In a Different Life

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

Author's Note: Wow, I'm really sorry for abandoning this story for two months! TWO MONTHS. I had writer's block and problems at home. Anyways THANK YOU SO MUCH for those who Favourited, Reviewed and Followed my story! Literally, I cannot express how awesome you guys are! Stay awesome and enjoy! And as always, Read and Review! :)

….

Monday morning came and everyone groaned in frustration. What happened to the weekend? Why was it so short? After accepting defeat, the citizens of Corona prepared for a new day ahead of them even if it was the dreaded "Monday". Stores usually opened at 6 a.m. and our two favourite women started their shift. Cinderella has Monday free well except for music, so she does not need to go to school early today. Now a normal person would just sleep the morning away in glee but Cinderella, the ever hardworking person that she is, decided to work instead. Being productive was better than being lazy; also she earns some cash too. Tiana has only one class today as well, and it was music class. Monday has got to be her favourite day because in class they would either practice singing, using instruments or just chill. Sometimes Cinderella and Tiana helped Prof. Radcliffe with errands and that would cause rumors among their fellow classmates. They are labeled as "Teacher's Pets", but can they help it? Prof. Radcliffe was the only likeable teacher that they had. Their other teachers were mean or boring.

The first customer came in and she had beautiful blonde curls. Her hair swayed back and forth as she walked towards one of the booth near the window and she took her notebook from her bag along with her biology textbook. She has a black hair band that kept her hair away from her face, except for her bangs. She looked really lovely and the onlookers, mainly the guys, stared at her. Annoyed by their reactions Tiana shot them a glare and walked towards the teenage girl.

"Hello and good morning, welcome to Duke's,may I get your order?" She asked with a smile. The girl looked up and her and nodded. Looking at her movements, Tiana could have sworn that she was rich. Her posture and the way she brought herself was elegant and graceful. She wondered what a person like her would go to a shabby place like this –no offence to the owner—when she could go to the expensive ones uptown.

"I would like to have pancakes, a blueberry muffin and a glass of orange juice please," She said in a sweet voice and Tiana nodded.

"Pancakes, blueberry muffin and orange juice. Got it, it will be ready in ten minutes sweetie." Tiana smiled and left to place the orders to the cook. Cinderella took the requested muffin and placed it on a small plate and filled a glass with orange juice. She placed both items on Tiana's tray. The morning wasn't as busy as usual considering that it's Monday.

When the pancakes were finished cooking, the darker woman took it from the counter and placed it's fluffiness on the tray that her friend prepared for her. She went back towards the girl who was working hard on what seems to be her lab report. The blonde looked up to see Tiana holding her tray and she cleared the table to set the tray down.

"Thank you…" she looked at her name tag and smiled, "..Tiana."

"My pleasure….um…"

"Briar. Briar Rose," She replied with a smile. She moved the tray towards her and she couldn't help but drool at the pancakes in front of her. It smelled heavenly and it was better than the ones her caretakers would make for her. She loved the three old ladies to bits but they were never the type to be excellent chefs.

"My pleasure, Briar. I hope you like the food. If you ever need anything just either call me or Cinderella," she pointed to the strawberry blonde woman that was serving the people on the counter. She seemed to be enjoying her job and creating conversations with the customers. Tiana and Cinderella were the favourites since they're kind and will always lend an ear if you wanted someone to talk to.

"I will, thank you," with a nod, the older woman left and attended to other tables. Briar smiled and looked at the delicious food she has in front of her. She has never eaten at a café before and this was the only place she could afford to eat at, seeing as how she doesn't have a lot of money. And the money that her aunts would give her, she saved it for her college tuition. She took a sip of her orange juice and ate her food. It was the best $7.00 she spent on.

The door opened with a bang and everyone turned their heads to look at the customer. They were afraid for their lives, whoever would open the door so rashly was obviously trouble. Lo and behold, the trouble has arrived and he was bringing a grumpy Chinese man along with him. Tiana and Cinderella looked at each other and walked towards them. The Maldonian man looked at his friends and waved his hand.

"Tiana! Cinderella!" he exclaimed. Tiana sighed and Cinderella chuckled. The darker woman ushered them outside to minimize the drama inside the café. Briar looked at them the whole time with her eyes wide. She couldn't believe that the model Naveen was friends with the waiter in this place. She had always thought that rich people never mingled with commoners and a little fire of hope lit inside her heart. Maybe the fairytale stories could come true and her prince would come. She tittered and consumed the remaining food in order to finish her homework.

….

Outside the café the four of them stood in front of Naveen's car. Cinderella could tell that Tiana was annoyed at Naveen for causing a ruckus yet again. The man never learns. Looking to her side she sees the man he was with and she recognized him. He was the quiet, short-tempered man at the café. She gave him a small smile, which in return confused him. He raised one brow before nodding, no smile was given back. The blonde woman wondered if he ever smiled but thinking about it made her shiver. Not to be mean or anything but imagining him smile ended up with quite a bad picture.

"Naveen, how many times must I tell you not to cause a ruckus in there?" The woman huffed and crossed her arms. She looked straight at him, with her lips pursed in annoyance and with one brow raised, waiting for an answer. At this time, Naveen knew better than to be suave or charming around her because it would only agitate her more. Gulping he gave a weak chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well you see… we were in town and then we wanted to—I mean I wanted to see you… and well we rushed here and—"

"All in all, he grabbed me along with him and arrived at your workplace, but instead of acting like a regular human being," Shang said the last three words icily. "He slammed the door open and here we are."

"Yeahhhh, that's basically it… but Tiana, I missed you so badly that I was excited to see you again!" He said with his hands clasped together as if he was begging her to forgive him. Cinderella watched the man beg for forgiveness from her friend and she giggled. The two were like a bickering old married couple!

"But we saw each other yesterday, when we went to pick up Ella!" She replied, clearly annoyed. However, deep inside her, she was rolling around in glee. If that was possible. Shaking her head and letting the anger out of her system, she took his hands in her own.

"Fine, I forgive you. But DON'T let it happen again, you hear me?" His ears perked up at what he said and he looked at her with happiness. Did his eyes fool him or was his Evangeline holding his hand? Oh what a happy day indeed! He grabbed her into a hug, a very tight one. Lost in his own world he couldn't hear Tiana asking for air.

"I hear you clear as rain! Oh Evangeline! Truly you are the best!" He smiled with his eyes closed. Someone coughed beside him and he looked over to see Shang pointing towards the woman in his grasp. Confused he looked down to see what was wrong and in his horror, Tiana took a deep breath for air and glared at him. If looks could kill, Naveen would be a dead man. He backed away from the woman who was sending murderous intent with her eyes. Dealing with her in that state would be suicide and so Naveen did what he could do in the situation. Run. He hurried towards his car with Shang in tow and yelled goodbye as he drove away. The last words they heard were, Love you!

Cinderella approached her friend and she patted her back in order to comfort her. Tiana looked up to see Cinderella smiling and she smiled back. They walked towards the café to resume their work and upon entering, Tiana couldn't help but notice Briar Rose staring at them. She gave her a small smile and walked towards the counter, not seeing the way the girl hid her face behind her book.

A few minutes later another girl with long blonde hair that almost reached the floor entered the café. She looked around for a place to sit but none of them were empty except for the seats at the counter. She grabbed one bar stool, sat on it and took out her sketch book. Nothing like drawing early in the morning to get the brain working, she started to sketch a bunch of silly lines, not really knowing what she was making. Someone interrupted her from making God knows what, but she didn't mind, after all she was a good kid.

"Hi, my name is Tiana, what would you like for breakfast?"

"Oh um… I would like hotcakes and—" she looked up from her sketchbook and saw someone familiar. "It's you! You're that woman that tried to help me when my bag was stolen!" She exclaimed, a look of awe in her face. She frowned immediately. "Where's your boyfriend?" she seethed. If it was wasn't for that man, who told her not to, she would have gotten her bag back! She received enough punishment from Mother Gothel just by losing it. It was her favourite bag after all.

"Oh yes, I remember, you're the girl who cried for help! And sorry about him, he was just upset that helping you might ruin our 'date'" Tiana laughed weakly. The girl in front of her was saddened to hear the news and nodded in understanding. "But hey, if I see that man again, I'll ask him where your bag is and land a few punches for you."

The girl's eyes widened and Tiana couldn't help but wonder how in the—how she got such huge eyes. She discarded that though after all one mustn't judge a person because that would be low of her to do so. The blonde took her hands and shook them really hard that Tiana felt like losing her arms. Dang she has one heck of upper body strength.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, Thank you!" she exclaimed, even though she was causing a scene, Tiana couldn't help but smile. It feels great to make someone else's day especially when you want to help them.

"One thank you is enough," she replied with a small chuckle. The girl laughed sheepishly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah… oh! Um my name is Rapunzel, my friends call me punzie. What's yours?" She asked, waiting for her answer eagerly.

"My name is Tiana, but my friend calls me T at times, would you like some juice with your hotcakes, Rapunzel?" She replied with a small smile.

"Yes please! Orange juice would be great."

After waiting a few minutes for her meal, she decided to dig in. The food tasted great and it was cheap too! Unlike the fancy meal that Ariel eats, no offense to her. This food was literally similar to the kind of food served in the expensive cafés where the rich people went. Rapunzel was grateful of course whenever Ariel took her to one of those places, but sometimes she felt out of place. A poor girl like her wasn't the type to be eating in a fancy restaurant. Especially when most of the menus were words she couldn't understand or translate. She decided that as much as she loves her friend, she was rather comfortable in a place where she belonged.

Rapunzel couldn't help but notice Ariel's classmate, Briar Rose. Word has it that parents died when she was a baby, and her aunts took her in. There wasn't even one picture of her parents which was quite odd but it was never mentioned around her. She was the same as her in a way, sometimes Rapunzel would ask about her father but her mother would either reprimand her or brush the question off. She wondered if they could be friends, in the remaining time she has as a senior in high school. Rapunzel smiled to herself with a determination to be her friend.