Jasmine smiled to herself as she sashayed back into her bedroom after a wonderful evening on Prince Ali's magic carpet. She came to a stop at her bed, sighed and swept her hand over Rajah's fur.
"He's nice," Jasmine said to the tiger. "I like him too."
Rajah purred and leaned into Jasmine's hand. Jasmine giggled and scratched under Rajah's chin.
They sat together for a little longer until the curtains hanging from the entrance to her bedroom were pushed aside and her father came bouncing in.
"Hello Jasmine!" He called happily.
Jasmine sighed again, this time from exasperation. She turned to face the pudgy sultan and greeted him with, "Hello father."
"I have come up with a solution to our little dilemma," he told her, coming to sit beside her and Rajah.
"Oh?" Jasmine asked. "And what do you propose?"
"Well," her father began, "you can't decide who to marry- Prince Ali or Jafar, so I thought I'd send you away so you'd have some time to clear your mind and be able to make the decision."
Jasmine raised her eyebrows. "I see."
"I told Jafar to send for him, and he should be here by now."
Jasmine rolled her eyes at her father, who was now looking expectantly at the balcony. She knew Jafar would never do anything for her wellbeing. He just wanted the crown. Jasmine doubted this mystery man would ever come. And why on earth was he father looking at the balcony? Was he supposed to materialize just outside her bedroom?
As if on cue, there was a faint grinding noise and a small, flickering light appeared in the air above the stone balcony.
"He's here!" Jasmine's father said excitedly. He clapped his chubby hands together and kept his eyes on the light.
"Who's here?" Jasmine pressed.
A large blue box started appearing below the light, and once it seemed solid enough, the grinding noise stopped. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Nothing moved, there was no sound, nothing.
Jasmine was just about to open her mouth again to ask just what was going on when the door to the box was pulled open and a man stepped out. He paused, straightened his bowtie, and continued. He entered the room with Jasmine and her father and stopped a few feet in front of them.
"Hello," he said. "I'm the Doctor."
The sultan jumped up (or rather, rolled off the bed) and tottered over to the Doctor. He shook hands with the man and said, "Hello, hello! So glad you could make it! This is my daughter, Jasmine."
"Hello Jasmine," the Doctor said, stepping towards her. "Oh and you've got a tiger! I love tigers."
The Doctor reached out his hand to pet her but Rajah growled at him and the smile seemed to drop from his face.
"Right. Okay." He turned away from Rajah and focused on Jasmine, the grin returning to his face.
"Hello," he said again.
"Hello," Jasmine said hesitantly.
"I heard you needed an adventure."
Jasmine narrowed her eyes at the strange man in her room and didn't say anything. She didn't fully trust this man yet.
"Hey, it's okay. I'll keep you safe. I promise you have loads of fun. And besides," he leaned in closer to whisper, "it's much more fun than a magic carpet."