983/Walnuts-chan Celebratory Funeral

Walnuts-chan Celebratory Funeral
Date of Scene:	04 February 2016
Location:	Mitakihara - Downtown
Synopsis:	Miss White holds the most solemn and appropriate funeral ever. This might be a complete lie.
Cast of Characters:	Hannah Sharpe, Tsubasa Kazanari, Usagi Tsukino, Haruna Kurosawa, Homura Akemi, Mikoto Nakajima, Misa Sakagami, Rei Hino, Kukai Souma, Madoka Kaname, Minoke Sato, Jadeite, Ano Onna

---

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
There has been a funeral procession down Mitakihara. Unmarked black sedans, a limo, and a hearse ferries the funeral attendees and the victim into a large, posh hotel complete with a ballroom. Inside? The circular ballroom has white cloth covered tables filled with finger foods, sandwiches, punch (pre-spiked, and likely to get spiked more), bottles of champagne, and sodas, juices, coffee, and eight different kinds of tea.

Miss White caters very, very well.

Just in front of the dance floor where magical robo-thug guards stand playing music (poorly), the wooden coffin is laid to rest on a pedestal walked in by a very large russian man and Miss White. In a catholic priest's uniform. She's actually Catholic, so it's clearly not Heresy. They set it down, and open the casket, even as Boris goes to get Hannah a glass of champagne. Once her guests arrive? More robo-thugs in waiter's suits appear. Miss White snaps her fingers, and a Barrier forms over the party, casting the area in emerald-green light.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Magical girls and boys! We are gathered here today to remember the life and times of our dear departed friend, Walnuts-chan! You may remember her as an obnoxiously large fire-breathing storm-using Witch with a very bad temper and even worse breath! Alas, her time is now passed. On this shining day, with birds singing, and children playing we commend our lost companion to where she truly belongs!"

The coffin, should people look in, has a black and white printout of a poorly taken picture of Walpurginacht. There's a skyscraper in half the frame. There's also walnuts and garlic thrown into the coffin liberally.

Miss White grins, makes the sign of the cross, and takes out a gas can. After pouring it liberally on the casket, she hops off, and throws a zippo behind her. The coffin is soon a fireall.

"Burning in hell!" Griiin. She raises her champagne glass to the crowd.

"Folks. We killed a city-eating Super Witch where other people have failed over and over. This city is stronger than it ever has been, and it's all because of crazy idiots, good and evil, like you guys. My hats off to you!" Comes the woman in congratulatory tones, the eyepatch on her eye and missing arm not at all dulling her mood.

"Just remember. We lost some good Puella to do it. Don't get killed kids. And don't forget the people who gave their lives so we can all keep doing this. Now get drunk and dance! This is a victory funeral!"

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
One of the people following along is using a wheelchair, wearing a hoody pulled low and an greek-style theatre mask. She's wearing gloves, too, and basically intentionally obscuring her features. She hasn't yet said a word, but she's come out of an unmarked black car that had been following the procession.

When the Barrier goes up, she is pulled in alongside everyone else, marking her as at least somewhat magical. She listen's to Hannah's speech, and only when that speech is done does she have a word to say, her voice obviously still weak. "You talk too casually about death." The tone in which she says it is quite harsh.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Thank you so much for coming with me!" She's in a bathroom stall, though she doesn't quite know why! Maybe it's taking her a bit longer to change?

"He'll be here later. I hope! He had something last minute, I didn't ask, but I left the pen with him!"

Ug, this is taking forever...

"UG!" She stomps out of the stall. "Okay. Don't laugh. This worked at the ice rink!"

Fortunately, the only thing bruised will be her ego.

She thumbs through her phone and picks out a song she wouldn't mind embarrassing herself to.

A deep breath.

"Here we go..."

Setting her phone down, she took a step back, and then...

//I. Like. Big. BUTTS AND I CANNOT LIE!
You other brothers can't deny//

Why yes, she is dancing horribly. Terribly so. Embarassingly so!

//That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist
And a round thing in your face
You get--//

"Oh thank goodness!" Serenity's dress shimmers and forms, and she quickly silences the phone. "That was about to get...um...heh."

She looks at Mars, a sheepish grin on her face.

"So um...shall we?"

She holds out her elbow to Mars!

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Haruna Kurosawa arrives! She's dressed in a fancy black dress and looks somber until Hannah lights the coffin and fire and then she's like 'wooooooo!' from the middle row. Then she blinks and looks around and sits back down with a blush and clears her throat. Corvus is on her shoulder- dressed in a adorable black bird suit. Aki is with her, dressed in black and she rolls her eyes. Aki is just thinking 'oh lord'.

Haruna finally gets up when Hannah's done her speech. Aki goes off to go mingle and Haruna gets up and grabs her crutch and straights out her splinted leg. Ugh. This week'll stink. She could cheat and transform and use her wings to float about but that'd be cheeessssy. That and she likes her fancy dress. She doesn't get to wear fancy dresses all the time!

She hobbles towards the refreshments. Days of Hospital Food have wanted her stuffing her face within the next ten minutes with fodo that is nowhere near 'nutrionally balanced' and 'bland'. Ugh!

Some of these sandwhiches better be spicy!

She looks to Tsubasa and blinks. That's an odd mask! Is she Mahou Shoujo Drama-chan!? She ponders this for a moment also at Tsubasa's words with a 'hrrrmmm'. She doesn't seem to introspect on it long enough because she's shoving an entire finger sandwhich into her mouth.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura is among the procession. Her mood is especially dour, even for her. Occasionally, she smiles, but her smile is a forced thing. She's trying to be friendly, but she's finding it increasingly hard to care about anything anymore. It's not as if Walpurgisnacht was ever a person, unlike other Witches, as far as she knows. She isn't sure what to feel about that.

    She walks behind the casket as it's carried in, like a little dark cloud in of herself. She watches the procession, swapping between amused and gloomy the whole time. She chuckles as she looks inside the casket and sees walnuts. "I suppose that would make us nutcrackers then?"

    She passes by, not really looking at anything, at least not unless a friend comes by. She tries to fake a smile whever someone talks to her, and a sincere smile comes easier for her friends than it does for people she doesn't know, but it's not hard to tell that it's forced.

    Those who look closely can see that her Soul Gem isn't where it usually is. She has it hidden somwhere.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Miss Blue slides out of the limo and enters with the funeral procession, resplendent in her well-known immaculate blue suit. Although it has a darker shade today, more of a navy blue than the royal blue she prefers. Carnwennan's blade still hangs at her side, however, as it has before. Her left arm hangs in a sling at her side, an artifact of her own struggle that desperate day.

She watches the fire burn, a light smile touching her lips, and she brings her fist up to her chest in a salute to the fallen, repeating their names under her breath. She closes her eyes as she reaches the end of the list, and murmurs simply, "Thank you."

Ignoring Madam Buzzkill, she follows Haruna over to the buffet table, getting herself a glass of punch. She lifts it in salute, looking over to meet Homura's eyes, if she can, tipping the glass towards her. Then she drains it.

Misa Sakagami has posed:
     A funeral? Funerals are wont to be /full/ of despair and sadness by those who happened to like the person who was now dead! When Forsaken Doll Maeko had seen the procession in her hunting... well. She decided to follow it. Slowly. Lazily. Frankly, she was following mostly because she was bored at this point.

     Outside the funeral procession, she lifted her hand and whispered a couple of words under her breath, a tiny rabbit doll being created -- one too small for anything but spying... and she had it begin to slip into the party. Only to be greeted by... what seemed more like a celebration than a funeral.

     And a magical barrier of some sort appeared to have been erected -- with her inside. Hmm. Would she have to penetrate it to get away if she needs to? There were a lot of people here, most of which she didn't recognize. But from the context of the words, she can probably assume they're all magical in some way. That would be interesting to know. Food, drink, dance... and ... a lot of people who reeked of positive energy.

     It was positively /horrid/. As such, the dollmaster quietly began to recover her tiny doll, to begin to make preparations, pulling out a small piece of chalk and making inscriptions upon the roof of the building. A tiny bit of dark magic to make the inscriptions hopefully wouldn't be noticed easily within Hannah's own energy used to create the barrier.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Mars is with Moon in the bathroom, because of course she is. "Well someone's gotta keep you out of trouble," is her half-teasing escuse for hanging out with her friend.

    'Don't laugh?' What is Usagi planning?

    Oh my what?

    Mars is just standing there in the bathroom, staring at Moon, as she does the most ridiculous dance and transforms. After a moment her mouth twists into a smile and she tries REALLY REALLY hard not to laugh, moving her hand up to cover her mouth in case even a giggle tries to escape.

    When the transformation is finished, Mars shakes her head. "Geeze, Moon-chan." She slips her arm around Serenity's elbow and says, "Let's!"

Kukai Souma has posed:
A funeral. Kukai had never been to a funeral before. He wasn't entirely sure he'd ever been to a ball before. He'd made a point to try and find someone else who was going, but his only straight up contact had said she was going to show up in her magical form, so she didn't need to worry about an actual outfit.

So, back to basics. After quizzing brother Rento, Kukai had arrived at the start of the funeral procession in a light black dress jacket with checkered blue cufflinks, open down the front, a white button up shirt, black slacks, and shiny black dress shoes - appropriately funeral but still applying to ease of movement and good looks. Somehow the loose shirt felt a little too small around his neck as he looks around the ballroom, the same feeling he got before nationals last year. He knew how to combat that - straight forward onto it!

Kukai finds himself with a glass of soda (feeling weird about getting into anything stronger just yet) watching Miss White torch the coffin, looking around at the reactions of the other frankly incredible boys and girls - around him.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka decided to come after a bit of deliberation. The truth was she was harboring a lot of negative thoughts recently that she hadn't fully been able to work out. They had instead been pushed aside and buried. What better place to go commiserate and work out pain and suffering, especially when some of that pain was over those that had died, than a funeral?

    If this was just a regular funeral she'd have come in her school uniform, but instead it was billed as a ball as well. Madoka wasn't sure exactly what that was supposed to mean except that she should probably dress up. And so she was wearing a black. A black dress with a modest neckline, full arms, and a skirt that fell all the way to her ankles. A black sash was about her waist and tied into a small, inoffensive bow resting at her back. The accessories are all black as well. Nice black flats for shoes, black stockings hiding even that bit of leg that can be shown, a black clutch bag.

    And yes, even her usual red ribbons have been replaced for a pair of large poofier black ones. Her pink hair stands almost garishly out against the dark monotone color. In fact there's only one thing on her that's has any color at all, and that's a red heart pin attached at her chest, which for some reason she's chosen to wear upside down. The whole ensemble might even be beautiful except... except for that look on her face, which is downcast. Sad. Maybe even miserable.

    She had edged her way past the robo-thugs with a wide eyed expression when they appeared, and flinched when the magical barrier went up. Without the spark of magic in her, more of a torch really, she would have been shunted straight out of the real party and into an empty ballroom, but even without actual magic powers she remains behind.

    Which all things considered might not be a good thing. The actual funeral procession starts and Madoka stands with her hands held together, head tilted downward. She only peeks up towards the casket, not bothering to look in. She isn't sure why they're laying Walpurgis to rest. It's a bit crass, really. It's the others they should care more about, right?

    And that's when Miss White pulls out her gas can and shows what kind of a funeral this -really- is. Madoka pales visibly and her hands drop to her sides, watching as the gasoline washes over the wooden frame of the casket before. Fire is produced, the casket aflame, and a curse uttered.

    Madoka's hands drop to her sides and she stares blankly, the dancing flames flickering reflected in her eyes. She looks around numbly, looking for but no longer expecting caskets for Laisa, Belina and Meriko. Her hands clench into tiny fists and she lets her head hang even further as it's proclaimed a 'victory funeral', the shadow over her face reflecting green in the emerald glow of the barrier world.

Minoke Sato has posed:
Firebird was in the limo too along with Miss Blue. She emerges, turning on her Free Fall spell (which looks like a 'black hole' around her waist as she emerges to stand by Miss Blue. She will float along near Mikoto, not knowing very many people. "Is this Miss White here?" she asks. "I'd want to meet her - maybe she'll have room on her team for a Miss Red..." She looks around. "Could you introduce me around? I don't know many of these people. And... how's your side?"

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
The greek-masked woman in the wheelchair just gets another grin from Hannah. It's one of those 'I'm on top of the world right now' grins that shows just how much their victory has given Miss White a renewed shot of confidence, self and otherwise.

"I talk about /everything/ casually. Last time I got serious was when we were planning for all of this. Oh, and when I thought my adoptive brother died. So loosen up, huh? We're /celebrating/! Here!" Cue a champagne glass being passed to Tsubasa's hands.

When Haruna goes to the refreshments? Hannah briefly intercepts to pull her into a one-armed spin! It's a little awkward at first, but hopefully suitably romantic. Smooooch!

"The dress suits you, Gull-chan. Glad you're moving. Have fun. We're definetly dancing tonight. Uhh. If you can somehow manage it." Grin!

But the odd behaviour of Homura has /not/ gone unnoticed. This time, she grabs some punch. Then proceeds to spike it harder. Over to the little ball of dour raincloud goes a Hanners! Her 100 megawatt grin fades noticably. There's real concern in her eye as she 'looks' Homura over. First thing she does is offer the punch.

"Drink up. I know this is a funeral, but try to have a good time, okay? I'm worried about you Homura. I don't know what's wrong, and I'm not going to push it out of you. I know you better than that." Reeach. A slap on the back! Nice and hard.

"You know where to find me if you need a friend. Now find pinkball and dance. She always cheers you up, right?" Grin! A wave, and off she goes to mingle more.

Then, it's over to Blue!

"Miss Blue! Looking good in the suit! You almost wear that better than me! Coming with the sword's a good touch too. Real officer material!" THen she leans in.

"Haven't forgotten about what you dug up. Meeting soon, want to see what you've come up with." A wink, and then she's off.

Maeko, for the moment, goes unnoticed. She's too busy getting drunk and worrying over friends to bother with any party-crashing dolls. And Boris is too busy in the back working on the food! For now, she's free to etch away.

Kukai then gets the brunt of being Hannah'd.

"Hey there kiddo! I think I've seen you before...helping out at Walnuts, right? Kasagami White, CEO of WPS! Nice to meet ya!" Cue a handshake! But after some polite conversation, she finally notes a very sad looking Madoka.

Homura was bad enough, but /this/? She sets down her own glass, and walks straight over. Pausing, she kneels down to eye level, the smallest of sympathetic smiles on her face.

"What happened, Madoka? You look awful, and that's coming from me. Lay it on me, kiddo."

But she doesn't immediately get to comfort Madoka for /too/ long. Mars gets noted, and she's starting to offer a wave. Then Raging Tempest feeds her data on Serenity. Hannah goes pale. Her eye goes wide. She shivers. "H...how? It can't be...that...she's dead. She's dead..." She mutters, seemingly caught in a logic loop as her brain tries to reconcile what she saw from Endymion with the woman just entering.

Thankfully, one of the robo-goons will point out their boss, kneeled down, shivering like she's seen a ghost, and pointing at Serenity.

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Haruna Kurosawa looks to Miss Blue and smiles a little. "Hey, Miss Blue~ How are you? Is everything okay? Did you get hurt? You look okay..." she says softly. She looks over to Firebird and smiles. "Hey Firebird!---" she listens to her words. "Oh... we're you thinking of.. joining WPS? huh..." she thinks. "You never really came off as that type to me." she grins a little. "...just make sure everyone's up front with you, alright?" she asks. "Otherwise- somethings will blindside you." she offers.

She looks over to Madoka and for a moment, she only sees her back so she's like 'Madoka-chan!' so she begins to cludge over that way, after placing her plate down for a moment. Then she sees her expression and she purses her lips a bit. She looks to the fire Madoka is contemplating and looks back. "Hey, Madoka." she says, softly. She doesn't ask 'Why do you look so glum' because 'obvious'- but she does ask softly. "Are you going to be okay, Madoka? I know this is a little much..." she admits.

She peeks over to the emergent Serenity and Mars and smiles a bit before her eyes look over to Akemi-san, who gets a big doofy Gull wave with the hand that is not using a crutch to keep her stable and upright.

Corvus perks up and looks around a moment for apparently no particular reason. His eyes trace from person to person--- then shrugs. It wouldn't be out of place for Hannah to know someone that would trigger his Dark Energy sense. It doesn't seem particularly strong anyways.

Besides, who would be silly enough to attack a room full of 'all the magical heroes that help destroy a giant city destroying witch'.

Weee, she's spun and-- smooch!? Whoop! There goes a blushy Haruna! She gives a kiss back with a grin. "I'll do my best!~ You'll just need to bear with me-- n'.. if not. I'll transform and cheat. Just for you, White-chan!~" she insists. Then she blinks and looks down at Hannah and she kneels down a bit.

"White-chan?" she asks. "What's wrong?..." She stands up and looks at Serenity, and narrows her eyes.

She looks back down at Hannah. She seems to be missing something here.

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
"People died, and you're making light of it." Tsubasa takes the champagne she's given and immediately throws it on the ground. She's clearly in no mood to be dealing with that kind of attitude. "It's one thing to celebrate our victory and it's another to speak in joy about the cost we paid to get there."

She turns her chair towards Homura, slowly driving over. "Akemi-san." She says softly, seriously. "Do you know who took Ame no Habakiri-san to a medical professional?" It's said in the third person, and with little emotion. "Or if you know who would know, can you tell me who?"

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai Souma stands up straight as Hannah zeroes in on him, switching his drink to his off hand. He remembers what he thought earlier - full speed ahead - and grins, the Jack's infectious grin quite merry as he takes her hand, shaking it. "Kukai Souma. It's nice to meet you too, Miss White! I was there, yeah. I'm more used to playing full forward, but I ended up on wing attack. I..." He watches her eyes slide past him and widen, the girl walking away, and follows her glance over towards the tragically sad and darkly beautiful Madoka, listening to the conversation - which takes a serious turn when she starts stammering at Serenity. "...Uh."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura barely notices Hannah's approach until she's right next to her, offering her punch. "Huh? Oh. Right. Okay. Thanks, Hannah-chan." She takes the punch in hand, looking into it, staring past it really. The slap on the back barely seems to phase her.

    "Don't worry. I'll be okay." Her tone is... very strange. Quite the opposite of the uncharacteristically cheerful Homura who nearly skipped her way into a WPS meeting. She takes a sip of the punch, letting the alchohol enter her system. She could, technically, magically rid of herself of the substance if she wanted, but the point of drinking isn't to avoid getting drunk.

    Homura's eyes pass over pink and black, and for once tonight her smile is sincere, if a bit... impish? Black and Pink look really good together, in Homura's reckoning. Of course, she has a certain bias when it comes to Madoka.

    Her one real smile for the evening fades when she sees the quiet misery on Madoka's face. Homura watches in darkness, as if her one light in the world had been snuffed out. Well... better to suffer with an angel than dance with devils.

    Homura walks towards Madoka, wearing her henshin but with a few ornate adornments. Mini replicas of her soul gem hang from her ears, and a black rose adorns the side of her head. As Homura walks towards Madoka, she notes the upside-down heart.

    She knows what that refers to. So, Madoka isn't here to celebrate, she imagines.

    "My little angel." Her tone of voice is a little off. It's warm enough, but there's a sharpness that Homura usually has which is absent today. Homura approaches her with a soft, tiny smile. Purple eyes glance towards the heart, then back to Madoka's pink eyes. "She... she liked you, you know. She spoke highly of you. I think she'd be happy that you remembered her like this."

    Homura stands close to Madoka, searching her expression. "You're not happy, are you?"

    The black haired Puella looks around at the crowd, but still speaking to Madoka. "I know you might not like the presentation, but a lot of us are here because we're happy to be alive."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi giggles as they step out of the restroom and head for the ball room. "Really. It seems the only way I can get her out, aside from, you know." And hand wave! She means having a certain someone disembowelled in front of her but this is a party! "Is to completely mortify her by doing the stuff she does well really badly. I slipped on my heiny several times at the rink before she came out. She must really not like that song!"

The ballroom! So pretty! And people are talking, and she doesn't notice, quite yet, the Eyes on her. Instead, her ears catch the tail end of a conversation...

For a moment, it is not Usagi who speaks. Well, it's definitely her, but this is a part she does not yet accept as herself. "Is that so?"

Her voice is commanding, regal, as she steps forward, ballet flats whispering along the floor, spine straight. "I have watched dear friends die, watched my beloved slain before my eyes. I have seen brother turn against brother. I have felt the crushing despair of an ever expanding millennium of loneliness spread before me and turned his blade on myself. Even now, I watch as my beloved is used as a tool for someone else. I watch as those I once called friends turn on each other. And this is just my pain. There are those of us who have lost friends, who have been doomed to repeat a cycle of torment countless times. Friends were lost that day. People I didn't even know but wish to honor their memory however best I can. Limbs. So do not dare to presume you hold the monopoly on anguish or that yours is the only way to grieve, Hoodied One, for I can assure you, you do not."

There is a sniff that may come across as haughty. And then she's Usagi. "Ohhhh, Mars, I smell yummy desserts!"

And...the princess in an overly flowy dress is hauling the Senshi of Fire toward the dessert table!

That last one is an echo of both lifetimes, really.

But then she catches sight of Hannah-chan! Oh no, she looks pale!

Detour!

She rushes over, skirts gathered. Once there, she flutters about like a nervous hen over her chick. "Hannah-chan, are you okay?" Her voice is very soft. "Is Scruffy not helping?"

Jadeite has posed:
Here is a latecomer. He isn't *that* late, but he's later than he would have liked to be. This is just unfashionable! It's just *rude*.

Yet, some things can't be avoided. A young, slender man with brown skin and black hair, long enough to be tied into a neat ponytail at the base of his skull. He's dressed in a well-tailored tuxedo, shimmering, pale silver on white. He pauses just inside the party and lets his eyes skip across the crowd, looking for *someone*...

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Miss Blue offers Firebird a nod. "Let her circulate for a bit, then I'll introduce you." She cradles the punch cup in her left hand carefully, using the right to squeeze her student's shoulder. "Looks like we've got a good crowd building for this, you're going to meet a lot of interesting people today."

And then Hannah is right there. "Thanks," she answers. "I've been considering some accents for the suit, but there's a point where too much is too much, you know?" She nods to the mention of her other findings, and is about to introduce Firebird, when Hannah spins off to talk to someone else.

She takes a long moment to look over at Homura, but the girl seems to have shrugged off her funk and found Madoka. Good! "That's better," she murmurs.

"I think Serenity-dono has the right of it, don't you?" she asks of Firebird.

Misa Sakagami has posed:
     Runes, lines, shapes. The forsaken doll worked tirelessly in silence, continuing to make what was ultimately going to be a dark magical circle. As the circle's lines were finished, the magic around the area was gradually growing more palpable, an undercurrent to the otherwise cheerful festivities, like a fog that was beginning to roll in, but still too mild to be easily seen in the light.

     The lights were beginning to flicker, and as a few people in a more sour mood enter the building, it might begin to deepen that dark energy. And the inscribing continues. Mark after mark. Rune after rune. Line after line. Covering the entirety of the rooftop was that intricate magical circle, and soon... it was done.

     And dark, evil energy would begin to pulse as the giant runic word scribed into the center of the magical circle decends down the building, applying to every surface on its way down, moving with the magical circle to create a secondary 'field'. A field of negativity. A field of darkness. A field of evil. A field of the despair that Maeko felt belonged in place of a party full of joy.

     After all, a great CURSE had been destroyed just the other day, and that was something truly worth despairing over. Moments later, a funeral procession appears in the center of the building, small three-foot-tall rabbit dolls all wearing tuxedos, ushered by taller, more humanoid dolls. These ones were 'human', beyond the fact that they were OBVIOUSLY dolls. Mouths that moved by virtue of sections of porcelain that were separate from the rest of their body, joints that were balls and half of their clothing was simply painted onto smoothe body. Oh. And also they didn't really have 'arms' so much as a pair of scythes that attached where their arms should be.

     A good 6 of the small rabbits, and 4 of the humanoid ones. And then finally, in the center of that procession... SHE arrived. Maeko, in all of her glory. Her clothing her usual clothing, only with black and whites over the purples. "Shame on you all. Having a party, so filled with joy... and even going so far as to *burn* the deceased. I'm a CURSE and even *I* have more respect for the dead than that."

     Oh right. And in her hand, Maeko had her massive cleaver, as usual. There seemed to be a mist in the air around her, something that might feel all too familiar to Hannah... remnants of a certain beast that should have been dead.

            It seems the party has been crashed.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Mars listens to Usagi's explaination. "Really? So that brings her out, huh?" The fire senshi can't help but chuckle. "So she wants to show you how it's done."

    When Serenity detours to talk to Tsubasa, she stands by silently. Well, someone had to say it. "Many of us have lost friends here. No one is alone in that pain." Her voice is a bit softer than Serenity's, but she also wasn't listening to the conversation and thus is also less annoyed.

    When desserts are mentioned, Mars happily goes along. "Ooooh? Desserts? Let's go see!" Mars tries to follow, but Serenity is just a ball of energy tonight, going from one thing to the next to the next. She's only had a short time to grab one snack before she's suddenly there with Miss White, their host.

    "Oh... hi! I wasn't on the front lines like you were, but I hear you fought bravely. Thanks for hosting this!"

    When Someone Who Is Clearly Not Jadeite enters, Mars glances in his direction. Hmm? Does she know him?

Minoke Sato has posed:
Firebird raises an eyebrow. "Miss White lost an arm?" she asks curiously. Then she overheard the word 'Hannah' spoken nearby. "Wait what? Hannah? There's a Hannah here?" she asks, squeaking in excitement. Swirling Vortex, Firebird's Device, is floating on its own power near Firebird - it appears to follow her.

"Yes - I can feel Serenity's pain - her love is... under enemy control? Wow. I thought that being paralyzed is rough." She sighs softly. "So - do you think I'm worthy of being in your WPS? I'm doing my best - I mean, with this Free Fall spell, I can fly for as long as necessary - I told Vortex to always hold an hour's worth of reserve mana for it, even if everything else is used."

She then sees Kukai, eyebrow raised. "Kukai-san?" she squeaks. "I should go and say hi. Then I'll go see about talking to Miss White." She floats towards Kukai and floats before him. "Kukai-sempai? Hi - that is you, right?" She smiles. "I'm Firebird. You might know me as Minoke - I don't need the wheelchair while I'm transformed." She smiles as she glances Hannah's way, waving to her if she makes eye contact, then back towards Kukai.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka gets swarmed by people who notice her mood. Not all at once, but rather in a procession. She hears Tsubasa's words and the sound of the Champaign hitting the floor and secretly offers a glum cheer the action inside her head. She isn't quite so rude about it, but she completely agrees with the sentiment. "I'll be fine," she says quietly to Haruna, "but I shouldn't have come."

    After all, people grieve in different ways, right? Just because the funeral is more of a spiteful wake doesn't mean grieving isn't happening. The problem is it's sort of the opposite of what Madoka needs right now. Unfortunately... she'd let her negative emotions get the better of he. And for once she doesn't -want- to push them away. She wants to feel sad and cry with people, and in lieu of that others are starting to take sadness' place.

    Hannah comes over to her and asks her what happened. Her jaw tightens a little, and a frown settles firmly upon her features. Hannah means well- not just in the ball in general but in coming over to help. The better part of Madoka knows. But right now..?

    She lifts her chin, the light falling onto her face and showing her expression to Hannah. Her eyes lift as well to Hannah's face even though the gesture is meaningless, the blind woman unable to see the quiet anger in soft pink eyes. Her voice, even quiet as it is, will surely get the message across. "What happened? I came to mourn my friends who had died and instead I found a disrespectful celebration. This is wrong. Someone should stop it."

    It's not true. It's not exactly a lie, but it isn't true. Madoka means it, but she doesn't. She's merely upset and for once allowing that upset to affect her in public.

    The one thing that does get to her is the sound of Homura's voice, speaking the sweet name given to her. She turns towards the dark haired Puella, and the quiet anger in her eyes immediately shifts into the more natural form of saddness. Laisa is spoken of and tears shimmer in the corner of her eyes, "I liked her too. I hardly knew her, but I miss her." Her voice is weak more than quiet. "And I didn't even get to know your other friends at all, though they must have been wonderful as well."

    The rhetorical question gets a small shake of her head. Homura explains why there is joviality in the funeral/celebration and she can't help but feel a little ashamed. It's true- most of the people here barely escaped death. Hannah most of all- you can tell just by looking at her. "I-"

    She's cut off. All hell seemingly breaks loose as Maeko makes herself known, horrifying little dolls marching in in a precession and... saying exactly the things that she had thought in her mind and felt in her heart.

    She takes a step back, holding one arm up defensively. "No. No!! I didn't mean it! I- I'm sorry!" She shakes her head back and forth, looking on with wide eyes, " I really didn't mean it! I take it all back!"

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai Souma looks up as the lights flicker, the emerald of the barrier going dark and black after a moment. There's a voice to one side, a redhead in a mask, calling him sempai and saying she knows him. Minoke? Wheelchair? Wait, there's a Minoke a grade behind him who uses a wheelchair. Is this floating girl the same person? Daichi reacts before Kukai can, eyes widening and perking up, the little blue haired Chara recognizing Firebird before Kukai does.

Before he can do more than open his mouth to make a noise that sounds like it was going to be a 'Hello!' the lights flicker, somehow shining -dark-, as tuxedo-wearing rabbit dolls and almost obviously cursed people (with scythes, no less) penetrate the barrier, escorting what would be a rather pretty girl in if she wasn't covered in unnatural ball joints herself and radiating more dark energy than a big pile of X-Eggs.

Kukai moves over, leaning towards Firebird. "Uh. She wasn't at the Wall... Wall-whatever Night fight, was she?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura sees Tsubasa appraoching, and turns towards her. "I did. Iris Shelby is an independant magical doctor who does not ask uncomfortable questions. It was the safest place to take you, after what happened. Considering that I did not know who else to call."

    Turning back to Madoka, she shakes her head. "I'm not trying to embarass you, my dear. I just... was trying to explain why things are the way they are. We did lose friends. It's okay to be sad about that. Anshi-san too could be counted among the ones who fell, even if it took her a little longer." Her tone is soft and gentle, which might be welcome from anyone else, but for Homura specifically it's out of place. Something about her is fundamentally different, and it might be hard to tell if it's a good thing or not.

    Homura turns around to look at the dolls, Maeko's procession, and then turns back to Madoka. She leans forward to give her a hug, holding her tightly. "It's okay... It's okay... No one blames you for the way you feel."

    Homura stays there for a moment, with her arms around Madoka. If her girlfriend wants to cry, then as far as Homura is concerned she can cry as much as she damn well pleases. It's not like this isn't a good reason to.

    "... but... really... Laisa, Meriko, and Belina. Those three... their funerals are being handled by their families. It... might be difficult to get invitations to those, but if I explain that we're friends of the deceased they might allow us to come. Though... we wont really be able to really talk about what they did there, either."

    At least, it would be hard to explain just how heroic they were. Homura could make something up, but nothing she could fabricate would ever be as noble as the truth.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah leans hard against Haruna as she speaks. Miss White sucks in a breath. Serenity runs over, and she actually shrinks back.

"I...Who are you? How are you here? I /SAW/ you /DIE/!" Hannah stammers out. Her teeth grit. Something Usagi says hits her. Eye goes wide.

"...Sailor Moon? You're...you're the woman in his mind? The one I saw..." Bile slides up her throat, and she swallows hard. It'll take both to get her up.

"Walking in as a literal ghost is /not/ okay, Moonbutt." She tries to grin. But that was a shock.

A glance to Haruna. "Uhh. It's very, very complicated. And I'm not sure it's my place to tell the story. Uhh. Mind explaining?" To Usa, of course.

Oh, and Usa is saving her from wheelchair-mahou #1. "...Uhh, something like what she said. I'm hiring you as my speech writer. I'm doing all of this to mock a dead enemy, not spit on the graves of brave people. I know Puella Magi. How they suffer. I'd never make light of that. We're here to celebrate life. Life that those kids /gave/ us." A shake of the head. What a tough cookie.

"Scruffy is amazing." She belatedly adds to Moon.

A still shakey smirk to Kukai. "Next time, then, come along with me on a job. We'll get you playing in the front." Grin! "And grab me for a dance tonight!"

Jadeite gets a look. And a champagne glass. "Welcome to the party! Ignore the gloomy people!" Hannah is still a jerk.

Homura is fixed with a hard stare that screams 'I don't believe you'. Sigh. Her bad feeling grows /worse/. "Take care of Madoka." She at least knows where to direct the woman.

Blue distracts, Hannah takes. "Admittedly I'm awful at fashion. But yeah, not too much, not too little. Gotta have class and all! A little bit of flash is good."

Madoka speaks her mind. There's open surprise in her gaze for a moment. It's something she'd never expect out of Madoka. And part of her is very proud. There's a backbone in there. "I'm sorry Madoka. It's a celebration and a mockery. But it's not aimed at those four. I promise. You can go if you want. Take a swing at me if you want." Sigh.

"...I really did overdo it. I just wanted to raise people's spirits after all that." If nothing else, Hannah is still direct and honest.

Then she's starting towards Mars. She forces a grin, Madoka having effectively crushed her mood.

"Hey, if it gets people to laugh a bit and loosen up? Happy to do it. Thanks to you too. Keep Moon here close. You senshi types have some pretty bad enemies. Stay safe, huh?" Smile.

Darkness and despair enters Hannah's party. She's on her feet in an instant, Raging Tempest in her hand, clenched. She's moved to put herself just to the right of Homura, offering a physical block between the ranged fighter, and more importantly, Madoka. Madoka screams, immediately blaming herself.

An eye narrows. A procession of dolls crashes her party, with a very familiar aura around the one with the clever. The one that stabbed Ao Karina.

Around Miss White, emerald green wind whips from around her, fluttering her clothing as her face goes from moody to complete rage.

"Forgive me if I don't give a damn about the opinions of PARTY CRASHERS THAT STABBED MY BEST FRIEND!" Howls Miss White, and she raises a hand. Wind magic forms in a ball that she then tosses into the air. A rain of magical wind-shot crashes down towards rabbits, 'humans', and Maeko herself as the wind magic forms into spinning, cutting sawblades.

"Now get out. You're not hurting anyone here you youma piece of trash!" Seems Hannah knows this one.

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
Shit hits the fan. Damn. Tsubasa actually releases a surprised gasp, and then wheels backwards. Still near Homura, she whispers to the other veteran magical girl. "I'm sorry, Akemi-san, I'm not yet recovered enough to fight." Even that softly, it sounds like it pains her to be unable to help.

She reaches out for Madoka's hand, attempts to grab it. "It'll be okay." She tries to promise, "There are a lot of people here who can fight." She doesn't sound convinced it will be okay, but she's trying. "I'm sure they can handle this interruption."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura smiles at Hannah. It's a sad, resigned smile. "Of course. I always do."

    When Hannah responds to the doll with anger and violence, Homura pulls out a handgun and aims it at Maeko. Her mouth opens to say something, but her lips shut again. She'll fight if she needs to, but only if White-san starts having trouble. She doesn't want to leave Madoka's side.

    To Tsubasa, she says, "Don't worry about it. We've got it. Save your strength for when it matters."

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Haruna Kurosawa frowns at Madoka. "...what White-chan just said, Madoka..." she says quietly. "We're not here to make light at anyone-- and--- we're all grieving in our own ways. We all did our best. If it wasn't for Hannah... I'd be there among them too." she nods with a curt nod. "We all could had been killed by that thing but we all had to give it our all. Some gave more than others. We have to thank them for that- and-- if they were alive, I think they'd get a kick outta this too in thier own ways maybe---"

"But... only they could speaks for themselves on that matter." she says softly.

"... I've been reading up on American Culture-- in New Orleans-- sometimes they celebrate death with a big parade and upbeat music. To celebrate someone's life instead of mour----"

OH then everything goes dark and then there's...

That thing she wasn't able to protect Ao-chan from...!

< Rollin' Mirror Change! > T-time to change!

The transformation sequence is cut here to be quicker than normal-- today as Haruna transforms into Cure Gull. She summons up her wings to hover off the ground--- and gets higher overhead as far as the ceiling will let her. She raises her hand skyward. "GULL FEATHER STORM!" she calls out and then swings her arm downwards, a cone of razor sharp, wind-infused feathers raining down from above toward's Maeko and any surrounding weird dolls. Ugh those things are creepy.

"I still owe you for hurting my friends!" she snaps. "Curses bring nothing but misfortune!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi/Serenity blinks at Hannah for a moment. Then realization hits and her eyes go wide. "I am so sorry! It's just, you were there, at the thing with the original..." She gestures out the line of her dress. "Whoosh. So I thought you knew! I'm sorry!" A squishy, squishy hug for Miss White! And she whispers in her ear. "I won't do what she did. Okay?"

Then she pulls back and looks at Haruna. "Um...I'm...Mamo-ch...ru-kun's...prin..." Her eyes widen at Hannah like 'how should I know what I'm doing!' and takes a page out of her honey's book to sort of...nope away. "I'm really glad you like him, Miss White! And that wasn't me, that was the lady in white! She's a bit snootier than I am!"

And then! She looks over and SQUEALS! "MY DATE!" To Hannah! "Platonic, I swear, promise, I am not cheating! He's a mutual friend of us both!" And basically ignores everything else as she drags Mars along again! And then she pauses to whisper in Mars' ear that 'that's Jadeite but call him Masaru'

And suddenly she's careening toward the dapper young man. "Masa-kuuuuuuuun~!!!!"

She ignores mutant bunnies, because the fluffiest most cuddliest of the Shitennou has arrived! Arm hug! Cuddle! Purr! "I'm so happy you came! Did you use the thing or you on your own? Do you wanna dance, or do you want dessert? What about a Spiked Punch Drinking Contest?"

Misa Sakagami has posed:
     Almost immediately, someone lifted their arms defensively and repented. Maeko turns her gaze upon Madoka, her eyes burning a soft purple as she gazes at her. And... the doll's lips perk into a smile. Black fire briefly consumes Maeko, only for her to appear again in front of Madoka, a hand reaching out towards her cheek.

    "Such a good girl, immediately apologizing for your mistakes. I think I like you." That... dark oppressiveness *immediately* would disappear for Madoka, excluded from the field of dark despair. "You should get out of the way, I have the feeling others will not be so regretful of their actions."

     The black flames briefly consumed Maeko again, and she returned to her original position, right in the center of that giant CURSE rune on the floor. Firebird gets a casual gaze from the Doll. "I was, though I was not attempting to destroy it as you were. Rather, reveling within its curse." Maeko says cheerfully towards Firebired.

     Homura was being similarly respectful to the dead, showing despair and comforting the one she'd decided she liked. She gets similar exclusion from the curse; the oppressive darkness fading as quickly as it came for her. And Maeko did not seem intent to do anything but allow her to comfort Madoka.

     Hannah's response was... understandable. "My, my. Stabbed your best friend? I don't recall doing that. I do recall tearing a curse out of some poor girl, but I haven't done many stabbings lately... unless... oh my. You must be her best friend. The one she was so excited about the curse being gone! ... My, my, my. Perhaps I shouldn't have helped her."

     Unfortunately, understandable didn't help when Maeko was an outright malicious monster, really. Her head tilts a bit as she watches her silently, listening to her as she speaks... says she's not hurting anyone there... and wind magic flies towards her. Maeko snaps her fingers, and the rabbit dolls move suddenly, getting between herself and the incoming wind blades, the likely surprisingly resiillient rabbits spinning to repel the worse of the wind saws. "Youma? Hah! I am no such thing. You would be lucky if I was merely a youma."

     Interesting. They all seemed to be gathering around Madoka. Very interesting. And then... another one. One of the ones that had attempted to attack her after she had 'helped' Ao. Hmm. Sadly, the rabbits were distracted by Hannah's wind magic, so the feathers rain down upon Maeko and her dolls, stabbing into them and causing cracks to appear in their 'flesh'. The human dolls give off -very- human screams of pain, and IMMEDIATELY leap towards Haruna.

     Their moves were simple, one of them dashed straight forward towards her with simple intent -- to give her a rather unpleasant 'hug' with those scythes, which luckily carried similar properties to Maeko's own cleaver. There wouldn't be much in the way of physical damage from that hug, instead... if it succeeded in its attack, it would drain at Haruna's energy to repair itself. Afterwards, though... it would mysteriously just retreat back into the ring.

     Those that didn't attack got ignored, beyond the oppressive darkness of the area... Hannah, however, was not quite so lucky. Dark energy consumed Maeko, and she lifted her cleaver, taking a stance that lifted one arm up, the blade even with her own head.

            "Forsaken Reaping."

    The movement that followed was sudden, similar to when Maeko had teleported to Madoka. Maeko moves immediately towards Hannah, ignoring incoming attacks if Hannah attempts them to deter her... and would simply attempt to sink her blade into Miss White's chest. It would unsurprisingly hurt if it struck, but surprisingly... not /that/ badly. What *WOULD* be worrying and likely *INCREDIBLY* unpleasant would be the immediate *extreme* energy drain.

            "I wonder if I can draw a Curse out of you, too."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Mars waves one last time at Miss White and then is dragged away by her princess! "Geeze, Moon-chan!" She playfully whines. Then when she hears that the man she was just glancing towards is (secretly) Jadeite she seems to immediately understand. "Oh! Masaru-kun! Of course."

    When she ends up close to Masaru, she waves cheerfully. "Hi! So glad you could make it!"

    Mars makes a face at 'Spiked Punch Drinking Contest'. "Moon-chan you remember what happened last time you drank punch, don't you?"

    Mars's logic here may actually backfire, depending on how Serenity sees it.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Squishy hug. Oh yes. Hannah needs this. One-armed squeeze. Then a punch to the arm.

"Jerk. You're getting /extra/ lessons for that. I'm too young and beautiful for a heart attack! And darn right! I'll kill you if you kill you. Double kill you. Then Evil Science you back and deny you milk shakes for a week." How horrid.

Gull is helping, and Hannah gives a nod. Those dolls are resilient, it turns out. No, this creature isn't just trash. Miss White's mood is back. Back into the enjoyment of a fight, of danger. She's /grinning/ in that blood-drunk way. Especially as the swift doll teleports. Too quick to dodge, even if Hannah's already moving. Her elbow moves, only for a shield of wind, then another, then another to crash into that stabbing blade, slowing it down, and the stab to the chest is very nearly dodged. It goes in shallow, digging into a rib. Blood leaks down it, staining Hannah's suit. Then the energy drain happens.

The only reason she doesn't immediately pass out is due to her having felt something like this before. Runealy had drained her. She knows this pain. She screams. She's grinning as she screams. Even as energy slides into her, teetering on consciousness, Maeko will find out a mage's advantage.

They have a friend. Raging Tempest makes a chk-chk of a shotgun sliding into a chamber. "Cartridge Load. Full physical force enabled."

Even as she's drained, Hannah's energy levels shoot up ten fold thanks to the injection of magic. Then she slams her hand down immediately in a crushing punch aimed for the head, trying to smash the doll into the ground with a wild, uncontrolled, horrific burst of destructive wind. The energy that Maeko's draining dries up as she literally shoves everything she has left into retaliating in a violent and spectacular manner.

"...Whatever you are, at least you're not weak. But don't think I've not met people who can do what you do. Bull. You're no goody two-shoes going around solving people's problems. You're a monster. A /hunter/, right? You touched her and made her feel pain. I'll put you in my lab and pick you apart!" Comes Hannah, voice full of agony and excitement, rage and enjoyment.

There's also now a five-foot hole in the ground where a ballroom floor just was and wind magic blasting in the general area. Hannah wasn't holding back.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka hugs onto Homura, but her own grip is a lot lighter than it usually is. She's leaning into it, yes, but her hands are merely resting against the back of Homura's shoulders rather than pulling her in close. She does notice the odd sound of Homura's voice, that strange softness, but she mistakes what it is. She thinks she's trying to be gentle in her comforting rather than having her own deeper worries.

    "You didn't embarrass me, Homura-chan," she offers quietly. She reaches into her clutch, producing a black and lace edged handkerchief, using it to reach up and dab at her eyes before the tears can fall properly. "I'd like to go," she whispers quietly about the girl's actual funerals, "but I'd feel like an interloper. I didn't even know them in their nonmagical lives."

    Homura has helped blunt her anger, and Haruna's words have much the same effect. So when Hannah tells her what the ball was intended for she nods a little, angling her face downward again. It isn't anger she's trying to hide this time, but rather shame. "I'm not going to take a swing at you, White-san. I misunderstood."

    Madoka lets Tsubasa take her hand. It's soft and warm, though her usual gentle touch is at the moment more of a limp, barely there one, a faint acknowledgement of the kind gesture but little more.

    Of course that grip suddenly goes to rather tight as Maeko disappears and appears right in front of her. She more or less freezes in place as the cursed doll talks to her. The upside to this is that while she's actually hugging Homura she's effectively in the safest place she could possibly be. The fact that the gloom of despair that had fallen over her is suddenly gone gets a confused look from her. She's... actually being spared? Specifically because she apologized?

    This probably isn't the best time to mention that she wasn't apologizing to Misa at all, so she won't.

    As it looks like an actual battle is starting in earnest Madoka clings a bit more tightly to Homura. "Is pain and suffering following me everywhere I go?" she whispers to herself. "Why is this happening..?"

    When the human shaped dolls let out their screams of pain she legs go of both Homura and Tsubasa's hand, putting her hands over her ears and covering them, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. "Why? Why does there have to be more of this? Haven't we suffered enough already?"

Jadeite has posed:
For a few seconds, Hannah gets a grateful smile in return for the champagne glass. For a few more seconds, the mutant bunnies get a confused look, something around 'Masa-kun's' eye twitching just a little bit. Then there is a Princess Serenity, and basically Jadeite has no attention to spend on anything else. He carefully holds the champagne he was given to the side, to keep from spilling it on Serenity's head. She gets a warm smile and a one-armed hug as she gets close. "I'm on my own." He explains, and his *voice* is the same as it ever was, at least, liltingly musical. "Which is, I suppose a calculated risk, but it's also more exacting. Hello, Princess. Lady Mars. I hope I'm not too late."

His grin widens just a hair at the activities offered, eyebrows lifting. "I like the promise of desert, at least. I'm a little out of practice dancing."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Then Miss White falls to her knees, energy spent. She just has enough to hold onto her henshin. She's breathing hard, holding her chest. And bleeding like a stuck pig.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Miss Blue stands there waiting, watching all the doings with moderate interest. Crashing the party is... annoying, really. She watches as several folk respond with energy blasts, while she herself steps up prepared to shield herself and Firebird in case of a counter-attack.

She shakes her head. It's a good thing she already has Carnwennan out and active, even if the blade is sheathed. A half-dozen of the familiar Flicker Shots form, spin an orbit about her head, and then zoom on over towards the doll.

"And stay down," she snaps, watching Miss White put down the creature. She smiles a little, once again... and it disappears just as quickly as she sees blood staining Hannah's chest. She's halfway there before the word makes it out of her mouth. "Medic!"

Minoke Sato has posed:
Firebird whimpers as she shakes her head, feeling a bit icky all of a sudden. "Vortex, what's going on?" she whispers. The floating mace near her reports, "Area is under a magical curse that promotes despair." She frowns. "Can you counter it or smoething?" she asks. "Negative. The cursed area is too widespread." She just sighs. "Can you keep it off of ME?" "Affirmative. Initiating Gravity Ward." The black aura that Firebird used to use to fly limns her again, and Firebird takes a deep breath. "Much better," she states to Vortex who beeps affirmatively. Grabbing the mace, she zooms over to the one-armed woman, floating between her and the trouble. "What is going on here? Who are you, and what are you doing to Miss White?" she states to the dark creature. "Leave this place. We are trying to celebrate a victory." She points the mace at the presumed youma. She has yet to attack.

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
The gloom of despair starts catching up to Tsubasa, already ill-inclined to trust other magical girls to take their job seriously. It doesn't help that some people appear to not even register what's going on. Especially after she sees what happens to miss White, her voice starts to be filled with a kind of dreadful clarity. "We're going to die, aren't we? This is it?"

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Cure Gull snaps. "No, you really hurt Ao-chan you jerk. You didn't /help her/ you didn't /make things better/." she seethes. Maybe it's all this dark energy making her angry. Corvus is on her shoulder.

Aki isn't transforming into Cure Tide, instead, she's looking on at the weird creatures as she picks off a cheese cube off a toothpick as she watches with leery eyes. "GULL, PUNCH IT IN THE FACE!" she calls out.

Haruna's eyes go wide as she darts upwards on her wings and then with a swing- and chops the human-like doll in the back of the head. She huffs. "NOT HELPING TIDE. GET UP HERE AND HELP ME!" she cries out. "I HAVE FAITH IN YOU!" calls Aki. "I GOT YOUR BACK, NO WORRIES!"

Gull pouts.

She sighs and looks back to the mess.

"FINE THEN!" says Haruna.

Oh. then she stabs Hannah and this is now just a rage button. She just flies toward's Maeko and attempts to give a hard, Hannah-taught infused Wind punch to this things face.

Aki watches and sighs a bit when Hannah gets down to her knee. She begins towards there slowly, keeping a low profile. She doesn't approve of Miss White, but lord if she isn't gonna let one of Haruna's important people die if she can do something about it.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Yay! It's still a Jadeite voice! He has a nice, friendly voice! Serenity/Usagi is so glad he's kept the spirit of it!

She looks up at him! "You're not too late. But if you ever do need or want the help, it's there for you to use, okay?" Another snuggle-hug!

(And yes, she knows, or at least has Strong Suspicions of things that happened, but it's his former ex harpy of a boss she blames!)

"Mars! Bleeee! I won't be kissing (not so) random princes this time! Besides! Serenity wasn't buzzy!"

And then.

The bunnies. Used afoul.

Bunnies.

Are her thing.

And Hannah-chan is not doing well as it is!

Crescent want in hand!

"I AM THE RABBIT OF THE MOON! BUNNIES ARE MY THING! THEY SHALL NOT BE USED FOR EVIL, OR IN THE NAME OF THE MOON, I WILL PUNISH YOU!"

"MOON HEALING ESCALATION!"

Her magical cleansing cooties spread throughout!

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura is spared the despair, not that it changes anything for her. She doesn't cling as Madoka releases her. It's not as if Homura hasn't gotten plenty of hugs recently, though she's always happy to get more of them. She doesn't engage with Maeko directly, though her eyes are on the fight.

    She frowns when Hannah gets stabbed. That's... really distressing. "I don't really want to fight right now." The way she says it sounds like she's saying 'I don't want to try anymore'. "I guess I should do something about that."

    She turns to Madoka, giving her a small smile. "Sorry about all of this. Be careful."

    A timestop later and she's right next to Hannah Sharp. Her soul gem is in her hand, visible for the first time, looking maybe a little darker than usual. Not so dark to be scary, but it's noticable. Her soul glows brilliant purple, and her healing magic tries to restore Hannah just a little bit. Homura's no white mage, but this is the same kind of magic that Puella use between fights to undo wounds.

    Homura makes note of the Moon Healing Escalation and is quietly glad she isn't Sailor Moon's enemy right now.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai Souma grits his teeth, feeling the weight of the powerful despair bearing down on him. Unlike the others he's got no direct magical resistance to it, but unlike the others he'd been similarly directly exposed to the mind-wrench that was Walpurgisnacht's powers, and in much the same way he can hear those little voices in his mind, urging him to stand up and have hope. 'Don't you dare let those thoughts get you now!' Compared to that, this isn't nearly so awful, but it's still got him pushed back.

Daichi, one arm up over his face to shield him from the worst of the magic, looks at Kukai. "Kukai, we should Transform, so you can resist the magic better!"

Kukai nods and speaks the words. "Chara Transform!"

Kukai Souma has posed:
Sky Jack lets out a breath, the despair pushing off of him, but still he doesn't start an attack just yet. "Hey, not all of us think this is the most cheerful day in the world, ghost doll, but we're still alive! We still exist, and that's a good enough reason to not give up yet!"

And then there is magical cleansing bunnyness, and the last of the despair is pushed away from him. "Give up before we take this opportunity to show you how much we want to keep living and working as one!"

Misa Sakagami has posed:
     The massive cleaver struck wall after wall of wind, subsequently draining the magic out of them as it went, and then... that shallow pierce, still enough to drain. Oh. it was such excellent, dark energy too. Someone steeped in curses just as she was. And then... 'Cartridge load'? What on earth was...

     A burst of energy that came from a seemingly dry well. And then a burst of wind. Maeko took the full force of it, her body cracking as she was sent flying back, only to be caught by those rabbits again. Arm fractured, body fractured... and she was healing again, the breaks sealing back over, even as fragments fell out, new ones grew to replace them.

     "I recovered a curse. Pulling such a thing out of someone isn't painless... still. A hunter... perhaps. You could call me a curse hunter." Maeko says, her eyes glowing with amusement as she watches Hannah, letting herself be held by those rabbits a few moments, before finally getting up onto her feet.

     And then ... Madoka begins to talk. Maeko's gaze turns towards the girl, and she calmly watches and listens to her. "My, my. You seem to be unaware of the sheer potential and energy you simply EXUDE, my dear. You smell absolutely delicious to an energy eater such as myself." Maeko says towards her, straightening up and moving her arm a bit, as if working out the kinks in it. "So long as there is darkness in this world, you will be a magnet to it. Of course... you seem to also be a magnet to the light." Maeko's gaze flickers towards those who had protected Madoka. "But you're right. I believe that the one who did wrong here has been punished enough."

     Chop! The humanoid doll is chopped to the back of the head, and it just kind of... falls forward rather awkwardly, and then slides backwards on its face as if it was nothing. Right back into the circle. Aaand then... wind-based punch comes right towards Maeko. Once again, she doesn't even seem to be intent on dodging. Until the last moment, where she moves somewhat unnaturally, tilting at an awkward seemingly-impossible angle. The punch hit her -- but it was indirect. Still unpleasant, and made the porcelain of her face crack, pieces of it folling out to reveal hollow insides. "Oh? I didn't help her? She was hurt, yes. But that *curse* upon her was eating her from the inside. A brief pain is far better than a slow death in--."

     And then Maeko heard Princess Serenity begin to speak. She began to wonder the brilliance of coming to the place with a BLARING WHITE LIGHT OF HOPE currently attending. This is why you don't go to things out of boredom. She begins to rant about the bunnies. And then... how she was going to punish her.

     And then? That magic. 'Moon healing escalation'. Bright, blindingly positive magic. It made Maeko's mouth water, drawn like a moth to flame -- but at the same time... she also had a brain. Well, probably. At least, she was sentient. and keenly aware that was a bad thing to get hit by.

     Black fire consumes Maeko, and as that Moon Healing Escalation comes towards her... Maeko flees. Gone almost as fast as she came. The dolls, however, are not NEARLY so lucky. Screeches from the bunnies and screams from the humanoid dolls can be heard, as they are rendered into their base forms...

     A bunch of battered and torn bunnies and some ken dolls that looked like they'd had their heads torn off. Possibly the leftovers of careless or cruel owners.

     Also? That curse field? Yeeeeaaah. It's gone. It couldn't take the Moon Healing Escalation.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Miss Blue drops to her knees at Hannah's side, reaching down to add her own energy to Homura's healing spell. It's just as miniscule, but every little bit helps. There are plenty of other people to fight the idiotic interloper.

"Don't you dare die on me, damnit. This is its funeral, not yours."

And then Serenity's Escalation washes over the room. Wow, that felt good.

She looks down briefly at her own injured arm. (("Left forearm condition: 100% functional.")) Good news! She discards the sling without a second glance, and sets both hands to the task of channeling what healing she can into Hannah's wound.

"So, are you gonna get up and party, White? Or are we gonna sit here and hand-feed you?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars just backs the heck off when Moon Healing Escalation is thrown around because she does not want to get caught up in that. When she turns to Jadeite, she smiles politely. "Glad you could make it!"

    Mars is, also, staying out of the fight. Especially now that Moon Healing Escalation seems to have ended it. She could've thrown fire at the doll monster but there's something to be said about 'too many cooks in the kitchen'.

    Instead she smiles at Serenity and says, "Good job, Moon-chan!" To Ja-- Masaru, she says, "Nope! Not too late. Though as you can see it's been pretty lively already."

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Cure Gull goes to say nasty terrible things to Maeko and then----- a blinding white light passes through her and she gets the memory of----

Seagulls?

She blinks and everything about the curse is gone, dolls fall and Maeko's run away. She smiles wide. "Ah!?" she looks at Serenity. "THAT WAS AMAZING!" she says with a wide smile. THEN SUDDENLY she's looking around and making a bee-line for White-chan. "White-Chan! White-chan! H--hannah-chan! Please be okay!" she says worriedly.

She moves to lightly hold Hannah-chan. Nrrrrr! She's crying!

"Can you stand up? Do you need to be taken away!? I can fly you! I can--I can!...."

Hannah getting hurt again so soon after LOSING HER ARM is kind of upsetting Gull it seems!

Minoke Sato has posed:
Firebird kneels down by Hannah and Mikoro. "Ummmmm.... are you ok, Miss White?" She smiles. "I'm Firebird. Miss Blue here has taken me under her wing to train me since I'm new to this - she told me about your group and I'd love to be your Miss Red. I want to be part of a group..." She sighs softly, then she gasps as the healing spell explodes in the room. She blinks as hse looks down. "For a moment... I... I thought I felt my legs..." she whispers softly as she looks down. "Wait - haven't we met before?" sghe murmurs to Miss White as she looks around - glad that that evil bunny-monster-thingie has disappeared.

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite is going to hang back here with Mars, his eyebrows just about to his hairline. He is also not at all interested in being caught in that Escalation if he can at all help it, because he's been there before and it *hurt*. He tries to keep his expression benign and neutral as he looks to Mars, noting, "...indeed. Is this normal for your kind of parties? The--bleeding. And everything?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Serenity blinks at the end of it. Wow...that was. More than expected.

She gives a weak smile at Haruna! Who is now hovering over Miss White. "Gull-chan! You tell me if she isn't okay! Or else I will POUT ON YOU!"

She turns to not!Jadeite and Mars. "Was that...I just didn't want bunnies being used for evil or White to be hurt! I just...what?" She looks back. And stares for just a moment!

Then she turns back again! "I don't know where Serenity's tolerance is! Civilian form? Two drinks, I kiss a lamp post! Sailor Moon? Two spiked punch bowls! But dressed like this? I was completely sober when I talked to--"

Her eyes widen at Jadeite's face! And she inches closer! "It didn't get you again did it? Like last time? I'm still so sorry it felt that way!"

Scootch scootch scootch, wide eyes of 'Tell me the truth!'

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Despite all of her suffering? Miss White manages to push through and smile. There's a brief, respectful look to the doll. "...Well look...*cough*...at that. A regenerating Dark Mana creature. I think I understand. Anyone who crashes my party, stabs me, and hurts my friend is an enemy, but..." She forces a grin.

"I'll look forward to tracking you down and figuring out how that regeneration works. I could use something like that. This...isn't over, you creepy friend-stabbing Doll." A date set. Full of pain and punching and rage.

And then, Serenity happens. Maeko is gone. Hannah almost doesn't register the two healing her. No, she's 'looking' at Serenity with a look that's naked, unabashed desire for power. She's never seen anything approaching that level of magic.

"...We're having one heck of a long talk after all of this, Moon." It's a date. God help Moon.

With Maeko gone, Miss White sighs and finally slumps into Mikoto and Homura. Blink. Her body is slightly less drained now, between a Moon Healing adding energy, and the two healing her.

"Hold up. Homura. Blue. When'd you two learn to heal people?" Yup, Hannah's mind is kinda late to the party right now.

Twitch. A brow narrows. Miss White /glares/ at Blue, pushes herself up. She's limping over to the remaining punch bowl, grrr'ing and cursing about useless Cursed Dolls.

"Oh, come off it! I'll get my own drink! What's that word? Kampei?" She's in english, and /southern/ now. In pain and annoyed.

Oh, he, it's a Firebird.

"Hi there! Yup, that's me. Really? Great! I'll fill you in then when I'm not being stabbed."

Squint. Leeean. "...Uhh. I think I know you too. 'Hannah Sharpe' ring a bell?" Squint!

Then she's sucking down punch. The entire bowl. And she hugs a Gull! A crying gull.

"I...I'm good!" It's all bluster at this point.

"I'm okay. I'm good. S...so let's keep this party going, right, Gull-chan? Not a real party until someone gets shot or stabbed!"

Then falls right into Gull's arms, drunk, magical-stabbed, and energy drained. Only the three healers in the group are keeping her awake right now.

"And put 'anti-getting-stabbed' training on the itinerary WPS folks. It /sucks/!"

Rei Hino has posed:
    "I'd say we're about fifty-fifty when it comes to magical parties that involve bleeding." Mars's response is frank enough. "I think this is the first one that resulted in an actual fight, though. Drama tends to get taken up a couple of notches when it comes to magic. The non-magical ones are a lot calmer."

    Serenity seems almost apologetic, and Mars only giggles. "Don't know your own strength, huh?" She watches the way Serenity talks to Jadeite and only giggles harder.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka notices the weird way Homura reacts to the way her friend getting stabbed with a magic draining cleaver. She really does. But she's also in the midst of her own anguish to the point that she doesn't say anything about it when rightfully she really should. Instead she's crouching down, the skirt of her pretty dress resting on the floor in folds of black cloth.

    Even with her eyes closed and hands over her ears she can't shut out what's happening, not fully. Maeko starts talking to her and she looks up to the doll, her face predictably tearstained. So... her potential makes her a magnet to evil creatures? So she was right. It isn't just coincidence that draws danger to her.

    "I'm aware," she whimpers soft, "But there's nothing I can do with it. I -can't- use it!" That's a 'won't' really, and her anguished voice portrays this well. "I can't do anything with it. I... I promised." The last two words are spoken much quieter.

    It's true that Princess Serenity ends the fight as quickly as Maeko had started it. Madoka didn't really need to have access to that power right now. But if she had... maybe she could have stopped Maeko from hurting Hannah, who her best friend is now expending precious magic to try and repair.

    She uses her handkerchief to wipe her eyes some more, picking herself back up to her feet. She wanders over to a wall and leans back against it, feeling drained. Emotionally rather than magically or physically, but drained nonetheless.

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite's expression softens, something very familiar in it despite the fact that none of his features actually look like *his* features. He smiles, giving his head a little shake. "You didn't harm me, don't worry. I don't think it would have hurt me even if I'd been in it, but..." He spent a very long time a certain way. Some reflexes don't die that easily.

Mars gets a slightly more broad version of his smile, dark eyes glittering. "I guess there's always room for improvement on that percentage. We didn't even *have* parties so this is *all* an improvements as far as I'm concerned."

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Cure Gull sighs and gently holds and hugs Hannah-chan super tight as she sniffs. She lets her transformation fade and she hoists Hannah up and gently just sighs. "You push yourself so hard, Hannah-chan~." she says.

She looks to Firebird apologetically. "W--well I'd told you I'd introduce you to her sooner or later." she smiles meekly as she shakes her head and gives Hannah a kiss. "Just take it easy. It seems you got... something... from that too." she says softly.

She nods at Serenity. "I will, but she'll be okay. If she isn't, I'm taking her to help!" she huffs.

She sighs a bit and looks over to Madoka and frowns a bit.

She giggles. Is Hannah already drunk!? Well. She hrmphs. "Stay here a moment." She walks over, and literarly shotguns some punch and walks back. Face a little flushed from that.

"There, now we're both horribly getting drunk!" she grins sheepishly.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Blue smiles as Hannah gets up. Time for her to do the same. Good work, Serenity!

"It's one of those things a Knight operating on her own needs to know," she explains, and then grins as Firebird comes over to introduce herself. "I've been teaching her the tricks of the trade," she adds, "She's got talent."

She grins and whispers, "Go get 'er, kiddo!" - and then lets them talk, heading over to fill a plate of food for herself. A couple of those, one of these, and maybe a scoop or so of that.....

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
She catches the look Hannah gives her, and tries to cover herself up even more! "Miss White, please!"

Victorianesque protesting!

"We may talk, of course, but do control your eyes! I am spoken for!"

Then at Gull! "Good! You tell her if she doesn't get help if she needs it, I have enough tears in me to fill a swimming pool! I'll drown her out!"

She turns to Jadeite as she speaks. And she hugs his arm, tight. "Good. I'm glad." And she leans up and whispers! "It's okay if you still flinch, just let me know if it actually hurts, okay?"

Then she leans back down, still hugging his arm. And she spies Faces! And mentally huehuehues even if it may be for nothing. "Hey, sooooooo. I asked Sky Jack to save me a dance. Would it be okay with both of you if you...had this one dance and I made due on my promise?"

LARGE WIDE INNOCENT EYES WHAT

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
Serenity returns when Princess Serenity cleanses evil, and Tsubasa lets out a sigh of relief, looking around in the hope that nobody noticed her defeatist claim. Her mask has slipped slightly, and a blue sidetail has slipped out from below her hoody as a result. She hasn't noticed yet. "I hope whatever that was has learned not to do this again." She comments.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Sky Jack may have had a spot hidden in his hair that was aching ever since he landed a few days ago at 40+ mph that's completely gone now. He lets out a slow breath a few moments after Maeko's power and despair are completely blown away, and for a moment has the thought that someone who can do that may be out of his league. Still, nothing to do but to try, right?

He walks (really, jogs - he's got so much energy right now it's a wonder he's not bouncing across the tables) over to the group, grinning like a fool at Serenity as he goes past, before looking over the sad and downhearted. "Come on now, she's gone, and she won't be back today! We should celebrate - not some victory that cost us our friends, but the fact that we're still here to celebrate with each other! We'd all be that much sadder if so many more of us were gone, isn't that right? So we'll remember the ones who're gone in our hearts and never let them go!"

Minoke Sato has posed:
Firebird just stares. "Hannah... I've... I've wanted to meet you for so long... you were such an inspiration to me... when I got hurt." She smiles faintly. "I'm just so glad I got to meet you - though... you... you lost your arm? Did Walnut do it?" she asks softly. "Can... can you still be a boxer this way?" she whispers as she floats back and forth. "Oh. I'm paralelegic. But when I got my Device, it taught me to fly so... it's still not the same." She then murmurs, "I'll pop in when you're feeling better - we can talk about this. For now, I have some other fish to fry."

She smiles, blows a kiss towards Hannah, and floats over towards Serenity. "Excuse me," she states, tapping the princess on the shoulder. "Yes, hi. My name is Firebird and I was wondering... what kind of healer you were... I... I never thought it was possible but I thought I felt my legs a moment when youd did that huge healing spell... I didn't catch your name..."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "I've always known how to heal with my Soul Gem," explains Homura, "but I don't like to use it outside of emergencies. Usually I use it to heal myself, but one body is roughly the same as another. In any case, it's not my specialty. Miki-san is better at healing, actually."

    Homura stands up. If Hannah is healthy enough to Hannah then she's probably fine, as Homura has learned. No further worry is spent on her.

    Homura's own soul is no longer visible, as if she just timestopped specifically to hide it.

    Homura overhears Madoka's response as she's slowly walking towards her. She did promise, yes. Hearing her talk about it that way makes Homura feel a bit guilty about some of the thoughts she's been having recently. She hesitates when she thinks about that. Is she being too hard on Madoka? Maybe. It'd be very typical of Homura to screw up so badly like that.

    It doesn't help her mood that much.

    She continues walking towards Madoka, seeing the stress on her face, hearing what she said. Not being able to use her magic is really bothering her, isn't it? She made that promise for Homura's sake, which means it's Homura's fault.

    No. No, Homura isn't going to blame herself for protecting Madoka. It's more Kyubey's fault, and the Universe's fault, but not Homura's fault.

    When she reaches Madoka, her head tilts slightly, and she smiles another small smile. "How are you holding up? This is quite a night."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Serenity leans over the Hoodied One. "We all experience loss. Your pain is not measurable to mine. Just like mine is not measurable to yours."

Forehead smooch.

Then she is off as though it never happened, because Usagi.

"SKY JACK-SAN!" Arm Hook! "You said you'd save me a da----"

She breaks off at the tap on her shoulder. "Hmmm?"

She listens to Firebird, and her head tilts as she does. "I am...in this dress? Princess Serenity, but...normally...Sailor Moon?" She looks at the girl, an almost helpless look in her eyes. "I cleanse. That's all I do. My hea--my boyfriend is our healer and he's currently..." She kneels before Firebird. Not to be condescending, but so her lowered voice can be heard. "I hope to--either way. Here's my number." Scribble, scribble! "I'm bad to text after...ten in the evening most nights maybe, unless the past couple nights have been a fluke. I don't know is this was psy..pusi...something to do with in your head, but if you want, we can try later, okay?" She stands up, another forehead smooch! And she holds her hand toward Sky Jack! "I made him promise me a dance, though! Is it okay if I make good on that?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Mars looks into those dark glittering eyes for a moment. With a giggle she adds, "Yeah. That'd be nice. Well, if you've gone that long without parties then you've got some catching up to do!"

    Serenity comes along and states that she has another dance partner that she promised a dance to... and that Mars and Masaru should dance?! "Um... haha, well I'm a bit rusty!" It has been a while since she danced, anyways. It was something she knew at one point but hasn't practiced in a long while.

    She turns to Masaru and adds, "But I mean... if you'd like to..." She holds up her white gloved hand, offering it.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Indeed, Hannah seems to be doing quite alright for herself, now. Blue grins her little grin and munches on a munchie, watching the crowd mingle for a bit.

It's too bad her own date couldn't make it. Still, you never know. There's always possibilities.

For the moment, she approaches the Senshi, stepping lightly as she walks, almost dancing her way across the room. Maybe the music's improved. Or maybe she just likes dancing.

"So, you seem to have some impressive friends," she comments to Mars. "Glad you could join the party." She's about to ask her to dance when Mars finds another partner. Well, that happens.

Jadeite has posed:
Another sound, this one more a laugh, louder and more honestly amused. Jadeite presses one hand to his chest and bows over it, to Serenity, still smiling. "My lady, I am here at your leisure. You should dance with whomever you please! I won't be bothered in the slightest. My objective here is for you to be happy."

Then there's Mars, making that offer, and even with an illusion covering his real features, he flushes with color just over his cheekbones. The hand at his chest unfolds a little, and offers itself towards Mars. "I would be honored, if you're of the mind to."

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Haruna Kurosawa softly helps Hannah somewhere and turns around to handle her plate and--ugh it got spilled. She looks around and there's Aki reaching down. "I got it Haruna~" says Aki. Haruna sighs and smiles at Aki. "Thanks Aki..." she says. Aki shakes her head. "No worries. I just... never seen you fight before. As a Pretty Cure. So that's how you fight? Wind? Feathers? Heh. I knew you had it /somewhere/ in you."

She smiles. "I do my best!" she says. Then she begins making herself a new plate. "Go find some cute boy to dance with , okay!? Lord knows I can't even dance in this state and--- Hannah-chan's gonna be okay but she's in no state to dance." she says.

She looks over to Serenity and walks a little closer. "So you said earlier... you were...." she says. "You were Kamen's princess, right?" her eyes go wide. "Heh.. that makes a lot of sense. I---"

"I wish I could do something to help you with that." she says a little softly. "If you ever need more help... You don't even have to ask! Just tell me!" she huffs, standing up straight.

Then she then looks towards Akemi-san and Madoka. She trods over closer over there and listens in. She wishes there was something she could say to help but--- Akemi-san has this it sounds like. She looks towards Firebird and grins.

"You're doing good Firebird-san!" she says. "It looks like you're doing a lot better at somethings. Are you feeling a little better from the past couple of weeks?.." She asks.

Minoke Sato has posed:
Firebird shrugs. "Maybe so," she muses softly. "It couldn't have been real..." She clicks her tongue. "Well - maybe it was a flash of hope... maybe I can be healed one day... maybe I can walk again one day... hmmmm. Maybe I could use magic to walk - I'll have to look into it.

She turns to Haruna. "Gull-chan..." she murmurs. "Yeah, I'm doing ok," she muses to her friend. "I got my proper flying spell established so it's not a mana drain..."

Kukai Souma has posed:
Sky Jack blinks. Suddenly he's got a Princess on his arm. It's enough to turn that rogue's grin of his up to 11. "Ah. A dance, huh?" He thinks for a minute, looking away. "Well you know, I suppose I did promise." He grins back at her. "Come on! I can't show you how good I am if we're not out on the floor!" He pulls her away towards the open dance floor.

Kukai doesn't dance. It's not something he's good at. But Daichi? Daichi's good at all sports, including dancing, and Sky Jack? Sky Jack is agile and nimble and fast. It's perhaps not the most romantic or sedate dance fit for a ballroom, but Kukai's laughter rings out, the warm, happy laughter of someone glad to be alive, as he steps quickly and lightly and spins Serenity in a most un-serene fashion around the floor!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Serenity shrugs at Haruna. "Just..." She shrugs again! Because she's not sure. Except for! "I'll always be his princess?" Does that count?

To Firebird! "It may have been! I don't know! I've never done that in this dress. So...maybe? Ish? Something?"

And then she's on the dance floor! (And so NOT giddy about Mars and not!Jadeite hahahaha >.>)

Serenity happily follows Sky Jack's moves! Honestly, romantic dancing is the last thing she wants right now, so bonus points for him! And fun dancing is always fun and WEEEE she's being spun!

She tries her own hand at spinning Jack!

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka is half leaned against the wall, her back vertical and flat against it but her legs out at a bit of an angle. Her eyes are cast downward when Homura approaches but it's hard to miss black stockings with a purple diamond pattern up the sides. Her eyes peek upward a little as she nears.

    Madoka is... mopey. She came here to cry and be sad and after everything that's happened her negative emotions are still very present, only much more mixed and jumbled up. Her eyes only go to Homura's when she speaks, seeing the sadness in the purple before she sees the soft smile on the lips. It would be easy to lie in such a state, but the last time she tried it didn't work. "Poorly. It was a mistake to come here. I thought it would help being around people who felt the same as I did, but that's not what this was for. I should have called ahead or- or just not bothered at all."

    She stares into those eyes, and after a moment reaches out with her hand, letting her fingertips rest against Homura's face. "Homura-chan's smiles are so pretty. Thank you for trying for me..." If anything her voice sounds... even more sad than before.

    She looks away. "I'm sorry. I try not to let people see me if I'm like this. I should probably go."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Mars is starting to take a liking to Jadeite's gentlemanly demeanor, and her smile shows it. The little flushing of his cheeks is noticed, and she smiles just a bit wider, and her eyes a bit warmer. "Good sir, I would love to."

    She takes the offered hand, pulling him gently towards the dance floor. Someone ought to have a good time tonight, what with all the fighting and misery and everything! Rei still has to admit that she doesn't know what she's doing when it comes to dancing, but she's sure she'll pick it up after a bit.

    To Serenity, she waves. "Have a good time, Moon-chan."

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
Tsubasa overhears what Madoka says to Homura, and fixing her mask in place replies to the pink-haired girl. "You're right, this feels hardly appropriate." She looks towards the exit of the building, and quietly adds on. "If you want to go somewhere else, and don't mind company... I'm leaving this place, and wouldn't say no to company." She starts to wheel her way towards that exit, slowly, waiting for a response before going too far.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto stands around, watching people dance and have fun. Maybe she's just a smidge down at everyone else having fun around her. But, hey, things happen.

And then her mope-dar goes off as she sees Madoka and Homura. So she gets a trio of punch glasses filled and heads over there. If nothing else maybe she can get them dancing.

"Hey, Pinky. Didn't anyone ever tell you, when you see what you want, grab hold and don't let go?" She holds out the punch to the two, in case either is up for it.

"You're here because you miss them. Because you hate that they're gone. Right? We all hate that they're gone. We all wish they could be here with us. We're here to celebrate them. That we knew them, and that we liked them. That they were our friends. Our comrades." She drains her own cup of punch, and tosses it aside.

"Thank them, Kaname-chan. Thank them, and remember them, and treasure that memory."

And if Madoka wants to go, Blue won't stand in her way anymore. She'll just be mildly disappointed, and hold out a hand to Homura. "Want to dance?"

Kukai Souma has posed:
Sky Jack laughs and feels Serenity attempt the spin - it's not entirely part of the dance steps, but he reacts quickly, rolling out away from her, throwing his body out for a moment, before moving back in and continuing to sweep her across the dance floor! He in fact even avoids stepping on that long, flowing dress, as the robotic, automated band keeps perfect time (if not the best notes)...

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura's smile falters as its fakeness is called out. "I just... you know... yeah. I don't want people seeing how I really feel either. Though... being around you does make it easier to smile." Her smile returns, though now with more sadness, because she knows that Madoka knows how she feels inside, or at least has some idea.

    When Madoka says she should go, Homura asks, "Would you... like me to escort you home? I'm... not really having as much fun as I thought I would either." After a pause she adds, "... but I mean. If you'd rather be alone, that's okay. I bugged you enough last time."

    Tsubasa is heard, and Homura turns her head to glance at her. She looks at Madoka, silently asking what Madoka wants to do.

    To Mikoto, she shakes her head. "Sorry. I'm a little tired today." She holds up her hand to politely refuse the punch, too.

    Turning back to Madoka, she says again. "Whatever you want to do is fine, Madoka-chan. I'm sorry this night didn't turn out the way you had hoped."

Jadeite has posed:
Despite the little flush over his cheeks, Jadeite allows himself to be led to the dance floor. Once there, however, he seems inclined to at least *try* to lead. As promised, he's a little rusty, but he does his best, and at least manages not to step on Mars' feet or crowd into her personal space *too* much. ... ... Unless maybe she *wants* to be slightly crowded.

Minoke Sato has posed:
Firebird sighs. "I'm outta here..." she mutters as she shakes her head. "Dancing is not my thing. I don't have a leg to hold me." She shrugs. "I hope you all have fun - but this party's done for me..." she muses softly, clicking her tongue. "Bye Serenity and Miss Blue. And Gull-chan And... the rest of y'all." She waves as she heads towards the door and floats away.

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Haruna Kurosawa beams at Firebird, but now she's leaving and she wilts a bit. She sighs, she looks to Blue-chan and smiles. "I'm going to go sit with Hannah. I'm sorry. " she says softly. Indeed, she fades into the background! Going to sitdown and enjoy the rest of the party quietly! Stupid Stupid Curse Dolls! :<

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
And of course, Serenity is too overcome by giggles to be much more use! Giggles, giggles, giggles, abound! And she tries to turn serious, for dancing is Serious Business!

She will succeed if Sky Jack keeps a straight face. If not, whoops!

Rei Hino has posed:
    Mars does allow Jadeite to take the lead, mostly because she imagines that if she tries to lead she... might be a little bit rough on him. His relatively gentler touch would probably be easier on both of them.

    She manages not to step on his toes either, though she's a little awkward at first. She has a slight misstep in her high-heels, recovers, and then giggles with a little bit of embarassment. "My mistake."

    She's actually a little bit embarassed now. She never messes up in high heels! She draws maybe a little bit closer, but only after she's reasonably sure there wont be much toe-stomping between the two of them.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Homura's half-faked sad smile turns into a real sad smile, and Madoka uncurls her fingers, letting the rest of her hand cup the side of Homura's face. It's a caressing, sweet gesture even despite Madoka's moodiness, because even if some of that angst is directed at Homura it's born out of care and worry.

    Her best friends offers to walk her home, just in time for someone to give her a different offer. A moment later while she's still deciding Miss Blue walks up and offers her punch. Having not had any yet she accepts it with a, "Thank you," and starts to take a drink.

    Starts because it's been liberally spiked. Madoka starts coughing almost immediately, the vapors stinging her sinuses while the rest stings her mouth. Luckily it was spiked enough that she didn't even manage a single swallow. It's almost a miracle that in her current mood she juts the cup back out in her arm towards Mikoto to take it back rather than just letting it fall to the floor and make a mess.

    Now Madoka has another reason to be upset, and having already allowed herself to succumb to moodiness an old fear flares up and she shrinks away from Miss Blue, stepping slightly around and behind Homura, hiding behind her for protection. "I'm not 'Pinky'. I'm Madoka. ...do I know you?" It's been a while since Madoka has felt this awkward and shy in public and around someone.

    "I'm going to go," she decides, talking mostly to Homura. She'll start to follow Tsubasa for now but she hasn't really decided on where she's going, only that it's not here.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Sky Jack can't stand it and ends up hugging Serenity close, standing near the edge of the dance floor, having gone from giggles to full-blown laughter. Of what, he's not sure, but he's laughing so hard it's tough for him to concentrate. He catches his breath and smiles wide, looking at her. He looks around, seeing that the room seems to be trying to thin out... "Huh.."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Blue takes the cup back, setting it aside on a nearby table. "We've met once or twice. Never significantly so, though."

She shrugs and stands aside to let Madoka go. She's said her piece, if the girl doesn't agree, that's her business.

"Be well, and... be happy. Alright?"

She doesn't bother to watch her go, just turns around and back to the party, sliding through the crowd and back to Firebird. "Enjoying yourself so far?" she asks, quietly. She turns and leans against a table to watch the dancers.

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
Regardless of whether or not Homura and Madoka are going to agree with Tsubasa on leaving as a group, it seems abundantly clear they are leaving, and as such, so is Tsubasa. She's moving herself in wheelchair, a little faster now, clearly not interested in sticking around any longer than this. She doesn't speak again, not at least, unless she's spoken to.

Once outside the barrier, the masked idol removes her mask. She turns to face Madoka and Homura, and just says one thing. "I've never introduced myself properly, have I? My apologies." She then doesn't introduce herself, waiting instead for them to respond to that sentence.

Ano Onna has posed:
    Sooooo... She was kind of here the whole time. --Really, it's true. From the black car and hearse procession to the start of the dancing. Though she sort of stepped away for a bit when things went a bit south with a whole bunch of dolls- look, the fact of the matter is, that girl is here.
    'Which girl?' some might ask. Well, it's That Girl.
    And for the whole funeral...? Party? She's not quite sure what to call this social gathering, she's has been somewhat off to the side, awkward and wholly not knowing -anyone-. Ever since that terrible battle with Walpurgis, her sensory perception of the world had been mostly in shades of eye-glazing pain, for a while, but that's thankfully diminished enough to make it tonight and... Do nothing of value except be a nameless extra, for a while.

Jadeite has posed:
No matter how many times Mars steps on his toes, Jadeite doesn't seem to mind. He's patient, if she needs to go slowly or seems to want to learn, never once seeming to judge her ability to maneuver in her heels. She does better than he would, after all. Instead, he continues smiling, voice murmuring, "You're doing just fine. Don't worry about it."

Round and round they go, maybe a little slow, but slowly spinning closer. Eventually, they're near enough that he can bend his head a little, to speak quietly into Mars' ear. "I'll tell you a secret, if you'd like." There's a pause, maybe for drama, but not *really* long enough to afford Mars an actual response. "Out of all of you. Your Princess, your sisters...as brilliantly as you all shine...in truth, I always thought it was you who was the most radiant."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Serenity is all giggles and it's all Sky Jack's fault!

But WAIT!

Normally she would be better on top of this, but the evening has been...

"My HugDar is going off." She spins Sky Jack toward Madoka! "I'll be but a moment!"

She spins him out of her hand!

And she spins! And spins and spins and hello, Madoka!

And suddenly, Serious Serenity as hands are on cheeks! "I'm Girlfriend-chan. I think this'd be from him, too."

And she hugs the sad girl, warm and warm and warm!

And she pulls back, and forehead smooch! And then a hug for Homura, because HOMU-CHAN! And also a forehead smooch for her, too.

And then back to a Sky Jack!

Rei Hino has posed:
    Mars chuckles as Jadeite encourages her. She relaxes a little, and this close Jadeite can probably feel her relaxing. Well at least she isn't being judged too harshly, and her ego isn't taking much of a bruise.

    Jadeite draws closer, slowly over time. When he whispers into her ear, she perks up. A secret?

    When she hears what the secret is, her face is slightly flushed. "Radiant?"

    Of course, she's been called beautiful before, and her ego certainly knows it, but it's one thing to see it printed in a magazine and another thing entirely when a (very handsome) man is whispering it into your ear.

    The red on her cheek remains there as she dances with him. For a moment, she feels... a bit nostalgic, dancing with him like this. "Thank you. That's very sweet." she finally says, and her steps suddenly get... a little more graceful, as if moving with Jadeite like this is natural.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura sees Madoka's angst, and feels her caressing her face. It would be comforting, under normal circumstances, when Madoka was blissfully unaware of so many things. Those times are over now... Homura can't stand it, but it's true. Maybe she should've lied just a little bit harder... but to what end? People would've figured it out anyways.

    The punch is taken, and not taken well. It aggrivates things, even. When Madoka hides behind Homura, the black-haired girl doesn't react much. She's happy that Madoka sees her as a source of protection (though that happiness is buried under an ocean of held-back tears), but she also doesn't consider Miss Blue a threat. It was a miscommunication about whether or not the punch was spiked, not an actual malicious act.

    If she were more 'with it', she'd explain that, but right now it's like she really doesn't care about anything.

    When Madoka leaves, Homura turns to watch her back. "Well... I'm leaving, too." Madoka didn't exactly say 'yes' to her company, but Homura has decided that she doesn't want to be here either.

    Tsubasa gets a half-meant 'mm' in response to not actually introducing herself. Almost as if she isn't listening or paying attention.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
As the spinning comes about toward Mars and not!Jadeite again, Serenity Hears All!

Instead of being GASP INSULTED she's pretty sure Sky Jack has to restrain her as she tries to LEAN IN with her happy, barely concealed squees!

"Eeeeayeeheeeyeeeee?!?!?!?!" A gesture! Between them! But not! It is TOTALLY DISCRETE!

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka nods a little to Miss Blue. That's what she thought- they've met, but they don't really know each other. Not well. Her reaction, if Homura remembers, might be reminiscent of the times she stared at Madoka while introducing herself in class. At once it's both not as bad for Mikoto, since she's not really afraid of her as such, but also specifically bad for Madoka because this is a regression into a much less happy place. She'd opened herself up to make herself vulnerable in hopes of trying to heal but has instead tonight suffered an emotional blow.

    She offers Mikoto another tiny nod when she says to be well and happy. That's not an easy thing to accomplish right now, or she would.

    Madoka is unhappy, Homura is unhappy, Tsubasa seems unhappy, and they're all leaving. Then, suddenly, a beautiful moonlit princess sweeps in towards Madoka. She's startled, but then the words are spoken and she lets out a startled, "Girlfriend-chan?!"

    The hug is accepted blankly at first, but ends with the slightest return from her black covered arms before Serenity pulls away and kisses her on the forehead. Madoka blinks a little, ever so slightly confused but not feeling quite as dark and gloomy as before. She watches as Homura receives the same treatment, only for the Moon Fairy of Hugs and Kisses to flitter away like a moonbeam in the smoke back to her dance.

    Girlfriend-chan is Sailor Moon, and Tuxedo Kamen's Princess? Okay, yeah, that actually makes a whole lot of sense.

    It doesn't, however, keep her from leaving. Though she's undoubtedly in a -better- mood when she does leave. She stops walking when Tsubasa removes her mask and looks towards her-no one Madoka knows. And with a really confusing non-introduction.

    She squirms a bit in place. "Um... I'm Madoka Kaname. Madoka is fine." She doesn't press for a name, but she's clearly waiting for one.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
And at some point in the night, Miss Blue slips out, but not right away. She'll hang out for the evening, have a good meal out of grazing on the snacks Hannah provided, and get just drunk enough to notice it before she leaves. Anyone who cares to pull her in for a dance will find her happy enough to do so, and quite willing to make pleasant conversation with anyone who just wants to sit and chat.

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
"Tsubasa Kazanari. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kaname-san, wish it would be under better circumstances." That name belongs to an idol, a fairly popular one. Recently in the news for getting wounded helping people during the freak storm. She keeps moving away from the party, even though they're essentially already gone.

"I guess you two are friends?" Tsubasa's voice is soft and quiet, there's something to it, going through motions as part of practiced communication, rather than something that comes naturally to her. "Feel free to tell me to stop talking if I'm prying. I was going insane in the hospital, hoped this would help." She sounds like it hasn't."

Jadeite has posed:
"Radiant." Jadeite repeats, his voice firm without being harsh. He absolutely means the word, without having to spend any consideration on it. He's apparently already spent that consideration, in some time before the time that is right now. Maybe more than once. The smile is still warm and audible when he continues with, "You're welcome."

He doesn't push the topic any further than that. The compliment has been given and he doesn't seem to expect anything in return for it. He's content just to dance, his own stance relaxing a bit as Mars' does. He, too, seems to think something is familiar about this, something that makes it easy for him to know where his feet should be or where hers will be and thus where to avoid. Easy to know when she's going to shift her weight, when Jadeite needs to support her and when he needs not to restrain her. It's *nice*.

Nice enough that even with the best of his intentions, he's all but forgotten he promised a dance to Princess Serenity.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    We interrupt this angst with a message from our Moon Princess, and as Homura will eventually learn, the moonlight is the message of love. The hug and kiss that Madoka gets, and then Homura gets, does help. It's kindof like using a 1,000 damage attack on a boss that has a million HP, but it's welcome and responded to with another weak smile. "Thanks, Usa-chan."

    Homura wasn't sure if Madoka knew who Sailor Moon was, which may have made some of her earlier conversations with Madoka somewhat awkward in a way that Homura can't easily clear up. The fact that Sailor Moon herself clarifies things makes it a bit easier.

    "Thanks, Moon-chan." She actually is grateful for a number of things that Usagi has recently done.

    Homura walks somewhat close to Tsubasa and Madoka as the three of them go to leave, but there's a distance between them, and Homura isn't drifting any closer. She responds to the introduction with, "Homura Akemi" and not much else. She notes the name, she's just... distracted, like she has been all night long.

    After a moment she adds, "Yeah, we are." As time goes on she seems to return more and more to the 'real world'. "Yeah, I don't think it did any of us much good."

Rei Hino has posed:
    The dancing becomes easier the less Mars frets about it, and it becomes easier to not fret as she grows more comfortable with Jadeite. She spends more time looking into his dark eyes, moving in time with him, feeling his hand holding hers, and her hand on his shoulder.

    She wasn't sure what she thought about this at first, but she's decided by now that she's enjoying this. If she thought about it, she might feel a little guilty about ninjaing Usagi's date, but judging from Moon's laughter she's having more than enough fun regardless.

    Rei still doesn't know what the laughing is about, but whatever it is seems relatively unimportant.

    She closes her violet eyes for a brief moment. "This might be a silly question... all things considered, but..." She opens them again, looking deeply into Jadeite's "...have we done this before?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka notes the fact that her last name is used despite the fact she said using her first one was okay. If she were in a better, friendlier mood she would probably use Tsubasa's given name regardless. "It's nice to meet you too, Kanazari-chan." She still gets 'chan'ed though.

    A moment after she speaks the name her eyes widen a little, "Kazanari-chan..!" It's possible this is the very reaction that has the young woman so very reluctant to give her name out in the first place. Yes, Madoka recognizes it. And has almost certainly bought her albums. Homura answers the first question before she can and Madoka nods, "Homura-chan is my very best friend." Usagi's timely hug is enough that she can say those words with the sweetness they deserve, and not a bitter note to be heard. She scoots a tiny bit closer to Homura, suddenly aware of the distance.

    "I'm sorry to hear you were hospitalized in the storm, Kazanari-chan." She looks back towards the huge barrier behind them they just walked away from and asks what's probably a dumb question, "Were you.... fighting?" It'd be rude to assume. She was there at the 'party' and she technically didn't fight Walpurgisnacht herself.

    Speaking of the party she lets out a sigh. "I... was not expecting it to be what it was." She lifts a hand and holds it over the upside-down heart pinned to her chest. "If I had known I might have had fun. But I didn't come to dance, I came to cry."

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
There's a brief, momentary flash of unease as Tsubasa realizes Madoka recognized her name. "I was." She confirms Madoka's question, and then adds on. "But please keep that on the down low. My concerts already draw enough attention as they are." She doesn't explain what kind of attention, just that they do.

She pushes herself along the road, though her breath is started to run ragged, apparently her stamina is shot too, not just her strength, and she has to stop to pace herself. "I was afraid we wouldn't kill it, so I hurt myself to push out more magic." She sorta explains the source of her wounds, "I must have collapsed right after. Don't recall anything after."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
At this point, Serenity is dancing by her lonesome. She doesn't mind! After all, ballet type slippers for a reason!

So she jumps and pirouettes and all sorts across the dance floor.

And if Jadeite OR Mars hear the sound of a sort of strangled animal whenever she passes by?

Totally NOT her Shipper Heart going squee!

HONEST!

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite looks up when Mars looks at him, meeting her eyes. He blinks twice, and in the space between the first one and the second, his illusion shifts, just a little. The dark hair and the dark skin remain, but he allows his real eyes to show through as he looks at her, clear ice blue. Somehow, they still seem warm.

Even when he hoods them a little, his smile broadening, and he seems a little *shy*, of all things. "I kind of feel like...maybe we have."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "Then let's have something more our speed then." Homura suggests. "We can go some place, remember them. Maybe we can say some words about them, like a eulogy or something. I don't know." Homura really doesn't know where to go with this, but maybe it's better than nothing.

    All she really knows is that Madoka is unfufilled and leaving here unsatisfied. Homura wont be able to solve all of her problems, or comfort her in every way, but maybe she can still do something.

    It's then that she notices that the distance between them has closed. Well, that means Madoka isn't pushing her away. She leans against Madoka for a moment as she walks, but only briefly. "Well, considering that we were already taking losses, it's probably best that we killed it as quickly as we did. Madoka-chan looked after you once you collapsed." Her own role in that is excluded. "That much I remember. Your wounds were serious enough that you needed more help than either of us could give you on the spot."

    Homura looks away from the two of them for a moment. "That was a rough night, huh? I mean... from my perspective that was a relatively good result, but... that doesn't mean it wasn't... still horrible."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei actually would feel kindof awkward complimenting the handsomness of Jadeite's disguise, though it's certainly handsome, but when he shows his real eyes her own are a little bit brighter.

    When he agrees, she nods. "I don't remember it clearly... but... it feels nostalgic to me."

    She does look into his blue eyes, smile becoming ever warmer. "You really do have pretty eyes."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Okay forget dancing.

Serenity makes...a certain request of a song to be played.

And she may be watching the dance floor from a (very omg safe) vantage point.

(And yes. It's Pat Benatar's Fire and Ice.)

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "I can keep secrets, especially important ones. I won't be telling yours any time soon, so please don't worry Kazanari-chan." Secret identities are important enough that Madoka is very careful about keeping them. The shallow hint that Tsubasa might have extra reason to keep her own is enough for Madoka to be even moreso.

    Homura leans on her and for a moment Madoka lifts her arm and sets it on the dark haried girl's back, rubbing gently. She removes her hand when she straightens back up, and after a moment of pause picks up her pace and steps closer to Tsubasa as she rolls herself forward. "Do you want help? I'm-" Her help after Tsubasa was placed in front of her is recounted and Madoka blushes slightly, "I'm a hospital volunteer at Mitakihara General. If you're getting tired I can push you. I'm used to it; it won't be any burden."

    She looks over to Homura again and considers her suggestion of going somewhere themselves. "I just... would need to know where you're going."

    Then she nods a little, "A lot of people got badly hurt, or worse. I'm very happy it was stopped when it was, but also very sad about what it took to stop it."

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
"Thank you for your aid. What I did is... risky." Tsubasa stays professional about it, or tries to at least. She doesn't bother contesting Homura's interpretation of events, or otherwise focus on victory itself. "The price we paid was too high." She just says softly, "How can I celebrate victory when we haven't properly given the lost their respect?"

"I don't know where I'm going." Tsubasa doesn't outright accept Madoka's aid, though she does move her hands away from the wheels, which has a certain implied acceptance to it. "I should probably return to Mitakihara General before it gets too late, but I'm in no hurry. I've gotten doctor's permission to leave for the whole evening."

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite makes a quiet sound that's a lot like agreement in the bottom of his throat. "My memories of that time aren't...whole. Either. But I think perhaps that's alright. I have enough that this feels...comfortable."

The choice of the word is careful, deliberate. Comfort isn't something Jadeite's felt a lot of, in the life he *can* remember. He's pined for it, been starved for it, and only recently has he seemed to snatch even little pieces of it in between all the pain. Moments like now, for instance. "Sometimes, I think that's probably okay. I have the chance, now, to make better ones, ones that *are* whole."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's nice, really, watching two of her friends dance, all happy happy.

She curls up on the raised section, where a band would normally play, so she could watch them.

And then...as she watches and is happy for them and feeling glowy and hugging that sleepy glow she's felt since Walpurgisnacht like the warmest teddy bear ever, she drifts to sleep.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "I don't know. We met a lot on the rooftop of my old apartment, but..." Homura trails off for a moment before she adds, "...well, you've seen it, Madoka-chan."

    After another pause, she adds, "We could probably go to the park. It's... open enough, and we can probably find an empty spot at this time of night." Looking to Tsubasa, she adds, "I mean. It would give us a chance to at least... do something. I don't really have access to their caskets, and... Laisa-chan didn't even leave a body, so there's nothing there either. Their soul gems were shattered and blown off into the wind, so those really can't be buried either."

    Homura sounds apologetic. She really doesn't have much to offer, but what she does have she is offering.

    "Still... I knew them. They were working with me on this problem before I started getting Tomoe-san involved. They deserve a certain amount of respect, for their sacrifices and for other things."

    After a pause, Homura starts to explain, "I... had originally picked them out because they were... talented, but also because I knew I could rely upon them in a moral dilemma. I didn't want anyone who was going to back away, or anyone who was going to use their position as part of the group to bully weaker Puella. So... well, by virtue of the fact that I chose them over any of the others I had been monitoring, I guess you could say I thought rather highly of them."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei looks into Jadeite's eyes as he speaks, nodding once in agreement. Her bodly language is a bit subdued, since thei "Yeah. Comfortable. I'm very comfortable like this."

    She doesn't have much of a concept of how bad Jadeite's life has been, but comfortable is a good thing to feel in a circumstance like this. "It's a new life. We can live it how we want to, and hopefully things will go better this time."

    Mars dances with Jadeite for a while longer, at least until it's time for him to take Serenity home.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka nods a little, "I wasn't sure what happened. You used dangerous magic? I suppose that explains why you were bleeding on the inside." After a moment she adds, "I gave you an injection of coagulants- I hope it helped. Internal bleeding isn't something I can handle very well on my own." Of course giving injections of prescription medicines aren't something a girl her age should be doing at all, is it? But the rules change a bit when you're dealing with city destroying monsters.

    Then Tsubasa's answer is as noncommittal as her own was so Madoka responds to her other comment, "It's hard. I know they gave their lives willingly as heroes. But I... I still wanted to mourn them properly. People who give so much deserve to be remembered."

    Madoka steps behind the wheelchair and takes hold, but doesn't start pushing quiet yet. "The park sounds like a good place for now. What do you think, Kzanari-chan?" She isn't about to take her off somewhere without asking her opinion first."

    Homura's damaged apartment is mentioned and Madoka nods, "It will be especially dangerous there if they've started repairs." Repairs which might include knocking the whole building down first, for all she knows.

    Then the Inquisition is spoken of and Madoka quietly listens. "You found very good people to work with, Homura-chan. Even with what little time I got to spend with them I could tell. Laisa-chan was so sweet, she cared about people a whole lot, didn't she?"

    Listening to Homura talk... it puts a smile on her face. Not just because she's hearing her speak about her fallen comrades, but because she's hearing just how careful she was in selecting them. A kind, sympathetic look is sent over in her direction, along with a soft, "Homura-chan..." She went through so much trouble to find not just good fighters to work alongside, but legitimately good people as well. How she could do that and still look down on herself Madoka doesn't know.

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
Tsubasa listens to Homura talk about the fallen Puella, "I can't claim to have known them, but it sounds like they knew the risks they were taking." It sounds like that's important to her, like knowing that they did at least is at least some reassurance. "I'll do my best to honour their sacrifice." That sounds like a genuine pledge.

She tries to think about how to explain what she did, and eventually just settles on a single line. "I intentionally used more magic than my body can handle." She sounds like she doesn't really want to go into detail, "The park is fine."

Then, she looks at the sky. "Until recently, the only threat I've been fighting, the only danger I truly know, was... well. Very different from that. Dangerous, but different." She seems unsure how to say it, or maybe just how much she can say, and so slightly changes tack. "And I'm training a rookie. She's frustrating, loud and can't keep a secret, but well-meaning. I'm afraid she fails to grasp the risks. I don't even know why I'm telling you this. Sorry."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "Laisa-chan did care about people a lot." Homura will acknowledge that easily. "I wasn't at all surprised when I heard that you and her had donated a lot of the food from that meeting. Things like that were always on her mind. I think the fact that she cared so much was part of why it hurt when her boyfriend just suddenly left her for someone else. That was the thing that she contracted over. She decided that she never wanted to feel love again, romantic love specifically, and Kyubey gave her a way out of that."

    To Tsubasa, she nods. "That's right. They all knew the risks. The three of them had been active for almost a year before I picked them up. I spent a lot of my working day keeping track of Puella Magi and that's how I found out about them. Some people called them my 'students', but that wasn't really accurate. They were veterans when I found them."

    After a moment, her tone shifts to something more matter-of-fact. "Of course, even then, I told them what kind of monster I was asking them to face, and I told them what to expect. There were still things that I taught them. Just... you know, they weren't... green."

    Homura looks upwards at the sky, as she considers the state of her former place of residence. "Yeah... it was stable the last time we went because it wasn't being messed with. Plus I could've pulled us out if worst came to worse. I wouldn't expect it to be that way now."

    Upon hearing about the Noise, if indirectly, Homura seems to take it in stride. "There's a lot of weird things out there. Some of it isn't deadly. A lot of it is." Upon hearing about the rookie, Homura chuckles sympathetically. "A rookie huh? I've run across a few of those. The nice thing about them is that they do learn, assuming they live long enough."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Not being able to keep a secret is dangerous," Madoka agrees sympathetically with Tsubasa, turning her wheelchair and starting to push it in the direction of the park. "You seem like you know what you're doing, though. It may be difficult, but if she's well meaning I'm sure you'll be able to turn her into a proper partner and ally." Talking about other peoples problems helps Madoka. Helping people in general helps Madoka. It doesn't actually resolve any of her own underlying issues but it is something.

    Used more energy than her body could handle? "Kyouko-san did the same type of thing. She isn't in a wheelchair but she is getting tired very quickly even just walking. I'm sure both of you will recover though, so long as you have the time to rest up."

    Madoka gives a shake of her head when Tsubasa apologizes, "It's okay. Sometimes just talking about things can help." And speaking of talking helping, Madoka smiles sadly when Homura speaks more about Laisa, and how she found the three other girls. "So that's why she did it. I feel sorry for her. It can be... very shocking when something like that happens." She's speaking from experience here. "To have a boyfriend break up with her because he wanted somebody else more- I can see why she'd do that. I wouldn't, but I can see why. Maybe if she'd had a very good friend she felt she could turn to..."

    But all of that is pointless speculation. Laisa did contract, and she did give her life to stop Walpurgisnacht, and there's nothing that will ever change that. "If I knew what was going to happen I would have spent more time with her. I think we might have become good friends. Romantic love isn't the only kind of love; I wonder how happy she might have been to find even platonic love." Not that she's saying she would have become that close to the Puella, but she does wonder.

    "I'd have spent more time with all of them, actually. It's amazing how much regret you can have over that. It can be hard to know how much you'll miss someone until they're actually gone."

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
"It sounds like she was a good person." Tsubasa says softly about Laisa, keeping her eyes at the sky, away from the others. "And that you did what you could to improve her odds." She sighs faintly, allowing Madoka to ramble about could have beens and would have dones, without interrupting. She doesn't know how to respond to that, and so she doesn't.

"It's hard for me to connect to people." Tsubasa eventually admits, "I've been doing this for too long, probably. You detach yourself, make yourself cold and hard like a sword, because otherwise you stop being able to function." She seems like she's going somewhere with this, "I don't know if the rookie I'm training can handle that."

Madoka talks about missing people who are gone, then, and suddenly tears start to flow. Tears Tsubasa either doesn't realize exist, or that she is trying her hardest to pretend don't.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura smiles. It's a smile, but for once tonight it's sincere. "I think she would've liked that. Getting to know you better." After a pause she adds, "She... really dedicated a lot to him, and he just left her. When he begged to have her back... well... I don't know how he was before the breakup, but when I saw him he was only talking about his own feelings, his own needs, and never once did he even ask her how she felt. Of course, if he had, he'd only have heard that she couldn't love him anymore, so it's not like it would've helped him."

    Her fingers curl into a fist. "Still... he could've at least asked. Once."

    She looks away from the two of them for a moment. It's not a happy memory, but it's a part of Laisa's history. When she looks back at the two of them, she's calmer now, walking along with them as they head to the park.

    "I wish they were still around... they were reliable. There's no replacing that."

    Tsubasa starts about detaching herself, and finding it hard to connect, and Homura immediately gets that. "Yeah... I can relate to that. I find it hard to trust people, and I find that I don't really want to get attached. Each time I lose someone I care about, it's another wound, another scar, and those things can add up a lot faster than they'll ever heal. It eventually becomes necessary to just push all that away and focus on what needs to get done."

    She shakes her head at the mention of the rookie in training. "Well... some people never lose their idealism, no matter what happens. Even if it kills them."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "She was," Madoka responds and finally settles upon. Improve her odds... it sounds so cold and calculating, but that's exactly what training is all about, isn't it? The veterans have to be that way if they don't want to rookies to learn by making their own mistakes, some of which can mean an abrupt end to their magical careers.

    The comment about the Laisa's boyfriend coming back and begging. Madoka isn't sure how to take that. In the end she just lets out a sigh, "It sounds like he should have recognized what he had when it was his. Hurting her that badly..." her head shakes slowly, not quite enough to toss her twintails, "And now there's not even a chance of them being friends. It doesn't sound like he ever cared about her enough to deserve her, though. Especially not someone as nice as Laisa was."

    When the two veterans talk about how fighting for so long can affect them Madoka is quiet and lets them discuss it together. She's glad that there's someone Homura can share that with. She doesn't get along very well with the other veteran Puella. Maybe it will help?

    'Some people never lose their idealism, no matter what happens. Even if it kills them.'

    Madoka would stop walking, but Tsubasa is relying on her, so she keeps going. Her head tilts downward slightly. She doesn't say anything, but she was already being quiet for a few moments.

    Standing behind Tsubasa means she can't see tears on her face- good for the girl if she wants privacy, bad if she needs impromptu hugs.

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
While Madoka can't see the tears, she can likely hear the emotion in Tsubasa's next words, even as she tries to keep the emotion back. "It's been a while since I last had a partner." She cared about this partner, by the sound of it. "Part of me is glad I don't have to fight alone again, but every time I see that rookie fight I can't help but compare, and she falls short."

She goes quiet, then, for a little while, until. "I don't know if idealism is bad, but it just... I can't find myself understanding it. Maybe it's because I've never had a normal life, but I just can't see how that maps to the world I know."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura listens to Madoka's interpretation of things. "Yeah well... life never works out the way you expect it to. He should've appreciated her, but he didn't." Homura reaches up to grab a lock of hair, tracing it to the end with her fingers and playing with the tips. "I think a lot of people see a kind person and expect everyone to be like that, but that's not true. Most people don't care that much, or they have their own interests they'd rather push, and even the ones who try their best to be kind often fail. Kindness on her level is a rare trait. You cannot simply replace a person like Laisa-chan."

    Homura hears the term 'friends' and wonders if things would've worked out that way for Laisa. "Maybe they could've been friends. He would've had to mature a bit first, I think."

    Homura doesn't really consider how her words might've hurt Madoka. They weren't really aimed at her, so the thought that she might've just insulted her doesn't cross her mind, at least not immediately. When it does, she tries her best to hide the change in her gait.

    Ugh. Messed up again. How many times in one night alone?

    "Yeah... having someone to back you up is nice, isn't it? Still, whatever partner you had before, this rookie of yours sounds like she has some work to do before she hits that point."

    Homura takes some time to consider the other words she just said. "Idealism isn't bad, but if you want to be idealistic then you need to be able to handle it well when it's challenged, or you're just going to get crushed. Even realistic ideals are just best case scenarios. It's one thing to fight for your ideals in the spirit of knowing that they aren't necessarily true, but wanting to make them true anyways. If you treat them as an expectation then you're going to be disappointed."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "I hope once you two become better partners, whether that means her getting more experience or something else, that you two can learn to depend upon one another, Kazanari-chan." Madoka doesn't have very much to say on the topic of being a veteran or training rookies, but she can offer that at least. Her words are carefully chosen, too, not just for Tsubasa but Homura as well.

    In the end she ends up letting out a little sigh, "Idealism isn't something people like that choose. They just see that the world should be a certain way and do their best to live by it, and try to make it more the way they'd like it to be through their actions. It's not... something you can just turn off. And if they did just turn it off I think they wouldn't even be the same person." Kyouko is the best example of that that she has. It took her a very, very long time to even start back down the road to wanting to be a good person, and even now she's only aiming for 'decent'.

    Madoka looks down to Tsubasa for a few moments, considering something quietly before commenting, "Kazanari-chan... you cared about your last partner a whole lot, didn't you? You don't have to say what happened if you don't want to, but I'm sorry that things seem to have ended badly."

Tsubasa Kazanari has posed:
"I suppose that's fair. I guess I'm a bit more pragmatic. If I want to protect people, sometimes I have to make a choice, whether I like it or not." And the way Tsubasa says that, it's abundantly clear that protecting people is what she's in for. "I am a Sentinel, not a Hero."

When Madoka asks about Tsubasa's old partner, the idol's words are fairly soft spoken, "She died, because I wasn't..." She doesn't finish that statement, but the survivor's guilt is palpable. She stops talking entirely, in fact, like she doesn't trust herself to say anything sensible for a while.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura hears Madoka's carefully chosen words. She tries to figure out how to respond. She decides that she doesn't even have a response to that.

    On the topic of idealism, Homura shrugs. She's never been that idealistic. It's not something she knows about except by looking at them from the outside, but at least this time she has something to say. "Well. I don't disagree. It would certainly change a person if they lost their idealism." She doesn't say 'change them into a Witch', but she certainly thinks it. Especially in Sayaka's case.

    "I wouldn't expect someone to just 'turn it off', especially if it's something that they really believe in, but this lifestyle tests you in ways that normal life never would. You learn things about yourself you'd never figure out on your own. You see how much you care, and how much you don't. What you think stops being about 'what sounds pretty' and starts being about 'what I am actually willing to risk my life for'."

    Homura's face grows darker, hidden by her hair again. "Sometimes you learn that you aren't as good as you'd hope to be. You might be tempted to think that makes you a bad person... but that's not true. All it really means is that you've set your standards too high. Anyone can innocently create a standard that they can't realistically live up to."

    Tsubasa's response to the topic of her partner gets Homura's attention. She places a sympathetic hand on Tsubasa's shoulder, but doesn't leave it there. It's clear there's pain there, and it's a pain Homura can at least understand.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    What kind of choices does Tsubasa have to make, Madoka wonders. She's curious but probably not something Tsubasa would want dug into; if she was willing to share she probably would have said what those choices were in the first place, and so Madoka keeps quiet. Upon hearing that the old partner died she reaches down, putting a hand on the blue haired girls shoulder and giving it a squeeze. She isn't shocked because of the things this entire conversation has revolved around, though the self blame has her giving a soft, sympathetic gaze downward. Not that the other girl can see it.

    She listens attentively to Homura, always willing to hear her opinion on things. The message on idealism turns out not to be quite as bleak as Madoka had originally thought. Or, well, it doesn't start out that way.

    She continues walking and eventually the park is reached. The conversation grows into not a conversation at all. Tsubasa has grown quiet, and Madoka also seems to. Eventually Tsubasa seems to have fallen asleep.

    She stops for a moment once she realizes this. "We should get her back to the hospital," Madoka notes quietly before changing directions, taking a path that will lead them on towards Mitakihara General. As she pushes the wheelchair along she starts to quietly cry. First just tears down her face, and then little hiccups and sobs.

    She wants to reach into her clutch and get her handkerchief again, but she can't because pushing Tsubasa along is more important, and so she lets the tears roll down to her chin and drop off, landing onto her dress' skirt below. "I miss them. I miss them all, Homura-chan." she finally eeks out. "I should have gotten to know them all better and spent more time with them while I still could."

    Her head tilts down marginally lower and whispers, "Why do I suddenly feel like I need to spend more time with you, too?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Madoka wants to change directions, and Homura nods. She shrugs. "Yeah, okay. Fine by me." The change in direction doesn't bother her at all. It doesn't really matter to her where she's going, as much as who she's going there with. "She needs her rest. Best thing we can do for her is let her have it. I hope she got something out of this evening, even if it wasn't what she expected."

    Without the other two talking, Homura doesn't have much to say. There's no conversation to add to and she doesn't really feel like starting up another one. What is she even here for? She doesn't even know. Right now she's like a cat. She just wants to nap in the warmth of her favorite sunbeam.

    Except now there's rain coming from that sunbeam. Homura watches Madoka cry and sob. Seeing the tears run down her face, Homura decides to reach into her shield for another handkerchief. "Here... let me." She whispers this as a way of warning Madoka 'hey I'm going to put something close to your eyes please don't be startled'.

    It's not the same handkerchief that Homura used the other day, but the touch is somewhat similar as Homura dabs at Madoka's tears, gently removing them.

    "I miss them too, Madoka-chan. I miss the ones that came before them, too."

    What Madoka says next causes her to pause. She pulls her hand back, and stops walking. How could she even answer that? She gnashes her teeth.

    "I don't know what to tell you that I haven't already said. To quote Kyouko, everybody dies, it just happens sooner for us. All I want is to have some fun before my time runs out. Whenever that happens."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka makes a soft 'hm?' when Homura warns her. It's enough that she doesn't flinch when the handkerchief starts dabbing at her face, wiping away her tears. She offers a sad smile to Homura as way of thanks, sniffling and nodding when she says she also misses the girls that gave their lives. Madoka didn't know the ones that came before, though it doesn't entirely surprise her that there were some.

    She walks another couple of steps and slows to a halt herself when Homura stops. The answer to the whispered question makes Madoka cry some more. Her hands squeeze tightly around the handles of the wheelchair she's pushing in lieu of clenching into impotent fists. Really, that's exactly the problem.

    'I don't know what to tell you that I haven't already said.'

    Homura's spoken how she feels. She's had years and years and years to develop those feelings and there's probably nothing Madoka can do to change them. The worst part is hearing things like that, it makes Madoka not even want to bring her own pain up. Seeing her cry hurts Homura. Trying to resolve this it hurts Homura. And the worst part? Doing nothing also hurts Homura because Homura is already hurting and Madoka can tell.

    It feels like there's no way out. There's no one she can turn to about this. What would she tell her mother? Some analogy like, 'My friends all joined a death cult and are all going to die or worse'? Junko would be marching her off to either counseling or the police station near instantly.

    She needs to be there for Mami, not put her own additional burden on her. The same thing goes for Sayaka and probably Kyouko, who likely wouldn't want to hear her worries about Homura in the first place. No, the only person Madoka can rely on to sort this particular fear and pain out is herself.

    Which stinks. She's laid herself open and vulnerable and has, as this entire fiasco has shown, merely remained an open emotional wound that can't be dealt with. Parts of it have been soothed, yes. Well, even. But not the actual harm that lies below.

    One thing she can do, that she was able to do the other day, is slap a band aid over it and hope it holds until she's alone.

    So she lets a few more tears drop, suppresses a shiver, and then takes a few steps backwards, pulling the wheelchair with her, lifting her face towards Homura and giving her a sad smile. "You're right. I'm sorry. Then... let's have fun. Tomorrow after school lets go out and do something fun together, okay?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura squints at Madoka from behind, as the pink-haired girl stops in front of her. It's a suspicious sort of look, maybe even a little dark. It's the kind of look you might give someone if you think they're about to do something you really don't like. After a moment, it passes. What was Homura even thinking about? She doesn't even know. Just a random dark feeling without substance or meaning. This is her loved one. This is someone she can trust.

    Still, now Madoka is crying again, and Homura's sure it's her fault. Again. She hates the fact that she can't even open her mouth without upsetting Madoka further. What happened to the girl who could find away to comfort Madoka no matter how bad things got? She's fairly certain she remembers Madoka crying before, but Homura used to be able to say at least something that would make Madoka feel better. Something that would give her a bit of hope.

    Now, she can't even do that. She can't even find the words to say. The one person who means the most to her in this whole rotten world and Homura can't even say or do anything without making Madoka cry. She's even more useless than she usually is. Pathetic.

    Then Madoka backs up to talk to her with a sad smile, and Homura looks her in the eyes. "Tomorrow? Okay. Let's go and do something fun." Homura smiles, and it's not faked, but her eyes are a little wrong. She leans forward to brush her fingers through Madoka's bangs, softly and teasingly tracing Madoka's cheekbones with her nail. "I really have nothing else I'd rather do. Do you have something in mind?"

    It really all she wants to do now. She doesn't want to fight other Puella Magi, or worry about the Dark Kingdom, or hate on jerks like Riventon, or worry about Sailor Pluto, or worry about Kyubey's latest scheme, or worry about managing Grief Seeds, or worry about hunting Witches.

    She just wants to have fun, because life sucks and it's good when she can just forget that.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka keeps looking up to Homura, meeting purple eyes with pink. The fingers that brush her bangs widens her smile a little, and like Homura's it isn't faked either. The sadness is still there, though. When the nail travels down her cheekbones she tilts her head towards it slightly. "No," she says softly rather than shaking her head, not wanting to break the small touch by doing so. "It doesn't really matter what. I just want to do something fun with you again. Maybe we can go sing again, or go get ice cream, or practice dancing somewhere." Somewhere because Homura's old house with it's huge open living room is a bit of a mess right now.

    Madoka then finally closes her eyes taking in a long breath and letting it out. She loosens her grip on the handles of the wheelchair before finally letting go. Tsubasa will be fine; she's not going anywhere. A few more minutes in the fresh air isn't going to do her any harm. She turns, lifting her arms up and resting them against Homura, hands set upon her shoulders. And then she steps close and leans against her, seeking comfort and support.

    She tries to let everything else just go away, clearing her mind and doing nothing but feeling her girlfriend close to her. She is, after all, Madoka's favorite sunbeam as well. "Homura-chan..."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    No matter how depressed or emotionally distant Homura gets, hugs from Madoka are always welcome. Homura smiles wider as Madoka takes her shoulders and leans against her, and soon her own arms are wrapping around Madoka's back. She presses her cheek against Madoka's and holds her close. "You're right. It doesn't matter what it is. As long as it's with you."

    Homura considers the various options. Could Homura really sing in her current state? Maybe, if it was something really depressing. Trying to imagine how Madoka would feel about that makes her not want to do it. Dancing might be fun, but the only places she can think of to dance are public... That may or may not be fun depending on how it goes. Ice cream is a safer bet.

    "Hey, well you know, we could go to the mall!" offers Homura. "We could get ice cream at the mall, too. There'd be lots of things we could do there. Go shopping. Try on outfits."

    It's something to do, and it's something they've talked about before. More importantly she doesn't think that her current mood will interfere with her ability to enjoy nice clothing or ice cream. Just as long as she can do it without depressing Madoka too much.

    "If you want to, I mean. Or we can go to the Crown for ice cream. I mean... I liked doing that, too. I like all of those things, just... some of them are going to be a bit more convenient than others."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka leans more against Homura as her arms go around her. Her cheek is admittedly a little damp from tears but if Homura doesn't mind than she's content to nuzzle a little as well. Her attempt to forget everything else... it works. It's surprisingly easy to just enjoy the comfort of Homura's hug. It feels wonderful and comfortable and safe, and even though she's still sad it's mostly because her emotions haven't caught up yet. "That's right. As long as it's with you."

    Public dancing. Fun, but potentially risky. It's been very fun at balls- well, except this one, of course, but they didn't actually try dancing did they? Maybe that would have been the ticket. Grab onto Homura and just danced her pain away. True, it wouldn't have been doing what Madoka came to do, but maybe she could have adapted her plans more quickly once she realized she had misunderstood the term 'funeral'.

    Then again Maeko's interruption was going to cause quite the disruption anyway. Any little band aid solutions would have been torn to shreds by that field of despair that Madoka's panicking ended up sparing her from.

    Homura makes her suggestion, and Madoka is quick to agree. "Shopping and ice cream, that sounds like a lot of fun, Homura-chan. And who knows what else we might find fun to do at the mall." A short pause, "I don't think we've ever actually gone to the mall together, have we?" She squeezes herself closer to her best friend and girlfriend and lets out another large breath in a sigh. This time there's much less angst in it and a lot more simple happy enjoyment. "Everything is so much easier in your arms."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Easier. Yeah. Isn't this easier? No cruelty or anger or fighting. Just hugs. Homura likes it. It's simple and happy. Easy to parse. Completely uncomplicated. Just warmth and hugs and closeness and love. She holds onto Madoka, swaying from side to side, rocking her gently. Nobody ever died from hugging, to Homura's recollection. The happy sigh at least confirms to Homura that she is, for once, not making Madoka upset again.

    "I don't think we have, no. It'd be a new thing to do. It should be fun, going there with you. It'll be fun, right?"

    As Madoka moves in more, Homura holds her more tightly. "I love you so much, Madoka-chan." She really is content to just... rest there, holding Madoka for a moment. She could probably stay there forever, if given the option.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka slides her hands off of Homura's shoulders and wraps them around her instead. It lets her tighten the hug herself by squeezing into the warmth of the girl she cares about most. "It will be fun. You and me and a whole lot shopping racks." After a moment she giggles playfully- it feels like forever since she'd giggled, "You can dress me up as pretty as you like, Homura-chan."

    It would be rude to keep Tsubasa out in the cold all night long. The sun is eventually going to set and it's not like the blue haired girl is keeping warm by snuggling close to a loved one. But for now it's not a problem.

    "I love you too, Homura-chan," she responds, wishing she and Homura could stay together like this forever. She'd say that out loud if she wasn't worried Homura might take the 'wish' part literally.

    As she stays close to Homura she realizes something. Not very long ago at all she was hugging Homura and telling her that she didn't have to worry, because she was there with her right then and there. In a way that's what she's doing for herself right now. Homura is here next to her, alive and in love with her and holding her close. Maybe it's foolish to worry about anything else when those simple truths are right here.

    It would almost be scary how quickly she's come to rely and depend upon Homura's presence. Except with something so sweet it couldn't possibly be wrong.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura nuzzles against her girlfirend as Madoka wraps her arms around her. Regardless of anything else, this is a sweet moment, and Homura enjoys ever second of it. It may just be a band-aid, but band-aids have their uses too. She giggles at the idea of dressing up Madoka in something pretty. "Same to you. You can dress me up however you like, my little angle."

    She takes a moment to feel dumb about the word she said in place of 'angel'. "I mean... my little angel. You're not an angle. Though if you were you'd be an acute angle!" Oh god that pun was terrible. She's actually a little embarassed right now. Well Madoka has never judged her harshly before.

    Their relationship certainly is having some hardship right now, but Homura always loves Madoka and always will. Holding Madoka like this is a reminder of that, or at least it serves to remind Homura. "You really do make me happy. Life isn't always fair to us, and there are sad times, like now, but you really do make me happy, Madoka-chan."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    It's always best to treat the disease, but when that isn't possible sometimes the best course of action is to treat the symptoms. She likes the idea of dressing Homura up though she isn't sure what she'd dress her up in. That's the beauty of shopping- all the options are laid out in front of you waiting to be explored.

    The mistake gets a small giggle and the joke based off it gets a longer one which finally turns into a laugh. "Homura-chaaaaan~" she complains playfully, giggling some more after because that pun really was silly.

    Homura's final words calm Madoka down a little, and the pink haired girl nods lightly before nuzzling her head against her girlfriends. "You make me happy too, Homura-chan. I think I need to remember that. As bad as things might get you're still here for me. My own sweet Homura-chan."