Bound and Determined
Summary: Amber is adamant that she and Cedric take a certain class together, and he's done just about everything he can to get out of it. But one thing he knows: once Amber has her sights set on something, she will not change her mind. *dedicated to trueGeek*
Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First. I just own Willow. :)
A/N: So after talking with trueGeek, she had a great suggestion. I'd already had this story planned, but the original premise was originally something entirely different, and I wasn't even sure I liked it. But after trueGeek and I talked, I thought, 'Why not? It's a great idea!' So thank you, trueGeek! This story is alive because of you. ;)
*Story*
"Oh, Sofia!" Amber called as she approached her sister, who was just leaving the oft-visited tower. "Is Cedric in his workshop? I need to talk to him."
Sofia blinked in surprise upon hearing those words. "You do?"
"Yeah, I have a favor to ask him." She adjusted a cloth bag on her right shoulder and shifted from one foot to the other as she waited to hear the other girl's response.
"Um, yeah, he's in there. We just finished with my lesson, though, so he may be cleaning up."
"Oh, that's fine. It won't take long." She smiled as she moved past the younger girl. "Thanks, Sofia!"
"Sure, Amber…" The auburn-haired girl shrugged before carrying on with her previous task: finding Clover.
Cedric yawned as he filed his materials away in their normal locations before placing his wand in his wand case. He stretched once, realizing just how tired he was. Maybe he could head to bed early tonight.
*knock, knock*
…Or not. He sighed tiredly. "Come in." Well, it wasn't Sofia. That wasn't her knock.
Amber opened the door and walked inside, much to the sorcerer's surprise. "Hi, Cedric."
"Princess Amber?" he asked curiously. "What are you doing here?"
"Can't I just come visit you every now and then? Do I have to want something from you in order for me to make the trek up here?" She smiled innocently.
Cedric rolled his eyes before sitting down and gesturing for her to do the same. "What do you want?"
Amber grinned and fished a letter from the bag she'd brought and passed it over to him, allowing him to read it. "I'm signing up for a sewing class. I've gotten pretty good at it recently, especially after the school production and everything, but I really wanted to work on my skills so I can get better."
"I see. Well, good for you, Princess Amber, but what does this have to do with me?"
She smiled and pointed down at the bottom of the page. "I have to have a guardian go with me, and Mom and Dad are sort of busy running the kingdom."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Baileywick?"
"He's a steward, Cedric. He's busy running the castle."
"Your Aunt Tilly?"
"Traveling with Sir Bartleby in the countryside."
"Sofia?"
Amber laughed. "Cedric, she's younger than I am! She can't be my guardian…"
"I don't see why not. She's probably the most mature person living in this castle." He sighed when she gave him a pointed look before reverting to pouting. "Oh, all right… I can see you're bound and determined to do this course, so I suppose I'll tag along…"
"Yay!" She quickly grabbed the paper back from him with a grin. "You won't regret it, Cedric."
"Somehow I doubt that very much." He couldn't help smiling as she happily sang to herself and did a small dance of victory. "When is the class?"
"Tomorrow morning from 9:00 to lunchtime."
"Strange hours…"
"I know, but there's a line dance class that night, among other things." She paused and smirked toward him. "Unless you'd also like me to sign us up for that class too?"
Cedric blanched before waving his hands quickly. "No, no. I'm quite sure a sewing course is about all I can handle at this point."
She laughed. "That's what I thought. Thanks, Cedric! See you in the morning. Meet me at the door at 8:00." With that, she happily left his workshop.
"Ugh," Cedric groaned in dismay as he glanced toward Wormwood. "Wormy, why is it these princesses always manage to rope me into doing something I don't want to do?"
The raven smirked. "Because unlike me, you never learned how to say 'no.'"
He shrugged. "Would you like to go with us?"
"No. See how easy that is?" He chuckled as Cedric gave him a deadpanned look. "Sorry, Cedric. You're on your own."
"Fine," the sorcerer huffed as he folded his arms. "It's only one morning anyway. The sooner I get it over with, the sooner I can return to work."
The next morning after breakfast had finished, Amber and Cedric got into a flying coach and headed to Royal Prep, where the class was being held. With it being a Saturday, they anticipated less traffic than usual, and they also didn't necessarily plan on there being that many people attending the class.
They entered Ms. Flora's usual classroom and were surprised to see that the desks had been arranged in pairs throughout the room. On each set of desks lay needles, thread, fabrics, buttons, innovative patterns, and other such things.
"Wow," Amber breathed in appreciation as her eyes lit up. "This is going to be awesome!"
"If you say so," Cedric murmured as she grabbed his wrist and dragged him toward an empty set of desks. He sat down, feeling far too tall for the child-sized desk, and pouted while Amber giddily observed all the materials before them.
Before long, the room started filling in. Several students and their guardians entered, and Amber didn't recognize any of them. Soon enough, she did see Jun with her mother Empress Lin-Lin, but that was it for the Royal Prep group. Well, she wasn't necessarily disappointed or anything. In fact, with little distraction, she'd be able to absorb everything she could from the class.
"Good morning, everyone!" a peppy voice greeted, getting the class's attention. A young, slender woman dressed in a simple maroon dress with her violet (was it seriously violet?) hair tied into a long, wavy side ponytail walked to the center of the room, her brown eyes scanning all the faces in the class. "My name is Willow, and for the next few hours, you're going to learn something I like to call 'patterning.' Yes, it's still a method of sewing, but this particular style allows you to be a little more expressive and create some pretty neat designs." She gestured toward the supplies before each of them. "In front of you, you'll find several different things. I want you to find the white fabric first."
Everyone managed easily enough to locate the large square pieces of white fabric.
"Right, this is your starting point," Willow told them. "You have several different colors of thread before you. Ignore those for now. Instead, find the quill." Once she saw everyone had a quill, she continued, "Think of your favorite animal. Or something that means a lot to you that you could easily draw an outline for it. Once you figure out what you'd like to draw, do so on that white fabric. Since I know it'll take a bit, I'll give you guys about fifteen minutes."
"Ooh…" Amber glanced toward Cedric. "Can you draw?"
He raised his eyebrows at her. "Maybe with my wand…?"
"No, we have to do this by hand." She frowned curiously as she glanced at the fabric. "Well, I like a lot of animals, but I also like other things…" She then smiled as something dawned on her. "I have an idea though." She considered the space of the fabric and pondered a few details before starting to sketch an outline.
Cedric watched her curiously, leaning slightly on his arms across from her as she drew. He looked up as Willow walked over and smiled down at them.
"Everything going all right so far?" she asked them both.
"Yes," Amber responded distractedly as she turned the fabric every which way.
"All right. By the way, I'm Willow."
"I'm Amber," the Princess returned before vaguely gesturing toward the sorcerer. "That's Cedric. We're from Enchancia."
"Oh, I've heard of that place. Pretty nice from what I hear." She giggled. "My cousin Lucinda gushes about it all the time."
Cedric blinked at her. "Lucinda, as in the little witch Sofia is friends with?"
Willow's brown eyes widened. "Oh, you're that Cedric and Amb—Princess Amber?"
The blonde simply nodded, still focusing on her task.
"Well, it's nice to meet you both. If you see my cousin before I do, please tell her I said hi." She grinned before nodding toward Cedric. "By the way, neat hair. I've never seen a shade like that before."
Cedric smirked. "I could say the same, Miss Willow."
She laughed and walked off.
Amber finally finished her drawing and smiled in satisfaction. She then turned it to show her temporary guardian.
Cedric peered down at the fabric before gasping. "It's…a sketch of Wormwood?" He gazed at the girl in awe.
She smiled thoughtfully. "I know he means a lot to you. So why not use him as a basis for this project? It's kind of like my way of saying thank you for accompanying me."
He was speechless. Just when he thought Amber couldn't possibly surprise him anymore, she went and did something like this. She was starting to act a bit more like Sofia the older she got, and he couldn't say he was upset in the least. In fact, he was elated. Amber had the potential to be every bit as gracious and kind-hearted as her mother, and he was curious what the future held for her… He smiled appreciatively. "Thank you, Princess Amber."
She nodded gently. "You're welcome, Cedric."
Soon after everyone had finished sketching, Willow instructed them to locate some thread that they liked for their pattern. They were to then sew around the outline in one color, leaving the interior blank for the time being.
"You want to try this part?" Amber asked as she held up the black thread and fabric.
"Well, I suppose…" He set the fabric in front of him before picking up a needle and attempting to pass the thread through the annoyingly tiny hole. Seriously, what was the point in it being that tiny? He made a sound of annoyance after his fifth try at threading the needle failed.
"Here, let me." Amber had him hold the needle steady, and with careful precision, she managed to thread it perfectly. She grinned as the sorcerer gaped at her. "I've had practice."
"I can tell." He chuckled before picking up the fabric and beginning to sew an outline around the drawn section of Wormwood's likeness. A few missteps occurred, naturally, but he managed to fix them with a quick dash of his wand (to Amber's amusement) before he finally finished the outline. He looked around and noticed most of the others were already done. "Well, our outline was more detailed," he reasoned.
Amber giggled.
"All right, guys," Willow told them all with a bright smile. "You've got your outline sewn. Now, if you'll look under your desks, you'll find a small drawstring bag. Get those out and wait for me."
The class did as instructed, a few peeking into them out of curiosity.
"All right, open your bags and pull out the small pouch labeled 'lifelike.'"
Amber sifted through their bag and pulled out the small pouch, observing it in interest. "Ever heard of this before?" she asked Cedric, who shook his head. "Hmm."
Willow held up her own pouch for demonstration. "All right. We're going to add a little mystical magic to this lesson and really bring your designs to life. Simply coat your designs all over the interior, and try not to go outside the sewn outlines. When you finish, lay your hands on the design, close your eyes and envision what you want the finished product to look like, and say the word 'lifelike.' And then see what happens."
"Sounds a little too easy," the sorcerer remarked skeptically.
"Oh, come on, Cedric," Amber teased with a grin as she began the process of pouring the substance onto the design. "Not all magic has to be Latin phrases as long as a river."
Cedric rolled his eyes as she finished using the pouch. "Right, well, I suppose we'll see." He blinked when she grabbed his hand. "What are you doing?"
"We're going to bring this design to life, of course." She grinned as she placed his hand over the design, and then she placed her right hand over his. "Now close your eyes and imagine Wormwood, and I'll say the word." Seeing he nodded and did as asked, she also closed her eyes. After a few moments, she murmured, "Lifelike."
Both of the Enchancians felt the surge of magic rather than saw it. A minor flash of light and a warmth beneath their hands, and then all was still.
Cedric and Amber opened their eyes and removed their hands, surprised to see that the design was now completely sewn up, and the likeness of Wormwood was absolutely stunning. Even those green eyes of his were sewn into the design.
"This is so awesome!" Amber gushed with a laugh. "Maybe I can use this method to make my outfits faster. I know Desmond would like it—the poor boy has not only been my mannequin but also my pin cushion." She giggled.
"When will you stop torturing that poor boy?" Cedric teased as he snickered. He looked up as Willow walked over to assess their work.
"Oh, what a cute raven," she said with a smile. "My husband and I love ravens. We have one called Indigo. She's a bit of a diva." She laughed.
"Wormy is about the same," Cedric admitted. "He likes things to be just so."
"Ha, nice. Great job, you two." She headed toward the next group to check on their work.
Amber smiled at their creation before handing it to Cedric, who seemed a little surprised. "Here. For you and Wormwood."
"Are you sure?" Cedric asked uncertainly. "This is your class, Princess Amber, and I'd hate to take away your designs…"
"Cedric, please. It's the least I could do."
He smiled softly as he traced his fingers over the sewn patterns of the designed raven. "Thank you…"
The rest of the class was basically a combination of regular sewing methods, including some shortcuts they could take, and even a bit of an introduction to crocheting. Amber seemed quite interested in looking into that, while Cedric didn't quite echo the same sentiment.
By the time class was over, it was lunchtime.
"I guess we need to head back home so we can eat," Amber said as she and Cedric exited the classroom.
"Or," he offered with a sly smile as he waved his wand, "I can fix us our own lunch before we head back to Enchancia."
The princess beamed. "Really?"
"Why not? It's the least I could do." He smiled as she hugged him gratefully. He returned the hug with his free arm before pointing toward an empty space against the wall. "Picnic-patty-whack!" He grinned as a table and two chairs appeared, along with an abundance of different types of food spilling out of a picnic basket. "Lunch is served, Princess."
Amber laughed excitedly. "Cedric, you're awesome."
They shared their meal together, casually talking about any and everything that came to their minds, before finally finishing up. Cedric magically cleared the picnic with his wand.
"Time to go home, yes?" he clarified.
"Yeah…" She looked toward the wall beside the entrance to another classroom. There was a sign on it that read Pottery Class, 1:30-3:30. A pottery class sounded pretty interesting, actually… Too bad they were heading home. She sighed.
Cedric noticed her reaction and smiled thoughtfully, placing a hand on her shoulder and getting her attention. "I've always wanted to learn how to make my own vase so I can send my mother a proper bouquet of flowers for her birthday."
Amber smiled brightly, realizing what he was saying. She threw her arms around him happily. "You're the best, Cedric."
He chuckled and returned her hug before releasing her. "Hurry, class is about to start."
She nodded and grabbed his hand, pulling him along. "Let's go!"
The end