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Tiana gently pushes open her door as she gets to her room. She then closes it just as gently, wary of her mother waking up at the early hour she got home.Walking with heavy steps towards her dresser, she pulls off her apron to place the measly tips she had made at Cal’s the previous night into the frontmost jar in the top drawer. She’s almost there.“Well, Miss Tiana, rough night for tips,” she pauses as she looks at her Daddy’s picture, “But every little penny counts.”She gently closes the drawer, says a silent few words to him, not knowing if he even hears them, and collapses ungracefully into her bed. It feels as though she could sleep the day away.Her alarm clock rings as soon as she begins to drift to sleep and she debates smashing it.The commute to work is pleasant for Tiana that morning. Everybody seems to be in high spirits as they prepare for Mardi Gras in two weeks. The streets seem alive with music, movement, and energy.Duke’s customers are unusually nice in comparison to her night shifts. She even knows that Lottie had promised to come in later to tell her some big news.After a bit of time had passed at work Tiana decided it was a good time to go outside to clear the patio tables. She could hear some of the more energized bands outside and thought she could maybe catch a glimpse of them as she worked. It was always a highlight to see them play.The tables outside weren't as dirty as she had expected so it only took her a minute to stack cups and plates together to move them back inside. As she placed the last cup on top of the stack a man appeared in the corner of her eye.He had olive skin, a groomed haircut with a few loose curls framing his face, and a flirtatious smile that reeked of falsity. She didn’t trust that charming smile of his for one second.He tipped his hat at her, leaning in with that smile of his and holding the cap to his chest. A single eyebrow raised, seeming to expect something of her.Tiana scoffs, rolls her eyes, and walks away so as to not indulge him. She needs to get back to work.He seemed too sleazy to be around.~Naveen had just gotten to New Orleans and had promised himself that he would enjoy every moment of it. Even if that meant ignoring certain problems.He almost trips down the stairs as he throws Lawrence off his trail by booking it towards the band nearby. He thanks whoever packed his bags that they had included his ukelele.He hears more than he sees Lawrence trip down the stairs.Naveen smiles his best smile at the ladies attached to his arms before joining in on the line the band had formed. He knows he impresses them as he plays with the band and he relishes in it.They move through street after street playing live music. Whatever song that fits their fancy they end up playing in full. It’s a wonderful feeling.Hearing the girls scream because of his skills makes it all the better for him.The band eventually passes by a small cafe and Naveen would usually dismiss such a shabby establishment if it weren’t for the woman outside it.She was pretty, dark skinned, and somehow both disheveled and extremely put together. The light of the morning brought attention to the shine of her brown eyes. He thought she looked beautiful.It was enough to make him approach the storefront and tip his cap to her. He leaned in, his hat to his chest and hoped to see her smile back at him. Naveen had even used his most dazzling smile.She scoffed at him and even rolled her eyes before walking away.Oh well, he thought, it wouldn’t have worked out anyway. For a litany of reasons that Lawrence would be sure to tell him later.She also seemed a little full of herself. I mean, who wouldn’t fall for him?He put his cap back on with confidence and walked away. For now nothing could ruin Naveen's mood as he marched through the streets strumming his ukulele.~Just a while before her break Tiana hears the bell over the door chime. She's glad for the distraction since her friends had been hounding her about her constant work schedule. Even Buford had chimed in to poke fun at her ambitions.She regrets giving him her beignet recipe some days.Tiana turns and smiles as Mr. La Bouff comes through the doors. She greets him kindly, congratulating him on being crowned Mardi Gras king, and gives him some celebratory beignets.It’s nice to talk to the man for once since he’s usually so busy,The bell chimes again, except this time it's accompanied by the door slamming open. It hits the checkout counter with a force that makes Tiana wince.her best friend Charlotte charges into the restaurant and greets Tiana by wrapping her boa around her shoulders excitedly before skipping towards the La Bouff table. Once there she begins to hurriedly try to get her father to explain her “big news”.He doesn’t get far since her excitement makes it hard for her to contain said news. She cuts him off every two seconds to excitedly ramble about this Prince Naveen person.Lottie just about strangles the man before he manages to finish his sentence by stuffing a beignet into her mouth. It makes Tiana chuckle.Tiana makes a mental note to expect even more fanfare than usual over the week due to a celebrity being in town. Then she smiles as she brings more beignets over to their table. It makes her happy to see Lottie so excited.“A little advice my momma always told me, ‘the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach.” She says as she sets the food on their table and mimics patting La Bouff’s stomach for added effect.Tiana doesn’t expect this to strike such a chord in Lottie though. She springs up from her seat with an exclamation of an idea. She rushes at Tiana and says she’ll need about five-hundred of her “Man-Catching Beignets” for their Mardi Gras ball that night. Which makes Tiana shake her head with disbelief at the girl’s gumption.Charlotte circles back to her fathers side to loot his wallet with an apology before practically shoving the bills into Tianas hands.“Should this just about cover it?” she asks.Tiana counts the bills quickly, it's more than enough. It would get her the restaurant. “This should cover it just fine, Lottie.” she replies.“This is it, I'm getting my restaurant!” Tiana says with disbelief in her tone.Lottie cheers at Tiana's declaration, adding that she’ll get her prince now too.Then, just as quickly and chaotically as she came into the restaurant, Lottie leaves as she drags her father with her. Tiana can hear her cheering enthusiastically even as she drives down the block.It feels unreal as she hugs the bills to her chest, she’s finally there. She has got to tell her momma.(Tiana briefly sees a tall man with a tophat and a crooked smirk being shoved out the door by Buford. She assumes he just must not have been buying anything.)~After telling her mother about the good news Tiana feels as though an eternity passes before her break comes. She practically runs out the door as she hurriedly puts on her coat. She stops quickly to count her savings and then takes the tram to get there in time.The Fenner Bros. had already been informed of her readiness to sign for the building so they were there when she arrived. Tiana handed over the downpayment on the building with gusto.Smiling from ear to ear she thanked both of the Fenners and watched them drive away with the for sale sign with glee.They promise to bring the paperwork to sign to the ball that night. She can’t wait to sign her signature on the papers that will give her the dream she’s been reaching for.“Table for one please.”Tiana turns to see who had said that and is wonderfully pleased to see her momma. She holds out the gift wrapped pot in her hands, saying she thought Tiana could use a head start. She gratefully accepts her papas old gumbo pot, and embraces her mother to stop herself from crying.Her momma sympathizes with her and reminds her that today is for her, for her restaurant. Then without pause she ushers Tiana inside and they open the doors to her future.They spend almost the entire evening there, fixing the place up. It takes work and effort but by the end of it all the place doesn't look too shabby.Even if some of the time was taken up by Tianas mother suggesting she should be looking for love.It was just gonna have to wait a while for Tiana, she doesn’t exactly have time for dancing into a happily ever after right now.
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IM SO SORRY I DISSAPPEARED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH YALLA lot went down, the ao3 author curse got me.I lost my passion for writing for a while there and it may still fizzle out again. But for right now i’m committed to trying to finish, or at least round out all of my hiatus fics and begin writing some new fics too!Some of my fics may get entire new chapters, some may just get the rest of my unedited outlines to round out the story, and some may be deleted because of how i’ve progressed as a writer not being reflected in my old writing anymore.But there will be something, activity at least.I hope y’all can bear with me in these trying times, until next chapter! :D
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Eventually, after checking out her new place, she has to run back to the cafe to make the beignet order for the La Bouff’s ball that night.Meanwhile Naveen is having fun playing jazz music, dancing with a few ladies, and Lawrence starts to hassle him. Naveen ignores him and says he wants to get everyone drinks, thinking of the earlier restaurant he’d seen Tiana at.Lawrence rebuffs him saying he has to get a job or marry a rich lady, ergo they need to get to the La Bouff manor. Not get distracted like he has been.Naveen once again brushes him off and decides not to dance with him, instead grabbing the ladies and anyone else nearby by the armful to guide them to the restaurant from earlier.It blocks Dr. Facillier from trying to talk to him. But Dr. Facillier still manages to grab Lawrence and pull him aside.Friends on the other side happens but this time it's just towards Lawrence. Convincing him to work for him to kill Naveen and take his place. All done so Dr. Facillier can funnel money through Lawrence as Lotties husband, repay his debt to the spirits on the other side, and kill someone of royal blood all at once.While Lawrence is getting “brainwashed” Naveen gets to the restaurant like 2 and a half hours before the ball. Tiana is still cooking in the back so hurriedly serves Naveen. Noting in disgust the amount of women he's stringing along.They banter as Naveen tries to flirt. Tiana isn't having it, serves him his food and drinks, and insults him (still not knowing who he is), and goes back to the kitchen to pack up and get ready for the ball.Naveen doesn’t touch a drop of liquor, unlike the people he invited to get drinks, and after catching that Tiana is heading to the La Bouff ball he decides to leave and get ready and go to the manor. Idly wondering where Lawrence is. He’ll be a bit late but it’s not like they call it being fashionably late for no reason.—---At the ball Tiana is calming down Lottie, who thinks the prince ditched the party, when Naveen finally arrives. Tiana has an oh shit moment at seeing him, like oh i totally insulted a prince, i’m gonna avoid him and hope he doesn’t execute me or something.Lottie rushes to him before he can say anything and Naveen, remembering his circumstances for once, accepts her dance since he does need the money.Naveen catches a glimpse of Tia talking to the Brothers about getting outbid and wonders what's wrong before Lottie pulls his attention back to her. Then they both hear the loud crash of Tiana crashing into the dessert table. Lottie stops Naveen from continuing their dance as she says something about cleaning up and leaves, sweeping up a heartbroken Tiana along the way.Naveen tries to talk to Tiana when he sees her dirty and crying but Lottie says they’ll be back as they ascend the stairs. He is further blocked by the Brothers trying to do business with him. He brushes them off, a little bit annoyed for the way they treated Tiana, and follows the two women up the stairs.Lottie helps Tiana recover after bringing her upstairs as they find an empty room to clean up in. (She’s changed into her new dress, though it does little to make her feel better) Tiana, not wanting to be a burden, says Lottie should go find Naveen again. After Lottie makes sure Tia really is okay she runs out of the room yelling for prince Naveen.Tiana cries some more and moves to the balcony after Lottie leaves, lamenting her lost restaurant and tries wishing on the northern star as a last resort, she gets jumpscared by a random frog that lands beside her and says “very funny” mocking fate before turning to the frog itself, ”So what now? I reckon you want a kiss?”Naveen, having been hiding from Lottie who ran past like a woman on a mission, walks past the bedroom at the same time that Tiana is crying. Hearing a crying woman he obviously peers inside.With no regard for personal boundaries he immediately enters a woman's bedroom without permission. When he sees it’s the woman he came to find he moves closer.He watches Tiana make her wish, his view of her partially blocked off. He approaches from behind to maybe comfort her or maybe offer his condolences at least.He sees her jump (at the frog though he thinks she jumped because of him) and assumes he’s caught when she says “very funny” then he hears her say, “So what now? I reckon you want a kiss?”he responds with “kissing would be nice, yes?” more as a reflex than anything.Tiana, righteously startled as hell by this man sneaking up behind her, turns around and decks him, hard, right in the nose as she screams bloody murder.He folds in on himself and holds his now bleeding nose saying “Im sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.” then after a pause and an assessment of his fucked up nose, “you have a very strong arm princess~”Tiana, still startled and not seeing Naveen properly in the dim lighting since she accidentally knocked over the lamp in the room in her wild scramble for a weapon, threatens to hit him with a book before fully seeing him as he stands back up from being folded in on himself.She drops the book on seeing Prince Naveen and starts apologizing. She rushes to grab the first aid kit from the bathroom, trying to help Naveen.When she gets back he's now on the end of the bed holding his head up to staunch the blood flow. Looking a bit pathetic if she's being honest with herself.She begins to clean him up. Taking her gloves off with her teeth. Naveen notices, says ”i'm assuming you weren’t talking to me after all” and like the womanizer he currently is, says that kissing would still be a great option.Tiana recoils, unsure what to say to that before realizing that he should be with Lottie right now. She asks about Lottie, fully annoyed at him after rebuffing his advance, and at his admission of hiding from Tiana's best friend because he finds her off putting Tiana decides he can clean himself up.She Shoves the kit at his chest and stomps away, maybe to try and convince Lottie that Naveen isn't worth it.Naveen scoffs at her, miffed at the fact that she has the gall to rebuke him. (But he honestly kinda likes it.) He finishes the cleaning of his bloody, but thankfully not broken, nose before leaving the room without another glance.Lottie doesn’t hear Tiana out about Naveen and just keeps searching for him so Tiana decides to head home. But when Naveen sees her he chases her out of the party as she leaves, putting on her coat.She shoves him back towards the party, where Lottie is searching for him, admonishes him for his actions of debauchery and leaves with a flip of her coat.Lawrence finally reappears, offering him a glass of wine as he mentions that he looks rough. Naveen refuses and uses a nearby platter of beignets, which he dumps in the trash, to check his face, and heads back to dance with Lottie. Hoping she's easier to deal with than Tiana.(Lawrence is yelled at by the shadow man later for failing to poison Naveen.)—---The next day Tiana has a day off, she goes looking for a different building but constantly gets rejected due to biases and discrimination.Meanwhile Naveen can’t stop thinking about Tiana so he goes to the restaurant to look for her. She's obviously not there and he leaves after a couple hours of asking around.Tiana's friends later fill her in on the dude that was looking for her after she goes back to work. Then they begin to rag on her for her restaurant failing and constant working again.The cook even joined in again. It feels heavily mean spirited because of everything going against her and her dream, Tiana just can’t take it anymore.Naveen comes in again as this is happening, overhearing the bullying, he decides to try and defend her but is stopped by Tiana defending herself. She snaps at them and also snaps at Naveen as he comes toward her to talk.Her “friends” scurry away at her anger, giving her meek apologies and running past a frozen Naveen. While the chef seems to realize the prince just walked into his restaurant and wisely makes himself scarce.She stands there, tapping her foot, obviously waiting for him to make her mood worse. But since he believes he kinda understands what she's going through. With his own money problems right now he just puts his hands up in surrender. (He certainly doesn’t understand but it's the thought that counts.)With his hands still up in surrender he just smiles and says, “I think I'll visit your restaurant when it opens.”She relaxes when he says that, though not entirely, retorting that he would think himself too good for her restaurant.He lowers his hands and says he just needs to know what her food would taste like. Then he would decide if he was too good for it. Her competitiveness is sparked and she makes him a bet that he’ll love her food before ushering him into a seat.Naveen gets comfy in the seat and takes her bet as he sets his feet on the table and leans back in his chair. Tiana scoffs at his lack of manners and rolls her eyes but ignores it for now. She goes to the back, asking the chef to back off a bit, and makes her signature beignets plus some coffee.Placing it down in front of him she shoves his feet off the table, he pouts at her a bit, and she presents her food and says it will be a highlight time on her menu. He scoffs, says it’ll probably be “good enough” (derogatory), and then tries a beignet.He immediately eats his own words as it melts in his mouth and he eats even more, shoveling them into his mouth. He realizes quickly how smug she looks and straightens himself with a cough saying “yep they're good enough” (reluctantly positively).Tiana smirks and points out that he has powdered sugar on his mouth and he hurriedly wipes it away while blushing. It makes her laugh and he blushes further at that because she has a beautiful laugh.Tiana leaves after this to tend to her other customers and leaves Naveen to stew in his own thoughts.After his meal Tiana comes back and Naveen asks how much he owes her, looking at his wallet and noticing the pathetic amount in it. Tiana, looking back at the chef who had put his foot in his mouth and then at Naveen's pathetically empty wallet says she’ll give him a raincheck on the bill.Adding on that he better “Donate a hefty sum to her restaurant fund later on, with his princely money and all that.”Naveen laughs, dusts himself off, and puts the wallet away. It makes him pause though, seeing how little money he actually has at the moment.Looking away and back at Tiana as she cleans a few tables he realizes he can’t really keep seeing Tiana. Because he would want to pursue her but he really needs Lottie right now. So, thanking Tiana and getting up, he leaves with a small goodbye and nothing more.Tiana pauses at the lackluster goodbye, a little taken off guard, and immediately slaps her cheeks to get herself back in the game. There's no use being affected by him in any way.
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Naveen tries to refocus on why he’s here and tries to connect with Lottie. They have a date under the pagoda and Lottie starts talking about getting married.He tries to seem enthusiastic but Lottie catches on, she is in denial at first so she blames it on pre wedding jitters and nervousness about the wedding itself. Naveen agrees so as to not hurt her or his chances with her.The date ends with her saying she'd take on the responsibilities of their mardi gras wedding. Naveen smiles and agrees but the smile is fake.He takes to visiting Tiana at the restaurant almost every day of his stay in New Orleans. He couldn’t get himself to stay away.They talk and banter but stay far from what is underlying in their relationship.Tiana is closing the restaurant one of these nights and Naveen stops in. Stating that he’s been kinda avoiding Lawrences cooking lately because it's been smelling progressively worse and he's running out of ways to throw out food inconspicuously. (Poison really isn’t working anymore and Dr. Facillier is getting fed up)He says her food is the only thing his unique palette wants and asks her to make him something because he's famished as he dramatically leans against a table with his hand against his forehead.Tiana scoffs and says he’ll need to help since the cook is gone. He immediately drops the dramatics and gets nervous,because he has never even touched a ladle before, and gets dragged to the kitchen to help make a simple gumbo.He can't even chop a mushroom right and Tiana has to help. Cue the cooking scene and its dialogue from the movie but they’re humans. Tiana says that at least he’s a decent musician since he has no skill for cooking as she adds the chopped mushrooms to a pot.Naveen preens from the compliment at first and then lets out an offended “hey!” at the second part of her “compliment”.He proceeds to produce a ukulele from out of nowhere and asks if Tiana wants him to play a song to show that he does have talent and Tiana obliges. He plays for a bit until Tiana and him end up a bit too close and he asks her to dance while they’re like a hairsbreadth apart.Tiana says yes, consumed in the moment. They dance and eventually part, their foreheads touching as they smile at each other.But then they both part quickly and Tiana once again questions his intentions with Lottie, Naveen finally cracks and explains why he ever discussed marriage with Lottie and how desperate he had been. He explains that she's lovely but he does not feel love for her, doesn't even know her, but he’s begun to know Tiana and he’d like to learn more about her.He’s going to call off his engagement with Lottie.But Tiana just can’t give in. She knows how obsessed Lottie is, how she wants to marry Naveen more than anything, but she also knows her being stuck in a loveless marriage wouldn’t be good for her. It’s conflicting, her love for her best friend and this new thing between her and Naveen. Never wanting to see Lottie hurt wins out.So instead of admitting she's interested in Naveen too she runs away from him to talk to Lottie.He’s left alone and abandoned in a dark and empty restaurant, watching her go from a still open door.He begins to clean the stuff they left behind while making the still unfinished gumbo, He’s dejected and in need of a distraction.Naveen drops a plate on accident and cuts himself slightly trying to clean it up. He cleans himself up quickly with a rag and throws it aside once he bandages his hand, not needing it anymore.Dusting himself off, he finishes his cleaning, and grabs Tiana's coat to return it to her before leaving sadly.Little does he notice a shadow, apart from its owner. grabbing the bloody rag he had thrown away. Neither does he see the man in the shadows watching his every move.—---Lottie is woken up late at night by Tiana knocking on her bedroom door. Lottie lets her in without question knowing the butler they have let her in without issue.In a rush Tiana tells her about Naveen, about his reasons for the marriage, how he had been seeing her and how he admitted he liked her.She stubbornly denies her own feelings, making sure Lottie knows that she said nothing back to him and she can do what she will with the information. Telling her she would never get in the way of Lotties happy ending.Lottie takes Tiana's hands in hers and says she knew about Naveen only wanting her for her money, not his involvement with Tiana though. She says she had looked into it after their first date and continued to prod on the two dates after.Lottie had quickly realized her dream of love with a prince wasn’t gonna happen with Naveen, He wasn’t anywhere near in love with her. She barely knew him and he barely knew her.Now that's not saying she’s giving up on her dream of a prince, far from it, instead she’ll search for him instead of waiting for him to fall into her lap. It may have worked for Tia but Lottie will make it work for herself.Then she tells Tiana that the wishing star had still worked. Tiana asks how, and Lottie tells her that alongside her wishes for herself she had always wished for Tia too.She knew that Tia never wished for herself, she didn’t have a selfish bone in her body, too caught up in making a path for herself. So Lottie would constantly wish for Tiana to be happy, to get her restaurant, and for her to always get what she needed.Therefore, seeing as Tiana is obviously happier than she’s been in a long while, it seems to have worked. Tiana startles at this, taken aback by Lottie being so supportive of her.Tiana questions the happiness Lottie mentioned and Lottie explains that Tia worked herself to the bone, focusing on a singular goal, and Lottie loved that about her but she never took a second for herself. But now, with Naveen in the mix she had been taking time to stop and rest for at least a second.Tiana has an Oh…OhOh.Moment and collaborates what Lottie said as Lottie vigorously nods her head.Lottie says that she wants both of them to be happy. She wouldn't be happy in a loveless marriage even if he was a prince and Tiana wouldn’t be happy if she just let Naveen go.She jokes a bit to lighten the mood since they’re both crying at this point, “I’ll cry about it of course, might need some of those beignets of yours to dry my tears.”She says she knows it will work out in the end and that maybe it’s time that they took a page from each other's books. Lottie should work a bot harder for the happy ending she wants and Tia should believe a bit more in loveTiana pulls Lottie into a tight hug and says she loves Lottie. Lottie just scoffs, though it's a little watery, and says of course she does, she's just so loveable.Tiana realizes how late it is when she sees the night sky out the window over Lotties shoulder and hurriedly exclaims that tomorrow is gonna be a busy day for Lottie. It's Mardi Gras tomorrow so she should go to bed.Then Tia pauses and asks about the wedding, Lotties says she stopped preparations with her father a while back. They were just gonna be in their normal positions, maybe Tia could even return Naveen's confession tomorrow during the parade.Since he hadn’t come back yet, to his honorary royal stay room in the la bouff mansion, and all. Tiana kinda winces at that, explaining how she left him and Lottie balks at her but says they’ll fix it in the morning after a loud yawn from them both. Lottie invites Tiana to stay, so she doesn’t have to walk all the way home, and they settle into bed.—---The next day they wake up and are immediately thrown into preparations.Lottie Separates from Tia saying she’ll talk to Naveen as soon as she can and wishes her good luck. Tiana thanks her and spends the day working until the parade time comes. As she works she hears from someone that Naveen is nearby the La Bouff manor.She rushes there to return his confession. Only to find Naveen acts like he doesn't know her, thinking she’s a maid in her uniform he hands her a platter and shoos her away before rushing off before Tiana can say anything.Obviously confused as hell she stands there stunned and heartbroken before seeking out Lottie and even she has no clue. Even telling Tia that Naveen had acted completely out of character, begging for the marriage, proclaiming his love, etc. when she had talked to him that morning.She had refused to give into him though and he had stormed off in a huff.Tiana is extremely off put, not believing her situation at that moment.She is determined to understand why he would do this to her and watches Naveen from afar almost all night. She isn’t able to reach him since he’s constantly swarmed by mobs of people but she suddenly sees him offshoot into a dark alleyway.Tiana follows him, bringing out a gas lantern to see with. She follows him sneakily only to see “Naveen” transform right in front of her eyes. It’s terrifying.Lawrence practically begs Dr. Facillier to give him another chance but the man just strikes Lawrence with his cane and states that he’s been all used up.Explaining that he no longer needs Lawrence since Naveen's blood can be taken at any time from Naveen himself now and the marriage fell through due to his lack of effort. At this point Naveen himself is even easier to control than the sad old sod in front of him.The shadow man leaves Lawrence groveling in the alleyway. Thankfully going in the other direction and missing the glow from Tiana's lantern.Tiana, completely befuddled, immediately approaches to interrogate Lawrence. He gives up everything almost immediately. (Like a coward)Tia leaves him behind as she runs for the shadow man's lair. Her only thought is that Naveen may already be dead.On the way she yanks loose a wooden board from a broken pallet in an alleyway she runs through. Making sure she's armed for what might come.She sneaks into Dr. Facilliears place and finds Naveen disoriented and bound by chains with a padlock and a gag over his mouth. He looks slightly battered, and a bit out of it, but nothing terrible like she had thought.Tiana almost collapses in relief before she starts to try and get Naveen out. He seems happy and relieved to see Tiana, and she moves to cradle his face with one hand for comfort. He relishes in it before Tiana continues to fiddle with the chains binding him.Then as she looks up at Naveen to ask if he’s seen a key anywhere she sees his eyes widen with fear and hears a muffled shout from him.The shadow of Dr. Facilliear grabs Tiana's shoulder from behind as Dr. Facilliear himself walks up to her slowly. His sound of his cane echoing loudly in the empty room.She’s wrenched away from Naveen and only manages to get free because the lantern she had brought makes contact with the shadow momentarily. Though Tiana misses what makes the creature let go.Tiana gets back on her feet as quickly as she can and hefts the wooden board she had grabbed in front of her with a grim expression. The shadow laughs and grabs the board and throws it across the room with little effort.She backs away, defenseless, and the shadow holds her in place as Dr. Facilliear monologues, revealing his pendant with Naveen's blood that he places inside a voodoo doll. He undoes Naveen's restraints and Naveen lurches towards Tiana and hits the floor in his panic.But then Dr. Facilliear makes the doll stand up and Tiana watches in horror as Naveen is forced to stand up even as he visibly sways.He forces Naveen to dance, likening him to a puppet that he could forever make dance on a stage of his own design.Tiana is scared but watches as Naveen's eyes shift to her and focus on her before focusing on what's in her hand. He had seen what happened with the shadow earlier, hes urging her to understand with his eyes.Tiana understands and using the lantern she had with her she throws it at the floor hard. The thing shatters and the gas begins to leak as suddenly everything is lit ablaze. The shadow screeches as it fizzles out of reality in the face of the flames.Dr. Facilliear is momentarily blinded and Tiana tackles Naveen out of the burning building. Tiana takes this moment to grab the voodoo doll from Dr. Facilliear as they get out.Once he recovers Dr. Facilliear comes out of the building, the flames silhouetting him so he looks like his own shadow. Tiana stands over Naveen protectively as he collapses from exhaustion and notices how the shadow man's eyes are only on the doll in her hand.She motions to it, threatening to rip it apart if he doesn’t let them go.Dr. Facilliear is stunned and blows fantasy dust on her as a last resort and Tianas fantasy plays out. She is fully immersed until she realizes Naveen is missing from her fantasy, and that's not the future she wants.So she breaks free and throws the voodoo doll down and heel stomps it.Naveen collapses behind her but so does Dr. Facilliear. He begs, pleads, and sobs to an unseen force. She can see how genuinely he fears for his life and watches in horror as the man gets dragged to the other side for his debt and is left clawing at the ground before his death.—---Tia, after witnessing horrors beyond belief, turns back to Naveen to see him unconscious.She starts to blame herself and kneels down to him, trying to check if he's anywhere near alive still. Her eyes start to water as she believes she killed the man she loves.Tiana rolls him over to maybe try to save him, even if she doesn't know if she can.Then she sees him breathe the tiniest breath. Tiana rapidly shoots up and turns to get up to check for a doctor anywhere nearby when a singular firefly lights up in her view. It flickers for a moment and then thousands of them light up.Leading out and away from the street they are in, glowing brighter than the flames of the shadow man's lair.Tiana, knowing full well that tonight convinced her magic is real, decides that whatever has happened to Naveen has got to be fixed by the same thing.She drags him up, using everything she's ever gained from working the food industry to drag him where the fireflies are leading. One firefly stays by her head following her the entire time, it's almost as if she can hear it saying encouraging words in her ear, even as the others stay where they are in their path of light.When they reach a section of the Bayou that's completely water Tiana almost turns back in defeat, she especially begins to back away when a set of glowing eyes appear in the water.She almost runs when a large alligator emerges from the water until she realizes it's not doing anything, just looking at them expectantly.The firefly does a circle around Tiana and then the alligator as it submerges into the water once more. She hears a faint whisper of safety and with a great amount of hesitance steps onto the alligators back.The gator grunts in a way Tiana can only describe as jovially and she swears the alligator laughs at her.They start moving without a pause and follow the fireflies further into the Bayou. They approach a beautiful looking treehouse and Tiana knows that that's her destination.She's been brought to Mama Odie’s and the woman herself meets her outside with expectancy.The sight of the shorter woman had surprised Tiana but she’s willing to accept anything at this point. She pleads for Mama Odie to help her and Mama Odie explains that she has watched Dr. Facilier from afar for a long time.She’s tried to always undo anything he might've done to upset the balance of nature. So of course she’d help.Before they go inside Mama Odie introduces Ray and Louis to Tiana and she thanks them deeply for the help. Ray blinks his light happily and Louis gives her what she believes is a smile before they disappear back into the bayou.Mama Odie nods and they take a bucket pulley system up into the tree house. Tiana drags Naveen to where she can lay him down and backs away as Mama Odie begins her work.Which ends in her pricking Tiana's finger to drop a bit of blood onto Naveen's chest, right where his heart would be. Mama Odie states that they've dug deeper into each other's life than they know and that connection will stabilize Naveen's connection to this side of nature.After she waits far too long with baited breath, Naveen wakes with a gasp.Patting himself down he looks over at Tiana and tears form in his eyes to match Tiana's as she rushes to hug him. Admitting that she loves him before kissing him and then once more on his forehead.He laughs loudly and stands, pulling Tiana up to spin her around. “I love you too” he says, as he brings her in so close that their foreheads touch.They stay locked together as Mama Odie coos at them in the background. Then she eventually gets tired of it and shoos them out, stating that her gumbo burnt after taking too long looking after them.They thank her profusely as she uses her snake cane to shove them out and then closes the door on them. Naveen almost collapses the moment he’s out of the door, still exhausted and beaten. But Tiana is right there to catch him.They descend the tree hand in hand and Naveen asks how they’re supposed to get back.Tiana smiles and escorts him gleefully to the 7 foot tall alligator waiting for them.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Tiana gets her restaurant with her own merit, Naveen only comes in as backup when they say a woman can't buy their property. He buys it with Tiana's money and immediately transfers all ownership to her.The parents get introduced to each other, and Naveen's parents congratulate their son on how he’s grown and let him know that they believed in him all along.They get engaged. Then they get married. It happens faster than either of them thought it would.Lottie goes on a trip overseas, ready to find her happily ever after, after their wedding as big daddy sobs on the pier as she waves goodbye.Tiana's palace opens with a bang and there’s special seats reserved for their parents, the La Bauffs, Mama Odie, and maybe they leave just a few doors open to let fireflies drift in and there's an empty space for a stray alligator on the stage.