Here we are. The final chapter. This story- and my peace of mind...can finally rest. Regardless of whether the majority saw this as good or bad...I'm proud of this fic.

Anyways. Let's finish this off.

Epilogue
A Girl's Hope

The once quiet classroom was abuzz with activity as a middle-aged woman paced about, near-yelling at the top of her lungs on a random tangent. The students, half expecting such a reaction, were used to the sudden outburst from their teacher, but were still stunned into silence nonetheless.

Stopping her tirade, Kazuko slammed her ruler onto the desk, her eyes ablaze.

"Boys! You remember today's lesson, don't you?"

Several shaking hands immediately shot into the air, and a chorus of 'Yes ma'am?' was heard throughout the room. The girls were chuckling slightly, but their mirth was short lived as their slightly-insane sensei turned upon them.

"And girls! Should you ever be convinced by your man that laundry is only to be done twice a week, as opposed to three times, get out of there! Just leave that relationship immediately! Am I understood?"

Another chorus of panicked agreement rang through the room. Nodding affirmatively, Kazuko smiled. "Then that will do it for today's lesson. Class dismissed!"

As the students slowly began filing out of the room, Kazuko looked around at her students. Madoka, Sayaka, and Homura were absent again, and she was having a hard time leaving their lack of presence unpunished. Almost as an afterthought, she looked around quickly, catching the glance of an olive-haired girl.

"Hitomi!" Kazuko called out. "May I speak with you a moment?"

"Yes ma'am." Hitomi replied, picking up her bag. Excusing herself from the small group that had crowded around her, Hitomi bowed slightly to Kazuko. "What can I do for you?"

"Have you seen your friends lately? Their absences have been...noticeable, and-"

"Oh!" Hitomi cut in. "Sayaka's been having appointments for some therapy. Madoka went with her because she was nervous. I thought they left you a note?"

Kazuko looked confused. Didn't Sayaka adamantly refuse the treatment? "No...I received no such note."

"Huh..." Hitomi paused, thoughtful. "Well, that's where they are. Homura was requested to be there as well, though I'm not sure why."

"I see..." Kazuko said, digesting the information. "Alright. That is all, Hitomi."

"Okay!"

Without another word, Hitomi exited the classroom, leaving a befuddled Kazuko staring after her.

Once she was safely out of sight from her teacher, Hitomi set her bag down by her locker and closed her eyes. Immediately, the familiar telepathic link opened, and she heard the scattered voices of girls echoing in her head.

Tentatively, she reached out. "Hello?"

"Ah, Hitomi!" Kyouko's voice came through, loud and brash as always. "Finally get that teacher off your back?"

"Yeah. But she's starting to get suspicious. You guys need to start coming soon, you know that? I can't cover for your daytime demon hunts for much longer."

"We know, Hiotmi." Homura replied. "With any luck they'll stop their daytime appearances once we've whittled down enough of them. It's a never ending battle, but..."

"I know. Just do your best." Hitomi thought back. With that, she closed the link, picking up her bag once more and starting towards the exit.

Wondering just how she would cover for the girls tomorrow.

Exhausted, grumpy, and slightly inebriated, Junko Kaname clumsily unlocked the door to the house, stepping into the cool air conditioning. The immediate onslaught of cold air only seemed to worsen her headache, eliciting a small moan of pain from the woman.

Making her way to the kitchen, Junko tossed open the fridge door and grabbed a bottle of sake, clumsily pouring a glass for herself. Drinking never helped a headache, but after the day she had with corporate executives and bureaucratic bullshit, she needed it.

With a great sigh, Junko flopped into a kitchen chair, downing half the sake in the glass in one gulp. Idly, she twirled the remainder of the liquid, wondering just how she was going to get back at her boss for-

Junko paused. On the table was a small white note, written hastily in pink markings. Lifting the note closer to her face, she squinted, trying to make out the words...

Mama...

I'm at Hitomi's house again. Sayaka wanted me to be there. Sorry!

~Madoka

"Brat finally knows how to spend time with her friends..." Junko muttered to herself, smirking.

Kicking back onto two legs of the chair, she began idly twirling the sake glass once more.

"Still need to have a drink with that girl..."

The final rays of sunlight cast their waning glow over the city of Miktaihara. Even in the evening glow, the city began to light up as the darkness around them closed in. Clubs opened their doors for the people's enjoyment, and city skyscrapers with their lights still on towered above like a massive beehive. The suburban districts were mere motes of light, but gave off enough to twinkle like a holiday tree in the vast night sky.

Atop one of the highest buildings, an accounting office in the financial district, four girls dangled their legs over the rooftop, swinging them nonchalantly. The spoils from their recent hunt lay in a neat pile. Under any normal circumstances, they would have been used to drain the grief from their Soul Gems to restore their magical integrity.

Thankfully, that system was no longer in play.

Behind the girls, a small white construct materialized, his green eyes scanning the Soul Gems laying about. "I'm guessing the fight went well?"

One of the girls, a redhead, turned around, a too-wide grin on her face. "You're damn right it did! Those bastards can't move for shit, right guys!"

"Cool it, Kyouko." The blue haired girl replied, chuckling. "This is coming from the girl that tried to take on five at once, after all!"

"I would have handled it!" Kyokuo retorted. Then, her voice lower, "If you hadn't come charging in like a damn hero..."

Sayaka merely chuckled. "Whatever suits your fancy, spear-head." Glancing at the person next to her, Sayaka grasped the pink haired girl's hand tightly, relaxing slightly as she did so. "I'm just glad we got out alive. That's all that matters to me."

"Yeah..." Madoka replied, nestling into Sayaka's side. "As long as we're doing something useful."

Kyouko watched the two with a silly look plastered on her face. She casually stuck out her tongue at the couple. "Geez, you two, get a room already! I think I'm gonna be sick..."

Madoka playfully stuck her tongue out back at Kyouko. "It's not like we're doing anything bad!"

The conversation dissolved into a tirade of playful insults, Kyouko quickly going on the defensive when Madoka brought up how she was still single after so long. It was several minutes before the redhead finally resigned, grumbling to herself in mock annoyance, but still with a smile on her face.

Kyubey chuckled at the girls antics, his ears twitching in amusement.

"Sometimes I wonder if it really is useful..."

All three girls plus the construct turned at the new voice, Kyouko looking at the owner of it with a perplexed look. "We're killing demons. That's useful, no?"

"We're killing demons, but using our magic only creates more." Homura replied, her voice sullen. "Our grief is no longer contained within the gem, true...but for every demon we defeat, another will take its place." She held up her Soul Gem, shining bright considering their near-constant battling. "We may live, but as long as we live, our grief will create more demons."

She sighed, her eyes downcast. "It's tiresome. Nothing but a stupid, never-ending cycle."

Kyouko moved to Homura's side and set a hand on her shoulder, a comforting gesture the time-warper seemed to appreciate, if only slightly.

"This system is better though...right?" Kyubey asked hesitantly. "I know its not much better, but it's the most I was able to do-"

"It's not right, no."

Kyubey's face between sullen, guilt apparent in his eyes. "Homura..."

"Don't say it." Homura retorted.

Kyubey winced, but nodded.

"I know...I know you're sorry." Homura said, surprising Kyubey. "And I also know that being sorry can't bring back the people that already died. What you did was callous and stupid, and nearly destroyed humanity as a whole."

Kyubey nodded once again, his eyes downcast.

"But..." Homura looked up, a small smile on her lips. "That doesn't mean you couldn't change. Even if it did take a completely illogical wish."

"Homura..."

"Maybe this isn't the best system. Maybe we'll be stuck fighting for the rest of our lives. But..." Homura smiled, and did something the construct did not expect, and patted him on the head.

"I'm glad you finally understand, Kyubey. I'm glad you're around."

Kyubey smiled, closing his eyes. "Thank you, Homura."

Before she could reply, a scream echoed through the city, followed quickly by several more, equally as intense. The sound was inhuman, grotesque, and filled with pain and sorrow.

"Demons" Kyubey declared, racing up to Homura's shoulder. "I've never heard them like this. Whatever's going on sure has those beasts in an uproar." Turning his head left and right, he tried to zero in on as many of the creatures as possible. "They just don't stop coming!"

"No sense complaining about it." Homura stated, motioning for the other girls to get ready. The girls picked up the demon cubes and tossed them to the incubator, who quickly retrieved and converted them.

Kyubey looked at the girls, a small frown coming to his face. "Be careful out there...Although I have a feeling you all will be alright."

"You better not expect anything less!" Kyouko retorted, giving a thumbs up.

Sayaka sighed, her and Madoka sitting up together. "Had a feeling our downtime would be pretty short." She stretched, re-grasping Madoka's hand. "Ah well, can't be helped. Ready, Madoka?"

"Ready." Madoka said, smiling all the while.

Kyouko rolled her eyes, materializing her spear as she did so. "Lovebirds..."

The four Magical Girls leapt off the roof of the building, sailing towards the ground at high speed. Lit windows and buildings whizzed by on their descent to the ground.

Madoka and Sayaka landed first, rolling in tandem, their hands still entwined. Kyouko landed next, skidding clumsily from the high fall. Homura followed up afterwords, absorbing the entirety of the impact with fluid ease.

As if on cue, several three-story high monstrosities appeared, covered in black and white robes. Their faces were distorted, with dark cubes swirling around their disfigured heads. The cubes glowed with bright energy, charging up for an attack.

Sayaka immediately readied her sword, releasing Madoka's hand and stepping in front of the group. Madoka materialized several arrows, while Homura pulled from her shield a newly-acquired submachine gun. Kyouko readied herself next to Sayaka, her spear held out in a defensive position.

"You know..." Sayaka said, her eyes shifting to check the movements of the demons. "Despite the fact we're fighting a lot more...this world seems so much safer now."

"It's a world we protected," Madoka said, smiling. "It's a world where our hope has meaning."

"But even so, there can never truly be an end to suffering..." Kyubey mused."Happiness, grief...they will always exist with human emotion. That's simply how things work."

Homura smiled, briefly looking at the Incubator on her shoulder. "I don't think that's so bad." Glancing at everyone, she met their eyes, all full of determination. "After all, giving you emotion worked out in the end, didn't it?"

Kyubey sighed, but smiled all the same. "You're right. You truly are."

Homura released the safety on her submachine gun, aiming it outwards. "Ready?"

Kyouko nodded. Madoka and Sayaka simply smiled.

The demons roared once more, recognizing the presence of the Magical Girls. They began to lumber forward, ready to join in combat.

"There's plenty for all of us, guys." Kyouko said, her eyes twinkling. "May the best redhead win!"

Magical Girl and demonic creature met head on, and the battle was joined.

Story End.

And there we have it. The longest story I've done by far. Thank you to everyone that stuck with this until the end. Looking back, there are a lot, and I mean a lot of things I want to improve, but...that's for the next story.

As for my next story? Dont' expect to see one of this magnitude for a while. I'm going to probably write the entire thing before posting the first chapter here. It'll be a PMMM/Tales of Symphonia crossover, so its probably going to be a very limited audience, but...meh. Ideas are ideas.

Thank you to everyone that read this. Until next time, take it easy.

~MS