How many times was this now?

The dust had settled as the battle, the final battle, was over. ...No of course not. The raven haired girl's battle was not over. It never ended. This time was no different. This timeline in particular was worse than normal if that could be believed. Homura Akemi had lost them all. Sayaka, Mami, Kyoko, all gone. That itself was not abnormal. Many times Homura had decided to simply let them die. It was pointless either way to change their fates. It was as if something was actively fighting against her and refusing to bend... destiny itself?

Now here she was once again with the very definition of her life in her hands, Madoka Kaname. Homura had decided to try another approach. Focusing on getting close to her this time. Focusing her all into becoming her friend and pulling her away from the cruel fate of becoming...

Kriemhild Gretchen, the ultimate Witch.

Yet here she was staring down at her only true friend. The person who saved her and reached out to her. Back when Homura was just recovering from her heart condition and alone in a new school. Now that same pink haired magical girl laid with tears streaming down her face and trembling in a form of agony that Homura could not even imagine. Even with all the time traveling magical girl had endured throughout the constant resets. Homura knew deep down that nothing must have been worse than this and yet, it had once again befallen Madoka.

The worst part? Homura was beginning to realize. She realized that in many ways she was making it worse. Forcing Madoka to undergo this torture with each new cycle. Forcing herself to bear witness as well. Homura had promised herself to remain detached from her emotions. To not let this bother her anymore. After all, if Homura ever gave into her grief.. she too would become a Witch. This time though, it was simply too much. They had ate together, studied together, shopped together. She put so much effort into it. Madoka's smiling face, could it never end happy for her?!

"Damn it. Sigh... I failed again! I failed you again Madoka! I-I'm sorry..."

The smaller girl did not respond, most likely because she just had burst into a ear piercing scream as her black soul gem cracked and began to transform into a grief seed. It was always odd how the grief seed of the bringer of the end of the world would have a gem that actually was adorned with a cute bow. Like a mockery of the girl, or It showed just how innocent Madoka Kaname was. Even as she became such a thing, she was still such a... Homura's stoic face, that had came from her many resets and numbing herself to the circumstances, finally broke as a tear ran down her cheek and she began to weep. In a fit of emotion she grasped the grief seed in mid transition. Furious and tired of this cruelty.

Madoka's body stopped moving. Homura had a split second thought of destroying the seed before the Witch formed. Was that possible? Then she realized just how bad of a choice of even wasting time thinking was. Dark fog burst from the gem while she held it and flew into the air. The blast sent her flying back a great distance leaving the seed to it's rightful terrifying owner. Homura's body only being stopped by the wall of a crumbled building. Lifting her head upwards with tired teary eyes. Homura once again saw Kriemhild Gretchen forming in the sky. It was odd though. It was taking shape slower than she remembered.

"It would seem you failed again Homura Akemi."

A familiar shrill voice came from next to her. Two beady red eyes gazed into Homura's violet ones as she glanced down at him. Kyubey... the Incubator. The demon that was behind all of this. Or more like his entire race was behind it. If only she could stop him. However It was too late now. Once again things went exactly how he had planned. This time he was even aware of her time traveling ability.

"I... I will just go back again. Again, and again. I will not stop... ever."

Homura felt herself choking up again but used all of her will to calm herself. Her grief would only lead to doom for not just her, that was something she was becoming more fine with in each passing cycle, but Madoka too would be gone for good. The world soon after.

"Your willpower to change the inevitable is fascinating. Not only do you bring such despair upon yourself, but also you burn a great deal of energy with your time looping. I am uncertain how often you have done this. However the uni-"

The rest of the Incubator's words did not matter, nor were they heard. Homura had turned her shield. Once again her trip into the past commenced. How many more of times could she do this and remain sane? No, she probably was already insane by most normal logic. As time and space flew past her. She knew all too well how she would awake and what each day would bring. Yet Homura Akemi had no choice but to persevere.

For Madoka.

"EAAAAAAH!"

Madoka Kaname shot up in her bed breathing heavily. What a dream! She rubbed her eyes with her hands and took a moment to make absolutely sure she was awake. Her body was shivering from fright even with her arms wrapped around her her pink plushy. She closed her eyes and waited a few seconds to calm herself with her head laying on the soft stuffed animal. Sighing heavily she fell back into the bed with a soft plop. Whew!

"That was weird. It was so real."

Seeing a girl she had seen before fighting a terrible monster. Or something like that, it was becoming less clear as she became more awake. What time was it? Shifting her body to check the clock she furrowed her brows in a pout. She was up way too early. The pinkette was definitely not going to get back to sleep though. Madoka rose from her bed and opened her window to let in some much needed fresh morning air. It was going to be good day hopefully! Okay, might as well get ready!

That turned out to be more difficult than she originally thought.

The middle schooler was just about to leave her room for the bathroom when the strangest feeling swept over her. It was sort of like the feeling she had during the creepy dream. A tear drop fell from one eye, followed by another and suddenly Madoka found herself leaning against her door sobbing for... why?

"...W-What's going on? Why am I...?"

Sobs kept coming as she slid down the door onto the floor. Wrapping her arms around her legs she spent a good half hour crying her heart out for a reason she could not identify. Finally, after the strange feeling passed. Madoka forced herself back up. Maybe she was sick? Her chest felt heavy and she could not shake off this feeling that she was... not supposed to be here? That was silly so the pink haired teen shook off her worries. It was not like her to miss school so she decided to ignore it since it was fading again anyway, and went about her day.

Madoka would eventually fall into her routine even after the strange morning. In the bathroom with her mother. Junko was applying the last few touches to her make up. A routine she had mastered and strongly was urging Madoka to do the same over the next few years. Madoka was a bit later than usual and this did not go unnoticed by Junko.

"You're a bit behind today honey. Everything alright?"

"Yes mama, don't worry. I... might have had a bad dream."

"Aww, those happen. You can't let stuff like that keep you down!"

Madoka nodded. Even though it still bothered her enough to cry about whatever it was. That was one of the strangest parts. Crying over something she did not remember. Looking at herself in the mirror she picked up her tooth brush and hurriedly applied the paste. She had to rush or she would be late. It was bothering her more than it should have though. Actually, The pinkette felt really irritable all of a sudden. Finishing her teeth brushing she moved on to picking between which ribbons she would wear today.

"I wonder which ribbon I should... um.?"

Madoka asked, looking to her mother for advice. In her hands were a set of red and yellow ribbons. Her mother took no time in making a small gesture towards the reds as she finished up. Madoka's face seemed blank for a moment. Oh right... ribbons. That's what they were talking about.

"Really? It's not too flashy?"

"There's no such thing as too flashy, hon. A woman can't afford to get teased 'cause she looks sloppy. Hah, perfect! Your secret admirers are gonna get all wobbly in the knees."

The young girl's face made a reluctant look as she put the red ribbons in her hair.

Flashy? Maybe... it was a type of red that was not really fitting the girl's mood at the moment. It was hard to place it but she could not shake this feeling of sadness that was putting a damper on everything for her this morning. Being flashy for the boys or whatever was very low on her to do list. Actually it was something she was too shy to do with any success anyway so...

"Alright hon. I have to get going. Hurry up, you don't want to miss breakfast before school and be hungry later!"

Junko headed out of the bathroom leaving Madoka staring into the mirror at herself. Something about this just seemed different than it should be. She leaned towards the mirror and adjusted her ribbons a bit more as she made a thoughtful look. Wait... were her eyes always that reddish? That was nothing though. What was something was the fact the reflection was not looking at her but past her at maybe something else? Wait what?!

"EEEEEEAAAAAAH!"