Let's continue. Thanks for reviewing, Bloodylilcorpse and the guest reviewer (fair point, but he's a huge eater).

After the escape from the frog hunters and another day of traveling, Heather was less cold towards Alejandro, but she wasn't prepared for him to start properly flirting with her. He didn't say much at first, because he'd thought about what she'd been saying last night. Heather was a lot more prepared than he was to face the real world. Sure, he'd learned a few life skills, but getting a job when there were people like her, who'd worked all their lives and were good at what they did, wouldn't be as easy as he'd thought.

Alejandro had spent his whole life as a sheltered rich kid. If he wasn't happy with anything in his life, all he'd have to do was switch on the charm and things changed. But now that he needed skills...

But his mind still returned to his goal of winning Heather over, still trying to work out what she was worth. But much to his confusion, every time he flirted, it seemed to turn Heather off more than anything.

Underneath, Heather was actually starting to like the young prince, but she refused to show it. The only indication was when she was humming "Heart Attack" by Demi Lovato, and he didn't know the song.

"We've got a while before we get to the right place." Cody told his group that evening. "We're going to have to stop for the night again."

"Cool." Harold said placidly. "I could use a few more nights away from the other gators. If I was back there today, I would've been victim of more than one prank."

"Is there anything around here to cook with?" Heather asked.

"Pumpkins." Cody pointed. "And I think there's some bean pods growing around here somewhere..."

Heather smiled genuinely for once. "Right. You all better help me, but once you do, I'll be able to cook up something."

She asked Cody to get the pods, ordered Alejandro to get them cut up, while she scooped out part of the pumpkin and got Harold to set a fire so she could cook what was left of the pumpkin with the beans (and other assorted vegetables she found around the bayou.

"Wow, Heather..." Harold said after a bowl of the vegetarian stew, "This is really good. And that's me saying that – I'm more used to fish, but you're could turn me vegetarian with this."

"It better be. I've been cooking for a long time – if I don't know how to make a good stew by now..." Heather shrugged, pretending to be modest. She was thoroughly enjoying the praise, deep down.

"I'm really impressed." Alejandro told her softly. "You are far more skilled than I suspected."

Ordinarily, Heather would have liked hearing that. But the flirtatious way Alejandro spoke turned her off instantly.

She jumped away from him, tossing her head. "Ugh! I'm pretty sure I told you to stop trying to sweet-talk me. Either be real, or leave me alone."

They were stopped by a cry from Cody, as the sky darkened. "Gwen! You're here! Hi!"

The other three looked up.

"Where is she?" Harold asked.

"Can't you see her?" Cody asked, looking confused. "She's right here!" He drew a heart around a particularly bright star. "See how she lights up the sky?"

Heather and Alejandro both snickered quietly, but they didn't say anything. Harold opened his mouth, but Alejandro jumped up and whispered to him "Just let him believe it."

But although Cody was starting to chat to what he thought was a firefly, but was only a ball of light, the atmosphere felt surprisingly romantic. Heather's words "Be real, or leave me alone" stayed in Alejandro's mind.

"Well, if that's what she wants, I can do that."

So for the rest of the night, Alejandro didn't try to flirt with Heather in his usual way. He didn't leave her alone, though. He kept trying to bring her out of her shell, get her to talk.

"You know," he said at one point, "I feel guilty that we both missed Lindsay's party."

"Yeah, so?" Heather said dismissively.

"So," Alejandro said with a tiny smirk, "Maybe we should do something to make up for it." He gently pulled Heather to her feet. Then he bowed. "May I have this dance?"

Heather suddenly looked shy and insecure. "What the...um, I mean, no way!" She tried to play it off, but her anxiety appeared on her face. She could dance, sure, but she was coming scarily close to losing her composure. If she agreed to this, she might well let her emotions flow free completely.

Luckily, Alejandro knew what buttons to push by this time. "What's the matter, Heather?" he said teasingly. "Are you scared that I can dance better than you?"

Heather's eyes became fiery. "Are you kidding? I could overtake you any time!"

"Are you willing to prove it?"

"I don't need to prove it! I know I can dance. Why should I show you?"
"If you're so good at dancing, why are you afraid of showing me how good you are?"

"Well, I – I mean, I..." Heather stammered. She didn't have an answer for that. She didn't want to explain her feelings. "All right." she gave in. "Just so you believe me, fine, I'll dance with you."

And they did. Alejandro was interested to find that Heather was actually a really good dance partner, as she was just as graceful and meticulous about the steps as he was. She knew when not to lead, and there was a certain look about her. Heather was pretty as a human, but as a frog, she became beautiful when she danced that way.

Harold was standing back, watching. He was starting to notice the chemistry brewing. Cody noticed it, too. They both exchanged glances, but stayed silent. The frogs would need to work it out for themselves.

Little did they know of the voodoo creature who was searching along the bayou. It was looking for both frogs, but it could only follow Alejandro. Mal's "friends" could only tell him that there was another frog now, a female one, but he couldn't give the shadows enough information to find her. He'd figured that they'd be together, and that they would both be dragged back to the city in time.

But luck was on their side. The shadow creature was on Alejandro's trail, but it would take at least eight hours before it could find them. That gave them exactly two more hours to travel after the night was over.

Yes, things are still happening the same way. I know Heather is a good dancer, because we saw her ballet skills in TDI, so she's naturally graceful. I hope this chapter was enjoyable, short as it was.