Pilgrimage

"Once we defeat Walpurgisnaucht, its grief seed is yours, and I will leave the city. I don't care what you do with my house after I'm gone. It'll all be yours. That'll be my end of the bargain," Her amethyst-colored eyes spoke with utmost sincerity with a slight undertone of business.

"Yeah, that's our agreement, Homes," Kyouko said as she took a bite out of an apple, her fang stuck out in the process.

At the time, the redhaired magical girl had no idea just how fond she'd be for the mysterious raven. It was a deal she wished she backed out of.

Homura Akemi succeeded in gathering Kyouko Sakura, Sayaka Miki, and Mami Tomoe in defeating the Queen of Witches. She also hindered Kyubey and stopped Madoka altogether from forming a contract.

There were several obstacles: enemy magical girls, Kyubey, discord and distrust between the four magical girls, several witches, and Walpurgisnaucht herself.

Even so, they tore through all those obstacles and created a sure-way path to victory. They defeated and destroyed Walpurgisnaucht.

It was a happy ending.

But not to Kyouko Sakura. She burned the scene into her mind, forever etched it into the confines of her memory. Everyone had smiles of triumph, yelling out in frustrated happiness in the neverending rubble of the city. All except Homura.

The time traveler had a strangely empty and sullen expression on her delicately static features. Her entire body had relaxed in the most melancholic way possible. The rain poured, replacing her tears.

Immediately after the war had ended, Homura Akemi disappeared. There was no packed bags, no goodbyes. She just disappeared.

Kyouko Sakura had returned to an empty oversized home. All of Homura's clothing, equipment, and personal belongings had remained where they were. It was as though the raven-haired girl just left with only her magical attire.

She even left piles and piles of grief seeds in a hidden basement room that Kyouko had accidentally stumbled upon in one of her 'exploration' tours.

The tomboy took out Homura's old cell phone she kept, and dialed Sayaka's number. After a few moments of ringing, she heard an audible hello. "Yo, blunette, what's up?"

"Kyouko? What's up?"

"I was wondering if you, Mami, and the pinkie got any plans for tomorrow. I've been here at the house all bored! Blah!" Kyouko whined childishly. Sayaka couldn't help but snicker over the phone.

"If there's not a storm out tomorrow, then sure! You know how the weather's been lately. I'll come over tomorrow at two. I'll take Mami-senpai and Madoka with me. How's that?"

"Hell yeah! Can't wait!"

With a click of a button, Kyouko ended the conversation. She stared up at the pendulum in the living room. It swayed back and forth in a strangely calculated way. The redhead could never understand Homura's tastes in style, but it was something Kyouko liked about the stoic girl.

Completely unpredictable.

A nostalgic scene unraveled in Kyouko's head. A time when she had woken up in Homura's bed, and clung tightly to the stoic raven-haired girl. When she woke up, Kyouko was convinced her newfound ally would've immediately kicked her out, but no, that's not what happened. Homura gently woke her up with a slight tap on the cheek and studied the redhead's features for a silent moment as the two stared at one another.

Kyouko couldn't read behind the amethyst eyes, but was glad for Homura's silence.

It was another thing she liked about the Akemi girl.

Out of boredom, Kyouko pulled out a small diary-esque notebook from Homura's old desk in the second floor, and took out a led pencil. She opened the notebook with great haste, and started to write. It was in letter format.

Hey Homes, She wrote, Remember that time I crawled into your bed half-asleep? That was supppeeer embarrassing for me! When I woke up, I thought you were going to totally chew my head out, but you didn't. Thank you for that, Homes. I came to think of you as an awesome friend. I don't know if you thought of me in the same way or if I'll ever find out, but still. Thank you. Thank you for making Mami and I patch things up. Thank you for saving Sayaka, and thank you for Pinkie. And most of all, thank you for the truth.

If I never met you, I probably wouldn't've ever realized that bastard furball had been using us. Or the truth about witches. I would've lived a lie, something I can't stand.

So thank you...If you ever read this letter, please, talk to me. Send me a sign. Anything that you're still alive. Please.

From Your dumbass red-headed buddy,

Kyouko Sakura.

Half-formed tears swelled up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She tore out the paper from the notebook's spine, and folded it into a paper airplane.

She took the paper airplane with her, and walked to the highest point of the house, and opened a window. The wind blasted through the window. It was extremely windy, just as Kyouko planned.

Kyouko prayed to whatever God would listen to her, and threw her paper airplane as far as she could.

Only the wind would know where to take the letter.

[]

A familiar raven-haired girl stepped out of a tour bus. Her clothing consisted of a black buttoned-up coat with a dark purple scarf. The pants she wore were a simple baggy black used for winter.

She breathed out, her breath clearly visible from the winter cold. There was a slight thump on the backside of her head. The time traveler turned around and noticed a paper airplane on the concrete floor. Out of curiosity, she picked it up and noticed barely legible writing on it.

Homura opened it.

[]

End

Author Notes:

This was designed as a one-shot as a small break from the Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rejection I had been working on. I really enjoyed writing this.

I might/might not continue this. It all depends on how you guys react to it and on my schedule. I'm already working on two stories (one on my personal website - tfostudios . com) and on the previously aforementioned Rejection.

Either way, hope you guys enjoyed the read!