Disclaimer: Puella Magi Madoka Magica is owned by SHAFT and Aniplex. If desired by them this story will be removed.
Madoka ran through the dream again. Twisted walls and broken skies familiar, in a way. She was at the battle sooner than her last dream. Perhaps she knew the way? Homura slammed into a wall, her bones shattered, but still she fought. A scream and she flew off, a future already decided, a fate cast in stone. A fight Homura had to win and already lost.
Madoka watched helplessly. Her twin there as well. For all her dark half's powers there was nothing she could do either. The battle was won, victory at terrible cost. Hope at long last. The Madoka in black managed a step this time. Hesitant and painful; after a moment another was ventured. Her eyes watered up, but she continued anyway. The agony was unbearable. She whispered something, too low to catch.
She woke up.
A fleeting memory of something that did not happen. Her heart felt like racing, but she was calm. What was real? What was dream? What hadn't happened yet?
Good morning!
It was a moment before she realized that the greeting didn't come from her family at all.
Homura leaned over her table, her breathing ragged. It felt like her stomach had dissolved, acid devouring her insides. All the pain and suffering for nothing. An emptiness cored through her. Tears would not fall, not yet. She tired thinking of things to do. To keep herself occupied. Nothing came. Her whole being had been wound up around Madoka. Now, without that goal she was nothing. The life she had before meeting Madoka was a distant memory. Homura didn't know how to be that girl anymore.
No more twisting back to fix things again. No more one more time. Everything solved. Everything taken care of. Nothing to do but wait. Time was not kind to her. A million things undone, countless words never said. An infinity, unknown and unthinkable, before her.
It took effort to eat. More to keep it down. She looked at her soul gem, darker than it should be. She grasped one of her many grief seeds and purged it. She could stay in her room and not leave and still save Madoka. Her victory, her failure.
You have to take us back with you!
She ran into her bathroom to throw up.
Mami's hands shook. The excitement raced through her. Friends! Two new friends! Two friends who could talk with her! No no no, have to be calm. I'm their senior. I need to be dignified. At least until they leave.
Mami carried out the little pastries. It was a quick job. She hoped they were good. Her nerves danced in her skin. She was trying to hard and she knew it. Months had gone by without a night like this. She'd saved two of her fellow students and both could make a wish! A lightness sprung in her heart. Someone to confide in, someone to teach and talk with. Madoka and Sayaka beamed as they looked around her apartment. This was like a movie to them. Everything about Mami's life was a fairytale they could join with a wish.
All that was left was to find the words.
Homura walked to the pair. Sayaka jumped up at her approach. Madoka rose slowly, waiting to see what Homura would do. Too many times this scene had repeated. Homura knew exactly what would be said. She knew what would be done. Nothing would change. Still she was here.
It was like she had trod this way so many times her feet were stuck in the path. Helpless to affect her own fate as she had Madoka's. She knew what she needed to say. Another chance to get it over with. Already she was making excuses. Mami was watching, there would be a fight. It would cause too many problems. She'd have to face herself.
If Homura did nothing this meeting with her once-friends would be as pointless as it had always been. Shattered promises and broken hopes lacerated her insides. Her fingers grew numb. She knew that the terrible reality was forcing her away from what she should do. Some part of her knew that she would flee again. But still she was there.
Sayaka glanced to the side quickly. She could see Mami watching from the tower across the street. It made her feel a little better. Homura walked slowly to the pair. She looked no better than the first day of school. Her eyes were bloodshot. If sleep was a part of her life out was not much of a friend. The weary girl tried to find the right words. Words she had been searching for longer than she could remember. She stopped just before them, hoping to make everything alright. She knew she couldn't. Sayaka jumped in first.
"Come to finish the job?" The would-be knight snarled at Homura. The pale girl took a moment to answer. Once she was, not friendly with the girl, but able to stand in the same room without being glared at. As much trouble as Sayaka had for Homura she could never bring herself to hate her. She'd seen the depths the girl could sink to. Depths that horrified even Kyouko.
"No, I have done what I needed to." She blinked heavily. Homura was so tired. She hadn't slept in over a day. "Madoka won't contract. That's all that matters." Sayaka glared at her. She had no idea what this new girl planned, but it couldn't be good. Was she going to hurt Madoka? Something worse?
Madoka jumped between the two. She knew Sayaka enough to stop her from doing something she'd regret later. That Homura was a Puella Magi she didn't look like she was capable of defending herself. Sayaka grumbled but said nothing more. The sudden movement was enough to make Homura back away. Only her promise to get it over with held her there. Madoka made the attempt to reconcile the two. Maybe if Sayaka knew why Homura became a Puella Magi?
"Homura, what did you wish for?" Inwardly the broken Puella Magi flinched. Before Homura could never answer her friend's question. Now, what did it matter? She held onto the chain-link fence. She felt so hollow. The words came without any force.
"I made a wish to save you." The last ethereal barrier punctured, the words gently flowed without order and importance. "I watched you die and I wanted to save you and I didn't." Her hands shook. Pain, loss, memories, too much for the young girl. She stopped. The wound too unhealed to pick at it further.
Sayaka glared at her. She was nuts as well. She carefully watched for any quick movement. Madoka didn't understand that some people were just bad. This Homura was one of them. Homura averted her eyes. More proof. Madoka pursed her lips and tired to think of something supportive to say. The poor girl had obviously been through a lot.
Homura leaned into the chains. The words were there, things she said before, behind a veil she could not pierce. Hopes that were pointless to let out. Weariness stripped away the muscles on her arms. She was so tired. Homura closed her eyes. And saw Madoka's. She jumped upright.
"You-you don't need to worry about anything. I'll take care of it." And she fled.
Madoka watched the poor girl flee. in her heart. She was obviously unwell. The last glimpse of Homura's shattered eyes remained with the kind-hearted girl. Madoka's thoughts swirled around. Darkness and light. Things missing in the picture.
The three walked side by side, Sayaka awaiting her chance to fight, Mami to impress her new friends and Madoka afraid. Green hills and yellow houses passed by. Mami kept her soul gem out, checking where her wrist had run. A building ahead, under construction. Perfect, there would be no one around. Her prediction turned wrong. A woman leaned on the frame. She wore a plain businesswoman's suit. She seemed disoriented. Her eyes didn't track the three that approached. Mami quick-stepped to the disheveled woman.
"Good afternoon! Are feeling okay?" The woman blinked a couple of times before responding.
"Oh I'm fine. I just got a little dizzy that's all." She wobbled a bit before leaning on the building. "A nice little girl said to stay out of the place." An empty smile crossed her face. She wasn't really looking at them. Mami returned her smile.
"That's a good idea, better stay outside." A brief nod and the three girls walking inside. Mami strode forth, a serious look on her face.
"She had been Kissed. A witch can make people do things. I don't know why Homura would help." Mami summoned her dress and gun. That healing would have cost her much. They might catch up. The lonely girl knew too many selfish Puella Magi. She couldn't imagine why one would just save someone for no gain.
Homura had been systematic. Every familiar was cut down. Burns and holes riddled the distorted walls. It was a terrifying reminder of the strange girl's power. Sayaka and Mami readied themselves, but there was no fight. The witch's minions were broken, too scared to challenge the new invaders. Too frightened to aid their master. Sayaka's eyes darted around, hoping to find some evil to defeat so she could impress Mami. She looked in vain. Madoka walked silently with them, wondering if this felt familiar, or if she imagined it.
The center of the witch's maze unfolded before the three. The battle was over. Homura moved with terrible speed. The nightmare couldn't catch her. A bright lance of fire slammed into the monster with every missed pass. Madoka shivered. Something was wrong. The witch screamed in agony. She flinched, Mami told her that witches were pure evil; but there was a hope in her mind that things could be different.
Light. An explosion. The witch was no more. Heat blow over the three. Sayaka winched, a brief fear about the strange girl and what she could do. The would-be hero timidly looked back to the carnage. Mami stood unfazed. She stared at Homura. The other didn't seem to notice her audience. Homura walked to the remains of the horror. Pieces of madness fell down. The real world crushing out the witch's realm. Homura picked something up from the ground. With a brief look, throw it at the group.
It was too fast for Mami's eyes. It looked like a grenade. She jumped in front of her new friends. She would save them, even at the cost of her own life! It was too close. Her hands outstretched, the bomb meters away. How much time before it exploded, how far could she get it away? Impact. She felt the pin of a Grief Seed. It was a few moments before she calmed down enough. A final glance at Homura. She was already leaving, gunning down the last few familiars on her way.