~A Sofia the First Fanfiction~

Disclaimer: I did not create, nor do I own Sofia or any characters in her world. It all belongs to Disney. I'm just a mom who has had to watch endless hours of Sofia The First with my daughter and easily picked up on the Sofia/Cedric pairing. Honestly, I'm surprised more people don't understand it, hmm? They are quite the perfect pair.

Chapter 1: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Clutching a tea tray and deep in thought, Sofia began the familiar climb up the spiral staircase to the royal sorcerer's tower. Almost seventeen, Sofia was blossoming into a beautiful young woman. She had traded in her favorite lilac gown for a modest, square neck, deep plum gown that hugged her at the waist and accentuated her newly discovered curves. She still wore the Amulet of Avalor, which had remained red since she freed Princess Elena from it years ago. Her auburn curls hung to the middle of her back, and rather than a tiara, most days she wore a circlet of flowers in her hair, gathered on her frequent walks in the palace gardens.

Sofia was flourishing in her studies at Royal Prep, Captain of the Flying Derby team and top of the class in sorcery. Truth be told, though she was a model student, she was rather bored with most of the other subjects, not having ever particularly been interested in becoming a Queen. This was the reason for her visit to Cedric today. She had been trying to gain snippets of magical knowledge and spells from him over the years, but it wasn't enough. Though she knew she was expected to be like her sister, Amber, who as of late was very excited to make a favorable match with a handsome prince and get married and have lots of royal children,, she realized she was quite different. Perhaps it was her peasant upbringing early in life, but she always felt a bit out of place as a Royal.

The only person she really thought would understand her desire to become a sorceress was her dear Aunt Tilly. King Roland's quirky older sister, The Duchess Matilda, had renounced her claim to the throne as the oldest heir and chosen instead to run off and explore the world. This was perceived by the kingdom as extremely uncommon, but all Tilly cared about was having as many adventures as possible. She didn't even settle down until after Sofia became a princess, when she met her true love, a fellow brave adventurer, Sir Bartelby, also called "The Silent Knight". He was the bravest Knight in the kingdom with a one of a kind voice and a heart of gold. Though, they hadn't really "settled down", rather they went on many more grand adventures together. They recently had a beautiful wedding at the palace and it was during the reception that Sofia confessed to her Aunt that rather than begin courting to find a suitor, all she wanted was to study magic and become a Sorceress. She also wanted to continue with her Storykeeper duties and complete as many stories in the secret library as possible. TIlly was thrilled and fully encouraged her to go to the King and request permission to do so. Though Sofia was extremely nervous, she decided to give it a shot. After having a honest discussion with her father, he had given his permission for her to request Cedric to let her become a real apprentice and study magic with him for several years. He assured her there was no rush to settle down and that he and her mother supported her in this decision. King Roland had become rather fond of Cedric over the years, for as he gained more experience he became a more confident and successful royal sorcerer. Sofia's constant praise and encouragement seemed to have helped Cedric quite a bit in that area as well. King Roland thought that Sofia would be in good hands and was intrigued at the idea of having his daughter learn magic and potentially have two sorcerers at his disposal. It would only benefit the kingdom, as far as he was concerned.

Sofia reached the familiar door, took a deep breath, and knocked.

"Come in… you will anyway," Cedric grumbled, deeply immersed in a potion he was trying to finish.

"Hello Mr. Cedric!" Sofia greeted in her sing song voice. "I brought you tea!"

"Princess Sofia, I am very busy at the moment. I need to finish this potion for Wormwood, he is feeling ill and I am tired of his incessant squawking." Cedric replied grumpily.

Sofia's face fell. She looked over to Wormwood's perch, where the poor bird sat, feathers falling off him, looking rather worse for the wear. She set down the tea tray on Cedric's desk and ran over to the perch.

"Poor Wormwood, I'm sorry you aren't well!" She said, stroking his back.

Wormwood squawked and ruffled his wings, shaking her hand off.

"Don't touch me, you pestering princess" He drawled, "I don't need you to comfort me."

Cedric came over to Wormwood's perch with a dropperful of the completed potion. He dropped a few drops into Wormwood's mouth and the bird relaxed and immediately fell asleep, tucking his head under his wing.

"Will he be alright?" Sofia asked, her brow furrowed, both annoyed with and concerned for the raven.

"He'll be fine. He just needs three drops of this restorative potion twice a day for the next few days." Cedric replied, watching Wormwood and absently rubbing his neck, worry evident in his eyes.

He finally turned his attention to the Princess. "Now, what did you need, Sofia?"

Sofia gestured to his desk. "I brought up a tea tray, I thought you might need a break and that perhaps we could have afternoon tea together."

Cedric crossed his arms and looked at her suspiciously. "All right, what do you want?"

"Nothing! I just thought we could have tea!" Sofia exclaimed, nervously clasping her hands in front of her and blushing, for a moment looking like the innocent 8 year old she was when Cedric first met her. Cedric smiled, remembering what a nuisance she was to him in those days.

"Very well, let's have tea then. Shall we go down to the gardens?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I would love that!" She said, picking up the tray and leading him outside.

They sat at a table surrounded by beautiful lilac bushes, near a stream. This was one of Sofia's favorite places to come and read. Sofia served the tea and they both enjoyed the silence for a moment, sipping the peppermint tea that Sofia knew he liked best.

"Cedric, my seventeenth birthday is in a week, and I wanted to ask a favor of you." she said, looking at him nervously.

"Ah, I should have known. The usual magic show and fireworks I assume?" He asked, rolling his eyes, his suspicion that she wanted something from him confirmed.

"No! Well, enchanted fireworks would be nice, but I'd really like you to teach me how to conjure them myself. I'd like you to teach me everything you know, in fact. I'm in my final year at Royal Prep, and I'm third in line for the throne. I don't really want to become a Queen, and over the years learning little tidbits of magic from you has made me realize that I would like to seriously study Sorcery. Would you accept me as a real apprentice and teach me?" she rushed, blurting out everything she had been thinking about for the last weeks.

Cedric stared at her, mouth agape. He knew she was rather talented at magic, and she always was trying to get him to show her new things. She constantly pestered him in his workshop. (Though if he was truthful he enjoyed their friendship and didn't mind her company.) He cleared his throat.

"Princess Sofia, even if I agreed to teach you, I highly doubt your father would approve. I'm sure he has much bigger plans for you, and even if he did agree to let you study sorcery, I'm sure he'd want to find a much better teacher than I". He looked to the ground, his insecurity briefly making him vulnerable. "Besides," he continued, "I'm sure in another year or two King Roland will start bringing princes around so that you may make a favorable match and secure an alliance for Enchancia." Cedric would have had to been blind not to notice as of late, especially with her new attire, that she was growing into a lovely young woman, no longer a sweet little girl. What he didn't realize, until he put the statement into words, was how much he disliked the idea of her being married off to some spoiled prince. He knew it was inevitable, and he realized he would miss having her in his workshop.

"I won't be married to someone I don't want! Especially for the sake of forming an alliance! And I am way too young for that!" Sofia exclaimed, fire in her eyes.

"I already discussed this with my father, and he gave his blessing for me to study with you as long as you agree. Please, Cedric. I can't think of anyone better to teach me magic." Her face softened, she looked at him imploringly.

Cedric looked into those piercing blue eyes, and felt his will crumble away.

"Very well, Sophia. I will allow you to study with me as my apprentice. If your father gave permission it's not like I could refuse anyway. We will meet after school for now, and then I will expect you in my workshop every day in the summer. Once you graduate from Royal Prep we will really be able to get to work. Sorcery is not something that can be learned quickly. Most sorcerers start studying at the age of 5 and aren't officially deemed a full fledged Sorcerer until age 20. You have a lot of catching up to do!"

"I understand Cedric. I will work hard and do my best to make you proud," Sofia responded fervently, rising from her chair.

"You have always made me proud, Sofia" Cedric replied, rising as well, and looking at her fondly.

"That is so sweet, thank you, Cedric!" Sofia exclaimed, lunging forward and wrapping her arms around the sorcerers waist, hugging him tightly. Cedric stood there, uncomfortable in the embrace. She pulled back and kissed his cheek lightly. "I'm going to go tell my mom the good news!" She ran off, waving at him cheerfully, a faint blush creeping over her cheeks.. He stared after her, shocked, lightly rubbing his cheek where she had kissed him. He absently vanished the tea tray away, shaking his head. "Merlin's Mushrooms, what have I gotten myself into," he thought to himself, heading back to his tower lost in thought.