Author's Note: If you haven't already, go ahead and check out some more amazing Jealousy-inspired artwork created by cookiesnet, up on DeviantArt: art/Sofia-the-First-Fanfic-Jealousy-SamSketchDump01-532705281

Prologue 1: Longing

Chapter 1

Set in time just before Sofia's 16th birthday

"Today's the day Wormy!" An excited sorcerer paced the floor of his workshop; completely oblivious to the eye rolls his faithful winged friend was tossing about from his perch atop the potions table. "What do you think she's planning? Oh! Dare I even imagine she's arranged a party for me, perhaps where the king will do MY bidding!"

"Caw, caw"

It caused the sorcerer to pause, "Your right, that's a bit much. Well maybe she's spent dozens of hours finding me just the ripest river eel tails, she knows how much I need them for my potions." He continued to pace the floor, his musings on Princess Sofia's activities completely absorbing his mind. For today was his birthday, and the girl knew this. He also knew she'd been acting somewhat strangely over the last few weeks, and he'd dropped more than a few hints at what he really wanted to celebrate the occasion. Cedric blushed as he thought about it, and stopped pacing.

"You don't think she'll… kiss me, do you Wormy?" The sorcerer looked over at his winged companion, and was met with reproachful wing flaps. Cedric's shoulders slumped, and his head flopped to one side. "You are right, the girl's too young, much too young." Another round of caws came out of the bird, and he started circling the tower. Cedric stiffened, and checked his hair, slicked down his bangs, then ruffled them up, and repositioned his bowtie. A quick dusting of his robe, and one final check to make sure everything was in its place. "Well Wormy, here I go!" The bird perched on the windowsill, and buried his head into his wing. Cedric let out a smirk, "Everyone's a critic! You'll see Wormy, she'll come round soon enough."

The sorcerer methodically strode out the tower door and down the steps, into the hallway and down the circular staircases that led to the dinning room. An overwhelming desire to be bright and early for any special plans she'd made consumed him. He was almost to the dinning room when SMACK. He'd collided with a small body.

"Ohh.. I'm sorry!"

"Watch where you're… Oh Sofia! Good morning Princess!" A gigantic smile crossed the sorcerer's face, but the girl looked horrified to see him. In an instant the jubilant mood he'd woken up in fizzled. Sofia jumped up and pulled the sorcerer to his feet, but she looked immensely confused.

"What are you doing up this early Mr. Cedric? and you're out of your tower!" Her eyes kept darting around, as if she'd been caught smuggling that rabbit of hers into dinner.

"Well, I was just wondering what you were up to today… You wouldn't be planning anything special, would you Princess?" He let a sly grin loose, hoping the girl would catch on and reveal some of the deliciously wonderful arrangements she'd been making. Instead, Sofia's mouth dropped open, and her eyes darted around again.

"I… uh… I have somewhere to be actually. I needed to go with Minimus… but I'll be back later." Ouch. Cedric's whole body slumped over. She had other plans. It was true, she was a princess and had things to do besides practice magic with him in his tower… but surely she hadn't forgotten it was his birthday, had she? She looked up, and seemed upset about something. "Your probably pretty busy too, right Mr. Cedric? You're always so busy."

He wasn't. In truth, he never really was that busy. King Roland never trusted him with the truly important tasks, and time spent with the captivatingly sweet youngest princess of the realm could most certainly take precedent over brewing yet another batch of Baileywick's arthritic reliever. "Well, actually my schedule is a bit flexible today, would you like me to come with you? wherever it is you might be off to."

Sofia's eyes went wide. He wasn't welcome. "I…I'm sorry Mr. Cedric. You can't come, but I'll see you later!" With that she ran off down the hallway and out of sight.

Cedric stood there, totally dejected. Either she'd completely forgotten his birthday, or it simply didn't matter. He slowly shuffled back to his tower and up the steps. His feet felt like they were made of lead, and by the time he'd finally reached the tower door he was solidly in the doldrums.

The raven did not help matters, and seemed to be mocking him as Cedric sat down at the potions table to wait for 'later'. An hour passed, then two. He busied himself re-reading a spell book he'd read at least six times, if only to take his mind off the hours of solitude slowly ticking by. Suddenly an idea came to him; perhaps she was planning a surprise birthday party!

Yes, it must be so. She'd been so secretive, and the darting eyes. He flung up from his seat, and the raven started cawing loudly. "Oh Wormy! Of course she'd make it a secret, she knows I like presents after all, and she just couldn't tell me, it would have ruined the surprise! Hmmm… I wonder whom she's getting to come? I've never had a surprise birthday party before." He started pacing the tower floor again, "Well, for starters she'd have to invite those pesky siblings of hers, and then maybe some of the children from that school she's always coaxing me into teaching." He froze, and thoughts of his father crossed his mind. He turned to the raven, which had cocked its head sideways while watching the sorcerer pace the floor. "You don't think she'd invite my father, do you Wormy?"

The bird cawed, and Cedric tensed up. "You're right. She may very well have. That girl, she's always trying to get the man to treat me better. Uuuggghhhh he is the LAST person I want to see on my birthday."

It was almost lunchtime, and there was a knock on the door. It wasn't Sofia's knock. "Ugggh, Come in if you must."

Baileywick stood at the door. Suddenly a thought shot through Cedric. This was it. He was going to be escorted to a magical surprise party. "Cedric, there is a pixie infestation under the Dunwitty bridge. King Roland requests you remove it, immediately."

Cedric was fuming. Pixies were devilish little creatures that liked to poke one's behind, and the Dunwitty river was more a narrow slough than a beautiful stream. Baileywick didn't seem to care about Cedric's obvious distain for the task. "Cedric, your king commands it. NOW."

The sorcerer let out a series of horrible grunts and exasperated sighs, but Baileywick was unmoved. Reluctantly, Cedric grabbed his family wand and trudged out of the castle and to the bridge. It took several hours, and dozens of failed attempts to subdue the wretched creatures. Throughout the experience he'd been prodded in parts unmentionable while the tiny annoyances laughed at him falling in the mud. In the process he'd turned the bridge into a marshmallow, and was so upset by the end of it he simply left the sugary structure as it was. The townspeople who had gathered were snickering at him endlessly, and the one bold enough to question his confection got a frustrated wand pointed at their face and a sarcastic comment flung in their direction.

Muddy, and with afternoon mostly spent, Cedric trudged back to the castle. However, Princess Amber and a few castle servants blocked his path to the tower and a good bath. The princess had Baileywick's full attention, and the man was furiously scribbling notes on what appeared to be a checklist. Unfortunately the golden princess caught sight of the beleaguered sorcerer, and he was trapped without an escape route.

"Cedric!"

Yet another groan escaped the muddy man, and he took several steps forward. "Yes, what is it you want Princess? You've reached your 10 tiara limit for the month."

The girl gave Cedric a sneer, and then resumed her haughty demeanor. Thank Merlin Sofia didn't start off a pampered palace brat like this one. "Cedric, I am to begin a courtship, and the proceedings to mark the occasion will be spectacular!"

Courtship… True, she was older than Sofia, but that meant Roland had agreed to allow Amber this advancement of status. But she was still very young, wasn't she?

Cedric shook his head; he still couldn't wrap his mind around it. "And that means what to me exactly, Princess?"

The girl looked cross, and the servants cringed. Oops, he'd just invited winsome wrath down upon himself. "Cedric, I am a PRINCESS, and this is the first courtship in a generation for Enchancia. I am going to make sure everything is PERFECT. You are going to perform magic to mark the occasion, do you understand?"

Really, Amber was ordering him around… Could this day get any worse? "And I suppose your father agreed to this?" The girl nodded triumphantly. "Well then of course Princess Amber. It would be my… pleasure to assist you." Insenserity was dripping from his mouth in larger clumps than the mud falling off his pants. "And just when exactly do you need my services?"

The girl turned to the side and stuck her nose up. "Next week Cedric, do try to keep up."

Huh! The nerve of the creature. He was a ROYAL sorcerer after all, not some traveling magician. "Of course Princess, I'd be… delighted."

The exaggerated bow he gave did nothing to conceal the massively sarcastic way in which it was uttered. A tone which was not lost on Baileywick, who shot a scowl at the sorcerer, but the princess didn't seem to care, and went about her planning. At least the rest of the day wouldn't be filled with orders from the ghastly girl. Cedric was up the tower steps before the weight of the encounter sunk in. He had a hand on the door handle, and then the thoughts came.

If Amber was wrapped up in planning a celebration, and Baileywick was assisting her, that meant there was probably no surprise birthday party waiting for him at the castle, as Sofia would have undoubtedly enlisted both of their aids.

He took an extra long bath, and put on a spare set of clothes, and then sat there at the potions table. Waiting. It was four o'clock. For some strange reason Sofia had recently taken to cajoling him out of the tower for tea at this time, but it was an excuse to spend time with the radiant girl, so he was happy to oblige her. The clocked ticked away, and minutes turned to hours. It was now six, and the sun had begun to set.

Anger started to swell up in Cedric. How could she just FORGET his birthday? Wasn't he important to her? The thought made his hands clench, and he jumped up from the potions table. It was insufferable! Above anything else the beautiful brunette princess kept espousing that she was his friend, what kind of friend forgets a birthday!

The raven was cawing loudly, and Cedric realized he hadn't fed the bird all day. "Sorry Wormy." A couple handfuls of birdseed, and several strokes of the ravens' feathers broke the angry mood, and sadness started to creep in. There was no one coming for him. Nobody was going to celebrate. Was there really anything worth celebrating? Over the past year he'd pretty much stopped hunting Sofia's amulet and hadn't mustered the courage to admit to his mother that the reason was his building affection for its owner. He hadn't accomplished any great feats, nothing of note had occurred. Perhaps the voices of all his detractors echoing in his mind were right. He didn't deserve any celebration.

The downward spiral continued, and as the clock struck 8 his head was firmly planted on the table as he stared off into space. She really wasn't coming. It was already past dinner.

The clock struck 9, and all hope was lost. Being an early riser, Sofia was always in bed by this hour. The whole day had gone by, and no one had given him a present. She hadn't come to him. Not even one wish was uttered on his behalf. It was soul crushing. He felt a hard object nudging the side of his head, and lifted up to see the raven.

"Ah, thank you Wormy. I know you'd say 'Happy Birthday' to me if you could talk." Cedric stared off out the window to the stars that had emerged. It was a full moon, and uncharacteristically light outside because of it. "Maybe if I was a bird then it wouldn't matter if no one cared about me." He slumped over as he stood up, and walked down the steps to his bedchambers. This day needed to end, and it would be best if he never woke up again. Suddenly he heard rusting outside his tower. Cedric walked over to the window, and the sound of a distressed horse grew louder as he approached it. He leaned his head out the window and it was almost lobbed off by Minimus.

He shrieked and fell backward onto the stone floor, landing with a precipitous thud. "Ack! you accosting animal! Watch where you're FLYING!"

The horse had doubled back and was kicking the tower wall with each pass. That was… odd. Wait, where was Sofia?!

Cedric ran out his door and down the tower steps without pause till he reached Sofia's room, Wormwood flying after him as he ran. There he stood outside the girl's door. If she was in there it meant she really had forgotten his birthday and trampled all over his feelings. Perhaps the Enchantress was wrong, and Sofia really didn't care about him after all. If she wasn't inside, it meant his princess was in trouble. Serious trouble. A series of deep breathes, and he slowly pulled down on the lever, releasing the handle. The door swung open, and he walked over to the sliding doors. There he again paused. No noise was coming from inside, but she could already be asleep. He needed courage, a trait he knew he sorely lacked. Wormwood let out a caw, and he clamped down on the birds beak, with a serious eye twitch to silence the bird. "Quiet Wormy, if she's in there I don't want her to know how… she made me feel today." Gently he slid one side of the double doors open and peaked inside.

It was empty. Sofia was somewhere else, and most definitely in trouble.

Cedric was off like a shot to the gardens. There he found the purple horse, carrying on in an emotional manner. "You… horse, where is Sofia!" The shook up stallion was whinnying in distress. Sofia WAS in serious trouble. "Alright equine, take me to her." The horse stepped back and forth a bit, and Cedric tried to mount the beast. It was small, and he was able to sit in the saddle, but looked around distressed at the creature. He had no idea how to ride the beast. "You there… fly! Acensio! Uh… levitato?" The horse shook it's mane, and Wormwood began to howl a series of caws. "Oooh you try swimming sometime Wormwood! Humans weren't built to ride these things, it's unnatural. Merlin's mushrooms…"

Cedric tried a couple of attempts, but was tossed before take off. "OHHHH this is IMPOSSIBLE! Cursed creature!"

This was getting nowhere. Cedric flung his arms out in frustration and let a series of disgruntled huffs out before Wormwood flew at him. The bird was flapping wings in his face, and the poor sorcerer fell over onto his backside. "Tree stumps and cauldrons brews! What is it Wormy?!" The raven grabbed at his sleeve, and Cedric's family wand fell out. Cedric reached down and picked up the white instrument, and stared confused at the bird. He could have sworn the raven rolled his eyes, and then jumped up, flapping its wings, and circled Cedric's head.

It took more than a few moments, but Cedric had a revelation. He COULD fly, just not as a human. "Perfect idea Wormy! What a clever raven you are!"

Cedric chanted the spell and was transformed into a bird. A rather handsome one, if he did say so himself, and grabbed the wand in his beak. Minimus led the group off into the distance, the moonlight illuminating their way.

It seemed to take forever, but finally they reached the Frightening Forest. What in Merlin's name would Sofia be doing in a place like this? To his knowledge she hadn't ventured back since the incident over a year ago. He never wanted to remember the way she'd looked sprawled on the ground that day, sobbing and broken.

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, they flew onward. There was an outcropping in the distance, and above it was a grove of trees. Specifically they were apple trees that shimmered strangely in the moonlight. The rocky slope below was cracked in several places, and downward further still was a swiftly moving river. Suddenly there was a horrible growling sound, and Cedric looked down in terror as he saw two of the most monstrous looking werewolves that he had ever laid eyes on hoping along the sloping rock face. The creatures were clawing at something that had slipped between the cracks. Best to avoid them. The horse began to whinny wildly, and suddenly there was crying coming from the rocks. It was a girl. Merlin's beard it was Sofia!

Cedric swooped down and transformed back into human form, pointed his wand at the nearest creature and "Shrinkious dincotus!" The beast was hit by a blinding shot of radiant green energy, and shrunk to the size of a squirrel. That caught the attention of the second one, who growled menacingly and affixed its eyes on the thin sorcerer. Suddenly an overwhelming fear for life and limb took hold and he started running. The beast pursued, growling and hissing while swiping at Cedric. For his part he began yelping and hollering while jumping over the cracks. He managed to pivot and saw Sofia's hand sticking up from the rock crevasse. He couldn't see the color, but the moonlight illuminated a gash on her hand. She'd been hurt. These cursed creatures had hurt his princess. Rage swelled inside him and the sorcerer stopped, flung his wand back toward the pursuing monster and launched a lightning curse at it. The bolt shot from his wand, and struck the creature. It fell to the ground, twitching and unconscious.

"Ced…"

He spun and saw the top of Sofia's head poking out from the crack, she'd seen that little display. He ran over to her and reached out his hand, slipping it under her arm and helping to lift her out of the fissure she'd sought refuge in. The shrunken werewolf scurried over to him, and he kicked the thing straight into the river. Sofia was bleeding in several places, had been crying, and was clinging to a small lumpy bag. Unable to stop himself, he flung his arms around her torso and clasped her tight. After a minute of quiet solace in her embrace the rapprochement began. "Sofia what were you THINKING! Out here in the Frightening Forest in the middle of the night, and all by yourself no less! I should lock you in my tower you careless child! Oooooh mushrooms!"

Sofia began sobbing anew, and instantly he felt guilty about the stern scolding. "I'm… I'm so sorry Mr. Cedric… I needed to get the apples…" She gestured to the bag, which appeared rather lumpy. It must be filled with apples from the trees above.

"What in the name of Merlin were you doing getting APPLES here? There's plenty in the castle kitchens! I could have even conjured some for you… OOOOHHH!"

"But… These are special apples, and I… I… " The poor girl was still sobbing, and her speech was broken, "I wanted to make the pie for your birthday."

She'd put herself in this kind of danger just to make him a pie? Cedric realized Sofia was practically imbedded in his robes, and instantly the oppressive loneliness of the day melted away. She did care, just like the Enchantress had said. He bent down ever so slightly and smelled her hair. Lilac, with a hint of berries. She always smelled so good. Gentle whispers came out of him, "Sofia, if you wanted to get these apples so badly, you should have let me come with you. A pox on surprises, it wasn't worth it. This place isn't safe, I thought we'd established that already."

Sofia nodded, but then started to cry anew. "What is it now dear girl."

She rubbed her head harder into his chest, and the feeling it produced… He felt alive, but horribly guilty about it simultaneously. "I'm so sorry Mr. Cedric… I borrowed the map from Aunt Tilly to find the apples, and they were supposed to be in the Simmering Swamp, but a hammerswitch grabbed Minimus, and then I fell, and my wand went into the swamp, and then the orchard moved, but I had to get the apples, I just had too. It was for your birthday." The bawling girl was overwhelmed. She'd had a worse day than he did.

"There there Princess, it's alright now. Cedric the Royal Sorcerer of Enchancia is here." He said it a bit too grandly and had raised one triumphant arm up while he said it, but she mustered a smile. The sweet girl was in desperate need of another hug, and he obliged her happily. His hands may have pulled her a bit too tight, and she tensed up a bit while wincing in pain. Too much. He released her, and looked her over. She'd been cut in several places. "Sofia, did the werewolf strike you?" Thankfully the girl shook her head.

"No.. I fell on the rocks, and the swamp had thorny vines. Oh Mr. Cedric, how can I be your apprentice when I lost my training wand?" The sentence elicited another few sobs. In an instant Cedric had drawn his family wand and was healing her abrasions.

"Never you mind that, I'm just glad that horse of yours had enough sense to come and get me." He shifted a bit to heal some cuts to her leg, and immediately realized they extended a bit higher than he was privileged to observe.

Sofia extended her leg a bit, and the sorcerer turned his nose up, ostensibly to avert his eyes, thanking the stars above it wasn't broad daylight so she couldn't see the crimson shade he'd most assuredly turned.

"Please Mr. Cedric, can you help me? Please." He couldn't believe she'd just said that, specifically because of where he'd have to examine to heal her properly. He turned a sideways eye in her direction, and the princess had pulled her skirt up a bit to reveal a particularly nasty cut and much more than he should be seeing. He flung his hand with the wand toward her face, "Here, Triton's turnips girl just take the thing!"

Timidly she wrapped her fingers around his wand, and pulled it gently from his grasp. Sofia sat there, almost in disbelief that he'd proffered up his wand for her usage. There was no way the girl could know that sorcerers only let their lovers use their wands, unless in extreme emergency, but nevertheless the princess did understand it was of some significance he'd allowed her to use it.

"Thank you" calmly floated out of the princesses' mouth.

"Yes well… please be careful with it." Cedric tried his best to keep his eyes averted while she cast a simple healing spell, although the attempt to avoid looking was somewhat futile, and the wound slowly closed. Once she was done he felt the wand being slowly inserted back into his hand, and turned to face her. Her smile was exquisite, and seemed to glow in the moonlight. If only time could move faster and age her substantially.

There was a low howl in the distance, and it snapped them back to reality. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the horse, bag in tow. "These better be the most amazing apples this side of the netherworlds for all the fuss you've put into them." Sofia flung a leg over Minimus, and then pulled on Cedric's arm. He froze and stood there, staring at her. "Absolutely not. The equine arts are not my specialty."

"Oh Mr. Cedric, come on. I'll help you." A war went on inside his head. On the one hand he would get to hold onto her for the entire ride back to the castle, a most delightful idea. On the other she would see just how dreadful a horseback rider he was, and the embarrassment of it all may lessen her opinion of him. Her pleading eyes and gentle tugs won the day, and he timidly straddled the horse behind her. Arms wrapped around Sofia's center, they took off into the night, with Wormwood flying close behind. It was a most delightful mode of transport, Sofia's hair beating about his shoulders as they flew. Most delightful indeed.

They finally made it back to the castle, and he bade her good night. As he turned the clock struck midnight, and suddenly he felt small hands grab at his robe. "WAIT- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" She'd pulled him backward and now had her face buried against the back of his robe. Facing away from her, he let the jubilant smile escape. He had to catch himself from letting her know just how much it meant to him, for she was still far too young. "Thank you Princess." He pulled away, but she refused to let his robe go. Another tug did no good. "Sofia it's beyond past your bed time, and considering you were almost an entrée some for wretched werewolves this evening it's probably best if you get some rest."

He turned to see the brunette beauty shaking her head. "Nuh-uh, I still need to make you your pie." The sarcastic eye roll did little to dissuade the girl, and she took his arm, dragging him to the kitchen.

No one was present, as Gwen and Chef Andre had retired hours ago, and Sofia set about lighting the candles and stoking the fire. Wood embers crackled in the chamber, and the princess set about mixing ingredients. For his part Cedric found a nice stool, but in an instant an apron was flung at his face. "What exactly am I supposed to do with this Sofia?"

She giggled. The sound of nymphs could never be as pleasing on the ears. "Silly, you're supposed to wear it if you're going to help me."

An eyebrow was raised very high in objection, but the delightful girl wasn't going to accept no for an answer. She never did, and he never seemed to win this battle of wills. When it got right down to it though, he never really tried.

"Hold this, no no over the bowl."

"Ohhhh…. Honestly Sofia I could just conjure-" She knocked his hands back into position.

"But what if you don't have your wand Mr. Cedric?"

"Sofia wait." Flour had been poured. It looked a bit.. uneven. She had turned to acquire some salt, but this powdery substance needed inspecting before addition. "Sofia are you sure—" He'd turned, even though she said to be still, and collided with her. Flour now coated his princess, as did salt. Memories of a particularly bad baking accident with his sister came to mind, and Cedric cringed at the reprimand he fully expected.

"Oh Mr. Cedric…" This was it. He looked up timidly and POOF. A whole handful of flour was in his face.

"Merlin's mushrooms girl, you'll pay dearly for this!"

A series of giggles erupted, and she was flitting about the kitchen. Cedric grabbed a handful of the meal, and tossed it at the girl, who dodged it easily. Back and forth it went, until the floor was covered and two ghost-white bodies had traversed the kitchen giggling loudly. All of a sudden he felt the overwhelming urge to hug her, and lunged forward. But there she was, covered in flour, being mischievous as little girls tended to do. He couldn't, and resumed his position on the stool. Sofia let out a few sighs, and set about rolling the crust while Cedric drew his wand and enchanted the broom to clean up the mess. The pie was in the oven, and she came to sit on the counter next to him. He could tell she was drowsy, and her head kept dropping.

"Sofia you need to get some sleep. I can take the pie out of the oven."

She nodded back into reality, "No I can do it. I can…" Her head fell forward and landed against his shoulder. His beautiful, sweet Sofia. She was out cold. It was practically two in the morning after all. A quick flick of the wrist and he'd conjured a wet rag. It took him a minute to summon the courage, but eventually he was able to gently wipe the flour from her face. There she was, passed out in his arms. If only he could truly touch her, but no. Not when she was unconscious like this. Not yet. He tried to lift her, but she was getting too big for his less than imposing frame, so he summoned a little magical assistance to lighten the girl, allowing him to deposit her in her bedchambers.

"Someday."

Back to the kitchen, and a few burnt fingers later he had a beautiful apple pie. It was the best birthday he could ever remember.