Disclaimer: Aladdin and any characters, setting, and locations therein are the sole property of Disney. Raziya, the OC, is my sole property and may not be used without my permission.

A/N: I had initially decided not to write this, as I'm swamped with school work and other fics, but as I'm leaving for Disney tomorrow morning, I decided to take a break from Middle Earth and Albion and spend some time in Agrabah. I've always loved Aladdin and this idea came many, many months ago when watching episodes of the old cartoon on Youtube. The months between initial inspiration and this moment were spent researching and writing out an outline, hoping the idea would go away, but alas, it hasn't. In fact, ignoring it seems to have aggravated the plot bunnies and I am now mostly incapable of working on any other stories.

I ask that you consider this fic (1) divinely inspired, as I genuinely liked the idea and OC character enough to fully flesh them both out with research and effort, and (2) a literal nuisance to the now desperate author trying to work on other projects.

As for this chapter, it's the first, and I never claimed to be good at starting things. I like it well enough, but it's light on dialogue and heavy on info dumping. I apologize for that. I tried to at least make it interesting.

Criticism is, as always, genuinely appreciated, but flames will be reported. This shouldn't have to be said.

Chapter 1: The Eyes are the Windows to the Soul

If Jasmine was honest, she didn't much like Egyptians.

They were vain people, spending most of their time and effort in shaving and oiling their skin, styling their clothes, perfuming their hair. But, they were wealthy and at the height of their power, and trade with them might ensure an increase in wealth for Agrabah. It was a trade route that should have been opened many years ago, generations before she'd been born, but war and distance had pushed the Egyptians out of mind until recently. The Pharaoh, a woman if rumor was to be believed, was trying to expand her empire's trade and wanted an allegiance with a powerful kingdom, and had sent a messenger asking the Sultan if he were interested.

While her father was not usually too wise when it came to political maneuverings, he had enough foresight and intelligence to know this wasn't an opportunity to be passed up and had responded agreeably, offering the Egyptians free use of some of their mines in exchange for a lower rate. Now Thabit, a vizier to the Pharaoh and de facto ruler of a city called Deshret, was coming with a caravan to begin trade negotiations. Deshret was a small city, situated around an oasis and many miles away from Egypt's capital of Alexandria it was the closest city to Agrabah while still being in Egypt and therefore the perfect city to ship exports through and receive imports from.

As happy as she was that Agrabah might see a decline in poverty, she was still annoyed it was Egyptians that would be the one's to help. Thabit, the vizier, had not improved her attitude towards them, as the first thing the man had said was that he'd wanted to freshen up and change into fresh clothes. While normally Jasmine would be accommodating to this, when Thabit strode out, eyes lined in kohl, dressed in a fine linen skirt and the skin of a leopard she got the distinct feeling he was showing off. After greetings, a light lunch and overly polite conversation, Jasmine escaped the place under the pretense of wanting to greet the caravan that was unloading in the market place. This wasn't a total lie, but she wasn't about to admit that she simply wanted to escape all the pomp and circumstance that surrounded Thabit and trade negotiations.

Leaving Aladdin to keep her father from causing a war, Jasmine made her way down to the market, where the caravans were unloading their stalls and wares. Camels and horses lined the street, tired looking beasts in desperate need of some rest and food. The heat beat down on the dusty market, cooking meat hanging from packs and ropes and making her mouth water. Spices and herbs she'd never seen of waited in barrels and baskets for trade, while jewelers set up stands selling the usual emeralds and rubies, along with other more unusual stones and uncut gems. Most of the linen the Egyptians traded was white and simple in design, but they'd also collected more opulent saris and robes from places like India and Greece, clearly trying to flaunt their wealth and already expansive trade route. Barrels of salted fish she'd never seen before stood open and stinking, and farther down the way a stall selling exotic birds caught Jasmine's eye, as feathers of every color and shape fluttered everywhere. She caught one, a peacock feather, and decided to keep it as a souvenir.

Jasmine loved the market place. She loved the smell, the crowd and press of people, who'd long since gotten used to the sight of the princess wandering. Mostly she loved the traders, meeting people from foreign lands and eavesdropping on stories from distant lands, or sitting in for a few free tales. The Egyptians were no different. They were a family oriented people, and most of them were accompanied by their children and a few with their wives. They stood out from the crowd of Arabs, dressed in their heavy cloaks and shawls. Egyptians were more open about their sexuality, their bodies, and women wore simple, sleeveless dresses underneath their traveling robes, while the men wore skirts.

Finally, after wandering the market for most of the afternoon, Jasmine turned away, as the Egyptian caravan had come to an end and there was nothing left for her to see. She started back towards the palace, smiling at friendly Egyptian faces and dodging around naked, running children, pausing to smile at a woman she'd made eye contact with before continuing on her way. Something made her pause though, mid step, and she glanced back carefully. Something had been familiar about that woman, as though she'd been a friend from a long time ago hat Jasmine had forgotten, something about the shape of her face maybe, or the regal way she carried herself.

Looking back, Jasmine found the woman again and saw she was really no more than a girl, maybe a little older than herself. Helping her father set up his stall for the next day's trading, she didn't look at Jasmine and quietly worked, dodging around two younger siblings as they played around her feet, tangling in her legs. She didn't stand out from the Egyptian crowd much, as the sea of people around her was full of men in white skirts and women in long white dresses like her own, with black hair like hers and smooth, dark skin like hers. Nothing about her seemed too remarkable, and Jasmine had to wonder if maybe the girl just had one of those faces? Or maybe Jasmine had known someone who looked like her?

Possibly sensing she was being stared at or possibly by coincidence, the girl glanced up, their eyes met, and Jasmine's stomach dropped right to her toes while her heart took a fantastic leap for freedom and lodged itself in her throat. Jasmine immediately turned on her heel and started away, the girl's face seared into her memory. She was beautiful, but cold and arrogant looking, with features similar to those of a lion: a long proud nose, a smooth neck and angular eyes, eyes the exact same shape and shade of green as Mirage's.

Jasmine was sheltered, she'd admit, but she was knowledgeable enough to know that Egyptians didn't usually have green eyes, of any shade. Brown and black were normal, with the occasional shade of dark gold in there, but green? No. Not even the Greeks, so much closer to the Egyptians than they were, could provide that shade of green in any sort of inter-marriage.

Jasmine rushed back to the palace, and went straight to the suite she shared with Aladdin, a large opulent room she loved and usually felt right at home in. Despite the desert's heat pressing into the windows, she just felt cold.

Aladdin was sitting at a senet table he'd received as a gift from Thabit and across from him was Genie, looking annoyed. "Al, are you sure you never played this game before?"

"Yes, Genie, I'm sure." Aladdin grinned, making another move and Genie looked annoyed.

"You're a natural!"

"Maybe you're just bad at games?"

"Genie!" Jasmine marched over, ignoring Aladdin's questioning look and said "I need you to find out if Mirage is here. Now."

"What?" Aladdin stood up and moved closer "Did you see her, was there an attack?"

"No, there's a girl in the market with the Egyptians and I swear, Aladdin, she has Mirage's eyes." Jasmine turned to Genie "Same shape, same color… same cruel glint."

Genie shuddered "Oh that's all we'd need, a visit from the Kitty-Cat from Hell."

"Morbia," Squawked Iago as he fluttered into the room. "And why are we talking about her anyways?"

"Jasmine saw a girl who had her eyes in the market place." Aladdin looked at Genie. "Can you find out who she is?"

Genie stretched and cracked his fingers "Some semi phenomenal, nearly cosmic magic should do the trick!" He said, wiggling his fingers. He clicked his fingers and a strange device appeared in his hand, whirring and beeping, with more bells and whistles then Jasmine cared to count. "This little baby knows the magical signature of all our enemies and should be able to tell us if any of them are in the city, disguised or not."

Genie pushed a few random buttons, and familiar faces flashed by on the screen, Mozenrath's cruel leer, Aziz's twisted sneer, Chaos' mischievous' smile, and finally Mirage's fanged grin. Genie pushed a few more buttons, Jasmine waited, and a moment later the light on top flashed green, then red, then shuddered and shut down with a bang. Genie frowned, shook the thing in annoyance and was rewarded with a singed face as the machine exploded in his hand.

Genie frowned and croaked "Must be a bad warranty."

"Genie, is it her or not?" Jasmine asked, ignoring Iago as he lighted down on her shoulder, shooed away from Aladdin's by a jealous Abu.

Genie's face cleared and the busted device disappeared "I don't think so Jazz. We would have known by now, right?"

"Genie has a point, but someone should still keep an eye on her." He eyed Iago and Abu "And I know the perfect thieves to do it…"

"Oh no, not happening." Iago countered "I'm not gonna spy on Mirage."

Abu shook his head "Uh-uh." He chattered.

Genie zoomed over, morphing into a tall, skinny doppelganger of himself wearing a green shirt and brown pants, his hair now long and shaggy "Would you do it for a Scooby Snack?"

Iago wasn't amused "How about blue boy here does it?"

Aladdin and Jasmine frowned, "Two words," said Jasmine tersely "Parrot. Kabob."

Iago lifted off her shoulder "Uh, c'mon monkey, we gotta mission to protect Agrabah. Let's go!" Abu chased after the parrot, chattering unhappily but complying anyways.

It was night before the two returned, covered in dust and spices, and Abu was nursing a wounded tail from having a child tug and pull on it. Jasmine had been tense all day, waiting for them to return, praying she'd only been seeing things or perhaps the girl just had unusual eyes. Something in her gut told her Mirage was connected though, and she had to know. For the safety of Agrabah, she had to know for sure.

The parrot settled quietly at a table and ate a few grapes, while Abu curled up in Aladdin's lap. Jasmine glared at Iago "Well?"

"We aren't sure."

"What?"

"Now look, Princess, before you get your pony tail in a twist let me explain. The girl's magical, that's for sure, and she might be connected to Mirage, but I don't think she is Mirage. Doesn't feel powerful enough; she's an illusionist, and that's Mirage's thing, but little stuff. And she got tired real quick. Even if she was connected to Mirage, she wouldn't pose a threat."

Jasmine shot the parrot a glower that could have made his feather's wilt, if they weren't already dirt covered and dusty. "She could be a spy."

Aladdin frowned "Yeah, but I think we should wait this one out. The Egyptians are leaving in a few days and Iago knows his magic. Genie, keep an ear on the magic around the city. Let us know if anything feels weird, okay?"

"Aye Cap!"

Jasmine frowned "It was so odd, Aladdin, seeing those eyes in such a human face…"

Abu shuddered "Yeah Al," Iago added "It's downright eerie. I might not think she's dangerous, but I know she's weird. Something's off about that girl. Even her own siblings avoid her, and that's family."

"We'll keep an eye on her, but we won't do anything." Aladdin said "This trade route is too important for us to mess it up. We'll lie low, keep an eye on things, and be ready if something happens."

"And if it does," Genie added, morphing into a muscular version of himself in army fatigues "we'll be there to stop it!"

"Exactly."