AN: I've never written for Howl's Moving Castle before, so please be gentle. I'm not entirely certain if this is going to have more points from the Anime or from the Book, but who knows. It's AU, but have pity on me. Once again, this is a first time thing, and if it goes well, I'll continue it. If it doesn't...well, I'll probably just leave well enough alone.

Disclaimer: I dun own Howl, Sophie, or their castle. Please don't sue me, I have mouths to feed.

Mist and Mysteries

By: Chibi-no-Oneesan

Chapter Four

Over the next week, Sophie terrorized Calcifer and Michael alike, brutally cleaning her way through the entire castle. She spent three days on the bathroom. On days when it rained, she whitewashed the walls and ceilings. However, it was rather evident to the other two occupants in the castle that Sophie and Howl were avoiding each other like the plague.

It was extremely uncomfortable during the end of the week, when Howl had decided to give chasing whatever girl he was courting in Upper Folding a reprieve. Sophie and Howl spoke fewer words to each other than meals they ate.

Michael had taken to visiting Martha during the day to avoid the uncomfortable living environment of the castle.

Which stuck Calcifer to play referee.

"You two are worse than a married couple." Calcifer said to Howl one day. The wizard forgave his long-time friend much easier than he forgave this woman/girl who seemed to have him on edge all the time.

Howl glared at Calcifer, whose head was currently bent under a pot of boiling water. "You're my friend, aren't you supposed to be siding with me?" He asked, letting out a huff of annoyance.

"I'm her friend to, and she asks for things nicely." Calcifer stuck his tongue out to emphasize his point. "Why are you two so snippy with each other, anyways?"

The wizard dare not answer that question. Especially when he didn't know the answer himself. He rarely got annoyed with anyone, and yet this mouse turned dragon managed to get under his skin in all the worse ways. "She said I was heartless." He mumbled, frowning. "Do you think she's figured out our contract?"

"I don't think she was speaking literally." The fire demon pointed out. "You do tend to pick on her a lot, as well as me, and I really think you just pushed her too far that day. You know, she made the water undrinkable?"

Howl paused, looking down at Calcifer. "She what?"

Sophie swept into the room at that point from her small alcove, saw Howl standing by the stove and froze, then stiffly strode across the room, threw the door knob to green and strode outside. Both Howl and Calcifer watched her go, and the wizard shook his head. "I see what Lettie meant." Howl muttered. "That girl's anger is a living thing..."

"Lettie?"

When Howl realized he'd spoken aloud, he mentally cursed himself. That was a little something he'd been keeping to himself. "Lettie Hatter. Our Dragon-Lady's younger sister." He poured some oatmeal into the water and stirred it, sighing heavily. "Turns out, they're from Wales. Interesting, isn't it."

"Wait a minute...you've been seeing her sister all this time?!" Calcifer jumped up, almost knocking the pot off the stove. "Sophie is going to kill you."

Howl smiled a bit. "That thought has occurred to me, of course. Lettie and I are not involved. She considers me a friend and I..." He pondered how to put this delicately. "Am getting valuable information." He said finally, getting one of the clean tea cups down and finding some of the English Breakfast Tea he 'imported' from Wales.

Calcifer was staring at him. He could feel the fire demon's gaze on his back as he prepared his tea. He'd just taken the first sip when he spoke. "Are you falling for Sophie?"

The blunt question caused the tea in Howl's mouth to spray out and across the room. Painfully slowly, he set the cup on the table and turned towards the fireplace. "Excuse me?" Howl asked evenly, as though he hadn't bathed several spells both he and Michael were working on with tea.

Calcifer leaned towards him, a suspicious expression on his face. "Are you falling in love with Sophie, Howell Jenkins?"

Use of his given name caused him go swallow uncomfortably. "Don't be ridiculous, Calcifer. You know I don't have a heart." He said calmly. Then, he found a rag and mopped up the mess he'd made. Better that Sophie didn't see the mess he'd made when she returned. They were having enough trouble living in the same castle and not tearing each other's throats out.

Calcifer watched with distinct interest as Howl cleaned his mess. This was not typical behavior for Howl. Then again, Howl had been acting rather suspicious for about two weeks, since a particular foray into Wales on May Day. The fire demon kept his observations to himself, however, sensing a great deal of turmoil in the heart he held. It was as if Howl was unfamiliar with whatever it was he was feeling, and it was making him snippy.

Howl had always kept his heart carefully guarded, it was part of the reason they'd wound up with this contract. Howl offered to keep Calcifer alive in the way that humans lived. Howl seemed to think it would keep his heart guarded and safe. He thought he'd given up his ability to feel.

He was pretty daft for someone so intelligent.

Howl had settled down to work on some papers when Sophie reentered, looking old as ever.

Both Howl and Calcifer had noticed she hadn't shown her young face since the day of their argument. They had even discussed it quietly, trying to figure out why none of Howl's attempts to counter the curse seemed to be working. Calcifer had come to the conclusion that it was that Sophie was hanging onto that old face the same way Howl hung to the contract. It was a form of protection. It protected her from something.

She noticed Howl leaned over the table and turned towards Calcifer, who was looking at her expectantly. She moved over and saw the pot of oatmeal now burnt, still sitting on the fire demon's head. She sighed in impatience, wrapping her hand around the pot handle and lifting it off the poor over-worked demon's head.

"Are you two ever going to talk to each other again?" the fire demon asked impatiently.

Sophie walked to the fire, feeling two sets of eyes on her back. The cross voice of the demon made her cringe a bit and for the first time since she'd been cursed, she felt like a mouse again. She felt even more like a shriveled old woman. She turned towards Howl, her face neutral. He was looking at her with an equally neutral expression, as if not certain what he should expect. "I'm sorry I called you heartless." She said quietly. "It was quite rude of me." Then she turned back towards the dish.

Howl looked towards Calcifer and saw him looking at him with a scowl. He gulped and knew that if amends were not made on his part as well, his share of dinner would be burnt each night. "You weren't the only one who made an ass of themselves." He conceded. He heard her movements still and focused on the transport spell in front of him. He glanced up and saw her eying him with a wary expression from the corner of her eyes. "I'll make a deal with you, Sophie." He said, lacing his fingers together and arching an eyebrow. "I will attempt to be more polite if you will."

She returned her gaze to the sink. She wasn't certain how she was supposed to answer that. "Usually I'm very polite." She mumbled, chewing on her lower lip. Yes, she certainly felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Her joints were aching and she was pretty certain that she head a bad case of indigestion.

"Is it a deal?"

The sound of his voice made her turn back towards him slightly. He was watching her closely. She schooled her expression, hoping that he wouldn't notice how much pain she was really in. "Fine." She said quietly. Then, she turned back to the sink.

Howl watched her back, noting she was hunched slightly in on herself. Damn, the woman was infuriating. When she wasn't playing Dragon-Lady, she slipped back into her Mouse mask and it seemed she was refusing to let anyone know her. Not that he had any room to talk. Calcifer knew him, but Calcifer held his heart. Michael only knew what Howl let him know and Sophie...

She was Sophie.

He shuffled the papers, stacking them on the corner of the table and walked past her, resting a hand on her shoulder. He eased some magic into the grasp, knowing it would ease the physical discomforts she was trying to hide. "Fine." He agreed, then turned towards Calcifer.

The fire demon was looking at him, wearing a suspicious expression. He returned his hand to his side and gave Calcifer a look that told him of the dark evil things he'd do to him if the demon said a word. "Would it be too much trouble for you to heat some water?" He managed to bite out. God, this deal was going to choke him. He'd have to start taking baths before she got up or after she'd gone out for a walk or something so she wouldn't hear him order the demon.

Calcifer sneered. He could say no. He could easily say no. But blue-green eyes turned towards him from the sink and he cursed. If he treated Sophie nice when she asked politely, he'd have to do the same for Howl. "Yeah, yeah. Right on it." the fire demon muttered, seeing Howl smirk at him. The bastard would know the mental struggle he was having.

It was with a definite spring in his step that Howl disappeared up the stairs.

When Sophie had finished the dishes, she pulled out a scarlet and gray suit she was darning and began to work, sitting close by. "I still don't know what connects you and Howl." She said, a bit guiltily.

He sighed. "I wasn't expecting you to get it right away." The demon confessed. "I can't tell you right off, but I'll drop some hints." Have been anyways, he thought darkly. He looked towards her and saw Sophie looking out the window, a far-off look in her eyes. "Hey, you okay?" He noticed her rubbing her chest a little.

"Just some indigestion..." She said in a distracted manner. Yet, there was a look in her eyes that said she was feeling older than usual.

Calcifer saddened a bit, wondering if Howl realized that she was the main reason he couldn't usually see past the illusion and why he couldn't break the spell himself.

And he couldn't tell Howl either.

Because he'd promised Sophie not to tell Howl the nature of her curse.

Dammit all.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Howl looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. He didn't know what to do about that woman. She was about as stubborn as a midsummer day was long. And she seemed to be able to hold a grudge forever and about two extra weeks. Then again, if she felt a fraction of the tension when he was around that he did when she was, it wasn't a big surprise that she was going to get a tad bit bitchy.

Upon inspection of his roots, he noticed that there was a faint tinge of black developing close to his scalp and he sighed. He reached towards his trusty hair bleach and began to apply it.

By the time he was finished bathing, it should have removed that pesky black color.

So, he rinsed his hair with it and went over to the tub, climbing in among the scented bubbles. He had to admit, having Sophie around had it's benefits. First, the bathroom was clean for the first time in almost two months. In addition, he knew that she was safe from the Witch of the Waste. Cursed, but safe still.

From the information he'd managed to gather from Lettie, the girl always had a temper, but usually kept it tightly leashed. It took a lot to set Sophie off. She was the calm one, the rational one. The practical one.

Yes, he had certainly gotten that impression from her. He was also beginning to think she had a severe case of obsessive compulsive disorder, which had never been dealt with. He'd also observed that she seemed obsessed with keeping herself busy. When she wasn't cleaning, she was darning something. She'd also managed to find a stash of money he didn't know about and would go to Market Chipping to buy food, and during one trip, she arrived back with a bag of yarn and knitting needles.

During one of the mornings she'd been cleaning the bathroom, he'd decided to snoop and found she was in fact knitting something, but down at the bottom of the bag was a worn copy of Gulliver's Travels, which had somehow made it's way into Ingary.

It had made him smile.

During the days they weren't speaking, he'd spent his time quietly observing her, trying to understand what it was about her that made his skin itch. He was even more confused now than he had been before. It was like his guard was always down around her, like his control over himself and his life was slipping.

That troubled him greatly.

He prided himself on his ability to control whatever situation he was in, and took great pleasure in manipulating his way out of distasteful ones. This one was bordering on distasteful. But for some reason, he couldn't find it in himself to kick her out of the castle, and he found he was starting to enjoy the verbal and emotional confrontations. So, he'd either gone entirely mental, or he'd managed to get his heart back, because if he didn't know better, he'd be convinced he was falling in love with Sophie Hatter.

His eyes widened and he sat abruptly in the water.

Love?

That wasn't possible. Calcifer had a good grasp on his heart at all times, so he should be able to feel something like love. He shouldn't be able to feel love or hate or anything even resembling an emotion anywhere near that strong.

Yet...

He took a steadying breath, shaking his head. "No, there's a different explanation. There has to be..." He said, sinking back into the water. There had to be a different reason that he was starting to not notice so much that she looked like an old woman. There had to be a different reason that he was starting to see the face behind the illusion when the illusion hadn't wavered. A different reasons for the butterflies in his stomach whenever she walked into the room, whether he was annoyed with her or not.

Shit.

Howl sunk lower into the water, down to his nose, horrified. This shouldn't be possible. It couldn't be possible. But why else would these things be happening? It made perfectly horrible sense. He had never felt anywhere near this much irritation or frustration with any other woman he'd been with. He didn't compromise with them and when they started expecting him to, he'd walk away from them.

The idea of walking away from Sophie disgusted him.

"I think I'd like to die here and now..." He muttered, putting his face in his hands. He, the philandering wizard Howl, had fallen head over heals in love with his cleaning lady in the course of one week. One week where they'd barely spoken a word to each other. One week where if they had spoken more, they'd have likely torn the other's throat out.

With a huff, he drug himself out of the tub, wrapping a towel around his waste. Something was going to have to be done about this. But first, he was going to have to observe that girl more. He walked towards the mirror, grabbing his favorite shade of blond hair dye and looked in the mirror.

He froze.

Pink.

His hair was pink.

He looked at the bottle he'd used to bleach it and whimpered. Not bleach after all, then.

Then, Howl did the only thing that seemed logical at that point. He screamed in complete horror.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Michael had come in only a few minutes before that horrible scream echoed through the castle. It nearly gave Sophie a heart attack, and Calcifer nearly jumped clean off his embers. Michael felt a certain kind of dread and hid his face in his hands. "Dear god, what now?" He wondered.

He'd been relieved when he'd found Sophie in such a good mood upon returning from Wales, but he had a distinct feeling that that whole situation was about to go up in proverbial smoke.

He knew he should have stayed with Martha longer.

The sound of the bathroom door slamming open and shut echoed through the now silent castle, and it seemed like each footstep had been amplified to truly express Howl's fury. Feet appeared coming down the stairs and when Howl appeared it took a great deal of effort to not burst into stitches of laughter. He wasn't sure if it would be due to panic or amusement, but a look at Howl's face killed that urge.

There was an odd glazed look in his eyes.

Sophie, meanwhile, was only just managing to keep herself from blushing furiously. It was the first time she'd ever seen a man quite nearly naked as the day he was born, and Howl was an unfortunately fine specimen, with long, lean muscle and smooth, pale skin. She looked up at his face and her eyes traveled to his hair and she bit down furiously on her lip.

Howl looked down at them, seeing Calcifer wearing a worried expression, glancing from him to the only two who were able to go to the top floor. "Sophie, do you see my hair?" He asked, his voice deceptively calm. Inside, he was a volcano about to erupt. Vesuvius moments away from destroying the two cities below him. His hands flexed.

"What a pretty color..." She said weakly.

Inside, he almost felt pleased that she liked the color, and even more pleased that she seemed to be having trouble keeping her eyes on his face, but then he remembered that his hair was, in fact, pink. "Pretty?! IT'S PINK!" He yelled, storming down the last few steps. "This, THIS is why I didn't let you into my room or the yard! THIS!" He grabbed fist fulls of his hair, shaking it at her. "Why, why do you have to spend so much time meddling, woman?!"

Her upper lip got that stubborn set he'd become quite familiar with lately and her back straightened. "I was just organizing it. It's not like I ruined anything..."

"What do you call this?!" He cried, flopping into the seat she usually sat in on evenings. Damn her, damn her, why didn't she understand?! "It's hideous..." And by proxy, so was he, now. This was all her fault. If she'd just left well enough alone...

"It's really not that bad..." He could hear a twinge of irritation in her voice.

Only one thing he could do about this. It would have to go darker. That meant going to his original color. Dammit, he hated it. With a groan, he let his head hang to his chest, chin resting on his collarbone as he returned his hair to it's virgin, pre-dyed state. Ugly emotions welled inside him, but this time, he didn't even bother trying to stop them.

"Crap, Howl, get a grip on yourself! Hey! Stop it!" Calcifer sounded like he was going into a panic. "Sophie, make him stop!"

Sophie watched the hair darken to black and she wanted to blush. This color suited him better. Especially in his current state. "You should look now, it looks even nicer..." And not so much like straw...she thought mildly.

He seemed to fold farther in on himself as if he hadn't heard her. "What's the point in living if you can't be beautiful?" He moaned aloud, sinking deep into his dark thoughts and letting the emotional yuck rise to the surface in the form of slime. He hadn't slimed the place in awhile. It was about time for an emotional cleansing, he decided, letting go of his magic and hence his control all at once.

Why had she insisted on turning his entire life upside down?

"Come on, Howl, we can just dye it back..." Sophie heard the moan when she reached out to soothe him. Her lower lip trembled and she felt her own anger added to the mix of emotions running rampant through the room. Grief filled her and frustration bubbled up. "I've had enough of your childishness!" She yelled at him. "I hate you!"

Without another word, she spun on her heal and ran from the castle, out into the raining fields above Market Chipping. She fisted her small hands into fists and stood in the rain, tears hidden with the rain as it fell down her face. She held her wail of pain inside, staring out across the lake.

Damn him. Damn him and his emotional stupidity. He could have his little tantrums and yell at her, but she had to apologize when she yelled at him. How dare he treat her like it's all her fault. If he wasn't so vain, if he didn't dye his hair so much, if he'd read the damn label's, he wouldn't have made his hair pink.

Damn him.

"Sophie!" Michael's voice called to her. "Sophie, there's trouble!"

She turned and sighed. "What is it now?"

"The slime's going to put Calcifer out!"

It looked like she wouldn't get away just yet, anyways. With a sigh, she walked back into the castle. Damn fool of a man. The entire place was a disaster again. She had half a mind to make him clean it up this time. She grabbed a clean log from the wood pile and handed it to Calcifer, then looked towards Michael. "Go get water running in the bathroom." She said calmly. "If you wouldn't mind, Calcifer. This blazing idiot is going to need a bath..."

Calcifer looked towards her, seeing the resigned look on her face. He'd been worried that Howl had completely ruined it after things just getting better. He'd been worried that she'd run away and not come back, and considering the definite feelings of affection that everyone was starting to feel for her, that just wouldn't do. "Don't worry about it." Calcifer said calmly.

Sophie pushed the chair over towards the stairs. "Remind me, though...next time he decides to have one of these temper tantrums..." She paused, looking back at Calcifer. "That I should slap him." She gave Calcifer a warm smile and slipped her arms around Howl, helping his limp self up. He was still oozing green slime and created a snail trail as she carried him up the stairs.

The towel fell on the way and she managed to curb her curiosity and kept her eyes resolutely forward as she lugged him into the bathroom. "Not enough that you make a mess with your temper...that I'll have to clean up..." She huffed, biting her lip. "You had the nerve to make me feel like I was ugly. Your own damnable vanity caused this whole problem." She continued to mutter. "And now you don't have the guts to put your own feet under you and walk like a man..."

She found Michael waiting in the bathroom, a long scrub brush in his hand and an irritated expression on his face.

"Last time this happened was when a girl dumped him." Michael said bitingly. "He called in the spirits of darkness and slimed the place." He shook his head. "He suffers from a lot of faults, but his pride and his vanity are the two that are the worst..."

Sophie helped Michael ease him into the tub. "Don't be so hard on him, yet. It'll be better to wait until he's coherent enough to really let him have it."

It took them an hour to get him clean of the slime and another hour to coax him into a clean change of clothing, then Sophie went to work on the large quantity of green goo. She muttered dark things the entire time she was cleaning and Calcifer and Michael wisely stayed out of her way and didn't bring up Howl.

Later, when the mess was cleaned, she had time to sit down and think over a glass of warmed milk. In truth, everyone had their faults, even her. It really wasn't fair of her to blame the whole situation on him, when a fair amount of the blame rested on her narrow shoulders as well. It sounded from the stories that Michael and Calcifer told that he had a heaping helping of all seven deadly sins, but was she any better? They were both still human. As was Michael, who looked to have a helping of one or two of his own, and Calcifer was a demon.

Michael was now sitting at the table, working on a spell, and Howl was upstairs, likely still staring at the roof as he'd been when they'd left him there.

She pulled down a fresh glass and poured the remaining milk from the sauce pan into the glass, looking at Calcifer and giving him a tiny smile. "I'm going to go check on him." She said softly.

Both of the rooms other occupants looked up at her in surprise.

There were things that needed said that couldn't wait until later. Things that she needed to get off her chest and things she was certain he needed to get off his as well. She grabbed a slice of bread and cheese and set them on a plate and began walking upstairs. Everyone had their vices. Everyone had their problems. Everyone had their faults and merits in equal share. But Howl hid his protectively. She would love to see him let them shine.

Maybe that's why what he'd done had hurt so much. He'd taken a small step forward prior to his bath, and then, not an hour later, took two huge steps back. He could be nice when he wanted. She knew that. He'd been kind to her now and then. But more often than not, he behaved like a angry teenager, and she was about to do what any self-respecting grandmother or mother would do and turn him over her knee and beat some sense into him.

She took a soothing breath before knocking lightly on his bedroom door. "Howl, it's me, I'm coming in." She didn't ask. He might very well send her away, and she needed to do this before her irritation and anger gave way to the mouse that had been who she was for so long. She turned the knob and walked in.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

AN: Another chapter gone...I've been posting these furiously fast because I seem to be on a good streak with this story. Idea's popping up left and right. Sorry for the cliffy, but I really want to spend some time on Howl's thoughts after the whole ordeal. This chapter is dedicated to laurashrub, just because of the green goo.

Thankies to:

laurashrub: Here's that girlie tantrum you wanted. I really couldn't write a HMC fic without it, as it happens in the book as well. Hope you enjoyed.

Irin Black: I'm glad you like it, and believe me, I do understand your feelings about a great idea ruined by bad grammar. I've seen it a lot (especially in the realm of Inuyasha fanfiction), and it drives me nuts. I'm not as worried about reviews, because to be honest, a few good reviews (not just "OMG, lyke this is the best ficcie evar!!!!1111) are a lot better than a hundred reviews like the kind I just mentioned.

So thankies to everyone whose left me a review up till now. I'm still trying to decide whether I should end it with the official ending of Howl's Moving Castle, or if I should continue into the Castle in the Air storyline (in which case, I need to buy the book...). If anyone has recommendations, let me know!