A/N: Happy New Years. It's around nine hours before midnight where I'm from. And I wanted to update before going to a New Year's eve party. So here it is! In this chapter there's a new character. Actually the movie's plot is almost at the end. But this story will progress much further than the movie. I'm actually planning a new story for X-men. I'm not sure if I should finish this first or should I multi-task. Now onto the chapter!

Disclaimer: I only own my characters.


Chapter 10

"Heen, catch!"

Heen jumped and caught the stick that Markl threw. I chuckled as I saw Heen bounding towards Markl, already having affection to the young boy.

"Be careful with him, Markl. He's still an old dog." I called out. Heen looked at me and gave an angry wheeze. I only grinned at him.

I decided to go inside the house. I was pretty sure that Howl and Sophie was gone, already left to go to the garden. The smile fell from my face when I saw Howl and Sophie was still in the house. Howl looked at Sophie with a serious expression. He must have asked a question as Sophie furrowed her eyebrows in thought. Howl looked away to meet my gaze. A smile quickly appeared on his face.

"Rose, what do you think of the house?" He asked. I narrowed my eyes as I saw him whisper a few words to Sophie. My friend nodded and went to her room, sparing a glance at me.

"I thought you left." I replied, ignoring his question. He was supposed to be in the garden with Sophie!

Howl chuckled slightly, "You say it as if you wanted me gone."

"Well, you do disappear now and again." I muttered. Did I come in too early? Did I interrupt? I'm pretty sure they should've left by now.

"What were you talking about with Sophie?" I asked.

"I was telling her that I would like her to open a flower shop." He said. Howl's smile didn't disappear as he walked towards me. "Nice idea, right?"

I gave a shaky smile as he stood in front of me. "Fantastic…" I said.

Howl's smile grew brighter and he glanced at the door's dial. "I want to show you something." He sidestepped and turned the dial. I felt my heart dropped when the red on the dial switched to yellow.

He opened the door and I looked out to see a beautiful landscape. He reached for my hand and gently held it in his. I quickly pulled my hand away.

"I should check on Sophie." I backed away as I saw him frown. "She might want to see this too."

"Rose." He held my hand again before I could walk away. His grip was tight and I couldn't pull my hand. "It's a present for you. Come see."

I looked at him and hesitated when I saw his eyes. His eyes stared at me, pleadingly. "Okay." I replied.

He smiled softly at me as I followed him, hand in hand. The scenery was beautiful and – wrong. It felt really wrong. The beautiful flowers, the gentle breeze made me unsettled. We walked together in silence as I looked at anything but Howl.

"Rose." Howl called out, his voice became serious. We both stopped, my free hand clutched the skirt of my dress.

"Look at me." He said. Slowly I looked at him. I was the same height as Sophie even though I was a year younger. My height only reached up to Howl's shoulder.

"You've been acting strange. You act the same with everyone but with me, you act like I'm-" Howl paused for a moment. "Please tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." I answered. I tried to slip my hand out of his but he caught my actions and held both my hands.

"Is it about Akari?" He asked.

"No, it's not. I'm perfectly fine." My voice was shaking as I tried to pull my hands out of his.

"Is it Madam Suliman?" He asked.

"No!" I looked down, as I felt panicked. My eyes watered up.

"Is it something you don't want to talk about?" He asked much more firmly.

"I just want to go back inside." I ended up begging. His questions making it harder to breath in the situation.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong!" He replied.

"Like I said, nothing's wrong."

"Then why are you acting like this?"

"Howl, just let go! Please!" I answered.

"Rose, tell me!" He pleaded.

"It's you!"

Howl became quiet as I watched my hands shake. "It's all you…" I whispered. I slowly backed away as Howl's hands fell to his sides.

Howl's expression was unsure as he tried to process what's going on. "What…" Howl swallowed. "What did I do wrong?"

"It's not what you did wrong, it's me." I answered.

Howl let out a breath. "You didn't do anything wrong." Howl reasoned.

I shook my head. "I did."

"What did you do?"

"I made you fall in love with me. You're supposed to love Sophie." I answered. Howl gave out a shaky laugh as if I made an inappropriate joke.

"Rose, why would I fall in love with Sophie?" Howl asked.

"It's because you're supposed to." I said.

"I don't agree with that." He answered. I widened my eyes at him as he smiled. "You have to come up with a better excuse than that."

"But it's true!" I argued.

"I can't fall in love with Sophie." Howl gave a small shrug, " Even if I tried, I couldn't."

"I'm in love with you, Rose." He smiled affectionately, "Before you even first met me."

I let out a shaky breath when I heard his words. I held the side of my head and shook my head. "This is so wrong, this is all wrong. I took Sophie's place, I made a mistake."

He looked at me, softly. I stared at the ground.

"What are you talking about, Rose?"

He reached a hand to touch my cheek but I flinched away. I could no longer take this anymore.

"I'm not supposed to be here! None of this should have happened!"

"Rose, you're not making any sense." Howl said.

"It's because you don't know what I'm talking about!" I snapped.

"Then explain it to me." Howl demanded with frustration.

"But I can't!" I said. I ran my hands through my hair, messing it up. "I ruined everything, I messed up."

"Rose…"

"I don't want to change anything." I muttered to myself

I widened my eyes as I felt Howl embrace me. I couldn't help but smell his perfume. "Howl…" I started but he stopped me.

"Don't talk." He gently said. My heart raced when I felt him run his hand through my hair.

I heard him give a sad chuckle. "You were right." He said. "I finally found you yet I still have to wait longer."

I didn't understand what he meant by that.

He pulled away a bit. "Rose…" I flinched when his hand cupped my cheek. "I–"

Howl quickly looked away from me. His eyes narrowed in concentration. That's when I realized something. I followed his gaze towards an airship that was flying across the sky.

"What is that thing doing out here?" Howl asked, a frown on his face.

"More importantly, where's it going?" I replied.

"Still looking for more cities to burn." He answered.

We both heard another sound and saw another battleship passing by. I glared harder as I saw the ship held loads of bombs.

"Those stupid murderers." Howl said and I felt him wrap an arm around my waist, making me unsettled.

"We can't just let them fly off with all those bombs." He decided with a smirk. He held his hand outwards and swiped it across. Almost instantly, the wings of the ship got jammed, with only one pair desperately trying to keep the ship up. Alarms blasted from the ship and I could hear soldiers yelling out orders to one another.

I grinned at the sight before glancing at Howl's arm. Small feathers sprouted and his nails were black and razor sharp.

"We just had a misunderstanding and your already smiling." Howl teased.

"Uh oh. Here they come." He said with a joking tone. I watched as monsters flew from the ship. There was one at the front who pointed at us whilst yelling out orders.

"Those things are Suliman's henchmen. Let's go!" He grabbed my hands and we went off in a sprint.

"Faster! We need to take off!" He stated. Wings grew and feathers covered his body. We finally took off while I ran as fast as I could. I glanced back to see the monsters catching up before looking front.

"There it is!" I called out as I saw the door in my sight.

"Alright! You're going in." Howl answered.

"I immediately regret this!" I exclaimed. My fingers slipped from his grip as I ran and floated to the door.

The door opened and I crashed into the stairs. At that moment the door opened once more as Markl and Heen came in.

"Rose, are you okay?" Markl asked as Heen sniffed my face.

"Just… peachy." I said sarcastically as I ended up smelling Heen's horrid breath.


I sat on my bed in disdain. I stayed in my bedroom, telling Sophie that I need some time by myself. I was no longer sharing a room with Sophie and instead had my own room. The room was beautiful but every inch of it reminded me of Howl.

"I'm in love with you, Rose." He smiled affectionately, "Before you even first met me."

I glanced at the presents at the side of the bed. I slowly took one and opened it to find a dress folded neatly in it. It was a beautiful dress and the fabric was soft. I let out a smile. Wait… Pull yourself together, Rose! I reminded myself who got the clothes for me. I closed the box shut and placed it back.

I fell back onto the bed, sinking into the mattress. I sighed in satisfaction at the bed. The mattress felt warm and safe like the arms of– No! Don't think of that. I closed my eyes and hugged the pillow. I took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the brand new pillow. My eyes snapped open from the familiar scent.

I bolted straight up. "That stupid wizard!" I yelled out. Everything in my room has Howl written all over it. Am I seriously going to have to sleep in this room?

I jumped slightly when the door opened. Markl stood at the doorway in his sleepwear with Heen at his heels.

"Goodnight, Rose." He greeted.

I nodded slowly and gave a smile. "Goodnight, Markl." I replied.

Markl turned to leave but looked back at me. "Rose? Don't worry about Master Howl. Sometimes he likes to go away for days on end."

I smiled softly. "Thank you, Markl. I'm glad Howl has you and Calcifer to look after him."

Markl gave a modest laugh and went out. My smile disappears as he left. I can't sleep here. I got up from the bed and went out to say goodnight to the others. When I got down, I noticed that Calcifer and the Witch of the Waste were the only ones present. Sophie was in her own room, I guess

I quickly went past Calcifer to talk to the Witch. "Are you comfortable?" I asked.

The Witch smiled. "Yes. Your friend took good care for me. What a nice girl." She complimented.

"I see." I smiled. "Goodnight then."

I turned to walk away but stopped.

"You're in love, aren't you?" She asked.

I looked at her and opened my mouth to retort.

"Don't deny it." She said which made me close my mouth; "You have that sparkle in your eyes. The way your hands fidget. And that faraway look."

"For a witch with a horrible reputation, you sure know a lot about love." I retorted. But for some reason, I sat down at the edge of the bed.

"Well, I once was a respected witch." She quipped. "I was really knowledgeable about love. But you don't need an old witch to tell you that you're in love. This isn't your first time falling in love, perhaps."

I smiled. "I have experience with falling in love." I remembered about my past loves that all ended after a few arguments.

"What a disappointment. Here I was hoping it was a first. First love is one of the most powerful things I've seen." She sighed.

"Love is the most beautiful thing, especially what it does to people's hearts. Hearts get quite dull after a while." The witch said. "But when love comes in, the heart brightens up and filled with magic, like a newborn's heart. If I still had my magic, there's no telling what I'd do to your heart."

I shuddered slightly at the thought. I decided to ask an advice to her. "What would you do if you fall in love with a man but you know that he loves your friend and vice versa?"

"Does he love her?" She asked with a smile.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "No?"

"Does she love him?"

"…No."

"Does he love you?"

"Um…"

"Then, do you love him?" She asked with a knowing smile.

I stayed quiet, as her grin grew bigger. "The thing about love is that, it's quick to come and quick to leave. Take the chance, flower. Have a good night sleep." She advised.

"…Good night." I replied.

I walked off to talk to Calcifer. He had a grim look when he saw me.

"Rose…" He greeted.

"Calcifer." I replied as I sat in the chair in front of him.

We stared at each other in silence, not sure what to say next.

"When is Howl coming back?" I asked.

Calcifer gave a scoff. " Why are you so worried? Didn't you two have an argument or something? Stubbornness is what you two have in common."

I smiled slightly at how he already knew. "Calcifer, you have Howl's heart. Tell me, what does Howl feel about Sophie?" I asked.

Calcifer smiled slightly. "Either you already solved my hints or you already knew from the beginning."

"I know more than you think. I even know that I'm not supposed to be here." I said.

Calcifer chuckled slightly. "You're more involved in this than you think."

There it is again. Another person is contradicting what I say. "Calcifer, just answer my question." I pleaded.

"No matter what you do, it won't change the fact that Howl loves you." He said with a sigh.

"Is it because of what I did?"

"It's because of what you didn't do yet."

"That doesn't make any sense at all."

"An annoying person once told me something. I couldn't remember what it was. It was about time and stuff. Just wait and see. That's what Howl's been doing this whole time." Calcifer sighed.

"Well, you're no help at all. We need to get Sophie and Howl to fall in love. That's how your curse with Howl will break." I said.

Calcifer gave me a disappointed look. "Sure, if you say so." He muttered.

"I'm gonna say good night to Sophie. Good night, Cal."

He glared at me when I gave him a nickname. "Night, flower." He threw back with a smirk. I chuckled while he smiled and went to Sophie's room. Her room was next to the stairs while mine was upstairs.

"Sophie?" I opened the door slightly to see that she was sewing dresses.

"Rose!" She exclaimed.

"Your curse is slowly breaking." I pointed at how she looks few years younger. She smiled at me. I sat on the edge of her bed. She put down the dress and gave me a look.

"Did you have a fight with Howl?" She asked with concern.

"What makes you think that?" I lied.

"You've been ignoring him and when you came back, you didn't leave your room." She explained.

I nodded slightly before asking, "Sophie, what did Howl ask you?"

"He was very worried for you." She answered. "He thought he did something wrong and asked if I could try to find out."

"Was it something I said from last night?" She asked. I nodded.

She gave a gasp. "You love him!"

"What? No!" I quickly denied. "It's wrong anyways."

"But Rose…"

"I don't want to talk about it." I snapped. I closed my mouth when she stared at me in surprise. "I'm sorry. I didn't… I'm just tired."

Sophie stood up and gave me a hug. "It's alright, Rose. I'll always be here for you."

"Thank you, Soph." I returned the gesture before pulling away.

"Good night." I said which she replied back. I went to the door but stopped when she called me.

"Rose, just know that the longer this goes on, the more it hurts both you and Howl."

I nodded slightly and went to my room, where I was glad to finally sleep.


I opened my eyes to find myself in a room with a man. He paid no attention to me. I observed him. He had brown hair that was tied in a small ponytail. His black cloak shields him from the cold breeze that came from the broken window. I walked closer to him until I stood next to him. Even from being so close to him, it was if I wasn't visible to him. His blue eyes were filled with excitement as his porcelain white hand quickly wrote in his book.

I jumped when I heard the door slam open. A hooded figure walked in. Feminine hands appeared under the cloak as it pulled down the hood.

"Clara!" The man exclaimed. He rushed to the woman and embraced her while spinning around. Clara gave a melodic laugh at the action. While still in his arms, she leaned down and gave the man a kiss. I stared at his giddy face. So he's the wizard. He finally put her down, his forehead touching hers as he gave a content hum.

"It's been months since I've seen you. I was worried." He said with puppy eyes. She smiled at her love.

"My father had to hide me from the village head but." She paused for a while, which made me step closer in anticipation

"Chay, I have wonderful news." She said as she took off her cloak.

"We're going to have a child." She beamed as Chay stared in surprise at her stomach, which was now a small pregnant bump.

I gave a loud gasp before closing my mouth, only to remember that I'm not in this memory.

"That is… wonderful!" He said as he gave her a passionate kiss.

"I want to name the baby." He whispered as he rest his hand against the bump

Clara giggled. "Chay, they're not born yet." She said but humored him.

"If it's a boy, his name will be Aster." He said. I smiled at the excited soon to be father. This could be another clue to saving Clara and the baby. The ground suddenly shook which meant that the memory would end.

"Wait!" I screamed in panic. Not yet!

"If it's a girl…"

I ran towards them as the room started to dissipate. "Her name."

They were slowly disappearing.

"Will be-"

I fell into a never ending darkness.


A/N: And that's all in this chap. It's too short for my liking though. T_T. What do you think of the story? Did you like it? Have a great New Year's Eve! Happy 2017! Woohoo! Remember to review, follow, favorite this story but it's fine if you don't. See you next time!