A/N: Now for the other one. This seemed to take on a life of it's own towards the end.
Please leave a review, even if it's just to tell me what a horrid writer I am.
4 o'clock: and lacking church bells at their outdoor wedding, they had instead rented a bell from a music store and enlisted the drummer to play it out. The aisle was lined with blood-red roses that wafted in the chilled winter afternoon. The bride was taking her own meandering path down the carefully winding lane she had planned months before, with a veiled bridesmaid trailing serenely behind, with the severe train held tightly in her fingers.
As she turned the last corner, the groom felt her heart start beating hard, but couldn't quite figure out why. Behind their gossamer veil, her bride's eyes looked out coolly, the icy blue showing no outwards concern at all.
As the bride came to the front, the guests all focused on Homura and she felt a hard trill of fear flutter in her chest. Had she done something wrong? Stifling her fear, Homura looked at her bride, and found everything unfamiliar. The way she moved dominated the space, leaving room for no one else. The way she smiled seemed like more of a sneer and her red lips did nothing to dispel the notion. Who was this woman? Shakily, Homura turned forward, attempting to match the stern posture of the other.
The priest was the father of a friend, and he smiled sickeningly at them from his perch. His eyes seemed mad behind his spectacles and the way he bared his teeth was more reminiscent of a lecherous pervert than a serene wholesome vicar. Homura couldn't suppress a shudder and uneasiness in her gut as she heard one of the veiled bridesmaids snigger darkly to herself.
Spectacles glinting cruelly in the meager light, the priest moved on, glaring briefly at Homura who startled again. What was wrong here? "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…" Homura could feel herself tensing at the snarling tone he used, as if he could easily imagine somewhere he would rather be.
Homura felt her heart race in fear as the other's hand took hers in, jerking it between them, and spouting the words Homura found herself dreading: "I do." Homura's thoughts raced a mile a minute. Who was this woman? Homura certainly didn't know her. Where was she? Where was Madoka? Her happy eyes flashed through Homura's thoughts and she glanced around discretely, trying to find the one who should be here.
The priest cleared his throat harshly and Homura realized everyone was looking at her again.
She couldn't do it. She backed away from the priest, from the faceless, sniggering bridesmaids, from the Not-Madoka, and fled the marquee.
In the park, her dress shoes crunched through the light snow on the grass as she sought to get out, get away, and get to Madoka.
It was an hour later when she arrived at their apartment, shivering from the snow that had begun to fall and collect in her hair. She knocked tentatively at the door, praying for solace in this place.
The door opened and Homura was unsure what to feel, because while this was Madoka, this was not a person Homura knew. Her eyes had dark rings under them and her cheeks were chubbier than they had been. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. She was rocking a baby boy one hip.
Homura didn't know what to say.
Madoka did; "Homura? What are you doing here?" She asked, eying Homura up and down, taking in her shivering form.
"I- I had to see you. What on earth is going on?"
Madoka's eyes turned hard, "'What's going on?' she asks. Well it looks pretty damn obvious to me. You came straight here from your wedding to rub it in my face. Where's your precious Gretchen then, is she waiting in the hall, ready to burst out and say 'Hi'?"
Homura had no idea where th bitterness had come from, and her confused mind was threatening to overwhelm her. "No- I- I mean, we didn't…"
"So what? You expect me to just drop everything to welcome you back with open arms? Well I can't. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little busy. And you know what, why should I? You broke my heart when you left. 'Move on,' you said. So this is me, moved on." She moved to shut the door.
She couldn't stop the desperate exclamation "Please Madoka! I need you!"
Madoka's eyes took on a look of sadness, before smiling ruefully out at her, "I used to too. Goodbye Homura-chan."
The door clicked shut, leaving Homura shivering in the hallway. Numbly, she made it down the stairs and onto the street, before collapsing into a bus shelter.
No longer able to stop the roiling mass of emotions inside her, Homura did what she hadn't done in a long time. She pulled her legs up to her chest and cried and cried and cried.