Hey everyone!

So yeah, today I got on a Disney kick -- listening to old Disney songs. "A Whole New World" came up, and I realized just how deliciously perfect Aladdin is when compared to Gwen and Kevin. (Beauty and the Beast is up there too of course. These two are just so fairy-taleish!!) For all I know, someone could have totally already thought of this, but do I care? Puhlease. Originality? Pfffft...

I promise I'll be finishing Tall Tails soon! This fic is definitely not replacing it. I just HAD to write this. (I just wrote this for around three hours straight -- it's consumed my soul.)

"Ben! Ben Tenny—"

"Will you keep quiet, dweeb?!" Gwen was cut off abruptly by Ben slamming a hand over his cousin's mouth. The two ten-year-olds were currently standing in the middle of Market Street, shoppers and bazaar owners milling around them, going about their business, not paying any attention to the two children. "You can't just go blabbing out my name! What if someone hears you?"

Gwen took Ben's hand off her mouth and adjusted her disguise: a plain brown peasant dress with a matching hood. Ben was dressed rather commonly too: beige pants, an oversized white shirt and a brown vest. The clothes had been easy enough to swipe from servants – and so far they had worked. The two of them blended in perfectly, and no one gave them more than a second glance. "I hope someone does hear me and drags us back to the Palace!" she said, crossing her arms in front of her. "This is ridiculous! You're the Crowned Prince! You can't just go flitting around the city whenever you want! It's dangerous here!"

Ben's eyes narrowed as he stared at an old man carrying a large watermelon. "Oh yeah, I bet that guy's going to assassinate me any second. As soon as his back stops hurting."

"Ben!"

"Gwen, if you keep your mouth shut, we can go around unnoticed, okay?" Ben said, raising his left arm. His left wrist was all bandaged up, but he wasn't injured. Ben was hiding his Royal Insignia, his tattoo that signified his status as heir to the royal throne.

"You're asking for trouble, Ben!" Gwen insisted. "You're going to eat your words, just watch."

"Blah blah, not listening," Ben stuck out his tongue. "But hey, that gives me an idea!" he laughed, turning to his cousin. "I'm hungry, let's get something to eat!"

"Ben, are you even listening?!" Gwen asked as Ben walked away to look at the bazaars, thoroughly ignoring his cousin. "BEN!"

"I told you to keep quiet!" Ben rasped. "C'mon Gwen – you can't be so uptight all the time, can you? Let's have some fun! That's the whole reason we came out here!"

"Correction: that's the whole reason you came out here and dragged me along!" Gwen snapped. "I was fine staying in the palace and reading."

"Uhhh yeah," Ben rolled his eyes. "That's the only thing to do there. I want more excitement than "A History of Dirt" can give me."

Gwen narrowed her eyes, not appreciating the "A History of Dirt" comment. But Ben had already made his way down the street, looking for something to eat. Gwen sighed – her cousin may have been the Prince and next in line to be Sultan, but he was still a handful. She felt more like a baby-sitter than a Princess. She was sure the Sultan, their Grandfather Max, would be worried sick about them.

"Man, it's hot out here," Gwen sighed, moving to take off her hood. Ben stopped her.

"Don't! Your stupid red-head sticks out like a sore thumb!" Ben reminded her. Gwen sighed. It was true – nobody else in the kingdom had her red locks. Her hair color was better than any royal identification scroll. Princess Gwendolyn was known for her beautiful, exotic red hair. "C'mon, I found some tasty looking fruit."

"Fine," Gwen said, realizing that she was rather hungry. "Let's go."

Ben took his cousin to a fruit-seller that had a variety of delicious looking melons lined up in his stall. "Yummy, right? A lot better than that stuff Grandpa feeds us for dinner!" Without a second thought, Ben grabbed an apple from the stall and took a bite out of it, savoring the juice as it ran down his cheek.

"I hope you have money to pay for that."

Ben blinked and looked up at the fruit-seller, who was glowering over the small boy. Gwen blinked as well. "Umm…we have to pay?" she asked. "Paying" was foreign to the two. They'd never bought anything in their lives. Whenever they wanted food, they simply took it from the palace kitchens.

"Like…with money?" Ben asked, and the shop-keeper narrowed his eyes.

"Yes. With money. Now hand it over!" he barked, and Ben and Gwen both winced. Gwen grabbed Ben's arm.

"O-O-One moment!" she laughed, and then turned Ben around for a hushed pep-talk. "Ben, do you have any money?"

"Oh yeah, I've got plenty from my job as a street-sweeper," Ben muttered sarcastically. "No I don't have money, I'm the Prince doofus!"

"Well you should've brought some!"

"I didn't know I'd have to pay for stuff! And you're the braniac, why didn't you bring money?!"

"Well, you're just going to have to apologize and explain—"

"No way! First of all, he wouldn't believe me, and second of all, we'd get dragged back to the palace and we'd be in humongo-trouble."

"Well what are we gonna do—"

"My. Money. Now."

Gwen and Ben turned around to see the nasty shop-keeper had come out from behind his booth and were glaring down at the two. Both children's eyes were wide, and Gwen's teeth chattered. "Ummm…do you take credit?" Gwen asked.

"RUN!" Ben screamed, and the two sprinted away from the shop-keeper, forcing their way through the crowds, who parted ways as the two ran at top speed to escape the shop keeper.

"Come back here you brats!" the shop-keeper exclaimed, grabbing a sword from behind his stand and running after the two. The crowd gasped, as did Ben and Gwen when they looked back.

"Oh Allah!" Ben panted as he continued to run. "We're sooooo dead!"

"I'd rather be in trouble with Grandpa than dead!" Gwen said in between pants. "Ben—we should just—AAAAHHH!" Gwen screamed as she felt her arm being grabbed from behind. She spun her head around and to her terror, saw that the shop-keeper had caught up with her.

"If you won't pay, you're a thief!" he growled. "And do you know what we do to thieves here?!" He raised his sword above his head, and Gwen gasped. Ben dove forward, but knew he wouldn't make it in time to save his cousin.

Bonk!

The shop-keeper was suddenly hit in the head by an apple, seemingly thrown from nowhere. Gwen and Ben looked around, but they didn't have to search long.

"There. That makes up for it, doesn't it?"

Jumping down from a window awning and landing with inhuman grace, a peasant boy with long black hair and brown eyes currently stood in front of the three, a confident smirk on his face. Gwen surveyed the boy – he looked slightly older than her, with a hook nose and deep eyes the color of fertile soil. His pale skin was offset by a black vest and gray pants. He wore black wristbands that matched a tiny black hat on his head. He had bare, dirty feet, obviously from walking around on the dirt roads for so long.

"Who…who are you?" Gwen asked.

"I'm so sorry about these two," the boy sighed, grabbing Ben around the neck and grinding his knuckles into the boy's scalp. "They're friends of mine – they're a little crazy," he whispered to the keeper.

"I'm not crazy--!"

"Play along if you wanna live," the boy rasped to Ben, and Ben fell silent. "Haven't eaten in days. But don't worry kids, Kevin'll take care of you."

"Kevin?" Gwen asked inquisitively, and Kevin sighed.

"Oh, she's so tragic – has an awful memory. Can't remember anything for longer than ten seconds!"

Gwen blinked and Kevin stared at her, smirking. She got the hint. "Hey, who are you?" she asked Kevin again. "And what am I doing here?" She looked around, eyes wide. "Hello, nice to meet you," she said to the shop-keeper, smiling widely, "have we met?"

"This one thinks he's a super-hero!" Kevin whispered to the shop-keeper, pointing at Ben. "Believes he's an alien or something."

Ben also caught onto the game, and got even more into than Gwen. "I am an alien! There's an invasion approaching the palace! I gotta transform and save the Sultan! GO FOURARMS!"

"Fourarms?" Kevin whispered to Ben. "Did you just think that up?"

"Hello, nice to meet you," Gwen said again to the shop-keeper. "Have we met?"

The shop-keeper sighed and released Gwen, obviously frustrated. "Take your crazy friends and go Street Rat! To tell the absolute truth, I'd rather see you a skewered street rat…but I'll leave that to the Palace guards." Kevin frowned darkly at the shop-keeper who spat at his feet and then turned around to return to his shop.

"Thanks for saving us!" Ben said to Kevin.

"Sorry," Kevin muttered, and Ben and Gwen's eyes widened. "I don't do anything for free."

"Get your fresh fruit!" the nasty shop-keeper from before yelled out to the bazaar-goers. Little did he know that three little "customers" were currently positioned on a roof directly above his shop.

"I can't believe we're doing this!" Gwen rasped to her two companions. "This is against the law!"

"I could always just hand you over to the guards as thieves," Kevin grinned, and Gwen frowned at him. "See it my way?"

"How can you do this?! The only reason you helped us was so we'd help you steal!" Gwen said, folding her arms. "I thought you did it out of the kindness of your heart!"

"Hah, that's a laugh," Kevin smirked at the girl, which only made her more frustrated. "Enough whining. If everything goes like I want, we'll all eat tonight."

"Awesome, I am so hungry!" Ben exclaimed, and Gwen narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"

"Okay, let's go!" Kevin jumped down from the roof and landed on the awning of the shop-keepers' stall. The shop-keeper looked up, but soon knew what had fallen onto his awning. Kevin poked his head over the edge and waved at the keeper. "Hey there! Don't mind if I do!" he laughed and grabbed a melon from the bazaar. The keeper let out a roar and grabbed his sword. He slashed at Kevin, who dodged and grabbed another melon before jumping off the awning and running off down the street. The keeper bounded after him, swinging his sword over his head.

"Let's go Gwen!" Ben said, and Gwen bit her lip.

"We can't jump down there! Do you know the probability of us breaking our legs or wor—" she didn't finish her sentence before her cousin had jumped off the roof and had landed safely on the awning. She sighed, closed her eyes, and jumped off the roof as well.

"See, that wasn't so bad, right?" Ben asked as Gwen shook. He dove over the edge of the awning and began to gather as much fruit as he could. Gwen did the same until both had huge armfuls of fruit. "Awesome!"

"What about Kevin?" Gwen asked, looking off to where Kevin had run away to.

"He's pretty tough," Ben said admirably. "I'm sure he'll be back soon—"

"So…not so crazy are you?"

Ben and Gwen turned around slowly to see none other than the very angry shop-keeper staring at them, eyes wide and livid. His teeth were gritted, and in one hand he gripped his sword. "Uhhh…" Ben muttered stupidly.

"What happened to Kevin?" Gwen rasped to her cousin.

"Your little friend got away!" the keeper growled. "But at least I got two of the mangy street rats!" The keeper raised his hand to hit the two, but at that moment, Gwen decided that she had had enough.

She took one of the watermelons clutched in her hand and slammed it right in the face of the keeper. It brought apart, juice and seeds spilling all over the man's face, causing him to stagger backwards and fall over his stall, the watermelon shoved completely over his head. He struggled to get the watermelon off, staggering around and running into people as he did. Gwen and Ben both laughed uproariously before running off, fruit in arms. "Oh Allah!" Ben laughed, tears at the corners of his eyes. "Did you see the look on his face?! Oh wait – you couldn't cause he had a WATERMELON over his head!" When he stopped laughing, he turned to his cousin. "Didn't know you had it in you!"

"He was getting on my nerves," Gwen smiled coyly. "And I didn't do much – he was already a melon-head."

"Nice job out there."

Gwen and Ben stopped as they heard Kevin's voice. They looked in front of them to see Kevin smiling at them, his two stolen melons still in his arms. "I saw the whole thing! You guys handle yourselves pretty well."

"Why didn't you help us?" Gwen asked, frowning.

"I can't keep saving your guys' butts," Kevin shrugged. "If you can't take care of yourself, you're not going to survive these streets. I just gave you guys a crash course. And you both passed. Congrats."

Ben smiled, but Gwen frowned. She didn't like the fact that she was now an official street urchin. "Awesome," Ben smiled widely, walking up to Kevin. The two pounded fists, and Gwen rolled her eyes at the display of macho behavior. "So hey, wanna eat?"

"I'll take you back to my place," he told them. He looked over at Gwen. "Is her Highness coming?"

Gwen and Ben's eyes widened at Kevin. Kevin looked at the two of them, confused. "What?"

"W-what did you just say?" Gwen asked.

"I called you 'Your Highness'," Kevin repeated. "What, can't a little joke, Princess?"

Gwen and Ben relaxed, realizing that Kevin had merely been poking fun at Gwen, and was probably still oblivious to the two's actual identities. Gwen walked forward, and Kevin motioned for the two to follow him.

"Okay, just over here."

Kevin grabbed a plank of wood and used it as a pole-vault to clear the distance between two buildings. The two Tennyson cousins, now carrying sacks of fruit, watched the daring feet of the street rat. Ben's eyes widened, as did his smile, but Gwen simply rolled her emerald orbs. Ben grabbed another plank and Gwen frowned at him. "Hey! Don't do tha—"

But Ben had already run forward and copied Kevin's trick (albeit far less gracefully). He landed on the other side rather ungracefully. But Kevin's smile of approval made Ben feel his attempt had been nothing but a success. Kevin looked over at Gwen, and smirked before moving his plank, trying to make it into a bridge for her.

But before he could finish adjusting the plank, a blur of brown sailed over him, and when he turned around, he saw Gwen had landed perfectly after pole-vaulting herself over the side as Kevin and her cousin had done. She smirked at Kevin, whose eyes were wide with surprise. She lay down the piece of wood and pulled her sack of fruit over her shoulder before walking off.

Kevin's eyebrows raised, and he smiled after Gwen. She was definitely more interesting than he had given her credit for.

"This way," he instructed them, walking swiftly past Gwen and towards a pair of stairs that led up to what seemed to be an abandoned storehouse. The cousins followed Kevin up until they came to a ratty red curtain. Kevin pulled back the curtain and smiled at the two, motioning them inside. "It isn't much, but it's home."

Ben and Gwen walked inside and surveyed Kevin's home. Every piece of furniture was make-shift – old wooden boxes for chairs – candles half burned down, and a hammock strung up in the corner of the room.

"It's…nice," Gwen lied, trying not to be disgusted by the rather meager living arrangements.

"Well, the interior could use a bit of work," Kevin laughed, walking forward towards another ratty red curtain. "But it's got an awesome view," he pulled back the curtain and Ben and Gwen gasped to see the palace in front of them, all lit up and looking more gorgeous than either of them had ever seen it. "Yeah, that's about as close as any of us will ever get to the palace," Kevin said before walking off towards the sacks of fruit they had left near the entrance. Ben and Gwen gave each other knowing looks. "But wouldn't it be cool to live there? You'd get to eat whatever you want, whenever you want, you'd be rich, and have everything you'd ever need."

"It isn't that cool," Ben said suddenly, and Kevin frowned at him. "I mean, think about it. Sure you'd get to live in a big house but…you'd never get to do anything fun! What we did today – we'd never get to do that if we were kids living in the palace." Ben blinked and then turned to Kevin, scratching the back of his head, "Which of course we're not!"

"To each his own," Kevin shrugged, tossing Ben and Gwen apples. "C'mon, let's eat. You guys got a place to stay?"

"Umm…"

"Yes, we do," Gwen said matter-of-factly. "After we eat, we have to go."

"But I'm tired!" Ben countered, and Gwen narrowed her eyes at him. "I think we should stay the night."

"If we stay the night, he'll want us to help him steal again!" Gwen whispered to Ben. She obviously hadn't whispered softly enough, as Kevin had heard her.

"Ha! You know me pretty well," Kevin smirked. "You're right – if I let you stay here, you're gonna have to help me get breakfast. No such thing as a free lunch, kiddos."

"That's fine!"

"That is so not fine!" Gwen crossed her arms and glared at her cousin. "I know you think this all really cool, but it's not! We have to go home soon!"

"I know that," Ben frowned. "But not tonight! You can go back by yourself if you want. I'm staying here with Kevin."

"Are you two brother and sister or something?" Kevin asked, biting into a melon and chewing. "You sure fight like it!"

"Cousins," Ben said. "And even that is too much to bear sometimes…"

"What about you Kevin?" Gwen asked, sitting down and biting very daintily into her apple. Kevin didn't answer her as she continued to take very lady-like bites. He smirked at her, and she frowned at him. "What?"

"You're probably hungry…what do I look like, the Prince?" he asked sarcastically. "You can eat a little less prissy than that."

Gwen didn't tell him that the Prince himself ate like a hog. But as she looked at her apple, she realized that she was insanely hungry. She took a huge bite of the apple, devouring it. Ben blinked, unable to believe his cousin was actually eating so vivaciously.

"See!" Kevin laughed. "Letting loose ain't so bad, is it Princess?"

"I suppose not," Gwen smirked, wiping a bit of juice off her chin as she finished the apple. She reached for another piece of fruit. "But you didn't answer my question. Do you have any family Kevin?"

Kevin frowned. "Nah. Been alone as long as I can remember."

"That must be tough," Gwen murmured, putting down her melon.

"Please, spare me," snapped Kevin. "I've had enough false pity."

"It isn't false," Gwen frowned at him. "Do you I'm insincere or something?"

"Everyone's insincere," Kevin said matter-of-factly. "I've been pushed around on the streets long enough to know it."

"It's true that…people can be cruel," Gwen agreed. "But I think you distrust people before you even meet them. And I hate to be blunt, but you're not exactly trust-worthy yourself."

Kevin frowned at Gwen darkly, and for a second, Gwen thought he might lash out at her. But strangely enough, Kevin's face eased into a smile. "You're right about that. But that's the way I roll – gotta look out for myself. Even you're just a means to an end, Princess."

Gwen frowned and looked down at her melon before returning to devouring it. What Kevin had said had strangely caused her pain in her chest. Sure, it was a rude and mean-spirited thing to say. But just the notion of Kevin viewing her as a tool upset her. Not that she assumed he actually cared about her either! I mean, she had just met him that afternoon…

Gwen looked up at Kevin, who was now talking to Ben about their "super awesome" escapade that afternoon. She watched with great intent as his dark eyes lit up, and his face contorted into that handsome smirk. Gwen's cheeks tinged pink, and she immediately hated herself for thinking so fondly of the self-serving street rat. After all, he was rude, conniving, a thief…

But he certainly wasn't hard on the eyes either.

"Hmm? What's wrong? You want more?" Kevin asked Gwen, who blinked and spun around.

"N-No! I'm fine!" she stammered, biting her melon. She calmed her red face, assuring herself that it was a passing interest in a bad-boy that would soon dissolve away. It was normal for girls her age to have crushes, wasn't it? She was sure, as soon as she returned to her real life at the palace, she would forget all about Kevin.

"You two can sleep on the floor," Kevin said. "Find a soft spot." Gwen looked at the stone ground. There certainly were no "soft spots".

"Awesome!" Ben laughed, excited that he wouldn't be sleeping in a soft bed with linen sheets for once in his life. He grabbed an old piece of cloth from a corner and used it as a musty blanket. Gwen, however, simply stared at the floor.

"Shouldn't the girl get the best bed?" she asked, crossing her arms. "That's the gentlemanly thing to do."

"Sorry, Princess, I'm no gentleman," Kevin smirked before hopping into his hammock. "There's plenty of floor." He took off his hat and put it on a box next to the hammock before closing his eyes to drift off to sleep. Gwen narrowed her eyes at him, her past affection disappearing rather rapidly at the prospect of being forced to sleep on a stony floor.

Unable to even bring herself to lay down, Gwen moved over to the hole in Kevin's wall that served as a window. Pulling up the curtain, Gwen looked out at the palace with fond eyes. She missed her soft bed, her jasmine-scented baths, everything that came along with royalty.

Then again, she had to admit, as she glanced over at her snoring cousin, that today had certainly been an adventure. She'd had more excitement today than she'd had her whole life. She wasn't quite sure if she appreciated it yet.

She sat on the broken wall and looked out at the palace longingly some more. In the morning, she would take Ben back to the palace before Kevin would force them to steal again. She was sure, by tomorrow, Grandpa Max would have sent out all the palace guards to search the city for the two of them. They would certainly be in, as Ben put it, "humongo-trouble" when they got back.

But at the same time, she couldn't help but smile as she remembered all the fond times she'd had with Ben and Kevin. She'd never met another boy her age, let alone a street-rat. But Kevin was surprisingly similar to Ben. The two were fast friends, and she could tell why – they were strikingly similar. Ben seemed to admire Kevin for his dangerous lifestyle. Gwen couldn't blame him.

"If you're gonna sit there until I give you the hammock, it's not gonna work. It's my hammock."

Gwen looked behind her to see Kevin standing over her. He sat next to her and looked out at the palace with her. "I-I don't want the hammock," Gwen said sternly, crossing her arms in front of her. "You can keep your sweaty hammock! It probably smells like you, anyway!"

"True, I don't bathe all that often," Kevin laughed, raising his arms above his head as to give Gwen a whiff of his sweaty armpits. Gwen plugged her nose and shoved Kevin playfully. "Then again, you probably don't either. Us street kids just smell the same. After awhile, you just don't notice it anymore."

A sharp intake of breath hit Gwen as Kevin shoved his hook nose into her face, smelling her. Her face was bright red, she was sure of it. Kevin pulled back, frowning. "Hey, you smell nice. Like flowers or something…"

"I-I use Jasmine perfume," she said uncomfortably. "I-I mean…it was my mother's! Yeah, the only rich thing she ever owned. She gave it to me before she…passed away." Gwen stopped mid-way in her lie, realizing that she had just revealed a truth within the falsity. Her mother and father had both died along with Ben's parents in a great battle six years ago. Their fiefs had been attacked, and only Ben and Gwen had survived. Even her older brother Ken had been lost. Their Grandfather, grief-stricken at the loss of both his sons and heirs, took in the two after vanquishing the enemy forces. Gwen's mother, Lily, had indeed used Jasmine perfume everyday. Gwen wore it to remind herself of her mother. She felt tears coming to her eyes and tried to hold them back.

"Hey…there are lots of orphans around here," Kevin said. "No point in crying about it."

"I'm not crying!" Gwen snapped, betraying her tears.

"You look like it," Kevin said, taking his thumb and wiping a tear off Gwen's face. She turned away from him, wanting to leave, but Kevin grabbed her arm. "Don't be like that, Princess."

"Stop calling me that!" Gwen snapped. "I have a name!"

"What is it?" Kevin asked, and Gwen stopped. Should she dare tell him? Princess Gwendolyn was known very well throughout the city…

"…I'm…Jasmine," she spat out, blushing red. Was that really the best she could think of? Her perfume was the only thing that came to mind.

"…You're kidding? Jasmine uses jasmine perfume?" Kevin laughed, and Gwen frowned, still blushing. "Maybe your Mom put on so much of the stuff—"

"Okay, I get it! It's really funny," Gwen sighed, bringing her knees to her chest. "Can we change the subject? I don't like talking about my parents."

"Sorry," Kevin shrugged. "Okay. Let's talk about the palace."

"You must like it a lot," Gwen smiled.

"I like the idea of living there," Kevin admitted. "I mean, don't get me wrong – I steal, and I'm good at it. But…to have a bunch of servants waiting on me hand and foot…that's the life."

"Yeah, it's pretty nice," Gwen said, and then caught herself. "I mean, it sounds like it at least."

"Hey, maybe we'll get there together," Kevin suggested, smirking at Gwen. Gwen blinked as Kevin suddenly put his hand on hers. "Yeah! Prince Kevin and his Princess Jasmine! What do you say to that?"

Gwen blushed, "L-Li-Like I'd ever marry you!"

"Don't get your hood in a bunch," Kevin laughed, slapping Gwen on the back. "I was just kidding. Like I'm ever gonna be a Prince. I'll be lucky if they let me shine the Prince's boots."

Gwen smirked at the thought. Ben really looked up to Kevin – he'd probably want to shine his boots. Still…the thought of Kevin as a Prince…and her his Princess was a pleasant thought. Her cheeks went pink. "I dunno," Gwen said softly, and Kevin turned to look at her. "Anything's possible. Maybe you'll marry the Princess."

"Nah," Kevin sighed. "She's probably a total bore. All prissy and stuff. I hate girls like that."

Gwen smiled at Kevin. "So what kinda girls do you like?"

"A girl who's loud, and knows how to fight," Kevin told her, "and can take care of herself." He looked over at Gwen, and if Gwen didn't know better, she'd say he was closer than before. He was smiling at her, and Gwen felt her heart beating a million miles a second. If her eyes didn't deceive her, his cheeks were a little pink as well. "I like girls who slam fruit on shop-keepers' heads, and girls who can jump from one building to another…" Gwen felt her eyelids drooping as Kevin moved in closer, his voice lowering to a whisper, "and I especially like girls who wear Jasmine perfume…"

"There he is!"

Gwen and Kevin broke apart and turned around to see none other than the shop-keeper from earlier that day standing in Kevin's doorway, pointing at him, enraged. Behind the keeper were at least four or five royal guards. Gwen and Kevin saw, to their amusement, that the shop-keeper's face seemed shiny and had some watermelon seeds stuck to it. "That's the little street rat that stole from my cart! And his two little thieving friends!"

Ben blinked, waking up slowly. He looked up at the shop-keeper and the guards and gasped. Jumping up and running to Kevin and Gwen, Ben whispered to his companions, "How'd they find us?"

"I'm a bit notorious around here," Kevin mumbled. "One of my 'friends' probably ratted me out."

"Get them! Get them all!"

"C'mon, run!" Kevin shouted standing in front of the two of them. "I'll deal with these guys!"

"We can't leave you!" Gwen shouted, Ben also looking concerned.

"You'll just slow me down!" Kevin said harshly, but Gwen could tell that it was all an act. He was protecting her. "Just get out of here. Jump out the window, you'll be fi—ARRGH!" Kevin screamed as one of the guards grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back.

"Kevin!" Gwen shouted, and she and Ben ran forward, only to have Ben be grabbed by another guard. "Stop it!" she shouted to the guards as they continued to twist the boys' arms. "Stop it right now!"

"You think we're going to listen to some little street mouse?" one of the guards laughed cruelly. "Who do you think you are? The Princess?"

Gwen narrowed her eyes, and then reached for her hood. Ben's eyes widened, as if to say "don't do it", but it was too late. Gwen threw back her hood and her short red hair with her signature hairclip became revealed. "I am the Princess!"

The guards dropped their swords almost as quickly as they dropped their jaws. Ben groaned, and Kevin's eyes widened until they looked like they might be too big for his face. "Release them by order of the Princess!"

Ben sighed and decided that being secretive was of no use anymore. "And by order of the Prince!" he shouted, and the guard holding him immediately released the boy. Ben undid the bandages on his left arm and they soon fell away to reveal the black and green royal symbol. The guards immediately gasped and fell to their knees in the presence of the two. Kevin looked at the two, still unable to process the situation.

"Prince Benjamin! Princess Gwendolyn!" the head guard said, exasperated. "Please forgive us – if we had only known—"

"Let this boy go now!" Gwen ordered. "And strike his offenses from his record! He's not to be bothered."

"Yeah!" Ben agreed. "He saved our butts today! Is that how you treat a savior of royalty?"

"I'm sorry your highnesses," the head guard said. "But the law is the law."

"Well we stole too! So you'll have to lock us up as well if you intend to arrest this boy!"

The guards looked at each other, not at all keen on the idea of locking up the Prince and Princess for stealing. They stood up. "The Sultan is worried about both of you. We'll excuse the boy's transgression if you come along with us."

"Right," Gwen nodded, looking at Kevin, who still looked confused. She frowned sadly, a silent apology for lying to him. Ben also frowned at Kevin, upset that he was being separated from his friend. The two were led away by the guards, the shop-keeper too stunned to do anything but follow them silently, a dumb expression on his face.

Gwen looked back over his shoulder at Kevin. Her brow furrowed, and she mouthed 'I'm sorry' to him.

Kevin watched them go. He wanted to reach out to them, to tell them to come back, but he didn't have the voice. He was too stunned – he had spent the day stealing with royalty. And then he had forced the Prince and Princess of the kingdom to sleep on the floor. The way he'd talked about the palace…Ben and Gwen probably thought he was an idiot. And Kevin couldn't blame them. He felt like an idiot.

But when he finally brought his lips together, he remembered his intimate moment with Gwen just minutes before. Everything made sense now…and to think that he almost kissed the Princess made his stomach do leaps. She was even prettier with her hair out of that hood…

Kevin sighed, sitting down in his hammock, trying to collect his thoughts. "Great," he said to himself. "You're a real idiot, Kevin – you've fallen for the one girl you can never get." Kevin stared out at the brightly lit palace from his window, looking at it more longingly than ever.

"I cannot believe you two did this! Do you know how worried I was?!"

Ben and Gwen currently knelt in front of their Grandfather, the Sultan of the kingdom. Their eyes were glued to the floor as he paced back and forth, lecturing them. "The streets are dangerous! You two have to remain in the palace – you're royalty!"

"Just because I'm royalty doesn't mean I have to be bored," Ben said sarcastically and Grandpa looked down at him disapprovingly.

"Go to your room Benjamin!" Grandpa Max ordered, and Ben stood up and stomped off towards his room, crossing his arms. "Gwen, I thought you'd keep Ben in line."

"I'm sorry Grandpa," Gwen said rather passively. She wasn't even focused on her Grandpa's lecturing. All she could think about was Kevin, and the look he'd had on his face when she and Ben had been dragged away by the palace guards. She realized that that was probably the last time she would ever see the boy.

"You're to stay in the palace," her Grandpa instructed. "I'm just looking out for you. After losing your parents…I…I can't bare the thought of losing you two," he said, leaning down to hug Gwen. Gwen sighed, and nodded.

"I know Grandpa," Gwen stood up. "I'm going to sleep now…"

Gwen trudged towards her bedroom slowly, her mind still heavy with the image of Kevin. She reached her room and opened her doors to reveal her familiar comfortable bed and sweet-smelling bath, probably drawn for her hours before. She lay down on the bed, sinking into its softness. It was a lot nicer than Kevin's floor, and yet she longed to be back in his hovel, sitting next to him and laughing about the palace and their fantasies for the future.

Tears escaped the corners of her eyes and she buried her face into her pillow.

She could almost feel Kevin's thumb wiping her tears away. "No use in crying about it," he'd say to her, that same confident smirk on his face.

But Gwen couldn't help it – she continued to cry into her pillow until exhaustion overtook her and she fell dead asleep.

Taaaaddaaa! First chapter completed!

Writing these guys as little ones again was so much fun. And childhood crushes are even sweeter to write. I think I may have made Kevin a little too nice. XD But making him a sociopath would be pretty hard to write a cute romance around. He acts more like he does in AF, if you ask me.

Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, Ben and Julie will come up later, I promise. Next chapter will jump five years ahead! So please review if you enjoyed! :)