Hi Guys! I'm Iggy :)

I've had this idea for a while now, but I've been pretty apprehensive about posting it because I wanted it to be as good as i could get it. So, thanks to an amazing beta and a whole whack of editing on my own part, I would say I'm finally ready to start posting it now :)

Basically it's an AU Klaine fic based on Disney's Aladdin. It wont follow the exact storyline as the cartoon, obviously. I have it planned to go in a few different directions in a few chapters from now. I'm also undecided on whether or not I'll be using magic at all (although I'm leaning toward not) so that will make some changes.

I really hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading :)

OH! and I don't own glee, Kurt, Blaine, or anyone else who shows up from glee in this fic. All I own are the words, and even a few of those could belong to Walt Disney. :)

"Stop! Thief!"

Carts clattered by on the busy street – some barely stopping in time to avoid hitting the slender boy weaving through the mixture of buyers and sellers, who were packed like sardines between the buildings that lined the market. Not 100 yards behind the boy, a group of burley looking men in navy and red palace guard uniforms pushed and shoved their own way through the crowd, yelling at any civilian who blocked their path- accidentally or otherwise.

Over the movement of a busy market, the palace guard bellowed to civilians to stop the young boy who was quickly getting farther and farther ahead of them. But in a crowd full of cons, thieves, and vandals no one was exactly tripping over themselves to assist the guard.

The thief ran as fast as he could, darting back and forth to avoid bowling anyone over. He continued running until he could no longer hear the deep voices of the guard and the crowd behind him appeared settled. There didn't appear to by any commotion from guards pushing their way through behind him.

Reaching what he hoped was a safe distance from his pursuers, the young thief turned into an alley that was shaded from the hot dessert sun. He leans back against the wall of one of the buildings lining the alley, attempting to catch his breath after the quick getaway.

"Kurt!" He almost falls over when he heard someone say his name further down the alley.

"Damn it, Finn!" He scolded the tall boy who stepped out from the shadows, "I almost had a heart attack. I thought one of them caught up to me."

Finn shrugged, "Sorry little bro, but why would you worry about that? They've haven't caught you yet. Besides, it's not like they know your name."

Finn was right. Kurt may have had some close brushes with disaster in the past, but he had never been caught. He was much too fast for the heavyset men of the guard to out-run, and much smarter than all of the guard combined. In all honesty, they didn't stand a chance. But that didn't mean Kurt could let his guard down. A single slip-up and he was done for.

"The key word there, Finn, is yet. It doesn't happen until it does- and then you're finished." Kurt shivered at the possibility. The guard wasn't exactly known for being merciful. "And for the last time, I am not your brother."

Kurt and Finn weren't related. Their parents had probably never even known each other. Though it would've been hard to tell since neither of them had seen their parents in years. Technically speaking, they were both orphans. But neither of them wanted to think about it like that. They didn't have anyone else and at the end of the day, they both liked the idea that there was one other person to care about and look out for them. That's what they did most for each other. They cared.

Finn shrugged Kurt's protest off, patting his not-brother on the back. "Whatever you say. Can we head home now? I'm starving."

"You're always starving; maybe that's why we're always stealing from old man Tanaka."

On the other end of the city, inside the walls that cut off the Sultan's palace from the outside world, two people sat in the lush gardens. A Princess Rachel perched perkily on the side of the extravagant fountain. Sitting opposite her, Prince Blaine nodded his head and smiled politely as she continued to chatter on in the same way she had been doing since early that afternoon when Blaine's father—who also happened to be the Sultan—insisted they meet.

"She's visiting from a neighbouring kingdom. She will need someone to show her around!" The Sultan had insisted the night before, "This could be your chance to charm the lady!"

"I have no interest in charming her, father!" Blaine had argued. The young prince had no qualms with showing a young girl around the palace, not in the slightest. The problem had nothing to do with that. Blaine's problem came with his father's intentions.

For years now, every eligible pretty girl the Sultan could get a hold of had been making these same "visits" to the palace, each one needing to be shown around or wanting to visit the garden. In Rachel's case "to be shown around the gardens".

At first, Blaine had ignored his father's subtle hints that each new girl would make "a lovely companion," or would "look stunning in a wedding dress," but over time the hints became less and less subtle until they weren't hints anymore—they were orders.

"This Quinn girl is perfect, Blaine. I can't possibly see what would be stopping you from proposing."

"Sunshine has been nothing but kind to you. You could at least pretend to consider her."

"Miss. Peirce is beautiful, Blaine. There should be no problems for you in finding she would make a lovely bride."

But nothing ever came from the visits made by the girls. Blaine had no interest in wooing any of them into marriage. They might all have been pretty—but the prince knew he could never see anything more than friendship in them or any other girl his father would push toward him. Blaine had only ever felt anything for boys. One boy in particular, actually, a boy named Jeremiah.

Jeremiah had always lived in the palace. His father was the leader of the royal guard and his mother was one of the closest handmaids to the Sultan's bride at the time, a woman named April who hadn't been around for very long. Blaine and Jeremiah had been close friends for a long time, and Blaine looked up to him. Jeremiah had been sixteen when Blaine was fourteen.

At the time the young prince had thought he was in love with the older boy, and one night as the two talked out in the garden, long after they should have been sleeping, Blaine had asked Jeremiah to kiss him. And the older boy obliged.

The kiss had been perfect in Blaine's opinion. He had been sure he had found someone who he could stay with forever. But he never got the chance to find out. When he awoke the next morning, Jeremiah was gone, there was a new captain of the guard, and not only was the handmaid gone but so was Blaine's stepmother, April.

Of course the prince had tried to ask his father about this, but his questions went unanswered. After a while he had to accept the fact that he might never know what had happened to his friend and his stepmother.

After that was when the girls began to come. Princesses from neighbouring kingdoms that weren't in line for their own throne or ladies with important parentage, hopeful for a young handsome prince as a husband. There was always a girl there coming in the door before it had a chance to close behind the girl that had come before her. And as beautiful as they all were, Blaine would never fall for them. He had known that for a long time. There was nothing wrong with them. It wasn't their appearances or even their personalities. It was that they were girls.

And so here he sat with the latest of these girls—Rachel Berry. He had to give it to her, of all the girls his father had brought in he didn't think any had been able to speak quite this long—or loudly—without stopping, though he couldn't blame her entirely. He had started the afternoon with "tell me about you." He just hadn't realized how big of a subject that was in Rachel's mind. He hadn't gotten a word in edgewise since.

This must be what hell feels like...

"But of course my talents will rival even the strongest of your kingdoms vocalists..."

Does she ever stop talking? I mean... she must need to break for air once in a while...

"But don't feel discouraged! Not everyone can posses the talent that I do so naturally..."

I think she has something in her teeth...

"And I'm sure I can teach my fellow artists here a thing or two. But I can't promise you they will ever reach my multitude of talents..."

"Looks like... Lettuce?"

"Pardon?" Rachel looked at him blankly, head tilted to the side.

"Oh! Erm... nothing, My Lady! But if I may, it's getting late and we've been out here since early afternoon. May I suggest we head in for dinner?"

The young lady appeared shocked at the amount of time that had passed while she had been speaking, but nodded to the Prince's request. Blaine is about to offer his hand and lead her inside when he spots a figure standing on the edges of the garden. "Why don't you head in before me? I have something I would like to attend to before supper."

Rachel smiles and nods before turning and heading inside. She walks through the large archway and disappears out of sight. Blaine lets out a low whistle, "I had almost forgotten what quiet sounded like."

The man who had been watching them earlier stepped forward, placing a hand on Blaine's shoulder "She's a pretty girl. Talented, too."

"I know, father. She's a very pretty girl." Blaine had to agree with that. Rachel had large brown eyes and a gorgeous smile. As uninterested as Blaine might have been, there was no denying she was beautiful. "As for her talent, I would have to assume she has it. Otherwise she wouldn't have spent the entire day telling me about it." This part he said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, but it goes unnoticed.

"Yes, well I hear from her father that her talents outshine any other girl's we've brought in so far. She would make you a perfect bride, Blaine." His son doesn't respond. Blaine just stares off into the distance with a hard expression on his face. "We can't keep doing this forever, Blaine. If you don't choose a bride soon, I'll be the one choosing for you."

The prince tenses noticeably under his father's grip. "Yes Sir."

And with that the Sultan was gone, leaving his son standing tense in the gardens. He could still feel the weight of his father's hand on his shoulder.

"Finn! Did you seriously eat everything we had left from today?"

Finn poked his head around the corner, "I'm really, really sorry Kurt. I know we said we would save it but I haven't had a full meal in so long and it was right there..." Finn trailed off, but Kurt can tell just by looking at him that Finn really does mean it. He's a big guy and he needs food to run. That just happens to be more than they can afford, to buy or steal.

"No I'm sorry. It's not your fault. Look, for now we'll just have to keep trying to get by. We'll make things work..." The smaller boy rubbed his temples, and he had to wonder just how much longer they can keep this up.

"Listen... Kurt... I promise I'll get a job or something soon. It's just that no one can really afford to pay right now and there are so many guys looking for jobs..." Kurt just nodded in response.

He wished he hadn't yelled at Finn because he knew none of this was Finn's fault. They had barely gotten by together and they wouldn't survive at all if they started arguing all the time. They'd both been looking for jobs for ages, but no one could afford to pay an employee when the entire kingdom could barely keep themselves fed. Honestly Kurt and Finn had it much easier than some did.

They lived in two small rooms that used to be occupied by Kurt and his father. Below them is what used to be the shop were Burt (Kurt's father) had fixed carts for those lucky enough to own them, but Kurt hadn't been able to afford keeping it after his father's disappearance and had sold it to another small family from the area who needed a home, which left Kurt and Finn with only the two small upstairs rooms. Though Kurt had started to fear they wouldn't have that for much longer either.

Finn uttered another apology and then a goodnight before ducking back into the other room, leaving Kurt alone. The pale boy sat on the edge of the makeshift window, a hole in the wall that had been there ever since he could remember, and looked out toward the moon that hung low over the palace ground in the distance. What it must have been like to live inside, with such a free and worriless life—one could only imagine.

"I'm scared, Mom," he whispered so that Finn wouldn't hear him talking from the next room over. "What if we can't afford to live here anymore? I already gave up the shop. What will Dad do if he comes back and I've lost out home too?" It's a stupid thing to worry about. He doesn't even know if his father is alive, but he doesn't know if he's dead either. And that's reason enough to believe. "You must be so disappointed in me, Mom." A tear rolled down his cheek and he wiped it away, "I've screwed everything up."

He didn't say any more for a long time after that. He just stared off into space until his eyelids grew heavy. "I love you Mom." He managed to mumble out, but didn't have the energy to say anything more. He lay back on the ledge feeling scared and a bit lonely and stared at one of the only lights left still burning on the skyline. Most everyone was sleeping, and even the palace was dark at this time of night, but just barely he could see the flickering of a lantern still lit on one balcony of the extravagant royal palace.

It wasn't the first time he'd seen this light. It came and went every once in a while. Sometimes it was lit every night, other times it would be weeks before the light would make an appearance. He had to wonder to himself, a bit bitterly, what could possibly be keeping someone in the palace up at night? What worries could they possibly have that kept them from resting? Either way, he found a strange comfort in the idea that, at least on nights when the light appeared, he wasn't the only one in Agrabah awake or troubled.

So he stayed up with the light, watched it closely as it dimmed and eventually flickered out when whatever palace occupant that had been up with it finally went to sleep.

He dreamt about faint yellow lights that night, and a bright moon surrounded by little stars. It wasn't much, nothing that he'd remember in the morning. But it was a happy dream. He could feel it.

Well there it is! I hope you enjoyed it! As always, reviews are amazing :)

I've got the second chapter pretty much finished, I'm rewriting the ending now! So expect an update soon :)

Love always, Iggy!