8:00

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Also, I apologize to anyone named Alexander who might be reading this. Nothing personal. Also, forgive me because my spell writing skills are not that great. At the end I have notes for people who have not read the book or for those who haven't seen the movie since I'm pulling things from both.

Sophie POV

8:00

Sunlight poured through the open window beside the bed. With a yawn I forced my eyes open and smiled slightly at my surroundings. Even through I now shared it, Howl's room hadn't changed much. There was still plenty of clutter that he would not allow me to remove. Surprisingly, he cleaned it himself so that I could not see the floor and windows.

I turned over and found myself face-to-face with the vain wizard himself. He looked extremely innocent and calm when he slept, his arms protectively around me. I noticed that he fell asleep holding me close every night, right next to his newly beating heart.

After his heart had been returned to him I saw slight changes in his behavior. Now he got upset more often, even letting a few tears escape on the first night we slept in the same room; although he insisted that it was because he never knew such happiness. Spells wore him down a little more than they used to and his temper with himself was shorter. However, the changes were so small I hardly noticed them.

I crawled out of his arms and hoped onto the cold floor. It seemed I was the first awake. The castle was quiet, the only time of day that it ever was. I turned the doorknob as slowly as possible so as not to wake Howl. At first I would not have cared but as time passed, his duties for the king became more and more tedious, making him extremely exhausted. I walked across the small hall and opened the door to Michael's whitewashed bedroom. He was on the floor, snoring slightly. For some reason he never managed to stay on his bed when he slept, although he insisted on keeping it in his room. Probably to hide presents from Martha.

I walked to him and knelt down, shaking him slightly. Although he usually woke on his own, I liked doing it myself. He muttered in his sleep before his eyes fluttered open. When he saw me he groaned slightly.

"Morning Sophie…" After my curse broke he began to call me 'Sophie' much to my relief. I despised being called 'Grandma' or 'Aunt' or 'Howl's Mother' when people asked who I was. Now I was able to tell them I was Sophie Jenkins, wife of the Royal Wizard Howl, a title I wore with pride.

After he stood up, rubbing his eyes, I left and opened the small door leading downstairs. Calcifer glowed softly in the ashes. I put a few logs into the hearth, which caused him to shoot up and out into the room.

"Watch it!" He yelled, lighting the room angrily.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to poke you. Now, get back in there and put your head down," I ordered him sweetly, hoping to get him to comply.

"No way! I'm a free demon now, I'm not cooking."

"You know, now that you're not connected to Howl I can put water on you without remorse."

"You wouldn't," he smiled smugly. "You've threatened me with that a bunch of times and you have yet to follow through. You're all talk!"

I went to a cupboard and grabbed a cup, filling it with water from the sink. Slowly, I walked over to him, allowing him to see my every move.

"I'll fly up the chimney," Calcifer threatened nervously.

"I can block you – I'm closer to it."

"Ok! Ok!" He yelled, sinking back into the fireplace beside me and bending over. With a smile I put the cup down on the table and grabbed the heavy black pan from its place on the wall. As I was carrying it over Michael came pounding down the stairs, flinging the door open.

"Sophie you know you shouldn't be lifting that!" He yelled, grabbing it out of my hands.

"It's a pan Michael; I think I can handle it."

"Yeah but Howl'll kill me if anything happened to you," he set the pan on Calcifer's head and I firmly pushed him out of the way so I could begin laying down some bread.

"What about me?" I turned around to see Howl standing in the doorway, smiling sleepily. He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around the bump of my stomach. "How's the baby?"

I sighed softly, "kicking. Constantly." He laughed and kissed the top of my head.

"I told you a happily-ever-after with me would be hair-raising."

"You are hair-raising. The baby doesn't know any better, unlike you."

"Actually, children born to magical parents tend to be abnormally intelligent."
" Then what happened to you Howl? Were you a fluke," Calcifer piped in.

Howl shot him a small glare. "At least I am not being used as a cook top 'great fire demon,'" he muttered sarcastically.

He let go of me and sat down at the bench, yawning widely. For some reason he found a lot of what I said lately humorous.

"We still need to pick out a name," he mused, head in his hands as he watched me cook. "For a boy I like Alexander. It has a magical flare about it don't you think? And for a girl I think I prefer the name Amethyst. It's different."

I couldn't help but snort at the names he proposed. "Amethyst is alright I guess, but defiantly NOT Alexander. It's too common for our family and I don't know…I was thinking Morgan." He thought about it for a minute.

"That's not too bad. But I still like Alexander better."

"I told you no! Alexander sounds too pompous," I retorted, setting more slabs of buttered bread down into the pan roughly.

"It does not Sophie. It sounds confident and proud."

"It sounds like a name for a fool! You like it so much change your name but I will not allow my child to be called something so ridiculous."

"We'll keep thinking," he sighed, giving in. It was too early to be fighting already. "So about later today, are you positive you want to try to put up with Megan?"
The name filled me with dread. I had yet to meet Howl's sister in person but from the impression I got from the time he took Michael and me to see her when I was still cursed, I was not looking forward to it. Still, she was my sister-in-law, even though she was ignorant to that fact. She had a right to know about Howl's family.

"I'll be fine, now eat. Where did Michael go?" I set a plate of toast in front of him. It had taken me weeks to figure out how to brown the bed without turning it into charcoal.

"Outside. I think I heard your sister calling for him," he began nibbling thoughtfully.

"Martha's here?" I took the pan off Calcifer, who groaned with relief, and threw open the door. Sure enough my youngest sister was in front of the flower shop, chatting idly. She spotted me and ran to me excitedly.

"Sophie! How are you? Is Howl treating you ok? My goodness you're getting big!" She grabbed me in a hug, smiling widely.

"I'm fine. How are you? Everything alright at Cesari's?"

"Of course! I just came to give Michael some pastries before I have to get back. See you late ok? Tell Howl I said hello." She began walking down the street, waving as she left. I took Michael's arm and began to lead him back inside.

"Come on you lovebird; breakfast is ready."

When we came back in Howl had finished and was walking to the bathroom.

"I'll be back," he muttered with a flick of his wrist.

"In about a day," Michael whispered to me, laughing softly.

"I'll look at that spell I had you do yesterday when I come out Michael. Just leave it on the table," we heard him call from the restroom.

The boy paled and grabbed a piece of paper from the bench and read it furiously. "No, no, no, no, no! I forgot about this! Sophie can you help me with it?" He showed me the old sheet with a grim expression. It was a faded yellow, clearly ravaged by time. It read:

Into the jungle search

For the one who adorns all colors.

Mimic his cloak and you too can hide

Not in the shadows, but clearly seen by all eyes.

Repeat this softly and you too will see:

Everything is not as it seems to be.

'Tell me what this means.' It read underneath in my husband's elegant writing.

"This may take a while," I set another plate of toast on the table as we got to work.

I am pulling some things from Castle in the Sky (like Morgan) but this is before all that. Hope you enjoyed chapter 1! I don't know if this'll be cool or not but each chapter will be a different hour of the same day (chapter 2 will be a 9:00 and so on) and told through someone else's POV (Point of View). Next chapter's Michael's! Please review…Please? It makes me update faster…

For those who never read the book

In the book Sophie has two younger sisters. Lettie who is training under her husband, Wizard Sulivan (who is male and a good guy), and Martha (really her step-sister) who works at the bakery, Cesari's. Martha is in a relationship with Michael and they are engaged.

In the movie Michael was named Markl and shown as a small boy. In the book however, he is about 15.

Howl is really from Wales (Where the black on the front door is really suppose to lead). He has a sister named Megan who is married with 2 children (Neil and Mari). She thinks Howl is good for nothing and is constantly nagging at him to get a job (I don't think she knows about Ingary…). Howl took Michael and Sophie there when he had to return a piece of Neil's homework.

If there's anything else please PM me and I will explain.

For those who never saw the movie

Howl's room is shown as extremely cluttered with things that you would not expect a man in his twenties to own (stuff animals, toys, and whatnot).

Calcifer is shown as a yellow and orange flame with two eyes and arms. He's actually quite cute.

If there's anything else please PM me and I will explain.