Authors Note: Sorry about the delay, I had a few issues that had prevented me from being able to work on this. But I'm back on this, so no worries. Though, word of advice, the two lovely protagonists are going to have to deal with a new mountain of bullshit now. Also, even though Walpurgisnacht is over, there are still going to be some parallels and references between what happens here and what happened in the show.

On a final note, I am still working on the KyouHomu fic, though I was planning to post the first two chapters last week, delays have destroyed that plan. I'll get it on here eventually.

The next day would find Sayaka on her way to school after what had felt like so long. She had Homura, who had gone out of her way in the morning to meet Sayaka at her door and walk with her, at her side. It felt strange being out in the morning sun, how long had it been since she'd left her house? Only a week but not long enough for everything to have this foreign feel to it. In her heart, she had been looking forward to walking to school with Madoka again. Been hoping to ever since they had stopped after what must have been a little over a month ago.

But now she never would be able to, would she?

"Miki-san?" Homura said, breaking her from her own thoughts. The girls face was scrunched up in concern and worry, so Sayaka put on a fake smile for her. She didn't want Homura to worry over her any more than she already had.

"It's nothing, really," she said, waving it off and quickening her pace a tad. "Come on, I don't want to be late on my first day back."

With that, Sayaka took off with a light jog. Homura watched her go for a few steps before giving a light and small smile, following after with her own steps a little quicker while Sayaka waited ahead of her for the ravenette to catch back up.

The class had been friendly enough in welcoming Sayaka back, careful not to make mention of anything that could upset her. The topic of Madoka was a taboo around her and for the most part, they all seemed to be trying to lighten her spirits, even if by a little.

It seemed that seeing Kyosuke had not only been released from the hospital, but rejoined their class had helped to brighten Sayaka's mood. Having one of her oldest friends with her again could do a lot, especially if said friend was one whom Sayaka had a crush on.

Homura couldn't help but feel a small pang of bitterness and jealousy at this, but had shoved it away. If he made Sayaka happy, then she herself was happy.

Sayaka would continue help Homura out in P.E, beg Hitomi for help on an assignment, and her, Hitomi and Sayaka would eat lunch together again. Though Kyosuke had now joined them, much to the delight of the other two girls and the four of them got along naturally. Homura was actually quite proud of how quickly she and Kamijou had clicked, telling each other stories of their own hospital experiences. 'Oh, God, don't get me started on the dreaded sponge baths!' Kyosuke complained dramatically, earning a laugh from the group.

It seemed like things had become normal again.

Sayaka seemed happier too, emphasis on 'seemed' though. Homura never once failed to notice the occasional melancholy in Sayaka's eyes, the bitter smile she held, or how she would look out with a distant look on her face. She still missed Madoka, and Homura didn't blame her one bit. While she wasn't upset or in a depressive slump anymore, the young girl wasn't truly happy, but she was getting there and Homura would do what she could to help her just as she had promised.

"Goodbye, Shizuki-san, Kamijou-san," Homura said at the end of the day as the four split up to take their own ways home. Well, Kyosuke and Hitomi did, Homura and Sayaka were going to visit the shopping district after Homura 'suggested' that Sayaka spend some time doing something she enjoyed.

While walking down the street, Sayaka with her bag slung over her shoulder, joking about this and that, she paused as though realizing that. "Hey, Homura," she began, catching the dark haired girls attention, "You know, I never did thank you for that CD you got me in Kazamino." To be truthful, she'd never even bothered to give it a care at that time, or even say a word about it, and Sayaka did feel bad for how rude she had been on that subject.

"Oh, it's nothing, really, Miki-san," Homura assured her with a wave of the hand and a faint pink hue to her cheeks, "It was just a...a thank you gift, you know, for the gift you gave me earlier."

"Still," Sayaka said rubbing the back of her neck. Why was Homura back to calling her Miki-san? She didn't like it. "I still want to say thanks."

Homura hummed and opened the door to the music store they always visited, "Well then, you're welcome," this earned a grin as the girl entered, and the two made their way to browse the CDs just like always. Sayaka looking for anything new and Homura looking for anything that might catch her interest before they went to the headsets to listen to the sample music playing that day.

The two did this for the next few hours, visiting their usual places and browsing through the selections. Sayaka sent a quick call home to let her parents know that she wouldn't be back till sometime later as they stopped by a burger joint for a bite to eat.

Though Homura tried to insist that she had enough money on hand to buy her own meal, Sayaka would have none of that and had Homura pick a table for them while she ordered. A few minutes later she would slide into the usual booth and place Homura's usual burger across from her.

She did do one thing different than their normal routine by placing a large milkshake between them with two straws in it.

"I wanted to try it, new flavor and all, and figured it'd be cheaper to just buy one big one to share then two small ones for us," Sayaka explained upon Homura's silent question, taking a bite from her own cheese burger after that as though sharing a shake didn't mean much.

They filled the air after that with idle chitchat. Sayaka asking for copies of Homura's notes over the days she'd missed school, some things they'd seen while shopping. Nothing important and just general carefree talk.

Sometime later, Sayaka had finished her food and the milkshake was half done. Homura had stopped eating hers when a sudden discomfort in her chest came up, It was probably nothing, maybe heartburn, but it made it difficult to eat. "Hey, Miki-san," she began, nudging her unfinished burger away.

"Sayaka."

Blinking curiously, Homura looked up to see Sayaka's gaze boring into her. "W-what?"

"Call me Sayaka, we're friends, aren't we?" she explained as though it were logical, and perhaps it was, "You called me Sayaka before, but now you're back to Miki-san. So come on, Homs."

Homura's face was red in embarrassment as she began stuttering out. Yes, that night she'd comforted Sayaka, she'd called her by the first name, but Homura hadn't really been paying much attention at the time, or had even thought about it. So now, she tried to choke down her nervousness to do what was asked of her, "S-Sa...S-Sayaka."

The smile on her friends face was unimaginably large, pure delight at that one small thing, "See!" Sayaka said, reaching across the table to lightly hit Homura upon the shoulder, "That didn't kill you!"

Homura just gave a weak laugh as she glanced at her watch. "It's getting kind of late, Mi- Sayaka," she said, quickly correcting herself before she could complete the mistake, making a mental note to get used to saying Sayaka instead of Miki-san "We should head home."

Sayaka just gave a disgruntled mutter, the sun was still up yes, but they both had homework they still needed to get done. Sayaka had quite a bit actually compared to Homura, and she wasn't particularly looking forward to the Hellish papers.

"Fine," she groaned, slumping in her seat, before looking up at Homura, "You know...this was nice," she said after a pause, looking back down, "Thanks, for...you know...trying to make things normal again."

Homura just responded with a soft, embarrassed smile, looking away, "You're welcome."

The next day wasn't terribly different from the previous one. They had class, ate lunch together, the same as before, though Homura had to leave after lunch due to an eye appointment. Still, Sayaka would find herself staring at an empty desk in the classroom.

Madoka's desk, her heart would clench painfully just at the mere mention of the name.

She tried her best to keep Madoka out of mind, and sometimes it worked.

The distractions the others gave her was helpful too in making her forget, even if it were temporary. It was also pretty nice to be able to hang with Kyosuke outside of a hospital, though she had been hurt a short while at him not telling her about his discharge, she shook it off. Too much had happened, he'd likely forgotten to tell her, not that she was in any state to care during that time anyways. She was glad he was doing better and was back in school. But she couldn't help but feel a little jealous by the amount of anonymous love letters he still got.

The thought that maybe she should make her move and confess to him had crossed her mind a few times.

But the most obvious thing she'd noticed during her return to school was she couldn't help but find herself feeling...better when around Homura. It was as though the girl just had a calming, healing air around her. Even if she did nothing, even if she wasn't around, if Sayaka started feeling the return of the painful and crippling sorrow, Homura would somehow snap her out of it before it even became visible.

As awful as it was to admit it, Sayaka had a gut feeling that if it hadn't been for Homura, she likely wouldn't even be here anymore. Madoka's death would have hit her harder, or perhaps the abandonment would have hit harder. She just knew that things would have been worse if Homura hadn't been there for her.

A nagging voice in the back of her mind told her that she would probably not even be breathing.

"I doubt I'll ever be able to show her just how much I appreciate all she's done," Sayaka muttered as she walked down the path. It had been a while since she'd last walked home alone, she had grown so accustomed to having Homura at her side on the way to and from school that it felt odd not to have her there. Maybe she'll make a detour to stop by Homura's house on the way home, see how the eye appointment went.

However, Sayaka soon came to a stop, eyes landing on a pair sitting at the bench by the water with their backs turned so they wouldn't be able to see those who walked. Sayaka was able to quickly recognize green and silver hair, along with the crutches leaning against the bench.

She slid behind the stone junction to watch Hitomi and Kyosuke talking. They were sitting rather close, too close Sayaka noted.

Her hand began digging into the side of her skirt and into her leg as she watches. Hitomi had her hands rested on Kyosuke's cheeks, pulling him closer though the former prodigy didn't seem to be resisting. His hands actually came to rest on her sides, leaning closer to her.

Sayaka could feel her heart pick up rapidly in fear and disbelief. Her mind chanting 'No, no, no!' like a mantra. Hitomi knew of her feelings for Kyosuke, so why was this happening?

They kissed.

Sayaka took off running.