Chapter Text
“I wish I could understand my feeling sooner”
A simple wish, a casual phrase, something said in the comfort of her own home. It took 3 weeks for the realization to settle in for Madoka, first one being that she was into girls, the second being her apparent crush on a girl who only recently transferred in her class
Who also was a magical girl, because they were real, and also surprisingly more violent? (The realization that she found that attractive led to another identity crisis a bit later)
It’s important to note, that this phrase has been said after 2 days of no sleep, induced by the horrors of whatever the hell witch labyrinths were, slow and steady realization of her sexuality and of course distracting binging of her old favorite anime
“Is that so? Would you make a contract then?”
Half delirious, on the verge of being asleep, Madoka agreed
***
Surprisingly, the wish changes a few things, but also not much, Madoka now has an additional set of memories, the one where she realized her orientation a few years back
That Madoka, unfortunately hasn’t dated anyone before (or fortunately? it would be really weird to wake up and have a girlfriend that she got vague memories of suddenly)
Which still left Madoka pinning after the dark haired girl, who Madoka realized she didn’t know whenever she was gay or straight
As tragic as that realization is, the awkwardness of meeting that same girl, who had insisting that she doesn’t become a magical girl after she became one, is immense.
Quickly and desperately explaining herself, Madoka can’t help but sigh in relief when the girl quickly concedes that it wasn’t her fault and offers to help her get acclimated with her new powers
Madoka of course, quickly accepts
***
It takes a week for Homura to decide she’s ready for a witch hunt (Madoka still remembers Sayaka, Only living because of her regeneration, beaten and broken what should be beyond help, yet still fighting)
It takes another for her to go by herself
In the span of those weeks Madoka has realized a few things, such as, her magic has given her empathy, a pretty strong one, it was at a level where she could just barely read out somebody’s surface thoughts
Another one was that apparently, bows were extremely easy to use, at least for her, it felt as natural as breathing, like picking up an old game you used to play a lot, was it the magical girl thing? Homura couldn’t exactly answer because her weapon was a shield, in her words “I mostly use it to pull up a barrier, it’s a small shield so using it in combat is a little…”
The third thing, was that Madoka found guns extremely attractive (oh god, did her type form around the brunette? That would be extremely awkward)
And the final thing, Akemi Homura was extremely dense, Madoka was sure she was laying it on thick, constantly clinging to the girl, hugging her, taking her hand in her, practically gluing herself to her, no reaction, was she used to that? She did sometimes talk about a friend she used to have who she was close with, maybe that girl liked physical contact
Her flirting? Taken literary, pickup lines? Taken as jokes, hints? Not picken up on at all
Sure, Madoka could just outright say it, confess to the girl without playing the whole game, but where’s the romance in that?! Sure confessions are romantic, but you also have to find a good moment, get to know the person properly, figure out if the person was interested too
Despite the cold front, Homura cracks, embarrassed at times, small smiles she doesn’t show to anyone but her, furrowed eyebrows in frustration
***
Madoka is laying on the ground, exhausted to hell and back, the world is once again bright, the storm is gone, she looks at her soul gem and knows she won’t last
She knows what happens when it gets full, she saw it happen, she’d seen someone finish off her best friend because of it
Madoka almost asks Homura to kill her before she turns, but the thought of making her do it breaks her heart, she can’t do it can she?
There is debris around her
She sees Homura look at her, grief in her eyes, there is a flood of emotions, bright, burning, scalding emotion that Madoka can barely identify, it’s care, it’s pain, it’s anger turned inwards, frustration and the biggest of them all, Love muddled with hundreds more, Madoka feels like she’s looking at the sun, yet she can’t look away, can’t tear the connection down, she stares
Homura stares at her in turn, it feels like an eternity, Homura closes her eyes as she turns her shield
A pillar of light surrounds the girl, Madoka fights to keep looking
The light disappears and Homura falls, like a puppet without strings, it takes a few minutes of starring at the corpse for Madoka to realize her soul gem is gone
Madoka doesn’t know how to do something like that, so she opts for something simpler, picking up a nearby debris and swings
***
Madoka was listening to the teacher talk, sharing a glances and giggles with Sayaka
It didn’t work out with her teacher boyfriend, once again, this would be the 12th time from when Madoka was assigned to her class
“Oh yes, I’d like to introduce a transfer student who will be joining us today!”
A few grunts come out from the late announcement from the class accompanied by curious glances as a girl starts to walk in
“Come in Akemi-san!”
Looking at the girl, there’s a flash of understanding, all Madoka can think of is ‘oh, this explains a lot, like a lot a lot, how didn’t I realize this before? This has sparred her a lot of time it didn’t it? I mean at least I realized it when I’m 14 and not in the middle of failing marriage or something’
Feeling a gaze at her Madoka meets eyes with the new girl and there comes a second oh, blushing she hides her face in her hands as her head speedily approaches her desk
She can feel Sayaka looking at her, probably confused, well, she could explain soon, she had a lot of things in her life to go over for now, maybe also day dream a little? Yeah sure, she can do that
***
Looking at Madoka and her unusual reaction Homura had a few concerns, sure she knew that the timelines varied, but surely Madoka’s parents wouldn’t send her to school sick? Was it something else? Did Homura accidentally do something to embarrass her before the timeline started? (Homura didn’t yet know, that this was going to be the start her new normal for a long time and she should just roll with it)
So, filled with worry Homura sits down at her seat and follows the routine laid down from countless repetitions