Howl's Moving Castle: Tales Of Love

A Stupid Wizard and an Angry Hatter

Calcifer sat in his hearth, brooding over the fact Howl had used up every ounce of warm water. Not that he wasn't used to it, but still, that warm water was rather tedious to make, and he still hasn't gotten one thanks for it. However, Sophie and Howl took no notice of his mood since they just resolved a fight over whatever it was they were fighting about, and now couldn't stop being all cutesy and all over each other.

Howl pressed his lips on hers, and she fought back a giggle from underneath him. "Stop it Howl, what if Markl comes back and sees?" Calcifer inwardly agreed, but all Howl did was laugh. "Oh come on Sophie, we would be able to hear the door unlock and we'd be able to stop in time, don't you think?" Sophie rolled her eyes, but almost too easily obliged. Calcifer wondered why fate had wanted him to witness this.

A couple moments later, there was a harsh bang on the door. The both of them sat up, Sophie patting down her dress, and Howl tucking his shirt back in. Calcifer would leap with joy if he could. "Do you want me to get it?" Sophie asked, getting ready to stand up. "No, I'll get it." Howl replied quickly, already on his way to the door. Before Howl could ask, Calcifer simply shouted, "The Kingsbury door."

When the door was opened, the stench of artificial flowers filled the room. The smell was almost tangible, Sophie noted, as she could almost taste it. She glanced over, immediately feeling envy pool at the bottom of her stomach. In the doorway stood a beautiful woman with illustrious blond curls, pale blue eyes, and a body to die for. As soon as this woman took a glance towards Sophie, her face curled in disgust. "Why hello, is that your cleaning lady?" The woman said in obvious distaste. Howl merely stood there, gaping like a water deprived fish. He came back to his senses a moment later and weakly replied, "No, she's not."

"Who is she then? A nanny? A whore? Please don't tell me you hire such ugly whores Howl, I'd like to think you're classier than that." The woman said, in stride with Howl to the sitting area. Sophie looked down at her lap, not really sure what to say to that. She kind of wanted to slap the woman across the face, or maybe shove a broom down her throat, but there's always a possibility of this woman being of high class, and Sophie certainly wouldn't want the trouble of being accused of murdering someone.

After a pregnant pause, Howl asked, "Who...are you?" Sophie sighed and the woman made a face. "How could you dare forget me Howl? I'm Melody for heavens sake! You're the one who threw me out like a piece of trash! I said I'd wait for you, and I did! You said you didn't love me because I wasn't beautiful!" The woman, or Melody, shrieked, her hands balling into fists. Howl opened his mouth to say something, but it appears Melody wasn't done, "I'm beautiful now, aren't I Howl? Now you'll love me won't you? You only love beautiful woman, right?"

Before Howl could say anything, Melody filled their gap, and firmly pinned him against the chair and kissed him. Sophie sat there, her eyes wide, and her breath gone. There sat the love of her life, the one she sacrificed nearly everything for, was sitting less than five feet away, being kissed by another woman! She certainly wasn't just going to sit there and gape like a complete idiot, so she stood up, grabbed the book on her right, and promptly walked over and hit the woman over the head with it.

Melody stumbled backwards, her eyes clenched, and her arms flailing every which way. Sophie felt rather proud of herself, as she noticed how angry and in pain Melody was. She then shouted, "Get out you putrid woman! I am neither Howl's whore nore a nanny; I am the one he loves! Now go away before I hit you again!"

Melody glared, her head still pounding, and hissed, "Listen here you ugly girl, you're not the only one pining for Howl's love. I will find him again, and he will be mine." She turned around and walked out, not before turning around and giving Howl some sort of look that made his gaze turn away. As soon as the door shut behind her, Sophie turned her glare from the door to Howl. "Why didn't you do anything?"

He met her intense glare, and quickly looked elsewhere. "I don't know Sophie. What would you do in my position?" He said, gaining enough confidence to meet her glare. "I would shove her off! I wouldn't just sit there and take it! Especially if you were watching less than ten feet away!" Sophie was nearly hysteric, and Howl cringed at how high her voice was getting. "Well what do you want me to say Sophie? I'm sorry? It was really just magic? She was too strong for me to get up?"

Howl immediately regretted what he said, quickly noticing tears spill down Sophie's cheeks and that she was for once, completely speechless. She broke into an almost run, and ran for the door, switching the dial to the Wastes. She ran out into the rain, slamming the door behind her. "You messed up really badly this time Howl..." Calcifer muttered, knowing Howl had already figured as much.

He followed after her, and went into the Wastes, leaving the door carelessly open. The rain pounded hard against him, the amount of water and the force of it making his vision blurry. He looked around through the thin fog and the rain, and saw Sophie's figure leaning against a rock, visibly shaking. He ran over to her, the muddy floor making him slip nearly three times. By the time he reached her, some of her anger had washed off. He offered a hand, and she stared at it for a moment. Another moment passed, and she still sat there in the mushy mud, her hair clinging to her face.

"Why should I forgive you so easily?" Sophie asked. Howl paused, wondering what in the world he could say to change her mind. "Because... I'm an idiot?" Sophie faintly smiled, and said, "While I do agree very much so with that, its not much of a reason."

Howl thought for a moment before saying, "Listen Sophie, I honestly am sorry, I don't really know what came over me when she kissed me...I felt kind of paralyzed, and too late I figured out that by not moving away, I was hurting someone I loved very much." He paused for a moment more, gauging Sophie's reaction, and continued, "Melody...I recall only being together with her for about a month. I didn't like her at all, and told her so. She was a wizard in training, and used it for utterly vain reasons."

Sophie stood up a bit, trying to get the mud that was sticking to her dress off with little success. When she still didn't answer, Howl said, "I know after this you might not believe me, but you're the only one I love. Please forgive me Sophie."

He was surprised when she leaped forward and wrapped her arms around him. "You big dummy! Getting me all worked up like that! Now I have mud all over my dress!" She whined loudly into his chest. He laughed and said, "I can clean that up if you want. And thank you for forgiving me Sophie. I really appreciate it." She nodded and shivered, that being the only queue they needed to head back.

Half way through the trek back, Sophie tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear and muttered, "I'm not going to kiss you any time soon if your mouth tastes like her perfume." He sighed, and turned his head and kissed her. A few seconds later, he asked, "So, what does it taste like?" Sophie blushed at how openly he was asking and quickly replied, "Like...nothing really."

Once they got back inside with the door shut behind them, Calcifer noticed how soaked they were and practically shrieked, "Grab a towel! You're ruining the floor!" The two of them scuttled over to the kitchen which held a meager white towel, and Sophie grabbed it, as they now slowly walked to the couch, enjoying the warmth. Sophie quickly placed the towel onto the couch, and both of them sat down. Realizing how cold she really was, Sophie's teeth began to chatter. "C-Calcifer, where're the blankets?"

Calcifer shifted his eyes to the spot right next to Sophie, and she caught on, grabbing the blanket so cleverly hidden right next to her. She wrapped the soft blanket around both her and Howl, really and truly appreciating that Calcifer was a fire in that moment.

Sophie decided in that blissful moment that she had had enough arguments in her lifetime.

A/N

Thank you all so much for the votes/comments, it really means a lot :)