A/U: Sofia never became a princess, when she grows up she takes a job as a librarian at the castle. In this she is 20, Cedric is in his 30s. Not sure where I'm going with this... so enjoy?

1.

Sofia walked into the library, it was rather impressive. She had only just gotten the job in the palace, and she could already tell that she would be quite happy here. She had never imagined herself as a librarian, but money had gotten tight. Helping her mother make shoes wasn't cutting it anymore. She found out through rumors that the position of librarian was open at the castle and had jumped on the opportunity.

Not only would she be earning great money, but she would also have her own quarters. It was just a small room that branched off from the library, but it had an amazing view. And it was hers. At the age of 20 she should have been preparing for marriage, but had ignored any offers that had come her way. Sofia had her own plans, and they didn't include settling down with a husband at the moment.

Working at the castle would help her realize her dreams. She would finally make enough money to leave Enchancia, and explore the world. Of course first she had to tackle the library.

According to the steward, Baileywick, no one had really worked there for a while. The place was in disarray, so that seemed obvious. After all the cleaning that would be involved she would need to inventory all of the books to see if anything was missing. It was daunting, but she had been greatly cheered when the king had allotted her a small allowance to purchase new books as she saw fit. Overall, Sofia felt pretty good about this new job.

She walked along the bookshelves, marveling at the immense collection before her. She had been to the bookshops in town, but they were nothing compared to this. Here she was surrounded by them from floor to ceiling. Everything was quite dusty, and books had been left scattered about on the various tables and some even sat on the floor.

With a large sigh, Sofia got to work. They had provided her with cleaning supplies, and she started to wipe everything down and then sweep. After that was done, several hours later, she took a look behind the circulation desk. The previous librarian had kept an extensive catalogue of the books within the library, but it was outdated. She started going through the shelves, prepared to make notes on what was missing.

Eventually she realized that there were only 3 books not in the library that should be, and they were from the magic section. She looked through the massive window and out to the tower that somewhat obscured her view. The light was still on, even as late as it had gotten. She knew after the tour she had been given that he resided there. The royal sorcerer, Mr. Cedric. Sofia had never met a sorcerer before, and had never seen magic preformed outside of a magician's booth during festivals. Just looking at the tower made her burn with curiosity, and she thought how exciting it would be to meet him. Sure, she had heard the rumors. People said he was a terrible sorcerer, and nothing compared to his father who had come before him. Sofia decided to ignore the gossip, even if he wasn't a very good sorcerer he could still preform magic. And if she had learned anything in her life it was that rumors couldn't always be trusted. She decided to see him tomorrow, and inquire about the missing texts. It would be a great excuse to finally meet him.

Sofia wiped the dust from her forehead and headed towards her quarters. It was a small room, but it was all hers. She sat on her little bed and smiled. The light from the lantern danced on the ceiling and against the walls. There was another window, facing out to the gardens and the sorcerer's tower. There was a small dresser, a closet, and a nightstand. Just having privacy for once was wonderful. Back at her mother's cottage she had shared a room with her mom.

As she started to get ready for bed, she found herself continually glancing back out her window. The light in the tower was still on.

#

In the morning Sofia wrote down the titles of the missing books from the magical section. She ate breakfast with the servants, quietly watching everyone chatter and gossip. The royal sorcerer wasn't technically a servant, so he wouldn't be there. She wondered where he ate his meals, but was too shy to ask anyone. Still, she didn't mind going up to his tower. She was very curious to see what it looked like up there.

After only a few wrong turn she found the path that had been pointed out to her during her tour. The stairs were tedious, but she maneuvered them easily enough. When she got to the door the large gargoyle statues gave her pause, but she shook her head and knocked on the door anyway. Perhaps it was part of being a sorcerer to have strange tastes in décor.

There was a loud explosion on the other side of the door, causing her to jump. She took a step back and the door swung open. A very grumpy man was glaring at her. His face was covered in soot, hair sticking out in all kinds of directions, and she could have sworn it was black with grey bangs. His brown eyes looked tired, and thoroughly annoyed as he glared down at her. He was easily a head taller than her.

"What is it?" he asked.

Sofia cleared her throat. She tried to remember her manners, and curtsied.

"Pardon me, Sir…" she trailed off, not sure what he would like to be addressed as.

"Cedric," he provided. He wiped his face off with the sleeve of his sorcerer's robe and ran his hands through his hair to smooth it back down.

"Mr. Cedric, I am the new librarian, Sofia." She paused to curtsy again, feeling a little nervous. "I was recently hired and I'm just trying to get things settled," she told him.

"Uh huh," he said. He began to drum his fingers on the door as he stared down at her.

"There were some books on magic missing, I thought maybe you would have them?" Sofia asked.

"What are they?" he asked.

"Three books, one on other magical texts, one on magical creatures, and another on magical artifacts," she said after looking over the list again. Then Sofia smiled at him. Despite his efforts his appearance was still somewhat disheveled. Despite that and his obvious grumpiness she found him quite charming. She wasn't sure why.

"I may have those, somewhere," Mr. Cedric said.

"Perhaps I could take a look?" Sofia asked, not really sure what else to say. She didn't think it would be appropriate to ask him to look for the books, especially since he probably had better things to do. He looked at her for a moment, frowning.

"Feel free," he moved aside, eyeing her suspiciously. When she walked past him and into his tower he closed the door.

"Thank you, Mr. Cedric," she said again, adding a curtsy just to be polite.

"You don't have to do that, you know." Cedric turned away and went back to a table holding several beakers and vials. There was a cauldron which still smoked from the explosion she had heard earlier. She looked around the room, feeling awed by all the bookshelves and magical trinkets.

"Do what?" she asked, taking in her surroundings. His tower was very cluttered, there were tables and shelves lined with ingredients everywhere as well as a few crowded bookshelves. There was an upper level lined with even more bookshelves.

"Curtsy," Cedric said over his shoulder. "And you can just call me Cedric."

"If you say so, M- Cedric." She smiled at him, and moved her hands away from her dress, stopping herself before she could curtsy. He gave her one final look before turning back to his work. She thought this was rather friendly of him, but reminded herself that he was busy and that she should be so, as well.

She walked up the steps and moved over the bookshelves up there first. She found two of the three texts she was looking for, and placed them on the steps before moving on to look for the final one. She spared a glance at the quiet sorcerer, he was pouring something carefully into the cauldron, and then stirred he the contents. She watched him for a moment, curious, while he went on oblivious to her watchful gaze. A smile tugged at her lips and she looked away, attempting to focus on what she had come here to do. Perhaps when he wasn't so busy he could show her some magic, if she asked nicely. She bit her lip, wondering if the request would be considered impolite.

The final shelf was ridiculously tall and accompanied by a ladder. She hoped that the book was on one of the lower shelves, but sadly no luck. She climbed the steps, feeling a little shaky, and continued to go shelf by shelf. Still no book. Finally she reached to the top shelf, and began to look over the texts there. Unlike the library these weren't dusty. In fact they looked well-loved. The spines were worn, but cared for. Sofia smiled as she read the titles, so many fascinating subjects.

"What are you doing?" Mr. Cedric asked her. She peered down at him, he stood there looking up at her, arms crossed.

"I only found two of the books," Sofia told him.

"Which one are you looking for now?" he asked.

Sofia tried to turn around to tell him, but as she did so the weight on the ladder shifted and before she knew it she found both her, and it, were falling to the stone floor. Her words turned into a gasp as she fell, and she squeezed her eyes shut, preparing to hit the hard ground.

Instead Cedric caught her, and she opened her eyes. The ladder hit the floor with a loud crash, and she looked at him. His eyes were wide, and when their eyes met he quickly set her down. He cleared his throat and took a few steps away.

"You should be more careful," he told her.

"Wow," Sofia said. She looked from him to the ladder, and back to him. "Thank you." She grinned at him, and watched him brush his hands off on his robe.

"What was the last book?" he asked, looking away.

"Magical Artifacts of Avalor," she told him.

Cedric stiffened, "It's downstairs," he said.

"Oh, I'll just go grab it." Sofia headed to the other set of stairs that led down, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"It's among a lot of other books. I'll look for it, and bring it to you tonight," he said.

"Oh, thanks." She smiled at him, "Once I get the borrowing system updated you can have them back if you want. I'm just trying to make sure that everything is accounted for." Sofia picked up the two books she had found and held them to her chest. She looked up at Cedric, he was avoiding her eyes.

"Ok, that's great. I'll come by later with the book, see you then, buh bye." As he spoke he pushed her out of his tower, and then slammed the door.

Ok, so i obviously stole a scene from Once Upon A Time... Hope no one minds... LOL The next chapter will be posted soon-ish :) reviews welcome. Hope you liked it. I can say that things will get interesting in the next couple of chapters... it may not be as fluffy as my other stuff.