Prologue

"Kira, come on!" A young boy was laughing as he ran around in the meadow.

"I-I'm coming! Hold… hold on! I'm not as fast as you, Howl!" a girl just as young chased after the boy, occasionally tripping over her long dress.

The boy stopped at the edge of a lake, cupping a hand over his eyes to block the sun. He grinned and looked back at the girl who had finally caught up with him. She was panting for breath, but equally happy. Their masters had given them the afternoon off and they chose to spend it at Howl's secret hideaway. But the afternoon was also a somber affair… Kira had some news for Howl and she knew he wouldn't be happy.

"Look, Kira! Father says there are sure to be shooting stars soon. We'll have to ask if we can come out one of those nights to see them." The boy was so childish in his giddiness. It was something his master was constantly scolding him for. Even at his young age, his master thought he needed to be more responsible.

"Howl, Howl, I don't think I'll be able to come again for some time…" the girl said quietly. Howl either didn't hear her, or ignored it in favor of happier topics.

"We can have a midnight picnic by the water! You can make those small pastries like you used to and—"

"Howl." Howl stopped, stunned by Kira's sternness. "Howl, my master is making me go away. He believes I have learned all I can from these lands. He is sending me away tomorrow." She looked down, upset.

Howl was quiet. He was shocked—his best friend was leaving him… anger clouded his mind as his childishness overtook his thoughts. "Well leave, then! I don't need you!" He shouted at her. she jolted back from his words.

"You don't mean that, Howl… surely. I'll come back as soon as I can!"

"I don't want you to come back. I don't need you." He turned his back on her and pouted. Kira looked down, but wouldn't give up.

"Howl… I promise you, with all wizards and witches before us as my witness, I will come back. If I could, I would never leave." She walked up to him and placed a hand on his arm. He tensed, but didn't break away from her touch.

He glanced at her briefly before looking away once more. After a moment, he flung himself at her and together they cried. Their matching black hair tangled together as they wept. Kira's name was called and they knew it was time. They looked at each other's shining, wet eyes as if memorizing each other.

"Goodbye, Howl. I love you." Kira's words were childish in meaning, but true nonetheless.

"I won't ever forget you, Kira. Come back soon, k?" Howl sniffled. Kira's name was called once more, sterner this time. Kira broke away from Howl and turned to her master. She never looked back in fear of running back to Howl and disappointing her master. He took her hand and drew up a portal. At the final moment, Kira looked back at Howl and waved goodbye one last time.

When the portal closed, Howl forgot his promise to remember Kira. A memory blocked by a fearful master. He wouldn't remember Kira for many years.

Kira and her master entered their new dwelling for the next several years. He was an angry man with angry manners. He was selfish and jealous. But his affections for his young ward were true. He raised her when her own parents left her on his steps. But he knew he was failing and his health would leave him—likely in that very night. He knew he had to do something to keep her safe.

Looking at his apprentice's sad face, he took a breath and beckoned her over. "Kira, I can no longer train you."

Kira looked up in shock. "B-but master, you said we were moving so I could learn more!"

"Yes. A lie. Something you will one day understand. You are unsafe. I must protect you, my child. I am no longer fit to provide you the safety I once did. Kira, hear my words: From this day, be bound by these bars. Your magic fail you, your voice be taken. These bars shall hold, these bars of gold." As he spoke, the man raised his hand, a glow pulsing around it.

Kira felt herself shrink into her small, canary form. The man slowly closed his open fist and Kira saw golden bars appear in a loose, cage shape. She attempted to move and fly away, but couldn't speak or budge. As the man finished speaking, the bars solidified and the gate was closed. The man nodded and stood to do who knows what, but doubled over in pain. The old man appeared older than his age and crumpled to the ground. His eyes grew wide.

"I have broken my oath… forgive me, Kira… this curse… this curse will… break… by one… without magic." His words were finalized with a flash of gold in his eyes. Eyes that slowly dimmed to nothing.

Kira flapped around and tried calling out, but could only whistle and screech.

For days, Kira mourned in silence as a bird. For a week, she was alone in the cage, in the room with her dead master. After so long, the house was finally checked and the valuable belongings were poached. Kira was left alone. Canaries were common and not worth a lot. They tried to take her cage, but her master had suspected that and made sure only one of pure intentions could take the cage from the ground.

Two weeks and on the brink of death herself, Kira was found by a kind man with mouse brown hair. He saw her, nursed her back to health in his hat shop, and showed her kindness. When she regained her health, the man took her home and presented her in her golden cage to his eldest daughter. A girl named Sophie. Sophie was so kind to the bird. She named her Melody and treated her with the same kindness as her father.

Melody would remember little of her life before this as she would be caged for years before her curse was finally broken. Her only solace was the kindness of Sophie, which only deepened after her father died, and the memories of her childhood friend. Whose green eyes filled her dreams.