The last of the monsters dissolved and the hazy distortion that affected the space around them cleared. Kyoko plucked the grief cubes from the locations where they had fallen and pressed them against her soul gem, sighing in relief at the rejuvenating effect of her magic being restored.

"That's mine…thief…" a small voice croaked out. Kyoko glanced over her shoulder at the crumpled, bloody heap on the ground and snorted.

"You'd have died if I hadn't showed up. My kill, my claim." She walked back over to where the girl was clumsily trying to stand and kicked the sword she was leaning on out from under her. Sayaka collapsed back to the ground and groaned. "Hell, you still might die. Weren't you supposed to be good at healing or something?"

Sayaka snarled something she couldn't make out and tried to slash at her ankles, but Kyoko easily hopped over the slow attack. Placing her boot under Sayaka's shoulder, she flipped her easily onto her back and gave a low whistle at what she saw. "Your gem's almost black. No wonder you can't heal yourself. How the hell did you let it get like that?"

Her rival didn't answer, only glared at her with all of the contempt and hatred she could muster on her battered, exhausted features. Kyoko rolled her eyes and turned to go.

Or tried to.

As she took the first step, something gave her pause.

Why had she stepped in to save Sayaka's life if she was going to abandon her to almost certain death now? It would have been easier to wait for the girl to take down as many wraiths as she could and then mop up whatever was left.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was kneeling by the rookie and slapping a fistful of grief cubes into her palm. The girl just stared up at her in mild confusion, until Kyoko kicked her in the thigh.

"Quit staring and use those before you die, dumbass." She spun on her heel and stalked away again, outfit vanishing to be replaced by her street clothes as she went. "And that many coulda lasted me a couple of weeks, so don't do something stupid and end up like this again. I'm not wasting any more on you."

Stupid. At the efficient rate that she used magic, those really would have lasted her quite a while, but with that girl's gem as bad as it was, all of the cubes would probably be filled and she still wouldn't be fully restored. What a waste. At least Kyoko was stocked up for the time being, so she didn't have to go hunting again tonight. She really was not in the mood for it.

"Wait!"

Kyoko's irritation spiked and in an instant she was back in her battle outfit, spear in hand, and whirling around. Sayaka, wounds healed but still looking distinctly weakened, took a step back and raised her hands. It took Kyoko a moment to notice that the other girl was not in her battle attire and she begrudgingly lowered her spear, though she kept it in hand.

"What do you want?" she snapped. "You're not getting anything else from me!"

Sayaka's eyes narrowed but she stood her ground. "Why did you save me?"

"Exactly the question I was just asking myself," she sneered. "I don't know what was going on in my head just now. Don't expect me to help you a second time."

"Third," the girl said automatically.

"What?"

Sayaka crossed her arms and glared at her. "You saved me twice back there. First from the wraiths, then with the grief cubes. Why? What are you doing?"

Kyoko didn't know how to reply. Once was a bout of temporary insanity. Twice, particularly in such a short amount of time and at such great cost to herself, was a little harder to explain away.

"Don't read too much into it," she snapped. "I lost my head for a minute there and did something stupid. It won't happen again." She turned to leave again. "And if you keep following me, you'll be right back where you were a minute ago."

"Tsk." Kyoko jabbed a finger into Sayaka's side, not quite hard enough to hurt but enough to make her yelp.

"The hell was that for!?"

She knelt and flicked her finger against the blue gem set around Sayaka's navel. "You take a look at this lately?" The abrupt change from indignation to guilty shuffling told her that Sayaka knew exactly what this was about.

"It's only a little dim…"

It's not the only thing here that's dim. "If you can see the corruption in it, then it's more than 'dim'."

The wannabe knight grimaced and shifted from foot to foot. "I know my limits, Kyoko. I'll be fine."

Kyoko also knew Sayaka's limits: she had seen her pushed right up to them more than once. She knew that her partner would be fine, but letting her gem get sullied before doing anything about it was a bad habit that Sayaka was slipping into. She fished the last few grief cubes out of her pocket and pressed them into Sayaka's hand before turning away to keep moving and resting her spear on her shoulder. "Guess we'd better find something tonight, after all."

Where would that girl be without me?

"Don't touch me! I don't need your help!"

Sayaka folded her arms and scowled down at her. "Yes you do. Where would you be if I hadn't happened to be nearby?"

"Not being lectured by a smug, self righteous bitch, for starters." Kyoko saw with some satisfaction that that had gotten under the girl's skin. Her face flushed with anger and her brow scrunched up, but she didn't lash out like Kyoko was hoping. She saw some of the tension leave the girl's face as she straightened.

"Spoken like a pissy schoolgirl. Grow the fuck up."

Kyoko blinked twice, mouth opening to fire back but nothing coming out. While she floundered to think of a retort to her own words, her rival leaned down, grabbed her wrist and hauled her into a standing position…none too gently, either. She hissed in pain as her other arm wobbled around limply and her cracked ribs protested. A moment later, her uninjured arm was slung around Sayaka's shoulders and the taller girl was propping up Kyoko's body.

"You may not want my help, but if you don't get out of here fast, you'll be talking to the cops." Without waiting for a reply, she set off, taking a lot of Kyoko's weight so that the injured girl barely had to walk.

"We're even, now," Sayaka said out of the blue.

The declaration was met with a sneer. "I don't think so, sister. If you really want to play that little game, I'm still ahead of you."

Her unwanted companion snorted. "I think the fact that you started all of this bullshit counts against you in that tally. We're even."

Kyoko could have argued that all day, but really, what was the point? She didn't want any favors or gratitude from this girl to begin with.

"This is stupid." Sayaka stopped walking and consequently forced Kyoko to stop, too. "We keep going out by ourselves and end up in trouble, and it's only been by luck that one of us has been nearby to help the other. Why don't you just team up with the rest of us?"

"Why do you keep going out alone if you already have friends to watch your back?" Kyoko retorted. "I wouldn't have so much trouble if you didn't keep blundering into my turf."

Sayaka shrugged off Kyoko's arm and turned to face her fully; she wobbled a little, but her injuries had healed enough that she could stand unassisted. "You were doing a fine job of getting into trouble just now without me 'blundering' around. And do you think I'm stupid enough to go wandering off on my own if Mami or Homura were available?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

The comment earned her a sharp glare, but really, Sayaka had walked into that one. "They're not always around, and I can't just ignore people that are in danger. Not even foul mouthed redheads who have made it their purpose in life to piss me off to no end."

"Exactly—why would you want to partner with me? And why would I want to be around you? If this isn't getting through your dense head, let me spell it out for ya: we can't stand each other."

The girl rolled her eyes with exaggerated disdain. "If it keeps us from dying, I'm sure we can manage."

Kyoko hesitated. Anyone else, and she would have pointed out that they couldn't trust each other with their lives, but she had already saved Sayaka three times and been saved by her once. But there was no telling how long that would last. Trust wasn't so easily established; whatever altruism had motivated their actions could easily run out.

Still…there was something about this girl that had wormed its way into her head and would not be dislodged.

"I'll…I'll think about it, okay?"

Before Sayaka could make another attempt at convincing her, Kyoko had leapt up high enough to grab the edge of a fire escape and haul herself out of sight.

When she was a few rooftops away and sure that Sayaka wasn't following, she slumped against the bricks and tested her injured arm to make sure it at least worked again. No luck. She really envied that kid's healing abilities.

Stupid. How could she have been so careless? As much as she hated to admit it, the idiot was right. If she hadn't stepped in, Kyoko likely would have died tonight. It wasn't her first near brush with death and they no longer left her shaken and pale, but she certainly wasn't in any hurry to punch out.

She had been stupid and reckless tonight. Something that seemed to be happening more and more ever since she had come to Mitakihara. The other girls were a distraction to her, particularly her old partner Mami and this new kid. She couldn't fight all of them; hell, she couldn't even take down the rookie. She had tried once to start a truce with the Mitakihara girls and Sayaka had shot that down, hard. But…now Sayaka was the one trying to settle things between them.

It wouldn't hurt to keep her options open. For the time being, she could keep an eye on Sayaka and see if she could work out her intentions.

"What's going on?"

Sayaka looked up at her glaring girlfriend and raised an eyebrow. "Uh…I'm eating lunch?"

Kyoko snatched a dumpling off of Sayaka's plate and stepped back to lean against the wall and fix her with a penetrating stare. "Don't be a smartass. I've been keeping an eye on you. You've been acting pretty suspicious lately. Sneaking around a lot, ending phone calls or turning off your computer when I walk in…"

Sayaka frowned and set aside her chopsticks. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying," she mumbled around a mouthful of Sayaka's food, "that you're up to something. What's going on?"

Her significant other was silent for a few moments. "You trust me, don't you?"

"'Course I trust you. I trust you with my life. I trust that you aren't cheating on me. I even trust you with my food and grief cubes." That last bit may have sounded like a joke to someone who didn't know her. Sayaka knew better. "Doesn't mean I don't want to know what you're getting up to."

The blunette looked conflicted, then resigned, and sighed and threw her hands up in defeat. "I can't tell you right now. Give me until tomorrow evening."

A sly smile spread across Kyoko's face. "So it's a surprise for me. You coulda just said so."

Her girlfriend rolled her eyes and bounced one of her chopsticks off of Kyoko's head. "You could have just figured that out on your own. What else would I be keeping from you?"

Kyoko slid into Sayaka's lap and gave her a light peck on the lips before helping herself to more of her food. "You doing something stupid and risky again in an effort to be noble."

"Kyoko…get out of the way."

A prickle went up her spine. There was none of the brash, hotheaded anger that she was used to behind the words. Not a hint of their usual bantering, either. There was only coldness and a very real threat behind them.

She didn't move.

Sayaka shifted her weight onto her left foot and sprang forward to move around her but had to screech to a halt when a wall of chains and red diamonds appeared in front of her. More walls popped up behind her and to her sides, trapping them together in a box. When she whirled back towards Kyoko, the anger in her eyes had turned to fury and Kyoko barely had a moment to react before she found a sword pointed towards her throat.

She still didn't move.

Her face hardened; with a flick of her wrist, Sayaka's sword sliced through the skin of Kyoko's jaw, up her cheek all the way to her temple. She gritted her teeth but didn't dampen the pain. She could take this.

Sayaka hesitated when Kyoko didn't react to the cut. She brought her sword back to slash again but faltered. Finally she let it hang limply at her side, but her body language showed bitter anger, not defeat.

"Let me go, Kyoko."

"What are you going to do?"

The younger girl looked taken aback. "I'm going to help them!" she shouted.

"Wrong." Kyoko finally moved, taking a step forward and jabbing her finger into Sayaka's chest. "You're going to die. And if I went with you, we'd both die. And you know what? Those guys that you're so desperate to save would still die after we heroically threw ourselves into the meat grinder."

"Y-You're wrong! You could get them to safety while I fought the wraiths! I'm willing to do that, Kyoko!"

The redhead folded her arms and glared at her partner. "I'm not. The only way you're getting out of here is through me. I am not standing back and watching you skip merrily to your death."

"I can save—"

"YOU CAN'T!" Kyoko shrieked, and was ashamed to hear her voice crack, but Sayaka took a step back in shock. "You can't save everyone, Miki! There are too many of them and they're too powerful for the two of us to stand a chance against them! With Homura and Mami we might stand a chance, but they aren't here yet! You're not gonna do anyone any good by running headlong into your death and I am not going to stand back and lose someone again!"

Her vision blurred from tears and from blood trickling into her eye and she swiped at her face to clear them, equally furious with herself and Sayaka.

"So the only way you're going down there is through me. If it's important enough for you to throw your life away for a couple of strangers, then what's one more death mean?" She jammed her spear into the roof and crossed her arms under her soul gem. "I'll make it easy for you."

Angry tears to match her own were gathering in Sayaka's eyes. "I hate you," she choked out, and Kyoko believed her. The words stabbed through her heart, but it was okay. Sayaka being alive to hate her was better than the alternative.

"Come on, Kyoko, move it!"

The redhead sighed and flipped back over the couch arm that she was dangling off of, landing easily on her feet and stretching. "What's the hurry?"

Her girlfriend stamped her foot impatiently. That huffiness was exactly why Kyoko was dragging her feet: it was always fun to antagonize Sayaka in minor ways.

"Just hurry up, I want to get going!"

She rolled her eyes but followed Sayaka towards the front door. However, her girlfriend stopped, turned back to her and ran an appraising eye up and down her body. "You're going to need to dress warmer than that, it's freezing outside."

Kyoko tilted her head in confusion. "Yeah, but we're going somewhere, right? Being out in the cold a little doesn't bother me."

Sayaka shook her head vehemently and shooed Kyoko back towards their bedroom. "No, you definitely need warmer clothes. Hurry!"

What might have irritated her under other circumstances only had her more intrigued now. She had to admit that she was curious about this surprise that Sayaka had planned. She couldn't think of any occasion that they might be celebrating, but Sayaka had done things like this on a whim before. She wasn't anything like the wild card that Kyoko was, but Kyoko couldn't always get a read on what Sayaka was thinking; sometimes she utterly blindsided her.

Sayaka hadn't spoken to her in two weeks. She still blamed Kyoko for the deaths of those two nobodies. But she was alive. Kyoko could at least take comfort in that.

The intensity of Kyoko's reaction that night surprised her. She wasn't sure what to make of her feelings towards her peer. All she knew was that she couldn't allow her to die. She would do whatever it took to keep Sayaka alive.

Even if Sayaka hated her for it.

She felt something then. A faint current of magic in the area; her soul gem pulsed ever so slightly in time with its ebb and flow. Kyoko squeezed her eyes shut. It was nothing like the cold, bitter feeling the wraiths gave off, which left only the possibility of another Magical Girl.

She would have preferred wraiths.

She didn't have to wait much longer. Footsteps fell behind her, slow and hesitant. In spite of how much Kyoko had wanted to see Sayaka, she did not turn around. After a few moments, Sayaka entered her periphery and sat on the roof's edge with her. Kyoko didn't look at her and Sayaka didn't speak.

Minutes passed in pained silence. Kyoko knew Sayaka was waiting for an apology, but she couldn't give her one. She had made the right call and she wouldn't go back on that. And as the discomfort grew, she found it harder and harder to will her head to turn, so she just kept facing forward silently.

"You were right."

The words were so sudden and unexpected that Kyoko flinched, but she remained still and silent.

"I can't just turn my back on people, but…I'm no good to anyone dead…"

"And…" Kyoko's voice came out hoarse and she cleared her throat. "And there are people who would miss you if you were gone. You can't just abandon your friends and family."

"What about you, Kyoko?"

For the second time during their conversation, Kyoko flinched, and this time she looked at her partner. Sayaka looked like she felt, like she hadn't had a moment's peace in the last two weeks and wanted desperately for things to go back to the way they had been before, but was afraid that things were broken between them forever. The fear and pain in her beautiful blue eyes was unbearable to Kyoko; all she wanted at that moment was to make it go away.

Hesitantly at first, Kyoko moved her hand across the short distance that separated them, and when Sayaka didn't shy away she laid her hand over top of hers.

"I don't think I could go on without you."

Now she knew why Sayaka had been insistent that she bundle up. Night had fallen quickly after they left the safety of their apartment and instead of going to a restaurant or arcade or something, Sayaka seemed to be planning on spending a good portion of time outside. They headed off in a direction that left Kyoko puzzled about their destination. As far as she knew, there was nothing worth seeing in that part of the city; just office buildings and small businesses that would all be closed at this time.

She shrugged to herself and kept pace, curious to see what had been on her girlfriend's mind constantly for the last few weeks.

It wasn't until they reached an empty parking lot for two buildings that had a narrow alley between them that something started to tickle the back of her mind. Kyoko broke away from Sayaka and padded across the lot, trying to remember why this lonely place would be of any consequence.

Something cold and wet touched her ear and she swiped at it, but then there were more pricks of cold against her cheek and neck. She tilted her head up and saw the white motes dancing through the air under the streetlight…and she remembered.

She swiped at the snowflakes that had drifted into her earlobe, though the biting cold in the air had numbed her ears to the point where she barely felt them. Her eyes swept across the ground below her. Between the ankle deep snow and the patches of black ice where the snow had been cleared, she couldn't think of anywhere that was less ideal for a fight. The wraiths, unhindered by the poor terrain, glided around in an attempt to encircle their target. She kept moving to stay out of their clutches, but was steadily being cornered.

Lucky for her she had backup at hand, even if she didn't know it yet.

Within a minute she found herself in a dead end alley, the wraiths funneling in directly after her. Not an impossible situation, but definitely undesirable.

Well, it couldn't be helped. It looked like Kyoko would have to do something again. Besides, Sayaka had done a great job of setting up a kill zone.

Kyoko stepped off the roof and landed lightly at the mouth of the alley. It was hardly necessary, but she summoned a wall of chains behind her just to make certain that the wraiths could neither flee nor get unexpected help. The brass spear twirled easily between her fingers, much more nimbly than a weapon of its size should be able to in the hands of a petite girl.

The conditions were still pretty far from ideal for a fight, but with the wraiths caught between the two of them and with no room to spread out, it wasn't too long before the last one faded into nothing, leaving only churned snow, black cubes, and a little blood in the alley. Kyoko winced as she gingerly examined her burned shoulder. Lucky shot, but it wouldn't heal quickly, even with the use of her magic.

"Let me." She glanced at Sayaka out of the corner of her eye, the latter already raising her gloved hands to place them over the injury. A couple of weeks ago she would have waved her away. A few months ago she would have slapped her hands aside.

Now, she relaxed a little and let her friend use her magic to heal the burn much more quickly than Kyoko could have.

"That's gonna cost ya," Kyoko muttered. "You can have part of my share of the cubes."

Sayaka shook her head with a curious smile on her face. "It's my fault you were hurt in the first place. I really thought you'd step in faster, though. What were you doing, waiting until I cornered myself?"

"You cornered—? You did that on purpose?"

Her friend smiled sheepishly. "Well, it looked like you were going to just keep watching."

The pain from her shoulder faded, but the relief didn't dim her scowl. "That was dangerous and stupid. If you knew I was there and wanted my help, you could have just said something."

The sheepish smile turned just a little mischievous. "And deny you the chance to be a dashing knight coming to my defense?"

The remark brought a grudging chuckle from Kyoko, but she jabbed her spear into the snow and deftly flipped a clump of it into Sayaka's face before she knew what was happening. "You're the one with the knight and damsel in distress fetish, not me," she shot back as Sayaka spluttered and wiped snow out of her eyes.

"I take it back," she grumbled. "Knights are chivalrous. You're too much of an ass."

Kyoko hefted another clump of snow and gave her a sidelong glance. "You should really watch your mouth when you have such an obvious weakness exposed." Sayaka tensed and tried to step back, but Kyoko was faster and dumped the fistful of snow on top of Sayaka's cleavage.

A shrill scream and barking laughter filled the night air. Kyoko looked away as Sayaka forgot modesty in her attempts to clear the snow out of her top, not so much out of a sense of politeness as a desire to not piss her off too much.

"You…bitch…" the rookie snarled, transforming back to normal so as not to present the same target a second time.

Kyoko clucked her tongue. "Thought I just told you to watch your mouth." She also reverted to her street clothes; Puella Magi outfits were not designed for cold weather. She smirked at the fuming girl and knelt to start gathering up grief cubes.

WHAP

Kyoko slowly shook her hair out and watched clumps of snow fall to the ground before turning to Sayaka, who was already packing a second snowball.

"Well well, look who thinks she can step up." The redhead rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles, a dangerous gleam in her eye. "Guess you need another lesson."

"Ack!"

Sayaka hastily brushed the snow out of her hair and glared at her girlfriend.

"What? You started it."

She rolled her eyes in a feigned show of exasperation. "And for five years, you've continued it. Stop bringing that up."

"The sovereign nation of Kyoko does not let past wrongdoings go. We accept only unconditional surrender."

"Uh huh." Sayaka was already packing a snowball of her own. "Sounds like the sovereign nation of Kyoko wants to spend the end of her date night sleeping on the floor."

"That sounds like a declaration of war." Kyoko whipped her hand around, flinging the snowball she had been hiding at Sayaka, but her adversary knew her too well and was already hitting the ground, her retaliatory shot whistling towards Kyoko's hard with alarming speed.

Kyoko landed hard on her ass with a loud 'oomph,' cheek stinging from a particularly well aimed and hard thrown snowball, but she scooped up a handful of snow and flung it wildly in her attacker's direction. Sayaka raised her arm and easily blocked it, but in that brief moment Kyoko lunged at her and tackled her into a snow drift. Hasty pleas for mercy went unheeded as Kyoko used both arms to scoop surrounding snow on top of Sayaka.

In that moment, Kyoko was struck by the sense that…it was like they were just kids again. For the first time since she had made the contract, Kyoko felt like an ordinary kid. She knew the feeling wouldn't last long, and she clung to the moment for as long as she could.

Sayaka struggled under her and managed to get the snow knocked off of herself. She glared up at Kyoko, face flushed pink from the cold. At least she had had enough sense to transform back into her regular form and was wearing a heavy winter coat that did a much better job of protecting her assets than her combat outfit did.

That outfit was a lot easier on the eyes, though.

Some distant part of Kyoko's brain noticed that neither of them had moved or said anything in quite some time. And that Kyoko was essentially straddling Sayaka. And that they were both a little breathless, even though they had been still this whole time.

Kyoko gently brushed some strands of wet hair out of Sayaka's face, but her fingers lingered and traced her cheek. They were both so still and quiet now…

She obeyed the light pressure on the back of her head, a gentle guidance from Sayaka's hand that Kyoko hadn't even noticed moving, and leaned down until their faces were only inches apart.

The illusion slipped a little, and fears and bitterness learned from her life as a Magical Girl started to seep in. But Kyoko pushed them down and held onto the peace she was experiencing as hard as she could.

She wanted to pretend that she was a normal kid for just a little longer.

Sayaka's lips were still cold from the snow, but the heat that spread from where they met drove the chill out of both their bodies.

It was almost surreal, staring up into the void of the night sky as snowflakes drifted into the light cast by streetlamps, seeming to appear from nowhere. If it wasn't so cold, she could just keep laying there for hours, losing herself in that sky. She had endured nights like this when she had nowhere to sleep but a bench or an alley, but with a warm home to go to she wasn't keen on doing so again for nostalgia's sake.

Kyoko started to sit up, but a quick tug on her hand brought her back down. She frowned and opened her mouth to protest, but then Sayaka was on top of her, straddling her hips and looking anxious. The redhead regarded her with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"I'm not against doing it in public, but not when I'd get frostbite from taking my pants off. Let's go; there's a nice warm bed where we can continue."

Sayaka shook her head fervently and for a moment looked like she felt sick. After a few deep breaths, her girlfriend slid back enough to allow Kyoko to sit up and she wrapped her hands around Kyoko's.

"Do you…recognize where we are?"

It had been a few years, but of course she remembered. They were even in roughly the same place they had been back then, only this time Sayaka was on top. She nodded mutely, Sayaka's attitude imparting a sense of gravity to the situation. Her girlfriend took her hands again and gripped them tightly, her eyes never leaving Kyoko's.

"We've been through a lot over the years. And we always made it because we had each other to rely on." She closed her eyes and was visibly gathering her nerve before continuing. "This was where I realized that I was in love with you." Sayaka raised her hand, and Kyoko's eyes snapped to the tiny box in her palm. "So I wanted it to be where I let you know how I feel now."

With trembling hands, Sayaka opened the box. "Kyoko…will you marry me?"

The world stopped. The snow continued to fall, but her breath, her heart, the world around them, everything seemed frozen in time. And for the life of her, she could not find the words to describe what she was thinking. Not even the one word she needed most.

But a response was needed. She gingerly lifted the ring out of the box and, under the eyes of her new fiancé, slid it onto her finger.

The wind had picked up, turning the already cold air bitter. Their snowball fight hadn't helped the situation. Kyoko was able to endure the cold better than many because of her experiences with living on the streets, but she certainly preferred being warm and dry. At the moment, though, she was more concerned with how badly her companion had started shivering.

The protectiveness that Kyoko had previously been feeling for Sayaka had only gotten stronger with this new development between them, and she pulled off one of her gloves to thread her fingers through Sayaka's as they walked. Sayaka's bare hand was freezing, but she felt an affectionate squeeze in return and couldn't imagine letting go.

"So you waited for a snowy day to propose just because it was snowing when we first kissed?" Kyoko snorted and bumped her shoulder against Sayaka's as they walked. "Does that mean if our first kiss had been after I pulled you out of that apartment fire, you would have torched a building so you could propose in front of it?"

"If that's all I needed, I'd just ask you to make tempura again."

Kyoko's eyes narrowed at the reminder of that incident, but she let Sayaka have that one. Her shock had worn off, leaving her feeling light and giddy. She kept stealing glances at the ring on her finger and every time she did her heart would skip.

This was actually happening.

If she was being honest, the idea of marriage had never crossed her mind, not least because it still wasn't legal yet. She had fully expected them to just stay girlfriends for the rest of their lives. But now that the notion of Sayaka being her wife had come up, she found that she wanted it more than anything else.

They reached the busier sections of the city, though on a night like tonight hardly anyone was outside. Still, the illusion of solitude, of the night and the snowfall being theirs alone, broke and they were thrust back into the normal world. It didn't spoil the mood, but Kyoko found that she wasn't ready for it to be over with.

"So, what now?"

Sayaka blinked a few times and shifted uncertainly on her feet. "Well…now we figure out when we're going to get married and start making plans, right?"

"No, not that. I mean, what are we doing now, tonight?"

"Oh!" Sayaka grinned, apparently relishing what she had in store. "Mami's been cooking all day for us." She pulled out her phone and gestured with it. "She sent me a message saying that it's all ready back at our place."

Kyoko's mouth watered at the thought of what feast must be waiting for them, and yet… "Tempting, but I'm not ready to call it a night just yet."

"What do you mean?" her fiancé asked, looking perplexed at the unexpected response.

Kyoko took both of Sayaka's hands in her own and squeezed them together. She stepped in closer until their faces were only centimeters apart and spoke softly. "I mean, this night is beautiful, and I don't want to call it off yet and head back home." She placed a gentle kiss on Sayaka's forehead and smiled one of her rare, genuine smiles. "I want to just…stay out here with you. What do you say?"

Sayaka shivered; it was freezing out here, but there were ways for their magic to help them tolerate that problem. And here, with the love of her life, surrounded by the beauty and wonder of a snowy Mitakihara, and with the memory of Kyoko sliding her engagement ring over her finger lifting her spirits to heights she'd never felt before, she didn't think she'd mind the cold so much anyway.

She kissed Kyoko's hands, still clasped around her own, and matched her smile. Her mind ran through half a dozen romantic things she could say, but, like Kyoko accepting her proposal, the simplest response was the best.

"Yeah…I'd like that."

Kyoko wrapped one arm around Sayaka's shoulders and pulled her close as they changed direction, not heading anywhere other than away from home. In the near darkness and with snow swirling around them, it was easy to forget all of the terrible things that they had to deal with, and all of the pain and heartache that they had gone through. The memories, good and bad, had all led up to this moment, but for that one night, they could let go of all of it and just lose themselves in the night and each other's company.

The End

A/N: Okay, so this took considerably longer than I had said it would at the end of last chapter, but the important thing is I did eventually deliver. So this is it, everybody (if anyone is still reading). I had always intended to end this collection of stories with marriage, either a wedding or the proposal. It took a long time and a lot of wavering back and forth to figure out exactly how I wanted to do it and to find the right words.

This series has spanned over five years, and while my motivation to write flagged as time went on, I would never just let it wither away and die quietly. Now that I've finished it, I'm probably going to go quiet for a while. However, there is one other bit of unfinished business on my account: the boringly named Aftermath story. Much like with this series, I always intended to finish it, but my attention to it fell by the wayside and I allowed it to gather dust. With Rigors of Love finally finished, I may feel free to start focusing on that again. I can't say when it will be, but I promise that I will complete that story as well.

Thank you all for the support over the years. I hope you enjoyed reading my stories, and I hope you will continue to read if/when I next put something out.

Later!