Once Upon a Wizard [Howl's Moving Castle Fanfic]

Chapter 10

That night, Y/N sat by the fire, a mug of hot chocolate in her hand as she thought about everything that was happening. It seemed that whenever they caught a break, something else would come to throw their lives into a mess. She ran a tired hand over her face and let out a long breath of air, slouching back in her chair and pulling her shawl closer to her body. 

"Y/N?"

Y/N looked up from the flames to see Markl standing by the bottom of the stairs, already dressed in his nightgown. 

"What is it Markl?"

The wrung his hands out nervously. "When you got your memories back... I did too... Howl took away my memories of you and I was wondering if..." 

Y/N smiled and got to her feet, placing her cup down on the hearth and pulling her shawl tighter. She tucked it into her waistband and walked over to Markl, taking his hand in hers and silently leading him up the stairs toward his new room.

"How do you like the new house so far, Markl," Y/N asked as they arrived at his room. Heen had been given a tiny bed at the end of Markl's bed, as he seemed to like Markl more than any of the others, besides Y/N.

"It's nice," Markl said. "It's bigger than the old one."

Y/N smiled and nodded. "Sure seems to be. Now, climb into bed." She held the duvet up for the small boy and waited for him to jump beneath the covers, diving into the large pillows that Howl had conjured up for him, and gently set the comforter back down. She smoothed out the edge and took a seat in the chair next to Markl's bed. 

"Do you want me to sing," she asked, lighting the small gas lamp on Markl's bedside table. When the boy nodded she smiled and relaxed in the chair, thinking of a song to sing. 

She started humming softly, "Our hero, our hero claims a warrior's heart. I tell you, I tell you the Dragonborn comes. With a voice wielding power of the ancient Nord arts. Believe, believe, the Dragonborn comes." As she started humming again, Y/N glanced over to see that Markl was already asleep, one of his hands clenched around the blanket that she had fixed up what seemed like years before. 

She continued humming, but got up from her chair and pressed a gentle kiss to Markl's forehead and dimmed the light in the gas lamp before leaving the room. She left the door open the slightest bit and headed back downstairs to her mug by the hearth.

When she got there, however, she was surprised to see that Sophie was also sitting by the fire, seeming to be deep in thought about something.

"Is something wrong, Sophie," Y/N asked, taking a seat by her friend and taking her mug of hot chocolate in her hand. 

Sophie let out a long sigh, as she had been for most of the day. "Y/N... You're in love with Howl, aren't you?"

Y/N wasn't prepared for the question and tensed a bit, but she eventually nodded and relaxed a bit in her chair. "Yes. After he gave me back my memories I was able to remember the time I spent growing up with him. The time that we spent falling in love while Suliman trained us both, and how we both decided to run away from her in hopes of escaping her tyranny." Y/N couldn't bring herself to smile and turned back to Sophie. "You're in love with him too, aren't you?"

Sophie sighed. "I'm not sure. I suppose I am, but I'm not sure if it's the same love that you feel for him." She turned to Y/N. "How do you think I love Howl?"

Y/N bit her lip and watched Calcifer's flames. "I think at the beginning you loved him because he thought you to be beautiful. But now, I think perhaps you love him as a friend, or maybe even a brother." She turned to Sophie. "You care for him a great deal, Sophie, but I do not know your heart and am therefore unable to know one way or another."