The tea cup clanged as she set it down. She looked up at the glittering stars of the dark abyss around her.

"Well, here we are again. Perhaps for all eternity," she said to her companion. Her lips slowly inched upwards and she began to grin as she shifted her gaze to her companion. The eyes drank every detail. "Not that I mind, of course. As long as it's you, then I would never ask for anything else."

The companion blushed and slowly drank tea from her cup. A comfortable silence descended upon them both.

The dark-haired girl leaned back on her chair and slouched on her seat. She looked back up at the darkness that enveloped them. "I studied some philosophy during our modest lifetime as humans. I felt somewhat detached by much of what I read though. How many philosophers, worshippers, and everyday people question the life that they know? How often do they regress into laziness and boredom over their convenient lifestyles? How often do they seek adventure and thrill? How many feel a greater purpose gnawing at their very being, to be more than a dismal person who simply stumbles through life?"

"It's natural though, isn't it?" questioned the pink-haired companion, "After all, it's what led all of us through our hardships . . . and our follies. I just wanted to do my best to help others, to stop feeling inadequate and guilty, and to do my part in making a better world."

The pink-haired girl frowned. "And, those exact feelings are what led to me being tricked by predatory monsters like Kyubey. I had never thought, until the timeline where you told us the truth, that there were older people who understood those feelings and could then manipulate them for their benefit. I felt so ashamed and helpless once the full truth sank in."

"Oh yes, and that is why revenge is oh so sweet," said the black-haired girl. "would you like to hear the details?"

The pink-haired girl shifted her gaze to look slightly away from her companion. "Please, don't spoil our time together with -"

"Very well, I shall not proceed further with this line of discourse," said the black-haired girl shrugging. The pink-haired girl smiled back. "I just couldn't help but think over the meaninglessness of so many philosophical questions and of the nihilistic desires of most humans. We've become gods; concepts that bring hope or despair and yet such supernatural concepts are meaningless compared to a normal life of our own making. I just never realized it after losing you to eternity."

The pink-haired girl tilted her head but let the black-haired girl continue.

"I had thought it inconceivable before your ascension but it wasn't until after ascending myself that I realized how pitiful and nihilistic it is to praise God. We achieve that which we strive for and nothing else. Living privileged lives in first world countries was beyond any pitiful notions of heroics and self-sacrifice." She said, the pink-haired girl gazed solemnly at her. "It was the same when each of us became magical girls, right? Sakaya and you conversed about the subject in length. Wanting to improve the world by doing good for others and, if entirely honest, to experience the exhilaration of conflict like Kyouko tried to do for a short period of time. To feel excitement over grappling with tough challenges and overcoming them. Yet, as Sayaka discovered, living for others was meaningless and living selfishly had been the better standard all along; all of the post-rationalization after her choice resulted in needless suffering and a horrible death. It was the same for Mami, although I hadn't thought of it until after experiencing my own Witch labyrinth. Yet, in both cases, it became clear to me. The privileged and normal life was far better than the nihilism that resulted in self-sacrifice."

"And your selfishness, your desire to shape the world, changed all of that. It saved Sayaka and there was no need for further self-sacrifice on anyone's part." said the pink-haired girl. The black-haired girl grinned and nodded. "But y'know, you're not being entirely honest, are you? Your self-sacrifice was what led to my exponential increase in power, your continued dedication to me gave me strength every time, and I gained the ability to sacrifice myself as an eternal concept to save everyone thanks to the pertinacious suffering and struggles on your part."

"Ah, but it was my selfishness yet again that allowed us both to transcend personhood and conceptualization to be both gods and humans," said the black-haired girl. She outstretched her hand and clasped one of her companion's hand. She began stroking the back of the hand with her thumb. The pink-haired girl relaxed her body and made no move to stop her. "During the modest time as humans, I learned that emotions like love and hate were mutually connected as a result of aggressive impulses from my psychology studies. In fact, humans inherited it from the animal kingdom, as a life-preserving instinct to protect their progeny and to identify individuals. Animals that lack it, or lack the aggressive instinct in certain seasonal changes, cannot identify other animals as individuals and thus exist as an anonymous herd without any concept of love, hate, friendship, individuality, and aggression."

The black-haired girl fixed her gaze upon their joined hands. "Thinking it over, I realized that rationality didn't have to mean cold indifference to mass death, to suffering, or other horrible events. And I realized, in more ways than one, Kyubey's species was little more than a defective and predatory species because they lacked such conceptions. In fact, he lacked the capacity to understand our choices and our ascension to godhood. Do you realize what that means, my love?"

"Well, I think I do? You're saying that, despite popular misconceptions, our god-like conceptualizations aren't the antithesis of each other. In fact, we can exist concurrently and we are the concomitant of each other because we've both manifested as life-preserving concepts." said the pink-haired girl. She enclosed her fingers around the tightened grip of her black-haired companion and smiled. "I'm grateful, I was so afraid of what it would mean to be eternal enemies with you, Homura-chan."

"You will never be my enemy, Madoka-chan," said Akemi Homura, gently pulling Madoka by the arm. They both stood-up with the coffee cups forgotten and the table between them dematerializing. Their arms enjoined in pulling closer to each other and their feet stepped closer to hug each other. Their bodies relaxed.

Their lips finally met in a passionate, yearning kiss.