Author´s Note: Coudn´t resist myself and here´s a small fic that I dedicate to my good friend Shogun and the movie of The Princess and the Frog. We can place it a little after the opening scene of the film where Tiana gets scared by the frog but first, we go to the ending of the film so that she can tell us by herself. Lyrics are mine.
Let´s go!
1. Stranger in the Night
The opening of Tiana´s Palace is the front page of all New Orleans and Tiana herself is enjoying these days with Naveen. Since Facilier disappear, the French Quarter has gone quiet and no shadow lurks in its corners. The day after the opening, they visited Mama Odie who is more than glad of the outcome of events and the only thing they all miss is poor Ray who is now shining with his dear Evangeline above.
Today, Naveen´s brother is staying with the couple and enjoys himself hearing Louis and his trumpet. Ralphie has come to adore the gator, who keeps an eye on him while Tiana and the boy´s brother deal with the business. Lottie comes almost each day and she seems to not have change her mind about her Prince Charming.
"Here you are, sweet heart" Tiana brings the pair some fresh beignets. "Are you two having fun?"
"Yeah!" the kid nods.
"Little breeches here has some talent" smiles Louis.
"That is great to hear" she spots Big Daddy coming in. Tiana serves him his favourite beignets and when she´s done, comes back to the boy.
"And ye know what? I thought I saw a talkin' cat this morning"
"Talking cat?"
"It was sitting outside. It was big and black, with a white spot in his chest and big yellow eyes" Ralphie describes making many gestures. The gator snickers but Tia seems interested. "And then, he spoke..."
"And what did he say?"
"Feed me" says Louis and the three laugh out loud.
"No, really"
"It was strange, not English or French. It was like Te boy spera"
"What?" the gator wrinkles his muzzle. "Maybe you mean 'The boy is better'" again he laughs.
"No, no. It was 'Te voy a spere or spera"
"Te voy a esperar" says Tiana.
"Yeah, that´s it. But how did you know?" Ralphie is confused.
"Because I used to know that cat and he told me that"
"Really?" now that´s interesting.
"Yes and he is a good friend. I thought he was no longer here but, I´m glad that you saw him"
"And how did you meet him?"
"You really wanna know?"
"Pleease" Ralphie and Louis give their best puppy eyes.
"Well..."
"Hey, what are you three muttering?" Naveen comes close.
"We were talking about a friend she once had" says the boy.
"A friend?"
"A cat that used to live in the cemetery" explains Tiana.
"Creepy" the gator and the boy exchange glances.
"And he was your friend? Faldi Faldonza!" her husband rises his eyebrows.
"We met when I was little and he introduced me to his job in the cemetery with a mute parrot called Berzonni"
"A mute parrot? Now you´re really makin up a story"
"Course not. It was also the first time I met the Shadow Man"
"Ok, if ye say so"
"And he say that of..."
"Te voy a esperar. Yes, he did" smiles Tiana. "I can tell you the story but only if you two help me clean this evening"
"Okey" Ralphie nods.
"I´m warning ye, this story has ghost and other strange creatures"
"Uh, then leave it for another time, hu?" Louis smiles not hiding his fear.
"No, c´mon. Pleease. I want to hear it" pleads the boy. "I want to know who that cat is"
"Louis?" the woman glances at the gator.
"Ouh, all right. I too wanna know"
"Perhaps you can change the mood with that story, yes?" smiles Naveen and Tiana gets ready to start while the customers look at her. "If it has ghosts, then it has adventure"
"Lots of" she smiles and sits down. "I must say that I give that poor cat some work that night. He was responsible of me and all I gave him were headaches"
"That really sounds like her" whispers Naveen making Ralphie smile.
"Back in those days, there were two stories round my neighbourhood. One was the Shadowman and the other was El Diablo Gato"
"The what?"
"The Demon Cat or Le Diable Chat. A creature who lurked around the cemetery and was able to command nameless creatures from the dark and walked the streets searching for souls to steal"
"Oh, brother" Louis covers his eyes.
"Adults used those two stories so we came back before dawn and stayed away from the cemetery"
"And obviously, Tiana did both things" speaks Naveen.
"Mind? I´m trying to tell a story here"
"Ok, ok. Sorry"
"So that Diablo was the cat you met?" says Ralph.
"Yes, in a certain way. But I didn´t just walk into the cemetery like Mr. Knows It All says" this makes the audience snicker. "It was more complicated than that. And it all started a few days before Christmas"
"Wait, I remember that day..." Eudora thinks it through. "You were still with the frog thing" this makes Naveen rise an eyebrow at his wife. "She kept on saying that she was never going to kiss a frog and got a bit scared each time she saw one" this produces a few laughs.
"Yes, mom. Anyway, the lady next door kept on talkin bout Gato Diablo"
"It´s true. She said he had been seen a lot those days"
"And that was weird" says Tiana.
"Why?" Ralph blinks in awe.
"Cuz this cat is rare and hardly leaves the cemetery" explains Eudora.
"So, he was a lot in the streets then" the child thinks out loud.
"Yes and not by chance" Tiana smiles.
"Now I smell that the Shadow Man had something to do with that" Eudora deduces from what her daughter had said.
"Yes, mom. Good guess. But people thought it was because he was after more human souls and it was then when the story started"
"Poor cat. If he´s black, then people were surely scared of him" says Ralphie and Tiana moves to his side.
"Yes, but even if people were afraid of him, he knew what he had to do and that is a lesson I will never forget" and so the story begins.
"I have dream bout this day,
For so long, for you, darling.
As the world turns around,
We stop it right at our door...
Let it happen, let it fly,
Let me take you out of this city,
So you can really see the stars shining.
It is just us, the world and the night.
Go say how you´re feeling...
Been out in the pouring rain, out in the sun
Searching for that day hidden in the dark.
If I dreamed, that made me stronger;
If I smile, I shall shone brighter.
Thus I give you my heart, if you still want it...
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Te voy a esperar (x2)
Out of time, out of sun, I´ll be waiting.
When the world´s over, I´ll be there for you.
When life seems over, then I´ll be waiting.
Te voy a esperar. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. (x2)
I keep running up ahead,
I keep on looking for paradise.
You gave strength,
You took me into the light.
Been out in the pouring rain, out in the sun
Searching for that day hidden in the dark.
If I dreamed, that made me stronger;
If I smile, I shall shone brighter.
Thus I give you my heart, if you still want it...
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Te voy a esperar. (x2)
I´ll wait for you, I´ll be there for you
And for you I will fight, I will soar,
We shall finally take down the sun.
No, no, no, no, no. Don´t forget me, take me...
Te voy a esperar. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. (x4)
Te voy a esperar..."
A nice start for one peculiar story.
I really hope that you like it.
A tip from the hat from me, guys!
Next Stop: Beware of the Cat
