This is my first Howl's Moving Castle fanfiction, and although I've both read the book and seen the movie, I decided to write based solely on the book. This story begins almost right there where the book left off.

Although I have planned the plot further, I would be very glad to recieve suggestions in your reviews of what could happen. To be honest; I'm not a writer..! :D My manuscripts are potentially pointless. But even if you didn't have such suggestions, please; review!

And one more thing. English is not my first language, so please excuse me. I've tried my best. Please enjoy my fiction!

The door closed with a click. Howl let a deep sigh escape his lips while he leant back against the door as if he had just removed a bunch of enemies from his castle. Fortunately, though, they had been friends, but a bunch they had been.

"I'm glad I no longer feel your feelings," said Calcifer, flickering slightly between the logs in the grate. He was still somewhat puzzled from being free at last, and although he had returned voluntarily, he knew he was extremely lucky. If it hadn't been for Sophie, he would have been stuck with the contract forever.

Sophie had sat down on a stool near the grate, and now she was running her fingers through her red golden hair. She had not yet paid any attention to her transformation. She looked at her hands, which were smooth and slender without any veins showing strongly through the skin. She was really back to her young self. She turned to look at Calcifer, smiling slightly.

"Thank you, Calcifer."

"I should thank you instead," the fire demon said. "Being free feels splendid."

"Where did Michael go?" Howl interrupted.

Sophie raised her sight to Howl and said: "I think I saw him leave with everyone else. He must have gone out with Martha."

Although Sophie wasn't sure, that seemed very likely. Their day had been filled with action, and now that so many things were settled, what could be better than spending some quality time with your darling? Michael had, after all, had a lot to worry about as well, as the Witch of the Waste's curse had been catching up with Howl.

And now Sophie felt strange. Too much had happened just a few hours ago. She had rushed over to the Waste in the seven league boots, confronted the Witch and what else. She had thought that Howl had come to rescue Miss Angorian, but he had obviously come to her rescue instead. Then there had been several hectic moments in the castle as she had broken Howl and Calcifer's contract and Howl had got rid of Miss Angorian, and Prince Justin and Wizard Suliman had got back their true forms.

Confusion was close to what Sophie was feeling. She couldn't help thinking of what had just happened between her and Howl. Back then when Howl's heart had still been out of his chest, he had said he could never truly love anyone. It was obvious, or it seemed to make sense at least. Whereas Michael had said that the day Howl doesn't spend two hours in the bathroom before leaving the castle is the day when he's truly in love. And that was what had just happened. Howl had appeared in the Witch of the Waste's castle all messy and unshaven, which Sophie had taken as a meaning Howl loved Lily Angorian. But apparently he didn't, as Miss Angorian had turned out to be the Witch's fire demon, and was now as dead as the Witch herself. The whole thing puzzled Sophie to a great degree.

And a while ago Howl had even said that they should live happily ever after. He had been holding her hands and looking her in the eyes and he had seemed so sincere. And Sophie had felt so delighted. Now, a few hours later, it all seemed to be a dream, much in the same way as her temporary old age. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to have an unstable heart and aching joints. Now she felt like her thoughts had been falling apart.

Sophie would have wanted to tell Howl to sit down and discuss. There had been a lot of disturbance a while ago, but now she was dying to know what Howl had actually meant. She had a bad feeling that her idea differed from Howl's. She wasn't even certain of what her own idea was, but she knew she had been upset when she had thought Howl had true feelings for Lily Angorian. She also knew that Howl was a real slitherer-outer, and there was probably no point in asking him to elaborate right then.

Sophie sat on the stool turned towards Calcifer and the grate, but she was looking at Howl from the corner of her eye. Howl had moved to stand pretty in much in the middle of the room, with his hands on his hips, looking around thoughtfully. He was ignoring Sophie and Calcifer completely, which resulted in a silent sigh from Sophie's lips, which also went unnoticed by the wizard.

Howl began to whistle casually. Then he turned around on his heels and headed upstairs. Sophie and Calcifer merely looked after him, and then fixed their eyes on each other. Sophie felt confused enough, so she shrugged.

"What's troubling you?" Calcifer asked without sounding remarkably worried. His question sounded almost rhetorical when he busied himself with another log.

Sophie lowered her sight and bit her bottom lip. "I guess it's nothing. Perhaps I'm just exhausted. You must agree that the day has been, eh, hasty."

Calcifer made a gesture, which Sophie couldn't take whether it was a nod or a shrug. It seemed like everything uncomfortable the fire demon had just experienced had been forgotten the moment their contract had been broken. Although Sophie felt like talking to someone—which would rather have been Howl—she fell silent, assuming that Calcifer wouldn't be in the mood for her petty grieves right then.

Sophie felt annoyed at herself. Basically, she shouldn't have been feeling blue. She was back to her normal self, like everyone else, and she had—in spite of being the eldest—for once succeeded in something when she had freed Calcifer and given Howl back his heart. And since they had been hoping for her to do that, everything should have been fine? But obviously, it wasn't.

Sophie turned to look at the grate again. All that could be seen of Calcifer were little faint blue flames between the logs. She sighed and stood up. Her cubby hole felt like an enticing option to head for as she really did feel exhausted. However, she didn't think she could sleep. She wanted to see Howl, if not for a serious conversation then for wishing him a good night, at least.

Mustering up her courage, Sophie walked upstairs, determined to try to make Howl talk. She was prepared not to succeed, but she really wanted to try. On reaching the second floor, she noticed the door to Howl's bedroom was open. She also remembered that Fanny and Mrs. Fairfax had been there with brooms, which could mean that Howl was not in the best mood. In fact he could be very angry if he found out they had killed a spider or something. Sophie felt like backing away.

Before she could turn back to the stairs, Howl came out of his room with a bundle of clothing in his hands. He didn't notice Sophie immediately, but when he did, he looked slightly alarmed and at the speed of light he hid the bundle behind his back.

"Oh, Sophie," he said, trying to sound as casual as he could.

But Sophie had already seen what he had been holding. It was his grey and scarlet suit. Sophie felt like someone had hit her in the stomach—her feelings were a mixture of disappointment and anger. "What exactly are you going to do with that?"