Author's Note: This fic takes place in a completely different timeline from the previous two. You'll notice this happening quite alot between stories. Sometimes I'll be inspired to write one version of a set of events, sometimes I'll have an idea that completely opposes the first. There is actually no chronological order (except between "Ensnared" and "Revelations"), so yes, expect to see "Howl and Sophie not yet married" fics next to "Pregnant Sophie" fics and the like.
I actually wrote the first section of this particular story over a month ago, and the muses decided to grace me with the rest just recently. This fic is entirely bookverse, since it has Megan and Mari in it. But it has drama, humor, and fluff, just so you're warned. Enjoy!
Warning! I will probably be upping the rating for "Universal Language" to "T" sometime in the next few stories, due to some of my future ideas being a little too risque for "K+", and I want to be safe. Just wanted to give everyone a head's up in case anybody screens for "T" and up.
Kiss Theme #2 - "news" or "letter"
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance
Pairing: Howl/Sophie
Summary: In which Mari makes a discovery, and Howell's secret is revealed.
by Mimea
Mari Perry trudged up the road, her school bus having left her off a few houses down. The driver thought it would be easier to just drop an entire group of children from her neighborhood off at once, despite the fact she was still getting used to the whole "school" concept.
One of her duties she had been given as a "big girl" was since she would be the first home on weekdays, it fell to her to collect the mail from the box at the end of her driveway. So far it had only been bills and assorted junk mail. Or the occasional letter to her parents from one of their distant friends. Nothing interesting ever came, so she had quickly bored of her task. But it was still her responsibility. So it was with a heavy heart that she tugged the little door leading into the box open and grabbed the first handful out. Her arms were short, and her hand not so big, so it often took her several tries to get everything. What she'd already retrieved, she stuck in her knapsack. The first day she'd collected the mail, she had simply put it on the ground. It had blown away in the first breeze, and she spent a good half hour gathering it from the neighbors' lawns. The second day she'd had the presence of mind to hold them down... With her shoe.
Mari winced at the memory. Mama had scolded her rather severely for that.
"Bill. Bill. Junk. Bill," she intoned as she cursorily sorted through the letters. She knew when Papa got home he would sigh, then go to pay the bills. Mama would open the junk, read, snort, then throw the lot away. Everything happened regularly in her house.
Sometimes it got very boring. But she knew she didn't dare act up. Every time she did, her mother would blame her beloved Uncle Howell and threaten never to let him set foot in the house again.
That would devastate her. He was the only one who understood.
So she had to be good!
At last, she thought she had everything. But just in case, she stuck her arm in as far as it would go.
She felt something flat and glossy under her middle fingertip.
Her knapsack dropped to the ground with a solid THUD as she strained on tiptoe to fish out whatever had been stuffed so far back into the postbox. She twisted slightly, trying to give her arm more reach. The tip of her tongue stuck out between her lips in concentration, and she made little high-pitched sounds as she pushed herself to the limit. She secretly hoped that whatever was giving her so much trouble would be worth it.
Finally, after much scrabbling about with her fingertips, she coaxed the thick paper forward. Triumphantly, her fingers closed over the edge and she drew it out for inspection.
Her eyes immediately widened, and her mouth parted slightly in shock. Part of her was embarrassed, another fascinated, and a teeny, tiny piece was jealous.
"Mama! MAMA!" she cried, her knapsack lying forgotten by the postbox as she raced up the garden path to the front door of RIVENDELL.
The door opened to reveal the harried, slightly austere figure of Megan Perry. A glimmer of disapproval crossed her face, and her frown only deepened when she saw what Mari was doing. "Mari! Haven't I told you before not to run?"
"But Mama!" Mari protested. "It's really, really, REALLY important!" Nonetheless, she reluctantly slowed her steps until she was moving at a rather brisk trot the rest of the way down the garden path.
Megan's eyebrows rose. "Important?" She eyed the white back of whatever Mari was holding, which was covered in black squiggles. Then her expression turned dark. "Did you open the envelope?" she demanded in disbelief.
Mari stopped, just a few paces away from her mother, and looked incredibly hurt. "Of course not, Mama! It wasn't in an envelope to begin with! It was just stuck in the postbox. I promise!"
Megan felt a twinge of guilt. "I'm sorry, Mari. I shouldn't have blamed you."
That seemed to satisfy the little girl, who closed the distance between them and set her prize in her mother's hand, writing side up. "It's like a postcard!" she declared, her sunny smile returning as she stared at the picture on the other side.
Now if you had asked her, Megan Perry would have denied that she had any sense of curiosity. But the truth was, just like most of her species with any sort of intelligent mind, mysteries piqued her interest and bothered her until she had solved them. She should have just read the letter first, which would have saved her a bit of a shock. Instead, she immediately turned the paper over.
Mari watched with interest as her Mama's face turned white, then faintly pink, the tips of her ears reddening like Uncle Howell's did when he was embarrassed. Mama's lips tightened into a thin line, and Mari knew she was trying not to gape. Gaping was unladylike.
Megan's hands shook slightly as she took in the photograph before her. It had been taken someplace outside in what seemed to be a town square of some sort. Streamers hung overhead and bits of rice and confetti filled the air. The houses she could make out were quaint, old-fashioned things. But the two figures in the foreground that had been captured from the waist up were what held her attention.
One she didn't know. The unfamiliar girl was quite pretty, her red-gold hair shining in the late afternoon sun, and her cheeks a rosy shade that had nothing to do with cosmetics and everything to do with her companion. Her eyes were closed, but her nose was small and straight in profile. The dress she wore was elegant and obviously made of very rich fabric and laces, which matched the white veil nestled with care over her abundant hair.
The other, she was trying to convince herself she didn't know, but she'd known him since the day he'd come into the world: a red, squalling handful of trouble just waiting to happen. He'd dyed his hair raven-black with bluish highlights. But his costume was anything but subdued. The material of the jacket was scarlet, embroidered with a fortune in gold thread. His trousers seemed to match, but it was the sleeves that held Megan's attention. They trailed far out of the picture, even the one adorning the arm reaching up to touch the girl's jaw line. The other arm was firmly secured about her waist. The sleeves were of some gossamer material that was made up of more gold embroidery than anything else. The red was only a hint underneath. She noted with stunned disbelief that his sleeves matched his companion's hair.
But what held her attention the longest really shouldn't have surprised her, the way her brother flirted and engaged nearly every woman he laid eyes on in innuendo-laden conversation. Yet something about the expression on his face gave the impression he was being playful, yet more serious than he'd ever been in his life. His head was bowed slightly, the girl's face upturned to meet his. They had been captured at the exact moment their lips pressed together, their eyes closed to savor the instant of intense connection. Howell stood, holding her protectively, and she had fitted herself close to him with an ease that bespoke their feelings for each other loud and clear.
With a slightly trembling hand, Megan turned the photograph over to read the untidy scrawl of her baby brother that covered the back.
"Dearest Megan,
"I hope this missive finds you well, and that you have not died of a heart attack due to the image on the front. I assure you the picture was taken in an attitude of utmost seriousness and sincerity."
Megan snorted despite herself, as she knew her brother would have expected.
"The enchanting creature you see in the picture is, indeed, me. The lovely girl next to me is Mrs. Sophie Jenkins, nee Hatter. So tell your lady friends they need no longer fear for themselves, their daughters, or acquaintances. I prefer to keep living for a number of years, even if it is with a ball and chain. All things said and done, this should be quite an interesting adventure.
Your loving brother,
Howell"
Megan continued to stare at the mind-boggling missive in shocked disbelief, reading it over several times before Mari's voice brought her out of her stupor.
"What's it say, Mama? Who's that with Uncle Howell? It looks like you and Papa's wedding picture, but Uncle Howell's dressed much prettier, and you and Papa aren't kissing in yours! Please read it to me, Mama. Please?"
Suddenly, Mari stopped, realizing her hands were now empty. She guiltily cast a glance back over her shoulder to see her knapsack resting forlornly at the base of the postbox. Without another moment's hesitation, she ran down the path to collect her bag and the precious contents within. She knew Mama was absorbed in Uncle Howell's letter because not even a sound of remonstration passed her lips as Mari pelted down, then back up, the drive. She was out of breath as she reached the front door again. "I got the rest of the post!" she panted as she dug out the remaining letters from her knapsack and offered them pleadingly.
Megan lowered the picture slowly, accepting the rest of the envelopes her daughter was holding mechanically.
"Now will you read it to me, Mama? Please?"
"Well, I..." Megan had taken a few steps forward and was standing just past the overhang that sheltered the front door when the sounds of a doorknob rattling caught both females' attention. Megan and Mari stared, wide-eyed, as the door of their house shuddered a bit. There wasn't anyone else in the house! Gareth was still at work, and it would be another couple of hours before Neil returned from school. Megan edged away warily, thrusting Mari behind her protectively, dropping all but the photograph in the process. But her eyes remained fixed on the door.
Then suddenly it swung open to reveal two familiar figures, who were arguing quite vociferously.
"I really think we should have asked to arrange a time for a visit! What if nobody's home?"
"Mari should have just come home from school, so Megan wouldn't have gone out on errands. Although I should be much more wary of the fairer sex by now, it'll be easier explaining to the ladies first."
"And just what will your sister say when you appear on her doorstop with a complete stranger?"
"I daresay she expects it of me, Sophie. She barely batted an eyelash when I showed up with you and Michael that one time."
"Just because she is used to it does not mean she enjoys it! I'm surprised she hasn't caught you in a compromising moment after all this time."
"I am the epitome of cautiousness, Mrs. Manners. And for your information, I did send her warning. I left a little note in her postbox."
Sophie sighed. "You're impossible," she lamented, but the sparkle in her eyes told anyone paying attention that she really didn't mind.
"Just one of my charms," Howl replied, leaning down to catch her lips in a stolen kiss for courage...
"Uncle Howell!"
Howl and Sophie looked toward the front walk, startled to see not only Howl's niece, but Megan Perry herself staring at them. As soon as Mari saw she had her uncle's attention, she launched herself at him. He barely had the presence of mind to stoop down and catch her, lifting the child into his arms so she could throw her arms about his neck in a joyful hug.
Sophie felt her face grow warm as she realized that her new sister and niece must have heard nearly the entire exchange. She did not dare look at Megan, so she focused on Howl, watching as Mari released him only to start babbling a line of observations and rapid-fire questions in that language only she and Howl spoke. Apparently she was asking about Howl's suit, from the girl's gestures. Whatever he told her made her giggle.
That made her recall her own predicament. They hadn't had time to change to Wales attire, so they stood in all their Ingary splendor. Howl had chosen one of his new suits that he'd bought to "compliment" her wardrobe. He was garbed in lavender with silver accents, his trailing sleeves not quite as long as usual, but long enough to give anyone outside Ingary pause. And even some within. She herself stood in a dress of blue-grey silk with its proper long skirt and petticoats underneath.
She felt Megan's stare, and scrupulously avoided it.
Mari and Howl's discussion finally ended with a sentence that sounded vaguely like a question, and in response, Howl turned back to Sophie and announced in words she could understand, "Yes, this is your new aunt. Her name is Sophie."
The little girl's eyes lit up and Howl nearly dropped her as she lunged to wrap her arms around Sophie's neck in welcome. Sophie stepped closer so the child wouldn't fall and embraced her in return a bit hesitantly. She was so warm and practically vibrating with life, and Sophie understood why she and Howl were so close.
Mari straightened after some minutes, and gave an approving nod and grin. "I like you!" she pronounced. "You're so nice and soft and warm, and you give great hugs! Do you hug Uncle Howell like that? No wonder he married you! You love him, don't you? He loves you, he told me so himself just now. Your hair is very pretty! I wish mine was that color. I want to tint mine like Uncle Howell does, but Mama said she won't ever let me. Are you staying for dinner? Please say yes! I know Mama won't mind! Would you Mama?"
The trio's attention finally returned to the flummoxed matron standing just beyond the doorstep, watching the scene, but unable to speak, even if she could get a word in edgewise. Her mouth worked, but nothing came out. A moment later, the silence gave her time to get her bearings and her eyebrows snapped down in blatant disapproval that had Howl wishing he could run back the way he came.
"Howell Jenkins, what sort of joke do you think you're trying to pull? How did you get in the house? Have you been hiding there all afternoon? What nonsense, planting this thing in the postbox so I'd find it before you made your appearance! You better not have been hiding in my bushes. If you've ruined them, you're paying for them." She fixed her eyes on the couple grimly, realizing that her explanations didn't fit what she was seeing, but she refused to believe they'd just appeared out of thin air. "And why are you dressed like that? All finery and fripperies, you look ridiculous! And apparently you've dragged this young lady into your plotting as well! Is she an actress? How much are you paying her?"
At first, Howl looked utterly abashed, then vaguely offended. But when Megan started attacking Sophie, his own eyebrows lowered and a frown pulled at the corners of his mouth. He deliberately set Mari down with a word to her in Welsh before straightening his shoulders and moving forward to do battle. He strode over to his sister, using his slight height advantage to make himself clear.
"Sophie is no actress, Megan. That picture and my message are no joke. Insult and badger me all you want, Megan, that's your right. But you WILL show some common courtesy to my wife. She's blameless in my perceived wrongdoings. Don't drag her into our old quarrels."
Megan was taken aback and stood gaping at her younger brother. His green eyes flashed dangerously, and Megan felt her high ground dissolving beneath her feet. "You... You really did marry?" she asked softly, her voice a bit higher than normal from strain.
Howl held up his left hand to display the metal band around his left ring finger. "I am bound and properly subjugated." He heard Sophie snort behind him and drew comfort in it. If she could snort, she hadn't been particularly offended by the accusations Megan had made. "We came with the intention of explaining everything, and even," he hesitated and gulped, "staying to dinner if you'd have us. However, it appears we are not welcome--."
"I didn't say that," Megan quickly interjected. Howell, willing to stay for dinner, even though he knew Gareth would be present? What HAD that girl done to him? She glanced over her brother's shoulder. Mari was clinging to Sophie's skirts, and Sophie had a comforting hand on the top of her head, stroking her brownish hair, saying something that was obviously reassuring from the way Mari's hands were relaxing from their hold.
Howl noticed that he'd lost Megan's attention and turned to follow her line of sight. His newly-regained heart swelled with pride as Sophie soothed his little niece in a warm, rather expert manner. A smile flashed across his face at the thought of what a fine mother she would make, before he recalled he was supposed to be facing down his sister. He focused his hardened gaze on Megan again.
"It most certainly sounded like it," he continued where they left off. "I was planning on just keeping her to myself, at least until the honeymoon was over, but she was insistent that she meet my family, as I've already become acquainted with hers."
Megan took a deep breath and released it with a sigh. She crumpled, all at once looking her thirty-plus years. "You're right, Howell. I owe you and your wife an apology. It is simply a shock to see your brother and a girl you don't even know walking out of your front door when you know you've been the only one in the house since morning. You took ten years off my life with that stunt!"
Now Howl had the grace to look embarrassed. "That is what I get for not listening to my wife. She was saying I should have sent more of a warning. I suppose I have just had the devil's own luck going in and out that door without you witnessing it all these years."
"All these years?" Megan asked. "You mean, your perform your disappearing and reappearing acts though my front door?"
"Precisely. But how that came to be is an incredibly long, involved story. I figured we should tell you and Mari first, so you can help us trim it to what Neil and Gareth should know."
"In other words, help you embroider a tale for them."
Howl shrugged. "If that is what you want to call it."
Megan sighed and shook her head. "I can't believe I'm actually considering doing this."
"Well, if it would help, there should be time after we've explained things to take a trip through your door again so you can see for yourself."
Megan looked vaguely alarmed. "What will happen when we try and go inside?"
"Nothing right now. The door only leads elsewhere when I want it to."
Megan gave him a skeptical look that bespoke plainly her belief that their parents had allowed him too many fantasy novels as a child, but for once, she kept silent on that matter. "Right. Then I suppose I should ask if you and my new sister-in-law would join me and Mari in fortifying ourselves with tea and crumpets before embarking on this adventure of yours?"
"You're the lady of the house," was his reply.
With an effort to maintain some modicum of her dignity, Megan marched around Howl to take control of the situation, at least for a little while. "Well, then, do come in," she purposely directed her invitation to Sophie. She breezed past the young woman and the little girl on the steps and defiantly flung the door open. She didn't see anything amiss, so she stepped inside.
She found herself in her rather plain entryway.
She let out a tiny sigh of relief and turned to her daughter and her guests. "Tea will be ready in ten minutes. If no one else is there, I'll eat everything myself."
Howl and Sophie exchanged looks, but Mari happily fell for it. "Noooooo! I'll help, Mama!" she cried, and released Sophie the rest of the way in favor of the promise of crumpets.
Sophie watched as Howl strode up to the doorstep. He was about to go in when her hand on his elbow stopped him. He looked at her questioningly, the expression in the depths of his eyes betraying his fear and uncertainty.
"That was quite brave, Howl."
Howl made a disparaging noise. "Not on purpose. I simply felt beholden to defend my wife's honor in the face of adversity." His words were flippant, and he tried to make his tone light, but Sophie saw right through him. He smiled ruefully in acknowledgement that he'd been caught and his hand closed over hers, his thumb rubbing lightly over the back of her hand.
Sophie smiled up at him, calming him, supporting him, and making him weak in the knees all at the same time. If it were not broad daylight, if there were no neighbors, and if it wasn't his older sister's doorstep, he would have been tempted to express the full force of his feelings for her right then and there. As it was, he bowed his head in her direction. Sophie obligingly raised her face to his. But just as their lips were about to meet, they were startled apart by Mari's voice.
"Mama! Uncle Howell and Aunt Sophie are snogging on the doorstep!" Mari reported, obviously fascinated with the display and eager to spread the news.
Sophie's hand dropped off his arm, and Howl walked into the house. "And just where did you learn that term, young lady?" he questioned.
"From Neil!" Mari proudly told him.
Sophie stifled a laugh and followed her husband inside RIVENDELL. She had a feeling it was going to be a very long, exciting, emotional evening. "But then again," she thought to herself, "that's what having a family is all about."
Author's Note: Another one down! Yay! And.. I've made it past 41 reviews! I'm slightly dazed by that. Thank you ever so much, everybody! Extra special thanks goes out to Kara Adar, raedyn-l (who followed me over from LJ), and Skeye who've actually left a review for every story!
Of course, the one who wins the dedication award is higley, who reviews both here and on LJ. I feel so loved!
Just a couple review responses are left, so go ahead and go on with what you were doing. Unless, of course, you wanted to leave a little donation in the review box. Then please do! I love feedback of all kinds!
Kara - It wasn't I necessarily wanted it shorter, I just thought it was too long since most HMC short stories are much shorter. I'm sorry I didn't update sooner, and I hope your strep throat is better!
raedyn-l - Wow... Just something about the way you phrased your review made me choke up. It was beautiful. Thank you so much!
Manga Mazoku - Well, in the book Sophie kept talking about maybe the remains of maiden's hearts were hidden in Howl's room, and considering what I know to be under my own bed... And I always worry about keeping everyone in character, so thank you for letting me know I did it!
'Til next time!