Author' note: I've had the first part of this chapter written out since waaayy back when this started, and it's been so hard to hold back on publishing it, because I really love it! Finally, I get to share it with everyone. :)


"Are you out there?" Sofia called softly into the darkness of her hospital room, hoping he would magically appear. Nothing happened, and she settled into her cot with a disappointed sigh.

"How did you know?" There was no doubt that it was him, she would never forget the way he sounded for the rest of her life. She smiled to herself, but didn't reply right away, unable to come up with a good way to explain that she had felt his presence without sounding like a lunatic.

"Won't you come in? I could use the company." Slowly, the curtain shifted away from the threshold, and his hair, shaggy and black with fascinating silver stripes at the front, came into view first. "Have you been there this entire time?"

"Not quite. I went and got myself some coffee." He held up the white styrofoam cup for emphasis as he took his first halting step into the room, tugging the fabric back into place behind him.

"Hm. Any good?" She asked, unable to think of any better way to continue the conversation, but wanting to keep the man near for as long as possible. He shook his head, tossing the cup into the bin next to the doorway.

"Brown sludge. Are you feeling better?" He crossed the room, reclaiming the wheeled chair and rolling it until he was sitting beside the top of her bed.

"Only a little." She confessed. His hand stretched toward her face, but he seemed to think better of it, retracting his arm before his fingers could make contact. Sofia tried not to pout over it too obviously. "I don't think they plan to let me leave until I agree to the tests."

"Why haven't you?" He questioned after an awkward pause. Sofia shifted to lay on her side, beckoning with her finger for him to come closer.

"I think... I'm afraid to." She confided with a whisper.

"You know, if you talk about what frightens you, it won't seem so bad anymore." The sweet crooked grin returned to his face as he reached out again, this time tangling his slender fingers through her thick curls. "Tell me your fears, little princess." There it was again, that tender reverence that drew her to him so completely.

In that moment, she felt like she hadn't a care in the world, save for a nagging certainty that he'd said this to her before. Instead, she was filled with an intense longing, mentally pleading with this complete stranger to close the gap between them, to press his lips against hers. The only thing keeping her from voicing this desire was the knowledge that it would make her sound insane, and he would most likely run as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

Breaking the connection, he leaned back in his seat, running a hand through the silver silk of his bangs. "Is it needles? The trick is to look away." Sofia shook her head softly, quite positive she didn't possess a phobia of the sharp objects.

"Tell you what..." He brought his face close again, ensnaring her with those incredible eyes, which seemed to dance merrily as he spoke the words. "You do whatever you need to get yourself out of here, and I'll bring you a present on Monday... Provided I still have a job, that is."

Sofia's eyes opened wide as she recalled the fragment of conversation she'd heard while they were loading her into the back of the ambulance. That's right. It's my fault that he suddenly left work.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you." She mumbled, trying in vain to disappear into the mattress.

"No, please... Trouble me, Sofia!" He surprised her with his outburst, not least of all because he'd called her by her name. "By the gods, if I had more to offer you than a sympathetic ear, I would." He trailed off as Sofia's deja vu returned, ducking his head to avoid her curious gaze.

"You said 'Sofia'." She pointed out, catching him off guard, if his reaction was any indication. "How did you know that?"

"Oh, that?" He let out a low, nervous chuckle, gesturing toward the wall. "It's on some paperwork by the door. I hope you're not angry." There was something off about the admission, but Sofia couldn't figure out exactly what.

"That's not fair. You know my name, but I don't know yours." They sat quietly until she was beginning to think he wouldn't tell her.

"It's Cedric." He offered after several minutes. Sofia barely stifled a fit of giggles. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, it's just a strange name is all." She waved her hands in front of her face apologetically, trying to calm herself.

"Oh, yeah... What the hell kind of name is Sofia? It sounds like somebody's grandmother." He retorted, her laughter starting all over again as he glared at her indignantly. His annoyance softened, and he soon joined in.

"You little cheat... You've gone and changed the subject on me." He accused once they calmed down. Sofia shrugged, feeling so much better after talking with him that she didn't really feel the need to express her worries at the moment. "Oh, no... Out with it."

"Do you believe in instinct, Cedric?" His breath caught noticeably, and he swallowed hard, training his eyes on the curtain across from them.

"I do. Some people's can be fairly terrifying in accuracy." Sofia mulled over his cryptic response, but ultimately decided to continue.

"I know that my parents really are my parents, just as I know that... Other thing can't be true." She paused to bite into her lip, pressing herself to go on despite how bizarre it was going to sound. "But, there's this hidden part of me that is equally sure these tests will turn my entire world upside down. Do you know what I mean?"

"I'm beginning to."

...

It was after dawn, and outside the curtain, the hospital was springing to life as Cedric watched Sofia sleep in the dim light, the only sound in the small room coming from the occasional small chirps of her equipment.

It seemed that even without her memories of him, the princess was still adept at manipulating his emotions, and loving her was just as inevitable as it had always been. No matter how much he reminded himself that this Sofia didn't return his feelings and it would be best to steer clear of her altogether, all he had wanted to do while they spent the wee hours of the night talking was to lean forward and claim her mouth with his, to climb into the bed and wrap her up in his arms, and make false promises that everything would somehow be okay.

'You've damned the entire kingdom.' He recalled the accusation, the one King Roland had hurled in his tower not long ago, as his eyes traced the outline of Sofia's soft plump lips. It seems I've damned the two of us, as well.

The ramifications of his actions became painfully clear in the last few hours. Her memories may all be lies, but they were still hers. She had a family she loved, friends, and hobbies. She could tell stories of the time she skinned her knee while the man she thought was her father taught her to ride a bike, or how scared she'd been on her first ever sleep over. These things were important to this girl, a part of who she was. Cedric had appeared in her life just as the fragile veil of reality threatened to be lifted, and he would be powerless, quite literally, to do anything but sit back and watch while her entire world fell apart. Every awful thing you're about to endure... They're all my fault.

A knock at the door caught his attention, and the curtain slid aside to reveal a young doctor with sandy brown hair. He stopped in his tracks, surprised to find anyone but the patient in the room.

"Hello. Are you a relative of Sofia's?" He inquired, holding a hand out to shake Cedric's.

"Uh... No, no, I'm the one who rode here with her. I just wanted to see if she was alright." He was quick to explain away his presence, grateful to have even this tenuous excuse.

"I think she'll pull through." The doctor reassured him, smiling politely. "But if you're not a relative, I'll have to ask you to step out while I talk to her."

"Of course." Cedric replied, standing to leave. Beside him, Sofia stirred, her sleep disturbed by the sounds of their conversation.

"Cedric?" She croaked out, lifting herself until she was sitting. "Will you come back to visit me later?" She asked, reaching out to grab his hand, though he dodged her grasp. He looked to the doctor to see if it would be okay, and the man nodded.

"It's just a matter of patient privacy, he can come right back, if you want." Sofia grinned up at him, more excited than she probably should have been to have the strange man visiting.

"Please?" She prodded, eyes the colour of a cloudless sky imploring him to agree.

"We'll see." He stuffed his hands into his the pockets of his rough work uniform, missing the shield his robe provided, and left the princess in the care of her doctor, sulking a bit at the arbitrary rules that forced him to leave even though he'd been present for plenty of her physician appointments when she was growing up, and no one had ever taken issue with it before.

Leaning against the wall outside, he listened with forced indifference as she consented to their testing. To be honest, he wasn't sure if she should or shouldn't have it done, since either path had the chance to cause major problems for her.

He was just preparing to return to Sofia's side, after hearing the doctor say goodbye to her, when he caught sight of her 'mother' scrambling to the room. With a sigh, he chose to get another cup of that horrible coffee instead.

From the time he returned onward, there were no good chances to get back to her, or even hang out close enough to hear what was being discussed by the constant influx of medical personnel, along with her parents. Occasionally, the conversation would get surprisingly heated, but he was still too far away to make out what the arguments were about, and he was reluctant to make assumptions. The flurry of activity didn't die down until close to dinner time.

...

"Hey." He mumbled, ducking his head into the room to see if she was up for yet another visitor. She smiled weakly, but her red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes told him all he needed to know about how her day was going so far as he approached the bed, wheeling a small cart over and placing a vending machine sandwich on top of it. Truthfully, he'd been kind of proud of himself for figuring out how to get food from the bulky contraption, but he didn't trouble her with the tale.

Instead, he sat down beside her, tugging apart the sturdy packaging on his own sandwich and bringing it to his lips. "I'm not hungry." Sofia scooted the cart away from herself, then flipped onto her side, facing away from him. Cedric frowned, setting his food aside to follow after.

"What's that about?" He inquired, crouching so his face was close to hers. New tears threatened to spill, just visible in the corners of her eyes. "If you don't get your strength up, you'll be stuck here another night."

She squeezed her eyes shut to block him out, and Cedric scratched the back of his head, trying to think up a new approach.

"Hey... Because of you, I hung around here all day. You're really not even going to speak to me?" Still nothing, and he was getting frustrated. If the old Sofia behaved this way, which she did once in a great while, he had about fifty good tactics for snapping her out of it. He had no idea how to handle this girl's moods, though. "Be that way. Stay in the damn hospital forever, for all I care." He retrieved their food and stormed out of the room, unwilling to so much as glance in her direction again.