DISC: I DO NOT own any of the chars from Aladdin. They belong to Disney.

Enjoy!

"A Long Overdue Friendship"

Chapter 1

Iago sighed as he sat on one of the posts that sat on either side of Jasmine's bed. He liked this sleeping arrangement, although he would never admit it aloud-especially to her. If Iago was truthful with himself, he felt safest with Jasmine. She made him feel safer than anyone else ever could-even Aladdin. While he and Aladdin were definitely friends, Iago felt comforted whenever Jasmine went on adventures with them. As he glanced out the window, he could tell dawn was close to rising. Figuring he could get a few more hours of sleep, Iago closed his eyes once again. Bolting upright a few hours later, Iago could feel himself shaking. He didn't know why at first, which confused him even more. Glancing around, the sight of Jasmine's familiar room made Iago's heart beat slowly down considerably. Despite this small comfort, he could still feel his whole body trembling as though he had just been scared to the core or was awaiting something very unpleasant. Taking a deep breath, Iago glanced up at the window only to find sunlight streaming into the room. But even as sunlight spilled upon the various objects in Jasmine's room, Iago still shivered. Glancing down at the bed, he frowned when he realized Jasmine wasn't there. He could really use her comforting presence right now. He was about to fly off and try to find her when he discovered his shaking body prevented him from doing so. As if an answer to his silent prayer, the door opened a minute later. Unfortunately, the voice that met his ears wasn't Jasmine's.

"Iago? Are you awake?"

Iago tried not to frown as Aladdin's profile came into sharper relief.
"Hey, Al," he greeted in an attempt to sound normal.
"Genie cooked up a good breakfast," Aladdin informed him, "come on before Abu eats it all."
"Uh, that's okay," Iago backed up a little.
"You love eating Genie's breakfasts," Aladdin mused aloud. He frowned in concern. Getting a closer look at Iago, his frown deepened. "Iago, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied.
"Iago…" Aladdin sighed. He was about to say more when someone else joined them.
"Aladdin, is he awake yet?"
The familiar female voice of the one person who he needed right then made Iago's heartbeat almost go back to normal. He glanced at the door as Jasmine walked through it.
"Yeah," Aladdin replied. He frowned. "But he's not hungry."
"Not hungry?" Jasmine raised her eyebrows at her fiancé's words. She glanced over at Iago and her breath caught in her throat when she saw how unwell he looked. "Aladdin, can you give me a few minutes alone with Iago? We need to talk."
"Okay," Aladdin wasn't sure, but he trusted Jasmine, so he left them alone.
Iago watched out of the corner of his eye as Jasmine approached the post he was resting on.
"Iago, what is it?" Jasmine asked. Her voice was concerned and gentle.
"It's nothing. I'll be fine. I just didn't sleep last night," he tried to lie.
"Iago, look at me," Jasmine commanded. Her tone had become firm, but Iago could sense love behind it, not dominance, so he obeyed after a minute.
"I wanna help you," she reached out a hand and placed it on his right wing, "I'm here for you."
"You're the only one," Iago muttered.
"Iago, Aladdin cares about you too," Jasmine reminded him. "I know it's hard for you to talk about this with anyone else but me. And I know having to relive it all yesterday didn't help." Cupping her hands underneath Iago, she gently lifted him off the post and settled him in her lap. "You're shaking," she observed with a frown as she stroked his feathers. "You're safe. We wouldn't let anything happen to you."
"That's the problem, Jasmine," Iago said, "I know you guys care. And I know you would keep your word.."
"Aladdin would too if he knew," Jasmine assured her friend.
"You understand me, princess. That's why I can talk about it with you and not feel terrified," the parrot explained.
"What scared you?" Jasmine asked gently. "Was it another nightmare?"
Iago nodded, unable to say the word yes at the moment.
"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry you're going through this again. I'll help you any way I can. But you might wanna eventually tell Aladdin."
"Why?" Iago demanded.
"He could help you too. He knows what it's like to be trapped too," she reminded him.
"Not like I was. And definitely not like what "he" did to you," Iago said bitterly. When he saw Jasmine shut her eyes for a minute and felt her body tense, he regretted his words instantly. "I'm sorry, Jasmine. Like you said, he can't hurt either of us anymore."
"It's still hard to forget," Jasmine whispered. "I never told my father or Aladdin about that horrible night. I guess I've blocked it out for the past five years."
Iago nodded in agreement.
"You trust Aladdin, right?" Iago asked.

"Completely," Jasmine said without hesitation.
"Talk to him," Iago encouraged. "You don't have anything to lose."
"Neither do you," Jasmine gently reminded him.
"Will you be there?" Iago asked. He felt stupid for asking. He wasn't used to needing anyone before.
"Of course I will," Jasmine assured him.
"Thanks, ,Jas," Iago managed a tiny smile for her.
"No need to thank me," Jasmine told him. "Come on. Let's go find Aladdin." With that, she picked Iago up and carried him out of the room. Halfway down to the kitchen, Iago switched to Jasmine's right shoulder. He felt safest there if he couldn't be in her lap.
"There you two are," Aladdin smiled when he saw them. He stood, walked over to Jasmine and gave her a kiss. His grin grew wider when he saw Jasmine had managed to convince Iago to join them.
"Aladdin, Iago and I need to tell you something. It's important," she stressed.

"Okay," Aladdin hesitated. He glanced at genie, which was busy cleaning up the remnince of breakfast.

"Point taken, Jas, no problem. Monkeyman and I will play a rousing game of cards!" With that, Genie saluted Jasmine, patted Aladdin's shoulder and left with Abu. Once they were gone, Aladdin turned his full attention to Jasmine.
"What's this all about, Jas? It sounds serious."
"It is," Jasmine confirmed. "And I need you to listen with as little interruption as possible. It's really important."
Aladdin nodded.
"Let's go somewhere more private," Jasmine suggested. With that, she led the group to the palace garden. Rajah was there to greet them. He purred and licked both young adults while staring at Iago.
"I suggest you get comfortable," Jasmine forewarned, "This might take a while."
Aladdin settled himself down next to Jasmine on one of the fountains ledges.
Jasmine glanced down at Iago who had been silent since they had left the sanctuary of her bedroom.
"You can do this," she encouraged.
Iago gulped, swallowed hard before locking eyes with Jasmine. He glanced up at Aladdin who was looking both concerned and a little curious.
"Do you want me to go first?" Jasmine asked.
Part of Iago screamed at him to say yes, but another part said no. He knew while they both had suffered at Jafar's hands, Jasmine's ordeal had been worse than his in some ways.
"That-that's okay, princess." Taking another deep breath, Iago found the courage from deep within to start his story. He kept his eyes locked with Jasmine's as he started, fearing that if he broke eye contact with her for even a second, he wouldn't be able to tell it at all.

"It all started a few months after Jafar and I moved into the palace," Iago began. "You already know how he won over the Sultan, so I won't bore you with the details. The only one he couldn't charm was Jas. She was onto him from day one. She may have only been fourteen, but she was just as smart then as she is now. Sometimes, I think the princess was two steps ahead of Jafar. Unfortunately, he knew it too. And he didn't like it. He also didn't like her fiery personality." Feeling Jasmine nudge his wing slightly, Iago changed course. He hadn't meant to start the story out that way. But now that he had, he had to continue at least for a second. As he gathered his thoughts together, he winked at her to let her know he wouldn't go much further with her part of it. He assumed she understood because her fingers relaxed into his feathers once again. "Anyway, Jafar wanted power, lots of it. And he would do anything to get it. One day after he had threatened Jasmine, I…I tried standing up for her and myself. It was the first and the last time I ever tried it."
Aladdin couldn't help it. He remembered Jasmine had advised him not to interrupt, but he couldn't stay silent any longer.
"Jafar threatened you!" He exclaimed.
Jasmine nodded with a sigh.
"Aladdin, he threatened all of us at one time or another. That's not important right now."
"what do you mean it's not-" Aladdin was stopped by the look on Jasmine's face, coupled with her finger on his lips.
"You'll know what happened to me soon enough. You need to let Iago finish.
"Thanks," Iago mumbled.
Jasmine nodded.
"Go on," she encouraged.
Iago could feel his body starting to shake again. He forced himself to remain calm. He wasn't back there anymore. He was safe with Jasmine and his other friends. He was safe with one of the few people who he could trust. He could do this…
"Anyway, it was a few minutes after we had gotten back to our lab," Iago continued. He once again had his eyes locked on Jasmine's for support.

****Past&&

"Don't you think you've gone too far this time?" Iago asked. He knew he would regret it, but he had to know. Even though he didn't like the Sultan much, he was starting to befriend Jasmine and he had a feeling she felt the same way. "Hey!" he shouted, thinking Jafar hadn't heard him at first. "Do you think you might be-" his sentence was cut short as a hand grabbed him roughly around the neck, pressing him up against the wall.
"I heard you the first time," Jafar hissed. "And I don't agree."
"You didn't have to threaten her like that," Iago gasped out. Once he regained his breath, he continued. "She's just a kid."
It was true that Jasmine was almost fifteen, but she still had some innocence of her childhood left. Iago saw it blossom whenever she was out in the garden with Rajah.
"You stupid bird," Jafar hissed, throwing Iago to the side, "she's a threat to me. If I can't bring her to my side, I have to find another way to deal with her."
Iago's stomach curled as he saw Jafar's lips curl into an evil smile. He knew what that meant. He let one shudder course through him before forcing himself to act neutral again. As he felt the pain from colliding with the wall, he tried not to show how much it bothered him. Remembering the promise he had made to Jasmine's mother, Iago vowed to protect the princess from Jafar, even if she didn't know he was doing it. "I won't let you hurt her," he said bravely.
Smiling his cruel smile, Jafar made his way over to Iago, his snake staff in hand. Raising it high, he brought it down onto Iago's injured wing.
"I'd like to see you stop me." With that, he was gone…

*****Present***

Iago wasn't even aware he had started to shake again. The only thing he was aware of was Jasmine's hand on his shoulder, stroking his wing over and over in an attempt to soothe him and keep his mind in the present with them.
"Iago? Iago, can you hear me? It's okay. You're safe. You're in the garden. Aladdin and I are with you. Iago?"
Iago managed to open his eyes a minute later. Once he locked them with Jasmine's, the tears he had been fighting back of the past few days burst forth. He hadn't meant to break down, it just happened.
Shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay…" Jasmine continued to comfort. "You're safe. You're with your family. Jafar can't hurt either of us anymore. Shh…."
Iago locked eyes with Jasmine once again when he heard her say the word 'family. He knew he was their friend, but he had never thought of himself as part of a family before. The concept was new to him. It was definitely one he would have to get used to. But that was for another day.
"Ja-Jasmine?" Iago mumbled.
"Shh, I'm here, Iago. I have you. What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry," Iago muttered just low enough for Jas to hear.
"You don't have to be sorry for anything," Jasmine assured him. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"I didn't protect…I was-wasn't there when he…I promised your…" Iago's voice trailed off as his body shook violently.
"It wasn't your fault," Jasmine reassured him, "I don't blame you." Turning to Aladdin she whispered, "We need to get him back inside. He's burning up."
Aladdin frowned.
"Do you think telling me that made him sick?" he asked.
"It's possible," Jasmine stood carefully, still holding Iago.
"Iago, it's okay. We're going back inside now. We're going back to my room," Jasmine explained. Entering her bedroom, Jasmine lay Iago down on her bed. Finding a soft blanket, she covered him with it and sat down beside him. Putting the back of her hand to his forehead, she frowned when she felt the heat.
"Aladdin, he has a fever," she reported.
"Should I get Genie?" Aladdin wondered aloud.
"No. I'll take care of him," Jasmine replied. "It's okay."
"Can I do anything? I feel so helpless," Aladdin admitted.
Getting up from the bed, Jasmine wrapped her fiancé in a hug and kissed him.
"Can you get me a thermometer and a basin full of cold water?"
Aladdin nodded, left and returned shortly with the items his soon-to-be wife had requested.
Setting the basin on the nightstand, Jasmine lifted one of Iago's wings and placed the thermometer underneath of it. She kept him still and calm while they waited. Taking it out, she frowned at the reading.
"What does it say?" Aladdin asked.
"He definitely has a fever," Jasmine concluded.
"Poor Iago," Aladdin sighed.
"He'll be okay. He just needs some love and care. Why don't you go check on the guys and I'll watch him for a little bit."
"I'll be back," Aladdin assured her. Once he was gone, Jasmine sat down beside Iago and resumed stroking his feathers.
"You're gonna be okay," she whispered. "You have a family who cares about you now. I'm gonna help you. We're all gonna help you through this." With that, she watched Iago sleep for the next few hours. She just prayed he would recover soon…