Authors Note: Hey guys, just a little bit late for valentines day, but still consider this a V-Day gift. I hope you all enjoy.

By now, the sun had fully set and night had fallen. Though it was still early into the night, some time had passed since the confession at the train station - but could it even be called a confession when it felt more like the two finally acknowledging their feelings rather than a declaration? - though it had passed so quickly neither noticed the time ticking by.

Sayaka had called her parents shortly after she could think clearly again, telling them that she was with Homura and wouldn't be home for dinner as well as apologizing for not calling earlier. She had been pressed to do so by Homura, the latter not wanting Sayaka to bring any worry to her parents with her prolonged and unexplained absence. While she did so, unbeknownst to her was that it was also an excuse to divert her attention; Homura had also shot a quick text off to Kyouko, telling her that everything was alright and that Sayaka had been found while the other girl made her call, which in turn was answered with a short "Cool." followed by another "I fed the cat while you were out."

In its own right the uncaring tone was understandable: Kyouko had no personal reason to care for Sayaka's well-being, and the fact that she would not be paid if there was no Sayaka to train made this just a business relationship. Still, Homura felt she ought to at least tell her that everything had gone okay. Though, now that she thought about it, where had Kyouko even gotten a phone? She probably shouldn't ask.

There was an ease between the two as they walked down the streets with an attitude that made it seem as though they owned the whole world. Perhaps "ease" was not the best word; there was an energy that bubbled between them. It wasn't just a warm glow either, it burned brightly and hotly with passion, yet the fire was contained by the undertone of natural anxiety and nervousness that had not yet been able to break free to the surface. All in all, they were still basking in the high that this step they took brought them under. After all, they were just two middle school girls in love, and love was a powerful thing.

Especially when it was one's first love, and another's first love requited.

"The movie must be almost halfway through by now...sorry I made us miss it," Sayaka said as the two came to a stop in their stroll to sit at one of the benches posted around the city. She had overreacted to Nakazawa confessing to Homura, had assumed that it would mean she would lose Homura and as such acted out bitterly. Like a spoiled child, she noted...she felt guilty and embarrassed over it. She should have acted mature and not have jumped to conclusions, shouldn't have let jealousy and bitterness take over and run off to do God knows what.

When Homura had found her, in all honesty Sayaka didn't even know what she was doing. Sulking and simmering in anger, but she had no way to let that anger out, or rather nothing to let it out on. It was another dead night with witches - though she remembered Kyubey saying that those wouldn't last much longer - so there were no monstrosities to lash out on like she did so often. There weren't many people out tonight, either...maybe for the better with how easily she could have been set off. So it had left the awful feelings she had been filled with to claw at her from the inside, trying to force its way to the surface.

It left only a few other options to relieve the storm of emotions she felt, and none of them would have been well looked upon. Now that her head wasn't filled with such dark thoughts, wasn't clouded over by a haze of anger and jealousy, Sayaka didn't want to think of what would have happened if Homura hadn't been the one to find her in there.

"No, no it's fine! We can always see another," Homura was quick to respond, shaking her head to emphasize the "no"s. "Really, it's no big deal. Besides...I'm kind of glad we did this instead. I mean not the whole thing but the, you know, talk," she admitted, a pink blush coming to her cheeks as she looked down at her feet, a small smile forming. "I mean, if today had gone as we had planned it to, and we went to the movies like we had planned to, would we have even had...would we even be...you know?" It seemed she was a little too shy to actually say it and the blush only grew brighter.

A part of Sayaka wanted to laugh and agree, but it had brought a good question to the front of her mind, and she turned to look at Homura with a rather serious expression. "Actually...what are we?" she asked her. They had both confessed their feelings for each other, but did that automatically mean they were dating? Sayaka wasn't too sure, this was new territory for her, and she was sure it was the same for Homura. Besides, they never actually said if they were going to date; was it just an unspoken thing or was she jumping to conclusions? She was overthinking things again, but still a dreaded sense of paranoia washed over her. "Are we dating? Are we...are we g-girlfriends?" Now her own face had taken on a shade of red as she stumbled over the term.

The ease they had felt had finally been broken, an uncomfortable and awkward air settling over them.

"I guess...I, I mean-" Homura faltered for a second, taking a moment to breathe in and to try and collect her own words, "I...I won't mind if we were...and I don't think you would mind either?"

"Of course I wouldn't mind!"

After Sayaka's quick and somewhat loud response, they both went silent for a short while as they looked away from each other, each waiting for the other to say something so she wouldn't have to break the silence herself, neither even sure what to say after that.

This was ridiculous.

After a minute or two, Sayaka brought her hands to her face, hiding beneath them as she rubbed at her burning cheeks. Taking a breath to steady herself like Homura had not long ago, she turned back to her companion. It was better to be direct about it rather than stumble around like a bumbling idiot, right? "Homura? Would you be my girlfriend?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady as she asked. Hopefully she wasn't blushing too badly...nope, her face felt like it was on fire.

But Homura was looking at her, and she could see the girl fumble for what to say. However, soon enough a smile came back. Neither small or big, just relieved and genuinely happy. "I would, I'd love to."

It was Sayaka's turn to smile, and hers was a big one, and she quickly pulled Homura over for a tight hug as she began laughing at the relief she felt. Not missing a beat, Homura wrapped her own arms around Sayaka in return, Sayaka's own laughter so infectious it drew her in as well. They must have looked like complete dorks to everyone else, having already confirmed their love for each other earlier and just now fumbling over whether they were officially a thing or not. But Sayaka didn't care, she was glad to be confirming it, confirming that she and Homura were together. It felt more certain, felt more real, as though she hadn't just imagined the confessions at the train station.

"Girlfriends, I can't believe it," Sayaka said as she puled back, still holding onto the smaller girl. "This just feels like, just like 'finally,' you know? Like it's about time we finally took the step and did, well, this."

She could hear Kyouko laughing already. She knew she was going to get a few remarks once the girl caught wind, but she honestly didn't care.

Homura shook her head, and Sayaka had never seen such a beautiful smile before. "Just wait 'til the others hear about this," she said, and Sayaka could only laugh more, already hearing Kyosuke and Hitomi telling them that it was about time.

It was a beautiful night out, Sayaka noticed as she tilted her head up to glance above. Even through the background light of the city, the stars seemed to be shining a little brighter, and the sky was as clear as could be. It was relaxing; romantic, even. Smiling, Sayaka shifted so that she could lean back and watch the sky, one arm still wrapped around Homura to hold her close as she tried to locate and recognize the constellations that shone above.

Homura just leaned against her, also watching the sky, and mumbled something to Sayaka about how they just needed the cliche shooting star right now to finish the picture.

The night air had cooled, but wasn't cold, and staying pressed against each other had certainly done well to keep them both warm. Right here, right now watching the stars above with Homura in her arms, Sayaka was the happiest she had ever been in a while. She didn't want to let go.

"You know," she said after a while, still looking at the stars but feeling Homura move slightly against her, "I think...I think I'm going to take her up on her offer."

That got Homura's attention and she squirmed around so she could look at Sayaka instead of the sky. "Huh? What do you mean?" she asked, not quite understanding but having the inkling to what Sayaka meant.

Her first response was a small smile as Sayaka looked down at her, followed by, "I think I'll take that Sakura girl on her offer to train me. I mean, she's right, I'm still just a novice, I don't actually know how to fight apart from swing a sword and dodge attacks," before she looked back up at the sky, holding Homura closer to herself, "and well...if I want to keep what I care about safe...I need to know how to, right?" She could remember what Kyouko had said to her the other night clearly.

She was right: Sayaka's style of just going insane hack-and-slash when she fought wasn't going to last her long. It was her just blocking out everything and unleashing anger on whatever thing she was fighting, it was frenzied and it never mattered how hurt she got in the end. A severe overuse of her magic, and she might end up dead - she didn't want Homura to have to deal with someone she cared for dying, it wasn't a pleasant feeling, she would know - and there wasn't much she could do when dead.

"I'm glad you're going to, I'm sure that she isn't all that bad when you get to know her."

"You're saying it like you actually know and talk to her," Sayaka said, giving her a light knock on the arm and a laugh. Not like Homura actually was in contact with Kyouko, that was just ridiculous, they had no reason to chat with each other. "I mean, not as bad? The girl's the worst, I don't see how she can be any better."

Homura just gave an awkward laugh that went unnoticed. "Well, I mean, I did talk to her back in Kazamino and, well, she seemed nice back there."

"Well, I'd hope she was nice to you back then, else she's gonna have some answering to do."

"Sayaka..."

"What?"

"You don't need to go as far as to fight someone just because they weren't nice to me," Homura said with a sigh. "Isn't that going a bit far?"

Sayaka gave cheeky smile. "Hey now, someone's got to defend your honor, so it might as well be me," she said, and then quickly added a bit quieter, "besides, any excuse to fight her would be a good one, right?"

The other girl had to resist the need to sigh a second time at that. "What am I going to do with you," she asked, looking up at the sky as though the stars would give her an answer.

An arm quickly reached to wrap around Homura's shoulder and pull her close. "Weeell," Sayaka drew out with a contemplative expression and nodding her head a few times to herself, "kissing me might be a good start, you know?" and she then puckered her lips in an overly comedic way, humming "mmmm" as she inched closer to Homura.

With a laugh, Homura pushed her away. "I'm not kissing you when you're making a fish face."

"Come on, the fish face is good!"

The two continued on like that, joking and laughing, feeling the tension wash away once more just as quickly as it had come. It wasn't that different than what they normally did to make each other laugh, like they already had a good idea of how to be girlfriends and they just finally thought to try.

Time continued to tick by, neither girl keeping track of it, neither girl caring enough to keep track of it, too preoccupied with each other as they talked, fingers intertwined and leaning against each other as they stared up at the sky, watching the stars twinkle above, the moon shining bright like a spotlight and they were center stage.

Now both of them were hoping to see shooting stars so the cliche would be complete.

"Hey, Homura," Sayaka said, leaning towards her and resting her head on her shoulder, cheek against Homura's, "mind if I spend the night at your place tonight?"

Her breath tickled against Homura's skin, and her hand continued to hold Homura's even as she shifted position to be more comfortable against her. "Well, I don't see why not. You want to stop by your place to get some clothes? Or do you want to go wear mine again tonight?"

"Nah, let's just go straight to your place," she said, shaking her head. "It's closer, though really I should just leave a bunch of my clothes at your house. That way I'll always have clothes to wear if I want to spend the night."

"I'm not doing your laundry so you'll have to wash them yourself."

"Fair enough," Sayaka said, lips pressed against her cheek. "Should we get going? I'm getting kind of hungry to be honest, and sleepy too." This day had been exhausting, and it served to remind her she hadn't eaten anything since lunch. Her stomach rumbled in agreement, and she gave a laugh, patting it as though to silence it as she got up. "Besides we still got school tomorrow, and I don't know about you, but I still have homework."

Homura groaned as she stood up as well. "Don't remind me," she grumbled, "let's just head back to my place. Get some food, get our work done, I don't want to stay up 'til midnight working on math."

"Ditto!"

Homura had forgotten as they chatted that Kyouko may still be at her apartment, the thought not striking her until she had begun to unlock the door. Sayaka noticed her worry but Homura did her best to assure her that nothing was wrong as she prayed that the redhead was not still in.

Thankfully, when she stepped in, the coast was clear. Kyouko was gone, perhaps on a hunt, and the only one inside with them was Ganko.

It stayed that way for the next couple of hours after the girls ate some quick leftovers and went to work. There were no impromptu visits from Kyouko the freeloader and Homura had been quick to relax when she and Sayaka began talking again.

Eventually Ganko found her way to Sayaka's lap, curling up and sleeping as the girl worked furiously at her history assignment. She blinked at the new weight and smiled at the kitten, scratching her behind the ear before going back to her work with new energy.

The two got the assignments done in record time, though it was still much later than either would have liked it to be, so they just powered through it and simply chalked it up to how the day had gone.

Tired and changed into pajamas, the girls collapsed onto Homura's bed with one heck of a day to sleep off.

"I've never been so tired in my life," Sayaka complained as she stretched her arms out above her, stifling a yawn, "wake me up in a few years, I should be good by then, alright?"

Homura just shook her head, lightly hitting her with a pillow before returning it to under her head. "I'll wake you up in time for school, not in a few years," she responded, "I'd be lonely. Besides, I'm pretty sure the princess is the one who sleeps for years."

"Are you saying I'm not princess material?"

"Yes." At Sayaka's hurt expression, as if silently asking her if she were serious, Homura shook her head and snuggled deeper into her pillow, ready to fall asleep herself, yawning loudly to emphasize that point. "You're just...you're more of a prince or a knight. You're the one saving the princesses, not the one locked in the tower waiting to be saved. That suits you better."

At hearing that, Sayaka smiled as she closed her eyes. "Well," she said, pulling the blankets up to her chin, "I guess that makes you my princess then."

Even in the dark of night, even though they were both on the brink of sleep, Homura still blushed lightly at the statement, turning her head to look away as the sheets rustled around her. "Oh shush," the raven-haired girl muttered, "we only just became girlfriends and you're already trying to give me a lovey-dovey name like 'princess.'"

"Eh. Just saying it as it is."

Both girls fell silent after that, letting sleep wash over them and the gentle waves take them each into their own bubbling dreams. Everything was calm, everything was relaxed, both girls being sung a lullaby made up of the gentle noises of the night as they lay together in bed.

It was hard to tell how much time was passing when in a state between slumber and consciousness, but after a while, Sayaka spoke through the peaceful night. "Hey...Homura," she asked softly, pushing herself up slightly, "are you still awake?"

"Mhm..." was the response she got as Homura turned over to face her, cracking an eye open. "What's wrong?" she asked with a yawn.

Sayaka gave a sheepish smile, suddenly feeling as though what she had intended to ask was not a good thing at all. Not all ideas a half-asleep brain came up with were genius after all. "Well, there was something I forgot to do," she admitted.

Now Homura pushed herself up so that she propped her head up on her arm. "What'd you forget," she asked, then frowned, rubbing away at her eye, "and why did you need to wake me for it? You know where the bathroom is."

"Because, well, it involves you."

Homura frowned some more. "What was it?"

A soft "well" was the only warning Homura got before Sayaka leaned in close and pressed her lips against hers.

There was a tingle of electricity that rushed through the bodies of both girls as Homura slowly reciprocated the gentle kiss, a hand coming to rest on Sayaka's cheek. Our second kiss, Sayaka thought, recalling the first one they shared in the hospital. This one was different, however, this one was better, this one was marking when everything started to be wonderful, like how the first one was supposed to.

It wasn't the kiss filled with fear and worry like the first, this was a release from those feelings.

After a few seconds had passed, Sayaka pulled away and gave her girlfriend a smile. "I'd forgotten to give you a good night's kiss," she explained to her, slowly lowering herself to lie back down as Homura followed suit. "Good night, Homura," she said.

Nestling back onto the mattress and edging closer to her, Homura smiled and felt a hand take hold of her own under the sheets. "Good night, Sayaka," she returned as their fingers intertwined.