Our… Oh My Gosh! It's Our Fifth Anniversary!
Disclaimer: Of course, I do not own Howl's Moving Castle (movie or book). sniff sob They belong to the Great Diana Wynne Jones and Myasaki … for now…
Warning: Contains Castle in the Air spoilers! I'm still in the midst of reading it… I won't totally incorporate that story…
Hey! This story combines the movie and the book(s). So… if I'm not totally loyal to either one, you know why. I am also having Sophie and Howl have a daughter and a son. So deal with it! Also, for this story to work, you must imagine them in the modern day. Sorry, you just do. This story will not depend on magic very much at all… so, yeah. Hope that you enjoy it!
"No!" Sophie yelled at her husband.
"Yes!" he retorted back.
"No!" Sophie was very irritated at the moment. She knew that Howl was right… but it was her stubborn side that spurred her on.
"Yes!" Howl was no longer fighting to win; he was fighting for his amusement. He always loved to push Sophie's buttons, even though he knew that it was horrible.
"Howl!"
"Sophie!"
"Ho-wuhl!"
"Soph-ie!"
"Howl!" She looked at him, exasperated, begging him to give in.
"Sophie!" He shot her a grin that told her exactly how he felt about the matter: he could go on for hours.
Sophie decided to give in. "Fine! We can go to Gavayli!" Howl grinned at her triumphantly. "But you are not making me wear a bikini!"
"Oh, yes you will!" Howl shot his wife another evil grin. She knew that he just wanted to argue with her.
"No, I will not!"
"Yep!"
"No way!"
"Yes!" He smiled at her in his sweetest smile, not to stun her, because it couldn't, but to show her that she was making him extremely happy.
"Howl!"
"Sophie!"
"Howl!" She knew that, once again he would never give in. But, it was just so fun.
"Sophie!"
"Howl!"
"Sophie!"
"Okay, okay! But…," Sophie searched for a retort, "you have to wear a bathing suit!" She knew that it was lame, but she couldn't think of anything better.
"Well, duh!" Howl said. His wife glared at him. "I suppose that you want me to wear something skimpy to get back at me," he said in a bored voice.
"No!" Sophie said.
"Howl looked at her, amused. "Is Mrs. Jenkins getting a little jealous?" he asked playfully.
"No," Sophie retorted, "I just want to spare some people the agony of having to see you in a skimpy suit." She smiled at her husband.
"You hurt me, Sophie! Five years of marriage and you still find joy in making fun of me," Howl said in mock hurt.
"Hey! I wouldn't be talking, mister," Sophie said, glaring at her husband.
Howl smiled at her innocently. "I have no idea of what you're talking about."
Sophie rolled her eyes at her husband. It was at times like these that she forgot that she was a grown woman of twenty-four who had been through more than most women would in their lifetimes and was the mother of two. Howl did that to her. He had the unique ability of making her feel like a little girl. She found way too much joy in doing things like bickering with him than she should, but it was a relief from her busy work as the flower shop keeper. "Are we bringing the kids and Calcifer with us?" she asked Howl, referring to their son, Morgan, their daughter, Lilly, and their fire demon.
"If you would like to," Howl said. Sophie thought that she heard a bit of regret in his agreement but decided that she was imagining it.
"Great! We'll make it into a family vacation!" Sophie said enthusiastically.
"Fine. But I want three days with just you and me." Howl was beginning to worry that this "family vacation" would give him and Sophie no time alone.
"Howl, how are we going to work that out? We have an almost-five-year-old boy, a three-year-old girl, a nineteen-year-old boy, and a very sardonic fire demon! How are we going to get three whole days to ourselves?" Seriously, Howl was being thick.
"Oh, come on, Sophie! Michael and Calcifer can watch Morgan and Lilly."
Sophie stared at her husband in disbelief. "Howl," she said, like she was a teacher talking to a not too bright pupil, "First of all, TRUST Calcifer!" Sophie practically shouted at her husband. Howl smirked in agreement. "I mean, he's our fire demon and all, but he is not still bound to do as you say. Also, he is not very attentive, he's worse that Morgan! Now, about Michael; Michael is a nineteen-year-old boy."
"No! Really!" was the sarcastic reply from Howl.
Sophie rolled her eyes at him. "In Gavayli, there are nineteen-year-old girls." Sophie explained, hoping that Howl would catch on. When he still looked clueless, "Single-Michael, girls… Seriously, Howl! How thick can you get! Remember what you were like when you were his age? I mean, I can scarcely imagine that Michael is half as bad as you were, but still! He's a teenage boy!"
Howl finally seemed to catch on. "Well then, what do you suggest we do?"
"Well, if you're that desperate to have a family vacation, then we can invite Lettie and Ben and their kids. Lilly and Morgan would like that." Sophie said, well knowing what her husband's reaction would be.
"Fist of all, you're the one who wanted the family vacation! Second of all, please don't torture me by bringing Lettie. She hates me!"
"She doesn't hate you," Sophie said in amusement. "You're her sister's husband."
"Oh, she hates me, alright! Or at least strongly dislikes me!" Howl tried to reason with his wife.
"Wait, you don't want a family vacation?"
"Sorry, but no. I was hoping that it would just be the two of us so that we could celebrate," Howl said.
"Celebrate what?" Sophie asked her husband, teasing him.
Howl caught the humor in her voice. "Don't tell me you don't remember!"
"I know, I know! It's our anniversary! I just don't get why this one is so special."
"Don't tell me you don't remember!"
"No, no! I know! It's our fi- Oh my gosh! It's our fifth anniversary!"
"No! Really, Sophie? I had no idea!"
"Wow! We've been married for five years!" It was just sinking in that she had been married for five years to Howl. "I can't believe that it went by so slowly! I mean, with a husband like you, I was expecting it to drag on…"
"Awww! Shut up, will you?" Howl said in mock anger to his wife. They smiled at each other.
"I'm sorry!" They lent in for a kiss. After they resurfaced, Sophie said, "I love you, Howl."
"I love you, Cariad." Was the reply she got.
They kissed again. "Love you, Horrible Howl."
"I love you, Old Lady Sophie." This was somewhat of a ritual between the two of them.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Sophie said, continuing their ritual. "It's your fault that I became an old lady in the first place!" Howl tried to protest but Sophie cut him off. "If you hadn't gotten me involved, the n the Witch of the Waste would have never gotten mad and turned me into an old lady."
"Yes, but then, we would have never met."
"Oh! That would have been horrible!" They kissed again.
"Ewwww!" The cry caused husband and wife to smile into each other's lips as they recognized the voice of their son, Morgan. Lilly! C'mere! Mom and Dad are kissing again!"
This was followed by a twin shriek and running feet, resulting in a small girl entering the room. Unlike her brother, who had inherited his mother's hazel hair, she had her father's blond locks. Or, so Howl liked to claim. After Sophie had given birth to Morgan, she had demanded a few things of Howl, including that he work less in order to spend time with his family and that he stop using his cosmetics because she wanted his children to "know their father". Howl had agreed and his hair was now a chestnut color.
"Mommy, why were you and Daddy arguing?" the little girl asked.
"We weren't fighting, Lilly dear. We were discussing," Sophie told her daughter, While Howl slipped his hand around her shoulders.
"It sure sounded like fighting to me."
"Dear, how much of the conversation did you hear?" Sophie asked her daughter.
"I didn't hear the actual words. We were upstairs. I just heard you fighting." Sophie sighed with relief.
"Alright, Lilly, why don't you go back to what you were doing? Morgan, what did you come in here for?" Howl asked their son.
"I was asking if Michael was home yet." Morgan absolutely adored Michael. He loved to follow the older boy around.
"I don't think so, dear," Sophie told her son. "He's still out… somewhere." She heard Howl snort behind her. Sophie and her husband both knew exactly where Michael was.
"When he comes home, tell him that I want to ask a question," Morgan told his parents, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"What exactly do you want to ask him?" Howl asked his son, curious.
"Nothing! Umm… Call me down for dinner!" With that, he was gone from the room. Howl and Sophie looked at each other and shrugged. Sooner or later, they would find out what the two boys were up to.
"Shoot!" Sophie said.
"What?" Howl asked, confused.
"We didn't tell them that they can't come with us," Sophie said.
"Why would we need to tell them that?" Howl asked, truly confused.
"Because, we decided that it was just going to be us going to Gavayli," Sophie explained.
"They don't know that they were ever invited," Howl said to hi wife.
"Why didn't you tell them?" Sophie asked, exasperated.
"Because, I wanted to talk to you about it first." Howl looked into Sophie's eyes.
"Aww, thanks!" Sophie planted a kiss on his lips. "I love you, my slitherer-outer," she said affectionately.
"I love you, my big nosed mouse," was his reply.
"Genie!"
"Midnight!" Sophie slapped him playfully in the arm for that one. "You still owe me!"
"Do not! It was for your own safety. Plus, I suffered, too!" Howl tried to defend himself.
"Whatever," Sophie's tone of voice told him that she didn't believe him. He thought he heard her mutter something like, "I think you did it for your own enjoyment," but decided to let it go. "We still have to figure out where the kids will stay."
"Alright, but if they stay at Lettie and Ben's and Lettie's home, you're dropping them off."
"Geez, Howl! You really are scared of my sister!" Sophie teased him.
"She hates me!" Howl said, missing the sarcasm in his wife's voice.
"She does not hate you! Actually, I think that she's quite relieved to have you off of her hands." Sophie was still teasing.
"What? We've been married for five years and she's been married to Ben for a little less and she's still glad to have me off her hands?" Howl was just beginning to catch the sarcasm in Sophie's voice.
"Alright, we'll ask Megan first." Howl could hear her smiling.
"Good! And if Megan says no, we can ask Abdullah and Flower," Howl seemed like he was asking a question rather than stating a fact.
"Sure, dear. We'll ask them next.
Okay! So, the first chapter! I can tell that I'm going to enjoy writing this! Well, this is how I imagine Howl and Sophie's marriage. They bicker a lot, but I think that after a couple of years, they hardly ever have really big fights. I also think that Megan will finally accept Sophie and they will have a heart to heart and become friends… Well, please read and review!
JessFantasy16
