Sorcerer Appreciation Day

Summary: Sofia declares a new holiday of "Sorcerer Appreciation Day," much to Cedric's amusement.

"Hey, Mr. Cedric!" Sofia said excitedly as she smiled happily from her seat where she normally sat at the table.

"Why, hello, Sofia," the sorcerer returned with a light chuckle as he glanced up from his spell book. "You've only been here an hour. What's with the salutations all of a sudden?"

She giggled and shook her head. "No, I mean, 'Hey, I had a thought.' You know how they have days of appreciation for people? Well, I'm declaring today 'Sorcerer Appreciation Day.' It's time you got some recognition for all your hard work." She smiled. "As your friend, I've determined that you need this day."

"As your friend," Cedric began slightly sarcastically with a smirk, "I must point out that your little holiday has a rather depressing acronym."

Sofia blinked before grinning sheepishly, realizing "Sorcerer Appreciation Day" could easily be shortened to "SAD." The princess laughed lightly. "Well," she began, clasping her hands behind her back, "ignore that! Let's make today the opposite of sad!"

"Quite right. And hey, when we have 'Baileywick Appreciation Day,' that will be BAD." He grinned, making the princess huff and put her hands on her hips.

"Are you going to take this seriously or not?" she asked, sighing at his strangely playful yet sarcastic nature.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Princess Sofia. I know you mean well. It's just that, as a sorcerer, I'm just expected to do my job with my reward being castle living and a paycheck. I don't need much else."

"Oh," the little girl sighed, taking out a small bag and twirling it around her hands. "Then I guess you won't want this, huh?" She smiled mischievously as he looked intrigued.

"What is it?"

"No, Mr. Cedric," she stated firmly yet with a smile. "You said you don't need much more than your job, your paycheck, and living at the castle. You don't want this." She giggled when he shot her a pointed look.

"Okay, fine. Yay! It's Sorcerer Appreciation Day! Strike up the band! Now, what is in the bag?"

Sofia relented with a small laugh and handed it to him, watching his eyes light up.

"Hocus Crocus?" he asked in surprise, glancing at her. "Where… Where did you find this? I thought you and your friends lost the last portion when you went to the mountain."

"It's a secret," she said happily, her eyes glittering.

"Sofia," he said pointedly. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," she replied sweetly with a giggle. "Look, all you need to know is Mr. Ogre from the mountain had something to do with it. Do you like it?"

"Of course I do." He smiled, stroking the petals of the flower.

"Good. Happy Sorcerer Appreciation Day, Mr. Cedric." She hugged him happily.

Cedric smiled, rolling his eyes good naturedly, before lightly returning her hug. Maybe a day of appreciation wasn't so bad after all.

The end!

(A/N: Yeah, I know it's short. I apologize. I just got back home to power and Internet, so I wanted to post something as a "celebration," I guess. :) I had this situation in my head and wanted to write it down. Hope you like it! The next story, which I plan to have out by the end of the day, is called "One of a Kind." It should be cute, if my brain cooperates with me after this long week. Haha. Till later! ~AquaTurquoise)