All the Wonders of the World

Summary: Howl's Moving Castle, book-verse. Sophie decides to clean up. Howl and Michael take cover. OneShot.

Warning: -

Disclaimer: Standards apply.

A/N: Für Alex, um die schönen Dinge noch mehr genießen zu können… Und weil du die beste Schwester der Welt bist.

Calcifer is the only one who has been able to draw a connection between certain aspects of Sophie's behavior and the beginning of a season. Or the upcoming of certain holidays. Or the promised visits of friends.

Or.

He is the only one because there is no connection. Or, at least, no direct one. Because, as strange it might sound to some people: She simply likes doing it.

Some mornings, she wakes up with a light gleaming in her eyes. She doesn't spend much time in taking a shower or donning a little make-up – because Howl is really handsome now his eyes have the right color and he stopped coloring his hair and she, at least, wants to look a little more beautiful when she stands next to him – but just puts on one of her old dresses, binds her hair up, searches for her oldest pair of shoes and begins.

Sophie decides to clean up the castle.

Howl and Michael take cover.

Calcifer just leaves his fire-place and takes a stroll across the marches or the desert or over the next town.

There's no such escape for the other inhabitants of the moving castle.

Today, Sophie starts at sunrise.

Since the castle moved into the old hat shop, the inside of it remains relatively neat and tidy. Especially since Sophie can move far better than she could as she was an old lady and keeps them on the tips of their toes concerning cleanliness. But there are days (as mentioned before, Calcifer seems to see a pattern in her behavior Howl and Michael still fail to recognize) in which she decides to give the castle and its surroundings an extra-thorough sweep.

She dons an old, apple-green dress (it's almost too pretty to wear it while cleaning but she feels like it), covers her hair with a scarf and finds her old shoes right next to the Seven-miles-boots they, for some inexplicable reason, still used as flower pots. She has a cup of coffee before she really gets started. Calcifer hadn't even spent the night in the fire-place. Michael realized what was in the air after Sophie crossed the kitchen trice – the first time in search of her shoes, the second time with a broom, the third time with a bucked full of water – and disappeared upstairs in his room, probably rescuing his most valuable possessions. And Howl… Apparently not having woken when his young, energetic fiancée left their room, he comes down two hours later only to find his house in a state of emergency.

And, as his apprentice, he takes cover as well.

Funny how the mightiest mage of two worlds loses his sense of speech and reason whenever he sees his fiancée with a broom and a bucket of water.

Throughout the morning, Sophie cleans herself through the kitchen, the shop, the basement and the upper floor.

Michael's room is as untidy as always, his clothes strewn all over the floor and mingling with spell books, ingredients and other things. His most valuable possessions have been stuffed into a cardboard box haphazardly, as he has arranged with Sophie: Everything inside the box isn't to be touched by her under any circumstances. Sophie huffs indignantly as she lifts the box onto the bed and resumes cleaning the room all around it. She finds a spell Michael has been searching for a week ago, the button of a jacket she has wanted to repair for some time now, her silver pen (she'll have to ask him how it came into his room) and a marzipan rose, probably courtesy of Cesari's and, that way, a gift from Martha.

Since she and Howl now share a room, it is a lot tidier than his room in the old castle has been. Gone are the myriads of little toys, the scrolls that don't fit into the cupboards, the many bags and bottles he has needed (additionally to the ones in his bathroom) to style himself. But the many-colored patchwork blanket remains, as well as five or six dream-catchers that hang from the ceiling, chiming softly in the wind from the open window. The spiders have left, too. It had been Sophie or the spiders and at one point Howl has given in.

Then, she cleans the attic, the bathroom and the kitchen. Even though she has had a year of practice, she still doesn't really have a system. But she makes up for it with enthusiasm. She starts with the bathroom only to, halfway through, start with the kitchen because she has been on her way downstairs to empty the bins. Then she goes back upstairs, dusting and polishing, and then has to sweep the corridor again because on her way down she has left dusty foot-prints on the clean, wooden tiles. But she cleans with endless energy and has finished the house until midday.

Howl cooks.

It is another thing she has learned about him after the curse has been broken. She knew he is able to do simple things like frying bacon and eggs but he is a remarkably good cook. Sophie sits at the table, moderately exhausted from the hard work, and enjoys a splendid meal of pork, fried potatoes and green beans. Michael, who has dared to leave his hide again, tells them about a new spell he is trying to learn and about the newest news from Market Chipping. They have a nice, quiet meal. When they are finished, Howl asks his fiancée: "Would you like to take a shower now? Michael can do the cleaning."

His apprentice grumbles but knows full well it is his turn to do the dishes.

Sophie, though, shakes her head and smiles at the mage. "I'm sorry, I'm not ready yet."

With those words, she gets up, turns the knob on the door and opens it to the old, abandoned manor they have moved to.

Howl and Michael stare, wide-eyed. The manor is huge. The last time they cleaned it they used magic. Now Sophie wants to clean it on her own?

They are only partly right.

Sophie takes on the gardens today. She cleans away dirt and weeds from the corners of the paths. She weeds the flower beds. She cuts the bushes and cleans the grass and scrubbs the little fountain until it gleams. When it starts to grow dark, Howl grows worried and goes outside.

"Sophie, dear, you know I could take care of this work for you, don't you?"

She looks up from her work. A smudge of dirt runs along her nose. Her cheeks are red from the cool air and her eyes are sparkling. She looks rather stunningly beautiful.

"You know magic isn't a solution to everything," she scolds him gently. He refuses to give in.

"I could exchange this manor for a palace with servants and gardeners, Sophie. You would never need to work again. I'd give you everything you could wish for."

"Oh, Howl," Sophie smiles. "That's incredibly sweet of you (and I wonder if your brain has gotten damaged by the fumes of the detergent I used) but I actually like the work."

"You always say that and I never believe you!" The mage exclaims. "How could anyone like cleaning up? It's a waste of time, especially since this gardens-" he sweeps a hand across the place – "will be covered in weeds again within three weeks! Spring is coming and plants will use every second of daylight to consume this gardens!"

"Howl," Sophie answers and aother beautiful smile spreads across her lips. "Don't you realize what you've said? Spring is coming and it's the second one I can spend with you. And I want everything to be perfect for it. So I clean the house, the shop and even these gardens so they will be able to welcome spring."

He stares at her, wide-eyed.

She still smiles but a streak of embarrassment colors her ears an adorable red. "I know it's silly but that way I get the feeling I'm able to do something for you. For us, Howl, for Michael, Calcifer, you and me. Because we live here. And if the castle welcomes spring, so can our hearts, can't they?"

He still remains quiet until she starts to shift insecurely. Then, he stepps closer.

"That was incredibly cheesy," he comments. She blushes again, this time from anger. She looks even more beautiful than before.

"Fine," she snapps. "Forget what I just said and just let me finish this up. I wasted my breath on your stubborn ass."

"Sophie."

Howl catches her arm and pulls her towards him. She stumbles over her own feet – she is so clumsy sometimes it makes him want to watch her every second of her life – and falls towards him. He catches her and holds her tight.

"That's why I love you," he says and kisses her hair. "You do totally useless and unnecessary things just for the sake of doing them. Just because spring is beginning. I could give you a paradise and you still prefer this moving castle of ours. You're unique, Sophie. You could have all the wonders of the world and you still only want this – Michael and Calcifer and me."

For a second, she stills and lets him hold her. Then she struggles free.

"Let go, Howl – I'm sweaty and covered with earth!"

He smirks.

"So? I don't care about dirt."

She stopps dead to stare at him seriously. He lets her away just enough to see her face more clearly.

"That was weird," she says. "Sometimes I still think you haven't changed at all and then you go and say things like that."

"Sophie…"

"No, no," she says hastily. "I know it was the curse. Hell, everything seemed to be placed under a curse that time, Justin and Suliman and Martha and Michael and Calcifer and Miss Angorian and you and me. And I don't blame you, I don't blame anyone. That's the way life is, isn't it? And still, sometimes I look at you and think That's the great mage Howl and he's a prick from hair to toe."

"A prick?" Howl laughs, not insulted (he has spent too much time of his life feeling insulted and he doesn't miss the feeling at all). "Sophie, where do you get these words from?"

"I don't know!"

He grins at her and shrugs. "Anyway. Have you finished here?"

Sophie throws an evaluating look at her work and finds she had almost finished the garden. There are one or two bushes still to be cut and her tools to be collected, but other than that there isn't much she needs to do. The sun has started to sink, too. It casts the manor with its faded but visible glory in a golden and auburn light.

"I guess," she agrees reluctantly. "Let me get my tools and…"

She doesn't finish her sentence. Like on invisible strings her broom, pail, shovel and hark are righting themselves, lining up on the garden path and starting to dance their way towards their shed. Stemming her hands into her hips, Sophie turns to Howl.

"Howell Jenkins!"

"I know, I know," he answers but his smile is so wide she is unable to remain angry for long. "It's just this bit of magic, honestly, Sophie. You're finished here. Let's go inside."

He holds out his hand. Sighing but smiling she takes it and follows him back home. His hand is warm.

Sophie has just finished dressing herself after a long, hot shower when she hears her name being called from outside. She glances out of the window: Howl hasn't changed the color of the door knob. The garden of the manor is barely visible, falling darkness blurring the edges. Only the little marble fountain in the middle of the garden shines like a pale ghost.

"Sophie! Sophie!"

Michael's voice is clearly audible.

Only stopping to throw a shawl over her still-wet hair, she hastes down the stairs and straight into the garden.

"Michael?"

No one answers as she strains her eyes to see something in the darkness.

"Howl?"

And then it happens.

A shrieking noise becomes audible, increases and shoots past her like… Like fireworks. In the dark blue sky, a corona of stars explodes: red and golden, blue and violet. Other colors follow, each one illuminating the gardens and her surroundings, painting flowers and stars into the night sky. Sophie has seen many things in her life but this surely is one of the most beautiful things she ever has seen. She holds her breath.

Two arms catch her from behind and she starts, realizing who it is only seconds later, and relaxing again.

"Howl, don't scare me!"

"I apologize," his voice says, directly into her ear. "Michael and I made this for you. Do you like it?"

"Like it?" She echoes. "It's beautiful, Howl. Thank you. Thanks, Michael!"

"He's already gone," Howl chuckles. "He made a smaller version for Martha."

Sophie grins as she pictures Martha's reaction. Then, she shivers. Immediately, Howl asks worriedly: "Are you cold? Do you want to go inside?"

Sophie shakes her head.

"Just hold me."

She almost feels his grin. It warms her from head to toe.

"I'm not letting go."

"Howl?"

"Hmmm…"

"I love you because you could give me all the wonders of the world and yet give me only what I want."

"Hmmm?"

"It's okay. Go back to sleep."

A/N: Isn't this incredibly cheesy? Hell, yes, and it was fun to write! Alex? Das, was du dir vorgestellt hast?