Howl's POV

"Kiss me?" How could I hesitate when Sophie asked me? I looked around to see that nothing could happen and slowly moved closer to her. Our lips brushed against each other and she squeaked, whether out of excitement, or her being scared I'll never really know. The next moment she flung herself onto me, something I would never have expected from my little Sophie.

"Darling, we have all the time in the world." I spoke quietly in her ear but she still placed small kisses on my face. She ran her fingers through my hair and I closed my eyes trying to remember all of this as if one day this is all I might have of her.

"We don't Howl… we don't have long at all. That's the thing I want you to remember me." She wined to me and I sighed to her and smiled. I reached up and pressed my left hand to her cheek and she nudged her head into my hand. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.

"Sophie, do you think I could ever forget you?" if I weren't the great wizard Howl, I would have started to cry. How could my dear Sophie think that I would forget about her? Did she really think that she was just another piece in the big puzzle I have created? Does she not realize she's the final piece to the puzzle? "Sophie you are the ending to my puzzle." I spoke quietly to her and she smiled at me, and tears started to pour out of her eyes.

"Howl, what do you do with a puzzle when you're done with it? After the last piece has been placed?" I looked at her and turned my head as I saw where she was going with this.

"You, well you let it set there a few days- and then, you crumble it all and put it back in the box." I let a tear fall from my face.

"I'm going to die Howl, we can't stop the inevitable. It's going to happen today, tomorrow, or maybe not for years to come. You and I will die though, we will no longer have each other in body, but we are tied together by a much more powerful thing. Howl, we're tied together by out love for each other, our spirit, our hope."

"Sophie I can't let you die!" I looked at her and she just shook her head at me. Climbing off at me and standing up holding out her hand to help me up as well, but I just shook my head and continued to lay in the grass staring up at the sky.

"You can't let this get the best of you Howl. You are a great wizard, and I was only a distraction in your way to greatness." I looked at her, my mouth hanging open in surprise as she turned to walk back to the entrance to the castle.

I lie there and watch her walk back into the castle as she turned around and looked at me once more before walking into the castle and slamming the door behind her, probably waking poor Markl, and surely sparking suspicion from Calcifer. I wanted to go back and console her, tell her we'd figure something out and that it would all be okay in the end, that we'd always be together and we'd always have each other to depend and count on. I'd be lying of course; there was no way that we could save her without risking her life in the first place, which would mean taking her away from me earlier than planned.

What had she meant when she said she was a roadblock in the road to me becoming a great wizard. Sure I create and learn spells but I was the same wizard I have been for so many years, I wasn't on my way to greatness. Actually I was on the opposite road before she came about and who knows where I would be without her. I could give up Cal. I could do it and make Madame Sulliman happy, but in the end that would kill… no slaughter the happiness of the others as well. Calcifer brings life and an odd form of fire demon love into this household and well the house would be dead without him.

I laid there for what seemed like hours looking up at the darker sky, wondering what I could do and finally I realized it, what I was going to have to do to save Sophie. And it required going to the opposite side of the world, well the wizard world, and it required a few of Calcifer's demon friends.