Kry: Chapter three! *excited squeal* oh I do not own Sofia the first only Emma.
"Momma! Momma! Momma!" The shril giggling voice of Emma woke me up and I raised my head off of the pillow Sofia let me borrow so that I could sleep on the large couch in the corner of her room. Emma jumped on Sofia as she yelled to wake her up and I smiled at this.
"Gotcha!" Sofia yelled as she grabbed Emma and pulled her under the covers with her causing a stream of loud laughs from the small princess. Emma escaped and wormed her way out of the bed with a huge grin and I found it hard to believe that she held such powers Sofia claimed.
"Ello!" She grinned as she saw me and then looked curiously between me and her mother. I straightened my robed under her two year old scrutiny and then tossed the pillow to Sofia who caught it gracefully.
"Morning." Sofia said as she smiled over at me. Her cheeks were blushed and the sun played through her hair giving it an auburn shine. She was beautiful and it was wonderful to wake up and the world be so right.
"Good morning." I smiled back at her and recieved a kick to the shin. I yelped and looked down to see an angry faced Emma. Her face was red and scrunched up and her midnight locks bounced around her making her look too cute to be upset with.
"My momma!" She demanded and gave me a look that told me that she would kick me again if I argued with her.
"Yes she is a good momma huh?" I asked with a sly look shot at Sofia and Emma smiled again and nodded.
"See your momma is very special to me and I was hoping that you would be very special too me as well." I said and I looked at her longingly, it would be a long time before she was old enough to understand who I was and decide if she wanted to forgive me for not being there for her.
"Special?" She asked the word sounding wobbly as she tried to understand what I meant and I smiled.
"It means I love this person very much and that I would do anything for them." I said and though that wasn't an actual definition I felt like it needed to be said for both Emma and Sofia.
The little princesses eyes popped open and she smiled and then giggled and ran off finding a doll and completely ignored me. I smirked at Sofia who had stood up and thrown a robe over her night gown.
"My servant will be here soon with breakfast. You should leave before then." She said with a frown and I mirrored the expression.
"Come with me. Both of you, let's go home together." I said and took her hand. She watched me unsure and I wondered what her reservations were since she was planning to come home anyways.
"I suppose it would stop Amber from throwing a huge party as soon as we arive. Emma doesn't do so well in crowds." She said and looked at the little girl. I turned her face back to me and she smiled at the contact.
"I'm serious, you say your parents know about Emma and now they know about this prophecy and my apparent role in it. Let's just go home and we can face this together." I said and brushed one of her wild locks out of her face.
"I thought you said we can't be together." She smirked as she fisted her slender hands over the fabric of my robes. I couldn't help but lean into the contact even though it went against my better judgment.
"Well we certainly can not be together in such a way for a while. But I plan to ask your father for your hand in mairrage. All formalities aside I love you and we are destined to be together and I'm willing to wait as long as it takes for us to do this the right way this time. If you will have me that is." I stammered shocked at my inability to rain in my thoughts when around Sofia. She gasped and gaped up at me.
"Are you proposing to me?" She asked with a giggle but I could tell she was dead serious in her asking and I felt my face flare up into a dark blush. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously and smiled a toothy grin at her.
"I guess I am yes. Sofia when you are ready will you do me the honor of becoming my wife." I asked and she wrapped her arms around me butting her head against my chest. She nodded over and over while whispering how log she wanted me to say that and I just smiled. Emma watched from the side an her face was apprehensive.
When Sofia was done I stepped back and pointed my wand and preformed a spell to clean myself up and straighten my robes and when I was done I looked at Sofia in question and she smiled so I repeated the same process with her so she wouldn't have to waste her time getting ready. Her hair was combed but left flowing and she wore a light lavender ball gown. She wore a tiara almost identical to the one she used to wear and when she looked in the mirror she she smiled as she touched the tiara.
"There's just one thing missing." I said and pulled the amulet out but as soon as Sofia saw it she paniced and waived her arms back and forth refusing to take it.
"I don't want it. It's your Cedric. Please it's like a part of me that will always be with you. Please just keep it. Please." The way she pleaded caused me to drop my arm, I wished she would just take it back but no mater how many time I tried she refused to let me return it to her and somehow lessen my guilt.
"It belongs to you." She repeated and I was reminded of this prophecy where only the person who wielded the amulet would be able to stand against the darkness. I tightened my grip around the purple jewel and made a new vow. With this amulet and my fathers wand I vowed to find a way to save my family.
Emma tugged on the bottom of my robe and I looked down at her as she pointed to my wand. I replaced the amulet back on my neck and felt it's surge of power. Strange prehaps it's because I finally accepted it.
Emma startled me as she tugged on my robes with a petulant look and pointed to my wand. I smiled an lowered myself down to one knee so I could face her.
"You want a pretty dress too?" I asked and she nodded effectively distracted from trying to take my wand. I repeated the same spell for a third time and since her whole room was blue I chose a light blue dress that was Almost identical to Sofia except down to scale. I had her hair pulled up in a high pony tale with a dark blue ribbon and as she jumped up onto the stool at Sofia's vanity so she could look at herself she giggled and pointed to my wand again.
" this is my wand. It helps you controls the flow of energy in the air around you or for better terms it let you use magic." I said and I knew I lost her halfway through the explanation but that was okay.
"You ready to go, if we leave now well make it to breakfast." I said and Sofia nodded and held her arms out for Emma to climb up into them. Once she had her tightly secured I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled out my wand. Sofia took a deep breath and I repeated the action as I teleported us into my workshop.
"Ah!" Emma yelled and hid her face into Sofia's hair. Sofia looked around happily and ran her free hand across the surface of a shelf coated in dust.
"Same old Cedric, can't you ever be bothered to clean up around here?" She asked and smirked at me. Emma started to look around and she coughed as some dust flew aroun making me frown.
"I will clean it later today. I promise." I said concerned and Sofia nodded before she looked sadly over at Wormwoods empty cage. She touched the metal and then looked back at me.
"I'm sorry about Wormwood I wish I would have gotten to say goodbye. Though I haven't been able to speak to animals in a long time he was always a friend to me." She comforted and I nodded knowing she meant every word. I motioned for us to make our way out of the musty old workshop and Sofia followed me up the stairs as she held Emma who seemed content to hide away in Sofia's chestnut hair. Probably startled by her new surroundins.
We made our way through the halls until we reached more populated areas of the castle and as we passed servants the whispers started. Before we reached the dinning hall Baileywick appeared surly having heard of our arival as soon as we had been seen.
He stared at me in faux anger and tapped his foot as he saw Sofia his gaze softened though I doubted he had noticed Emma yet or maybe he already knew about her too. Maybe I was the only one Sofia didn't tell even though this thought saddened me I forced myself to swallow such doubts.
"Do you know what a ruckus you caused Cedric. The king and Queen were so worried about you that they sent gaurds to your mothers where they found no one." He scolded and I quirked an eyebrow at him before he noticed that Sofia was holding a baby. His eyes popped open and he took a step flrward.
"Princess Sofia! I heard rumors but I had no idea they were true. Your parents were not expecting you back for at least two more days." Baileywick commented shocked and Sofia blushed knowing that this was much the same reaction she would receive from people.
"Yes well, before you ask they are aware of the situation. This is Emma, and she is very hungry." Sofia said as she twisted Emma in her arms and used her as an excuse to escape Baileywick's questions he rebounded and nodded and he opened the door for us to enter the dining room.
I walked right in more comfortable in the castle after years of being the royal sorcerer and the several occasions where the family had forced me to fine with them but Sofia hesitated before she followed me and I wondered why she was so nervous. Queen Miranda was the first to notice us and I saw her squeal as she jumped up to greet her daughter and granddaughter. King Roland stood next obviously surprised but excited to see Sofia as well.
"There's my girl." The queen said as she plucked Emma from Sofia's arms after kissing her daughter on the fourhead. Emma giggled and it was obvious she had spent time with her grandparents before. I found myself slightly jealous but swallowed these feelings.
"Cedric you ruined the suprise." King Roland said in a serious voice and I paled as I looked at him. He laughe good naturedly and just then the first of the twins made their apperance in the dinning hall. Amber walked in and glanced at our congregation in the front of the room and her eyes widened as she saw her sister.
"Sofia!" Amber yelled as she threw her arms around the young princess. Sofia smiled and held her tight obviously missing her sister.
"Brilliant!" James said as he too joined the room and spotted Sofia. Neither of them had noticed Emma in their mothers arms and I was greatful that Sofia was getting the welcome she wanted without the judgment that was surely to come.
"Guys I need to tell you something." She said ad backed away. I took her hand even though I got a look from King Roland. She smiled back at me and took Emma from her mothers grasp.
"This is Emma, she is Cedric's and my daughter." Sofia said in one breath and I was glad the the King and Queen had a heads up on this information. It didn't take either of the twins long to do the math and realize how young Sofia was when she conceived Emma. Amber gasped and in all her dramatic glory fainted into Queen Miranda's arms while James imediatly glared at me and clenched his hands into fists.
"What the hell Cedic this kid is what four years old. You fucked my sister when she was just a kid?" James yelled and Sofia covered Emma's ears. King Roland put a hand on his sons shoulder while his mother scolded his usage of such foul language.
"James you don't understand. Cedric was really drunk and I knew what I was doing, besides she is barely two! I explaine this all to mom and dad a year ago. I took advantage of him I knew the possibilities and I did it anyways and then I used a spell to erase his memory so he didn't even know it happened. He had no idea James all of the reaponsibility is on me." Sofia said and he stared at her like she was crazy.
"Sof you were just a kid how can it be your fault? Whether he was drunk or not. Maybe if he wasn't an alcoholic being drunk wouldn't matter." James spat and I lowered my head. He was right no matter how Sofia felt it was still my fault. I was the adult and I should not have even been around her in that state.
"I used a love potion on him." She cried and I opened my eyes and stared at her in shock as did her parents and siblings. She wrapped her arms around Emma tighter and I saw the beginning of tears as she tried to explain herself.
" I thought that if I could make you love me then I would be happy so I stole one of your love potions and I accidentally used the whole thing when I should have only used a drop. You had no control over the situation and by the time I realized just how far things went it was too late. I was so upset I erased your memory before you woke up and I took the first cairrage back to Freezenburg." She turned her attention to me as she explained herself and it began to make more sense. James dropped his fist and even the king and Queen held disappointment in their eyes. No wonder Sofia felt so guilty over everything, and no wonder I lost myself to passion even if I was drunk.
"So why choose now to tell us?" James asked and I noticed that Amber was waking back up. Emma began to point to the table and demand food so her grandmother took her to the table where Baileywick had already procured a little high chair and some pancakes for the little princess.
"Because Emma needs her father and Cedric deserved to know the truth." She said and James let the majority of his anger ebb away as he looked apologetically back at me. King Roland continued to watch the whole encounter and I got the feeling he was watching me specifically.
"Come let us eat, I'm sure everyone else is hingery." He said and we all moved to the table. I sat next to Sofia who chose her normal spot at the table and smiled as I glanced at Emma who was chunking pancake at a bemused Baileywick.
I grabbed Sofia's hand under the table and her breath hitched as her fingers tightened around mine. This gained me a sucpisiously look from her sister but I smiled innocently back at princess Amber unfazed. This was all going marvelously well, I still had my head attached to my shoulders after all.
"Cedric what are your intentions here? I assume Sofia has told you everything." King Roland asked and I sat my fork down letting a more serious look Take over my features.
"I plan to love Sofia. And to hopefully raise Emma as her father so that I can teach her everything she needs to know to help control her powers. I also plan to learn as much as I can about this prophecy Sofia and my mother keep going on about so that I can be prepared and protect my family." I said honestly, he smiled back at me and then looked between his youngest daughter and his precious granddaughter.
"That is a good answer Crdric. We will talk more about such things later. For now let us just enjoy this time together." He said and I nodded willing to let such matters wait. I still needed to do a lot of reaserch.
"I have one question your majesty." I said as I kept my eyes trained on him. He raised his eyes to mine again and nodded for me to speak.
"This may be an odd situation and I want to first beg for your forgiveness in the role I played in all of this. I understand that I was not exactly in a right state of mind but I believe if I had shown a little more propriety to begin with that prehaps things would have turned out differently but I do love your daughter. I loved her even before all of this when she was still a girl but I never once thought of being with her in such a way when I was of right mind. I do however love her, I feel almost as if she is the other half of my soul and these last few years without her have nearly killed me as I'm sure many of you remeber I sincerely wish that one day you will allow me to have Sofia's hand in marraige." I rambled awkwardly as I clamped my mouth shut as the words left my lips. He gave me a bemused grin while Amber gasped about how that would make me king and the whole family began speaking in hushed whispers amongst themselves
"You will have to show me you deserve such a right." He laughed and I smirked back at him I suppose that is about as good as I can get. A far better outcome than being executed. Though I had a feeling that the king and I would be having several more conversations in the near future.
After everyone finished their breakfast Sofia decided to take Emma for a walk in the gardens. Not being able to think of one thing better to do than follow them around like a lost puppy I trailed behind them and watched as Emma stopped at every flower and asked Sofia what the flowers name was.
"This is lavender. This is mommy's favorite." Sofia said as she pointed to a lavender plant. Emma scrunched her nose up at the purple flower and ran forward letting go of Sofia's hand as she ran through the garden.
"Hey." She said as she slowed her pace down to walk next to me. I beamed up at her and admired the way the sunlight played through her hair. She had definatly grown into a striking young woman and I found myself longing to be young with her.
"Hey." I replied as she held her hand out for me to take. I hesitated for a moment before I shook my head knowing if anyone was going to stop me from being affectionate that it would have happened hours ago. She swung our arms between us as we walked and I made sure to keep a close eye on Emma through my peritherals.
I found such a great peace in this moment it almost floored me. I felt almost as if this was the norm for me. Standing her with Sofia and my daughter as she ran through a thicket of flowers. It was hard to imagine that this sweet faced toddler had power even greater than mine. I knew that this peace wasn't going to last forever so I took extra care to remember every detail.
"I'm sorry for all this Cedric." Sofia suddenly whispered and I turned from Emma to see that my princess wasn't enjoying herself as much as I was. Sorrow etched her perfect brow and I reached my thumb up to try and smooth out the worry from her face.
"Don't be sorry Sofia. This is all more than I could have ever hoped for. Sure things are not ideal, both of us could have handled things better but it's okay. You dad isn't going to have me executed and now I have you and Emma to protect. I hope you know I never plan to leave your side again." I said as I brushed a strand of hair from her eyes as I tried to comfort her worries. She frowned obviously unconvinced and I switched tactics.
"Sofia I love you." I said as I leaned my head against her four-head. She stared transfixed into my eyes and I cupped her cheek.
"How can I make you believe me?" I sighed as I still saw doubt behind her sapphire eyes as she bit her lip in nervousness and fidgeted under my intense gaze.
"Kiss me." She pleaded as she gripped at my robes in anticipation. I felt my pulse quicken as I realized what she wanted. I hadn't quite made up my mind how I felt about being with Sofia in any kind of a sexual way. Of course I wanted too she was breathtaking but I was a man twelve years her senior and I didn't want to hurt her.
Realizing I didn't have much time to decide as she waited before me pressed against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her waist causing her face to come within an inch of my own. Her breath cast across my skin and I lost all coherent thought as I leaned forward and closed the gap of space between us.
She gasped against my lips and wrapped her arms around my neck running her fingers through my hair. I felt her mouth part open and I felt a shudder run up my spine as I gently pushe her back. Too soon by the look that crossed her face for a second before she smiled and touched my cheek with the palm of her hand.
She turned her head back to the field of flowers and her eyes widened as she pushed me away.
"Emma!" She yelled as I stumbled back and I whipped my head around to look for the little princess as well. We broke out running through the garden as we looked for our daughter.
"We were only turned away for a second." I yelled as we looked for Emma under every bench and plant as we made our way deeper into the gardens.
"She is the mater of disappearing. I mean you can be looking at her and she can still didsapear using her magic." Sofia paniced as she lifted a rock and I gave her a look because it was doubtful she was under a rock.
"Okay we need to regroup Sofia. Go find your father and have him alert the gaurds that she is missing. She can't have made it too far on her own. I'll keep looking." I said and she nodded before she took off running into the castle.
About an hour passed and every guard was out there with me yelling Emma's name as we searched. Sofia had been dissolved to a hysterical mess and I wondered just how many times Emma had pulled this disappearing act. All I could get out of Sofia was that she was never gone this long.
I ran my hand through my hair and closed my eyes as I came to a stop. If I was a two year old with unlimited power where would I go? I started to wonder if maybe she went back to Freezenburg where she felt most comfortable but teleporting was a difficult spell to master and I would wager she doesn't have any real control over where she teleported besideds, I wasn't even sure she had teleported after all it's not like Sofia and I were paying 100 percent attention.
I made my way through the deeper parts of the royal gardens and realized that none of the gaurds were this far back with me. It was dark back here almost like it was night though I knew it was still early in the afternoon. Taking this as a good sign that I was close to finding Emma I ran forward again even though it was like my whole body wanted me to turn around, almost like a repel spell.
Suddenly I heard a tiny yet shrill scream that made my heart stop off to the left and I made my way through some hanging vines into a small clearing. I realized with some surprise that I was inside Sofia's secret garden. Surveying the area I sighed when I saw Emma. At least I was pretty sure it was her even though the was completely shrouded in pitch black darkness like a second skin and her eyes were blood red.
I dropped to my knees in front of her and reached forward but she only cried more as she fluxed her energy out to repel me from touching her knocking me down on my backside. I felt tears prickle my eyes, what did I expect it's not like she knew I was her father. She didn't know me at all.
"Emma please don't push me away." I whispered to her making her cries quiet down as she watched me through the shroud of darkness skeptically. I felt one of my tears slip down as I watched her.
"The dark can be pretty scary huh?" I asked forcing myself to speak over my shaking voice. Some of the dark shadows around her wiggled and I heard her yelp out in silent agreement.
"I promise if you just take my hand that I will never let you face the darkness alone." I said as I held out my hand to her and forced a dazzling smile. Still she stood still but I could tell that something I said struck a cord within her and I was reminded of how intelligent she was for someone so young.
"No matter how dark it gets there is always light all you have to do is know where to look." I said and held up my wand to creat false stars above her head that pierced though the darkness and I sighed when I was able to see her sweet face again. She looked up at the twinkling lights above her head and giggled before all of the shadows dissipated and everything was normal again. My gut I clenched and I released a breath I didn't even know I was holding.
"Pretty." She pouted as the stars started to fade and I smiled at her petulance. She looked at me and poked my cheek.
"Let's go get momma." I suggested and she smiled shaking the last of her unshed tears away. I held out my hand to walk her back through the garden but she shook her head and held up both of her small arms at me while clenching and unclenching her fists in a gesture that told me she wanted me to carry her.
I smiled an ear splitting and scooped her up holding her close against my chest. She fiddled with bow tie and stayed quiet. I realized with much glee that this was the very first time I was getting to hold my little princess and I know that the smile was plaster to my face.
"My name Emma." She finally said in a small voice and I looked down at her too see some uncharacteristic shyness on her face.
"My name is Cedric." I replied and shifted her into one arm so I could hold my hand out for her to shake. She made a face and ignored my hand as she threw her arms back around my neck.
"You found her!" Sofia yelled as she ran forward to meet us and I saw the whole royal family standing behind her obviously relieved that she was okay. Sofia ripped her from my arms and nuzzled her close against her chest shedding tears of relief.
I stood back and watched both girls with the same happy grin. King Roland made his way over to me while Sofia's mother stood close to her and watched her daughter and granddaughter.
"Good job Cedirc. How did you find her?" He asked as he patted my back. I frowned as I faced him.
"I followed the darkness." I said not trying to hide the sadness in my voice as I told him this. Sofia eyed me from over the top of Emma's dark curls and Queen Miranda frowned as did the twins who were standing behind everyone else.
"Sofia how's about you let me take Emma and get something to eat before her nap and that way you and Cedric can talk to mom and dad?" Amber asked stepping forward with her arms open to take the toddler.
Emma's eyes widened and she flailed herself out of Sofia's arms and scrambled over her feet until she had herself sufficiently tucked in the folds of my robe.
"No want Cee-drick!" Emma wailed as Amber tried to pry her off of and I felt my heart melt as she used the same pronunciation Her mother used to use to annoy me. Sofia smiled softly and lowered herself down to Emma's level as she patted the top of her hair.
"Okay sweetheart daddy can feed you lunch and then you have to take a nap okay?" Sofia asked and my eyes widened as she casually called me daddy. Emma poked her face out of my rode with a similar look of surprise before she clapped her hands in consent. So I lead her into the dinning hall with the promise that as soon as she was asleep I would return so that we could all talk about the many challenges we were sure to face.
Kry: So here is chapter three. There I maybe one more chapter before I start jumping forward in time a bit each chapter. I hope that Cedric isn't coming off too cheesy but he is really happy after all but don't worry he will eventually mellow out into a more critical and serious Cedric though he will hold his soft spot for his family. I am also going to go I to more detail on this prophecy and Emma's powers. Please forgive if Emma comes off rather Elsa like as she grows up I promise I'm not ripping off frozen.
