Almost Heaven

By- An Unknown Foreign Beauty

Chapter 1- The Third Meeting

(A live-action AU fanfiction)

Moonlight spilled down the terrace steps, bright white light covering the carefully trimmed trees in the palace garden, making everything glitter. Stars twinkled overhead, and time to time night birds cried, and crickets buzzed, creating a melodic backdrop as Jasmine waited for Aladdin.

Unknowingly her hand traveled to her unbound hair, hidden behind a sheer purple veil. Last night, the thief from the market broke into the palace, stole her hairpin, and promised to return.

She gazed up to the moon. The moon had just risen when she left her chambers, but now the silver ball of light was shining directly above her head. But he had not been there yet.

"Still waiting for the thief from the market who has a monkey?" Jasmine startled with the voice of her handmaid, Dalia.

"No, no. I, uh, just came out to…" She trailed off. She knew couldn't fool Dalia. The handmaid could always see through her. She let out a sigh and shook her head.

"Yes," She was surprised to hear the disappointment in her own voice. She was not seriously expected him to come. They had met a grand total of two times, and yet, there was something about him that didn't leave her mind. A connection, a bond, that was unknowingly pulling her towards him. The glimpse of his pure soul that she had in their time together, while running from the guards, and it was drawing her closer and closer to him. It felt like both of them were trapped in the same situation, and he seemed to understand exactly what she was going through, respected what she had to say. But how would she ever get to find out what that meant, if he didn't return?

"Men make promises," Dalia put one hand over her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "But they rarely keep promises."

Jasmine didn't answer. Only her gaze searched the moon. Knowing Jasmine was not ready to answer her question yet, Dalia leaned close to the princess' ear. "I am going upstairs. Call me if you need."

Jasmine nodded, without looking at the handmaid's retreating form. Possibly…possibly….she could wait for a while.

She wandered forward, absentmindedly running her hand over the jasmine blooms over the stairs. Her mother loved this flower; she named her daughter after it. After her mother's death, the sultan never set foot in the garden. Because it painfully reminded him of his late wife. Jasmine loved these flowers. Somehow this flower reminded her of her mother.

At the edge of the garden, she stopped and then turned to the right and stepped into the arbor. The moon had slowly begun to descend near the horizon, and Jasmine wondered if she would wait for a few more hours. Maybe…maybe…he was still making his way towards the palace.

She had been standing there for several minutes when a husky voice spoke behind her: "Daila."

Startled by Aladdin's silent arrival, Jasmine whirled around and stared at him, her hand automatically at her throat. She wanted to shout at him for his delay, but the mischievous expression in his eyes somehow made her forget her anger.

"Sorry for the delay." He smiled his magical smile, and his hand touched her loose hair. "I was waiting for the guards to fall asleep."

Feeling as if she were in a dream, Jasmine touched her hair and found the hairpin back into its place. "How could you…." She opened her mouth to ask for an explanation, but his left hand closed around her fingers, engulfing them, and suddenly she was in the arms of a man she had barely known.

"I know my ways." He whispered in her ears, and his fingers slid into her earring. Before she could even understand what was happening, she found her right ear empty. She should have felt threatened, in the presence of a street thief who could steal things in the wave of his fingers,-especially out in the starlit darkness-but she felt safe and protected, far more than in the presence of any princes she met before.

She was, however, beginning to feel a little awkward, being robbed every now and then, and she decided some form of conversation was in order. "I can hand you over to the guards anytime," she said noticing the earring now dangling from his fingers.

There was a smile in his voice as Aladdin answered, "I doubt it." He winked.

"You are a thief." Jasmine shoved him away with mock anger, "That day I wasn't wrong about you."

"I imagine I've been called worse," The thief said mildly. "Particularly by the guards standing outside your doors…"

Jasmine wondered what could be worse than being called a thief, but good manners forbade her asking. Lifting her head, she gazed deeply into his eyes and asked, "You don't mean to demand satisfaction by outsmarting them every day, do you?"

"I hope," he teased, grinning, "That I'm not so ungrateful as to spoil their morning strolls. Besides, there is no fun if they just walk around the city lazily. "

Jasmine chuckled, her cheeks warm with embarrassment. "You really enjoy that."

"Maybe." Aladdin's ember eyes twinkled with mischief.

Jasmine's wide brown eyes shadowed, and he added reassuringly, "Regardless of that, I only steal only what I can't afford."

That, Jasmine thought to herself, was probably the difference between a thief in disguise, like the foolish price Anders who wanted to steal her kingdom, and a thief made, like a certain one standing right before her. She had seen the city drowning in poverty every time she strolled in the roads in disguise. What was happening in her city? Where did all the money go?

"Dalia?"

Too immersed in her own thoughts to think how her words would sound, she nodded and said, "The guards are tearing through the city. People can't live in fear every day. The princess must need to know that."

"She must go out more," Aladdin contradicted, "She can't just stay locked in her room and let foreign princes take over the city."

"It's the law," she sighed, "The princess must marry a prince."

"Then she can teach her husband about her people. How can she do that if she doesn't know about her own people?"

"Teach her husband? Do you mean," Jasmine almost shouted in surprise, hearing such wise words from a street thief, "the princess can ask her husband to help him rule?"

Aladdin's smile faded, alarmed. "Did I just offend the princess?"

Gazing up into those mesmerizing amber eyes, with him standing just an arm's length away from her, Jasmine couldn't think very clearly. She wasn't certain anything mattered at that moment except the sound of his deep, mesmerizing voice. "I suppose not," she said.

But Aladdin's eyes were already darting back and forth in alarm. Faint footsteps of the guards echoed from a distance.

"The guards are coming," He whispered, and for the first time, Jasmine realized they were standing so close that their breath grazed each other's skin. "I must go."

Her mind whirled, trying to come up with some sort of excuse that would stop him from leaving. But the footsteps were approaching closer and closer. With no other excuse to make him stay for another moment, Jasmine tried to ignore her disappointment and stepped back, but just then Aladdin leaned closer and moved a stray piece of hair from her face.

"Tomorrow, I'll come to return this. Wait for me by the lake," he whispered, her earring twinkled in his hand and his warm breath stirred the hair at her temple.

Warning bells screamed through her. If she lifted her head, his lips would touch hers. She didn't want to kiss him, did she? But somehow it seemed her mind had lost all the control over her body. Slowly, she lifted her head to find his lips against hers, but he was already gone.

Review? Faves? Follows?

Let me know your thoughts in comments, as well as ideas if you want me to expand the story. Faves and follows will be awesome too.

The initial part of the chapter is taken from the movie novelization. There no need to say I am obsessed with the movie.