A.N. Well, I didn't achieve QUITE my goal of reviews, but I'm desperate to end this story, so here is your new, and final, chapter. There will be a sequel, I know that much. I'm not sure when it is coming… but I'll try to contact all my reviewers in case they're interested in it once write the first chapter. I've decided not to change the TITLE of this story, but I WILL update the summary… soon. Thank you to anybody who has followed this story to the very end… it means so much. I'm especially thankful to Shrouded View, you helped me so much to grow as a writer in both fan fiction and original pieces.

Well, I'm not going to make you wait any longer, here is my final chapter! I tried to make it the longest and best out of them all!!!

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A YEAR AND FIVE MONTHS LATER

"Howl, could you come down here for a second?" Sophie called from her seat on the couch downstairs on the couch. She heard a loud clatter upstairs, which meant that Howl had dropped all his books and parchment in his hurry to get downstairs quickly. She suppressed a giggle as she heard him curse at his own clumsiness.

The next thing she knew, the wizard was taking the steps three at a time and jumping after reaching the landing. He sailed over the five wooden steps, and made it across the floor in seven long strides.

"What's wrong? Do you need a hand with Michael?" he asked, taking the infant from her and cradling it gently.

"No, no, not this time," she said. She paused for a second to watch the baby asleep in his father's arms…. He smiled down at the child, barely listening to Sophie's words, but still remembering them for future reference. Michael had drooled all over his cheek in his sleep, and Howl gently wiped it off with the sleeve of his shirt.

Ruffling the baby's dark curls, he turned his blue eyes back to Sophie. "What was it you needed?" he asked his wife.

"I've been thinking, and, well, I dunno," Sophie stopped for a moment to choose her words more carefully before blurting it out. She didn't want to ruin Howl's paternal, husband-ish moment by bringing up other people. "Don't you think it's odd that we haven't heard from Justin or Lucille in over a year? I mean, they did say that they would contact us, didn't they? And, there's been no news from Justin's kingdom about him or a new Princess… so, I don't know what to think," she sighed, looking down at her hands clasped over her belly, still larger than normal after pregnancy.

"I've been wondering about that," Howl nodded, sitting down next to her with the three month old in one arm. "It's not like her, Lucille, I mean. She always replied to letters from her friends within the first day of receiving a message. And Prince Justin, the sole heir to the throne… wouldn't his marriage be a big deal? I'm sure we would have heard of it, seeing as… well, they lived with us for almost a year!" Howl exclaimed.

"Shh, you'll wake up Michael," Sophie reprimanded him for his loud voice.

"Sorry," he whispered. "It's just that, like I said, it's very out of the ordinary, no?"

"My point exactly," she whispered, taking the infant from Howl. "Do you think that maybe it was just too risky for them to contact us? Maybe they haven't married yet, seeing as royal weddings are made a big deal out of… and that's why we haven't heard new of it," Sophie wondered, blinking her brown eyes twice. She raised a hand to brush her silver hair back from her face.

"No, that can't be it," Howl countered, immediately seeing the wrong in her scenario. "See, they were going to get married as soon as they got away, I'm guessing… or at least as soon as they could. They wouldn't have brought the marriage to the King's attention, in case he would force them apart. I'm sure King Alphonse wouldn't allow his son to marry a fisher's daughter," Howl patted the baby's round belly.

"That's right. So, what do you suppose happened?" she asked him, furrowing her brow and looking up at him.

"Sophie," he reassured her, rubbing her back in calming circles. "What ever has happened, I'm sure that the two of them are together and happy. There's no need to worry, do you see this baby?" he asked her, pointing with his right index finger at the child.

"No, Howl, I didn't!" Sophie mocked surprise at seeing the baby in her cradled arms. "When did we get a baby?" she laughed, resting her head on his shoulder.

"This baby is proof that there is good in the world, and that God loves us," he whispered, stroking the baby's cheek gently. "And if God loves us, then he would never do anything to hurt Lucille and Justin, or destroy the love that they have," he whispered.

"I feel like we're jinxing them," Sophie whispered, her voice hinting worry. "Or as if we're talking behind their backs. Aren't we betraying their trust by speaking like this?" she looked at her husband with a worried expression.

"Sophie," he aid consolingly, but with a hint of laughter in his voice. "You worry too much! They'd be glad to know that we're worried and thinking of them! Do you really think that they'd be angry? I mean, it's no like we've been dwelling over them for the past year since they left, we've barely even spoken of them," he shrugged with wide eyes.

"I never thought of it that way," Sophie nodded. "But still, I have a bad feeling about this."

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"I said, get out of the way, woman!" she was shoved by the soldier to the ground. Clutching her stomach, as is to protect it, she screamed as the man lowered his bayonet towards her.

"STOP!" she heard his loud voice order, but to no avail. The soldier cut her arm with the blade, when he'd obviously been aiming for her heart. Blood rushed from the wound, staining her dress. His call must have surprised the soldier, knocking him from his target.

"Sir, please! It's for your own protection and for the reputation of our kingdom!" the soldiers restraining him cried, fighting to hold one man back.

"I don't give a damn about the kingdom!!! I don't need protecting, do I? I'm a full grown man for god's sake!" he exclaimed, calming down for a moment. He remembered the knife up his sleeve. But if only that man didn't have his grip so tight… there was no way to access the weapon.

"How could you do this to a woman, anyway? Don't you have consciences? She's innocent!" he snarled at all of them in a softer voice. The three men paused in their actions, and the two holding Justin seemed to loosen their grip a bit, faltering in their regret. There was a tense silence that could be cut with a knife between the five. It was only broken by the man's growl; "What'd she ever do to you?" he asked them.

"We're only following orders, sir," the man holding around Justin's knife said quietly. All three men seemed reassured by this, and tensed up again.

"Do it now," the second man holding him ordered. The man with the bayonet stood with his feet squared, holding the pointed metal at ready.

"By the orders of…" he began in a deep voice, looking in turn from the woman to the captive man.

"No… please," he moaned weakly, struggling to break free. The Imperial Soldiers held on to him with death grips. The man continued to speak over him, as if he hadn't said a word.

"And for the honor of my kingdom, I have to and will take one life. In comparison, it is no loss," he set his jaw.

"No loss?! You're about to kill an innocent woman! At least let her go and take me instead!" the man whipped around but to no avail.

"We pray that the soul be accepted into Heaven, but this is not its place. The words of our ruler…"

"I know him personally! He would never say such a thing!" the man interrupted again.

"She should have never in the first place eloped, it was quite out of place. I pray that God forgives me this deed," he closed his eyes for a moment in prayer.

In that one action, a few things happened.

The first, was that the woman made a critical decision. Hiking up her skirt quickly, she pulled a long knife from where it was strapped to her thigh. She moved so quickly, that it was impossible for a few moments for anyone to figure out what had happened.

In three blinks, the other men saw the woman standing before the man, her knife stabbed through his throat. It took a short moment, but soon his scream rang through the air, and he was falling to his knew, clutching for his throat. She pushed the blade further, tears streaming from her determined gray eyes.

Blood rushed down the man's throat onto his armor… and onto her hands, the part of her dress covering her chest. Blood seemed to be everywhere, and then suddenly, the man's eyes went dim. In two tugs, she pulled the blood stained blade from the dead man's throat.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, shoving him in the shoulder with his foot, so that he would fall backwards onto the ground. "This was my place." Spinning around, her dark locks whipping behind her and flowing around her back, she called to the other soldiers, barely twenty feet away:

"Come on!" she demanded, bending to draw the fallen man's sword from the sheath.

"Go!" the second man ordered the one holding the wrist where his knife was.

Rushing forward and drawing his sword, he clashed with the woman in a spark of metal. Soon the clanking of blade on blade rang out over the tree tops as the two dueled ferociously.

"You fight well, for a woman," her opposed grunted through blows.

"You, too," she replied, her spunky attitude appearing. "For a man, that is. Or should I say, a dead man," she whispered as the blades held against each other. Their noses were almost touching through the X that the weapons created.

Now it was just a battle of who could hold fast.

"Is that a threat?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Why, yes, I suppose it could be considered a threat on our current situation," she replied, smirking.

This angered the man further, he pushed on her sword hard with his own… and him being much larger than her, she was sent backwards, but landed on her feet nonetheless.

"What makes you fight?" he asked her. "Would it not be easier to simply die easily, instead of suffering first?" he didn't seem to understand her motives.

Flipping her dark hair over her shoulder, she furrowed her brow and pointed the sword once more, this time aiming to kill. Her blood stained hands tightened on the handle until her knuckles grew white as she answered. "Because I could barely call myself a woman if I went out without a fight. All my life I've said that if I had to go before I was ready, it would be with valiance. This time, I've got something extra to be fighting for," she growled.

"And what would that be?" he asked her, menacingly.

"My unborn child," she growled, rushing forward at him for the second round….

For one precarious second, she thought it was over for her; but in a final snap of his eyelids, she brought her sword down on his, plunging it through the crack of his armor between his arm and shoulder.

He cried out in pain as she cut the tendon and left the blade sticking out. The man coughed up blood, and it dripped down his chin as he fell forward onto his hands and knees.

"So, do you want a quick death? Or will you fight, retain your dignity, your honor?" she asked, circling him.

"At least give me a clean death, a soldier's death," he managed to cough.

"I am sorry, you know," she said, pulling the blade from his shoulder. He grunted in pain, but she could tell that he was listening from the way his hands gripped at the bloodstained grass. Stained with his own blood. 'But this is the only way," she positioned the blade at the back of his neck.

"I understand. I understand that there is no good side in battle. Everyone is fighting for their own reasons, and yours are nobler than mine," he bent his head more and coughed up more blood. Raising an arm, he wiped it from his face. "Please, send word to my family. Tell my children that I love them, and my wife should find another husband soon. World you do that for me?" he asked her.

She fought to hola back the tears. "Of course," she answered.

"Do it," he ordered her gruffly. "Do it now." And in one swift movement, the birds had flown from the trees, and she was withdrawing the sword again. Another man's body crumpled to the ground.

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The Pendragon baby woke up with a start, screaming.

"What's wrong?" Howl rushed over to the cradle and picked up the baby, rocking it quickly. Sophie rushed into the room a moment later, finding a disgruntled Howl and irritated baby. "What happened? Did he poop?" she asked.

"No! He was sleeping a second ago, then he just woke up screaming! I don't know what could be wrong!" he shook his head, holding out the baby in a way that she could see that his pants weren't full.

"Maybe he had a bad dream," he suggested, taking the baby and rocking him. "Shh, shh, Momma's here," she hushed him gently.

"Oh sure, it works when you do it," Howl grumbled, Michael had immediately grown quiet.

"Of course! I am his mother, now aren't I?" she asked laughing.

"Yes, but I'm his father! There has to be some sort of bond, right?" he laughed, patting the baby's head and kissing Sophie's cheek.

"Hmm, I dunno," she shrugged with a small smile.

"Just what, exactly, are you implying?" he asked, startled. "There is some connection between the two of, us, right?" he asked, looking worriedly at the baby.

"You really don't know anything about children, do you?" she asked, chuckling. "Of course there's a bond, Howl! I'm just teasing you!"

"Thank Goodness," he sighed, hugging himself.

"Wow," she blinked and shook her head.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she turned away and patted the baby's back to see if he needed a burp.

"What? What's you say 'wow' about?" he asked her, moving to stand in front of her again.

"No reason," she turned a 90 degree angle this time.

"Sophie, you know it drives me mad when you do this!" he cried.

"Shush. You'll worry the baby," she nodded. Michael had fallen asleep and was drooling on her shoulder.

"That's no excuse to ignore your husband," he muttered, leaving the room.

"Oh, that man," Sophie sighed. "Sometimes he's just too much. But I suppose that it was partly my fault, wasn't it?" she giggled to herself. She knew that Howl wasn't angry, he was just going up to his study to ponder what she was being so hush hush about.

"It's late, isn't it?" she asked herself through a yawn. "I should go to sleep while Michael is still sleeping. Maybe I'll get four hours tonight. That would be a new record, wouldn't it?" she asked herself, leaving the room from the way Howl had. Walking warily up the stairs, she was soon in her night clothes and sound asleep with the baby on the bed next to her.

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TWO DAYS LATER

"What's for breakfast, Sophie?" Howl asked, skipping down the steps and standing over her shoulder at the stove. Kissing her cheek and running his fingers through the hair that reached just below her shoulder blades… he decided that she looked quite lovely today.

"Same old, same old," she replied, shrugging. "Bacon, eggs, and toast," she turned to kiss him back.

"Where's that little one?" Howl walked over to the cradle a few feet away. "Oh! There he is!" Howl feigned surprise as he picked up Michael, whom was wide awake and blowing spit bubbles.

Sophie smiled at the two, her Howl and Michael, her family. It was small, but it was still a very good family to have.

"It's almost done, will you set the table for me?" Sophie asked. "Four places, please," she motioned towards the cabinet where the dishes were stored.

"Why four? Michael doesn't eat at the table, now, does he? I must've missed that first. But who's the first?" Howl asked his wife, raising an eyebrow.

Sophie laughed at herself. She was thinking about Justin and Lucille when she asked for the favor… she was so used to having four places at the table. "Sorry, I was daydreaming," she apologized.

"Right, okay," Howl said, confused. He had no idea why she wanted four seats at the table. Were people coming over that he didn't know about?

Sophie walked over to the table and put down a pan of bacon and eggs and a plate of toast as soon as Howl had replaced the baby in the cradle and sat down in his chair.

They ate quietly without interruption for a while, until Markl came running down the steps in his night clothes. (A/N See, you didn't think that I'd just end the story without Markl, did ya'?)

"Sophie! Sophie! I smell e-eggs!" He drew out the word with enthusiasm.

"Go get a plate and help yourself, honey," she smiled at him. She was glad to see that he was going to have breakfast this morning; normally he didn't have much of a stomach this early in the day.

"Thank you," he nodded, hopping up on a stool and pulling a big white plate from the cabinet. He returned to the table and sat on and unoccupied side of the big wooden table. Quickly spooning eggs onto his plate, he smiled a wide smile at them.

"Bon appetite!" he exclaimed, digging in.

They continued with their meal for another couple of minutes, until a nock came from the door.

"Wastes!" Markl exclaimed, knowing immediately what portal the knock came from. He had a certain knack for that sort of stuff.

"I'll get it," Howl said, standing up and walking over to the door.

Turning the dial, he opened the door and screamed.

"Howl! Are you alright?" Sophie asked, quickly pushing back from the table to go to her husband's aid.

"Master Howl, what's the ma-…" Markl's voice trailed off, he was already at the door by the time that Sophie got there.

"Is that who I think it is?" Sophie gasped, rushing forward to flip the raven haired woman over onto her back. "Oh, dear god," Sophie cried, covering her mouth with her hands as tears welled in her eyes.

"Markl! Help me get her inside!" Howl ordered the eleven year old, who rushed out and picked up Lucille's limp ankles. Howl grabbed her under the armpits and they carried her up the stairs to the floor. Sophie was kneeling in the doorway, stunned by the shock of seeing her best friend bleeding to death on her doorstep.

Or at least, it looked as if she was bleeding to death. She had blood all over her clothes and hands, even the ends of her hair were matted with dark, dried blood.

"Sophie, come inside," Markl rushed down the four steps and tugged at the woman's arm, pulling her to her feet. "Get out of the door, somebody could be trying to find her or the castle," he ordered her.

Sophie blinked, realizing that Markl's words were true, and stood up as if drunk. The red head slammed the door and changed the portal to yellow, they should be safe here.

"Come on," Markl demanded gently, taking Sophie's hand and leading her up the steps. Looking around, she saw that Lucille was lying on a cot that Howl had created magically, sitting in the middle of the room unconsciously.

"What happened to her?" Sophie asked, suddenly snapping back into reality and rushing over to her friend's side.

"I don't know. She's bleeding, though. I can probably help her with my magic, you just need to help her into different clothes," Howl nodded. "I'll take the boys upstairs, okay?" he asked her.

"Alright. Could you bring me one of my nightdresses, though?" she asked him.

"Sure, I'll be right back," he replied. He held to his word and threw Markl over his shoulder, much to the boy's dismay.

"Put me down! I wanna stay with Lucille and Sophie! Come on, I can walk!" Markl argued, pounding on Howl's back.

"Come on, Sophie's gotta change Lucille into different clothes, and I'm sure you don't wanna see her naked, right?" Howl joked, picking the baby up from the cradle in one arm and marching up the stairs with them.

Sophie rushed over to the kitchen drawer and pulled a knife out. Going back to Lucille, she cut the arms from the shoulders down off of the dress. It wasn't like she was destroying the dress; it was already wrecked by the blood stains.

She cut the dress from the knees down, as well. Lucille was just about as bare now as Howl would ever see her… which was a very good thing. Howl came down a second later with his eyes covered. Except, that he bumped into the wall in his blindness.

"Oof! Here, Sophie," he handed the nightdress to the coat wrack.

"Thank you Howl," she answered, grabbing it from him.

"You're welcome. Tell me when to come back," he nodded, walking into the banister as he tried to go back up the steps.

In a couple minutes, Sophie had gotten the destroyed dress off of Lucille, and pulled the nightdress onto her. "Howl! Come on!" she called up the steps.

The woman heard Howl order Markl not to come down and to keep an eye on the baby, to which the boy replied:

"Yes, Master Howl," his tone regretful. He wanted to go downstairs and see to it that Lucille was okay and that Sophie didn't cry anymore. Plus, if he were down there when Howl cast the spell, he may learn something new….

Howl was at her side in a moment with a piece of chalk. "Back up, please," he asked Sophie. She walked over and stood next to the sofa, unable to sit, she was too anxious.

Howl scribbled a pentacle on the ground, mumbled some words, and then stepped up next to Lucille. Mumbling spells, he passed his hands about a foot over the woman's limp body, poking her in the forehead, belly, and toes.

Backing up, he touched the edge of the pentacle; and suddenly there was a golden light and the blood disappeared. The wound on Lucille's arm… her only wound, disappeared, and her hair fell back into its dark waves.

"Why did her hair fix itself?" Sophie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Howl turned and smiled at her. "I fixed that, too. No need for her to be embarrassed about appearance when she wakes up, right?" he asked.

"How kind of you," she said, realizing that he was trying to loosen up the situation. "But what about blood loss? Will she be alright?" Sophie asked, stepping forward again.

"Yes, I thought of that already. I did some little charm to replenish it," he nodded, crossing his arms. "No big deal, she should wake up any second now," no sooner had he spoken, than gray eyes cracked open.

"Huh, wha- where am I?" Lucille asked, rubbing her head and sitting up on an elbow, looking around the room. She hadn't spotted Howl and Sophie yet. "What? The castle?" The woman spun to see her friends smiling at her, tears in Sophie's eyes.

"Hi, Lucille. How's it going?" Howl asked, grinning, eyes sparkling.

"Howl! Sophie!" the girl leaped from her bed and rushed over to them, pulling Sophie into a tight hug. "Oh, thank goodness I got here. You'll never believe what's happened!" she sobbed into Sophie's shoulder.

Sophie wrapped her arms tightly around her friend. "Hush, you're fine. We helped you… but, where's Justin?" Sophie realized for the first time that the Prince was nowhere to be found.

"Oh no," Lucille sobbed. "He's not, he, gone," Lucille choked out.

"What do you mean?" Howl asked, placing a hand on Lucille's shoulder. His eyes were full of fear, and Sophie looked up at him, gray eyes sparkling with tears. "Did he leave you?" Howl asked, bending so that he could look at the side of her face.

The woman nodded into Sophie's shoulder, and the Pendragons looked at each other horrified.

"He left you? After all that?" Howl asked, his eyes burning with anger.

"Howl, you're not helping matters," Sophie reprimanded her husband as she felt her friend's body shake harder with sobs.

"But that mangy Prince, how dare he? Leaving a pregnant woman like that, it's disgusting! I'm going to go to that castle and give that man a piece of my mind," Howl paced across the floor in a fury. Sophie, however, had frozen at the word 'pregnant.'

"She's pregnant?" Sophie gasped in a whisper.

"Well, yeah," Howl turned to look at her. "I noticed when Markl and I were carrying her inside," Howl raised and eyebrow, surprised that Sophie hadn't noticed, as well.

"I didn't even realize," Sophie stroked her friend's dark hair comfortingly. "It'll be okay, Lucille, we'll take care of you," she said gently.

"Glad to hear that you aren't talking as if I wasn't here anymore," she mumbled into Sophie's shoulder.

"Sorry about that," Howl shrugged, raising his hands in apology. "Sophie, I've got to go, now, I'll be right back," he strode over to the door and grabbed his red and purple coat.

"Are you serious about going to the other kingdom?" Sophie asked; eyes wide as Howl turned the dial.

"Well, yeah, of course," Howl said, opening the door.

"It's no use," Lucille spoke up, backing away from Sophie. "He's dead. He died in battle two days ago, trying to save me," she whispered, collapsing onto the couch.

Howl softly closed the door, coming slowly up the steps. "Lucille, I'm, I mean, that is, I thought," he blinked, searching for words to express his grief and apology all at once. He just didn't know how to say it, or which to say first.

"I know Howl, it's not your fault," she whispered, looking down into her hands. There was a tense silence for a moment, but then Lucille looked up, a determined fire replacing the tears in her eyes.

"I think that he died without regret. But I have a job to do, and it is to raise this baby," she pointed at her pregnant stomach, "To be the true heir of his kingdom. The kingdom that murdered him. There are no other living descendants of King Alphonse, that's why it is my job to prove that this baby can rule," she nodded.

"It will take a lot to prove that the baby is really his child," Howl nodded, smiling a half smile.

"But we've been through more," Sophie smirked.

"Will you help me?" she asked them.

"If we didn't, we could hardly call ourselves human," Howl answered.

"Thank you," Lucille said, tears of gratitude flowing down her cheeks.

And upstairs, the baby had begun to cry again.

For every life lost, a new life is born. It will never replace the soul, but there will always be room for happiness; there will always be room for friendship… and good and justice will prevail.

THE END

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A/N: It's over, and I'm crying. I can't believe that I actually finished the story. I think that it was a bit over 50 pages in size 10 Times New Roman Text. This is a happy day for me, I can't express the feeling. Thank you so much to every reviewer who has made this possible, and my 14,000 hits. Yeah, that's right. I never thought the story would come this far. The sequel will be titled "Good And Justice Will Prevail," hence the last words of this story. It won't be too long, I don't think. Please watch out for it if you're interested, starting in November, probably. I might write before that if I'm bored, though.

Please PM, E-mail, or leave it in your Review if you'd like me to write you when I put up the first chapter.

See you guys around FanFiction!!!

HoshiToTsuki