Not So Novel

Looking down, Sophie supposed this was one of the times when she got it all wrong. The fabric stretched beneath her fingers, the needle threaded still embedded. The urge to toss it away called to her, but she refused.

She saw the fabric while out in town one day, and she would have been a fool not to see how it screamed Howl. Thus, she bought a few yards of the fabric, deciding to make a suit for the wizard for all the times she unwittingly destroyed his other suits, and he hadn’t exploited her much lately. Plus, she needed something to keep her busy whenever she didn’t need to work in the flower shop (or so she told herself).

However, as she sat with it, she wasn’t quite so sure that it was fitting for him anymore. The splendid material wasn’t working for her, and sewing was one of the things she was good at.

“Drat the fabric!” Sophie snapped, pulling her needle through. “Work for me. Become a nice suit for that slitherer-outer.”

Steadily, surely, the fabric gave into her and took on structure. A light set in her eyes, and a smile grew in conjunction to the recognizable shape forming. Dangling sleeves just like Howl liked it, charm and flamboyance galore, and Sophie declared the suit done.

Standing up and shaking nonexistent wrinkles out of the newly created piece of clothing, Sophie started when the door opened.

“Sophie!” Howl called out. “Sophie! Where are you?”

She could hear the enthusiasm seeping from his voice and suddenly wanted to run away. Realizing she couldn’t do that quickly, she settled down, and--she noticed how influenced by Howl she was.

As she saw his familiar head of hair peek in the room, filling it with the scent of roses and lavender, she told her heart to stop beating so loudly and so quickly. After all, she was--not an old woman anymore.

“Ah! Sophie! Here you are!” he exclaimed, projecting his voice over the parcels in his arms. He placed the packages on the nearest flat surface and surveyed the area. “I’ve seen you’ve been busying yourself.” His eyes alighted upon her hands. “And what’s that you have there?”

Hesitantly (really, why was she so nervous? They were having their relatively happily ever after, after all), she showed him. “I made it.”

His eyes sparkled like jewels. “Is that for me? I’ve been meaning to get a new suit!” A delighted smile upon his lips, he took the suit from her hands.

“Good. This way you won’t expend all the money!” Sophie eyed the parcels he set down with a wary eye.

“Those are for you, Sophie!”

She could hear the pout forming through the disheartenment. “I slave away, working, and then going out to achingly pick out something that would be right for you, and this is what I get?"

“Yes, well, it wasn’t necessary, Howl.” She sighed, giving in. After all, it was supposedly for her. “But thank you. Is there any particular reason why you purchased something for me out of the blue?”

Howl perked up a little at the thank you but still huffed. “Well, I can’t have people talking that I don’t take care of my wife-to-be, can I?”

A wry smile curled her lips. Howl really didn’t change, but she supposed she wouldn’t want him to. Still, she asked, “What does it matter?”

“Because I love you.”

Sophie whirled on her feet to see Howl’s back to her. He really was still such a slitherer-outer, she thought. “We really do like to argue, don’t we?”

“Well, I did say it was going to be hair-raising.”

She conceded, hoping to make their conversation go somewhere. “Yes, you did.”

He turned to face her. “You are too kind.” He held up the suit as if to prove his point.

“You haven’t exploited me much yet, so I couldn’t cut up any of your suits.”

“Well,” Howl murmured thoughtfully, “maybe I should fix that.”

Watching her husband-to-be close the distance between them with a serious intention in his eyes, she couldn’t help but smile genuinely.

Their happily ever after really was something.
End.