Here I bring you yet another chapter, with a whopping 5,000+ words! I sincerely hope you enjoy reading this!
Madoka (and only Madoka) was running through a bizarre black and white landscape, covered in all sorts of motifs. She wasn't sure where she was going or why, but she eventually found the exit. It took a bit of effort, but she managed to open the doorway that leads to the outside.
A part of her wished that she stayed inside.
Outside, all she could see was the city of Mitahikara in ruins. A violent storm raged over the remains of the city. And in the distance, a couple of somewhat familiar figures.
It was the same giant upside down floating monster from the dream that she and Kriemhild had five years ago, and that monster was fighting the same raven-haired magical girl from that same dream.
Well, she says fighting, but the monster doesn't seem to be affected by whatever the magical girl was throwing at it.
In fact, the magical girl was (pardon my language) getting her ass handed to her.
Looking around the ruins, Madoka could spot three other figures laying on the ground not too far from where she was standing. A blonde magical girl, a redhead magical girl, and…is that Sayaka?! Each of them had sustained fatal injuries and are as stiff as a corpse – probably because that's what they are now, and Madoka could only watch.
Suddenly, a telepathic voice invaded her mind, "You should realize by now that she cannot win this battle, right?"
Indeed, the monster had used its telekinesis to hurl a whole building onto the remaining magical girl.
The voice continued in an eerily calm tone, "But there is a way for you to stop that witch. After all, you have the potential."
It took her a moment to realize that the telepathic voice was coming from the cat-bunny creature that sat beside her. Madoka wasn't sure what sort of creature it even is.
"So there's a way for me to help?" Madoka asked the strange creature.
"Of course! All you have to do is make a contract with me and become a magical girl!"
Madoka wanted to help the raven-haired magical girl to win this battle, and so she decided-
Madoka suddenly woke up from that strange dream.
Slowly she sat up and rubbed her eyes, "Hueh…it was just a dream."
Then she tried asking Kriemhild about it, "Hey, Kriem-chan. Did you see that dream as well?"
A drowsier Kriemhild mentally yawned, and answered, "Whuh? I didn't dream anything last night."
Madoka's shoulders sagged in disappointment, "Aw. I guess it was just me."
Despite still feeling sleepier than Madoka, Kriemhild decided to ask out of curiosity, "What was the dream like, anyway?"
"Kinda like the dream that we both had five years ago."
Kriemhild, of course, knew what sort of dream Madoka was referring to, "Was it the one with the monster and the magical girl?"
A moment of silence permeated while Madoka tried to recall the dream from last night, "Well, the details are mostly foggy now, but yeah, it was like that. But the magical girl was losing to the monster, and Sayaka-chan was there for some reason."
Kriemhild was unsure on how to respond, and she was too sleepy for that anyway, so she mentally shrugged, "Oh well, let's just get up now…wait, it's still 5 AM. Madoka-chan, can we please go back to sleep?"
"Ahhh- I rather not risk it now. Ms. Saotome asked me to not be late for today. She said it was for something important." Madoka sheepishly replied.
"Aw…!"
But Madoka paid no attention to Kriemhild's despair and proceeded with their usual morning routine, even if it was a bit earlier than usual.
March 25. Today is the day that Homura Akemi would transfer into Mitakihara Middle School.
She had just equipped a silencer on a pistol that she had never used before: the K&M .45 Tactical, also known as the USP. In fact, Homura was certain that she never used a silencer before either, not even in previous timelines. At least, none that she recalled.
Without another thought, she placed the silenced gun, alongside spare ammunition and silencers into the hammerspace within her shield.
Homura usually wasn't quite subtle with the loudness of her firearms, so why the subtlety now? Call it a hunch, but she had a feeling that she'll need it. Although, for once, she hoped that her hunch was incorrect this time.
She could already feel that this will be a most unusual timeline.
March 25. Kriemhild Gretchen wasn't quite sure why, but she had a feeling that this will be a very interesting day.
"What makes you think that?" Madoka mentally asked.
Whoops, Kriemhild must've thought about it out loud on accident.
Nevertheless, Kriemhild verbally replied, "I dunno, Madoka-chan. It was just a hunch."
They were currently waiting for Sayaka and Hitomi to arrive at their meeting spot so that they can go to school together. In the meantime, Madoka and Kriemhild decided to idle around while they wait.
"Really?" asked Madoka, who remained unconvinced.
"Well, it's been a whole week since the last time we felt that strange energy, and nothing happened so far. Who knows? Maybe it'll happen again today." Kriemhild elaborated with her honest thoughts.
"Maybe…"
Eventually, Sayaka and Hitomi did arrive.
"Good morning Madoka-san, and Kriem-san!" Hitomi greeted first.
"Morning you two! You're here earlier than usual." Sayaka waved and greeted with a grin.
"Yeah, well, I had a strange dream last night and I woke up earlier than usual because of it." Madoka replied sheepishly.
"A strange dream?" Hitomi asked.
"Umm, I'll tell you both about it later, if that's okay." Madoka nervously replied.
"Right, sure thing." replied Sayaka, who then noticed Madoka's hairstyle of the day, "Hey, Madoka. What's up with the ribbons?"
Earlier that morning, Madoka and Kriemhild decided to use a new pair of ribbons for their twintail hair. The selection was narrowed down to a pair of red ribbons and a pair of yellow ribbons. Madoka wanted to use the red pair, but Kriemhild begged to differ. Instead of spending too much time trying to choose, Kriemhild suggested that they use both pairs of ribbons. Now each twintail sports a red and yellow ribbon.
"Yeah, what's up with the ribbons? Are you trying to catch someone's attention at school?" Hitomi teased.
"No…?" Madoka muttered, "Kriem-chan and I had a disagreement on which ribbon that we should use for today, so she decided to just use both."
"Hah! Had it been the correct shade, I would have called it ketchup and mustard!" Sayaka joked and laughed. With Hitomi joining in soon after.
"Hueh…you two are mean." Madoka playfully pouted, before she also joined the duo in laughing.
Anticipation was building up within Homura as she waited outside her classroom. Even this part of the timeline had some differences in it. For once, Ms. Saotome did not ramble about her failed romantic relationship and how to properly fry an egg. Instead, she was informing the students of her class about…something about egg shortages in the market*? Homura shook her head. It's probably not important.
Eventually, Homura was called into the class. She strode with practiced elegance, catching the attention of everyone in the class. And then she stopped in front of the class. It took some effort on her part to not suspiciously point her entire face at Madoka, unlike in previous timelines. This time, Homura, in an attempt to be more discreet, merely gazed at Madoka.
Already, she noticed some differences from Madoka in this timeline compared to earlier timelines. That heterochromia** on Madoka's eyes was still there, and now she's wearing both red and yellow pairs of ribbons? Not only that, but Madoka seemed…more confident than usual. The expression on the face of the girl that she was trying to save this whole time is not what she had expected. Homura expected Madoka to at least be nervous about this mysterious transfer student.
Instead, the expression that she saw on Madoka's face was that of a rapidly crumbling poker face.
At the moment, Kriemhild was the one in control of their body. They were told that there will be a new student that will transfer into their class, and that the reason why Madoka was expected to arrive on time was that this transfer student had a medical condition. Suddenly, Kriemhild couldn't complain about having to get up so early in the morning.
While Ms. Saotome was talking about egg shortages, Kriemhild idly drew something in Madoka's textbook. It was that of a dark, scary-looking, mountain-sized monster, with many tendrils in place of legs. Next to her own monster drawing was Madoka's drawing of her magical girl form, clad in pink.
The contrast between the two drawings has a certain charm to it.
"What are you drawing?" Madoka suddenly asked.
Kriemhild looked up, with practiced poker-face, to see if their teacher saw her doodling something in their textbook, before replying, "It's what I imagine how I would look as a kaiju."
Madoka then asked again, "Why are you drawing yourself as a kaiju?"
"Because they look cool, Madoka-chan. Why did you draw yourself as a magical girl?"
"Wehihihi, fair point."
And so they waited for the new transfer student to enter the class.
And waited.
And waited.
And- ah!
The transfer student was finally called in, and neither Madoka nor Kriemhild could believe their eyes.
"Madoka-chan! Are you seeing this?"
"Yes! I am!"
It's the raven-haired girl from their dream!
They watched as the transfer student strode in with practiced elegance and…why is she looking at them like that?
The eye contact kept on for a few seconds until the transfer student broke it. Something Kriemhild was somewhat thankful for, because her poker face was nearly collapsing at that point. And then she introduced herself. Homura Akemi was her name.
Kriemhild was right, this day will be a very interesting day.
Then comes recess.
The transfer student, Homura Akemi, was swarmed by other classmates who wanted to ask questions. Madoka wasn't sure what sort of questions were being asked to Homura, but she answered them all coolly.
While Madoka was busy staring at the transfer student, Kriemhild reminded something.
"Hey, shouldn't we be bringing her to the nurse's office?"
Madoka blinked, then replied, "Oh, right. She still needs her medications."
As Madoka got up from her seat, so did Homura.
It seemed they had the same idea.
Homura stood her ground when she saw Madoka had also gotten up from her seat. Madoka then approached the transfer student, but at a pace slower than Kriemhild would have liked.
"Hey, Madoka-chan. What's wrong?"
"Um- Uh- I'm a little nervous, is all." Madoka mentally stuttered.
Kriemhild had the feeling that she already knows the answer, but she asked anyway, "How come?"
"Well, don't tell Sayaka and Hitomi about this, but I think Homura is beautiful, and graceful, a-and it's making me nervous."
Kriemhild couldn't help but mentally blush as well, "…Oh! Oh…Yeah. Same." she exclaimed.
"Wait, what?!"
Before they could continue their unpleasantly pleasant internal discussion, Madoka had already arrived next to Homura's seat.
Madoka tried her best to suppress her nervousness when she spoke to Homura, "Um, hello! My name is Madoka Kaname, and I'm the nurse aide. Should we get going to the nurse's office for your medications?"
Homura raised an eyebrow.
"Oh- Did I say something wrong?" Madoka nervously thought.
"Yes, please. Lead the way." Homura finally answered.
Madoka silently released a breath that she didn't even know she was holding.
Initially, Madoka was the one leading the way, but then Homura walked ahead of her. As if she already knows the way to the nurse's office.
Kriemhild silently observed this strange behavior.
They kept on walking until Homura finally stopped in the hallway. The hallway itself was deserted, with only the three (two, from Homura's current perspective) of them present. Madoka wasn't sure why, but she had also stopped alongside Homura.
The transfer student then flips her body dramatically and faced Madoka directly. And then she asked Madoka a strange question.
"Are you truly Madoka Kaname?"
Madoka was confused about why Homura had asked her that question, but made an attempt to answer, "O-of course I am."
However, Homura took her nervousness as a sign of a liar, "The others may have not noticed it, but I did. There's something else in that body, isn't there?" Homura referred to the fact that there is the presence of a witch within Madoka.
Madoka and Kriemhild, however, were unaware of Homura's actual thought, and assumed that Homura knew that they were diagnosed with DID***, "Ah, so you noticed." Kriemhild had just taken over, and verbally exclaimed with that slightly lower-pitched voice of hers.
Homura narrowed her eyes, and it sent a chill down their spine. Homura had noticed that subtle difference.
Nevertheless, Kriemhild decided to start with a good impression, "Well, since you have noticed me," so she introduced herself to Homura, "My name is Kriemhild Gretchen, nice to meet you! I hope we can be friends!"
Neither Madoka nor Kriemhild expected Homura to transform into her magical girl form, the very same one from their dream, to pull out a silenced pistol from her shield and point it at them.
"You…you're Madoka's witch! What have you done to Madoka?!"
Now even Kriemhild was a little afraid, "W-what?"
Kriemhild knew that she was a witch, even though she doesn't really know what it means. And Homura referred to her as one. She doesn't know exactly how to feel about that.
Suddenly, without any sort of warning whatsoever, they were pinned to the nearby window by Homura's superior strength, with the gun now pointed to their head point blank.
"Aghhhh!" Kriemhild screamed in pain.
"Don't even try calling for help. It's useless." said Homura in a threatening manner.
Kriemhild tried looking around to see if anyone is around to help them, but all she sees is that the world is in grayscale. She could even see a pair of birds outside, frozen in mid-air. Homura had stopped time.
But Kriemhild failed to put the pieces together in time.
"What is happening?!" was Kriemhild's thought before Homura roughly shoved her gun at their jaw.
Homura glared at her. If looks could kill, then she wouldn't even need the gun. "Now. If you value your life, you're going to tell me what you've done to Madoka."
Kriemhild was confused and quite scared for their lives, but she answered to the best of her ability, "I-I didn't do anything to her! If anything, you're the one hurting her right now!"
That statement made Homura lower her gun slightly in hesitance, "…what do you mean?"
"We share the same body!"
Now Homura completely lowered her gun, she even loosened her rough hold on Kriemhild, but still kept her hold firmly, "Explain."
Kriemhild took her time to breathe, before she replied, "Five years ago, I woke up within Madoka-chan's body. I don't know how or why I was there, but I remembered how it freaked her out. Mama also found out about it and took us to a psychiatrist that morning, Madoka-chan was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder that day. And I just so happens to be the symptom."
"Five years ago…? Dissociative Identity Disorder? Could it be that I somehow dragged her along from the future and put her within the body of the current Madoka? I'll have to ask more questions." and so Homura did, "And what was the last thing that you remembered before you…woke up?"
"Aside from the experience that I shared with Madoka-chan at that point, nothing. Except for my name and the fact that I'm a witch, I'm not even sure what a witch is." Kriemhild replied with feigned nonchalant.
"Nothing, huh? And she doesn't know what a witch really is despite being one herself." But the most important question remains, "And what have you been doing after the diagnosis?"
"Well, after the diagnosis, Papa and Mama took the news rather well, and Madoka-chan started treating me like a sister, which was nice." replied Kriemhild, who couldn't help but smile at her own reply.
"Aww." Madoka couldn't help but mentally say in adoration.
"Madoka-chan? Where have you been?!" Kriemhild asked.
"Sorry, Kriem-chan! I didn't get the chance to say anything. I was pretty scared too." Madoka sheepishly and nervously replied.
Before they could talk any further, Homura asked for Kriemhild to continue, "And then?"
Kriemhild's nervousness returned, albeit much weaker than before, "Ah, um, and then Sayaka-chan and Hitomi-chan found out about it and took the news just as well. The both of them are my friends too now."
"Interesting. Even those two knew about the witch." Homura thought, "Anything else?"
Kriemhild then replied with more gusto, "And then our brother, Tatsuya, was born. And Madoka-chan said I was being too overprotective to him, and she managed to convince me to leave most of the work to papa. And…I think that's all the important bits."
Finally, "…And how does Madoka feel about you?"
"You already know this, Kriem-chan!" Madoka mentally cheered.
"She loves me, and I love her in return! We're sisters, after all!"
Homura silently sighed in relief, "Ah, so my hunch was wrong after all." Her hunch was that the witch had completely taken over Madoka's body so that it could do its twisted desire without having to hide within a labyrinth like the typical witch. Then again, Kriemhild Gretchen, from what Homura had witnessed in previous timelines, never seemed to have used a labyrinth to begin with.
And now the only thing that Homura had to do is to get out of this situation without revealing her true nature and intention, maybe even convince Madoka to not contract and be a magical girl while she's at it.
"I see." Homura started, "Please, forgive me for my aggression. I was under the impression that you're as dangerous as the other witches that I've encountered before."
"Other witches?" Kriemhild asked.
"Dangerous?" Madoka mentally asked, knowing that no one else but Kriemhild could hear her.
Homura nodded, "That's right. As magical girls, it is our duty to hunt witches. Every single one that I've encountered so far had been the cause of the recent spike of suicides and disappearances."
The three of them were aware of this phenomenon, of the recent spike of suicides and disappearances within Mitakihara and surrounding cities. Local law enforcers couldn't pinpoint the exact cause of this strange phenomenon, and couldn't even determine if each case is related to each other or not.
Kriemhild, however, was still a bit skeptical, "Really? Then what about me?"
"You are an…" Homura hated this sentence, "…Anomaly. Throughout human history, you're probably the first and only witch who doesn't go around devouring people."
"Ew…" Kriemhild couldn't help but exclaim.
Homura continued on with her hypothesis, "I'm not sure what's the cause of this, but it may have been due to the fact that you actually possess a brain, where other witches are simply driven by their impulses."
While Homura explained some things, Madoka had taken over the body, "…Is there…anything that I can do to help?"
Homura's eyes slightly widened, "Madoka?" but then Homura focused on answering Madoka's question, "The best thing that you could do is to remain you, and not be a magical girl."
"Huh? And let you fight these witches alone?" Madoka asked curiously.
Homura shook her head, "You misunderstood. The dark, tragic secret of a magical girl is that, inevitably, a magical girl will turn into a witch herself. Not many magical knew this, since most of them die before they even find out. While some other magical girl…breaks…if they hear this information. So, please, if you meet any other magical girls out there, do not recklessly mention this information."
Madoka gasped, nodded, and exclaimed, "That's horrible!…Does that mean you'll become a witch yourself eventually?"
Homura solemnly nodded, "That's right. But please, don't worry about me, I'll live. After all, I have a promise to keep."
A cold silence dominated the time-frozen atmosphere, before Madoka asked, "Wait, does this mean Kriem-chan- I mean Kriemhild was a magical girl once?"
"In the previous timeline, yes." Homura thought, but decided to go with something more acceptably cryptic, "It's possible."
"Hey Madoka-chan. Ask her how she knows all of this." Kriemhild requested, still a little skeptical about the whole thing.
And Madoka complied, "Homura-chan, how did you know all of this?"
This could be it. This could be her chance to convince Madoka to not contract. Homura saw this chance and took it, "…A long time ago, I used to be a part of a team of magical girls. Back then, we don't know that magical girls will turn into witches one day. So when one of our members turned into a witch, we had no choice but to put her out of her misery."
Madoka stayed silent. Listening intently to Homura's explanation.
Homura continued, with a hint of sadness behind her cold mask, "But it doesn't end there. Our leader…didn't take the revelation well, and she ended up killing another of our members in her hysteria, and she almost killed me."
"And then you, in that timeline, saved me by killing our broken leader." Homura almost added that part, but decided to refrain from it.
"So, please, promise me that you won't become a magical girl!" Homura finally concluded.
Madoka was now terrified by the concept of being a magical girl, and both Madoka and Kriemhild felt bad for asking, "I- I promise. And I'm sorry for asking such a sensitive topic."
"It's…alright." Homura decided to do something that she has never done before, "…After school, can you come to my home so that I can explain to you in more detail about this magical girl system?"
Madoka nodded. Homura didn't think it would be this easy.
"And…can you bring along Sayaka Miki as well?" Homura then added.
"Why?"
"Like you, she also has the potential to become a magical girl. If possible, I would also like to prevent her from becoming one as well." Homura explained, "or at least, have her become a magical girl while being aware of everything that entails with being a magical girl. Her swordsmanship would still be tremendously useful against Walpurgisnacht's familiars, as proven in the previous timeline." she thought the last part to herself.
"I'll…try." Madoka muttered with determination.
For the first time in this timeline, Homura smiled, "That's good enough for me."
With that, she carefully positioned both herself and Madoka to their initial spot and pose before she stopped time. Kyubey may or may not be watching them right now, so Homura had to play it safe.
And their previous pose before she stopped time is that of Homura, still pointing her silenced gun at Madoka.
And time resumed.
"Hueh?! Please don't shoot me!" Madoka played along, or at least Homura thought she was playing along. It might be possible that Madoka was genuinely terrified.
Homura lowered her gun, stored it back to her shield, and transformed out of her magical girl uniform, "Forgive me, Madoka. I thought that you would be a threat to this school, but it seemed I was mistaken."
A still terrified Madoka nodded, "It's- It's alright. But Homura-chan, do you still need to go to the nurse's office?"
Homura turned away from Madoka, and walked away, "No, I can find my way there myself" she said, looking back slightly with a smile on her face, "But, thank you for walking with me."
"You- you're welcome…" the frightened pinkette replied, slightly calmed down when she saw Homura smiling at them.
And so they went their separate ways.
Madoka and Kriemhild were making their way back to class. Madoka may have put up her poker face back on, but they were still somewhat terrified of that deadly encounter with Homura.
"I can't believe that just happened." Madoka commented on the matter at hand.
Kriemhild mentally sighed, "Well, at least we're okay now."
"Do you think what Homura-chan said was true?" Madoka asked.
"I do. I can't help but believe her." Kriemhild replied.
Madoka mentally nodded, "Yeah, me too."
They continued walking in silence, before Kriemhild asked, "So, are we really going to Homura-chan's home later?"
Madoka mentally nodded once again, "Of course! This seems too important to pass up. I should actually convince Sayaka to come with us after we go to the mall, what if she gets hurt by not knowing anything?"
"Don't worry Madoka-chan. If Sayaka-chan won't go with you, I'll just drag her along!"
Despite the situation, Madoka couldn't help but giggle at Kriemhild's method, "Wehihi. Yeah, that'll make sure she sticks with us."
And then Madoka remembered something, "Hey, Kriem-chan. Didn't you notice that Homura-chan's magic felt like the energy that we felt a week ago?"
"Eh?! She's the stalker?!"
After actually taking her medications from the nurse's office, Homura made her way to the restroom before returning back to class. There she stood alone, holding a grief seed.
"Using my time-stopping ability for that long had been a drain to my soul gem. Hopefully, it would have been worth it." Homura thought on the matter. Indeed, that conversation that she had with both Madoka and Kriemhild had taken much longer than she expected.
And then she looked at the grief seed on her hand, a grief seed that she was about to use to clean her own soul gem, "I should clean my soul gem before I return to class."
Summoning her soul gem, Homura expected to see a moderately murky soul gem, but instead…
"My soul gem is…completely clean? But how?!"
Could it have been something to do with the witch that lives alongside Madoka? Putting the grief seed away, she made a mental note to confirm this theory when Madoka visits her home. If her theory is correct, then…
This could forever change things, for the better!
After what had happened in that hallway between the three of them, school went on quite normally. Neither Madoka nor Kriemhild mentioned how Homura had just held them at gunpoint not too long ago. Even if the both of them were slightly scared of Homura, they knew that Homura was just worried. How can they tell? If Homura wasn't worried about them, then she wouldn't have warned them about the dangers of being a magical girl.
And so, again, school went on quite normally.
Madoka- No, pretty much everyone in the class was impressed with how easily Homura managed to go through all the materials that were taught in class. One could say that the subjects that are taught in Mitakihara Middle School are relatively difficult compared to other schools, and Homura managed to do them all.
Then comes PE.
So far, Homura had managed to ace the whole thing without breaking a sweat. She even managed to break some records just because she can.
Now Homura, alongside Madoka and Sayaka, stood on the running track. Madoka herself was no slouch when it comes to physical education. Ever since Kriemhild dragged her (and sometimes Sayaka, and rarely, Hitomi) along to spend more time working out in the school gym, both Madoka and Sayaka are now physically fit compared to their peers. On the running track, Madoka and Sayaka rivaled each other when it comes to running speed.
And now Homura rivals both of them.
Sometimes one of them would lag behind before catching up almost as quickly, and their speed would remain consistent with each other. But in the end, Sayaka came out on top, with Madoka coming through second place, while Homura arrived in third place. The rest of the class couldn't help but cheer at their superb performance.
"You did great, Sayaka-chan! You too, Homura-chan!" Madoka cheered happily for Sayaka and Homura.
Homura flipped her hair in response, while Sayaka took the cheering with stride, "Hey, I wouldn't have been able to do it without her help." she said, referring to Kriemhild.
"Yeah, I guess all those extra times spent on the gym actually pays off." Madoka said.
Sayaka suddenly addresses Homura, "You weren't doing too bad yourself, transfer student. I thought you had a heart condition."
While Madoka and Sayaka were lightly sweating and catching their breaths, Homura looked none the worse for wear, "I do." even though she was holding back during the run, she still welcomed the change in pace with both Madoka and Sayaka being more fit than usual.
"Could have fooled me." Sayaka remarked.
"Me too, Sayaka-chan. Me too." Kriemhild silently agreed. Since Madoka and Kriemhild had already found out about Homura being a magical girl, they were surprised that Homura didn't use that attribute while they ran. They were certain that she would leave both them and Sayaka in the dust if Homura didn't hold back.
Sayaka suddenly asked Homura, "Hey, Homura, are you free after school? Me, Madoka, and Hitomi will be going to the mall after this. You wanna come with?"
If Homura was shocked, she hid it extremely well, "Sayaka is being friendly with me? I didn't even do anything for her yet and she's already getting friendly." Homura, however, had other plans, "Forgive me, Miki-san. But I still need to finish setting up my home."
It technically wasn't a lie. She had spent more time in this timeline stocking up on ammunition and stealing more weapons that she had never tried before, which leaves less time for her to set up her home. It was almost finished anyway, should be in time when Madoka (and hopefully, Sayaka) comes to visit later.
"Ah, it's alright. Maybe next time?" Sayaka offered.
Homura couldn't help but smile, which is good because she didn't want to repeat the same mistake as the previous timeline by sowing animosity, "Perhaps."
Perhaps this timeline will go differently, in a good way.
Trivia! Because I got nothing better to do or to put down here.
*Kriemhild's birthday cake was custom-made, and used the last few eggs on Mitakihara before the egg shortage. This butterfly effect put Ms. Saotome in a failed relationship a week earlier than usual. This has no significance to the plot.
**Heterochromia is a medical condition where a single body features different-colored eyes.
***DID stands for Dissociative Identity Disorder.