A/N: a birthday gift for arashi wolf princess. Happy birthday fellow fanfiction author!
Once there lived a King and Queen. Their kingdom was great and prosperous and their wealth legend. For the people spoke of solid gold thrones and clothing weaved from gold and silver. The king, they spoke, was so powerful that under his hand the sun would set and rise. The queen likewise could shape the moon to suit her fancy. But fair and honorable they were and beloved by all who came to know them. The king loved his queen beyond measure, beyond wealth and luxury. For many years they lived in contentment. Yet, they could not produce an heir. Trial after trial gave no result. The king became despondent. With no heir the kingdom would become weak and crumble and his people would be doomed.
Medicine men and advisors came from across the world to give their advice and services to the king but none succeeded. With every failure the king's heart sagged until his heart had grown so heavy it sat in his feet. No amount of the vast luxury or wealth could lift his spirits. The only peace he found was in his queen. Her heart had wept for the children that would never come but her duty to her husband prolonged her grief. Once night in their chambers he turned to his beloved wife and said, "My princess, my treasure, for too long have unworthy eyes admired you. I shall be all you need."
Madness had begun to grow in the king. He silenced all advisors and slammed the doors to his palace. For many years the palace was barred. In those years the king had all but gone mad with the pressure of his throne and guarded his wife jealously. The queen whose spirit was free by nature slowly faded away in the dark empty halls of the palace that had become her tomb. The only place where she found healing was the gardens where she could feel the sun on her skin and the air blowing through her hair. Her soul begged to be free of confinement but her heart, still loyal to her husband, kept herself submissive.
"Jasmine my sweet," the king said to her over dinner one night, "What is wrong? Where does that look your wearing come from? Are you not happy?"
Jasmine turned to her husband and said flatly, "Aladdin, I once knew happiness. All I know now is bindings and gilded prisons. I once knew you now I look upon a strangers face."
Her words upset him. To soothe the discontent he felt he seeked the counsel of his old friend the genie of the lamp. He asked him to give to them a child, for a child would heal both their wounds. But the genie shook his head sadly and said, "My friend, a child I would create would be neither your wife's nor yours. I could create a child in your likeness and the child would be bared by your wife but it would not belong to you. It would be my creation always."
The king took leave of his genie that he kept in the guarded treasury and thought on his answer. A day later he returned and beseeched his friend once more.
"Genie, please, tell me how I may please Jasmine! I will do anything."
The genie sighed. He had seen previous mastered maddened by power and he saw that familiar spark in his friends eyes.
"You must let your control loosen. Give her back her freedom."
Aladdin left with this advice. But soon happiness struck. The queen was with child! The palace doors were flung open and wine flowed like rivers and food seemed to replenish itself. The king and queen were happy and the sickness was subdued. But the child was born without breath and darkness more terrible than before fell on the palace. The king grew distant from even his wife. The queen herself grew sick from grief and before long was too weak to leave her bed. The king wept at her bedside every night and every night he begged the genie to cure her. But to heal one touched by death was beyond the powers of the genie and he sadly hung his head whenever he was asked.
On a warm summers night genie alerted the king of his queen's departure from the world and the king wept soundly at her bed's foot.
"My love, Forgive me for all of my faults. I am but a street rat. I was not worthy of your kingdom or your hand."
"Aladdin," she cooed with wispy breath, "will you do something for me?"
"Anything! Anything," he cried.
"Bury me in the garden. Tend to it and be sure it always blooms. Do that for me?"
"Of course."
The queen died shortly thereafter. As she had wished he buried her in the palace gardens. His madness had been replaced by grief and no longer did he worry for his kingdom. For he now saw that it was his duty to take care of his wife's throne and be sure it was passed on to worthy men. The genie in condolence of his friend and grief of his own he enchanted the garden so that in any weather and any season the garden would forever bloom. The palace doors were opened again and the king adopted advisors for wish he would bestow his great kingdom unto. Every day he visited the resting place of his wife and tended to the gardens. Years passed and the great king ruled with all the justice and love that he had before and when he was old with age and his heart had healed he followed his wife.
The genie mourned for the loss of his friend but pledged his allegiance to the throne of Agrabah and he buried the king beside his wife in the garden. Years later to whomever walked through the gardens they would be filled with peace and joy at the beauty of the lush plants. And there in the spot where the queen and king rested grew Jasmine flowers.