Family Bonds.

Series: Disney's Sofia the First.

Summary: Sofia tries to help Sir Dax with his family problem.

Rated PG.

Disclaimers: I don't own series or characters.

Sofia opened her eyes, quickly recalling the events of Halloween yesterday. She'd met a ghost man named Sir Reginald Daxter Sircliff IV, who was simply known as Sir Dax. He was trying to scare everyone out of the castle so he could host his Ghostly Gala, but Sofia kept ruining his attempts to scare everyone out so that he wouldn't ruin her haunted castle party that she was having that same night.

Eventually, Clover (Sofia's rabbit friend) learned from Boo (a ghost bat friend of Daxter's) that Dax hadn't seen his family in a really long time, because his family could only be free to leave their castles and see each other at the Ghostly Gala, which only happened on Halloween once every hundred years.

When Sofia learned of this, she felt so sorry for him and came up with a way so that she and Dax can have their Halloween parties together. They ended up as friends.

Sofia rubbed her blue eyes and looked around for Clover, but to her unexpected surprise, she saw Sir Dax sitting at her window seat, looking sadly out the window. She knew immediately that he was mourning his family. She got up out of her bed, not caring that she was in her nightgown.

"Sir Dax?" she whispered, approaching him.

He looked at her with sad eyes. She wasn't even about to ask if he was okay, she knew he wasn't. That would be a pointless question.

Dax sighed, "Sofia, darling, I'd give anything to be able to leave this castle and see my family when I wish."

Sofia nodded, "That's what I wish, too. It's not fair."

"Sometimes, life isn't fair, princess." he whispered, so low that Sofia barely heard him.

Sofia wished she could hug him, but she was sure she'd just pass right through his form, him being a ghost. Sofia went to a large space of her bedroom floor and began to pace, trying to come up with a good solution to Daxter's problem, hoping she could find some way to help him with this.

Then, she had one. "Come with me, Sir Dax. I have an idea." He followed her out of the bedroom, pondering what the clever girl's idea could be.

She made her way through the castle, until she reached a wooden door with a gargoyle statue sitting on the right side of it. She knocked on the door, loudly.

"Mr. Cedric? Are you here? I need a favor." Sofia called.

After a few seconds, the castle sorcerer opened the door, looking a little tired. "Yes, princess, what is -" he trailed off when he saw Sir Dax.

"Mr. Cedric, this is Sir Dax, and he has a serious problem. We need to talk to your father, please."

"Okay.. as long as it's not me.." he grumbled, and covered his mouth as he yawned. He walked across his room to a large painting of his mom and dad that hung on the wall and he called to it, "Dad, if you're awake, Princess Sofia needs to speak with you about a favor.."

A few moments later, Cedric's father, Goodwin the Great, emerged from the painting, looking wide awake and alert. He was in his usual red wizard robe, and his gray mustache and beard had been brushed. He walked across the room to Sofia.

"Hello, Princess. Hello, son."

"Hello, dad.." Cedric whispered, then climbed back into his bed, and turned his back away from them and the window so he could go back to sleep. Goodwin smiled, expecting something like that from his son.

"Please follow me so that we don't wake up Mr. Cedric." Sofia asked, then Dax and Mr. Goodwin followed her back to her bedroom. Once there, Sofia sat on her bed.

"Mr. Goodwin? My friend, Sir Dax, has a serious problem. He's a ghost, and the problem is, he can't leave the castle and see his family for 100 years. He can only see them on Halloween once every 100 years. And I'm trying to come up with a way that he can see his family when ever he wants to."

Goodwin smiled at the sweet princess, warmed by her desire to help. "Let's see what I can do, princess Sofia." he said. Sofia put some slippers on, then followed Goodwin and Dax outside into the garden. They walked further away from the castle, but they hadn't gone too far before a transparent barrier appeared before Dax, not allowing him to go past it.

Dax turned to them. "You see? I can't leave the castle grounds. I can venture outside the castle walls, obviously, but this barrier surrounds the castle, and keeps me from being able to go any further."

Mr. Goodwin thought for a few seconds, then just slowly shook his head. "I'm very sorry, princess, but there's nothing I can do. This power was set in place long before my time. No power of mine is stronger than this, and I can not alter it in any way."

Sofia looked down at the ground, her hopeful expression turned to disappointment. She had hoped she could help Daxter in some way. "I'm sorry, Sir Dax. I tried."

She closed her eyes, trying to think of other ideas that might be able to help Daxter, and trying to hold back any tears from coming. She wasn't about to give up on her friend. Then, seconds later, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes, thinking the hand was Mr. Goodwin's, but she was surprised to find that it was Daxter's hand. She didn't think her ghost friend would be able to touch her. Then, she remembered yesterday that he had touched the sheets, sat on the sofa, and laid on the table.

Before Sofia could speak of that, Dax said, "Sofia, darling, please don't let my problem become yours.."

"But I wanted to help you. I wish I could."

Daxter gave her a warm smile. "I know, dear.. I've lived for a little over 400 years. I'm used to being without my family, but thank you so much for trying," Dax looked over at the wizard. "You as well, Mr. Goodwin." he paused, now looking concerned, "Well.. Let's go back inside. It's cold out here, Sofia, and I don't want you to become ill."

Sofia agreed, having no robe over her nightgown for warmth.

Once in the bedroom, Sofia noticed that some one had brought in her breakfast and sat it on her bedside table. She cuddled into the bed blankets for warmth, waking Clover in the process. He looked around the room, groggily, said "hey" to everyone, then spotted a bowl of vegetables on the table beside Sofia's bed. He rushed over to the table, got the bowl of food, and set it on the bed. Then, he began to devour the veggies, happily. Sofia didn't mind.

Mr. Goodwin sat at Sofia's reading table, in deep thought. Daxter sat beside Sofia, both of them watching Mr. Goodwin every now and then, hopeful that the wise wizard would come up with a solution to the problem. They waited, and then Mr. Goodwin pause, then a smile came to his face.

A new wave of hope came to Sofia and Daxter as they got up and rushed over to Mr. Goodwin. He put up his hands, gesturing for them to calm down.

"Alright," he said, "I have a solution. Mirrors." Mr. Goodwin told them. Sofia and Dax looked at each other, then back at Mr. Goodwin. "You see, my son has a picture of my wife and I hanging up in his room. I have a picture of my son hanging up in my bedroom. The pictures are connected to each other like a portal or doorway."

Sofia and Dax nodded, understanding.

Goodwin continued, "I have a painting of Cedric, and Cedric has a painting of me and his mom. We can travel though this paintings to visit each other no matter how far away we are. Mirrors can act as forms of communication as well. Let me show you."

Goodwin took out his wand and with a wave of it, he said something in another language and a tall mirror appeared. "Now, Sir Dax. Come to the mirror and speak then name of the person you wish to speak with."

Dax took a breath of hope, then said, "I wish to speak with my Auntie Bess, please."

The mirror rippled like water for several seconds, then the reflection changed to show Daxter's Aunt Bess in a library of another castle across the land. She paused in her book searching when she saw a tall mirror appear before her, it was showing Sir Dax, Sofia, and Mr. Goodwin on the other side of it. She was clearly surprised by this, and happy to see her nephew.

"Aunt Bess?" Daxter asked, stepping closer to the mirror.

"Daxter, dear? What's all this about?" she smiled, stepping closer to her side of the mirror as well.

Daxter smiled. "This kind wizard has given me a mirror that will allow me to call my family and speak to them when I wish."

Aunt Bess' smile grew brighter upon hearing this, knowing that mirrors could do such things. "Can you come through this mirror, Daxter?"

Goodwin was the one to answer, "No, I'm afraid not. He can't leave this castle by any means, but he can talk with and see you now. Or any other member of his family."

"I don't care about not being able to travel through the mirror," Dax said, smiling just as brightly as Aunt Bess was, "Just being able to speak with you and see you is so much better than nothing."

"Now," Goodwin said, speaking to Aunt Bess, "The mirror on your side can be used to call Sir Dax, or any one else. It is yours to keep. The mirror will also give the other person you call their own mirror to call you in return only if you wish for that. If not, then when you are done talking with the other person, the mirror on the other person's side will vanish from their sight." he turned to Dax, "Daxter, it is the same with your mirror as well."

Dax nodded, completely understanding. Sofia understood as well. She was so happy to see Daxter happy. Clover was watching all this, happy for Dax as well.

Mr. Goodwin put away his wand, happy that he was able to help, "Well, I need to get back home. My wife will be waking up any time now." Goodwin told them and Sofia suddenly gave him a hug. He smiled and returned the hug before she let go.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Goodwin." Daxter told him, the smile never leaving Dax's face.

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Goodwin." Sofia said, beaming.

"Your welcome, and Daxter, if you have anymore questions, just call me by way of the mirror. Alright?"

"Yes, sir." Dax replied.

Mr. Goodwin nodded with a smile, "Good day all."

And with that, he vanished in a could of red smoke, returning back to his home in Mystic Meadows where his wife was.

Sofia suddenly felt Dax's arms wrap around her in a warm hug.

"Thank you, Sofia."

Sofia smiled. "You're welcome, Sir Dax." she paused, putting a hand on her stomach, now realizing how hungry she really was now, "I better eat.. I'm starving."

Daxter let her go and she went over to the table. She took her breakfast plate off it, then sat down on her bed beside Clover and sat the plate on her lap. She began eating while Daxter and Aunt Bess began their conversations, looking as though they wished they could hug each other.

Daxter told Aunt Bess all about yesterday, from his first meeting Sofia, all they way Daxter's big scare when he had to scare all the bats out of the ballroom so he and Sofia could have their parties. Then, Dax remembered something.

"Oh, and speaking of my 'really big scare'.. Clover?" he smirked, looking over at Clover.

"Yeah?" Clover asked, his mouth full of food.

Dax smiled before saying, "Don't ever call be 'baby' again."

Aunt Bess raised an eyebrow and Clover instantly became embarrassed. "I didn't mean it like that!"

Daxter's smile grew bigger, "I know.. But still.."

"I have an idea." Clover said, trying to hide his growing embarrassment. "Let's never speak of it again."

Sofia, Aunt Bess, and Dax started laughing, they couldn't help it. Clover gave them an annoyed look, then went back to eating.

Afterward, Sofia got dressed in warm clothing, then she and Dax decided to give Aunt Bess a tour of the castle by asking the mirror to travel along side of them. They made sure that no one saw them, especially Sofia's older sister Amber. She was terrified of ghosts. Sofia's brother James, however, had seen Sir Dax with Sofia and wasn't afraid of him. Amber and James were twins of the boy/girl kind, and James was very brave, but Amber, not so much.

Boo, the ghost bat that was friends with all of them, joined them. He was very happy to hear about the mirror that allowed Dax to speak with his family again as well.

Daxter sat with Sofia on the ground in the garden, watching and listening to each other talk. A joy that he hadn't felt in years filling him completely.

Sofia smiled, "I'm so happy that you can see your family again, Sir Dax."

"Me, too. Thank you, darling Sofia."

"You're welcome, Sir Dax."

THE END.

Requests:
I don't take requests or do author collaborations, sorry.

(c)Copyright:
Story is copyrighted to me under my names:
sofia4cc of DeviantArt,com.
Sofia n Nancy of FanFiction,net.