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[clockworkrepeat.livejournal.com]

The battle is over.

There is happiness and weariness and sadness. Their banners of victory are flown, and the Ohm retreat.

Homura cares little for all of those things; before they even return to the ship, her thoughts are with Madoka. And after throwing off the others, she strides through the many paths of the ship. Searching and searching. But Madoka cannot be found. The ship is huge, so she can't possibly search every nook and cranny. So she takes a brief look through everything but the city; and when Madoka is not found, she carefully combs through it again. And again.

And eventually, she finds her way back to the Obs Deck. She sits on a couch and breathes, trying to keep her composure.

Where could she be?

[ Closed to Sayaka and Mami! Bendytimed to just after they get back from Lirath. ]

Comments

[magicgunworks.livejournal.com]

"But there's no way it can know." Mami still sounded relatively calm, but that was mostly thanks to her stubborn refusal to completely break down in front of Homura. Oh, sure, there were a few beginning sparks of trust there, but it would take so much more than that to get Mami to lower her defenses any more.

"Sometimes our Soul Gems darken faster than others..." She didn't know of the link between the corruption in the gems and their own emotions, but she noticed that much at least. "This ship can't possibly plan too far ahead."

[swordstabmagica.livejournal.com]

Sayaka turns away from Homura, not saying anything. What could she even really say about that anyway? Kyuubey was the whole reason that witches existed back home, and he used them to give a reason for magical girls to make the contract. She... she had no idea what to really think at the moment. Did Kyouko know?

Probably wasn't likely, considering everything.

[clockworkrepeat.livejournal.com]

Homura takes a breath in silence, stewing in it for a moment. Then she speaks.

"We are both as strong and as fragile as these gems. None of us have been on the ship for a very long time. ... When we bet our entire life on a single desire, we gave up many things. That hasn't changed, not even after our worlds have died. A fate of combat is what we offer up as penance for our wish, and we may have to fight that hard again and again. Do you understand...? Sayaka Miki. Mami Tomoe."

She pauses. "There's nothing we can do but fight, and wait, and hope."

[magicgunworks.livejournal.com]

"... Hope?" There was a slight hint of disbelief in Mami's voice. Yet another crack in her now-fragile defenses. "Hope? What hope is there for us? It's inevitable, isn't it?"

Even if they do somehow manage to survive this war... then what? Their world will be returned? Mami could deal with the fighting of course, it was nothing new to her. She was used to it. But the constant threat of turning into the very monsters they fought...

She wasn't sure how long she could deal with that.

[swordstabmagica.livejournal.com]

"Mami-san's right!" Sayaka shouted. "What the hell can we possible hope for anything?!"

If they survived this, they'd just go back to their own worlds, their own times. And then it would happen again. Fighting and fighting. Forever and ever. Until they became the thing that they were fighting against.

"I'll fight as long as I can, that's not a problem. But once we get our world back, if we get it back, Kyuubey would just make more of us!"

[clockworkrepeat.livejournal.com]

"If you lose hope, it's the same as giving up completely. ...That's all I'm getting at. If you stop hoping and give into despair, your transformation will approach much more rapidly."

There's nothing more than that to say. Homura stands. She's given her warning, fulfilled her promise to explain. She said nothing that didn't need to be said. And brushing her hair off of her shoulders, Homura takes a step forwards. "I have to find Madoka's pod. I'll contact you both when I find it."