Back to the town! Thanks for reviewing, Bloodylilcorpse, PhoenixWillowsRox88, Alice Queen of Madness, and the guest reviewer.
Why can't I do this alone?
That was the thought that kept going around and around in Tyler's mind as he sat opposite the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. He hated that he had to pretend to be Alejandro in this case. Lindsay wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but Tyler was already falling for her. She was pretty and kind and extremely attentive.
She was also very gullible and unobservant. The blood in the talisman was starting to drain rapidly, but she didn't even seem to notice when Tyler's eyes suddenly went back to brown.
"You know something, Linds?" he said, speaking rapidly in nervousness. "I know we haven't known each other long, but I cannot imagine wanting to spend the rest of my life with anyone else. Would you do me the honour of-"
He was interrupted by a squeal of joy from Lindsay. "Yes! Yes! Of course I will! I love you too! Why don't we marry on my birthday? It's in two days, and so I won't stop being a princess at midnight!"
Luckily, as more of Tyler's disguise faded, Lindsay dashed off to make wedding plans.
"Smooth, dude. Real smooth." Tyler shivered as Mal appeared beside him briefly. "You've got the girl, but how long will you keep her if we don't get that frog's blood?"
"Well, what should I do?" Tyler protested as the last changes on him finally appeared, his hair going back to muddy brown. "I need help."
"Yes." Mal said slowly. "I can see that. I will have to call on my spirits. They should be able to find him. And..." he paused. "They have already told me that they have another soul put into a frog, and I'm pretty sure that he had something to do with it. I think we may need to grab this soul, too, to make sure she doesn't talk. I'll be back this evening."
Tyler breathed a sigh of relief as the voodoo master disappeared. He'd never wanted to get mixed up in voodoo, and Mal scared the crap out of him, but he didn't want to give up on it yet. Lindsay had already touched his heart, and he just wanted to keep the pretence up so he could be near her.
Unluckily for Alejandro and Heather, neither of them knew this. All they did was stress about what they'd do when they got back to normal. And also, they'd been travelling all that day, and Heather was getting annoyed.
"I'm starting to suspect the Geekwad Gator doesn't know where the hell he's going." she muttered to Alejandro.
"This is a bayou, not a stream." Alejandro told her in a condescending tone. "It's probably a long way." He didn't let on that he was thinking along the same lines.
But Heather seemed to know that he was. "Don't give me that! You think the same thing!"
Alejandro gave up and addressed Harold. "Look, it's getting dark. Maybe we should stop for the night?"
"Good idea." Harold said. "I do need to conserve some of my energy so that I will be on top form when I am awake."
While they were trying to settle down for the evening, Harold disappeared to find fish for himself. Heather finally spoke up again. "I am SO hungry. Isn't there any way to get any-" she was cut off when her tongue suddenly shot out of her mouth, reaching for a fly buzzing nearby. She gasped. "No way. No, I am not going to eat bugs."
"To be completely honest, you have a point there." Alejandro admitted. His weak stomach turned at the very thought of eating like a real frog. "I'm not going to-" But their verbal insistence didn't do much to quell their frogs' instinctual reflexes. As if that wasn't enough to deal with, their tongues tangled, and both of them were soon tied in moist pink rope. Or at least, that's what it looked like to the first passer-by.
"Whoa." A firefly stopped, looking down at them. "You two must've gotten pretty carried away." He chuckled. "First date eagerness?"
Heather and Alejandro began to violently protest, but the firefly waved it off. "I was just teasing, guys. Want me to help untie you?" He flew in, and carefully untangled their tongues until they were back to normal.
"Thank you, amigo." Alejandro said in his most composed tones.
"Yeah, thanks." Heather muttered, not looking at either person. She didn't like having to thank people, and that had been an embarrassing moment for her.
"No problem!" said the firefly cheerfully. He had a rather high-pitched, chipper voice, as if he was a young teenager. He drew a name with his light in the sky. "I'm Cody. So, what was up with you guys?"
Heather answered. "It's a long story. To shorten it, we used to be human, and we're trying to get to the local witch doctor so she can turn us back and get on with our lives."
Cody narrowed his eyes, looking uncertain. "Well, you're going in the opposite direction, you know."
"Hey, guys." Harold chose that moment to show up. "So is everything going-"
"Shut up." Heather snapped at him. "According to Cody, you've been taking us the wrong way the whole time."
Harold paused, frowned, then hung his head. "Maybe I took a wrong turn somewhere..." he mumbled.
"Oh well." Cody shrugged. "Why don't I show you the way there? Me and my family and friends? You probably won't have any problem seeing their lights."
"That would be wonderful." Alejandro said, truly feeling grateful towards the firefly.
Cody whistled, and hundreds of tiny lights appeared, swooping in.
"Cody, what did I tell you about that loud whistle?" one of them said in a booming voice.
"Sorry, Dad, but I needed a way to call everyone." Cody said, a sheepish grin on his face. "I've just met a few people who are trying to find Dawn. Guys, you up for it?"
Another firefly swooped down to look at the two frogs. "Cody, you pick up the weirdest friends." he commented. "Don't tell me...you're hitting on girls who can eat you now?"
"Ugh!" Heather exclaimed as a reflex. "Eat a firefly? That's just plain weird."
"Sorry you find us so repulsive." the firefly said sarcastically.
"I think she means eating us." Cody said, trying to smooth things over. "It's a good thing she finds the idea of eating us repungant. It means we can be friends safely."
This time, Heather kept her mouth shut, although she was dying to say something about how, usually, she never would've given someone like Cody a second look. Even if he was human.
The fireflies began to fly in the direction, and Cody beckoned to his new friends. Alejandro and Heather took their places on Harold, and he glided in the right direction obediently.
Heather felt more excited. She finally felt like she was on the way to getting back to normal.
Alejandro glanced over at Heather, making sure she didn't notice. He didn't want to say it out loud, not when he'd already argued with her, but her death glares and rather cutting remarks weren't really annoying him any more. He sort of...liked that she spoke her mind, even if it was in the worst way possible.
Maybe I should talk to her more, he mused. If I get bored, I can always let her go. But otherwise...
Ugh. My least favourite thing about Alejandro is that he likes to play so many girls. But whatever, playing with Heather was how their relationship began. As it develops, you'll see him becoming more genuine. And yes, Cody is Ray! Someone suggested him as Louis, but I couldn't do it. And with that, you can probably guess Evangeline's name in this fic...
