Howls Moving Castle Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Howls moving castle. Hayao Miyazaki does or rather Diana Wynne Jones does.

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Chapter one: In which a great tragedy occurs

"No!" Michael cried. He clutched Sophie's cold, dead hand. Martha held his shoulder and shed silent tears, her thin shoulders shaking.

Howl was stricken. His face held a permanently shocked expression. He couldn't believe it. His wife for six years was dead. So suddenly she had died that he had had no way to prepare himself of the waves of grief already heading his way.

"Howl." Calcifer intoned. "She knew she was going to die."

The fire demons words gently brought Howl back to reality. "What do you mean?" he asked hoarsely.

"Remember her curse? She knew because I told her. That curse ate away a lot of her life. She told me a few days ago that she felt her end approaching."

This was too much for Howl. He broke down and fled to his room, the room where he and Sophie shared so many memories. His mourning was cut short when he heard small footsteps approach his bedroom door. Morgan.

"Papa, what's going on? Why are Michael and Aunt Martha crying?" he demanded. He had a strong-minded personality that was exactly like Sophie's.

"Morgan." Howl swallowed. "Your mama went away somewhere. Somewhere wonderful. To rest."

Morgan's eyebrows wrinkled in concentration. "Can I see her? Is she gonna come back?"

"No Morgan." Howl drew in a shuddering breath. "You see, she's never coming back."

Comprehension dawned on the little boy. "Was it something I did?" he asked with a trembling lip. "Was Morgan a very bad boy?"

Calcifer, who had secretly followed Howl in case he did something stupid out of his grief, jumped in at this part. "Actually Morgan, it's the other way around. Your mama knew that you were already a very good boy so she knew she could leave you already."

Morgan's innocent little head came up with a silly little conclusion. "Was it something papa did?"

"No." Calcifer said. "It was actually your papa that prevented her from leaving immediately."

"Then we have to stick together papa. Maybe someday, Mama would like to come back."

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AN: This is my first fictional story so please don't be so brutal. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.