Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book except for some names and small details references.

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First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

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Chapter 8: As the heaven cries.

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 "Sophie, you stay here."

Right after finishing the moving ritual, Sophie was ready to jump into that door, but not ready to hear what she had just heard. "Don't start with the 'It's dangerous' talk, Howl, I…"

"It's not what I was thinking. You are braver than I, remember? But I need you to stay here and make sure your sister doesn't give up. She needs her sister right now to give her strength." said Howl. "Markl, you also stay, I need someone who has magical powers to take care of the castle."

Howl changed the door switch to black and opened the door. A cool breeze came into the house, and Sophie could tell it smelled like flowers. Howl summoned his coat and an umbrella, "just in case it rains", he said.

"Well, I think I should go, if I'm not mistaken the prince is staying near my family's house, so I'll probably find him quickly."

"Howl." said Sophie.

"Sophie?"

"… It's nothing. Just promise me you will come back."

Howl wondered for a while about her words. "… I will."

And then no sign of Howl could be seen. He had stepped outside the castle.

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As he stepped outside that door, he could smell the flowers of that old garden in which one day his sister played with him. No matter how many times he changed that door, it always opened to the old windmill next to his house. The windmill smelled dust, and no one dared to touch it because they believed it was haunted. But Howl knew that no ghost lived there, the only spirit that could come outside of that door was his.

It was a cloudy day in Wales. The wizard closed the door of the windmill and looked around. The village didn't change at all since his last visit. He looked to the small piece of paper in which Prince Justin wrote his temporary address, and then looked to the biggest house of the village, located in front of the windmill.

"It seems no one is home… I guess I should go after the prince so."

The prince's inn was on the other side of the village. Howl knew why he had chosen such place. "This village is in the middle of nowhere… not many people know that the great wizard Howl comes from this little place." He thought, smiling. It was the perfect place for someone who needed peace… unless you were Howl. Because as he walked down the windmill's hill and turned to the left, he heard a very familiar voice.

"Howell Jenkins!" squeaked a girl with dark curly hair braided behind him.

Howl turned his head slowly, only to duck down in order to avoid a bucket of water. "M-megan?"

"Of course it's me! How dare you to come back?! Go away, wicked wizard!"

Megan was Howl's younger sister, and like his brother she had dark hair and bright bluish eyes. She was holding a broom, looking quite surprised and angry with Howl's presence. The wizard took the empty bucket and held it with his hands, quite scared of his sister. She was only one year younger than him, but Howl was always scared of his sister when she was angry.

"Megan, I mean no harm to you and mother, I…"

"Mother? Your mother is not here anymore, Howell." Said Megan, her grip on the broom was so intense Howl thought she would break it.

"My mother…? What? What happened to her?"

Megan sighed. "What happened? She is dead!" she said, struggling to not let her tears fall, trying to look strong in front of that person who once was her brother.

Howl, on the other hand, was hit by her words and let the bucked and his umbrella fall. "… Dead?"

"Yes. She is dead. And you are not her son, as I'm not your sister. My mother died two weeks ago. Your mother died when you left this house." said Megan, her cold voice dilacerating Howl's mind, soul and heart. His mother was dead. And it looked like she had hated him until the end, like Megan still hated him.

"She can't be…"

"Yes she is!"

"…I'm sorry."

His legs weakened, he knelt beside his old house, with his sister looking at him from the garden. The flowers were still there, but he could not see their bright colors, nor smell their sweet scent anymore. He could only see his sister, who looked back into his eyes as if he was a monster.

"Go away. You don't belong here."

"I'm sorry."

 He felt his self-control going away. A rational part of his mind told him that was dangerous, but the other part just wanted to let those tears fall like rain.

"And don't you dare to go to the graveyard! Let mother and father rest in peace!"

The skies became darker and Howl suddenly felt anger rising. "I've never harmed anyone."

"All lies!"

"Megan, I'm your brother!"

"I don't have a brother!"

"Fine, Megan! So forget about my existence!" Howl yelled, angry and frustrated, not only with his sister, but with himself. "My business here today does not concern you, anyway." Being a wizard was extremely dangerous for Howl. As his anger grew more and more intense he could sense the clouds becoming darker and he could feel the first drops of rain hitting his face. "Let's stop this before something worse happens."

 Hearing that, Megan looked terrified to her older brother. "What are you going to do?"

"I have to find someone."

"I mean the village… you are not… you are not cursing it, are you? I would never forgive you for that!" she said, backing away from her brother, trying to reach the house's main door.

"… You'll never forgive me no matter what I do. But I'm not cursing anyone… unless we continue this discussion. I cannot control my powers if that goes too far." Howl replied coldly, turning his back to his sister and getting his umbrella. "I can evoke the bad spirits when depressed, but I don't want to learn what may happen when I'm angry." The rain fell just in time, because he didn't want to let his sister see his tears of sadness and hate.

As he walked away of his old house he couldn't see his sister looking at him from the door. Only when he disappeared from her horizon she closed her door. That was the last time she would see his brother, because Howl decided he would never come back to Wales after what happened. He couldn't hate his sister, he only hated his fate, and he came to the conclusion, while walking towards that inn, that he would rather prefer to never see his family again then argue with his sister the way he did that day.

After one hour of walking in the rain, the wizard could finally see the small inn with its windows glowing with a yellow and gentle light. He had opened his umbrella some minutes after leaving his sister, but his hair and pants were already soaked, so when he entered the inn the owner quickly showed him the fireplace while searching for a towel. Howl was glad to be able to warm himself next to it, and also by the fact that the inn's owner changed. This one didn't know him, so he didn't have to worry about unwanted discussions.

The small inn was quite empty, except for an old woman and a blond gentleman who was having his dinner on a table not too far away from Howl.

"Edward?"

The young man turned his head towards the wizard and looked surprised. "Howe…" But Howl made a sign of silence and the prince shut up. "Don't speak my name here." He whispered, sitting on a chair in front of "Edward", who happened to be Prince Justin. "People here still think I'm the 'Hideous Wizard Howl that eats people's hearts'"

Understanding what the other man had meant, the prince quickly changed the subject. "How are you doing, my old friend? What a surprise to see you here in Wales. Would you like to have a drink?"

Howl was somewhat surprised by how sharp was Justin's mind and gave a friendly smile to support the acting. "Why, I would be delighted to."

The prince raised an eyebrow. To see Howl right there in front of him meant trouble, and the raven-haired man was in a dreadful state, even if he was still smiling to avoid suspect looks. Before he could even ask what brought him to Wales, or what happened, the wizard himself spoke:

"We have to return to Market Chipping. Your 'sister is ill', good friend." Howl said, hopping the prince would get what he meant by "sister is ill". He didn't want to let others know about their plans for the ball. He had time enough to learn that a woman is able to do anything to get what she wants. It was like that with the Witch of the Waste, and Madam Sulliman could quite well have sent spies disguised to this village. She was the one that knew more about Howl, even more than Sophie. Because he never discussed his entire childhood with Sophie, except for what she saw when she came to rescue him.

Prince Justin quickly got what the wizard meant and stood up and called the inn's owner. "Sir, I'm afraid I'll have to depart now. My friend here brought me some terrible news. It looks like someone from my family is very sick, I have to go now!"

"Oh, goodness!" said the owner.

"I think that pays everything!" said the prince, giving the old man a bag full of gold coins. "I really have to go and… oh, thanks for getting my suitcase."

Howl had gone to the rooms' floor and quickly summoned Justin's suitcase while no one was seeing. "Quick! She is gravely ill!" he said. Both gentlemen exited the inn and Howl guided the prince to the old windmill. He was glad to know that the prince followed his instructions and used a fake name so no one in Wales would suspect about him. It seemed that everyone thought he was just an eccentric nobleman who was tired to the great cities. The prince was also wearing some clothes he borrowed from Howl so he didn't look like "Prince Justin" at all.

"I just hope nothing had happened while we were away." said Howl while opening the windmill's door. He took a last glance of his old house. He could see smoke coming out of the chimney. That meant his sister was probably preparing dinner. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, but ignored it. Justin, on the other hand, felt that that house meant something to the wizard, but decided to not ask anything. He would respect Howl's privacy.

As he set one foot inside the windmill, followed by Prince Justin, he could feel the warmth of Calcifer's fire. The demon was there, half asleep. Sophie was probably with her sister and he could see Grandma, Markl and Heen sleeping on the sofa next to Calcifer, peacefully.

As he looked to the wood table in the kitchen in search for something to eat, he found a small piece of paper on a book. He grabbed the book and looked at the title.

"Waltz in 10 lessons?" he read. He then looked at the small piece of paper on his other hand and couldn't help but smile:

Don't forget to practice! You only have one more day!

Welcome back

Sophie

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Author's note: Sorry again for the late update, I've been having so many writing blocks that I've dropped my other fanfics. I tried to beta-read myself, but I'm really tired and I might have skipped one mistake or another. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. "First Waltz" is finally reaching the final chapters, so I would like to thank everyone who has been following this story.

Note: Megan is Howl's sister's name in the book, but his family relationship and this Megan are not related in any way with the book's original story.