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The night before the end, Madoka wanted to see Mitakihara at its brightest, to remind herself of the reason she had become a magical girl. She and Homura stood at the top of the tallest radio tower in the city, and she peered over the edge of the railing, and the lights below were nearly as bright as day. The city never slept, and Madoka had never noticed how beautiful it was, hours away from the end.
Her fingers tightened around the cold steel railing; she couldn't let it all end, not after she had finally wished for the strength of a magical girl.
"Madoka," Homura said softly. Once, Madoka had thought Homura's eyes had forgotten passion, but now she saw the fire hidden behind that cool gaze, and her eyes trailed to Homura's lips, and she remembered all those dreams. "What do you see?"
Madoka touched the silver band that wrapped her finger, engraved with dark runes she couldn't read. So often did she dream of Homura, fighting side-by-side as magical girls. "I see a city full of life," she answered without hesitation. "A city of hopes and dreams, of people who look forward to each and every tomorrow."
Homura was silent as she came beside Madoka, and her hand brushed against Madoka's as she too touched the railing. On the bridge of her nose were grooves, as if from thick glasses, and Madoka wondered why she had never noticed before. "But Walpurgisnacht is coming," Homura finally said.
"Walpurgisnacht…" Madoka repeated, although her tongue struggled with such a foreign word, and she remembered the nightmare she had suffered the day before meeting Homura. She had never heard the name before meeting Homura, but a familiar sense of dread filled her, stronger than any fear she had experienced before. "Why does such a terrible witch exist?"
Homura's fingers tightened around the railing. "Because the curse of an unfilled wish is too great a power to ignore," she said. "That's… all I can tell you right now. Maybe… maybe once it's all over, I can tell you everything."
Madoka bit her lip. Since she had become a magical girl, a stronger sorrow lingered about Homura, a feeling like failure or regret, but Madoka didn't understand why. As a magical girl too, Madoka could ease the burden that Homura carried alone while protecting the normal lives of Sayaka and Hitomi and her family. She didn't have to be frightened of witches any longer, and now that she knew of Walpurgisnacht, she couldn't run away. "Homura-chan, have you fought Walpurgisnacht before?" she asked.
"You could die," Homura said firmly, her expression never changing. "And your family will never know what happened to you."
"But what about your family?"
Homura simply shook her head, and her lips quivered for just a moment.
A sigh slipped from Madoka's own lips. A gulf had formed between her and Homura, that much was obvious. Akemi Homura, a girl who appeared often in her dreams, even before that fateful day. She dreamed often of Homura; sometimes they fought together as magical girls, and sometimes they shared tender, peaceful moments together. Perhaps because of those dreams, she felt a strange sort of longing for Homura, like a desire to protect her. She'd hoped that, with the power of a magical girl, she could bring light to Homura's world, but when Homura looked at her now, her chest ached with an unbearable pain.
But she couldn't regret her wish, Madoka told herself. Sometimes she dreamed of kissing Homura, and those dreams were too vivid to be mere fantasies. Maybe they were memories of a past life, and she finally had the chance to make things right this time. If she kept telling herself that, she'd have no regrets.
Finally Homura spoke again. "Walpurgisnacht is like no other witch you've fought," she said, staring at the stars above. "She doesn't need to hide in a labyrinth to protect herself. She'll destroy this city, and everyone will believe it was a natural disaster."
Madoka clenched her fist over her racing heart. The night sky was so clear right now, but dark clouds lingered on the horizon, and she had heard her parents talking about evacuation orders. "We can't fail," she found herself saying. "We can't let Mitakihara be destroyed!"
Homura stared at Madoka, her dark gaze piercing, as if she could see the past and future of Madoka's soul. "Do you have any idea what you've gotten yourself into?" she asked, and Madoka caught the brief waver in her voice. "Do you truly know what it means to be a magical girl?"
"But I'm strong now!" Madoka cried, and her heart felt as if it were about to break in two if Homura kept staring at her like that. "I can fight witches too! I'm not that weak, useless girl you had to keep rescuing from danger!"
"You're not useless," Homura muttered, and her fingers balled into fists as her eyes watered. "Why can't you understand how valuable your life is? You don't need to be a magical girl to protect your friends and family!"
Madoka lowered her gaze from Homura's, toward the bright city lights that lay below. "But I want to protect you too," she whispered.
Homura stiffened, and her eyes went wide. "What…?"
"I mean, I know you're strong and all, much stronger than me," Madoka said, and she couldn't stop the words. "But you're lonely too, right? You do so much by yourself, and it's like you're about to break…"
"I just want you to be happy and safe," Homura said quickly, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "As long as it's for your sake…"
Madoka took Homura's hands into hers, feeling those trembling fingers. "Homura-chan, you're not alone anymore," she said, and she leaned forward to kiss Homura, like she had done so many times in her dreams. The taste of Homura's lips was nostalgic, and again Madoka's chest ached. This was familiar, like a painful sort of memory, or an unfilled wish. Or a dream of an impossible future.
A dream - that was all this was. Only a dream, and when they woke, Walpurgisnacht would be here. Tears began to fall from Madoka's eyes, and she couldn't stop her body from trembling, and suddenly her lips felt too cold without Homura's warmth. Carefully Homura put her arms around Madoka's back, and Madoka buried her face in Homura's shoulder, uselessly trying to hide her tears.
"Madoka, I'm so sorry…" Homura softly, her breath warm against Madoka's skin. "If only I was stronger… But someday, I'll save you, I promise…"
"I'm scared, I really am," Madoka said through her tears, and she wrapped her arms around Homura, feeling Homura's soft hair against her fingers. "I keep thinking, what if we could freeze time together? This moment forever, and Walpurgisnacht would never come, and everyone would be safe…"
Homura shook her head, her lips brushing against Madoka's hair. "My magic isn't that powerful. We have to fight. That's our fate as magical girls. It'll be over soon."
"I know." Madoka shut her eyes, trying to stop the tears that still fell. "But we'll be together, the two of us."
Homura said nothing more, and as Madoka held her underneath a starry sky that slowly crept toward a final dawn, she felt Homura's tears as well, and she still didn't understand Homura's words.