Sitting alone, all by herself in a quaint little cafe, the smell of coffee and pastries wafted in the morning air of the cafe. Her silky raven coloured hair was braided neatly into two long braids that trailed down all the way to her hips as she slowly sipped hot chocolate from her mug. In the neighbouring table, Madoka was staring at the girl in twin braids with rapt interest. Madoka filtered off the loud chattering of the frequent customers of the cafe, the topics they discussed varied and changed every few seconds. It wasn’t worth listening to, in Madoka’s opinion. Even though Madoka was kind and compassionate towards anyone and everyone and would seek out to listen to them and try to help them out, it didn’t really matter as of right now anyway. She’s already got her mind and hands full trying to help out and protect only one person right now. And she is now admiring how beautiful Homura really is right now, especially with her red wired glasses.
Her bright amethyst eyes, contrasting to the empty and dull eyes Madoka has stared into in another universe, which would no longer be relevant anymore because Madoka believed with all her might, that she will fight and defend Homura twice or even greater than how hard Homura had fought and suffered over the times she has repeated their meeting over and over again. It hurt Madoka, as she did not want anyone to suffer and lose their cheerfulness to turn into something cold and aloof, especially not for Madoka’s own sake.
Madoka has sworn she would keep herself and Homura safe. She would keep Homura happy. She will not let Homura fall into the deep, dark depths of the abyss again, where her love and emotions would make her suffer. However, doing that…would require a huge sacrifice that Madoka has to make.
Meanwhile, Homura was listening intently to the conversations going around in the cafe, while furiously typing notes onto her laptop. She had to learn basic conversation skills, like greeting, how we should be polite when presenting ideas or sharing events and also allow the other parties to share and contribute what they wanted to say as well. I mean, what social skills would you expect a bedridden girl to have? Tomorrow was the first day of middle school as a second-year student in Mitakihara Middle School. She would have to make new friends.
However, she wouldn’t have to be concerned about that problem. Madoka will make sure that she would have her as a friend, even though Madoka’s saving the world schedule is so packed, but her main priority here is to keep Homura safe. That is what matters.
How? Well, Madoka has thought it through for a considerable amount of time. Homura was particularly intelligent, and her memorisation capabilities were rather impressive. Just a single event that has occured in the past timelines occur again in this universe Madoka had purposely wished for could cause Homura to bring back the whole lot of memories she had remembered and seen in the previous timelines she had to go through, by repeating time over and over again to change Madoka’s fate.
Madoka has seen it all and felt the intensity of her emotions. Madoka promised that she will never ever let Homura go through the pain ever again. So before Homura’s soul gem turned completely dark during the arduous battle with Walpurgisnacht alone, Madoka ran out of the shelter and held Homura in a tight embrace before wishing for the immense power to erase whatever Madoka wanted from the universe and create new beings or cosmic laws. Kyubey said so himself that Madoka could wish for anything she wanted didn’t he? She could even become…god. It didn’t matter to Madoka about power. But if becoming a strong celestial being would save Homura, or even better, change every magical girl’s fates and save everyone from this perpetual cycle of hope and despair, it would be alright if she disappeared from the surface of the earth.
“I wish to control all of the universe and have the capabilities to change fates, control existence existing in these universes of mine and make sure all of the incubators do not interfere with all of the universe in all of existence!” Madoka called to kyubey rather loudly, making sure he had heard her clearly.
“Alright Madoka! I shall grant your great wish right away!” kyubey said with a rather uncanny smile.
This is strange. Why was kyubey even smiling in the first place, if he knew Madoka’s powers that she wished for could possibly erase his existence from all of the universe? So why was he smiling? Did Madoka leave any loopholes for him to scurry out free with?
“I wish to be self-aware and still remember the reason why I even chose to wish for that wish I mentioned earlier. This is an add-on statement that I want to shed light on for my previous wish so that you will not misinterpret what I truly want,” Madoka clarified with a stern tone.
The dissipating mock smile on Kyubey’s face signals that Madoka has made the right wish. No more loopholes, straight up black and white.
“Surprised, aren’t you? What a cunning creature. But you said so yourself, you can grant me any wish I want, because of the tremendous potential that I have. So Kyubey, I believe that I’ve made my wish crystal clear. Now, grant me my wish, Incubator!”
Kyubey was speechless but he had to grant her wish anyway, didn’t he?
Here, Madoka is sitting still in the cafe still observing the timid black haired girl who was still occupied with her laptop. Madoka, the schoolgirl can still be present on the surface of the Earth, she could still see people. And people could still see her, if she'd wanted to let them see her. But as of right now, she was in her “invisible” form and no one could possibly see her.
The other Madoka, the law of cycles, is omnipresent everywhere. Helping every magical girl to take away their burdens and despair upon death, causing them to move on to their next lives with no regrets, no memories, and start afresh in a new life, all because that “Madoka” took their troubles, their burdens, their despair away before they reborn into someone else. Right! You can call Madoka Death, the beginning of every cycle. Madoka can be anything and is everything!
And so here sat Madoka, unseen by everyone including Homura. Now, Homura finally tore her eyes off from her laptop screen and stared warily at her surroundings. She seemed anxious, if anything, and her gaze finally aligned with Madoka’s, Homura not knowing that the both of them were staring at each other. Madoka jolted for a bit, until she realised that Homura could not possibly see her at all, because she had “disappeared” and turned invisible after all, right?
The schoolgirl “Madoka” was the only physical form Madoka has that could be seen by people and acknowledge that yes, Madoka Kaname does indeed exist. The other Madoka, the more godly version of Madoka, however, could not be seen at all by others even if her invisible “mode” was off. The law of cycles Madoka however, is not self-conscious at all, and Madoka still had to occasionally merge with her other form to ensure that she was doing the right thing by keeping the incubators out of the universes that she reigned over, trapping them in a “void” that Madoka has created for them specially. Madoka has to make sure the incubators are kept busy inside the void by providing them with multiple mazes or luring them to the wrong way, making them think of other wrong alternatives to exit the “hell” Madoka has sealed the incubators in.
Even though Madoka was sure the incubators would not interfere with the universes belonging to Madoka because of her wish, Madoka still has to be sure that they do not, and prevent the slim chance of causing Homura to become a magical girl again and potentially discover about Madoka’s existence as the law of cycles and turn back into despair again. No, no, Madoka will never, ever let Homura go through that again.
Back in the cafe, it was almost reaching eleven. Madoka was already here for an hour, and Homura was already getting ready to leave. But Homura still wore a troubled expression on her face, maybe because she was still unsure about how the first day of school would work for her. Hey, maybe Madoka should go talk to her, to reassure her.
The doorbell emitted a loud “ting” sound, which caused Homura to jump a little before gathering herself and scurrying out of the cafe doors, her face still flushed red from embarrassment. Madoka guessed that past Homura had never heard a loud doorbell ring before.
Madoka followed suit, and waited until both Homura and Madoka walked quite a considerable distance only then Madoka turned off her invisibility abilities when there was no one (she has checked with the law of cycles which was here) looking in her direction.
Madoka then went up to the taller girl rather excitedly.
“You look my age! And you live in Mitakihara city too? Do you attend Mitakihara Middle school, by any chance? If so, I would really loveee to be your friend. But if you don’t attend Mitakihara Middle it’s still alright! We could exchange numbers righttt?” Madoka said giggly, her cheeks already tinged red by realising how weird she sounded. Madoka hoped Homura wouldn’t think she was some kinda creep trying to stalk her.
“I! Uh.. I don’t know if you really… want to be my friend? Yes..yes! I do attend Mitakihara middle school. Ah nono its tomorrow..my first day…but you really shouldn’t…ah, I’ve really got to go…” Homura stammered, still trying to recover from the shock Madoka had given her then trying to dash away again. Madoka held Homura’s wrist firmly.
“Ah?!” Homura squeaked, but she didn’t resist. Not at all.
“Wait,wait, I’m sorry but I really think that you’re really pretty and adorable! Really! I really love your braids the way you tie them! I really would love to be friends with you! Please.. accept me,” Madoka sputtered out the words rapidly, before realising what her words might have interpreted. Her blushing face reddened up a notch.
“Oh.. really? Thanks…um, I like your ribbon and pigtails too. They’re really cute!” Homura commented, still blushing too.
“So.. can we exchange numbers? I can call you tonight to fill you in on what you need to know about Mitakihara school!”
“If you’re alright, then… sure…”
—
Homura couldn’t sleep that night. Partly it was about her stressing over what a new school environment would be like for her, but another part of her mind drifted off to Madoka. Though they communicated only through voice call, Homura still remembered the pink haired girl looked, how soft and shiny her eyes looked, how her blush gave her cheeks colour. She was so pretty, she looked like a painting. Even a canvas could not contain how exquisite she looked.
She stared up to the moon. It was a full moon, the golden rays casted onto Homura’s face as she stared up at it, her eyes encasing the reflection of the moon.
The nurse that took care of her while she was in the hospital, had always told her that the moon always listens and would grant anyone’s wish. The moon sneaks a peek at everyone’s dream, trying her best to grant everyone’s wish.
“Pure love, Homura , the moon loves to listen to those tales. Because she herself has loved someone once upon a time,” the nurse would tell Homura.
Yes, they were childish, innocent tales for young children to hear so that they would be comforted about the moon existing in the “scary” night sky. But it wouldn’t hurt to try. It might just work.
“Does she feel the same way about me? I hope this relationship would unfold well,” Homura whispered softly, her words slowly being carried up to the moon. Yes, it may seem foolish for falling for someone you’ve just met for the first time, barely even a day. However, Homura felt like she’d known Madoka for years, for a long time, until she could clearly remember all of Madoka’s quirks and attributes. Maybe..in another timeline, in another universe.
Why? Homura hated strangers. She loved to stick to who she had made friends with originally in the past, and Madoka was a new and foreign figure, making her appearance into her life for the very first time. So then why did she feel like she had known Madoka for a long time?
“I hope that she will forever stay by my side and I hope with all my heart that Madoka feels the same about me…”
Homura was unaware, but Madoka was right beside her listening to her and the night winds brushing past the both of them. The rustling of trees was also audible as the both of them stood behind the balcony of Homura’s home.
Homura no longer wore her hair in braids, she left them hanging below her waist, letting the wind direction control her glamorous long hair. Her red wired glasses was still placed on the root of her nose.
Madoka stared at the taller girl with wonderment as she slowly whispered back to her…
“I love you too, Homura…”
Homura whipped her head around and she thought she heard something from beside her. But it was nothing. Was she seeing things? Earlier today, she’d sworn she felt someone staring intensely at her.
Little did she know her life would spin into a series of unusual events and yet, it would turn into rather lovely one.