WEDDING DAY

T-MINUS 1:49

Madoka sat in front of a cabinet mirror, brushing her hair. It had been so long since she had just let her hair down like this; she was worried it wouldn't look very good, so she was trying extra-hard to make it as pristine as she could. Hopefully Homura would give back the ribbons after the end of the ceremony; she liked them an awful lot, and had no idea why she wanted them in the first place.

Now she began to wonder about Kyoko. The wedding was in an hour and a half and she still wasn't here, and certainly not here as the point-of-view character. Kyoko had been acting very strangely ever since Madoka found her that fateful day, so long ago. Okay only three weeks, but it felt like so much longer.

Madoka thought deeply about that girl. Her beautiful flame-colored hair—she'd never seen it let down before, now that she thought about it; maybe she would do that for the wedding--, her passion for life that burned brighter than the sun, her fiery magic that could best just about any foe, besides water magic users, her blazing hot a--,er lance-nunchuck thing, and the undying ember that was her eating disorder. All these things combined to create the girl who, while not perfect, was someone Madoka adored so, so much. Completely platonically, of course, she noted as Homura appeared suddenly before her.

“Madoka,” she said, that same nonexistent expression still dominating her face.

“Why are you in here?!” Madoka shrieked in panic and threw a pillow at her, which she caught with ease and laid back on the sofa from which it came. Probably time-froze to do it.

“I wanted to see you.” While that sounded creepy, it was at least a genuine, non-cryptic statement, which from Homura was rarer than a working copy of Super Mario World for the NES. (EDITOR'S NOTE: What the hell kind of reference was that? Please cut this out while proofreading. Make a joke about Sayaka or something. People love those.)

“The groom is not supposed to see the bride before the wedding! It's back luck!”

Homura blinked. “But I'm a bride too.”

“Well, you're the man in the relationship, kinda...”The author Madoka tried to backtrack on this statement as quickly as the author she could so as not to upset their readers her fiance. “Not the 'man', I mean. I mean like, uh, the more dominant of the couple? The uzi or the semen or whatever the hell yaoi weaboos call it?”

Homura stood silently for a moment, then finally spoke. “Check your lesbian privileges.”

“I-”

“Just check them.”

Madoka quickly changed the subject back. “Um... anyway, it's still very bad luck for you to be in here!”

“I don't need luck. I have time travel.” Wow, that's the kind of quote that would work really well on a T-shirt! If only there were some funding source, something that could “kick” this into motion, to “start” such a shirt printing project... Oh well.

“Homu Homu... Can you please just leave me be for a bit? I'm not ready yet and I don't like you eyeing me the way you are doing now until after the wedding...”

“Too late for that, baby,” Homura replied in the most monotone, unseductive voice possible.

“Please... I just want to fix my hair...” Madoka resisted the urge to cry, lest that become too much of an overused joke.

“Madoka,” Homura said. “Your makeup is running.” Shit. Homura put her finger on Madoka's face and wiped the tears off her cheek, in an awkward attempt for a soft romantic moment.

“Sniff... Now I have to redo all that too!”

“Well, I will leave then. But you must make sure you are ready for the wedding in time, okay?” She turned around, did a hairflip, and promptly exited the room. Madoka exhaled. Just a few more hours and it would all be over. She repeated this to herself to calm her nerves. It was just the rest of her life in front of her. No big deal.

After going through her hair a dozen more times and reapplying all that foundation and mascara, she was almost ready. Madoka pulled out her bright red lipstick and marked it all on. She winked at herself and giggled a little. Hopefully this wasn't too flashy.

Okay, how was it? She stood up from her chair and got the first look of herself in complete wedding attire. Wow, she actually looked pretty good. But something was missing.... Ah. She pulled her sheriff star out of the drawer and pinned it to her chest. Now she looked perfect.

Just in time for the wedding!