In the Bleak Midwinter

Summary: Cedric and Sofia travel up to an area known as Starry Heights in order to witness a phenomenon called the Rainbow Winds. However, an unexpected snowstorm has them trapped on the mountain for the evening.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: The title is directly from a song of the same name, though the story has nothing to do with the content of the song. Hope you enjoy. 😉 (Reference to my story "The Magic of Wassailia." Sofia's new robe :D)

*Story*

"Mr. Cedric!" Sofia called as she knocked on his door to his workshop late one afternoon. "Are you ready?"

Cedric chuckled and opened his door, allowing the excited girl inside. "Anxious to go already?" he asked in amusement. "I've not finished gathering everything quite yet."

"I can help if you'd like." She was already dressed in her new apprentice robe he'd crafted for her Wassailia gift, so it went without saying that she was warmer than usual.

"Sure, if you don't mind." He gestured toward his closet. "There are some blankets and extra scarves and gloves in there. We'll pack them into a bag I'm preparing." He turned to his bag on his desk and looked inside. "I've got your wand, my family wand, a medical aiding kit, a few small pillows…" He turned to Sofia, whom he noticed was giggling, and smirked. "Something funny?"

"Mr. Cedric, you sound like you're packing for a vacation. We're only going to the Starry Heights for a few hours to watch the Rainbow Winds, right? Not spending the night."

"Yes, but you can never be too careful, my dear. Besides, I guarantee that after sitting on the hard ground after a while, a pillow will be of some relief."

"If you say so, Mr. Cedric." She withdrew the blankets, scarves, and gloves he'd mentioned and set them into his bag. "We might need to get some snacks, right?"

"Already done." He used his wand to gather a tin from the other side of his room and opened the lid for Sofia to see. "Cookies, crisps, powdered sugar dough balls, cheese, and a few other goodies… Oh, and I've gotten us four canteens of water as well." He placed the tin into the bag along with the aforementioned canteens.

The princess smiled thoughtfully. "You've thought of everything."

"I certainly hope so…" He placed his wand in his robe before grabbing the bag and draping it over his shoulder. "You've already told your parents we're heading out, I take it?"

She nodded. "Yes. They said to be careful and be back before it gets too late."

"Shouldn't be a problem. Let's go." He led her out of the workshop as she shut the door behind them.

"Where's Wormwood?" Sofia asked curiously as she caught up with him.

"Ah, he's been recruited to help Calista. She's gathering ingredients for Cordelia's potions, believe it or not." He shrugged as the girl blinked up at him. "I've given her permission to utilize the workshop while we're gone, as long as she cleans up after herself."

The girl laughed. "I never thought I'd hear you say that. I guess you and Ms. Cordelia are making a lot of improvements."

"Well, it will only happen if we both try." He smiled toward her. "Persistence pays off, wouldn't you say?"

She nodded. "Absolutely."

Once outside, Cedric began walking toward one of the flying coaches when Sofia grabbed his sleeve and stopped him. He glanced at her in confusion.

The princess smiled mischievously. "I have a better idea."

A few minutes later, both friends were piled into the flying machine Cedric had given his apprentice a few years ago. He was also more than fine letting her fly the machine, as it gave him a chance to sit back and relax…sort of.

"Sofia, watch out for those birds!" Cedric yelled in alarm as the girl just dodged the squawking birds.

The princess giggled as her friend held onto her shoulders, obviously shaken as she felt his fingers trembling. "Relax, Mr. Cedric. I know what I'm doing. I've flown in enough ways by now." She turned the wheel and grinned, even though he couldn't see her. "Flying machine, flying coach, flying horse… I'm starting to see a pattern, aren't you?"

He scoffed and rolled his eyes, though he did manage a small smile as he released her shoulders and sat back. "Naturally." He gestured toward a protruding cliff overlooking a beautiful gorge lined with snow. "That's the place: Starry Heights. Land us down there."

"No problem." With a swift turn, she flew the machine in the indicated direction, parking it behind a tree. "We made it!" With that, she quickly hopped out of the vehicle.

Cedric sighed in relief and grabbed his bag, following his overly excited apprentice. "How about, on the way back to the castle, I drive?"

Sofia grinned at him. "You don't trust me, Mr. Cedric?"

"I trust you. I just question your flying abilities sometimes." He folded his arms as he followed her, noting her roll of her eyes. "You nearly hit three geese, a tree, and one very angry swan."

"It's not my fault they were all in my way," she joked, giggling as he offered her a perturbed look. "I'm just kidding, Mr. Cedric. You can fly us home if you want."

He shook his head as he pulled out a blanket from the bag. "We'll see. Since we'll leave at nighttime, it's less likely there will be birds around anyway." He spread the blanket on the ground in front of the same tree behind which the flying machine was settled. He then looked around the area. "We'll need some firewood."

"I've got it. I saw some logs behind the tree." With that, she took off.

Cedric set his bag next to a stone at the base of the tree and gently rubbed his hands together. It was getting a bit colder, so the fire would help. They had travelled up here to see the Rainbow Winds, which occurred a few times a year. The Rainbow Winds were exactly as they sounded, and they were best observed at nighttime under the pure light of the moon and stars. Many also claimed they held magic powers, which didn't surprise him in the least. What items in an enchanted world didn't have magic powers these days?

"Found some," Sofia announced as she came back and situated the logs a few feet in front of the blanket.

Cedric nodded and scooted forward a bit, setting up the logs for them to form a firepit. He ushered Sofia back and he himself shuffled backwards before using his wand to light the logs on fire. "There we go."

The princess smiled and held her hands out toward the warmth, relishing in the fire's glow. "That's better. It's a little cold up here."

"Still winter, my dear. Not much we can do about that." He reached into the bag and produced the tin of cookies, opening the lid and grabbing one before offering the others to her.

Sofia smiled and took a cookie for herself as Cedric replaced the lid and put the tin back into the bag. She nibbled on the cookie with a content sigh as they looked toward the skies, hoping to see the Rainbow Winds soon. Once the cookie was gone, she turned to her friend. "Have you seen the Rainbow Winds before?"

"Yes. Once when I was younger, Cordelia and I actually sneaked out of the castle and came to this very spot." He chuckled as his apprentice gaped at him. "What can I say? We got bored being cooped up inside for so long. Luckily, my parents never found out. That could have been a disaster."

She giggled. "And now you don't have to sneak out. I mean, you could, but the only one who'd scold you at this point would likely be Wormwood."

Cedric laughed. "True."

They looked back up as they heard a distinct whistling sound, signs the wind was picking up. Soon enough, a beautiful streak of rainbow haphazardly soared through the empty air, illuminated by the glow of the moon and the fire. As majestic as it was, the glittery 'texture' to the Rainbow Winds offered a much more magical view. The phenomenon lasted about half an hour, many rounds of the multicolored winds sailing by the fascinated friends.

It wasn't much longer when the wind died down and all was silent again.

"That was beautiful," Sofia breathed with glee. "Can we come see this again at some point?"

"Certainly," Cedric informed her. "Perhaps in October, for your birthday, hmm?"

She grinned. "I'd like that. And then, I probably will have to sneak out." She giggled.

The sorcerer chuckled before frowning when he noticed heavy precipitation suddenly falling around them. "What's this?" He held out his hands. "More snow…"

"It's just snow. Don't worry."

He shook his head. "I'm afraid it's more than that, Sofia. It seems to be coming down much faster and stronger than usual."

She gasped. "A snowstorm?" With this realization, she stood up. "We need to hurry and get back to the castle."

Before they could even think to move, the snow began cascading harder and quicker than they could fathom. The sky had grown rather dark as well.

"We'll never be able to fly back in this," Cedric reasoned before quickly pulling another large blanket from his bag. "We need to wait it out. Sofia, quickly, come here."

She didn't hesitate and sat next to him as he draped the large blanket over both of them and the bag of supplies. She sighed in relief as Cedric used his wand to illuminate their small space as they listened to the roaring wind and falling snow around them. "How long do snowstorms usually last?"

"It could be a few minutes…" He frowned as she let out a relieved breath. "…Or days."

"What?!" Sofia gasped as she looked toward her friend. "We can't stay out here for days! Mom and Dad won't be happy; Baileywick will panic; I'll miss school; you will—"

"Sofia, breathe!" Cedric raised his wand to see her better. "We'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to you. Just calm down, all right?"

She nodded and hugged him before shivering a bit. "All this snow… It's getting colder."

Cedric sighed and gently returned her hug. "We just need to let the worst of the snow fall. After that, I'll check and see if we can fly out." In the meantime, to alleviate some discomfort, he murmured a warmth spell and nodded as it filled the space of the blanket. Glancing down, he noted that the princess seemed to be growing sleepy under the calming effects of the warmth. "Go ahead and sleep, Sofia."

The girl shook her head a bit and tiredly looked toward her mentor. "What about you?"

"I'll be fine. Get some rest."

With little energy to argue, Sofia obliged his request and closed her eyes, drifting off rather quickly.

While the princess slept, Cedric considered their options. Either they could stay and wait out the storm, which could be very short or very long, and risk the anger of King Roland for…well, being in nature and not being able to accurately predict the weather (he rolled his eyes at this absurd mental argument he imagined having with the king), or he could risk their safety and attempt to fly them home now in the very machine he'd invented. Not that he didn't trust his inventing skills and magical abilities at this point, but Mother Nature was a scary and impulsive thing sometimes, and he'd rather not face the consequences of premature decision making. Glancing down at Sofia, who was sleeping peacefully against his shoulder at this point, he decided. "I'm not going to put us in danger just to appease King Roland. I'd rather he have a perfectly safe yet late-arriving daughter than the other way around…"

About an hour later, all was calm and quiet. The snow had ceased falling, and the wind was no longer active. Cedric slowly lowered the blanket and looked around. What was once the green piece of earth they'd been occupying was now a blanket of pure white fluff. It glistened beautifully in the moonlight, surrounding the area completely.

"Oh, perfect," he muttered as he realized the snow had obviously extinguished the fire. Pulling a pillow from the bag, he placed it on the grounded blanket and shifted Sofia over so she could continue sleeping. He snapped out the larger blanket that had shielded them, ridding it of the snow, before draping it over the princess. He smiled thoughtfully as she sighed in content, obviously oblivious to their surroundings.

Cedric used his wand to shake the logs from the snow and, after a few tries since the wand seemed to be a bit slower in response than usual, he managed to relight the fire. He was surprised the wood wasn't soaked through, but who was he to question things? He replaced his wand before holding out his hands to the fire, sighing happily as the warmth reached him again. Once satisfied, he turned back to his sleeping friend and knelt beside her, shaking her shoulder. "Sofia, wake up."

It took a few nudges, but Sofia eventually opened her eyes, staring at her mentor in evident confusion. "Mr. Cedric?"

"The snowstorm ended. I'm going to check on the flying machine, and we can return to the castle if all is well." He gestured toward the makeshift hearth. "I've also started another fire, so you can get warm." Seeing her nod and stand, he trudged up the pathway they'd used a few hours ago and walked behind the tree to the flying machine. While it appeared fine at first glance, he realized soon enough that the 'wing' mechanism seemed to be damaged—likely from heavy snow falling on it or the wind whipping it around, he reasoned.

Withdrawing his wand, he pointed it toward the machine and spoke the magic words to fix the mess before him. However, nothing seemed to happen, even though he was sure he'd gotten the spell right. He growled in frustration before trying once more, though yet again, nothing happened. Several other tries also proved fruitless. Annoyed and perplexed, he sighed and headed back to Sofia, who was standing next to the fire. "Bad news…"

She turned to him with a concerned look. "What's wrong?"

"The flying machine is damaged, and I can't fix it." He huffed and plopped onto the ground, a defeated look on his face and his aggravation seemingly growing within him.

Sofia walked over and sat next to him. "You tried your wand?"

He looked at her pointedly. "Of course I did. I said the spell correctly, too, in case you were wondering, and it still did nothing."

She frowned at his sudden mood change. "You don't have to get annoyed with me, Mr. Cedric. I know you're upset, but taking it out on me isn't going to help us at all. I was just asking a question."

He sighed heavily. "A question you already knew the answer to."

Sofia scoffed and stood up, folding her arms as she gave her friend a keen look. "Is this what we're going to do then? Snap at each other when something doesn't go our way? You're better than that, Mr. Cedric."

"Evidently not." He extended his wand to her as she blinked. "Maybe you are. Go ahead and fix it, since it seems to be such an easy thing to do."

Irritated, the girl snatched the wand from her mentor. However, instead of heading off to see to the flying machine, she pointed it at him instead, her eyes boring into his.

Cedric's eyes widened. "Wh-What are you doing, Sofia?"

"Cedric the Sensational, get over yourself, stop pouting, and get that confidence back so you can fix the machine and we can go home."

Who was he to argue with a princess who had his own wand pointed at him? It wasn't that he necessarily believed she'd use it against him, but…he wasn't about to take any chances. "O-Okay… Just be careful with that, would you?"

Sofia narrowed her eyes at him briefly before offering her free hand to him, which he hesitantly took so he could stand. She then smiled and handed him the wand. "I believe in you."

"Well, that's a relief," he murmured, taking the wand with an uncertain look. He sighed as she put her hands on her hips and gave him a reproachful stare. "Um…sorry, Sofia. I don't know what came over me."

"It's called frustration, and we all feel it." She reached out and took his free hand. "Come on. We'll fix it together." She took a good look at the wand and frowned thoughtfully, reaching forward and taking it from her friend. "Mr. Cedric…" She held it up to him. "Is it possible for a wand to lose its magic?"

"Certainly, but why do you ask?"

She tilted her head. "Didn't you leave it warming and lighting the blanket during the storm?"

He sighed. "Yes… It may just be low on powers right now. That also explains why it took so long to reignite the fire. In that case…" He passed her the wand before hurrying back to his bag and withdrawing his family wand instead. Satisfied, he met up with his apprentice again and led her to the machine. With a deep breath, he spoke the same spell from earlier, pleased to see that the flying machine repaired itself. "Ha!"

"Mm-hmm," Sofia remarked with a sarcastic smile aimed his way. She giggled as he rolled his eyes, and then she handed him his other wand. "I'll go get the bag and the other stuff if you can get the flying machine ready."

"All right." He chuckled to himself as she took off. "Hmm." He tended to preparing the machine as Sofia dealt with her own task.

Sofia gathered up the blankets and folded them before placing them into the bag, and then she layered the pillow over them. She reached into the bag and extinguished the fire with her own wand. She picked up the bag and draped it over her shoulders before hurrying back to Cedric, minding her step as the snow made the ground a bit slippery. "I'm ready."

"So am I." He held out his hand and helped her into the flying machine before climbing into the front seat. "I think it may be best if I fly us out of here."

She smiled from her place behind him and held tightly to the bag. "If you say so, Mr. Cedric."

With that, they took off into the night, the light of his family wand illuminating their way home.

When they arrived at the castle a while later, cold yet safe, they were greeted by none other than the king and queen rushing out to them, each holding a lantern along with some heavy-looking blankets.

"Are you two all right?" Miranda asked in concern as she wrapped a blanket around Cedric's shoulders before doing the same for her daughter. "You're much later than we thought you'd be."

"Sorry, Mom," Sofia proclaimed as she held the blanket in place. "We got caught in a snowstorm and had to wait it out."

"A good idea," Roland commended, nodding toward Cedric in gratitude and surprising the sorcerer. "If you'd tried to return in the weather we experienced, you both could have been hurt." He smiled sincerely. "Thank you for taking care of Sofia, Cedric."

Cedric was at a loss for words. Really, what could he say? The king was handing him a compliment with no effort. He finally found his voice after Sofia gently nudged him. "U-Um, you're welcome, Your Majesty. But really… I think the princess is more than capable of taking care of herself." He smiled as the girl giggled.

"Whatever works best," the queen surmised as she wrapped an arm around her daughter. "Let's get you both inside and by the fire. This midwinter chill is nothing to take lightly."

Sofia smiled back at Cedric before stopping and handing him the bag they'd used. "Thanks for everything, Mr. Cedric."

Cedric offered his friend a kind and sincere smile in return. "Thank you, Sofia."

They entered the castle just as a new batch of snow began falling all across Enchancia, the earth frosty white yet again.

The end