Timeline: [2##]
Homura Akemi would admit - though only to herself (because trying to explain this to anyone else always ended in disaster) - that she never really thought about how her time travel worked.
She knew the basics, sure. The bare minimum needed to survive the loops. Anything more than that, and she'd probably unravel, lose herself to despair, or go completely insane. And considering the kind of stress she was under on a good day, she didn't exactly have room in her schedule for an existential crisis.
Her narrow, tunnel-vision view of time travel served her just fine.The goal was simple: defeat Walpurgisnacht, save Madoka, stop her from dying or becoming a magical girl. Everything else? Background noise.
The fact that not every timeline lined up perfectly — well, that probably should've driven her crazy a long time ago. But it didn't. Mostly because the differences were so minor, so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, that she learned to shrug them off.
She stopped counting how many loops it had been. Stopped counting her own age. (because honestly, that would make anyone feel like absolute shit.)
So she didn't think about it. She didn't question it. She just focused on improving her magic, tweaking her plans, and keeping her head above water.
The differences were always small.
Someone wearing a slightly different jacket.
A witch appearing a street over from where it should've been.
A witch replaced by a different witch.
That a̶n̶n̶o̶y̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ boy whom Sayaka always liked, played guitar instead of the violin.
even then, the biggest change was Mami being a coffee enthusiast instead of a tea lover.
Homura had learned that one the hard way, after tracking down rare, imported tea blends to try and win her over, only for Mami to blink at them like Homura had just offered her a dead rat.
Not that it mattered.
Mami was always going to be hostile.
Mami would always break. When told the truth.
So really, those minor differences had never mattered.
At least… that's what Homura thought.
Right up until this specific timeline.
---
This was already one of the more… unique timelines in Homura's opinion.
Walpurgisnacht had grown too strong now. Killing it with normal means wasn't optimistic anymore; it was idealistic.
Which was why Homura had taken to tweaking and creating increasingly destructive capabilities.
Sadly, after multiple timelines of work, the first test run of the bomb taught her two important things. One, the effects were very impactful. Two, they weren't direct enough. Walpurgisnacht would survive, heavily damaged, but still standing. The more pressing problem was…
Well.
The entire city of Mitakihara. And the surrounding cities. Completely wiped from existence.
Homura herself hadn't thought that part through either, and only barely managed to turn back time before she got caught in the blast.
So she concocted another plan.
This time with a lot more prep work. A lot more caution. A lot more everything.
And now, ten timelines later, she was almost done.
The problem was, she was so sleep-deprived and so thoroughly neglecting herself that she completely forgot about school.
Skipped it. Didn't even come up with a half-decent excuse.
Which naturally led to Miss Saotome sending Madoka and Sayaka over to check up on her.
Thankfully, Homura wasn't stupid enough to leave her weapons and incriminating materials lying around. She also knew better than to bring up magical girl business while they were around.
But to Homura's surprise, when she made her excuse about being fine, just adjusting, and losing track of the day, both Madoka and Sayaka accepted it without a single objection.
And somehow, to make things better, they decided it wasn't healthy for her to be alone and invited her to hang out at the mall.
Those events led to the end of the week. A week where Madoka hadn't made contact with Kyubey. Hadn't met Mami.
And somehow, Homura's relationship with Madoka and Sayaka (+Hitomi) was going extremely well.
It was going so well, in fact, that Homura had started to get nervous.
And she was right to be.
---
[Sunday sundown.]
Homura leapt from rooftop to rooftop, easily gliding across the cityscape. traversing the city like second nature.
Today had been a productive day. She'd gathered a good haul of grief seeds, and the progress on the bomb was ahead of schedule. In a few days, it would be finished, a whole month earlier than planned. That was excellent news for Homura. It meant more time to prepare in other ways. More time to work on convincing Kyoko to help. More time to make absolutely sure the bomb wouldn't go wrong.
This progress was thanks to one simple, smart precaution.
A barrier around Madoka's house.
After Orion's incident, Homura made it a point to set one up every timeline without fail. Over time, she'd improved it. The barrier didn't just alert her to intrusions or attacks from those with aggression anymore. It also slowed Kyubey down if he tried to slip inside. She wasn't a barrier specialist, so it wasn't perfect. Occasionally, the creature would manage to worm its way through, but never unnoticed. She'd be alerted long before that happened.
It was one of the many little safety nets that kept things stable.
Which was why Homura was in a good mood tonight. She was planning to check in on Madoka, expecting her to be back from that mountain trip by now.
She landed silently outside Madoka's window and froze time.
And immediately felt it.
Or rather… didn't feel it.
Madoka's presence was gone. Not hidden, not masked. Just… gone.
Homura's brow furrowed. That was strange.
She climbed inside, quietly surveying the room. It looked the same as always. The neat, pink-toned space was untouched. Yet the bed was empty.
That was fine. It was fine. Madoka was probably just downstairs. Grabbing a drink. Watching TV. Maybe eating something.
Homura forced herself to think optimistically, against every fiber of her natural instincts.
She quickly opened the door and made her way downstairs.
In frozen time, she saw Tomohisa and Junko standing together, grim expressions on their faces. Miss Kaname was on the phone, mouth open in mid-cry, shouting something that would never reach the frozen air.
And Mr. Kaname.
He sat slumped on the couch, staring blankly at the wall. His eyes were hollow.
A sick weight twisted in Homura's stomach.
No. no, no, no. not now!
This wasn't fine.
Madoka wasn't here.
And judging by the faces of her family… they didn't know where she was either.
Homura's jaw clenched so tight it hurt. The taste of copper ghosted at the back of her throat.
She quickly darted to the stairs and dropped into a crouch behind the bend, just close enough to hear everything clearly.
Colour and sound bled back into the world as time resumed.
The phone call picked up mid-sentence.
"-How can you not have found her yet?!" Junko Kaname's voice cracked, raw from shouting. "It's been two days! Two whole days, and you still have nothing?! That's my daughter out there, my sweet girl, and you people, you're supposed to be searching!"
On the other end, a faint, barely audible voice tried to respond, but Junko cut them off.
"I don't want your apologies! I want her found! Do you understand me?! Found and brought home! You promised she'd be safe! You-"
Her voice broke. A sharp, wet, choked sound escaped her throat as her other hand covered her mouth, shaking violently.
Tomohisa rested a hand on her shoulder, his face tight and pale, though his own eyes were suspiciously glassy.
Mr. Kaname still hadn't moved. Still staring at the same spot on the wall, as if his mind had left his body hours ago.
Homura felt her pulse pounding in her ears.
Time froze once again... so that she could think.
"Two days..."
Madoka had been missing for two whole days, and no one had told her.
Not one alert from the barrier. Not a trace of Kyubey nearby. Nothing.
Her hands curled into trembling fists.
This timeline was completely off-script.
And something was horribly wrong.
Her fist slammed into the wall. A tiny crack splintered out from the impact as she barely held herself back. Even with the rage boiling in her chest, she kept her head clear. Rational.
"Fuck," she hissed under her breath, before bolting out the window she'd come through, leaving no trace behind.
No time to waste.
Her destination was set.
Mount Ebott.
Whatever had happened, whatever anomaly had twisted this timeline so far off course, the answers would be there.
And if anyone or anything had laid a hand on Madoka…
They wouldn't live to regret it.
.
.
.
[meanwhile]
.
.
.
Madoka's consciousness slowly returned.
Her eyelids fluttered open as a sharp, throbbing pain stabbed through her head. Everything was a hazy blur, the world around her tinted in soft yellows and golds.
It took her a few seconds to realize she was lying on something strangely soft.
Flowers.
A bed of them.
Golden petals surrounded her in every direction, their faint scent thick in the air.
"Huh…?" she groaned softly, pressing a hand to her forehead as she tried to sit up. The movement made her head spin.
Madoka blinked again, this time her vision sharpening.
She was in a cavern.
Sunlight - or something like it - streamed down from a hole far above, illuminating the patch of golden flowers beneath her.
The last thing she remembered was the hike. Laughing with Aunt Kiyomi. Trying to take a picture of a butterfly. Slipping.
And then…
Falling.
Madoka swallowed hard, sitting up slowly as a dull ache pulsed through her head.
It wasn't a hospital.
And it definitely wasn't anywhere she recognised.
She looked down at the bed of golden flowers beneath her, puzzled. A part of her brain tried to make sense of it. Logically, she knew there was no way she should have survived a fall like that.
Her gaze drifted upward, following the beam of light to the hole in the ceiling far, far above. It had to be hundreds of metres up.
Her stomach turned.
There was no possible way.
Madoka looked back down at the flowers, voice trembling as she whispered, "D-Did… did the flowers break my fall?"
It sounded ridiculous even as she said it.
She glanced around the cavern again.
The soft golden glow from the flowers gave way to shadowed stone walls. There was no sound, no movement. The place felt still, heavy in a way she couldn't explain.
"Where… am I?"
A/N I hope you enjoyed, please comment, as it gives me motivation.