The Real Risk
Summary: After the Princess Ivy incident, everything goes back to normal in the kingdom. But Sofia has some people she'd like to thank for saving her life.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First or any characters associated with the show. :D
A/N: Hi, all! I'm back with TWO stories this week as a Thanksgiving present for you. The next one is coming soon behind this, and from what I can tell…it's going to be rather funny. :) But after seeing "The Curse of Princess Ivy," how could I not write something as a bit of a celebration? I just knew I was going to love it, and I did; so here we go!
Sofia stared at her reflection as she thought about the events of the day prior. She hadn't been expecting some of the outcomes of the situation into which she'd been forced, but she was actually relieved things had turned out for the better.
She sighed and put her head in her hands, her eyes cast down. The only problem was, she seemed to be the only one to remember what had happened—besides Clover and the other animals, of course, but still… Not only had Cedric stepped up and saved her, but Amber had sacrificed herself for her as well.
She smiled at that thought. Amber may be a lot of things, but no one could actually accuse her of being selfish anymore…not when it mattered. She glanced up at the mirror again, a perplexed look on her face. She just wished they could remember what they'd done for her, because she'd never felt more touched by someone's actions before.
The purple-clad princess turned and stood from her vanity, her feet set to walking to the door. She was going to thank Cedric and Amber, even if they didn't remember anything. As far as she was concerned, no good deed should go unnoticed.
She hopped up the familiar steps that led to Cedric's workshop. It was a rainy afternoon, so she hoped he wasn't napping or anything. She paused at his door and giggled softly to herself. Since when did Cedric actually take a break to nap these days?
She lifted her hand and knocked, smiling happily as her mentor opened the door. "Hi, Mr. Cedric."
Cedric raised an eyebrow at her, looking around at his rather messy workshop—evidence of a little more experimentation than an average sorcerer would do—and cleared his throat as he looked back at the girl. "Princess Sofia, what are you doing here?"
Sofia blinked and looked rather distant as a memory came back to her.
Princess Ivy had just insisted on Sofia handing over the amulet, to which the younger princess had shrunk back and protected her precious jewel.
Cedric stepped before her, shielding her with one hand as he pointed threateningly toward Ivy, a determined look on his face. "You can forget about her amulet," he declared before pulling his wand from his robe and holding it up. "Vanitzo—ooh!" He collapsed to the floor as Ivy's magic hit him, causing him to forget—yet again—his previous actions and current location.
"I don't think we'd scheduled a—"
Sofia rushed forward and hugged him, surprising the sorcerer. "Thank you," she whispered.
Cedric frowned at her sudden actions but patted her shoulders gently as he knelt toward her. "Are you all right?"
"I know you don't remember, but…Amber wasn't the only one who saved us—saved me—yesterday." She smiled. "You helped me too, Mr. Cedric."
He blinked in confusion. "I…did?"
"When Princess Ivy threatened to take my amulet, you jumped in front of me to protect me." She giggled. "It's the first time you've not tried to hide behind me or just stand next to me. You actually cared about my safety. So thank you."
Cedric looked surprised. He wished he'd recalled this whole event, but everything was either fuzzy or nonexistent in his memory. It didn't help that he'd been hit twice by Ivy's magic. "Um… You're welcome?"
She giggled and hugged him again, smiling when he returned it this time. "It's okay. I know your memory was affected, but just know that you're a pretty good protector when you need to be." She leaned back and grinned at him. "I'll see you tomorrow for our lesson." She giggled and backed out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
Cedric blinked again, still unsure of what was going on, but smiled nonetheless. Apparently he'd had some random outburst of bravery, which he was glad to hear. He looked up at Wormwood, grinning. "You hear that, Wormy? I'm apparently a hero."
Wormwood rolled his eyes. "Heroes don't try to cheat at card tricks, you know…"
Downstairs, Sofia crept up behind Amber, who was giving directions to some guards about how she wanted the autumn party to be arranged. When it appeared she was finished, the brunette grabbed her sister by the arm and pulled her down the hallway.
"Sofia!" Amber exclaimed, surprised at the sudden appearance of the other princess. "What are you doing?"
"Amber, what's something you want more than anything?"
The girl tilted her head and blinked when Sofia stopped them just outside the castle doors. Apparently, the rain had let up.
"Um…a really sparkly tiara?"
Sofia looked toward the other girl sarcastically and laughed. "Well, I guess you're back to normal. Um, speaking of which…I needed to thank you too."
"Thank me? Oh—oh, right…" She laughed softly. "I still can't believe you say I saved everyone. It just really doesn't sound like something I'd do."
"It's something you did…" The younger princess smiled proudly. "I'm very happy and proud of you, Amber. You put others before yourself… Would you have done that two years ago?"
"Before or after the ball?" she joked, smiling. "No, I know I probably wouldn't… But what does that have to do with anything?"
"I think anyone who saves someone else and puts others above herself deserves something special… So I talked to the fairies and asked their help on something…" She grabbed the girl's hands and dragged her into the flying coach, instructing the coachman to fly to the school.
"We're going to Royal Prep?" Amber asked in surprise. "School's over, Sofia."
A grin passed on the other girl's face. "You'll see."
At the school, Amber and Sofia walked into one of their classrooms, where Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather appeared to be waiting on them.
"Sofia," Flora greeted politely. "Amber…" She smiled. "Sofia told us about your heroic acts. I must say, we were rather impressed. And she wanted to see if we could reward you with something…rather unusual."
Amber looked at her teacher and tilted her head. "What's that?"
Flora nodded to the door behind them.
Sofia and Amber turned around. While Sofia merely smiled, Amber gasped in shock.
"R-Rapunzel?!" Amber eyes lit up in excitement as the taller princess approached her. "H-How are you here?"
Rapunzel laughed, smiling at her. "Sofia told me about what happened. She also mentioned how much you'd like to meet me." She winked toward the brunette princess.
"I never told her that…" The blonde princess glanced back at Sofia, who merely shrugged. She smiled brightly and glanced at Rapunzel again. "I have so many questions for you…"
As the two royals left the room, Fauna placed a hand on Sofia's shoulder, making the girl turn around. She smiled. "That was very kind of you, Sofia."
"I couldn't have done it without you, Ms. Fauna. Or any of you. So thank you." She smiled.
Later that night at dinner, Amber gushed to her family about meeting her favorite princess. Her family listened intently, happy to hear her discuss something other than tiaras and jewelry for a change. Sofia smiled as she listened to her sister. It was nice to see the girl happy, truly happy, for once. She hummed to herself as she went back to her meal, the smile never leaving her face.
The end