"I am so sorry, Tiana," Naveen said. "This is all my fault."
Though it was only a moment before Tiana answered him, the words seemed to hang in the air, heavy and threatening to break these fragile new feelings they had between them now, but Naveen knew he had to say it. There was no way they could start … whatever it was they were calling this life together, without addressing it.
"What are you talking about?" Tiana answered in that gentle way that made his heart soar in a way he'd never felt before. Naveen supposed that was love. Was it really only yesterday morning when he first realized that he loved her? Listening to Mama Odie talk about wants versus needs, and watching Tiana laugh and dance… it had finally hit him hard, and he had the bumps to prove it. He loved her, simple as that. Though if he thought about it, the feelings had started long before then.
Seeing her come out of her shell when they had danced together had been exhilarating. Who knew that making someone laugh and smile could be so wonderful. He wanted to do it again, and more. Naveen's longed to touch her, to kiss her, to do everything he could to make her happy. But he couldn't.
"I ruined your life!" Naveen exclaimed. "It is because of me that you are doomed to live the life of a frog. If I had not fallen for the Shadow Man's tricks… if I had not asked you to kiss me, none of this would have happened." He buried his face in his hands. "But now you are here. Trapped in this body, and forced to live in the bayou when you should be living your dream. It is my fault that it is lost."
Naveen clenched his hands, relishing the pain in his palm. With fresh blood needed for Facilier's scheme, Naveen had been captured by the shadows and brought to the Shadow Man, and to his surprise, Lawrence as well. The talisman used to take his blood was able to cut deeper into his frog skin than his human skin, and now Naveen had a deep cut across his palm to match his shallower one on his finger from when he had been human. The pain pulsed with his heartbeat, serving as a reminder of his mistakes.
"I would not have wished this on anyone," he continued, "especially you. I am so sorry, Tiana." Naveen said again. "I will never forgive myself."
When she placed her hand gently on his shoulder, Naveen's eyes stung as tears threatened to spill. "What happened to your hand?" she asked softly.
Naveen shrugged, but not enough to dislodge Tiana's hand. "Nothing."
He could tell she was frowning, even without looking at her. "Naveen."
"Fine." He held his hand out to her and chanced a glance at her face. Yes she was frowning, but not in the way he had imagined. She had a concerned look on her face, and it hit him all over again how he wasn't the only one in love.
"This needs to be cleaned before you get an infection," she said simply, and Naveen watched her in amazement as she somehow managed to make a small fire and boil water in a makeshift bowl. They had no cloth, so Tiana made do using moss. She dipped it into the boiling water to clean it of germs, and gently worked on cleaning Naveen's cut. He winced.
"Sorry," Tiana said. He shrugged again, and looked away. The familiar feeling of uselessness crept back into him. How could they survive out here, when he didn't even know how to do simple things like building a fire? Tiana shouldn't have to be a frog and carry the burden of having Naveen around. For a brief moment he considered just letting her be free of him by fading away into the dark bayou one day when she would be too preoccupied to stop him. But even just the thought made his heart ache. And watching the tender way she cleaned his wound… Naveen knew it would hurt Tiana just as much. She should have fallen in love with anyone but me.
"I don't blame you, you know," Tiana said softly, bringing him out of his thoughts.
"You should," he replied.
"If there's one thing you should know about me by now, it's that I don't take kindly to people telling me what I should and shouldn't do," Tiana said with a slight smile. Naveen felt his own lips curl before settling down again. "None of this is your fault, and you shouldn't be blaming yourself for it." Tiana wringed out the moss and dipped it into the hot water again. "It's as much my fault as it is yours."
Naveen glanced up sharply. "Yours? I would never-"
"You were the one who suggested the kiss, but I'm the one that actually did it," she said, more harshly than she meant to. Tiana took a deep breath and softened. "You can twist and turn the events in the past few days to change the blame any which way you like, but that doesn't change anything."
"I know."
"If you have to blame somebody, blame the Shadow Man -"
Naveen jumped up, nearly knocking Tiana over. His eyes wide as he exclaimed, "The Shadow Man! Faldi faldonza, I forgot all about him." He whipped his head around, as if expecting to see an army of shadows descend on them at any moment. "We should hide..? No. We can fight him. No, no. We can -"
Once more Tiana placed a gently hand on his shoulder. Her touch instantly calmed him.
"We don't have to worry about the Shadow Man anymore," Tiana said, meeting his eyes.
"What? We don't?" Naveen asked.
Tiana bit her lip, and then shook her head, looking away from him. "He's gone."
He took her hands in his. "Are you sure?" Naveen gently prodded. He needed to know they were safe - safe from the shadows at least.
After a moment, Tiana nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."
"What happened?" Naveen immediately regretted asking. As soon as the words left his mouth, her entire body tensed. She pulled her hands away from his, and held herself. Her hands rubbed up and down her arms in a steady rhythm.
"I - I don't want to talk about it," she said.
"Did he hurt you?" Naveen hated himself for asking, but as images flashed through his mind of the way the Shadow Man had treated him, Naveen knew he wouldn't be able to stand by and do nothing if any harm had come to Tiana. Even if the Shadow Man was gone.
But luckily she just shook her head and said, "No."
"Did he-"
"Naveen please." Her voice cracked and she squeezed herself tighter.
And then he was holding her. It had happened so fast, Naveen didn't even register it until he felt Tiana's quick heartbeat against his own. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
She shook her head against his chest. "I can't talk about it," she whispered back, sniffing slightly. "Not just yet anyway."
Naveen gently shushed her, and held her tighter. "It's alright."
Her arms found their way around his waist, making Naveen's heart flutter. "I'll tell you sometime," she promised. "When I'm…. When it's…."
Naveen shushed her again, and surprising them both, kissed her softly on the cheek.
The feeling of heat coming to her cheeks almost made him blush himself. "You can take as long as you need," he said. "And if that that time never comes," Naveen shrugged slightly, "that is ok, too."
Tiana nodded and rested her head against his chest. They stayed there a few minutes, wrapped up in each other. Naveen felt his heart unclenching as she relaxed in her arms.
He wasn't able to give her much, but he could always give her this.
After a few moments, Tiana pulled back enough to give Naveen a small smile. He returned it easily, and forced himself not to smother her with kisses. It didn't seem like the right time, no matter how much he wanted to. But perhaps just a small peck… Naveen leaned in slightly, and Tiana said, "How's your hand?"
"Huh? Oh." He held it out for her to see. "Much better. Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. I don't know how much I did for it," Tiana said. "We should show it to Mama Odie in the morning. It's a cut used for magic, so maybe it needs magic to heal. Or at the very least some iodine."
"Yes, good thinking," Naveen said. "Though I am sure to be in for another scolding from her." Absentmindedly he rubbed his hand against his head where he could still feel the bump from her hitting him with a wooden spoon. It paired nicely with all the other bumps he had gotten in the past few days. "I am sure she will be disappointed we are still frogs."
"I think she'll be understanding," Tiana said, threading her fingers through his. "We found what we needed, after all." There was that blush again. God, she was cute.
"Even though we are frogs," Naveen said, surprised by how downcast he sounded.
Tiana's face fell. "Naveen," she said, "I know I can't tell you how you should feel about all of this. I'm still getting used to it myself." Their eyes met, and he held their gaze.
"But please believe me when I say that I don't blame you for what happened. In fact," her breath caught in her throat, and her eyes glistened with tears threatening to spill.
"I'm almost glad because, if you weren't here I don't know what I'd do. Earlier I thought I saw you and Lottie on the float, and I felt… I felt so alone. But knowing that you are here, and that we're together-"
Naveen broke her off by pressing his lips to hers, in a hard, passionate kiss. He could feel the wetness of her tears on his face, and Naveen wasn't surprised to find his own spill out when she kissed him back.
"I will never leave you," he said when he pulled back.
She nodded. "I know," she replied, trying to catch her breath, but Naveen didn't give her the chance. He brought her in for another kiss. Softer this time, but no less urgent. Naveen wanted, no needed to make up for that moment on the float, and all the other times when he inadvertently caused her pain. Including just a few minutes ago. He hated himself for thinking of leaving, even for a second, and as he kissed her, Naveen promised himself that he would never do it again.
"I love you, Tiana," Naveen whispered against her lips.
"I love you, too, Naveen," she replied, still breathless, but smiling.
Naveen was happy to find him smiling his usual wide grin in return. It felt good to smile, to laugh. With Tiana in his arms, freshly kissed and smiling up at him, he felt happier than he had in a long time.
"I think," Naveen said after a moment, "I think everything is going to be alright."
"Yes," Tiana replied, "I think so, too." Their life might not be what he had originally pictured, but that didn't mean they couldn't be happy.
"I suppose the bright side to all of this is that no one can tell us what to do anymore," Naveen said, with a chuckle.
"That's true," Tiana said. "We can do whatever we want."
"And what is it you want, my love?" Naveen asked, delighting in the blush that resurfaced on her cheeks.
"The only thing I ever wanted was my own restaurant," Tiana answered. "But I don't think that'll work now."
"Why not?" Naveen asked, grinning widely. "We can make our own restaurant right here."
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean here in the bayou," Naveen said.
Tiana simply gaped at him, but he could see the wheels in her mind starting to turn. "Who would be the customers?"
Naveen counted on his fingers. "I know Louis will be your number one customer, and I am sure that Mama Odie would love to eat something other than bathtub gumbo. We know we can count all of Ray's family, too." Ray's family would be more than enough to keep them busy. Naveen chanced a glance up at the new star in the sky. He wasn't sure, but the star seemed to twinkle. Ray must approve of the idea.
"Yes," Tiana said, half to herself. "It would be easy enough to find all the food we need.
I won't have everything that I'm used to, but that's okay." She grinned wide at Naveen.
"I've never been afraid of a challenge."
"I didn't think so," Naveen grinned back.
"Louis can play his trumpet for everyone," Tiana said, growing more excited. She gave him a teasing look. "You know any good ukulele players?"
Naveen laughed and hugged her, again. "I will mince for you, too. And anything else you need."
Tiana hugged him tight, doing her best not to squeal in his ears, but it was hard not to
be thrilled by the idea. "We're really doing this?" she asked, fear mixed in with her excitement. "You really think we can?"
"I know we can," Naveen said simply, and cupped her cheek. "I know this won't be the restaurant that you have always pictured, but I will do everything I can to make it worthy of you." He took her hand and held it against his chest. "And to make myself worthy of you."
Tiana started to speak, but Naveen gently cut her off. "I do not know if I will ever be able to forgive myself for all that has happened, but I will try. In the meantime," Naveen took her hand again, and got down on one knee, "I promise I will do whatever it takes to make it up to you."
In one swift movement, Tiana knelt down beside him and then their arms were around each other once more in a gentle embrace. They rested against each other, and Naveen realized just how tired he was. It had been a long few days. Soon they would find Louis and settle in for bed, but not just yet.
"What should we call this restaurant?" Naveen asked, stroking her back slowly.
She gave a contented sigh, and said, "Tiana's Place."
Naveen smiled, and nodded. It was a good name. "Tiana's Place," he agreed.