"Do you like it?" she asked him.

Howl continued to stare at Sophie… at least, he thought it was Sophie. This girl stood in the middle of Sophie's room, smiling seductively at him. Her softly curled blonde hair hung over her shoulders and spiralled at the ends. She had deep blue eyes and a delicate complexion to match. Her lips were perfectly shaped and her facial structure was smooth, almost perfect. But it wasn't just her face – her entire body was different. Her waist had become smaller and her chest slightly bigger, giving her perfect curves. "Howl?"

"Who are you?" he said, still in shock.

She smiled, approaching him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm Sophie, silly!"

He continued to stare in amazement at her. She did look beautiful. But it wasn't Sophie. "What've you done?" he asked.

"Excuse me?"

"What've you done?" he repeated.

Sophie pushed herself against his bare chest, snaking her arms around his neck. "I thought you'd be happy, Howl. I'm beautiful now-"

"Answer my question, Sophie; what've you done?" he demanded, his voice cold and deadly.

She released him and shrugged. "I used that spell book to learn how to change myself for you."

For you, the words circled his head. How could she change herself for him? What was she thinking? Had he said something to make her feel bad about herself?

Knock, knock… "Howl? Sophie? Is everything okay?" Markl asked, pressing an ear against the door.

"Best leave them alone for now, Markl," Calcifer warned. "They're having fun alone."

"Calcifer!" Howl barked through the door. Sophie pulled his head close to her lips, making sure he couldn't easily free. "Sophie!" he protested, but that was about all he could manage for now. What's wrong with her? Sophie's usually the one to shout at Calcifer for saying things like that. Why is she suddenly being so forward? This isn't my Sophie anymore… he thought to himself, finally ripping her arms off of him and pushing her away. Howl grimaced to himself and left the room. Sophie watched him leave in confusion but shrugged, sitting in front of the mirror to fix her hair – though there wasn't really anything to fix about it.

Howl was grabbing all the ingredients from the table aggressively, still thinking of what Sophie had done. He snatched a frying pan from the cupboard, slammed it onto Calcifer and threw in the eggs, not caring how much of it spilt over the side. "Master Howl?" Calcifer asked. "What happened? What did she do? Wasn't she any good-?"

"Shut up," Howl growled, harshly. This was all his fault. He'd done something wrong. He upset Sophie enough to make her change her entire appearance for him. The kitchen table was stacked with dirty dishes; Calcifer was gathering quite a lot of ash and a load of book and bottles had fallen onto the floor but Sophie hadn't bothered to clean it up. What was she becoming?

"Howl?" Markl said.

"What?" he spat in reply.

"Um…" the boy began, unsure whether or not he should just be quiet. "… Is Sophie okay?"

"No – she's not okay. She's not even Sophie, anymore."

Markl gasped, glancing over at the door of her room. What did he mean by that? He ran over to the room. "Sophie? Are you okay?" he said, worriedly.

"Come in, Markl – I'm fine."

Markl slowly pushed the door open, creating a small creak, and stared in amazement. Who was this? "S-Sophie?" he asked.

"Yes?"

Is this really who I think it is? He asked himself. It had to be – she sounded like Sophie, just didn't look like her… what? "Is something wrong, Markl?" she asked him.

Markl quickly shook his head and ran out, shutting the door behind him. He rushed over to Howl in fear. "Who is that?!"

Howl shrugged, scooping the food into a plate and slamming it onto the table, throwing the hot pan directly into the sink before marching up to his room. Calcifer looked at the disturbed Markl. "So… what did Sophie do?"

"There's a strange woman in there! I couldn't see Sophie anywhere!"

Calcifer gasped, knowing exactly what was going on. "Master Howl! How could you cheat on Sophie?!"

"Cheating?" Sophie stepped out of her room.

"And this is her?! Sophie is much better!" the flame continued.

She smiled at him. "It's me, Calcifer – Sophie!" she said, turning around for them to see what she'd done. "I used magic to make myself beautiful!"

Markl and Calcifer didn't know what to say. This was to be the new Sophie?

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This is my Christmas present to you all! Sorry, it's short and took me a long time to get up here but hey! It's the thought that counts, right? I know… that sooo doesn't apply to writing…