The shadows around her grew in size as the sun disappeared from the horizon, it's orange light quickly fading into pure darkness. The streetlights buzzed, their artificial white light claiming the darkness the sun had left behind.

Kyouko's steps became sluggish, only allowing her to advance a few more steps before having to come to a halt. A burning sensation swelled up inside her ring- no, her soul gem – before it quickly expanded to her whole body. Her head started to pulse, as the static slowly came back.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Kyouko sat atop a hill, slowly unwrapping a hamburger; Akemi – no, Homura - had called her here to talk and with how distressed the girl seemed about it she couldn't say no.

"Um… well" Homura felt as small as always, only really showing confidence whenever she was with Madoka. "Sakura-san, have things felt a little odd to you lately?"

Kyouko brought a hand to her head, pressing her palm against her forehead to try and make the static sound stop. It hurt.

"Sakura-san, can you keep this a secret from the others for a little while?" the moon shone behind them, it's unnatural size engulfing both of their figures as they stood atop a bridge. "There's something I want to investigate further on my own first"

"Are you dumb? How can we act like nothing's wrong after seeing this?!" Kyouko quickly turned towards Homura, a feeling of incredulity at the girl's words filling her.

"It will be fine"

Homura turned towards the other side of the bridge, her usually soft eyes glared into the distance with determination.

"I believe it will be better to pretend that we haven't discovered anything"

Kyouko tried to recover her footing, taking a misstep as she did so and almost falling to the ground.

"Sakura-san?" Kyouko turned to see Homura standing a few meters behinds her, her brows slightly bent into a worried frown.

"Ah, I'm fine! I'm fine!" Kyouko quickly lied, her head still throbbed and the static didn't disappear but something was telling her that Homura was the last person she should be telling it to. Memories were still coming back. "Just stumbled!"

Kyouko tried to endure the soaring pain in her head. She tried to put on her usual grin, but a few ticks came through in moments where the pain intensified. She looked away from Homura, the girl's eyes shifting into a more inquisitive glare.

"So, as I was saying." Kyouko tried to continue their conversation, every word she tried to think intensified her headache. "You have to treasure her, try to spend as much time as you can with her"

The sound of the arcade machines was quieter than usual, the world itself knowing something was about to change. Kyouko started to walk away from the dancing game, leaving behind a group of identical looking dancers. The voice of Homura coming through the phone.

"Now I understand" Homura's voice had an unnatural calmness to it; it didn't sound like the girl she had talked to a few days ago. And yet, it felt right to hear Homura talking like this. "I know who rewrote our memories and locked us in this false Mitakihara City"

Kyouko could feel something was wrong. The calmness in Homura's voice was telling her so, whatever had happened she had already made a decision.

"Hey Homura!" Kyouko shouted into her phone as she ran outside of the building. "Are you all right?! Where are you right now?!"

Kyouko walked outside just on time to see one of the giant metal zeppelins falling to the ground, flames engulfing it completely.

"The last thing you want to do is to regret not having spent more time with her" As the words left Kyouko's mouth the girl realized that she wasn't sure if that had been truly meant for Homura. "Try as hard as you can to be with her"

Homura hummed in thought, Kyouko's body was too scared to turn back to face her. Her instincts telling her that Homura noticing her pain would be her end.

"Are they gone now?" Kyouko crouched on top of a fossilized root, looking towards the horizon and nothing at the same time. "Sayaka, and Bebe too?"

Mami walked behind her, having left Homura's grief filled soul gem on top of the girl's unconscious. A moment of silence formed between the two, the horizon filling with light.

"No" Kyouko turned her head towards the sky that was slowly being filled with light "They are finally taking her away with them"

"Is that Kaname Madoka?" said Kyouko as she stood up.

"Yes, the Law of the Cycles which will one day lead us away too"

"I see" Homura's voice felt sharper than usual; her presence being enough to send a shiver down Kyouko's back. "Thank you for the advice, Sakura-san"

Kyouko tried to hide a wince as her headache intensified.

"Nah, a pleasure"

"Homura-chan don't'!"

The same goddess that had come from the heaven's was now being held by Homura. Reality was cracking around them, Kyouko having to fight to even keep her footing.

"You'll rip me apart-"

The pain slowly disappeared with the last of her memories finally back. The same person that had taken them away walking right behind her. The same person that had triumphed over God herself.

Kyouko knew Homura would take her memories away if she noticed. Right now the only thing she could do was hope she hadn't noticed.

"Sakura-san" Homura had walked up to her until they were standing next to each other. Kyouko's heartbeat fastened in fear.

"Y-yeah?" she stuttered.

"You seem to be tired" Homura moved her hands to pick the bags from the convenience store "Let me carry them"

"Ah…" Kyouko hesitated for a second, trying to process what the girl had asked, before she gave the bags to the girl "Sure… thanks Homura"

"No" Homura curved her lips in a satisfied smile "Don't worry"

"Goodbye Mami!" Madoka cheerfully said as she left the door, arms locked with Homura.

"See you all tomorrow, be careful on you way home" Mami said from the doorframe as she bid farewell to the group. After all of them went into the elevator Mami closed the door and let out a sigh.

"Tired?" asked Nagisa, still putting away the dishes and teacups they had used.

"A bit" admitted Mami, though Nagisa could clearly see that the girl was trying to fight to keep herself awake. "I will make dinner in a few minutes for you, I'm full so I don't think I'll eat though"

Nagisa looked at Mami, the blonde was wearing her usual forced smile.

"Go to sleep, I ate a lot too" Nagisa commanded, her voice slightly harsh to let Mami know she was being serious. "I can survive one night without dinner you know"

Mami's gaze became a gentle one as she approached Nagisa and placed her hand tenderly on her head.

"No, can't do" Mami walked past Nagisa, heading into the kitchen "I wouldn't be a good guardian if I did that"

Nagisa followed her, a bit annoyed and worried at the same time at the girl's insistence. Once she reached the kitchen, she saw Mami looking through the fridge in search of ingredients. Seeing that she wasn't about to make Mami go to bed – as the girl should be doing – she decided to at least take care of some work by cleaning the dishes the group had used.

Some time passed. Mami cooking a simple diner for Nagisa, Nagisa struggling to clean the big oven mold Mami had used for the cake.

"Mami" Nagisa said as she tried to maneuver the big cake mold.

"Hmmm?" The sound of a knife cutting vegetables in a consistent rhythm filled the kitchen.

"Did you have fun today?"

Nagisa took a peek at Mami, the blonde girl taking her time to answer her. She could see a smile forming on her lips.

"Yes. Yes, I did"

Silence fell between the two for a few more minutes, Nagisa finally finishing with all the dishes while Mami finished with the cooking. They both went towards the living room to eat, though only Nagisa had food. Mami simply watched her phone as Nagisa ate, sometimes giving the girl a smile or two when she noticed her looking at her.

"Say Mami" Nagisa swallowed her food "…are you happy?"

Mami looked up from her phone, a look of entertained confusion on her face. "What's up with all the questions today?" She laughed.

"Just answer!" Nagisa pouted, stuffing her mouth with another forkful of food.

Mami looked at her with soft eyes, a smile returning to her face.

"I… I would say I am" Mami admitted "I have you here, I have friends at school… money could be better, but I can't complain" Mami let out a soft chuckle at her last remark.

"I see…"

This place really wasn't that bad after all.

The streets were completely empty save for the two girl's that were walking back home. A streetlight here and there had failed to turn on, giving the whole scenery a strange vibe that made Kyouko be on guard. Sayaka on the other hand was simply walking as she spoke, completely unaware of the kind of world they were in.

"I have to admit, I didn't expect Madoka to love Akemi" Sayaka walked with both arms crossed behind her head, not looking where she took a step "In retrospect it makes sense sure, but I guess I simply wasn't looking where I should"

"Yeah" Kyouko replied absentminded, paying more attention to the two dolls that followed them closely behind.

So Homura had been following each of them with a doll? How much were they telling her? And one doll each? They were strong inside of Homura's labyrinth true, but they had also been working in a group together with other familiars. Had they gotten stronger? Or was Homura simply underestimating them?

"But really" Sayaka laughed "Madoka really is head over heels for Akemi huh? She was trying way too hard at Tomoe's apartment!"

Kyouko tried to get a better look of the two dolls that were following them without calling much attention to herself. One of the dolls walked with clear confidence, either to cocky or actually skilled; the other doll wasn't even looking at them, and through the apparently eternal smile they wore Kyouko could swear she heard the doll sigh from time to time.

If worst came to worst, she was pretty sure that getting Sayaka to remember would be the best option. Between the two they should be able to take the other two dolls down. In a one against two scenario though… It would be hard, but Kyouko should be able to go against them as long as they were as strong as they had been inside the labyrinth.

But that would mean that Homura was underestimating them, and knowing her that didn't make any sense. There had to be some kind of thing that Kyouko wasn't picking on. Something obvious that was escaping her.

"Though seeing Akemi all embarrassed like that is pretty fun!" Sayaka sighed "Really, how much have I missed of Akemi being so embarrassed with Madoka?"

"A lot" Kyouko quickly answered, going back to her thinking.

She had been able to spot the two dolls pretty quickly once she had gotten her powers back, so there was a high change they were using some kind of hiding like what Kyubey used. Something that would mean they didn't have to hide from those that they were following-

Wait.

What was the point of doing that? Homura was probably monitoring them in case they got their memories back, but if they could just see them after recovering their memories wouldn't that miss the point entirely? They would become wary of the dolls. If Homura wanted to catch them using their powers, then they shouldn't be appearing like that in front of them.

Unless…

What if they were a red herring? What if they weren't the only familiars that were following them?

Kyouko tried to get another peek at the dolls. They were following them so… no, they weren't following them; those dolls were only looking at Sayaka, not at her. Then, did that mean that?

Kyouko's eyes darted around the street in search of any strange movement, any strange shadow that didn't feel natural, anything that was out of the ordinary.

"But saying that the person Madoka liked was problematic" Sayaka turned around, the blue-haired girl now walking backwards as she faced Kyouko. "Really, why would you say that about Akemi?"

"You were the one that didn't like her at the beginning" reminded Kyouko "Told you that you wouldn't like who Madoka liked, not that she was a delinquent"

"Well yeah, in the beginning" Sayaka closed her eyes "But lately I've been feeling like she isn't that bad you know? At first, I thought she was using Madoka but I guess she was just in love"

Sayaka opened her eyes, a smile now on her face as she spoke.

"Honestly I want to support them both" she turned around, walking straight once again. "I've never seen Madoka with so much confidence, and Akemi has been livelier lately. I've also been getting a bit closer to her, and now I can nag her about stealing Madoka away" Sayaka ran a few meters before stopping and turning around to face Kyouko with a bright smile and slightly reddened cheeks. "Besides, if I feel lonely, I can always count on you, right?"

Kyouko stopped walking; her eyes focused on Sayaka.

The girl she loved was right in front of her; breathing. She had been able to say goodbye the second time she disappeared after destroying Homura's labyrinth, but even then she knew she really hadn't wanted to. She had lost her right before they started to actually get to know each other. She had been able to be with her because of Homura before, and once again she was able to be with her because of Homura.

She had gotten the opportunity to see the person she loved once again, and all she was doing with it was worry about who was following her. Which, in turn, was only making her look more suspicious.

She had told Homura to use every moment she could with the person she loved, and yet she wasn't applying her own advice to herself.

"Kyouko?" Sayaka's brows furrowed in confusion at the girl's sudden silence. "Do you feel all right?"

"Ah- yeah, sorry for worrying you; I got distracted" Kyouko let out a forced laugh, trying to recompose herself. "What did you say? Sorry didn't quite catch it"

Sayaka sighed, the girl shifting around as she tried to speak again. Having lost the flow of the conversation making her realize how embarrassing the question she had asked actually was for her.

"Well… you know- Now that Madoka and Homura are going out – which good for them, really!" Sayaka started to go off topic "So they are going to be like, busy right? So if I feel lonely like… will you be there?"

Kyouko observed with an entertained expression the girl she had seen summon her own witch, the girl that had held a part of God, and the girl that she loved, being terribly embarrassed by simply asking her to not leave her alone.

"Of course I will, you dummy" Kyouko walked past Sayaka, trying to hide her own embarrassed look "Let's go home, I want to eat dinner already"

"You want to eat more?!"

[-]

Kyouko moved around in her bed. The feeling of the bedsheets against her skin was irritating, her pillow felt too soft, her neck ached, the air itself felt wrong around her bed.

Memories from a time that no longer existed filled her mind. They mostly brought burning pain, nothing more. Only a few were happy, and they didn't last long.

Kyouko picked up her phone from the small nightstand and unlocked its screen, the sudden light slightly blinding her for a few seconds. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness of the screen, letting her finally see the time.

Three in the morning.

"Great" Kyouko groaned before jumping off her bed.

The redhead walked towards the exit of her room. There she felt it, something had moved from one of the corners of the room to right behind her. Kyouko didn't turn around, knowing that would only bring more attention towards herself.

She opened the door of her room and got out, closing it behind. Being stuck in the same room as whatever was following her – probably another two dolls – was making it impossible for her to sleep.

Might as well go take a walk.

Kyouko walked around the house trying to make as little noise as possible, slowly making her way towards the exit of the house without anyone else noticing. She picked up her things and unlocked the door with care; flinching every time the lock of the door made a loud noise as it was unlocked.

[-]

Kyouko had been walking for ten minutes when the sound around her disappeared. It wasn't the usual silence of the night, there was no sound of late cars going back home, there was no sound coming from any house, there was no one outside other than her and the dolls that were following her; her steps were the only sound she could hear around her, not even the previous buzzing of the streetlights accompanied her.

Something was wrong.

Or rather, someone else had noticed that something was wrong.

Kyouko couldn't help but to raise her guard as she heard other steps coming from behind her. Kyouko turned around. Homura was standing there; her violet eyes had an unnatural shine to them; imitating the earring she wore. The normal cold look she wore was in her face, though Kyouko noted it was different than the usually dead expression that Homura would often be seen with before she had become a witch.

"It's pretty late to be walking around alone, Sakura-san" Homura's words had an edge to them. She knew.

"Eh~ Could say the same to you" Kyouko shifted her weight, preparing herself for an attack of some kind. "Pinky is going to be angry if she learns you weren't sleeping"

"She won't know" Homura took a step forwards.

Kyouko looked around her in search of the familiars that had been following her, but there was no sight of them. A drop of sweat fell off Kyouko's forehead.

"Did you have trouble sleeping?" asked Homura as she took another step forward.

"Yeah" answered Kyouko, trying to restrain herself from taking a step backwards "Couldn't get comfortable, might have something to do with all the sugar I ate today huh"

"Might be" shrugged Homura, still walking towards her.

"And you?" Kyouko tried to think of something that would make the girl stop, distract her even if for a second "Couldn't stop thinking about Madoka?"

Homura stopped walking.

"I never stop thinking about her" Homura answered "But you already know that, don't you?"

The air became stale as the last words got out of Homura's mouth, the implications behind her words making Kyouko feel like she had been punched in the gut. She definitely knew.

"It will be easier if you don't resist, Kyouko" Homura said, her earring shining with a violet light.

Kyouko let out a small nervous chuckle. "You know that's not how I am"

A flash of red light enveloped Kyouko's body, her magical girl outfit manifesting in less than a second. Kyouko dashed towards Homura, breaking apart her spear in chained segments that flew towards the raven haired girl. Homura either didn't have time to react or she didn't want to, the different segments of Kyouko's spear restrained the girl without a problem.

"I really don't want to do this!" exclaimed Kyouko as she extended her hand towards Homura's ear, her hand grasped the earring and pulled away; tearing it from the girl's ear.

Kyouko, now with the violet gem in her hand, jumped away from a now bleeding Homura. Homura stood back up, touching her ear with her hand as to confirm the blood. Her face was calm. Homura took a few steps forwards.

"Please, don't make me do it" Kyouko pleaded, her spear now pointed to Homura's earring – or what she thought was her soul gem – the tip of her spear touched the gem.

"That's enough" Homura didn't move her lips as she spoke, the voice didn't come from that body.

Kyouko looked towards the girl in confusion; her face now decorated with a wide grin as the image of Homura slowly faded, leaving behind a doll.

"What the-"

The earring exploded, sending a dark liquid flying everywhere. The many drops of liquid that hung in the air all launched towards Kyouko in straight lines that solidified around her, stopping her movement completely. Kyouko smashed one of the walls of the newly formed cage with her spear, only managing to hurt herself with the recoil.

"You won't be able to break it" Homura suddenly appeared in front of Kyouko, the air moving angrily as it was replaced with the girl.

Homura turned around to face the doll that had been her just a second ago.

"Good job Usotsuki, I will take it from here"

The doll simply nodded before disappearing in a puff of darkness. Homura turned back to Kyouko.

"Well, you got me" nervously laughed Kyouko "Now let's just stop this and do as if nothing had happened, yeah?"

"I wanted to see if I could control you" Homura ignored Kyouko's words. "But as I expected you are too much of a chaotic force to let you keep your memories"

Kyouko tried to shift her weight, but there wasn't enough space in the cage to do it comfortably.

"So that's it? You are just going to erase my memories again?" asked Kyouko.

"The more I play with your memories the worse it will get" Homura's expression changed to one Kyouko knew well, one she had seen her with the last few months before she disappeared "I know by firsthand"

Homura raised both her hands together, preparing herself to do a clap. Kyouko could guess what Homura clapping meant.

"I would prefer not to make you suffer" Homura added, her hands completely still "But you were right, I have to try as hard as I can to spend more time with Madoka… And if this is what it takes, I will do it"

Homura threw her hands to finish the clap.

"Wait!" Kyouko exclaimed.

Homura stopped unnaturally fast, her hands mere millimeters apart.

"You are not going to convince me to do otherwise, Kyouko" Homura made a small pause, a sigh escaping her lungs before she spoke again "Don't make this harder than it already is"

"That's not it! Just listen, okay?" Kyouko closed her eyes.

She had lived in three different worlds already.

The first one, or what she guessed was the original one, had been the worst. The only things she had gotten from it were a wish that killed her family. A life of hunting while she lived in the streets. And a lot of pain as she lost those that she loved. The only good thing she had gotten from that place was swiftly taken away from her. Only to see the other person she could consider a friend slowly descend into a self-destructive path and being unable to help her.

Then the second one she had been happy. In fact, she had been as happy as she had ever been. A perfect dream world as to say, almost too similar to the usual series that they streamed on TV. She could fight along all her friends, not being scared of losing her life at the next notice. She was together with Sayaka, she had a place to stay.

And this world, the third one was like the second one. There was just no fighting, her biggest problems were how to make Sayaka understand that she liked her. A mundane one compared to her first life.

She had lived in three different worlds, and only Homura's had been kind to her.

"I don't care if you take my memories away" Kyouko opened her eyes, slowly raising her head to meet Homura's gaze. "But I do have one request for you"

Homura had given her a life where she could be happy. A life where she didn't have to fight to survive, one where she could be together with Sayaka and everyone she cared about.

"Don't you dare try to do things on your own again" Kyouko said with more aggression than what she had intended to use.

Kyouko noticed Homura's eyes widening for a split second before she recovered her composure and placed her stoic face back on.

"Is that all?" Homura asked, though Kyouko was pretty sure the girl had almost stuttered at the beginning of her sentence.

"No" Kyouko put on an apologetic smile, making Homura's expression become a confused one as the redhead went back one last time in her memories. To a time before Homura had disappeared. To a conversation in an alleyway. To the last time she saw her in that world.

"I'm sorry." Kyouko felt Homura's gaze softening, though her determination didn't waver "I should have believed you back then"

The sound of a clap echoed throughout her body.

Kyouko's body became limp as her consciousness faded, the dark cage she was in molding around her body to soften the fall. Homura approached the girl and crouched down, carefully lifting her unconscious body off the ground.

Skeletal wings burst forth of Homura's back, enveloping her as raven feathers slowly surged from it. One second she was in on the many streets of Mitakihara, the next second she was in Kyouko's room.

Homura walked towards the bed, its bedsheets had been flung open, and slowly lowered the body of Kyouko until it rested on it. Homura's earring flashed; the room became full of violet light for a second as Kyouko's clothes quickly changed into the redhead's pajamas. Homura moved her hand towards the redhead's head, gracing her forehead with her fingers as a trail of magic lingered behind as Kyouko's expression softened into a calmed sleeping face.

"You two" Homura addressed the dolls that were lingering in the shadows of the room "You can leave her for tonight. She won't wake up until morning"

Without adding anything the dolls disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Really…" Homura whispered, a painful sensation on her chest "I told you to not make it harder"

The skeletal wings embraced her once again, and she disappeared into the night. In just a few hours she would meet with Madoka again, and then meet with everyone at school. The thought made a smile appear on her face.

The night went on, Homura wasn't alone anymore.

Current date: Thursday 22nd of May.