Sirius looked up from his position, bent over the counter and writing down prizes to restock, to find a gun pointed at his head.
Past the deadly piece of metal, which was not wavering in the slightest, was a head of raven hair that shone with an unearthly light and a pair of luminous purple eyes that were aflame with anger. The gun, held in the girl's right hand, was cocked with unerring precision, and on her left arm Sirius could see a peculiar looking shield and a diamond-shaped amethyst.
Sirius smiled widely.
"Akemi Homura!" he exclaimed happily, straightening up and trying not to look at the gun that followed his face, "What a surprise!"
"I could say the same thing to you," she said icily, "Imagine my surprise when my time magic put me here instead of in the hospital bed I usually wake up in."
"That does sometimes happen, yes," he said with a kind smile, "Only avenues of great power, or methods of travel that have been messed with, can bring you here."
Akemi Homura blinked, and then lowered the gun slightly. "I've never met a male witch, and you don't seem hostile," she allowed, finally stowing the firearm in her shield, "But all the same, I sense an amazing amount of magic radiating off of you. Care to explain?"
Sirius leaned his elbows on the table and cradled his face in his hands, adopting a solemn expression.
"This place becomes open to people when they have need of guidance," he told her evenly, "When their actions are futile, or when they are going to cause untold amounts of destruction."
The magical girl joined him in leaning on the counter, sensing the mood.
"Originally, I debated on whether to bring Kaname-sama here," he continued, and Homura blinked at the honorific, "But then I realized that your efforts would make the information I give her moot, even if she explained everything to you. You wouldn't believe her."
She gave a slow, understanding nod.
Sirius took a deep, steadying breath and let it whoosh out before continuing.
"First of all, you will never be able to save Kaname Madoka."
Akemi Homura reared back in shock, and her Soul Gem darkened the slightest bit.
"Every time you go back, the karmic potential of the timeline you abandon is tied to the new version of Kaname-sama you're trying to save. That's why you will never be the one to protect her: she'll always be more powerful than you," he explained gravely, "And as you've seen, you can't defeat Walpurgis Nacht even with Tomoe-san, Sakura-san, and Miki-san fighting alongside you."
"What…?" Homura breathed out in despair, her Soul Gem darkening ever more. Her eyes were fixed on Sirius' steady face, and her breathing was getting more and more ragged.
Sirius nodded in confirmation, and Akemi Homura collapsed to her knees.
"So then…" she mumbled in shock, "Everything I've done…everything I've fought for…"
Tears began trickling out of her eyes, unnoticed by the girl.
"It's all been for nothing."
Sirius' voice shot through her like a bullet, and she felt her left arm get lifted up. She turned to him, kneeling there beside her, and saw that there was only a single point of shining purple flickering stubbornly amidst a sea of black.
Cradling her wrist with one hand, Sirius pressed the other to her Soul Gem.
"Listen to me very carefully," he said evenly, "You can't save her with your actions, but you can save her another way."
Homura's eyes snapped to his face, staring intently.
"With all the karmic potential that's been heaped on her shoulders, she can have any wish of hers granted no problem," he told her, "That is the key. The only person that can save Kaname-sama is herself."
"Her wish…" Akemi Homura breathed out in comprehension, and Sirius gave another nod.
"There are a few choices, but she'll only choose them if Tomoe-san, Sakura-san, and Miki-san all survive," he told her in an instructing tone, "That is your task. Keep them alive and sane, and when Walpurgis Nacht comes, only then will Kaname Madoka be allowed to contract."
Homura nodded.
"The first wish she can make is to have the power to erase all witches, past, present, and future, before they're even born," he told her, and Homura started in surprise, "Kaname Madoka will embody the Law of Cycles, her physical form will disappear, nobody will remember her, and Soul Gems will shatter before they turn into Grief Seeds. The magical girls of this world will know peace."
"But that violates all the rules!" Homura protested weakly, and Sirius smiled.
"So she'll rewrite those rules," he said with a shrug, and Homura's mouth clicked shut. Sirius' smile widened, and he continued.
"Another possibility is that she wishes for all Grief Seeds to automatically turn back into Soul Gems five seconds after they turn, with all the despair that caused the Witch to be born disappearing," he told her, "She'd get to stay a person with this one, and the Incubators would still get all their energy. The universe would still need to be rewritten, but to a lesser degree."
Sirius reached forward and pressed a finger to Homura's forehead, and she gasped as memories of her transformation into a Witch flooded her head.
"That second one would also prevent this eventuality from happening," Sirius told her with a grin, and Homura gave a shaky nod as the boy helped her to her feet. With a grin, he removed his hand from her Soul Gem, and the purple shine winked up at her, unburdened by Despair.
"Go now, Akemi Homura," he told her happily, "Save Tomoe Mami, Sakura Kyouko, and Miki Sayaka. Let this be your last loop."
He reached forward and flipped her shield. The sand flowed, gears clicked, and she was gone.
From her position hiding behind the counter, Kaname Madoka stood up.
"I wonder which one she'll choose," she pondered with a hand to her chin, and Sirius gave her an amused grin.
"The second one, no doubt," he told her conversationally, "She's too in love with you to let you become a concept."
Madoka startled, her cheeks burning a fierce red blush. "Wh-wh-what?!" she exclaimed in embarrassment, "In l-love?! With ME?!"
Sirius walked behind the counter and ruffled her hair teasingly. "It's more likely that you'd think," he told her, and she quieted down in contemplation.
"Hitomi always says…" she began uncertainly, then soldiered on, "…Hitomi always says that two girls loving each other is bad."
"Well Hitomi-san has some internalized homophobia to work out before she realizes that she likes both girls and boys," Sirius said with an annoyed expression, "Don't let her ruin something beautiful for you. She'll get over it."
Madoka looked up at him hopefully. "Sh-she will?" she questioned hesitantly, and Sirius gave her a sardonic grin.
"Oh yes," he said with a note of evil laughter in his voice, "After she realises Kamijou-san is out of her reach, Sayaka-kun will fall into the sympathetic arms of Kyouko-kun. And with her two best friends in beautiful and wholesome relationships, Hitomi-san will have to admit that she's the problem and not you."
Madoka blinked at him before her eyes took on a sparkle. She gave a soft smile and seemed to fall deep into thought.
"Homura-kun…" she murmured.
Then Sirius clapped his hands loudly, startling her out of her reverie. "Alrighty then!" he said happily, "I explained to you about Homura, about the Incubators, about becoming the Law of Cycles, and about the wishes you have to choose from!"
Madoka gave a determined smile and nodded her head once. Sirius smiled wider, leaned close, and said, "Now, there's just one more thing I need you to do."
The pink-haired girl tilted her head in question. "What's that, Sirius-sama?" she asked respectfully, and Sirius straightened up again.
"Wake up!" he exclaimed, and with a flick to her forehead, she burst into pink light and vanished.
Kaname Madoka started awake in her bed, eyes unfocused and hair messed up. Sitting up with a slight groan, she hugged her large stuffed bear and thought about what she'd seen.
"What a weird dream," she mumbled.
Then she yelped as an Incubator, this one a vibrant blue with black markings instead of red, jumped onto her head and catapulted itself head over tail to pose in front of her.
"Guess again, sunshine!" it shouted happily in Sirius' voice.