The Gift Of The Puella Magi
The 2011 LoveLoveLovix Holiday Story

Author's Note: and Disclaimer: Hi! So, apparently my Holiday stories get more depressing year by year... first was a girl sent to the North Pole while her sister got to go to Florida, then a ghost haunts her killer on Christmas Eve, and now... well, you'll see it. Believe it or not, this girl loves the holidays and the happiness they bring. Anyhew... I don't own Puella Magi Madoka Magica. The Gift Of The Magi, which is a great short story and which I've directly used quotes from many times, is public domain. Enjoy!

A whole lot of Cs. That was all. And one of them was in History. They were Cs that had been earned with a lot of vigorous studying and begging her teachers for extra credit. Three times Della read her report card. A lot of Cs. And the next day was the end of the semester.

There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. This instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating. This philosophy is also known as "life sucks, and then you die."

Della finished her cry and wiped her eyes and nose on the sleeve of her school uniform. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a weird white cat sitting on a white fence in a white backyard. Tomorrow was the last day of school and she didn't yet have a present for her boyfriend, Jim. Allowance didn't go too far when you were seventeen and in love. Many hours had been spent wondering what to get him. Something awesome and amazing and unforgettable- something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.

What if you could get him absolutely anything?

She whirled from the window and stood before the glass. Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. "What?" she asked, searching for where the voice was coming from. It seemed she had thought it, but Della knew she didn't.

Anything you wished for could be yours… or rather, his! All you have to do is make a contract with me.

Della's eyes slowly fell on the weird cat. "Are you talking to me?" she asked, her voice rising by a couple of octaves.

If you speak in your head, I can hear you.

Okay. What are you talking about?

The cat's expression didn't change one iota as he stared at Della. I am Kyuubey! I am a magical girl messenger, here to grant one wish for you!

What's the catch? Della had many failings, but she was smart enough to know "too good to be true."

You must become a magical girl and fight witches. If you can accept this, I will grant you a single wish.

No really, what's the catch? What do I have to pay for this with?

Kyuubey's unchanging face was really starting to scare Della. You can pay by dedicating yourself to fighting evil beings called witches with your body and soul.

So… I'm selling my soul?

One might call it that.

Now, there were two characteristics of the high school couple in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's athletic talent. The other was the innocent goodness and light that Della couldn't help but possess.

Now, thinking of Jim and his basketball game that was going on tomorrow- the last of the season, in fact- Della wondered if selling her soul was worth it. She bit her lip nervously as she thought. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.

"Will you grant my wish?" asked Della, speaking out loud.

I will. What will you wish for?

Della clutched her uniform skirt, needing something to hold onto desperately. "I wish that at Jim's game tomorrow, there will be recruiters looking for exactly his style of playing, willing to offer a full scholarship to a wonderful college."

As she finished speaking her wish, she felt a tugging in her chest. She closed her eyes, scared. When she opened them again, she held an odd object that looked to be made of gold and some sort of green gemstone.

That is your Soul Gem. Keep it near you and keep it safe.

Thank you. Della said.

The next day, as she waited for Jim's basketball game to be over, Della's intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. Concentrating on her Soul Gem, she changed into a wonderfully pretty- if extremely odd-looking- magical girl. She looked at her reflection in the mirror long, carefully, and critically.

"If Jim doesn't kill me," she said to herself, "before he takes a second look at me, he'll say I look like Sailor Moon on drugs. But what could I do?"

At seven o clock, Della got a text from Jim, telling her his game was over and he would be at her house in an hour.

Jim was never late. Della folded her hands and sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. She had a habit for saying little silent prayer about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: "Please God, make him think I am still kind and good."

The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin and very serious.

Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face.

Della wriggled off the table and went for him.

"Jim, darling," she cried, "don't look at me that way. I became a magical girl because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll be fine, really- you won't mind, will you? I just had to. Say `Merry Christmas!' Jim, and let's be happy. You don't know what a nice- what a beautiful, nice gift I've got for you."

"You've become a magical girl?" asked Jim, laboriously, as if he had not arrived at that patent fact yet even after the hardest mental labor.

"Yes," said Della. "Don't you like me just as well, anyhow? I'm still me like this, aren't I? And look: maybe my days numbered," she went on with sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you."

Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della.

Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and bent on one knee. "Della… I know this isn't the best time to ask. And I know that things will now change… but will you marry me?"

You can't say yes, you know.

Della gasped. Why? she inquired.

Would you make him touch a body without a soul? Would you even have time to let him? You are bound to fight witches and familiars from now on. You can't marry him.

"Jim, let's wait," she said, unable to tell him the truth. "I need to get used to my duties as a magical girl. And you have to go to that good college…"

"What good college?"

Della smiled, but it was a smile laced with confusion. "I became a magical girl in return for one wish granted. I wished that recruiters to an excellent college would come to your game looking for exactly you."

"Dell," said he, "let's put your Christmas present away and keep it a while, like you said. Life's too unstable to get engaged just at present. But, I must tell you… I skipped the game to go to the jewelry store and buy your ring."

The Puella Magi, as you know, were magical girls-wonderfully magical-who brought hope to everyone. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in an apartment who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their youth. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the real Puella Magi.