Visitation Day

[cityship]

Let it never be said that Stacy was not benevolent toward her crew. Truth was, she loved them, to the point of risking her own life. And thus, she'd been busy for quite some time... silently she had worked, trying to get into her own archives and cross-checking references. She was going to help boost morale and give them a gift - show them people

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tl;drs forever

[clockworkrepeat]

Mami and Homura had been in the depths of the pod cavern when the announcement sounded; they'd marked their place with a bright, yellow ribbon and left to check out the Observation Deck. Homura had hesitated a moment to get a drink of water-- she was thirsty-- and Mami had gone on ahead of her. The water was not the only reason for her hesitation. It was to begin to brace herself.

So just after Stacy's final words, Homura strides onto the deck. Her fists clenched and her teeth grit. She steels herself for the worst-- disappointment and wasted time-- and looks through the crowd. There are many people here, but none of them are who she is looking for. She thinks of Madoka as she walks, of her smile and her very presence, and turns to leave.

But as she does that, she catches a glimpse of pink hair. A small ray of hope.

And after a moment of staring, a moment of realizing that Madoka is really there, Homura runs. She pushes through the people blocking her path and she moves closer and closer and then, just within arm's length, is Madoka. From the red ribbons in her hair to her posture, she was completely Madoka, and completely real.

I'm shaking, she realizes distantly. She's approached from her back. So she gently touches Madoka's shoulder to get her attention, and she tries to blink away her tears. But it doesn't work.

She's crying and she's probably going to freak Madoka out because of it, but she just can't help it. She's exhausted to her very bones. She hasn't gone to sleep for what feels like an eternity. Homura wonders how bad she looks, and how alarmed Madoka will be to see her looking that way.

But beyond that worry, there is happiness. Madoka is alive, she's really alive and so her fight against the infinity of the pod caverns is not in vain. It may only be for a day, but it validation. To Homura, it is confirming that it's possible.

"... I finally found you."

[hopings]

When she feels a touch on her shoulder, Madoka turns. Oh! It's...

It's Homura, and she's... she's crying. That's more emotion that Madoka has seen from her since they met. It's quite the surprise.

"Homura-chan...? Are you okay? What's wrong?" She reaches up to take the other girl's hand. It feels like the right thing to do, even if Homura does kind of scare her. She's clearly upset, for some reason.

[clockworkrepeat]

Homura instantly regrets letting her walls down for the brief moment it took her to cry. Of course. ... Of course. Madoka has no idea about any of that. She doesn't even know what time Madoka is from. It was foolish to forget all of that, even for an instant.

Homura does not smile and she does not frown. She wipes at her eyes and resists the need to hug her and make sure all of her is solid. Real. Not some sort of apparition conjured up by her sleepless state. Madoka's hand against hers is fragile and warm.

It hurts. It hurts so badly.

So because of that, Homura draws her hand away. She coolly looks Madoka over, and tries to pretend she looks better than she does. She tries to pretend all of her exhaustion away, and she tries to go on as though she were not crying. With her voice tightly controlled but solid, Homura nods.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

[hopings]

Madoka can't tell why Homura has suddenly clammed up her feelings -- all she can see is that she has, and it sort of hurts.

"That's good... Um... I heard I can only be here for a day, that I'm-- that I'm here because there's somebody here who I'm important to..." Madoka, important? Who could it be, she wonders -- her mother, her father? Sayaka or Hitomi? "It's nice to see you, though. I'm glad you're all right."

[clockworkrepeat]

You're important to me.

She wants to say that. But she can't. She doesn't want... Madoka to feel disgust for her. She can't bear to have her deepest feelings rejected that way. And only a fool would think it possible for Madoka to understand. How odd must this seem to her? The transfer student she barely knows coming up to her in tears.

So she says nothing for a moment. Homura gathers herself and quietly speaks. Her voice is losing its tightness and is slowly easing into something Madoka might find more familiar.

"You're only here for a day, that's right. As far as I understand it, anyways." And she lapses into silence, digesting Madoka's careless words. Her easy kindness, and her warmth. Nothing is worse than this, she thinks. No matter how many times she's been through it... it still hurts. "... Mami Tomoe and Sayaka Miki are here."

[hopings]

"Oh! So they're okay too..." Madoka breathes a sigh of relief, and smiles a little. She'd been worried, thinking about what would have happened if they'd gone into that barrier while she'd been swept up by this... this ship?

"Um... Homura-chan... What is this place? Stacy-san said that she's a spaceship..." That sentence doesn't make any sense, and Madoka knows it. She frowns. But it's okay; Homura probably already thinks that she's kind of a scatterbrain anyway...

[clockworkrepeat]

The little smile when she hears Mami and Sayaka are here. ...Homura is not surprised by this-- she knew it was coming when she decided to say it. She breathes and her heart beats and her fists clench.

It's good that the topic has changed at the very least.

"That's correct. This is a space ship as well as a person. Stacy isn't human by any means. And she does not resemble any animal we are used to. But this place is still very much alive."

[hopings]

"Oh, wow..." Madoka draws in her breath. She's never imagined anything like this before... "That's incredible. How did we get here? Why are we here? Where-- where are Sayaka-chan and Mami-san at?"

So many questions, so little time.

[clockworkrepeat]

"We were brought here. ... No one knows why, or how."

Homura lies. It's because she doesn't want to see Madoka upset. She doesn't want to explain to her that their worlds are dead. If she can only be here for a day-- Homura would rather have Madoka be smiling during it.

She'll take Sayaka and Mami aside before bringing them to Madoka. So that the illusion of an interesting, happy place is not shattered. It's a selfish thing of her, Homura thinks, to keep the truth from Madoka for her own sake.

"I don't know where exactly they are. But I can get them."

[hopings]

"That's scary... Does it have to do with the witches?"

Madoka's smile brightens a little when Homura says that she can get the others, but not much, considering how confusing this all is. They're here and they're okay... Madoka had probably better find them, soon. She's probably been awakened for Sayaka, after all.

[clockworkrepeat]

"No. It has nothing to do with them. ... Don't worry."

Homura looks around the room, searching for Sayaka or Mami. She can't seem to find them... not yet.

[hopings]

"That's a relief..." Although, if they're all here, then what about the witches back home...?

"Have you three been here for very long?"

[clockworkrepeat]

Homura looks to her hands briefly. How long has it been...?

"It feels like it's been a while. ... Time passes oddly in this place. It's hard to keep track. Let's sit down." Homura walks towards a couch, sits down and motions for Madoka to do the same.

[hopings]

Madoka follows, sitting down with about half a person's width separating herself and Homura. It still feels odd talking so frankly like this with her.

"Time passes oddly?"

[clockworkrepeat]

"That's the only way I can think to put it. There's no way to tell day from night. ... It's peculiar, but you get used to it."

Homura pauses, falling silent. She tries to simply enjoy Madoka's presence, she tries to stop thinking.

"... Do you want to see them now?"

[hopings]

"Huh..."

Madoka thought about that for a moment. On a spaceship, that would make sense. There wouldn't be a sun or moon, after all.

"Ah, yes, I would. If you can find them for me..."

She still didn't realize it: just whose sake she had been awoken for.