The chandeliers of the La Bouff mansion glowed softly as Charlotte collapsed onto a velvet chaise, her sobs echoing through the grand room. Silk curtains trembled as she buried her face in a pillow.

“He’s never coming,” Charlotte wailed. “No prince, no fairytale, no happily ever after!”

Tiana stood nearby with folded arms, her expression calm but concerned. “Charlotte,” she said gently, “you can’t just wish your problems away. Wishing on stars is for children. We’re grown women.”

Charlotte sniffed and lifted her head. “That’s not true,” she said stubbornly. She rushed to the balcony and pointed toward the sky. “You see that star? That one’s listening.”

The star above them shimmered faintly.

Charlotte clasped her hands together and spoke quickly, desperately. “I wish I were a big princess. A well-rounded one. A huge princess everyone could see and admire!”

“Charlotte, stop—” Tiana warned.

But the star flared brighter.

Charlotte kept talking, her words tumbling out through tears. “Please! Please! I just wanna be important. I wanna be grand. I wanna be impossible to ignore!”

The star burst into a brilliant twinkle—and vanished.

Silence followed.

Charlotte’s shoulders slumped. “See? Nothing ever works.”

Tiana stepped forward to hug her—

When suddenly the air filled with a strange sound. A soft, rising whoooooosh, like breath filling a giant balloon.

“What… is that?” Tiana whispered.

The floor creaked.

The room seemed to shrink.

Both women gasped as their bodies began to expand smoothly and magically, growing rounder and lighter, as though air itself were gently lifting them from within. Their dresses stretched but did not tear, reshaping as magic rewove the fabric.

They floated.

“TIANA!” Charlotte cried as her feet lifted off the marble floor.

“I’m floating— you’re floating— we’re FLOATING!”

The two drifted upward, bumping lightly into the ceiling before passing straight through it as if it were mist. Outside, the night air caught them, carrying them gently higher above the mansion.

Below, servants shouted. Lamps dropped. Music stopped.

Big Daddy La Bouff burst into the courtyard, looking up in horror. “Somebody help my baby girl!”

But Charlotte and Tiana were already too high, drifting peacefully above the rooftops, glowing softly under the moonlight like living wishes set loose.

Charlotte clutched Tiana’s hand, eyes wide with awe. “I think… I think the star misunderstood me.”

Tiana sighed. “Next time,” she said, “we choose our words better.”

And above New Orleans, two unexpected stars floated on.