Another failure.

With dull eyes, the lone Magical Girl watched the gargantuan silhouette of what had once been her friend. It was slowly floating away from her direction, possibly going for Tokyo due to the large amount of people in the capital. Whatever the Witch was doing, Homura did not care for it anymore.

She failed again.

But even knowing that, she could not avert her gaze. Not yet.

It was so promising...

She got along with Mami and even Sayaka grudgingly accepted her. Madoka and her had been friends again. They became close enough for Homura to tell her about everything she had been through.

In retrospect, the time traveler realised, this was her greatest mistake in this timeline.

This creature in the distance existed because her very one friend made a wish for Homura's sake. Because she had been too weak to resist the temptation of being close to her again.

The burden of all those tears she would never shed had the girl buckle down, her face contorting. But even then she kept some control. She did not cry.

If she did, all might be lost. She could not give in, no matter how strong the urge was.

'I wonder', a high-pitched voice caught her attention. It sat directly in front of the Magical Girl, its tail swishing back and forth while it looked Homura over with these cold, red orbs it had for eyes. It did not seem bothered by the debris protruding from the water of the storm.

After a few moments of silent staring, the Magical Girl got to her feet and placed a hand on her shield.

"I don't care what you wonder about."

Then she turned around and mentally prepared to jump back again. However, her hand was stopped from turning the device upside down upon hearing Kyubey's next question: 'Don't you find this odd? A being as powerful as Kaname Madoka made a wish like that and yet, nothing happened. Even those that harbour only small amounts of potential would have gotten something out of it, but she did not.'

It was right, Homura realised while looking down at her glowing Soul Gem. The crystal did not emanate this light because of the Witch towering into the sky, though. It started the moment Madoka made her wish and did not stop ever since. Just another reminder of how terribly she failed.

Her hands were clutched to fists now, but the time traveler relaxed her fingers soon after while closing her eyes. "But even then, there is no more need for me to stay."

Now her fingers tightened around and turned the shield upside down, thus ripping open the flow of time and having her move against it. The remains of Mitakihara vanished and Homura was engulfed by white light. She felt herself become loose, but remained collected. There was no saying what might happen if she lost herself in the stream.

Regularly, she could barely see due to the bright light. This time however, a powerful purple surrounded her, almost becoming black at some points.

What?

Something was off about this. Why did everything change colours?

A moment later, a single sentence started to resonate within this place Homura thought of as the stream of time. It increased and decreased in volume but never in its tone. This gentle voice the time traveler would always recognize.

Hearing this wish again and again had what was her right now tear up, curling into a ball as to defend herself against the torture this was.

When the voice started to become faster and louder, Homura screamed.

But even then she could hear every word clearly. As if whatever entity there was wanted to engrave it in her memory.

"I wish for Homura-chan not to be alone anymore!"

Then, all of a sudden, it stopped.

Everything became white and her journey through time was over. Again.

Akemi Homura slowly blinked from unfocussed eyes and took in the merciful silence of her surroundings. Closing her eyes did not stop this one single tear from rolling down her cheek, though. Whatever this occurence was, it hit her hard.

Then she got a hold of herself and looked up at the ceiling with her usual determination.

However, another feeling had her freeze up before she could throw away the blanket as she usually did; someone was holding her in a firm grip. She could feel their arms around her waist.

What...

Slowly, Homura turned around; only to come face to face with something she did not expect: another girl was lying by her side and had let go of her the moment she started to turn around.

On top of the fact that there was someone else in her bed, this girl blinked at her sleepily with her own purple eyes. She rubbed her hands over a face that was the same as Homura's, even the hair had the same colour. This girl was like a perfect copy of hers.

Then the other Homura looked at her drowsily and opened her mouth to speak.

"I'm hungry."