STARS ABOVE: Final Chapter (Part 1)

 ***Author's Note***

 A few words from BHS:

This has been a long time coming. Once again, I apologize for the long, long wait… life happens, writer's block strikes, the days go by, you know the drill. Also, I wanted to be sure that the ending was as close to perfect as I could make it before I posted it. I've put more work and consistent time into Stars Above than anything else I've ever done, outside of Tasakeru. To paraphrase Tolkien, this story grew in the telling, far beyond what I expected when I started out. I always intended to make it the best damn fanfic possible, not just a fic to support my OTP… but I never guessed I would still be writing it over two and a half years later, nor did I know that it would come to occupy so much of my life. I've loved these characters for a long time, but it's only through writing them that I've come to such a deep appreciation and understanding of them all. So if the finale took a lot longer than usual, it's partly because I felt I would be doing the characters, the readers, and the story itself a disservice if I rushed it.

For those of you wondering: yes, I've had this ending in mind pretty much since the beginning. Details changed along the way, but it was always going to end almost exactly as it does, down to the final lines. And for those who asked: no, I haven't seen Rebellion yet, but I am well aware of what happens in it… I'm reserving judgment on it until I see it for myself. Regardless, Ash and I realized back when the Madoka movies were first announced that they would almost certainly contradict what we had in mind for this fic, so we decided well in advance that the events of Rebellion would have no bearing on any part of Stars Above. In my headcanon, as far as this story is concerned, Rebellion either simply didn't happen, or happened in a different timeline or another part of the multiverse.

Now, if you'll pardon my indulgence, I have to geek out a bit and recommend a soundtrack for this chapter. If you really want the full effect, as the final battle starts up (if I've done my job right, you should know exactly the right moment, but just in case: look for the word "rise"), start listening to "Carry On". Also acceptable are "The Power of Love" or "She's Got the Power"; all three are songs from the Sailor Moon English dub soundtrack. If dub music isn't your preference, Tommy Heavenly6's version of "La Soldier" from the Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Tribute album will do just as well. You should be able to find all these songs on YouTube or one of the many various Sailor Moon fan sites. All those songs have played in my head at one time or another whenever I've visualized that scene… imagining it without the musical accompaniment just isn't the same. And yeah, you can absolutely play Kajiura's "Sagitta Luminis" (and, of course, "Let It Be") at the appropriate moments, too, of course.

For all the fans and people who have read Stars Above, for those on FanFiction Dot Net, TVTropes, DA, AO3, AFF, or anywhere else you might find it, Ash and I give you our deepest and humblest gratitude. This chapter is for you... it's because of you all that we finished this thing. Speaking of Ash, please don't forget to give her the credit she deserves, though she'll likely protest. I did the writing, yes, but she laid the foundation for the entire story, and it wouldn't exist without her or her amazing ideas and concepts. Also, though our relationships might have sadly gone south over time, we should also acknowledge all the other former players from the Onions RP threads on the TVTropes forums, which were the genesis of Stars Above. Personal thanks to SPB, my longtime editor, proofreader, sounding board, and spirit-brother, for keeping me on track and reining me in when necessary, and to Hikari-Luv for lending us her awesome art talents for the cover illustration. And naturally, we'd be remiss if we didn't thank Kagami Yoshimizu, Lucky Paradise, Kadokawa Pictures, Kyoto Animation, Gen Urobuchi, Akiyuki Shinbo, Atsuhiro Iwakami, Ume Aoki, Yuki Kajiura, Studio SHAFT, Aniplex, and all of the cast and crew involved with the creation and production of both Lucky Star and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. You built the worlds we love to play in.

 And on a more personal note, the story is dedicated to Sierra and Kathleen Greer Stanley, both of whom passed away during its writing. I love you, I miss you, and I'll keep you in my heart, always.

 - BHS

 A few words from AshenDream:

Two and a half years... It seems so much longer than that since BHS and I left the RP that started it all for greener pastures. There's a lot of that time I'd frankly like to forget, but the inspiration it granted the two of us can't be underestimated. Emboldened by new ideas, each of us took different elements to create something new, and honestly better than the original. I took a basic framework of plot and concepts to form the foundation of my original story Nil (which I won't bother you with a link to, since it's on hiatus for the foreseeable future), where Brian mostly took characters and dynamics and relationships to cobble together a beginning to this story that you lovely people are about to finish reading after so long.

 In a lot of ways, Brian is the kind of writer I wish I was. He can keep writing thousands upon thousands of words - good words - over the course of years and see a project to the bitter end. There are hiatuses and silences, of course. Writing is creativity, and creativity is one of the hardest things there is. He has a grasp of characterization and pacing and plot that I only really aspire to. I'm just the broad idea guy. He's the one who goes from "Hey, WHAT IF the Demons were based on the circles of Hell from Dante's Inferno?" and "WOULDNT IT BE COOL IF Homura and Kagami fell in love?" to the story you've all invested so much time in.

 I wanna thank Brian for being cool and all of you for reading this, plus all the people he already thanked.

 I'll take my bow, but he's the one that deserves the standing ovation.

 - Ash

 Thanks, my friend. And now, without further ado… here's the final chapter.

 - BHS and AshenDream, April 2014

 [Lyrics are excerpted from "Let It Be" (Remastered), written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, © 1970 Apple Records]

"Omnia vincit Amor; et nos cedamus Amori." - Virgil, Eclogues X.69

STARS ABOVE

FINAL CHAPTER: Forever

PART 1

Hikawa Shrine, Omiya

Surrounded on all sides. Unable to stand. Movement hampered by crushing force. Outnumbered by twenty to one. Running low on magic, and facing an enemy of nigh-incomprehensible size, strength, and power… "This… is pretty bad," said Kagami to Homura, clasping the Puella Magi's hand tightly in her own.

At her back, Homura nodded slowly. "I... agree."

The horde of rotting Kagami and Homura duplicates turned slowly around them in circles, whispering to themselves. They weren't attacking, though their targets were largely helpless… perhaps it was an intimidation tactic. Or perhaps they intended to wait, and take their sweet time with whatever torture Desideria had in mind, knowing there was no need to hurry, nowhere for their prey to go. Their bone swords and bows rattled ominously against each other as they shuffled back and forth.

The intense pressure from above finally drove Kagami down to both knees. Still she kept a death grip on Kurokami's hilt. Damned if she would die lying face-down in the dirt. Instead, she'd die kneeling… not much of an improvement. But worth something. Yeah, that'll show her, she thought darkly. The humor, such as it was, was made even more bitter by the knowledge that after all this fighting, all this struggle and pain and anguish, not only would she never see Tsukasa again, but now Konata was likely gone as well. She and Homura were the only ones left to face the Demon, and barely in a position to fight. Once the two of them were dead... or worse... there would be no one left to take up the battle. Desideria would spread unimpeded throughout the multiverse, just as her Mother once threatened to do, and all would be lost. Tears stung in her eyes. The miraculous powers she and Konata were given, and Homura's second chance… when they died, it would all go to waste. All for nothing. How could she-

"It's all right," said Homura softly, squeezing her hand. The pressure from above made it hard to breathe or even speak, but she forced the words out anyway. "We fought… a good fight. We'll continue… to fight, to resist… even if we can't stand... until the end. And I promise you…" Here she looked back at Kagami, her eyes set with determination. "... we'll die… upright."

Kagami smiled back at her. How strange… once again, it was like Homura knew what she was thinking. "At least… we gave her hell…"

"Yes… we did." As she said those words, Homura battled with her own strange thought… with Kagami at her back, she wasn't as afraid of what lay ahead, however horrible it might be. Were they both moments from their deaths? Most likely. But Homura had already lost her once, and she thought she had lost her twice more already tonight. This time, there would be no separating them. She resolved with all her heart to keep an iron grip on Kagami's hand, even as reality itself collapsed around them… when the end came, they would go together.

High above them, the paradox Demon pushed another bony, scythed arm out of its depths. With a savage downward thrust, its blade tore a gaping slash in the sky, adding to the growing number around it.

Soon.

The mice were caught in the trap. In moments, they would stop scratching.

Just a few more cuts, a few more tears.

Stall them just a little longer.

Wait just a little longer.

She could almost see…

Soon.

Within Desideria

Well, great.

Konata gagged and coughed, spitting up more blood as she flailed at the tongue-arm encircling her neck. Dark spots danced in her vision as she gasped for another breath. She got one, just barely, but it hurt… So much for her magic, or whatever it was that blocked the pain of her injury before. With the bone spear fully plunged into her back, it was now as if white-hot magma coursed through her belly. The Demon's new, oversized minion was strangling her bit by bit, and every move she made jostled the remnants of the spear. To say nothing of the wall…

The wall. Cold, grey, and slimy, she felt it suckling at her body, slowly pulling her into itself. Already her feet and ankles were swallowed by it, lost to sight. Her thighs and lower torso were half-submerged in its flesh. And the minion kept pushing, causing her head and neck to sink deeper.

If she could only focus enough to summon Konaginata. If the damn thing would just let her breathe for the half-second it would take to concentrate and call for it… but every time she thought about it, the coils of the arm tightened and her consciousness wavered. As if it wasn't hard enough trying not to pass out from the pain. Passing out was tempting, very tempting, but Miyuki couldn't afford that. Kagami, Homura, and especially Tsukasa couldn't afford that. Fixing her bleary eyes on the minion's horrible eyeless mockery of a face, she tried to grimace at it and thought, Damn you, let go already…

"Not a chance," the minion hissed in Desideria's voice. "I can hear you, Kona-chan. I can hear you, and I'm listening to your thoughts as you realize how helpless you are… I'm going to listen even when you're buried in my wall, you know. I want to hear the very moment your life fades out. What will you think of, I wonder? In your last seconds, will you think of your precious Kagamin, and how you failed to make her love you, how you failed to make her pleasure you like you always wanted her to...?"

Konata's attempted grimace turned into a genuine scowl. Okay, so you can hear my thoughts? Here's a thought: Fuck you. For good measure, she let go of the tongue-arm with one hand and shakily raised her middle finger at the minion.

She paid dearly for that; the tongues squeezed her neck harder than ever, so hard that her vision turned entirely black for several heart-stopping seconds. The wall behind her lurched, fully engulfing her legs up to her mid-thighs, and she now felt the sickening moist grey flesh tugging on the back of each ear. Dammit…!

"K-Konata… san…" Miyuki gasped and reached for her… and let out a plaintive, choking cry as the tongue-arm tightened on her own neck. She could barely see Konata now; the grey flesh was clamped tightly around the back of her skull, making it near-impossible to turn her head. Her thoughts were a frantic buzz: No… it can't happen like this, it can't… Not before I save Tsukasa! Have to fight back, have to move... but I can hardly breathe…

"As for you…" Desideria spoke through the minion as it turned to the other girl. "Perhaps for you I'll restrain myself… just a little. Maybe I'll leave just your pretty eyes uncovered, as a thank-you for all that you've helped me. Yes, I think I'd like that. You'll still suffocate, but as you die, you can watch…" A third tongue-arm burst from the minion's back in a spray of moisture, tipped with the same asymmetrical, curving glass claws that Miyuki's duplicate had sprouted. The third arm weaved lazily back and forth through the air for a few moments, then turned, folding and interlocking its claws into a single lance-like unit aimed at Tsukasa's tomb.

"You can watch," said Desideria, "while I kill your reason for living. How badly will you break, Miyuki-chan, if you don't have the thought of her to cling to? Poor little Tsukasa-chan… she'll never know. She'll never know that you truly did love her…"

No…! Miyuki thrashed in the confines of the wall, putting her hands back on the arm and trying again to pry it off her neck. The struggle drew from what little air she had left, but she didn't care… Tsukasa, she had to save Tsukasa, her only chance at redemption, at forgiveness. She had to know, had to know if-

"You bit- ghhh…" Konata thought she heard her ears popping as the coils squeezed harder than ever, cutting off her attempt to fight the minion before it could start. Or maybe it was her blood vessels that had popped. Maybe she was already as good as dead… The wall pressed on her cheeks, started to crawl over her face.

They could hear the smile in the Demon's voice, cruel and merciless. "So much for magical girls. So much for love… Watch carefully, and remember this pain. This is all love ever gets you in the end."

The third arm hurtled forward, lance-claws gleaming…

And as it touched the surface of the tomb…

A spark...

There was a sick, wet tearing sound that filled the chamber. The lance-claws vanished into a white portal set directly over Tsukasa's heart... and were shortly followed by the rest of the arm, ripped free from the minion's body, its end spraying black blood. Its screech of pain, piercing as it was, was drowned out by another sound…

The cracking of ice.

The tomb that had held Tsukasa bound for weeks split and crumbled, its detritus absorbed into the white portal that hovered over her chest. With it gone, she floated nearly a meter off the floor, finally shedding the tears that had been frozen in her eyes that night. A calm expression of ultimate grace settled on her features as she put her hands over her heart…

And Konata, Miyuki, and the Demon watched in astonishment as she changed.

Swallowed by a pillar of white light, they saw her wings form first, bursting from her back, white and feathered. There were clouds within them; the tip of each feather transitioned from a cloud's darkened, fluffy, rounded borders to a peaceful sky blue. Her candy-striped t-shirt and jean shorts were swiftly covered over by sable black robes edged with madder red… like miko robes, but shorter-hemmed, easier to move in. A golden ring resolved on her left third finger, topped with a gleaming onyx star, the heart at its center straining its borders as it pulsed. And on her left wrist, the wooden beads of the hawthorn bracelet the false Miyuki had given her shattered one by one, dark shells breaking to reveal tama beads carved of flawless white pearls underneath.

Tsukasa floated to the chamber floor, slowly opened her starry eyes still wet with tears, and faced the minion, deathly afraid but with no intention whatsoever of backing down. "Leave… my friends… alone."

A venomous hiss issued forth from the minion as it turned to her. Half of each of its remaining arms came away with it… the other halves fused their severed edges to the chamber wall and continued strangling and shoving their victims inward. "Tsukasa-chan…" snarled Desideria. "I should have guessed you would wake up. You think of yourself as a proper heroine, don't you? Little sleeping beauty, rising from slumber to save her friends..."

"They're not just my f-friends…" Tsukasa's voice trembled, but she held her ground. "They're the people that I l-love… that l-love me. And I'm…" She swallowed and put her hand over her bracelet. "I'm s-sick of you hurting them…!"

In a slow, deliberate dance, the minion and the new magical girl circled each other.

"Love…" Desideria spit the word out in disgust. Her warped voice took on the sound of Tsukasa's own. "Hasn't your 'love' done enough damage, Tsukasa-chan? Look around you… see how much destruction I've caused, how much despair I've inflicted with it, because of it. It was so easy…"

"Th-that wasn't love." Her heart was pounding away at a dangerous rate; she hoped the Demon couldn't hear it… Calm. She had to remain calm, though she wanted to scream… Konata and Miyuki were counting on her. Emboldened by the thought of them, she swallowed and continued: "S-something like you… can never understand real love."

"Maybe I can't," Desideria sneered, "but I understand lust… I made you feel it. I made you want me. You gave yourself to me, gave me your body… you little slut."

The word stung Tsukasa as if she had been slapped in the face. She came to a dead stop, her eyes brimming with new tears. "I…"

"Just like a whore, just like a common whore. Do you even realize what you did? You betrayed your friends, your family, yourself, everything you stood for, just for a little more pleasure. One more night with me. One more climax…" The minion crept closer, its serpentine arms regenerating bit by bit. Its voice shifted… now it sounded like Miyuki, dripping with false sympathy. "But I understand, Tsukasa-chan. You couldn't help yourself. No human can. Lust is buried somewhere in all of your hearts… it's only natural that you give in to it. You liked how it felt, didn't you? Exploring. Tasting. Discovering new ways to feel pleasure, ways that you never imagined. How many different things did we try? I have the full memories of a million human lives, and even I don't think I can count them all…"

Tsukasa's knees gave out. She clapped her hands over her ears, trying to block out the voice, but it filtered through and sank into her like poison… Her wings drooped, and the heart inside her onyx jewel dimmed and slowed its pulsing. "S-stop…! S-stop it…"

"Poor Tsukasa-chan. It hurts, doesn't it? It must hurt so much, confronting all the things you've done, all the sins you've committed… Not all of it was me, you know. I pushed, I suggested, I even manipulated from time to time, but not all of it was me… not all of it was my fault. You made the decision to run away all on your own, without my help."

"No…" Heavy sobs wracked Tsukasa's body, and her tears spattered in fat droplets on the grey floor. To hear these things, these truths, was agony enough. To hear them in Miyuki's voice was torture. Before her, she felt the void open, vast and black...

Inside the wall, Konata growled and strained, sinking faster than ever, losing more air by the second, her consciousness rushing in and out like tides. Damn it, Tsukasa, don't listen to her! Don't listen to a word she says! You can do it, you can fight her, I know you can!

Inside the wall, a choked sob filtered from Miyuki's lips as the coils constricted her throat. With darkness consuming her vision, she stretched out her unburied hand, praying that Tsukasa would see it, that she would know to go on, to stand up again. Please… please, fight it. Please…

The minion circled around behind Tsukasa. Its regenerated hands formed long, thin fingers that draped themselves gently over the girl's shoulders. "I understand," Desideria cooed, leaning down to her ear. "It hurts… it hurts so badly that you can't stand it. But I can give you a way to escape… escape the pain, escape the fighting. It'll be just like drifting off to sleep. All you have to do… is hate me. And keep hating me."

Tsukasa remained silent, hovering on the edge of the void. Her onyx Heart Jewel shuddered.

"I think I know how your magic works now, yes. Love and hate… two sides of the same coin, just like hope and despair, right? If love can give you power, so can hate… but love is so hard, isn't it? Fighting for it means a lifetime of struggle, for uncertain rewards… Hate is simple. Hate is easy. Lose yourself in it, and take your revenge on me. I deserve it, so go on. Become more powerful than you thought possible. Hate me… and set yourself free of me. It's the only way..."

There was truth in the words. Awful truth, but truth nonetheless. Love was painful, love was difficult. Love meant facing the terrible things she had done, accepting them, and moving on to face the next battle, and the next, and however many were in the future, until it was all finally over. In contrast, hate was a sweet, immediate release from trouble and hardship… after which, she knew she could rest.

And I'm so tired. Tired of pain.

A thin black aura swam around Tsukasa's body. Her eyes began to glow with eerie light.

I don't really want to fight, anyway...

That was true. She was Tsukasa: weak, slow, sleepyheaded, scatterbrained Tsukasa. Kagami was the strong one. Kagami was the fighter. If she and her twin had switched places… Kagami would be willing to confront what she had done, would accept the pain, and would come out stronger afterward. Kagami… Kagami was so strong…

And what was she? Timid. Passive. Slow to anger, always doing whatever was possible to avoid a confrontation. What good was she, anyway? What had made her think that she had the power to fight as a magical girl? She tried to remember, but it was so hard to think…

The onyx Heart Jewel trembled, hairline cracks appearing in its surface.

What made her think she could fight in the first place? What reason was there to stand? She could have slept in her icy tomb for the rest of time, so why had she woken herself up?

The answer, when she came across it, was so unlikely that she almost passed it over, so surprising that she might have fainted in shock.

It was, of all things, something the Demon had said.

Tsukasa flexed the fingers of her left hand, feeling the weight of the new ring that bore her Heart Jewel. Now she knew why it was there. Now she knew how best to use her weapon, the beaded tama bracelet on her wrist. Now she knew its name…

Still kneeling on the chamber floor, she reached up for the minion's hand on her shoulder, clutched it tight in her own…

And there was a tearing sound, a flash of white light, and a scream of pain and shock as the minion lost its left arm. The severed limb shrank down and vanished into one of the beads on Tsukasa's bracelet. The bead's center darkened for a moment before regaining its pearly sheen.

"You little BITCH…!" roared Desideria's voice, as the minion pressed its remaining hand over the bleeding stump, black ooze staining its interwoven tongues.

Tsukasa stood up. The thin aura of blackness that surrounded her faded, as did the eerie glow in her eyes… now they were filled with tears and starlight. Her cloudy wings spread wide behind her.

"You're right," she whispered. Her voice was laden with sorrow, but gentle and serene at the same time. "L-love… is hard. I… I can see why you hate it so much. It hurts you, doesn't it? It hurts, and you think it's not worth the pain…"

"Shut up," snarled the Demon through her minion. It charged toward Tsukasa, curling the tongue-fingers of its arm into a tightly compacted fist. "Shut up, shut up, shut UP! Filthy little cunt, I lied to you, made you lie to your friends, your family, yourself… I deceived you, I manipulated you, I raped you! Hate me… HATE ME!" It brought its fist thundering down…

Tsukasa raised her arms and spread her hands. Her bracelet's beads shone brightly…

… and the fist crashed harmlessly against a wall of white light.

Howling with rage, the minion hammered impotently against it, each of its blows caught and absorbed by the wall. It flexed, but would not break.

Tsukasa looked up at its horrible, eyeless face, and gave it a trembling, sad smile. "I feel sorry for you," she said softly.

A harrowing scream of frustration filled the chamber. The minion's punches rained down on Tsukasa's wall harder than ever. "Why?! You, all of you… I hate you…! I hate you, I hate you… hate…"

"I know," said Tsukasa, shaken by the assault, but still standing. "I understand. Everything's so dark and messed-up inside you that you can't help but hate us. It's all you know. Even with all the memories you have, even if you're pretending to be someone else... You can recognize love, try to understand it, try to imitate it, or make it into something ugly like you… but you can't really have it. You can't feel it for yourself. It makes you crazy… It's sad, and I wish I could help you, but I can't…"

The minion reared back as if in pain, pawing at its shapeless head. Desideria's words oozed venom as she snarled, her voice livid with fury. "Then kill me…! Kill me… and lose the only one that completely understands you, who knows you inside and out, who can provide you with everything you need. Doom yourself to living half-empty! You know you'll never have the love or happiness you had with me! That thought will eat away at you, slowly destroy you, for the rest of your pathetic life…!"

"You're wrong. You're wrong, and I understand now," said Tsukasa, her voice rising. "What I had with you… You knew what I wanted, but not what I needed. I only thought I loved you, because it felt so good… and I've been so stupid. That's me, that's who I am: stupid and slow and clumsy and naïve enough to think that that was love… but as stupid as I was, I know now… it was never love! And I feel sorry for you…" Here Tsukasa gathered her wall of light in between her hands, shaped it into a ball… "... because you did recognize real love... by accident!"

The minion righted itself. Its fist swelled, expanded to the size of a boulder. Desideria's voice shook with something new… uncertainty. "You… you're lying…"

"You made a mistake." Tsukasa smiled proudly. "You made a big mistake, and that's what woke me up. With all the lies you've told, you never even noticed yourself telling the truth. If you did notice, you didn't care... you just thought it would hurt more. You said…" Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. "... you said that Miyuki loves me."

The minion froze. The Demon's voice faltered. "I…"

"Almost everything you've ever said to me was a lie, but that was the truth," said Tsukasa, her Heart singing with bittersweet joy. "You said it, and I heard it. That's what set me free…"

"It doesn't matter…" growled Desideria. "It doesn't matter! Your sister and your friends are all dying… and I'll crush you like an insect before you can do anything about it…!" With that, the minion charged, raising its boulder-fist high…

Tsukasa ran forward to meet it. Focusing the power of the ball of light into her left hand, praying desperately that she wouldn't trip on her robes and fall in mid-charge, she reared back, the beads of her bracelet blurring and spinning like a wheel around her wrist, put all her strength behind this one punch…

Her hand sank into the spongy grey tongues of the minion's stomach. Its body lit up from within like a lantern, white light shining from the gaps between the tongues for a split-second…

… and all the kinetic energy from the rain of blows that the wall of light had absorbed was turned back on it at once, in one massive, three-meter beam of concussive power. It drove the minion's broken body into the chamber wall between where Konata and Miyuki had disappeared, then pierced through it, out the other side…

And Tsukasa smiled, for her weapon had worked just as she hoped it would. She could feel it absorbing more energy, more magic, even now. Powered by her love… by her Heart. Maybe not quite as potent or destructive as hate, but strong enough. Strong enough to help her sister and her dear friends whom she loved so much…

Her friends. She closed her eyes and concentrated, feeling for their Hearts inside the confines of the wall. She found them, seeing a cool blue glow for Konata and a sweet pink one for Miyuki. Her weapon could do far more than absorb magic and energy… it could attract it. And so she attracted the two Hearts, commanded them to come out…

The two trapped girls ripped free of what was left of the chamber wall, soaked and gasping for breath, but alive. They were alive.

Tsukasa let out a sigh of relief, dropped to her knees, and cradled her bracelet in her right hand. The pearl beads were warm and smooth to the touch. "Good job, Yukitamashii," she whispered, saying its name aloud for the first time. "Good job. Thank you..."

Hikawa Shrine, Omiya

Kagami and Homura stood up so fast that they almost pulled a few muscles apiece. The pressure… the crushing pressure from above wasn't just lessened, it was gone.

Flexing her stiff shoulders, Kagami hefted her sword and stared down the closest minion. Now they didn't look quite so terrifying… Bewildered, she briefly looked back at Homura. "What the hell just happened?"

"I don't-" Homura began.

She was cut off by a scream of rage and frustration from the rift above. Part of its mouth's interior rippled, and a thin, straight beam of pure white light burst from inside, leaving a bright streak across the sky. With it came a very small figure, fired out of the rift like a shot from a cannon… the beam carried it more than a full mile before it fell away and was lost to the night sky, crashing down somewhere far over the horizon.

Homura opened her mouth to finish her sentence… then thought the better of it as she saw Kagami return to battle with renewed fervor. "What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm making a hole!" Kagami's grin was honestly a little bit frightening as she lashed out with her sword, cleaving limbs from minions with wild abandon. "If that was what I think it was, I want to take a closer look!"

Homura smiled lightly, and fired a pistol into the head of the nearest minion without even looking back to confirm the kill. "You know, without the pressure, there is an easier way…"

"What do you- Oh. Oh." A faint sheepish tinge colored Kagami's cheeks as she flexed her wings. "Almost forgot. These are really gonna take some getting used to… Anyway, you ready to fly again?"

"Always."

The two joined hands, and once more they ascended, Homura's jagged space wings flaring from her back to beat in time with Kagami's starry feathered ones. The crowd of minions clawed at them, clinging at their feet and ankles, but they couldn't stop them… A thought from Kagami sent them scattering backward like ninepins, ripped away from them by a circular shockwave of her repelling energy. Unhindered, Kagami and Homura rose together.

Within Desideria

"Kona-chan…"

Konata groaned, her eyelids fluttering. She supposed she must have blacked out from the loss of air… or perhaps she was dead. The latter was more likely, considering how warm she was. Gone was the horrible, wet, crushing dampness of the Demon's inner walls. More telling, her wound wasn't hurting anymore… Yep, she thought. Definitely dead. Dammit, this sucks. I only got less than two hours as a magical girl, I never even got to-

"It's all right, Kona-chan," said the voice. "You're gonna be okay…"

And she knew that voice… it deeply saddened her to think that Tsukasa was dead too, but at least they were together. "Easy for you to say," she muttered thickly. "I never got to see the Aya Hirano concert in October. All that money for the tickets, wasted…"

Tsukasa's voice giggled. "Didn't you hear me? You're gonna be okay, Kona-chan! Just one more pull, and-"

"Huh?" Konata opened her eyes. The lavender and pink blur above her slowly resolved into Tsukasa's features. Her eyes were reddened, her cheeks tear-stained, but she was smiling. How Konata had missed that smile… "H-hey there," she said. "What did you mean, one more-"

A sharp cry escaped Tsukasa's lips as she yanked something free. Once more, Konata felt the faint burning sensation of magma in her belly, mostly blocked, but still intense… and then, as Tsukasa laid her hands on the wound, the pain cooled, lessened… and went away entirely. Konata, to her astonishment, felt good as new. "Wait a minute, how…?"

Tsukasa whimpered and shuddered, her features contorting in pain as she clutched at her left wrist. One of the tama beads on her bracelet had turned from white to ugly, bloody red. "J-just a m-minute," she panted. "Agh… I-I'll be f-fine in j-just…" And as Konata watched, the red color drained away from the bead, leaving it pristine white once more. Tsukasa sighed and relaxed, dropping the stained remains of the bone spear. "All done, you're fine. You can sit up now, if you want."

Konata did, immediately looking down at her bare midriff. The spear was gone, the wound was gone. Only a faint, pale, puckered scar was left where it had been. She wasn't just fine, she was better than ever. But how-

The realization hit her like a runaway truck: she wasn't dead. Tsukasa wasn't dead. They were alive… which meant… "Tsukasa," she said, sporting the biggest cat-smile she could manage. "Tsukasa, you did it…!"

Tsukasa squeaked in surprise as Konata suddenly threw her arms around her and hugged her tight. "E-easy, Kona-chan! Don't move too fast!"

"You did it!" said Konata giddily, her friend's advice flying over her head. "You broke out, you beat her, you're a magical girl just like me and Miyuki-san…! Holy crap, Tsukasa, you did it!"

A shaky laugh bubbled up from inside Tsukasa as she returned the hug and patted her friend's back. "I guess I did…"

"And I missed it!" Konata pulled away, her tone dropping to one of bitter disappointment as she looked over her shoulder to the ragged hole in dozens of layers of Demon flesh. She then turned back to Tsukasa. "I missed you taking that monster out… and it looks like you pwned it, too! Damn it, that sucks!"

"It's okay, Kona-chan." Tsukasa smiled bashfully. "It wasn't that exciting, honest."

"Tsukasa…" The quiet voice came from several feet away. Miyuki stood, leaning on the shaft of her hammer for support. Behind her lenses, her eyes swam with conflicting emotions: gratitude, sorrow, pain, guilt… "Tsukasa," she said again.

Tsukasa swallowed heavily. She carefully unwrapped herself from Konata's embrace and got to her feet. "H-hello, Miyuki…"

"I…" What was there to say? What thanks, what apology, could Miyuki possibly offer her for all the pain she had been through? All the words she came up with in her head sounded hopelessly feeble and inadequate. Tears stung her eyes… this had all been her fault, and now her secret feelings were exposed…

The silence between them hung there, growing colder and more uncomfortable with each passing second.

I need to say something, thought Miyuki. I need to say something, even if it's stupid, even if it sounds terrible… "I'm glad you're all right," she finally blurted out. Her cheeks promptly turned red with embarrassment.

"I… I'm glad you are, too." Tsukasa smiled, but the expression quivered on her lips.

Konata gingerly stood up as well, looking from one friend to the other. "You guys…" she began, but nothing she could come up with to finish that sentence sounded appropriate.

Throwing caution to the wind, Miyuki raised her hand. "I-"

And with that motion, Tsukasa flinched as if she had been struck.

"Oh God," stammered Miyuki. "I didn't even think! Tsukasa, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

"I-it's okay," said Tsukasa shakily. "I know you didn't-"

"You must... h-hate me," said Miyuki with a heavy sob... and it all burst out of her like rapids from a broken dam: all the pent-up anxiety and stress; all the tears she had held back; the horrific pain that Desideria's words and actions had caused her; the crippling fear that she would never see her friends again, or that she would someday, somehow return to her dark and silent prison in the glass, or that she would never be right, be normal again; the confusion of the bizarre strangeness that her life had spiraled into since spring; the anger and grief at having four months of her life stolen, lived by something else, something inhuman that didn't care about the hurt that it caused them all… Miyuki broke down, letting it all go at once.

"Whoa, Miyuki! Miyuki, it's okay!" Konata stumbled to her friend's side, still wobbly and a bit stiff. Unable to find Miyuki's heaving shoulder underneath the folds of her heavy robes, she settled on gently rubbing her back. "It's gonna be okay, honest… C'mon, you're gonna get me started…!"

"I… I'm s-sorry…" choked Miyuki through the rivers of tears. "I c-can't…"

Tsukasa stood in place, at a loss. Part of her wanted to run to Miyuki, throw her arms around her and tell her everything was going to be all right, damn the consequences. But that would be a lie; it wasn't going to be all right. The wounds Desideria had inflicted on them both still lay open. A small, horrible part of herself, a part that she despised, couldn't even look at Miyuki without feeling revulsion and betrayal.

It wasn't Miyuki's fault, she knew that. That thing had used her form, her memories, her feelings. It wore her skin and her clothes, and had used them to play Tsukasa and everyone else like fiddles. She knew that now.

That knowledge didn't change things. Tsukasa swallowed heavily and put her hands on her chest. Just thinking about all the things she had done with the Demon, done because of her, made her stomach churn: skipping class to be with her. Slipping out late at night, going secretly to the most dangerous parts of the city. Having sex. Lying. Stealing. Betraying the trust of her family and her friends. Thinking it was all worth it. And never questioning, never suspecting that it was all a lie.

But it wasn't. Not all of it. That knowledge had pulled her out of her tomb and away from the void. Desideria's mockery of love and affection had not been created from the whole cloth… there had been grains of truth buried within it. Miyuki loved her.

Miyuki loved her.

Tsukasa didn't know how to feel about that.

So she closed her eyes and tried to think about the real Miyuki, not the impostor that had seduced her. Sweet, gentle Miyuki, the most ladylike and mature of the group. The walking encyclopedia, always ready with a fact or definition. The "embodiment of moe", as Konata would say. Miyuki, who was deathly afraid of dentists and things being put in her eyes. Miyuki, who had ruined her eyesight with too many nights staying up reading. Miyuki, who lived in a big fancy house and came from a rich family, but wasn't stuck-up or snobbish in the least.

That was the Miyuki who truly loved her.

Tsukasa bit the inside of her lip and clutched at her robes. She didn't know. She didn't know what would happen now. If they tried to be friends and pretend nothing had happened, the pain and trauma would be buried underneath… but it would still be there, and someday it would erupt back to the surface. She didn't even want to contemplate what would happen to them when it did… and it was "when", not "if".

If they confronted it and parted ways… it would hurt. It would probably hurt like hell as they went back over it, and hurt even more if they decided to separate. But in time, the pain would fade. They would move on. But that was hardly better, was it? Parting, and losing Miyuki as a friend… she didn't ever want that to happen.

And if they tried to have a relationship, a romantic relationship like she and Desideria had had… Tsukasa shuddered and felt bile rise in her throat. No. God, no. The thought of that, with the wounds this fresh, only made her feel more filthy, more defiled than she did already.

So what was the answer?

There probably wasn't one.

But if she just stood there and let Miyuki cry… then it was a victory for the Demon.

Tsukasa swallowed, wiped her eyes, and took a few steps forward. She couldn't repress her shuddering, every inch of her skin was crawling, though she knew this was Miyuki, the real Miyuki, her friend, the one who had risked her life and sanity to save her. Shaking like a leaf, she came to Miyuki's side, and reached out to touch her…

… then pulled back. She couldn't. She hated herself for it, but she couldn't. Not right now.

So instead, she whispered: "I… I forgive you."

Perhaps part of that was a lie. Perhaps there was still some resentment buried down deep inside her. Maybe it would resurface in the coming days… it seemed likely.

But right now, it was what she needed to say, what Miyuki needed to hear.

It was enough.

Miyuki pulled back her hood and looked up at Tsukasa through lenses fogged with tears. "Ts-Tsukasa…?"

Tsukasa took a step back, giving her space… but she nodded, bit her lip, and said it again. "I forgive you, Miyuki. It's… it's hard… and it's gonna be hard… for both of us. But if I don't forgive you… if I let her drive us apart..." She looked around at the walls of grey dead flesh and shuddered. "... she wins."

Half of Miyuki's heart sank, and paradoxically, the other half sang for joy. "Tsukasa…" she breathed, finding the strength to stand upright, take off her glasses, and dry her eyes… Tsukasa forgave her.

That meant, presumably, that Tsuaksa didn't hate her.

It wasn't much, but…

It was enough.

"Th-thank you," she said, nodding and sniffling as she put her glasses back on. "Thank you. For saving us, for everything."

And Konata, a little embarrassed to be caught in the middle of this show of powerful emotion, did one of the things she did best: snark. "Guys, this is great and all, but we'd better not go all weepy shoujo manga yet," she said, forcing a cat-smile. "We still have to get out of here… and Tsukasa, there's somebody down below that's waiting for you. Waiting for us," she corrected herself.

Tsukasa gasped, felt her heart flutter with impossible hope. "Onee-chan," she whispered, looking out at the starry sky through the hole in the Demon's body.

"That's right," said Konata, with a genuine smile this time. "Kagamin's here. Akemi-san, too! They're both fighting for us! And hey, you still haven't seen- Man, Tsukasa, I just realized! You two totally match!"

"'Match?'" Tsukasa blinked.

"I'm not gonna spoil it." Konata grinned. "You'll just have to see for yourself. Think you can fly with those?" she asked, indicating Tsukasa's cloudy wings.

A little bewildered, Tsukasa shrugged and flexed them. "I… I can try…"

"And Miyuki-san, you can fly too, right?"

Miyuki nodded and adjusted her glasses. "I… I flew here on Heshioru." For emphasis, she morphed the hammer back into its book form. "I enlarged it, and rode it like a flying carpet..."

"Cool!" said Konata, giving her a hefty clap on the back that made the other girl jump. "Not as cool as Konaginata and her sky glider thingy, but a book totally suits your character type better, Miyuki-san." Summoning her bladed staff to her hand, she grinned at both her friends. Finally, the group was coming back together. And she already had an idea… but that could wait until after the reunion. "Now, let's get out of here. I've had enough Demon intestines to last a lifetime."

CONTINUED IN PART 2...