Chapter 2

Just Kiss Him Now!

Before Naveen could have done anything (not that he, as a ghost, could have done much), Laurence had dived after Tiana.

What was that man thinking of? – Naveen pondered as he watched the two frogs fall and listened to their screaming. Laurence, being slightly bigger and heavier than Tiana, caught up with her in the air and took hold of her, then somehow managed to navigate themselves on top of a bunch of balloons decorating the garden. Some of the balloons burst and the two frogs – still screaming – slid down from the top of a lurid pink one.

Once again, Naveen could not help but admire Laurence's reflexes as the frog caught the string of the lurid pink balloon with his left hand while with his right he was clutching at Tiana's hand. There was no doubt, the man must have been in several dangerous situations and survived all of them. Even his muscles must have been trained in battle, for he pulled up Tiana with an almighty tug so that she too could hold onto the string.

At that moment the lurid pink balloon separated itself from the rest and went whooshing upwards, out of the garden of the La Bouff residence with the two frogs hanging from its string, their little feet dangling above the abyss.That was when Naveen noticed that Laurence was gasping for breath and pressing his left hand to his heart as though it wanted to jump out of his chest.

"Well… that was… the maddest rescuing… I've ever seen," Tiana wheezed, her voice shaky with shock. "Not that I've seen many…"

"I am sorry," Laurence panted, "I have a bit of a hero complex, so I have been told…"

"A bit?" Naveen laughed sarcastically. "Man, you could have killed yourself, what made you jump after her?"

The male frog gave the invisible prince a patronising glance. "Someone had to."

"Someone had to?" Naveen echoed his words.

Laurence made a grimace that looked particularly funny on his amphibian face. "I tend to do things because I think someone has to and others are either unwilling or incapable… Why, I am sure you too would have jumped after the lady had you had legs to jump with, would you not, your royal highness?"

Naveen felt his throat close, as much as such a thing was possible without having a body. He was not at all sure he would have done it… on the contrary. He was quite sure he would not have done it. But for some reason he could not find it in his heart to continue mocking Laurence for his stupid heroism, and a tiny part of his soul wished he could own at least a hundredth of the courage this simple captain possessed.

"You're very silent," Tiana perceived, and Naveen was sure she was addressing him, not Laurence. Did he just imagine the disappointed look in her eyes? Either way, he felt ashamed.

"Anyway," Tiana carried on, "thank you for saving me, Laurence."

The male frog gave the female a smile. "You are most welcome. But in the future, please, do not jump down from balconies."

"I'll sure try not to," the girl chuckled, "but you can't blame me, I was scared to death. How could I not be? I've been turned into a frog! That's not how it was supposed to work! My kiss should've changed you back into a man, not made me a frog!"

"That's most curious, indeed," Naveen agreed, "a princess' kiss should have transformed him back…"

"Are you telling me I should've been a princess to make the kiss work?" Tiana's eyes widened.

"Well, of course… why…" Naveen's voice trailed off, "are you not?"

"Of course I'm not!" Tiana snapped. "I'm a waitress!"

"A waitress? Then why on earth have you dressed up as a princess?" the prince hissed.

"It was a mardi gras parade, and my dress was a mardi grass costume!" Tiana hissed back.

"Well, I must ask for your forgiveness, fellow-prince Laurence," Naveen said, "had I known she was a waitress, I wouldn't have made you sink so low as to kiss her."

"What?" Tiana's green face turned red with fury and she nearly let go of the string she was holding onto. "Are you asking for his forgiveness, when it was me who got transformed into a frog through his kiss? And do you suddenly consider him a fellow-prince while he's been a mere captain to you so far? Only because I'm a waitress? Shame on you, Naveen!"

"Prince Naveen, if you please," the ghostly voice replied stiffly.

Laurence the frog rolled his eyes. "I cannot believe I am here, floating over a city a hundred years in my future, above funny moving boxes and underdressed women, listening to a frog lady and an invisible prince barking at each other like an old married couple… and all this when a battle is waiting for me back in my own time and Temeraire and… others are getting worried about my absence!"

"For your information, those moving boxes are automobiles," Naveen said, "and we are not behaving like an old married couple! Me, married to a waitress? That is preposterous!"

"Of course it is, because I'd never marry a prince as stuck-up as him!" Tiana retorted.

"I'm not stuck-up!" Naveen protested. "Laurence, tell her that I'm not!"

"Well, you are," came the calm reply.

"And you? You said you were proud too!" the prince reminded him.

"Pride and conceit are different things," Laurence answered. "Pride can both be good and bad, while conceit is always bad."

"But you mentioned your pride among your flaws!" Naveen pressed. "Then it must be something bad in your case too!"

"When your pride goes hand in hand with your honesty, when you feel you need to do something unpleasant because others would not, but you are too proud to run away and hide from the consequences, then… I think… pride is not that bad at all. Sometimes you need to choose between being honest and proud or being a coward… and even if it may hurt me and others too, I would always choose honesty and pride."

"Holy heavens, are you some goddamn philosopher?" Naveen snorted.

"Just because we can't understand the exact meaning behind his words, he might be right," Tiana said. "Actually, I'm quite sure he's right. He's proud. You're stuck-up. And it was time someone actually told you that and deflated your bloated ego!"

Problem was, at that second something else deflated too. "The balloon!"

With an almighty scream the frogs tumbled into the waters below.

oOo

Waterloo, 18th June, 1815

It was not often that Temeraire was close to losing his patience, but the current situation definitely belonged to those few occasions. At least an hour had passed since Laurence had been – magically? – exchanged for this short, fat, and ugly man who had claimed he was Laurence and then lost his consciousness. Upon First Lieutenant Emily Roland's orders the crew had dragged the fat man off Temeraire's back and tied him to a tree. Coming around, the fat man had screamed a little, then shut up as soon as Emily had pointed her pistol at his throat again.

For the time being she was still keeping him in check with her gun. "Spill, and don't leave anything out, and then we might spare your life! How have you come here?"

"I… I… I was only sitting in Dr. Facilier's voodoo emporium, waiting for him to help my master, and…"

"Voodoo? What is voodoo?" Emily knitted her eyebrows.

"Well, that is some sort of magic, I think…" the captive gulped.

"Magic? Do we look like fools to you?" Emily snapped, her eyes gleaming with fury. Even Temeraire found her intimidating which was saying something.

"No, Miss, it was magic indeed, otherwise how could I have got here? I am just a valet, completely harmless, a mere victim of that evil man's sorcery…"

Emily's eyes narrowed. "I still don't believe you, but let's play a game and assume that I do. Then tell me, why was it you of all people who got transported here in place of our captain?"

"Well…" the fat man said, sweating even in the shadow of the tree, "didn't you say your captain was called Lawrence?"

"Yes, he is called Laurence…"

"Well, that's my name too," the captive shrugged, as much as he could while tied to a tree.

Temeraire could no longer bear to remain silent. "But even if you are called Laurence, why was it you who landed here? There are hundreds of people in the world called Laurence, then why you? Why not a more handsome Laurence? Or a cleverer one?"

The captive paled upon being addressed by the dragon again. "I… I don't know… perhaps because it was I who was there with the magician?"

"But then why was it our Laurence who got exchanged for you? Why not another Laurence?" Temeraire pressed. "For example, Laurence has two brothers and several nephews, those are all Laurences too… or his father, who is, by the way, a rather unpleasant old man… I would rather have had him disappear than my Laurence!"

The fat man shook his head. "I don't know! I am a poor victim, I only wished to be part of something grand for a change, and look what I got!"

"Well, you may be part of something grand," Granby said. "For your information, we are going to fight with none other than…"

Emily silenced him with a wave of her hand. "Hush, he might be a French spy."

"Do you think he looks like a French spy?" Granby looked dubious. "He looks way too dumb for that."

"Perhaps he's just a talented actor," she opined.

"Still, if he is a French spy, he knows perfectly well who we are up against," Granby shrugged.

"Then we need not talk about it at all," Emily said. "Come on, let's leave him here, apparently we can't get him to talk sense. We are going to interrogate him after the battle. And do it mercilessly," she sent the fat man a cold stare that made him sweat and blanch even more.

"As you wish, Lieutenant Roland," Granby nodded.

"Oh, let me interrogate him!" Iskierka roared. "I could interrogate him better than anyone else… and then kill him!"

An ever-growing blot on the front of the captive's trousers indicated that he had wet himself. Iskierka often had that effect on people.

Emily left the fat man with a sigh of defeat and climbed upon Temeraire's back again.

"You are very pale," the dragon perceived. "Are you feeling sick?"

"Just sick with worry," she grunted. "Pray do not worry about me, worry about the battle."

"And Laurence," Temeraire added.

"Yes," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "And Laurence."

oOo

Tiana decided that this was the day of unpleasant surprises. After her offer had been rejected by the realtors, she got turned into a frog and had had to endure the self-centred gushing of Prince Naveen's ghost. She had twice fallen from a high place, then she had got nearly scared to death by a talking and trumpet-playing alligator who named himself Louis, and mostly recently she had even felt – and acted upon – the urge to eat a bug. How totally yucky was that?

For the time being she and Laurence were seated on the alligator's back, waiting to arrive to a certain Mama Odie, who, according to said alligator, was a voodoo priestess. But at least there was hope. If this Mama Odie could reverse Dr. Facilier's stupid charm, everything could be back to normal before the sun rose.

Laurence next to her was unusually silent but tended to grin at every little silliness that their new friend, Ray, the Cajun firefly happened to pour on them. Apparently he had grown to like the little fellow and so had Tiana.

As for Naveen, after their landing in the bayou he had mostly given up on bragging, and apart from criticising Louis' trumpet-play from time to time, he did not talk much. For some funny reason Tiana was beginning to miss his constant jabbering, even though she did not miss his conceited and condescending remarks.

Finally Louis stopped by a tree whose roots were sticking out of the water and there was a shabby cottage built in its foliage.

"So, is this where Mama Odie lives?" Tiana asked.

"Exactly," Ray nodded. "Come and climb, I'll provide the light."

The girl and the frog-shaped captain climbed the tree with a little difficulty and knocked on the door.

Mama Odie turned out to be short, white-haired and blind, but overall very kind.

"So, you're saying you're a prince by adoption, hmm?" she scratched her jaw after she had listened to their story with unexpected calmness. Tiana was sure that anyone else had long since chased them out of their house with a broom.

"Yes, madam," Laurence replied. "But does that matter at all?"

"Very much, my dear, very much," said Mama Odie. "I fear I can't transform you back, but there's still hope. You must kiss a princess!"

"A princess? But where do I find one?" Laurence pouted. "Surely not here in the swamp!"

"At the mardi gras parade, of course!" Mama Odie laughed.

"But… there are no real princesses there," Tiana objected, "only dressed up princesses like I was!"

"There is a real one," the old woman said firmly, "but even she will lose her princess status once the clock strikes twelve. At midnight."

"Oh, you mean… Charlotte?" Tiana's eyes widened.

"Charlotte? Who is this Charlotte?" Laurence wondered.

"The daughter of Mr. La Bouff, of course," Naveen chimed in, "and the woman I intend to marry for her fortune!"

Tiana felt a nasty little prickling feeling in her heart, but decided to ignore it. If Naveen wanted Charlotte's money, he would get it, she couldn't care less!

"And…?" Laurence blinked, still quite at loss.

"Papa La Bouff is the king of the mardi gras parade," Tiana explained, "so his daughter is currently a princess. We must somehow get back to New Orleans before midnight and get Charlotte to kiss you!"

"Yes, but don't even think of marrying her after you turn back into a human! She's mine," Naveen reminded Laurence.

"I would never think of marrying her, I promise," Laurence replied with a small smile – a smile that was partly dreamy, partly hopeful, partly happy and partly sad. This man – frog – was still a mystery to Tiana, and she had reluctantly accepted that it was going to stay like that for ever. She did not really know why she cared at all that she did not know his secrets (of which he obviously had many), but perhaps it had to do with the fact that she felt he was a kindred spirit. Very unlike Prince Naveen. Then why, O why did she feel drawn to Prince Naveen?

She shook her head in disgust. She liked nice men, the polite-noble-courageous sort, not the irritating braggarts! And still… just imagining the prince marrying Charlotte tore at her soul. Just a minute ago Tiana had sworn to ignore her feelings, but she came to realise that she was not strong enough for denial. But she would not show her weakness, Naveen must not see it! He did not even deserve her feelings, he was a nasty, cowardly man who could not even hold a candle to the chivalrous Laurence!

Then why could she not fancy Laurence instead?

"Well, then, I believe we must catch a ship back to New Orleans," Naveen suggested. "One that arrives there before midnight."

They said their farewells to Mama Odie, thanking her for her advice, and went to hitch a lift on a ship.

"Wow," Laurence commented once they were aboard. "No sails at all. A real, modern steamship! I miss the sails."

"What do sails matter to you, when this little beauty is quicker than any sailing ship has ever been?" Naveen asked, only to be silenced by the wave of Tiana's hand. She had noticed the hurt gleam in Laurence's eyes. "What?" questioned the prince. "Have I said something wrong?"

"Not intentionally," Laurence replied heavily, "but you have just disparaged half of my life."

"Huh?"

"I spent eighteen years on sailing ships, I was even captain of one, the Reliant."

"Oh… sorry, I didn't know," Naveen said, sounding unusually insecure. Tiana could easily guess what the young man was thinking: neither she nor Naveen was much older than eighteen, and this frogman next to them had spent as many years at sea as their whole lives so far. (this line sounds funny, Michael, can you help me out?)

"Hey, great costume," someone yelled at them, and Tiana needed a few seconds to realise that Louis had just been congratulated on his appearance. Emboldened by the praise, the alligator pulled out his trumpet (who knows from where? he had no pocket!) and followed the cheering crowd.

"This world is funny," Laurence said as they were sitting on the railing, their spindly little legs dangling above the water. "Funny and almost… frightening. And very unfamiliar. What were those things called on which we landed when we fell from the balcony?"

"Balloons," Tiana replied. "They are made of latex rubber."

"Latex rubber?"

"Ah, you can't have heard of it yet, at least not in the same sense we use it."

"There are many things here I have not heard of yet. Like those… automobes or what… and you know, in my world there are no speaking alligators… or speaking fireflies… or voodoo magicians…"

"But you've got dragons instead," Tiana pointed out.

"Yes, we do," Laurence smiled, his eyes distant as though he were not looking at the starry sky but beyond it, seeing someone only visible to him and no one else. "I only hope Temeraire does not miss me too much…"

"And I hope Evangeline does not miss me too much," Ray added absent-mindedly.

"Evangeline?" asked Laurence and Tiana in unison.

"Yes, my beautiful, shy lover. That's her," Ray pointed upwards, at the Morning Star. "Oh, how I adore her silent brilliance!"

"But that's just a star," Naveen said, and Tiana shuddered as she realised she had forgotten about his presence for a moment.

"Perhaps it is," Ray cocked his ugly little head, "but one can dream, eh?"

"Dreaming is something no one can take from you," Laurence agreed. "In his dreams the cell door opens for the prisoner and the banished returns home. In his dreams the outcast feels no shame and no fear to show his feelings… in his dreams he can be openly happy, for no one tells him he does not deserve it…" His eyes did not leave the Morning Star for a second, and he spoke as though he were a poet… or as though he were talking from experience.

Tiana felt an urge to reach out and take his hand, and Laurence gently returned the squeeze of her fingers.

"Hey, take your eyes off my girl," Ray said after a while, and Laurence finally tore his glance from the sky to look at Tiana instead.

"And take your hands off Tiana too," Naveen added.

"I have not put my hands on her," Laurence sighed, gently slipping his hand from the girl's grip.

"No, I put mine on him," the girl said tartly, but her heart was secretly jumping with excitement – did that mean Naveen was jealous? And did his jealousy mean he liked her? The idea of the prince fancying her practically scared her. For a moment it had filled her inner being with some previously unknown warmth, but the warmth got immediately chased away by the icy coldness of fear. Fear of… what, exactly? She could not have put a finger on it, all she knew was that it was confusing and insensible, it defied all the laws of logic… and yet it existed.

"I… I'll go and find Louis," she hopped up from her perch on the railing, "I'll be back soon." With that she hurried away, not really in search of her alligator friend, rather fleeing from Naveen, and hoping he would not follow her.

o

Naveen stared after Tiana until her tiny green form got reduced into an even tinier pinprick on the corridor, then completely disappeared.

"Are you still here, your royal highness?" Laurence asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"If you were looking for the proper moment to be with her and tell her you liked her… well, that was it."

"But… I don't like her!" Naveen protested.

"Are you sure?" Laurence sent an almost sly look in the direction he had heard the prince's voice coming from.

"Yes! But you… you like her, admit it!" Naveen carried on vehemently.

"I do like her… but not in that way."

"Hah, I knew you were an invert!" Naveen laughed.

The frog hopped to his feet, his eyes gleaming with fury. "If you had a hand to hold a sword, and if I were not restricted by the rules of His Majesty's Aerial Corps, I would challenge you to a duel now, sir. You may be a prince, but not even that gives you the right to insult me like that."

"Hah, look who's talking! What should I say about your calling poor Tiana a whore?"

Laurence rolled his eyes and flopped back down on the railing. "Have I not said a dozen times how sorry I was about that? In our world, a hundred years ago, decent women never wore clothes that did not cover their shoulders, unless they were… well, indecent. Miss Tiana is a perfectly virtuous young lady, and sir, I would be glad if you did not use that against her."

"Why would I?" Naveen asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but something still clenched at his nonexistent stomach.

"You once boasted that every woman was impressed by you," came the reply, strict and cold as though coming from a scolding father. "I have no reason to doubt that what you said was true, I am sure you have had many women in your life, but let me tell you something, your royal highness. The real man is not the one who brags about his conquests."

If Naveen had had a face, he would have grimaced. The captain was right, and everything he had so far said made sense… only it was so hard to admit it! He had long turned on his parents, shouted in his father's face that he was not letting the old man tell him what to do, and now here was this other 'old' man – who, at the age of forty, could have had a son of Naveen's age – telling him what was right and wrong.

"You are not my father to scold me as though I were an insolent child!" he burst out.

"But you're behaving like one," Ray chimed in. "Laurence is wise, though. I bet he has lots of children of his own to know how to treat you, your insolent highness."

Laurence's green lips twitched – perhaps trying to hide a smile, or perhaps in annoyance, Naveen did not know. He was quite startled though when the frogman spoke up, for his voice was laced with sadness again, "I have no children and perhaps never will. The likes of me had better not pass on… well, anything." With that, Laurence rose to his feet. "I beg your pardon, I think I will go and find Tiana and listen to Louis playing. I am sure Temeraire will be delighted to hear that I have been to a world where reptiles played the trumpet…"

Naveen watched the frog go, and his heart, albeit nonexistent, ached for some reason. Perhaps a bit for Laurence who seemed to be carrying a burden he was unwilling to share, perhaps a bit for Tiana who might stay a frog and lose her restaurant dreams if they did not succeed, and a bit – or a lot – for himself as well. For his life was truly pointless, and he had just begun to see it.

oOo

The La Bouff residence, New Orleans, shortly before midnight

"Charlotte!"

The blonde girl turned on her heels upon hearing her name, but her eyes scanned the semi-darkness in vain. There were a few colourful lanterns hanging nearby, but she could not see anyone in their light who could have addressed her.

"Charlotte, it's me, Tiana!" came the voice again, only from a rather peculiar direction – from the grass.

Charlotte had never been clever, she was 'blonde' in every possible respect and she was extremely childish too. However, her infantilism was currently advantageous for Tiana, Naveen and Laurence, for Charlotte, at the age of twenty, still believed in fairy tales. Upon spotting the two frogs before her feet, she crouched down, her huge blue eyes wider than ever. "Tia?" she asked in a trembling voice.

"Yes, Lottie, it's me," the smaller frog replied, "and this is Laurence. And these are Ray and Louis."

"Hey, nice costume," Charlotte waved at Louis.

"Thanks," the alligator blushed.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss La Bouff," the larger frog bowed, making Charlotte gasp. These frogs were not only talking but also behaving like humans!

Charlotte felt like clapping and squealing at the idea of her favourite fairy tale turned real, but before she could do so, Tiana carried on, "Naveen… I mean, Prince Naveen is here with us too, only he's invisible."

"Yes, Miss La Bouff, I'm here," came a disembodied voice from nowhere. Now, that scared Charlotte. She felt dizzy all of a sudden and lost her balance in her crouching position, so she toppled backwards, temporarily disappearing under a shower of pink skirts and underskirts.

"Oh… I'm sorry," she muttered once she had managed to disentangle herself from the skirts of her ball dress. "Tia… is that… really true?"

"Yes, Lottie, an evil magician has turned us into frogs and taken Naveen's body. You've got to kiss Laurence, or we'll never change back into humans! Please, I'll tell you everything later, we have no time for chatting now!"

Charlotte, who had always been enthusiastic about the idea of kissing frogs in the hope of seeing them turn into princes, made a wry face this time. "Must I? He's uglier than most frogs…"

"I beg you, Miss La Bouff," said Prince Naveen, making both Tiana and Laurence blink in surprise. "Do it, and I will do anything for you!"

"Anything?" Charlotte raised an eyebrow at the spot where she expected the prince to be. "Even marry me and make me a reeeeal princess?"

"Of course!" Naveen said hurriedly.

"Well, I don't know…" Charlotte mused, "men usually only want to marry me for my daddy's money…"

"I will marry you without your money, just do it!" Naveen begged, and Tiana, Laurence, Ray, and Louis gasped in unison.

"Will you sign a declaration that you don't want to put your hands on my money?" Charlotte asked, her arms akimbo.

"Yes, just kiss him already!" Naveen beseeched her. "And promise me one more thing: give Tiana enough money to open her restaurant! That's all I ask of you."

The bigger frog sent an appreciatory smile in the prince's direction. "I'm proud of you, your royal highness."

"Thanks, but… kiss him now!" Naveen shouted.

And Charlotte did. Well, almost did. Just when she yanked Laurence off the grass to lift him to her lips, the clock struck twelve.

"We're late!" Tiana yelled.

"No, not yet!" Charlotte said, and kissed the frog. Again and again and again. By the time she finished kissing him, Laurence was covered in lipstick marks and looked quite shaken and disoriented.

"You're still frogs," Louis perceived.

"Yeah," Tiana hung her head. "We are."

Laurence gently but determinedly peeled Charlotte's fingers off himself and jumped back down on the grass. "Thank you for trying at least, Miss La Bouff. You kiss really… well."

"Oh… thank you." Charlotte sniffed. "I'm so sorry I couldn't help!"

"You could have, had Naveen not wasted our time on bargaining," Tiana snapped.

"I was doing it to help you!" Naveen snapped back.

"But why would a selfish being like you want to help me?" she hissed.

"Because I love you, you ungrateful little toad!" he hissed back.

"I'm not a toad, take that back this instant…" But then Tiana's voice trailed off, and for a long moment she just stared at thin air, as though under a spell. Well, even more under a spell than she already was. Then an unearthly smile spread on her face. "You really love me?"

"Yes," Naveen said sulkily. "But a whole lot of good that does to us… you're a frog, I'm a ghost, we can't even have sex!"

"Well, you said yourself that Evangline was a star, and I'm a firefly," Ray commented. "She and I still love each other and are very happy together, although we cannot touch, either."

Charlotte's eyes were now brimming with tears, and Laurence cleared his throat, "That is possibly the most beautiful declaration of love I have ever heard."

"Hey, before everyone goes sentimental, let me remind you that not everything is lost," Louis said, "let's go back to Mama Odie and ask her if she has another idea… there might be other princesses she could think of…"

"All right," Tiana said, sending in the invisible Naveen's direction a particularly gentle smile. "Let's go back."

"So…" Charlotte asked a little hesitantly, "there's going to be no wedding?"

o

The elderly voodoo priestess shook her head, her wispy white hair flying around her neck. "No, I'm sorry, but there are no real princesses around for you to kiss… you could of course travel abroad and find a royal family, ask one of their daughters for a bit of snogging… but those princesses would be pretty difficult to convince, I'd say. Or you could make a girl a princess then ask her for a kiss."

"Make a girl a princess?" Naveen asked, although he must have known Mama Odie had addressed Laurence, not him.

"But of course, by marrying one," the old woman said matter-of-factly. "You could for example marry Tiana here. I'd be glad to perform the ceremony for you!"

"Er…" Tiana bit into her lower lip, and her eyes involuntarily searched for Naveen, although she knew it was in vain, she would not be able to see him. However, in her mind's eyes he looked disgusted by the idea. Or at least saddened by it. "I… I fear…"

"If that helps, do it," Naveen cut in, gentler than she had expected him to be. "You two could always get a divorce afterwards…"

"I'm afraid that is out of the question, my dears," Mama Odie replied. "You've been cursed in the fairy tale style, so only a 'happily ever after' sort of kiss would break the curse."

"Then we'll stay frogs for ever," Tiana sighed, "because I'm sorry… I could never live happily ever after with you, Laurence."

"Neither could I with you," the captain replied with a sad little smile, "and even if I felt I could, our marriage would still be technically impossible."

"Why?" Ray inquired, his eyes and bottom gleaming with interest.

Laurence sent him a smile somewhat merrier than the previous one, "Because I am married already."

oOo

A/N: be so kind and grace me with a review!