Disclaimer: This may come as a shock, but no, I in fact do not own Howl or any of the other characters here. Nor am I the great god Miyazaki. I know it's hard to accept, but please. Just move on.

A/N: Arrrgh. I had meant for this to be a one shot, but somehow it took over my brain and evolved into what it is. I have almost all of it written out and it'll be 2 chapters at most but it's four times longer than I had thought. The plot bunnies eat away at my brain. Annnd this was written over a month ago, but as you will soon learn….I.am.the.ultimate.lazy.procrastinator. But I did type it up, so yay for me.

Michael: Only because you're so obsessed with Howl

B-n-W: So sue me. Me and how many others?

M: I don't think this is very Sophie either…

B-n-W: hush.

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"Aww, Sophieeeeee," the beautiful black haired man whined as he pushed the ceramic bowl away from his face.

"No Howl, you need to eat it." Sophie scolded mildly with her airy accent. As a after thought, she added softly, "It'll help you get better. For your own good?"

She once again advanced the steaming dish of noodles towards the feverish wizard. In an act of defiance, Howl shook his head and pulled the elaborate covers of his bed up to his nose. With the lower half of his face now hidden, he gained the confidence to fight the silver haired girl's fiery will.

"Nuh-uh. It tastes so nasty." He sighed dramatically, coughing for effect. He aimed for her sympathy.

"Can't you make something tastier? Or sweeter?" Howl paused to throw a rather pathetic look at Sophie's visage. Bingo. Sophie slowly brought the bowl down and back onto the wooden tray she had used to carry the food up to his room.

"Fine, But only because you asked so sweetly…..spoiled brat." Shaking her head smiling, Sophie gently placed a kiss on his warm forehead and stood up.

"Will you at least get some sleep?" She felt like his mother sometimes.

"Mmhm…" Howl nodded sleepily from behind heavy eyelids.

As she pushed the heavy wooden door open, Sophie turned around to look at Howl's sleeping face.

"Tsh."

He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. To Sophie, the free-spirited scoundrel she knew and loved had fallen away like his usual health. Left behind was his fragile childlike demeanor, now sleeping heavily under the massive extents of covers and toys.

Sophie lingered another moment in the doorway that acted as a portal between Howl's room of innocent wonders and the land of reality. She silently watched his expression soften as sleep took a firm hold on him, his breathing growing steadier. Deeper.

"I shouldn't let him get to me like that," she told herself. Whispering about how she spoiled him so, and really it was his fault for demanding it necessary to frolic in the rain like that just to go and get himself sick, Sophie gently latched the door behind her and headed downstairs to check on Markl.

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A small, single word escaped Howl's lips as he slumbered. His forehead was laced with beads of sweat from the fever, yet he pulled at the sheets as if he were frozen to the bone. One of the many chimes above his head tinked softly as he spoke. The word was soft, and had anyone been there to hear it, they would've known the feelings that it held.

"……Sophie….."

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Markl stood on his tip toes and peered over the end of the bed where he stood. He watched with a blend of fascination and worry as Sophie once again blotted his master's forehead with a cool compress. The worry filled out the young boy's features as he spoke in hushed tones.

"He'll be alright, won't he?"

It wasn't that Markl had never seen Howl ill before, it was just that he was usually acting like his energetic self again within a few hours. Magic could be so handy sometimes.

Sophie smiled kindly and nodded, her eyes never leaving Howl's resting figure.

"Yes, of course he'll be fine. He's acting like a baby and it's just a fever really. See here?"

She motioned to the compress as she removed it and dropped it into a cool water basin. It plunked dully as it hit the bottom of the copper bowl.

"His fever's already broken. He'll be up and about and bothering us again in no time." Her eyes were laughing as she spoke. It was clear to Markl that Sophie was remembering some classic Howl moment.

The wizard in training crept over to Sophie's chair at Howl's bedside and looked up at her, convinced. If Sophie wasn't worried, then surely there was no reason for him to be worried either. Sophie's silver hair shimmered as she turned her head to smile at Markl in reassurance.

"Why don't you go downstairs and put the kettle on to boil? He'll need something to eat soon."

Markl nodded enthusiastically and went for the door. On his way out he turned to ask Sophie a question that was poking at his thoughts.

"Was it the spork incident?"

Sophie looked up confused.

"That you were thinking of a minute ago? The one with the slap and the spork and-"

"Yes and the rubber band." She laughed lightly, careful not to disturb the man in dreamland next to her.

"Howl put himself in a real pickle there didn't he?"

They shared a quiet laugh at the inside joke lost onto the rest of the world. Markl watched Sophie with his big, dark eyes.

"Thank you Sophie."

Again Sophie looked up at Markl slightly baffled. Looking into those dark, innocent orbs, she had to ask.

"For…what?"

"For being here." He smiled shyly and shut the door. Because she didn't know what she did was why he loved her so much. Sophie heard his footsteps as he ran past the notorious bathroom and down the stairs to do as she had asked.

Turning back to look at Howl, Sophie smiled prettily to herself. She spoke to the oblivious Howl as she replaced the damp cloth on his head.

"Really now. I don't do all that much."

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