History Fanfic / TheSwordOfJusticeAndTheShieldOfTime

* ForWantOfANail: Madoka gets Sayaka to apologize to Homura and tells her what happened to Mami after the canonical events of episode 6 in the series, thus impressing into Sayaka's mind that Homura isn't irredeemably evil and setting in motion a radically different chain of events.

* YouCantFightFate: Homura has had to struggle with this, noting to herself barring irregular timelines, Mami getting killed (usually by Charlotte) and Sayaka becoming a Witch happen almost completely without fail. [[spoiler:Saving Sayaka and fighting alongside her and Kyoko against Walpurgisnacht convinces her to give it another try for the EverybodyLives ending by saving Mami the next go-around along with Sayaka again.]]

* LoveConfession: Sayaka gives a mental one [[spoiler:to Homura in Chapter 12 before finishing off the dragon Witch, affirming to herself that she ''will'' confess to Homura for real someday and not let the situation go like it did with Kyosuke.]]

* ALoadOfBull: One of the new Witches is a minotaur wielding a giant axe with a crystal embedded inside. Not only is it a strong fighter, it has an incredible HealingFactor that lets it shrug off being [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe sliced in half]] multiple times by Kyoko. It's ultimately defeated when Homura deduces that the axe jewel is the weak point and has Sayaka destroy it, which kills the Witch.

* OurHydrasAreDifferent: One new Witch takes this form, being a large three-headed serpent. Unlike the hydra of myth, it doesn't split off new heads after getting them blown off by Homura's missiles, but it does [[GoodThingYouCanHeal regrow them without issue]]. Sayaka and Homura are forced to destroy the glowing red core inside its body to finally kill it.

* MysteriousMist: A strange fog starts coming through Mitakihara, which several of the girls comment upon that it feels strange and sets them on edge, but they don't sense anything magical about it. [[spoiler:Oktavia reveals the mist ''is'' magical, but it affects Witches instead. She describes it as a miasma that infects other Witches and strengthens them, while for her it causes her pain but she's getting used to it. The source is currently unknown.]]

** [[spoiler:Oriko]] takes several herself from her last appearance, not only gaining her [[spoiler:[[FrickinLaserBeams Oracle Ray]] move from ''Symmetry Diamond'' and ''[[VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory Magi Record]]'', but also learning a move called [[EnergyBlade Oracle Sword]].]] She directly comments on this, noting that while the former move feels like a natural extension of her original sphere powers, the latter feels entirely new and wonders exactly why she gained them [[spoiler:when she made her wish in the current timeline]].

* KatanasAreJustBetter: Homura has one stored in her shield, given to her by a Sayaka from a previous timeline who was a MasterSwordsman and taught her some moves. She uses it to train Sayaka.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Madoka has these, as per canon. One she noticeably mentions to Kyoko however [[spoiler:is seeing her "Ultimate Madoka" self.]]

* YouCantFightFate: Homura has had to struggle with this, noting to herself barring irregular timelines, Mami getting killed (usually by Charlotte) and Sayaka becoming a Witch happen almost completely without fail.

* SanityStrengthening: Homura's goal becomes to do this for Sayaka before [[spoiler:Hitomi gives her ultimatum to confess to Kyosuke, which in most timelines proves to be the final straw for Sayaka's sanity and despair to turn her into a Witch.]] She puts her through swordsmanship training and admits to her the existence of Walpurgisnacht to give her motivation to keep going past the event, and while Sayaka ''does'' take it pretty badly, Homura's efforts pay off combined with an actual talk-to-talk for Sayaka to get her feelings out. [[spoiler:Not pleased by this, Kyubey decides to manipulate events so Sayaka learns the ''other'' AwfulTruth about the [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie relationship]] between magical girls and Witches [[HopeSpot not long after said talk]] so she tips back over into despair, which very nearly works.]]

* AwfulTruth: Sayaka and Kyoko learn at the same time [[spoiler:magical girls become Witches when Kyubey manipulates a novice one to use too much magic and transform while they're in the area]]. Sayaka doesn't take it too well,[[spoiler:AllAccordingToPlan for Kyubey so she Witches out and hopefully takes out Kyoko to force a situation where Madoka will contract]], becoming suicidal and reckless [[spoiler:and only barely avoiding becoming a Witch thanks to Homura's intervention]].

** Charlotte takes a few, which Homura notes when comparing the power available to her compared to most timelines. Originally it seems like she just gained greater defense, but then [[spoiler:she reveals her ''second'' OneWingedAngel form and is able to fight Homura, Sayaka, Mami, and Kyoko together, shrugging off Mami's Tiro Finale without pausing.]]

* NeverRecycleYourSchemes: Played with. [[spoiler:Oriko reveals she remembers the events of the last time she and Homura clashed over Madoka's fate thanks to her [[{{Seers}} powers]], and this time she's resolved to kill Homura ''first'' before going on to Madoka, since Homura will just reset the timeline. However, while fighting Oktavia, Oriko has ''another'' vision of the future that convinces her to change things completely.]]

** [[spoiler:Oriko]] takes several herself from her last appearance, not only gaining her [[spoiler:Oracle Ray move from ''[[VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory Magi Record]]'', but also learning a move called [[EnergyBlade Oracle Sword]].]] She directly comments on this, noting that while the former move feels like a natural extension of her original powers, the latter feels entirely new and wonders exactly why she gained them [[spoiler:when she made her wish in the current timeline]].

** Sayaka herself starts becoming one for [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Ichigo Kurosaki]], be it learning a new blue SwordBeam technique she names "[[CallingYourAttacks Heaven's Fang]]" (Ichigo's own [[SwordBeam Getsuga Tenshou]] translates to "Moon Fang") or [[spoiler:her growing relationship with her Witch Oktavia mirroring that of Ichigo's relationship with his inner Hollow/Zanpakuto spirit Zangetsu, up to and including Oktavia taking over to protect her or having a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, or turning the blue Heaven's Fang black.]]