A/N: Hello, this is my first fanfiction for the Sofia the First fandom, so please treat me gently. Constructive feedback is desired, but any form of encouragement is greatly appreciated, as I am very new to this and have little faith in my writing skills.

CH. 1

An exhausted Cedric climbed up the stairs of his gloomy tower, towards the beloved privacy of his workshop. The sun had set a couple hours ago, and his day had been filled with a seemingly never ending list of chores around the castle. Everyone in the castle was preparing for the Lovers' Ball, a great dance held to celebrate the end of winter in Enchancia.

'The Lovers' were a symbol of romance and camaraderie from a famous deck of enchanted cards, and were celebrated with dancing and socializing. Two things Cedric vehemently despised. The Royal Sorcerer would have loved nothing more than to be left out of the whole affair, but as the entire Kingdom as well as many royals from surrounding Kingdoms had been invited, and King Roland had summoned Cedric in order to help spruce up the grounds in order for the castle to be ready by the end of the week. So, after several hours of casting decorative spells under Baileywick's (constant) supervision, Enchancia's Royal Sorcerer wanted to simply go to his room, brew a pot of tea, and relax.

Unfortunately, after he slipped off his purple Sorcerer's robe and was about to put his copper kettle over his fireplace, the silence in the room was broken by a firm tapping noise. Perplexed, Cedric arched an eyebrow and straightened up at once.

"Who on earth would bother me at this hour?" he muttered, walking towards the heavy door to his chambers. He opened it, prepared to give a scathing lecture to whomever was there, but was surprisingly met with an empty stairwell. He shut the door and turned around in one movement, Cedric scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I guess I must have imagined tha-" he began, before his was cut off by the annoying tapping noise again, which seemed slightly louder and more persistent than before.

Wormwood gave a caw, and motioned his beak in the direction of the window nearest to Cedric's wilting begonias. Narrowing his eyes, Cedric climbed the ladder to the balcony of his workshop and walked towards the curtained window. Grabbing a fistful of the maroon colored fabric in his hands, he hesitated for a moment to glance over to Wormy, who had perched himself nearby and gave his master a encouraging nod. With that, Cedric suddenly threw back the thick curtains and found himself staring into a pair of wide green eyes.

He let out a startled yelp that was met with a similar gasp from the stranger outside before she apparently fell off something and disappeared. Cedric threw open the window and stuck his head outside, looking around frantically.

'Oh dear,' he thought worriedly. A fall from that height would turn anything into a splatter on the lawn below. How was he going to explain that to the King? Or worse- Baileywick!

Just as he was about sure he was going to start having a panic attack, a giggle rang through the air and he snapped his head up from scanning the grounds below.

A tall young woman with dark hair and the same emerald eyes from earlier was floating effortlessly on a broomstick. A lock of her hair that was braided with colored glass beads and a flower barrette poked out from under a peculiar pointed hat with a couple feathers in it. She looked slightly older than Princess Sofia, perhaps 19 or 20.

"Wow, that would have been a doozy, huh?" she peeked up at Cedric and grinned sheepishly.

"And just who are you?" Cedric crossed his arms, trying to his composure.

"Who, me?" said the young lady, gesturing a fingerless-gloved hand to herself.

Cedric rolled his eyes "Who else would I be talking to?"

"I'm Lucinda the Good Witch. Nice to meet you!" Cedric couldn't tell in the dark, but he could swear she was sporting a vulpine grin.

"Charmed." he replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. "And what exactly are you doing knocking on my window at this late hour? Let me guess: you want some sort of spell from Cedric the Royal Sorcerer?"

"Actually..." said Lucinda, pulling out a twiggy wand and waving it in a small circle in the air. With a puff of smoke, she had seemingly disappeared from right before Cedric's eyes, until he felt a tap on his shoulder. The young witch stood behind him in his workshop, leaning one elbow nonchalantly on her broomstick.

"I'm all good in the spells department, being a witch and all. Thanks, though." she stuffed her wand back in her sleeve and sighed. "To be honest, I thought this was Sofia's room."

"How could you ever mistake my dark, manly lair as the room of a princess?!" Cedric gestured around to his beakers and books.

"'Dark, manly lair'?" Lucinda quirked an eyebrow before answering. "Well, it was the tallest tower in the whole castle, and I thought to myself 'you know, if I were a princess, I would want my room to be there!' Guess I was wrong." She shrugged, and Cedric felt himself grow more and more irritated with this obnoxious witch.

"I was coming to ask Sofia for some advice on something." Lucinda continued, while looking around curiously. "You see, a few years ago I used to be really bad at talking to people, but then I met Sofia and she helped me, and now I have many precious friendships."

Lucinda stopped and looked up at Wormwood, who gave her a glare and a rude click of his beak.

"Behave yourself, Wormwood!" Cedric snapped, before looking to Lucinda. The mention of Sofia's kindness seemed to have quelled a bit of his irritation. "That very much sounds like a thing Princess Sofia would do."

The young witch smiled at him, but her eyes looked a bit sullen. "Yes, but I have an even bigger problem now, and I don't even know if Sofia could help me this time…" Lucinda let out a sad sigh. "I...I've fallen in love with someone. But I don't know what to do… or even how to tell them! I want to ask them to the Lover's Ball, but I've never done anything like that. I just don't think I can."

Lucinda's eyes were starting to shimmer, and Cedric and Wormwood exchanged a worried glance. Weepy girls were not one of Cedric's strong points. Wanting to avoid any of the upcoming waterworks, Cedric put a firm but gentle hand on Lucinda's shoulder and steered her towards the window.

"Well, I'm sure Princess Sofia would be happy to help you, but for now I think it would be best if you go home, because this Royal Sorcerer has a long day of rose budding spells and floor polishing charms tomorrow. Ta-ta!" he opened the window wide open and began to usher Lucinda out when suddenly she lifted her head towards him, her eyes wide with a sudden realization.

"I know! You could help me!" she burst out joyfully.

"M-me?" Cedric stammered, taking a startled step back.

"Yes!" she looked him directly in the eye with a hopeful optimism that made Cedric recall all-too-well the requests of a certain princess. "I mean, we're so much alike! We both come from magical backgrounds, and find it hard to get along with others. Like me, you clearly don't have many friends."

"Excuse me, young lady, but I have plenty of friends!" Cedric argued.

"Name four, then." Lucinda countered flatly.

Taken aback, Cedric began to count on his fingers, determined to prove this pest of a girl wrong.

"Princess Sofia of course, Greylock, Wormwood…" he looked away, embarrassed "...Mummy-"

"Moms don't count!" Lucinda cut him off, and waved her arms at him. "But this is the point, don't you see? YOU can relate to me much better than Sofia in this case!"

"Listen, I highly doubt I can relate to your situation." replied Cedric, shutting his eyes as he rubbed his temples. This girl was proving to be more of a headache than Baileywick!

"But Sorcerer!" Lucinda whined "Haven't you ever loved someone that is different than you? Maybe they don't come from a magical family, or maybe you did something bad to them in the past? But they still accepted you anyway? And when they did it made you want to be… well, 'good'?"

Lucinda could swear Cedric's shoulders stiffened at that. She let herself hope for a moment she had stumbled on some kind of weak spot of his, and held her breath. He took a sharp intake of air and let it out in an irritated sigh, finally peeking through his fingers and studied her for a moment. Her bright green eyes were unwavering, and he let out a defeated groan and pushed back his gray bangs.

"Merlin's mushrooms…Fine." he muttered grumpily, pulling out his wand in a fluid motion from inside his waistcoat. He flicked it towards the copper kettle he had abandoned earlier and it hooked itself on the rod above the pile of wood in the fireplace, and in a puff a fire began to crackle strongly beneath it. "But first, let's put on a pot of tea."