middleofsomewhere | Conclusion

Thank you.

For those inside the system the voices of the Great-Seasons ring out around them once the red mass has vanished and the blue plinth it was smothering is freed once more. They don't have all that much time to reflect on that before they find themselves waking up once more in their bodies around the tree trunks.

Or at least, around the tube that is the Great-Season they entered through. All illusions have vanished now, all that is left are pipes and metal.

The Great-Seasons allow them passage out from the centre, no sentries or pipes attack them this time. Everything seems to have been put to rights, the walls in the Autumn sector have stopped moving, there is no strange weather effects in the Summer Sector, no engineering problems in Winter and all the camaloid creatures in Spring are calm. Any Helpmates they come across are doing their jobs and no longer malfunctioning.

After a small amount of time, enough to check that all is well, their SCA's light up. All Passengers are to return to the Voidtrecker Express.

Considering the vast distances involved it is probably best that they use the evacuation function to return to the Luggage carriage.

Once all Voidtreckers have returned the train returns to the Void once more.

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"...that's why?"

Mami thinks back on their partnership. He'd been supportive, if a little aloof, but...

She tries to refocus on what's important. Preparing for the future.

"What was the accident? Is it something I have to worry about?

"Ah, that's.."

That's awkward to admit, for one. Because Madoka is very much aware that said 'accident' was entirely her fault, and it feels really, really stupid in retrospective. And then to tell Mami about that, someone she admires to some extent.. It's hard.

But it's not like she can lie about this now, after everything else. So even though Madoka's expression only seems to drop further, she does explain.

"I.. I wanted to prevent Sayaka-chan from fighting with another magical girl. So I threw away her Soul Gem, since I thought it'd keep her from being able to transform.. A-and she just fell down. Homura-chan got it back for her.."

Mami listens, intent. Even in the middle of her own distress, she can see that Madoka still worries about it.

"So our life...is inside the gem. If I lose it, I'm dead."

Something important to know. She clenches the fist bearing the ring. But she looks back at Madoka after a moment.

"If not even an experienced magical girl knew, you couldn't have. You wanted to protect her."

Soft breath. But then...something about that story piqued her interest.

"Another magical girl fought her? I know Homura and I clashed once or twice over the territory, but who else would move in...?"

Even in the face of that latter question, Madoka can't quite resist an opportunity to try and reassure Mami a bit more. So before answering that last thing, she shakes her head and says: "I-It's okay. If it's returned to you right after, you'll be fine! I'll make sure to help out and keep you safe, Mami-san..!"

No matter what. Even if the person she has to keep Mami safe from the most is Mami herself, her own thoughts.

But she won't totally avoid the question, at least. After going quiet for a moment, Madoka adds. "And, um.. the girl who tried to move into the territory was Kyouko-chan.. She said some things that really made Sayaka-chan mad, so they kept fighting.."

Mami smiles a little. Madoka, protecting her. Of course she would. Her friend is so selfless.

But she's entirely distracted from her existential crisis by that name.

"Sakura-san? Did she have red hair and a large appetite?"

She nods.

At least telling Mami about Kyouko should be relatively harmless compared to the other thing they've discussing right now, Madoka thinks. Especially if she leaves some things out, like what Sayaka and Kyouko's eventual fate was..

"In comparison, Homura-chan really didn't seem to care about territory or anything like that at all.. She mostly was just worried about me." Which is true! Madoka really is trying to avoid lying to Mami here. It's more about ommitting some stuff. "Kyouko-chan and Sayaka-chan were the two who fought about it instead.."

"Ah...I'm not surprised."

Mami's expression is still distant and sad, though its nature has shifted a little.

"Sakura-san was a former partner of mine. I took her in when she got started as a magical girl, and we were like sisters to each other. She made her wish for the sake of her father's church...and when it ended in tragedy, she couldn't believe the ideals of justice we'd shared any longer, and that was the end for us. That was why I warned Miki-san about the danger of making a wish for someone else's sake."

Not that Mami's own wish had ended much better, really. She takes a moment to recenter herself, nearly overwhelmed by the memories. "Do you know what happened to her after that?"

"I.. I don't know if it makes you feel any better, Mami-san.. But Sayaka-chan really admired your ideals of justice."

Especially considering Mami's question - which certainly doesn't have a happy answer, as long as Madoka doesn't want to lie to the other girl - is so heavy, she figures she may as well start with something that's relatively better news.

"She wanted to protect them.. I think that's why she clashed so much with Kyouko-chan. She wanted to honour your legacy."

So even though Mami was dead, a part of her still lived on. She wasn't entirely forgotten - not by Madoka nor Sayaka, anyway.

"But.." She can't avoid the question, huh. Madoka bows her head a little, staring at her shoes. ".. I'm sorry, Mami-san. But Kyouko-chan died fighting a witch.."

"...I wish she hadn't been sucked into it, but with me gone. And Akemi-san was capable and strong, but Kyubey would need a new partner."

Mami still feels a twinge of guilt about that.

"I'm so sorry. I always wanted to reach her again...I miss her so much. And I wish I could've been there to guide Miki-san too. I was never the girl I could've been."

But she forces herself to swallow the tears. "Thank you for telling me all this. It's...better that I know I need to guard the gem with my life."

Madoka kind of wants to say that maybe they'll be here one day too, Kyouko and Sayaka. But she swallows those words up again before they can leave her mouth, not wanting to give the other girl any false hopes. After all, Madoka has been here for so long now, and Mami is the only person from their world she's seen during all that time.

So instead she just focuses on the last thing Mami says. The most important part.

"We'll keep it safe together." Because of course Madoka is going to help. How could she dump all this information on the other girl and let her deal with it by herself? She's so sure about this that - for once - she doesn't sound terribly insecure about it as she speaks up. "That's what friends are for, Mami-san. It doesn't change a thing to me."

"...Madoka..."

Ready for another Mami hug? Here it comes. She darts forward with a small, grateful sob of relief.

"Thank you. I really don't deserve such a brave and wonderful friend."

Of course she's ready for a Mami hug when it involves the girl letting out a sob like that. There's no way Madoka would ever reject the other in that state - which means her arms move around the other girl, sneaking around Mami's waist, pulling her even a little closer. Like the comfort of hug may finally tell Mami that perhaps the world isn't always so cruel after all.

"No, you do, Mami-san. You deserve everything."

That's what Madoka genuinely believes, and she'll never ever stop saying it. No matter what Mami herself thinks.

"And you know the people here on the train are so nice. If they know about it, I know they'll all offer to help you out too. A lot of people here had strange circumstances back home, after all." So Mami's soul not being directly in her body? It's awful for Mami, sure, but at least it's not like it'd make her stand out or make her a freak at all among the people here, Madoka thinks.

If they know about it...is it safe to tell them? That thought bounces in Mami's head for a moment, but she'll let it go until she can deal with it later. Right now, she needs to be in this moment with her dear friend.

"I suppose that's true. I'm sorry I had to dredge all this up for you, Madoka. But I'm going to do my best to keep going, okay? I'm not giving up."

Conclusion

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