The first few chapters are shorter vignettes, so bear with me as they progress. This is also my first dive into writing Fan Fiction, so please please please be kind and patient with my writing.

*I do not own any of these characters*

Chapter 1

She expected that traveling by sea would make her ill. After all, a woman whose closest experience with sea travel was a romantic ride in a rowboat across a small lake would not be equipped with the sea legs—or stomach—she would need for this journey.

Or so her father told her when he vehemently begged her to stay.

"No, Papa," she said for the umpteenth time at dinner. At that point, they had taken to eating at a smaller table with the former Mrs. Potts. She had excused herself when the arguing started up again, leaving Belle and Maurice to duke it out.

"I almost lost you before, and I will not do that again," Maurice cried with tears pooling in his eyes.

Belle rolled hers. Ever since her father let her trade places with him that night, he never forgave himself. It made the once carefree man overbearing and protective.

"Papa, Jacques and Louise will take good care of me. I will be safe. We will not be gone that long." These words had been said so many times, they felt like her motto.

She met her father's eyes. Tears were now streaming from them. Reaching her hand across the table, she grabbed his and asked, "Did you lose me before?"

He silently shook his head and sniffled.

"What makes you think you'll lose me again?" she said smiling, hoping it would elicit the same reaction out of him.

Maurice looked up and said, hardly above a whisper, "I just fear that you think there is nothing to come back to."

Now Belle was the one to feel tears pool in her eyes. "Papa, I still have you and everyone here. You are not nothing. I will come back to you. I promise."

That night was over a month ago.

Since then, Belle had packed her bags for a journey she had only dreamed of at one point in her life. She would be going to the East, to a city called Agrabah. Friends of hers, Jacques and Louise, were embarking on a business venture that would bring them to this exotic locale. Since Jacques was likely to be out all day doing business, Louise wanted to bring along a friend to keep her company. They had been told it wasn't safe for a woman to wander the streets without company, so they asked the very obliging Belle to accompany them.

"Do you not love the smell of the sea, my dear?" Louise said to Belle. Belle snapped her head to look at her friend who had joined her on deck. "Oh my! It seems I've given you a fright!" Louise said with a chuckle.

"Oh, no," Belle replied. "I was simply lost in thought."

"Oh, yes, well, don't get too wrapped up in that head of yours. We have many days of adventure ahead of us!"

Belle returned Louise's infectious smile and let the thoughts of home fade away as they began to plan their future days out.

"Why would I ever want to be with a liar?!" Jasmine said as she threw a vase at Aladdin's head.

It shattered on an ornately decorated column just above his head.

Things had not gone according to plan. Contrary to his expectations, Princess Jasmine was not too enthralled to learn that Aladdin had lied to her during their brief courtship.

"Jasmine, please!" Aladdin said with his hands up. "Give me a chance to explain!"

"Do you mean lie more?" She began looking around for Rajah so she could end Aladdin here and now.

"No!" Aladdin realized he had precious little time to explain himself. "Does it mean nothing to you that I risked my life to save you from Jafar? Does it mean nothing that without me, you would be enslaved in a loveless marriage to an egomaniac with questionable facial hair?"

From Aladdin's perspective that seemed to calm Jasmine down; in reality, she felt like a snake, preparing for its final blow.

Slowly, she walked toward him, every step punctuating her words—each of which came out as a hiss. "As opposed to being stuck with a liar? How could I ever trust someone like you? Your magical friends helped me. Not. You. Were it not for your carpet or your genie, you would still be what you were before: a scheming, stealing-"

Please don't say it, he thought.

"-street rat."

With those two words, Aladdin could feel his heart breaking. He was speechless.

"I would rather be alone for life than be bound to someone who tried to entrap me with lies and dishonesty. You played me for a fool. While I am grateful for your actions—saving me and my father—I am not contractually beholden to repay you with love or marriage."

Aladdin was still silent. He hung his head, hoping his dark locks would hide the tears on his face. He felt her pull his chin up with her delicate fingers. They were so close, that for a brief moment he thought they might kiss.

"You have my gratitude," she said. For once, there seemed to be kindness in those deep, dark, oval eyes of hers. "You will always have that. But I can never love someone I cannot trust."

She let go of his chin and walked away, leaving in her wake the scent of perfume. The promise of such proximity made Aladdin's heart break even more when she distanced herself.

"Since you have our gratitude," Jasmine said over her shoulder, "my father and I shall find you suitable work so you no longer have to live as you did. We will also set you up in a home that was recently vacated by one of my father's most loyal subjects. He was a rich merchant who passed away and left behind no male children, so you are welcome to have all of his possessions to do with what you wish. I hope that you will accept this as a sign of our thanks."

Aladdin just nodded his head. He knew that Jasmine was headstrong and could not be swayed in this matter. After all, she was right. Almost everything he had told her had been a lie. How could she love a man that she didn't truly know? Furthermore, how could she trust someone who had deceived her so greatly?

No life can be built on such a weak foundation.

The pain of coming to that realization made Aladdin sick, not because he knew that his chances with Jasmine were over. But because he knew he had no one to blame but himself.