Disclaimer: All characters and settings are the work of Diana Wynne Jones and I'm making no profit. I'm just a student who's hopelessly in love with her characters.

Author's Note: Hello everyone! This is my first fan fiction about, well, anything. It's now 1 AM, and the night before my finals, but I love Howl and Sophie so much that I couldn't resist, and the DWJ section hasn't had many new updates lately so I just thought why not? This takes place the day after HMC ends, and I'm going by the book characters, not the movies (although they probably seem OOC because I love fluff, which we hardly see any of in HMC). Obviously, unbeta-ed, so if anyone wants to offer, it's much appreciated. This may be more than one chapter, but as of now I'm unsure. Reviews are appreciated as well, so long as they're actually constructive and not rude for no reason. To the story!

Chapter 1:

A Good Morning

"Sophie," a deep voice whispered fiercely from the other side of the curtain. Sophie Hatter rolled over on her tiny bed feeling exhausted, but she had good reason to. The events of the previous day caught up with her hazy memory as she struggled to prop herself up on her elbows. The lack of creaking joints reminded her that the Witch of the Waste's curse was broken, she was young again, and she lived in a man's, and not just any man's, home, unmarried. After everyone had left late last night, with protests from all members of Sophie's family that she go with them, she finally collapsed into bed without a word. Her dreams always led her back to that cowardly man, however, with his blond hair and bright green eyes that always seemed to know what she was up to. Now he was peeking his head into her cubby hole with an easy and perfectly confident smile.

Sophie tried to glare at him, but failed miserably as a shy smile made its way onto her face. "I was sleeping," she stated as seriously as she could manage.

"Oh, believe me, I know. I heard you snoring from upstairs," Howl joked, making her ears go slightly pink. "But I wanted to talk. Can I come in?" he asked, the perfect gentleman. Sophie raised her eyebrows at the suggestion, but decided it was an innocent enough request, so she scooted over a little to make room. His lithe form slithered under the covers, surprising her, and turned to face her.

All of a sudden, he took both of her hands in his like the previous day and said "Sophie, I'm so sorry, but this isn't working." Her heart beat sped up. Was he kicking her out? Did he not mean it when he said happily ever after? But then her common sense told her that he wouldn't be grinning like a child right then if that were the case, so she squeaked out an, "Oh?" in a small voice, looking down and feeling rather embarrassed that he was so close to her.

"I thought the little mouse was gone and Ms. Nose took her place, but I guess I was wrong," he laughed, but it sounded a tad nervous to her. She felt indignation rise up inside her and she tried to jerk her hands out of Howl's, but he had too tight a grip.

"If that's all you came in here to say, you're more than welcome to leave." He looked at her strangely in a way she hadn't seen before. It was almost calculating, as if he were guessing what she was would do next. His eyes were clear and infinite, the furthest reaches of the Porthaven sea in the evening.

"No, I wanted to tell you-needed to tell you," he amended, "that I don't want you down here anymore. I've been waiting for quite some time for your curse to be broken so that I could see you as you really are, and I can't stand being away from you now," he confessed quickly.

How honest he's being, Sophie thought, relief washing over her as she realized he still loved her- No, Sophie, no one said anything about love. Then she realized she did love him, all his faults intact (except his womanizing), and allowed it to fill her up now that she was properly young. Maybe he loved her, too, she mused happily.

"Did you hear me?" Howl asked sharply, waving his hand in front of her face. She snapped out of her daydreaming and said, "Sorry, what did you say?"

He looked crestfallen and said, "I know it sounds like a weird arrangement, but we could give it a chance. It's just been a long time since I had a heart or felt anything so strongly for someone else."

Sophie's mind raced to catch up. "I meant I didn't hear what you said before," she smiled.

His face turned very red then, which, Sophie had to admit, made him look very adorable. She had an urge to push his hair off his face, say that red didn't really suit him, but she repressed it.

"I said," he began again, but looked at a spot just above her eyes, "if it would be alright with you…I could move your things upstairs…to sleep in my room?" The awkward smile he wore seemed to suit him very well. Sophie mulled it over.

"If I did, what would that entail?" she inquired sensibly.

Howl's grin turned mischievous and he whispered cheekily into her ear, "Anything you like, dear Sophie." Her face burned as bright as his had a few seconds ago, and he took advantage of the silence. "But, I'll have you know, I can take no responsibility in the matter if Fanny finds out what you're forcing me to do with you once we share a bed-"

Sophie succeeded in yanking her hands free of his and said coldly, "You can lie in that bed with all your spiders for the rest of your life for all I care." Howl was too quick, though, because before her Howl had produced a small black box from his shirt pocket and was opening it with deliberate slowness. Sophie sucked her breath in, all thoughts of the fight dissipating.

"I'd much rather have you there, though, even if you only have two legs." Howl took the ring from its case and held it between his thumb and index finger. It was a thin, delicate golden band with a smallish, clear diamond resting in the middle of smaller inlaid sapphires. His gaze was intensely focused on her when he said in a low voice, "Sophie, I love you with all of my fragile heart, and I know that I'm vain and a coward, but-"

"Don't forget slitherer-outer." Howl laughed lightly.

"Yes, that too. But I can be brave for you if you need it, and I can spend less time taking baths, and this is the one thing that I will allow myself to be pinned down to, because loving you is so easy that it's not even a decision." Sophie continued to look from the ring to Howl, back and forth. He did love her, very much. Very, very much. Then she thought of Howl facing the Witch in all of his unkempt glory, and how he was offering himself to her now and forever.

She laughed.

Howl's face fell for a fraction of a second, but he kept up his disguise as always, as if that one single action hadn't just tugged painfully hard at his heart. He began returning it to his shirt pocket.

"Wait," Sophie said, grabbing his hand. His expression of masked anguish made her grab him around the neck, pulling him into an embrace that really wouldn't look all that appropriate to an outsider. "Howl, I wasn't laughing at you. I was laughing because I realized how much I love you, too. And I don't need all of your reassurances, either, because the words are pointless. I can see how you feel about me in what you do for me. I know you can be all of those things, I just need you to keep showing me." With that, she extricated herself from his arms and sat up as straight as possible, brushing her red-gold hair from her face. "So yes, of course," she added softly, almost as an extremely important afterthought.

If Sophie thought the hug was improper, what Howl did next was downright scandalous. He slid the ring onto her shaking finger and tackled her under the sheets, pulling both of them under. He held her face firmly but gently between his hands and kissed her gingerly until she relaxed into it. Vaguely she thought about how this was her first kiss, but her mind focused on Howl's tongue, which had made its way into her mouth then and was sending shivers down her spine. Finally Howl released her and they both sat up in a sort of daze.

"I think it's time to start the day, soon-to-be Mrs. Jenkins," Howl said pushing himself out of her bed and helping her out as well. She nodded, and they stepped out of the cubby hole together, hand-in-hand, smiling like idiots.

Calcifer was in the grate, grinning wickedly at the pair, while Michael, who was just then jumping off the last stair, saw Howl and Sophie emerging as a pair from Sophie's room. He seemed to be much too engrossed in the buttons on his shirt than usual to pull off aloofness.

"Good morning Howl, Sophie," he said politely, still not looking at either of them. Howl beamed.

"Yes Michael, it is a good morning, isn't it?"