[ she rushes into it at first, as if to compensate: ] I'm ready right now, Madoka- I've been ready for a while, I think, I just... I had to see everything...
[ but then trails off as the burst of initiative fades and the words she'd spoken in haste sink in. 'had' to see everything, that sounds right. not even because she was trapped, maybe. maybe to remind herself that all of her dreams really did happen, all the good and bad both. all the hearts she's trampled on, it'd feel wrong, somehow, to just forget about them, even if she wanted to. because like she said earlier... even if it'd all amounted to a dream, in the end, it doesn't mean all those timelines she abandoned never existed, and that the people within them never were hurt. she has... a duty to remember all of it.
she pushes past the guilt from that and the guilty feeling that strikes her at Madoka's smile, not as bright as it would usually be, and the instant of that's her fault she made it be that way Madoka didn't have to see all this in response to finish the thought. ]
And then I got stuck, because that's all I know how to do. I got caught up in it, all these things that are so far away. [ she laughs a little, nervously, still as tremulous as her smiles, but she seems a bit more grounded now, finally, by Madoka's presence. they're just screens, after all. just pictures behind glass, locked away until they need viewing. ] I'm sorry for the trouble.
[ there's another moment's hesitance; but then Homura takes the hand offered her. ]
no subject
[ but then trails off as the burst of initiative fades and the words she'd spoken in haste sink in. 'had' to see everything, that sounds right. not even because she was trapped, maybe. maybe to remind herself that all of her dreams really did happen, all the good and bad both. all the hearts she's trampled on, it'd feel wrong, somehow, to just forget about them, even if she wanted to. because like she said earlier... even if it'd all amounted to a dream, in the end, it doesn't mean all those timelines she abandoned never existed, and that the people within them never were hurt. she has... a duty to remember all of it.
she pushes past the guilt from that and the guilty feeling that strikes her at Madoka's smile, not as bright as it would usually be, and the instant of that's her fault she made it be that way Madoka didn't have to see all this in response to finish the thought. ]
And then I got stuck, because that's all I know how to do. I got caught up in it, all these things that are so far away. [ she laughs a little, nervously, still as tremulous as her smiles, but she seems a bit more grounded now, finally, by Madoka's presence. they're just screens, after all. just pictures behind glass, locked away until they need viewing. ] I'm sorry for the trouble.
[ there's another moment's hesitance; but then Homura takes the hand offered her. ]
Let's go, Madoka.