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As I was writing this, I could sense I was getting tired. I'm not sure whether it's because of writerly burn out, or just that the theme wasn't speaking to me.
School starts tomorrow, and I've got a bunch of themes that I have no ideas for. We'll see whether I manage to get to them.
Title: neither rhyme nor reason can say how much
Day/Theme: 13. Never again will I lose anyone I love.
Series: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Characters/pairings: Homura, Kyouko, Mami
Rating: PG
Content Notes: Kyouko, Mami and Homura have different reasons for making their team work. Set post series, spoilers for the entire series.
If Kyouko was forced to describe Akemi Homura, she would have said that Homura was dependable. She turned up for every fight and even stayed behind for Mami’s strategy sessions, even though she didn’t speak much.
But after Sayaka had disappeared and Homura had her mental breakdown by calling someone that didn’t even exist, she was downright weird. She had come to the last fight with guns, and when Mami asked if Homura was having a problem with her bow, she had made the strangest face and then disappeared. Then she didn’t turn up for the next few fights, and Kyouko had had enough.
So Kyouko had called her, using the phone that Mami insisted that she carry around. Kyouko didn’t like it -- it was another thing to forget and leave lying around, but telepathy didn’t exactly work across cities and it was the best way to keep in touch.
At least Homura still remembered how phones worked, and she agreed to meet with Kyouko in the park. If she ditched this meeting, Kyouko wasn’t going to be nice about things anymore.
Luckily, Homura turned up for the meeting, which saved Kyouko from putting a spear through her head. She seemed calm now, which was good because Kyouko had serious things to say.
She got straight to the point once Homura had seated herself on the bench. “I know you’re still new, but if you want out of the team it’s only polite to tell the rest of us.”
Post-Sayaka Homura also stared a little too long, like she was measuring whoever she was staring at and wasn’t quite sure how the person compared to some internal meter. Kyouko was getting twitchy when Homura finally said, “No, this arrangement works fine.”
“Turn up for fights then,” Kyouko grumbled. Her gummies had melted a little in the heat, and were sticky. It gave her an excuse to tear them apart with far more vigour than necessary before tossing them into her mouth.
“I will,” said Homura. “I – I just needed to practise a bit more.”
“Practise.”
Homura didn’t notice Kyouko’s flat tone, and went off on a spiel about how she needed to improve her accuracy and a whole host of other things that Kyouko put a stop to by slapping her upside the head.
“If that’s all there is, then practise with us,” Kyouko told her, while Homura was stunned to silence. “It’s more effective.” She considered explaining how Mami helped her practise her clone magic, then decided against it. She would let Homura find out the fun of being tangled in ribbons herself. “When you fight as a team, you’re responsible for more than just yourself. So we need to be sure you’ll be there to watch our backs.”
Homura gave Kyouko another unnerving stare. “Don’t worry, between the two of us I’m sure we’ll be able to protect Tomoe Mami.”
“Huh?” There went Homura saying weird things again. “Mami’s more than capable of taking care of herself.” When Homura refused to elaborate, Kyouko said, “Well, I suppose that means you’re joining us for fights then.”
Homura nodded. Grinning for the first time since she got there, Kyouko offered her some of the gummies, “Want some?”
When Homura didn’t turn up for a few fights, Mami worried.
As a magic girl veteran, she knew she should be stronger than that – she had seen many girls disappear as they succumbed to the Law of Cycles. Sayaka was just the latest.
It didn’t make it any easier. She had known all these girls, listened them confide in her their hopes and fears, and sometimes even met their families. When they disappeared with nothing else to mark how they passed, Mami sometimes felt obligated to grieve for them. Take Sayaka, for example. No one would know how heroic she had been in her last moments, defending her wish and the boy at the centre of it right until the last.
Then there was Kyouko, who had stopped teaming up with Mami for a while because the sacrifices of being a magic girl were too hard to bear. Mami still remembered those nights, worrying about whether Kyouko had a place to stay, if she was fighting safely, or whether she even had anything to eat.
When Homura’s disappearance stretched into days, Mami realised that the worst part was not knowing which of the two to expect. Had Homura fallen in battle? Had she decided that she did not want to fight with the team? All Mami had to go on was Homura’s breakdown. It disturbed Mami, to think that she could lose one of her team mates, without knowing why.
So when Kyouko called to say that Homura was coming for patrol, Mami did what she did best. She prepared and set all the items out. By the time the two of them arrived, everything was arranged to Mami’s liking.
Smiling at her two juniors over the table of cake and tea, Mami gestured for them to sit. “I think I’ve been remiss in some of my duties,” she said. “We can’t work well as a team if we don’t know anything about each other. So, Akemi, what do you like to do after school?”
Sakura Kyouko and Tomoe Mami were all that were familiar in this new world that Homura found herself in. If she fought hard to protect them, that was only natural.
School starts tomorrow, and I've got a bunch of themes that I have no ideas for. We'll see whether I manage to get to them.
Title: neither rhyme nor reason can say how much
Day/Theme: 13. Never again will I lose anyone I love.
Series: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Characters/pairings: Homura, Kyouko, Mami
Rating: PG
Content Notes: Kyouko, Mami and Homura have different reasons for making their team work. Set post series, spoilers for the entire series.
If Kyouko was forced to describe Akemi Homura, she would have said that Homura was dependable. She turned up for every fight and even stayed behind for Mami’s strategy sessions, even though she didn’t speak much.
But after Sayaka had disappeared and Homura had her mental breakdown by calling someone that didn’t even exist, she was downright weird. She had come to the last fight with guns, and when Mami asked if Homura was having a problem with her bow, she had made the strangest face and then disappeared. Then she didn’t turn up for the next few fights, and Kyouko had had enough.
So Kyouko had called her, using the phone that Mami insisted that she carry around. Kyouko didn’t like it -- it was another thing to forget and leave lying around, but telepathy didn’t exactly work across cities and it was the best way to keep in touch.
At least Homura still remembered how phones worked, and she agreed to meet with Kyouko in the park. If she ditched this meeting, Kyouko wasn’t going to be nice about things anymore.
Luckily, Homura turned up for the meeting, which saved Kyouko from putting a spear through her head. She seemed calm now, which was good because Kyouko had serious things to say.
She got straight to the point once Homura had seated herself on the bench. “I know you’re still new, but if you want out of the team it’s only polite to tell the rest of us.”
Post-Sayaka Homura also stared a little too long, like she was measuring whoever she was staring at and wasn’t quite sure how the person compared to some internal meter. Kyouko was getting twitchy when Homura finally said, “No, this arrangement works fine.”
“Turn up for fights then,” Kyouko grumbled. Her gummies had melted a little in the heat, and were sticky. It gave her an excuse to tear them apart with far more vigour than necessary before tossing them into her mouth.
“I will,” said Homura. “I – I just needed to practise a bit more.”
“Practise.”
Homura didn’t notice Kyouko’s flat tone, and went off on a spiel about how she needed to improve her accuracy and a whole host of other things that Kyouko put a stop to by slapping her upside the head.
“If that’s all there is, then practise with us,” Kyouko told her, while Homura was stunned to silence. “It’s more effective.” She considered explaining how Mami helped her practise her clone magic, then decided against it. She would let Homura find out the fun of being tangled in ribbons herself. “When you fight as a team, you’re responsible for more than just yourself. So we need to be sure you’ll be there to watch our backs.”
Homura gave Kyouko another unnerving stare. “Don’t worry, between the two of us I’m sure we’ll be able to protect Tomoe Mami.”
“Huh?” There went Homura saying weird things again. “Mami’s more than capable of taking care of herself.” When Homura refused to elaborate, Kyouko said, “Well, I suppose that means you’re joining us for fights then.”
Homura nodded. Grinning for the first time since she got there, Kyouko offered her some of the gummies, “Want some?”
When Homura didn’t turn up for a few fights, Mami worried.
As a magic girl veteran, she knew she should be stronger than that – she had seen many girls disappear as they succumbed to the Law of Cycles. Sayaka was just the latest.
It didn’t make it any easier. She had known all these girls, listened them confide in her their hopes and fears, and sometimes even met their families. When they disappeared with nothing else to mark how they passed, Mami sometimes felt obligated to grieve for them. Take Sayaka, for example. No one would know how heroic she had been in her last moments, defending her wish and the boy at the centre of it right until the last.
Then there was Kyouko, who had stopped teaming up with Mami for a while because the sacrifices of being a magic girl were too hard to bear. Mami still remembered those nights, worrying about whether Kyouko had a place to stay, if she was fighting safely, or whether she even had anything to eat.
When Homura’s disappearance stretched into days, Mami realised that the worst part was not knowing which of the two to expect. Had Homura fallen in battle? Had she decided that she did not want to fight with the team? All Mami had to go on was Homura’s breakdown. It disturbed Mami, to think that she could lose one of her team mates, without knowing why.
So when Kyouko called to say that Homura was coming for patrol, Mami did what she did best. She prepared and set all the items out. By the time the two of them arrived, everything was arranged to Mami’s liking.
Smiling at her two juniors over the table of cake and tea, Mami gestured for them to sit. “I think I’ve been remiss in some of my duties,” she said. “We can’t work well as a team if we don’t know anything about each other. So, Akemi, what do you like to do after school?”
Sakura Kyouko and Tomoe Mami were all that were familiar in this new world that Homura found herself in. If she fought hard to protect them, that was only natural.
