Notes: And once again the chapter sorta grew a mind of its own and ran away from me. But I eventually got where I wanted to go.

Previously in Misery Record:

Yachiyo joined the Wings of the Magius to be with Mifuyu. But Yachiyo's Doppel devoured Mifuyu, leaving Yachiyo with additional powers and a guilt she would never be rid of. To protect her friends, Yachiyo "recruited" them into the Wings against their will. Yachiyo was reunited with Etteilla, the Witch who had once been her friend Mel, who offered to share visions of the future in exchange for protection. Yachiyo used Etteilla's predictions to keep her friends safe, but after learning of the coming chaos, released Etteilla so the Witch would have a chance at survival. Yachiyo found her friends in the afterlife, and promised not to let her bond with Mifuyu fade a second time.

Chapter Summary: Although she cannot recall her promise to Mifuyu, Yachiyo's heart is still guided by it, which reshapes both her mindset, and her fated path. But this means altered fates, and ends, for others, as well.

Misery Record
A Magia Record Fanfic by
Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)
Chapter 3: Overflowing Heart

Mifuyu was still having a hard time believing it.

She had been seconds away from death at the hands of a Witch, and then... she was saved by geese.

Or rather, a Sugar Skein, as her savior Yachiyo insisted on calling it. And considering Mifuyu would have been dead without Yachiyo, calling a special attack by its proper name didn't seem like too big an ask.

More than that, Yachiyo also insisted on making sure Mifuyu got home safely... but since Yachiyo's house was closer, and she didn't mind having a guest overnight, they ended up going there instead.

The whole way there, Mifuyu was a little puzzled by the fact that Yachiyo hadn't dismissed her geese. It almost had to be a considerable drain on her magic, and beyond that, it seemed wasteful. Also, it was very weird, to be escorted anywhere by a gaggle.

But when they reached Yachiyo's house, and she actually began to feed the geese, it finally sank in. The geese weren't magical at all. At least, most of them weren't. The ones that were actually had been dismissed, but that still left over ten real geese that apparently went everywhere that Yachiyo did, so Mifuyu hadn't noticed the difference in number, at first. It sort of made sense: Yachiyo was a water-type magical girl... but Mifuyu had never seen a fire-type that was surrounded by flames at all times, or a nature-type that carried a potted plant everywhere.

Mifuyu had never considered herself a great lover of animals, but she didn't mind geese. Apparently, the feeling was mutual: when she tried to leave the following morning, Yachiyo claimed that the geese didn't want her to go. It was not hard to tell that Yachiyo did not have any human friends, most probably because of her overattachment to her geese. Mifuyu had always made friends easily, to the point where she felt there were so many that false friends were easily able to infiltrate without her noticing. So there were none she felt would still be in her life years from now. And yet, she suspected that would not be a problem with Yachiyo.

"You can have the second upstairs bedroom, Kanae," Yachiyo said.

Kanae paused in the doorway, and swept her gaze across the room, which was filled with geese. "You... aren't going to cook them, are you?" she asked hesitantly.

Yachiyo glared at her, deeply offended. "Of course not!"

Kanae relaxed at once. "Ah. That's fine, then." She quietly headed upstairs, ignorant of the fact that Yachiyo was muttering angrily to herself while Mifuyu tried her best not to giggle.

The second the battle ended, Yachiyo stomped over to Kanae and slapped her, hard.

"Yacchan!" Mifuyu cried, pulling her away. "What-?"

"Stupid!" Yachiyo screamed, glaring at Kanae, who stared at her. "Don't ever do that again!"

"What are you talking about?" Mifuyu asked. "You told her to watch our backs, and she did!"

"She almost died!" Yachiyo shouted accusingly, tears in her eyes. "And she wasn't even going to warn us that she was at her limit! She was just going to die!" Yachiyo took another swipe at Kanae. "I put you in charge of defense! You don't get to die! Value yourself more!"

Kanae slowly touched the cheek that Yachiyo had struck. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Yachyio shook Mifuyu off and stormed away.

"Kanae," Mifuyu said gently, reaching for her.

Kanae shook her head. "It's okay. But she was right. If I had died, you two would have been next. I would have failed in the only thing Yachiyo ever asked of me. I need to be better. I will be better."

"She was trying to take on a Witch by herself," Kanae muttered as she carefully put the unconcious girl in her own bed. "But she's either never been in a fight, or was extremely exhausted. If I had gotten there a few seconds later, she'd be dead."

"You don't know anything else about her?" Mifuyu asked softly.

"She said her name was Mel, right before she collapsed. Yachiyo will let her stay, won't she?"

"I've never known Yacchan to put people out on the street without at least making sure they have somewhere else to go. She doesn't much like people outside of this house, but she isn't cruel. Maybe a little childish from time to time, but I like to think the geese keep her young in mind and heart."

Mel looked up as she heard a familiar voice approaching, but it was accompanied by one she didn't know.

"Go home."

"Please teach me, Shishou!"

"Stop calling me that! I'm not your-!"

"Kanae!" Mel called, waving happily. "You're late!"

"Yeah, I was delayed," Kanae grumbled, trying to shake off the girl latched onto her arm.

"Did you save her, too?" Mel asked curiously.

"No, she ran up and killed a Witch I was already fighting. I even let her have the Grief Seed, but she keeps following me."

"Because you're so strong, Shishou!" the girl cried. "You're like a living wall! Please, show me how you gained that power! I want to be the mightiest magical girl, but I have so much to learn!"

"Why can't you train her, Kanae?" Mel asked.

Kanae frowned at her. "Because I'm not done training you, for one thing."

Mel blushed. "Well, maybe I'd learn faster in a group! Or, maybe I'm more of a support-type, and you should focus on an attack-type like her." She shot a pleading look at the girl.

The girl nodded quickly. "Oh, yes! I'm totally an attack-type, Shishou! Please!"

Kanae sighed. "Don't think I don't know what you're trying to pull here, Mel."

Mel shook her head hard. "What?! I'm totally serious! I'm not pulling anything!"

"You at least have to keep training with Mifuyu. Every magical girl should know how and when to run."

"Yes!" the girl agreed. "Always run up and punch the enemy in their face! Right, Shishou?"

Kanae sighed. "Look, you... what's your name, anyway?"

"I'm Tsuruno, Destined to be the Mightiest!"

Kanae stared at her in disbelief. "There's no way that whole thing is your name..."

Yachiyo frowned and slowly slipped her phone back into her pocket.

"So? Is Tsuruno on her way?" Mel asked.

Yachiyo blinked and gazed at the gathered group of magical girls for a long moment. Then, she announced, "Tsuruno can't come. The hunt is cancelled."

This was not the first time that Yachiyo, as their leader, had cancelled a Witch hunt for a similar reason. Despite being a veteran magical girl, or perhaps because she was one, she refused to allow any resident of Mikazuki Villa to hunt alone, and preferred they hunt in groups of no less than three, and only then if one was a veteran. And she considered no magical girl a veteran unless they had been active for more than three years.

But this time was different. Yachiyo had assembled every Mikazuki Villa resident for this hunt. It was that important, and she believed the Witch would be that difficult to defeat. And while they all understood why Yachiyo believed so strongly if safety in numbers, cancelling this hunt was not something they could easily accept.

"We can't cancel!" Momoko protested. She was the newest resident, and a fierce fighter, but no one would ever mistake her eagerness for a lack of caring about the safety of her comrades. "Yachiyo, this Witch has taken so many people already! If we wait, it'll get stronger, and then-!"

"The hunt is cancelled." Yachiyo glared at Momoko. "I'll knock you out, tie you up, and lock you in your room, if I have to."

Momoko took a threatening step forward, but Kanae's hand clamped down on her shoulder.

"Enough, Momoko. Every decision Yachiyo makes takes the safety of the group into consideration. And before you accuse her of not caring about anyone outside of the group, think. The group is weaker when it loses a member. This is not a Witch we can afford to be weak around."

"So what are you going to do while the Witch gets stronger, Kanae-san?" Momoko demanded.

"Tsuruno can't come because they got a big, last-minute reservation at Banbanzai," Yachiyo explained. "I think most of you should go and help her out. There should be a free dinner in it for you, if nothing else."

"And what about you?" Momoko asked, still defiant.

"You aren't wrong, Momoko. The Witch will be even stronger next time. So we'll need an even larger group. There's a veteran in Mitakihara that I'm sure will come, if she has enough advance warning. I'll call her tonight."

"Fine," Momoko muttered. "But I'm only agreeing to this for Tsuruno's sake."

Yachiyo gave no sign of backing down. "If you don't like how I do things, nobody is forcing you to stay in my home."

"Yacchan, that's too far!" Mifuyu protested. "She doesn't mean it, Momoko!"

Momoko shook her head. "Yes, she does. And if she hadn't personally saved my life, I wouldn't put up with it."

"Don't feel that you owe me," Yachiyo said. "I don't. So if that's it-"

"It's not. But if this Witch has got you this paranoid, there's no way I can take it down alone. So I've got no choice, do I? But you remember that every life it takes, until we hunt it down, is on you, Yachiyo."

"I will, Momoko. So long as you remember that in my eyes, your life takes priority over a stranger's."

Momoko stiffened, and it was hard to tell if she wanted to hit Yachiyo, or hug her. Finally, she turned on her heel and stormed off, with Mel and Kanae following her.

"You didn't have to push her that far," Mifuyu said softly.

"Maybe not. But if it keeps her from hunting alone, or only dragging Mel with her, then I'll push her every time." Yachiyo scowled. "I was careless. I should have called Mami days ago. If she had been here tonight, I wouldn't have cancelled the hunt."

"You had no way of knowing Tsuruno wouldn't be available, and Mami has her own responsibilities. Anyway, if you called Mami every time there was a strong Witch around, she'd start to doubt your abilities. And then, maybe she wouldn't call you when she really needed your help."

"The whole point of us meeting other veterans was to increase our chances of survival. Mami said she understood that. If she would actually endanger everyone in Mitakihara due to overconfidence, then-"

"You know better than that, Yacchan. Sometimes your body moves without thinking." Mifuyu gently took Yachiyo's hand. "Like you did for me. And I'll always be glad that you didn't stop to think first."

The Magical Girl Veterans League was really too grand a name for what was little more than a collection of experienced magical girls that had a standing agreement not to attack each other on sight. And of those, Mami Tomoe was one of the few who Yachiyo had established what both sides considered to be friendly relations. And even that was based largely on them not getting in each other's way, and combining forces only when failure to do so could potentially harm both of their territories. In short, they both preferred to eliminate Witches immediately, and without involving each other, unless there was a good reason not to.

They were too different to truly be friends. Yachiyo had decided that group hunts were safest. Mami felt that involving more people led to increased chances of tragedy. And it had been a long time before she accepted that hunting alone was not always best. Or at least, that she could not be in two places at once, and that trustworthy apprentices, however untrained they might be, could save lives.

Mifuyu did most of the negotiating. She noticed that Mami had become much easier to deal with, and happier, after taking on apprentices. And maybe Yachiyo hadn't been entirely wrong about Mami not asking them for help. Mami had participated in a few Kamihama hunts, and knew several Mikazuki Villa residents by name. But Mifuyu could count the number of times Mami had invited Yachiyo to Mitakihara on one hand, and Yachiyo had never seen any of Mami's apprentices, despite Mami often talking about them.

Even so, Mifuyu had hoped the situation would improve one day. Mami had never outright refused to help, if there was a strong Witch involved. And there were enough Mikazuki Villa residents now where Yachiyo, or Mifuyu, or both of them could leave temporarily, and trust that Kanae would keep things running smoothly while they were gone. If anything, Kanae was better at handling most of the girls than Yachiyo had ever been. But even Yachiyo realized that, which was why it had been so important for Kanae to learn to prioritize her own existence.

But Kanae had been lucky. Because some lessons were simply learned too late.

"You're needed in Mitakihara right away. This isn't Mami's territory anymore."

Yachiyo hadn't recognized the voice on her phone, but that wasn't the type of information she could ignore. Even if it was a lie, it meant that someone other than Mami was plotting something. More importantly, Mami was the only person in Mitakihara that had Yachiyo's phone number, and it wasn't something Mami would simply hand out upon request.

Each fact alone was bad enough. Together, they almost certainly meant that Mami was dead. The caller might have been setting a trap, but Yachiyo had to go. She needed to know the state of Mitakihara, and to find out exactly what had happened to Mami. The best case scenario was that Mami's apprentices would take over for her. But if that had been the case, calling in another magical girl, even an allied one, was an odd move.

Bringing Mifuyu along was never even in question. In a mixed blessing, she got some of her best practice with illusions when it was time to conceal the facts surrounding a magical girl's death. Leading authorities to the body, offering a convincing cause of death, making sure they didn't probe too deeply, even soothing the minds of those who would grieve. These were things Yachiyo wouldn't have done, even if she did have the power. But Mifuyu, who insisted she was getting weaker with time, couldn't stop herself from caring for or helping others.

"You really showed up. I had my doubts."

The red-haired magical girl who answered the door at Mami's apartment was clearly not Mami, but all Yachiyo cared about was that she recognized the voice from the phone call.

"Who are you?" Yachiyo asked once the door was shut.

"Name's Sakura."

Mifuyu blinked. "Kyoko Sakura?"

The red-haired girl frowned at her.

"Mami has mentioned you," Mifuyu explained. "Actually, several veterans have. They all say the same thing: that you're unlikely to team up with anyone. For you to be that infamous, you must move around a lot."

Kyoko shrugged. "I go where the work is. Been accused of not respecting boundaries, but last I checked, a dead Witch never hurt anybody. At least, I used to think that. Now..."

"You know," Yachiyo said with certainty. "The truth about Witches."

Kyoko immediately grabbed Yachiyo's collar and shook her. "You knew?! And you didn't tell-!"

"You think the way you're reacting now is reason to go around telling everyone?" Yachiyo countered.

"I'm pissed off because I didn't know until now!"

"Then you're handling it better than most. I've seen girls crush their own Soul Gems when they find out. And those are some of the calmer reactions. It's a secret for a reason. Kyubey isn't the only one being selective with information sharing. But in our case, we aren't trying to trick anyone. What we do have is enough trouble to deal with, without chasing down half-mad magical girls who can't handle the truth."

Kyoko scowled, but released Yachiyo. "Whatever. Not like you're the one who offered me the contract. But if you don't care, then why did you come?"

Mifuyu shook her head. "We came because we do care. About Mami, her city, and any girls she was training. Is it safe to assume your presence means you plan to take over here?"

"That's... complicated. I could do it, sure. But you'd have to talk to Kaname first. No idea what she intends to do now, but all I know is, I don't wanna piss her off."

Mifuyu and Yachiyo glanced at each other.

"Kaname is another veteran?" Mifuyu guessed.

"Not even close. She's been contracted a few months, tops. I don't know what Mami taught her, but it doesn't matter. Her attack power is next to nothing, she gets sloppy when she panics, and if you're fast enough, you can take her down easy. But she won't stay down, no matter how much you knock her down. It'd be one thing if that was her power, but I'm sure it's not."

"Maybe you should start at the beginning," Yachiyo suggested.

"Yeah, it makes more sense that way," Kyoko agreed. "I wasn't here when this all started, so I found out most of this stuff later, from Akemi. Uh, she's another of Mami's girls. Anyway, five separate Witches appeared across Mitakihara at the same time. But they were all copies of the very same Witch. I won't lie: I lucked out, they were all weak against fire-types like me. But I know for a fact that I'm the only one for miles around, and had it been any other night, I could have easily been two towns away when this happened. I think somebody was counting on that, and set this up. The conditions were too perfect, Mami and her girls almost had to fail."

"Did they fail?" Mifuyu asked.

Kyoko winced. "Depends on how you look at it. Between me and Mami's team, we took down all but one Witch. The one that got away might have been the worst, but we won't know that for sure unless we find it again. And even then, I don't like our chances, since we're short two teammates. Probably should have started with that part, by the way: Mami and one of her girls didn't make it."

Yachiyo shook her head. "No, it's fine. Tell us everything in the order it happened."

"Like I said, five Witches. I felt one near me, so I took it down, grabbed its Grief Seed. But when I got done, I can tell there's another fight going on. So I head there, and find Akemi fighting the same damn Witch I killed. I killed that one, too. But Akemi freaks out and says I have to help her, since each of her teammates is fighting a Witch, too. Now, already I'm seeing some problems. My Witch dropped a Grief Seed, Akemi's didn't. Plus, Akemi is convinced there were only four Witches, so she didn't know about the one I took down. I'm not conservative when it comes to my power, but after two Witches, I was ready for more. But if I have to take down three more without a break, that's pushing it. And I'm not crazy about wasting a Grief Seed on a rookie that still wastes power, and can't take down a Witch by herself. Honestly, it would have been kinder to knock Akemi out and head on alone. But she's really attached to Kaname, and whether I agreed to help or not, I can tell Akemi's crazy enough to try alone. In the end, I took her with me, and she insisted that we help Kaname first. But I'm convinced even if we had gotten to Kaname last, she would have been fine. She might have even taken the Witch down by herself."

"How?" Yachiyo asked. "You said-"

"I know, I know. It's like she has a near-endless supply of magic. I think she could have outlasted that Witch, if she had to. She had to be fighting for close to a half-hour, and her Soul Gem was almost entirely pure. Anyway, after we took down Kaname's Witch, no Grief Seed. By then I was sure we weren't going to see another that night, so I shared the one I'd gotten with Akemi. Next, we pick up Miki and kill her Witch. No Grief Seed. Which we thought was okay at the time, since we can't sense any other Witch. Sure enough, Mami shows up and says she took down her Witch. But then, it happened. One second, Mami's standing there, and the next, her Soul Gem sort of... explodes. I don't wanna believe what I'm seeing, but Mami's body is laid out in front of us, and there's this Witch towering over us, and it's... got her damn fancy ribbons, even attacks the same way, what am I supposed to think? Miki saw it, too, and she tried to stop me from attacking, but the Witch doesn't hesitate, and Miki's in the way, trying to talk to it. It was a bad scene. Then Miki's dead, Kaname's screaming, Akemi's trying to fight but Kaname won't let her, and the Witch is attacking again. And then... there's a flash of green light, and the Witch is gone. Not defeated, gone. We can't even sense it anymore. All I know is the barrier goes, too, and the bodies are still with us."

"Where are they now?" Mifuyu asked.

"The bodies, or the girls? Answer's the same either way." Kyoko gestured faintly toward the back of the apartment. "Bedroom. Kaname hasn't said much, but Akemi's still talking, if you need more info."

Mifuyu's first impression of Mami's surviving apprentices in no way matched the descriptions that Kyoko had provided. Homura Akemi came off as very collected, just shy of cold at times, while Madoka Kaname rarely spoke at all, and seemed either in the midst of, or rapidly approaching, a nervous breakdown. They both, however, reacted strongly when Mifuyu got near the bed, where the two bodies had been placed.

"I only want to offer prayers for them," Mifuyu explained.

Homura murmured something to Madoka, who returned to a seated position on the floor. Homura, however, joined Mifuyu near the bed.

"You're from Kamihama?" Homura asked.

"Yes," Mifuyu replied. "You were told about us?" She avoided saying Mami's name, just in case.

"Not much." And sure enough, Homura paused for a long moment before plowing ahead. "Mami said she had comrades there," Homura said in a rush.

"She was a valuable ally. Yacchan is very upset over this. Our goal was to strengthen our bonds with other veterans. We hoped that our relationship with Mami would be an example for the rest to follow. But it seems, we were not close enough to prevent this."

"I don't know that it would have made much difference. Mami wasn't the type to put her burdens on others. She saw protecting Mitakihari as her responsibility alone. Even after Madoka and I had trained with her for a while, Mami constantly worried that it was too big a job for us."

"How do you feel now?" Mifuyu asked.

Homura clenched her fists. "I think Sakura-san is right. Instead of worrying about Witches, we should have been worrying about magical girls. Somebody sent those Witches here. And I can't prove it, but... after Mami became a Witch, I think someone took her away, too. She... killed Sayaka right in front of us, and she was aiming for me next. There was no reason for her to stop attacking."

Mifuyu nodded. "So you're going to look for the Witch?"

"Eventually. We owe it to Mami. She would never want to hurt people this way. But, as we are, we're not strong enough. We'd only get ourselves killed trying now. Our training wasn't complete. Mami would have made a big deal of it, if she thought we were ready to hunt without her. We only split up that night because there was no other choice. The problem is, I don't know who we could train under."

"Sakura wasn't interested, I take it."

"She doesn't have time to hold our hands and keep the city safe, and we all knew which she'd be better at. But, she invited us to come back one day and try to take the city from her by force."

"If you'd like, I'm sure I can find a qualified trainer fairly quickly. But it would likely require you both to relocate, at least temporarily." Mifuyu paused. "And, I know it's presumptious since we only met today, but Yacchan runs a boarding house, and I can think of no better way to repay Mami than seeing to your training personally."

Homura shook her head. "That's a tempting offer, and if it was only me, I'd accept. But Madoka has family here, and-"

"I can't keep them safe, as I am," Madoka murmured. "I have no right to claim I can protect them. They're safer with Sakura-san."

Homura looked shocked. "But... you can't be thinking of moving to Kamihama alone!"

"Not alone. You said you'd go, so that makes two of us. The only real issue is how I'd get my family's permission to leave." Madoka looked at Mifuyu. "Do you know any memory manipulation experts?"

Mifuyu hesitated. "I have some skill in that area, and I know of one other girl, but I wouldn't call either of us an expert. And for what you're thinking, it might require both of us."

Homura frowned at Madoka. "All this, to change your mother's mind?"

Madoka smiled sadly. "You know me so well, Homura, but Mifuyu clearly has a better idea of what I'm thinking right now. If I all I wanted was to change my mother's mind, I could do that myself, without magic."

"I don't understand," Homura replied. "What-?"

"As it turns out, I can give you an example of how my power works," Mifuyu interrupted. "It's part of why Yacchan brought me along." She gestured to the bodies of Mami and Sayaka. "Mami already lost her family, but Sayaka is different. This needs to be handled carefully."

If Mami had truly thought she would not be missed, simply because she had no family, then she had clearly underestimated her own impact upon Mitakihara.

There was an old woman who lived two floors below Mami. Mami had often stopped to help the woman with small tasks, mostly because it would have been more awkward to see her so much and not do so. The woman could offer no money, but gave Mami fresh-baked treats every week. Finding this woman might have been tricky, but there was no need: she called Mami's apartment. To avoid suspicion, Madoka took the call, as she and Homura were frequent guests of Mami. The same had been true of Sayaka, a fact that several people in the apartment complex would recall when asked.

Mifuyu carefully made the old woman forget that call. Naturally, the old woman called a second time, and when she got no response, she asked someone to look in on Mami. That person also got no response, and then informed the landlord, who unlocked the apartment and found the bodies.

Having been shot at close range, there was considerable damage to Sayaka's body. Mami had been virtually untouched, however, which presented a problem. For blame not to fall on Mami, she had to be damaged, as well, by a weapon that would never be found. Kyoko had done the deed herself, knowing Madoka and Homura couldn't bring themselves to. It hadn't been easy for Kyoko, either. But it was either honor Mami's memory by damaging her body, or leave her body untouched and her reputation in shambles.

The fallout only made Madoka's situation more difficult. Knowing she had recently lost two friends made her family want to hold onto her even tighter. But Madoka was determined to honor Mami's memory, and that meant completing her own training, something she was convinced she could not do effectively in Mitakihara.

As promised, Mifuyu and her unnamed associate did attempt to alter the Kaname family's memories, but they ran into an unexpected obstacle.

Considering she had asked a total stranger to edit her family's memories, Madoka was oddly calm about it. Her first meeting with Felicia Mitsuki had done nothing to soothe any fears. Felicia was rather blunt about her own inexperience with "correcting" memories, but only because she was extremely confident in her ability to kill Witches, which was how she earned money. In fact, no one had ever hired her for the reason that Madoka had, and Madoka had only done that on Mifuyu's recommendation.

Madoka had been prepared to erase all memory of herself, if it came down to that. Mifuyu, however, talked her down to only changing her family's perspective. In a way, it was kinder, too: they would now think of Madoka as a niece who had lived with them for an extended period. They would still love her and miss her, but they would be more willing to let her go.

That was the plan, at least, and it worked perfectly on Madoka's parents. Felicia made them forget that Madoka was actually their daughter, and Mifuyu provided the false explanation.

The only hiccup in the plan was Tatsuya, and he caused several issues without meaning to.

Felicia had become accustomed to activating her memory erasure by striking her targets. Not surprising, considering she was known for being overly violent. Tatsuya, then, presented two problems: Felicia couldn't bring herself to strike a kid, and once she became aware that he liked cows, too, she was firmly against erasing his memory at all. "The world needs more people who appreciate cows!" Felicia shouted, hugging Tatsuya protectively. She even bought him a cow plushie with a working bell, and crudely sewed his name into its back. Tatsuya seemed to like it well enough.

Mifuyu had hoped that, being so young, Tatsuya would be more open to suggestion where his memories were concerned. But there she discovered an unusual problem, one she confirmed by having Madoka attempt to use healing magic on him. Tatsuya, for some unknown reason, was resistant to all forms of magic. No, it was more accurate to say that he was immune to all magic, even that which would have been beneficial to him. Ultimately, this was seen as a good thing, since it meant no Witch would ever harm him directly. However, he was the only one in his family that had this protection. Madoka could not explain it, as she had never used magic near her family. Kyubey was certain that this had nothing to do with genetics. When pressed for details, he revealed something very curious.

"I never mentioned it, since it never came up. At first, I mistakenly assumed that Madoka's magical potential might have been genetic. Such things can skip a generation. But now I think someone may have used their own wish to give Tatsuya this protection. Someone other than Madoka, clearly. He already had this ability the first time I visited Madoka's home. Also, I wasn't sure at the time, but I think Tatsuya was able to see me, if only briefly. Out of caution, I adjusted my body's parameters a bit. It's not an issue anymore."

This created more questions than it answered, but it in no way solved the issue: Tatsuya wasn't going to forget that Madoka was his sister. Maybe, in time, after repeated corrections by his parents, he might at least come to accept that they fully believed what they thought was the truth. And maybe he would stop objecting, verbally, anyway. But it wouldn't change what he knew to be the truth. That might cause problems for him, one day. But there was no way around it.

Yachiyo would be the last person to call herself an expert on human friendships, but even she could not help but watch the drama that unfolded after Madoka and Homura moved into Mikazuki Villa. Space was already a little tight, but the pair had no issue with sharing a room, or a bed. With that type of closeness, and being so removed from anyone else they knew, Yachiyo had thought they would only grow closer to each other.

Instead, both Mami's death and Kamihama seemed to pull them in entirely different directions. Homura was determined to find a way to save magical girls from becoming Witches. To that end, she felt other girls should be discouraged from contracting with Kyubey, at least until there was a solution in place. But Madoka felt it was her job to become the best magical girl she possibly could, and to help others do the same. While she also didn't want magical girls to become Witches, the way she approached it was to spread as much hope and positivity as she could.

The two had several fights about it, but things didn't get bad until Madoka started spending more time with new friends, rather than Homura. In particular, Madoka spent a lot of time with two girls named Karin and Ashley. Both had been dinner guests at Mikazuki Villa occasionally, and Yachiyo thought they were nice enough. Homura's issue was less that the girls were nice, and more that they were gradually taking Madoka away from her. Anyone could see that Homura's jealousy was only making things worse, but Madoka either didn't know or chose to ignore it. Finally, Homura outright asked Madoka to stop seeing Karin and Ashley, with the excuse that they were distracting Madoka from what was really important. Madoka said that all of her friends were equally important, but that Homura was the only one being selfish. Homura did not deny this, but insisted that her friendship with Madoka was worth being selfish over. Madoka could only say that she still considered Homura a friend, but that it felt like they were growing in different directions. Homura agreed, and refused the invitation to get to know Karin and Ashley better. Two days later, Homura moved out of Mikazuki Villa, and Madoka lost contact with her entirely.

A day after that, the next magical girl of many went missing in Kamihama without a trace, and it was impossible to be sure whether Homura had been a victim or not.

Madoka grimaced as she let another stream of pink arrows fly, but the looming tower of bear Uwasa waded into the attack, taking little if any damage in the process. And Madoka's heart broke a little more as a familiar face leered at her from the window of the walking tree-house just behind the bears.

"It's useless, Madoka-chan! Give up! My kawaii Komanosukes and I aren't done playing with you yet!"

The madness in Ashley Taylor's eyes would have scared nearly anyone else. But Madoka remembered when those eyes had been happy, sad, even afraid. And ironically, losing Homura had made Madoka that much more determined not to lose another friend. So when the missing magical girls began to be connected to a mysterious girl wearing a full-body, pink teddy bear costume, Madoka hadn't wasted time convincing herself that Ashley wasn't involved. She would sort out the details later. But the details were that Ashley wasn't in control of her actions, that she had been fused with a bear Uwasa, and together they were kidnapping magical girls and stealing their Soul Gems. For what purpose, Madoka still hadn't discovered. But considering Madoka had already run into several brainwashed girls within Fendt Hope, which was also the hidden base of the Magius, it wasn't hard to imagine who was responsible for the much changed Ashley. The Ashley that Madoka had known would have never kidnapped anyone, and she would certainly never use her treasured Komanosuke for anything criminal.

"I won't leave you, Ashley," Madoka promised. "I'll find a way to save you. But first, tell me where Karin is! Tell me you didn't let them hurt her! She's your best friend!"

Ashley smiled. "What a silly thing to say. Karin is right behind you."

The sensation that washed over Madoka felt like an icy hand clutching her heart.

"Got you," a familiar voice whispered in her ear.

"Karin!" Madoka cried in relief, only to have her joy turn to despair as an enormous phantasmal hand burst from her own chest, holding her stolen Soul Gem in its grasp. There was no physical pain, only the awful knowledge that the two friends she had abandoned Homura for, had sealed her fate.

"It's too late," Ashley murmured. "Either you lose now, or when Karin gets far away enough that your body stops working. You belong to the Magius now, body and soul."

Tatsuya understood early on that he, or at least his life, was not normal.

There was a pink-haired girl with kind eyes in nearly every family photo he had ever seen. His parents swore that girl was their niece. But Tatsuya had a feeling that she was his sister, a feeling that only grew stronger when neither of his parents could recall having a sibling that would have produced said neice in the first place. He eventually stopped asking, both because his parents were not reliable sources, and because his insistence on knowing started to worry them.

There was a scary older girl who Tatsuya would occasionally find lurking around his home. She didn't talk much, but she did sometimes demand food, saying that his family owed it for services rendered. More than once, Tatsuya found her sleeping in the bedroom that had belonged to his sister, but she was always gone by the time his father got up in the morning. After a few years of this, when Tatsuya was finally sure that she wouldn't kill him for asking, he asked for her name. She refused to tell him. Until the night of Tatsuya's tenth birthday, when something entered his room and tried to eat him. Tatsuya had no idea what it was, only that it wasn't human, and that when it touched him... it got eaten instead. The scary girl (by then a woman, one he feared slightly less than his mother), impressed by him, said he was worthy to know her name, since he killed Witches good. But since that meant nothing to him, she ended up explaining that, too.

When Tatsuya turned 15, he made a decision. Once he was 16, he would ask Kyoko to take him to Kamihama, so he could finally discover what had happened to his sister. He knew his sister had written letters, two a month, without fail... until they stopped abruptly. And Tatsuya believed that she wasn't the sort of person who would forget, or ever choose not to write.

When Tatsuya was two months away from his sixteenth birthday, he realized that his deepest fear was not confirming that his sister was dead. She almost had to be, and he had accepted that, after some time. His greatest fear was that the same thing might happen to Kyoko. And he was only so afraid of that, because he now understood that there was truly only one scary thing about her: that he had been in love with her since before he even knew what love was. Tatsuya was no fool, he knew he had no chance. He wasn't even 16 yet, and she was likely close to 30. Worse, she had known him since he was a kid. She would never see him the way he wished she could. Given all that, it was best to say nothing. And even better to not ask her to escort him. But Madoka, who smiled at him from still photos, and lived only in the vague dreams that still haunted him... he couldn't let her go. Not until he knew for sure that she was gone, and not waiting out there for him to find her.

The bus ride to Kamihama gave Kyoko plenty of time to think.

Well, that wasn't quite accurate. The buses didn't go to Kamihama anymore. You could ride to a neighboring town, and then walk to Kamihama. In theory, you could also rent a car and drive there, but if the rental companies even suspected that Kamihama was on your list of destinations, chances were they would come up with an excuse not to rent to you.

So, the bus ride to the town next to Kamihama gave Kyoko plenty of time to think. And what she was thinking, was that she was trapped.

When Kyoko had promised to watch over Mitakihara until Madoka and Homura returned to take it from her, she had meant it. But she had also expected, or maybe even hoped, that they would hold up their end of the deal, and actually come back. Sure, death was always a possibility for magical girls. But Kyoko had been convinced that Homura was tougher than she looked, and that Madoka simply couldn't stay down.

So when they didn't come back, and Kyoko heard awful rumors about bad things happening in Kamihama, she briefly considered going to check things out. If not for the promise, she would have gone. But it would have left the Kaname family without adequate protection. By then, Kyoko's definition of adequate protection was a magical girl that could beat her one-on-one. And, even if she were entirely modest, those were few and far between, and the ones who fit the bill usually had bigger plans.

The promise was an excuse, though. In truth, Kyoko was more than a little paranoid about Tatsuya. She understood now that he wasn't just immune to magic, he was absorbing it. Technically, there was little point in Kyoko protecting the Kanames: anything magical that was even remotely dangerous would be swallowed up by Tatsuya, and he didn't even need to be conscious at the time. But anything that could swallow Witches whole was plenty dangerous itself, and Kyoko was convinced that Tatsuya taking in all that bad magic would come back to haunt them one day.

But it never did. Tatsuya grew into a nice, relatively normal boy. And somehow, he learned not to instantly absorb everything magical that got near him... but he could, if he wanted to. And that fact was never far from Kyoko's mind, the few times they had found reason to touch each other. Because Kyoko was starting to suspect that Tatsuya might be the only way she could ever effectively retire from being a magical girl, and still have a life afterward. She wouldn't even have to guilt him into it. He was like his sister, in that respect: too nice.

Seeing Kamihama confirmed many of the rumors Kyoko had heard: the city was half-ruined, and nearly entirely deserted. Nobody who had a choice would choose to live there, anyway. Only someone who had been fighting Witches as long as Kyoko had would notice the telltale signs of an enormous battle. It had probably involved nearly every magical girl in the city. The buildings untouched by the battle had either been abandoned, or now served as homes for the few people who remained. But it still would have been very accurate to call Kamihama a ghost town. No doubt enough people had died to warrant the name.

Mikazuki Villa was terribly easy to find: it was the only place in the whole city that still held significant traces of magic. That in itself was strange, because there should have been plenty of faint magical signatures leftover from the battle, even years later. But it was as if something had gone to the trouble of collecting all excess magical energy. And Kyoko doubted whatever had done it, had been as nice as Tatsuya.

Kyoko stopped when they were still a few blocks away. "You need to prepare yourself, Tat-chan. If-"

"She's probably dead," Tatsuya said softly. "I know, Kyoko-san."

"It could be worse than that," Kyoko insisted. "She might be alive, but in a state where her only wish is to die. So just... brace yourself, okay?"

He stared at her for a long moment, but there was no visible change in his expression. "I'm ready."

Kyoko doubted that very much, but they moved forward together.

Mikazuki Villa was in better shape than the nearby buildings, but like them, it was gradually losing a battle against time. Still, it was easy to spot the areas where someone had tried to change that. The grass, while not recently cut, was also not overgrown. There were discolored patches in the roof where an unskilled but determined repairer had filled in holes.

"Someone... greatly loves this house," Tatsuya murmured.

Kyoko didn't need to ask how he knew, because it went beyond what they were seeing. It was something in the air itself, a warmth and brightness that one would not expect to belong to a house that was slowly but surely falling apart, and almost had to be abandoned. But even as the thought crossed her mind, there was movement at one of the windows.

"Kyoko Sakura," said a voice that Kyoko had not heard in years. "What brings you to Kamihama?"

Kyoko froze. "Yachiyo? Is that you?"

The front door opened, and though Kyoko only half-expected it, she smirked when a silver goose walked out, looking as if it wanted to greet guests. The smirk slid off of Kyoko's face, however, when she realized that the magical signature coming off of the goose was one that she recognized. Yachiyo's geese had always shared weaker versions of her own magical signature. But the goose in front of Kyoko had an entirely different one, which matched that of an entirely separate magical girl.

"Bit of a shock, isn't it?" Yachiyo murmured as she emerged from the house. "I would have warned you, if I'd known you were coming."

Kyoko frowned. "Why does that goose have Mifuyu's magical signature?"

"You'll guess it faster than I can tell you, I'm sure." Yachiyo glanced at Tatsuya. "You're here for Madoka, then?"

Tatsuya stiffened. "Is she-?" he stared to ask, then stopped himself, not daring to hope.

"Do you know what a Soul Gem is, Tatsuya?" Yachiyo asked. "And what happens, when it breaks or isn't purified?"

He nodded slowly. "Kyoko told me."

"Good. That will make this... shorter." Yachiyo gestured to the goose. "That's Mifuyu. She was my best friend. I use the past tense because, while I was able to preserve her Soul Gem, it would be a lie to say that goose is her. It has... echoes of her soul, you might say, but no goose was ever meant to hold a human soul. I can talk to her, and she understands, but... her body was destroyed. There's no hope of restoring her. And it might have been kinder, to let her go, but... this was all I could do. I was sure it was no accident, that my magic was able to make this possible. And if the rest of their families ever showed up, I wanted to be able to give them something."

Kyoko shook her head. "Wait, go back. You separated her Soul Gem from-"

"No. Years ago, magical girls in Kamihama started vanishing without a trace. The kidnappers were magical girls themselves, and they were removing the Soul Gems of their victims. We never found out for sure, but I'm almost certain the idea was to feed the Soul Gems to a Witch. And when Madoka suspected that a friend of hers was involved, we couldn't let her go alone." Yachiyo lowered her head. "For most of them, their Soul Gem was all I could find. Even now, I don't know what would have happened, had I simply done nothing. Maybe they would have faded away on their own. But I couldn't take the chance that, without their bodies, my precious friends might turn into Witches. They deserved better than that."

"But still, fusing them with portions of your own magic," Kyoko said. "That must have weakened you considerably."

"I now believe that most magical girls don't get any stronger, unless the nature of their wish specifies otherwise. They learn how to do more with the power they already have. I did have to sacrifice some of my magic to save my friends. They can now only fight as part of my magic. But I would never risk them that way, nor would I let them give me any of their remaining power. So I should be weaker, yes. But since my friends lost their bodies, I have yet to come across a Witch that I couldn't defeat alone. I would guess it's much the same for you, Kyoko. Surely you don't know many magical girls your age?"

"More like I don't know any, except you. I figured the rest were dead. Damn newbies keep looking at me like I'm a relic."

Yachiyo smiled faintly. "I know the feeling. I don't get many guests, but they're always surprised. I don't know why. If you have something truly important to live for, it can keep you alive."

Kyoko shifted uncomfortably, sensing Tatsuya's gaze on her. "So, um, about Madoka?"

"Yes, of course. She's inside. Please, take her home."

Kyoko hadn't expected a lot of conversation, but Tatsuya hadn't said a word the entire trip back. He kept staring at the ring on his finger, and its pink gemstone.

It wasn't until Tatsuya was standing safely in front of his home that he spoke.

"She says thank you, Kyoko-san. For keeping your promise. It means a great deal to her."

Kyoko stared at him. "You... can talk to her?" The sight of a pink goose landing in Tatsuya's arms, and then vanishing, only for the ring to appear on his finger, flashed before her eyes once more. "I thought she was gone."

"It's like Yachiyo said. Echoes. I think I was too young to remember well what talking to my sister was like, so I can't tell the difference now. That's a good thing, I think." He raised his hand, admiring the ring. "There's something else she wanted me to tell you. Something important."

"Yeah?" Kyoko asked warily.

"If you ever want to retire from being a magical girl. I can help you. I want to." Tatsuya lowered his hand and stared at her. "I'm sure I can do it safely now. Take away your power, so you can live a normal life."

Kyoko blinked. "Uh, thanks. I'll keep it mind. Later, though. I'm not done yet."

"Then please let me know when you are." After a pause, he bowed to her.

Kyoko frowned. "What's that for?"

"She insists. Thank you for everything, Kyoko-san."

"I... didn't do it for gratitude, you know."

"I know. Still." Tatsuya raised his head. "I'm sorry. I made it weird, didn't I?"

Kyoko laughed nervously. "Oh, it's weird, but don't worry so much, Tat-chan. You weren't the one who made it that way. Everything about this trip has been weird."

Tatsuya slowly came awake that night, only to find his sister's face inches from his own, her eyes gazing directly into his. This should have at least startled him. It did not.

"Are you really dead, nee-chan?" he finally asked.

"Hard to say. I don't feel dead. But then, I don't feel much of anything. Which probably doesn't support my view too well. Yachiyo thought we were alive enough, anyway. Or at least not entirely dead. She could have piled all the Soul Gems in a box and locked them away. Instead, she fused them to her... I don't want to call them familiars, but that might be the best word for what her geese are to her."

"Could you feel anything as a goose?"

"Nothing physical. Strong emotions, mainly. I knew I missed my family and friends, but it was hard to picture them. At least, until you and Kyoko came to get me."

"And... you're okay like this? You don't want me to fully absorb your power, so you can pass on?"

Madoka shook her head. "I want to be with you, Tatsuya. That's all I want now."

He smiled. "I want that, too, nee-chan."

"Are you going to tell Kyoko how you feel?"

"What if she won't have me?"

"What if the only reason she won't have you is because she doesn't realize you're interested? You'll get hurt either way, I'm sure. But it's better to let her know. Then you'll know for sure. If it doesn't go well, I'll still be here, cheering you on. You'll find the right girl someday, I know you will."

Being rejected by Kyoko hurt, deeply, but more because Tatsuya had hoped her decision to retire would have more to do with him than anything else. In truth, Kyoko had decided she wanted kids... via adoption. Thoughts of dating or getting married hadn't entered her mind at all.

It was almost ten years after that when Tatsuya realized he'd fallen in love a second time. But his chances of success were much higher this time around: she was a waitress who worked in a small diner, they had gone on several dates with no greatly negative incidents, and Madoka had a good feeling about her.

Tatsuya now understood why Kyoko had thought living with his mostly dead sister was so odd: only he could see and talk to Madoka, as they were linked by the ring he still wore. Pretending Madoka wasn't there while he talked to other people required a great deal of effort, in part because being mostly dead relaxed some of her boundaries. In particular, she tended to want to be very close to Tatsuya, which he hadn't minded so much since she had no physical body, but he suspected this would be trickier if he ever got married.

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, he was discussing his girlfriend with Madoka one day when she abruptly announced the impending end of their arrangement.

"You don't need me anymore, Tatsuya. She'll look after you now. You should take off my ring, if she agrees to wear yours."

Tatsuya disagreed, strongly, but he never said a word of that aloud. Madoka sounded certain, anyway, and if she was this confident about his girlfriend, that had to be a good thing, didn't it?

Tatsuya did not trust himself to say the words well, so he simply put the engagement ring on the counter.

His girlfriend stared at the ring with wide eyes. "Tatsuya? That doesn't look like your sister's ring."

"It's not." He showed her Madoka's ring, which was still on his finger, for the moment. "That one's for you, if you'd like it."

"This is a pretty weird way to pay for an extra slice of pie, though. I feel like I should have given you the whole thing, now."

He sighed. "No, I can pay for the pie. I want you to have this ring, because... I'd like to marry you."

She slowly raised her head and stared at him. "What, right now?"

This wasn't going as well as he'd hoped, and yet, it was still firmly within his expectations. It was always a chore, to talk her into anything that she did not immediately recognize as fun or worthwhile.

"We can save the wedding for later, but I would really, really like to be engaged to you right now."

"Oh, I see." She hummed softly. "Do I need to sign anything?"

"No. You just have to agree, and put on the ring. But only if you want to be engaged to me."

She stared at him. "And you really want me to?"

"Yes, I really do. I love you, and I want to be with you."

She smiled slightly. "I love you, and I want to be with you, too." Then she blinked. "Pie!"

"Yes?" Tatsuya asked warily.

"I have more pie. In the oven. I need to make sure it hasn't burned. You'll wait here? Until I get back?"

He stared at her, amazed she even had to ask. She still hadn't given him an answer, so where was he going to go? "I won't leave," he promised.

"Great!" She hurried to the kitchen, paused, then hurried back to the counter, which she leaned over so she could grab his face and plant the biggest kiss of his life on his lips. Then she ran into the kitchen, leaving him staring after her with a huge smile on his face.

"Yu-nee!" the girlfriend hissed once the kitchen door was shut. "Hey, Yu-nee! I need you!"

A head popped up from behind the oven. It was an unusual head in several ways, the most notable one being the large horn protruding from the center of it. "Hey, Nagisa. How's the dinner date going?"

"Terrible! He wants to marry me!" Nagisa wailed as quietly as she could.

Yu blinked. "Hmm. Sounds dicey. Are you sure that's what he said?"

"Oh, wait, you're right. He wants to marry me eventually, but he'd like to be engaged now."

"That's better, then," Yu commented. "Gives you time to think. Means he's not the pushy type. So, what do you need me for?"

"The usual."

"I triple-checked a minute ago, but okay." Yu extended her hand, and what looked like a great deal like a very large smartphone appeared. She tapped the screen, and carefully scanned the wall of text that zoomed past. "Nope, he's still not here. No Tatsuya Kaname. He's good. Oh, but hey, did I tell you? They upgraded my list!"

Nagisa's expression made it very clear that she had no idea how to feel about that. Yu's list only ever had bad people on it, and bad things, usually Yu herself, tended to happen to them. Such a list being upgraded might be good for Yu, but it was probably not good for anyone else.

"Before, I only had one list, and there were only bad people on it," Yu explained. "But now, I have an extra special second list, and guess what? Only really good people are on it!"

"And... you kill them nicely?" Nagisa guessed.

Yu laughed. "What? No, that'd be silly! They're really good people, so I don't kill them at all! Haha, you're funny, Nagisa."

Nagisa hadn't been trying to be funny. And in any case, Yu never laughed at Nagisa's jokes. And while Nagisa never found Yu's jokes to be funny, Nagisa did try to laugh at them, nervously. But Nagisa wasn't sure that Yu was fooled.

"Then what do you do to the really good people, Yu-nee?"

"Nothing. That's the point. They never appear on my first list. Or that's how it's supposed to work. It's new, so there could be bugs in it, but I check it a couple of times every hour, to be sure. Seems to be working fine so far. Hey, you want to see the second list? I bet you'd get a kick out of it."

Before Nagisa could respond, Yu shoved the list in her face.

It was a very short list: there were only two names on it.

The first was Tatsuya's.

The second was Nagisa's.

Nagisa slowly raised her eyes to Yu's grinning face. "Yu-nee... how recently was this new list added?"

"Oh, right after you two started dating. You kept asking me to check my list for his name, so I finally asked my admin if I could get a file on the guy. I mean, he may not have been on the list, but I didn't want you getting close to some guy if he was shady. Then he'd end up on the list eventually, and that wouldn't be good for you. But instead of a file, my admin gave me this upgrade. But it all worked out."

"So... I can marry him? It's not a problem?"

Yu shrugged. "Can't see why it would be. He's not on the first list. It's totally your call. I'll support whatever you decide. I'm always on your side, Nagisa."

Nagisa sighed in relief. "Thanks, Yu-nee. You can have that leftover cheesecake in the back."

"The whole thing?! You're the greatest, Nagisa!"

Tatsuya considered himself a patient person, but he was starting to get worried. Nagisa had been gone for nearly twelve minutes. It did not take that long to check on, and if needed, remove pies from the oven. It was already after closing time, and she didn't have any deliveries to make tonight, so how many pies could Nagisa have possibly been making?

Finally, the kitchen door opened.

Tatsuya looked up, and froze.

The person standing in front of the kitchen door was the right height, body shape, and gender, and her hair was the right color... but that was about all she had in common with the person who had gone into the kitchen. The most logical explanation he could come up with was that Nagisa had been hiding a very elaborate Halloween costume in the kitchen, and being proposed to had made her want to put it on. The makeup was a bit much, though.

"Nagisa?" Tatsuya finally asked.

"Yes, Tatsuya?"

He wanted very much to ask why she was dressed like that, but they actually did have a bigger issue to address. "You never did answer my question."

"Oh, that's right." Nagisa walked to the counter, and refilled his teacup. "Before that, you deserve a warning."

Now they were firmly outside of Tatsuya's expectations. And really, he had widened them quite a bit, after realizing he was in love with Nagisa, so that was saying something. "Okay. I'm listening."

"Do you know what a positivity engine is?"

"No."

"To make it really simple, it's a very good person. Someone who makes the world a better place just by existing." Nagisa paused and pointed at him gravely. "That's who you are."

Tatsuya stared at her and smiled hesitantly. "Is that all?"

"No. Now I need you to guess what a negativity engine is."

The smile slid off of his face. "I would assume the opposite." He swallowed hard. "And... that's who you are?"

Nagisa nodded slowly.

Tatsuya's face fell. "Does this mean... you won't marry me?"

Nagisa's eyebrows rose. "You still-?"

"YES!" Tatsuya grabbed her hands. "Please don't leave me, Nagisa."

She smiled sadly. "You don't understand-"

"I understand what I need to. That I love you, and you love me, or you did before you went into that kitchen. I don't ever want to lose you."

"Even if I make your life worse? Even if I make the world worse?"

"If that's what you're worried about, then my positivity will cancel out your negativity. So our lives, and the world, will be... balanced. Good and bad. That's about the best that anyone can hope for, don't you think?"

Nagisa slowly pulled her hands from his, and picked up the ring on the counter. "I'm sure that you still don't understand, but I can see that you're serious about this."

"I'm serious about you, Nagisa. Please say you'll be my wife one day."

"We can be engaged, for now. But we need to talk about some things. If you're still interested after that, we can talk about the wife thing." Nagisa put the ring on her finger.

Tatsuya immediately took off Madoka's ring.

Nagisa noticed. "Why'd you do that?"

"I made a promise to my sister. If a found a woman who would wear my ring, I had to take this ring off. Because my sister wouldn't be the one looking after me anymore."

Nagisa's eyes teared up. "You mean... Madoka gave us her blessing?"

"Yes, she did. That's another reason why I can't lose you, Nagisa. She would be so disappointed if I let that happen."

"What will you do with her ring?"

"What I promised." Tatsuya paused. "I do have one question, though?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Are you... planning to go home dressed like that?"

"Actually, I was planning to go to your home dressed like this. I want to see if you're properly stocked for breakfast tomorrow. I like big breakfasts."

Tatsuya blinked. "Just so we're clear, you're planning to stay over-"

"Yes. We're engaged now, so it's fine, right?"

"I don't want you to feel pressured to do anything, Nagisa. I'm not expecting that right now."

"That's nice, but I'm wanting that. Right now. But I'll wait, until we're home tonight."

"Ah." Tatsuya wondered if Madoka would approve of that, but all things considered, he was glad that he would never have to find out. "Are you going to take the makeup off, at least?"

"That would make you more comfortable?"

"Immensely."

"Then I can't. I'm a bad girl. You need to get used to it."

Tatsuya had once seen Nagisa donate an entire truckload of food to a local hospital, for no other reason than she thought no one who was sick should also have to eat low quality cheesecake. If she was a bad person, well... there were plenty of far worse people. "I see."

"Still want to be engaged?" Nagisa asked.

"Yes," Tatsuya said firmly. "You could dress like this for the wedding, and my answer wouldn't change." He immediately regretted saying that.

"Okay. Let me clean up, and then we can go."

"I'll help."

Yu watched from a nearby rooftop as Tatsuya helped Nagisa into his car. He barely even hesitated when he placed a kiss on her yellow cheek, definitely a good sign in Yu's opinion. Yu understood that her own views on fashion were a bit warped, and even she thought Nagisa looked nuts in that outfit. She would never say so unless asked directly, though: Nagisa was her only living friend left in the world.

Once the car drove off, Yu checked her list, and noticed the glowing symbol that indicated an incoming message. She tapped it at once. "Hey, Admin. Got a new mission for me?"

"That can wait, Yumeno. Is the engagement proceeding as expected?"

"Looks like it. Nagisa seems happy, sort of."

"She told him about the engines?"

"Yeah. He doesn't care. Or he doesn't understand. Maybe both?"

"We expected that."

"Should I keep following them?"

"Negative. You are to return to base immediately. With the cheescake intact. We'll share it."

Yu pouted. "Aw, no fair! You were spying on me again, Admin!"

"You'll make yourself sick if you eat the whole thing, like I know you were planning to. I'm doing you a favor."

One bad thing about no longer having a physical body was that it was extremely difficult to sense the passage of time. Madoka knew that Tatsuya had taken her ring off, as she could no longer see or talk to him, both of which required him to wear the ring. But her still being around indicated that he hadn't destroyed the ring yet, for some reason. If things had gone badly with Nagisa, then surely he would have put the ring back on immediately. But if they were going well, then he would have kept his promise to destroy the ring.

The only thing Madoka could come up with was that Tatsuya wanted to wait until he was sure Nagisa was the one, and she couldn't blame him for that. He would never forgive himself, if he gave up Madoka's ring for a woman that he ended up not spending his life with.

But Madoka was sure about Nagisa. She couldn't explain it, but she had a good feeling about that girl. Nagisa was a little scatter-brained, and naive when it came to certain things, but she loved making people smile with food that she had poured all of her effort into cooking. Madoka hadn't understood, or rather remembered, why that last part was so important to her, until Tatsuya had cleared up the mystery for her.

"Tou-san," Tatsuya had said simply. "Nagisa reminds me of him. He only cooked for us, but they have the same joy in their faces when they watch us eat."

Perhaps it truly was that simple. All that mattered to Madoka was that Tatsuya would have his own family to look after, and be looked after by. If Nagisa could be that for him, then Madoka could pass on knowing her only sibling was doing well for himself.

But then someone put on Madoka's ring. Someone who wasn't Tatsuya, and yet, still had enough required magical power to activate the ring's only function. And Madoka could not resist, as her existence had been reduced to that of a parasite: Tatsuya had used his own absorbed magic to stabilize her Soul Gem in the form of a ring, but she could only view the world around her when someone with enough magic put the ring on. And for the first time, someone other than Tatsuya had.

Nagisa was not a magical girl, and Madoka had never sensed any magic in or around her, save for the pure waves of positivity that Tatsuya constantly emitted. And yet, Nagisa was the one wearing Madoka's ring now, there could be no mistake about it.

"It's good to finally meet you properly, onee-sama," Nagisa said bowing her head.

"Nagisa... how do you have magic?" Madoka whispered.

"You were there, weren't you? When I told Tatsuya that he was a positivity engine? He didn't take your ring off until after that part."

"Yes, but... I didn't take you seriously!"

Nagisa shook her head. "Most people don't. It's better that way. Anyway, don't worry. I asked Tatsuya not to destroy your ring until I could talk to you this one time. There's something I absolutely had to give you, before you go. Call it a parting gift, if you like."

"You don't have to-" Madoka began to protest, but then Nagisa drew something out of her pocket. It was a ring. A simple silver band, with an almost entirely black stone set into it. But as Nagisa slid the ring onto her finger, Madoka could see yellow flecks in the dark stone.

There could no longer be any doubt about Nagisa's claim. Because the person who appeared before Madoka was certainly dead, or at least, there was no way she should have had that form anymore.

"Mami-san," Madoka breathed, her eyes tearing up.

Mami shook her head. "I'm so sor-"

"Mami-san!" Madoka cried, startling Mami with a tight hug. "It's really you!"

Mami hesitated, but slowly wrapped her arms around Madoka. "Why... why don't you hate me?"

"That wasn't you," Madoka insisted. "You would never... Sayaka knew that. That's why she wouldn't let anyone attack you."

"You're contradicting-"

"I don't care," Madoka said stubbornly. "All that matters is you're here now, and you're you."

"I'm still responsible for her death."

"You're saved now. That's all Sayaka would care about, and you know it."

Mami sighed. "I'm not saved. Our situations are similar, but not the same."

"Don't say that, Mami-san. Look, when our rings are destroyed, we can leave together, and-"

"You're mistaken." Mami gently pushed Madoka away. "I doubt we would go to the same place, even if that were the case. But Nagisa isn't destroying my ring. I have no intention of leaving her alone. She's the reason I can exist in this form at all. The least I can do in return is lend her my power, corrupted as it is."

"It's because your power is corrupted that I can easily manipulate it," Nagisa pointed out. "So as awful as it may feel, to have been who you were when we met, that's how we got here now."

Something in Nagisa's words bothered Madoka. No, it was more than that. Mami had become a Witch, there was no mistaking that. Which meant her Soul Gem had become a Grief Seed. Tatsuya had reshaped Madoka's Soul Gem into a ring, Nagisa must have done something similar with Mami's Grief Seed. And at last, Madoka understood why Kyoko had been so upset over the way that they'd lost Mami. A magical girl sending Witches against other magical girls would have been bad enough. But a human who was free to collect and control Witches as she desired... somehow, that was much worse. Or perhaps Madoka only felt that way because that human was now Tatsuya's wife. With him, at least, she'd known his motivations were pure. But the fact that Nagisa had hidden this until now, when Madoka could do nothing about it, implied the exact opposite.

Madoka understood there was nothing she could do: Nagisa had already said she would honor Madoka's wish to destroy the ring. There was only one thing she could say.

"Nagisa," Madoka whispered. "Do you promise to protect Tatsuya?"

"I will," Nagisa swore. "He is my most cherished person. Please don't worry about him, onee-sama."

"That's all I need." Madoka turned to Mami and smiled sadly. "I hope you find peace, Mami-san."

Mami returned the smile. "I... don't think that's in my future, Madoka. But thank you."

Yachiyo sucked in another deep breath, choked on it, and coughed up far too much blood to be healthy. She ignored it as best she could, but as with the voices shouting over each other to be heard in her head, that was not so easily done.

"Don't stop, Nanami-senpai!"

"You have to live!"

"Run, Yachiyo!"

It was the final voice, no more than a whisper, that drowned out all the others.

"We'll always support you, Yacchan. No matter what. Don't give up."

Tears stung her eyes as Yachiyo launched herself even higher into the air, her momentum boosted by the numerous sets of wings on her back. Though Yachiyo had sworn to never use the remaining power of her friends to fight, she had never considered that the same evil that birthed Eve would return solely to finish the fight that Madoka had started so long ago. And while Yachiyo would have gladly died protecting her friends, they had other ideas. Without her consent, they had all poured their power into her, for no other reason than they wanted her to live.

And the worst of it was, Yachiyo knew their sacrifice wouldn't matter. She was dying already. But the Magius weren't content with that, as evidenced by them still pursuing her.

A shotgun blast tore through one of the wings, and Yachiyo was as distracted by the pain as she was by Momoko's echoing shriek of pain.

"You're pretty tough. I'm impressed here."

Yachiyo gasped and spun away from the yellow-tinted, horned magical girl easily keeping pace with her, despite no obvious methods of flight. "How...?!"

"No point in telling you, since you'll be dead soon." The magical girl nodded slightly. "Admin says you have to die. It's not personal, and I don't think you're a bad person. But, well, Admin says."

And before Yachiyo could begin to make sense of that, there were suddenly three gaping holes in her chest, which certainly made flying with the one already in her side much more difficult. With a strangled cry, she plummetted out of the sky. And even then, the yellow magical girl kept pace, no longer attacking, but clearly determined to make sure Yachiyo didn't survive much longer.

On the ground, awaiting Yachiyo with that same superior smile was the only Magius that had bothered to show up for the hunt. Yachiyo was important, but not enough where all of them were needed, apparently.

At the last moment, Yachiyo suddenly rolled in the air, turning her fall into a last desperate attack.

"Still so tricky, Veteran-san. But I have some, too."

Inches away from that smile, a hot pink blade of agony slashed across Yachiyo's waist, and came back for a strike that flew up the center of Yachiyo's vision and ended her pain.

"That," Touka said with a huff, "took way too much energy."

"Apologies, Touka," Eternal Sakura said, her blade fading from sight.

"I didn't mean you, Eternal Sakura. But between you and Yumeno and the Witch, Yachiyo surely died feeling important. I hate that."

"You did say it was important that we kill her, Admin," Yu reminded her.

"Yes, but I didn't want her to know it! Pay attention, Yumeno!" Touka snapped. "Anyway, she wasted all of those lovely Soul Gems on a pointless escape! It's unforgivable, is what it is!" She almost made a point of kicking Yachiyo's body, but couldn't decide which piece she wanted to kick most, and then realized it would only get her shoes bloody, anyway. "Well, whatever. Are you okay, Nagisa?"

Nagisa studied the ring on her finger. "Yes, but Mami is tired. Even if I replenish her now, she needs rest."

Touka frowned. She really preferred that Nagisa use the Witch's proper name, rather than the name of the former magical girl. But Nagisa was picky about things like that. And, according to her, Mami was the one who communicated with her, not the Witch. Touka didn't see the difference, as the nature of Nagisa's power should have allowed her to communicate, and control, either with about the same amount of effectiveness.

"Something wrong, Admin?" Yu asked.

"No." Touka shook her head. "Good work, ladies. We're done for tonight. But, Yumeno, don't forget. Drop your equipment off at my place soon, you're due for an upgrade."

"Sure, Admin. I got it." Yu waved carelessly before picking up Nagisa and sprinting away.

Touka stared after them, her lips curving into a frown. "Damn them. Why don't they ever fight with each other, like proper friends?"

"Because you never put the wrong names on Yumeno's list," Eternal Sakura replied at once.

Touka scowled. "I wasn't looking for an answer."

"I see." Eternal Sakura stared at Touka a bit too long.

"What?" Touka asked irritably.

Eternal Sakura slowly reached out and touched Touka's cheek. "You aren't sleeping well again. I would never mention it in front of the others, but I must mention it."

"It'll pass."

"It hasn't since Nemu-"

"Don't say it. I told you not to say it!"

"Apologies. But you know that my programming-"

"Doesn't recognize any of them as being alive anymore, yes, I already know that!"

Eternal Sakura frowned. "It seems I only upset you now."

"No, you're very useful, but you've been with me longer than the others, which means you know me too well, and that gets... annoying. And while I could edit your programming, I'd rather not. It's something I used to do with Nemu, and she can't contribute, so it's not the same."

"If it needs to be said, I exist only to protect you now, Touka. I would never blame you for making changes to me."

"You still don't get it. That isn't what you were born for. And so long as I know that, making major changes feels wrong." Touka briefly touched the orange stone set into the golden bracelet on her wrist. "And I don't want to forget. Ever."

With images of her violent death still fresh in her mind, Yachiyo stepped through the doorway. The second she did so, something in her changed. She still knew exactly how she'd died, but... it was as if it had happened years ago, to someone else. That wasn't accurate, and she knew it, and yet... it didn't bother her, like it had only moments before. It was something about this place, that eased her mind.

Except, Yachiyo had no idea where she was. Surely it was a building of some kind: she'd gone through a door, and she wasn't outside. But her mind refused to collect any further details about the place, and instead urged her forward. The reason for that became clear as soon as she passed through the second doorway.

Several voices immediately cried out her name, and Yachiyo had the air driven out of her as someone crashed into her and squeezed her tightly.

"I'm sorry, Yachiyo!" Momoko wailed, increasing the pressure of her hug.

Yachiyo blinked and placed her hand on Momoko's head. "I meant what I said before. Your life is precious to me."

This only made Momoko cry harder, but Kaede eventually pried her off of Yachiyo.

"Not exactly the greeting you expected, was it, Yacchan?" Mifuyu asked, gently taking Yachiyo's hands in her own.

"I can't say I mind it." Yachiyo accepted hugs from Mel, Tsuruno, and Madoka. It was only then that she noticed someone missing. It didn't exactly surprise her, but given what she knew the other girls had in common, she had to ask. "Homura isn't here?"

Mifuyu shook her head. "No one is sure what happened to her. But, as we're all here and Homura isn't, Madoka would like to think it means Homura is still alive."

Yachiyo wasn't sure she agreed with that, but she had no evidence to the contrary, and there was little point in upsetting Madoka now. Anyway, Homura was the stubborn type. It was entirely possible that, even if she was dead, she wouldn't have forgiven herself for abandoning Madoka, and might have refused to join them.

Without warning, however, a new face did join them, but Yachiyo was the only one that appeared to be startled by it.

"Oh, you're back, Iroha-san," Madoka said. "Is it because Yachyio's here now?"

"Partially," Iroha said, meeting Yachiyo's curious gaze and blushing slightly. "My instructions were not to proceed until everyone was here. We only needed one more person."

"Guess that's me," Kyoko said as she walked in, rubbing her head.

Yachiyo stared at her. "Did the Magius get you, too?"

Kyoko blinked and laughed. "I wish I had a death story that cool, but no. Heart attack. Didn't have great eating habits to start with, and being retired, I wasn't getting the exercise I used to. Wasn't a great way to die, but there it is."

"I don't know," Momoko disagreed. "I think I would have liked it, going out fat and happy."

Kyoko glared at her. "Never said I was fat."

"We're getting off the subject," Yachiyo interrupted. "At least, I assume we are." She looked at Iroha. "You're the only one here I don't know, and you seem to know what's going on." Yachiyo paused. "At least... I don't think I remember meeting you, but... something about you seems familiar, somehow."

"I've been told I have one of those faces," Iroha said, a bit too quickly, as if it were a much-practiced response to a much-heard statement. And before Yachiyo could comment on it, Iroha rapidly moved on. "But to confirm what I'm sure you all already know: yes, you are deceased. I'm very sorry."

"Why are you sorry? You didn't kill us," Kanae pointed out.

Iroha frowned. "No, but... I'm not used to people taking that news so well."

Mel shrugged. "Most of us had a long time to come to terms with the fact that we weren't fully alive anymore. Maybe it's nothing to be happy about, but it's also pretty late to get upset about it now."

"Oh." Iroha looked a little lost. "I've never had to skip ahead before. Um, I guess the next thing would be-"

"Who are you?" Yachiyo blurted out. She wasn't trying to be rude, but the idea that she should have known Iroha was growing stronger by the second.

Iroha blushed again. "Sorry, you weren't here when I introduced myself. I'm Iroha, and the best way to describe my presence here is that I'm a personal assistant. Though... not exactly to any of you, which I know must sound strange. Please think of me as a temporary guide. You are heroic magical girls, and that lifetime of honorable service has earned you-"

"Most of these girls died young, though, didn't they?" Kyoko cut in, getting several nods from the others. "It's not an ironclad rule, but it is an expected part of the job."

Iroha sighed. "Even so, you have earned the gift of reincarnation. To continue life's journey in another world, where your choices may be entirely different."

"And if we don't want this gift, can we turn it down?"

Iroha paused. "I certainly can't force anyone to accept it."

Kyoko relaxed slightly. "Good enough for me. So how did you end up with this job, anyway?"

"You could say it's a family business," Iroha murmured.

Tatsuya looked up as Nagisa and Yu walked into the kitchen. "Long night?" he asked.

"Exhausting." Nagisa kissed him, and then the dozing baby in his arms. "How are my boys?"

"We're fine, now that you're home. Yu-san, there's sliced fruit if you-"

Yu had already yanked open the refrigerator and stuck her head inside. Judging by the loud chewing noises that followed, she needed no further assistance.

"I'm going to grab a shower." Nagisa kissed Tatsuya again, then headed upstairs.

Tatsuya thought about following her, then turned to Yu, who had emerged with several varities of fruit smeared across her face. "I could have gotten a bowl for you, Yu-san."

"Nah, takes too long. I've always been more of a right here, right now kinda girl." Yu burped happily. "I know it was only fruit, and you didn't actually cook it, but somehow that tasted better than regular fruit."

"Eating with friends can do that, I'm told."

"Huh. Guess I never thought of that." Yu blinked and focused her full attention on the baby, something that slightly bothered Tatsuya. "I don't think I've ever been friends with a guy. But you make Nagisa really happy, so it must be fine."

"Thank you for always looking after her. She may not say it much, but I knew she appreciates it. So do we."

"Sure, I know that. She said it all the time when she was younger, she doesn't need to now. Oh, and I'm supposed to give you this." Yu dug into her pocket, produced a ring, and put it on the table. If it hadn't been a familiar ring, Tatsuya would have been absolutely terrified.

"Was there a problem with it?" he asked.

"No. Mami wants to talk to you. Anyway, I need to go. Lots to do tomorrow."

Tatsuya opened his mouth to suggest that she might take a napkin to clean her face, but Yu had already gone. With a sigh, he sat down at the table, shifted his son to one arm, and slipped on the ring. After a moment, Mami appeared on the other side of the table.

"How bad was it this time, Mami-san?" Tatsuya asked.

Mami shook her head. "If the flashes I can recall are accurate? Very bad."

"Do you want me to-?"

"You can't. If Nagisa misplaced a powerful Witch, that would be even worse. Yu would protect her, but the Magius have threats that even Yu can't defeat. It's part of why she still works for them. Destroying my ring is the worst thing you could do right now."

"And it's better that you're gradually destroying your soul?"

Mami gave him a sad smile. "Yes. It'll give us time. Nagisa will either find a replacement, or the Magius will provide her with one. This is all I can do. But I'm happy to do it for your family."

Iroha knew it was coming, so she made a point of excusing herself and quietly entering one of the bedrooms. Yachiyo was only a few seconds behind her.

"Tell me how I know you," Yachiyo demanded.

Iroha's eyebrows rose. "We've never met, Yachiyo-san."

"That's what my brain says. But my heart aches when I look at you. Why?"

Iroha froze, swallowing a gasp. "That's... complicated."

"But you do know why, don't you?"

"I can hazard a guess. But you may not believe me."

"Tell me, anyway."

Iroha sighed. "Maybe I should rephrase. You probably won't believe."

"Were we close?" Yachiyo asked.

Iroha stared at her. "We... no."

"That's a lie, isn't it?"

"Not... technically."

Yachiyo shook her head. "I think you're lying to me."

"There's no reason why we would have any memories of each other. I died without ever meeting you, and the reverse is true for you."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

Iroha closed her eyes. "I'm sure. That night that you cancelled the hunt because Tsuruno wasn't there... that was the second time I visited Kamihama, but it was the first time I had gone alone. I was visiting my sister in a hospital. On my way back to the hotel, I wandered into a labyrinth, and... never came out out."

Yachiyo's eyes widened. "You're saying... the Witch that I didn't hunt that night-"

"Yes. So I'm certain we never met. If we had, I might still be alive."

"But there's no way I could ever know that. So why-?"

"Reincarnation is funny sometimes, Yachiyo-san. You should never have any memory of a previous life. But sometimes, you get a strange or strong feeling about something or someone. Maybe in another life, you did save me, and we became friends. But in this life-"

"We never met," Yachiyo said dully.

"I don't blame you for what happened to me," Iroha said, touching Yachiyo's shoulder. "Why would I? I didn't find out about you until after I was dead, and it's the same for you."

"But I knew people would die because of my choice," Yachiyo said. "I thought I was protecting everyone important to me."

"I'm sure you did. We weren't destined to meet, this time. You had no control over that."

"And you don't... have these feelings for me?" Yachiyo asked. "At all?"

"It's hard to describe how it felt, to learn there was a person that could have meant everything to me, but that it never happened. But I think it may have been for the best. I didn't have much room in my life for others. My sister, she was my whole life. I know she-"

Yachiyo reached out, grabbed Iroha's shoulders, and pulled her close. "You didn't answer my question."

Iroha's eyes moved away. "I'm aware. Please take the hint, Yachiyo-san."

"Maybe you should take your own advice. Being this close to you... it doesn't feel strange to me. And it should, but if you actu-" Yachiyo stopped. "Why are you crying?"

"What?" Iroha blinked, and realized there were indeed tears spilling down her cheeks. She pulled away from Yachiyo. "I don't understand why-"

"I don't, either," Yachiyo admitted. "But everything in me is telling me to hold you right now."

Iroha gaped at her in shock. "But-!"

"I couldn't save you, so at least let me do this."

"No, that isn't ne-" Iroha began to say, but then a body collided with her from behind, pushing her into Yachiyo's arms.

"You shouldn't be so stubborn," said a voice that Iroha recognized as Madoka's, and then she was hugging Iroha as well, effectively trapping Iroha between them.

"Why?" Iroha whispered, though she made no attempt to fight the embrace.

"Because I've had those same feelings Yachiyo talked about from the moment I saw you, too. I don't know why, but you are precious to me, to us. And if it's wrong to express that to you, then we'll both have to be wrong for a while."

Even before Nagisa entered her bedroom, she knew exactly what awaited her.

Tatsuya was asleep in the bed. Their son was asleep in his crib. And there was a young woman standing by the bed, watching Tatsuya sleep with a warm smile on her lips.

"You could at least pretend to knock," Nagisa complained.

"I did, Nagisa. You didn't hear me over the shower."

"I don't know if I believe that." Nagisa walked over to check on her son. "Why are you here, Ui?"

"I need a reason to check on someone I love?" Ui asked.

"Yes. You blessed Tatsuya when he was a baby. Absolutely no magical harm can come to him, and I protect him from everything else. He's perfectly safe."

"You do that because you love him. It's no different for me."

"It is, though. I'm his wife. You're... not really his adoptive sister. It's totally different."

"It isn't to me."

"Then show yourself to him. Let him know you're the mystery girl that's been watching over his dreams since he was old enough to remember them. Tell him exactly who you are, or aren't, to him."

Ui shook her head. "I won't do that for a number of reasons. The same way you won't let Mami go. We each do what we feel is best."

"I don't have to listen to you, just because you're a god. If you were going to strike me down, you would have done it before I met Tatsuya."

"I would have done it before you met Yu," Ui corrected. "There's a very short list of magical girls who could threaten me, and she's very close to the top. And if you actually thought I was a threat to you, you would tell her about me. I know you haven't."

"Destroying isn't something I take lightly anymore," Nagisa said. "I suppose that's your doing."

"Not directly. I've told you, when someone like me interferes with the universe, sometimes it reacts in unexpected ways. Apparently my blessing Tatsuya made it feel unbalanced, and the end result was you. If you've learned something, then it wasn't my intent, but I won't say it's a bad thing, either. You are a good person, Nagisa. And this power could have easily ended up with a bad person, or worse, a good person that was gradually corrupted by it. I'm glad it was you, instead."

"Are you really?"

"Yes. I've seen worlds where it doesn't work out so well for you. So when I tell you that I like the way you turned out, I mean it."

"I guess that's true," Nagisa murmured. "But I still don't like you hanging around Tatsuya so much."

"I think maybe you don't understand because you're an only child," Ui said, joining Nagisa near the crib.

"So, what, you're going to give me a sibling now?" Nagisa asked.

"No. You'll be a little busy for something like that. And, well, being with Yu is enough like having a big sister. But you can't fully appreciate it from your perspective in that relationship. But you're a mother now. You'll definitely recognize the bond between siblings, when it happens right in front of you."

Nagisa frowned. "Hey, you're not going to do something stupid like zap a baby into me, are you? I've got enough on my plate as it is."

Ui smiled. "No, Nagisa, I'm not going to zap a baby into you. That would be completely unfair. What I am going to do, though, is congratulate you on the baby that Tatsuya zapped into you about three weeks ago. And that was totally not my doing, I swear. The universe seems to like you being a mom."

Nagisa stared at Ui in horror. "What? I can't be a mother again! I'm not ready!"

Ui shook her head and gently took Nagisa's hands in her own. "You are going to be an amazing mom. Again. Take that as a prophecy, if you like. It'll all work out. And if didn't? I'd make it work out. Because as you like to point out, I'm always around. What else have I got to do?"

A few hours later, Ui returned to the Mikazuki Villa simulation, fully expecting to only find Iroha there. She was surprised, but not disappointed, to find Iroha seated on the couch, between Madoka and Yachiyo.

"Was there a-?" Ui began to ask.

"Apologies, Ui-san," Iroha interrupted, "but these two had some questions for my employer."

Ui blinked. "Oh. Okay. Sure, we can handle that right now."

"It's not a problem?" Yachiyo asked, watching her closely.

"No. Why would it be?" Ui replied, taking a seat on the opposite couch. "Questions are good. It means you want to learn."

"I was under the impression that Iroha was meant to handle our... processing alone. It's not a problem that we're the only two still here?"

"Are you holding her hostage?" Ui asked curiously.

"No!" Yachiyo cried. "We would never!"

"Then it's not a problem." Ui shook her head. "People are allowed to have questions here, Yachiyo. In fact, they almost always do. Not taking that into consideration would be rude. Anyway, I was kidding. Obviously, you haven't taken Iroha hostage. If anything, she looks far happier than I've seen in some time."

"She told us how she died. Would it be rude to ask the same of you?"

"Well, at least you're asking, and not demanding. But there's not much to tell. I was sick for a long time when I was young. I didn't get better. I don't think that's what you truly want to ask, though."

"No, it isn't. Why do Madoka and I both have feelings for Iroha that seem out of place, considering we only just met her?"

Ui glanced at Iroha. "I assume Iroha mentioned her theory on previous lives?"

"Yes. Are you saying it's accurate?"

"Accurate in that it happens, yes. Accurate in that it explains your situation, not so much. It's sort of tricky to explain, though."

"Why is that?"

"Because you're not supposed to know. Oh, I could tell you, and then immediately send you into the next world, where you would forget everything. I don't like doing things that way, though. So it might be better not to tell you at all."

Yachiyo frowned. "I see. And you don't think our feelings for Iroha are odd?"

Ui smiled. "Me? I think they're perfectly natural. I have them, too."

"Ui!" Iroha protested, blushing. "You weren't supposed to-!"

"Iroha isn't really your employee, is she?" Yachiyo asked.

Ui shrugged. "She did agree to help me do this job, but I'm not paying her, if that's what you mean."

"It's not what I meant."

"I didn't think so." Ui sighed. "Yachiyo, like I said before, I don't want to be rude and shove you into the next world. It's so mean, doing things that way. But you are very close to a truth that you shouldn't have access to. I won't ask you to stop asking questions, but if you suddenly vanish, you know why."

Yachiyo frowned. "Why are you trying to be so accomadating at all?"

"Why don't we say that what makes Iroha precious to you, also makes you precious to me."

"That... doesn't help at all."

"I know," Ui admitted. "But again, I'm trying not to be rude."

"What about me?" Madoka asked.

Ui gave her a small smile. "The reason you're precious to Iroha and I has almost nothing to do with Yachiyo."

Madoka looked even more confused. "But-"

"Sorry. I really can't say anymore, this time. You two are late as it is."

Yachiyo glanced at Madoka, who nodded. "What if we refuse to leave?" Madoka asked. "Would you really force us to?"

Ui pouted. "No, but you're making this really awkward, nee-san."

"Wha-" Madoka began to say, then her eyes flashed golden, and she snapped her fingers at once, causing Yachiyo to vanish without warning.

Iroha sighed heavily. "Can we please not do things this way again? It's too hard."

Madoka shrugged. "I did promise to give Ui a chance to run things as she saw fit this time. Complain to her, not me. I can't do much with my memories sealed."

"Funny how you seem to have at least a trace of godlike power in every universe, though," Iroha pointed out.

Madoka smiled. "I said 'much', not 'anything', Iroha. And you can't rule out that it was Ui, and not the universe, who did that."

"I didn't," Ui protested.

"But we're in the Ui-verse, so you can't really-"

"Please never call it that again," Ui groaned.

Iroha giggled, then frowned. "Anyway, I don't like pretending that Ui isn't my sister."

"Again, not my idea," Madoka pointed out.

"You were doing well, though," Ui said.

Iroha stared at her. "Never again, Ui."

"You make it sound like I asked you to dive into lava."

"You might as well have! How come you made Tatsuya's life so much easier?"

"And when I did, the universe came up with Nagisa, which taught me not to meddle quite so much. But in the process, the universe... kinda screwed both of us over."

"I warned you both that Ui's fates aren't typically so pleasant," Madoka added. "It would only make sense that as close as you are, your fates could be linked."

"So I should only improve our fates, and nobody-"

"I didn't say that," Madoka said quickly. "Nor was I implying it."

"But you saved us," Ui insisted. "You brought us with you."

"And I will never regret it."

"Why can't you tell us whatever you want us to learn?"

"Telling people what they should do, or what you want them to do, is almost always a bad idea. Homura taught me that. And not on purpose, either."

Ui frowned. "Can't believe Homu-nee ditched you in my universe..."

Madoka smiled. "Don't take it personally. Homura is... complicated."

"How many times are you going to say that?" Ui complained.

"Probably always. You could ask her yourself."

"Would she tell me the truth?"

"Probably not. But in her defense, I don't think you'd like the truth. And changing her fate... well, she tends not to happily accept it like you might want."

"Why do I get the feeling you're talking less about Homura, and more about you?" Iroha asked.

Madoka sighed. "Funny story, it actually works both ways. Well, not really funny at all."

End of Chapter 3.

Continued in Chapter 4: Barrier Daze

Mifuyu answers the call of the Magius, and is assigned to the Barrier Corps, under the command of Alina Gray. It all seems too good to be true, especially through the happy-go-lucky eyes of Mifuyu's "senior", Ashley Taylor. But there is good reason for that: there is more than one girl casting illusions now.

Endnotes:

Some stuff I implied but didn't say directly: Yachiyo's having owned Hevelius in the previous timeline results in her having altered powers. Felicia and Sana don't live at Mikazuki Villa because Iroha wasn't there to recruit them. Alina brought the Witches to Mitakihara, and captured Candeloro. Homura didn't die. The Magius didn't have Eve due to Ui dying, but they still managed a catastrophe powered by stolen Soul Gems. Nemu ended up in the same state as Madoka (her body was destroyed), and Touka kept Nemu's Soul Gem.