Shockingly, Husk wasn't as freaked about Angel's sudden transformation as Vaggie was. In fact he was more irritated by it. He didn't really like it when other people went through his things without at least asking him first. It made him feel disrespected and he was already disrespected enough by Val.

"Hey pretty boy, didn't anybody teach you not to take things that don't belong to you?" He said to the bleach-white crawfish. "This powder isn't cheap you know?"

"Husk this is hardly the time to discuss your possessive issues." Vaggie said. "Now we're in really big trouble here, Angel has seen the effects of magic. When he's able to talk again, he'll tell everyone about us and Val will kill us. What are we going to do?"

Husk just simply pulled out his shot glass and filled it with his favorite brand of booze.

"Here pretty boy, have a drink of this if you want to change back."

He placed the glass into front of the crawfish who immedately drank every last drop. Then blackout, the little white crustacean was on his back.

"Shit! What did you do to him?!" Vaggie picked him up.

"Calm down. I only gave him a shot and at the size he is right now, a simple glass ful will just knock him out cold."

"Why would you do that? And how does this change him back?"

"In case you forgot, the effects of the powder are temporary. In a few minutes he'll be back in his orignal form but he'll be unconscious. When he wakes up, we can just convince him that his experince as a crawfish was just a bad dream."

"You think he'll believe that?"

"He will if we tell him his drink got spiked during the festival. Besides, logic is the first thing humans turn to in this era, their more likely to believe the logical answer over the fantastic one."

"You have a point there. But I don't know. I have a feeling that he's a lot smarter than he looks."

"Trust me Vags, I've done it a million times."

"You have?"

"Valentino doesn't cover his tracks all the time. He's had a few slip ups, and nothing fixes it better than knocking out the human witness and giving them the 'It's all a dream' explaniation. Well it's either that method or we have to make the poor guy disappear."

"How often have you used the disappear method?"

"Once or twice. Valentino has done it less since I came up with the dream method. Anyway, he'll be fine. Let's just go on back to the square before people get suspicious."

"What about Angel? If he transforms back in front of everybody they'll know something is up."

"Good idea. You wait here with him, I'll go back and dispell any rumors or suspicions."

Vaggie nodded and Husk returned to the square. At the moment, Rosie's employee was Bernard was leading the band in Louis Armstrong's Summertime while dessert was being served to the guests. Cherry Chocolate Beignets stewed in Vanilla, a classic dessert from the Claire de Lune. It was adored by anyone who had a sweet tooth, especially Beth. Rosie could not resist smiling and giggling as she watched the girl tear into that treat.

She herself had just taken a bite of the beignet when she saw Husk arrive.

"Ah Husk there you are." She called to him. "Are you ready?"

"Um..." He was already breaking out in a sweat. "Ready for what?"

"For your act. Remember, you were going to play the music for when the fireworks went off."

"Oh right! Of course!"

"So what song will you be playing?"

"What song? Oh well I thought that maybe the National Anthem would work."

"That's brillant! I don't know why I didn't think of that. It'll be perfect for when the fireworks are set off. I can't wait."

"Really?"

"Really, really. We better get ready now."

Rosie escorted Husk over to the piano and he nervously waited for the moment she would set off the fireworks. He really didn't want to disappoint her. This festival was very important to her, it had to be a success and his music was an importnat element in making that possible. He wouldn't fail her.

"Where are you taking me?" Charlie asked Alastor as he led her past the bayou.

"It's a surprise." He told her. "It was my favorite place when I was younger and I've never shared it with anyone before. Somehow I think you'll appreciate it."

They stopped at a nearby row boat that was parked between water and land. He assisted Charlie with sitting inside of it.

"Close your eyes." He told her. Charlie did, bringing her hands to her face. She felt the movement of the boat as he pushed it into the water.

Alastor quickly climbed into the boat and began to row. Three minutes passed before he stopped rowing and said,

"Okay, open your eyes."

Charlie lowered her hands and her eyes opened up to see that they were floating in the middle of a lagoon where wispy trees hung down over the lily pads and the light of the sunset was shinning over them. Swans and geese were swimming on the surface, some were flying over the horizon.

"Oh Alastor, It's beautiful." Charlie said softly.

They sat in silence for a long while, watching the birds. Alastor pointed out to a group of chicks, recently hatched, following their mother to the shore. The air was filled with honking and chirping as Alastor moved the boat through the wate and Charlie reached out to touch the swans and geese who were close to them. She felt their feathers ruffling under her fingers.

"You can feed them if you'd like my dear."

Alastor took out a biscuit he saved from dinner and handed it to Charlie. She scattered the crumbs all about, laughing and smiling as the birds swam in circles looking for food. But through it all she was careful not to touch any water.

"Do you like it here?" He asked her.

"I do. Though I'm surprised you came here. You're terrified of the water."

"It's very shallow here. Only a small child could possibly drown in this."

"What is this place exactly?"

"It was my father and mother's special place. On rough and exhausting days, they'd come out here to just listen to nature and admire it. They'd be alone, they could talk about anything. They could do whatever they wished without being disturbed. It was peaceful here, not another living soul could see or hear them."

"Did they come here often?"

"As often as they could. I was the only person they ever shared this place with, they started bringing me along when I was a baby and up until my father had passed. I hadn't been here since."

"You were so young, how do you remember it?"

"I don't know really. I guess you never forget the really important things. Like the moments and the places that made you the most happy. I can still remember watching my father struggle to catch a fish or to keep birds from stealing our lunch. I can still remember sitting in my mother's lap as he was rowing us back, she would sing old folk songs to get me to sleep. By the time we reached the shore, I was usually out cold. But the best moments had to have been when we came out here every 4th."

"Why is that?"

"Because this was the best place to watch the fireworks."

"What are fireworks?"

"Oh come on, you can't honestly tell me that you don't know about fireworks."

"I'm afraid I do not. What are they?"

"I think it best to let you see rather than explain it to you. But I can assure you, you'll be very amazed by them."

She took his word for it and continued to observe her lovely surroundings. It was like a dream here. A place where time stood still and joy was the only emotion here. Then there was the sincere smile of happiness that was on Alastor's handsome face. It made her heart melt and she found herself wishing that he could always smile like that.

Eventually the sun set completely and night had arrived. Stars were twinkling in the sky and fireflies were twinkling all around them. She could hear frogs and crickets singing. Truly this had become a most romantic scene.

Suddenly there was a loud nosie, a popping sound coming from above. Charlie looked up and she was wonderstruck to see colorful lights exploding in the night sky. They were like stars but so much more incredible.

"Those are fireworks." Alastor said, taking note of her astonishment.

"They're magnificent." She complimented.

She couldn't take her eyes off the sky. Alastor couldn't take his eyes off of her. In that moment he became more enthralled with Charlie then ever before and as she was distracted by the fireworks, he slowly scooted closer to her. She didn't notice.

"Thank you for bringing me here. This is one of the most amazing-"

Charlie turned from the sky to face him and once again they found themselves gazing into each other's eyes longingly.

"Wow." Alastor said quietly.

"What?" She asked.

"Your eyes really do sparkle like sunlight on the ocean surface."

He said it without thinking and when his mind registered what he had said, he blushed and became a little nervous.

"I..I mean...Um...I'm sorry...That's pretty corny huh?" He said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh no. Not at all. Any woman would like it. I like your words, and I like you."

His hand slowly came down from his neck and both of his hands moved to gently take hold of hers. His heart was pounding, his desire was rising, he could resist no longer. She almost pulled away from him but she too, could not resist for another moment. She wanted him, he wanted her, and their fear had vanished.

Alastor leaned toward Charlie, she instinctively closed her eyes, his were half-liddded, their lips slowly puckering.

"I think I might kiss you." He whispered.

"I think I might be bad at it." She whispered back.

"That's not possible."

Finally their lips brushed against each other. They had kissed. He was a human, she was a mermaid, and they were kissing underneath the glow of the fireworks. It was her first kiss and his, and it was unlike anything they ever expected it to be. It was like all their lives they had felt that there was this connectiton that was missing and now said connection had been found. That they had found someone that they felt comfortable with and could open up to about their true feelings. Someone who they wanted to be with every hour of every day.

In simpler terms...

They were in love.