When Calcifer heard the curtain of silence falling behind Sophie and Howl, he let out a deep sigh between his fiery teeth. There was no use to even try and go back to sleep, it would only be a matter of a short time before they'd be back to bother him again. He sighed anew. Humans. Why did their relationships have to be so complex and so complicated… with all this physical stuff that obviously was such an important aspect? Touching, kissing, and this lovemaking stuff that seemed to be so essential for married couples.

Out of curiosity, he had actually once taken a peek in one of his master's most secret books that did, in great detail, describe the art of lovemaking. But he, himself, harbored no such lust. To him, it just seemed to be a very inconvenient… well, almost disgusting way to reproduce. And the fact that humans were often doing it just for pleasure, without any intentions of creating an offspring… now, that was way beyond his understanding. Particularly when it also seemed to stir up a lot of contradictable emotions in its wake.

But who was he to voice any opinions on this matter. He was only a fire demon… or merely a very faithful servant, never questioning an order. And yet… they all seemed to want to confide in him, as if they expected him to have all the answers.

"Calcifer… I think I just did something very stupid… Sophie will never forgive me for this… what should I do…?"

"Oh Calcifer… I'm so worried about Howl… was I too hard on him?"

As a shooting star, all you needed to do to expand your mass and mental abilities, merging into a fire demon, was having a human volunteer to share a physical organ or a limb with you. In fact, a heart would do… or a pair of eyes, or even a braid. But Calcifer had come to realize that even those who had once shared such a connection with him would never fully grasp it. And while he had always been reluctant to admit it to himself, he did, well… appreciate the humans of the Moving Castle so much that he was willing to do his best to try and adapt to their lifestyle.

But the most significant thing about humans was definitely their inability to be honest about things. Of course, Howl was a master of the art of slithering away from the truth. But he had noticed the same behavior in almost every human he had ever met. Even Sophie sometimes tried to "refine" the truth a bit when she was afraid that it would hurt. Since everyone always seemed to see through these kind of lies anyway (and then turn to him for advice as soon as the others had left the room!) he had sworn to himself that he would always stick to the truth, no matter how inconvenient it was. To his surprise, this strategy never worked. Instead, they would accuse him of being rude and provoking…

Suddenly, his musings were interrupted by the sound of the invisible curtain opening up, and he could hear Howl's bare feet on the staircase landing. "Hey… Calcifer!" he said in a loud whisper.

"If your intention was to wake me up, why are you whispering?" Calcifer sighed.

"Eh, I… eh, sorry…"

The fire demon snickered softly. "So?"

"Well," Howl continued, now in his normal voice, though still a bit winded. "I'd need some hot water for our… err, my, eh, the bath…"

"Well, well, well…" Calcifer clicked his tongue. "What a perfect ending for such a splendid night. Sophie must be so pleased. Markl put to bed on time, after a very nice and healthy dinner, cooked after her instructions. The house spick and span… and you even finished that dreaded letter for the court, after several weeks of nagging. And then… well, to sum it up… I'm sure she got all she could ever wish for, and even more. And now, here you stand, wearing nothing but your birthday suit… begging your obedient servant for some hot water to round things up in the best way possible…"

"Cal… how…?"

Calcifer could hear the momentary panic in the wizard's voice as he was moving around, as if he was trying to cover himself up. "Aw, come on, Howl. I'm not stupid." He rolled his eyes.

"Calcifer, please…"

The fire demon snickered anew. "Calcifer this, Calcifer that… little does she know…"

"About what?" Howl inquired. "What do you mean?"

"Only… If I were you, I'd really try and stick to my word to keep up and finish things on time, and keeping my promises… to everyone in the family, including your loyal servant… or else, some day, my tongue just might slip, and I might tell her everything about what really happened on this fateful evening, including whom it was that kept reminding you of your 'schedule'… every other minute or so…"

Calcifer could almost hear the wizard paling. "Don't you dare!" he gasped.

"You know I do."

"All right… all right…" Howl sighed, and Calcifer could hear the desperation in his voice. "I'll do my best to keep my word. Just don't tell her… please…"

Calcifer laughed anew. "I'll try and keep my mouth shut. And get you some hot water. And then… well, some sleep would be nice…"

"Good night, Calcifer. And thank you."

The fire demon merely nodded as he heard the curtain shut behind his master… but only a few seconds later, it opened anew. "Oh, Calcifer!" Howl cried. "Don't make it too hot. We… I'd like to soak for a while!" Then the curtain shut anew.

The fire demon rolled his eyes and flailed his arms in frustration. Some things would never change.

–––

Sophie pushed the wooden doors to the balcony open and let the cold night air caress her burning, naked skin. She still felt Howl's presence in every part of her body, his love for her still lingering in the air, like the touch of his kisses on her skin, and the tingling sensation in the most secret of places… and those eyes… This was the most powerful magic she had ever experienced… though it was not of the kind that Suliman could ever control.

How was it even possible to love someone this much? And to have him love her back… even doing everything in his power to try and correct his flaws, just for her…

She took another deep breath, feeling warm tears running down her cheeks. They were, however, not tears of sorrow.

The castle was flying slowly, just a little bit above the clouds that were rolling underneath them like a giant field of cotton in the bright light from an almost full moon. Far away, she could see the vague shape of some mountain tops. Suddenly overcome with laughter, for seemingly no reason at all, she turned around, looking toward the hallway. Where was he? He'd said he was just going to ask Calcifer for some water… what took him so long?

Turning around again, she shook her head, her hair flowing in the breeze. Maybe they were having an argument. Her mental vision of a naked Howl trying to argue with a sleep-deprived Calcifer made her giggle. Suddenly, a particularly cold breeze sent a shiver through her spine. She was really looking forward to that bath now, once again feeling the presence of Howl's body next to her… warm and alive. Alive.

Just a moment later, she heard his footsteps approaching again. With a last, deep breath and a sweeping look over the dreamlike landscape, she turned around and headed for the doors.

There was a strong scent of autumn in the air.

-FINIS-

or in the vulgar tongue

-The End-