—— { ♢♢♢♦♦ } It was Madoka’s birthday.

Crouching near a tree in the front garden of a familiar house, Homura tried to imagine the look of delight on the pinkette’s face when she opened the door and saw the small gift waiting for her there on the porch.

An anonymous package bundled up in a soft, pink bow. A variety of different colored cartoon kittens decorated the paper on the outside.

The lavender puella had never put so much thought into wrapping a gift before. Not even in earlier timelines. Sitting there with her fingers pressed against her lips, Homura’s worries began to run rampant.

Were the decorations too excessive?

Maybe Madoka wouldn’t appreciate the cat theme, after all…

Well, it was all going to be torn off anyway…What really mattered was inside the box.

.

.

. 

She couldn’t find anything.

Having wandered up and down the aisle of the small jewelry boutique multiple times, Homura was beginning to feel frustrated. Necklaces, bracelets, rings and charms…Everything here was just too gaudy for a girl Madoka’s age.

It was late and the shop owner was pushing a broom just a few paces behind her. Any closer and she was likely to be tripped over.

She figured the woman was indirectly trying to shoo her out the door, but Homura just couldn’t bring herself to leave…There had to be something here for Madoka.

The shop owner was hanging up the ‘closed’ sign when Homura finally decided to stop searching. She trudged toward the door, feeling completely disappointed in herself. This time, she would not be getting her precious friend a gift.

Not that Madoka was expecting anything from her; the Madoka of this time was not even aware of her existence.

…But to catch a glimpse of her excited face and hear the joy in her voice…There were very few things she would not do for that.

Maybe there were none at all.

Lightly tracing her fingers across a set of wooden chimes, Homura tried not to discern how self-serving such thoughts may or may not have been.

"Leaving already, dear?”

The time-traveler paused at the cash-out counter and acknowledged the elderly shop keeper. Her silhouette glowed against the late sunset backdrop beyond the glass door, a faint smile drawn on her wrinkled face.

When Homura didn’t respond, her cheerful expression seemed to wane. “You were in here for quite a while. It seems you didn’t find what you were looking for…Is that right?”

Homura quietly cast her gaze around the store and then nodded her head once. 

The woman offered her a sympathetic look and climbed down from her small step stool. “Tell you what…” she said, moving past Homura and wandering down the aisle behind her.  “Most of the things here aren’t made for little girls your age, but I may have something you might be interested in. You wait there and I’ll be right back.”

Out of curiosity,  Homura waited for the woman to reappear. As promised, she did not take long.

She tottered up the aisle once more and placed a small box in the magical girl’s hand. Homura hesitated, glancing at the women for a moment before removing the lid.

Inside, on a small bed of fiber, lay a pair of the most adorable earrings she had ever seen. 

Two pinwheels of delicate, pastel thread expertly encircled within a round shape of coiled silver. In the center of each was a small, yellow butterfly, crafted with delicate material and outlined in the same precious metal.

Homura imagined how they would dangle from Madoka’s ears; how perfectly they would accentuate her cute eyes and hair.

She felt her heart leap inside her chest.

Grown up, but not too mature. They were perfect.

“What do you think, sweetie? Will this be okay?” The time-traveler glanced up from the box in her hand, having momentarily forgotten all about the woman.

“Yes, these will be fine…Thank you.”

Still partially immersed in her thoughts, Homura nodded absently and moved toward the register to make her purchase.

.

.

.

Homura anxiously tangled her fingers through her hair. Really, she could not afford to be standing around like this any longer. She’d managed to convince herself to at least wait long enough to confirm that Madoka had seen her present before leaving, but the more she imagined the pinkette wearing her gift, the longer she hesitated to leave…

On the verge of forfeiting any participation in the event altogether, the lavender puella began to walk away from the house when she heard a cheerful voice. Heart pounding in her chest, she hurried back to her hiding place, bent down and pressed herself against the wall.

Holding her breath, Homura strained her ears and waited for what she would hear next.