It's a quiet night at the Tomoe apartment.
The pale light of the moon filters through the large windows, casting long shadows through the still, cold furniture.
The chirping of crickets fills the air.
Suddenly the door the door slams open and a cheerful crowd of teenage girls stumble their way in, loudly talking over each other and yelling to emphasize their points.
The light turns on.
"We so kicked their fucking asses!" yells Sakura, pulling her orange haired friend into a side hug. "You fucking wrecked them, Tamiko! Every time they tried to pull something, bam! Forcefield!"
Tamiko's smiles happily at the praise and bumps Sakura's shoulder.
"It was an interesting outing," Nadia tells Sabrina. "I learned many interesting things today. Feel free to call me if you need help again, fimti?"
"For sure," nods Sabrina, turning to grab Mami into a hug as the blonde slips an arm around her waist.
Mami pulls another, green haired girl along as she makes herself comfortable at Sabrina's side.
"But let's not forget our MVP tonight!" she says, rising the greenete girl's hand above the crowd. "Our long time friend Jessica, who managed to distract tonight's nemeses with her heart wrenching song!"
The obvious foreigner blushes as everyone cheers for her, Chouko even giving her a pat on the back.
"But I only distracted them!" she waves away the praise. "It was Mami who manage to bring peace to our misguided enemies, thus bringing the conflict to a close without any more violence."
Sabrina lays a kiss on the blonde's forehead. "Yeah, Mami's awesome."
"It was a very impressive work of magic," comments Nadia while Mami cuddles into Sabrina's arms, "I'd never imagine you could use your ribbons to tie two people's emotions together, even if only for a moment."
"And don't forget it was Sabrina who realized those two had a thing for each other," Chouko sighs, "it was so beautiful at the end how they fell into each other arms, even if we had to kick their asses for a while first."
"We couldn't have done it without your contributions either," Sabrina smiles at the flier, before looking around. "But I guess it's time to wrap this up, don't you think? It's way late, and there's school tomorrow."
A chorus of agreement is interrupted by a yawn from Sakura, and before realizing it, all the seven girls are yawning, albeit Tamiko does it silently.
The girls say their goodbyes.
"You're not so bad... Sabrina," nods Sakura, grabbing Tamiko and teleporting away with a 'vwwp'.
"I'll be seeing you around then, Mami, Sabrina?" Nadia elbows the cuddling girls as she makes her way to the window, followed by Chouko.
"Goodnight, you two!" Mami waves at the two, letting go of Sabrina to approach the green haired girl standing at the door.
"Want a lift?" Chouko asks the Info Broker as she opens the window, a rush of chilly night air rushing its way into the apartment.
"I'm good," Nadia shrugs and steps out into thin air.
As Chouko jumps out into the night, her wings manifesting in a flash of light, Mami pulls the remaining guest into a hug, quickly joined by Sabrina.
"You really saved us all today, Jess," comments Sabrina.
Mami nods as the greenet blushes. "We're really lucky to have you."
"Well..." the looks down, a shy smile on her lips, "it's thanks to you two..."
"Nonsense," Mami pats the girl's shoulder as they separate. She makes her way to the window and pulls it back closed, barring the nightly chill from the apartment.
"Hey... I know I haven't brought this up in all the time we've known each other," Jessica licks her lips nervously, hesitating one step outside the door. She scratches her head, looking up at Sabrina. "I don't really have anywhere to g-"
Bam!
The door slams in her face.
Sabrina resolutely marches her way to the triangular table, where Mami's sat down to fiddle with a mess of ribbons.
"Could you make some tea, Sabrina?" asks the blonde distractedly, "it'd be nice to have a cup before going to sleep."
"Mami," the white haired girl kneels besides the blonde, "don't you think there was something... strange going on tonight?"
Honey-gold eyes blink confusedly. "Strange?" asks Mami, looking up from her ribbons, some of which seem to bend in impossible ways, folding and vanishing into thing air.
"Yeah..." Sabrina shakes her head, wrenching her sight away from the Ribbons, "like there was something, something important that just didn't fit, you know?"
Mami smiles and lays a hand on Sabrina's cheek. "You must be tired, Sabrina. We both are. A nice cup of tea and some sleep is exactly what we need."
Sabrina sighs, nodding. "I guess you're right... I'll go make that tea, you..." her eyes slide down to the strangely warping Ribbons, "... do your experimenting..."
Shaking her head once more, Sabrina stands up and moves towards the kitchen.
The guest bedroom's door opens, and a yawning blonde girl steps into the living room.
"Sabrina? Mami?" She rubs at her eyes, "it's way too late for this ruckus, where've you've been?"
"Ah, Aimi!" Mami smiles sheepishly. "Did we wake you up? I'm so sorry..."
The girl shrugs, taking seat behind Mami and poking at a spinning mass of Ribbons. Seated side by side, Mami's head towers over the other blonde's by a few inches.
"What's this do?" asks the sleepy girl.
"I'm not sure..." muses Mami, "but I've been able to do strange things with my Ribbons lately..."
"Water's heating up," Sabrina drops to a seating position in front of Mami. She stares at the additional blonde at the table.
Aimi shifts in her seat, meeting Sabrina's gaze and looking away.
"Would you like some tea, Aimi?" asks Mami as she fiddles with a particularly strange Ribbon, which has many sections seemingly missing, without this fact impeding it from moving as normal.
"Of course I couldn't refuse-"
"Shouldn't you be in bed, Aimi?" cuts in Sabrina. "You've got quite an important test tomorrow."
The shorter blonde blinks. "Ah... you're right!" she grabs her face with both hands.
"You need to be well rested for tomorrow," nods Sabrina.
"You're right..." Aimi sighs, standing up. "I should go to sleep. Good night Sabrina, Mami."
Both girls bid her good night. Sabrina watches as the girl walks back to the guest's bedroom...
... Which sports a sign claiming "Aimi's bedroom <3!"
"Mami..."
Said blonde looks up from a cube made out of yellow and red Ribbon, which continuously spins on one of it's corners.
"Yes, Sabrina?" she asks. "Ah, isn't the water ready? I'll check-"
Sabrina grabs Mami's hands, keeping the girl from standing up.
She watches the Ribbon Cube spin for a moment, observing as parts of it seemed to shift, becoming different, red string becoming yellow, only to turn back two spins later...
She tears her gaze away, to look straight into Mami's eyes.
"Mami, I seriously think something's wrong," she says gravely.
Mami's features finally turn serious.
"What do you mean, Sabrina?" asks Mami as a black tray holding a tea kettle and some cups glides into the living room. "It this about Aimi's test tomorrow? You know she's gonna re-take her spot as top student in Shirome if she aces it," she smiles. "You know how important that is to her."
While the Grief tray lands on the table with a gentle click, Sabrina shakes her head, frowning.
"It's not that-"
A knock and a rattling of glass.
Sabrina's eyes snap to the window, looking over Mami's shoulder-
Walpurgisnacht's upside down visage smiles back at her.
Sabrina's eyes widen, a curse on her lips-
"What is it?" snaps Mami, turning back to look...
... Out at the night covered Mitakihara, its many lights creating a magnificent vista.
Mami's frown turns contemplative as she turns back to Sabrina, who clutches at her wildly beating heart, paralyzed in a half crouch.
"Sabrina?" worry tinges the blonde's voice as she takes Sabrina's white clenched fist. "Are you... feeling OK?"
"... Yeah," mutters Sabrina, holding Mami's hand into a tight squeeze, "I just... need to go check something," she lets go and stands up. "Be right back, OK?" she calls as she makes her way to the door.
Before she can open it, the door to Aimi's bedroom opens again, and out steps another blonde girl of similar height.
"Excuse me..." she says, drawing Mami's and Sabrina's eyes to her own, "am I... interrupting something?" she asks shily.
"Not at all," Sabrina shakes her head, "in fact, can you keep Mami company for a moment? Great. Later!" Without waiting for an answer, she exits the Tomoe apartment, slamming the door behind herself.
"... I do need to talk with Mami," the girl mutters, looking down.
"Asuna?" calls Mami, shoving her mass of eldritch Ribbons aside and beckoning the other blonde to take a seat.
"Sister..." Asuna nods gratefully, sitting herself beside Mami as Mami takes the kettle and pours steaming hot tea into two cups.
"You can tell me anything," Mami smiles, offering one of the cups to the other girl, who smiles up at her and takes it with a thankful nod.
A minute passes in silence, both girls taking small sips of tea.
Behind them, Sabrina flies past the window, wings flapping to a stop in front the enormous, smiling, upside down Walpurgisnacht.
"I, Mami..." Asuna frowns sadly, looking at her reflection in her teacup. "You know I supposedly have a great Potential, greater than any other in the world?"
Mami nods and waits, letting the girl gather her thoughts.
An explosion engulfs Walpurgisnacht's head, lighting up the night.
The shorter blonde sighs. "Sometimes... I don't feel that's true. I mean... why me?" she moodily stirs her tea. "Compared to you, to Sabrina, or... to Aimi... I, well, I can't compare," she whispers.
"That's not true," Mami grabs the girl's shoulder, drawing herself closer.
"Isn't it?" mutters Asuna, her voice so low, Mami can barely hear her. "I've never done anything of note, no great accomplishments, I don't have any noteworthy skills, I'm not... perfect, like Aimi is-"
Her voice cracks, the girl shrinks into herself.
Great gouts of carnival fire erupt outside, illuminating two fleeting figures, one with large dark wings, the other one with a long banner of hair trailing behind her.
"Is that what this is about?" asks Mami softly.
Asuna looks away.
A purple light shines in the sky, only for Walpurgisnacht to lazily bat it far, away.
"I just..." the shorter of the blondes bites her lip. "I'm nobody. I'm not... special. But if made a Wish..."
Mami pulls her into a hug. Asuna stiffens for a moment, but then relaxes, letting herself lean against Mami.
Walpurgisnacht suddenly rushes at Sabrina. The winged figure attempts to speed away.
"Let me show you something, little sister," murmurs Mami, grabbing one of her Ribbon contraptions.
Asuna lifts her head, a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
The taller blonde holds the end of a red ribbon to their eyes.
"If you look through this..."
The clockwork Witch catches up to the winged Magical Girl and tackles her up and up into the sky.
"It's... beautiful..." breathes Asuna, looking at something far beyond normal reality, as Mami manipulates the Ribbons, making the spin at odd angles.
A girl jumps high, hand grasping up towards the sky... only to fall.
"You're more special than you give yourself credit for," says Mami, "so have some trust in yourself, OK?"
Asuna looks up at her with tears in her eyes.
She smiles, and nods.
Sabrina stands on a large glass dais, hands held at her sides.
Walpurgisnacht floats in front of her.
Both of them stare at each other, not moving an inch.
Far below them, a sea of stars shines on an empty void, and directly under their feet, the Earth itself stands... or rather, a completely still image of it.
"You can drop the act now," sighs Sabrina, "Homura didn't manage to follow us."
Walpurgisnacht nods... upside down.
Then a bright white light engulfs the Witch, only to shrink... and shrink and shrink, its shape becoming more human, both in shape and size.
The light dies down as a carbon copy of Sabrina flips mid air to land on her feet.
Both Sabrinas look at each other, identical down to the last strand of hair... except that the new Sabrina is not sporting any rings, nor the Ribbon Bracelet.
"Wait, don't tell me..." the original Sabrina says in a warning tone, "am I actually the Walpurgisnacht from the previous timeline?"
Sabrinasnacht scoffs.
"No, you fool, I simply had need of a mouth to talk with," she giggled, daintily covering her mouth with one hand. "Since you were here, I figured you would make for an acceptable disguise. But," she straightens up and looks down on Sabrina, arms akimbo, "you might interpret this as a God taking the shape of their beholder for the purpose of communication, if you wish. I don't mind," her shoulders shook with silent laughter.
Sabrina rolls her eyes, not deigning to answer.
"But the truth is, Sabrina," Walpurgisnacht explains, "there is a great need for you to take action."
Sabrina raises an eyebrow, attention somewhat piqued.
The Witch in not-a-Witch's body nods to herself. "If you and me were to work together, we could solve all this... and stop the end of the world as we know it."
Silence follows those grave words.
"... Wait," blinks Sabrina, "before getting into the world in danger thing, why do you need my help in particular? Because of my potential, my greater purpose, or is it that I'm actually an angel of God... who is a girl?" her eyes narrow.
It's Sabrinasnacht's turn to roll her eyes. She does so much more theatrically, accompanying the gesture with her whole body.
"No, you buffon. It's because you're Mami's girlfriend."
"... What?" asks Sabrina, cheeks slightly flushed.
"Mami's tying the timelines together."
"... If I might repeat my question..."
"Sacré Bleu..." curses the Witch, dropping her face in her hands.
Then she crosses her arms and looks straight at Sabrina, raising one hand in the air, index finger extended.
"Listen up, for I shall commit heresy against good scriptwriting and infodump the situation onto you," she states in a no-nonsense tone.
Sabrina shrugs.
"As you have noticed," explains Walpurgisnacht, "there have been quite a few strange people appearing out of the blue, inserting themselves into other people's lives without warning, and fitting in as if they belonged... which is actually true, in a way."
"Let me guess," cuts in Sabrina, "they're coming from other universes...? Uh," she looks pensive as her doppelganger nods, "so I didn't imagine Kyouko riding a giant spider earlier today..."
Sabrinasnacht hums agreeably. "The cause of all this is a mysterious tear in the time-space of the multiverse, which Mami seems to have connected to by complete accident."
"Seems to?" Sabrina arches an eyebrow.
"It is what is written in the script," shrugs the Witch. "This strange cosmic event opens many opportunities," she explains before Sabrina can ask. "There is only one way to fix this, and that is to have Mami close the connection, which will be your task, and then patching the tear closed, which I can handle, ironically thanks to its own power."
Sabrina frowns, arms crossed. She taps her foot thoughtfully as she stares her double up and down.
"... I don't believe you," she accuses finally, drawing an unhappy frown from the Witch. "Why would you want to help?" she asks. "Why try to cooperate? And hell, how are you so... sane?" Sabrina shrugs exasperatedly.
"Many opportunities..." repeats the Witch, pitching the bridge of her nose. Then she shrugs. "I admit it, I would usually watch the chaos unfold while laughing and eating popcorn, but this is fucking over my script, you know?" she casually ask.
The Magical Girl's eyes twitches.
"I mean, I'm kind of curious what the world will look like if all the timelines converge together," the Witch wistfully stares up at the endless sea of stars, "but I've got this whole play planned, and there's a chance there'll be no stage to play it on at the end of this, and that simply does not help anybody, wouldn't you agree?"
Sabrina grits her teeth.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense... in a fucked up sort of way. But hey," she shrugs, "you are a Witch, after all..."
"Exactly!" Walpurgisnacht nods enthusiastically. "I am ever so glad we agree, Sabrina. So I need you to go convince Mami to let go of her newly found old friends and family so we can fix this."
Sabrina blanches.
"Do you understand what you're asking?!" she yells, appalled. "We can't just... get rid of Jessica, and Aimi and Asuna! Not just Mami, but Itsumi would be heartbroken!"
"Sabrina..." Walpurgisnacht's tone turns grave, "... Itsumi doesn't belong to this timeline either."
"Bullshit!" cries Sabrina. "She's been with us since the very beginning, before me even, Mami's only f-"
"No!" yells Walpurgisnacht, pulling at her own hair. "She was just crossed over from another timeline! Don't you get it?!"
"Shut up!"
Sabrina jumps towards her double, hand extended to grab a silver hammer materializing out of thin air-
The Witch slaps her out of the air.
Sabrina grunts as she lands hard on her back, on the glassy ground, murder in her eyes.
"Don't you remember Mami used to be 'forever-alone'?!" screeches Sabrinasnacht.
"Oh my god, you're right," mutters Sabrina, blinking dumbly.
"Get up," Walpurgis snaps her fingers impatiently, "we need to get moving. You convince Mami, I detect aliens and see the tear is patched, let's go."
Sabrina pulls herself to her feet and dusts herself. "... I'm still not convinced I can trust you."
"You need me," counters the Witch. "Or, well, you wouldn't if you had the courage to look at the script yourself!" she suddenly waves a pad of paper on Sabrina's face.
"Gah!" Sabrina quickly averts her eyes and pushes the Witch's hand away. "Get that thing out of my face."
Walpurgisnacht huffs. "See? You need me. And if it'll help convince you, this whole thing appalls me," she shakes her head. "It's no fun seeing Mami getting all these friendly faces without working for it."
Sabrina sighs, eyes closed.
After a minute, she looks at the impatient Witch wearing a copy of her body.
"Fine," she says, "but we never tell Homura about this."
Sabrinasnacht pouts.
"But that would be hilarious."
Sabrina frowns.
"No-"
"WITCH!"
A slit of fire flares over their heads.
A gout of flame drops from the slit, to explode and reveal a girl flying in its place.
Huge wings of flame extend from her shoulders, as bright as her fiery red hair and eyes. She's covered in gleaming red armour, which seems to shine with an inner light. Her left hand holds an enormous sword of fire, her right a whip of flames.
The Magical Girl looks down at the blue eyed Magical Girl and Witch, and her very gaze weights down on them, burning them, as if the very sun had descended to cast judgement upon the two… and found them wanting.
Walpurgisnacht snaps her fingers and a green elephant tackles the intruder out of the air, sending them both tumbling down into the starry abyss.
"WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH!" yells the angry Magical Girl as she falls under the weight of the large mammal.
Said Witch quickly grabs Sabrina's hand and runs, forcing her to follow.
"Come on, let's take the back exit," she explains as they run.
A line of fire erupts into their path, a raven haired Magical Girl dropping out of it.
"The other back exit!" yells Walpurgisnacht changing direction suddenly.
Sabrina grunts as her arm is almost wrenched out of its socket, but curiously looks back at the second intruder... as they get swamped by a dozen of Walpurgis' shadowy clown familiars.
"Wait," she asks as they run on the transparent ground over an image of the Earth, "that girl didn't seem to have fire powers?"
Sabrinasnacht waves her free hand dismissively. "That's just the effect when any Magical Girl enters my Barrier."
A gout of fire and brimstone flashes into their path-
"Sacré Bleu!"
The morning sunlight shines into the Tomoe apartment.
Mami sits despondently at the triangular table. A violet haired girl rubs circles on her back.
"I'm sure Sabrina wouldn't have left without reason," she comforts the blonde, "and I'm sure she'll be back soon."
Mami sniffs. "She said she'd be right back..."
Two Sabrinas' heads poke out of Mami's room.
After watching the scene for a moment, they hide back inside.
"I can't believe the fourth meguca invader held us up for so long, she was unreasonably strong," complains one Sabrina.
The other Sabrina hums. "Thankfully those two other megucas appeared in the nick of time to distract her."
The first Sabrina bites her lip. "I hope it wasn't a bad idea to leave them fighting in the Barrier..."
The other one shrugs.
"Come on, we don't have time-"
"The timelines will converge soon, I know," grumbles Sabrina, poking her head out of the room again.
"Wait," the other Sabrina pulls her back inside.
Under Sabrina's questioning glance, Sabrina pulls out a pen and a pad of paper-
Sabrina averts her eyes from the Script as Sabrina makes a note in it and then grabs Sabrina and writes a '1' on the lapel of her shirt.
Sabrina One looks nonplussed as Sabrina Two finishes drawing a '2' on her own shirt.
"There we go," says Sabrina Two.
Sabrina One stares at Sabrina Two. "And what... is this supposed to do, Sabrina Two?"
Sabrina Two smirks.
"... Wait," Sabrina One blinks. "I didn't mean to say that, Sabrina Two- agh."
Giggling erupts from Sabrina Two's mouth, quickly covered as she goes to peek into the living room once more.
"... I'll wait for Sabrina to come back," Mami shakes her head, smiling as best as she could, "you're gonna be late for school if you don't get going, Itsumi. Please don't wait for me... You can still catch up to Aimi and Asuna!"
"No, Mami!" the violet haired girl shakes her head harder, "I'll never abandon you, just like I know Sabrina hasn't! She'll come back soon, I know, and then we'll all go to school together!"
Sabrina One's eyes shine from where she peeks around the corner.
Meanwhile, Sabrina Two quickly takes out the Script and scratches and rewrites a few lines on it.
"Itsumi!" chides Mami suddenly, causing said girl to flinch. "You can't be late! Remember you promised-"
Sabrina One plugs her fingers into her ears for a second.
"-you'd be there with her on her first day transferring in! You can't break that promise!"
As Itsumi blanches, appalled at herself, Sabrina One throws Sabrina Two a dirty look.
Sabrina Two covers her mouth. "Got to enjoy the special magic powers while they last," she whispers and shrugs.
The other Sabrina rolls her eyes. Once Itsumi finally leaves, after getting many reassurances from Mami that she'll be fine, Sabrina One takes a deep breath, preparing herself to go out there and have quite the difficult talk.
She's surprised when she feels Sabrina Two's hand on her shoulder, offering silent support.
Both Sabrinas look at each other and nod.
Then a gun is shoved at the back of Sabrina Two's head.
"Close the door," Homura whispers, her soft voice crackling as a burning ember.
Slowly, very slowly, both Sabrinas step fully back into the bedroom, silently close the door, and turn around.
Homura's eyes twitches, her gun-holding hand shakes.
"I've seen through your facade, Witch," she hisses, "and I see you've managed to fool Sabrina One."
Said Sabrina smiles, taking a step closer to the infuriated Time Traveller.
"Homura-"
Click.
"The only reason I haven't splattered your very squishy, very non-invulnerable brain matter all over the wall," Homura ignores Sabrina One, her grip suddenly becoming firm as she points aims right in between Sabrina Two's ever more distressed eyes, "...is because I wanted to make sure to get the right one."
"Wait!" yells One, "I'm the real Walpurgisnacht!"
Violet eyes blink.
"What, no," Two shakes her head, "you're the real Sabrina."
"But you are Sabrina," Sabrina points at Sabrina... before pointing at herself, "... and I am Sabrina?"
"... Shit," curses Sabrina, hands flying to her head. "Shit... Ah, fuck, I- you- we shouldn't have picked your shape when choosing a disguise, fuck! Why did we do that?!"
"I don't know!"
"What..." murmurs a frowning Homura, slowly, shakily lowering her pistol, "what is happening?"
"The-"
"The timelines-"
Both Sabrina look at each other.
The one who spoke first continues. "Homura," she speaks earnestly. "There's no time, the timelines are converging, and if we don't stop it, everything's gonna..."
"Probably stop existing," chimes in the other Sabrina.
"So you need to let us go, right now," pleads Sabrina.
The Time Traveller shakes her head, repeatedly. "No," she denies, "I can't let you go."
"Homura..." sighs Sabrina, sadly. "At this point, if one of us dies... the other one dies, too. We're almost merged completely, look:" she raises her left hand.
Both Soul Gem ring, Grief ring and Ribbon bracelet stand proudly on her fingers and wrist.
Three pair of eyes move to the other Sabrina's arms... which also sports the same rings and bracelet.
Homura shudders.
"I... But I had the..." she presses her (gun) hand to her eyes, "I had the chance..."
"Homura..." Sabrina murmurs sadly, laying a comforting hand on the thin girl's shoulder-
A stinging slap pushes her hand away.
Both girls flinch.
Homura takes a shaky step back, breathing heavily. Her violet eyes, wide and fearful, stare into Sabrina's hurt, blue ones.
"... Right," she says, a certain thickness in her voice, "I'm Sabrina... but I'm also Walpurgisnacht right now... Heh, ironic..."
"Check this out," calls the other Sabrina, holding up a hand-held screen, showing the number "210"... and counting down, "it's a timer that shows how long until we all die," she explains, "made it using a mix of Grief Control and Script writing powers."
"And it doesn't feel Witchy," comments Sabrina, to which Sabrina shrugs.
"Anyway, there's no need to go explain things to Mami because-"
"Is it... true?" asks Mami's quivering voice.
The three girls turn to watch the door open soundlessly.
Mami steps in. Her step is sure, her hands firm, but her eyes... a haunting shadow lurks under her trembling golden orbs, shining with unshed tears.
"... I... I heard everything," she says after a moment.
"Mami-"
"Mami..."
Both Sabrinas approach her at the same time, each one holding onto each of Mami's hands.
The blonde sniffs loudly, tearing up in earnest. The Sabrinas engulf her into a hug together, and Mami, knees trembling, lets herself lean against them, held protectively in both Sabrinas' arms.
"I'm sorry, Mami..." mutters Sabrina, stroking the blonde's hair.
"Are they..." whispers Mami, "are they all... fake?"
"I'm not-" Sabrina stops, meeting eyes with her double, "... One of us is real," she assures.
"And so is Homura," adds Sabrina, "and Sayaka..."
"And Madoka, Hitomi..."
"Kyouko too!"
Sabrina nods, cheek nuzzling against Mami's hair.
"You have friends, Mami," Sabrina hugs her tighter. "But the others..."
"They don't belong here," whispers the Grief Controller.
A whimper escapes Mami's mouth.
Both Sabrinas hold her tighter, and take precious seconds to whisper reassuring things into her ears.
Mami murmurs something too low to hear.
"Mami?"
"What is it, Mami?" asks Sabrina kindly.
The blonde looks up at them, tears flowing freely.
"My- family..." she sobs, "I know my- my parents are... gone, but now my- my sisters too?!"
"... Mami..." Sabrina's eyes tear up as well.
"I'm sorry..." Sabrina whispers, holding her even tighter.
Precious seconds tick by as the three girls hold onto each other, sharing warmth, comfort, and tears.
Homura shuffles awkwardly, watching the scene unfold.
"What if..." asks Mami's trembling voice, "what if we... let it happen...?"
Two sets of sad, blue eyes meet each other, before dropping back down.
"Mami..." says Sabrina, a hand reaching to lift the blonde's chin. Her golden eyes shone, holding back tears for now.
"It wouldn't work," whispers Sabrina, caressing Mami's cheek. "I'm sorry, Mami."
The Golden Magical Girl... droops.
Homura's soft voice cuts through the silence.
"Let them go," she says.
Mami's and Sabrina's eyes are drawn to the Time Traveller.
"Mami..." Homura fumbles for words, "you know what's at stake. You can't let this happen... That's not like you."
"But I- I could... have every-everything I always wanted..."
"No," Homura firmly shakes her head, "you made the friends you wanted..." her hands clench into white-tight fists, "and you created those friendships with your own hands..."
She looks away.
"I'm sorry, but we've got eighteen seconds left," Sabrina holds up the timer. "... Mami..."
"Mami..."
Both Sabrinas take one of Mami's hands to their lips.
"Please..."
"Do the right thing."
3
Mami wails.
2
Her hand grabs at Sabrina's bracelet.
1
A flash of magic- the Ribbon falls apart.
"Ow..."
Both Sabrinas clutch their heads, one of them -the one without a Bracelet- letting go and stepping away from the shared embrace.
"Welp! That was close!" she says cheerfully. "My script almost got messed up-"
She vanishes-
CRACK!
A bullet encases itself on the wall, having passed straight through where the Sabrina copy was standing a second ago.
The real Sabrina holds Mami closer.
"... Wait," she blinks. "I thought she had to patch the tear in time and space after Mami cut the connection."
"Don't worry," Sabrina and Homura flinch as Sabrinasnacht reappears, "that's taken care of!"
She laughs then, vanishing into the aether once more, leaving only the lingering echo of her disturbing laughter filtered through Sabrina's voice, and a Time Traveller holding onto her Shield, just about to spin it ninety degrees.
Homura sighs, letting go.
Suddenly, Sabrina lets out a huge yawn.
"Ah, y-you didn't get any sleep, Sabrina?" asks Mami, rubbing at her eyes.
Sabrina buries her face in Mami's hair before shaking her head.
"Sabrina...?" asks Mami shily, hesitant. "I- I'm sorry-"
The white haired girl pulls slightly away, just enough to hold onto the side of Mami's head and pull her close.
Her lips lay on the blonde's forehead for a long, long moment.
Eventually, she pulls back.
Blue eyes look down at Mami's flushed visage, and smile.
"You did the right thing, Mami."
The blonde magical girl buries her head on Sabrina's shoulder, holding onto the taller girl with all her strength.
As the couple hold each other in an embrace, Homura silently, awkwardly shuffles her way past them-
One of each girl's arms snap out and drag Homura -"eek"- into the hug.
... After a few seconds, Homura sighs, and slowly, hesitatingly, wraps her arms around the two girls.
"What was the cause of the anomaly?" she asks suddenly.
Sabrina shrugs.
"Pretty sure it's taken care of."
Stars.
Streams of stars inundate the void, their lights shining from every which way.
A few dozen Kyuubeys cluster around a jagged wound in space itself, a wound on reality, crying out an impossible light.
The Incubators have surrounded the tear with strange machines, completely disregarding the absolute cold of the void, the lack of gravity, and every other mundane concern.
An agitated, almost excited chatter flows through their connected minds. They observe, they poke, they gleam information from the anomaly-
A pink hailstorm floods the area in light and explodes.
"That was close," sighs Madoka, letting her golden eyes close in relief as she glides closer to the tear in reality.
"Indeed it was!" agrees Sabrinasnacht, walking into the scene upside down. "And what have we learned today...?" she asks as she takes out a pad of paper -a Script- and a pen with an end tied to an endless flow of pink hair.
Pink hair belonging to the deity scratching her chin with one finger. "... Be more careful when playing tag with Homura?" she laughs nervously as the wound in reality closes itself, leaving no trace of ever existing.
A pair of rods with large black feathers hanging from them flap, the unorthodox wings carrying said Devil to as stop besides the already present girls.
"Ah, Homura, perfect!" greets Madoka, before turning back to the Witch. "So... Thank you, for helping out!"
As Homura blinks in slight mystification, Madoka approaches Sabrinasnacht with open arms.
The Witch stiffens, and Madoka stops.
The deity hums, points at the Witch, and draws her hand in a circle.
"Whoa!" Sabrinasnacht startles as she flips involuntarily, 'landing' right side up.
Then Madoka snatches her into a hug.
Homura's eyes twitches. "You... realize... what you're hugging, Madoka?" she hisses, watching as the human-disguised Witch tentatively wraps her arms around the deity.
"Homura," answers Madoka, "this might be closest I'll get to hugging Sabrina for an eternity."
The Devil's eyes soften for a moment... before she frowns.
"Madoka, you're a atemporal entity."
Madoka huffs and pulls Homura into the hug.
"I'm not..." Homura complains, leaning away from the fake Sabrina, "hugging her."
"I can wait longer than you, Homura," argues Madoka.
... Homura tentatively joins the hug.
Sabrina startles.
"Sabrina...?" asks Mami.
The white haired girl blinks.
"It's... nothing," she shrugs. "Just felt all warm and fuzzy for a moment... more than usual when I'm holding you."
Mami hums, cuddling into Sabrina's arms.
