A/N: Written for rubylily for Chocolate Box 2017.

A pool of moonlight reflects off the window panes of a nearby abandoned building. Sweat slicks her forehead. She breathes rapidly, clutching at the cool, thin street pole for dear life. Tears shimmer in her eyes. Her eyes screw shut and she covers her face with her sleeve. Snow White did not want to see or discern or believe in a failing hope. She knew she had to, but her heart had been broken again.

Hardgore Alice had been slain, and she had been too weak to protect her from an inescapable fate.

Even in dreams she could not escape the urgency to work at being a magical girl—for better or worse.

Everything was a void of emptiness.

Not even candy hunting had made her tired enough to drift into the darkness of sleep and not imagine her dreamworld. Her efficiency had plummeted quite drastically, but she fought for what she believed in even though she blinded herself from irrevocably broken she was beyond repair. Snow White had worked herself ragged in the short timeframe.

She was exasperated, drained and mournful.

At least her surroundings emphasized it.

Beyond her spot on the sidewalk the sky was bleak. The world blurred in drab darkness around windows and alleys and store fronts. No one else was there.

So when Snow White thought she sensed a new presence next to her and blearily opened her eyes, disbelief overwrote her ability to think properly.

"You shouldn't do that, Snow White," Nemurin said. She stood radiating serenity and strength. Her head tilted and she smiled at her warmly. "You have a lot of things to do, so you can't sit around like me!"

"Ne… Nemurin…?" The river of tears flowing from her tears halted. Oh, yes, she had been crying. She barely noticed anymore. Snow White gasped at her.

"It's really me! But that doesn't matter now." A flicker of sadness crossed her face, but she picked up the slack within seconds. "Anyway, I don't like this side of you. So let's see if we can fix that, shall we?"

Nemurin clasped a chunk of the smoldering mist around them. Slowly, the mist began to dissipate as the grey tendrils weaved into a small object.

A pure white bunny with a pink flower on its head stared at Snow White. Gingerly, she accepted it.

"How did you know that…" Snow White clutched the stuffed rabbit against her chest as if it were a beacon of hope itself. The rabbit had gotten lost and bloody in real life and she had been forced to bury it in quiet place. It was her last lifeline to Hardgore Alice.

Snow White's thoughts caught up like the rush of a bullet train. How could Nemurin know about her?

"Is it important? I didn't know," Nemurin admitted. Smiling sheepishly, she closed her eyes. "But you know, this is your dream. You create everything around here. I'm just here to help you out!"

Nemurin sidestepped away. She lifted into the air.

Realizing what that meant, Snow White panicked.

"W—Wait!" Snow White desperately reached out for Nemurin's arm, but her effort fell futile as her fingers threaded through the haze around them. "Don't go away, please! I don't understand why you're here!"

"It's okay. I promise it'll be okay," Nemurin assured her kindly. Slowly, she bounced higher until she faded away into the growing blue canvas behind her. "I'll be watching you. I can't do much. Not myself." She sighed sadly. "I saw your dream door and knew you needed my help. Let me make you happy."

A shock of white light in every direction disorientated Snow White's sense of place so fiercely she lost track of her surroundings for an unknown period.

Eventually, Snow White was back on the street. She clutched at her head to ward off a momentary round of dizziness, but the blood curdled in her veins when she noticed the looming shadow next to her.

She appeared without noise like she usually had.

In front of her was the apparition of Hardgore Alice. Her black pinafore dress stood out. The long, curly black hair and distinctive bags under her eyes made her indescribably the dark contrasted to her white.

When and how she had gotten there, Snow White did not know herself. Oh, right, this was a dream. Nemurin's dream. Her heart ached to remember that, but she only focused on the girl staring at her with blank patience. She had been too busy trying to remind herself she was there. Not real. But Hardgore Alice was there in the flesh. She can talk to her.

Snow White catapulted herself forward and flung her arms around her friend. Water threatened to leak from her eyes again, but Snow White braced herself against it, instead putting all her energy into hugging Hardgore Alice tightly to deliver the guarantee of safety and shelter she must have always wanted.

"I'm sorry!" she pleaded. Raspy, her voice cracked.

Hardgore Alice stiffened. Then, she leaned into her.

"Why are you apologizing so suddenly?" Hardgore Alice's expression twisted into mild surprise, but she did nothing to push Snow White away. In fact, she seemed to accept the embrace quite graciously.

Remembering made Snow White dizzy. She had a million things to apologize to her two old partners, but nothing actually made sense in plain words.

"I—I don't…" Snow White faltered. Explaining all the circumstances would be pointless. After all, Nemurin had told her to be happy, and she wanted to be. She sniffled. "I just thought I was late to meet you, and I didn't want you to be upset with me… you know?"

Snow White huffed. She sounded as though she had had run an entire marathon, but she barely cared.

She was transparent. But no one was judging her.

The corner of Hardgore Alice's lips quirked and she blinked owlishly. "I wasn't waiting long. I understand."

Releasing a breath she had not known she had been holding, Snow White felt incredibly foolish.

Snow White did not think she understood anything, but she was sincere about it she failed to think of a comeback. She had been too snappish in reality. But this Hardgore Alice was patient. Had she always been so giving, and how had she not noticed?

Snow White stepped back and released her from her suffocating hold around her. She stared at her.

Now that she had her back, what did she do?

Hardgore Alice shattered her musings pretty easily.

"You have my rabbit," Hardgore Alice said quietly.

Snow White blanched. Mystified at the non sequitur, he looked down. Sure enough, she really had been clutching the rabbit the whole time, her knuckles white. The space where her nails had dug in to deep felt springy and pliant but no stuffing popped out.

"Um, you left it behind last time," Snow White said absently. It was the truth, but she did not elaborate. She handed the rabbit over and smiled weakly.

"Thank you," Hardgore Alice said. A blush dusted her cheeks. She cuddled the rabbit into her chest.

Hardgore Alice evaluated her expression again. Concerned, she bit her lip, though she did not outwardly mention it. She turned on her heel.

"Let's go," Hardgore Alice said, sauntering off to the left with a bold purpose underlying her steps.

Snow White bounded to catch up. "W—Where?"

Hardgore Alice shrugged. "We're ideals magical girls, right? We have to save people and do our best."

Admittedly, Snow White had nothing to argue about. She was right. That was their job, and saving people was what the two of them should be doing. Together.

Were dreams really that simple? Could she truly throw caution to the wind and enjoy herself, truly?

It was positively enlightening. She would return to the gruesome ambitions of the others waiting to snuff out her life in the morning. She had bigger fish to fry than to squander everything she had here.

No wonder people gave themselves up to fantasy.

It occurred to her that she really had underestimated her partner the whole time; blood and death really had been deceptions the real world had obscured Hardgore Alice in. Snow White just ambled after her. She did not know if her ability would have the same effect here, but she listened to the night sky in case she could hear anyone calling out for assistance.

A faint, horrified voice met her ears promptly.

The mishap was a little boy who lost his balloon from a nearby faire. He started crying as he watched his balloon dragged away in a swift wind current. Snow White leapt up from a low building's roof and caught it between her fingers. His eyes sparked with delight as he watched her jump down and hand it to him.

Hardgore Alice clapped and said it was lucky a good magical girl had heard. He earnestly agreed with her.

For the day the two of them did odd jobs. Being in magical girl form during the day was stranger to Snow White, but she adapted to it. Magical girl spotters could be anywhere in real life ready to pull up their blogs and snap a pic. Here, she did not worry about that. She kept glancing at Hardgore Alice who, oddly enough, was quite content.

Black and white never looked so delightful in the open light, and Snow White was glad that she could walk with her for the first time when everyone saw.

Everything from helping a little girl find her toy poodle to a bank robbery filled their day. Hardgore Alice took the bullet in a bank robbery. Snow White, enraged at this, tied up the robbers in a neat bow. They left them in sight for the police to handle.

She had not known she could be so… violent and upset at people who did such awful things. Usually, Snow White avoided the strenuous life risking jobs alone if she could help it. Her sense of justice and righteousness flared alongside Hardgore Alice.

Standing outside the bank, Snow White hesitated.

For a moment, her vision blurred. She fought against it, and she found herself where she had left off in the dream. Hardgore Alice looked at her quizzically. She returned an apologetic look and tugged her onward.

The flow of Snow White's dream distorted a little at this point. The waters of sleep dissolved a bit around Koyuki, and she wondered if her alarm had gone off or her parents were calling her for school. Neither one mattered. She would not wake up for that.

If the rabbit's foot helped her stay asleep, she was also eternally thankful to it. It was extremely useful.

Maybe proceeding was the difficult part. Snow White had not seriously considered Hardgore Alice's every good point as a partner before, but she did without bias this time. She still endured pain and mutilation in a remarkable way that should have been lethal.

Everything became a comfortable routine.

From then on Hardgore Alice took on the brute-force physical problems, and Snow White handled the face-to-face communication aspect of things. Some resemblance of real life needed to be reiterated for her peace of mind. Hardgore Alice was too shy to express herself, but she made up for it each time she put herself into harm's way for Snow White.

Dying here would be impossible, but Snow White was still immensely touched all the same.

Snow White was not privy to her sacrificing herself all the time, however. She would leap in and destroy obstacles. The power of dreams allowed her this.

She protected her. She had never been able to, but her spirits soared. She was confident. Proud even.

Hardgore Alice was doing everything for her from checking on her injuries to asking her about her day. Not because she told her what to do, or she wanted to survive Cranberry's test. She genuinely wanted fairness in the world and stay glued to her side.

The time in the dream stretched for another day. The next night Snow White broke the silence about what she had found out with Hardgore Alice's death. Maybe it was too delicate of an issue, but she was curious about her reaction to it, at the least.

Believe it or not, Snow White had given her a reason to live. And it was the most magical of all feelings.

"You're the girl I found the key for that one time you were struggling, aren't you?" Snow White said. The announcement was out of nowhere, but she the words were easy to speak. She should have been aware the whole time but she had overlooked it.

If she had only realized so many things before…

Hardgore Alice paused mid-step. She opened her mouth to speak, but she clenched her fingers into her dress instead, genuinely shocked for a moment.

"Y—You figured out that I was…" Hardgore Alice's stoic expression changed into a wince. She looked away in what could have been shame, but she also had a pleased little crinkle lines next to her eyes.

She had been sad in real life. Her memories of those times were fuzzy. The times Hardgore Alice had gone home towards the early morning hours had been her least favorite. She had lingered behind frequently to watch Snow White leave first.

Back then, she had shunned her like an animal.

Deep down, she hated herself for it.

Knowing everything had been impossible, but her dying words had told Snow White many things. She knew now that she had become her inspiration.

Snow White laughed. No, she had not been exposed to the truth until the end in real life, but here she was able to tell the similarities perfectly. "I didn't know at first, but I thought about it. It makes sense someone I had helped would want to be my friend so badly." The pink on Snow White's cheeks was striking to see on her pale complexion. "I—I never really knew I'd be someone's idol. I've had dreams about being an idol, but it is embarrassing knowing I am one."

"It's not embarrassing, Snow White," Hardgore Alice said. "I like you help people without wanting anything in return the most. That's why I like being with you."

Snow White scratched her cheek. Honestly, she had no idea how to be modest in this situation. She was so supportive and nice. This praise did not suit her. Doing what she could as a magical girl was second nature and not something she needed repeated.

Hardgore Alice stepped closer to her. She looked up at her, a smile tugging at her lips, eyes yielding.

"I was lonely. I didn't think much of myself or who I could be," she said. Her voice dropped with each word. "People thought I was a monster I wasn't. They ignored me. But you came up to me that night and didn't think I should die out on the street. You went out of your way and I felt like I belonged."

A vague memory brought up Ako's painstaking expression that night. Her face had been unchecked, her dark eyes wild and broiling in murky terror.

The story made sense. Hardgore Alice had told her things about not being welcomed at home or school. The "monster" implication added up quite neatly.

"You're not a monster, I promise." For this, she was absolutely unforgiving. Snow White's fists clenched.

Hardgore Alice smiled. It met the corner of her eyes.

"As long as you want me, I'll always be here," Hardgore Alice told her. "Like you saved me."

Snow White cupped Hardgore Alice's chin at the same time Hardgore Alice did hers. Hardgore Alice nearly pulled hers away, but Snow White leaned into her, and their lips met. The kiss was soft and sweet and explorative. Snow White did not have to wander aimlessly over the fleeting thought she might have fallen in love, because the answer was obvious.

Whether it was adrenaline from wanting stay alive that had started it all, she may never know. But the need to be closer to her was nonnegotiable to see.

The kiss was broken whenever time restarted. Hardgore Alice ducked her head and hid her face in her rabbit's ears. When she looked up, she was meek. Apparently, she was too tongue-tied at first.

Hardgore Alice blushed. "I'll see you tomorrow,"

No, Snow White wanted to say. You left me last time to go home. The enemy had compromised her room andfound out her identity. It's not safe to leave me!

The rabbit's role in her death had not come to her attention until later. It had been a sneaky ploy.

But now… She was safe. Both of them were safe, and Cranberry's sadistic death game did not exist here. In this world, Snow White was in control.

Elated at this proposition, Snow White grinned as encouragingly as she could. She had to be stronger.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Snow White told her, waving. "And I'll make us both a boxed lunch we can share."

Hardgore Alice's face lit up. Her enthusiasm was uncharacteristic, but she bounced away down the street, anticipating their meeting the next night.

Hardgore Alice disappeared into the misty night.

Snow White watched the shadows convulse and morph around the spot she had been standing in moments before. Could she call her back, or make the next day automatically come? What would she make for their lunch? Yes, Snow White imagined she had that power. Yet she wanted to savor the moment. She closed her eyes and imagined the outline of a girl clad in an Alice in Wonderland attire. She was not filled with loneliness but relief.

The scenery did not change this time. The soothing presence of Nemurin was soon next to Snow White.

"Did I make you sad?" Nemurin gazed down at her. She floated downwards, expectant and hopeful. "Do you regret it? Be honest, I was a too forceful?"

Snow White carefully peeled her eyes away from the cheerful landscape she and Hardgore Alice had put into motion. She dropped her hands to her sides.

"No," Snow White told her somberly. "Not at all." She shivered, throat dry and hoarse. "But… I don't think I deserved to see her after the mean things I yelled at her. Or the—" A light pressure on Snow White's lips forced her to halt mid-sentence. Her eyes widened.

After waiting for her to relax, Nemurin removed her finger and shook her head. "When you dearly miss someone, it's never wrong to see them! I saw her love reflected back in her eyes. After all, our dreams are the windows to what we may have seen but couldn't accept. So she really loved you, too."

Snow White was too speechless to come up with coherent words. She hugged Nemurin around the waist and buried her face in her pillow. Nemurin gently patted Snow White on the back while she unleashed all of her turbulent feelings and tears, though her bitterness was mixed with happiness.

Hardgore Alice had died. But if Snow White recalled the unequivocal love and admiration Hardgore Alice had always showered her with and replayed those timeless memories in her dreams, she still lived.