Howl and the Soulmate Stone

Part Fourteen : The Soulmate Stone

They were hovering in the air, surrounded by a hazy red sheen. It was instantly obvious that the boys were no longer in the small room in the castle, but rather, outside over a cliff.

As they watched Howl's castle came stumbling up to the edge, then down it, breaking and collapsing until all that was left was the panel of wood that had once made up the floor.

Both Howl and Justin knew this moment. It was a memory. It happened when Sophie broke the curse between Calcifer and Howl and the castle had stopped working. They both winced as it went over the side of the cliff and careening down the ravine.

Howl did not remember this part, as he had been unconscious at the time, so he watched in surprise as Justin, still as a scarecrow back then, leapt in front of them to slow the fall, effectively stopping them from tumbling to the bottom of the mountain.

He turned towards Justin, who was watching the scene unfold with pensive eyes. "You saved us?" the wizard asked quietly.

Justin looked at him and gave a faint smile. "Yes, did they never tell you that?" he asked. The scene continued on. The crash into the rock which had saved their lives sent everyone crashing down onto the platform. Turnip was thrown high into the air before he fell back down to join them.

He landed right on top of Howl. Sophie and Marukuru both moved and Justin shifted.

The memory froze and suddenly the two boys were standing right above the pile of bodies. What they could see, which neither of them had picked up on before, was that Justin's turnip head was now pressed up against the unconscious Howl's lips.

"No," Justin breathed, a shocked look was etched onto Howl's face.

"Did you know? Did this really happen?" Howl demanded. Justin just shook his head. He had not known. But... did this mean-

With that image seared into both boy's minds they were thrown out of the memory. When both boys sat up from where they had been laid out across the floor the heart shaped stone was back to its original place on the cushion, all traces of the red glow gone.

Madame Suliman stood over them menacingly. "What are you two doing with that? How did you even get in here?" she questioned.

Both boys gulped. "Uh," Howl stammered slowly. Then, feeling the need to say it: "He kissed me! Is it a lie? What is that stupid rock and is it lying to me?"

Suliman stared at him. Before she had the chance to reply Justin cut her off. "Howl! Why would you just say something like that! It was obviously lying, it's probably a cursed object or something! Right, Madame Suliman?"

The witch looked down at the two boys who were both looking at her almost desperately. "It was not lying to you," she told them. "That stone is called the Solemate Stone. It reveals your true love."

There was silence. Then at the same moment: "WHAT?"

Suliman winced at their raised voices and she glanced uncomfortably between them. "When did it say you kissed, exactly? Why did neither of you know about it?"

They explained the situation, rambling over each other and adding in unnecessary details until the woman finally got the picture. "But..." Justin said finally. "That would mean you were my... but Sophie was the one who broke it... wasn't she?"

Howl blinked a few times. "Well it did happen right after so I suppose it's possible that I was the one who... wait, but Sophie was the one who put my heart back! That definitely wasn't him!"

"Yes, but Sophie is a witch," Suliman explained. "It wasn't true love that would break your curse, it was someone with magic. The terms of your curse were much different than Justin's." Howl and Justin met each others eyes and both blushed heavily before quickly turning away from each other.

"There must be a mistake," Justin said, heart pounding. There was no way this could be real. Was he sleeping? Maybe this was some crazy dream...

Suliman shook her head. "The Soulmate Stone does not lie. It cannot lie."

Howl stared down at his lap as he tried to process this and found he had no idea what to think. For a long moment the three remained in silence together. Finally the witch broke the silence. "I'll leave you two to talk," she said, turning away. "I'm sure you have a lot to think about..."

"Wait," Justin said quickly.

Suliman turned back expectantly. "Yes, your highness?"

The prince winced embarrassedly. "We're kind of lost... that's how we ended up here in the first place..."

Suliman let out a laugh. "In your own castle too! Very well then, have a nice night, you two," she said, then, with a snap of her fingers, the prince and the magician were standing in front of the prince's chambers.

Justin shoved his way into the room, nearly slamming the door onto Howl as he tried to follow him in. "Hey!" the wizard exclaimed, entering properly and closing the door behind him. "What was that for? Look I'm sorry I'm your soulmate or something! Is that what you're mad about? Because it's not like I knew that before-"

He was cut off as Justin spun back around. There were tears in his eyes. "Are you sorry?" he demanded angrily.

"What?" Howl asked, taken aback.

"Are you sorry we're soulmates?" the boy returned, not meeting his eyes.

Howl opened and closed his mouth, looking at the prince in front of him. "I mean..." he trailed off. He didn't know how to say that he wasn't sorry. That he was glad that things had worked out like this. That he was happy they had a chance to maybe be something.

Justin did not catch any of his interior thoughts and felt his heart ache. But, he figured he had seen this coming. He should have known better than to think that the wizard could like him.

"I knew it!" Justin exclaimed, moving away from him, a furious expression on his face. "You wanted to be with Sophie. Well fine. I'm sorry you have to be soulmates with me, Howl! But I wanted us to maybe... I wanted you to want it too. But it's fine. You can leave now. Go try to get Sophie back. I don't care- oof!"

Howl reached out and grabbed his sleeve, spinning him back towards him. Justin's eyes flew open in surprise as Howl took his face in his hands and kissed him. Justin went perfectly still, frozen from the shock. Then, heart pounding with pure disbelief, he gently kissed Howl back.

For what seemed like both a second and hours, the broke apart. There were tears on Justin's cheeks. "What I was trying to say before you interrupted me," Howl said, forcing Justin to make eye contact with him. "Is that I'm not sorry. I'm not... I'm glad we're soulmates."

Justin brushed his tears away and gave Howl a small smile. "So am I," he replied.