Authors Note: Thank you for the reviews and telling me all of what you thought for the previous chapter. This chapter is going to be a bit happier then the last few, its about time we ease off the Suffering Train dontcha think?

Also; special thanks to the wonderful Evertide for being the proofreader to this story.

Also #2: As many mentioned about the parents, I do apologize for making them 2D, I guess I wasn't exactly focused on giving them a lot of personality/characterization. Hopefully it wont be the case when I bring them up again. Because yes, they are going to show up again. I don't know about you guys, but it'd feel freaking weird to me if I had them appear and never again brought them up.

It had been hours.

Sayaka had spent those hours pacing the waiting room floor anxiously, alternating between gnawing her thumbnail to a short stub and glancing back to the door every few seconds. Waiting for Wakahisa, or anyone for that matter, to walk through them and give her the good news.

She hoped it was good news, it had to be good news. After all, she'd contracted with Kyubey; in exchange for having one wish granted, a single miracle was performed.

Her eyes glanced down to the ring she now wore, light bouncing off it. When the contract had been made, never before would she have thought hearing "Your wish has surpassed entropy" would make her happy.

In reality, she didn't know much of what she had just gotten herself into by making the contract. Sayaka hadn't exactly interrogated Kyubey on what all entailed in this contract, had actually told him to skip over the details and get to the point. When he said that there was a way she could save Homura, nothing else really mattered. If it could save Homura's life, if she could save Homura's life just by making a contract, then that was all she needed to know.

After the rather painful process of gaining what he'd dubbed a soul gem, she hadn't given the creature time to talk and explain what it was supposed to do or be, instead racing to the main waiting room to try and reach Homura.

What she did understand was that she had essentially sold her soul to save Homura, and that was fine by her. It was worth it in her opinion, she'd do it again if she had to.

Sayaka just hoped it had worked.

"No, it had to work, it did work," Sayaka hissed to herself, still pacing about the room. If anyone noticed her talking to herself, they paid it no mind, it was probably normal here.

Every time the door opened, she would stop and look at it with a hopeful expression before slinking back in disappointment when it was someone else, someone unimportant, who exited through it.

She may have been far too excited and eager when the deed was done, having actually expected Homura to be out and waiting for Sayaka, which was unrealistic in hindsight now that she thought of it. If Kyubey had kept his part of the deal, the doctors would have to run tests, question what happened and how Homura got better so quickly. Homura's recovery would have been deemed unnatural, and anyone with a brain would question its possibility. They wouldn't go "Okay" and let her walk out as though it were nothing.

And now Sayaka was starting to wonder if she'd made the right choice, or if Homura would have more problems to deal with because of her wish.

No! It was the right choice, it protected Homura, saved Homura! How could it not be the right choice?! Sayaka angrily shook her head quickly to get those doubtful thoughts out of her mind. If Homura was safe and sound in the end, then there couldn't be a wrong choice. How could she even consider the alternative, where Homura would die to be the "right" choice?! She was tired and stressed, and it was making her think crazy things, that was all!

A buzz went off within her pants that had made Sayaka jump in surprise, breaking her from her thoughts. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and quickly checked what it was. A text from her mom wondering if she would be home for dinner or not. Oh, right, her mother wouldn't have known about what had transpired earlier; as far as she was aware, Homura's condition hadn't changed.

No need to tell her. "I can just text her back later," Sayaka murmured, slipping the device back into her pocket. Talking to her mother wasn't exactly high on her list of priorities right now, she was sure her mother would understand.

Some more time passed by, and to Sayaka, the hours of waiting felt more like days. The clock on the wall said it was nearly eight, meaning that she'd been waiting for almost twelve hours for someone to tell her anything of Homura's condition. Did this sort of thing always take so long?

But it seemed twelve was the lucky number, as that was when Wakahisa stepped into the room, scanning the visitors until his eyes landed on Sayaka's anxious form only seconds after Sayaka had noticed him.

He just waved her over, and Sayaka, with her nerves on end at this point, followed him out of the waiting room and into the hall.

"How is she?" Sayaka asked as soon as the door had shut behind them.

The doctor hesitated in his answer as he started to walk, clearing his throat, "Well, she's...better," he said, rubbing at the back of his neck, "a lot better. It doesn't make any sense, really. The tear in her heart practically sealed itself up, like the heart attack and failure never happened. No one can explain it. It's like God reached down and healed her himself."

Sayaka's heart had risen to new heights at this news. It worked, it had worked! She'd saved Homura, she'd saved her! Her wish had been successful.

"Can I see her?" Sayaka asked eagerly, quickening her own pace. She wanted to see Homura, no, she needed to see Homura, see with her own eyes that Homura had survived.

Wakahisa just nodded, continuing to lead her down the halls. They must have given her a new room because the two had passed Homura's previous one. Soon they were at a new door and the doctor turned to look at her cautiously. "Just...be sure not to agitate her too much, her heart is still in a sensitive state to put it simply. To much strain or excitement may trigger something."

Nodding her head, Sayaka entered, lightly closing the door behind her.

She had expected Homura to be sleeping, to be honest. But no, the girl who had been the center of all of Sayaka's thoughts these past weeks was sitting, wide awake and staring out the open window. Some wires were connecting her to a few machines, but not nearly as much as before.

What made Sayaka's heart burst with joy was how much healthier Homura looked. Her eyes now held life to them, and her skin no longer a sickeningly pale blue but pink!

There was a smile forming that Sayaka could neither stop nor wanted to stop. "Ho...Homura," Sayaka said softly, taking a few steps to her.

Homura looked up, and her eyes widened with surprise at seeing Sayaka. "Sayaka," Homura responded, smiling, the happiness and relief written clearly across her face.

She couldn't stop herself even if she wanted to. Quickly closing the distance between them, Sayaka wrapped her arms tightly around Homura and buried her face atop of her head. Was she crying? She must be, Sayaka could feel the wet paths forming down her face as she embraced her dearest, most precious friend.

"You're alive..." she whispered, feeling her voice catch in her throat. Homura's thinner and weaker arms wrapped around her in a gentle hold. "I thought you were going to...to..."

"I thought I was too," Homura responded, nuzzling against her.

Sayaka swallowed hard to keep her voice steady, "I thought I was going to lose you...I don't want to lose you."

"You're not going to lose me," Homura assured her, looking up at her and there were tears in her own eyes too. "I don't know how, I don't know why, but I'm better now. I'm going to live, Sayaka."

Of course Homura didn't know how she got better. Sayaka almost found herself blurting it out to her. No, not now...I'll tell her later, she told herself, combing her fingers gently through long black hair. What Sayaka had done to save Homura, talking about it could wait, it wasn't important at the moment. All she wanted to do right now was to just hold Homura in her arms like this.

"How about this...when you get released, we go get those shakes and fries we never got around to getting," Sayaka offered, knowing that as soon as she was out of here, Homura would want to do something after being stuck in bed for weeks, "and we'll go somewhere...anywhere you want for however long you want to, a vacation! We can go back to Kazamino if you want to, too! I know you liked it there when we visited during that trip."

Homura gave a small laugh and shook her head. "Shakes and fries are a deal, and Kazamino was fun, but we don't need to go anywhere," she said, pulling back to look up at Sayaka, her smile widening a little, and a blush, so light it was almost unnoticeable, graced her cheeks. "I have more than enough fun just being beside you, we don't need to go anywhere special."

A blush danced along Sayaka's own cheeks, but she smiled anyways, scratching at her neck as she pulled away and broke the hug. "Then you're going to regret those words, because I won't leave your side for a second!" she warned. She wasn't completely joking about that.

"Wouldn't want you to anyways."

The two spent the next couple of hours filling the air with talk, talking about anything really. They had easily slipped back into a relaxed state with jokes and small comments flying back and forth, it was almost like everything earlier, everything that had happened was just a bad dream. But they knew it wasn't, it had been a bitter reality that was over now.

A nurse would step in every now and then to check up on Homura, to see if she was alright and if she needed anything. Wakahisa even came, and the mood had dropped for a short while when he explained that Homura's parents had been notified of her recovery. But a few terrible jokes from Sayaka, and the atmosphere between the two had been brought back up once again.

By the time it was ten, Homura had to talk Sayaka into going home, seeing as the blue-haired girl didn't want to leave Homura's side. She'd also given the expected scolding when learning that Sayaka had skipped classes during that time. Though it was quite nice knowing that Sayaka stayed by her side for so long, it wasn't good to abandon school.

"You haven't left yet, I see."

Kyouko shrugged, taking a bite out of her apple as she sat on the steps inside what had once been a great church, but was now an old building that was falling apart at its seams. "Well, since that mega witch attacked Mitakihara, where do ya think all the other witches been runnin' off to?" she retorted, not even bothering to look in the visitor's direction. The veteran would have honestly liked to have been in Mitakihara by now, before some other magical girl came and took the territory from under her nose. But she had been too preoccupied here in Kazamino to be able to make the transfer.

The witch, Walpurgisnacht's, arrival a month ago had held a side effect that she hadn't expected. The other two hadn't told her about it when they were in Kazamino; they probably didn't even know it either. When Walpurgis was destroyed, the witches that had made it up that were strong enough to hold themselves together were still scattered far and wide. Thus, for a time, all witches in and around Mitakihara had been blown clear off their old turf, many of them drawn to the nearby population center of Kazamino, so Kyouko had to delay her moving plans so that she could wipe out the ones in her city.

Though she supposed it didn't much matter if she didn't go to Mitakihara right then; at least this way she was getting more grief seeds than she would have if she had left already. The bigger city would have been barren of any witches for a while, and according to Kyubey, they were only now returning. So if any other girl had come in thinking it was a ripe territory, they would have likely left, assuming it was a false lead. Kyouko wasn't too worried if there were some magical girls in the city already; she had faith she could take on any that remained.

Mitakihara was hers after all.

She'd told Mami that so many times, during and after her partnership with the elder veteran. "If you die, I get Mitakihara," and...well, Mami died.

"Damn it," she growled to herself. She was thinking about it again and she'd told her brain not to think about it! She hated the way she started to feel when thinking about Mami and that other girl, she hated feeling guilty. "What was I supposed to do, I would have died too if I'd agreed! Better at least one girl lives to kill the witches in that city!" she yelled to herself, not caring that her "guest" was still there.

Though she kept telling herself this, the guilt was eating her up inside.

Before Walpurgisnacht, Mami had come to her, asking for help in fighting that behemoth of a witch. It was more powerful than anything either of them had faced before, a big enough threat that Mami was coming to Kyouko of all people for help despite their falling out.

She might have said yes, a part of her wanted to say yes.

But then she'd brought her new protege, a girl who'd only contracted less than a month ago, but was one of the best Mami had ever seen. Kyouko had gotten jealous, to put it mildly, and felt replaced by that pink-haired newbie. Mami was her mentor, Kyouko was supposed to be her best student, not some half-trained runt who couldn't possibly be as great as Mami made her out to be.

She didn't fight them, no. Sure, she could have easily wiped the floor with Madoka, but Kyouko wasn't as confident that she'd be able to beat Mami. But she had said a few nasty remarks before turning them down.

Mami kept coming back though. Every day that those Mitakihara students were in Kazamino, she'd come find Kyouko and ask, try to make some kind of deal, anything that might get Kyouko to agree.

Kyouko kept refusing.

That Madoka girl had even tried to make friends with Kyouko, not so she could get Kyouko to help them, but because she had genuinely wanted to be friends. It was strange seeing the redhead hadn't been the kindest towards her, she made it hard for Kyouko to hate her, and she just ended up feeling bad for being jealous of her.

On the day that they were returning, they'd asked one more time, and Kyouko refused, though more reluctantly this time than before. They finally gave up on asking her to help them, though Madoka did have one last request, in case they didn't survive.

It was a simple task really. One she couldn't fulfill until she moved over to their old territory.

"I'll be in Mitakihara soon enough, once I finish cleaning house here," Kyouko announced, taking another bite from her apple, "but tell me, have any girls tried to move in while I'm still here? I wanna know if I've anyone to evict."

"I did contract a new magical girl there earlier today," Kyubey answered, red eyes staring unblinking at Kyouko, "a former friend of Kaname Madoka's if I do remember."

"I don't care who she was friends with, I'll have to teach her who's top dog then." Shrugging, Kyouko tossed the apple core to the side and stood up. She could feel another witch close by and that meant break time was over. "Tell her not to make herself too comfy over there, will ya?" With that, the conversation ended, and transforming, Kyouko took off running to face the witch with her spear in hand. Thinking of Mami and Madoka just then...she had some anger she needed to get rid of.