I don't own any characters :(

We dropped our backpacks down onto the ground, coming off of the ladder. Then, suddenly, Homura tensed and grabbed my hand, pulling me close and slightly behind her.

"Homura...chan?"

"Ssshhh!"

I flinched. Homura hadn't been this serious since before Walpurgisnacht. She took out a pistol from her backpack; one of the few weapons she had left that wasn't stuck in the shield. Something had caught her attention that I hadn't noticed, and I instinctively stood behind her. She slowly stepped forward, holding the gun in front of her. Then, she stopped, six feet from the door, and called out toward it.

"Who's there? Come out of that room with your hands above your head. I have a gun."

"Don't shoot! We're coming out."

A middle-aged couple walked out of the the room. A slight gasp escaped Homura, and her arms wavered. Then, she lowered her gun. The couple stared at us, two teenagers with a gun, wide-eyed. Homura turned and stowed the pistol back in her backpack, speaking as she did so.

"Mother. Father."

Her voice held an edge of bitterness to it. The couple seemed not to notice as they lowered their arms. These were Homura's parents? Then again, she never did talk to anyone about her family.

"Homura..?" the woman said tentatively.

"Yes, mother. Don't recognise your own daughter?"

Every word Homura spat was laced with venom, something I had never seen from her in the past. She was always so calm and collected.

"We were so worried about you when we heard what happened in Mitakihara! And then the storm showed up here. Thank goodness you're okay!"

Homura gave her parents a long, hard stare. One which unsettled her father.

"You've changed," he noted.

"NO SHIT I'VE CHANGED! IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!" Homura shrieked at the top of her lungs. I shrunk further behind her, alarmed at her loss of control. This was unlike the Homura I know. She gave no chance for her parents to respond.

"YOU TWO JUST DITCHED ME IN MITAKIHARA! ALL BECAUSE OF MY HEART CONDITION! YOU LEFT ME TO DIE ALONE! I NEVER EVEN MATTERED TO YOU, AS LONG AS I WAS FAR AWAY FROM YOUR WORK! YOU TWO NEVER EVEN CARED FOR ME!"

"Homura, we-"

"No," she said through clenched teeth, reining in her anger. "I don't want to hear it. You two never even called or visited when I was in the hospital, and you two sure as shit didn't even call while I was living alone. What did it take for you to start caring about me? This? The destruction of the entire world?"

"Homura-chan…" I whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder. She ignored me. She has never ignored me before.

"Do you want to know who really cares about me first? Not you two. My closest friend. She saved me from committing suicide. I felt so sick of myself when you two sent me to Mitakihara. I was unwanted. Useless. I felt like trash. But she came along and helped me pick myself up."

Her mother was beginning to step backwards. Her father, on the other hand, looked angry.

"Now listen here, Homura. You can't just-"

"Did you two ever love me? At all? Can you honestly say that? I can't imagine that you two had ever put me before your precious work of running a company," Homura continued. Her voice shook a little, but she continued nonetheless. "Do you know why I've changed, father? Because you two forced me to. Admit it. I was never a daughter to you. Just a burden, which you tossed aside into another city to live alone. You two wanted a son to carry on your company, and I could never fill that spot. No, not me, little me with my frail body and my frail heart. Would you have even noticed I was missing if I did jump off that bridge? No? I was almost done with myself after the first day of school."

Homura's breath hitched, and she breathed rapidly in anger. I tried again, placing my hand on her shoulder. This time, she looked at me. I recoiled. Tears streaked down her face. For the first time I could recall, she looked upset. I gave her a small smile.

"Homura-chan… that's enough…"

She stared at into my eyes with her own. Then, she turned, swung her bag over her shoulder and climbing up the ladder. Awkwardly, I bowed apologetically to her parents, then picked up my backpack and climbed up after her. Her parents stood stock-still in the hallway.

"Wait up! Homura-chan, wait up!"

Homura hadn't waited for me to climb up after her. Instead, she had stormed off to the road on the left leaving me struggling to catch up. It didn't help that I'm shorter than her. Finally, her pace slowed and I caught up, falling into step beside her. She said nothing. The sky was dark now, and we entered the ruins of an abandoned building for the night. She took off her bag and threw it into a corner, hard. Then she took off her ring, tossing it carelessly onto a table nearby, then sank into a sitting position in a corner. The ring turned back into its regular egg-shape, and I was alarmed to see that there was more murky black than bright purple.

Taking the Soul Gem into my hand, I placed it down beside Homura. Then I went over to her backpack, placing it onto a table and digging through the contents until I found a small black sphere. I took her hand and placed the grief seed on her palm. She looked up, tears still brimming in her eyes. Then, she tossed the seed away. I shook my head.

"That's no good, Homura-chan. I get that you're angry, but you have to take care of yourself."

Her body began to shook, and fresh tears began to fall. I was at a loss. She'd never shown so much emotion before. I walked over and picked up the grief seed, pressing it against her Soul Gem. The murkiness floated over to the seed, and the gem began to shine again. I gave the Soul Gem to her. It morphed back into a ring and Homura slid it onto her finger. I wrapped her in a hug, patting her back.

"It's okay, Homura-chan. Everything's going to be alright."

"R-right," she choked back, sniffling.

I pulled back from the hug, shifting so I could sit down next to her. The night passed slowly, with long hours dragging out. At some point in the night, she fell asleep against my shoulder. I found myself unable to sleep. For the first time since Mitakihara, I felt warm. I looked down at her face. She puts so much burden on herself…

When morning rolled around, I was awoken to Homura shaking me lightly. Her mask was back on. We packed up our stuff in silence, but then before we left the building, Homura turned to face me. She was smiling at me.

"Thank you, Madoka."

Then we set out. At first, I wondered if Homura would go back to her parents but she turned the opposite way. We spent a few hours scavenging what we could from some stores. It felt wrong, but I guess money has no value when everything's in chaos. As we searched through an abandoned convenience store, Homura broke the silence.

"The magic is gone. I don't know if they're nearby, but they're not fighting anymore. Still, we should get away from here quickly."

"What about your parents?" I asked.

Her eyes narrowed. "What about them?"

"You're just going to leave without saying goodbye? I get that you're angry, but still...they're your parents…"

"Madoka… I'm a Puella Magi. I'm not human anymore, and I gave up any human ties I had when I made the contract. They were my parents, but I'm not their daughter."

"But…"

I trailed off. I couldn't force Homura to do anything she didn't want to. I decided to relent.

"Okay then. Where are we going next?"

"We have all the time in the world now. It's not like anywhere we go will be any different. Ironic that I can say that about time when I don't have my shield. You choose."

She grimaced as she reminded herself of the loss of her power. I thought about it. Not many ideas came, but…

"What about Kyoto? It's kind of late to be seeing places since everything's gone, but… I always did want to see it when I was older."

"Kyoto it is, then," she replied.

The night was bitterly cold. I shivered, even with a second jacket on. Homura had given me hers, saying she could use magic to block out the cold. I hope she wasn't lying about that, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. We managed to find more supplies before leaving Tokyo. I made her eat with me, telling her she couldn't just stop eating forever. Despite what she said, she was still a human too.

Unable to sleep, I got up off the dying grass and sat next to Homura, who was staring at the cloudy sky. If she noticed me, she said nothing. I looked up at the sky with her. Nearly a month, and not once had the sky been clear since that day. In a way, it made sense. Nothing would ever be the same, so why would the sky go back to the way it was before?

"Do you think we'll ever see the blue sky again?" Homura asked, as if she heard my thoughts. The question itself was uncharacteristic of her.

"Do you want me to be honest?" I said. She nodded. "No. Not really. Everything's changed. No one was ready for this, I don't think. If anything, it's a new dark age. Walpurgis is still out there somewhere, right?"

She sighed. "Yeah."

We weren't that far from Tokyo, actually. Maybe a three hour walk? I don't know. Faint tear tracks were still visible on Homura's face, and I felt bad. I missed my family, but I hadn't even thought that Homura might be hurting inside too.

"How many people do you think survived Walpurgis?"

"Close to none. I've fought it countless times, and it's never been this powerful," she said. She didn't bother looking at me when I asked. It was as if she was searching for something in the sky, something only she could see.

"Say, Madoka. What do you think of me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I've done...terrible things. I've killed other Puella Magi before. I've left people to die to witches. Aren't you...disgusted with me?"

I shook my head.

"Someone once told me that the only ones who can judge Puella Magi are other Puella Magi. I don't understand a lot of things you do, but I'm sure you had your reasons."

"I see…Sorry. That was probably too sudden. You've only known me for two months now."

I said nothing. I knew what she meant with that last statement. For some reason, she liked me. I don't understand what she sees in me, but then again, she's met me several times. The question was, how did I feel about her? What do I say when she finally approached the topic?

We spent the next few hours staring up at the sky in silence. Not a single star was to be found. I wondered if people would ever recover from this, and if I would be around to see it. Somehow, I doubted that. Maybe Homura and I would just spend the rest of our lives wandering together. That didn't sound too bad, given the situation we were in. Then again, she needed grief seeds. The ones she carries now won't last forever, and she can't fight anymore. It must be hard for her.

A flash of purple light broke me out of my thoughts. Homura was standing in front of me, transformed. The shield was noticeably missing from her arm.

"Puella Magi. Close by. Two of them. Stay behind me."

"Homura-chan, your shield…"

"I know. I can't fight, but I will if I have to."

A minute passed, then two. Nothing happened. Then three. Homura continued to look around. Four. Five.

Finally, she relaxed and sat back down, reverting to her regular clothes with another flash of purple light.

"They're gone. I guess they weren't the type to pick a fight."

Morning came too soon after that, and the two of us began walking toward Kyoto again. I hoped that we wouldn't run into trouble along the way.

A/N:

I LIED ABOUT THE TWO WEEKS AHAHAHHA. Just kidding, not really. I just felt really inspired for this chapter and the next, so I wrote them early. Hope you guys enjoy!