"It is. That is, as far as I can tell, likely the most common reason girls witch. Still... Your wish sounds unlikely to backfire - to you, at least. I'd be wary of facing your witch, especially once you've gotten stronger yet."

"But if you regret your wish, it seems likely to me that will be because of missed opportunities, not the wish itself."

"...I don't think I could've made a better wish without knowing - everything already. If I'd known I could've tried to wish my sister back, but. I didn't know."

"I don't actually know if someone's ever successfully wished a witch back to a magical girl. But that might be a selection effect - most magical girls don't learn the truth of witches until they've been active for a while, if ever, and most magical girls are young enough they're not thinking things through or asking questions carefully. Especially nowadays." She eyes Sue. And, bluntly: "Quite frankly, modern children are significantly more dumb than they were when I wished."

She considers that. "I mean, if you're really really old... Didn't kids used to just. Have to be adults super early? So even if you were in the wishing age range, you'd be kind of more an adult anyways."

"That was part of it. But... Even before stepping away from our parents - we didn't have all this silly division of adults and children. The entire concept of developmental stages and age segregation is... New and strange. I spent time with the adults in my band, and listened to the same stories as them, and did the same chores as them. I was the only child my exact age, so all my friends were older or younger than me."

"...Huh."

"I wish adults would involve me in their stuff, yeah. Kiddie museums and shows and stuff are - dumb. I don't like them. And I don't like it when adults think I'm too little to decide anything, or hear about upsetting stuff, or think very hard. The world sucks. I know it does. Telling me I shouldn't worry my pretty little head about it doesn't make it suck less, just - takes away my weapons against it."

She nods to Sue's bow. "You seem to have found new weapons all the same."

She blinks. "Yeah, I guess I did." Frown. "I need more, though."

"Why?"

"Because I need to be strong. And win all sorts of battles."

"Why?"

"Because they'll always come."

"If I don't win I'll get squished. Everyone I care about will get squished."

She inclines her head a little. "You have good instincts."

"Course I do. I'm still alive."

Smile. "A challenge, certainly. But you haven't crossed the full gauntlet yet."

"Has anyone?"