"Stand Behind Me"

Disclaimer: The characters of Aladdin are copyright Disney and used without permission but with respect. All original characters are copyright the author.

Author's Note: Yes, I acknowledge Haywood is an English name and seems out of place in the setting, but it was necessary. All my other original characters will have regular, nonanachronistic names.

Morning had risen in the city-state of Agrabah. The sun was shining brightly while the central marketplace was abuzz with activity. Customers flitted between the myriad stands, purchasing various wares.

A figure threaded through the aisles. His clothes were little more than rags, the leather sandals on his feet worn out. He picked up the pace, approaching what dominated Agrabah's skyline -- the palace.

Razoul, Captain of the Royal Guard, blocked the entrance. "Halt! What are you doing here, peasant?"

"Peasant?" repeated the stranger. "How dare you, Razoul! Don't you recognize me?"

"How do you know my name?" asked the surly guard.

"I know this sounds crazy, but I'm Prince Haywood of Tabat, and I demand to confer with Princess Jasmine."

Howling laughter. "If you're the prince, I'm King Mahmood of Quarkistan!" He caught a hold of himself. "Prince Haywood died a long time ago!"

"But Razoul!" protested Hakim. "They never found the body!" He does look like him, though it's hard to tell with all that dirt.

"What's going on here?" asked Aladdin, entering.

"This beggar wants to see the princess," snapped Razoul.

"Well, Jasmine's kind of busy, but I think we can squeeze you in." Aladdin took the visitor's arm.

"Thanks. Razoul can be such a brick wall at times."

"Goes without saying...have you been here before?"

"Sure, plenty of times." The twosome stopped in a foyer. A washbasin was on a pedestal, near the door. "Mind if I use this?"

"Go ahead." Aladdin gave a cursory glance over the stranger's clothes -- the remains of a red silk robe. The thread was a bright yellow. Strange, he thought. Since when does a peasant wear gold thread and silk?

Jasmine came in. "I need some help with this scrollwork--"

"Jazzy!" cried the stranger. "You're lovely as ever. You must be time-descended!"

The princess dropped her scroll. "Haywood? Is that you?"

"I look like something Rajah dragged in, but yes."

Jasmine hugged him. "I thought you were dead. All that for the Marble Lotus--"

"I found it." Haywood reached into a pocket of the tattered robe and drew out a flower-shaped ornament. The petals were white marble, the anthers were gold, and the leaves were formed from pieces of gleaming green jade. "Only it wasn't a lotus blossom. It was a jasmine."

"It's beautiful, but I can't accept it."

"Why not?"

"I'm already married."

"But you said those other guys were nothing but overfed and overpampered peacocks!"

"It wasn't to a prince. Father changed the laws. Haywood, this is Aladdin, the love of my life.

Aladdin blushed slightly. "We've met."

The flower clattered to the floor, miraculously staying in one piece. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize--"

"You had no way of knowing." Jasmine picked up the flower and handed it back. "You'll find somebody else. There are probably a hundred other princesses out there who would love to have this."

"I understand." The voice was hurt, bordering on the edge of a whine. Aladdin could see the unspoken question on the prince's face: Why did you choose this commoner over me?

"I'm still your friend," Jasmine reassured. "Why don't you join us for lunch? I'm sure Father will be thrilled to have you over."

"Your father! I forgot!" Haywood looked embarrassed. "I can't show up looking like this!"

"Just borrow some clothes from Aladdin."

"He and I aren't exactly the same size," Aladdin said sourly. Haywood was heavier and shorter than the lean, muscular adventurer.

Jasmine turned to leave. "I'll just get the Royal Tailor."

***********************************************

In the palace courtyard, Genie had zapped up a board game. He watched a magic carpet pull three cards out of an envelope. "It WAS Professor Plum in the Library with the Knife?!" He threw his cards down in disgust. "Lucky guess!"

"Beaten by a rug?" came a loud voice. A red parrot landed on the board. "What does that say about your deductive reasoning?"

"Iago?" asked the Genie. "What are you doing here?"

"Cassim's making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, so I decided to drop in."

"I thought he was visiting his friend in Greece."

"Well, that's his Holy Land. It's where the legend of the Hand of Midas originated. He may have tossed that thing, but he's still pretty hung up on the legend itself. Go fig. Where's the monkey?"

Genie looked around. "Where is Abu anyway?"

Meanwhile, Aladdin and Jasmine were on one of the palace's many balconies.

Aladdin's curiosity got the better of him. "Who was that?"

"Haywood, Prince of Tabat."

"Another one of your previous suitors? We've been married three months. You think they'd take the hint."

Jasmine smiled a little. "What about YOUR female admirers?"

"Not to mention the fanfemmes," Aladdin joked. His wife punched him playfully. "Ouch!"

"Haywood was different. He never treated me like a trophy."

"Neither did I!"

"I know that tone in your voice, Aladdin. You're jealous."

"Jealous? Of that arrogant...OK. I'm a little jealous."

"You've got no reason to be. I never felt anything romantic toward Haywood. He was just a friend. A good friend. Remember Prince Wazoo?"

"How could I forget? He's the worst snob this side of the Persian Gulf!"

"Haywood used to imitate him. Even in his youth, Wazoo was afraid of rats."

******************************************

(Flashback)

A young Prince Haywood leaped onto a mahogany table. "A rat! Eeek! I absolutely cannot stand those filthy, miserable things! Wait. It's just a cloud of dust." He wrinkled his nose in mockery of his fellow prince. "What slipshod housekeeping. Sweep it up immediately!"

Nine year old Jasmine howled with laughter. "Stop it, Woody! I'll never be able to look at him with a straight face again!" The prince now had a rather sheepish and guilty look on his face. "Who's that?"

Jasmine's mother, Queen Lazilia, gave an amused smirk. "That's a smart little prince who's just been caught in the act."

The Sultan was in the doorway, glaring.

****************************************

"You've never told me about your mother," commented Aladdin.

"She died when I was eleven."

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right. We all have to go...someday." Jasmine shook her head. "I really don't know One morning she got sick. Her fever went down, but she developed this headache that wouldn't go away. She also started to get weaker and more fatigued. The last week I couldn't even bear to look at her. Father had every physician from here to Odiferous, but they never found out what was wrong with her."

"How did your father take it?"

"He took it a lot worse than I did."

"I'll bet. What was she like?"

"Her name was Lazilia."

"Pretty."

"Wore her nickname like a badge of honor: Mrs. Sultan. Ambassadors would joke: 'Which one's in charge here'?" Once Father had the flu, and she nursed him...while controlling Agrabah at the same time. Even wore Father's turban."

"Isn't the Royal Vizier supposed to run the place when the sultan's down?"

"Well, Father hadn't appointed Jafar yet, and the previous vizier had quit in disgust."

"Guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree. How'd they meet?"

"The story goes that they met at a party, and Father spilled guava juice on Mother. He was red-faced and flustered and apologizing while trying to clean it off. She supposedly kissed him and announced that she had found a husband." Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief. "It's been a long time since I've talked about my mother. Father doesn't like to bring her up. He feels it was his fault he couldn't save her."

"A sultan can change laws, but he can't stop someone from dying," Aladdin asserted. "Nobody can defeat death."

"That's what I've been trying to tell him, but he can be so stubborn when he wants to be. And he says I got that from Mother! Oh, the day after Mother died, Haywood came over from Tabat and refused to go home until I was at peace again. He wouldn't leave my side. The first few days, I clung to him. I even cried on his shoulder, if you can believe that."

"Sounds like a nice guy. Maybe I misjudged him. Why did you think he was dead?"

"Four years after Mother died, Haywood wrote in a letter that he was going to find the Marble Lotus, which some say has weird powers. Anyway, he left for the Dark Isles. Weeks later, his captain -- Kadir -- came back to Tabat, with the news that their party had been attacked. Everyone thought Haywood was dead."

"How'd you react to it?"

"I was angry. It felt like the important people in my life were being taken from me. Father and I got into arguments, which we'd settle almost as fast as we started. The hole had I felt when Mother had died seemed to expand. Then all these suitors were knocking on the door. Princes who had visited the palace before and I had immediately disliked. Even the ones Haywood used to imitate. I finally got sick of it and climbed the palace wall. Then I met you. The hole filled. I finally felt complete--"

There was a crash. Abu ran onto the balcony, being chased by a flustered-looking Haywood -- who in turn being chased by the Royal Tailor, who was trying to sew the seams on the new robes. Upon a closer look, the lovers could see the stone flower in Abu's paw.

"What's all the commotion in here?" The Sultan entered.

Abu stopped dead in his tracks and hid the flower behind his back, which Haywood snatched.

The Sultan glanced at Aladdin and Jasmine, then Abu, then the prince. "The world must be flat."

TBC