Missing

It had been months since Tiana and Naveen had gone missing – three and a half, to be precise – and almost everyone had given up. Charlotte sat curled on her bed, re-reading 'the Frog Prince' for the hundredth time. Her eyes were sore from the staring, but something about the innocence of the drawing meant she could not look away. There was a knock at the door and her father entered, followed closely by Tiana's mother, Eudora.

"Lottie, dear, Eudora's here to fit you for a dress," Big Daddy said cheerfully, with a hint of sadness in his voice. He often came to watch Charlotte, to make sure she was still herself, but truth be told; Charlotte had not been herself since her marriage to Prince Naveen had failed. In fact, she had not even left the house since Mardi gras.
"A dress for what?" Charlotte asked softly, looking up from the page she had been staring at for a few minutes now. Her fingers were resting lightly over the pink cheeks of the princess as she stood next to her handsome Prince.
"For – for the funeral, sweetie," Big Daddy said softly, clearing his throat. Lottie's head shot up, her eyes wide.
"The funeral?!" Her eyes were wide as she stared from her father to Eudora. "Not Tiana's?! She's not dead!" Charlotte was shouting now.

"Charlotte LeBouf! I know you choose to believe that she's out there, but some of us need closure!" Mr LeBouf said loudly, avoiding looking at Eudora as he said it. Charlotte clambered out of the bed and ran over to her father, clutching the book to her chest.
"But Daddy, she is! I know it!" She said loudly. Mr LeBouf puffed out his chest as he spoke.
"Charlotte! I have had enough of this. We are not going to talk about this again. Now be quiet as Eudora starts the dress." Charlotte spun around, chucking the book to the floor, and ran to her bed. She leaped on to the mattress and lay face down, sobs wracking her body.

Eudora looked from Charlotte to Mr LeBouf and smiled sadly.
"Here, let me deal with her," she said handing him her sewing box.
"Was Tiana ever like this?" He asked, nodding in Charlottes' direction.
"No," she chuckled, "but I was." She bent down to pick up the old book. Mr LeBouf nodded, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Charlotte looked up as she felt Eudora's weight on the bed.
"Now look at the state of this," Eudora said softly, unfolding the bent pages of 'the Frog Prince'. Charlotte wiped away her tears and sniffed her nose.
"Do you really believe she's gone, Dora?" Lottie said, pulling her knees to her chest and holding her shins. Eudora looked at her and moved closer, placing an arm around the girl she pretty much helped raise.
"No. You know why?" She asked, looking straight into her eyes. Lottie shook her head.
"Because I can feel it in here." Eudora placed her hand over her heart. Charlotte mirrored the gesture, closing her eyes.

When she opened her eyes she saw tears in Eudora's.
"Dora, there's something I didn't tell you," Lottie whispered. Eudora looked at her, confusion sweeping her face.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, placing a hand on Charlotte's knee.
"It's Tiana, she's-" Charlotte did not get to finish her sentence because in that moment the white double doors of her bedroom burst open and a very breathless Big Daddy LeBouf entered. He bent over, his hands on his knees – trying hard to catch his breath.
"She's been found! Tiana's here!" he breathed. Charlotte's squeal could be heard from the lobby where Tiana and Naveen were waiting, hand in hand.

Charlotte appeared at the top of the marble staircase. She hopped on the spot for a few seconds before sprinting bare footed down the stairs and throwing her arms around Tiana's neck.
"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" She squealed so fast that Tiana almost missed it. "Oh Tia! I knew you were okay!" Lottie's eyes were filled with tears as she looked to Naveen. "Oh, thank you!" She gave him big kisses on both sides of his face. "Thank you for keeping her safe!"

The three of them looked up to see Eudora standing at the top of the staircase, her chest rising and falling rapidly with her hand over her mouth.
"Tiana…" she whispered, slowly making her way down the staircase.
"Mama!" Tiana smiled, closing the distance between them, wrapping her arms around her neck.

Charlotte could see they needed time. She had a lot of things she wanted to say to her best friend, but they would have to wait. Charlotte turned and linked her arms with Naveen's, leading him away from the two, talking rapidly.
"Ever since you two left with that alligator, I avoided anything that mentioned 'frogs' and after a month or two I thought I had gone crazy and imagined the two of you as… well… frogs –!" Naveen smiled, looking back at his wife, who was smiling at him over her mother's shoulder. They were finally home.

PRINCE FOUND

Four months ago, Prince Naveen of Maldonia made his way to New Orleans to grab himself a Queen. He came with what looked like the intentions of marrying local million dollar heir, Charlotte LeBouf. After the fiasco at their Mardi Gras wedding, the Royal went missing, leaving no clue as to where he went. A week ago he resurfaced at the LeBouf estate with waitress, Tiana. When asked about their relationship, he replied "We're happily married." The Prince seemed to dodge the next question about where he had been for the last four months, giving only the answer: 'Camping'. But for now this is the only answer we have received from the two.

More on page 7.

In other news, a new star has been sighted – Scientists are baffled as to where it came from.

More on page 15.

A/N: Words - 1005