(AN: First of all, I apologize for the insane length of this chapter, but as you'll see, everything just happens bang bang bang and cutting it off before I did would have been ludicrous. Not that I think anyone will complain, anyway. ;)
And secondly, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for your support and reviews! I broke a hundred, yay! I really do appreciate all the reviews, story alerts, and favorites this story has received. Thanks again!)
…………
No mistake is more common and more fatuous than appealing to logic in cases which are beyond her jurisdiction.
-Samuel Butler
…………
"I can't believe that no Maldonian hotels will let Louis in!"
Tiana gave Charlotte a sardonic half smile as they and Eudora made their way across the lawn of the palace, dragging their suitcases behind them as best they could, Louis following behind and pushing. "I can't believe the cruise let Louis onboard in the first place."
"Hey, I'm polite, and cleanly, and fragrant, and I only eat a little bit, and—"
"And you're an alligator," Eudora finished with a chuckle, cutting Louis's protests short. "No matter how well-behaved they are, gators ain't normally allowed on boats."
"Or in hotels, I suppose," said Charlotte, who was leading the way and was nearly at the doors. "But don't you worry, Louis. We got room for you at the palace! Lysander, Ciro, open the doors—don't gape at me like that, I told y'all I'd be back soon, and that I'd be bringin' folks back with me! I'll put up Mrs. Wilcox in the Falstaff Room, Tia can have the Yellow Room again, and Louis—well I'll find something for him—Well don't just stand there, open the door!" Charlotte screeched at the guards Lysander and Ciro, who had simply stared in shock at Charlotte's appearance, complete with alligator to help with her luggage.
"Wow!" Louis exclaimed. "These doors are big enough for me to fit through!"
"Mrs. Wilcox, I'll help get you situated in your room, and I'll bring your bags to the Yellow Room too, Tia, while you go find Naveen," Charlotte breezed, moving past a still confused Lysander and Ciro who had opened the doors despite clearly not knowing how to deal with the new arrivals. "Oh, and Louis, I think I just figured out what we can do with you!"
"Lottie, I'll take my bags to my room myself," Tiana interrupted. "I'm completely beat and I wanna take a nap."
"Oh, don't give me that," Charlotte countered. "The girl who spends every spare moment at work or at her construction site doesn't get tired from sittin' on a cruise line for a week!"
"Lottie…"
"Oh, fine fine fine. I've gotta go talk to Naveen myself anyway. Come on, Mrs. Wilcox!" Charlotte pushed both Eudora and, somehow, Louis into the foyer and down a corridor. "I'll show you your room. And Louis, I've got a veranda that'll be just perfect for you—it overlooks the sea and everything! We'll grab your luggage later, Mrs. Wilcox." In an instant, she had herded them down a hallway and soon out of Tiana's hearing and sight.
Sighing, she grabbed her own suitcase and started to lug it in the direction of the Yellow Room. Her luggage, like before, wasn't very heavy, but she still felt her arms straining a bit. Last time I was moving in here Naveen took the luggage for me, Tiana thought to herself, smiling as she recalled his attempts to move the suitcase without looking like it was a strain on him.
Her smile faded as she also recalled why she was here again, and what she was going to have to tell him.
"This is gonna be the hardest thing I've ever done," she murmured as she made her way to the Yellow Room. But it was for the best. And she had a resolve of steel. And…
And she was going to need a lot of time to figure out how she was going to do this.
…………
"Hello my baby… hello my honey… hello my ragtime gal…"
Naveen smirked to himself as he sang along with his piano practicing… his piano practicing that wasn't of the classical pieces he was technically supposed to be practicing. His father, exasperated at Naveen's tendency to break into jazz while practicing piano, guitar, or even violin, had all but issued a royal decree that Naveen (and by extension, Asher, who was picking up his brother's musical tastes) not play any jazz at all while practicing his lessons… and Naveen was adhering to that, erm, request. Ragtime was not jazz. But both were far more fun to play than classical. And both were about all that he had been playing ever since Tiana—oh, and Charlotte too—had left. When you don't know what to do, when you don't know what you can do, when you don't know what you should do, what else was there to do but make music?
The door to the room suddenly burst open. "Send me a kiss by wire, baby my heart's on fire!" Charlotte belted out vigorously.
Naveen nearly fell off the piano bench. "Ch-Charlotte! You are back from New Orleans?"
"Sure am! Now tell me, what did you find out?"
"About what?"
"About Maldonian marriage law, of course!" Charlotte looked positively exasperated. "Don't tell me you haven't been doing any research at all while I've been gone!"
"Uh…"
"Naveen! How do you expect us to defeat the system if we don't even understand the system? Come on!" Charlotte grabbed Naveen's arm and dragged him off the piano bench and out of the room.
"But—but my lessons—"
"You weren't playing your lessons, and you know it."
"Why can't you do this alone?"
"'Cause I can't read Maldonian, idiot! And most of the books in the library are written in Maldonian!"
"We have plenty of books in English!"
"Probably none on the laws of your country though!" The library was thankfully quite close to Naveen's practice room, and Charlotte pushed the doors open with a foot while still pulling Naveen by the arm into the library. "Now where are the books on law?"
"How should I know?" Naveen asked irritably. "Do I look like someone who studies law for fun in his spare time?"
"Fine, fine, just tell me what the Maldonian word for law is so I can look for them too!"
"Semprini," Naveen mumbled under his breath.
"What did you call me?"
"I thought you said you do not understand Maldonian!"
"I understand that word! And I know that sure as heck don't mean 'law'!"
"Lenzo," Naveen sighed, pulling his arm free of Charlotte's grasp and looking down a row of books. "The Maldonian word for law is lenzo. There. Happy now?"
"Overjoyed!" chirped Charlotte, strangely enough not sounding completely sarcastic. She quickly made her way down another aisle and scanned the words on the spines of the books. "Lenzo, lenzo, lenzo… A-ha! Here they are." She yanked a book off the shelf and tossed it to a startled Naveen. "See if you can find anything in this one! And I'll look in this one. What's the Maldonian word for marriage—wait, lemme see if I can remember it from our wedding…" Charlotte bit her lip in thought. "Nuplista? Is that it?"
"I'm impressed," said Naveen sincerely, looking up from the book that Charlotte had thrown to him. He flipped the book open and scanned the pages. "Now… now remind me, what are you looking for again?"
Charlotte sighed in exasperation, opening her book as well. "We're lookin' for some Maldonian marriage requirement that mighta slipped past us, rendering our marriage null and void. You know, to avoid that terrible, terrible scandal of us gettin' divorced like we will be if we don't find anything."
"Scandal or no scandal, that option is seeming very appealing right now," Naveen shot at her.
"Heck, me too!" Charlotte shot back, although with a noted lack of bitterness. "But an even better option would be to find some way out of the divorce in the first place. Because believe me, I don't exactly wanna go about with the title of a divorcée either! Not the best social stigma…" She straightened up slightly and turned her attention back to her book. "But this is something that I—that we—have to do. Hmm. I got a book with pictures… is this some sort of medieval Maldonian torture device?"
"I found it!" Naveen suddenly exclaimed. "Marriage requirements in the nation of Maldonia!"
"Ooh! What are they, what are they?" Charlotte asked excitedly, leaning in to look at the page. The paragraph was a very short one.
Naveen sighed in disappointment after quickly reading it. "The only requirements are that both parties are Maldonian citizens and that they exchange their vows and sign the marriage license in the presence of a holy man or a judge. We did all that."
"Nuts," sighed Charlotte, looking just as disappointed.
"Wait…" Naveen looked at Charlotte. "Charlotte… did you ever actually become a Maldonian citizen?"
Charlotte drew in her breath.
Naveen suddenly shook his head. "No, no, never mind. I do not think that would be a factor for us. My mother was from a different country… my paternal grandmother was too… and I don't think either of them had to become a citizen before marriage. I do not think that counts for royalty. If you are royalty, you become a citizen upon your marriage."
"But… but Naveen, I wasn't royalty," Charlotte said slowly. "I only became royalty when I married you. But I wasn't royalty, so marrying you didn't make me a citizen, which means…"
"Which means…" Naveen's eyes grew wide. "Which means that since you were neither a Maldonian citizen nor royalty, our marriage wasn't legal!"
"Which means you and I were never actually married!" Charlotte let out a shriek of pure joy and flung her arms around Naveen happily. "Now you and I don't have to get divorced because we ain't married, and we never have been! I'm gonna go find your parents and tell them right away, and you can go tell Tiana! She's in the Yellow Room."
Naveen immediately perked up in surprise. "Tiana is here?"
"'Course she is!" Charlotte said with a giggle. "I told you before I left that I'd be bringing her! She needs to hear it from yourself that you're single and available!" She snapped the book in Naveen's hand shut and placed his other hand on top of it. "Now go get her, sugar!" she said, grinning. "She's waitin' for you!"
"Maricilpen—thank you, Charlotte, thank you—" Naveen laughed in happiness, giving Charlotte a one-armed hug before running out the door.
Charlotte sighed happily. How absolutely romantic was their encounter going to be! She had half a mind to follow him and observe it for herself… but no, this was their moment. It wasn't her place to watch it.
Imagining it, on the other hand…
Charlotte sighed happily and clutched the book she was holding to her chest. "How romantic!" she breathed. "It's just like a fairy tale!"
…………
Tiana was curled up in the darkest corner of the Yellow Room she could find, on a day couch with a pillow clasped to her chest, but even there it was still far too harsh and bright. She took small, slow breaths—anything more and her already aching chest would have burst.
Sleep. Sleep. I want to sleep. I HAVE to sleep. I want to close my eyes and fall asleep and never ever wake up.
She knew what she needed to do. She knew what she wanted to do. And, remembering what Mama Odie had told her nearly a year before, she now fully understood that the two were entirely different things. What she wanted? She wanted to throw reason completely to the wind and stay here with Naveen forever. What she needed? She needed to keep at her restaurant dream. She needed to put Naveen and every one of his distractions behind her. She needed to get back on track.
She wanted to fall asleep and never wake up so she didn't have to make the logical decision.
But again, that was a want. And she needed to stay alive and pursue the dream. Not just for her daddy, but also for her mama. Where would Eudora be without Tiana? Harriet, Jimmy, Felicia, Ada, and James had all left her. Tiana was all she had left. She couldn't abandon her mother. No, never, never, never, she had to be there for her. Even if that meant that she herself would end up alone. She was getting used to the loneliness. Soon it would become second-nature.
Now how to tell Naveen all this?
Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. I'll come up with something. For now, let me sleep. Oh God, please let me sleep. Please let me sleep all through this and have it be nothing but a dream…
Urgent knocks on the door bolted any ideas of sleep out of her head. She jerked up, almost asking "Who is it?" but then remembering that probably no one yet knew of her presence in Maldonia, let alone the palace, other than Charlotte, Eudora, and Louis. And if it was a servant, hopefully it was one who spoke English, otherwise Tiana would have to figure out how to explain in Maldonian what she was doing back… Maldonian? She couldn't even explain it in English!
She opened the door and found that she wasn't the one who needed to be explaining anything.
"Naveen?" she gasped in shock.
"Tiana! Look at—look at this—read this!" Naveen pushed the book into her arms and flipped it open. "See what it says—oh, wait, you can't read Maldonian—citizen! You have to be a Maldonian citizen to get married in Maldonia! Charlotte was never a citizen, which means that we were never actually—marry me! Wait, I mean—" He quickly got down on one knee and kicked the door shut behind him, his speech still coming out fumbling and rapid-fire. "Will you marry me? I—I don't have a ring, but I will get you one, and—"
Tiana grabbed the arm of a nearby chair for balance, meaning to think, Oh God, he wasn't supposed to do this, this is only going to complicate matters! but her mind seemed to stop simply at Oh God. "Naveen, be serious!"
"I am being serious! I've never been more serious in my entire life!"
"I can't marry you! I—I have my restaurant back in New Orleans, I have my own path to follow there, I can't just rip it all up and—I don't belong here in your world of riches and glamour! I can't leave my world behind!"
"Then I will go there with you!" Naveen said earnestly, still in the traditional proposal posture.
"What—no, Naveen, you can't just… give up the throne for me! I won't let you do that!"
"If that's what it takes to be with you…" Naveen looked at Tiana pleadingly. "Any life without you, no matter what it is, would still be empty and meaningless. I don't want to live like how I've lived this past year without you! The only thing I need anymore is you. I love you. I can't live without you anymore. Please…"
Tiana took in as deep a breath as her aching chest would allow. "Naveen, listen to me," she said, slowly and forcefully, to herself as much as to him. "You're caught up in the moment. You just realized that you ain't married anymore and you ain't thinkin' straight. We're from two completely different worlds. Yours is Maldonia, and mine's my restaurant, and we can't move either one of them. What we had… what we could have had… it was nice, and real, but we have to get back to reality now. We have to be logical. And logic says that… that…"
Naveen's pleading eyes continued to bore into her, and Tiana felt the resolve she had been working so hard to maintain suddenly crumble.
"I can't lose you again," she whispered, leaning down and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
Naveen lowered Tiana to place his arms around her shoulders too, and both of them surrendered to their knees and leaned against each other, cheek to cheek, stroking the other's hair, Tiana trying to say what she was thinking, This wasn't supposed to go this way! but all that she managed to say was "This… this…" as one hand moved down from his hair to his cheek, and she stroked it, kissed his other cheek, still feebly trying to get it out.
"Tiana…" Naveen murmured in her ear, running his fingers through her hair so much that it was becoming undone, and under normal circumstances Tiana would have been upset about her hair getting messed up, but this time she didn't care.
"I'm not gonna lose you again," Tiana murmured between her kisses. Funny, how could she say that and not what logic dictated she should be saying to him? Logic be damned. She was in complete agreement with him. She didn't want to live without him. No matter what that meant… it didn't matter. It didn't matter. As long as she had him, whatever else happened would be alright, fall into place. The only thing she needed anymore was him.
"Alright," she said, closing her eyes. "Yes. Yes, I'll marry you. We'll make it work. I don't know how, but somehow… somehow we'll make it work."
"I'll do anything. Anything at all. I don't care what happens to me, as long as you're with me…"
"Me too… me too… you mean more to me than that restaurant, or anything else…"
She finally pulled away from him slightly and looked him in the eyes, feeling worry begin to wrestle with the emotion of pure happiness that came from looking at him, touching him, having him. "How are we ever going to make this work? I've got to think of something… I can't give you up, but I can't give up my dream either…"
"I am not asking you to," Naveen said gently.
"I know you ain't," Tiana replied. "And I ain't asking you to give up anything either. Somehow… somehow we'll make this work, I don't know how, but… I need to think about this. Alone."
Naveen smirked. "Kicking me out already, are you?"
"Kicking myself out. I'm going to take a walk."
"You are assuming that I am going to willingly release you from my arms."
"You will. Willingly or otherwise."
"Only if you allow me to kiss you this time."
Tiana smiled and leaned in so that their foreheads were touching. "Just one."
Naveen also smiled, with both charm and tenderness. "Unless you beg for more."
He hesitated, as if waiting for and allowing Tiana to make a snappy comeback to that, but Tiana said nothing in response, instead simply wrapping her arms around his shoulders and bringing her mouth to his. Naveen's surprise lasted for only a second before he was returning the kiss, bringing his arms around her waist.
They remained that way, wrapped in each other's arms, for a few blessed moments, neither wanting to break away, now that they had finally found how to be whole again.
Tiana finally broke the kiss, standing up. "We'll have time for more of that later," she said in response to Naveen's disappointed facial expression.
"Killjoy," Naveen shot back.
"Don't you start, buster!" laughed Tiana.
"Killjoy. My beautiful killjoy. I would not have you any other way."
"And you're a scumbag charmer, and…"
"…you would not have me any other way, yes?"
Tiana smiled. "I ain't gonna give you the satisfaction of saying 'yes'."
"I notice you are not saying 'no' either," smiled Naveen.
"I am saying…" Tiana opened the door. "…that I will see you later."
"I eagerly await your answer, Miss Wilcox." Naveen stood up and leaned one arm against the wall, still smiling both lovingly and disarmingly at her.
Tiana just sighed and shook her head. "You are a piece of work, Naveen. But then again… I've always had a fondness for pieces of work." She leaned over to quickly kiss him again before departing.
Naveen watched her leave, smiling warmly. "I believe that counts as a 'yes' from you," he said quietly.
…………
Tiana's walk had taken her out of the palace, off of the palace grounds even, and down in the heart of the city of Cruce Sagraldi. Her steps were slow, thoughtful, worried, even though she found it took little effort to smile and say "Manidaza!" to everyone on the streets that greeted her.
The citizens of Maldonia were so friendly and accepting, Tiana thought to herself as she strolled along the bustling sidewalk, lined with shops and cafés. She felt more welcome here than she did even in her own hometown. Moving here would be a very appealing idea even without Naveen's presence. She could easily imagine living here for the rest of her life. And opening up a restaurant here…
She stopped and looked at the small building sitting on the corner of the block, a sign in the window that Tiana assumed said "For Sale" in Maldonian. The building was far smaller than her old sugar mill, yes. She peaked in the window. But it was also warm, inviting, a place where all sorts of people could come together for her food… her New Orleans flavored food that was completely new and unique to this country… she already had a market that no one else did…
If she became a Maldonian citizen, she could marry Naveen and buy this building and turn it into her restaurant. All she had to do was sell the sugar mill, which would definitely give her more than enough money to buy this building, especially after all the work she'd done to the interior. She could open up her restaurant here. It wasn't the sugar mill transformed into the glitter and glam that she had always envisioned, but that had never been her daddy's dream in the first place! It wasn't about the glam, it was about the community, and bringing people together, and she didn't need a huge fancy building to do that. In fact, if anything she had learned that that building was too much for her to handle by herself, at least right now. Everything that was really important could still come to fruition from a smaller location, and could upgrade to a bigger one later. She was only twenty years old, after all. She had plenty of time to establish herself and move up.
But… the sugar mill. Sure, so her daddy had never been wrapped up in fantasizing of the glamour of the restaurant like Tiana realized she had been all these years, but it was still always that building James had set his sights on, and no other. Tiana had bought it for him every bit as much as she bought it for herself. What right did she have to throw away her father's dream just because…
Tiana leaned against the wall of the building, tugged at her fingertips, and looked up at the sky. She had wished upon Evangeline and Ray; she had prayed to God; but now she was making a request of her father, the only one who could give her an answer this time.
"Daddy, I have a plan," she said softly. "I've got an idea for how I can have both Naveen and my restaurant. I can't lose Naveen again, but I don't wanna give up our dream either. But… my plan means I'm gonna have to give up that sugar mill. And I'm ready to do it, as long as… as long as I know you're okay with it. So please… give me a sign. It's your dream too, and I need to know if you're okay with it or not. 'Cause if you ain't, if you want me to stay with that sugar mill, you know I will. Just… just let me know what you want me to do."
"It's too nice a day to spend it standing around talking to yourself," a middle-aged man suddenly said to Tiana.
"Oh!" Tiana yelped in surprise. She then laughed awkwardly. "Well, I ain't exactly talking to myself… Oh, hey, can you read Maldonian?"
"Read, yes. Speak, even after twenty-four years of practice, I'm still not the best at."
"What does this sign say?"
"'For Sale'."
"Good. That's what I was hoping… You an American?" she suddenly asked, taking note of his perfect English, without an accent… no, there actually was a bit of a northern one, although Tiana had met few people who lived anywhere north of even Tennessee to be able to identify exactly what accent he had specifically.
The man chuckled. "I never know how to answer that. I was born and raised there and part of me will always consider it home, but I've been a Maldonian citizen for—well. Twenty-four years."
"Wow. What made you decide to come here?"
"Come here? I was young and adventurous and I was going to conquer the world. Staying here was a whole other matter, though. I was born and raised in New York City. You ever been there?"
Tiana shook her head. "Before now, I'd never even left Louisiana."
"I could tell that's where you're from. You're Princess Charlotte's friend, right? I read about you in the papers."
Tiana felt her cheeks redden. "Oh lordy. They've been writin' about me?"
"Don't worry," smiled the man. "It's all been positive. I actually do freelance work for De Gazeto v'Cruce Sagraldi, one of the major newspapers in town. Mostly political cartoons and other illustrations. Art's always been my passion. I didn't take school too seriously… instead I was going to get a job with the Saturday Evening Post. That was always my goal. I sold enough of my drawings one summer to be able to travel to Europe. Like I said, I wanted to conquer the world, get artistic inspiration, all that, before returning to New York and living my dream."
Tiana felt her heart quicken. Was this the sign from her daddy already? "What made you stay?"
"Not what. Who." The man smiled wistfully and looked off into the distance. "Ophelia. I wasn't looking to fall in love, but nobody every really is, right? I met her and I couldn't get her off my mind. I didn't stay in Maldonia long at first, I traveled on to Italy… but then I changed my plans and came right back here. I realized I couldn't leave her behind."
"But what about your dream?"
The man grinned at Tiana. "I'm living it. Sure, so I'm not with the Saturday Evening Post, but I'm still getting my artwork out to a large audience… and I have Ophelia. No amount of artistic exposure anywhere can compare to what she gives me. She's a part of my dream now… the most important part of it, in fact."
Tiana almost wanted to cry with relief and happiness. "Thank you," she murmured with a smile, looking skyward. Then, to the man, "Thank you, sir, thank you so much."
The man's smile remained, but softened into confusion. "You're quite welcome, although I'm not exactly sure what I did!"
"You answered a question for me. A very important question. And—" Tiana looked at the "For Sale" sign in the window. "And I think I'm gonna be making a more permanent move to Maldonia myself and set up my dream here."
The man's smile grew warmer again. "If that's where your heart's leading you, follow it. That's the best advice I can give."
"And it's just the advice I needed!" Tiana fell back against the wall of the building and smiled, again directing her eyes up towards the sky. "Thank you, Daddy," she whispered.
…………
Tiana wasted no time in getting back to the palace, her euphoria wearing off just a little bit when she realized she was going to need to put her plan of action through her mother and Naveen's parents. Would the king and queen allow Naveen to marry a commoner like herself? They had allowed him to marry Charlotte, yes, but from what Charlotte had said, rules had been bent for her. And Charlotte was upper-class. Tiana… was not.
And what about Eudora? Tiana's plan benefited both herself and Naveen, but left her mother alone, just as she'd feared. Before, she could never even imagining leaving her mother to marry someone who lived in New Orleans, let alone a prince who lived in an entirely different country!
Well, maybe she wouldn't have to leave her all alone. Maybe she could move here too!
Tiana didn't have to go far to find her mother; in fact, she didn't even have to step inside the palace. Eudora was admiring the flowers that lined the pathway to the doors they had entered, clearly having gotten distracted by them from her true purpose, which re-manifested itself when she saw Tiana. "Tiana! There you are! I've been looking for you, and you weren't in that yellow room… Where've you been?"
"I've been walking… and thinking…" Tiana took a deep breath. "And Mama, I think I might do something… drastic."
"Drastic?" Eudora raised a questioning eyebrow.
Tiana drew in her breath again before continuing, in a rushed voice. "I think I'm gonna sell the sugar mill, move here, open a restaurant down in the middle of town, and become a Maldonian citizen and marry Naveen."
There was a second or two of silence.
"Is… that alright with you?" Tiana finally asked, hesitatingly.
Eudora laughed and engulfed Tiana in a hug. "Oh, sweetheart, of course it's alright with me! If that's what'll make you happy, and I know that that prince of yours makes you happy, then I couldn't want anything less for you!"
Tiana smiled gratefully as she returned the hug. "You could move here too. I'm sure you could live at the palace, or we could find a place for you in town somewhere."
Eudora pulled away from Tiana and shook her head, although she was still smiling. "Honey, I'm too tied down in New Orleans to make a move now. This is your life, not mine."
"But I don't wanna leave you all alone," Tiana protested.
To Tiana's complete surprise, Eudora barked out a laugh at that. "Alone? Babycakes, do you think without you in the house I'm gonna just become old and decrepit and waste away in loneliness? If that's what happened when you ain't around I'd be dead by now, since you're hardly ever at home anyway! Don't you worry about me. I've got plenty of friends, you know. And I got Louis." Eudora smiled warmly. "If anyone's gonna rescue me from a life of loneliness, it's that gator. Don't you worry about me. As long as you come home to visit every once in awhile!"
Tiana laughed. "Oh, don't worry, Mama, I will. Just as long as you come and visit me too!"
They hugged again, Eudora still laughing in happiness for her daughter, but Tiana's smile was fading a bit as she looked up at the imposing palace.
She had her father's approval. She had her mother's approval.
But getting the approval of the king and queen might be a different matter altogether.
…………
Tiana stood outside of King Shakir's office, her hand raised to give the royal raps on the door to request entrance, but feeling unable to move it any farther. Royal protocol was not nearly as strict as Tiana had imagined it would be, but Shakir and Avani would surely still be less than impressed with her appearance. She hadn't even changed out of her traveling clothes yet, for goodness sake. And her hair was a mess—she inwardly cursed Naveen and his wandering, wondrous hands as she finally knocked on the door, loud enough to be heard over the urgent-sounding conversation she could hear.
"Entranzo!" she heard Shakir say, sounding a bit distracted.
Timidly, Tiana opened the door and bowed. "Forgive the intrusion, Your Majesties—"
"Tiana?" Avani gasped in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"That's… a very good question," Tiana admitted with an apologetic smile.
"Charlotte brought you back, didn't she?" Shakir asked. "That woman has so many tricks up her sleeve she must be a magician."
"Tricks?" asked Tiana.
"She was just in here telling us that her marriage to Naveen isn't legal." Avani sighed. "But the strangest thing is that she seemed happy about it."
"Seemed?" Shakir repeated in shock. "My dear, there was no 'seemed' about it. She was overjoyed! And I thought she wanted to be a princess. But now she clearly wants out, and is dragging up technicalities to do so!"
"We can't argue with her, though," Avani countered. "She is right, the marriage wasn't legal. To make it legal she'd need to become a citizen and wed Naveen again, and she was very much opposed to that idea. She wants to go back to New Orleans."
"We've lost a princess," moaned Shakir in despair. "I knew we should not have allowed Naveen to marry her. How can the royal family rise above this legal and ethical disaster?"
"It is not as dire as you are making it sound," said Avani dryly.
"Dire, no. An unpleasant and shocking bit of news, yes. What a way to start the day…"
"Can you handle another shocking development?" Tiana suddenly asked.
Shakir and Avani quickly turned to face Tiana, apparently having nearly forgotten that she was there. "And what would that be?" Shakir asked.
Tiana took a deep breath. "Naveen… asked me to marry him."
Shakir's eyes bulged in shock. So did Avani's, but her expression quickly morphed into simply raising a knowing eyebrow. "And what did you say to that?"
"I—I said yes, but only under certain conditions. But I think I've found the conditions!" Tiana quickly explained. "I'm going to sell the building I own in New Orleans and with the money I get from that buy this little place down in the center of town and open up a restaurant there. Then I'll become a citizen so that our marriage will be legal. That is… that is, if you'll allow a poor commoner like me to marry a prince."
Shakir gave Avani what was to Tiana an unreadable expression, but apparently Avani could interpret it. She looked back at Tiana, her expression gentle, yet firm and unsmiling. "Well, Tiana, we made an allowance for Naveen to marry Charlotte, but we cannot continue to stretch rules like this, especially since clearly the results were not favorable last time. That is, not without good reasoning. So tell me… why did you say yes?"
Tiana sighed helplessly and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know, Your Majesty. I've been asking myself that ever since I did say yes, to be honest with you, because I was so set for us to part and go our separate ways, we come from two different worlds, we live such different lives…but every time I'm with him I just…" Her voice quavered and she looked back at Shakir and Avani. "I don't have good reasoning. Good reasoning is telling me to not even try. I guess… my only reasoning for saying yes is because I love him."
Avani smiled warmly, with Shakir quick to follow. "Now that, Tiana, is exactly the right reason to get married."
Tiana let out a shaky half-sigh, half-laugh of gratitude and relief, feeling her stomach begin to unknot.
"And I do not see why we can't bend the rules again for such a union—the rules of royalty only marrying royalty, mind you," Shakir added. "You must become a citizen first, so that you do not make a hasty escape in the same manner that Charlotte is."
"I won't want to escape," Tiana insisted. "And I will. I'll become a citizen. I won't even live in the palace if you don't want me to, I'll just take care of my restaurant and—"
"My dear," laughed Avani, "whatever makes you think we won't want you in the palace? You will be a princess, after all."
"Yes…" Tiana suddenly staggered backwards a little bit, feeling light-headed. "A princess…" Yes, of course. A princess. She hadn't even stopped to think of that. Being a princess was never something Tiana had dreamt of, even in passing. And now it was going to be a reality. She would have charity events and balls and public gatherings to worry about in addition to her restaurant dreams and oh God there's no way I can do all this I don't know how the only things I know how to do is cook and run a restaurant I can't possibly be the princess and maybe queen QUEEN of a foreign country…
She put an arm against the wall to steady herself. She'd learn. Naveen was willing to learn for her. And she was willing to learn for him. If he helped her, if she helped him… they'd manage. They'd get through it.
"Do not worry about it, Tiana," smiled Avani. "There is no right or wrong way to be a princess. All you have to do is be yourself, albeit on a far larger stage than before. And I think you will make a fine princess. A princess and a restaurateur!"
"What kind of food will your restaurant serve?" Shakir asked, also smiling. "We Maldonians love good food, you know!"
"Yes, I know, I was eatin' it all when I was staying here last month!" laughed Tiana. "And I wanna learn all the local recipes. But my restaurant's gonna be New Orleans themed, 'cause that's what I make best, and it looks like there ain't much competition in that brand of cooking around here! I'm gonna serve gumbo, and beignets, and jambalaya, and po'boys, and red beans and rice, and hotcakes, and—"
The door very suddenly and dramatically flew open without any royal raps whatsoever. "STOP!" Naveen cried, rushing into the room and glaring defiantly at his parents. "Madrina, Papeto, I do not care what you say, I am marrying Tiana whether you like it or not! I will give up the throne! If you banish me to Siberia even that would not stop me from marrying her! The throne means nothing to me compared to her, and between the two of them I chose her! I shall abdicate!"
"Naveen!" Tiana interrupted harshly.
Naveen's mouth clamped shut and he looked at her, questioningly and apologetically.
Tiana laughed despite herself. "They said we could get married."
"They… did. Oh." Naveen looked strangely disappointed. "You mean I gave that dramatic, impassioned speech for nothing?"
"Wait one moment," Shakir cut in sharply. Naveen and Tiana both turned to him attentively, Tiana's smile completely gone and Naveen's expression one of sudden worry. "I never explicitly gave my approval. Tiana has presented her case quite strongly, yes, but Naveen… I seem to recall I have made an exception for you before, and it appears that that didn't turn out very well. I am reluctant to give you a second chance."
"But—but Tiana is different, Charlotte was just—"
"I allowed you to marry Charlotte," Shakir continued through Naveen's stammering, "because you gave me a good reason as to why you wished to marry her. If you can do the same for Tiana…"
"Clardio, of course I can, I wish to marry Tiana because—well, actually, it is the same reason I wished to marry Charlotte—I wished to marry Charlotte because I was in love with Tiana, and now I wish to marry Tiana because—I am in love with Tiana!" He paused and considered his words for a minute. "Did… that make any sense whatsoever?"
"It may be the same reason, but it certainly makes more sense this time around," grinned Avani.
"At least you are marrying the girl you actually care for this time," said Shakir with an accepting shrug. "Why you couldn't have done that in the first place is beyond me…"
"Come, Shakir," Avani said, still smiling, as she led her husband to the door. "Tiana has much to tell Naveen about her plans for the future."
"But… this is my office," Shakir protested in vain just before Avani herded him out and closed the door behind them.
"They said yes. They said yes!" Naveen grasped Tiana's hands, absolutely beaming. "I thought they would say no. I thought you would say no. I thought…" He raised her hands to his lips, kissing them distractedly. "And now I never have to live without you again. Now I can finally be whole. Now I can actually make you happy like you deserve, like I should have been doing all this time…"
"Stop kissing me and listen to my plan," said Tiana, as firmly as she could, but still smiling lovingly. She stroked the corners of his mouth before pulling her hands away. "I've figured it out, Naveen. I've figured out how we can make this work!"
Naveen dutifully took a step back. "Alright," he said eagerly. "What is it? What is your plan?"
"I'm gonna go back to New Orleans as soon as possible and sell that old sugar mill. I should be able to sell it for more than I bought it, after all the work I put in, even with the broken windows now—"
"Wait a minute." Naveen looked incredulous. "You are going to sell your restaurant? I won't let you do that, Tiana, that is your dream!"
"No, that building ain't my dream," Tiana countered. "That's what I've finally realized. It ain't the building. I was so wrapped up in that building and how beautiful and glamorous I was gonna make it and how beautiful and glamorous I was going to be, and… I lost sight of what the dream was really about. It wasn't about a specific building. And it wasn't about the ritz. It was about bringing people together with love and good food. And I can do that here. There's this little shop for sale down in the center of town, and once I sell the sugar mill and get my dollars converted to rublinas I can buy that building and open up my restaurant here in Cruce Sagraldi. It'll be quite a bit smaller than what I'd always envisioned… but I think I'd always envisioned more than I could actually accomplish by myself."
"But you will not have to do anything by yourself again," Naveen said. "I will help you. I want to help you. You… you will let me help you, yes?"
Tiana smiled again. "Of course I will," she said gently. "That's why I'm telling you this. You're a part of my dream now, Naveen… it wouldn't be complete without you. And if we're going to be married, we're going to be sharing a whole heck of a lot, and that includes our occupations! While I'm getting the restaurant ready, I'll become a citizen. I don't know what all that involves, but… I'll do it, whatever it is. And then… I'll marry you." She blushed apologetically. "And then, when I'm a princess and I'm helping you run the country, promise me you'll help me? I don't know a thing about ruling or being royalty or anything, and I'm afraid I'm gonna be the worst princess Maldonia's ever seen…"
Naveen made a move as though he wanted to embrace Tiana, but perhaps remembering that she had wanted space to allow herself to lay out her plans, he held himself back. "Tiana, you will be the best princess Maldonia has ever seen. How many other princesses can make the time to run a restaurant at the same time?"
"But will I be able to?" Letting out a nervous chuckle, Tiana took a step backwards and sat down on a settee, brushing her rumpled hair out of her face. "I'm scared as hell…"
Again, Naveen involuntarily moved forward a bit towards her before stopping himself. Straightening himself up slightly, he cleared his throat and gazed at her, questioningly and a bit pleadingly. "Miss Wilcox… my dear, courageous, beautiful, wondrous Miss Wilcox, I realize that you asked me to back away from you just now, but I cannot bear to see you so distressed—"
"Naveen, are you asking my permission to come and sit next to me?" Tiana interrupted, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, I am asking your permission to do much more than sit," Naveen said with a suggestive smirk. It quickly faded to an apologetic awkwardness. "Is… that alright? I do not wish to upset you again."
Tiana let out a shaky sigh, one that attempted to alleviate her fears while at the same time signaling her body finally giving in to its desires. "Get yourself over here," she murmured.
Finally allowing himself to move forward, Naveen wasted no time in positioning himself next to Tiana on the settee and wrapping one arm around her while stroking her face with his other hand. "You really are scared," he murmured, lightly kissing her. "Look at how much you're trembling… Tiana, if you really feel this way about this… us… I do not want you to do anything you feel unsure of. Perhaps—"
"It only scares me because it's so different from what I'd always imagined me doing," Tiana interrupted, linking her arms around Naveen's shoulders. "But this past year I've found out that what I always wanted isn't working out like I thought it would. Besides, as much as moving here and leaving my life in New Orleans behind scares me… losing you scares me even more." One hand began to absent-mindedly stroke Naveen's back rhythmically as she gazed into his eyes. "I have a whole heck of a lot to do and learn if I wanna be successful here, and I'll need you to help me learn. I know I'll be alright as long as you're here for me… so will you be? That's all I'm asking for…"
"You do not have to ask." Naveen kissed her again, a bit longer, a bit more urgently and passionately. "As you have already discovered, you only need to ask me to step back from you." Again he brought his lips to hers, and Tiana continued to tremble, but this time for an entirely different reason. Their arms tightened around each other as their kiss grew in intensity and desire.
Suddenly realizing just how intense they were getting, Naveen pulled away enough so that their faces were no longer touching. "Tiana, I'm sorry if I am being a little too…"
"Forward?" Tiana offered, moving her face closer to his again.
"Yes, forward, but you must understand, I have been wanting to do this for nearly a year now, and… faldi faldonza." He closed the distance between their mouths yet again.
Tiana offered no complaints, simply sinking into his arms as her heart and spirits lifted. Every time he looked at her, every time he touched her, every time he was simply near her, her very real fears slowly began to vanish, one by one. If the sign from her daddy and the enthusiastic approval from her mother hadn't convinced her that she had made the right decision, the way she felt when she was in his arms, when she was just near him in general, when she just thought of him, did it. It wasn't logical. What she was planning to do was the most illogical thing in the world. But it was still the right thing. She was sure of it.
She felt Naveen pull away from the kiss, but she kept her eyes closed, focusing on her breathing because she had the feeling that if she didn't, she'd forget to breathe at all.
"Tiana?" Naveen asked, apprehensively.
Tiana opened her eyes.
"You told me before that… you wished you'd never met me. Did… did you mean that?"
Tiana took a deep breath and closed her eyes again, remembering the searing pain that had been piercing her heart that night, and pretty much every day working in her building, alone, in New Orleans. "I meant it then, yes."
Naveen winced, looking on the verge of tears. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I would not trade even just having met you for anything, and to think that I caused you so much unhappiness… Let me make it up to you. I don't know how I can ever… but I will do anything for you."
"I already told you," Tiana murmured softly, "the only thing I'm asking of you is that you… just be there. Because just being with you right now is making everything better. I can't explain it, it doesn't make any sense, but even though I'm scared and still hurting a little bit it's all going away with you here… this is so… different from anything I've ever… I love you," she finally finished in resignation, nestling her face in his shoulder.
Naveen held her closer to him, one hand finding its way to the nape of her neck and massaging it. "I don't like how much you are giving up just for my sake, my dear," he murmured into her ear. "I don't want to stand in the way of your dreams… and I feel as if that is exactly what I'm doing…"
"I want to do this," Tiana insisted, still nestled into his shoulder, and she could feel him shiver as her words sank into his neck. "I want to move here. I want to open my restaurant here. I want to marry you. I love this country. I feel more at home here than I do in New Orleans."
"But you have lived your whole life there."
"I know. I'm not saying it'll be easy. But… I know it's the right thing. My mama supports my decision. And… my daddy does too."
She felt Naveen's head turn around to face her, and she looked up at him and smiled at his confusion. "When I was out walking and thinking about how we were gonna make this work, when I found that building that I wanna buy… I asked my daddy for a sign. That was the only thing holding me back. That restaurant dream was his too, and if I felt that he wouldn't have been okay with me selling it and moving here then I wouldn't do it… so I asked him to give me a sign if he was okay with me moving my dream here or not. And just then I met this man… he was born in America, he told me, he had dreams there, but when he came here and he fell in love with the country and he fell in love with his now wife and…" She felt her smile grow even deeper as a light of understanding flickered in Naveen's eyes. "I know you probably think it sounds crazy, but I know that that was my daddy's way of telling me that he's okay with it. That he wants me to do this."
"Oh, Tiana…" Naveen cupped her chin in his hands and gazed into her eyes. "You are… perfect. And I promise you I will do everything in my power to make you happy, for as long as I live."
"That don't take much from you," smiled Tiana, once more wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "And I'll do my best to make you happy too."
"That takes little effort on your part too," smiled Naveen. "Will my… helping you in your restaurant make you happy? Because that will make me happy."
"It sure will," said Tiana, touching her forehead to his, still smiling. "I'm gonna need me an excellent mincer."
"Will you teach me other things about cooking too?"
"Yes. Anything you want to know. As long as you teach me about princessin' and how to speak Maldonian."
"Clardio, mio lombra. Rigasha t'fara."
Tiana grinned. "I have no idea what you just said, but I'm gonna guess it meant yes."
"You understand clardio at least, don't you?"
"Clardio. Of course." Tiana laughed at herself in mock despair. "You're gonna have a tough job with teaching me. If I wanna be a successful restaurateur and a successful princess here… I've got a lot of Maldonian words to learn, and not much time to learn them in."
"Not much time at all," Naveen agreed with a playful grin. "How do you expect to even buy the building or make any business transactions if the seller doesn't speak English?"
Tiana's face paled. "Oh… I hadn't even thought of that…"
"The answer is obvious, of course. Bring along a translator!" Naveen released his hold on Tiana and stood up from the settee. "Where is the building? We can go and reserve it for you now, in case someone else wants to buy it before you get the money converted."
"N-now?" Tiana asked in shock.
"Yes, of course! Why wait? What if someone gets to it first between now and then? And besides, I want to see it."
Tiana couldn't help but smile at Naveen's eager enthusiasm, but it was a shaky one. "Naveen, I only just got into the country today and I've been running back and forth between about half a dozen different people and I'm exhausted and… can I just freshen up first?"
"Freshen up?" Naveen repeated in confusion.
"You know. Make myself look like I actually take a little care in my personal appearance. I'm still in the clothes I stepped off the boat in. I look like a fright."
"You do not. You look beautiful."
Tiana snorted with a sarcastic smile as she stood up from the settee. "Stop lying. I'm a mess."
Naveen shrugged. "Very well, my love, if you say so… you're a mess."
Tiana folded her arms. "For someone who's been married, at least in theory, for six months… you don't know a thing about being married."
Naveen looked incredulous… overly so, in fact, showing that wasn't as offended as he was making himself out to be. "I disagree with you and you are upset with me. Then I agree with you and you are still upset with me. How am I supposed to know how to please you? How about this—you are the most beautiful mess I have ever had the privilege of laying my eyes on. Is that better?"
"A little bit." Tiana smirked. "I can see you've still got a lot to learn, though."
"I am a fast learner." Naveen smiled at Tiana, his sarcasm gone. "And you are an excellent teacher."
…………
Naveen and Tiana had hardly peered in the windows of the building Tiana intended to buy for five seconds before Naveen, who seemed to have even more enthusiasm than Tiana did regarding her restaurant plans, excitedly whisked her off to the real estate office to stake their claim. Tiana didn't have time to feel overwhelmed at all. Her plan, what she was going to do, what she was doing, still was only just beginning to sink in as she entered the real estate office, Naveen right behind her.
The man at the desk looked up and smiled. "Manidaza, meniris—oh! Mio pruto!" Upon seeing Naveen, he immediately and in complete surprise stood up and bowed respectfully.
"Non niedro fara fimalicas," said Naveen with a friendly, disarming smile. "Zaldo Ingrishia?"
"Viz."
"Wonderful!" Naveen took a step back and held out an arm to indicate Tiana. "Miss Wilcox here would like to do business with you, and she only speaks a little Maldonian."
"Of course. How can I help you today, Miss Wilcox?" the real estate agent asked, smiling but looking a bit confused, probably wondering how she had snared a prince as a translator.
"Well, I'm actually interested in buying one of your properties," said Tiana.
"Did you have a specific one in mind?"
"Yes, the one that's… in the center of town—"
"It is the little building at the intersection of Main and Batinza Streets," Naveen interrupted.
"Ah yes!" The agent opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a few stacks of papers. "Were you interested in paying for it all at once, or would you prefer a payment plan?"
"Well—actually, I don't have the money with me now, but I'll get it soon, within a couple of weeks or so—I hope," Tiana added, biting her lip. "I was actually just wondering if I could reserve the building, and once I sell another property I own in the United States I'll have more than enough money to buy this one, but I need to sell the other one first."
"I will still need a down payment in order to hold the property for you."
"How much?" Naveen suddenly asked.
"Four hundred rublinas."
"Reasonable enough," said Naveen with an amiable shrug, pulling out a checkbook from his jacket pocket.
"Naveen!" Tiana hissed. "I'm buying this myself! With my own money!"
"You can pay me back!" Naveen insisted. "But since we are here right now, we should reserve the building and make sure no one buys it while you are in the United States, yes? It is only the down payment, anyway…"
Tiana sighed, realizing that he had a point. "Alright. But don't think you're gonna get away without me paying you back."
"I know you better than that. Besides, given the circumstances, it will be quite hard to avoid you from here on out." Naveen quickly finished writing the check, signed it, and handed it to the agent, grinning at Tiana. Tiana laughed, unable to remain upset at him.
"Maricilpen, Pruto Naveen." The agent took the check and pushed a stack of papers towards Tiana. "Should you decide against purchasing the property, the down payment is only fifty percent refundable."
"Oh, don't worry. I'm dead set on this." Tiana quickly glanced over the preliminary paperwork and began signing her name on the bottom margins.
"Right now, I can put you on the eight year payment plan. Your next payment of four hundred rublinas will be due next month. If you would later wish to increase the amount of the payments to pay it off sooner, that can be arranged as well."
"Tell you what." Tiana scribbled her signature on the final form. "If you give me just two or three months or however long it'll take me to go back to the United States, sell my building, come back here, and convert my dollars into rublinas, I'll pay it all in full right then and there. Because I doubt I'm gonna be back here in a month to make the payment."
"I can always make it too," Naveen offered.
"Naveen!"
Naveen took a somewhat startled step back. "Fine, fine, I know better than to argue with you!" He gave a knowing glance to the real estate agent. "You would know better than to argue with her as well. If I were you, I would take her up on her offer."
The agent smiled good-naturedly. "I can see that! Very well, Miss Wilcox. You may pay the full amount whenever you are able. Here is your preliminary deed—I'll have the final one ready for you to sign when I receive full payment. And here is the key." He gave Tiana a friendly smile. "I trust that you will not run off and will pay the rest when you get the money."
Tiana grinned. "Oh, I will. I will. Thank you so much! Maricilpen!" She shook the man's hand, then turned to Naveen. "Come on, let's go see the inside!" she said with excitement, rushing to the door, Naveen quick to follow.
"Yes, let's! Achidanza!"
Only when they were gone did the real estate agent allow himself to laugh in confusion. "Now that was… strange."
…………
"This is perfect. Absolutely perfect. This must have been a restaurant at some time in the past. See, through this revolving door? This had to have been the kitchen. It's nice and roomy, too! And plenty of space out here for the tables." Tiana smiled in satisfaction. "It's a whole heck of a lot smaller than that old sugar mill, but still, I think it's just the perfect size."
"And look over here!" Naveen was standing on the other side of the room, where there was a raised platform in one corner. "There is even a stage! You can have live music! And since your restaurant will be New Orleans themed—this is the perfect place for a jazz band!"
"Oh yeah! Kinda small though…" Tiana stood next to Naveen and bit her lip thoughtfully. "But then again, jazz bands don't have to be big to make a lot of noise. You know of any jazz players here in Maldonia?"
"I can think of one right away," Naveen said slyly, grinning at her.
Tiana laughed. "I got plans for you in the kitchen, mister!"
"I know, but—I can do both! I can cook and mince and—and do the dishes—and play in your band! …Can't I?" Naveen added, frowning a bit in uncertainty.
Tiana smiled, squeezing his hand. "Of course you can, sweetheart. I was just teasing you. You can do whatever you wanna do here. And I have a feeling I couldn't pull you away from the music if I tried."
She looked again at the stage, feeling a glow unlike anything she'd ever felt before. Well, no, she had felt something like it many times in the past whenever she thought about her dream, and she had felt it even more when she had finally stood inside the sugar mill, but never before had her glow been this powerful. She had never felt closer to her dream than she did at that very moment.
"Just think," she murmured, "there's gonna be good food and great music and it'll bring people together, just like my daddy said… and it'll all be right here…"
She glanced at Naveen, who was giving her a dreamy look. "What?" she said with a slight laugh.
"It is just… the way you light up when you talk about your dream…" He brought his other hand to their already clasped hands, with Tiana also resting her other hand on top of his. "I confess I have never seen anything more beautiful." He raised her hands up to his chest and leaned in closer to her—
"Naveen, stop," Tiana said, pulling back. "Not here."
"Why not here? We are engaged, after all…"
"As far as everyone else is concerned, you are married. To Lottie. You two are gonna have to clear the public up on that before we can even… holy smokes." Tiana recoiled. "Do you realize how this is going to look, you finding out that you're not legally married to your wife and then instantly running off to someone else?"
"I don't care what it looks like, and I don't care what people think—"
"But I do. I don't wanna be the cause of some royal marriage drama…"
"It doesn't matter what they think. If I have to give up my royal title and live as a commoner in order to be married to you, I will do that." He grinned at her. "I thought I made that clear earlier."
"I just don't wanna be known as your fling," Tiana sighed.
"You won't be. I would never help just a 'fling' with a down payment to her restaurant. Or offer to wash dishes for her."
Tiana laughed again and touched her forehead to his chin. Damn him and his ability to make her carefree in instances where she probably shouldn't be. "I guess I'll deal with that later. Right now… I've got yet another cruise across the ocean to prepare for. God am I getting sick of these… I only just got here." She let go of Naveen's hands and looked out the window. "But the sooner the better. The sooner I get that place sold, the sooner I can get back here and start working on this place and becoming a citizen."
"Stay for at least another day or two… please?" Naveen gazed at her pleadingly. "I am not sure I can handle you coming and going so quickly."
"I know my body sure can't, at least." Tiana turned back to face Naveen and smiled at his expression. "I'll stay for a day. I won't do anything tomorrow. I'll just relax and be with you. But then… no more fooling around, this is our future we're talking about!"
Naveen laughed. "A future of dirty dishes! I never thought it could sound so appealing!"