"You've done so much for me... And, um, sometimes I feel like I can't really do anything for you."
*Sighs*
Oh, Mami...
[X] After dinner
-[X] The necklace... She said it was "nothing."
--[X] Why?
----[X] Break so can respond.
(In Torgue voice: ) COMMUNICATION!
While I appreciate and understand the sentiment behind this, I think it's kind of unnecessary. Mami thinks of it as "nothing" because:
A) She's still suffering from poor self-esteem (not something likely to change any time soon, and it will take quite some time regardless of what we do)
B) In her eyes, Sabrina has saved her in several ways, many times over, and has stuck with her through it all,
even when Mami told her to go away. Sabrina has saved her from loneliness, from being a tool of Kyubey, from dying to a Witch at some eventual point (due to the first two reasons, and/or because of luck), and from dying young due to Seed shortage/despair loop/MG conflict/Witches as nearly all MGs do. It's worth noting that Mami is even more grateful for this than you might expect, because she has an abandonment complex/phobia. She
expects to be abandoned and lonely. That all it takes is one bad day or mistake to drive the latest friend away forever. Sabrina has seen Mami through those bad days and mistakes and still explicitly promises to never abandon her. This is
everything to Mami.
C) Sabrina fulfills Mami's emotional, psychological, magical, and physical needs. After years of those needs going unfulfilled or shoved back into her face, this is kind of a big deal.
D) Mami has a hard time seeing what she gives to Sabrina in turn, partially because of the low self-esteem, but also because she's never seen what Sabrina is like when she doesn't have Mami there for her--indeed, Sabrina
hasn't ever been in a position where she hasn't had Mami. And while we can
tell Mami what things would be like for Sabrina without Mami, it would be hard for Mami to emotionally believe and internalize it, because low self-esteem.
E) It's not that Mami views the necklace as meaningless, but that she feels like a mere necklace is totally inadequate for expressing her feelings and gratitude, and that a necklace can't even begin to compare to what Sabrina has given her. It's not necessarily that Mami thinks this is the
only thing she's given Sabrina (such as affection, support, etc), but all of those other things she's given were things she would have always been happy to give if it meant having a friend stay by her side. In her mind, staying with her through everything is such an enormous thing, something she would give so much for. But showing affection, giving a room of her home to live in, providing advice, training, and combat support to such a friend? That's something she'd happily do anyway, so it's nothing that needs repayment of any kind. Never mind the fact that she's applying a massive double-standard to giving affection, friendship, and support, depending on whether she's the one giving it or the one receiving it.
Honestly, I'd recommend that Mami talk with Kirika and Oriko about how she can better express her feelings. Kirika, in particular, probably has experience in feeling the way Mami does (about her girlfriend being her whole world, and giving everything she ever wanted to her, and having to figure out how to express her feelings to said girlfriend). Granted, what Mami really needs for this is a good therapist and time, but the former requires getting a good therapist (in
Japan) caught up with the magical world.
...I'm starting to think that we should ask Sayaka, Madoka, Hitomi, and Homura to reach out to Mami more (even if it's just through telepathy), even just to talk on occasion. We should probably explain to them that Mami has a phobia of being abandoned and a tendency to feel lonely, and that her being regularly reminded that she has friends (and not just people whom are friendly to her because they're Sabrina's friends) would go a long way towards helping her heal. Madoka and Sayaka, in particular--Madoka seems like the kind of person to take on this kind of issue with a passion, also seeing it as a concrete and important way to help without being a magical girl herself; Sayaka sees Mami as a teacher, mentor, friend, teammate, and savior all in one (Mami
did save her life from a Witch, and helped pull her and her family out of her burning home), and she also desperately wants to help.
