♥ 01 ♥ [VIDEO]

[gretchensong]

[ The feed starts on a very nervous looking Madoka. She fidgets and adjusts the mirror and finally gives it a weak smile. ]

Ah... hello! It's, um. This is so, so strange. I was doing something else, and then! I'm suddenly here. I don't really understand what's going on... so I was wondering if, um, if maybe someone could help me...?

[ And anxiety quickly seeps into her voice: ]

... I need to go back home. As soon as I can. ...Please, if anyone is listening to this... help me go home before anything else. It's very important. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't.

Thank you.

Comments

[Video]

[gretchensong]

[ Someone else who she can't remember, someone else who seems to know her.

There is something familiar about this girl, but Madoka can't place it. But she is crying and her voice is weak, so Madoka doesn't have the heart to ask who she is. Instead she smiles, leans closer to the mirror and nods. ]

H, hello.

[Video]

[heartovertime]

[The response doesn't exactly inspire a huge amount of confidence in Homura's heart, being simply a polite greeting. But still, it's nothing definitive, even if her chest feels a bit tighter with worries she tries to force back. Yet she replies, continuing to speak casually and intimately as she wipes away a few extra tears from one of her eyes.]

Madoka... I...I'll come bring you a jacket or something soon. Okay?

[Video]

[gretchensong]

Mm, okay. Thank you very much... it really is kind of chilly, isn't it? [ a small nervous laugh ]

[Video] 1/2

[heartovertime]

[Her chest constricts even more as the worries continue, Madoka avoiding any mention of her name, when she would use it frequently in the past. Her eyes narrow as her face sinks, worry becoming even more clearly displayed on her face.

Rather than leaving immediately, she hesitates for a long moment, her mouth open like she wants to say something before finally she breaks the silence and speaks up.] I'll be there.

[Her image on the mirror fades quickly.]

-> [Action]

[heartovertime]

[It's not long before the violet-eyed girl turns up where Madoka found the Vine, her long dark hair pulled back into her customary braids. Carrying the promised jacket, she has to withhold the urge to run right up to Madoka, instead approaching in a moderate paced walk. She's a little better composed than she was just a few minutes ago, though hints of hidden emotions peak out through her eyes.

Approaching Madoka, she holds out the jacket, allowing a light smile across her face even though a maelstrom of different emotions turn within her, not the least of which being uncertainty.] Sorry for the wait...I hope you haven't gotten too cold.

[gretchensong]

[ She is startled by the familiarity of this girl. She looks like someone she knows, though Madoka cannot pin down just who exactly. But the way she moves is something else completely.

Takes the coat and puts it on. She smiles at her, soft and unsure, and nods. ]

I wasn't waiting long, so don't worry. I'm ok.

[heartovertime]

[Unable to ignore the distance between them, Homura takes in that unsettled look, afraid to ask. It's almost certainly not the Madoka who was here. But on top of that, whether or not the girl knows her, she doesn't seem to recognize her. Perhaps it's another Madoka who only knows that other her, the her of that other future who she has only ever heard about, the Homura who continued to suffer, the Homura who closed herself off from all her friends in order to fulfill her wish.

Continuing to place no distance between them in her mode of address, Homura speaks up after a long moment.]

Madoka... Y-You don't recognize me like this, do you...?

[Not waiting for a reply, she slowly reaches up to her red-rimmed glasses, pulling them off her face by the frame, praying for at least some sign of recognition as she looks to the blur of Madoka's face.]

[gretchensong]

[ Madoka lets the awkward silence trail on, politely averting her eyes. But then this girl with hair so long and dark and beautiful is speaking, and she's slowly taking off her glasses. Madoka watches, and for a moment she just looks bewildered and confused.

But then: recognition.

Homura stands there, unsure and anxious in a way that Madoka is completely unused to. She remembers her hands on her shoulders, the shake of her voice as she cried and confessed what she's done for her. As though a puzzle piece, it snaps together and Madoka realizes.

She gives her a confused face still, mostly surprised, but she isn't unsure of who she is anymore. ]

H... Homura?

[heartovertime]

...That's right.

[She quickly replaces the glasses, looking back to Madoka, now able to see her face again. It's some relief to be recognized, even if it's only for that other future her, with all her differences, with all her coldness. But the tightness in her chest does not go away, even as she forces her smile again, some mix of joy and worry in her eyes still. Still it's able to calm her voice a little, smoothing it a bit, though not to the point of draining all emotion from it.]

Sorry. It...probably seems strange to you. I'm...the same as the Homura you probably know, but also different. It's a long story, really... [Madoka had been surprised before too, like Mami, like Sayaka, and probably Kyoko too. But still Homura can't shake the little pain she feels as she looks to Madoka expectantly.]

[gretchensong]

[ She smiles sheepishly and fidgets with her hands, looking away from Homura's face. That pained look feels so bad. ]

Yeah... I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. If it isn't, um... if it isn't too much trouble, Homura--

[ And it feels bizarre to call her that, because this girl doesn't act anything like her. ]

-- can you explain what's going on...? You look like Homura mostly. And your voice is the same. But... Homura acted much differently.

Or should I say the Homura I know... like how I was here before, but it wasn't me, because I don't remember any of it...

[heartovertime]

[Madoka's statement of not remembering being here confirms Homura's suspicions. She was already prepared for that to come, at least somewhat, but it still is difficult to hear. Homura's eyes sink to the side for a moment before turning back to make eye contact, maintaining a calm countenance as best as she can.] That's right...

I'm sorry if it's confusing but... The me that you knew, Madoka... that Homura is me, but different too. She is -- was -- the future me.

[She pauses there to let Madoka think that over before continuing.] ...I want to tell you everything, but... Maybe it would be better to tell it inside. Would that be okay...? [On top of getting out of the cold, it might buy her some time to think of how to explain it again as well as maybe talk about the past several months.]

[gretchensong]

[ Madoka nods, mind turning. Yes. Inside. The future, and the past. She remembers the searching way Homura had looked at her when she'd shown up at her home, wet with rain and her tears.

Voice soft and eyes smiling, she says: ]

Yeah... inside is good. It's chilly out here. So let's go.

[heartovertime]

[Homura half-forces a bit more of a smile, a kind her future self would never show.]

It's just this way a bit...it'll be nice and warm inside.

[She reaches for Madoka's hand out of habit, stopping midway, the arm freezing in hesitation. They had held hands so many times, Homura and the Madoka who had been here, it's essentially second nature to her to make this sort of motion. But she realizes that Madoka might have no similar feelings on joining hands, especially knowing how cold her future self had been to everyone. Not without knowing the story, not without finding out the truth. Her face shows this hesitancy fairly clearly.]