Good as Gold
Summary: Rapunzel helps the twins see that there's more outside their castle gates than they realize.
Disclaimer: I don't own "Sofia the First," the outdoors, or anything else…except a box of Hot Tamales and a banana milkshake (very strange combination, lol).
A/N: This story has been a long time coming, but I'm glad I'm finally getting to write it. Rapunzel will be at the front lines this time, and she's going to be a bit of a "voice of reason" for the Enchancian twins. ;)
"Come on, come on!" Sofia giggled excitedly as she pulled Cedric down the stairs from his workshop and toward the throne room.
Cedric yelped as he nearly tripped over his own robe but managed to compose himself once he and the girl reached the ground level. "What is the rush, Sofia?" he asked as he tried to catch his breath.
"You'll see!" She grinned as she pulled him along, through the hallways and into the throne room at last. She gestured toward a very familiar visitor.
"Princess Rapunzel," he greeted with a warm smile. He always had enjoyed her visits, and they seemed to be more frequent recently. Then again, any form of positivity for the children of the castle was more than welcome.
"Cedric," she returned with a bright smile. "How have you been?" She laughed when Sofia ran over and hugged her, offering a hug in return.
"Quite well…" He looked toward the door as he noticed Amber and James walking inside.
"Hi, Rapunzel," Amber said as she pulled her brother toward the older princess. "I found him."
"Great!" She grinned.
Sofia moved back to Cedric and looked between the twins and long-haired princess. "What are you guys planning?"
"I'm taking them on a little journey," Rapunzel responded with a small laugh. "It should be interesting."
"So where are we going?" James asked in excitement.
"You'll see." She winked at Cedric and Sofia and led the other two kids through the throne room and toward the great outdoors.
Cedric glanced at Sofia. "So now what?"
She grinned. "I've been craving some of those Fly Cakes recently…"
He smirked and beckoned her forward. "Leave that to me."
"So what are we supposed to do out here?" James asked the girls in slight confusion. Amber had left him in the dark about why he so desperately needed to follow them to some unknown destination, and now he seemed to be even more confused.
"How often do you two travel outside your castle?" Rapunzel ducked as they reached a low branch of a tree, but the twins were fine to stay upright.
"Well, after the last incident," Amber began with a roll of her eyes, "you know, where some guy tricked me with a ruby and tried to kidnap me…um, yes, we tend to stay home more."
James frowned. He remembered that incident all right. He'd been more worried for Amber than he ever had, which went without saying, of course. She was the only blood-related sister he had; Sofia was great and everything, but Amber had been with him literally since day one. He couldn't imagine his life without her.
"Whoa, how did I miss that?" Rapunzel raised an eyebrow at her younger friends. "Are you okay to even go on this mini journey? Believe me—I know how draining it can be to find out that someone's after you for something you have, and there's not much you can do about it."
"Oh, I'm all right. James took great care of me." She smiled toward her brother, and so did Rapunzel.
James blushed at all the attention he was receiving and laughed nervously. "I just…did what any good brother would do," he explained.
"I agree," the older princess said confidently and placed one hand on his head gently, definitely getting his attention. "There's no one better in your life than your family and friends, James. I'm proud of you. That means you have a heart that is good as gold."
He grinned somewhat goofily as she removed her hand, but he composed himself enough to laugh and straighten his jacket. "Um, th-thanks, Rapunzel…"
Amber smirked at his reaction and rolled her eyes. Typical…
"Now where should we start?" Rapunzel looked around a little while later and discovered that they had made it to the village.
People were busily moving by, operating as normal, and barely paid the three royals any attention.
"You'd think they'd recognize us," Amber sighed, confused as to why no one was excited to see them.
"Let me explain," the older princess began as she knelt to their levels. She pointed out each person. "See him? He's got a heavy sack of flour on his back and, while he would probably love to talk to you, I think he's a little preoccupied."
"Well… I guess that's true…"
"And what about her?" Rapunzel pointed out a woman with a crying baby nestled to her side while she attempted to tie a drying sheet to a clothesline with no luck. "Life as a villager may not be as glamorous as life as a castle inhabitant, but this is still their life…" She looked at each twin. "So what are you going to do about it?"
"Us?" James blinked at her. "You want us to do something?"
She shrugged. "Merely a suggestion…but they may appreciate it if the royal children of Enchancia at least tried…"
"Hmm, good point." James smiled toward them both before running over to the man who was about to lose his grip on the sack of flour. He held out his hands and caught the loose end. "Need some help?"
"P-Prince James!" he gasped in surprise before smiling in relief. "Uh, sure, Your Highness… Thank you so much."
"Not a problem."
Together, they carried the flour toward the man's small home.
"If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing out and about these parts?" the man asked James, who helped him set the flour onto the floor just inside the house.
He shrugged with a grin. "Just trying to see what kind of help I can offer, I guess… Everyone here works really hard, and I know that, so I just thought I'd give back a little."
"Well, thank you, young prince," he said gratefully while reaching into his pocket and grasping a small cloth, wiping his forehead. "You saved my back there…" He laughed. "I'm Benjamin, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Ben!" James grinned, seeing the older man laughing at his nickname already bestowed upon him by the royal.
"No one has called me that since my younger days, Prince James. Thank you."
James smiled and nodded happily as he continued talking to Benjamin for a little while.
Meanwhile, outside…
"Well?" Rapunzel looked toward her usual charge and smiled encouragingly, knowing Amber would do the right thing if she was pushed—no, probably shoved—in the right direction.
"Mm, okay… You're not going to leave us here though, right?"
"Of course not. Just go see what good you can do." She leaned against a tree and folded her arms. "I'll be right here."
"All right…" Sighing and composing herself, the younger princess ambled over to the woman trying to do two very important jobs at once. "Excuse me? Would you like some help?"
The brown-haired woman looked toward the princess in surprise and smiled gratefully. "Princess Amber… What a pleasure to see you here today, Your Highness. And so gracious too, just like your blessed mother."
Amber smiled gently at being compared with her mother again. It made her feel closer to her somehow. "How can I help?" She looked at the little boy in her arms, who no longer was crying but seemed to be watching her curiously.
"Well, I hate to impose, Princess Amber, but… If you could just hold Henry really quickly, then I could get this sheet on the line and be on my way."
"Oh, I don't mind. Babies are…um, very sweet." She thought back to when she'd dealt with James as a baby, and if this kid were only half as troublesome as her brother, then she'd be lucky. She blinked as the little boy, Henry, made his way into her arms and seemed to snuggle close to her, his big blue eyes watching her curiously.
The woman smiled. "He seems to have taken a liking to you, Princess." She laughed and threw the sheet over the line as the blonde girl swayed lightly, getting the little boy to smile at her. "That's quite a sight. Henry usually doesn't take to many people. He must know he's in the presence of a princess."
"I doubt it," Amber returned with a laugh. "But he's a good baby." She smiled back at the little one. "Isn't that right, Henry?"
"Ah!" he squealed excitedly as he reached up and pulled Amber's tiara from her head and placed it on his own. "Ah…"
Amber blinked when her hair had fallen from its up do and was now starting to fall in her face. "Oh, not you too… What's the obsession with my tiaras anyway?"
The woman laughed softly and shook her head, taking the tiara from her son and handing it back to the princess as they swapped: the woman retrieving the baby and Amber taking her precious headpiece back so she could fix her hair. "I apologize, Princess Amber. He's in a bit of a curious stage right now."
"It's fine," she insisted as she secured the tiara firmly. "By the way, what's your name?"
"I'm Grace, Princess Amber. My husband Walter works with the wildlife that often ends up at your parties."
Amber laughed. "I see… Well, thank him for that. It was nice to meet you both, especially little Henry here." She grinned when he reached forward and patted her head. "I'll see you both again sometime. Take care." She waved before hurrying back to Rapunzel and sitting down next to her.
"Well?" the older girl inquired while smiling at her younger friend.
"It was nice, helping someone like that. But that little baby sure does have curious hands, stealing my tiara like that."
Rapunzel rolled her eyes and laughed. "And he's also this thing we call a baby. Babies do weird things like that." She smiled when James ran over and met up with them. "And I guess you must have been having a good time. You've been gone for a while."
"I met this guy named Benjamin, or Ben I called him. He likes cannons too!"
"Oh, great," Amber quipped sarcastically. "Another explosive-happy person… Just what we need."
"No, Amber, he actually helps make them. I told him when I'm older, I want two cannons of my own made especially by him. He said he'd see what he could do." He grinned.
"Let's get back to the castle," Rapunzel told them. "Now that you see there's more to the outside than you realize, maybe you won't mind coming with me next month to visit some people?"
The twins exchanged glances before looking back at her.
"It's not outside the realm of possibility," Amber suggested with a nod.
"Sure!" James agreed. "What kind of people are we meeting up with?"
"You'll see." She winked and led them both back toward the castle.
In the kitchen, Sofia giggled as Cedric attempted to wipe away the flour that had stained both his face and his robe. "You sure are a messy baker, Mr. Cedric," she told him as she grinned.
"And whose fault is that, Sofia?" he countered, looking pointedly at her. "'Oh, Mr. Cedric! Don't worry! I'll get the huge, stubborn bag of flour open! Just leave it to me!' Yes, and you wonder why…"
"Okay, so maybe the flour got on your robe a little bit when I opened the bag, but you were the one who got it everywhere else." She looked around the kitchen at the tufts of floured sections, a thin layer of white on many different items.
"I guess that's why Mother always said not to use a wand while baking." He shrugged. "Oh, well."
"But don't we need to use your wand now to make the cupcakes into Fly Cakes?" She pointed at the six small cakes sitting innocently on the counter.
"Yes, I suppose they're ready. Here we go." He aimed his wand at the six cakes and snapped it forward once, turning them into sparkling Fly Cakes, one of which made its way to Sofia.
She giggled. "Thanks, Mr. Cedric." She took a bite and smiled. "Delicious, as always!"
"I know," he remarked with a grin before blowing on the tip of his wand.
"We're back!" James announced as he and the other two blondes entered the kitchen. "Ooh, Fly Cakes! Cedric, you shouldn't have!" He hurried over to the counter and took one for himself and one for Amber, both happily consuming their snacks.
"Hey," Sofia gasped. "Who said those were for you?"
"Sorry," the prince apologized with a thin ream of blue icing around his mouth as he grinned sheepishly. "Helping people in the village really makes you hungry though."
"You did that?" The younger princess smiled proudly. "Even you, Amber?"
She frowned at the question. "What do you mean, 'even' me? Of course I helped. I'm not that prim, Sofia."
Cedric turned to Sofia and rolled his eyes, muttering an 'If you say so' and making his apprentice giggle. He took his own Fly Cake and looked to the side as Rapunzel grabbed the remaining two. "Excuse me, young lady," he chastised as he took one of them away. "What are you doing?"
She grinned at him. "Really, Cedric? You can't just swipe a cupcake away from a princess."
"It's a Fly Cake, Princess Rapunzel. It's very different. And since I made this batch for Sofia and myself, I technically can…"
The blonde girl shrugged as she nibbled on her sole Fly Cake. "You're a little eccentric, aren't you?"
He rolled his eyes. "From what you've told me, I don't really think you have much room for argument, my dear."
"Hey, at least your mom didn't play mind games with you and leave you trapped in a tower your entire life." She shrugged nonchalantly as he eyed her curiously and sighed, giving in.
"Fair point. Here." He handed her the other Fly Cake, making her squeal in excitement.
"Thank you!" She beamed up at him as she held her two treasures happily. "By the way, you have a little bit of flour, like…all over the place?"
"Talk to her," he insisted, gesturing toward Sofia. "She started it."
"It was an accident," the girl insisted while laughing.
The end
A/N: Yep, I can see Rapunzel playing up the whole guilt trip to get an extra cupcake. I'm not above it myself. :p Cupcakes are serious business, people. Hehe. After I finish putting in some grades and working on some more grad work, I hope to be able to get back to "At First Sight." It will be the last thing I work on for at least a little while. I have to get ready for more testing and wrapping up the year (FINALLY!). :) Wish me luck.
**Responding to Reviews from "Princess2Princess" – last chapter**
LongLiveNiNoKuni: I don't mind. Go for it. It was your story line. Lol. The readers would probably love it for you to do some sort of contest. :) And thanks, I plan to keep going. Love ya too.
theblindwriter95: Hi, my dear! Glad you liked the final chapter. I love Mulan too, along with Pocahontas, Ariel, Belle, Tiana, Merida…and many others. I'm still just not fond of Aurora or Snow White. I don't get them. Lol. And good luck with the eye doctor appointment, or rather, hope it went well!
CedricAmber: Thanks! We've still got to get you to watch the movie, huh? Lol. Poor Tiana. She's one of my favorites—not just because she's from the south like me, but because she worked hard to get where she is. You'll see. ;) No love for Mulan, huh? Lol, ah, well. To each her own! I'll be working on the amulet story probably next month, during the end of school. Six more weeks! AHH! :D Emotional is fine. :P I'm emotional sometimes, so I get it. Go see the movie again if you can, because…it's just awesome! ;) And you're welcome for all that other stuff, and yes, I'm Sofia to your Cedric. :D Hehe. "Aw, Mr. Cedric, you really mean that?!" *hugs* "I love you too!" …Anyway. :p
Luiz4200: Yeah, sorry! Haha, I don't think I could have gotten away with *not* doing a cliffhanger. Ah, well.
Royal Detective: Hi! I'm glad you got the day off. Easter break, right? :D Glad you enjoyed it. I've got loads of new ideas, if my website is any indication. Lol. I couldn't stop myself…
**points at LongLiveNiNoKuni and CedricAmber** All right, you two. :p Do I need to make a conversation page? Haha.
And since LongLiveNiNoKuni would like an announcement made, here it is:
She's offering a contest at some point (when you get an account, right?) for people to create a story similar to the line done in "Breaking Point." She'll fill you in on the details when she can. Suffice it to say, this will be either romantic or platonic Cedfia and will focus on Sofia's endangerment and Cedric's scramble to save her life. And…yeah. Sorry, my brain isn't functioning 100% today. Lol. Good luck!
And with that, I'm off to grade papers. (Grumble, grumble, lol) After that's done, I plan to start working on "At First Sight" and finishing it. :) It's been a long time coming. And with that, I'm out! Thanks for the support! ~AquaTurquoise