Sayaka opened her eyes with a start, taking a deep, reflexive breath as she came to. As her breathing steadied, she found herself in a fairly comfy bed and… warm. Much warmer than the destroyed cityscape had been. Very quickly she located the source of the warmth—the two bodies she was laying next to, one Kyoko Sakura, and one Madoka Kaname.
"Sayaka!" a familiar voice shouted in astonishment and joy. Sayaka suddenly found herself locked in a very tight and grateful hug from Mami, "You're alright! Thank goodness."
"Told you we'd bring her back," Kyoko said with glee as another pair of arms wrapped around her.
Sayaka's eyes began to water as she realized she was back. She was really, truly back. She wasn't in the nightmare anymore. She wasn't in Homura's void-like apartment. She was out. She was free. She was safe. She gripped Mami back, "… Hey, guys," she managed to whisper, stifling a sob.
"How are you feeling?" Madoka asked as she joined in.
"I…" Sayaka paused, realizing she felt… good. Really good. Better than she had in ages. She was absolutely exhausted, but the malaise and pain she'd felt in all that time in the labyrinth Homura had built around her was gone. She felt okay. Over on the table she saw her soul gem; a vibrant deep shade of cerulean blue—absolutely pristine. She hugged the others tighter.
"I could really use a nap," she joked, the chuckle more resembling a sob though.
Sayaka then caught sight of a fourth person in the corner of her eye—Nagisa Momoe who stood a few steps away, looking extremely hesitant about joining in. Nagisa Momoe, who had stood back and played around as Homura had forcibly severed Sayaka from the grace of the Law of Cycles and had stolen her salvation away from her. Nagisa Momoe, who had done nothing as Homura had dug into Sayaka's psyche and tore out her memories piece by piece against her will, even as she'd struggled to retain who she was, what she was, even as she couldn't trust anything-Homura giving her that infuriating knowing smile while she was at her complete and utter mercy. Every time she'd grabbed one memory, another had slipped away and—no don't think about it.
Nagisa Momoe, who had betrayed her and the Law of Cycles and every other magical girl who ever lived, who had abandoned her post, abandoned her, who had let the devil win. Sayaka's angry, hateful glare while the others were turned away ended all thoughts from the nine-year-old about joining in. The younger girl backed off in shame.
… Nagisa considered that, maybe, she just didn't belong here.
Lastly, Sayaka noticed the gold-skinned man with pointed ears (an alien?) in a set of robes sitting next to everyone's soul gems. And a grey-skinned woman, also with pointed ears, and the room was made of old-timey stonework and…
"So uh…" she pulled away from the others at last, "… Where are we?"
"… She doesn't know."
It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact. Kyoko knew exactly to what Mami was referring to, though she'd really kind of hoped against hope it wasn't going to come up. But she knew Mami better than that.
"… No, she doesn't," Kyoko replied. They sat outside of the room in separate chairs with the door closed, giving Madoka and Sayaka some time alone so the former could fill the latter in on… well, everything. Madoka had the best bedside manner of the group, and she knew how to handle Sayaka even better than Kyoko. Besides, as the former Law of Cycles, she had felt sort of responsible for her.
Kyoko sighed, hunching over, "Why would she? She wasn't there when I told Homura. As far as Sayaka knows, Homura captured her simply because she was already keeping an eye on her."
"…You need to tell her," Mami said.
Kyoko gave her friend a glare, "And what? Did you see the way she looked at Nagisa? It was like the girl had shot her dog, and she didn't even do anything."
"If you just explain—"
"If I try, I'll just fuck it up. You know me. And even if I don't, she'll still hate me forever. You didn't see what Homura did," Kyoko repressed a shiver as she lowered her voice, "I really don't think she planned for it to go as far as it did, but Sayaka's not going to forgive, not ever." And she wasn't going to apologize. She didn't need to apologize because she hadn't done anything wrong. And that meant that if Sayaka found out then they'd have a fight and…
And she might lose Sayaka again.
Mami looked at Kyoko with sad eyes, "… Then what are you going to do?"
Kyoko scoffed and leaned back, "I'm going to let the matter drop. It's in the past, it's not important. Sayaka's alive, you're welcome by the way, and we can all move on. No use getting all dramatic about it."
Mami frowned, "And you don't think Sayaka deserves to know?"
"What I think is that telling people what they don't need to know will only make things worse in the long run," Kyoko replied, giving Mami a knowing, haunted look.
Mami sighed but relented, knowing exactly what Kyoko was getting at. She wasn't going to push those buttons.
"… Are you going to tell her?" Kyoko asked with a hint of uncharacteristic hesitance and worry after a brief silence.
Mami was quiet for a moment, considering her answer, "… It's not my place. I won't lie for you though. If she asks me directly, I'll have to tell her."
Somewhat surprised by the blonde's answer but appreciative, Kyoko replied, "… Thank you."
Mami's gaze hardened as she looked down at the floor, "For the record, I do not like this… but you're right. We have too many other things to worry about right now to have to deal with you and Sayaka fighting. But you really do need to tell her at some point. She deserves to know."
Kyoko gave a noncommittal grunt, indicating that this conversation was effectively over. Mami sighed in disappointment, then got up. Nagisa had wandered off without so much as a word, and Mami figured she needed to track the wayward girl down before she got into trouble.