He had found the girl crying alone, standing upon herbalcony in the moonlight. Her hands were hovering over her face, trying to stopthe tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes. It was as though the deep blue pools that were her beautiful eyes were leaking, falling forth into the deep darkness that were her eyelashes.

Her sniffles could be heard as she held her hands to her chest.

What a beautiful woman once more. He hadn't caught her name last time he had seen her. The queen and king's beautiful child of moonlight, the one that only bloomed forth from the palace in the depths of the night, usually basking in the moon's late light. Yet she wasn't running around the gardens like usual. The girl was running into the gardens soon enough, hiding amongst the other flowers and letting her heart bleed forth from her eyes. Her emotions seemed to make the whole area of the gardens wilt around her. Nothing could be happy if she was not happy.

Judal moved to stand behind some roses, watching her like all the red flowers were as the girl cried her heart out.

Such a woman as her should be happy. She had it all. She had power and money. She had family around that took care of her every whim and carefree nature. Yet here she was, whining and crying on the bench in the gardens.

Those cries were making the whole world seem dimmer. They made his body ache and hurt. Such an annoying sound it was. She needed to stop. Life was perfect for her. Life couldn't be the least bit better than it was.

Judal stopped when he felt himself get stuck on one of the thorns of the roses behind himself. He tried to pull away, but that caused the branches to rustle. The woman's eyes turned to him, her body straightening.

"You!" She gaped at him, covering her face from his gaze. "You aren't supposed to look at me!"

Wasn't supposed to- "Why?" Judal straightened, pulling his braid free from the branches of the rose bush. "Why can't I look at you?"

"You just aren't supposed to." The girl turned away. "No one is allowed to. Only my parents."

Judal didn't let that stop him. He moved over to the bench and settled into the space next to her, pushing her hands away from her face and wiping at those eyes himself. He had memorized every single curve and inch of that face, remembering it so many times in his own little home. Who could forget? The princess was supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the land, her beauty recounted over and over at every hearth in the country.

A woman whose hair was like the bluest ocean, running like waves down her shoulders and waist. A woman whose eyes were like the depths of a storm, gazing into the heart of any man. A woman whose skin was like ivory and whose touch was supposed to be softer than the most delicate of the king's roses.

The princess lived up to every word, looking even more fragile than porcelain.

Judal wiped at those eyes, feeling her hands hold onto his as she shook her head.

"Please… You aren't supposed to do this… No one is supposed to…"

"Do you do everything you are supposed to?" Judal looked at her more carefully, moving in a little closer, wiping at the last of the tears that were blocking his view of those eyes. They looked up at him, so focused just like he was.

"Yes… I have to."

"Then why are you so upset, princess?"

"I… I had a hard day."

"You did? Did food not come on time or something?" Judal raised a brow, finding those eyes narrowing a little in anger.

"No! It's not like that! I… I want to go out and see the country. I'm tired of being stuck in the palace! I want to see what the world is like!"

"You do?"

"Yes! I want to know what's beyond these gardens. I'm lucky to even be allowed out here." The girl smiled, holding onto his hands more and setting them on his lap. Her mouth even seemed to set just right, looking like the most amazing of paintings. He found himself staring a little.

"It's not that pretty out there," he warned.

"Not everything is pretty here either. I don't care about that. Nothing is perfect. I want to see it though. I want to help people and make friends. I'm so tired of being alone."

"Yeah…"

She sounded so heartfelt. Her fingers were brushing his, acting like they were soft instead of scarred from working in the gardens and fighting in the war from a few months back. Her smile captured his entire attention until she leaned forward, her dress giving him something more to look at.

"You get to see the world, don't you?" She asked.

"I have seen the worst of it. I would rather be here a thousand years over instead of out there."

"…That's what my parents say… But my mother wants me to have a man and how can I love someone when I get to see no one at all?"

"W-what would you want a man to do? You are well known to all."

"You have to meet someone to love them though, don't you?"

No, Judal thought. He was regretting meeting his personal love. Her voice was beguiling him, her hands winding like ivy around his hands to keep him trapped. And the heartache she felt… It was grasping his chest worse than any enemy of his past, killing him with that pain.

"That is not how things normally work, Chibi."

"Chibi?" Aladdin stared at him, making him turn his head away.

"I-I meant princess."

She hummed, moving a little closer. "I like it. Finally some other name than Princess. Please keep using it."

"You'll get me killed for using that name."

"And you won't be killed for seeing me and holding my hand?" She smiled and leaned against him, as though wishing to make the situation worse. "I don't mind. I will defend your right to use whatever name you wish. I am your princess as well as everyone else's in this land."

Judal felt himself swallow a bit of his nerves down. He wouldn't tell her he was from enemy land, meant to come kill her months ago. Luckily for him, his bosses had been killed in the war. Instead of doing anything like slaughter, he had killed his band of assassins and became the gardener in this palace…

And had found her amongst the roses.

"You're so quiet," Aladdin looked up at him, smiling a little. "If I am bothering you, I can leave."

"No!"

She smiled at his quick response, leaning up and pressing those lips to his cheek. It was almost a whisper of a kiss, like the feel of a sea breeze against his cheek, but it had been there. He had felt her kiss him.

She was smiling up at him in that little night sky colored gown, her hair spilling around her shoulders. So innocent, so precious… She knew nothing about this world's darkness. She was just like the moon. She was unreachable and shone in the deepest of shadows.

He leaned in, unable to stop himself from brushing his lips against hers. The girl seemed to respond so readily, blushing a little as she felt him kiss her. Those eyes of hers closed, welcoming him in. He held those cheeks in his calloused hands and moved his mouth against hers more, taking greedily from the kingdom.

Every bit of this woman was so damn innocent. He coveted the feeling, the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest as he stole away at least a little bit of the innocence for himself.

When he pulled back, those eyes were sparkling like the damn stars in the sky. Her lips were darkened, now matching the roses nearby. Her hands held onto him tighter, but she was smiling.

"Ah… you… You are definitely… definitely not supposed to do that…"

No one should ever tell him what not to do. He leaned in again and found her already pursing her lips, waiting for him. He stole another kiss, feeling her wrap those devilish arms around his person, pulling him further into temptation.

The gods help him, this woman was going to have him hanged.

Judal didn't stop kissing her that easily though. He pulled her onto his lap, stealing the woman's second kiss away as though he were just exchanging greetings with her. Her cheeks became rosy in the moonlight, her whole body seeming to be as light as a feather. So sweet her lips were, like honey on the ripest of peaches.

She held his face as they kissed that second time, her fingers tracing his face. Her chest was moving a little faster than before, no doubt there was adrenaline in her veins running wild now too.

"Maybe… maybe a person doesn't need to know another that well… in order to love them…" She moved one hand to her lips and smiled, touching her bruised lips as though she had never, ever dreamed of kissing a man before.

Perhaps she hadn't, it didn't seem like something that would be on this princess's mind. He had seen her come out with books in her hands before so many times. Never had she looked like this though. She had never seemed to ponder the love of another.

"I should go…"

"Ah! No! Please stay!"

Judal felt her arms tighten and he shook his head. "I need to go." Before it was too late for him.

"Please," she pleaded, stopping her cute look of naïve lip touching.

"I will see you again, Chibi."

"I want to kiss again."

He was going to burn in Solomon's throne room, his body first hung and then burned so that no trace of him remained in the man's perfect kingdom.

"Please come back again soon," Aladdin pleaded, holding his hands more. "I want to talk about the outside world with you."

"Soon." He promised.

He didn't come back for days though. The gardens were without the hand of the gardener and a new one was soon hired. Aladdin returned every night, holding a book in her hands and waiting. Every night in the pale moonlight she waited, hoping her night guest would return.

After a few months, she seemed to wilt, falling into sadness like the gardens outside without their careful, meticulous gardener from before.

Queen Sheba and King Solomon began to prepare the night of courtship for her, sending out invitations to any and all who wished to come. Sheba kept her daughter preoccupied with that, preparing her the finest of fabrics to wear that night. Her father was more interested in his books and protecting his daughter, telling the guards to remove riffraff that would dare to come near his daughter. No one unsavory.

The night arrived, each and every facet of the palace's grand halls gleamed with rich golds and cool blues. The guests dressed in their finest. The furthest reaches of the kingdom had come and then some from abroad as well. King Solomon began a nice discussion with the far east King Kouen while the King of the Sindrian Isles began to dance with each and every woman in the halls, taking to cooing to Queen Sheba herself even.

Aladdin hid away beside some guards whenever possible, not interested so much in the strange men who eyed her like a prize to be won. She turned down hands, refusing to dance with them. She didn't want to be won over by simple footsteps and counting.

She looked around and found another hand in front of her.

"I don't really feel like dancing, I'm sorry," she murmured.

"That's a shame, Chibi. I was actually hoping for a stroll through the gardens."

Aladdin's gaze flickered to the man's face, those same rose red eyes meeting her gaze. His hand was still as rough as before, not at all like the soft hands of the nobles. He had such long, pretty dark hair and he was wearing the finest of black robes. Aladdin left her hand in his, standing up to walk with him. She waved the guards away and smiled, for the first time in a while.

She smiled to her mother as they walked by, giving a look that revealed just a bit more than she meant to, judging by the way her mother's face seemed to light up in excitement and understanding. Her mother held onto Sinbad and continued to dance as Aladdin slipped around the balcony doors. They didn't wander into the sad gardens though, instead Aladdin wrapped her arms around the man with her and she leaned up, finding herself just a few inches short of reaching his lips.

So she stood on tiptoe, pouting those lips up at him as the sheer curtains blocked them from view to the indoors. The man leaned in and Aladdin closed her eyes as she felt those same lips from her dreams press against her own once again.

She felt her whole body warm up, despite the chilly air outside. Her smile broke out as she felt him pull away.

"I want to know your name this time," She told him. "If I must be with anyone here tonight, I would much rather be married to you than anyone else."

"You might regret those words," the man murmured.

"Tell me."

"I am not the best choice. I am not from this land."

"I don't care. Your name, my prince."

The man's strange and beautiful garnet eyes flashed in the moonlight. "Judal."

"Good. This time if I am to be trapped here, then you can be here with me too… And you must tell me about your homeland."

"There's nothing good to say, princess. You will be upset by the stories."

She wasn't letting go though, instead holding his hand tight as they returned inside after one last kiss. Her father was introduced before Judal could run…

"It is my daughter's choice," the king told him, seeing the joyous look on his daughter's face. It was a face he had only seen a handful of times. Only when she had read her first book and taken her first steps. It was only the face that she had every time that she told both him and Sheba that she loved them both.

He would not get in the way if that was the face she had as she declared this stranger to be her betrothed.