A/N: Due to a numerous amount of things, including one broken arm and a little Writer's block, my updates are becoming sporadic! So please, refrain from being pissed, I'm tryin' okay?! I'm tryin'!

(c) Disney, you know the drill!

Meanwhile, as Tiana made her decision, perhaps her final decision, Charlotte was biting her nails anxiously as the sky darkened into twilight. She smacked at the loitering mosquitoes once or twice to distract herself, until her poor little heart was lost in grief. She began to sob relentlessly into the gazebo's handrail.

"Oh Naveen, I don't know what I'm gonna do! Tiana's never broken a promise, ever! It—it's just not like her!" Charlotte continued to sniffle into her pink-embroidered handkerchief, and after a particularly loud sob, her Prince put an arm around her shoulder gently.

"Please my dearest. Don't cry I'm sure your friend is just… busy for the moment." Naveen, or rather, Lawrence disguised as 'Naveen', assured her, whilst still looking around him anxiously.

Charlotte twisted in his arm to look at him, and he leapt back just a little at her suddenness, she sniffed again "busy?"

"Oh yes" he tried again "I am very sure— Tiana, is it? Is simply overwhelmed with… the importance of her position. Any woman given such a high part to play as Bridesmaid in the grandest wedding between a splendid Prince and a rich young lady would be swooning on the spot!" He gave her his "Charmer's smile".

Charlotte, however, did not notice. She was still looking wistfully out toward the city beyond her wrought-iron gate, eyes sparkling like champagne-glasses from the tears.

"But-but, just to be sure! I think I'd best go over to Ms. Eudora's and see if she's there. Maybe Tia's there and she is just wishin' I would come over and see her!" She began to move, away from Lawrence's arm to the Packard, eyes set in determination.

"No!" Lawrence cried, scrambling over to Charlotte. the blonde turned her head and blinked in surprise, "I mean perhaps it's—best for us to just to let her be for now. My cherished Charlotte, you must think of Tiana. Think of her as if she were sick, very, very sick!"

He held onto her arm, a little too tightly.

Charlotte slowly shook her head, not comprehending what he meant. The muscles in Naveen's body tensed, just as Lawrence felt the heightening chill in his soul. Dr. Facilier was near… and her arm was slipping from his grasp. "What? Tia's never been—"

"My dear! Perhaps Tiana is very tired and beset with her happiness for us! It, it would be best if we just left her alone I assure you! Then, maybe, she'll come and help you with the rest of the wedding! We wouldn't want her upset." He tried to smile again, and this time Charlotte caught it.

"Oh, oh you're absolutely right, sugar. She's probably just aflutter with everything. She did seem like a soul caught in a tide all week, now that I'm thinkin' about it…" Charlotte said absentmindedly, Lawrence closed 'his' eyes for a moment

"I bet she did…"

Through her runny mascara, Charlotte smiled. Though the aching feeling of 'wrong' still throbbed in her heart, she could never possibly be sad for long when the Prince of her Dreams gave her that smile.

"Oh Lord, look now, I'm a mess!" She choked, pulling out of Lawrence's grasp. Yet this time she was heading toward the house "I've got to go fix myself up! Be right back buttercup!"

Lawrence waved Naveen's hand, until he saw the rich girl slammed the large door with an uncanny amount of strength. When he was sure he was clear, his shoulders sagged in final relief.

"You nearly slipped up, Larry."

Lawrence started with a gasp. He whirled around to see, not for the first time, the shady figure of Facilier glaring at him from behind his back. The valet-turned-prince gulped in as much air as he could "I… I got her to stay, didn't I?" His voice, drat it all, came out timid and squeaky.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed to slits "you were this close" he held out a long hand and mimicked the amount with his thumb and index finger "to letting her go! And do you know what would've happened if she had gotten away… hmmm?"

Lawrence felt Naveen's hands raising up in a defensive position as the Shadowman drew closer, menace increasing in every step "… we… everything would've come out in the open?"

Facilier fist tightened into a ball, every finger cracked. "Smart man…" he drawled, placing his free hand on Naveen's shoulder. Lawrence could feel the pain of his grip like daggers.

"Ah, yes" Lawrence's throat seemed to be having trouble again "if I may ask, once more… why, why do we need this… girl? Wouldn't she get in the way of our… deal, if she were to tag along? Ms. LaBouff nearly cancelled the wedding that one day and…"

"I took care of that!" Facilier said harshly, Lawrence winced as his hand tightened, surely that cane was branding his new skin?!

The Shadowman's gaze softened almost as quickly as it had intensified "our dear little Tiana won't be botherin' Big Daddy's little honey anytime soon… no. She'll be too preoccupied with what I've got in store for her."

Lawrence opened 'his' mouth again, but thought better of it and closed it. The Doctor looked at him for a moment, and then sighed, as if his patience was going through another trial.

"There are only so many things I can do, Larry, as you may as well know. And finding time to manage every little thing in life ain't one of them. But with my 'little good luck charm'" he chuckled, looking up at the darkening sky where the Evening Star was appearing, "We can have ourselves a little entertainment… until our deal is met."

Lawrence blinked, but soon gave a licentious smile as the gears in his head began to turn, "yes… entertainment. And… when would I be able to meet this lovely, lively entertainment— for us?"

Facilier's face contorted, his features lined with disgust, anger, and even a little bit of a grimace. "Now, now, now, we're not going to scar the little lady" he added, almost as if he were trying to get a foul taste out of his mouth.

His shadow, which had been slinking around the LaBouff mansion wall, raised a dark finger to its mouth and feigned gagging from its spot.

Tiana awoke, the air completely knocked out of her lungs. When had she fallen asleep?!

"I was wonderin' when you'd wake up." The girl turned, and found herself face-to-face with Dr. Facilier himself. She pulled back, startled; and he laughed.

"Wha-what happened?" She rubbed her right temple and looked around the room. The shelves containing all their usual books, beads, dolls, and various jars containing vile objects in them were still intact, as were the masks, the floor, and the rafters above. She shook her head, slightly confused. Where was all the food she'd made?

"You had a little too much to drink, darlin." Facilier said smoothly, mimicking her look around the shop, he smiled as he saw Tiana's eyes widen in horror from the corner of his eye.

"I… I d-drank??" Tiana began to pull the sheets that had wrapped around her body, nearly tripping as she hopped off of the bed. The bones in her legs felt like jelly.

Tiana had never drunk any sort of alcohol in her life, ever. Looking over at the shady Doctor, her knees gave out for a split-second. Did he… do something to me??!!

The Shadowman faced her then, a little smile gave her a peak at his larger teeth and the gap in the middle "Oh, don't you worry you're pretty little head about that. I would never take advantage of a fine young lady like your-self." He placed a hand over his heart resolutely, face solemn for a minute. Tiana looked up at him through the stray curls covering her sweat-coated forehead.

"Don't believe me?" He asked lightly, taking the hand off of his heart and holding it out. His shadow immediately flew toward him, a little chair in its hands. Facilier took the chair and blew off the collecting dust, before walking over and chivalrously motioned Tiana to sit down. She waited for a moment, for a flat second anticipating his hand to pull the chair out from under her just as she was about to sit down.

She collapsed onto the seat with her head in her hands, was this some side-effect of being under the influence? Having your head filled with thoughts that only children below the age of twelve?

She shook her head to clear away the buzzing noise in her ears. Oh God, what had happened? She rubbed her temples in an attempt to calm herself, forgetting for the most part that the Shadowman was lingering near her.

Memories of the evening before bubbled up into place. She remembered cooking a dozen things: Praline, red beans and rice, andouille, shrimp, crab cakes, jambalaya, and of course— beignets. It had been very soothing for a while, relieving her of the stress, and the thoughts of what she may indeed have to succumb to in order to 'get help'. Yet when she had finished with everything, surely long enough to clear her head, he did not return.

She remembered sitting around waiting, for hours and hours on end often shifting between anger and fear. She remembered walking around the parlor, looking at the sadist-seeming objects hidden away in jars, and picking up one of the creepy dolls and inspecting it again, and even sneaking a peak into a room she had never seen before. Then the waiting was too much. She could hardly remember taking the bottle from the table, the one she'd set out for him. Tiana was sure she'd had something from the table to loosen her nerves of course… but alcohol?

It sounds rational I guess, she thought, lifting her head to run a hand through her wild hair, having to endure him for such a long time, no wonder…

She sat up straighter. Damn it all! She was supposed to have stayed awake and gotten him to agree on letting her outside again!

Maybe there was still time!

"What time is it?" She asked. Turning around, she saw Facilier standing against the wall, watching her the entire time. He gave her a little smile "'bout a quarter past midnight. You been asleep since two nights ago Ma Belle."

He slunk back to where she was, a bit of a swagger noticeable in his steps. "I would've woken ya up, but it seemed you were havin' such pleasant dreams, moaning sweetly and what not. Ol' Shadowman didn't have the heart to disturb you."

Tiana opened her mouth to voice her repulsion, knowing exactly what the 'Doctor' would've been thinking. Yet she stayed quiet, trying to rein in the disgust, and tried to smile, weakly.

"Well that was, really, very thoughtful of you…" Tiana took a moment to stand up; a little too quickly really, for the pain behind her eyes flared to life instantly. "But I thought you wanted me to go get that suit of yours fixed tomor—yesterday?"

He, scrunching up one eye in cruel amusement, "now, now, why are we always thinkin' about work Miss Tiana? Why not give yourself a little break, huh?"

Tiana couldn't help letting a smile steal her lips "I think I've had enough of a break to last me a while, I'm sure." She turned away from him to find what that damned outfit, thanking the lord she'd remembered him talking about that thing. She had a glimmer of hope now! Maybe she could even talk to Charlotte for a minute or two.

Abruptly she pulled back. The Shadowman had appeared in front of her, out of nowhere!

His new smile was slowly unthreading and becoming the old one, the one she couldn't help hating (or had it been there the whole time, and she was just too unwell to really see it?).

"Mmm, now hold on there chere," his arm stretched out to grab her own much smaller one, and with the other he held her hip in a courteous manner. Without hesitation, he began to sway about the parlor, leading Tiana around like a little rag doll. She blinked rapidly, unable to touch the ground with her feet as they continued to waltz— or he continued, at least. "A day's worth a' sleep is just fine, but a woman on the verge of chaos is no laughin' matter."

From the wall nearest them, Facilier's shadow swayed along, grinning almost psychotically.

The taller man lowered her, allowing her to escape until the last second; then he spun her back around, and she fell backward, right into his chest. He wound her arms around her with his own, creating a self-sustaining life-jacket, he smiled against her ear, "she might do somethin' she'll regret."

After a moment, Facilier unwound their tangled set of arms and released her. Instead of the only door out of the Emporium, they were now facing the opposite direction. The Shadowman's main room for business lay dead ahead, and as he started to push the young woman forward by the small of her back, his shadow began to glide ahead of them excitedly.

"What are we—what are you doing? Where are we going?" Tiana sputtered, looking back over her shoulder to the door. It was getting farther away as they walked around the large table and into the deeper recesses of Dr. Facilier's Emporium.

"Oh, why, it just struck me last night when you were callin' out my name, that only a real gentleman gives his worthy guests a grand tour, of his humble abode." Facilier answered with a chuckle.

They disappeared into the next room, leaving behind Tiana's hopes of getting out of that desolate Voodoo Haven.

Okay I apologize, this one is a little random... well all of them are, but this one in particular.

Oh! And if anything is out of place/doesn't make sense, please feel free to tell me!

Thank you for reading anyway!