That was three years ago to the day. The wish I'd made had done exactly what I'd wanted it to do and today was my 21st birthday. As I got out of bed I couldn't help but wonder about my family. While they never payed much attention to me when I was there, would they notice I was gone? I shook my head to clear my thoughts before getting ready for the day. I pulled on my black and white dress on. Did it match the style of other women? No, but that never bothered me before. The dress I'd had made shortly after I'd arrived. Don't get me wrong, Sophie was extremely kind in letting me borrow her clothes, but there was only so many plain dresses I could take. The dress was mostly black with the exception of the bust. It was white with a black ribbon going across the top. I braided my hair before placing it into a bun that was tied back with a black ribbon. Only two pieces were hanging by my face to frame it. I'd gotten so used to doing this over the past three years I almost didn't notice I did it anymore. Sophie's father had already passed away by the time I'd shown up in her life, but she insisted that I stay with her until I found my family. I lied and told her we'd gotten separated during a family vacation. Her mother treated me as one of her own daughters and her sister welcomed me with open arms. A few months later, Lettie moved out and started working and hasn't settled down sense. I enjoyed my job at the hat shop selling to customers.
"Hey Emilia!" One of my regulars called to me and I smiled up at her.
"Hey Maria, here for another hat?" I asked her.
"I have a big date tonight." she said with a slight blush on her face.
"Then you have to tell me all about him." I laughed. She told me all about her new guy as I helped her find a hat. Once we found her a hat I finished the sale smiling.
"When are you going to find yourself a man?" she asked me happily and I froze. I hadn't been actively looking for a man because I didn't even know it I was going to be able to stay after the events of the movie ended.
"I'm not ready to settle down yet, Maria." I told her smiling.
"You're not getting any younger Emilia." she reminded me.
"Exactly." I laughed and she sighed before leaving. I waved her out before taking care of the next customer. I'd had offers of dates in the three years I'd lived here, but none had caught my eye which made both Sophie and Lettie say I was too picky. What could I say? I had high expectations out of my men and the men in this town just didn't cut it.
Once I locked up the shop at the end of the day I went back to where the ladies who made the hats were. They were talking among themselves as I made my way to Sophie.
"Hey, you almost ready?" I asked her.
"Yes, I just have a bit more to finish on this hat then I'm done." she told me smiling.
"Ok, I'll just get my hat then." I said before leaving her alone to her work. I looked outside as the train passed us by, its black smoke covering our windows. I grabbed my white hat that had a simple thick black ribbon on it.
"Sophie," I turned to see Anna looking into Sophie's working area. "Emilia's closed the shop already, you've done enough work. Why don't you two come out with us this time." My eyes widened at the familiar words. Even though it was slightly different due to my being included, this was the beginning of Sophie and Howl's story.
"No, I better finish this. You go and have fun." Sophie told Anna.
"All right, suit yourself." Anna said before turning to the younger girls. "Let's go girls!"
"Wait for me!" May called to them.
"Come on Emilia, come with us." Alisa told me with a large smile on her face.
"Sophie and I had plans to see Lettie today. We have a little tradition for today." I told her smiling.
"It seems as though the two of you just never have fun." she said before joining our coworkers.
"I'm ready!"
"Do I look ok?"
"Look it's Howl's castle!" I joined the other girls in looking outside to see the strange moving castle hiding in the fog. I couldn't help but wonder what would happen to me after all this. Sure, Howl and Sophie would have each other, but would I go home or would I stay in this place forever?
What do you wish?
I froze. I hadn't heard that voice in three years. I shook my head as the castle disappeared fully from view. Must have been my imagination.
"Did you hear what happened to that girl Martha in South Haven? They say Howl tore her heart out." I laughed lightly at the silly rumor. Just another girl dumped by Howl.
"Now I'm too scared to go out!"
"What?"
"Don't worry, he only prays on pretty girls." the four girls started laughing as Anna joined them.
"Alright let's go." she laughed before they all left and it was just me and Sophie.
"Finally!" I said stretching my arms above my head. "They're gone!"
"They just get excited easily. No need to be so mean." Sophie said as she finished the hat.
"I'm not being mean, but they remind me of these girls I used to hang around. They turned into bad news real quick." I told her.
"You don't talk about them much." Sophie mentioned and I looked at her confused. "Your life before I met you."
"Not much to tell really. Parents were never around and I had very few friends. Mostly just because I didn't trust easy." I explained.
"You trusted me well enough." she noted as she placed the hat on the mannequin. I couldn't exactly tell her it was because I spent my entire childhood obsessed with her love story to Howl now could I?
"You throw a vibe. That's all." I told her. She rose from her stool and dusted off her apron before taking it off and grabbing her hat. We moved from the workhouse to the shop/house. Sophie checked herself out in the mirror before pulling the hat over her eyes.
"I don't see why you're so worried about how you look." I said putting my wide brimmed hat on the crown of my head. "You're a beautiful woman Soph."
"You're a terrible liar." she told me.
"I swear your bad self-esteem is going to affect me one of these days." I sighed as she locked up the hat shop. We made our way through town chatting as we girls do so easily. We caught the cable car before getting of close to the town square. We started for the square, passing through an alley with a soldier that looked like he was guarding where the off duty soldiers kept their guns. Sophie gasped in shock and fear at seeing him and pulled me further faster. We found our way back to the main road, but it was blocked by people watching some sort of parade. Sophie looked down at the paper in her hands before deciding we should go around. We walked in silence before nearly running into the chest of a young soldier leaning on the wall and smiling down on us.
"Hey, looks like two little mice lost their way." he said getting closer to our faces.
"Oh, no, we're not lost." Sophie tried assuring him.
"These little mice look thirsty." he said as his partner moved beside him. I glared at them both as Sophie backed us up slowly. "We should take them for a cup of tea."
"No thanks. Our sisters' expecting us." Sophie told them.
"If you'd be so kind as to move out of our way. We'd like to keep going." I told them.
"They're pretty cute for mice." the brunette with the mustache told his blonde friend.
"How old are you anyway?" the blonde asked. "You live around here?"
"Leave us alone!" Sophie ordered sternly.
"I don't think either of those answers are your business." I told them as Sophie continued to back away slightly behind me now.
"You see? Your mustache scares all the girls." the blonde joked with his friend.
"Not this one and the other looks cuter when she's scared." the brunette told him smiling.
"There you are sweetheart, sorry I'm late." I heard a familiar voice say from behind me. Show time!
