I blinked! Blinked I say!

I lost the chance to see the stars, and not the fake kind special effects produce. No, the real stars; the stars that humans only see when they're in a deep slumber. I recognized this lost opportunity when I gazed into the eyes of my step-broth- Wait. Should I recap?

Nah.

I didn't have to look around to know I was in my old room, my old room that had no trace of dust or slime, only clothes and eraser shavings. It was obvious (at least to me) that I had traveled through time to the past. What else should one expect when a God of Light touches a time sword? Time travel, duh.

I remember thinking that Piko was a total idiot. I felt flustered. I believed he would take me back to the time that I quit being a magical girl or a few minutes before his physical body was killed on Earth, maybe even the day I was given my broach. He didn't pick any of those options. He decided to transport me to the day he and his father had moved into my home. A year before me, my good friend since Elementary school, and the problem child of the school were thrust a super hero like responsibility in the form of girly clothes and cheap magic tricks.

"Uh…Lily? Are you okay?"

I know I wasn't staring at him too long, which was why I knew my face was betraying my thoughts as it had done so many times in the past. Then I remembered the 'all-knowing' law that governed Piko since he came into existence. He was just feigning concern because he thought it was funny or wanted to push my buttons, or so I had thought. I still think that, and I justify what I did next with a 'he deserved it' because he did. He so had it coming. I know that sounds messed up, but that's because you have no idea what this guy put me through. I bet you're even more confused. A lot of people think that you can't love someone you hate, but I beg to differ.

Piko always made me feel too many emotions at once.

I'm not too proud to admit I lost it back there, but I'll admit it. Rage had topped all the emotions I had felt. It made me –Well, no…Emotions can't make you do things, only you can make yourself…then again…

Whatever! Point is he didn't get to finish his stupid rhetorical question because I had my fingers around his throat and pinned him to the wall. I was being reckless then, messing with a god who could erase me from existence by just thinking it. I didn't care back then if he did. I thought 'after everything, I don't think I'd mind not existing'. Yeah, I know that's pretty dark but it's what I felt and I'm pretty sure even the peppiest person has a dark thought worming in their head.

I was being stupid but I was smart at the same time. I had closed the door of my room with my foot. I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if my mom had come into the room to check up on me and saw what I was doing to my new 'brother'. She probably would have beat me up. I wouldn't put it past that mad woman.

"Listen up, Piko. You have some nerve, getting my mom to fall for a puppet so you could worm your way into my life!"

There! You see one of the many reasons why I hate him? What sort of jerk takes advantage of a lonely woman to get to someone else? Piko, that's who. You can't imagine how furious I was when I found out what my step-dad was. Just thinking about that day adds fuel to the fire.

The spark of fake fear in his eyes was gone as quickly as it came. He wore millions of masks throughout his life, up till the point I bet he couldn't tell what he really felt. My hand lost some of its strength when I saw the facial feature he rarely wore. He looked tired.

It was like looking into a mirror from the day I lost…

..

.

I'm sorry. Where was I? Ah, yeah. I remember holding back my tears when I saw that face. Not because of sad memories or any such thing. It's because I was mad. Yeah…I cry when I get mad. I know, that's super odd but it's just how I work. I hate that I do that and back then I hated it even more.

"I swear, if you let Miki in my arms I will stab you again just to come back so I can stab you some more. I may love you but that doesn't mean I don't hate you for letting my best friend die!"

I wish I had sounded as fluent then as I do now. When I was threatening him I was sobbing by the end. There I was: the strong, rebellious Lily reduced to a crying mess. All those times I imagine telling him this I thought I was going to talk calmly and intimidate him with the fury I had held inside for so long. Instead I couldn't hold in my stupid emotions.

I remember Luka telling me once that people who cry in front of others are stronger than the people who hold in their tears. I didn't believe her when she said that and I didn't then.

I guess I should tell you what happened. Well…The period of time where I was strangling Piko was around the time past me was going to start my last year of middle school. It was senior year of high school where Piko dealt me the biggest stab in the back I had ever seen anyone ever do. My best friend, SF-A2 who I named Miki, was the 'twintails' of my group. Instead of being a time traveler she was an alien who mess up and made a tear in space where the monsters crawled out of, said tear was located in the heart of my old high school.

Miki was the one who gave me my star broach along with Luka and Meiko's items. Miki was the one who trained us to get to the level of power we reached. She was the one who messed us up by trying to help in the wrong time or in the wrong way. She always fixed her mistakes though. She was strong, resourceful, and was always there for me when I couldn't be for myself. She may have come off as a tsundere who tried to be tough but in the end I was the one who needed a patient person by my side, not her, and she was just that. I loved that girl more than anything and I couldn't do anything but watch as she was killed in front of me.

I can't even remember the name of that final boss, I just remember how empty he looked when he ripped out Miki's heart and brain from her body and swallowed both parts in one gulp.

It's funny. Back when it happened I didn't stare in horror or scream or thrashed at his body like a psycho. I puked on the back of a monster I had put in a chokehold. I puked every time I remembered the blood and her face and the way that….that thing's mouth expanded like some sort of black hole when it sucked Miki's vital organs in. I still feel like puking when I think about it. Luka and Meiko did better than I in holding their lunch though. They froze in a bloody horror reaction I didn't.

Piko came right after and killed all the monsters we were fighting with a flash of light. He only left me, my friends, and a corpse behind.

I…

It grieved a lot back then. I became a shut-in. I didn't go to school, barely ate, and no one understood what was wrong with me because they all forgot her! Everyone forgot Miki because of…of him. It took me almost a month to figure out that Miki could have lived, that Piko could have come to us minutes before and saved her.

That's why I quit. I refused to aid a person who was just as much a beast as the monsters I fought.

…So, where was I again? Oh yeah. Piko put his hand on my shoulder. My body felt weaker when he did that, which makes sense considering the power he has. My hands fell from his throat and he caught me before I fell to the floor. Piko may be half a head shorter than me but he's stronger than he looks, and when you look into his eyes and he actually lets you see him, the real him, you can see just how ancient he really is. I saw then, along with that spark he gets whenever he sees me. That was when I realized why he sent me back to that time; it was where he first became infatuated with me.

I wanted to punch him in the nose when I realized that.

He only looked at me. He didn't stroke my cheek or kiss me like actors do when they have such an indescribable look in the movies. It just showed his age. It made all my fury, sadness, and feelings go away until I only could think: 'what did he go through to make him this way?'

"I can't change what's meant to happen. I can-" Were the last words I heard him say before I fainted. Pathetic, I know.

When I woke up I was still in my bedroom, the only difference being Piko was gone and I was back to my present with dust getting caught on my clothes. My first reaction was to touch my hip to see if my star broach was there, which it wasn't. I would have cried then but, and I know this is going to sound weird considering it was the emotion that fueled my entire day; I wasn't mad. Exasperated yes, but more confused than anything. I thought that with my threat everything would end. Piko would realize what I felt and done as I wished he would have done that day.

I laughed, watching dust particles float in the air. I guess my anger clouded my judgment; there's no way Piko could change a timeline, he had said so himself.

I felt like such a fool, thinking I'd be able to make a difference. All I did was get transported back to step two. I was no different from the naïve teenager who thought that she and her friends would be together forever.

I stayed there, just staring at my ceiling for a while until I realized mulling over the mistakes of my magical life wasn't going to do squat except soil my already dirty clothes and sink me into another fit of depression.

I walked out of my old room, down the hall, and closed the door of my old house behind me. There were monsters rampaging all around my old neighborhood. I should have expected it considering nothing changed, but it still exhausted me physically and emotionally to see them. I almost screamed from how tired of it all I was until I saw something, or rather…someone.

There was a lot of dark aura hanging in the air. Level bad boss kind. It was a girl who had such a menacing aura around her. I can clearly remember what she was wearing. It was a black swimsuit with black stockings, pink heals, and black headphones with white stars on them. She had a black tail with a heart tip and big bat wings hanging on her back. Her hair was a shade of pink I can't classify and she was flashing me a fang-toothed smile that showed both cockiness and happiness, or so I like to believe.

I was frozen in place. Of all the emotions I felt then, the one that shone above the rest was wonder.

"Long time no see, Lily."

It was Miki.

…

Hehe. I still can't believe it and I saw it with my own eyes.

Do you think she said hi to me and hugged me? Cried? I wish. Even if the clues aren't enough to make you figure out what she was, it wasn't like the Miki I knew would openly show affection so easily. Miki was a great girl but she was far from the affectionate type.

She aimed a fancy black gun with stars on it at me and shot. The bullet would have hit me had someone not pushed me out of the way. My brave, dashing hero was none other than the cat wannabe, the girl that should have inherited my powers if I wasn't such a bitter girl who clung to the last piece of a not dead friend.

It all made sense.

Who am I kidding? I was more lost than ever. Back then and even now.

I guess Piko was right when he told me that I couldn't quit being a magical girl.

Wait…I think now is when I should properly introduce myself.

My name is Lily, I'm twenty two years old, my old bed is the portal to the netherworld, my 'step-brother' is the essence of light, my old gal pals are regular women with no memories of their magical past lives, my ex-boyfriend is a dark lord, and my best friend who I've mourned over for years turned out to be alive and a part of the dark side.

Did you get all that? I know, crazy, right? Now where was I…?

Cat wannabe grabbed my arm. She tried to pull me away from the scene even though she could fight the monsters and defend the both of us with her newly given powers.

Oh, wait! I did forget something in my introduction…

And I'm a magical woman, not girl. I'm too old to be considered that anymore.

My star broach, which was placed on her necktie, shined. It turned back to the rich gold it once was, and let me tell you that the new owner of said broach looked like a gapping fish when she saw it change. I would have laughed if I didn't feel so…so…

Alive.

It had been long, far too long since I felt like that.

I ripped the broach from her tie, which now that I think about it was a bit messed up, but hey, I was too happy to care and she probably had a bunch of them in her closet. Did it really matter? I'll answer that; no, it did not. So I pulled cat girl close to me and placed the star broach in between the side of our heads, right where my left and her right ear were.

I should have given her all the power. That would have been the right thing to do. I know I was being selfish but can you blame me? Besides, there was no way she could beat Miki alone being a total noob like she was, so merging with her was the obvious solution to our predicament. Brilliant idea if you ask me, and no, I'm not being sarcastic even if I sound like I am.

My name is SeeU. I wanted and ought to be a magical girl and now that I am I wonder if it's truly worth it.

I charged at the newest evil boss with legs that weren't under my control. A part of me is scared silly while another part of me is the happiest she has ever been in a long time.

A/ n:

I should have mentioned that there might be some grammar mistakes because most people don't speak with proper grammar. Guess now is better than never. As for the ending, I just couldn't omit that SeeU snippet from the rough draft of the story. And that's the end! I hope you have enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Take care and till next time :)