Author's note: Just something fluffy and funny I thought up with a mix of the book and movie (Michael is the book's older version of Markl and Martha is Sophie and Lettie's youngest sister). Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Howl's Moving Castle (book or movie) or any of its characters
"Door!" A quiet knocking resonated in the empty parlor. Calcifer zipped over to the door and stared at it. Even if he could open it he would have chosen not to; he was a demon after all. The little ball of flames drifted back to his spot in the fireplace. Absently he picked up a piece of kindling and chewed on it.
"Sophie!" he called. There came a rustling from the shop's antechamber. "Michael!" The person at the door knocked again with more force. At last the wizard's apprentice came flying down the stairs, heading straight for the door.
"Is it Martha?" Michael asked. But before the fire demon could say something sarcastic, the boy had thrown the door open. To his surprise, it was the crown prince Justin who stood before him. Calcifer spit the twig from his mouth and sank down into the pile of wood.
"Y-your highness!" Michael stuttered. He bowed quickly yet clumsily. "Please come in." He beckoned for the prince and his men to enter their humble home.
"Thank you, my boy. But please, call me Justin," the prince chirped. He and two men – palace guards ordered to protect him, presumably – stepped into the room quite happily. "Forgive me for showing up unannounced," he added. Michael led them over to the couch.
"I-it's no trouble. Please, sit." Calcifer watched cautiously from the fireplace, keeping his eyes well hidden. It had been several months since their odd little family had sorted out Justin's situation. And since then they hadn't heard a single word from the man. For him to show up out of the blue made Calcifer uneasy.
"Howl! Sophie!" the boy called, hoping for either of the adults to take over the strange arrival. "Ah, just a moment." The prince smiled at him, which did nothing to quell his nerves. Why Michael felt nervous, though, he wasn't sure. Though he supposed that receiving a visit from royalty was bound to do that to a person. Everyone in the room turned their heads toward the shop as the sounds of feet shuffling grew louder. The young witch entered the room, her focus on the piece of paper in her hands.
"Howl's just stepped out for something. But he wants us to go and get–" Sophie's sentence stopped as she spotted the man sitting on her couch. Said man stood, one arm bent as though he were escorting a pretty lady, and beamed.
"Hello, Sophie," Prince Justin said. Sophie could do nothing but gape for a moment but quickly recomposed herself.
"Prince Justin, to what do we owe the occasion?" Sophie smoothed out her apron, her eyes darting around the room for any signs of untidiness. The prince took a few steps in her direction. She tucked a loose strand of ginger hair behind her ear.
"No occasion," he chuckled. "I just happened to be in the neighborhood." A lie, Calcifer presumed. His eyes followed Justin's movements as he got even closer to the young witch. From his pocket he presented a small lavender flower. "I thought I'd come see my favorite little family." Sophie smiled – though the fire demon could not tell if it was feigned or not – and accepted it.
"Thank you. Though I am sorry to say that we were actually just heading out to run a few errands for Howl." If anyone had been looking closely, they would have seen the very slight souring of the prince's expression at the mention of the wizard's name. It lasted less than a second.
"My apologies, I hadn't intended to intrude," the prince said, his tone light and polite.
"It's no intrusion," Sophie assured. For a moment she let her eyes switch between Michael and Calcifer. The apprentice had been standing behind the couch ever since he sat the prince down, watching the scene unfurl uneventfully. He stared back at her blankly. From where she was standing Sophie could make out Calcifer's tiny eyes behind a log. He looked at her quizzically. It couldn't hurt, she thought – as though the two of them could hear her. Eyes back to Justin.
"Would you care to join us?" she invited. If he'd already been strolling around Market Chipping anyway he might as well join them, she mused. Justin's face lit up at the suggestion.
"I would love to." The witch instructed Michael to grab her basket from the closet while she went about putting on a hat and shawl. The prince waited patiently by the door. Calcifer watched Justin, the man's eyes following Sophie's every movement. Though he was polite enough, there was something underneath; he most certainly had other intentions, the fire demon thought.
Several shops later, the small brigade – consisting of a witch, a wizard's apprentice, the crown prince, and his two guards – found themselves walking casually through the town. Having completed the task of gathering a few materials and spells for Howl, Sophie felt it a reward to allow themselves to take the long way home. They passed by colorful stalls and vendors shouting their wares; several talented people singing, dancing, and performing on the street; and of course the civilians of Market Chipping, all of which the prince had never seen before. He marveled at everything, pointing out what was completely ordinary to Sophie and Michael. Most of the excitement ended as they emerged from the main shopping center of the town. The remainder of Market Chipping was much more quaint, with houses and small shops lining the riverfront. Though still Justin was impressed.
Their strolling came to a halt as they found themselves on the bridge overlooking the river. Just across the bridge and around the corner was home. Sophie's thoughts drifted to Howl, for she realized it had been ages since the two of them had meandered through the town. She wondered if he would be there when they got back.
"Such a lovely town really," the prince sighed, breaking through Sophie's thoughts. He leaned his elbows on the short stone wall lining the bridge, gazing at the steady flow of the water. Sophie stood next to him, setting down her basket. She, too, stared at the river.
"Yes." She couldn't imagine living anywhere but Market Chipping, though living in the castle was technically like living three other places as well. The thought broke when Michael asked her to hold the spell vials he'd been carrying. She took them as he went to tie his shoes. One of the vials had a dark purple liquid. Another had a pale green powder. She gazed at them curiously, wondering at their mystical properties. Unfortunately, this was to be Sophie's downfall. For as she stood admiring the vials, a large man carrying several sacks of flour came running from the other side of the bridge. His stack was so high that he could not see the young apprentice crouched down on the pavement in front of him. The man tripped over Michael and crashed into Sophie. The vials flew from her hands and collided with the ground. There was a great flash of deep purple smoke and Sophie felt herself somehow no longer upright or on the ground.
Time seemed to slow down as she fell towards the river. She stared up at the face of the prince who seemed to be yelling, but he did not concern her. What did concern Sophie was that Howl was nowhere within her eyesight. Where was that dratted man? Why couldn't he have picked up his own materials? Her body hit the water. It was cold as it gushed in through Sophie's mouth and nose. Though she didn't struggle; she felt no need to struggle. A queer calm came over her as she began to sink. Her red gold hair floated around her, only adding to the sereneness. The world around her became bluer. Like the pendant Howl always wore around his neck. Or his eyes.
"Howl," Sophie gurgled. But she supposed he couldn't always be there to save her. Though why wasn't she trying to move? There was no more light; just a dark, endless abyss.
Everything was hazy. And dark. Clouded, muted, shadowed. That was the mind of Sophie Hatter as she lay on cold cobblestone with a small crowd surrounding her. Someone was calling her name, she thought, though it was rather muddled.
"Come on Sophie girl," she told herself. With some effort she pushed her mind into a better state of consciousness. Things began to lighten though voices still sounded fuzzy.
"Sophie!" one of the voices was shouting, beginning to sound clearer, though she didn't recognize its speaker. At last Sophie could feel her body; it was cold and stiff. She tried wiggling her fingers. Slowly, they moved. Eyes, she thought, open your eyes. Bright light invaded her vision, as did several blurry figures hovering above her. A dark haired blob to her left, a lighter haired blob on her right, and farther in front of her was a blob in between the two other colors. There also seemed to be a bright orange blob flitting around the other three blobs.
"Sophie." This voice was calm yet stern, as if they'd said her name as an affirmation. But unlike the other voice, this one she recognized. It brought warmth to her chest despite the coldness spread through the rest of her body. Her vision began to right itself. Justin was kneeling at her right, his hands reaching forward as if to touch her, but pulling back as though awkward. Michael and Calcifer watched from near her feet, smiling as she came to. To her left was the speaker, and he seemed to be holding onto her hand. The look on his face read somewhat unsympathetic, yet somehow still a bit anxious.
"Howl," she breathed. The wizard sighed.
"You're always getting into trouble, aren't you?" Howl scolded, though Sophie could tell how frightened – or at least worried – he was by how tightly he gripped her hand. With his other hand he helped Sophie into a sitting position.
"Only you could have managed to unleash the binding spell on yourself," Howl chided more. Sophie, dizzy from the spell, swayed. The wizard pulled her closer to lean on his shoulder. "This inconveniences me, you know. Now I have to go back and get another." To anyone else, it would seem that Howl was being quite harsh. But those who were trained well enough in the ways of the wizard could hear the true love and concern in his voice. Sophie closed her eyes, relishing in the fact that his actions gave away his emotions.
"I'm sorry for worrying you," she murmured. Howl's expression softened. Had no one been around – for he had an image to upkeep – he would have pressed his own head atop hers and squeezed her shoulders tight. The prince put his hand on Sophie's shoulder.
"Sophie don't apologize; it was an accident." Not realizing their dynamic, he assumed Howl was being cruel and blaming her for something that had not been her fault. The wizard rolled his eyes, ignoring the comment, while Sophie was much kinder. She patted his arm gently and then looked up at Howl.
"Let's go home."
Back at the castle, to which Justin had been invited as a thanks for helping rescue Sophie – though from Howl's perspective the prince had done nothing but scream like a helpless child – the young witch ran around like a busybody. It was as though she hadn't just gone through a life-threatening situation. Howl would have preferred she rest and let him make tea – especially after Sophie had refused help in getting home – but since it was for Prince Justin he allowed her to continue in her antics; he was in no mood to be hospitable to the man. He kept a close eye on her anyway. Michael had stepped out to visit Martha after Sophie repeatedly reassured him that she was in fact feeling fine and forced him out the door. Calcifer had discreetly slipped down through the chimney, settling back into his usual position. He had no plans on telling Sophie that he'd been following them around the town. There was something off about Justin that he didn't like. Plus his decision to shadow them paid off in the end, for what was that dingbat prince going to do about saving Sophie? A hearty laugh intruded on his thoughts. Said prince had clearly found whatever was just said very funny.
"Oh, dear Sophie," he chuckled. The word "dear" made Howl cringe. It was no secret to him that Justin was in love with Sophie. Not that he was a particularly threatening man, but Justin was not ashamed to exceed his boundaries. And not that Sophie seemed to care or even notice – but didn't she notice? But ah, ever-loyal Sophie. Howl's thoughts wandered away from the prince and to his beloved, a much more welcome subject. Sophie darted around the room, half cleaning and half gathering things to make tea. As she bent over to grab a few things from the cupboard under the sink, Howl found himself staring at her bottom. He smiled to himself but the expression dropped when Calcifer crackled from the fireplace. A tiny tendril pointed in the direction of the prince. The wizard turned his head and found Justin also staring at the very same thing he had been. A look of anger graced his once happy features.
Howl would have assumed that the prince was more gentlemanly but the look he was giving her – a look as though she were a succulent piece of fruit he wanted to get his mouth on – made him think otherwise. And this made the wizard very jealous, though he hated to admit it. Not that he believed Sophie would ever go for the extravagancy of a man like that, but for goodness sake she hadn't even seen his expression. And dammit Howl would show the pompous prince that he was not allowed look at Sophie like that.
Without warning he walked over to Sophie, stepped as close to her as he could get, put his hands on either side of her neck, and crushed his mouth against hers. The young witch let out a muffled cry of surprise, her arms holding limply onto Howl's elbows. Nevertheless she ended up closing her eyes, seeming to enjoy it. Howl, though, stared straight at the prince who had averted his eyes, somewhat disgusted by the sudden display of affection. Or was it power move, Justin wondered. In the end, the wizard's action was understood and the prince held up a hand in defeat. At the sign of surrender, Howl did allow his eyes to close. Kissing Sophie – or anything having to do with Sophie, really – was one of his life's greatest pleasures. He tilted her head so to deepen the kiss when she pushed him away, as if snapping back into reality.
"Sorry." Sophie tried to keep the smile from her face. "Sometimes my dear wizard can be a bit crude." Playfully she hit his shoulder and turned to head back into the kitchen for teabags. Howl very nearly reached out to give her bottom a playful slap. It would have been overdoing his endeavor in claiming Sophie's affections, but the look on Justin's face would have been worth it. The look on Sophie's face, however, is what prevented him from doing so. Instead, Howl opted for smirking in the prince's direction.
Fortunately for Howl and Calcifer, the prince did not stay much longer after that. He politely sipped his tea, thanked Sophie for an eventful afternoon, and wished her well before making for the door flanked by his guards. Howl made a point to wrap his arm around Sophie's waist as they stood to bid him goodbye. Once the door was officially shut and the house was free of royalty, Calcifer buzzed up next to the couple.
"I don't like that guy," the fire demon stated.
"I couldn't agree more," Howl agreed without hesitation. Sophie turned to look at the both of them.
"What, exactly, is wrong with him?" she questioned. The two eyed each other before Calcifer zipped away and up the chimney. Howl removed his arm from Sophie's person, looking away. Inwardly he cursed the fireball.
"You know how I feel about the royals," he supposed. Suddenly the ceiling had become the most interesting thing in the world. Sophie pursed her lips, her eyes narrowed. She tilted her head.
"Is my wizard jealous?" Sophie asked incredulously – it was feigned, of course, but she did love to tease him so when it came to emotional matters. When Howl continued to avoid her gaze her eyes went wide with realization.
"That's what that little move was!" she exclaimed, shoving him. "You rude man!" The lilt in her voice gave her away and Howl's eyes flicked to her face. She was struggling to keep the smile off her face. The wizard smirked.
"My dear Sophie," mimicking Justin's previous word choice, "I do believe I have no idea what you are talking about." He stepped very close to her, their faces inches apart. "Why don't you enlighten me?"
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