Kingdom Hearts: Paralleled Hearts ~Book 2~(haitus)

Swamp Royalty ~Part 1~

"Well who's this lovely young lady," Big Daddy said.

"This is Ayame."

"Well nice to meet y—"

"Oh my!" Charlotte took my hand and shook it violently. "Any friend of Tiana's is a friend of ours! And I love the whole punk look you got goin' on."

"Um...thanks..."

"I am Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff and this happy little princess is my daughter, Charlotte."

"Nice to meet you..." I have never felt so out of place and backed into a corner until I met these people.

"We'd love to have you at the ball, Ayame and please call me, Big Daddy." Mr. La Bouff said.

"I'll stick with Mr. La Bouff and Oh no...I don't think I should..."

"Oh come on it'll be fun..."

"And you could help me with the catering and keep me company, and I think ya' owe me for knocking me over." Tiana said as Charlotte nodded her head looking like a nut case. They all looked at me with wide smiles.

I took a deep breath as I cut my eyes out toward the window. If my memory is correct she was the one who ran into me If I had been my old self I would have killed her for doing a move like that, or at least trapped her somewhere...either way she's lucky.

"Oh fine..." I sighed. Tiana hugged me.

After a few more minutes of idle chit chat both Mr. La Bouff and Charlotte left. I sat there nibbling on my last sweet pastry and sipping milk until Tiana was done with work. She offered to let me stay with her since I obviously had no place to go stay. She grabbed her hat from a nearby coat rack as I followed her out the diner and we began our walk to her home. She explained to me how she lived with her mother, Eudora, and her father, James, passed away when she was young. I could only imagine what she thinks and how much pain she could feel not having a father, it's something I could relate too.

She also explained the long lasting relationship between her family and the La Bouffs. It turns out the the La Bouffs were a very wealthy family, the wealthiest in New Orleans. But I never would have thought that, Mr. La Bouff doesn't seem the type to flaunt his wealth...his daughter however seems the type. He also tended to spoil Charlotte and was a bit of a pushover but he loved seeing his daughter happy. Tiana's mom was a sitter here and again for the two girls but mostly a seamstress and always read them the book about a princess kissing a frog, and making dresses for Charlotte. Tiana found the idea of kissing a frog disgusting, still does. Charlotte however, was all for it. That spoiled, money grubbing, nutcase. I don't understand how she and Tiana are best friends, it makes absolutely no sense.

"So, why do you want your own restaurant?" I asked Tiana, to keep the conversation going.

"Well it was dream me, and my daddy always had. To have our own restaurant and I want to make sure we still have that dream come true. And I want to serve my daddy's gumbo to every, and anybody to try. He always put his heart and soul into that gumbo and he showed me how to make it. That's how I learned my love for cooking. And I learned it with my daddy."

When she spoke of her father, sparkles of happiness seeped through her eyes. But it was obvious how much she missed him from the sadness in her voice. But I admired how she still managed to stay positive and keep her father's memory alive through their dream. Tiana also seemed very ambitious for this. She knew she would get her restaurant and not let anyone stop her.

When we reached her home, a few lights were still on, the smell of food came through the window. I could smell the spices all around me, cayenne pepper, paprika, I could also smell peppers, and onions and meat.