Color of Love

Lights

The light of my phone lit up my face as I waited by the entrance of the carnival. I had chosen a dark purple blouse and black blazer with matching dress pants - not realizing how difficult it would be to see me in the dark of the evening. Ah, well.
"H-Homura! There you are!"
I looked up, spotting Madoka. Of course she came in a sweet pink spotted dress, perfect for the occasion. Her pink hair was tied up in sparkling ribbons, and a fluffy faux fur jacket kept her warm from the evening wind.
"Madoka!"
"You're so hard to see." She ran up to me giggling, and grabbed my forearm.
"Sorry about that."
"It's okay, let's just go! I'm so excited!"
I smiled, letting her pull me by the wrist into the carnival. We got our tickets stamped, then she immediately pulled me over to some of the game booths. Specifically, a shooting one with a very large, very pink teddy bear hanging prominantly over the booth's front.
"Madoka... something tells me this is pre-planned."
She feined innocence, a grin still covering her face. "What, no, I didn't think of it at all before we got here, I just happened to see it. Don't think too much about it, come on!"
"You clever little..."

Needless to say, we were soon at the base of the ferris wheel with two cones of cotton candy and a very large, very pink teddy bear.
I handed the attendant our tickets and we climbed on, Madoka and her bear on one side of the small gondola, and me on the opposite side.
Soon, we were off, moving gently through the sky. Madoka giggled and clung to her bear. However, she did something different than what most people would do when riding a ferris wheel.
She looked up.
Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at the stars above her. The lights of the carnival and Mitakihara city pushed out the light of the smallest stars, but the brightest ones still broke through the cloud cover.
Eventually, we made it to the top of the wheel and I couldn't help but be entranced by the look on her face as she gazed up at the endless expanse above us.
She reached out, holding her hand up to the sky. "Homura?"
"Yes?"
"Don't lie to me, okay?"
"Hm? I would never lie to you."
"I've been up there before, haven't I? In the sky? The universe? I can feel it calling to me."
I felt my breath catch as suddenly everything around me went silent. Time seemed to slow and for a second I thought I had done it on accident. However, Madoka continued to turn and look at me, eyes a golden pink.
I couldn't think of what to say for a long moment. We just sat there. Top of the ferris wheel, pink bear looking guilty and cotton candy littering the floor of the gondola.
Finally, a sound came from my throat. It didn't sound like my voice but it had to be. Why did it sound so weird?
"Yes. You've been up there before."
"I thought so. Why am I here?"
"I won't lie to you, but I cannot tell you that. Can you trust me, Madoka?" I wanted to reach out, I wanted to hold her. But iron bars across our laps kept me from running to her and wrapping her in my embrace.
There was another long uncomfortable pause, then Madoka nodded. "Okay. I hope you'll tell me someday; but for right now, I'm glad that I'm here with you."
I couldn't do anything but nod back, hand against my mouth, my stomach doing flips. I felt sick most of the way back down the ferris wheel, but by the time we reached the bottom I had regained my composure.
Madoka wrapped her arms around me, and I couldn't help but hug her back. Holding her as close as I could to me, kissing the top of her head. Eventually though, I had to let her go, and we left the carnival, carrying the pink bear back with us.
"Thanks for taking me to the carnival today, Homura. I had fun."
"I did too." Mostly, at least.
She kissed me on the cheek and I felt my face warm up.
"Do you promise to tell me everything someday?"
"I do. I promise. Someday."