Lona ushered the children inside as Calcifer and Gwenda joined Kenta outside. Lona slammed the door behind them, though three curious pairs of eyes huddled around the window to watch this striking event occur. None of them had ever witnessed a Night of Falling Stars, and for an amateur magician like Wynne, this was not a moment to waste.

It was a painful reminder to Calcifer as he stared in a fearful awe of the stars in their plummet. The black sky grew darker as dozens upon dozens of glowing lights shot toward the tallest mountain in the Wastes - Seren Saethu. They were a symphony in a tragic flight toward an immediate death.

A death he averted all those years ago.

Gwenda moved her eyes between the display of falling light and the star she fell in love with. She saw the mixture of pain and anger and desperation in his eyes, the way he looked at his brothers and sisters in the sky on their way to a bitter end. She could only imagine the turmoil that tore him apart inside.

"Calcifer..." She rested a gentle hand on his shoulder, but he pushed it away. He took several steps forward and tried to keep his gaze away from the tragedy, but even he couldn't help but watch the magnificence of the stars.

And then he thought of that night. His Night of Falling Stars. A greedy wizard, even in his youth, with a diabolical plan to abuse the power of a selfish star. Even though the Magicians' War had ended and balance was restored, Calcifer wasn't so naive as to think there weren't magicians out there - or even humans - who would take advantage of another star just desperate for a second chance.

He tightened his fists until his knuckles turned white. "I'm going up there."

Before Calcifer could enact a transportation spell, Kenta stopped him. "You can't. Seren Saethu isn't safe right now. I know how you feel, but you have to let this happen."

Calcifer shot a menacing look toward Kenta. "You have no idea how I feel right now. Those stars have no idea what's happening."

"I thought it was expected." Kenta said, crinkling his eyebrows. "Stars prepare themselves for this occasion. They know what happens after their one thousand years."

Calcifer pointed at the remaining stars in their plummet. "Look at them. Their lights are dim, like they haven't realized their full potential yet. These aren't thousand year old stars - they're newborns."

Gwenda and Kenta stood still, shocked at this revelation. Gwenda swallowed hard, trying to find her words. "How is that possible? How could new stars just… die like that?"

Calcifer bit his lip, the memories of those nights piercing him like a sharpened knife that just kept twisting inside of him. "Some stars, on the day of their birth, are immediately rejected from the sky. There's no telling why, but they aren't created to last. It may seem like the Night of Falling Stars has happened so early in the year, but I promise you, this isn't that night."

They were innocents - perfect, newborn stars who barely knew what life was. Of course, there were many downsides to the life of a star, but they didn't even have the choice to decide. That's what pained Calcifer the most - the sky made their decision for them.

But the thought of a magician or human or something at the top of Seren Saethu waiting to capture these ignorant beauties infuriated him the most.

"That's the last of them." Calcifer looked up after Kenta spoke. He was right; the final stars made their last strides toward the mountain, and their lights faded in the distance. The sky brightened once again, the remaining stars still shining in the black void. It was over. And once again, there was nothing he could do.

The true Night of Falling Stars was only weeks away. That's when newborn stars should have populated the sky. Why now? What changed? Calcifer had so many questions and not enough answers. There was only one person who would be able to help. The one person just as selfish as he was all those years ago.

Howl.

(****)

Gwenda fitted their key into the keyhole and opened the front door to their apartment. She stood by as Calcifer walked inside, shoulders slumped and eyes gazing into his own world. He had been in a daze since the final stars dropped, and she could sense his pain lingering on. He barely muttered a goodbye to the Lee family, but mustered enough energy to transport them back to Porthaven. She watched his melancholic strides through the main room of their apartment, how his stares were paralyzed and his motions robotic. She worried for him.

After setting the keys on the counter, she glided inside like she was dancing on clouds. She knew how to brighten his spirits, especially when his past decided to haunt his present. He only needed a little reminder.

Gwenda sat by his feet as Calcifer rested on the couch, his solemn visage embedded into his face. She smiled wide as she said, "Question."

Calcifer hardly looked at her, just barely gazing down at the twinkling sparkle in her eyes. She was so full of joy and optimism; it reminded him of his youth - both as a star and a fire demon - and how lucky he felt back then to be ignorant of all he knew now. "Gwenda, please. Not right now."

"Oh come on, Calcifer." She rubbed her hand gently along his, massaging between his ragged bones and rough skin. "It'll cheer you up. Now, question."

Calcifer sighed. "Answer."

"Where is somewhere you've never gone, but always wanted to visit at least once?"

He had to think about that one for a while. They had been on so many adventures together, it seemed like there was nowhere else in the world to go. He fondly remembered the time he took her to see the jungles of Monguru - only after she had had ample experience with skilled magicians. These spellcasters were instinctual, much more than any found in Ingary. She definitely returned home much more dazed and confused than before.

But a place he'd never been to, and wanted to visit at least once. If such a place existed, it would not be in their world.

"I always wondered where Howl was from." Calcifer said without thinking about it.

Gwenda tilted her head. "Isn't Howl from Ingary?"

He shook his head. "He comes from a world very similar to our own, but it exists on another plane. He was born in a country called Wales, a land where magic is less prevalent than it is here."

Gwenda chuckled. "Seems like I should've visited this land a long time ago." Calcifer nodded softly, almost unnoticeably, so Gwenda silenced her laugh. "Because I was so against magic in my past. You know I'm not like that anymore."

Calcifer mustered a small smile and squeezed her hand. "I know."

Gwenda couldn't help staring into his lost eyes. It was a sad and fruitless attempt to decipher what thoughts were running free in his mind, no matter how much she loved him. He had existed for a thousand years before she was even a thought in her parents' mind, and then continued his timeline as a fire demon. Now, as a human, she had almost forgotten he had lived so many lifetimes before meeting her. There was so much she didn't know, but yearned to discover.

And then a thought occurred. "Let's go now."

Calcifer crinkled his eyebrows. "To Wales?"

"Why not?" Gwenda said, her voice full of life and exhilaration. "What else do we have to do? No one has come by to purchase spells or potions in a while. We can just put up a sign saying 'on vacation' for a while and we can get back in a week. It'll be an adventure!"

Calcifer pushed her hand away and stood up. "Gwenda, we can't do that for the very reason that people haven't come to the shop. Even the regular customers aren't as regular anymore. It worries me." He needed to clear his mind, yet at the same time he needed to think critically. More than anything, he needed to keep busy. When he noticed the dish rack full with dry, clean dishes, he figured that was as good of a distraction as he'd ever get.

"We have enough saved up." Gwenda retorted. She stood up and followed him into the kitchen as he began putting away the clean dishes. "We need a break. You, of all people, deserve to have a break to just relax and enjoy yourself."

"Enjoy myself?" Calcifer seethed. The hair along Gwenda's neck stood up like tiny needles puncturing her skin. He clutched a bowl with both hands, unsure if he was able to control himself. "Gwenda, I haven't had a full night's sleep in weeks! I just saw my newborn brothers and sisters fall to their deaths and you think I have the capability of enjoying myself?"

"That's exactly why you need to go." She took the bowl from his strong grip, ripped it from his hands, and placed it with the others in the cupboard. "Calcifer, there was nothing you could've done."
He exhaled a heavy breath, like a dragon exhaling smoke after a fiery blast. "It's funny how every time someone says that, they think it makes me feel better."

"Calcifer-"

"When you were taken away, there was nothing I could do!" He said. Shivers ran up her arms all the way to the base of her head. She remembered that night and all the other nights to follow very clearly. Though that night was so long ago, it was a painful scar on their timeline.

Calcifer sniffed and pinched the roof of his nose. He wanted to stay strong, but the tears wouldn't let him. "Everyone told me when they came back that I couldn't have done anything and that's what tore me apart every day that you were in their evil clutches. Every day, I sat in my little fireplace and waited. I'm sick and tired of sitting and waiting when the people I love need me."

He rested his back against the countertop, covering his eyes as streams of tears began to fall. That was one of his more recent nightmares - the night that the witch Noe swooped in and kidnapped Gwenda. Though he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, that made his terrors about what happened more frightening. He could only imagine the torture and agony that vile witch put his love through - and all he was able to do was sit in a lonely fireplace and wait for someone else to make their move.

Gwenda's arms wrapped around his body, holding him tightly in her grip. He could hear her sniffles as they cried together, caught in each other's embrace. He didn't know what he would do if he lost her again, if he lost this - their perfect, simple, beautiful life together.

"I'm sorry." Gwenda said beneath her tears.

"Sorry?" Calcifer whispered. "Why, why are you sorry?"

"I've put you through so much pain, and I can never take back the words I said to you that night before I was taken away. Every day that I was held prisoner, I replayed the words I said to you over and over again. I could never forgive myself for putting you through that."

He pulled her closer to him until he could feel her heartbeat against his chest. Hers was perfectly in-sync with his. They were connected in so many ways, and he finally felt like this was the life he was always meant to have. Not a star, not a fire demon - a human.

A human with a time limit.

He gently pushed her away, much to her surprise. He looked down, his eyes landing on the drawer with the mysterious letter in it. He seethed as he thought of what could possibly be inside; he wondered if ignoring it was worth the curiosity swirling inside his mind.

"Are you all right?" Gwenda said. She placed her hand on his cheek, then his forehead. "You don't feel good right now. Why don't we head to bed."

Calcifer bit his lip. Sleep. Would he have a peaceful night or an agonizing routine? Would he ever relieve himself of this feeling as the day drew to an end? The sun set beyond the hills, and the terror set inside of him until the morning light rose once more. He closed his eyes to conceal the tears that started to come again.

Please, he thought, not again.

She ushered him to walk out of the kitchen, but he cemented his feet to the ground. "You go."

She creased her eyebrows in a strange confusion. His eyes lit up as his smile widened. "I'll join you in a minute. I just need to think for a moment."

Once more, he bore a flashy smile that concealed his truth - a smile she had gotten so accustomed to and at a time thought he truly was happy. Now, her skepticism of that smile resonated with every other time he used it. She wasn't falling for it this time.

"No."

Calcifer dropped his smile in an instant. "No?"

Gwenda's face was deadpan as she crossed her arms. "You heard me. No. I'm tired of you thinking you can just wave a smile in my face and pretend like I don't see you, like I don't see what you're dealing with."

Calcifer sucked in a heavy breath. "Gwenda, I just need to think by myself."

"I am your wife." She said. "I made a vow that I would be by your side through the good times and the bad. When your sleep issues began, I stayed up through the night with you until you fell asleep. And now you want to stand here and lie to my face like everything is just so fine and dandy."

"I'm not lying to you, Gwenda." Calcifer said, though his eyes darted back to that hideous drawer with the horrid letter inside. "I just need to think and I can't do that with interrupted sleep night after night."

"And what is it you need to think about?" Gwenda asked. "What is so daunting that we can't handle?"

"Because it's not your problem, it's mine."

"Anything that you're dealing with, I'm also dealing with. That's what a marriage is."

"Well maybe you should've thought about that when you married me." Gwenda stood frozen. His words cut her like a knife. They rolled off his tongue so casually, like it had been on his mind and he was just waiting for the right time to say it. And what angered her the most was his lack of remorse as he continued. "My problems are bigger than anything you can dare to imagine. So I will say this one more time. I will meet you in bed after I think."

Gwenda breathed a laugh, though nothing about this situation was even remotely humorous. She looked into his eyes, the coldness equally matched between them. "You can stay out here all night, then, if that's what you want."

Calcifer was taken aback as he watched her stride down the hallway toward their bedroom. Gwenda called out to him from their doorway, "Try to get some sleep."

He jolted as she slammed the door, like a lightning strike that unexpectedly hit close by. He hadn't seen her this enraged in a long time, not enough that she would go so far as to lock their bedroom door for the night.

He rubbed the back of his neck all the way to the top of his forehead. His orange curls swayed between his fingertips as he replayed their conversation in his head. Where had it gone wrong? What started this conversation? She saw right through his facade of a smile and the wall he built up came crashing down on them.

Calcifer plopped back on the couch. He should've known she would see through him eventually. She was the only one who could. That was part of why he loved her so much. She refused to let people pretend around her, refused to let them hide from reality. Yet what really stood out was her willingness to join people in their struggles.

Because she knew what it was like to be alone in those desperate moments.

He slapped his face repeatedly. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." How could he have been so stupid? His exhaustion was forcing words out of his mouth that he didn't want to say, even if they were slightly true. He loved her and he embraced her companionship, yet he felt responsible for the pain inflicted on her from his problems.

Calcifer looked back to the moment they met, when Markl had taken her hostage believing her to be an agent for Suliman. She was so strong, not an ounce of fear written on her face as she stood her ground and spoke her truth. The young boy had no idea that she was an ally, a future friend. Calcifer had no idea that she would be the only person who could breathe unconditional love into him.

He laid his body on their couch, though the cushions were rough and agonizing to muster. There was no possible way he could sleep there, even if he tried. If he couldn't sleep through the night in their comfortable bed, this couch would not be any better.

Anytime he closed his eyes, the vision of falling stars tormented his mind. If it wasn't that, it was reliving the moment of Gwenda's capture - the first and second time. And if it wasn't that, it was the moment when Howl first offered him a contractual promise of a second life.

Calcifer tried halting another onslaught of tears as his mind thought of those poor souls who died tonight. Had there been someone at the top of the mountain waiting for an innocent star to capture? Did they offer false promises as Howl had? These questions that had no answers were too much to bear, too much to think about all alone.

Calcifer quietly grabbed his coat and pushed his arms through. He stared down the hallway, listening to the silence beyond their room. As much as he wanted to apologize, he assumed it would be best for her to sleep through the night without worrying about him. There was only one other person who could help answer his desperate questions.

Howl.