Author's note: Written for a drabble contest on another site. They way it works is that you randomly picked two Disney characters and a theme from a series of hidden avatars and I got Aladdin and Shang with the theme "I will pay you a penny to never do that again." Personally, I couldn't have asked for a better pairing. xD

Also, I know it's a bit longer than your traditional drabble, but the word limit was between 400 and 1000. This is 612 words.


Disclaimer: I do not own Aladdin or Shang. They belong to Disney.

Warnings: Slight hints of M/M.


Shang grabbed the boy's hand as he came past the tiny alley and pulled him in, covering his mouth. He held him like that in the shadows until the thugs with swords passed, and their footsteps had faded away. With a sigh of relief he released the boy and looked him over. He looked about his age, maybe ten or eleven, with dark hair, smudged skin, and tattered clothes, and was clutching a loaf of bread.

"What's your name?" Shang asked.

The boy studied him for a moment before responding, "Aladdin." He walked further into the nook and opened a curtain that led to an old flight of stairs. He motioned for Shang to follow.

"Why were those thugs chasing you?" Shang asked they climbed.

"I was getting some dinner."

Shang paused and looked at the loaf of bread. "You mean, you stole it?"

Aladdin looked over his shoulder and grinned. "It's only stealing if you get caught." He opened another curtain and stepped onto a ledge that had a stunning view of the palace. He sat down and broke off a piece of the bread, offering it to Shang. "Want some?"

Shang only stared.

"You don't have to look so serious. Go on take it." Aladdin took a bite of his own piece as Shang accepted the offered morsel. "You look weird. You're not from around here, huh?"

"No. My Father's a General in the Chinese military." He pointed at the palace. "He is over there right now to help negotiate with the Sultan and his guards."

"You mean- your dad works with the Sultan's guard?"

"Yeah, sort of."

"So you're just going to turn me in for stealing, aren't you!?

"What? No, I-"

But before he could finish, Aladdin launched himself at Shang. The two boys were sent toppling down the stairs, shouting and struggling the whole way. They fell to the bottom and Shang landed on his back with a grunt. Aladdin tumbled onto him a moment later and…

Shang looked up in shock at the boy who was on top of him with an equally shocked look on his face. For a long moment they just stared at each other unmoving, their minds clicking into place what had just happened. Shang acted first and held up a coin in front of Aladdin's face.

Aladdin blinked. "Huh?"

Very seriously Shang said, "I will pay you a penny to never do that again."

The other boy sat up and looked at the coin. "Do what again? Steal, tackle you, or kiss you?"

"I don't know!" Shang said, very red in the face. He reached into his money pouch and shoved two more coins at the boy. "There, one for each. Now get off me!"

Abruptly, Shang pushed the other boy off of him and took off down the alley.

"Hey, wait!" Aladdin called, "What's your name?"

"It's Shang!"

"Shang…" Watching the other boy disappear around the corner, Aladdin smiled and pocketed the three coins.


Aladdin looked down at the streets of Agrabah where a young eastern man was marching towards the palace with a small set of troops following him. It had been several years since he had last seen him, but there was no mistaking that serious face.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a penny. With a sly grin he flicked it into the air with his thumb and caught it expertly. "Sorry Shang," he said. "Looks like I'm about to owe you a penny."