A Glimpse of Heaven

Summary: The night falls fast. After the festivities where the Leam Empire, the Kou Empire and the Kingdom of Sindria have gathered to have a semi-normal festival to wish goodwill upon each other; and the stage is set as Ren Kouen recalls the days when he talked freely with a mysterious woman with rose-colored hair.

Implied onesided!Kouen x Goddess Madoka

The festivities in the southern island were too gaudy, like that flashy man of a king. Too bright, too noisy, and too much of everything that is not him.

Ren Kouen sat on the chair opposite of Sinbad and Mu, and both seemed drunk (though he had a nagging suspicion that both were just pretending to be drunk). As he sighed irritably, pondering about the world of Alma Toran; he realized that her predictions were slowly coming to pass.

He looked at her skeptically "War?"

Her golden eyes stared into his red ones, full of mirth. "You don't believe me do you, Kouen-san?" she smiled, taking another flower to braid into the crown she was creating. "But then again; it's fine. It's better if no one knows."

"What do you mean, Madoka?" Kouen asked with narrowed eyes. "You cannot just say that there is an impending war and leave me hanging."

She shook her head, locks of rose-colored hair falling into her face, some tumbling over her shoulder. Did she even cut her hair? "In due time, Kouen-san. You will know in due time."

With an annoyed sound, he gave up, which was quite unusual for him.

Kaname Madoka was a woman who could never be persuaded no matter how one tried after all.

Kouen looked aside and saw the little magi who claimed that Alma Toran was his birthplace.

The fanalis girl and Alibaba Saluja were laughing alongside him, without a care in the world. The Magi of Leam; was it Titas? - Oh yes, Titus, with his protégé, Marga, was along with them.

If she was here, would she have danced along to the festive music too? Would she have disapproved of the countless battled their country waged to unify the world? 'Yes she would.' Kouen thought irritably. 'She would either look at me with those damned eyes of hers or just sigh like I'm a child.'

Kouen always thought that her eyes were extraordinary. Golden, but not like the dull gold that fades with time, like the color that one saw when gazing upon material riches. Her eyes saw everything eternally changing.

It was as if her eyes were gazing into something different entirely. What did she see? He knew him and Koumei were intellectual men; yet her logic always surpassed him.

As the wind blew over the plains, she gazed up at him in horror, those golden eyes wide and just so goddamn vulnerable.

"Kouen-san! You didn't need to do that to the poor soldier!" Madoka raised her voice; which was a rare occurrence. He didn't seem fazed; seeing as she was used to berating even higher-ranking people.

As if she was a God herself.

"It needed to be done." Kouen grumbled as he sat beside his…friend of sorts. "He was in the way."

"But just getting in the way is no reason to abandon him in a battlefield!" Madoka retorted, her voice lowering. She exhaled. "I-I'm sorry, Kouen-san. It was out of line for me to speak in your matters." She bowed low and only then did Kouen notice that she always wore the same clothes: shades of roses and white; was she a noble, then?

She stood up and started to make her leave.

"Hey." Kouen ground out just as Madoka was leaving. "Why do you care so much about other people? Even though their numbers are many and easily replaceable…besides, this is for the sake of their country."

A strange look came over her face as she turned, as if remembering a lost comrade. She turned and sat back beside the red-haired man who was infinitely larger and stronger than her, and sighed. "You see, Kouen-san, even though they are plentiful in numbers, a life is still a life. They can only have one. If I was a soldier who had killed in a battle field; even if he was my enemy; I would still mourn him. I took his life, his chance to maybe help his family, raise his children, and the chance to do many, many more things for himself… and it will forever be a sin weighting upon my shoulders."

She turned her head. "And no matter who they are; I do not want to see anyone mourning over someone, and with that mourning, fall into despair. Not ever."

Kouen looked at her, an impassive look on his face.

"Never again."

As he downed the last part of his liquor, a servant came over to refill his chalice. Kouen stared at the bright red wine before taking another sip, drowning the noise of the other people dancing and merrymaking. He let a small, wry smile slip into his face, causing some Kou servants who saw the small, unexpected expression to swoon.

He would always pester her with questions, sometimes demanding, sometimes patient. If she was allowed to answer; she would answer wholeheartedly: if not, no words would escape her except a small, apologetic smile which he soon found to be endearing.

He hated to admit that he liked that smile (Weakness was a vulnerability, and it could be exploited, and the thought of Kaname Madoka at the mercy of some shadowy perpetrator made his blood burn.).

But it was … unexpected when she gave him one of his infamous predictions willingly; he couldn't shake off the foreboding feeling of dark times to come.

The sun was setting over the horizon, dyeing the skies streaks of orange with black sky and stars beginning to peek out. Kouen had just come home from a battle and he rested his head on her dainty lap. Madoka was vehemently against it the first time. But the red-head prince merely continued using the pink-haired girl as a pillow.

"Kouen-san?" Madoka started softly.

Kouen grunted inaudibly, acknowledging the pink-haired woman's call.

"It may seem strange for me to tell you this… but remember that war I told you about?"

Kouen's eyes snapped open.

Madoka smiled down at him, and turned her gaze into the darkening skies. "A few years from now; a child with the wisdom of a Great King will arrive in this world." She held her hands together. Kouen's eyes traced how dainty they were. "A Great Gale will blow this world: a war that has never been seen before."

Her golden eyes hardened and narrowed into slits. "The bodies of the humans in this world are light; the first gale will shake the world and blow them away." She paused. "-But their hearts will still sow the seeds of hope."

As she turned those molten eyes filled with warmth to him, he decided he liked those eyes.

After that talk; he realized that the rendezvous between them grew less and less. Whether it was because of his duties or because of the dangers that had started stirring within the empire; he rarely saw her anymore.

It was a summer day when she said she was no longer able to sit and talk with him. A sour expression passed his face as he remembered her seemingly weakening state. Sometimes, he'd see her form flicker, showing another form with glorious, white wings.

He always passed it off as his eyes playing tricks on him; but now that Aladdin showed him Alma Toran, he had second thoughts about that.

"I think I won't be here tomorrow or the day after, Kouen-san."

Her shoulders slumped, and he saw those wings again, for a split of a millisecond.

"Why? I still have to ask you questions pertaining to your…predictions." Kouen's eyes narrowed as he surveyed her tired face.

"My time here is limited, Kouen-san." Madoka answered with a light laugh, which later turned into a hacking cough. In a rare display of concern, Kouen rushed to her side, cursing as he hurriedly unclasped the goatskin flask at his side.

The coughing suddenly stopped, and he looked up to see a blank look on her face, eyes staring at the palm of her hand, stained in bright crimson. She then laughed, startling the red-eyed prince.

"Scratch that, it seems I won't even be around here tomorrow anymore." She smiled grimly. "…Kouen-san?"

Red eyes looked as her with suppressed concern.

"Don't forget me."

The wind blew softly as Kouen nodded wordlessly.

She had said that so clearly yet he refused to believe it. The next day he waited till the sun had set, and so did he repeat the next day. He missed those eyes. That compassionate heart of hers. He wished he could have told her something that he had never allowed to pass through his mouth in all his years.

As he silently toasted his next sip to the rose-haired woman named Kaname Madoka, he smiled a small, hidden smile.

He looked up at the stars.

Perhaps she was the only woman he would ever truly love: not for her voluptuous body or beautiful face; but simply for being herself.

And if he had only listened carefully, he would have heard a certain Goddess' small, tinkling laugh of "And I toast to your health as well, Kouen-san."

Okay, just don't get me started on ranting. I dunno why but it feels like I will NEVER escape the PMMM fandom. And since I saw some fan art depicting Madokami as an adult; I thought I might as well use that for a fic.

Aaaaaand Magi: the Labyrinth of Magic / Kingdom of Magic came; and I opened two tabs on different screens, I stopped on a picture of Madokami on Tumblr and the video buffered on Kouen's appearance….then tadaaah. This was born.

And as for the people who don't read the manga; in the Magi-verse, only nobles can wear the color white in the Kou Empire. As for Madokami's weakening state; I like to think that it was caused by the prolonging of her using a mortal form with her powers intact; In Rebellion Story, (SPOILER) she only reduced her power to a normal Puella Magi level, after all. (END SPOILER)

If you read this far through this shitty author's note, I salute you for that. Magi: the Labyrinth of Magic / Kingdom of Magic and Puella Magi Madoka Magica characters belong to their respective owners. If I owned PMMM and Magi; I'd be rich af.

Comments and your thoughts would be appreciated. :D

-the red hero