DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of Howl's Moving Castle or the world that DWJ created. The first line is an exact quotation from the end of Howl's Moving Castle, added only to give a sense of where exactly this story starts. Howl's comment, "Sophie strikes again" is also a direct quotation from HMC.

A/N: I know DWJ wrote a sequel to Howl's Moving Castle called Castle in the Air, but I didn't really like it for a variety of reasons, so I decided to write my own. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. This is very much a work in progress and my first fanfic.

"Besides, it's raining out there in Market Chipping."

Chapter 1: In Which the Residents of the Moving Castle and Their Guests Get Ready

"It is?" Martha asked devastated.

"The Mayor must have already canceled the Midsummer's Day Dance," Lettie replied, comprehending the reason for Martha's exclamation.

"Well, we could have a celebration of our own tonight at my mansion," Fanny said after a few minutes, "But it'll be very last minute, so don't expect too much," she added.

"Oh no, Fanny, we couldn't impose on you like that. I'm sure you must have your own plans for Midsummer's Day," Sophie exclaimed.

"Nonsense, dear! After a day like this, we all have a right to celebrate. Besides," she added, "Mr. Smith is out of town for business in the north. I had hoped to get together with a few friends, but most of them have connections in Kingsbury and left days ago."

"Mrs. Smith," Justin responded in the most courtly voice any of them – except Howl and Ben – had ever heard, "it would be our honor to attend such a celebration. Ben and I owe so much to you all, we couldn't possibly stay away.

So it was decided. Fanny went ahead with Mrs. Fairfax to get her mansion ready for the celebration. Both women were a little disappointed though, because they knew that on such short notice, especially on such a big holiday, their plans couldn't possibly be as grand as they would have wanted.

The Hatter sisters agreed to return to Cesari's in the hopes of finding one of Lettie's dresses that would fit Sophie.

"Anything Lettie has will definitely suit Sophie better than that grey dress, though it is rather fine," Martha commented as they walked down the drizzly street.

"And hopefully the two of us can change into our own clothes," Lettie said to Martha. After they had switched places, Lettie and Martha never exchanged their belongings and still wore each other's clothes. As they began to look more like themselves again, they realized that the need to exchange their clothes also became more obvious: Lettie's dresses dragged a little more everyday on Martha, while Martha's dresses continued to shrink and currently only reached Lettie's ankles.

"I should have brought your things, Martha," Lettie added ruefully. "It's just that Wizard Howl's invitation to visit you, Sophie, came so unexpectedly and so early this morning, we had just enough time to get ready and leave!"

After a few moments of silence, Lettie asked, "You won't really be staying longer with that dreadful man, will you?"

Sophie sighed and tried to explain to Lettie, as she had earlier tried to explain to Fanny, that Howl really wasn't as bad as he pretended to be. Lettie was significantly harder to convince. Martha tried to help Sophie, having heard good things about Howl from Michael.

"Michael's nice, but a little stupid. I can't say I would trust his judgment," Lettie said curtly.

"You're one to talk! Who was it that was in love with one of the stupidest farmer's sons for two whole months last summer?! He used to get lost around town all the time, and he's lived in Market Chipping his whole life! And that Percival fellow! Though he did turn out to be parts of Wizard Suliman and Prince Justin, he seems to have been made of their most dimwitted parts! All he did was follow you around and fawn over you!" Martha lashed back.

Lettie blushed and furiously made biting remarks in return. After the two girls bickered for a while over the relative idiocy of all their previous paramours, Lettie, remembering the beginning of the argument turned to Sophie and said seriously, "Sophie, the man is dishonest and unfaithful. He even tried to court me! You don't honestly think that he might actually be loyal to you! I thought you were the most sensible of us all!"

There was little Sophie could say in response to that. In a few short sentences, Lettie had voiced all of Sophie's own concerns but this was something she was going to resolve on her own. In her defense, she said, "He has his heart back now. I'm sure he'll be different in that respect at least."

The finality in Sophie's voice was enough to stop Lettie from continuing her criticisms for the time being, but she still wasn't convinced. The three girls had also just arrived at Cesari's and so walked in silence to Martha's room. After Lettie and Martha changed, they waited in the hallway while Sophie tried on Lettie's second best blue dress.

Martha then said calmly, "If you won't trust Michael's judgment, well that's one thing. But at least trust Sophie's."

Lettie didn't have a chance to respond because Sophie opened the door just then.

"That color doesn't really suit your hair either, but it'll have to do. Lettie's other dresses would be much too plain and they all look a little worn," Martha sighed. Sophie knew that she could ask for Howl's assistance with mending the clothes, but being something of a tailor herself, she preferred doing things in the natural way.

"I'll have to hold the skirt while I walk. Lettie is just so tall!" Sophie responded. "You two look much better," she added. The deep rose outfit Sophie had made for Lettie really did look best on Lettie. It was almost as if the dress had more presence on Lettie; the rich colors had made Martha's fair skin look washed away. The pale green dress Martha was now wearing complimented her blonde hair and small figure.

After they finished getting ready, the three girls decided to walk around the town square as Sophie related some more of the events of the past month and asked them about their respective apprenticeships. They excitedly talked about Lettie's impending move to Kingsbury to study with Wizard Suliman.

Meanwhile, Ben and Justin seemed to relax significantly as soon as Fanny and Mrs. Fairfax left. The only people around them now were some simple country people that they probably would never see again and Howl, who understood the ways of the court. Fanny, being the finest person there, was the only one they really had to be courtly and polite around.

Ben began to inspect Howl's door and asked, "How do we get to Kingsbury and back quickly from here, like you do?" Howl had never explained the Moving Castle to members of the court, but it was known that he could travel between distant places faster than anyone else.

"Well, that's not really possible any more," Howl responded calmly. He was waiting for a heated argument, from what he knew about the personalities of Suliman and the Prince.

"What do you mean we can't get to Kingsbury from here? How on earth do you do it, Pendragon?!" Justin demanded.

"Well, I got rid of the mechanism that connected my castle to Kingsbury. I needed a little break from the court," he added lightly with a laugh.

But Suliman and the Prince were in no laughing mood. It took all their self control to remember what Howl had recently done for them, and they couldn't possibly lash out at him right now.

"Ben, how long will it take you to get us there?" the Prince was on the verge of a breakdown.

"Several hours, unfortunately. We'd never make it back in time, Justin."

"Even if they aren't nobility, they're still very wealthy, and we can't attend any celebration dressed like this!" Justin exclaimed hysterically.

"This is a little much," Ben agreed, then quickly added, "Now, Justin, just calm down." He was equally dismayed, but a little more rational than the Prince. "I'll make us some disguises, and we can go to a tailor's shop in Market Chipping. I'm sure they'll have some ready-made suits; we'll get the best we can find, and I'll alter them magically as best I can."

Fortunately and unfortunately for them, the Hatter sisters had left through the flower shop to go into town just at the beginning of this conversation. Thus, Sophie, Lettie, and Martha had not witnessed this embarrassing scene and still respected the two vain gentlemen, for which Ben and Justin would be grateful later. At the present moment, though, they regretted the girls' absence as they would be the ones who best knew which shop to go to.

It also slowly dawned on them that because they had agreed to attend Fanny's celebration, they would have to stay the night in Market Chipping. Neither of them particularly liked small towns.

"Buy clothes in such a small town! Most of the shops are probably closed today! And they won't have the soft satin that I like and the intricate stitching. It's the details that count, after all!" And so Justin continued, while Ben magically disguised them both and dragged the petulant prince onto the drizzly street.

"… and of course it has to be raining! My hair will just puff up awfully!"

Howl understood their grief, but was still astonished at such a public display, "That was a little much. I can't imagine what it must be like being in a relationship with that man. I don't know how Suliman does it."

"You're one to talk," Calcifer shot back. "Is everyone at court like this?" Now that everyone was gone, he was back to making his usual criticisms. Michael agreed with Calcifer, but would never admit it, especially because the Prince was involved in this situation.

"Grandeur is very important," Howl responded nobly in his defense. "As Mrs. Pentsemmon used to say, a discerning eye for detail is important in everything that one does." He then walked to the bathroom to improve his own appearance. He lamented the remains of both his suits as he painstakingly tried to magic them back to respectability.

Seeing that the blue and silver suit would need a good deal more time to mend, he set to work on the grey and scarlet suit. He had noticed the mysterious, powerful charm sewn into the seams of that suit after he had made Sophie return the pieces to him but hadn't had much time to think about it at the time. As he looked more closely at it, he realized what exactly that charm was for and remembered a few embarrassing days of almost everyone he met flirting with him, including complete strangers and people who didn't particularly like him. Where could this strong little spell have come from? he thought. It certainly hadn't been on the suit when I had worn it before Sophie mended it. After another minute of thinking, he muttered with a laugh, "Sophie strikes again."