This fic is actually finished and will update every day or two as I edit until all of it is posted. Everything is completely unrelated to Rebellion canon, and this was started before it came out. Post-series, not quite AU but more of a far-fetched "what if" follow up.

Warnings for depictions of emotional and physical domestic violence in future chapters. None of that is okay, and nothing portrayed is condoned. If this is something that bothers you, turn back and don't read this.

Heavily inspired (and egged on) by Nightfoot's Shattered. If you like this and you like Tales of Vesperia, go check that out.

Chapter 1: Everything is Fixed Now

"Don't worry, it's just like having a sleepover!" Madoka giggled and held Homura's hand tightly. "But it lasts forever."

Homura squeezed her hand back in response, awkwardly leaning into the arm of the couch away from her. Forever. It didn't feel real until now, the few years it took to get to this point were quick compared to how long she spent trapped in that repeating month, but here they were, out of school and living together.

"Isn't that great?" She leaned in towards her as she scooted away. "You don't need to be so scared."

"Yeah." It really was great. This wasn't like being at one of their parents' houses before, it was their place. But she found it hard to speak, or breathe, or even look at Madoka.

"What's wrong?" Madoka leaned in further, inches from her face. "Is this not what you wanted?"

"Ah…." Her face flushed and she looked away. It was what she wanted! She wanted this, this whole time, but now that they were right there so close together, nobody to interrupt them, she wasn't sure what to do with herself.

"Hey." She curled her fingers around the back of her neck and surprised her with a quick kiss. "Relax, nothing's going to happen."

"You're right." Perhaps it was lingering nerves from any previous time they were together, and the unfortunate results of doors without locks. This wasn't her parents' couch they were on, it was theirs. Not in her parents' living room, it was theirs.

"You should smile more often, you're cuter when you smile." She smiled widely, trying to get one out of her.

Homura grinned involuntarily; she always had the most contagious smile. "I'll try."

"It's getting late, don't you think?" They had spent the day busy and arranging rooms, taking full advantage of their inability to become physically exhausted. But each night they still needed to sleep.

She gripped the edge of her shirt. "Yeah." They'd stayed together countless times before, but never alone like this. There was always somebody in another room when they woke up, suggesting that they knew more than they were letting on. Nobody was going to do that here.

"Come on, I'm going to get changed." She stood and left, checking that she was following. "Isn't this exciting?"

"Of course." She tried her hardest to sound as excited as she was, but it was almost hard to even hear herself over the sound of her heart pounding. Her focus was on how short her breath was, how sweaty her hands were, and how much she just wanted to lay down and pull the covers over her head and hide until her nerves settled.

"Stop sounding so upset then." She turned around and grabbed her wrist with both hands, half pulling her into their room.

"I'm not upset." Her voice shook too much to be convincing.

Madoka gave her a stern look, between warning and concern. "If something is bothering you, then you have to tell me. Even if you're just nervous, just say something."

"That's all." She rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. "It's just…it's the first night."

"You don't have to be nervous when I'm here." Madoka pulled her closer, wrapping her arms around her waist and looking up at her. "We've done scarier things than being alone for a night."

"I'm not scared," she said, indignant. Scared and nervous were two wholly different feelings. Facing a witch, the Incubator, even Walpurgisnacht, those were things she had done calmly even when scared of failure. This was nothing like that.

"Then act like it." She released her from the hug and stepped back into their room. "If you go to sleep now, you'll wake up feeling better that much sooner!"

That made sense. They would go to sleep and she could worry about this in the morning after clearing her head. And by that point, she wouldn't need to worry about it because it would be over.

They were settled into bed quickly, Madoka eager to cuddle the sleeping hours away and nearly pinning Homura under the covers when she joined her. Tangled in each other's arms in a mess of tangled hair and blankets, it didn't take long for Madoka to doze off, face settled in the crook of her neck. It really was late, but they could sleep in. Nobody was going to wake them up and make them come down to breakfast with the rest of the family, even if it was typically Madoka who was guilty of that.

She didn't get to sleep as easily as Madoka did. The time on the alarm clock showed later and later every time she checked, but sleeping was impossible. Not when her heartbeat was at such a dangerously-fast pace and she was so aware of every breath and small movement against her skin. Some time during the past several hours, Madoka had resituated and was tucked against her side, using her shoulder as a pillow.

"Homura-chan." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Ah, are you awake too?" She wouldn't feel as bad if she wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping.

"Nnh." Madoka's face twitched slightly and she buried her nose against her skin.

Homura sat up and shook her shoulder a little, worried she might be having a nightmare. "Are you okay?"

Madoka stretched her arms outwards and pulled her into a hug almost too strong for somebody who should be asleep. "Homura-chan…." She pushed her face back into her neck after she moved away.

"What is it?" It looked like she was talking in her sleep, but that wasn't something she had done before.

"Mmph." If she heard her speak, she didn't make any move to say so. "I love you."

Homura pulled the covers up closer to her face and buried it. She wasn't sure how to handle this sort of late-night confession. Typically they would both be conscious and aware of what they were saying when speaking, but she was dead asleep. Her face was so peaceful, and she mumbled incoherently to herself.

"Don't go." She held onto her a little tighter and ran her fingers along her side lightly in a twitching motion.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said, despite her not being able to hear her. She wrapped her arm around her as best as she could without moving her around.

"Really love you. Love you a lot." Madoka continued on, insisting as if she was being rejected in her dream.

"Shhh." She rubbed her back and tried to chase away any troublesome thoughts that might've been in her head. Maybe her voice would get through and relax her.

Madoka's grip tightened, but she quieted down, muttering something she couldn't understand. She did pick up a strained, "I don't want that."

"What don't you want?" She seemed to be reacting to her, at least.

"Don't get hurt. Not again." Homura's heart skipped. It was something she'd heard and said many times in the past, when repeating that month, but not since that was over.

"Nobody is getting hurt anymore." She rolled over enough to wrap both arms around her.

"It's because I love you." Her dream must have been particularly vivid if she was this coherent.

"Yes, you saved us, everything is fixed now." Whatever was going on, she relaxed at the sound of her voice each time. It was odd, holding an entire conversation like this when half the participants were asleep, but it made the previously-quiet night a little less lonely.

"Mm, I'll fix it." Her hand, which was previously stroking her skin, fell limp along with the rest of her. She was heavy on Homura's arm, and it would more than likely lose all circulation and become uncomfortable. But she stayed where she was, finally able to fall asleep holding her like this.

"Good morning, Homura-chan." She woke up to find Madoka right up against her face, head on her pillow as close as she could be without bumping their foreheads together.

Homura rubbed her eyes sleepily, pulling the covers up closer to her face. She couldn't say she had any complaints about waking up to that smile, but it scrambled her still-tired brain too much to speak. It was a mental struggle between waking up and processing what was around her.

"Did you sleep well?" She brushed her bangs out of her face and rubbed her thumb along her cheek. "You were so nervous last night, I worried you'd still be awake now."

She was only able to nod her head in response. Did she not know she spoke so coherently in her sleep? Was she supposed to tell her that she did? Of course, even if she was going to tell her, she wasn't in any state to do so.

"I'm glad." She scooted over and closed the inches-wide gap between them, pressing their bodies together. "I can feel your heartbeat from here."

Homura wasn't aware of it until she pointed it out, but she could feel it getting faster as soon as she became conscious of it. She pushed herself into her and stayed silent, pulling her into a loose hug. Madoka wrapped one arm around her waist, and the other over her side as she stroked her hair from her neck down to her back.

"Take as long as you need." She giggled as she hugged her. Homura wanted to tell her she was totally fine, but if she couldn't even say that, she probably wasn't fine. And this felt nice, laying here just enjoying her company. It couldn't hurt to just stay like this a little longer.

Hours could have passed and she didn't notice. She nearly dozed several times, and might have, but Madoka never said anything, only holding her for the time. "Are you feeling better now?" Madoka broke the silence first.

"Yeah. Good morning." From the sun coming in through the window, it was probably too close to noon to say good morning.

"How was your night?" She broke the hug to give her room to stretch.

"It was fine." If fine meant shooting between stressful and just short of heaven, that would be the truth.

"You slept a lot longer than I did. Did you have trouble falling asleep?"

"You should've gotten up, then." She felt guilty taking so long to wake up if she was just going to stay there patiently.

"No I wanted to see you when you woke up. It was worth it." She smiled even more brightly.

"Do you usually talk in your sleep?" She decided to get this cleared up immediately.

"In my sleep?" Madoka tilted her head in thought. "I don't think so, why?"

So she wasn't aware of it, then. "Don't worry, you were just talking to yourself."

"Ah, I'm sorry, did I keep you awake?" She looked concerned, but not as much as she as curious. "What did I say?"

"Nothing, it was hard to make out." She wasn't sure if she would be embarrassed to hear her own late-night confessions. In any case, she would be just by telling her about them.

"That's too bad. I was having a great dream." She looked disappointed.

"You're sure? It almost sounded like a nightmare." If that was what happened, she would feel better knowing she wasn't being troubled in her sleep.

"No, it was wonderful. You were in it." She stretched upwards and pushed herself upright, leaning against the wall. Her hair was messy and her clothes were wrinkled from moving so much in her sleep, but she never stopped being gorgeous even when so untidy.

Homura followed her, body already able to move freely but mentally wanting to go back under the sheets and have a lazy day. They could get away with it, too. But Madoka apparently had other plans, as she stood and stretched her back.

"What do you want for breakfast?" she asked, turning to see her.

"Anything." She wasn't picky enough to reject anything, especially if she was going to make it.

"I think we have rice here…." Madoka thought about what they had in their kitchen already. They hadn't done much in the way of shopping yet.

"Isn't it getting late for breakfast?" If they waited a little longer, they could just have lunch and skip the trouble of cleaning after themselves for a meal.

"But I want to make breakfast for you, like Papa would for my family." She held her hands together over her chest and pouted.

"Alright, if you want." She couldn't say no if she wanted to do so that badly. "Let me help you."

"No, I have to make it for you today." She changed into clothes more suitable for the day time and ran a brush through her long hair. Homura followed her routine as she verbally considered what to make.

By the time Madoka had finally decided – she sat with Homura to watch the news as she considered options – noon had crept up on her. "What do we do now? It's too late for breakfast." She looked like she was going to cry at her own failure, as minor as it was.

"It's fine, we can go out somewhere." She held a hand on her shoulder in as comforting a manner as she could.

"You really don't mind?" As disappointed as she looked in herself, she was clearly more worried about Homura's opinion.

"We can go wherever you want, and you can make breakfast tomorrow. I'll wake up earlier for you." She normally was awake much earlier, but never had that much trouble getting to sleep.

"Alright." She reluctantly stood off the couch.

"If it helps, you can think of it as a date."

Madoka grinned, apparently liking that idea. "It definitely helps."