Beautiful

Summary: When Crackle is under the weather and feeling down, Clover attempts to cheer her up in a way that she never saw coming.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First, and I don't own the song "Beautiful" either. :)

A/N: Wayne Brady actually sang the song "Beautiful," and the marvelous Jim Brickman played the piano to accompany him. I suggest looking the song up to play during the moments between Clover and Crackle. While this is not a songfic (as I generally don't really like writing them), it will have references to the actual song (at least the first verse and the chorus). Enjoy!

"How long has she been like this?" Sofia asked Vivian worriedly as she held Clover in her arms. They observed the rather motionless little dragon before them.

"The last two days," Vivian responded with a sigh. "She can't fly due to a pulled wing muscle or something—I forgot what the doctor said—and she's been just kind of…down. She's not her usual happy-go-lucky Crackle self."

Clover made a face at Vivian's explanation and sighed as he watched his best friend sleeping, something he never thought he'd see. Crackle was way too full of life to sleep most of the time. He blinked when Sofia placed him on the bed with Crackle, and he turned to see her smile secretively at him.

"Well, if anyone can cheer her up, I'm sure Clover can," the auburn-haired princess told her raven-haired friend. "Maybe he can get her to be playful again."

"I sure hope so," Vivian said with a small sigh. "It's just not the same without her acting all goofy and fun." She blinked when she heard her mother call for them. "Oh, I guess my mom has our surprise all set up. She's been going on and on about it recently." She giggled before looking at their two animal companions. "But…what about…?"

Sofia smiled gently and took her friend's hand. "Don't worry. I'm positive Clover can handle everything." She winked back at her friend, who acted rather embarrassed at her hint, and left with Vivian.

Clover sighed and hopped over to the sleepy blue dragon, pushing on her shoulder gently to stir her into alertness. It seemed to work, because she sighed and opened her eyes. "Crackle?" he asked, grinning.

Crackle mumbled something and shook her head a little bit. "Clover?" she responded, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Huh, now I know you must be sick. You'd usually have pummeled me to the ground with a hug by now." He put his paws behind his back and asked almost shyly, "So, uh…are you gonna do that? S-So I can prepare?"

She giggled at his query and shook her head. "Not today, Clover. I'm just not feeling much like myself." She sighed and whimpered a little when she felt a sharp pain in her wings. "This whole wing injury thing is terrible, though… It's like someone took a cannon ball and just…dropped it on them."

"Um, ouch…?"

"You're tellin' me!" Crackle smiled lightly and lay down. "Well, Clover, I'm sorry I'm not much fun right now… I'm probably pretty boring actually. I know you only enjoy me when I'm being fun and everything…"

Clover frowned. "Well, that's not true…" He grinned as an idea popped into his head. "Hey, would you like me to sing you a song?"

Crackle blinked in surprise and smiled brightly. "Okay!"

"From the moment I saw you," he crooned, making the dragon sigh in amorous comfort. "From the moment I looked into your eyes, there was something about you, I knew—I knew."

"C-Clover…"

"That you were once in a lifetime," he continued, gently massaging her left wing. "A treasure near impossible to find. And I know how lucky I am to have you."

"What are you-?" She blinked when he put his paw against her mouth so he could sing the chorus.

"Cause I've seen rainbows that can take your breath away—the beauty of the setting sun that ends a perfect day." He brushed his paw against the side of her face, making her swoon. "And when it comes to shooting stars, I've seen a few. But I've never seen anything…as beautiful as you."

Crackle blinked as a few tears threatened to spill. "Cl-Clover, do you really mean that?"

"I do…" He grinned and leaned closer to her, his eyes closed.

The giddy dragon closed her eyes in response, puckering her lips.

"CRACKLE!" Vivian's voice cut through the moment, startling Crackle into alertness as she awoke fully and panted, looking around in confusion.

"Wh-What?!" She sighed with a pout. "It was just a DREAM?!" She growled half-heartedly as she realized Vivian was coming down the hallway toward her room. "And she woke me up at the best part!" She huffed and grabbed a pillow, snuggling close to it and trying to will herself back to sleep so she could pick up where she left off.

"Crackle," Vivian started again, giggling when she saw the annoyed look on her friend's face. "Sofia and Clover are here."

Crackle lit up and jumped off the bed, flying past Vivian. "Then again, the real Clover can be hugged and cuddled much better than the dream Clover!"

The end