happiness, so she thought if she could bake a cake for Mama it would put a smile back on her face. She just hoped she did it right. She helped her mother many times before, so she thought she did everything right, and it certainly looked and smelled good. Either way, this was the first time she had ever done it on her own, and she felt very prideful of it for that reason.

She let it sit for a while before cutting it up into squares and storing them in a plastic bin. Then, she carefully wrapped it up in a handkerchief and went out the front door. Her aunt who she had been staying with would be mad at her for going all the way to the hospital alone, but Nagisa didn't care. She knew it was important for her mother to get the cheesecake right away, and she thought her aunt was just being overprotective by not allowing her to go anywhere on her own. She was already eleven years old, after all, and could find her way around town just fine on her own.

When she arrived at the hospital, she checked in with the receptionist and went right up to her mother's room. She peeked her head inside, and saw Mama laying on her bed. There was a small tube taped to her chin, which made a low hissing sound as it blew a stream of fresh air into her mouth. There was a machine next to the bed which monitored her heart rate and let out a low beep every few seconds.

Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-

"Hey, Mama," Nagisa said, as she came through the door. She was careful to shut it behind herself quietly. "Are you sleeping?" she asked softly as she approached the bed. She saw that her mother's eyes were closed, so she just set the cake on the stand beside her and pulled up a chair. She knew it was important for her mother to get her rest, so it would be bad to wake her, but Nagisa did hope she would wake up soon.

II

Homura sat on a bench down the street from the hospital, positioned where she could see the spot where the sweets witch usually hatched, but she was still far enough away that she wouldn't be too conspicuous. Despite all the delays, she still managed to get here with plenty of time to spare, and now she just had to wait.

She bought a newspaper from a corner store on her way here, and held it in front of her face as a means to hide herself for when Sayaka and Mami showed up. It would be best if they never showed up at all, which was a possibility since this timeline had already been altered so much. If that were the case, Homura would be able to just take care of the witch herself without any additional problems.

But of course, just as she was thinking that, she saw both Sayaka and Mami come around the corner and approach the front entrance of the hospital.

Great… She thought. If it were just Sayaka, then maybe while she was busy with her boyfriend up on the second floor she wouldn't notice that a witch had been hatched. There was no chance that Mami would miss it, however, so it was almost a guarantee that Homura was going to have to confront her. She just hoped that she could make her listen to reason, which was usually a pretty rare outcome. It was even more unlikely since they had already gotten off on the wrong foot in this timeline.

For now though, all she could do is sit and wait. The sweets witch would be hatching soon...

III

Mama's eyes opened, and her head turned very slowly towards Nagisa. "Mama! you're awake!" Then she quickly lowered her voice, remembering that she wasn't supposed to be too loud. "How are you feeling today?" she asked cautiously.

She looked terrible. Her condition had steadily been getting worse and worse over the last couple of months, and she was now to the point that she barely looked anything like her former self. At first she was able to make jokes, commenting on how silly she must look because of her bald head, or jokingly complaining about all the machinery around her that was hooked up to her body. In spite of the bad situation she was in, she was always able to make light of it, and put a smile on her daughter's face.

There was nothing funny about how she looked now, however. There were deep black circles around her eyes, and her skin held tight to her cheekbones. She looked like a skeleton, Nagisa thought, and instantly felt guilty for thinking something like that. Mama's lips parted as if she wanted to speak, but nothing but a soft croaking sound came out. Her already gaunt and sickly eyes filled with even more sadness, when she realized she couldn't even say hello to her daughter.

Nagisa smiled anyway, and put a hand on her mother's arm. "Mama, I got a present for you." She then unwrapped the cloth around the cheesecake and took the lid off. The smell of the cake instantly filled the room. Nagisa smiled, "I made it all by myself! Just the way you showed me." She had tied a couple small plates in with the handkerchief and set them on the table. She carefully took two slices of cake out of the bin and set one on each plate. "You said eating good cake is the secret to happiness. So I made this so you would feel better."

Despite the pain she was in, that at least was enough to make her lips curve up into a very slight smile. Nagisa held the plate out to her mother, but quickly realized she was too weak to take it herself. "Here I'll help you." She took one of the plastic forks she stored in her pocket, and scooped up a bite of cheesecake.

She held it up to her mother's lips, and her jaw trembled as she opened her mouth very slightly. Nagisa couldn't help but start to feel tears touching the corner of her eyelids. "I hope it's good!" she said, moving the cake forward even more.

Her mother's head started to shake with the effort of opening her mouth, but she was unable to get it open more than a few centimeters, in spite of the cake being right in front of her. "Come on, just one bite," Nagisa pressed on, now feeling warm tears finally force their way through and roll down her cheeks. The cake would make mama feel better, she knew it would, if she could just take one bite...

"Come on mama!" her voice cracked.

Mama's jaw continued shaking, and her tongue came out very slightly, just barely touching the food that was in front of her.

Nagisa didn't notice it, but the heart monitor next to the bed started beeping faster and faster. "Just one bite!" she said again, then, all of a sudden, Mama's body went completely limp and her eyes closed, her face fell back onto the pillow looking as if she were going back to sleep. "Mama? Mama!"

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-

Nagisa dropped the fork and grabbed her mother by the shoulders and started shaking her. The beeping increased its pace to several beeps per second as her daughter shook her, trying to wake her up.

"Mama, what are you doing? Wake up! Wake up!"

Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep-beeeeeeeeee-

"Mama!" Nagisa screamed, "I made it myself! I did it all by myself! You have to try it! It'll help you! I know it will! MAMA!"

Then she felt someone grab her and start pulling her away. "No! What are you doing?" she screamed at the doctor. "Let me go! She needs it!" She watched her mother get further and further away as she was pulled out of the room, and more doctors gathered around the bedside and started doing things to her.

Once Nagisa was out in the hall, the doctor said something to her, but she didn't hear a word he said. He then quickly went back inside and shut the door behind himself. Nagisa went right for the door to try and follow him back in, but it was locked.

"What are you doing!" she screamed again, "She needs the cake! Let me give it to her!" She started banging on the door. "Please! I just want to eat cake with Mama!"

She continued banging on the door, but her blows eventually got softer and softer. "I just wanted to…" she fell down to her knees, and stared at the base of the doorway. "I just wanna eat cake with mama one more time… That's all…" She spoke with a low wavering voice. Her face was wet with fresh tears rolling freely from the corners of her eyes.

"That's all," she said again, before closing her eyes and letting her head fall forward to lean against the door. "I just wish I could eat cake with her…"

Then, she heard a voice. "Is that really a wish that you would want granted?"

III

Sayaka peaked her head into Kyousuke's room. "Hey Kyousuke! What's up?" She smiled as she came through the door, Mami followed in right behind her.

"Sayaka! You're not going to believe this!" he said right away, looking at her with more excitement in his eyes than she had seen in months.

"Woh, what's got you so fired up?" she asked, grinning.

"Look!" He held his hand up and started moving his fingers around freely. "My hand! It's working!"

"What? No way!" Sayaka ran over to him, feeling a bit guilty for faking the surprise, but she didn't have to fake the excitement she was feeling for him at least. "You mean, like, it's totally better?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so," he said, examining it and watching his own fingers move around. "I don't know how, I just woke up this morning, and it felt great. Even my legs feel better, although I still need to go through physical therapy to get used to using them again."

"Wow, that's great!" Sayaka said, "But, it's a bit confusing, do the doctors have any idea how it happened?"

"They have no idea. The best answer I've gotten so far is that I must have had 'multipathway-nerve-damage', which somehow managed to heal itself... Or something like that." He laughed. "I don't really get it, but who cares?"

Sayaka just grinned. It probably would be better not to tell him the truth, though she wished that she could. "Oh, I'm sorry," Sayaka said, just remembering Mami was there. "This is Mami Tomoe, she goes to our school."

"Pleased to meet you," she said with a bow.

"Yeah same," he said back, though he was still distracted by watching his hand as he stretched and bent his fingers.

Then, a middle aged woman came through the door, holding a violin case. "Oh, hello Sayaka," she said; it was Kyousuke's mother. She looked over to Mami, "And…"

"Mami Tomoe." She bowed. "Pleased to meet you."

"Heh, looks like you're just in time," Kyosuke said to Sayaka as his mother laid the case down on the bedside. "Thanks for getting this for me."

"Of course," his mom said, giving him a smile. "I couldn't bare to get rid of it, even though you said you didn't want it anymore."

He opened the case, and looked inside as if he had just discovered a chest full of treasure. He slowly reached inside and pulled out the violin, and then just held it and stared at it for a while. "I… I Hope I'm still able to do this…" he said, his voice becoming distant.

Sayaka moved closer and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure it will sound great."

IV

"What… are you?" Nagisa asked the strange creature. Was it a cat? A rabbit? Something else? She had never seen anything like it before. What was even weirder is it could TALK!

"I'm Kyubey!" it said, a cheery tone to its voice. It was strange, its mouth didn't have to move in order for it to speak, and there was something weird about its face too. Even animals usually had facial expressions, but this thing did not. Despite the cheery tone in its voice, its face remained completely placid. The lack of any kind of emotion made the creature seem rather strange and alien.

"You're a… Kyubey?" she asked. She was sitting on the tiled floor with her legs folded underneath her, she was still right outside her mother's room and rubbed her sleeve under her eye to dry the tears.

"Not A Kyubey, just Kyubey! That's my name."

"I see…" She looked at him curiously, reaching out one of her hands and cautiously tugging on one of his ears. He didn't seem to mind, as he didn't react at all to what she was doing.

"Anyway, believe it or not, I have the power to grant wishes! I heard what you were saying a moment ago, so I came here to help you out!"

"What? Really?" she asked, leaning forward and looking at him more seriously. "You can really do that sort of a thing?"

"Certainly, all you have to do is make a contract with me and become a Magical Girl!"

"A Magical Girl? What's that?"

"In exchange for having a wish granted, I will turn you into a Magical Girl, and from this day forth it will become your duty to fight witches and protect the world!" His bushy tail wagged once. "Don't worry though, you have more than enough potential as a Magical Girl, so I'm sure you will do just fine."

Nagisa didn't really get everything he was saying, his explanation about Magical Girls and witches was rather vague, but she did understand one thing: she could have a wish granted! "So… If I were to wish to eat cake with Mama, could you grant that wish?"

"Absolutely!" he said, his tail wagged again, and his beady little red eyes gleamed as he stared at her. "Is that the wish you want? Just say it and I will make it come true!"

Nagisa hoped this was really true. If she could eat cake with Mama, then Mama would smile again, and if Mama started smiling again she would start to get better! "Alright." She took a deep breath, deciding there was no need to think about this decision. Mama needed her, so she had to help in any way she could!

"I wish…"

V

Homura disposed of the newspaper in a trashcan, knowing the sweets witch would hatch very soon. If she was quick, perhaps she could dispose of the witch before Mami entered the labyrinth herself. Homura had fought this witch enough times in the past she was more than confident in her ability against it. She would charge in, take down the familiars, then shoot that little pink doll right in its head as it sat upon its throne. Then, she would wait for its second form to reveal itself, and stand there patiently and wait for it to bare its teeth down upon her. Just a moment before making its attack, Homura would stop time and drop a pipebomb in its mouth, collect the GriefSeed, and escape before Mami and Sayaka had a chance to confront her. That's how she hoped it would work out, anyway.

Just a little longer…

She knew Mami wouldn't make it to the end of the timeline. Eventually, Mami would learn the truth about Magical Girls and witches, and she would be a lost cause at that point. However, it would be worth saving her for now and delaying her inevitable demise, because Homura knew from past lives that Sayaka tended to last longer if she had Mami to guide her through her early stages as a Magical Girl. In the end, she might not be able to save Sayaka Miki, but for Madoka's sake she knew she had to at least try.

She waited...

She checked the clock that was stationed just above the entrance to the hospital.

Any second now…

After waiting another minute she started to look around curiously. In all of her past lives the witch had been pretty consistent about hatching at quarter-till-four, but as she watched the minute hand tick another minute away she started to get worried.

Where was it? Did it hatch somewhere else? She quickly ran around to the side of the building, nothing there, and she ran back to where she originally started waiting. Was it INSIDE the hospital this time? She pulled out her SoulGem and tried to sense its presence. No… it hadn't hatched yet.

She ran back down the street to hide, not wanting to risk Mami and Sayaka walking outside and finding her, and she continued to stake out the front entrance of the hospital.

Another five minutes passed. The witch DEFINITELY should have hatched by now!

What the hell's going on?


-Atomyst

Follow me on twitter- at /Atomyst_fics