Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the Puella Magi franchise.

Preface: I want to write a story about grace, forgiveness, and kindness.

.

.

[Part 1]

.

At the peak of its popularity, the cathedral was filled with devotees. In those days, daylight painted everyone with the grace of God through stained glass. Be it the benevolence of the Father, the birth of purity, the suffering of Christ, or the promised paradise.

"I'm back." Kyoko muttered to the broken glasses on the floor.

She used to stand among the pews after sermons, watching her pastor father sending off the gratified crowd. It must be the same kind of awe and love the apostles felt toward the Savior. She figured. She found contentment in being the first person he saw after a day of spreading the words of the Lord. Her face mirrored his own, glowing in the fading dusk.

Now the glory had been depleted, the crowd was replaced by dust. Time ate away coats of polish on the benches, eroding them like cavities.

The thought made her tooth throb hotly. She drew from her magical reserve and stopped it from spreading. The act had become second-nature. She no longer had to think as she walked towards the trapdoor at the back.

In those days, even the basement of the church was filled with light. Colored by the warm radiance of his candle. In those days, she dared to believe she was one of the apostles, sacrificing herself for a greater good. For truth.

Presently, she was descending down the steps to the basement in near darkness. Even with the windows shattered, the light of day could not reach here. It was nothing strange, Kyoko reflected, no one trimmed the trees at the back, nor the overgrown grass. Everything was abandoned. Everything was hidden.

And her Soul Gem, the only source of luminescence, was but a poor imitation to the candle.

She stopped after reaching the bottom of the stairs. Silence overtook her ears again, oppressing. She took a deep breath, and called out.

"Yuma?"

If she wasn't a Puella Magi, she might have missed the soft padding approaching her. A small face emerged from the darkness, looking up to her, eyes sparkling.

"Welcome back, Kyoko."

Chitose Yuma's face was bathed in the red aura of her Soul Gem. Kyoko let her gaze linger for a moment, reminding herself why she was keeping the girl here. Why she had come back at all.

She wasn't just any apostle. She was Judas.

Then she removed the crimson from sight and drew a box from the paper bag she was carrying. Yuma's tiny hands nearly missed the box. Kyoko heard a small yelp.

"It's not much." She explained. "There wasn't a lot of people on the street. Mostly in groups. So…"

Her voice trailed off at the ripping of cardboard and the rustling of paper. She waited. Soft crunches echoed like thunder in the otherwise empty room.

"Hmmmmmm." Yuma sighed. "Strawberry flavor!"

At that, Kyoko allowed her lips to curl upward. Nobody would see it. "Don't drop any crumbs." She warned half-heartedly.

By the small bounce traveling further and further away, Yuma was enjoying the snack too much to respond.

Kyoko followed behind, twice as slow as her younger companion. She knew the layout well, and was not worried of any potential of tripping or misjudging distances.

As expected, the clapping of her boots became muffled by the thirteenth step, landing on something airy and shifty. She sat down on the sleeping bag she stole a few weeks ago, and fished her own dinner out of the paper bag.

"She came by again." Yuma informed her over a mouthful of crushed biscuit.

Kyoko chewed as she considered. She swallowed before she asked. "Did she see you?"

"Of course not!" Yuma pouted. "I was good. I did what you said."

Kyoko might have patted her head to calm her agitation, if she was not so engrossed in her thoughts. No, actually that was a lie. She would do no such thing.

"Anything new?"

"No. She didn't try the basement this time." Kyoko frowned at the disappointment in Yuma's voice, but did not interrupt. She was chewing again, and did not want to risk any of the nutrition escaping. "Stayed up there. I think around the altar."

A former devout, perhaps? Kyoko wondered. Probably just recently went through some life-changing event, remembered the old pastor they used to zealously believed in, and came to find some answers.

But that would pass, wouldn't it? Once they lost interest of the past, they would carry on with their life. They would view the past as an old oil painting, faded beyond recognition, and store it in the attic of their memories.

"She looked your age."

"I thought you stayed away like we talked about."

"It was before that." Yuma protested again. "I just never brought it up. She looked your age. I don't recognize the uniform."

"Uh huh."

"When she got here she looked… nervous. Kept looking around." Yuma quieted. If not for the walls bouncing back the words, Kyoko might not have understand it. "When she left, she's… she's…"

Kyoko put away the empty box. Yuma's tone said it all. She almost spat out. What do you want me to do?

She couldn't do anything. That's the reality. Whoever it was, whatever they sought, Kyoko couldn't help them. The pastor died long ago, and took away all the salvation this church could offer.

Hell. She thought to herself. I could barely save ourselves.

They sat in silence until Yuma finished her meager meal. The young girl crawled into the makeshift bed and fell asleep almost immediately. Kyoko sat by her, imagining the peace and serenity Yuma could only find in dreams. Soft bed. Warm food. Plentiful of laughter. Or perhaps it was the mutilated corpses of her parents that came to visit.

She stopped her guessing and lied down beside her, staring at the never-changing darkness. Everything began looking the same after a while, and as long as she did not think too hard, as long as she didn't realize the weight, she could carry on.

Now I lay her down to sleep,
I pray the Lord her soul to keep.
If she should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord her soul to take.

She closed her eyes. It changed nothing.

Yuma was still snoozing when morning arrived the next day. Kyoko could see her silhouette, and feel the tiny ball of barely distinguishable warmth curled up beside her.

Yuma had a habit of trapping Kyoko's shoulder with her head during the night. First time it occured, Kyoko jolted up and nearly drove her spear through the tiny bundle. Now she got used to it, she only woke when Yuma's skull accidently bumped into her chin, or when she was restless to begin with.

She sighed and gently extracted herself from underneath Yuma's sleeping form. Too slowly and too carefully for someone she was not supposed to care about.

Aside from her stiff back, Kyoko felt fairly refreshed. She got up, patted the dirt from her cloth - not that it would make any difference - and started considering the route she would take today. The main street was usually crowded with couples or families or groups of friends. Summer was coming. It would make her work a tad more difficult.

Where should she go today? Fifth Street? No, too many delinquents looking for trouble there. The police department was getting more active patrolling around the industrial district as well, much to her annoyance.

She climbed the stairs as she considered which section of this rotten city would be most profitable.

What about the park? If it was still early enough, maybe she would catch some joggers unaware… hmm.

She ended up wandering with no particular direction again, just letting her feet, the crowd, and perhaps the wind, take her wherever they willed.

Kyoko threw the fifth wallet she found that afternoon into the nearby trash can with distaste.

Seriously, everyone was switching to digital currency nowadays. She could barely scrape together ten dollars in cash. It wasn't a big problem before, but ever since Yuma joined her, the risk became too great for Kyoko to continue using the plastic cards. Various scenarios played in her head of someone finding Yuma and turning her in to social service. She cracked her knuckles in agitation.

Still, she had a mouth to feed, and she would prefer this part of her work to be done as quickly as possible. After all, hunting Wraiths required her to commit a lot of time and energy. Giving them all her attention would be a must.

She folded her arms over her chest and began looking for her next target. Her fingers drummed against her hoodie in irregular beats.

She couldn't stop thinking. The thoughts always came back to her. If not of Yuma being taken away to some abusive home (once was already too much, so no thank you), then the phantom lights dancing on the church floor. Or in today's case, the mysterious person who kept visiting the ruined church. Her church.

"Just stop already." She told the faceless shadow in her mind. "You won't find it here."

The shadow jumped in surprise, then turned to smile at her. Like she was wrong. Like they had any right to tell her she was wrong.

Kyoko stood upright, tense. She began following the hiking trail of the park, hands stuffed in her pocket. A gnawing pain in her stomach. She needed to find her next target. Maybe if she just settled on the next couple running past-

Her Soul Gem burned.

Kyoko stopped in her track and took it out. She squinted hard against the light. No.

Two people jogged by. Young man and woman in their late twenties, shooting her curious look. What Kyoko wished for moments ago. She ignored them.

No.

Kyoko turned around and began to sprint, not taking to the street where she had entered. Her feet trampled on natural ground. A 'please keep off flowers' sign rattled as she passed, objecting.

She planned for the journey ahead. There was a small pond she could easily cross using the surrounding trees as springboard. After that, some low apartment buildings would stand in the way like soccer players facing a penalty shot. But they posted no challenge to a skilled climber like herself. Once beyond the condos, it would be only a matter of traversing through the small forest marking Kazamino's border.

Unlike in fairy tales, where forests were often associated with lurking dangers and blood-stained fangs. Kyoko had always found comfort in the peaceful, quiet land of growth.

However, as she tried to picture secretive paths marked only by the sparsity of grass, her mind drew only images of flaming leaves, fallen trees, and a tiny face buried under bewitched followers of her father's words, eager to offer the sacrifice to cleanse the curse of her.

As a magical girl, it's easy to save lives.

She was more agile than even the most achieving athlete. Stronger than construction cranes. She could slow the fall of someone jumping off the roof better than any existing rescue cushion. She could slice through bullets barreling towards a head. Her body could endure extreme temperature, and survive long duration without oxygen.

Saving lives is easy.

Protecting lives, on the other hand, is almost as difficult as a blind man flying an instrument-less airplane. One fumbles for control in the dark, always questioning whether they were veering off track. Always expecting something would sent the iron bird spiraling to the ground.

As her spear sheared the torsos of five Wraiths, Kyoko felt she just barely pulled the yoke in time to ease the plummet. The turbulence that juttered her from her course abated.

Beds of dust and dirt resting against the interior of the church were excited by the battle, and still danced fervently in the afternoon sun long after Kyoko rushed off to the destroyed trapdoor. Most stayed and whispered among themselves, exchanging their own views on the development. Some escaped through broken windows, eager to spread the latest gossip.

Kyoko was too busy demolishing the half-collapsed section of the church floor to pay that any attention. Her temper was barely kept in check as she removed the obstacle, and blazed like the shock of a thousand dynamites synchronized when she discovered three Wraiths standing in semi-circle, like a cult caught during blood ritual. With a fierce cry, she broke her spear in thirteen segments.

The golden python struck, folding one prey in its deathly embrace, slamming the next aside with crushing force, and sank its fangs in the last venomously. Again and again.

The predator-turned-prey struggled in vain, hollering quietly as their bodies disintegrated.

Kyoko did not relent even when her victory was secured. She continued commanding her spear to squeeze. To beat. To hack. To maim. To hurt, if they could feel any pain. They may be Wraiths, but she was the apostate. The garroter of faith.

She stopped reluctantly when there was no more to be shattered, with disgusted wistfulness. Her maroon outfit was cast away with her spear. She looked about in the dark.

"Yuma."

For the berserk state she was in merely moment ago, the call was astonishingly tender.

"It's alright." She called again, turning slowly in circle. "You can come out now."

But there was no frightened whimper, nor rustling of fabric, let along hesitant pattering of feet.

"Yuma?"

Anxious, she held up her Soul Gem and willed her vision to pierce through the veils of darkness. Her mind raced faster than her heartbeats. Maybe Yuma ran out when the Wraiths came. Maybe she even passed her in the forest. Maybe…

Kyoko froze. A small lump peeked out from behind one of the pillars. She couldn't tell whether the red was from the glow of her Soul Gem, or… or…

"Oi, Yuma!"

The gem transformed into a ring with a simple thought. But Kyoko found it much harder to convince herself that she imagined the gash marring that pale, soft little neck. It was not real. There was no way she could've seen anything with Yuma curled up and tucked away. It was not real.

Kyoko kneeled beside the still unmoving girl, hands wavering in midair similar to the twitching nose of a rabbit. Then they gently but urgently turned her over.

She's still breathing. Kyoko let out a shaky sigh. There was no cut stretching from side to side, leaking her fountain of life. Yuma was still alive and breathing - albeit shallowly, hanging by a thread.

Saving a live is so easy, but protecting it is so hard.

"Can you hear me?" She pulled the girl higher in her arm, standing.

Yuma whimpered in affirmation.

"Okay. Okay. Hang in there." Kyoko held her, starting for the stairs. "You did great, kid. I'll get you to somewhere safe. To…"

She trailed off, at complete loss of what the next word should be. Where do you take someone magically wounded? Could the hospital even help? Kyoko doubted it. She and Yuma both knew what people influenced by corruption looked like to normal eyes. Homicidal rage and bottomless despair manifested through actions, fitting so well to what society understood as mental breakdown. Except no medicine could cure the corrupted. So long as the Wraiths exist to feast, they would continue deteriorate. There would be no help from science, a miracle on its own.

Besides, even if they could, how was she to pay for it? And what if they started asking all the wrong questions? What if they took her away? Separate them?

A trip to any kind of official facility was almost guaranteed to devolve into a catastrophe. No. If she wanted to save Yuma, she would have to find someone who knew how to heal magical wound. She'd have to find someone with magic. Someone like…

Dread seeped down her throat, thick as tree sap, gravitating and eroding the pit of her stomach, filling her boots with cement.

Could she?

Yuma coughed, startling her. She hadn't realized her pace slowed almost to a halt. Now she stood between the floors, torso protruding on the altar, waist still buried in the dungeon below.

She couldn't stop or even slow now. Not while Yuma still needed help. Whatever may come, she'd just have to find a way to fight through, like she always did.

Kyoko was almost at the gate when it swung inward unexpectedly.

The possibility of it was so remote, it took her an entire second to process the widened blue eyes, slightly parted lips, and swaying short hairs. Someone had come to this church. Found her.

She leapt back like a wolf burned by flying cinders of campfire, and all but growled, baring her canine teeth.

"Who are you?" She demanded. "What are you doing here?"

Then she remembered the girl Yuma kept going on about. The disturber of dead past. The seeker of unknown treasure. The stranger she dismissed as mere another traveller walking the road of grief.

But there was more to her than that, wasn't there? Why had it not occurred to her?

Her ring transformed back to its true shape. After a rage-filled flash, Kyoko was once again donned in her magical girl outfit.

The blue-haired girl waved frantically as the golden spear materialized and pressed to her chin.

"Wa-wait! Kyoko-"

"How did you know my name?!"

"I-" The blue-haired girl winced, and swallowed. "It's a long story. I- I think we should-" Her eyes drifted down with a frown, tracing the blade of the spear up to the shaft, then to the bundle in Kyoko's arms. "Wait, is that-"

Kyoko took a step back but kept the spear up. She didn't know or trust this person. If she was also a Puella Magi, who's to say she wouldn't stab her in the back at first chance? She had been on the street and in this business long enough to know not all psychotic murderers looked or acted insane.

"Kyo-" The girl stopped herself, pursing her lips. She offered quietly. "I can help."

"I don't need-"

"Maybe you don't." The blue eyes hardened. "But she does."

Kyoko glared at her, as if daring the girl to take Yuma from her. That, Kyoko could promise, would cost her.

But instead of rising to the challenge, the girl lowered herself to the ground, sitting on her heels. "Come on. Let me help." She patted the front of her uniform skirt. "Please let me help."

Despite her instinct screaming for her to run, her body obeyed readily. Slowly, she kneeled once again to lay her charge comfortably pillowing the stranger's lap. She kept her eyes on the girl, alert and fully prepared for any sudden movement. At this distance, she could thrust her spear in her heart without effort. The girl would be dead before she could even blink, if she meant them harm.

The girl sat in perfect stillness, patiently waiting. Her eyes were not on Kyoko then, but instead Yuma.

"Can I start now?"

"Wait." Kyoko shifted her position so that she could get a better view at the operation while still keeping her spear against the girl's neck. Once she's satisfied, she applied a little pressure. "If I don't like what I'm seeing…"

The girl rolled her eyes. Slowly, like a magician performing her trick, she raised her hand up slowly to her hair, and took off one of the two yellow hairpins. Some stray locks took the opportunity to advance, but did not get much further. Kyoko looked on, more confused than concerned. How was hairpins going to help Yuma?

The girl lowered her hand to Yuma, and closed her eyes. Kyoko almost panicked prematurely. But she kept her cool, forcing her hands to stay steady as the hairpin started glowing a soft blue. And was that musical notes?

Yuma snuggled closer to the blue light. The small frown locking her brows together gradually untangled themselves.

The girl continued to work. And Kyoko continued to watch.

It must have lasted only a few minutes at most, but time seemed to slow around the blue radiance. Kyoko observed the frown ease to neutral, then eventually flipped from its original shape. Her breathing too, shallow and raspy at first, eased to a slow and peaceful rhythm.

Kyoko had never seen someone with such powerful healing magic. Not even her former mentor, who seemed to excel in all aspects of being a magical girl.

"There."

Kyoko realized she was staring when the girl looked up to her with a soft smile. She simply stared back, unable to move or speak. The first motion she managed after she overcame herself was turning away.

Then, she remembered where she was, and why her hands were still outstretched. The point of the spear barely pressuring the stranger's neck.

She bit the inside of her cheek. The golden spear dissolved in heatless flame.

"Thanks." She mumbled, kneeling down for the third time that day. She took Yuma from the strange girl's lap and held her up like bag of sand.

The girl waited until she was done before standing up herself. She dusted her skirt carelessly.

"I did what I could." She told Kyoko apologetically. "But she still needs help."

"We're not going to the hospital." Kyoko tried to stare her down. "Look, I appreciate-"

"Not the hospital, silly." The girl interrupted like she didn't even notice the attempt to brush her off. "She needs magic. Real magic."

Kyoko frowned. This girl must be up to something. But what could it be? Did she do something to Yuma that she didn't realize? Depending on the wish, a Puella Magi's magic could manifest in many forms. Some grew as their desire and experience advanced. Some could be used differently than they were originally intended for. And some withered and died.

"What do you mean, 'real magic'?"

"A Puella Magi's magic." The girl turned, going through the door she opened. "Come on. It's not that far."

Kyoko debated whether she should try to fight. Then her mind caught up to one important detail.

"Wait, that almost sounds like you…"

"That's right. I'm not a Puella Magi." The girl looked over her shoulder to her, winking playfully. Her hands folded behind her like Kyoko had seen from other schoolgirls on the street, but the common innocent exuberance was amiss from this blue-haired girl. "I can't fight. I can't even see Wraiths or Kyuubey. It's stupid."

Kyoko didn't know how to respond to that, so instead she asked. "Then how did you do… that?"

The girl chuckled and threw something to her. It sailed through the air in a small arc. Kyoko caught it and opened her palm. The yellow hairpin.

"What do you feel?"

"Lingering magic." Kyoko stared at it awhile longer. The scent was faint, like the salty wind blowing from the ocean onto a mountain. "Almost gone. Did you use it to store your magic?"

The girl did not answer, instead pulling the remaining hairpin down and tossing it also. "How about this one?"

Kyoko caught it with the same hand. This time she could feel the unmistakable pulse of magic. Much stronger. She looked back to the girl, and her jaw dropped an inch.

The girl was now walking backwards, her back against the afternoon sun. Kyoko wanted to tell her she would trip.

"As you see. I have barely any magic myself."

But that's impossible. No, not impossible. It was just unheard of. She knew other Puella Magi who stored their excess magic for rainy days. Kyoko herself did that too whenever she could. But she was a Puella Magi.

Could this girl really just be a regular civilian?

"It wasn't always like this." The girl explained. "I lost the ability to manifest magic naturally. They had to be done through a medium, like those hairpins. I kept several items around me to store them."

"Does it replenish?"

"Very slowly." The girl shrugged. "Those two hairpins took… five? Six years?"

And you used it on someone you barely know. Kyoko felt a pressure building inside. She wanted to punch her.

"What happens when you use it all up?" But since punching someone you owe a great debt to was considered rather rude, she asked. Maybe this idiot would take a hint from her stone cold voice and understand she had done something extraordinarily moronic.

"I don't know." The girl's smile turned sheepish. "I've never tried it. Maybe it won't be good."

In all likelihood, she'd die like any Puella Magi who used up all their magic. Kyoko stopped, and let the insult slip without even trying to stop it. "Are you fucking stupid?"

"What'd you call me stupid for?" The girl pouted, stopping as well.

"You traded three years of your live for… for…" Her attempt to gesture herself and Yuma came a bit awkward because of how she was holding the child up. "People you don't even know. That's a classic example of stupidity. Dumbass."

"It was the right thing to do." The girl protested. "And who are you calling a dumbass!"

"You of course, dumbass." She reassured her. "Sheesh, and there I thought idiocracy was still five centuries away."

The girl pointed a shaky finger at her, fuming. "You… you…"

"What, dumbass?"

"Stop calling me that!" She stomped over to Kyoko, her hands flying up. Kyoko was ready to dodge the fist, but instead, she found the hands gripping her shoulder.

"Or what?" She taunted.

"I have a name." The girl tightened her grips. It was too weak to hurt. She was too weak to stop her. But her gaze was intense enough to hold Kyoko there for a moment. "And you will say it. It's Sayaka. Miki Sayaka."

Kyoko tested the name in her mind, and found a kind of comfort one got from singing old tunes they learned from their parents. But she wasn't going to let this blockhead know.

"Dumbass suits you better."

"Urrrrrrrrgh." Sayaka let out a frustrated noise, before turning and walking away.

Kyoko stayed. This girl would get herself killed one day. She thought. I'm not going to be there to see it.

Like she could hear her thoughts, Sayaka halted and looked back. "What're you waiting for?"

"Ha?"

"I told you we need to get your friend to a Puella Magi." Sayaka was still pouting, but her frustration had mostly dissipated. "So hurry up."

Kyoko shifted on her feet. She nearly forgot because Yuma was now slumbering peacefully in her arms, but she was far from being okay. In all honesty, Kyoko was the idiot for offending the only person helping them. She moved Yuma onto her back to be carried more easily.

"Oi." She said as she came up, few steps behind Sayaka.

"I told you, I have a name."

Kyoko looked ahead. "Why are you helping us?"

Sayaka turned back to the road, smiling at nothing. The sun deflected off her chin. Some of its warmth, some of Sayaka's warmth, reached Kyoko.

"For myself."

She knew this street - Kyoko realized as they passed a lamppost.

She recognized the park covered in the breezy night's veil, the fences standing sentry on two rows, and the round-shaped parterre housing a lone tree. She recognized them because they remained timeless. Maybe what's built of solid and real things was less prone to change.

Her shadow, stretched long on the sidewalk, touched the outer bound of the park, then shrank back as the street light flickered.

"Where exactly are you taking us?" She asked as she pushed Yuma higher on her back.

"That building there." The blue-haired girl pointed.

It was a clean apartment complex consisted of seven stacked floor. One could not see the residents coming out of their abode from the ground, but Kyoko had no trouble picturing the open hallway wide enough for three grown men walking abreast. The clear-glass elevator starting at the beginning of the building. The electronically controlled windows covering a third of the living room walll, facing sunset.

"She'll be waiting for us." Sayaka said.

Kyoko wanted to run away. She wanted to leave it all behind and carry Yuma where none of their past would ever haunt them. Could such place even exist? Was there any place on this planet where she could forgive herself? She brooded as they walked through the last few blocks.

"Kyoko." Sayaka slowed her pace so that she was walking beside the redhead. "It's alright. Everything's gonna be alright."

Kyoko didn't believe it.

As they approached the familiar apartment, Kyoko spotted a tiny figure at the entrance. The child perked up when she noticed them. Kyoko paused briefly, suddenly hopeful again.

"Kyoko, this is Momoe Nagisa." Sayaka said as the girl bowed politely.

She looked like a good kid. Kyoko decided. Close to Yuma's age. Maybe they could even become friends. She didn't want to drag Yuma into the cruel reality of Puella Magi, but maybe she could let Yuma befriend her. Maybe she could give her just a taste of what a normal childhood feel like.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Sakura Kyoko."

"I know." Nagisa smiled up to her. "You must be tired after such long walk. Please, come on up."

"Thanks." Kyoko returned the friendly gesture. She lowered herself to the ground so as to show Yuma's sleeping face. "This here is Yuma. I hope the two of you will get along."

Nagisa's eyes lit up in childish delight. "I have no doubt."

Kyoko followed Nagisa into the building, and Sayaka followed Kyoko. Kyoko wasn't sure why, but there was a mischievous smile on the blue-haired girl's face, softened by the distant glow of the street light.

The ride up was filled with silence. Kyoko passed the time by looking out to the city. It had been such a long time since she saw Mitakihara from such vantage. Everything was much closer. The light and shadow contrasted deeply. She wondered whether anyone in this city had changed like she did.

She emerged from her thoughts when the elevator gave a soft ding. Her eyes darted to the stainless steel door. It whooshed and parted.

Someone stood beyond those doors. Kyoko froze.

A pair of golden eyes met hers, opened wide in shock. They were as unbearable as ever to look at.

"Sakura-san…"

She sucked in a deep breath.

"It's been a while." Kyoko greeted her former mentor. "Mami."

.

.

A/N: Any feedback/review/criticism is highly appreciated.