(AN: I'm sorry not much happens in this chapter. The next one's more interesting, I promise.

Thanks so much to everyone who's reading, I really appreciate your support!)

…………

These dreams go on when I close my eyes
Every second of the night I live another life
These dreams that sleep when it's cold outside
Every moment I'm awake
The further I'm away

-"These Dreams", Heart

…………

The Fenner brothers suspiciously eyed the money Tiana threw on their table at their real estate office early the next morning.

"Just where did you come up with this, Miss Tiana?" the taller of the two Fenners asked.

"I did someone a favor. —No, not like that!" she shrieked when both Mr. Fenners' faces twisted into completely shocked and appalled expressions. "Look, it doesn't matter how I got it. I didn't get it illegally or anything like that, and it's more than enough to pay the full price of the sugar mill… so will you please let me sign the papers now?"

"Well, Tiana, I suppose you did… um, top the offer," the shorter Mr. Fenner began to say.

"—Yes, that you did, that you did!" the first Mr. Fenner interrupted quickly. "Which means that the building is yours!" He quickly reached out and snatched the money, tucking it away in a drawer in the desk and just as quickly producing a deed for Tiana to sign. "Just sign right there and you're officially the proud owner of an empty, abandoned sugar mill."

Tiana looked up suspiciously from her signature to the two Fenner brothers, both smiling unpleasantly. "It may be empty now, but once I fix it up it'll be the most bustling restaurant New Orleans has ever seen."

"Yes," smiled the first Mr. Fenner, "once you get the place fixed up, and the staff hired, and the food and décor and menus and utilities bought, and the taxes on the building paid… sure is a good thing you can get such large amounts of money for your, ahem, favors."

Tiana's breath caught in her throat for an instant before an angry snort forced it back out of her. "Just what are you—"

"Here you go!" The first Mr. Fenner cut her off by snatching the pen out of her hand and placing the key in it. "Signed on the dotted line and there's no going back."

"Good luck in getting that building in working order," smirked the second Mr. Fenner. "It would take a dedicated army months to get that place looking presentable."

"And who's going to want to eat at a less than presentable run-down building? Ah, but I'm sure you've already thought through all that, Tiana. Can't wait to see what you'll do with the place." The first Mr. Fenner smirked at her as well. "Congratulations on your purchase. Have a nice day."

Enraged, Tiana snatched up the deed and stormed out of their office without any sort of farewell. Even now, with her dream coming true, she still had naysayers… She stopped herself when she got outside, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Yes, she had naysayers, like she always had, and that was because she hadn't achieved her dream—yet. But she was on the right path, and had already gotten so much farther than anyone had ever thought she could. She was almost—well, halfway there, at the very least. And she certainly wasn't going to turn back now.

She climbed aboard the streetcar with grim determination, trying to cheer herself up by imagining the Fenner brothers' reactions to her restaurant once it finally was a success. There was no way now that she could let herself fail, because she didn't want to prove them right. They only saw all the strikes against her—she was a woman, and black, and young, and poor—but it was just like her daddy had believed; these weren't setbacks, they were just reasons to dream even bigger, and achieve even bigger. And she would.

Tiana examined the key in her hands, and looked at the deed with her signature gracing the bottom line. Who would have thought she would ever get even this far? Sure, so the building she now owned was empty and falling apart, but it was still hers. And given time and effort, it would be a restaurant to write home about. Getting the money to fix it up wouldn't be too hard. She still had her two jobs, after all. And compared to how much it had cost her to actually buy the building in the first place, paying for repairs and upkeep couldn't be any worse. She was more than halfway there, surely.

The trolley came to a stop at her neighborhood, and Tiana hopped off… wincing a little when she landed on her foot wrong. Louis was crammed somehow on the front porch of the Wilcox house, with just barely enough room to move, yet he was still doing a fine job making his trumpet sing. All the neighbors were gathered around, apparently all over the shock of having a friendly, trumpet-playing alligator in the neighborhood, and were enjoying the music immensely.

Tiana, however, just gave a slightly irritated sigh. "Louis? Is there any way for me to actually get in my house?"

Louis instantly stopped playing. "Oh! Sure thing, Tiana!" The huge alligator attempted to squeeze off the front porch, but got stuck as soon as he attempted to descend the small staircase flanked by narrow handrails. "Ugh! Uh, li'l help here?" he said apologetically.

"Sure thing, gator brother!" about five of the neighbors said, and about ten of them hopped onto Tiana's porch behind Louis. With a strong shove Louis popped out of the porch like a cork from a wine bottle.

"Much obliged!" said Louis gratefully. He turned to Tiana, seeing the paper held in her hand. "Ooh ooh ooh! Is that the deed to your restaurant?"

"Well, it ain't a restaurant yet—"

Tiana was interrupted by all the neighbors crowding around her, gawking and trying to get a look at the deed.

"Congratulations, Tiana!"

"You finally got your dream, girl!"

"Can't wait to be your first customer!"

"Now, now, hold on a minute!" Tiana laughed. "I just own the building, and it's just a building right now. I've still got a lot of work to do before it's a restaurant."

"But you've got the building! Way to go, girl!"

"This calls for a celebration!"

"No! No! No time for celebratin'!" Tiana cried. "Not now, at least. I work tonight and I need to get a nap in." And, without giving her neighbors any more time to gawk and congratulate, she quickly ascended the staircase and slammed the door behind her.

The neighbors and Louis all stared at the door for a moment.

It opened again, and Tiana poked her head out.

"Louis? Could you do me a favor and play your trumpet somewhere else today? I need to catch up on my sleep."

"Uh, sure thing, Tiana!" Louis agreed.

"Thanks a bunch." The door shut again.

Inside the house, Eudora had gotten up from her sewing machine and rushed towards Tiana with just as much excitement as the neighbors. "Let's see it, honey!"

Tiana flashed the key in one hand and the deed in the other. "A piece of paper and a li'l old stick of copper. Amazing."

"A piece of paper and a stick of copper that entitle you to that ol' sugar mill!" Eudora gave Tiana a hug. "I'm so proud of you, babycakes. And your daddy woulda been, too. We've gotta celebrate!"

Tiana sighed. Not her mama, too! "Mama, I can't. I work tonight. And I work all day tomorrow, too. I own the building, but I'm still gonna need more money to fix it up." She made her way to her bedroom. "I'm takin' a nap."

She closed the bedroom door behind her and collapsed onto her bed. Unlike last night, she felt that sleep might actually come easily to her right then. She found herself falling into a peaceful rest, her mind thankfully not racing and tripping over things over and over again like it had last night, sleep seemed to be within her reach…

And then she heard footsteps and voices outside her door.

She groaned into her pillow. "Mama… Louis…"

"Oooohhhh! Tia's got the papers now? It's really really official? She's gonna get her restaurant? Eeeee! I'm so happy for her!"

"Achidanza! She is finally getting her dream!"

Tiana groaned even louder. "Naveen… Lottie…" She looked upwards as if asking for guidance. "God…"

One second later, the door flew open and Naveen and Charlotte burst into her room, huge smiles on their faces. "Oh Tia Tia Tia!" Charlotte jumped about the room. "This is so amazing, I'm so happy for you—where's it at? Where's the—"

"On the dresser," Tiana mumbled, point in its direction and immediately flopping her head down on the pillow again.

"Tiana, how can you sleep at a time like this?" Naveen asked. "Your dream has finally come true!"

"Not yet it hasn't," Tiana mumbled into her pillow. "I still need to get the place fixed up. So would y'all please leave me alone? I've gotta work tonight, and—"

"Aw, Tia, you work too much!" said Charlotte. "Besides, didn't you get your sleep last night?"

"I had to get up early to get to the real estate office first thing," said Tiana. Plus there was the little fact that it had taken her hours to fall asleep because she kept thinking of Naveen. But neither of them needed to know that.

"It doesn't seem fair that… after all the work you've done, you still have to work even more," said Naveen.

"Life ain't fair, Naveen," Tiana muttered.

"But… but after all you've gone through, and you still have to…"

"He's right, Tia," said Charlotte sympathetically. "How much more will you need?"

Tiana looked up from her pillow in irritation. "Nothing, Lottie. You know I don't take handouts! I shouldn't have even taken your money last night. I'm going to do this myself! —Look, I mean… I appreciate what y'all have done for me, and I'm very grateful… but no more. Let me take care of myself." She flopped back down into her pillow. "And let me sleep," she added, inarticulately mumbling into her pillow.

Charlotte and Naveen exchanged worried glances.

"Tiana," Naveen finally said, sporting his most charming smile, "forgive me for saying so, but I think it would do wonders for your physical and mental well-being if, instead of sleeping, you had a little fun instead."

"Can't. No time." Tiana still didn't look up from her pillow.

Naveen suddenly sat down on her bed and playfully rolled her over, pulling her face away from the pillow. "Well, at least smile then. Surely you have time to smile?"

And Tiana did smile without even having to force herself to. Seeing Naveen smiling at her made her, for just a second but what a glorious second it was, forget about her troubles, despite the fact that he wasone of her troubles. It was impossible to frown when he was around. He made every sorrow in her lift…

But he wasn't hers.

Her smile faded.

"There's your smile," she said, turning away from him. "Now let me sleep!"

"Come on, Naveen," said Charlotte, pulling him up from the bed. "If she really is tired then she does need some sleep before headin' into work. Do you work tomorrow too, Tia?"

"Yep," said Tiana, still not looking at them.

"What about the next day?" Charlotte's voice was unusually soft. "Because Naveen and I are gonna be leavin' for Maldonia on Saturday, and—"

That got Tiana to turn back around. "Saturday? But—but that's only three days from now!"

"I know," said Charlotte. "There's a lot of planning to do for our royal wedding! But… oh, crickets, Tiana, I'm gonna miss you! And—and I wanna spend some time with you before I leave! Of course, it won't be goodbye forever, you'll be welcome to come visit us anytime—"

"Oh yes," Naveen agreed instantly, "you will be a guest of the highest honor, I assure you." His voice had also grown soft.

"And we'll come back to New Orleans to visit you, too!" Charlotte added. "I'm certainly gonna wanna eat at your restaurant once you get it open, and you will too, right Naveen?"

"Of course! Many times!"

"But, you know, bein' across an ocean and all…"

Tiana felt tears spring to her eyes, and she quickly turned back around before either Charlotte or Naveen could see them.

"Friday," she mumbled. "Be here at 10:00 in the morning or thereabouts. You'll have me all day."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Charlotte said with a smile. "I was hoping you'd have at least one day free before we left. We're gonna go shoppin', and don't you think for a moment that I ain't buyin' you pretty things, 'cuz I am, I'm gonna have to make up for all the time I'm gonna lose with you when I leave, and—"

"Lottie," Tiana groaned, "you can talk all about what you're gonna do with me on Friday when Friday gets here. Today's Wednesday. Let me sleep."

"She is not one to be argued with," said Naveen matter-of-factly.

"Ain't that the truth! Well, sleep tight, Tia. See you Friday! Come on, Naveen."

Tiana waited until she heard her bedroom door close before finally letting herself cry. So much for sleeping.

…………

"I'm worried about Tiana," Charlotte said, putting her hands on her hips and staring at the closed door to her bedroom. Her voice was low to avoid disturbing her, but still peppered with its usual touch of emphasis and enthusiasm. Her expression was one of both worry and annoyance.

"So am I, but you know how she gets when she's in one of her moods," sighed Eudora, standing up from her sewing machine again. "Probably best just to let her sleep."

"How is she supposed to enjoy her dream finally comin' true by just sleeping and working all the time? That's all she did before!" Charlotte huffed in confusion. "What's even changed?"

"But she will be happy though," Naveen piped in, "eventually… after she's gotten a nap in… right?"

"She's had a very long and confusing week," smiled Eudora. "I'm sure after she's had a little bit of rest, she'll fully realize just how far she's come and how close she is to achieving her goals."

"As long as she is happy," Naveen murmured, also staring at the closed bedroom door.

Eudora smiled again, although this one was a bit more embarrassed and apologetic. "If I'd'a known that you'd be visiting my house of all places, Prince Naveen, I certainly woulda spent a month tidying this place up! Never thought I'd be entertaining royalty!"

"Oh no, the pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Wilcox," said Naveen, automatically flashing her a charming smile. "You have a… remarkable daughter." The smile grew softer.

"I know I do." Eudora joined Naveen in smiling at the closed door as if it were transparent and Tiana was visible to them.

Charlotte was still biting her lip and looking at the door quizzically, however. "Yeah, remarkably stubborn and bull-headed! If she ain't smiling by the time I see her on Friday I'm gonna tape the corners of her mouth up and make her smile!"

"She won't be smiling if she misses work no matter what you do," said Eudora. "You'd best let her sleep."

"Suppose so," said Charlotte with a sigh. "Besides, we can't hang around here too long either. There's so much left to do before leavin' for Maldonia!" She hurriedly took Naveen's arm and led him to the door. "Mrs. Wilcox, is there any way I could take you to the palace with me and have you be my official royal dressmaker? Can't imagine anyone else makin' my clothes!" She giggled. "While we're at it, we can move Tiana to Maldonia too and she can be the royal chef!"

Eudora smiled apologetically. "I'm afraid we're both too tied down where we're at, Charlotte."

"Nuts." Charlotte shrugged. "Oh well, it didn't hurt to ask! See you later, Mrs. Wilcox!" She quickly shot out of the house, dragging a startled Naveen behind her.

"Abinaza!" Naveen managed to say before being whisked away.

Eudora chuckled to herself. "Sure hope that prince is used to getting dragged away like that." She picked up a bundle of cloth and headed back to her sewing machine, but paused and looked back at Tiana's bedroom door thoughtfully.

"You have a… remarkable daughter."

Eudora still didn't have all the details of just what her daughter had been through during the past few days, but what she did know was that, somehow, she had become a frog and had to work together with the prince to find a way to undo the magic. Prince Naveen certainly would have had to put up with Tiana's determination and drive throughout the entire ordeal, and Eudora could only imagine how cranky Tiana must have been throughout the whole thing, being a frog and missing work and everything. But still… Naveen had sounded strangely affectionate when he spoke of her, as if something about her brittle exterior had charmed him. As if he had been one of the few people to see the fun, caring girl hiding underneath. Most people, Eudora thought sadly, didn't get close enough to Tiana to even attempt to dispel their (often negative) first impression of her. And that worried Eudora. The possibility that Tiana might live her last years completely and utterly alone was becoming more and more likely with each passing day. She had always been grateful for Charlotte's bubbly optimism and cheerfulness that balanced out Tiana, giving her a much-needed friend. Now it seemed Naveen could fulfill the same role… or could have fulfilled the same role.

Both Charlotte and Naveen were going to be gone in a scant few days. The only people in the world besides Tiana's parents that seemed to know her true self and care for it, appreciate it, love it. Care and appreciation and love that Tiana so desperately needed.

Eudora sat down with a weary sigh, unable to shake the feeling that what Tiana needed most in her life was about to walk right out of it.

…………

Charlotte LaBouff, despite being from the complete opposite of the social class spectrum, was far from an unusual sight in Tiana's neighborhood. The neighbors had quickly accepted and taken in Louis, too, especially considering the short amount of time he had been there. But the rarity of a bonafide prince in their presence caused everyone to flock to the only slightly overwhelmed Naveen.

"Land sakes, Naveen," Charlotte exclaimed at the hoards of people that instantly congregated about him the minute they stepped foot outside. "How do you even breathe with so many people crowdin' around?"

Naveen shrugged. "I'm used to it." Suddenly his eyes flickered to his right, where Louis was lounging around, holding his trumpet and watching the commotion with interest. "Ah, Louis! Just the gator I was looking for!"

"Naveen, we don't have time to socialize!" Charlotte said, dragging him by the arm even more forcefully.

"Wait, Charlotte, wait!" Naveen pulled himself away for the briefest of moments. "Louis, how long do you plan on staying here?"

"Forever!" Louis replied instantly. "I love it here! I can play jazz and eat good food and be with people who love jazz and good food and—"

"Fantastic! Just what I wanted to hear! Erm… you don't have any plans for Friday, right?"

"Not really," shrugged Louis.

"Great! While Tiana and Charlotte have their girls' day out, you and I can have our guys' day out! Listen to all the street musicians, hit all the dance parlors, eat all the beignets we can eat… it will be fun, no?"

"Definitely!" said Louis enthusiastically. "Can't wait!"

"Achidanza! Excellent! I'll—"

"Come on, Naveen, we don't have all day!"

Naveen stumbled only a little from Charlotte's forceful tug on his arm. "I'll see you Friday then! Abinaza!"

"Later, alligator!" laughed Louis.