az: The plot lost me again... man... ahh well, expect lots of fluffs. Thanks for saying how cute this fic turned out. XDXD.
Disclaimer: I don't own Howl's Moving Castle nor the other adaptations of the novel. If I OWNED it... won't I not post this fic here? Characters and original excerpts from the fic are copyrights of Diana Wynne Jones and Hayao Miyazaki for the anime adaptation.
WARNING: It might be plotless... it might not. It might also be out of character... but please forgive me if I did.
Unspoken wish
In which they had a fight
Written by Azzie/Az aka Izumi Ishtar
'So--phie...', came a small whimper as she glanced towards the small bundle beside her. She sighed. Can't believe that she was younger than him by about eight years, she was practically acting as if she was Howl's mother! Oh... she thought, as her cheeks started to burn. That thought made her feel slight bit uncomfortable.
'What are you driving at--', she started to say as she was about to leave. But then she paused, for Howl was pulling on her skirts. Even in his sleep. She bent over to pull it away, as she heard faint sobs coming from him. 'Why you cheek... what's the crying for?', she muttered by herself as she wiped the tears from his face. Suddenly realization dawned on her. She had forgotten that Howl's cold had blown over a few days ago, yet she told Martha and Lettie that he was still sick.
Perhaps the last night's incident made her think that way. Howl had been looking very pale. Could this fever have been coming due to the fact that Miss Angorian had almost crushed his heart? She was a fire demon! And all that heat placed onto Howl's heart can't be too good. But what could this illness be then?
'Sophie... please don't go...', sobbed the child-like wizard again as Sophie looked at him annoyed. 'What--? I haven't--', she started to say as his tears started to flow freely again. '...please don't... leave me alone again...'
Sophie frowned at this as she ran her hands on his cheeks, brushing the tears away. 'Bothersome! Why do you think I--?'
She paused as she remembered that she had indeed planned to leave earlier. Leaving him, as well as Michael and Calcifer. A thought rammed through the back of her mind as she reminded herself that it was Howl who had arranged for all of her family members to come visit last Midsummer's Day. She grinned as Howl's pitying look flashed into her mind.
Howl's hair started to turn dark brownish as Sophie continued running her hands over his hair. 'Really... were you that alarmed when I said that I do not want to speak to you anymore? Silly, you must have not spend long time in the bath today, do you? Do you really loved me that much? You silly... slitherer-outer...', muttered Sophie as she amused herself with the thought.
'You're pretty useless... I guess. How you want to make me stay by your side... always! Hah! Next thing you'll be telling me could be that you're ill with heartache--!', she chuckled before realizing her words. There... the answer to her mystery! She glanced down anxiously as she looked over Howl's sleeping face. 'So, that was why--', she thought as the miserable face of him popped into her mind again.
'So that's why you were so miserable and making yourself ill for! It was all so dramatic of you...', sighed Sophie as she leaned into the dust-colored mattress and wrapped her arms around him. She chuckled as she noticed that there were less dust on the covers. 'Haha... maybe finally I could come up here and cleaned up this room. If ever I should stay here much longer. Can't have only this spot being dirty while the rest of it weren't...', she said as she closed her eyes to sleep.
A smile... lined Howell's features as the pair was swept into dreamland...
XXX
'Sophie! Good morning!', cried Howl as he rushed down the stairs. Calcifer, Michael and Sophie looked up at him as Howl grinned at them. Never did it came to him that he didn't greet Michael or even Calcifer. Sophie snorted. 'Had a pleasant dream? And it was evening right now, I beg your pardon. And lucky for you, dinner had just been done. Come sit here... you jolly old thing.', said Sophie as she showed him the chair as she sauntered around to get the tea brewed.
Howl sulked on the chair as Michael looked nervously at him. Who was that old jolly thing? He was not really that old!
'Are you really well, Master Howl? I was still so worried about you that even Martha noticed it and reminded me to take home some cakes for you!', he said as Howl cheerfully replied back, despite him feeling a bit sulky when Sophie doesn't seemed to be delighted to see him well. 'Of course! I had a great dream just now... made me feel so light! And I got this thinking... about the castle--', he paused as Sophie poured them tea and sit beside him.
'Oh? Fancy your illness went off so soon. What dreams were you having--?', asked Sophie so casually despite fearing that Howl might have had heard all of her mutterings by the bedside. Howl blushed as he avoided eye contact towards Sophie. 'Err... well, the dreams... mostly had you in it...', he whispered softly as Sophie and Michael had to strain their ears to hear him.
'Well!', he suddenly cried, changing the topic as the two jumped, '--about the castle, how about we make it fly? It'll be more fun to explore more places... other than have it roaming the Wastes all the time, and we could see places we never seen before!', he exclaimed as the rest of them looked at him aghast. 'Howl! If you think I could just let you--', cried Calcifer as Howl interjected him. 'Of course, we could always set it down once a while. Have Calcifer some free time of his own. And I think-- err, Sophie? I... could I-- err, I mean if you won't mind... I'd like to make these changes...', he said cautiously as he noticed Sophie's horrified looks.
He stuttered. 'I mean... even you must have been tired of seeing the Wastelands. We could still drop by the flower fields to sell our flowers, but half the time we could still find some more adventures. It won't be dull... and err... I don't think we gonna have it fly a lot anyway...', Howl added as an afterthought. He was... after all, afraid of heights. He knew Sophie was too...
Sophie noticed that Howl had indeed am pushing so hard to try convincing her to stay in the castle, to actually go this far. She could see the frantic look on him showing how desperate he was. Perhaps she had been too hard on him? By now, she knew for sure that Howl cared for her as much as she was for him, but was it too harsh to force him to admit it in front of her? He was a coward after all, a slitherer-outer most of the time.
She could imagine how hard it is for him to actually admitting his feelings to anyone. 'I don't care... it was your castle after all!', she said, before she could think. Oh no... she thought in alarm. This will certainly hurt his feelings! Judging from his looks, Sophie fearfully wait for the arrival of the green slime...
A full ten minutes passed as they waited in horror. Worrying if dinner will be ruined.
Surprisingly, it didn't come as grim-faced and pale, Howl rose from the seat as he started to head towards the door. 'It's okay... I understand... It was a stupid idea anyway.', he said as Sophie rose. 'Wait, Howl! I didn't mean it like that! I mean... it's your castle anyway so you shouldn't need my permission to do anything about it--!'
'It's okay...', said Howl again as if forced. 'You don't have to apologize... or make me feel better. I... you know, if you wanted to leave the castle, you..' His heart tugged painfully on his chest as he struggled to finish his sentence. '... you could... just go. I have no right... to force you... to stay...'
Sophie's eyes flared at the thought of it. How could he think she could just leave like that? Had he thought she never cared for him? Oh... him and his tantrums!
'HOWL! You--', she cried as she stormed towards him. She lifted her hand to spank him before seeing his sorrowful look. 'Howl... why would you think I'm going to leave you?', she asked gently as she lowered her hand. Howl looked at her morosely. ''Cause... you had wanted to, didn't you? The day before Midsummer's? If not because of the scarecrow...'
Sophie smiled grimly. 'So that's why you arranged for Fanny's arrival, didn't you? And telling Michael to bring Martha and inviting Lettie and Mrs. Fairfax...?', Howl nodded slowly as he spoke. 'I... don't want you to leave. I thought... if you meet them, you'd feel happy again... and, and... stay.', he said sheepishly. Sophie smiled as she embraced him. 'Silly coward...! I'd be damned if your real age was no more than twenty! You acted as if you're six! There's no way I'd find and loved another man who's as childish or lovable as you...'
'Then, you won't leave--!', asked Howl again as he still refused to let her go. 'Yes... I won't leave you. Or else it will not be living happily ever after... is it?', she said as they pulled apart. Howl chuckled. 'No...', he said as a grin started to form on his face.
'So... does it still hurt? Your heart? You know... you should take it easy now that you got your heart back. A heart really is a heavy burden--', she rattled as Howl shook his head. He wondered if he'd ever again feel complete without having to fight or hearing Sophie lecture him for hours. He felt so happy that he wanted to fly had he had real wings. 'It felt better... thanks to you. Ahh Sophie---! Let's go and eat ice creams! And chocolates and all! Calcifer--! I'll bring back some steaks and give some to you. Come Michael! Come Sophie...! Let's go!', cried Howl happily as he dragged Michael and Sophie towards the door. He turned the knob black-down before glancing towards Sophie, whose face creased at the mention of strange words as ice creams.
'Sophie... I love you!', he cried suddenly as Sophie's face turned scarlet.
o
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(TBC)
az: I wonder if I wanted to continue more of this story... and add some action in it. XD Blame all the chocolates and ice creams... XD
