Sunset ^beta

These days Madoka often dreamed of Akemi Homura. She wanted to say she began dreaming of Homura after the other girl had transferred to her class, but that wasn't true. Her first dream of Homura had been the morning of that day before she'd had any reason to know that Homura existed. She once told Sayaka and Hitomi about these dreams, but then Sayaka had started teasing her about having a crush on Homura.

As she passed a wall of flowers, Madoka's fingers tightened around her school bag. Homura was a nice, quiet girl, and as the health rep for their class, Madoka often guided Homura to the nurse's office so that Homura could take her medicine, and they sometimes spoke together, but otherwise Homura kept to herself. She seemed like a perfectly normal girl, but in Madoka's dreams, she was always dressed in a strange outfit and wielding dangerous weapons to battle bizarre, otherworldly monsters, as if she had a secret identity as a magical girl.

Madoka giggled to herself. She'd been watching too much anime and reading too much manga again. But if Homura truly was carrying such a burden alone, was there anyone to protect her heart…?

"Homura-chan…" Madoka whispered, remembering how Homura had insisted on her given name, and when her foot brushed against a fallen rose, she finally realized she had accidentally walked into a garden.

Embarrassed, she whirled around, wanting to leave before anyone saw her, but all she could see were beautiful unfamiliar flowers. Roses, daisies, lilies, pansies - many she recognized and many more she couldn't surrounded her, and the various fragrances were almost overwhelming. Had such a grand garden always been on her path home from school?

"Where am I?" Madoka wondered aloud, and she walked along a path of red lilies like spiders. She tried not to step on any of the flowers, but more and more she felt as if she was inside a forest instead of a mere garden.

"Welcome, gentle maiden," said a soft voice beside Madoka, and as Madoka turned her head, a young girl walked beside her. The girl wore a simple, flowing dress with thin shoulder straps, and her black hair was darker than night while her eyes were red as blood. She was about as tall as Madoka, with a slim frame and large breasts.

Madoka blushed and froze. "Is this your garden? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to enter without permission…"

The girl laughed, a sweet, bell-like laugh. A red ribbon was tied around her slender throat, and the ends fluttered in the wind. "There is no need to worry. All lost maidens like yourself are welcomed here."

"I guess I am lost, huh?" Madoka let out a nervous laugh. "I never even knew this garden was here."

"I was once like these flowers," the girl said, kneeling to touch the head of a blue rose. "Starting from such a tiny seed, longing for more, and I made a wish and bloomed. But then at my brightest…" She crushed the rose in her fist. "I wilted and fell into despair."

A chill went down Madoka's spine, and she took a step back without thinking. "But this place is so beautiful, and so are you…"

"Ah, you're so kind!" The girl stood and spread her arms wide as she danced around the flowers. "When I gave into the darkness, I gained the power to create my own world! I was reborn, and here I can live forever with the love of maidens like yourself."

Madoka clutched her school bag tightly, and her blood ran cold. The girl still smiled, but it was a darker, almost witch-like smile. "I-I should leave now," she tried to say. "My family might be worried-"

The girl lunged forward, cupping Madoka's face with her cold hands. "But you could bloom more beautifully than any other flower! The glow of your soul could change this entire world into a true heaven!"

A sweet, dizzying scent filled Madoka's nose, and she dropped her bag as her arms fell to her sides. "Heaven?" she found herself saying.

"Yes, heaven." The girl's red eyes grew wide, and her breasts pressed against Madoka's, although Madoka couldn't feel a heartbeat. "A beautiful heaven for your family, your friends, and even the girl you love. You can save all of them. You can save me."

"I can… save everyone?" Madoka's voice sounded distant even to her own ears, and petals scattered in the wind all around her and the other girl.

"I need you, my dear Madoka," the girl murmured, and as she pressed her lips against Madoka's, the flowers erupted and engulfed them.

Madoka dreamed. She dreamed of a great being, born of a terrible despair and who reached beyond the sky and spread over the world, inviting everyone into her cage. No, it wasn't a cage. This being wished for paradise, for everyone to live happily and without fear and pain.

Upon soft grass Madoka and Homura danced, their white dresses fluttering in the wind. Madoka let her fingers intertwine with Homura's and spun her around, and they both laughed until they were out of breath, and then Madoka laughed some more because she had never seen Homura so happy before. Her chest ached, and more and more she longed to protect Homura's smile.

She'd forgotten these dreams. When she saw Homura fighting, she sometimes made a wish, and then she would transform into a being so painful and grotesque that she wanted to forget everything. But now she finally remembered. She had the power to create paradise, but each time Homura vanished and Madoka couldn't find her, so her paradise was always incomplete.

She and Homura lay on the grass, their fingers locked together. She still dreamed. She still dreamed of falling in love with Homura, over and over. She still dreamed of being a magical girl and a monster and creating a new "heaven."

Madoka dreamed.

Homura stared at the clock as she put books into her school bag. She'd been studying in the library, as there was an important test coming up, and no matter how often she repeated this cycle, the tests were always slightly different, and after so long, she was tired of failing tests. She had done poorly the first several repetitions, but now she had too much pride to fail.

(That, and she preferred studying in the school's library because it was less lonely than her empty home.)

A few of her classmates bid her goodbye, and she gave them a brief wave as she left the library. This timeline was rather quiet, and Kyubey had shown no signs of targeting Madoka or Sayaka, but she knew she couldn't let down her guard or grow complacent. Walpurgisnacht was coming, and she still had so many preparations to make, especially if she didn't wish to involve Mami or Kyoko. With each new cycle, Mami trusted her less and less, and Kyoko was too unpredictable.

Suddenly a cutesy jingle echoed, startling Homura before she remembered that was her phone. It had been so long since anyone called her that she'd completely forgotten she'd set that ridiculous song as her ringtone, and that was exactly why she was shocked - she hadn't given anyone her number for the past few timelines. She took out her phone, seeing a single message from an unknown number.

a sleeping princess in a garden of thorns

"Is this a prank?" Homura muttered, her thumb hovering over the delete button, but the words dissolved into static, and a new message replaced them.

in a witch's labyrinth, a pure maiden dreams of heaven

"A witch?" Homura exclaimed. "It can't be-!" She tried to type a message, but thorny vines appeared on the screen and the words were replaced once again.

if you wake the princess with a kiss, the world will end

the princess is the witch of salvation

kaname madoka is the maiden of destruction

"Damn it!" Homura swore, and students passing her stared, but she didn't care. She shoved her phone back into her pocket - the messages had disappeared, leaving only the default background - and stormed toward the nearest exit. If any witch thought of hurting Madoka…!

But once Homura was outside the building, she froze. What was her plan? How could she be certain that those messages were from a witch? What witch would be powerful enough? How would any witch know to taunt her about Madoka? She could ask Kyubey, but even if he knew, she couldn't trust anything he said or risk him learning of Madoka's potential. She couldn't ask Mami for help either, as the further away Mami was from Homura and the truth of magical girls and witches, the safer she was.

"Oh, hey, Akemi-san!" said a familiar voice behind Homura, and as she turned her head, Sayaka and Hitomi approached her.

"Miki-san, Shizuki-san," Homura greeted with a nod. "Do you need help?"

Sayaka's smile was bright, but Homura could see the worry in her blue eyes. "Have you seen Madoka?"

Homura shook her head. "She said she was leaving early today."

"That's true, and she said she would send us a message when she got home," Hitomi said. "But we've trying calling her, but her phone doesn't seem to be in service."

"And we called her house, but her dad said she wasn't home yet," Sayaka added.

"I see," Homura replied. Her fingers tensed, but she couldn't show fear in front of Sayaka and Hitomi. "I'm sure she's fine, and if I see her, I'll tell her you two are looking for her."

"Thanks a bunch!" Sayaka laughed, but she couldn't hide her worry from Homura's gaze. "Her phone probably just ran out of power or something."

"I hope you're right." Hitomi tried to smile. "Thank you, Akemi-san."

The three of them bid each other goodbye, and as Homura passed through the main gate of the school, her heart grew heavy and she couldn't stop her body from trembling. She couldn't ignore the facts now - Madoka was missing and most likely trapped in a witch's labyrinth. Homura swore under her breath; how did Madoka constantly have such horrific misfortune to end up in the labyrinths of witches so often? Was it because of Madoka's own mysterious potential as a magical girl?

And if it had been the witch who had messaged her, why did that witch seem so interested in Homura too? Maybe it was a trap, but she had to save Madoka. That was her wish and her reason as a magical girl.

Once she was far enough away from the school gates and the eyes of other students, she summoned her Soul Gem, and it glowed faintly. Most likely the witch's labyrinth was hidden somewhere on Madoka's path to school, a path Homura was also familiar with after repeating this period of time for so long. Her fingers tightened around her Soul Gem; until Madoka was truly safe, she'd repeat this maze over and over, no matter what, even if the cost to protect Madoka was eternity.

She followed the familiar path as the glow of her Soul Gem brightened, and she could almost hear Madoka's bright voice beside her. Sometimes she had become friends with Madoka and Sayaka, and other times she had kept her distance, watching over Madoka from afar. But with each reset, it became harder and harder for her to keep up her mask, and Madoka was sharper than she gave herself credit for, and her innocent, gentle eyes could often see right through Homura's mask.

And sometimes, Homura could even bare her heart to Madoka, and Madoka's love was greater still.

Flower petals scattered at Homura's feet, and she stopped. It was unusual for so many flowers to be blooming at this time of year, and a strange, sweet fragrance filled her nostrils. Had this garden always been here? Rows of vibrant, glowing flowers stretched as far as the eye could see, and blooming vines snaked around the trees. A smile tugged at Homura's lips; Madoka would love this kind of place, so maybe after finding her, they could…

Remembering herself, Homura held out her Soul Gem, and its violet glow was almost blinding. "So this is how you deceived Madoka, witch," she muttered darkly. "But no matter. I won't let you have her."

As she raised her Soul Gem, that violet glow engulfed her, and when the glow darkened, her school uniform was replaced by her magical girl costume. She traced her right fingers over her Soul Gem on the back of her left hand, and then checked her shield, and everything appeared in order.

Before Homura, on the far end of a wall of flowers, was a glowing glyph - a witch's mark. "Wait for me, Madoka," Homura said as she approached the glyph. "I'll save you, I swear." Her fingers balled into fists, and she phrased through the glyph, entering the witch's barrier.

Madoka dreamed of a different world, but it was a world very close to her own, one she had experienced in another lifetime, and those precious memories filled her heart.

During a clear night, Madoka and Homura sat on a grassy hill far away from the city, and without the lights of the city she could finally see how vivid the stars of the night sky could be. In the far distance Mitakihara's lights twinkled as well, as if the city was a star too.

Madoka laid her hand over Homura's, and a silver band engraved with dark runes circled her finger. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said in a quiet voice, even though she knew no one else was around to hear them.

Homura smiled faintly, an awkward but sincere smile. "Yes, it is," she replied, her long hair fluttering briefly in the wind. "Are you still hurt? That last witch-"

Madoka laid her finger on Homura's lips. "I'm fine, really. You don't need to worry so much."

"But Walpurgisnacht is coming soon," Homura said as her smile vanished, and her gaze grew sharp. "We can't afford to be careless."

"I know." Madoka wrapped her hands around Homura's arm and rested her head against Homura's shoulder. "And we've already lost Mami-san…"

Homura shut her eyes tightly. "I was too late again…"

Madoka bit her lip; she'd noticed a tenseness between Homura and Mami after Mami had saved her from a witch, and Homura had nothing but disdain for Kyubey. Sometimes she thought of asking Homura why, but after Mami's death, she decided it was better not to disturb old wounds. She thus became a magical girl in Mami's honor, wishing for the strength to protect those she loved.

"Homura-chan," she said gently, trying to hide how much her voice trembled. "Do you really think we can defeat Walpurgisnacht?"

"We have no choice but to try," Homura said quickly. "She is the most powerful and terrifying witch, and she does not need to hide away in a labyrinth to protect herself. We may perish, but if you want to protect this city, we must fight."

Madoka's hands tightened around Homura's arm. "Yes, I want to protect this city! Sayaka-chan, Hitomi-chan, Kamijou-kun, Saotome-sensei, Mama, Papa, Tatsuya, and everyone else too - as long as they're safe, I won't regret anything!"

Homura laid her free hand on Madoka's hair. "I could say we should run away, that I could take you far away from here, but I already know what you'd say."

Despite herself, Madoka couldn't help but smile. "We're magical girls, and magical girls are supposed to help and protect those in need, no matter what."

A sorrowful smile came upon Homura's lips. "And you're the greatest magical girl of all."

"You're so sweet, Homura-chan," Madoka whispered. She didn't quite understand what Homura meant by that - how could an ordinary girl like herself be so powerful? - but she didn't want to argue with Homura either. It was enough that she was a magical girl now, that she was finally useful to others.

And before Walpurgisnacht attacked, she wanted to enjoy these last peaceful moments with Homura.

They lay together on the soft grass, staring at the starry sky above, and Madoka took Homura into her arms as their lips met. Her kisses were still clumsy, but Homura never seemed to mind. One day Madoka had blurted out her true feelings after a particularly brutal witch, and Homura had begun crying and then had kissed Madoka, over and over. Since that day, Homura's faint smile had become warmer, but her violet eyes still carried a sorrow Madoka couldn't bring herself to ask about.

With only the stars for company, Madoka and Homura bared themselves to each other, and Homura's warm touch was as certain as ever. She kissed Madoka's throat and fondled her breasts, and then slid her hand lower, between Madoka's thighs, bringing Madoka that indescribable pleasure. Often they came together like this in Homura's lonely home, but tonight, under the night sky, Madoka had nothing to hide from Homura.

When Madoka calmed, she and Homura still lay on the grass, and Homura's arms were tight around her, and tears rolled down Homura's cheeks. "Madoka," she sobbed. "I'll save this city and I'll save you, I swear…!"

Madoka kissed Homura's cheek, catching tears on her lips. "You're not alone, Homura-chan. Whatever happens, we'll face it together, okay?"

Homura smiled, a pained, broken smile, and tears still fell from her dark eyes. "I love you, Madoka, and no matter how long it takes, I promise I will save you."

And Madoka continued to dream.

Madoka lay on a stone alter, and she found herself clad in a thin, white flowing dress. She felt that she probably should've been scared, but a sweet, intoxicating aroma fell over her, and she could barely concentrate. Thorny vines surrounded her like a spider's web, and on the edge of the stone altar sat that mysterious girl, whose red eyes seemed to shine. For some reason, the word "witch" came to Madoka's mind, and she could imagine no other way to describe the other girl.

The witch chuckled darkly. "What a pleasant dream. Your magical potential truly is astonishing. I imagine that Incubator is desperate for that power, but I won't let him have it. You belong to me now, and once I lure that other girl here too, I'll be able to control both time and space."

Madoka tried to speak, but no words came, and she couldn't even move. Maybe she was still dreaming, but unless Homura was beside her, her dreams felt incomplete.

The witch raised her hand, and in the air appeared lights like crystals, as if each gem held a soul. "I've taken so many maidens into my garden, but it was never enough. But then I sensed your soul and realized my quest was finally nearing an end."

"Your… quest?" Madoka said weakly.

A pale smile came upon the witch's lips. "I will remake this world, to spread my gardens beyond this simple labyrinth," she said as she leaned over Madoka, drawing her fingers across Madoka's throat. "And you will bring both destruction and salvation, my messiah." She kissed Madoka's throat, and the skin burned where the witch's lips touched.

"A messiah?" Madoka repeated, and that burning pain felt so distant. "But I can't be…"

The witch smirked, and she tied a white ribbon around Madoka's throat, almost tight enough to choke Madoka. "Now we are bound together, and you are marked as mine," the witch said, caressing Madoka's cheek with false tenderness.

Madoka wanted to scream, but the ribbon seemed to tighten around her throat, and tears fell from her eyes. If she truly was a messiah, maybe she could save this world. Maybe she could save all magical girls and Homura from falling into despair. She could wish for hope and bring salvation, but her despair would bring about the end of the world.

Her eyes fell closed, and she grew lost in her dreams again.

No matter how often Homura repeated this cycle, she could never get used to just how inhuman and unnatural witches were. A witch's labyrinth was an entirely different dimension, separate from the rules of logic. Witches were born of intense human emotions, something that the self-proclaimed logical Incubators couldn't understand but were still willing to take advantage of, and Incubators cared nothing for those they trampled for their own self-interest. Homura repeated time so that Madoka wouldn't become yet another victim of Kyubey's lies and trickery.

She touched her shield as a shiver went down her spine. This witch's labyrinth was like a distorted hedge maze, and the various flowers seemed to watch her every movement. She hadn't received any messages on her phone from the witch since entering the labyrinth, but she wouldn't be surprised if the witch was somehow observing her. In all her time as a magical girl, she'd never encountered a witch like this one. Maybe this was another irregular timeline, but that would imply that any of the timelines she'd experienced could be considered "regular." There was nothing normal or mundane about the life of a magical girl, after all.

Homura pressed forward, and the flowers beneath her feet shifted. She thought of using her time magic to find Madoka faster, but then decided against it. She had no idea how large this labyrinth was and her magic could only stretch so far, and if she used magic unnecessarily, she risked revealing her presence to the witch. Based on those strange messages, the witch clearly meant to lure Homura into her labyrinth, but for what reason?

A sleeping princess in a garden of thorns. A witch of salvation. A maiden of destruction. It all sounded like some sort of twisted fairytale, but Madoka had once admitted to Homura that she loved fairytales, so if she was now a damsel in distress, then Homura could be her knight.

She could almost slap herself. Now wasn't the time for such frivolous thoughts, and she hadn't considered herself capable of such romantic fantasies in a long time.

Flowers turned as Homura passed, and that sweet scent grew stronger. As frustrated as she was, she could at least understand how Madoka could've been lured by this labyrinth. It was like a beautiful garden, but it also held a kind of darkness behind the poisonously bright colors, and the flowers themselves seemed to pulse, as if breathing, and many appeared as if they were about to wilt. That sweet scent also carried a hint of rotted blood, and Homura suddenly felt as if she wanted to vomit.

She fell to her knees, panting heavily as the whole world spun around her, and her head felt as if it were about to split open. She tried to inhale a few breaths to calm herself, but the dizziness still threatened to overwhelm her, and she couldn't see straight.

"Homura-chan, I'm waiting for you."

At the sound of that soft voice, Homura jerked her head up and forced herself to her feet. No, she couldn't falter now, she told herself. She had promised Madoka a long time ago she would save her, and she could not allow the sacrifices of Madoka's past selves to go to waste. After so long, after so many mistakes, Homura couldn't fail now.

As her Soul Gem glowed, she dashed forward, holding her shield in front of herself. Some of the vines lashed out at her, and thorns nicked her skin, drawing blood, but she kept charging past. She didn't need to waste magic by freezing time now, as she had to save her strength for confronting the witch and the witch's own powerful magic.

Soon she found her way free of the thorny maze, and what awaited her was a grassy clearing underneath a distorted sky of red and purple. At the center of the clearing was a stone altar, upon which lay Madoka, who looked much like a sleeping princess, and on the edge sat another girl in a white dress, and she had long, dark hair, and her eyes were the color of blood. A red ribbon encircled her throat, and with her dark smile Homura instantly knew she was the witch of his labyrinth.

"Give back Madoka," Homura called out as she took a careful step forward.

"Well, aren't we demanding." The witch chuckled darkly. "Welcome to my world, Akemi Homura."

Homura moved her hand closer to her shield, but didn't yet draw a weapon. "What are you planning?"

"You have the power of time, and I have the power of creation," the witch said, and her voice was strangely soft. "I've lured in countless maidens such as yourself and taken their souls, but it was never enough. Then I finally found her, my witch of salvation." She touched Madoka's face, drawing her fingers downward and then across the ribbon around Madoka's throat.

"Don't touch her!" Homura screamed as she charged forward, but thorny vines erupted from the ground and entangled her.

The witch let out a cruel laugh. "I won't let you stop me. Time and creation, destruction and salvation - with this beautiful maiden and her failure of a protector, I can finally create a new eternity."

Homura grit her teeth as her blood boiled. She tried to fight against the vines, but the thorns dug into her flesh. "Who… what kind of witch are you?"

A strange smile came upon the witch's lips. "Not even the Incubators know, but that is the price they pay for playing with powers they don't understand. Now then…" The witch turned her attention toward Madoka, laying her hand on Madoka's chest, over her heart.

Homura managed to get her hand close to her shield, and she drew a large combat knife, slashing herself free of the vines. The plants bled red, but she ignored that as she froze time and charged toward the witch.

But the witch simply smirked and dodged, and once time was free again, Homura found herself on the ground, the witch straddling her hips and pinning her wrists. "I know how your magic works," the witch sneered, her breath warm against Homura's lips. "As long as a part of me is touching you, I won't be frozen in time, and these vines are all part of my body."

Homura thrashed, trying to break free of the witch's grip, but the witch's strength was monstrous. The witch tightened her hold on Homura's wrists, and vines appeared from the grass and wrapped around Homura's throat, choking her.

"As long as I have your soul, I don't need your life," the witch mocked, brushing a finger against Homura's Soul Gem. "But don't despair - after all the times you've failed, you'll finally have salvation."

The vines tightened around Homura's throat as the thorns bit into her flesh, and she couldn't breathe at all. She choked violently and her lungs burned, but no matter how much she kicked and thrashed, the witch didn't release that death-grip on her wrists, and her knife was out of reach. Her lips gaped in vain for air, but as the vines crushed her throat, her vision began to darken.

But just as her strength failed, the vines suddenly loosened around her throat and the witch fell over, and as Homura inhaled deeply and clutched her bruised throat, she saw the knife she had dropped in the witch's back, and Madoka stood over her.

Madoka's eyes watered, and her hands were covered in dark blood. "I'm so glad I woke up in time! Homura-chan, I…!"

"I won't be defeated…" the witch muttered as she staggered to her feet, and flowers threatened to erupt from her skin. "I'm… too close…"

Without hesitation Homura jumped to her feet, pushing Madoka behind her, and from her shield she took out a shotgun. She shot the witch repeatedly, ignoring the pain of the recoil, and once the witch was little more than a bloody mess, Homura also took out a pipe bomb and threw it at the witch, engulfing her in flames.

As the witch burned and the labyrinth began to fall apart, Homura slumped to her knees and tears rolled down her cheeks, and Madoka threw her arms around Homura, drawing her close, and tears fell from Madoka's eyes too.

After escaping the witch's barrier, Homura and Madoka headed to Homura's house, where Madoka called her parents and Sayaka and explained that she had suddenly remembered something she wanted to buy and had lost track of time and that she'd be spending the night at another friend's house. Sayaka in particular had seemed suspicious but was otherwise relieved to hear Madoka was safe, and guilt still panged at Homura's heart.

Madoka helped clean and bandage Homura's wounds but asked no questions, for which Homura was grateful. She chewed her lip, and shame filled her; she'd never come so close to being killed by a witch since becoming a magical girl. She'd lost herself in anger, almost condemning Madoka forever. If she had died, there would be no one left to save Madoka from her fate, and because she had been careless, Madoka had again stained her hands in blood to save Homura's life.

"Homura-chan," Madoka said as she finished bandaging Homura's throat, and she wore a spare nightgown Homura had given her for the night. "Thank you for saving me."

"You saved me," Homura said quickly, too quickly. "I was foolish, and you…"

Madoka stared at her cleaned hands, which still trembled. "I dream about you a lot. I'm remembering all the times I spent with you, I think. You're a magical girl, and sometimes I am too."

Homura shook her head, and her eyes hurt. "You can't remember, you can't…" she muttered.

Madoka sat on the bed beside Homura and laid her hand over Homura's. "I don't really understand everything yet, not completely, but you've been protecting me for a long time, haven't you, Homura-chan?"

"I've done so many awful things, and I've failed you countless times," Homura said without thinking, and her shoulders quivered. "Over and over…"

Madoka touched her throat, and the mark of the witch's kiss had faded. "When I was with that witch, she told me I had the power to change the world." Her bright eyes grew clouded. "Salvation and destruction…"

"You don't need to change yourself," Homura said firmly as she seized Madoka's shoulders. "As long as you value your friends, your family, and everyone else you love, you don't need to change yourself in any way."

"Love…" Madoka repeated softly, letting her gaze fall. "We've loved each other too, haven't we?"

"How… how do you remember?" Homura cried, and no longer could she stop her tears. "You always forget, and we drift further and further apart…"

"I don't remember much," Madoka said as she clasped Homura's hands between hers. "But when I was trapped in that witch's gardens, I remembered the times we loved each other, and I knew you'd save me."

Homura wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and her chest ached. How could Madoka still look at her with those innocent eyes of hers? She longed to kiss Madoka, to hold and touch her, but losing her broke Homura's heart each time. She couldn't let herself fall in love again, not until she was free of this endless maze, but when Madoka looked at her like that, those pink eyes full of love and longing, Homura couldn't help but give into Madoka's kindness. "Madoka!" she cried, throwing her arms around Madoka. "I love you, I love you so much, and… I'll save you, no matter what, I promise…!"

"Homura-chan…" Madoka threaded her fingers through Homura's hair, and her hands still trembled. Night eventually fell, and even when Homura finally calmed, Madoka continued to hold her tightly as they both slept.

Homura dreamed, and she dreamed of waking Madoka with a kiss.