Siobhan
Summary: When Calista and Sofia declare that they're often overlooked or underestimated due to being so little, Cordelia recounts her friendship with a young girl in her childhood.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First. I only own Siobhan!
A/N: So this story was inspired by an awesome Indian actress named Jyoti Amge. If you've never heard of her before, I highly suggest looking up her story and seeing what she's all about. She's amazing. :) By the way, don't be fooled by the cover photo. Siobhan is much smaller than she appears—she just happens to have a "close-up" image…plus my editing program was being a pest. :p I tried. Anyway! Off we go!
PS: Siobhan's name is pronounced "/ʃɨˈvɔːn/." (Shout-out to trueGeek for that phonetic appreciation. Lol) Also, this is similar to my "Read Me a Story" series, where usually Cedric tells Sofia a story to teach a lesson. In this case, it's Cordelia teaching both Sofia and Calista a lesson. ;) By the way, this story takes place BEFORE Cordelia's initiation as a full-fledged sorceress. Enjoy!
*Story*
"Sofia, could you hand me the jar of fairy dust?" Cedric asked as he distractedly continued mixing his potion.
The princess blinked. "Why do you have fairy dust?" She then shook her head. "Never mind. I think the better question is, 'How did you get it?'"
He chuckled. "Believe it or not, some fairies from the north were selling excess dust to many magic wielders, and I happened to get lucky."
She shrugged at his reasoning. "Okay then… Where is it again?"
"The shelf just above the line of fragrances there." He gestured a bit higher on the wall.
Sofia frowned, considering just how she was supposed to reach the jar. While she'd grown a bit in the last few years, she was still considerably shorter than most others around her, so reaching certain things sometimes proved to be a bit tricky. Still, she wanted to help Cedric with his potion, so she decided to at least attempt retrieval of the requested fairy dust.
She discovered quickly that simply reaching wasn't going to work. She huffed in exasperation before grabbing a chair and scooting it across the floor and climbing on top of it. She then stretched and grasped the desired jar, grinning triumphantly as she turned toward her mentor. "Got it!"
Cedric turned in time to see his apprentice accidentally lose her footing. "Sofia!" His reflexes were much quicker than he'd anticipated as he swiftly scooped her into a hug just as the chair clattered to the floor. He sighed in relief before looking down at the girl, who seemed a bit dazed. "Are you all right?"
"Uh, yeah…" She grinned sheepishly as she held his jar up toward him. "I got your fairy dust…"
"Oh, Sofia." He smiled and accepted the dust before allowing her to stand on her own. "You must be careful when reaching for things. I wouldn't want you getting hurt."
"If I were taller, things like this wouldn't happen." She sighed and folded her arms. "And not only that… People often underestimate me just because I'm still so…little."
Cedric chuckled and placed one hand on her shoulder. "Nonsense. You're perfect the way you are." He smiled at her, receiving the same gesture in return. "Now then, let's return to our task, shall we?"
Moments after the two friends had settled into their potion again, Cordelia and Calista walked in unannounced.
"Morning, brother!" Cordelia greeted cheerfully as she beamed at him.
"Cordelia!" Cedric scoffed in annoyance. "Don't you knock?"
"Well, I would, but there's never any guarantee you're going to answer." She giggled as Calista ran over and hugged her uncle.
"As you can imagine, there's quite a good reason for that," the Royal Sorcerer countered before picking Calista up and placing her on a stool next to Sofia. "We don't need distractions while we're working."
Cordelia smiled apologetically toward the auburn-haired princess. "He roped you into aiding him with his potion brewing, Princess Sofia?"
She shook her head. "No, Ms. Cordelia. I offered. Besides, it's fun!"
"Indeed it is!" She laughed happily and withdrew her own wand. "Need a little help?"
"We're doing quite well on our own, Cordy," Cedric interjected quickly.
Sofia snickered and whispered to Calista, "It's going to take a while to get used to that nickname."
Calista grinned and whispered back, "I guess it's fair, since we both call him 'Ceddy' as it is."
The girls broke into giggles.
"What's so funny then?" Cordelia asked with a knowing smile. "Silly girls."
"Mr. Cedric is actually making a Dream Potion," Sofia informed the other two as she changed the subject. "Though I'm still not really sure why."
Cedric shrugged. "I wanted to test out its properties. It's not exactly a potion I have used often in the past, and I came across it in my spell book the other day and figure…why not?"
"Ah, is that the potion with the fairy dust?" the sorceress inquired.
"Yes," her brother responded as he returned to his potion.
"The jar he asked me to get yet had sitting on a super high shelf." Sofia smiled cutely as her mentor gave her a look. "Not all of us are tall, Mr. Cedric."
"Oh, Sofia…"
"I know!" Calista agreed with a heavy sigh. "It's rough being so little. We can never reach the high shelves, and everyone else is always like a giant compared with us."
"Everyone is little at some point, Calista," Cedric reminded her gently. "Eventually, you'll grow to be taller. Just give yourself some time."
"Although being little isn't necessarily a bad thing," Cordelia added thoughtfully as she sat across from the girls. "In fact, I had a friend when I was close to your age, Sofia, and she was…well, let's just say she wasn't quite as tall as the rest of us, and she never would be."
The girls blinked as they leaned forward in anticipation.
Cedric glanced toward his sister as he also sat down beside her. "Are you speaking of Siobhan?"
"I am."
"Who's that?" Calista asked curiously.
Sofia grinned. "I sense a story coming on… Like brother, like sister." She leaned against the table and placed her cheek against her hand.
Cordelia chuckled. "It was several years ago that I met Siobhan at Hexley Hall…and she was unlike any friend I'd ever had before."
"Cordy, you're going to make us late if you keep changing hairstyles!" an exasperated Cedric called to his younger sister, who had just turned ten years old a few days ago. He rolled his eyes as he heard her yelp from behind her bedroom door. "And for the last time, clean your room already. You've likely tripped over the same items six times by now."
"Oh, hush, Cedric," the brunette retorted from the other side of her door. "You don't know everything, you know." She settled for a classic ponytail and nodded at her reflection in her floor-length mirror. Her Hexley Hall robes swayed loosely, which annoyed her, so she grabbed a purple sash and tied it comfortably around her midsection. She grinned in satisfaction. "Much better." With that said, she opened her door and came face to face with her brother, who appeared rather irritated at this point. She smirked and patted his cheek playfully. "Don't look so glum, Ceddy. We're going to be late!" She took his hand and dragged him toward the door. "Bye, Mummy! Bye, Daddy! We're off to school!"
"Be careful, you two," Goodwyn said calmly from his place on his chair. He was invested in his daily bowl of porridge, so he hardly paid too much attention to the things going on around him. However, he did look up toward his son when a thought struck him. "Cedric, we'll continue your lessons immediately after school."
"Yes, Father," Cedric responded as he shut the door behind him. He grinned as he and Cordelia took off toward the school. "Can you believe it? We're finally getting into more important matters with my training. I'm rather excited!"
"I can tell," the girl stated with a snicker. "You hardly talk of anything else these days. Oh, except getting a raven as a pet. I've yet to understand your fascination with such silly birds…"
"They're not silly, Cordy. They're brilliant, not to mention mysterious. I feel that suits my character."
She offered him a playful smile. "If you say so."
At school, Cedric bid his sister goodbye as he took off to his own classes. Cordelia went in the opposite direction and met up with her usual group of friends.
"Candice," she said with a happy smile as a girl with long curly blonde hair turned her way. She noticed that her brown eyes widened at the sight of Cordelia. "What do you think?" She twirled once, showing off her new 'style.'
"I told you purple and ponytails go with everything," Candice giggled with a sigh. "Hey, maybe you should dye your hair purple, and then you'd cover all your bases."
"Don't be silly. My mother would lose her composure if I ever did that. Might as well dye my hair green or something." She rolled her eyes. "Have you seen Lionel today then?"
"No, I'm afraid he's visiting his ill grandmother or something. He'll be out until next week. I did, however, see Siobhan."
Cordelia smiled. "Really? How's she feeling?"
"Better, I believe… She's in the classroom." Candice turned and walked into their first class as Cordelia stood aside momentarily.
Siobhan was one of her best friends. She was kind, generous, and loyal to a fault, and she was always one to offer hope and never give up on people. However, her life had never been easy. In fact, she wasn't like the other students at Hexley Hall for a variety of reasons, the main one being her height.
Cordelia walked into the room and smiled as she saw Siobhan, who was seated and busily scribing away on something.
Siobhan stood at just over three feet tall, so she metaphorically and ironically 'stood out' in the crowd of other children. Her long brown hair was braided intricately in a half-up fashion. Her curious hazel eyes were still so childlike, reminiscent of their younger years. And naturally, her favorite red dress could be seen beneath the opened Hexley Hall robes, which she found dreadfully heavy. Of course, they were tailored to her liking, but she still preferred to shrug them off when a teacher wasn't nearby. Yes, Siobhan could be a bit of a handful when it came to adhering to the rules or the norm.
Cordelia made a shushing motion with her finger pressed to her lips as she winked at Candice, who rolled her eyes from her own chair. The dark-haired sorceress crept up behind her smaller friend and—
"You really need to work on your creeping skills," Siobhan suggested, her amused voice a higher pitch than most other girls'. She giggled as Cordelia laughed and relented, falling into her chair next to her. "Candice said you were asking about me."
"Yeah. Your mum said you'd fallen and hurt yourself a few weeks ago, and that was why you weren't in school."
"Yes. When you're my height—you know, a pocket full of fun—even the tiniest incident can be a little more serious than what you guys experience. And yes, I mean every little pun I throw in there." She snickered.
Candice smiled as she leaned against her hand. "Do you ever grow tired of people asking you questions about your height or anything?"
"Well, here people know me, so they already know the answers to all of their questions. But yeah, I suppose outside of my comfort zone, it does get sort of annoying. But hey, it's something I've learned to deal with." She lowered her quill and picked up her wand. "That doesn't stop me from pursuing my dreams, though. I will be the world's first Miniscule Magic Wielder! And the first thing I'll be doing is conducting a floating spell that will obey all my nonverbal commands so that I can literally rise to any occasion."
"Wow," Cordelia breathed with interest. She knew her friend wasn't all talk. She could do anything she put her mind to. In fact, she had some of the best grades in their entire level, and her teachers revered her. "I believe you can do it, Siobhan. You may be little, but your imagination and brain certainly are not."
Siobhan grinned. "Thanks, Cordy!" She looked up as the school bell rang outside, signaling the start of a new day. "I suppose that means it's time for our lecture."
The girls sat in comfortable silence as the other students began filing in. They seemed to be content until one particular girl walked inside.
"Oh, great," Candice groaned under her breath as she glanced toward her friends. "Karla with a 'K.' I thought she was supposed to be gone the rest of the term."
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Now come on. You knew that was too good to be true."
Karla, a slim girl with wavy light brown hair and matching eyes, stepped over to the trio. She smirked down at Siobhan. "Well, if it isn't Little Bit," she cooed sarcastically as she folded her arms. "Been missing a lot of school, haven't you? You couldn't possibly be skipping, because you'd actually have to have the ability to do so…and with those tiny legs, I doubt that's possible."
The kids in the room oohed and gasped at the girl's horrid insult. Karla was known for being something of a bully, and Siobhan was her unfortunate favorite target. However, Siobhan wasn't necessarily known for taking insults lying down.
Siobhan sighed before pushing up with her arms and legs before standing in her chair, matching the other girl's height. She then frowned uncertainly as she checked around Karla's head before shrugging and shaking her head.
"What are you doing?" Karla asked, irritated.
"Well," the other girl began with a dramatic sigh as she, too, folded her arms, "see, I was trying to find a unique comment or at least an original witty joke, but, like your brain, it appears it doesn't exist."
"Ohh!" a group of boys called with howling laughter.
"She got you, Karla!" one boy cackled.
She whirled on the red-haired boy. "Shut up, Gabriel! She did not get me! She had to stand in the chair to reach me!" She whipped out her wand and turned back to Siobhan, only to see that the girl's ruby wand was now facing her. Her eyes widened.
"Put it away, Karla," she said firmly, her voice a slightly lower pitch than normal to show her seriousness. "You know my abilities with magic are far greater than yours…and unless you want me to prove it, I suggest you sit down and avoid confrontation before Professor Gladtide returns."
Karla flushed with embarrassment as the other children whispered amongst themselves. She then growled and backed away. "Fine. Why waste my time with such a weirdo anyway?" With that, she slunk into her seat just as the professor entered.
"Good morning, every—" She paused and blinked when she realized her prized student was standing in her chair. "Siobhan, is everything all right?"
The brunette smiled enchantingly as she nodded. "Everything is wonderful, Professor. I'm so glad to be back." With that, she found her seat again.
"So Siobhan was not only a smart girl, but she could also stand up for herself despite her height," Sofia concluded, her blue eyes widened a bit as she absorbed every word Cordelia spoke.
"Yes. In fact, she graduated top rank at Hexley Hall and went on to be a professor herself. Last I heard, she got a position teaching at a prestigious sorcery school in some other kingdom. Not sure which one…"
"So what you're saying is," Calista concluded with a tilt of her head, "being small isn't always a bad thing."
"Precisely," Cedric told her with a smile. "You mustn't let your height or any other limitations define who you are on the inside. Greatness isn't measured in centimeters or inches, or what have you. It's measured in your willingness to give it a go in the first place."
"Can you put that quote on a canvas please?" Sofia joked. "It would be great to wake up seeing that in a frame." She giggled.
"You jest, but I can do so. Perhaps it will be a Wassailia gift for you." He nodded as she smiled.
"Right then, girls," Cordelia spoke as she stood up. "I'll leave you to your ponderings and magic making. Cedric, would you mind watching Calista while I run to the market?"
"Of course. She can actually help Sofia and me with our potion."
Sofia beamed. "That is a great idea, Mr. Cedric!"
Calista grinned. "Yay! A task I'm not too little to do!" She giggled.
Cordelia thanked her brother as she left. Once downstairs, she headed back to her room and searched through her trunk before pulling out a faded piece of parchment that seemed well-worn by now. She unfolded it as she sat against the trunk, her eyes peering over the now-familiar words.
Cordy,
I know we've not been as close in recent years as we were in childhood, but I want you to know how proud I am of you. Having Top Honors at Hexley Hall is no small accomplishment, and I'm thrilled to share that honor with you. You were one of the few who treated me well despite my stature when we were little (pun intended, ha), and I doubt I could ever thank you enough for that.
Wherever life takes you, Cordelia, know you have my every hope for great things to happen, you also have my everlasting gratitude for showing me what a true friend really is. You're one of a kind, Cordelia the Conjurer. Maybe our paths will cross again one day.
Your Adorable Little Friend,
Siobhan
Cordelia laughed softly as she held the letter to her chest momentarily, the familiar scent of the parchment filling her senses and taking her back to the day her friend had given it to her…and the last time she'd seen her, at that. Sighing in content, she stood and placed the letter in her secure spot in the trunk before brushing out her dress and adjusting her hair. She smiled. "Hmm. You are truly one of a kind, Siobhan, and always will be…" With that, she left for the marketplace while the fire in the hearth extinguished itself behind her.
The end