Disclaimer: I do not own 'Sofia The First' or 'Tales from The Book of Virtues'

A/N: So here's the last chapter. This is actually the first multi-chapter story I've completed. So yay! for me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

—

The next morning, Hildegarde lay in her large soft bed. Specially heated with a magic spell courtesy of Friezenburg's Royal Sorcerer, in order to stave off the cold natural to the icy kingdom.

Fluttering her eyes open, the girl yawned and stretched before sitting up in her bed.

"Hmm" she moaned, rubbing her eyes as she looked around the room. Wondering why she had such a strange sense of deja vu...

The girl went to her vanity and began to brush her hair. Admiring her reflection as she did so.

Having preened her appearance to satisfaction she set the brush back down, before staring curiously at the empty space next to it.

Suddenly, in the flash of a moment, she remembered the thread which had allowed her to skip through time. The memory was fuzzy though, as if it had been merely the final wisps of a nearly forgotten dream...

Did any of it actually happen? She wondered to herself...

Shaking the thought away, she called for one of her handmaidens to aid her in getting dressed. Wanting to make a good impression on her first day of school.

—-

The princess arrived in front of The School For Royal Fashions. As she looked up at the imposing building, she could vaguely recall having missed her first day here, when she still had the magic thread. Though she couldn't seem remember anything else. The memories being too far distant...

Once iside the school she was directed to her classroom, where she was amazed by the sight of the beautiful fabrics which adorned the area. Mannequins used for fitting dresses, and practicing tailoring also lined the walls.

Though the scene brought her excitement as she tho of all the things she could learn at this school. She also felt quite a bit of apprehension, not unlike her first day of Royal Prep. Though in typical Hildegarde fashion, she kept her expression aloof of both those emotions.

As she looked around, wondering where she should sit, she was surprised to hear a familiar voice.

"Hildegarde!"

Looking, she saw someone waving her over, "Prince Khalid?"

"Hey! Come sit with me." he offered, pulling out the chair next to him.

"Um okay..." she said, sitting down and fixing him with a curious stare. "I didn't realize you were coming here."

"Surprise!" he smirked, "But you do know that my name was up on that wall for this school right next to yours at the Royal School Fair, right?"

"Oh! Of course. I knew that." she lied, concealing her face with a fan. Though in reality she had, as usual, been too caught up in herself to notice it at the time.

It was nice to see the prince though. True, they hadn't exactly been close during their Royal Prep days. But it was still good to see a familiar face.

"So how was your summer?" he asked.

Of course, the princess was always happy for an opportunity to talk about herself. And before long the two of them were exchanging anecdotes from their respective vacations.

Soon the room was filled with students, and class was underway. Like most schools, the first day mainly consisted of introductions, as well as seat arrangements. Hildegarde and Khalid were separated from one another. Which was a bit discouraging to the princess. But she figured they'd at least be able to see each other at lunch. And perhaps they'd be able to work on a few projects together at some point...

At last it was time to retire to the cafeteria. Where she met up once more with the Khaldunian prince. Who was now sitting next to girl she had never seen before.

"Hey Hildegarde." he greeted when she approached their table. Before turning back to the girl next to him. "Abigail, this is Hildegarde. We went to Royal Prep together." he introduced. "Hildegarde, Abigail. Abigail, Hildegarde."

Hildegarde sat down and observed the new girl. "You're not a princess..."

Abigail giggled a bit at that assessment. "No, but my family has been designing clothes for royal families for generations. And I thought I'd keep up the tradition."

"Oh. Of course..." she guessed that made sense. After all, unlike Royal Prep these secondary schools weren't reserved for just princes and princesses. For example, she knew that Chivalry Hall accepted practically all transfers from the Junior Knights. So it was likely The School for Royal Fashions was no different.

The three of them conversed freely throughout lunch, and Hildegarde was sur to find she liked Abigail quite a bit. It was funny, only a few years ago the haughty princess wouldn't be caught dead associating so familiarly with a commoner. Especially one who was not a denizen of her own kingdom. These days however the Friezenburg's perspective had greatly changed, thanks to her relationship with Sofia, and she felt she could truly be friends with the other girl.

As the trio prepared to return to class. Hildegarde thought she could see a familiar face amongst the group of older students. One she certainly didn't expect to see here of all places.

"Is that Prince Axel?!" she gasped. The brother of Prince Hugo had graduated from Royal Prep not long after she herself had first arrived. And was likely close to the end of his secondary schooling as well.

Khalid turned around to see. "Hey, I think you're right. Prince Axel!" he called.

The older boy turned from a conversation with his friends upon hearing his name. An amused smile coming to his face as he recognized the group.

"Well, if it isn't some of my baby bros old classmates. Fancy meeting you here."

"We could say the same thing about you. I thought you'd be going to 'Ever Realm Academy." Khalid said.

"Yeah, I have for the most part." Axel admitted. "But I figured I ought to change things up a bit every few semesters or so. Try something new."

"So you picked 'The School For Royal Fashions'?..." Hildegarde gaped, still unable to believe she was seeing the prince here.

The older boy shrugged. "Yeah, I know. But I've actually been really enjoying it. Besides, I figured if Hugo was brave enough to do enchanted ice dancing, then I could at least give this a shot."

Hildegarde smiled, tickled by his explanation, and genuinely surprised that Axel of all people had any interest in fashion.

—

"Welcome home, your majesty."

Hildegarde, now dressed in a heavy coat. Stepped out of the carriage, a pleasant smile on her face.

"Thank you.' she said, taking the man's offered hand and stepping delicately out of the vehicle. Her father rushing to greet her.

"Hildy!" King Heinrich gushed, ever the devoted father. "How was your first day of school?"

"Wonderful! I made a new friend, and Prince Khalid from Royal Prep was there too!" Hildegarde said.

"How lovely," her father agreed. "Here, why don't you come inside. We'll have some tea and you can tell Astrid and I all about it."

In a small room set up with a royal tea Hildegarde was happily continuing her visit with her father and sister, when servant suddenly garnered their attention.

"Beg your pardon your majesties. But Princess Hildegarde has a visitor."

Princess Amber stepped inside, causing Hildegarde to light up. "Amber!" she cheered, hurrying to embrace her friend.

The Enchancian eyes widened in shock. Not used to receiving such a gesture from her fellow princess. But she returned the sentiment nevertheless, wrapping her arms warmly around the other girl.

"Hey, Hildy." she said, pulling back and retrieving something from her pocket. "I brought your fan back."

"Thank you" Hildegarde smiled, briefly examining the Nettledrop design upon the blue silk.

"Would you care to join us Princess Amber?" King Heinrich offered.

"Oh?" Amber wondered, turning her attention to Hildegarde who was nodding eagerly. The Enchancian smiled, "Yes. I'd love to visit for a while."

Some time later a maid arrived after with news that Princess Clio had arrived to see Hildegarde as well.

"Yes, tell her I'll be right there!" Hildegarde ordered, before excusing herself and rushing to meet up with her best friend. Amber pardoned herself likewise, returning to her coach to be taken back to Enchancia.

—

Hildegarde saw her the other princess waiting for her in the castle foyer. "Clio!" she called.

Clio turned and smiled at the sight of her friend. "Hey, Hildy!" she greeted her with a hug "How was your first day of school?"

"It was great! Khalid was there, and Axel too if you can believe it. Oh and I met this new girl, Abigail. I'll have to introduce you some time." Hildegarde informed eagerly.

"That would be nice." Clio agreed.

"Yes...So, how was your first day?"

Clio smiled, "It was great! I'm really excited for this first year."

The Friezenburger nodded in agreement. "Me too."

"Well," Clio started, changing the subject, " I came over because I wanted to see if you'd like to do something with me this evening. I felt kind of bad we weren't able to spend the last day of our summer vacation together. Maybe we could go to that dress shop you like so much!"

Hildegarde certainly would have preferred that, but...

"Actually, why don't we go see a play?" she suggested.

Clio blinked in surprise, "But... you don't like plays."

"Yes... But I know how much you like them Clio. And I thought perhaps it would be good to do something you like for a change."

"Oh... really?" Clio asked, seeing a nod of approval and sincere smile from her friend.

"Okay...um...let's see..." the pink clad princess began searching her memory to see if she knew of any shows being perfo tonight. She did tend to keep tabs on these sorts of things.

"I think they're actually playing 'The Princess and I' back in Corinthia tonight. If we hurry, I think we can make it." she suggested, gesturing to her coach.

"Sounds Perfect!" Hildegarde said, as they climbed inside and set off towards Corinthia.

—-

They arrived shortly before the show started, pleased to see there were enough seats left for them to buy a couple of tickets. Sitting down, just as the lights started to dim and the curtains opened.

Clio reached over and gave Hildegarde's hand a squeeze. "Thanks Hildy. I've actually really been wanting to see this." she whispered, soft enough so as not to disturb the rest of the audience.

"No problem." Hildegarde assured, as both girls turned their attention to the actors upon the stage...

—

The two princesses stepped outside the theatre. Clio smiling in contentment.

"Did you have a good time?" Hildegarde asked.

Clio nodded, "I did! Thanks Hildy, I'm glad you came here with me. Even though it's not your favorite thing."

"It was alright..." Hildegarde shrugged. Though it was true she had found the whole affair rather boring, it was still nice to just be with her best friend.

"Though, I did think you could have done a better job as the lead..." She remarked, thoughtfully.

"Really?" Clio asked, knowing her friend wasn't the type to hand out compliments.

"Yes," Hildegarde confirmed.

Clio blushed, "They're actually planning on doing the same play at my school."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was thinking about trying out for it "

Hildegarde gave her friend an encouraging smile. "Then you should! And I'll be sure to be there at your performance!" She said, having every intention on following through with that promise.

"Thanks, Hildy..." Clio smiled. "That means a lot to me."

"Of course! But for now, I think our next activity should be visiting that dress shop tomorrow.

Clio giggled, having fully expected that. "Sure."

—

At last it was time for Hildegarde to go to bed. And as she changed into her nightgown, she found herself feeling strangely content. It almost surreal, as if she hadn't felt that way in a very long time...

A thought came to her, and she decided to test it out.

"Dippy!"

The fairy god mother appeared in her usual manner. Turning around, she smiled at her charge. "Why hello Hildegarde."

"So it wasn't a dream!" the princess gasped.

Dippy cocked her head, "You remember?"

"Bits and pieces..." she admitted. Though she could tell that the memory of the life she had lived with the string was slowing fading from her mind. And she suspected that it wouldn't be long before the memory was completely out of her reach.

The lesson she had learned however, seemed to be cemented quite firmly in her brain.

"Well, I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you with your friend Clio."

"It's alright, I actually think Clio and I are going to be just fine..." Hildegarde said wistfully, as she thought of the evening she shared with her.

"Well! I guess I'd better be on my way!" Dippy announced, starting to take off.

"What?!" Hildegarde gasped, "But I thought you were my fairy god mother! Aren't you supposed to stay with me?"

Dippy halted mid flight, turning to give the girl a confused frown. "Is that how it works?..." she tapped her wand to her temple as if trying to remember. "Oh yes! You're right! Well, It's just normally after I fail with helping someone they usually ask me to leave."

Hildegarde thought that made sense. After all, if the fairy had a habit of giving things like the magic thread out. No doubt she often caused more harm than good, even if it was unintentional...

But still, it wasn't like Dippy had actually failed in helping Hildegarde. After all, she did feel closer with Clio now. And she could tell they were on their way to a more meaningful friendship, despite having to go to different schools. All thanks to the rather harsh lesson she had learned in her previous life. So even if it was in a roundabout way, Dippy had helped her. And although she no longer wanted to risk any wishes with her, she still thought that perhaps...

"Well, Why don't you stay with me." she offered.

"Really?!"

"Of course. Besides, I've always wanted my very own fairy god mother."

"Oh, joy!" Dippy cried, wrapping her arms around the girl.

Hildegarde flinched at first, but soon returned the sentiment. Glad to have made yet another new friend. And looking forward to the fulfilling life ahead of her. Which she would wholeheartedly experience, ups and downs, with immense gratitude.

—-

A/N: The end. Thank you for reading.