Homura stood on the top of the skyscraper, gazing into the distance over the cityscape.
From the very morning, she was sick with anticipation. She hardly slept, despite knowing that the ensuing conflict would require every ounce of her inhuman strength, endurance and perseverance.
Walpurgisnacht.
Truth be told, she never had much success with sleeping for as long as she could remember, but the previous night was the worst of them all. Homura knew the reason, anxiety welling up inside her carefully crafted facade of nonchalance.
For the first time in so many years, she felt hope.
With a vague sense of dissatisfaction, Homura realized that hope is one of the cruelest things that happened to her. Hope was supposed to herald the coming of the next day, the crack of dawn defiantly blazing through the night, but for her, the sun had never risen, the rays of light fading into the darkness again and again and again.
Nevertheless. Hope was also what held her together, the one thing that made it possible to live through the hell that was her life. And if hope was cruel, well, then she'll endure it like everything else.
For Her.
So Homura watched the horizon for the signs of the oncoming storm, and hoped.
---
The sky was much darker now. Below her, last hangers-on were scrambling to reach the nearest shelter, unaware of the futility of their efforts. Still, she would much prefer them away from the fighting and not getting underfoot. She shuddered, remembering the one timeline when synoptics, for one reason or another, had not managed to identify the storm front in time. Things got... unpleasant.
Since then, she made a point to hire Yuuki's services every time.
...Sabrina was late. It was almost high noon- though you couldn't say as much by looking at the sky- and Walpurgisnacht was due to appear in an hour at most.
A cold, gnawing feeling seemed to seep into her very bones. What if she couldn't make it in time? What if she was waylaid, or worse? Sabrina's preparations would have taken her across half of Asia and North America in a series of long-range teleports courtesy of Sayaka ( for once, Miki was actually useful ), well outside of the Kyubei's telepathy network or the slapstick imitation Sabrina set up some weeks ago. She accessed the copy of the chart stored in her shield, tracing lines between and the assorted schedules, her eyes looking unseeing at the section corresponding to the possible adjustments of the timetable, all the while trying very hard not to listen to the voice in the back of her head telling her that Sabrina bolted, Sabrina was dead, no one was coming to help her, she would have to fight alone, she didn't think she'd be able to fight alone again, not after all this, and it hurt-
With a loud snap of displaced air, a huge platform made entirely out of Grief appeared right next to the roof Homura was waiting on.
"Sorry, Homura,"A sheepish-sounding voice spoke in her head. "Got a little sidetracked. But hey, we're still not late for the party, are we?"
She looked at the assortment of Magical Girls gathered on the platform, their numbers easily going over a hundred, most of them completely unfamiliar to Homura, her best guesses to their identities hinging upon what she heard about one or another of those crazy adventures Sabrina had had in the past month. There were familiar faces, true, like Ishinomaki and Fukushima Groups, some assortment of Sendai and University Girls, who even now were involved in some profound, but completely pointless argument, Rin trying to restrain Sakura from clawing out her opponent's face, before giving up, turning Sakura full tilt and-
Uh, what.
Sabrina was looking at the scene too, her slightly elevated position in the middle of the platform making it easier to observe the clutter of her allies. She noticed Homura looking first at SakuRin, then at her.
Sabrina was grinning.
"…Yes," Homura finally answered.
---
"So, does anyone have questions about our course of action?" Sabrina asked, having finished describing exactly how, what, and in which order they were going to do to Walpurgisnacht in the next half of an hour.
Honestly, Homura was impressed. She was even more impressed of her for managing to do it while nestled beside Mami, in standing position, and looking serious and competent throughout it.
"Yes, Sayaka?" Sabrina asked, noticing her raised hand.
"Aren't you going to make a speech?"
Goddamit, Sayaka.
"Uh, um, I sorta did? Just now? Weren't you listening?" Sabrina replied, baffled.
"No, no, Sabrina," Sayaka said, shaking her head. "You told us how to fight, but not why."
"To defeat Walpurgisnacht? See, she's a very powerful Witch who wants to destroy-"
"What about hope for the better tomorrow thing you seem to be going on and on about?" Sayaka wondered, suddenly chagrined. "Or were those just nice words you used to coerce us to do your bidding?"
"Are you… are you egging me on to make an inspirational speech?" Sabrina demanded, now openly incredulous.
"It's a perfect moment! I can't believe you'd let such an opportunity go to waste!"
"Crazy as it sounds, the rookie makes sense," Kyouko declared unexpectedly. "You have to demonstrate us your conviction, Sabrina."
"Ah, thanks, Kyouko. Wait, what?!"
Not you too, Kyouko, I thought you were the sensible one…
"It wouldn't fit in one hundred and fifty words, and believe me, I tried!"
"What's that got to do with anything? Don't shirk your responsibilities for some arbitrary reason!" Sayaka fumed. "I demand a speech!"
"Speech!" Some girls repeated, intrigued by the prospect.
"Speech!"
"Hear, hear!" Kyouko grated, openly grinning.
"You can do this, Sabrina." Mami said confidently, smiling at her.
"Alright, alright, sheesh," Sabrina answered, finally relenting.
A brief feeling of Witch passed through the group, feeling some of them with unease, and the stationary platform Sabrina was standing on transformed into-
Is that an armored van?
"Comrades!" Sabrina's voice resounded. "Sisters and sisters! Today is a great day! We are standing on the brim of a new world-"
It actually sounded nice.
"-no longer participate in this shameful imperialistic sham-"
Very…
"-lying and scheming-"
Very…
"-damned Kyubei capitalistic thieves-"
Patriotic.
"Long live the Meguca revolution!"
A long silence stretched out. Even circus familiars that were marching through the town seemed to stop.
Sayaka gaped at Sabrina.
"…Really?" She choked out.
"Hey, I don't work well under pressure."
"I liked it." One of the girls said.
"Me too, I guess."
"Oh, Sabrina," Mami smiled fondly.
Homura nodded in agreement.
