Howl's Moving Castle Fan Fiction ❯ Extraordinary Machine ❯ Chapter 1

Extraordinary Machine:

In Which Howl Explores the Mystery of Love

By Shaid

 

Howell Jenkins was not good at being uncomfortable. He was vain, arrogant, fickle and cowardly. Furthermore, he was quite aware those qualities were predominant in his personality. He was a spendthrift, a slitherer-outer and not at all the sort one would want one's daughter to even meet, let alone bring home. However, it could also be said (by very few and quite rarely, too) that the Wizard Howl was essentially good at heart. Of course, that was precisely the problem. Good or not, if one's heart is missing, it does no good to any one.

So it was with a great deal of confusion that the Wizard finally realized he had fallen in love with his disguised cleaning lady.

Sophie was the exact opposite of him in all ways but one. She was modest in the face of his vanity and pride, steadfast and true in her word and works and brave beyond belief in the face of something that would surely bring him to his knees. The one quality they shared was that they both were, essentially, good at heart.

He shouldn't have been able to fall so thoroughly for her, not with his missing heart and her hidden youth. Yet from the moment he had seen her bullying Calcifer, snapping back at him and bristling like a hedgehog cornered by a curious cat, an ache had begun in his chest. No, before that even, when he had glimpsed fire behind the fear in her eyes at the May festival, something about her had called to him. Because behind the fear and the self doubt, behind the ensorcelled form and sharp tongue, Howl could see that Sophie Hatter's heart burned as brilliantly as a falling star. Which was why he'd felt he could trust her to break the contract between himself and Calcifer. Sophie was good at being uncomfortable and he was in awe of her strength and resilience.

Love was a different matter, altogether. As his heart beat in his chest again for the first time in years, Howl felt it fill with an unfamiliar emotion. It burned and soothed at the same time, nearly bringing tears to his eyes as he gazed at Sophie without the filter of her enchantment. She was beautiful, but he'd found beauty in her before. He knew he was a mess, his hair tousled and frayed and his clothing in complete disarray. He couldn't bring himself to care. His Sophie was safe and she had given him back his heart. She had given him back his life.

Emotions flooded the returned organ and a quaver of fear stuck him as he began to question himself. Could he do this? Could he keep her safe? Was he worthy of her? Was love worth the pain and fear? Self doubt made him uncomfortable. But he wouldn't run this time. He may not be good at being uncomfortable, but he was willing to try for Sophie's sake.

After all, the heart was an extraordinary machine.

 

A/N- 500 words exactly! Thought I wasn't trying for it, oddly enough. Inspired by Fiona Apple's song. Book-verse.