Rule number six- A Best Friend will always take care of you

Sniffling miserably, Kiki rolled over and groaned. She hadn't felt this terrible since the cold she'd gotten last winter, and as her head pounded and her vision swam she mumbled complaints under her breath before pulling the covers around herself tighter.

Swimming in the lake so early into the spring probably hadn't been the best idea, but at the time Howl had reassured her that the two of them would be fine and wouldn't get sick. As Kiki waved her hands around half-heartedly, she caught her pet's attention. Looking the young witch over, Jiji said rather snottily, "Well if you ask me you shouldn't have listened to Howl. Just look at what's happened now."

Too sick to defend her friend, Kiki rolled an eye at her cat before moaning, "Jiji…."

"Alright, alright," the little black cat said in an annoyed voice before leaping off the bed and prancing towards the windowsill. As he leapt up onto the sill, he called over his shoulder, "I'll go get him, and as soon as you're better you owe me for this!"

Kiki just moaned in reply, to which Jiji gave a little switch of his tail before disappearing from her window. Not long after, her mother walked in and frowned. Walking up to the bedside, Kiki's mom looked down before placing a hand on her daughter's forehead. At the hot, feverish temperature she felt, Kiki's mom looked down at her daughter before turning around to heading down the stairs to make some soup.

Her mom hadn't gotten more than five steps down the stairs before the front door burst open and a wild-eyed Howl ran in.

"Kiki's sick?!" he panicked, and the old witch smiled before nodding up the stairs at her daughter's bedroom.

"Go keep her company while I make her something to eat," Kiki's mom instructed, to which Howl obeyed promptly by leaping over the staircase and disappearing up the stairs, bounding up two at a time. Kiki's mother just shook her head again before walking off to the kitchen again.

Upstairs Kiki's door burst open with a blast of wind as Howl ran in and stood at the edge of his friend's bed. Practically yelling, Howl said frantically, "Kiki? Kiki?!"

With a groan, Kiki rolled over and glared at her best friend. Frowning, she held her head in her hands as she muttered, "Will you shut up? You're not making my head any better with that racket!"

At her attitude, Howl's shoulders slumped in a sort of relief. He knew that if Kiki could talk to him like that she was just fine. Clenching his hands into fists, Howl made a mental note to get back at Jiji for feeding him a ridiculous story about how sick Kiki really was. Summoning her desk chair over to the bedside, Howl sat down easily and leaned in a little to feel his friend's forehead. At the temperature, he asked, "Aren't you burning up?"

"Mmmmm."

"Are you cold?"

"Hrnnnnn."

"Kiki, are you hungry?"

Finally, the young witch sat up and really glared at her friend before exclaiming, "Howl, I'm fine! It's just a cold." As she slowly lay back down in bed, Howl flicked his hand at the pillow, cooling it for her. Kiki snuggled a little more into her pillow, smiling before saying softly, "Thanks, Howl."

"Not a problem. Want me to feed you later when you're mom brings the soup up?"

Kiki turned her face a little to grin at her friend before joking, "Nah. Last time you tried that you got more soup on the floor than in my mouth, remember?"

Howl pouted before saying, "It'll be different this time…Besides, you're always taking care of me, so times like these are the only times I can ever take care of you."

Kiki just smiled before allowing Howl to take her hand. She felt his hand squeeze hers, and instantly a cool sensation seemed to fall on her sweaty skin. Her head already lolling to the side as she fell asleep, the last thing Kiki remembered was Howl's hand slipping out of hers and his voice saying something distantly.

When Kiki woke later, Howl was still sitting by her bedside, keeping the soup warm for her. At the sight of his friend up, he brightened before tying his long hair back with a bandanna and scooping up a generous helping of soup from the pot into a bowl nearby. With a flick of his finger, he kept the spoon stirring the soup and he scooted closer with the bowl.

"Ready to eat something?" he asked cheerfully, and Kiki grinned before tugging at the bandanna.

"New fashion statement?" she teased, and Howl turned red a little before protesting, "I just don't want my hair to get in the way, that's all. Now are you going to eat or not?"

"Yes mother, I'll eat, "Kiki laughed before taking the bowl carefully from her friend. As she ate it, she began to feel even better than she had before and she looked curiously at the soup. Wondering aloud, she said, "Did my mom put one of her potions into this?"

At this, Howl gave a secretive smile before leaning in a whispering, "She did, but I made it even better!"

Instantly, Kiki was a little on guard as she asked, "…what did you do?"

Howl just winked, and Kiki looked back down into the bowl before deciding that it couldn't have been that bad or she would've already thrown up by now. Spooning in more soup, she polished off her first bowl quickly and was well on her way into the second bowl when Howl finally fessed, "I might have added a little bit of a potion to it myself."

"Really? What you put in here?"

"Well Wizard Crowe had this new stuff…it's like what your mom usually makes except he did something to it to give it a little bang. I sniffed it and it seemed okay so I put just a drop in."

Kiki growled, "What am I, a guinea pig?"

Howl laughed before patting her on the head fondly and saying, "He wouldn't have let me take a sample if it wasn't safe. I wouldn't swipe potions, you never know what could go wrong if you don't do them properly. That's why spells are so much easier, you don't have to be completely exact to do it correctly."

"You're just lazy," Kiki pointed out.

"Yeah, that too," Howl agreed, before taking the bowl from her hands. "Are you going to sleep again?"

Kiki smiled before settling down again and asking, "Could you cool my pillow for me again?"

Howl just smiled before Kiki felt the same sensation as before spread across the fabric, and she gave a contented sigh before falling asleep once more.

When Kiki woke up again, it was the middle of the night. As she stretched, she felt so good that she cast her covers off, ready to get up and walk around and stretch her legs out. She was so eager to get up that she failed to notice Howl's sleeping figure by her bed, and accordingly she smacked into him sending him tumbling off the chair he'd been asleep in.

"Kiki?" Howl's voice whispered from the dark. "What's wrong? Did you need to go to the bathroom or something?"

"What? No, I'm better! I just wanted to stretch. Besides, what are you doing here anyways?"

Howl grinned, as Kiki shook her head with a smile of her own. The young witch was sure that her mom had kicked her friend out earlier but he'd probably snuck in her room through the window to sit with her all night while she slept.

Reaching out to give him a hand up, Kiki pulled Howl to his feet and the two grinned at each other as Kiki said, "Thanks for staying with me. You're a good friend."

Howl just smiled as modestly as he could before he grinned and said, "Well, since you're better now…"