Rose Red

Summary: Valentine's Day has arrived again in Enchancia, and while it hasn't ever been his favorite holiday, Cedric has a magical plan in store this year. (Collab with Mr. Shortman92)

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Angel, Corban, and Alamea (even if they're only mentioned, which Alamea is not in this story). Tanya and Nana belong to MarionetteJ2X.

A/N: It figures Mr. Shortman92 would be the one to come up with a Valentine's Day story. Lol. It's not my favorite holiday, but it definitely allows for some sweet moments. With that said, hope you enjoy!

*Story*

Valentine's Day was a romantic person's personal playground. Essentially, it was one of Amber's favorite holidays, for sure. And thankfully, Desmond had learned that a long time ago.

The future queen had awoken to their entire bed coated in a variety of different-colored rose petals. She'd been served breakfast in bed. He'd given her a brand-new gown with real dried pink petals lining the actual fabric. And he'd arranged for a hot bath with the finest rose water and floating wildflowers coating the top. All in all, her husband had gone all out for the holiday, and she was so grateful for that.

"If they're not careful, they'll have baby number two on the way a lot faster than they'd planned," James joked with Sofia as they walked down the hallway together. He laughed as she jabbed him in the ribs for the obviously indecent jest. "Just kidding, Sof. Calm down. Meanwhile, have you gotten anything for Valentine's Day?" He grinned, holding up a small tin container of cookies. "I got these earlier. They were even addressed to me: To James."

The younger princess smirked and rolled her eyes as they walked. "Yeah, Mom made those. She made some for all of us, actually."

"Aw, man." He sighed. "I thought maybe someone left them for me specifically." He shrugged before popping a cookie into his mouth and sighing happily. "Well, at least they taste good." He handed her one of the cookies, which she accepted. "You never did answer my question earlier."

Sofia shrugged. "No, I haven't gotten anything. But then again, I'm not really big on Valentine's Day anyway."

The prince chuckled knowingly. "You would be if a certain someone had given you a magical gift."

She offered her brother a pointed stare. "Funny, James. I don't expect anything special from Cedric, especially on today of all days. He's not big on this holiday either."

"Well, look at it this way: you two could be 'not big on the holiday' together." He gestured vaguely as he took another cookie into his hand. "I'm sure with a few swishes of a wand, you could have candlelight glowing. You'd have your own magically prepared dinner… Oh, and probably a conjured orchestra or something."

Sofia smiled in amusement as he munched on his cookie. "We don't need Valentine's Day to do something like that, James…"

"Maybe not. But it couldn't hurt either, right?" He winked as he nodded ahead of them. "I'm going to meet up with Baileywick and Nigel. They apparently managed to import a few new treats from another kingdom. See ya later." With that, he hurried off, his precious cookie tin still held tightly in his grasp.

She sighed, laughing. "Oh, James…" With that, she finally ate her cookie as she took off to her own destination: Cedric's tower.

"You have got to be kidding me." Wormwood watched in shocked awe as he saw the sorcerer conjure a full vase of red roses. "I thought you hated Valentine's Day as much as me. Why are you getting all mushy-?" He paused, rolling his eyes as Cedric hummed and ignored him for the most part. "Oh, of course… I'm sure you're planning something just adorably charming for the princess, aren't you?"

"And if I am?" Cedric challenged, turning to face the raven on his perch. "She's been through a lot in the past year, Wormy. I'm sure a little appreciation will do her some good."

"Does it have to be today? With those tacky roses?"

The sorcerer almost seemed offended as he defensively hid the vase of roses at his side, hovering over them protectively. "My roses aren't tacky. I'm sure Sofia would agree with me too."

Wormwood smirked before preening a few of his feathers. He then returned his attention to his friend. "I would expect nothing less. She is, after all, a princess. Princesses eat up that romantic stuff."

Cedric scoffed as he fluffed out his roses. "It's not even about that, Wormwood…" He closed his eyes for a few moments before sighing and looking at the raven again. "It's not because she's a princess. It's because she's Sofia. She means…a lot to me, you know…"

"I think even the daftest of people have realized that by now. Everyone knows you can't get Cedric without Princess Sofia nowadays, or the other way around." He chuckled. "Especially now that you've got little Tanya calling you 'Papa' and 'Mama.' I bet, if Nana could talk, she'd be calling you both by those titles as well."

The sorcerer blushed a bit. "Th-That was actually Tanya's idea, though…" He smiled thoughtfully. "I quite like it, actually… I'd venture to say that it's actually been a long time coming." He glanced up as he heard a knock at the door. "A-Anyway, Wormy… I know this isn't your favorite holiday; nor is it mine. But please don't ruin the day for Sofia…"

Wormwood rolled his eyes before sighing. "Very well. I'll just head out for a while anyway. Try not to over-romanticize yourself though. I'd rather not come back to questionable situations."

Cedric flushed darkly. "Out!" He groaned as Wormwood snickered before flitting out the open window. "Rotten raven…" He collected himself before walking toward the door, pulling it open and smiling warmly at his partner. "Hey, Sofia. I—" He blinked as she reached up and put a hand over his mouth.

"Before you ask," she began, smiling mischievously, "Nana and Tanya are with Calista and Angel. Get this—they took the girls on their 'Valentine date' to one of the villages Angel likes to visit." She laughed as she lowered her hand before clapping her hands once. "Isn't that adorable?"

"Er, yes, adorable…" He then smiled in realization. "So that means…I've got you all to myself for once."

Sofia blinked before smiling slowly and blushing a bit. "Well… Yeah…"

Realizing how forward that might have sounded, Cedric made a sound between a yelp and a whine before darting back behind his table, grasping the vase from earlier. "I mean, er… I…am happy to have your…your company…and these are for you!" He quickly pressed the vase of flowers into the princess's hands, catching her a bit off guard. "H-Happy Valentine's Day, Sofia…."

She took a few moments to process everything before giggling gently and inhaling the fragrance that her roses were giving off. "Thank you, Cedric… But I thought you hated Valentine's Day."

"Yes, well…" He shrugged before leaning a bit against his table. "Suffice it to say, this year, I don't mind it as much…" He smiled softly at her, causing her to blush again, hiding her face behind the roses.

"Cedric…" She laughed. "Oh, you missed it earlier. Corban gave both Nana and Tanya some candy. But he also gave Nana a baby doll and a necklace made out of flowers." She swooned lightly at the recollection. "It was so adorable…"

"I think he's taking more after Amber than anyone is willing to admit." Cedric smiled and rolled his eyes. "Before long, he'll be charming all the young ladies of the court."

"I think they'll have to go through Nana first. She may not say anything, but her eyes do all the talking for her."

He smirked. "Yes. Those 'Sofia Eyes,' I call them. Whenever you give people 'the look,' it's almost as though you've snapped at them or physically struck them. I should know…" He grinned sheepishly as she playfully narrowed her eyes at him. "I've seen that look a few times myself."

"Uh-huh. And you've successfully strayed away from seeing 'the look' again for a while now." She placed the flowers on the table before teasingly patting both of his cheeks. "Good Cedric." She noticed that he didn't say anything in response and instead simply grasped both of her hands, lowering them though still holding them. "So… Did you have anything planned for today?"

"I was actually wondering…" He squeezed her hands a bit as he summoned all the nerve he had to ask, "Would you like to…eat with me?"

"Eat…with you…" She laughed. "So, lunch? We kind of do that every day, Cedric."

"N-No, I mean, like…" He nodded his head side to side for a few moments before sighing. "Like…perhaps a picnic in the ballroom, with candles and…maybe a magical orchestra playing a soft tune…" He shrugged as she stared at him in surprise. "You know, for Valentine's Day…for you."

"For me?" She smiled shyly as he nodded. She also couldn't help but notice that Cedric's suggestions were precisely what James had predicted. It's like he knew…"I…guess that could be really nice. Just you and me?"

Cedric nodded again, holding her hands more securely. "Just you and me."

Sofia laughed. "Okay. But…" She pulled her hands from his and picked up her vase of roses. "These are coming with us. If we are actually doing a real Valentine's lunch, we need the obligatory roses too."

He smiled. "Whatever you say, my dear."

The partners made their way into the empty ballroom and stood near the window, looking around. They realized that there was nowhere to sit, so they'd have to take care of that problem themselves.

Cedric withdrew his wand and conjured a table with two chairs. In the center was a lantern burning dimly (given the sunlight that was filtering in through the window, making the flame unnecessary but still nice). He then watched as Sofia placed her roses next to the lantern. The last touch was the magical orchestra, which he conjured as an instrument-only spectacle. Violins, cellos, and other instruments played a soft tune without the help of a human counterpart.

"That's pretty neat," Sofia admitted as she sat down in one chair, grinning as Cedric sat across from her. "I'd never thought to do that."

"Well, I couldn't very well conjure human beings from thin air. I'm pretty sure that's breaking both magical and natural laws." He smirked as she laughed. "But I can certainly handle something else of utter importance." He tapped each of their plates and muttered something, causing both plates to fill with delicious food. He then filled each of their drinking glasses with some simple cider.

"For someone who detests this holiday so much," Sofia began as she watched the sorcerer finishing his preparations, "you sure are going above and beyond for it. And it can't be just because it's me."

He lifted his eyebrows at her statement as he sheathed his wand. "Oh, it can't, eh? And who else would I have done this for?"

"Well, I…" She paused, realizing he was right. He wouldn't have done this for anyone else… Not to this extent. Not on this day. She felt her cheeks warming up a bit again. "So… This really is just for me?" She smiled softly as she noticed him blushing a bit too, fiddling with his cloth napkin and snapping it out before meticulously draping it in his lap, ironing out any creases with his fingers. "Cedric… I have to ask…" She inhaled slowly before asking, "Is this…a date?" Surely, he'd laugh that question off and tell her of course not. This was just a friendly lunch… She picked up her cider and took a sip.

He sighed before eyeing her curiously. "Do you…want it to be?"

Sofia sputtered against her drink before setting down the cup and wiping her face with her own napkin. "W-Well…"

Seeing her uncomfortable response, Cedric took that as a cue to lighten the mood. He laughed nervously. "I mean, of course it's not a date… It's just…a friendly Valentine's Day meal between friends…"

She smiled slowly, reaching across the table to gently grasp his hand, nodding as he responded by clasping her hand in his. "Right, Cedric… Friends. Or…maybe a bit more than that at this point, hmm?"

Cedric swallowed once before nodding slowly. "Maybe…" He ran one thumb over her hand and smiled as she sighed softly. "Just maybe…"

Later that evening, Sofia lay in her bed with Nana and Tanya both already sleeping. She stared at her hand for several moments, remembering how gently Cedric had held it, even while they just sat and talked or even ate. He'd been doing little things like that a lot more lately. But then again, so had she…

She sighed before turning over, a warm smile gracing her lips as she saw her red roses, thanks to a bit of moonlight drifting into her room.

'Red roses?' she'd remembered asking sometime near the end of their meal. 'You usually go out of your way to get me something purple… Don't get me wrong. I love them and I think they're really pretty, but… Red just seems so…unexpected.'

'I suppose…for the occasion, the unexpected is best. Red is a representation of love, after all… And I do love you, Sofia…'

And at those words, she'd smiled fondly at him. 'I love you too, Cedric…'

And she did. But why did those words sound so different this time around? What had changed? She inhaled slowly before exhaling and closing her eyes, finally drifting off to sleep, her mind filled with memories of a magical orchestra, candlelight, roses, food, and the feel of her partner's hand holding hers.

And even in her sleep, she smiled.

The end