Ja'far and Aladdin are a little OOC. But there is a reason. You just had to read to find out.
I don't own the song, Negima or Magi. All those belong to their rightful owners.
Chapter 1
Darling when did we fall? When was it over?
Darling when? When did we fall? When was it over?
Taking a long drink from her glass, Ja'far savored the alcohol flowing down her throat and listened to the lyrics of a familiar song as it blared in the background. Ignoring the other patrons around her, Ja'far could feel that some of the alcohol taking effect.
Darling when? When did you cry? I couldn't hear you
I suppose it is the price of falling in love.
I suppose it is the price of falling in love.
The bar was full tonight as people danced on the dance floor with colourful lights flashing about or people drinking and chatting with some of their friends or with the other patrons. But tonight, Ja'far was just by herself, wearing only a black strapless dress, black lace choker necklace, low black heel shoes and her black poncho coat lying on the stool next to her.
That didn't bother her. Being alone was part of her plan when she decided to head out for the evening. She just hoped when she left the apartment that Aladdin locked up the place. She shouldn't be too worried about him since he is careful, but she can't help but worry a bit.
Darling when did we fall? When was it over?
Darling when? When did we fall? When was it over?
Ja'far dropped a bill on the counter and headed towards the exit. Feeling the need to sober up before heading home, the white haired woman decided a walk in the cold evening was in order.
I suppose it is the price of falling in love.
I fear that it's the price of falling in love.
"Haven't seen you around before." A low male voice interrupted her train of thoughts.
Ja'far generally ignores the males that try to make a move on her. But this man didn't understand about the concept of personal space nor had a bit of gentleman decorum with him. He was standing in front of her and giving the white haired woman a sultry look.
Ja'far gave a sly smile and played along. The man just noticed her smile and relaxed posture, but failed to notice the hard and cold glint in her eyes.
I fear that it's the price of falling in love.
"Well…" Ja'far moved close to the man and tipped her head up a bit to place her mouth beside his ear. " you're not my type."
She punched the man in stomach. Hard.
The man crumpled to the floor in pain.
Ja'far didn't bother to stick around and watch him groaning in pain and left the bar.
I fear that it's the price of falling in love.
I fear that it's the price of falling in love.
It was two a.m. when Ja'far arrived back to the apartment. The apartment was dark and it was only illuminated by the faintest light from street lamps outside the windows. However, there was still one room in the large apartment that still had its' lights on and Ja'far made her way to it.
It was a fairly large room and it was converted into an art studio a year ago when Ja'far and Aladdin moved into the apartment complex. Ja'far couldn't help but always feel impressed when Aladdin finishes a painting. The young boy was talented, but he built that talent when he started drawing and then painting. He drew and painted whatever he saw; he liked or sparked a muse.
Last Christmas, Aladdin presented to his older sister figure a painted portrait of Ja'far playing her cello. The background was a Victorian library and in the painting, Ja'far was wearing her strapless, burgundy ruffle gown and a diamond chocker necklace.
Ja'far had carefully hanged the portrait in her bedroom.
"What are you painting at this time of the hour?" Ja'far asked. She had noticed that Aladdin was focused in painting.
Aladdin stopped his brush in mid stroke and a puzzled expression spread over his face. Wearing a smock over his pajamas and sporting an impressive bed head with his long braid half done, the young boy appeared as though he just woken up from a long sleep.
"I… dreamt of them again. It was faint, but I think I remembered some parts of what they looked like." That startled Ja'far.
Quickly making her way over to Aladdin, Ja'far peered at the painting.
The painting was only a quarter done as there were strokes of coloured paint all over the canvas. There were half painted silhouettes of people they knew, but only the colour of their hair and what clothing they wore were only painted. The expressions, their face, the colour of their eyes, there was nothing there. Only a blank white spot was there where their face was supposed to be.
A forlorn look appeared on Ja'far's face. She gave Aladdin a light hug of comfort from behind. There was no need for words to be exchanged. Both understood what was going through each other's mind.
Ja'far didn't get much sleep that night. It was more like she didn't sleep a wink. Wearing her pajamas and lying in bed, the young woman couldn't help but think of the portrait Aladdin was painting.
Seeing the painting again had left her feeling depressed and nostalgic.
Haven't seen the people in the portrait for a long time and not remembering their faces had made those feelings deepen further.
Shifting to her side that faced the window, Ja'far could see the faint rays of light as sunrise was near. Her eyes and body felt tired and heavy, but her mind and heart would not allow her to sleep.
"Sin…" Ja'far whispered to herself.
She continued to watch the sunrise.
Aladdin and Ja'far had parted ways as they arrived to the school campus of Mahora City. Aladdin had run off when there was a surprise announcement by the Student Council that this week was Punctuation Week. Anybody late to class gets a yellow card. Ja'far couldn't help but snickered at the thought when she remembered the look of surprise and then shock appeared on Aladdin's face.
Making her way to the science building of Mahora University, Ja'far walked passed various people who were heading to class or doing their daily business. Arriving to the building, Ja'far entered and gave a nod of good morning to the security guards. The guards knew who she was since she was always at the science building and gave the young woman a smile and a greeting in return. Heading towards the medical section of the building, Ja'far walked passed numerous people wearing lab coats.
Arriving at her destination, Ja'far scanned her access card on the security system and entered through the unlocked doors of the lab. Quickly dropping her satchel and coat at a nearby coat rack and slipping on a lab coat, Ja'far swiftly went to work.
It was around three p.m. when Jafar finished her work. After saving her work on her USB drive, she left the lab after making sure all of the equipment were put away and grabbed her coat and satchel.
There were not much people in the lab today since there were some events happening across Mahora Campus and Ja'far was glad since this gives the whole lab to herself. Her research was making progress, but she had hit a barrier which left her irritated. Ja'far hurriedly made her way to Library Island or she would be late for her part time job. One of the benefits of working at the infamous Library Island was that Ja'far was given full access to all of its facilities and books, courtesy of the Dean of Mahora Academy.
Arriving to the library, Ja'far could feel that something was going on. The library was infamous for storing numerous books that were said to be incredible and hard to find, but it was dangerous since it housed a lot of security system that still have not been disabled despite the Library Exploration Club being founded eighty years ago. To be able to work at the library, one must be physically fit, athletic, nimble and strong to dodge the many traps and scale the library shelves to do their jobs. Ja'far qualified for the job since she passed the fitness and stamina test of the interview and beating out the other twenty applicants.
Setting her things at the reception desk and giving a brief greeting to the head librarian, Ja'far decided to follow that feeling.
That sensation was coming from beneath the library.
Ja'far didn't mind kids. In fact, if people were to describe her interaction with kids of all ages, they would call her a mother.
Because she was acting like one right now.
"What the hell were you doing?!" Ja'far scolded to the five people that were sitting on their knees in front of her. "Did you not know that the underground library is forbidden without permission? Or did you not take precaution to think about the dangers?"
Finding the infamous child teacher, Negi Springfield, his three students and Aladdin trying to out fly a dragon was not something Ja'far was expecting when she investigated the disturbance she was feeling. After knocking the dragon out with a spinning back kick, Ja'far quickly led the five to a nearby reading room. Making sure that there were no injuries of any kind, Ja'far let out the 'mother' side of her.
Finishing her scolding and checking again to see if they had any sort of injury, Ja'far patiently listened to what they had to say. After hearing their explanation, Ja'far instructed Chachamaru Karakuri to stand on the other side of the room and gave a look of disappointment to the other four: Aladdin, Negi Springfield, Yue Ayase and Nodoka Miyazaki.
"You are stupid."
That blunt statement felt like a ton of bricks to them.
Ja'far let out a tired sigh. "Listen; there is a reason why half of the library is closed off. There are still a lot of dangerous traps around and not even someone from the Library Exploration Club can walk around here as though this is a field of flowers. Next time I find you doing this again, I have no choice but report this to the dean. Understood?"
All four nodded their heads.
"Good." Ja'far's expression softened a bit. "Let's head to Reading Room 1. I'm sure you guys are pretty thirsty right now. The reading room has some pretty good selection of tea in there."
"Ah. Thank you, Miss…" Negi never asked for her name, but Ja'far got the clue.
"Elizabeth. Elizabeth Anderson." Ja'far answered. "And I guess you already met my little brother, Timothy."
"Why didn't you stop the dragon yourself?"
Ja'far was giving Aladdin a piercing look from across the dinner table. Aladdin shifted nervously in his seat before answering.
"Didn't want to give myself away."
"You could do a simple attack that appeared to be low level. That way they wouldn't suspect a thing." Ja'far said as she moved a piece of carrot to the side of her plate.
"They would still get suspicious. If I were to perform a spell or do a physical attack on that dragon, I think they wouldn't leave me alone until they got some answers." Aladdin answered as he took a sip of his milk.
"True." Ja'far said, seeing what Aladdin was implying. "Why were you at the library? I thought you were going to buy some art supplies after school."
"I was going to head over to the art supply store, but I had to return some books I borrowed." An exhausted expression spread over the young boy's face. "Wish I hadn't spotted them heading underground through the closed off entrance of the library. I got a little curious, followed them and bumped into them when a trap revealed my presence and the dragon appeared. And the rest you know yourself."
"And you didn't have time to check out those middle school girls' breast." Ja'far lightly teased to ease the rigidity around them.
"I grew out of that phase!" Aladdin snapped as a light blush appeared on his face.
"Liar liar pants on fire." Ja'far grinned.
Suddenly, both of them laughed at their childish fight. After sharing a laugh, Ja'far gave Aladdin a soft expression.
"You've been up to something other than doing artwork. What is it?"
Aladdin tilted his head a bit as a wistful expression appeared on his face. He got off his chair and walked over to Ja'far. Ja'far didn't do anything and just patiently sat and wait for what Aladdin is about to say.
Aladdin took the young woman's right hand in his and gave a squeeze. There was nothing between the two but the feelings of care and love of siblings. Aladdin had always regard Ja'far as an older (sexy) sister and Ja'far had viewed Aladdin as a little brother. Being with each other for many years didn't change those feelings and thoughts.
Aladdin took a deep breath and said the words he wanted to say to the older woman for a while.
"I think I found a way to go home."