Chapter One

She stared at him, his black hair covering his eyes as he breathed a slow, rhythmic pattern. This face of his, calm and completely lax, was her favorite. She saw new and old emotions cross his face every day, anger, joy, confusion. But nothing compared to this face, solemn in slumber.

"He's gonna have a crick in his neck if he sleeps like that." Calcifer noted, startling Sophie slightly, having forgotten the small fire demons presence.

"Mm. Maybe." She replied, reaching a hand out and tucking a piece of Howl's coal colored hair behind his ear, displaying his face clearly for her to see. She often was amazed by the fact that she, a plain and simple hatter, who had not been lucky enough to be blessed with beauty, lived with a creature as captivating and enchanting as Howl.

Plus, adding onto the long list of why she was not fit to be with Howl was the simple fact that she was cursed. Even though the majority of the time she was awake, she looked much like she had before her long life with Howl began, there were moments which she would slip back into the form of an old woman. Her "starlight" colored hair, as Howl described it, would turn to a dull gray and her bones would begin to betray her, and she would look no different than she had the day the witch had cursed her.

"Calcifer," She began, her lips moving before her brain was aware of what she was saying, "You'd said that if I broke the spell you were under, you would break the one I was under." She remembered their bargain clearly, made the day she had boarded onto Howl's Castle. She had fulfilled her end of the deal, and for a while, had completely forgotten about the other side. Sophie looked over to the fire, expectation filled in her eyes.

"Don't give me that look. I can't do anything." He said stubbornly, shrinking back into the fireplace slightly.

"But you'd said that if-"

"If you broke my curse, I'd break yours." He finished for her, "But the fact of the matter is, I'm still cursed. So sorry, no can do."

Sophie stared at him for a moment in confusion before she leaned back in the chair she was sitting in and released a long sigh of built up frustration. She could feel herself phasing slowly, and she didn't resist it. Howl was asleep, and when he awoke in the morning she was sure she would already once again be her younger self.

So if it was just for now, she believed it was okay, as long as she wasn't this repulsive form of herself by the time Howl laid his eyes on her.

"How do I break it then?" She asked, not bothering to look over at Calcifer, "What is the curse you are under?" Sophie hadn't been aware that he was under any curse other than the one he and Howl had shared together. Although he was a demon, and when dealing with demons, the number one rule Sophie had learned, was to never assume anything.

Though that did not mean he was bad or evil in any way, shape or form, much the contrary actually. He was trustworthy, despite his love for secrecy. Dependable, even with his fondness for trickery: clever and stubborn, vivacious and blunt. But not bad, not evil at all. Simply a demon with a personality.

"I'm not quite sure what it is exactly. Something, most likely part of the curse, is hindering my memories. And if I knew how to break it, I wouldn't need your help, now would I?" He responded, the same mocking and slightly annoyed tone in his voice that he always had.

Sophie wondered about this, without knowing what the curse was or knowing anything other than the fact that he was cursed, if she would be able to break it. She didn't have confidence she could.

"But why are you asking me anyways?" Sophie wondered out loud. She was a simple human, with no foundation or background in magic. Calcifer would have been wise to ask Howl for assistance instead of her, a mere mortal. "Why don't you ask Howl? He probably knows how to break it, or could figure out a way." That was unless, like the witch of the waste, he was practiced in the art of casting spells, instead of removing them.

"Ha. Howl couldn't get rid of the curse if his life depended on it. It's far too powerful for him. And he already knows about the curse, there's no way you can hide magic from him. He senses it. If he could remove it, he would have done it already."

The explanation didn't make sense to Sophie, why he thought that if Howl couldn't remove it, her of all people could. Maybe it was because she had been able to free him from the bind he'd had with Howl. But that had been out of mere coincidence, and only by chance had she been able to figure out the way to release them from it. Such circumstances weren't likely to happen again.

But she didn't voice her worries, because she was sure the fire demon was already aware of all this. That the chances, her chances of discovering anything, were slim to none. But she would try none-the-less, because Howl, beautiful in everything he did and said, deserved someone that was just as beautiful. And even if she could not ever reach that, every step closer helped.

I've had this on my computer since as long as I can remember. And I've had the idea for the story in my head for an even longer time. I just love Howl's Moving Castle, and especially Calcifer. So I'll try and write more of this.

Reviews. :)