A/N: Merry Christmas! Why don't we start it off with a little HowlSophie cheer, eh?

So this... I decided to actually post something for Christmas, look at that! It's a miracle! But anyway, I've been working on this since before Thanksgiving, so I warn you, it's LONG. And being me, its rather humourous. So enjoy, and have a fabulous holiday season!

And sorry if somethings not right or grammatically stupid; I didn't read over this chapter. Too lazy. ;P And I'm not sure if my Welsh translation is correct either, I used a crappy language translator app to figure it out. All I can say is, at least I tried.

Enjoy!

Nadolig Llawen, Cariad

All was quiet on that lovely Christmas Eve morning. The snow drifted lazily down, blanketing the wastes in sparkling white. Warmth emanated from a low burning fire in the hearth. It gave a cozy light to the semi-dark room. Everything was peaceful.

Curtains hanging underneath the stairs rustled ever so slightly as a face tentatively poked through, eyes searching the room. Seeing it was empty, Sophie inched the rest of the way through the curtain and stood up, silent as a mouse. She took a quick glance at the empty staircase, then proceeded to tip-toe across the floor boards. She stopped in front of the bathroom, breathed a sigh of relief and triumph, and reached for the door handle.

Before her fingers could even come in contact with the brass, an extraordinarily loud pounding sounded from upstairs. In the next second, Howl appeared in the room and dashed, full speed, for the bathroom, knocking Sophie aside as he flung the door open and pelted inside. He slammed the door behind him and the room fell into silence once more.

Sophie stood, back against the wall, in surprised shock for a whole minute. Then, snapping back to reality, she tensed and cried out at the top of her lungs.

"DAMN IT, HOWL!" she screamed, pounding on the door so hard that she left a hairline crack down the middle. "You are the most vain, cowardly, slithering, lazy excuse for a wizard that has ever walked Ingary!" She stopped pounding and leaned against the abused door, panting. "Bother!" she hissed. She angrily made her way to the chair in front of the fireplace, sitting down in it hard. She fixed the floor with an icy glare.

The fire rose timidly from the logs and greeted her, albeit hesitantly.

"Morning Calcifer," Sophie grumbled curtly.

Calcifer bobbed uncertainly, not really wanting to be the victim of one of her lashings. "So… uh… He beat you again, I see."

Sophie's angry gaze flicked up to him. "That man isn't generous enough to give up the bathroom for five minutes even on the holidays! I think he put on his little show this morning just to aggravate me," she huffed.

"That's his goal every morning," Calcifer pointed out.

"But he knows we have company coming today! He could at least for today let me get ready first since I'm doing all the work!" She shook her fists in frustration. Calcifer shrugged. Sophie got up and stomped over to where the pots and pans were hanging. "Well he won't be in there for very long if I have anything to say about it. Bend your head for breakfast, Calcifer."

Chaos.

That was the only way to describe the kitchen at the moment. Skirts whipped to and fro as the Hatter women frantically prepared the Christmas Eve dinner, despite it being several hours before the feast was to be served. Spoons clinked and pots clanged as ingredients were mixed and placed in the oven. A poor abused Michael hunched in the corner of the room, peeling potatoes and staying well out of the women's way. Fanny was preparing the duck roast, Lettie was mashing up Michael's carefully peeled potatoes, Martha was concocting desserts with her finely tuned baking expertise, and Sophie was in another corner viciously chopping vegetables. Howl was, as usual, nowhere to be seen.

Sophie glanced up to survey the scene of their messy kitchen. She decided that Howl had made it too small for her busy body family to accommodate all at once. They were all basically shoulder to shoulder or nose to nose. That lazy oaf, Sophie thought to herself. He had constructed their little kitchen in a mere twenty minutes earlier that day, drawing runes and circles and all manner of lines on a section of the wall next to the hearth. Once the room was added on and Sophie had deemed it satisfactory, he had made himself scarce for the rest of the afternoon. This aggravated Sophie to no end since there was a lot of work to do yet and Howl was the most magical in the castle, making him more than capable of helping. Oh well, Sophie sighed. I'll just make him clean up the mess after.

She deposited the now totally sliced vegetables into a pan and glanced longingly at the door. Truth was, she was already exhausted and wanted nothing more than to collapse into a chair and sleep away the afternoon.

A bout of laughter erupted from somewhere beyond the door, and Sophie knew that even a quick moment of peace was not possible in there. Fanny's husband, Mr. Sacheravell-Smith, was in the living room along with Ben Sulliman and a very chatty Mrs. Fairfax. Howl could've been in there too, but Sophie highly doubted it considering the company he would be keeping. She knew Ben was the only one of them he actually tolerated and enjoyed conversing with. Anyway, the living room was out. But Sophie was oh so tired…

Observing the kitchen once more, Sophie made a decision and headed for the door-her escape. Thankfully, she went out unnoticed by her family, who would surely have protested had they known she was sneaking away for some alone time. She stole through the living room area and towards the portal, intent on spending some time in her flower field. She received nothing more than a questioning look from Ben. Sophie smiled tiredly, hoping he'd understand her unspoken message. He seemed to, because he smiled back and pretended to be oblivious to her leaving. Sophie silently thanked him and threw on her winter coat. Turning the knob to red, she opened the door and stepped out into the snow covered field of flowers. A gentle breeze tugged at her hair and kissed her rosy cheeks, and Sophie immediately felt at peace.

Wandering off a little ways, she found a spot far enough away from the castle and sat down in the soft snow. Its cool touch was welcoming on her over-heated body. She closed her eyes and drifted off into calming thoughts.

Sophie didn't know how long she had been sitting there in the snow, but when a presence plonked itself down next to her, startling her out of her reverie, she was surprised to find her bones cold and stiff. She was even more surprised to find an under dressed-for-the-weather Howl sitting in the snow in one of his nice suits. It would be soiled for sure, Sophie thought.

Howl turned his head to her and gave a lazy smile. "So what has you out here all alone, pray tell?"

Sophie glowered at him for a moment, then turned her gaze straight ahead. "I was taking a short break from kitchen duty, if you must know." To her annoyance, he scooted closer and places his hands on her shoulders.

"Sure didn't seem like a short break. You're freezing, Sophie!" Howl frowned.

She shook him off. "I'm fine," she insisted.

Howl wasn't convinced. "Let's get you back inside before you-and I for that matter- freeze to death. Dinner's almost ready anyhow." He moved to stand, offering a hand to her.

Sophie ignored it. "I'm not very happy with you," she stated.

Howl looked confused. "And why is that, love?"

Sophie faced him then with a look as cold as the temperature. "Where have you been all afternoon? There has been tons to do and your help would have been nice."

Howl met her glare with one of his own. "I was out."

"Well obviously," Sophie retorted nastily.

The wizard fidgeted slightly, remaining silent. Sophie sighed and stood up, looking defeated. The eyes full of hurt she turned on him made his heart crack. "What is so important out there that you leave your family for on Christmas Eve?" she asked sadly. What is so important that you leave me? Howl knew she was really saying. And it made him feel all the guiltier when he couldn't tell her. So he stayed silent again. Sophie looked down, hiding tears he already knew were there. She pushed past him and trudged dejectedly back to the castle. Howl watched her until she disappeared through the door. The sorcerer heaved a huge sigh.

"I'm sorry Sophie. You'll find out soon enough," he murmured, and trailed after her.

Dinner was quite an event considering the people present.

Mrs. Fairfax chatted her way through the entire meal with Fanny backing her up and even rivaling her at times. Mr. Smith discussed politics with a bored Ben at one end of the enlarged table, while Lettie and Martha talked magic and pastries at the other end of the table. Michael was making googly eyes at Martha and occasionally giving his input. Sophie sat with them, trying to pay attention to their conversation but failing miserably. Howl sat at the head of the table near to her, much to her chagrin, wishing desperately that she would at least say something to him. Sophie was set on solidly ignoring him.

At some point, after everyone was finished eating and had settled with conversing amiably, Howl became fed up with being ignored and made that fact known by leaving the table and heading for his room. The rest of the room's occupants watched him go silently, wondering what just happened to be upsetting him at the time. Brushing it off as a Howl thing, they returned to their avid discussion on the upcoming royal ball and the royal wizards' parts in it.

Sophie gazed wistfully at the stairs. She knew she wasn't being fair. Howl could've been out buying last minute gifts for all she knew. But for some reason she had this niggling feeling that he was going out for something- or someone- that she wouldn't approve of. This wasn't the first time he had run off without a word. But this time frustrated her the most. It was Christmas Eve, for pete's sake! He had no right to do that to her. Remembering her fury, Sophie yanked her gaze away from the staircase and focused on the conversation. If he was going to sulk, then so was she!

An hour and a half later, after the table was cleared and the dishes washed, the party found themselves seated around the living room with steaming mugs of fresh tea. Someone would speak up occasionally, provoking murmurs from others, but everyone stayed relatively quiet, sipping their tea and simply enjoying each other's company. Michael and Martha were curled up on the love seat, Lettie and Ben were sharing the sofa with Fanny and her husband, Mrs. Fairfax was in the wooden chair near Calcifer, and Sophie was sitting at the table again, chin propped on hand. She stared forlornly at the wall, feeling absolutely miserable.

She couldn't quite bring herself to join the family circle. It would only remind her of how much she wanted to curl up on the couch with a certain someone who was too much of a child to join them. Sophie sighed again.

As if on cue, Howl's light footsteps sounded on the stairs moments before he appeared. He halted at the base of the stairs and searched over the curious faces staring back. His emerald green eyes landed on Sophie's and he stared at her with such intensity that she was frozen to the spot. Her breath hitched as she watched the countless emotions pass through his green depths.

After what felt like ages, but was really only a few short moments, Howl broke into a secretive, mischievous smile.

"Sophie," he said smoothly, gliding over to her, "would you come with me please?"

Sophie gazed up at his handsome face, suspicion and curiosity battling viciously in her head. She turned to see everyone else's expressions matching what she thought hers to be. She turned back to Howl's now hopeful face. Curiosity won.

"Okay…" she replied timidly. Howl's smile stretched so far across his face Sophie was afraid it would crack. He held out a well-manicured hand that she took hesitantly.

Turning their backs on the many inquisitive faces in the room, Howl led her up the stairs and into his bedroom. He closed the door behind them.

Sophie instantly snorted at the state of his sleeping quarters. Books and clothes were lying haphazardly on the floor, trinkets and various paraphernalia were scattered all about, and a multitude of glass vials and bottles threatened to tip over the edge of a worn out desk near the bed. A layer of dust covered every imaginable surface. Sophie knew Mrs. Fairfax and Fanny would throw a fit if they found out their efforts to clean Howl's bedroom were all in vain; nothing stayed clean in there, especially since Sophie didn't tend to it. And she most definitely couldn't tend to Howl's bedroom when he wouldn't even let her in there in the first place.

Howl came up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What, is something not to your liking, Miss Nose?" he quipped.

"You know very well there is," Sophie countered. "I wish you would clean in here, or at least let me do it."

"If I let you clean my room, how would I ever find anything?" Howl retorted. He sauntered over to the ridiculously cluttered desk and opened a drawer. Papers fell out and fluttered to the floor as he dug through it. With a grunt of satisfaction, he pulled out a little box and held it in the air. "Like this, for instance?"

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "This? What exactly is this?"

Howl spun around to face her with a benevolent grin. "I could tell you, but I'd much rather show you." He strode up to her and took her hand gently in his. Sophie stared at him quizzically. With a flourish of his magnificent red and white suit, Howl gracefully fell to one knee. Sophie's look of confusion quickly morphed to one of shock as it all came together.

Howl smiled dazzlingly up at her. "My dearest Sophie Hatter, killer of my beloved spiders, I think you are the single most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. You are a sensible, loving, busy-body, stubborn woman who puts up-surprisingly- with all of my annoying faults and my vanity, and yet you still love me. Or at least I hope so, considering the fact that I've been running out on you for the past month. I am sorry about that by the way…" Howl coughed nervously; Sophie motioned him to carry on. He cleared his throat. "To spend the rest of my life with you would be the biggest dream come true. Sophie, will you marry me?"

Sophie stood rooted to the floor, tears threatening to slip. She stared in to his bottle-green eyes, no longer glass-like, seeing all the genuine love and affection reflecting from them. With a small cry of joy, she threw her arms around his neck.

"Yes! Yes, Howl, I will marry you!" she sobbed. Howl stood up, pulling her with him, and spun her around in merriment, both laughing in glee. When he set her down, he opened the velvet box and carefully pulled out a gorgeous ring. He slid it onto her finger and Sophie took the time to observe it. It was a beautiful silver with a medium sized blue sapphire set into the middle. Two little diamonds on either side of the sapphire winked up at her. The whole ring seemed to glow with an aura of love. Sophie smiled widely, tears running anew down her cheeks.

"It's beautiful Howl," she choked.

Howl smiled lovingly and wrapped his arms around her. Sophie returned his embrace, leaning her head against his chest. She sighed happily.

"I'm sorry for ignoring you," Sophie murmured. "I really did think you kept leaving because of a woman. Now I realize you were going out in search of a ring for me."

"It's alright. I understand, and I'm sorry for letting you think that. I would never leave you for another, Sophie dear," said Howl.

Sophie hummed contentedly, burying her face deeper into his suit.

"Nadolig Llawen, Cariad," Howl whispered in her ear. Sophie pulled away, looking at him weirdly.

"What does that mean?"

Howl grinned. "What do you think it means?"

Sophie gazed at the floor thoughtfully. "…I love you?" she ventured.

Howl laughed. "Try again."

"You're beautiful?"

"Nope, but thank you for the compliment," Howl chuckled.

Sophie threw her hands up in defeat. "I don't know! And that so called compliment was unintentional," she grumbled.

Howl laughed again and pulled her to him. "I know, just messing." He leaned towards her face and added more quietly, "It means Merry Christmas, sweetheart."

Sophie broke into a smile and nudged her nose towards his. She could feel his breath on her lips, and she shivered.

"I love you, Sophie," Howl whispered huskily.

"I love you too, Howl," Sophie murmured back before quickly closing the distance between them for the first time.

Quiet murmuring had sprung up almost as soon as Sophie left the room with Howl. The occupants of the castle's living room discussed what 'that wizard' was up to, and if he hurt Sophie in any way, the severe consequences he would receive from the Hatters.

When an obviously overjoyed scream sounded from upstairs, quickly followed by a dull thud, everyone either jumped or flinched. Fortunately, no tea mugs were lost to the floor.

By the time a soft mumbling was heard, everyone had decided what facial expressions to wear. Fanny was somewhere between confused and suspicious, Ben looked mildly amused, Mr. Smith showed no emotion, Michael and Martha were bewildered, and Mrs. Fairfax and Lettie smiled knowingly.

Fanny was the first to speak. "What on earth are they doing up there?" she asked incredulously.

"Beats me," Lettie said, sipping her tea delicately. She grinned into the cup.

Michael managed to compose himself somewhat. "Probably just Howl being Howl," he said casually. He stared nervously at the ceiling despite his indifferent tone.

Fanny gave him a queer look. She stood up abruptly. "And what exactly would that entail? Maybe I should go check on them," she decided.

"Not a good idea," Mrs. Fairfax murmured thoughtfully.

Fanny turned to her. "And why not?"

"Because," Annabelle said as she took another sip of her tea.

Fanny pivoted fully to face her head on, hands on hips. "My daughter is up there all alone with that disreputable wizard. I do believe I should-"

"Actually she's right there," Ben spoke up, effectively cutting Fanny off.

Everyone turned to face the stairs, where Sophie was indeed coming down, one arm twined with Howl's. They halted at the base of the staircase, eyes roving over their rather curious audience. Sophie dropped Howl's arm.

Fanny turned on them, eyes glittering with suspicion and accusation. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing important," Howl said, inspecting his fingernails. Sophie elbowed him, smirking satisfactorily when he gasped in surprise. She stepped forward confidently. Everyone waited expectantly.

"We're getting married," she said bluntly. Gasps and cries of delight immediately erupted from the room as Sophie's family crowded around her, giving hugs and congratulations.

"I knew it!" Lettie cried.

"This is so great, Sophie!" Martha squealed.

"When's the wedding?" Fanny queried.

Sophie smiled and tried to answer to all of them, which was quite a feat. Fanny was asking something else that Sophie didn't hear when Mrs. Fairfax waddled over.

"Alright, let's see that ring, dear," she said, holding out her hand expectantly. Sophie set her ringed hand on the old witch's. The women ooh-ed and ahh-ed as she turned it this way and that.

Howl meanwhile had strolled across the room to where the men still remained. Sulliman shook his hand and congratulated him. Michael shortly joined in. Mr. Smith stayed where was, looking quite bored.

The clock chimed midnight, causing everyone to stop what they were doing. Fanny was, once again, the first to break the silence.

"Goodness me! We best be off to bed," she trilled. The room voiced it's agreement. Sophie led everyone to their temporary rooms, which Howl had added on earlier for convenience. When she came back, looking utterly exhausted, the living room was eerily quiet except for Calcifer's soft crackling. Howl murmured something to him, then turned to Sophie with a grand smile. She smiled back and stepped into his waiting arms.

"Shall we go to bed?" said Howl, nuzzling her red-gold hair.

"Sounds lovely," Sophie mumbled, leaning into his touch.

"Off we go then." Before she even realized what happened, Howl was carrying her up the stairs bridal style.

"Howl! My bed's down there," she protested.

Howl smirked. "Not anymore."

Sophie flushed. "But Howl-"

"It's time for a change," he murmured, fumbling with the doorknob to his room. When he got it open, he smiled reassuringly down at his fiancé. "Do you trust me?"

Sophie gazed into his deep, gentle eyes. She knew he wouldn't do anything to make her uncomfortable. Quite the opposite, actually. "I trust you," she breathed.

Howl kissed her forehead. "Nadolig Llawen, Cariad." And with that, he stepped inside, shutting the door behind them until the light of day coaxed them back out again.

The next morning would be Christmas morning, and they would spend it together for the first time, knowing there would be many, many more to come.

And they couldn't be more excited.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

~SillyLeaf