Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I claim to own any characters or concepts related to The Princess and the Frog. This is a nonprofit work of fanfiction.

Thank you, again, to everyone who has read this collection and to everyone who has commented. I am, as ever, blown away by the response, and even a little overwhelmed. Thank you all so, so much for taking the time to read my stuff, and thanks, too, to those who've taken even more time out to comment. Thank you. Thank you.

As a note, I'll be moving this collection to the category Movies: The Princess and the Frog with the next story, which will go up tomorrow or Saturday. Thanks to elektralyte and alexapuppyeyesjohn for the heads up! I'm much obliged. :)

This story is set after the film (hobviously), and it is a Christmas-ish story (non-religious), so I guess keep that in mind?

Lights Above

In the doorway to the kitchen, looking out across the principle downstairs dining room, Tiana paused. It was late and Christmas morning had come, and there was no one else left in the place but Naveen, still fussing around in the kitchen.

The glimmering fairyland of the evening had gone, leaving an empty room filled with shadows, littered here and there with streamers, and confetti drifting like snow across the floor. But the strings of lights twisted up the pillars and draped in the rafters shone on, and in the corners the memory of music lingered, a faint impression of a horn blazing and the room swirling with dance and song.

All the work she'd put into making it happen: the long months planning, the late nights making sure everything was set up just right, and here she was, looking out over the trappings of her success, a Christmas Eve party fit for New Orleans. Her feet ached, her legs, too, but in her chest, something bright and sweet unfurled. She'd done it. No, she thought. They'd done it.

"Not bad, Miss Tiana," she said.

"Do you talk to yourself often?" said Naveen, wondering. He leaned over her shoulder, pressed close to her back. His hand settled between her shoulder blades. The lights above twinkled, thinning the shadows spilled across his face. "I only ask out of concern."

Tiana turned to him to say--

But he kissed her, his face tilted down to hers, and though it didn't last long, his mouth was warm, his touch light, and this was a sweetness, too. Tiana drew nearer; she fitted into his arms. She twisted her fingers in his jacket lapels.

"You should know," he said, and he kissed her again. "You're standing under the mistletoe." He pointed up and she followed, looking to the green sprig hanging from the frame. The white berries winked.

Naveen brushed his lips across her upturned cheek. "If you don't move," he said, as he made his way down her jaw, "I'm going to continue kissing you."

"Wouldn't that just be awful?" she murmured. She turned just so, to leave a kiss of her own on his brow, then another below that. His eyelashes swept her chin.

"Oh, yes," he said, "very terrible." His breath tickled her throat. "Like kissing a frog, yeah?"

She pulled on his jacket and he pressed close to her, so close, enveloping her. She touched her nose to his and when he dropped another small kiss on her lip, she smiled. All around them the lights shimmered, like fireflies, like some kind of magic.

"We did it," she said and her smile spread 'til she didn't think she'd ever stop. "The grandest Christmas Eve party in all New Orleans."

Naveen swayed with her, light on his feet. "It's a shame we have to wait so long to do it again. The dancing!"

He twirled and she followed him out onto the floor. They swung between the empty tables, kicking through the confetti, which rose in small, brightly colored clouds around their feet.

"The music!" he continued. "The lights! Oh, they're still on."

Tiana laughed and the thrum of it rose up through the silence and the shadows to hang in the rafters, where the lights gleamed like stars.

"Well, hey," she said, "there's always New Year's."

This story was originally posted at livejournal on 12/24/2009.

Sidenote: in my personal headcanon Naveen is Muslim, and Maldonia (personal headcanon: located in north Africa, no state religion) is predominantly Muslim with an additional substantial Catholic presence, particularly in the northern regions of the country. Obviously he would not celebrate Christmas (at least not as a religious celebration), but he would be familiar with and perhaps accustomed to it, what with being a member of the ruling family and all.