In a Different Life

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Everything belongs to their perspective owners which is mostly Disney. (After all this is a Disney fanfiction)

"Ah I can't wait for you guys to meet my Evangeline," Naveen swooned. His friends chuckled beside him. One of them has brown hair held up in a low ponytail with a small blue ribbon. The other has his black hair held up in a small bun on the top of his head. Needless to say they all have flawless hair, after all they are rich young bachelors.

"So her name isn't Evangeline but Tiana?" The Asian man asked, holding up his hand to his chin and rubbing it. "I don't get it."

"Of course you don't Shang," Naveen replied with a love struck sigh. His two friends stared at him and looked at each other, wondering when Naveen went into 'la la' land. "She is just so…." He trailed off.

"Basically she's your amour, am I right Naveen?" The brunette asked while fiddling with his pen. The homework was harder than he thought. "Also, shouldn't you be doing your homework?"

"How could I, Adam? After all, Tiana is going to be here in 10 minutes!" He exclaimed with a smile on his face. Shang shook his head and concentrated on the work before him. Adam asked him for his help on the math portion of his homework and Shang gladly assisted. After a few minutes of silence and working on assignments, Shang stood up cracked his neck. Sitting in that position made his neck and back sore; so he stretched a little until his muscles loosened up.

"I'm going to go buy some tea, do you guys want anything?" He asked. Naveen shook his head and continued looking at the time while Adam thought for a moment then decided to have a cup of coffee, black. The Asian man nodded and walked towards the counter where he was greeted by someone younger than him. Way younger.

"Hello, welcome to La étoile, what can I get you?" The girl in front of him asked him with a heavy Chinese accent, especially when she spoke French. She was dressed in the usual uniform for the café; khaki pants, blue collared shirt and a green apron with a star on it. Her long black straight hair cascaded behind her back.

"Ah yes um…. Can I get an Oolong tea and black coffee?" He replied while eyeing the menu behind her.

"To go or here?" She asked while pushing the buttons. Shang wondered why a high schooler was working a shift at 2 in the afternoon, unless they got out at that time. It's been 2 years since he graduated high school and if his memory served him well, they got out at three or four in the afternoon. Finally brought back to Earth, he laughed sheepishly and replied.

"Here please,"

"Alright, that would amount to $12.50" Shang gave her his credit card and after swiping it, she gave it back. He placed it back in his wallet and noticed the name tag that hung on her apron.

"Mulan…" he said out loud and he placed his hand on his mouth after noticing his mistake. The girl in front of him laughed and smiled.

"Yup, that's my name. Anyways, I'll bring the drinks you ordered to your table so you can you know… sit down."

"O-Oh! Y-yeah, that would be um…great. Thanks," He stuttered and walked back to their table hurriedly. Adam looked up at him with his brow raised. Shang was sporting a pink blush on his face and Naveen laughed at him. It was rare to see their 'Tough Guy' Shang so embarrassed, especially in public.

After regaining his composure from his laughing fit, Naveen saw his two friends –one of them is his future lover—and sat up straight. The blonde and dark haired woman approached them with their Professor in tow. Upon seeing the man, he furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. He wondered who the man was and why he was with them. Could he be Cinderella's boyfriend? No he couldn't, he seems too old for her –no offense—and she has never talked about him. Standing up, Naveen approached them halfway.

"Tiana! Cinderella!" He bellowed and waved to them. Cinderella waved back while Tiana gave a small wave.

"Hey there Naveen," Tiana said and a few seconds later she was enveloped in a big hug which swept her off her feet. Naveen gave a menacing glare towards the professor that said 'back off she's mine', but the older man only stifled a laugh at the younger man's protectiveness. Cinderella saw the exchange and tittered to herself.

"Seeing that you girls are safe, and that you aren't up to anything bad, I think it's best to take my leave." Professor Radcliffe chuckled and Naveen's gaze hardened even more. "Tiana, Cinderella, I'll see you two at Monday for music class," he followed with a small smile.

"Thanks for the ride Professor," Cinderella bowed lightly and gave him a smile. He shook her hand goodbye.

"We really appreciate it, Professor. I hope you forgive this buffoon for being so crazy," Tiana shook his hand and laughed. Rogers shook her hand and laughed while shaking his head. After they said their goodbyes, Rogers went ahead to browse through the music store while the two women and an emotionally hurt man—not really—walked towards the café.

Upon reaching their table, Tiana and Cinderella were greeted by fabulously dressed men. To them it seemed like ordinary clothing but to the women, they felt underdressed; VERY underdressed. The brunette stood up first, seeing as how he was the closest and outstretched his hand. They shook his hand and he introduced himself with his French accent, it was thicker than Naveen's.

Shang stood up, bowed then shook their hands. After introducing himself, they all sat down and a few moments later Mulan arrived with Shang and Adam's drinks. Seeing as how there were new people at the table, she took out her pen and pad.

"What can I get you two lovely women?" She asked with a small smile. Cinderella shook her head no but was she was persuaded by Naveen and Adam to order something, anything. After telling them that she doesn't have any money to spend, Adam told her he would pay for her. Hesitating whether she should get something, she finally decided to order a Strawberry milkshake.

"I'll have a cup of coffee with French vanilla cream please," Tiana said. She knew that Naveen would pay for her and she also knew that he would pester her to buy a drink, or just buy her one without her consent. Her suitor grinned; he was glad that she was opening up to him a bit. Just a little, but he was happy about it nevertheless. Tiana rolled her eyes in mirth and sported a small smile on her face.

After a few hours of talking and getting to know each other, Cinderella and Tiana bade farewell to Naveen's friends. Adam kissed the back of Cinderella's hand and said "Au revior." Cinderella blushed and took her hand back. She bowed good bye to Adam and Shang. Tiana saw what happened and looked at her friend, she was uncomfortable indeed. Cinderella wasn't a touchy feely person when it comes to the opposite sex; it took her weeks to let Naveen hug her in a friendly manner. When they were leaving, she rubbed the spot he kissed on and frowned. Tiana patted her back and Cinderella gave her a small smile, but it never reached her eyes. Saddened, the darker woman looked at the man beside her and saw him giving her a small sad smile. He wasn't too happy with the whole scene as well.

Heading to Cal's, the restaurant Tiana and Cinderella worked at night, Cinderella replayed the words her step-mother would always tell her. No one will ever love you; you're pathetic, ugly and clumsy. You're a disgrace. It takes a lot for someone's self esteem to be repaired and it wasn't happening soon for her… at least that's what our lovely strawberry blonde thought.

"I'm home…" Cinderella called out softly. She knows no one will answer it anyways, but it would be nice to feel loved and welcomed. Walking towards the circular glass table in the middle of the living room, she saw an envelope. Looking around, she noticed that no one is home, well not yet anyways. Sighing she opened the letter and read it.

Cinderella,

Your sisters are at a party so I sent the cook the night off. I will not be home until late in the morning so I expect you to do the laundry as usual and clean the bedrooms. Oh and don't forget to feed Lucifer.

"Figures… the cook get's a night off and I don't," putting the letter back on the table, she started to walk outside towards the stables. It was a few meters away from the backyard and it was a long trek going there but it was her most favourite place in the world. She always went there every night ever since she could remember… ever since her father died.

Her father's horse greeted her with a neigh. Smiling, she walked towards him and petted his face. She never had the time to take him out for a ride nor would her step-mother allow it. Sighing, she filled up his feed box with hay and left to get water from a nearby well. After a few moments of pulling the string, she filled her bucket with the well water and walked back towards the horse. Filling up his drinking area, the horse neighed in thanks; she bowed and kissed his forehead before walking back towards the house.

After an hour of cleaning –yes an hour—she finally managed to make her sisters' rooms look decent enough to sleep in. She could never understand how they are able to wreck it every single day, but I guess that's one of the cons of being spoiled. Cinderella felt sorry for them, especially because they do not know the meaning of hard work. They have been fed to with silver ware their whole lives ever since they moved in with Cinderella and her father. Thinking about it, Cinderella wished she could live those memories again, but it was dead and gone.

Feeding Lucifer was hassle to say the least. The mangy spoiled cat was stubborn as usual and gave the blonde woman a hard time, but as usual she was able to finish her chores the way her step-mother liked it. Smiling to herself, she walked towards the attic where her bedroom was at and decided to start on her homework that is due two weeks from now.

Tiana walked in the empty dark streets towards the poor area of the city. The difference between her lifestyle with Cinderella was that she grew up poor while her friend was forced into poverty by her own family. A cold breeze blew past her and she crossed her arms in order to produce warmth and in frustration. She should have listened to the weather report and brought a jacket. A car beeped behind her and she turned around. Noticing the vehicle she continued her walk home.

"Tiana!" The man shouted from inside his car. Noticing that she isn't stopping after calling after her, he cursed to himself and got out of the car, locking the doors in the process. He ran after her but she didn't stop and kept looking forward.

"Hey, Tiana, come on," The man said trying to get her attention. "Tiana… please talk to me," he pleaded with a pout on his face.

"Naveen can you please leave me alone?" She said with a heavy sigh. Another cold breeze passed through both of them and she shivered. Noticing this, Naveen took off his designer jacket and wrapped it around her.

"What are you doin-"

"I know you wouldn't take it if I offered," he replied with a smug grin but then faltered into a sad smile. "I'm sorry about Adam…"

Looking down at her feet and tugging on the jacket, Tiana shook her head. "It's okay. Although I suggest telling that animal to keep his paws off Ella."

"I know, I will. I'm sorry, I didn't know he was eyeing her," The man said apologetically and stuffed his hands in his pocket. He was wearing a black shirt and it didn't give him enough warmth than he would've liked. He gave a small smile to Tiana and she smiled back.

"Look, you didn't need to give me your jacket," She said with one brow raised. Naveen shook his head and laughed. This confused her even more. "What are you laughing at you crazy person?"

"Nothing," he lied. Truth to be told he was laughing because he found it cute whenever she would try to return his items that he gave to her. He knew that she wouldn't let him drive her to her apartment where she lived with her mother, so he opted to give her his jacket instead. He would sleep better knowing that she didn't freeze to death while trying to get home. Looking at his watch, he noticed that he was about to be late for dinner with his parents.

"Listen, I've got to go. Text me when you get home okay?" He said and pulled her in for a hug. It wasn't like the hugs that he gave her whenever they were with her friends or with Ella, but instead it was a tight loving hug. Tiana returned his hug, tiptoeing in the process so that he wouldn't need to bend over so much.

"Good night my Evangeline," he kissed her cheek and walked past her towards his car. Tiana stood still and watched him drove into the night. She rubbed the cheek where he kissed her and smiled softly. She wore his jacket, his scent still lingering, and walked home.

She messaged him like he asked her to and dialed Cinderella's phone number. There was a lot to tell her tonight.

"I don't understand why you wouldn't date him Tiana…" Cinderella chewed on the cap of her pen, thinking of an idiom to replace a sentence in her report. "He's into you and you are into him, it's like a perfect match."

"I don't know Ella, it's just… I feel like I'm not good enough for him…"

"Tiana! Don't think that way, you are an amazing woman and friend. If his love for you isn't proof enough I don't know what is," Cinderella told her. There was a pause from the other line. "Aha!" Cinderella wrote down what she needed for her report and with a couple of sentences she was finished.

"I suppose… but you know I don't have time for it,"

"I know and neither do I,"

"Are you okay though?" Tiana's voice sounded concerned. Looking at her paper, Cinderella nodded her head.

"Yeah…I'm fine. I mean he didn't know so I guess I wouldn't blame him," She replied after realizing she was talking to her on the phone. She wouldn't know that she nodded. Putting away her homework, Cinderella fixed her desk.

"Alright, if you say so… so are you ready to start cleaning the new house tomorrow? I mean especially what happened with the last one I thought—"

"Yeah, I'm ready. I'm sure that this household isn't as twisted as the last one," Cinderella replied with a small forced laugh. "Besides, I heard that the owners wouldn't be there all the time so…"

"Alright, if anything happens, let me know…"

"I will and hey, I've got to go. It's going to be a big day tomorrow,"

"Alright, bye and sleep tight!"

"Good night."

Tiana was the one to hang up and Cinderella was left wondering whether if it was safe to go back to the house cleaning service after what happened the last time she worked in it. Oh well, money is money and that is what she needs in order to further her education. Glancing at the address that was on her desk, she hoped that this would bring a new change for her and so she changed into her sleep wear and bid the moon good night.

To be continued.

Author's note: It was originally a single chapter but it ended up too long and I know how boring it gets when it comes to reading long chapters. So I split it up into two! Yay! Anyways I hoped you guys liked it? Reviews are appreciated. The next one is going to focus on Rapunzel and Ariel If it gets too long, then I would be splitting it up into two as well.