Title: Always Protects

Author: Chocolatequeen

Rating: K+

Summary: As he watched the bombs fall on Market Chipping, his only thought was getting to her in time.

AN: I pulled the name of the town from the book, but the rest is solidly set in the movie-verse.

Howl soared high above Market Chipping, instinctively dodging the bombs that were falling all around. He could hear Calcifer in the back of his mind, warning him that he was courting danger by remaining in his bird form this long, but he brushed off his friend's concern. Flying overhead was the only way he could watch out for Sophie, and for the first time in a very long time, someone else's life mattered more than his own.

The bay doors on the air ship opened once more, dropping another round of bombs on the town. He followed their trajectory with his eyes and instantly realized that one was heading straight toward the hat shop and a terrified Sophie.

His vision narrowed, blocking out everything but his Sophie and the bomb moving directly at her. Even as his mind screamed at her to move, to get out of the way, he was diving at the bomb, desperate to get to it before it got to her. He reached it easily and grabbed it, pulling in an attempt to stop it or change its course.

Just before it hit the ground, he succeeded in slowing it down. The force of the impact still stunned him a little, and he shook his head as he stood up. Once he could see straight he looked for Sophie, the place where his heart should have been constricting a little when he found her, huddled against the wall with her hands over her head.

She didn't remain like that for long though. Before he knew what was happening, she'd raced across the courtyard and thrown herself into his arms. He relished the feel of her, warm and alive. "I'm sorry, Sophie," he said hoarsely. "I should have gotten here sooner." A vivid picture of what would have happened if he hadn't made it crossed his mind, and he pulled her closer to him.

Her thoughts seem to echo his. "You're alive, oh thank goodness!"

He felt a different pang in his chest this time; she was concerned for him! There was no time to marvel at that however, Suliman's henchmen were sneaking into the courtyard. Without a word, he swept her up and into the house. With his magic, he closed the door behind him and barred the henchmen from entering.

Now that Sophie was safe, his next concern was Calcifer. It was no surprise to him that the fire demon was burning low in the grate, he'd felt how weak he was getting. He let Sophie comfort Markl while he went directly to the hearth and poured energy into his friend. "Calcifer, you hang in there now!"

Calcifer's complaint that the Witch of the Waste had fed him something gross gave him the source of the niggling unease he'd felt all day. Turning to his former nemesis, he saw her smoking a cigar whose magical imprint was just as visible to him as the smoke swirling around her head. "Tell me—was that cigar a gift from Madam Suliman, by any chance?" he asked.

She blew smoke back in his face. "Why, if it isn't Howl. I think you and I need to have a nice, long, heart to heart chat."

He nearly snorted at the irony in her word choice. "There's nothing I'd like more than that," he said, being completely honest for once. Having a heart to heart with her or anyone would mean he actually had a heart, which would mean he'd be able to understand exactly what his heart had been feeling for Sophie. However…

"But right now, there's a war going on," he concluded quietly, as much to remind himself as her. Any attempts to remove his heart from Calcifer's holding would have to wait until after the war. Until then, he needed the extra power the fire demon gave him to keep his family—his Sophie—safe.

"How unlike you Howl, not running away anymore."

Only because there's something I'd rather be running toward, he told her silently. "Until later then," he said out loud, the promise as much for himself and Sophie as it was for the Witch.

Sophie on his mind, he turned around to face her. She looked so worried he couldn't stop himself from taking her by the shoulders to reassure her. "Stay here," he said calmly. "Calcifer will protect you from the henchmen. I'll stand guard out front."

He was almost out the door when he felt her slender arms wrap around his waist. The shock of it stopped him in his tracks. He wondered briefly if she could possibly be as afraid for him as he was for her, but brushed the thought aside as nonsense. He was merely Heartless Howl, no one would be upset if he died.

Her first words confirmed it though. "No, wait Howl! Don't go out there, it's too dangerous!" she pleaded with him, giving voice to the fear and concern and something else he saw on her face when he looked at her over his shoulder.

That something else gave him the energy to speak gently to her. "Another wave is coming, and Calcifer is too weak to stop the bombs," he told her, willing her to understand that he was doing this for her… that from now on, everything he did was for her.

Her fear did not put her in the mood to be understanding, however. "Let's run! Don't fight them Howl," she begged, the tremor in her voice making his chest ache.

As much as he wanted to make her happy, to make that little note of panic he heard disappear, running was the one thing he could not do. "Sorry," he said, truly meaning it. "I've had enough running away, Sophie." He could see she still wouldn't accept it, so his only option was to tell her the whole truth. "And now I've got something I want to protect… It's you."

He took advantage of her momentary surprise to fly out the door, willing himself to ignore the call of her voice when she asked him to come back. He couldn't come back, not now, not when she was in so much danger and he could keep her safe. He may not have a heart, but even without it, he loved her… and love always protects.