I have finally done it! I've been trying to write a Howl's Moving Castle fanfic for the longest time, and now I've finally begun! I'm really excited, especially since this will be my first full fanfic in almost a year (the last being my Les Mis story if anyone's interested to read that haha). Kinda short, but it's only the first chapter. The others will get longer as the story moves forward. Hope you like it! And I'm gonna try and reply to reviews this time, I feel like if you all take the time to review my work then I should take the time to reply :) Enjoy!

I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING FROM HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE, DIANNE WYNNE JONES, OR STUDIO GHIBLI.

It didn't matter what type of rose she trimmed - the thorns always hurt.

Sophie Hatter cut the ends of each red rose in the bouquet. All of the shelves and countertops in the store were filled with a variety of flowers, ranging from lilies to roses to tulips. Each one had its own special quality, but the red rose was still her favorite.

She liked running a flower shop more than a hat shop because things were more colorful. She didn't feel like she was suffocating from the lack of excitement hat making was. The repetitive sewing and the bland ornaments bored her, and she didn't think her life would have much excitement after that. Of course, most of the hats her mother made were eccentric and taboo, but that never satisfied Sophie either.

She twirled the flower between her thumb and index finger, a soft smile present on her face. She placed the final rose in the vase and stood up to fetch a pitcher of water. A year ago, Sophie wouldn't have imagined her life the way it was now. She thought she'd be trapped in that hat shop for the rest of her life, forced into the life her father would have been proud of.

Sophie sighed. It had been so long since she had the comfort of her father around. When she was young, he was the first person she turned to when things went wrong. When he taught her how to ride a bicycle and she fell off, he was there to pick her up. When she had nightmares and her mother was too sound asleep, her father would rush in and soothe her back to sleep. For everything that brought Sophie to tears, he would tell her that things could be worse than what it was.

Sophie poured the cool water in the vase. She was proud of the man she called her father, but she only felt obliged to run the hat shop in his name. It was never her dream - it was always his.

Sophie placed the vase on the front counter to be on full display. She usually had a decent amount of customers, but lately things had been slow. It was nice when she was alone, though. She had a lot of time to think about other things.

Sophie turned to the pictures on the front counter and wrapped her short, silver hair behind her ear, the kind of color you'd normally see on an elderly woman. Though she had returned to her original age, her hair color remained the same. She liked it better that way, as did Howl.

She laughed at a framed photo of Howl and Markl holding a bucket of water over Calcifer, the fire demon trying to shield himself from the almost catastrophic event. She loved their banter and the tricks they played on each other. Markl helped keep Howl's innocence alive - more than she could.

Ever since Howl regained his heart and his ability to feel, he was slowly learning how to accept the emotions he locked away years prior. He had lost the ability to feel anything but hatred and vanity for years, and almost lost who he was in the process. Sophie entering his life forced him to see that he could feel something more than these hostile emotions. In the last year, Sophie was proud of the man he had become.

She still had her doubts, though. Sometimes, Howl's anger got the best of him and he would flip out over petty things, like a simple joke from Calcifer or Markl's constant magical pranks. She would be there to calm him down and remind him that being angry was the wrong way to take it, but Sophie wondered what would happened when she wasn't around.

Howl usually had important missions that required him to be away for long periods of time. He was away from the castle more than he was home, she convinced herself. He was actually gone currently, and didn't say when he'd return. The time before, he was away for almost a month and made it just before Markl's tenth birthday. Truthfully, Sophie thought he wouldn't have come.

Even with the return of his heart, Sophie felt like Howl wasn't taking the responsibility of what having a heart required. She loved him more than anything, and though he had told her the same, she wondered if he knew what those words meant to her.

The bell rang as the front door of the shop opened. Sophie looked up from the picture frames as the customer walked in, his luminous yellow suit shining brighter than the flowers. He leaned against his cane and flashed her his typical photogenic smile.

Sophie smiled. "Prince Justin, what an honor it is for you to visit my petty shop."

He chuckled. "Oh, give yourself some credit, Sophie. Your shop is wonderful." He leaned on his cane and raised his eyebrows. "I love visiting you."

Sophie stood up, but Justin waved her down. "Please, don't stand on my account. I prefer you to be seated when I delivery my special news."

Sophie blinked rapidly. "Special news?"

Prince Justin walked to the counter, a casual smile on his face. He placed a small box covered in colorful wrapping paper on the counter. He motioned for her to open it, and she removed the red ribbon on top. She tore the paper off and opened the box. Inside was a smaller box, and inside that another box.

Sophie narrowed her eyes. "Is this some sort of trick?"

Justin laughed. "No trick at all. You're almost there, anyway."

Sophie crinkled her eyebrows, unsure of what Justin was getting at. She took out the last box and opened it, revealing a velvet, satin line ring box.

Sophie looked up at Justin, his smile never fading. She pushed the box politely back to him and shook her head.

Justin chuckled softly. "You're not even going to open it?"

"I haven't opened the last three, Justin."

"Allow me to the do the honors."

"Justin." Sophie placed her hand over his as he moved in to open the ring box. He stared at her with his wide blue eyes, the kind of blue that you'd see during a cloudy rainstorm. She admired his determination and optimism, but she didn't love him.

He sighed. "I assume that's another no, then."

"I'm sorry," Sophie replied. "It's just…you know how I feel about Howl, and you know that I could never feel that way about you."

"I understand." Justin said quickly, nodding his head. "I guess I just assumed that Howl would make a mistake one day and you would come running to me. I still reminisce my days as a scarecrow."

"I wouldn't think you'd look back on those times fondly." Sophie laughed.

"It wasn't - until I met you." Sophie's face dropped as Justin stared longingly into her eyes. She cleared her throat and turned away, not wanting to give him any false hope.

He nodded and forced a smile. "Well, no means no. I guess it didn't hurt to try."

"You're always welcome to visit." Sophie said. "But next time, leave the ring at home."

Justin laughed. "I guess I will." He took the box and stuffed it into his pocket. As he was about to turn and leave, he noticed the bouquet of roses on the counter.

Justin darted his eyes to Sophie, then returned his gaze to the bouquet. He took one of the roses out and twirled it between his fingers. "You like roses?"

"Yes, red roses are my favorite."

Justin narrowed his eyes at the flower. "You know what a red rose symbolizes, right?"

Sophie blinked. "No, what?"

He observed the rose in his hand intensely. "The color red is known to be aggressive, resentful, and ruthless." Justin pulled a simple, white rose from under his sleeve, holding it toward Sophie. "Whereas a white rose is known for being pure and innocent."

She laughed softly. "You and your magic tricks."

Justin handed her the rose and placed the red one back with the bouquet. "I will not give up on you, my dear. Not until you and Howl have finally made the decision to commit to marriage."

Sophie widened her eyes, but Justin was already on his way out of the shop. She stared at the door long after he had gone, his words resonating in her mind.

Marriage. She hadn't even considered that idea yet. And if Sophie hadn't, Howl probably forgot the word's meaning. She was still in her teens, even if her twentieth birthday was closing in. She wasn't in any rush to commit to such a permanent commitment.

However, Howl wasn't getting any younger, either, and he was a good nine years older than she was. If anyone should have been thinking about settling down, it should have been him.

Sophie lay the white rose on the counter, wondering if what Prince Justin had said would ever come true. Howl seemed in no rush to commit, and that frightened her.

And there you have it! Prince Justin is still not letting her go, poor guy :( But now Sophie's starting to question if Howl's up for the commitment... hmm, we shall see... thanks for reading and like I said, I'm going to reply to reviews! Thanks again!