This chapter dedicated to MrShortman, lol.


Sofia rose early in the morning, relieved to finally feel human again. She rushed downstairs, where she ate a large breakfast, thanks to the sudden return of her appetite. Then, she packed herself a lunch, kissed her mother on the cheek and ran out the side door, focused solely on track and field day. An entire school day outside in the bright sunshine instead of couped up in classes sounded rather appealing, and Sofia couldn't curtail her excitement at the prospect. A crowd of her fellow students was already forming in the expansive school yard as Sofia jogged past on her way to the main entrance.

"Sofia!" Grace called out as the redhead approached, waiting for her so they could enter the building together. "Why are you running already? Aren't you gonna get enough exercise?" Sofia giggled, shaking her head enthusiastically.

"I'm all better today, I feel like I might die if I keep still any longer!" She happily informed the blonde, wrapping her arms around her friend's shoulders.

"Well, at least one of us is in a good mood. I was gonna see if you wanted to skip, but I guess not." Sofia grabbed Grace's hand, dragging her through the building and out the side doors to join their classmates.

Announcements were made over the loud speaker, the echoing voice calling everyone participating in the morning relay race to gather at the track. Grace squeezed Sofia's hand before releasing it, wishing her good luck as she hurried off to claim her spot as anchor.

Sofia stretched her limbs, taking deep breaths to try to calm nerves so unsteady that they were making her nauseous all over again. To make matters worse, the sun was beginning to get to her, the heat of it blazing down on the track making her dizzy. I have to concentrate. She scolded herself into paying attention as her teammates ran, waiting for the baton to reach her. When it finally did, she was off like a shot, running at a speed she never knew her legs to be capable of. She burst through the ribbon far ahead of her opponent, tumbling to a stop in front of the cheering onlookers.

"Class 3 wins the morning relay. Next event is the sprint." The disembodied female voice called out above them as Grace hurried to check on Sofia, who hadn't moved since she won her race.

"Are you alright?" She asked, sliding to a stop beside her friend.

"I... I think so." Sofia squeaked out, trying to ignore the way the world spun around her. "Help me up?" She accepted Grace's outstretched hands, letting the larger girl pull her to her feet. Her stomach did an angry flip at the motion, and she moaned, slinging an arm around Grace's shoulder.

"Should we go see the nurse?" Sofia shook her head quickly, taking small steps toward the door with the blonde's assistance.

"Just... The bathroom." She hiccuped, holding her stomach for emphasis.

...

"I thought you said you were better now." Grace paced the floor of the girl's room, waiting for Sofia to finish being ill.

"I was. I think I just got too worked up." Sofia called back, wiping her mouth on a wad of toilet paper. "I should be fine to finish the day." When Grace tapped on the door, Sofia unlocked it to let her inside.

"I'm getting kind of worried about you. It's been two weeks, and I was only sick for a few days." She whispered, looking her friend over closely. "You've even lost some weight." Sofia frowned down at herself, wondering if it was true. Tears prickled the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill out. *This was supposed to be a good day.* She sucked in a deep breath, forcing herself to stand, and straightened her uniform.

"I'm already better. I promise." She managed a smile as she hurried past the other girl, anxious to put some distance between them before Grace could see through her act.

...

"The obstacle course will begin promptly after lunch. All participants report to the tents on the east side of the yard."

It was another event Sofia had a spot in, so she threw away her uneaten lunch and followed the directions.

She took up her spot on the track, turning her head to wish her opponent good luck. Her eyes grew wide with shock as she found herself face to face with none other than the new school janitor. Her mouth worked, but no sound came out as she floundered to find something to say to the man whose very presence made her heart flutter.

"Good luck." He beat her to the sentiment, nodding in her direction before focusing his attention ahead. Why? Why is he here? Sofia's mind demanded as she tore her gaze away from him and prepared for the signal.

When the whistle blew, Sofia tapped that inner speed again, clearing the first hurdle with ease. It took all of her willpower not to check if the man was beside her as she jumped, and she gave herself a mental pat on the back as her feet hit the ground without an issue, though she suspected her racing pulse had more to do with her opponent than it did with the excursion. Next to her, the sound of his own feet touching ground reminded her not to slow down.

She sped on, easily flipping over the parallel bars before crawling through a series of hula hoops that had been duct taped to the black top.

As Sofia climbed out of the last circle and stood straight again, all of the blood rushed from her head. Her vision swam and everything turned red. She had the distinct sensation of floating, the last thing she would remember of the school day.

...

"You shouldn't have moved her." A man admonished, but Sofia didn't have the energy to open her eyes, despite her curiosity.

"I didn't move her, I caught her." The sound of the second man, the school janitor, soothed her mind. She didn't need to see him, she would recognize that gravelly baritone anywhere.

She felt herself being delicately lowered onto a surface that was both soft and rigid, and blinked her eyes open just long enough to register that she was being loaded onto some sort of vehicle.

"Someone should ride with her. Can you do it?" The first speaker again. There was a long pause before he got a reply.

"I-I... I'm working. I just started this job, I'd better not." She pouted, wanting this strange man to stay with her, even if she couldn't begin to explain why.

"I know I'm asking a lot, but it would really help me out." Sofia heard a sigh, and the sound of the doors closing. For a few quiet minutes, she was sure he'd refused, and she was alone in the ambulance.

A warm hand, wrapped in fabric despite the heat, brushed against her cheek, and her eyes fluttered open to see the handsome older man staring down at her, his expression so full of tenderness that it nearly made her heart stop beating altogether.

"So you're awake?" He smiled, an endearing, crooked grin that made him appear almost boyish, and Sofia tried to nod. "You really gave everyone a scare, you know." His palm still rested against her cheek, and she wished she had the nerve to snuggle against it, to take advantage of his kindness for even a moment. I think I'm in love. She realized with astonishment, stifling a gasp as she stared into the eyes of her mystery man, hypnotized by flecks of gold that sparkled like glitter in the sunlight streaming through the small window.

"Have we met before? Not yesterday, I mean... before that." She ventured, unable to shake the strange sensation that she'd somehow known him all her life, no matter how impossible she knew it to be. She regretted the question right away, because he retracted his hand and shifted his focus to staring silently out the window until their ride came to a stop and the doors opened, flooding the mobile room with harsh daylight.

...

At some point, she drifted off, with the janitor keeping speechless watch over the hospital bed they had switched her to. She meant to stay awake, to memorize the way his nimble fingers nervously twirled the pen he was holding while they waited for her parents to arrive, but the next time she woke, her mother had replaced him in the chair, and the golden-eyed stranger was nowhere to be found.

"My official opinion is that she fainted from anaemia. Her iron was very low when the EMTs checked it." A kindly old doctor was saying as Sofia forced her attention back to the present.

"But what could have caused that?" Margaret demanded, glancing over long enough to acknowledge that her daughter was awake. The doctor shock his head, frowning at a clip board in his hands.

"Honestly, I was hoping you could tell me. We don't seem to have any of your daughter's medical records on file, so I have very little to work with." Her mother stood from the wheeled chair, sending it spinning into the wall behind her.

"Are you kidding me? Sofia was born in this hospital. She's been coming here her entire life!" Margaret was outraged, and Sofia realized her mother was in no state to help the doctor get the information needed to treat her.

"AB negative." Sofia squeaked, her voice coming out as a hoarse grunt. Both adults went silent, turning to look at her. "My blood type... It's AB negative. I'm 162cm and nearly 8 stone." Her throat ached, and she was dying for water. The doctor scribbled the facts down at a frenzied pace, trying to record it all.

"Is that accurate?" He asked Margaret, turning the board so she could read over it.

"Everything except the blood type." She returned to her daughter's side, stroking some stubborn curls out of her face. Sofia shook her head adamantly.

"No, that's right. We just tested it in school." She insisted, allowing her eyes to slip shut again because the harsh florescent lighting was beginning to give her a headache.

"There must have been some mistake. I'm B+, and her father is O." Sofia furrowed her brow, trying to remember her genetics lessons properly.

"We can run it to be sure. Um, there are other blood tests I was hoping to send to the lab, too." He hesitated, and Sofia wondered why he didn't just run the labs already and be done with it. "I know your daughter is kind of young for this, but standard procedure when a woman faints from low iron is to run a pregnancy test."

"What?" Sofia demanded in unison with her mother, her eyes popping back open to stare at him in disbelief.

"Sofia hasn't even had her first period." Her mother was up again, pacing the floor of the small room.

"I've never even been kissed." Sofia added, her cheeks flaming at admitting such intimate details to a complete stranger.

Outside the curtained doorway, unseen to them, Cedric smacked the back of his head against the wall he was leaning on, able to overhear the entire conversation.

...

Sofia's mother left, and the hospital grew quiet as night fell outside. Cedric paced the corridor, trapped in a maze of his own thoughts. His plan was unraveling right before his eyes, and he never was very good at keeping himself together when things went wrong. That was one of the things he usually could rely on Sofia for, but he doubted she'd be any help in that area, given her current circumstances.

There was one thing that he kept coming back to, and that was how traumatic it would be for the girl in that room to learn she was pregnant, as she very well may be, without any recollection of the events that led to it, or knowledge of who the father of her child was. It seemed he was left with only one choice, then - restore Sofia's memories and risk her trying to return to Enchancia. But if she is with child, then that solves the problem, right? She wouldn't endanger her own baby... He reasoned, steeling his nerves to peek into her room.

Sofia slept soundly under her white blanket, with her copper hair fanned out around her head, looking every bit like a goddess in the pale glow of the apparatuses that surrounded her bed.

Without a sound, Cedric drew his wand from the deep side pocket of his work pants, pointing it at the sleeping princess and mouthing 'Memento omnium', the words that would return her memories. When nothing happened, he tapped his wand impatiently against the palm of his opposite hand and tried again, with the same outcome. He lost count of how many times he tried before she stirred, sending him scurrying for the safety of the hallway once more, eager to avoid any further encounters with this version of Sofia, especially after what she'd asked him in the ambulance.

What he really needed were answers to the questions now plaguing his thoughts, and to get those he would have to speak with Merlin. He couldn't bring himself to leave her, though, so he settled for taking back his post outside her room, deciding that everything else could wait until she was out of the hospital.