Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book except for some names and small details references.

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First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

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Chapter 7: Gossip at Cesary's

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Lettie Hatter couldn't feel better that morning. The sun was warming her face as she woke up and the surroundings of the town were filled with laugh and giggles. However, she couldn't waste her time no more, for she was supposed to be at the Cesary's, so she didn't even have breakfast before changing her clothes and hurrying to the bakery.

She finally knew how her sister felt when she said that she came walking on the sky with a complete stranger. That was how young women in love felt when they met their prince charming for the first time. She couldn't blame Sophie for daydreaming like she did back then, because she couldn't stop thinking on Prince Justin herself.

Lettie was so busy trying to concentrate on her work that she hadn't noticed a number of ladies giggling and talking loudly next to the Cesary's entrance. They were those nobleman's spoiled daughters that didn't hesitate to put their status and money above everything. A little bit like her mother, Lettie thought a bit sadly. But those girls were far worse than her mother, for she would never lie just to make others think better of her.

"Oh, you can't believe who invited me to the War's End celebration!" said one of the ladies

"Oh, it's obviously the Prince, everyone got a written invitation from him." One of the other ones teased.

"No no, he came personally to my parent's house and invited me!"

"Really?" shouted all of them.

Lettie couldn't help but listen to them. That girl must be joking, for the prince was way too important and busy to go to someone's house, unless the said person had a very high status or was a close friend, like Sophie and the wizard Howl. However, the Prince would go personally to her house and invite her by himself, like he did after leaving Howl's castle. Then she also reminded herself that Prince Justin was going to Wales, to solve some personal business, he couldn't have found time to go after another girl and… Yet, she couldn't help but suspect about those girls' talk.

Little did she know that, like most of the things nobleman's daughters say, that girl had lied just to make others jealous. For others, Prince Justin was still single and in search for a young lady to go to the royal ball. In the future she would curse herself for doubting the prince's words, but Lettie actually never had a boyfriend in her life, and she was afraid to lose the only one she truly fell in love.

All she could do was to wait for his return. But what if all was a lie?

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"Really, Howl, I think your problem is that your head is only worried with that spell."

Sophie and Howl were again practicing, and although the wizard had advanced in his waltz lesson, Sophie sensed that his head was busy with other stuff when she was dancing with him. A man should guide gently the lady in waltz, and that wasn't exactly what Howl was doing, being hesitant at the first step, failing to hold her at the finale, and Sophie was growing more and more frustrated that day, because she didn't hear anything from her sister. She was expecting Lettie to say something about what happened between her and Prince Justin.

"I can't help it, Sophie. Something is telling me that Lettie and Kabu head are not as well as you think."

"How can you say that? Didn't you see how they were two days ago?" Sophie exclaimed.

"Sure I did, they looked like a romantic couple, not denying it. But I just feel that something is wrong, at least with your sister."

Sophie widened her eyes a little. "Are you serious, Howl?"

The wizard tilted his head to the left and sighed. "Not a hundred per cent sure, but it sure is bothering me a little."

He didn't even get the chance to say his next sentence to Sophie when Calcifer's voice echoed from the fireplace to the ballroom. Someone was knocking at the Market Chipping door in a rather nervous way, according to the fire demon. Sophie hurried to the entrance, only to hear her sister's voice behind the door, sobbing.

"Sophie, please! I really need to talk to you!" Lettie cried, only to fall into her sister's arms when Sophie opened the door. "I'm in really in trouble now!"

Sophie tried to calm Lettie down, guiding her to the kitchen's table and offering her a piece of cake and a cup of tea. Lettie didn't seem to be able to swallow something as solid as the vanilla cake that rested in front of her, but she nervously took the cup of tea and took a sip.

"I… Sophie, help me with this, I've got myself into a real big problem" Lettie managed to say.

"What problem, Lettie?"

Lettie told her everything she had heard at the Cesary's. When she had finished, Howl was standing next to the stair, giving Calcifer new wood logs and feeding Heen. He didn't hear all the story, but he did catch the part that most interested the three of them.

"I don't believe the prince would do that, Lettie, I bet that girl was just lying to get herself admired and envied by her friends, who, in my opinion, are just as stupid as any other nobleman's daughter. I definitely hate nobles, they think they can do whatever they want! I'm just glad they still respect wizards and witches for they are way to coward to insult someone who can transform them into a cockroach with a single blink of an eye." Howl said, remembering his rather annoying meeting with a woman and a girl at the Market Chipping some days ago. He wasn't a Prince Justin fan, far from that, but he couldn't help but feel pity for Lettie's current state.

"I know that, but, I did something really stupid!" Lettie let out between sobs. "Back at the Cesary's, I was so lost in my thoughts and doubts that I didn't hear the said girl talking to me, asking for a piece of strawberry cake with chocolate frosting. To call my attention she said 'I bet you didn't get anyone to invite you, poor creature. Sure you are beautiful, but you're not noble or rich." I shouldn't have let my emotions take control of myself, I shouted at her, told her she was a liar. I told this more to myself than to her, for I was seriously wondering why the Prince would invite me, just an attendant of a bakery, when he could have invited such a beautiful and noble woman like her. How stupid I was for thinking like that, not only I dared to think doubt someone as kind as the prince, but I'd offended a client!"

Then she continued her story, telling how the girl accused her of offending her to her superior, who got really disappointed to her. Never had Lettie done anything wrong at her work, and now she was bound to work extra hours as punishment for offending a costumer. To make things worse, she had to do that exactly at the ball's day.

"I won't be able to go to the ball! I'll have to work until 8 o'clock of the night, I won't have time to go home, change clothes and make myself presentable for the event." She cried. The ball started at eight, and no one was allowed to enter after eight thirty. A carriage ride between Kingsbury and Market Chipping took at least 40 minutes.

"That's not fair! She insulted you first!" said Sophie, with her famous angry expression.

Lettie let out a sigh and took another sip of her tea. "Sophie, that doesn't matter. They would prefer punishing me, knowing that I need the job so I won't quit it, rather than losing a very rich customer. As you can see, I'm completely lost! It's not just the party, but it was going to be a very special night for the prince and I."

"That was bad", Howl thought, not only for Lettie, but because that sent them back to the start their little problem with Madam Sulliman. If only Prince Justin was there all this mess was to be solved, but the prince wouldn't come back for the ball and maybe it would be too late. Howl was certain that he had to do something, yet the only answer was to speak with the prince before, maybe he could solve this whole thing. He hated that idea, though, for that would mean going to Wales and have a bigger chance to meet his family, and he was satisfied with himself for not doing that in ages.

Still, between facing his family and Madam Sulliman's rage, he would definitely prefer getting scolded by the first. At least they weren't witches and wizards. Except for his uncle, but he was already dead. And his uncle would never disapprove him for his life, Howl used to be his favorite nephew. After having a mental discussion with himself, the wizard placed his tea cup next to Sophie's cup and summoned Markl, who quickly attended to his master's call.

"Master Howl, why did you call me? I was practicing the spe…"

"Markl, I'm changing the location for the black one."

Sophie, Calcifer and Markl looked at him with wide eyes. "Changing?! Why?!"

"Howl! You know how I hate when you change locations!" complained the fire demon from his fireplace.

"Changing locations? What does that mean? Sophie?" Lettie didn't understand anything.

"I'm only changing the entrance today, Calcifer. It's not like I'm moving all the four doors, right? And it's not like I need the current black one now, without the war."

Howl didn't consider Wales as his childhood home, more like "the place where I was raised until I was old enough to learn magic". Howl spent most of his childhood with his uncle, a wizard, but not a very great one, in that small house by the lake, very close to Wales. He came back home during festivities, but always returned to his uncle's house. At first his family didn't mind Howl learning a few small tricks, but when the young apprentice told them that he was going to learn greater things with the famous Royal Wizard Madam Sulliman, his family was horrified. "A son of mine will never learn such dangerous things!" his mother had said. His father didn't mind much, as long as Howl learned magic for good, not for bad things like war, cursing, etc. Yet, his mother never treated him tenderly like she used to. Things got worse when those rumors of him stealing people's heart spread to all the nearby countries. He had avoided contact with his family for years due to his fear that The Witch of Waste would harm them like she did with Sophie, but his sister and mother interpreted this as a sign that those rumors were true. Last time he visited his family, he was treated as a wicked and insane man. That really hurt him, for even his sister didn't believe his words and closed her door for him. He doesn't regret becoming The Great Wizard Howl, but he wished sometimes that he didn't go with Madam Sulliman, for not only he lost his family love, but also his tutor's respect.

"Are you sure you wanna do that, Howl? You remember what happened…?" said Calcifer, worried.

The wizard finished drawing the magical diagram on the entrance floor and approached the fireplace to get Calcifer.

"Well… I can't let the buttons buttoned on the wrong place forever, can I?"

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Author's note: So sorry for not updating in a year, I kinda typed this chapter two or three times already, but I had to add another problem in the plot to get the end I want to write. So I'm really sorry and I ask forgiveness for all of you who continue reading First Waltz. No, I'm not dropping this one, I am going to finish this story, so don't worry, you'll get to see Howl dancing with Sophie.

About the button thing, it's a small reference to a chapter from the mangá Fruits Basket. One of the characters doesn't have a good relationship with his parents, so he say that his situation looks like buttons from a blouse that are buttoned wrongly, like something is wrong between them but they are still connected somehow.