Following the Stars

Summary: Cedric and Sofia travel to visit Greylock and get a rare glimpse at a discovery he has made. (Follow up to "Set Apart")

Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing, nothing...except birthday cake! :D

A/N: All right! So today (March 5) is my 28th birthday, and of course I wanted to celebrate it with you all in some way. :D Therefore, I present to you my sweet, adorable, and even energetic follow-up story to "Set Apart" with my favorites: Cedric and Sofia. I know. You didn't see that coming. ;) Well, I shall be consuming cake today…and battling more sleet/snow/cold weather, so that should be interesting. :) By the way, if you want a fun uplifting song, I listened to "Sitting on Top of the World" by Delta Goodrem a LOT while writing this story. I may even have to use it at some point if I ever get around to making videos again… We'll see! Y'all have a great day!

It had taken a bit of preparation and stealth on his part, but Cedric finally managed to go through with his plan for demonstrating his appreciation for Sofia's essay directed at him. He hadn't wanted the girl to discover what he was up to, but he also didn't need anyone else to know either. Some would spill the secret, and others would discourage him. Therefore, he told no one…not even Wormwood, who didn't seem all that interested anyway.

In order for this to go well, Cedric first had to get Sofia by herself and second get her to follow directions without answering questions. While she was no Amber, this was sort of easier said than done, especially with her overly curious nature.

"But why won't you tell me anything, Mr. Cedric?" Sofia asked one late afternoon with a pout, somewhat exasperated at his secretive stance. He'd made her close her eyes as he'd placed his hands on her shoulders and guided her onward.

"Because it will ruin the surprise," he responded matter-of-factly as they stepped outside, the cool breeze rustling by and stirring the girl's dress and his robe.

"We're outside?" Sofia moved to open her eyes before giggling as her friend placed his hands over her eyes to keep her in the dark…literally. "Mr. Cedric…"

"Is it really that hard to follow directions?" he asked with a small smile as he moved her forward. "Honestly, you'd think by now with school lessons, you'd know how to do so…"

"Yeah, you would think," she giggled as he finally stopped them. Sensing that they weren't moving anywhere else, she frowned in slight confusion. "What's going on?"

Cedric paused and considered his options. He could let her in on the secret, or he could… He released the princess and took out his wand, tapping her head. "Opertis."

Sofia gasped in surprise as a thick purple blindfold appeared around her eyes. "Is this really necessary?"

"You sounded just like my mother for a moment," he laughed as he took her hand and helped her step up, aiding her in settling into the flying coach that happened to be before them.

"Are we in a flying coach? What are we doing? Are we going some-?" A muffled giggle escaped her mouth as Cedric had silenced her with his hand.

"Don't make me go Ursula on you," he warned but in a lighthearted tone as he dropped his hand to his lap and instructed the coachmen to take off.

"You wouldn't steal my voice. You wouldn't have any need for it."

He smirked and twirled his wand around his fingers. "Oh, I could probably find some use for it… But that's beside the point." Aiming the wand at her, he murmured a spell to remove the cloth from her eyes, enabling her to see again. He might as well, he figured.

"Whoa," the princess mumbled as she shook her head. "That's a weird feeling, going from not being able to see to the sunshine glaring at you…"

"Yes, sorry about that… I figured it best not to leave you in the dark any longer."

There was a short pause before they both laughed at the ridiculous pun.

"Gee, thanks," Sofia snickered with a grin. Despite not knowing where they were going, she really was rather happy to get away from the castle for a while. Then, a thought struck her. "Do my mom and dad know where I am?"

Cedric shrugged and smiled. "I told them we were going to be practicing some spells for the twins' birthday party and would probably run late. Your father said that was fine, as long as I fed you."

She gaped at him. "You lied to King Roland II? Mr. Cedric…" The young girl then dissolved into giggles.

"It's not a lie! We are going to practice spells for their party. Here." He pulled her new wand from his sleeve and handed it to her, watching as she grasped it. "Repeat after me: parua unicornis."

The princess eyed him dubiously before waving her wand gently. "Parua unicornis." She blinked as a small unicorn, no bigger than her hand, dropped into her lap. She watched as the confused creature looked around, and a giggle escaped her. "Oh, Amber would love this…"

"Right, and for whom else would we have this spell?"

Sofia smiled and picked up the tiny unicorn, stroking his mane to calm him down. "And why do you have a spell for unicorns to appear, Mr. Cedric?"

He laughed nervously. "It's, eh… It's a long story." He then cleared his throat. "Right then. I'll just send the little guy back to where he came from." He pointed his wand at the tiny white unicorn. "Disa—"

"No, Mr. Cedric!" Sofia interrupted, shielding the frightened-looking unicorn. "Don't disappearo the baby unicorn, please! He may disappear for good!"

Shaking his head, Cedric laughed lightly. "If that statement had come from anyone else, I would have thought him or her mad." Seeing her relax and smile, he shrugged. "As you wish. But you must take care of the…little horned horse."

Sofia grinned and moved from her spot in the coach to sit beside her friend. She lifted the little unicorn up and placed him on Cedric's left shoulder.

He gave the princess a deadpan look. "Sofia, why are you putting the unicorn on my shoulder?"

"So you can bond," she answered effortlessly with a charming smile.

The tiny unicorn's bright green eyes sparkled adorably as a sweet smile graced his face, causing Cedric to falter.

"Ugh… Why do unicorns have to be so…cute?"

Sofia broke into laughter once more.

A little while later, after traveling over beautiful landscapes, the pair finally arrived at their final destination. As the coach descended and halted on the grass, Cedric stood and held out his hand to Sofia, smiling as she took it.

"Stay close to me," he told her as they stepped down to the ground, and he laughed when she grinned, hugging him. "Not that close." He looked up at the coachman and instructed him to return within two hours' time, which he affirmed before leaving.

"Where are we?" Sofia asked as she looked around in awe.

There were numerous flowers, lots of grand trees, mountains, and huge bodies of water within the area. However, they didn't seem to be terribly close to any villages or kingdoms.

"Welcome to Rudistan, Sofia," Cedric told her as he looked down at his apprentice.

"Rudistan…?" She frowned, pondering. Why did that sound so familiar?

"Oh, now here are some familiar faces…"

Sofia blinked and turned around, smiling as she realized what was going on. "Mr. Greylock!"

"Hello, Princess Sofia," he greeted warmly with a slight bow toward the young girl. "I trust your journey was pleasant?"

"Yes, it was." She beamed toward her mentor. "Mr. Cedric, you went through all that trouble just to meet up with Mr. Greylock?" She paused, pondering. "Wait, how did you two contact each other that fast?"

Cedric scoffed but smiled at her excitement. "We are Royal Sorcerers, Princess. It's not like it's impossible."

Greylock smirked at his former rival. "Cedric, I have a quandary for you…" He slyly gestured toward the other sorcerer's left shoulder. "Is this a new fashion statement, or did you replace poor Wormwood for the latest and greatest shoulder chum?"

"Hmm?" Cedric stopped in his actions and glanced at the tiny unicorn that was still sitting on his shoulder, although the little guy was now nuzzling his muzzle against Cedric's robe. "Oh, right…this…" He gathered the magical creature into his hands and handed him to Sofia, who giggled and cuddled him closely. "I was proving a point to Sofia earlier."

"Whatever you say…" The sorcerer of Rudistan chuckled and beckoned them onward as he started walking. "I've something to show you both. Come with me." He led them down the grassy knoll toward what seemed to be an observatory made out of solid stone.

The building was circular and had an entry carved out, providing a glimpse to the spiral staircase within. The trio ascended to the top of the observatory and gathered near several different instruments.

"What is all of this, Mr. Greylock?" Sofia asked curiously as she went back and forth between each item.

Greylock smiled. "It's an observatory, Princess Sofia. Not only do I use sorcery skills, but I'm also fascinated by other aspects of science, especially astronomy. I've been observing different patterns in the sky and the stars. And as I told Cedric during our communication, one thing in particular stood out to me." He beckoned her forward with a slight wave of his hand.

The princess blinked and moved over to him, turning to hand the tiny unicorn to Cedric (who looked less than thrilled to have "babysitting" duty once again) before moving to the telescope Greylock had lowered for her to use. She closed one eye and peered through the glass.

What she saw was astonishing. A whole cluster of colors swirled in a vast ebony space. Within the arrangements of colors were tiny glowing masses, what she assumed could have been stars. To Sofia, it looked like what happened last year when she and Cedric had attempted to do some finger painting and the paint had gotten everywhere, except this was much more breathtaking. "Wow," she breathed in awe.

"You like it?" Greylock smiled as he folded his arms and watched her reaction.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." She looked up at him happily. "Thank you for showing me."

"Oh, thank Cedric. It was his idea."

Sofia blinked and glanced toward her mentor. "Really, Mr. Cedric? You brought me here just for me to be able to see this?"

Cedric smiled and shrugged. "I know how much you like rainbows…and science." He laughed softly as she wrapped her arms around him in a grateful hug. He handed the unicorn to Greylock, who looked perplexed as he attempted to figure out just how to handle such a creature, before he returned the hug. "I guess that means you like your surprise?"

"I love it," she corrected, smiling up at him. "You really are the best mentor ever."

He laughed bashfully, accustomed to her kind words but still not sure how to handle the positive praise. "Oh, well, I don't know about that."

"No, really, Mr. Cedric." Sofia nodded in confirmation. "I don't know anyone else who'd go through so much just to make someone happy."

He chuckled and placed a hand on her head gently. "I do."

She beamed back at him.

Greylock shook his head with a simple smile before glancing at the tiny unicorn he now held, realizing it was starting to nuzzle his thumb affectionately. "Um… I hate to break up your amicable and affectionate dialogue and everything, but your little friend here has found my thumb to be something of a snuggle buddy, Princess Sofia…"

Sofia laughed and released Cedric, moving over to take the unicorn from the other sorcerer. "Sorry, Mr. Greylock. This little guy will probably be a birthday gift for my sister, and if he's anything like this with her—like he has been with you two—we may never hear the end of her gushing over him…"

"What happened to the last little unicorn she and Prince Desmond had for their project?" Cedric wondered.

"Oh, Jonathan? Desmond has him, I think…"

"How many tiny unicorns do you people need?" Greylock joked before shaking his head. "Well then, what do you two say we head back to the castle for some refreshments? I know you must be hungry by now."

Cedric smirked. "Thanks, Greylock, but we'd better return to Enchancia before her father finds out that, while we indeed did practice magic today, it wasn't necessarily in the location he'd expect."

"Aw, Mr. Cedric," Sofia sighed with a sad look on her face. "We have time to have at least a few snacks, right? We can't just come over here, borrow Mr. Greylock's telescope, and then run away. That's not very nice." She smiled pleasantly toward him, knowing he'd probably take the bait.

Greylock snickered as Cedric eyed him pointedly. "Do you see what I deal with every day? Guilt. This child knows more about how to sweetly talk you into something than anyone I've ever met."

"Good on you, Princess," Greylock encouraged with a grin, laughing when his friend shot him a look. "Sorry, Cedric, but I for one am just glad to see there's someone out there who can talk you into actually doing things rather than spending a huge amount of time with your nose in a spell book. Now come on. Let's get back to the castle to feed the poor dear before she passes out from hunger."

Sofia giggled and skipped up to join Greylock (the tiny unicorn still nestled in her hands) as Cedric sighed deeply and muttered under his breath while following them. He blinked when Sofia hung back a few minutes later and took his hand, smiling.

"Thanks for everything, Mr. Cedric."

And just like that, his mood lightened again, and a smile returned to his face. "Any time, Sofia."

The end!

CedricAmber: Aw, thanks for telling me about your writing. I bet you're a fantastic writer, if your reviews are any indication. :) I'll be updating the other stories soon, I promise. :D Hopefully this weekend!

Everyone else: THANK YOU so much for all of your reviews, comments, and messages. I appreciate them. And today has been wonderful so far, and I'm looking forward to everything else. And hey, I got the day off for my birthday due to "icy conditions," so yay! Lol. Couldn't ask for more. Look for another chapter of "At First Sight" and/or "Princess2Princess" soon! ~AquaTurquoise