Chapter Fifty-Six: Mama Odie

Later that day all the swamp animals sat around enjoying Tiana gumbo as Ray told a funny story.

"He said 'hello?' and you say 'what?' and he say 'that the ugly fish there'!" Ray said as they laughed.

"Anyone for seconds?" Tiana asked.

"Me!" Jason said.

"Oh man I want more of that!" Max said.

"That was magnificent! You truly have a gift" Naveen said handing her his bowl.

"Yeah Tiana your food just as good as our friend Remy it's delicious!" Jason said.

"Why thank you" Tiana said filling their bowls as Ray gasped.

"There she is! The sweetest firefly in all creation" Ray said.

"Evangeline?" Tiana said as they hopped onto a lilly-pad and looked around for a lady firefly.

"I want to meet this girl where she at?" Louis said looking around.

"You can't miss her, she glowing right up there in front of yal" Ray said pointing to the Evening Star.

"Uh?" Jason said looking to the others.

"Look how she lights up the sky, ma belle Evangeline" Ray sang making a heart around the brightest star.

"Ha that ain't no fire-!" Louis began as he was hit in the head by the bowls as he looked to Naveen who shhh him.

"So far above me yet I know her heart belongs to only me."

"Jason should we tell him?" Max whispered.

"No" Jason whispered shaking his head.

"J'adore."

"I adore you" Naveen translated but was looking at Tiana who raised her eyebrow.

"J'taime."

"I love you."

"Evangeline."

"I'm just translating" Naveen said.

"Uh huh" Jason said crossing his arms like Tiana.

"You're my queen of the night so still, so bright, to someone as beautiful as she who loves someone like me, love always finds a way it's true and I love you Evangeline."

Jason then saw Naveen stand and take Tiana hand and tried to hold her for a waltz ad Tiana stepped back.

"Oh no no I don't dance" Tiana said as Naveen tried again and she hopped to another lilly-pad, "I never danced."

"If I can mince you can dance" Naveen said pulling her lilly-pad over and took the lead as Jason, Louis and Max watched the two slow dance.

"Oooh, yeah!" Ray sang as Loius began to play his horn as Ray began to light up the flowers on the lilies around Naveen and Tiana before they dived underwater to dance till they jumped out and landed on the lillypad again.

"Love is beautiful, love is wonderful, love is everything, do you agree? Mais oui!"

"I know what that means" Jason said as max nodded.

"Look how she lights up the sky, I love, Evangeline."

At that moment Jason and Max saw Naveen and Tiana both close their eyes and both leaning in close till Tiana blinked and backed off.

"Darn it!" Jason hissed.

"Uh ha ha Lotte getting herself one heck of a dance partner" Tiana said backing away, "yeah uh we best be pushing on."

"Huh?" Jason said seeing a shadow claw grab Naveen leg.

"AHH! Tiana!" Naveen yelled as a group of evil shadows dragged Naveen off.

"Naveen!" Tiana yelled.

"Hold on!" Jason yelled summoning his keyblades as they hopped after the shadows.

"What are they?!" Max yelled seeing Naveen holding onto a branch while the shadow creature pulled on the leg of Naveen shadow then pulled him across the water as beams of light began to hit each shadow and sent Naveen hitting the water.

"Nice save Jason!" Max said.

"…uh I didn't do that" Jason said as they looked to the mist to see a massive figure heading their way as they heard laughter as the shadow shrank into a think old woman with sunglasses on.

"Not bad for a hundred and ninety seven year old blind lady" she laughed swinging a stick with a light glowing at the end as she blew the light out like fire, "now which one of you naughty dearies been messing with the Shadow Man?"

"He did it!" all the others said pointing to Naveen.

Later that day Mama Odie led them to her boat home at the top of a massive tree.

"Were so glad we found you Mama Odie, Ray and Louis here been telling us all about you, we've ben traveling quite a long way and you can't imagine what we've been through and we heard that-" Tiana said as Mama Odie turned to them.

"Juju!" she yelled as a boa came down as Mama Odie turned to it and laughed "come over here you bad boy" she said as the snaked cuddle her face, "give a little sugar now" she said kissing the snake with their tongues and saliva coming off each peck.

"Ugh!" Max and Louis gaged.

"You just love your mama don't ya?" she said using the snake as a walking cane and began moving forward, "good to see you again Ray how your grandamama?"

"Oh she fine, got in a little trouble for flashing the neighbors again" Ray said.

"Oh like that girl!" Mama Odie said taking a seat in a large chair and laughed.

"Mama Odie" Tina said as they hopped onto one of the arms on the chair "we don't want to take up too much of your time but-"

"Yal want some candy?" she asked holding out a key, a peppermint a few jelly beans and what looked to be an olive with hairs and lint on it as a mouth flew off.

"Uh not really" Naveen said.

"No no thank you" Tiana said.

"I'll pass" Jason said.

"Is that olive moving?" Max said as Mama Odie picked put the peppermint.

"Well that's too bad this a special candy, it could turn you all human" she said popping it her mouth.

"NO NO NO NO! We'll take it!" they all said as Mama Odie burst out laughing.

"I'm just messing with yal!"

"How on earth did you know that we wanted to turn back-?" Tiana began but stopped when they saw Mama Odie sleeping and snoring.

"Uh Mama Odie?" Naveen said pocking her.

"Juju!" she yelled getting up running to a bathtub, "why didn't you tell me my gumbo was burning?!"

"Are you sure this is the right blind lady who lives in a boat in a tree in the bayou?" Louis asked Ray.

"Pretty sure" Ray said.

"I have to do everything around here!" Mama Odie said stirring the gumbo.

"Mama Odie if you-" Tiana began but got cut off again.

"Taste this!" Mama Odie said putting some of the gumbo in Tiana mouth, "well?"

"Hit it hard with a couple shots of tabasco and it's the bees knees now can we-"

"Juju!" Mama Odie yelled as the snake came up with a bottle of tabasco in his mouth and poured a few drops in the gumbo as Mama Odie tried the gumbo again.

"Yiee hee hee! That's got some zing to it!"

"Mama Odie please we need your-" Jason began and got cut off.

"That's just what it needed! Now yal figure out what you need?"

"Just like you said Mama Odie we need to be human" Tiana said.

"HA! Yal want to be human? But you blind to what you need!"

"But we want what we need is the same thing yes?" Naveen said as Mama Odie whacked him on the head with her stick, "OW!"

"Is it the same thing?! NO! You listen to your mama now!" she said as music began to play.

"Don't matter what ya look like, don't matter what ya wear, how many rings ya got on ya fingers we don't care!"

"No we don't care!" some flamingos sang from the hole on the roof.

"Don't matter where ya come from, don't even matter what'cha are a dog, a pig, a cow, a goat had 'em all in here!"

"We had 'em all in here!"

"And they knew what they wanted, what they wanted, me to do, I told 'e, what they needed just like I be tellin' you!"

"You gotta dig a little deeper!"

"Find out who you are!"

"You gotta dig a little deeper!"

"It really ain't that far when you find out who you are, you'll find out what ya need, blue skies and sunshine guaranteed! You gota dig!"

"Dig!"

"You gotta dig!"

"Dig!"

"Prince Froggy is a rich little boy, you wanna be rich again! That ain't gonna make you happy no did it make you happy then? NO! Money ain't got no soul, money ain't got no heart! All you need is some self-control make yourself a brand new start!"

"You gotta dig a little deeper!"

"Don't have far to go!"

"You gotta dig a little deeper!"

"Tell the people Mama told you so! Can't tell you what you'll find maybe love will grant you peace of mind! Dig a little deeper and you'll know!" she sang gesturing Naveen to Tiana as she approached the lady frog.

"Miss Froggy?"

"Ma'am"

"Might I have a word?"

"Yes Ma'am" Tiana said as Mama Odie picked her up and lead her to the bathtub pot.

"You's a hard one, that's what I heard" she sang touching the gumbo as an image of Tiana as a child with her father and mother appeared, "you daddy was a loving man family through and through, you your daddy's daughter what he had in him, you got in you!"

"You gotta dig a little deeper!"

"For you it's gonna be tough!"

"You gotta dig a little deeper!"

"You ain't dug near far enough! Dig down deep inside yourself you'll find out what you need! Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed! Open up the windows, let in the light children!"

"Blue skies and sunshine! Blue skies and sunshine!"

"Blue skies and sunshine!" Tiana sang.

"Guaranteed! AHHHHH!"

"Bravo!" Jason said clapping with Max.

"Well miss froggy? Do you understand what you need now child?" Mama Odie asked.

"Yes! I do Mama Odie! I need to dig a little deeper and work even harder to get my restaurant!"

"UGH!" Mama Odie and the pink flamingo all groaned

"They practically spelled it out!" Jason said.

"Come yal one more time!" Ray said "don't matter what ya look like! Don't nobody sing with Ray? Okay."

"Well if your set on being human there's only one way!" Mama Odie said.

Mama Odie led them back to her Gumbo pot as she stired to gumbo, "gumbo gumbo in the pot we need an answer what ya got!" Mama Odie said as a light glowed and an image formed showing a sleeping Charlotte snoring in her bed with a night mask.

"Lotte? But she not a princess" Tiana said.

"Hush up and look at the Gumbo!" Mama Odie said as they saw someone knock on the door and a man with a tiara on a pillow entered, "tada!"

"That's right Big Daddy king of the Mardi Gras parade so that make Lotte a princess" Tiana said.

"Dose that count?" Naveen asked.

"Yes it dose but only till midnight when Mardi Gras is over" Mama Odie said.

"Oh no that's today isn't it?!" Jason said.

"Hop along! You only got till then to get the princess to kiss ya, once she dose" Mama odie said as a figure of a princess kiss one of the four frogs emerged before they all turned human, "BOOM! You all turn human."

"Midnight?!" Naveen said.

"That don't give us much time at all!" Tiana said.

"What about me mama?! I want to be human too I can play jazz with the big boys! I want fingers and toes and a belly button not the kind that sticks out but the kind that goes in" Louis said as Mama Odie shut his jaw closed.

"That's your own fault! You didn't dig deeper! You will have enough time as you need! Come on! Come on! Come on! There are a lot of rivers here in New Orleans yal best get to swimming!" Mama Odie said pushing them out the door.

"Wait! I have a better idea!" Louis said.

"Hey Mama Odie it's a Princess of Heart that needs to kiss Naveen right?" Jason asked looking to see when the others were away.

"Yes indeed Master Jason!"

"So then Charlotte not the one right? Your sending us back so they get the idea right but why didn't it work before I know Tiana the right one" Jason said.

"Honey she not a full ledge princess yet!"

"Put I thought the pure heart made it so?"

"Nope! She been pushing away the one thing she needs in her life and when she finally accepts it with all her heart you will see her heart change and then she will be a true Princess of Heart."

"So that's how it works I saw that in Merida too when she and her mother rekindle the bond once broken and with Kida when the Heart of Atlantis left her Boo too young but she a candidate" Jason said.

"Be weary Jason there is a princess out there who is in danger" Mama Odie said leading him to the pot.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked.

"Ten years from now ten specials gates will open along with a powerful tiara the one chosen to wear this Tiara must take a journey a learn ten important lessons to be a true Princess of Heart she will have the power to stop a darkness" Mama Odie said as the pot showed an image of Heartless.

"What are they?" Jason asked.

"Soon these creatures will be born and flood all worlds and begin to destroy each one it will be your duty to protect this young princess through her journey until she become a true Princess of Heart."

"Okay Mama Odie I will! Thank you!" Jason said hopping out the door to catch up with the others.

A.N. Please Review.