Summary: Sophie has a change of heart and Howl finds himself lost without her. Can he find love without her or is he doomed to mope forever?

Disclaimer: I's not be owning, kay?

A/N: Oh, look, another fanfiction to add to the list. Sorry, I just had too. I saw the movie, then read the book, and loved it so much that I had to write a fanfiction. And I'm going to try something a little different this time. Also, this fic is mostly based off of the book, so if you're confused with any references, I suggest reading or researching it.

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Lost and Found

Chapter One - Leaving? No!

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Howl couldn't believe anything. Not his eyes. Not his ears. Not Sophie hanging off of Prince Justin's arm right in front of him. None of it. How could he? It was impossible.

Right?

He watched as Sophie turned slightly to look up at Prince Justin with an expression that shook Howl's soul. So much love was in that look, there was no way it could be fake. She used to give him that look. He felt everything drain out of him and he suddenly felt the need to sit down.

"Sophie," he said faintly as he swayed where he stood. When had the feelings transferred? Had he done something wrong? Had she finally gotten fed up with all his vices? He could see it now. Her detachment from him and reluctance to accept his affections. Her frequent absences. She had been going to see Prince Justin to get away from him and had fallen in love. How hadn't he noticed until now? And would he have been able to stop this from happening?

"Howl?"

He lifted his eyes to her beautiful face, hope stirring in his chest before being crushed under the look in her eyes. He couldn't describe it. It left him hollow. She couldn't possibly be looking at him with pity. Not while she was taking out the heart she had given him and stomping on it. How could she leave him while she knew that he still loved her? Was that what the look was for? Did she pity him?

"I'm alright," he said stiffly. No you're not, he told himself. Not at all.

"I just wanted to say goodbye before I left. Tell Michael where I've gone. Though I'm sure he'll guess the answer before you tell him. Hearts change all the time."

Howl tuned out the rest of her words, not caring if he heard anymore. Pity! She pitied him for having a broken heart. He didn't want her pity! He wanted her to love him again!

"Goodbye, Howl."

He looked up again to watch her back as she followed Prince Justin to the door. For a brief moment, he entertained the thought of telling Calcifer to lock the two inside. He would kill the prince and Sophie…

Then the moment was gone and the door closed softly behind both of them. He stared at the door, waiting for it to open. He waited and waited, yet the door remained shut.

Why?

Why was this happening to him?

What did he do to deserve this?

"Howl?" Calcifer called nervously from the fire place.

"I'm alright," he muttered, knowing at the same time that the fire demon didn't believe a word.

Calcifer shifted on the logs. "Er, okay. Just no slime again please."

Howl didn't hear him. He was too busy spiraling down in his misery to care. Why why why why why why why why why why why why…

Hearts change all the time.

So that's what happened.

Slowly, the room grew darker and darker. Calcifer shrank under the logs, muttering to himself that Sophie could have at least stayed long enough to calm Howl down. Howl let out a pitiful whimper as he curled up on himself and his skin turned pale.

"Michael!" Calcifer yelled as he shrank further under the logs and wished fervently that there would be no green slime this time. "Michael!" he yelled again. Howl began to wail and gibber softly and only when he grew louder did Michael finally trudge down the stairs sleepily.

"What's going on?" he asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"What the hell do you think is going on?" Calcifer snapped. "You were the first person Sophie told about Prince Justin."

Hands over his ears, Michael frowned at Howl, who continued to wail and rock himself back and forth. "You mean he's …"

"Heart-broken? Yes. See if you can calm him down. He won't listen to me."

And so Michael proceeded to try and coax Howl out of his state of bawling for the next hour and a half. Finally, Howl was down to sniffling and he let Michael lead him up the stairs to his room. There, he lay down in bed and refused to move. Days went by and Michael feared that Howl was trying to starve himself to death. Any food that was brought to him, even the sweets that Michael brought back from his visits with Martha Hatter, were left untouched. Neither Michael nor Calcifer could talk him out of his depressed stupor. When he wasn't sleeping, Howl would pace around his room or lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Even the spiders in his room seemed to grow concerned.

One day Michael finally got fed up. He came stomping down the stairs using curses Calcifer had never heard before.

"What's wrong?" Calcifer asked warily.

"I can't take this anymore!" the boy cried. "I can't continue to operate the shop all by myself. I wish Sophie hadn't left. She could have made him see reason."

"If Sophie hadn't left in the first place, we wouldn't have this problem," Calcifer snapped. "You need to find help."

"Me?" Michael asked despairingly. "Why me?"

"Because no one wants to help a fire demon." The door swung open to Market Chippings. "Now go."

Crossing his arms, Michael sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll go." He slammed the door on his way out.

--

It had been nearly three hours and Michael still could not find someone willing to help him. Three damn long hours, he raged inwardly. He would have thought that the first woman he asked would have jumped at the chance to help Howl, but apparently not. The new bit of gossip was nice, but no one could be bothered long enough to actually be helpful. And they looked at him as if they expected him to do it himself. As if he knew anything of heartbreak. Sure, he had seen plenty of girls heartbroken over Howl, but he couldn't exactly shove Howl out of the house like he had done with the girls. This was different and he had no idea where to start.

Sighing, Michael sat down to rest his feet. He was seriously considering throwing water on Calcifer when he got back. It would serve him right for sending him out like this. Lifting a foot to his knee, he surveyed the evening crowd. He could recognize most of the faces and he ticked off in his head a list of the ones he had asked for help already.

A flash of blond caught his eye and he stood up. It was the same man that he had seen several times that day. He was all over the place and Michael had finally determined that he was running errands. He had thought to ask him for help a few times, but every time he actually decided to ask, he had disappeared.

Not this time though. No sir. He was going to get someone to help, even if he had to drag them back to the castle. By their hair even.

There was another flash of blond. And Michael raced after it. The people he pushed aside in his rush let out yelps and curses, but he ignored them. "Hey, mister!" he called out. A few people turned to look at him but the blond man continued on. Tired and angry, Michael decided that he had had enough of being nice to these people. Once he was close enough, he made a darting grab for the man's long hair.

With a startled yelp, the man stopped and turned around just as Michael let go. The man placed a hand on the back of his head.

"Sorry, mister, but do you think you could…"

Michael was cut off with a sharp frown. Okay, maybe he shouldn't have pulled on his hair.

"That's the third time today," his victim muttered. "Maybe I should let my hair down."

Michael watched in mute fascination as blond hair suddenly tumbled around slight shoulders and the face of rather effeminate-looking man was replaced by that of a young woman. The things that he hadn't noticed before - like the slight curve of her hips and the baggy shirt hiding her bust size - became apparent.

Oh. Oops.

"Now," she said softly. Her voice was slightly husky, bring back the image of the man for a second. "What can I help you with?"

Michael's mind went blank, still baffled by this woman who dressed like a man. "Why aren't you wearing a dress, lady?" he blurted out.

A frown flickered across the woman's face and Michael had to wonder if he had just ruined his chances of getting help from her. Then the frown cleared. "Never mind that. Did you need something? Or did you just feel the need to pull on some stranger's hair?"

Michael shifted in embarrassment. "Sorry about that, but I really do need help."

She nodded and held out a hand. "My name is Ophelia. I will help you however I can after I finish my last errand."

Michael took her hand with relief. Finally! "Michael Fisher. You have no idea what this means to me. I've been looking for someone to help me all day."

Ophelia smile, the corner of her mouth quirking slightly. "I've noticed. Let's get going."