This is my first story for both Elena of Avalor and Sofia The First.
This does not take place during any specific episodes or at any certain time.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
WARNINGS: KIDNAPPINGS, MINOR VIOLENCE
Knock, knock!
The loud banging on the castle door startled Elena out of the sleepy state she'd been in, and she straightened up, having been leaning on Isa on the couch. She gently laid a sleeping Isa on the arm of the couch and stood to get the door. She quietly stepped around Mitaeo, Naomi, and Gabe (a huge storm had practically trapped them in the castle, so the three of them had been forced to stay the night).
Elena wrapped her robe around herself, shivering in the cold of the castle, as she reached for the door handle.
She vaguely wondered who would come knocking ten minutes from midnight during the worst storm Avalor had seen in at least two decades. It was probably some poor traveler caught in the downpour, seeking shelter.
Elena opened the large door and blinked the rain out of her eyes as bullets of water hit her in the face.
It was a girl. She was young (maybe eight or nine, definitely not older than ten), and she was wearing a soaked, tattered purple gown. Her red curls were drenched and drooping, and there were bruises lining her bare arms. She was soaked to the bone and shivering with cold. A necklace glittered around her neck, but the rain was too thick for Elena to get a good look.
The girl glanced up, and Elena gasped. Even with the buckets of rain partially blocking her veiw, she'd know that face anywhere.
Sofia.
"Sofia!" Elena sputtered in shock before ushering the young girl inside. "Come in! Naomi, get me some blankets."
Even from down the hall, Elena heard Naomi fall out of the arm chair at her sudden yell, but she was too busy examining Sofia to notice.
Sofia was a mess and not just because of the rain. Her face was streaked with tears (Elena could tell it was tears and not rain because of Sofia's blood shot eyes), and bruises lined Sofia's bare arms and there was a hand shaped black mark on Sofia's cheek. A bloody (but thankfully narrow) cut ran across Sofia's cheekbone; the blood dribbled down her face in crimson trails as the rain forced the blood to drip.
"Sofia, what happened to you?" Elena murmured, reaching out to touch Sofia's arm and watching in confusion and fear as Sofia flinched.
Naomi raced into the room.
"Elena, you said you needed a blank-woah," Naomi said, abruptly changing subjects when she saw Sofia.
Naomi rushed to wrap the blanket around Sofia, trying to be gentle and slow because Sofia flinched at the slightest touch or any sudden movement.
"Come on, Sofia," Elena whispered, urging Sofia toward the sitting room.
Sofia entered the room, and Mitaeo called her name, recognizing her and horrified by her less than satisfactory state.
Elena sat Sofia on the couch and stared the young girl in the eye.
"Sofia, where's your family?" She asked.
Sofia sobbed. "Home."
"And why aren't you with them?" Elena asked.
Sofia managed to choke out the story through her tears.
*FLASHBACK*
"It's been a while since we just took a walk through the kingdom," Sofia pointed out as her and Amber wandered the streets of Enchancia.
"It has," Amber agreed. "I almost forgot what it looked like."
Sofia laughed. "I know. Can we stop to see Ruby and Jade?"
Amber shrugged. "Of course. The longer we take, the better. Home means homework."
Sofia chuckled. "Oh, Amber," she said in a joking tone.
The two Princesses continued to stroll through town, watching as the scenery passed them by. They didn't even notice the carriage until it screeched to a halt beside them and the door flew open.
"Grab them!" The driver ordered, and hands grabbed Sofia around the waist before she could react. She was then tossed like a bag of garbage into the carriage, where two people-a young man and a woman-grabbed her arms to keep her from running. No matter how much Sofia kicked and wailed and punched, the people-the kidnappers- wouldn't release her.
Townsfolk noticed the kidnapping in progress and began throwing rocks and food and anything they could get their hands on at the carriage and the man trying to abduct Amber. An apple hit him in the eye, making him drop Amber, who fell to the ground.
"Leave her!" The woman ordered, and the man hopped in the carriage. The driver snapped the reins, and the horses galloped out of the town before anyone could take a step. Sofia would've been impressed by the horses' speed if they weren't using their speed to help these people kidnap her.
"Where are you taking me?" Sofia demanded, struggling against their bruising grasps (which explained the bruises on her arms).
The woman chuckled. "Let's just say, your father ticked us off. He'll regret it once he sees you in our custody."
"He can't turn back time. What do you want?" Sofia asked.
"So naive," the young man said. "We want an apology and money. We were arrested for robbing a bank, and we want everything we tried to steal ten fold. And he'll give it to us in exchange for you."
"He did the right thing!" Sofia stressed. "Stealing is wr-"
SLAP! The woman's palm connected with Sofia's cheek so hard, the world went black for a few terrifying moments.
"We know it's wrong, but do you really think we care? After all, we stole you," the woman snapped, and Sofia didn't make a peep for the rest of the carriage ride.
...
Sofia didn't know how many days she was with them, but it felt like an eternity. In reality, it was probably only a week, maybe a week and a half, and those days were full of emotional and physical torture. They didn't hit her often (thank goodness), but they did force her to find food and water for them while they sat around doing nothing. They made her set up camp, make camp fires, cook, and they basically ran her into the ground with the work load they were putting on her shoulders.
One night, Sofia saw her chance.
Sofia could never escape because one of the kidnappers was always with her, and at night, they used those pale colored zip ties to tie her to one of them. They'd wrap a zip tie around their wrist and one of Sofia's, which were placed side by side, to connect them. Sofia thought it'd be easy to break them, but it was harder than it looked. The amount of force she would have to use would wake up her captor before she could finish the job.
That night, Sofia saw her chance.
She was tied to the woman that night, and the young man was on her other side. The driver of the carriage was the farthest away from her on their make shift bed of sleeping bags and blankets in the tent the captors had brought with them.
Sofia lay awake. Sleeping hadn't come easy all week, and that's when she saw it: the glint of the young man's knife. He'd threatened her with it a few times, but he'd never taken it into the tent. He must've forgotten to take it out of his belt!
Sofia slowly reached over to the young man and grasped the hilt of the dagger. She waited another heart beat before sliding the knife out of its sheath.
She sliced through the zip tie and crawled out of the tent and ran. She ran until her feet were ready to give out. Until she was soaked with sweat. Until the rain began to pour and until she began to cry again, even though she was sure she'd cried so much, she had no tears left.
That was when she stumbled across the castle and recognized it as the one in Avalor. She was scared to trust anyone, but she knew she could trust the people here.
She knocked on the door.
*FLASHBACK*
As if on cue, Gabe, who had left the room before Sofia began her story, reentered the room just as she finished.
"Your parents are on their way," Gabe said.
Sofia nodded, sniffling, and Elena sat beside her next to the fire until a rapid series of knocks echoed through the castle.
Seconds later, Sofia's family entered the room, and Sofia leaped into her father's arm, which lead to a beautiful family hug.
"She found her way home," Elena murmured to Naomi, who frowned.
"What do you mean?" Naomi asked. "She found her way here."
Elena smiled. "The amulet leads you where you need to go. The amulet lead Sofia here because it knew we would help her. I guess you could say it was her lattern in the darkness, the light that lead her home, even if indirectly."
Lights will guide you home.
Thanks for reading!