***Author's note***
I do not own any of the following charecters:
Howl
Michael
Sophie
And most of the dialogue is not mine, it rightfully belongs to Dianna Wynne Jones.
If you have not read Howl's Moving Castle-
STOP READING THIS!
Spoilers.
Howl walked outside with Michael in tow.
"Right, so you can go and do whatever you like, while I shall, um," Howl eyed all of the women walking in the streets, "Enjoy myself."
"We don't need more aunts," Michael said glumly.
"Right," Howl said dreamily.
As Michael walked off, Howl leaned against the wall. Someone caught his eye.
A young girl, with reddish, straw-colored hair was edging along the wall, eyeing the crowd with a terrified look. She was dressed in plain, gray clothes, which had caught his eye at first. She looked so pitiful, like a mouse, that Howl immediately went over. To his surprise, she shrank into a doorway, trying to hide.
Howl looked down at her. "It's all right, you little gray mouse," Howl said, laughing. This made her look even more terrified. "I only want to buy you a drink. Don't look so scared."
The girl looked ashamed. "Oh, no thank you, if you please, sir," she stammered. Howl thought that she had a rather lovely voice. "I-I'm on my way to see my sister."
"Then by all means do!" Howl said. She didn't look quite as scared anymore, but still had big eyes. "Who am I to keep a pretty lady from her sister? Would you like me to go with you, because you seem so scared?"
The young lady looked even more ashamed. "No. No thank you sir!" she gasped and fled. Howl reached out his hand and frowned.
"That's a first," he said to himself. "I never have seen someone that ran away from me."
Since it seemed a little rude to follow the lady, he just walked on, puzzling. Eventually, he found more people to accost, but his mind always returned to her.
When Howl walked in one day, he came across a puzzling scene.
An old lady was cooking on Calcifer.
"Don't be silly. And hold still, because I want to break in the eggs," she said, frowning with her wrinkled face at Calcifer. That, in itself was odd, Howl mused. Most people either didn't see Calcifer, or were scared stiff of him.
"Oh, hello Howl," Michael said when he saw him.
The old lady turned, rather hurriedly, to Howl, who stared at her. He had just come back from courting his dear Lettie, who was by far one of the most beautiful ladies that he had ever seen, and something about this old woman's face reminded him of her. But the oddest thing was that this old lady seemed to be wearing a charm on her.
As he asked her if he had seen her before, and she quickly denied it, the look of shock and surprise on her face made him suspicious.
"She says her name's Sophie," Michael said. "She came last night."
"How on earth did she make Calcifer bend down?" Howl said, feeling quite confused.
"She bullied me!" Calcifer said, his voice muffled.