Introduction: This story takes place in an alternate timeline which is relatively akin to the timeline of the anime, though some things are different as well and things won't go quite the same way, I suppose it could also count as AU, though we aren't really sure. It will eventually lead to Sayaka x Kyouko (yuri/girl x girl), so if that isn't your cup of tea you should probably not read this. Of course we don't own the original, all rights go to their respective owners.

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Sayaka's POV, after the fight against Elsa Maria

...

This fight was so easy, I don't even know how I could've been struggling against any Witches or Familiars before... Without the pain there is nothing holding me back any more; I don't need any help, my wounds just close themselves afterwards. The labyrinth of the Witch disintegrates into thin air, as if nothing had ever happened. The only proof she was even there to begin with is the black gem falling to the ground. I pick it up, but I have no need for it, I will just give it to that red-haired vulture...

"Here. You're after that, right?" I toss it over to her. Why else would she have come, if she wasn't waiting for me to die so she could finish off the weakened Witch herself or to claim my price? As if she'd come here to help me because she was worried about me, or anyone else for that matter. She doesn't care about anything but her own worthless life and her well-being... She wouldn't care if some Familiar became a Witch and killed scores of people as long as she got a Grief Seed out of it, that's the kind of person she is.

"Hey..." She looks a little bit... I don't know how I should interpret this look, sad, worried, annoyed? Not that it matters. I slowly walk towards Madoka. Maybe I'm being a little bit too harsh with her, maybe she isn't such a bad person after all... what she told me in that church, if it was true I could somewhat understand her. But I don't even care any more, all I can do is fight Witches; that's all Magical Girls are good for, in the end.

"I don't want to owe you any favours. We're even, okay?" I don't think I needed help, but I don't want to feel as if I'd be indebted to her, of all people. I walk past her and towards Madoka, she also looks rather worried. What is their problem? This body is just a corpse, the heart may beat, the blood may be warm and flow, but it isn't my body any longer. It's just an object I use to fight the Witches. That's all I am, a weapon to fight Witches; my soul isn't even in my body any more... "Let's go, Madoka."

"Sayaka-chan..." I don't really understand why she is so worried, if she really wanted to help me, to protect me, all she would have to do is make a contract with Kyubey. He already told me that she would be so much stronger than any of us... No, I shouldn't think like this, I decided this for myself; it was my fault for being so stupid! I feel so tired... I undo my transformation and try to land on my feet, but somehow my body doesn't obey me; for just a moment I fall, but I can support myself on Madoka.

"Sorry..." I let go of Madoka and try to stand on my own feet. I think I could hear a faint gasp behind me just now, it almost sounds a little bit like Kyouko... Or maybe I'm just hearing things, my body is still a little bit hard to control. "I'm a little bit worn out." I slightly stagger backwards, but Madoka catches me again. I feel so useless, Mami-san would be so much stronger, Kyouko would be so much stronger...

"Don't push yourself. I'll carry you." I want to protest for a moment. A heroine should be able to stand on her own two feet and fight her own battles; but my body doesn't allow it and I probably can't call myself that either way. Even as a zombie I have my limits, everyone else is so much stronger than me... Why can't I be as strong as Mami-san was, or as strong as that transfer student and Kyouko!? Those two use their powers for their own wicked ends, but I, trying to do the right thing, have to be so damn weak!

There is no point in complaining, the world wasn't ever fair to begin with; I sacrifice my life and more for Kamijou-kun, but he doesn't even look at me in return... Just a couple of days ago everything was wonderful in our perfect little world. Sure, we had to go to school and Kamijou-kun had his injured hand, but all those problems I had before just feel so trivial in comparison... I lean onto Madoka and let her carry me, probably to the next metro station.

...

It started raining. Madoka did bring me to the closest metro station; from here I could just take a train home, but what would be the point of doing that...? It's all so pointless, I can't believe I was so hyped to become a Magical Girl before, what for? To protect someone? To save someone? Why did I care about Kamijou-kun so much to begin with? He just acted like a spoiled little brat. No, that's not true, but I feel so...

"Sayaka-chan... You're not supposed to fight like that..." Madoka is my best friend, I lean against her, but right now she's just annoying me... This is the only way I can fight; if I don't do it this way I'd be even more useless, I wouldn't even be able to hurt the Witches any more. I look at her for a moment, she's crying... "Don't lie and say it doesn't hurt! I can tell how bad you're hurting just watching you! Don't act like it's okay to get hurt just because you can't feel it!" Where did all that power I had while fighting that Witch in black and white go...?

"If I don't do that I can't win. I'm no good." I push myself a little bit away from her, at least I can sit on my own again. I should leave, if I stay here I'll just end up hurting Madoka; the words I say feel so strange to me, almost as if someone else was saying them, but it's all true... How could I be such a stupid airhead just a few days ago, joking around with my friends and caring about nothing, despite the world being as it is? I was so blind...

"Even if you win fighting like that, it's no good for you!" 'No good for me'? I could almost burst out laughing, there no longer is something that could be good for me. I'm just a stupid corpse, I can't be with Kamijou-kun because of that, I can't be with anyone... All I have to look forward to is dying at the hands of some Witch or some other way, maybe Kyouko or that transfer student would do it if I get in their unjust ways again...

"Good for me? What is good for me?" Madoka makes a surprised noise and I finally find the strength to stand up again, though I'm still staggering a little bit. Well, at least it doesn't hurt... The rain is getting stronger again, I should have left sooner. But I can stand Madoka's stupid concerns no longer, why should I hold back, just for her sake? I take out my darkened Soul Gem and show it to her. "How is anything good for me with a body like this?"

"Sayaka-chan..." I wanted to spare her from this, but she just had to keep pushing it, had she just remained quiet... To hell with her! She just talks about it as if she knew everything there was to know about being a Magical Girl, but the truth is that she can't understand the first thing about us. At least my feet are working properly again, so I stand up and walk out into the rain; it's not as if I'd feel it on my skin any longer, this isn't even my skin...

"I'm just a lump of stone put here to defeat Witches. A walking corpse, pretending it's alive. What can anyone do for me? There's no point even thinking about it." It's depressing, but that's all there is to it; the human Miki Sayaka died the moment she made a contract with Kyubey. For such a pointless thing... How could I throw away my humanity, my very soul for a jerk like that!? I know that he isn't really a jerk, but still...!

"But I want to make you happy somehow..." I want to leave, I want to run away before I can say anything else, but I stay. I can't help it, I want to blow off some steam and Madoka is the only one here. I almost wish Kyouko was here so that we could beat each other up over it instead, she can take it, but Madoka... I should go, I really should go before I say anything I can't take back...

"Then you fight them." Madoka's eyes widen in fear, as if she only understood now what it would mean to help me... Shouldn't that be obvious? I'm sure Kyubey told her a million times by now how much better she'd be than any of us ordinary Magical Girls, how great she would be... Why does she have to have that power, why can't it be me...? "Kyubey told me you have far more potential than most of the other Magical Girls. You can take them out without getting beat up like that."

"I... That's..." As I thought, she wouldn't be willing to give up that much for just her stupid friend. She could wish Mami-san back, maybe I should have done that myself instead of giving Kamijou-kun his stupid hand back, it's not as if he'd ever use it to tou- What am I even thinking!? What a pathetic excuse for a heroine I am... I tell myself I wanted to do what was right, but in the end I just wanted him to look at me the way he will probably look at Hitomi...

"If you want to do something for me, then go ahead and see what my life is really like. Nah, of course you won't." I finally get my legs to move towards the exit; the doors open, but I can't stop my mouth now... "You're not going to throw away your humanity out of sympathy." Why do I have to do something like that? I know how it has to hurt Madoka, I know it, but I just keep going. It feels as if a dam had broken inside of me, holding all these thoughts back...

"Sympathy? Sayaka..." I hate the way she's just sitting there, pitying me with her big pink eyes as if she could do nothing but cry. Even though she could do just about anything I could never hope to; the choices she could make are infinite, yet she just chooses to do absolutely nothing with that power... I feel jealous, it's so unfair, I'd make this world a just place if I had that power, I would eradicate all...! I shouldn't think like this, I really shouldn't, but...

"I'm like this because even though you could do anything you're doing nothing! So don't just play innocent while giving me lectures!" I said it, I just said it all... I wanted to keep those ugly thoughts away from Madoka, I wanted to protect her from all of this; but I have to leave now, before it's too late. If I don't leave now there's no telling what I might end up doing to her... I might be cursed already, but if I just stay alone from now on...

"Sayaka-chan..." She follows me outside, into the heavy rain... I have to get rid of her before something really bad happens.

"Stay away from me." Madoka looks at me as if I had just slapped her, but I don't think she'll follow me any longer, that's probably for the best. I just run off and leave her behind... I should go back and apologise, but as I am now I'd just end up hurting her even more; this is better for both of us. I can't hold my tears back any longer as I run away from her, I don't even know where to... "I'm a total moron! Why did I say that to her!? I'm hopeless!"

...

Kyouko's POV, Homura's apartment

...

I take a pair of chopsticks and start eating the instant noodles I made myself, Homura has it pretty good here. Running water, a water boiler, pretty much anything I'd need for a good life, though her taste for home decoration leaves a lot to be desired. I dig in, but somehow the noodles don't taste how they should, they're so stale... Maybe I got a bad package or something like that, though I think it's rather because of what happened earlier today. 'I don't want to owe you any favours. We're even, okay?'

"I predict that Walpurgisnacht will appear in this area." Bloody hell, why do I have to worry about that idiot so much!? It's her own damn problem if she wants to get beaten to death by some stupid Witch, I should be glad if that'd happen, but somehow I don't think I would be... She and her stupid ideals with heroism, justice and all that other crap; she has to be even worse than Mami used to be, at first I wanted to beat that right out of her, but now...

"Where's it based?" At least I can distract myself with something serious, if I didn't have to worry about a Walpurgisnacht this would probably drive me crazy. I was thinking way too much about that girl lately... She reminds me a lot of how I used to be, how I listened to my father and his stories about how to make the world a better place. And how he destroyed what little we had in a single night, our family, when I did try to make a difference... In a way our wishes went pretty much the same way, taking the most important things we had from us, huh?

"The clock tower."

"The clock tower?" I slurp down some of my ramen, though I wonder how she wants to know something like that. "I haven't heard of Walpurgisnacht appearing in this city before. So how are you so sure about the clocktower?" Homura just stares back at me and ignores my question... "Look, this isn't exactly a line of business where you can blindly trust your colleagues, you know? Why don't you show me a bit more about what you're really after?"

"I'd like to ask that, too. Akemi Homura." That stupid... I don't know how he got in here, but I want to kick him out already. I materialise my spear and point it directly at his face.

"You've got a lot of guts showing your face here, rat." He doesn't seem to be very impressed; somehow his behaviour is ticking me off even more than usual. Nah, why should he tell us that he just removes the most important 'components' of our being and puts them into gems, that'd be ridiculous, huh? I wanted to hit him so hard, but that probably wouldn't really help us either, would it? Though he'd deserve it.

"Oh, so I'm an uninvited guest? And here I am tonight, trying to give you some really important information." He's wagging his tail like a cat playing with a mouse... I don't think I'd really care about his 'information'; at least not if it's like anything he's given us so far, but I make a questioning sound to make him continue. "Miki Sayaka is exhausting herself faster than I expected. Not only in terms of magic use, but her body itself exudes a cursed air."

"And whose fault is that?" That ugly thing has to remind me of her again, how she's probably sitting somewhere all alone, pitying herself for her fate. I'd say that it's her own fault, but that wouldn't really be the whole truth. She didn't know half the things there were to know. Heck, I didn't know any of this Soul Gem business until just recently, I don't think I'd have agreed to that contract if I'd known that; starving would probably still be better than what we got.

"If she keeps this up, something unfortunate will happen before Walpurgisnacht. You should be careful." Hmpf, I wouldn't call that information very useful; especially since he's probably keeping at least half of the important stuff to himself, for example what's supposed to happen...

"What's that supposed to mean?" I lower my weapon, it's not as if I'd really need it against Kyubey. He's still making me pretty mad, with his high-pitched voice and how his face is always the same, he'd make a pretty good poker player...

"Why don't you ask her instead of me?" Huh? Why should Homura know anything 'bout this? Then again, she was always bragging around with knowledge she probably shouldn't have to begin with... "You already know, don't you, Akemi Homura?" She somehow reminds me of Kyubey, she's almost as good as him at hiding what she thinks. It'd probably be fun to see a poker match between these two... Or it would be boring as hell. "I wonder where you picked up that little fact. I'm very, very curious. Are you..."

"You've asked your questions. Now begone." Maybe she wished for knowledge? But Kyubey said he didn't make a contract with her... At least she seems to dislike him just as much as I do, if her expression just now is anything to go by. He makes a little bow and vanishes into the shadows; though I wonder why we don't just kill him, he's not doing us any good. Hopefully Homura will explain this to me, I didn't really understand a word they were saying just now. I put away my spear and turn towards Homura.

"You're letting him go?"

"Killing it would solve nothing." Somehow I feel like beating all the answers I want out of her, but she isn't exactly someone I can take lightly. She is rather strong, she stepped in when I and Sayaka were at each other's throats and she knows a lot. Then again, she isn't much better than Kyubey; she also tells me next to nothing if I don't ask at least three times and even then her answers are pretty vague, most of the time. Though I'm kind of worried about what that little critter said...

"Anyway, what about Miki Sayaka? What's this 'something unfortunate' he's talking about?" I think my feeling was right, something is definitely wrong with Sayaka, though I don't know what she's done this time...

"Her Soul Gem has become corrupted." She looks just a little bit sad, but I think tired would describe her better as a whole... "If it isn't cleansed soon, something will happen that cannot be undone." What's that even supposed to mean? At least it doesn't sound good at all, I'm feeling even more worried 'bout her now. Something that can't be undone, so she'd probably die if this goes on... Dammit!

"Whatever, I think I'll call it a night, there's not much we can do right now. But we'll take care of Sayaka tomorrow, alright?" Homura looks at me with her usual blank stare, I guess she isn't exactly hyped by that idea. But if she wants my help she'd better do it; otherwise I'll do it on my own and see whether I'll help her with Walpurgisnacht afterwards. I could just as well take Sayaka and go somewhere else. Walpurgisnacht would just kill some people, destroy a lot of stuff here and a city there and be done with it, that's how it always goes with those.

"If you really want that..." Well, of course, otherwise I wouldn't bring that up in the first place. Though I should keep an eye out for Homura and Kyubey. I don't trust either of them, they're probably both just trying to use me to their own ends. The only one who didn't seem to try that so far was Sayaka, though she tried to kill me instead. Not that much better, in my opinion. Well, whatever, I should really get some sleep...

"Yeah, I want that, so you'd better go along with it, alright? Well, we can meet here tomorrow and discuss what we're gonna do from there on. I'll come around three o'clock, alright?" Homura just nods a little bit absentminded, so I let myself out and get going. At least the rain isn't really strong any more, just a light drizzle. Why did I even think about taking Sayaka with me if I'd want to leave this city to its fate? She'd never agree to something like that, it would go against her stupid ideals and so on...

If only it wouldn't be so damn difficult with her; back there in the church I thought she'd finally understand where I'm coming from and I think she kinda did, but she still didn't try to listen to my advise. She's just going on and on with her stupid self-righteousness... At least she isn't some damn hypocrite about it, she goes by her own standards, even if it takes her straight to hell. I can respect that, somewhat, but I still have to stop her!

"Dammit, why do you have to be so stupid...?" I wonder aloud, but there's no one else around, even if there was I don't think anyone could give me a good answer for that question. She is a real piece of work, a mountain would probably listen to reason and move out of the way before she would... I guess I kinda like that about her as well, even if life itself comes around to smack her in the face she tries to get back up again.

But if she keeps doing that she won't get up right away, she'll never get back up again... Well, what should I do about that anyways? It's not as if I was her friend. Heck, I know her for a couple of days now and I wouldn't say we got along well. Especially since her first impression of me was me trying to kill her and all that stuff, though that wasn't really my intention... Geez, I tell myself to stop worrying about it, but after half a minute I'm right back to it either way. It wouldn't be so bad if I could do something about it, but I just can't...

I'd really like to beat someone up right now, anyone would do; but that wouldn't really make this situation any better. If anything Sayaka would probably just somehow happen across me while I was in the middle of it and that wouldn't make things between us any better. It would just make her think even less of me and she probably wouldn't bother with asking questions, so that would just end with more bloodshed... Oh, I'm already in front of my 'apartment'... Now just a little climbing tour...

...

I push open the window, it's rather hard to open since no one takes care of it. I didn't even realise how long I was just lost in thoughts, but I somehow found my way back, though this place sucks... well, it's not as if I could afford anything better, I don't earn any money and I don't pay for this place. The owners don't even know I eat and sleep here. It's actually just a rundown attic, they didn't use it in years. I have nothing but a futon here, nothing from before my 'single life'... Well, and there's also a ton of empty packing, I rarely bother cleaning here.

I feel pretty tired, so I just take a box of pocky from my supplies and drop into my futon. This thing could also use some cleaning... Then again no one ever comes here, not even the owners of this place, so who cares about this anyways? If I want to do something I get out of here and do it. I can't say it's perfect, but right now is still pretty much the prime of my life, we were always starving as a family because of how stupid others were.

Whatever, I don't really feel like thinking back to my family. Things are gloomy enough as is, no point thinking about even more depressing stuff. At least I have my pocky, that's all I need to be happy, I can do just fine on my own. So what if I didn't earn it with honest work, I don't give a damn about that. It's not as if those big business concerns or the supermarkets would miss the stuff. I slam the window shut again, it's rather cold and unpleasant outside... Maybe I should consider getting myself a job...

Where did that one come from? Why should I give up the convenient life I have right now? I only have to worry about the Witches, everything else is taken care of, I have food, a roof above my head, everything I need... Sayaka would probably think better of me, so maybe I should consider it and clean up this slough while I'm at it... Yeah, as if, it's not as if Sayaka would care about where or how I live, or even care about me at all.

The more important question would be why I even think about what Sayaka might think about certain things, I shouldn't care about that at all. I shouldn't care about her at all, for crying out loud! *Sigh* This is pointless, I stretch myself once more and get onto the futon, with my clothes still on. I used to break into the actual rooms all of the time before, but somehow I didn't do that since I met Sayaka...

"Well, what do you want to do about Miki Sayaka?" The hell!? That stupid little rat, can't he even leave me alone when I'm about to go to sleep!? I jump out of my futon immediately and materialise my spear, this time I don't even bother with words, I just pierce his smug little face. Should've done that a couple of years ago, before I even became a Magical Girl. This should take care of that problem, there's a hole in his face now. "You could have just told me to leave, that would have been less time-consuming for both of us..."

"What the hell!? How are you still...?" I push him off of the spear, but there's already a new one, though I have no idea how that one got here... How did the first one even get in here? The door is locked and even I have some trouble getting that window to open. Well, he's powerful enough to grand otherwise impossible wishes and stuff like that, so I shouldn't be that surprised. I should probably just ignore him and get to bed already, I feel pretty tired. "You know what? I don't care, just get out of here and don't come back..."

"You could have just said so to begin with, I will leave." I push off my boots and lie down again, this time I'm really going to sleep, no matter what... wait, what's that strange munching sound? It's pretty dark in here, so I need to focus a little bit. Is that... Is that thing eating its own corpse!? Dammit, I should really just ignore him. I close my eyes and cover my ears, at least I don't think it should take long to fall asleep...

...

Huh...? Where am I? It looks like... a metro station? I look around a little bit, it seems somewhat familiar, after a moment I see her sitting next to me, Sayaka... I don't know what I'm doing here with her, but it somehow feels off. Sayaka looks pretty sad and I want to reach out for her, say something, but I can't move my body. I just sit here, next to her. There is something in her hands, is that a Grief Seed...? And why is she crying? She looks so pretty with her blue hair and her clear eyes, but also so sad...

"I've been... such a fool." She's smiling, but I can almost feel the pain coming from her. That thing in her hand... it's her Soul Gem! It's almost completely black, I have to do something! But I can't move my arms or even say anything as the tears roll down her cheeks... as the first one hits her Soul Gem there's a strange sound and everything gets distorted all of a sudden, I'm thrown away by something. Sayaka's body as well, there's something dark here...

"SAYAKAAAAAA!" This was my voice, but I wasn't the one calling, I wanted to, but I didn't... what's going on here!? I hold onto some kind of pole and in front of me is... a Witch! Music starts to play... I transformed just now, evade some strange wheels and jump to catch Sayaka, I have to save her! Well, I'm not really doing anything, but I still try. That thing looks like some kind of a deranged knight with a fin... The Witch is screaming now, it almost sounds like... "What the hell? What are you? What have you done to Sayaka?!"

I can feel her, still warm in my arms, but she doesn't move a single muscle. Her blue hair is covering her eyes completely... What is all this!? Now there are tracks for trains and musical notes forming in thin air. This has to be the labyrinth materialising all around us, I need to destroy that Witch! I get on the tracks and try to approach it, but one of the wheels is getting too close, at this rate I won't be able to...! *Bang* Suddenly the wheel is gone, wha-

"Get back." So Homura did come to help me, I guess. She disappears almost immediately and for a moment nothing happens, then an explosion goes off where the Witch is... Did she kill it? I can't see anything. Within mere seconds the smoke clears and Homura is standing in front of me, but the Witch is also still there. "Hold on." She holds out her hand to me as the Witch gives off a noise that sounds like the horn of a train, blowing the remaining smoke away...

"What are you...?" I don't even know what I try to ask, but there are a lot of questions I'd have for her right now...

"Just do it!" I don't exactly trust her, but I have no other choice but to hold onto her hand, no matter what she's planning... Her shield makes a strange noise and after a second everything around us just stops. The Witch, the wheels, the music, everything except for us. This has to be her doing, so that's how she just teleported somewhere else, she didn't really teleport, she just stopped time and got there, I guess...

"She's..."

"If you let go of me, time will stop for you as well. Be careful." She just starts running and drags me along...

"What's going on? Where did that Witch come from?!" Now that's a good question. I can't imagine it targeted us or something like that, Witches ain't that smart...

"That Witch is Miki Sayaka. You have seen it yourself, haven't you?" What the hell!? Is she saying that when Sayaka's Soul Gem...

"Are we running away?" We should probably fight it, try to retrieve her Grief Seed or something, maybe we could-

"Drop that useless burden if you want to come along. Let's kill that Witch. Can you do that?" And I thought I was being cold to Sayaka before...

"Are you mental!?" Exactly my question.

"You'll just be a hindrance like that." As much as I hate to admit it, she's right... I can't doge while carrying Sayaka and I can't use both of my hands to wield my spear efficiently. I can't do anything except for watching, but still... "Get out of here for now." After a few more seconds of running I can see a bright light and we leave the twisted labyrinth of that Witch, at last... It was just a minute since it materialised, but that was more than enough for me already. It was giving me a real headache.

As soon as we get out Homura lets go of my hand and I drop to my knees almost instantly. Sayaka still in my arms, completely motionless... It's still a little bit blurry, but we got out... I gently move her hair out of her face, her eyes are empty, she looks so... different.

...

Suddenly I'm somewhere else, I walk on some train tracks, but this looks like the real world. I have Sayaka with me, but she hasn't recovered... I can see that pink-haired girl walking towards us, though I have no idea how she found us here. She looks confused at first, but starts running towards us as soon as she recognises Sayaka in my arms... Why did it have to end like this...? Why!?

"Sayaka-chan!" They were pretty good friends, from what I understand, so it should probably be even worse for her than it is for me. But it still hurts me like hell, seeing Sayaka like this... "Sayaka-chan! What's wrong? Where is her Soul Gem? What happened to her?"

"Madoka, I'm sorry... Her Soul Gem... it turned into a Grief Seed. She became a Witch and died." Is this what Kyubey meant before? That 'something unfortunate'!? If I get my hands on that thing... that other girl, what's her face, looks just about as shocked as I feel, she collapses right in front of me... Damn it, why did this have to happen!? It's the same as back then, exactly the same...

"You're kidding... right?" Homura slowly walks up to Madoka and kneels down next to her, she puts an arm around her shoulder. So even she has something resembling compassion left, I guess...

"It's the truth. That's the final secret of the Soul Gems." Now she takes hers out and shows it to that girl, it's a rather bright violet. "When the gem gets tainted and turns black, we become Grief Seeds and turn into Witches. That's the unavoidable fate of all who become Magical Girls." Damn that Kyubey, so he tricked us even more than I thought at first. A train is passing by, but we don't really care for something like that right now...

"It's not true... Tell me it's not true... Please!" So in short, we're all fucked, royally screwed, whatever. Homura pulls that girl a little bit closer to herself, I guess she cares about her, for some reason... "That's... why?! She wanted to protect people from Witches... She wanted to become a hero of justice... That's the kind of Magical Girl she wanted to be... And yet..." Does she have to rub that in my face like this? I know, dammit! I know!

"She took the burden of the curse equal to that wish. She will live on now, causing suffering just as much as she was helping others earlier." I put Sayaka's body down... but she isn't responding, she almost looks as if she was just asleep... But she isn't. that girl is pushing off Homura's hand now and hugs Sayaka's body, she's crying... Just what the hell is going on here, why didn't anyone ever tell us!?

"You..." Homura pulls my arm and guides me a little bit away from Sayaka and that girl... "You should get rid of that body, discretely. Take care when you move it, you wouldn't want to get caught with it. Try to hide it so it won't be found, in the best case so it won't ever be found. It's your responsibility since you took her body with you." She can't be serious, can she!? Is she just throwing Sayaka away like that, like a piece of trash!?

"Are you even human!?" She looks a little bit sad for a moment, but quickly pushes it aside.

"Of course not. And neither are you." I want to hit her so bad...

...

The scene changes again, this time much faster. This is... one of the better hotel rooms, it's pretty much just below my room. Sayaka is lying on the bed and I take out my Soul Gem. It gives off a bright red light, but Sayaka still doesn't do anything, she really seems to be gone... Kyubey is here as well, but before I can understand anything he's saying the place fades away already, this is getting kind of confusing...

...

And a new scene emerges, this time I'm somewhere in the city, with Homura and that girl from before, Sayaka's best friend... we talk for a little bit, but I could only pick up some scraps of the conversation, her name seems to be Kaname Madoka. It's just some half-baked plan, from what I understood I want Madoka to call for Sayaka and get her to remember somehow while I protect her with Homura, but hey, it's better than doing nothing.

...

Once more the scene changes, we're back in the labyrinth, from what I can tell we're losing... If we went all out against it we'd probably be able to beat it, but that's Sayaka, for crying out loud! There's no way I could fight her like that before knowing for sure that it's impossible to save her, I don't know if I could do it if it was impossible... Homura is also a real help for me, she's protecting Madoka with her ability and helps me out when I need it.

"Sayaka-chan! Please, stop, we're all here for you...!" Madoka's words don't seem to reach her at all. The Witch just continues swinging her sword like a mad conductor, more and more wheels crash down onto the floor around me and I can't even block them all any longer, I'm way too tired already... I want to call out to her, I want it to be my voice that reaches her, not Madoka's, but I know it'd probably just upset her even more...

"We should withdraw if you don't want to kill it. We can't keep this up forever, we have to escape and let it continue, or we have to kill it right here." No matter how much I don't want to believe it, I know she's right. If we try to keep this up we'll be done for. My body hurts like hell, there's blood all over me and I can barely stay on my feet, even if I wanted to escape now I probably couldn't and somehow I rather want to stay here, with Sayaka...

"Homura... We need to protect that which is most important to us, no matter what. Go ahead and take Madoka out of here, just as I will protect what's the most important thing for me, I'll... take care of Sayaka." Homura gives me a strange look for a moment, as if she wanted to tell me not to do this, but I think she understands it. She nods and the next moment both her and Madoka are gone...

"Sayaka... I should've told you much sooner, but I do care for you, so very much... Well, you probably can't even hear me any more, but I want you to know that..." What is this me even saying? I can feel myself kneeling down and taking out my Soul Gem, then my body... I put my hands around it as if I was praying, I already understand what will happen next... It was foreseeable that this would be the eventual conclusion, I guess...

"I know how you must feel, I've been just as lonely back then, when I lost my family... But I won't leave you all alone here, I'll stay with you, no matter what!" Some great spears erupt from the ground, I know that this sort of magic will probably use up my Soul Gem... but even so, I wouldn't stop, even if that's how things will turn out, even if I had control over my body I wouldn't.

"Please, God... Look at the life I've lived, let me have a happy dream, for once in my life..." I haven't prayed since the day when it happened, that horrible day when all I wished for was destroyed by my father, a self-proclaimed 'man of God'... but I'm just not strong enough on my own and there's no one else left, if there is a benevolent god he'd surely listen to me, just this once... I kiss my Soul Gem, throw it into the air and...

...

"SAYAKAAA!" Just when my Soul Gem was about to reach its breaking point I come back to my senses, I can move again... I'm awake now, in my dirty little room, with the empty packaging and a bunch of broken pockys all over my futon, damn it... I hate it to waste food, even more so when there are crumbs all over my futon, but I don't even really care about that right now... I'm covered in sweat and feel as if I had a fever, was that just a nightmare...?

No, I don't think so, I was aware of how surreal it all felt. Though it was pretty strange to see and feel what happened to my body and what I did, but not being in control of it... I wonder if there's anything to it, if us Magical Girls would really turn into Witches once our Soul Gems get too tainted... Hmpf, thinking about it won't do me any good, what I need now are answers and I think I know where I could get some.

I collect all the pieces of pocky in the box which would still qualify as edible and my definition of that word is pretty generous. I have a couple of other boxes stored here, but I definitely won't waste any food, I vowed I'd never do that again... I should probably beat my futon sometime as well and bring the sheets and some clothes to the next laundry shop, but I have other priorities right now...

I open up the window and get out, afterwards I carefully close it again and change into my Magical Girl outfit to jump to the next roof. This way I'm much faster than running or walking through the streets. I only take that way if I want to think about something on the way. Homura's apartment is pretty close by, it might be a little bit strange for her if it was just some kind of silly nightmare, but if it wasn't...!

It's not as if I'd care about what she thinks of me anyway. For all I care she can think I'm crazy and what not, if that was the case I'd go and search myself a rat to interrogate... I'm pretty sure that at least one of them should know something about that if it has even a germ of truth. And if it does...? If it does we'll have to come up with a better plan than last time, or what we did in that dream or whatever it was... Here we are, I frantically bang against the door...

"Homura, open this door, right now!" It doesn't take her very long, after roughly two seconds the door already opens. Homura is standing right in front of me, in her usual attire, though there are dark circles around her eyes and she looks as if she'd fall back asleep any second... She looks pretty confused at first, but she quickly regains her composure and glares at me. I guess I'd react the same way if someone hauled me out of my bed, though I'd probably be a lot more violent.

"What, if I may ask, is the meaning of this? I don't think we agreed on three in the morning..." I just push myself past her and she closes the door right behind me, I guess she understands that this is something really important... That's right, this might be about Sayaka's life, I had to come here and confirm my suspicions or disperse them. I do hope it's the latter, but I get this lingering feeling that it's not... "Would you start explaining yourself now? Did you clash with Miki-san again or is it something else?"

"Uh, not really, though it is about her..." Homura raises an eyebrow and looks at me, though I'm not too sure whether she will believe me or not. She is the only one I can turn to, if this dream was true Kyubey absolutely can't be trusted. Not that he could be trusted to begin with, he didn't tell us anything about what happens to our souls after we make a contract with him... "You see, I had a strange dream about her..."

"Well, isn't that great? Sorry, I must have forgotten about inviting you over for a slumber party so we could interpret our dreams together. Oh goodness, I didn't even remember to buy any snacks in advance..." She rolls her eyes and looks about ready to kick me out for a moment, but I return her glare and I guess I got my point across... "So, what is this really about?"

"You see, in that dream... Sayaka's Soul Gem turned into a Grief Seed when it got too tainted..." Now she looks clearly confused and somewhat worried, so she might know something, otherwise she'd just laugh it off... "We were trying to get her to become Sayaka again by having Madoka calling out to that Witch, but it failed and I kind of ended up dying in the end, I guess. I send you and Madoka away and did something... Oh well. Could you interpret that dream for me?"

"So you remember..." 'Remember'!? Is she trying to say something like that really happened...? But that's ridiculous, if that was true it would be impossible for both Sayaka and myself to be alive right now... Well, I wouldn't even be surprised any longer, now that I know that we might just turn into Witches eventually... "Hm, it is a small chance, but I'm willing to grasp at straws. What do you want to do with this knowledge?"
"Since you seem to know more about this than I do you should do the explaining, shouldn't you? It's not as if I knew anything about how we could prevent this from happening." What does she even mean, she's 'willing to grasp at straws'? Homura heaves a heavy sigh and takes a gun out of her shield all of a sudden, how does that thing even work...? "Hey, what do you think you're doing with that thing!?"

"I rather wouldn't have an eavesdropper, how about you?" I turn around and look into the same direction as she does, those red eyes... that damn little critter found his way in again.

"Just when it was about to get interesting... I know a lot more about these things than Homura could, you know? I could even help you..." I don't exactly trust Homura, but she seems to be the lesser evil in this case. Kyubey would probably just make things even worse than they already are... Though I don't understand why he does what he does I'm sure it wouldn't be in my best interest, not to mention Sayaka's...

"Get the hell outta here, or I'll stab you in the face again, no matter how many others of you would come back!" He'd probably just tell us more lies to manipulate us into doing whatever he thinks of as a favourable outcome, it's better if he's nowhere near us when we talk about these things...

"I get it, no need to be so aggressive... I will just wait and see what kind of a plan you might develop on your own..." Somehow it sounds as if he was mocking us just now, but he does leave... now we'll just have to figure out our next steps. I guess we'll have a long night ahead of ourselves, Homura will have to explain herself and then we need to think of some way to save Sayaka, no matter what...

...

Author's note: Well, we don't really have much more to say about this. Yet another new story, but this one is long overdue, we wanted to write a story about Sayaka and Kyouko for ages and since Daniel's helping me out again we got started right away. This pairing is our absolutely favourite one, seeing how it's our favourite anime with our favourite characters, music and art style, we just loved it.

If you detect any errors in terms of spelling and grammar, feel free to point them out. If there is anything contradicting the canon of Madoka Magica we'd ask you to point that out so that we may correct it if possible as well, we'll try to keep it close to what the canon established in some regards, but we aren't Gen Urobuchi and we like Kyouko x Sayaka, so there will most likely be things going against canon. Well, it will hopefully be bearable to read this...

If you'd want us to we could also use the 'Author's note' section in the future to elaborate on some questions you might have.

If you have a questions feel free to write us a review or a pm, we'll answer as soon as possible and if your question/statement is of interest to the whole audience we'll also address it in the next chapter, either in the story itself or as an addition of the 'Author's note' if it can't/shouldn't be answered in the story itself for some reason. Of course we won't spoil anything before it happens in the story, but you can still ask, maybe we failed to notice something as well.