Wow. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Disneyfanfic writer! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

And now, Chapter 2!

Disclaimer: This is based off on Disney's Aladdin.

Chapter 2: Always Be One Step Ahead

I sat up the moment I felt something wet hitting my face.

It was just Abu, splashing my face with water. It was morning. I was at home. Safe. Not at the desert. Aladdin had a concerned look on his face.

"Bad dream?" He asked. I can only nod. "Want to tell me about it?"

"There- there was a man," I began. I knitted my eyebrows together, trying to remember what Slenderman looked like. Nothing. It was like I can remember him, all save for his face and his voice. It was unnerving! "I-I can't remember what he looked like! Al, this man in mty nightmare, he was tall and slender! And there, I remember is that there was this other man… he—the other man was eaten by the guardian of cave of wonders! Then Slenderman saw me and he started to say that… I have to go to the cave of wonders too! And he chased me through the desert! Then—then he caught me, Al! He caught me!" I didn't realize I was shaking and crying until my brother hugged me, rubbed my back, and started saying comforting things.

"I'm here, Mira." He said reassuringly. "Abu and I, we're here, and we'll protect you. We'll never let anyone harm you, okay?" if we were in another situation where I'm not scared, I would have smacked the living daylights out of him for saying that he'll protect me. But right now, right now I need my older brother. I need reassurance that he's here, and he'll protect me. Even abu was stroking my hair.

"Promise?" I asked Al. It was childish, I know. But I felt like a child at that time.

"I swear, Amira." Al smiled down at me.

And then, the sound of a rumbling stomach interrupts the perfect family moment.

"Hungry?" Al asked me with a grin. I nodded, sniffling, wiping my face dry. "Come on, I heard Muhammad's got these new, bigger loaves of bread."

/

It was a hot, late morning in Agrabah. And my brother and I were on the run. As usual.

We have the bread. It was so big; a single loaf could feed the three of us!

I followed Aladdin up a ladder. If it wasn't for that Merchant yelling and whining about two boys who stole his newly made special loaf bread (His exact words was "DAMN YOU STREET RATS! GUAAAAAAARDS!), then we wouldn't be chased by the palace guards right now. May I add that they've been onto us for the last… several months?

"Darn!" Aladdin cursed. He almost fell of the edge of the structure. We. Were. Trapped.

"Stop, you thieves!" The head Guard said. I think his name is Razoul. "I'll have your hands for trophies!"

Aladdin gave me a look that screamed, 'Distract them!' I gave a curt nod.

"Whoa. You have been eating a lot of red meat, haven't you?" I said. "You know, we knew this guy, his name was Rashid, and he ate an awful lot of red meat so he—"

"Quiet, boy!" He snarled at me, taking his scimitar out. I gulped, hands hovering on the belt of my pants, ready to grab the hidden dagger. If you may be wondering why Ugly here referred to me as 'Boy', well, see, I disguised myself as well, a boy. It's very hard for a girl to survive here, unless you work as a slave, or a courtesan.

The guards started to close in on us, but Aladdin grabbed my arm just in time. We jumped off the roof, and the both of us were yelling at the top of our lungs.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" I yelled. "YOU WANNA KILL US BOTH?"

"IT'S EITHER DEATH OR PRISON!" He yelled back. Death or prison. I think I know which I'd rather chose.

As luck would have it, it wasn't our time yet. We landed on a clothesline, and as we slid downwards, Aladdin and I sent various articles of clothing flying. One of the ropes snapped, but we landed on yet another level of clothesline where woman was currently hanging clothes. My eyes widen; Aladdin was going to crash with the woman. I din't know who was screaming the loudest; Aladdin, or the woman, or I. But the woman recovered in time to slam her windows shut.

I let go of the rope when I caught sight of the shutters. Hopefully they could soften the fall. Aladdin fell faster than me, which is because he was covered in various layers of mixed clothing and carpets and blankets and more. He landed with the thud.

I landed on him. And I caught the loaf too.

"There they are!" one of Razoul's buddies yelled from the building.

"You rats won't get away so easy!" Yelled another.

"You think that was easy?" Aladdin muttered, looking up at them.

I smart-mouth seemed to have a mind of its own, because it chooses the wrong time to act. "Really? You're not happy about us being alive?" I had to ask.

Three women saw us, and they laughed. We probably looked ridiculous. Well, cut us some slack. We've probably fallen several floors down. This will bruise in the morning.

Aladdin pulled a sheet over him as a disguise. I grabbed one too, and followed my brother.

"Morning, ladies." Aladdin greeted.

Mrs Rashida grinned at us. "Getting into trouble a little early today, aren't you, boys? Oh and Amar, you look pretty as a girl! Your hair is getting quite long too!"

I replied with batting my eyes and Mrs Rashida and the other ladies laughed harder.

"Trouble?" Aladdin said. "No way. You're only in trouble if you get caught—"

"Gotcha!" It was our old buddy, Razoul. He yanked the back of our clothes.

"We're in trouble." I squeaked.

"...And this time—! " He got cut off by a familiar screech as Abu pulled his turban on his face.

"Perfect timing, Abu, as usual!" Aladdin smiled at our friend.

"Hello!" Abu said… or screeched … or whatever—holding his tiny little fez up in greeting.

"Let's cut the reunion short, boys!" I reminded them as me started to run. But then, I slammed on a palace guard's stomach. Man, these guys don't miss too many lunches, don't they?

"Gotta keep...one jump ahead of the breadline"- Aladdin sang as Fat face swung his scimitar at us. Aladdin and I manage to dodge it, causing a barrel full of fish to burst open.

"One swing ahead of the sword!" I answered.

"We steal only what we can afford!" Aladdin said as he undid the guard's sash before running.

"That's everything!" I said, running after my brother, now wanting to see the Guard's bloomers—TOO LATE! OH! They're floral pink!

"One jump ahead of the lawmen," Aladdin sang.

"That's all," I sang as we tried to get behind a wooden pole—"and that's no joke," And failed as the Guard sliced the wood in half

We scampered up on a pile of barrels. I kicked one down and it landed on a Guard."These guys don't appreciate we're broke!"

"Riffraff! " The wet guard yelled at us. We scurried up on a platform.

"Street rats!" Bellowed one.

"Scoundrels!" Said another.

"Take that!" Said one as they flung us with various fruits.

"Just a little snack, guys!" Aladdin tried to plead them. This time they hurled various weapons at us. I had to steer clear off the platform edge to avoid being turned into an Amar/Amira shish-kebab.

"Rip them open, take it back guys!" The Guards sang as they rocked the platform's legs to and fro.

"We can take a hint, gotta face the facts!" I sang; Aladdin jumped off the platform. I followed him and landed atop the Guard's heads. I reached for my brother's hand and both Al and Abu pulled me in to a harem.

"You're our only friend, Abu!"

"Aladdin and his brother's hit the bottom!" The Harem girls sang, their voices we high pitched and quite shrilly. "They've become the two-man rise in crime!"

I winked at a girl dressed in blue, while Aladdin caught the attention of another girl wearing pink. He then came face-to-face with who seemed to be their landlady.

The girl in blue grabbed my fez playfully. I seized it back from her with my infamous smoulder.

"I'd blame parents, except he hasn't got 'em!" The landlady chimed in. I sent a glare at her.

"Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat," Aladdin shrugged, grabbing my arm.

"Tell you all about it when I got the time!" I blew a kiss to blue girl before jumping out of the window.

Aladdin was pushed of by the pink-clad harem girl. We landed on yet another shutter. We spotted the Guards, but we couldn't risk running in case we got cornered, so Al and I split up. He went to hide behind Mr Muscle and I grabbed a nearby piece of cloth and sprawled it on my head, disguising myself while revealing my true self, blending into the crowd. Like, you know, I was disguised as Amar, and in order to hide from the guards I have to go turn into Amira... disguising my disguise… get it? No?

Anyway, we were to regroup back in an alley. I waited for a few minutes, and then I heard someone yelling. It was Aladdin, using a carpet to delay his landing. Then he and Abu did some sort of unusual hand-shake/applause with their hands.

"And now, esteemed effendis, we feast, alright! " He said happily, breaking the bread into three pieces. Abu immediately grabbed his share. I bit into mine and savoured the flavour of the bread. Aladdin was about to bite into his piece, but something bothered him. His eyes turned sad. Abu uttered a small "Uh-oh," then bit into his bread angrily. I looked behind me and saw three wide-eyed kids; a girl and boys who appeared to be twins, rummaging the dumpster for food. They looked at us, or rather, at our food.

Something tugged at my heart. I remember when we were younger, scavenging for food… then we tried stealing to be able to eat some proper food, then trying not to get caught by merchants… I can't help but see ourselves reflected to those kids. Life will be tough, and most people won't be as kind to them. But… at least they have each other, and Al and I have each other… so I guess having family lessen the pain.

My brother stood up and gave his share of the bread to the tallest girl, but she tried pulling her brothers away, they were afraid we might hurt them or something.

"Here, go on, take it." Al told them gently. The girl reluctantly took the bread, and then giggled with delight. I walked up to the twins and handed them my piece. They muttered a quick 'thank you' and dug in. Our little monkey friend might have felt guilty, because Abu gave his share too. They petted him on the head as thanks.

Everything was at peace with the world, but then, the sound of banging drums filled the air. Aladdin walked out of the alley to check it out. Abu jumped onto my shoulder and we followed suit.

When I heard a horse's gallop, my heart raced. I remembered Slenderman. But the current rider wasn't him. And besides, the horse was white as the clouds and grey-colored mane... The man riding the horse gave off an air of… pompousness.

"On his way to the palace, I suppose." An old bystander muttered.

"Another suitor for the princess." Another bystander agreed with a bored kind of tone in his voice.

Come to think of it, we, the citizens of Agrabah never really saw the princess. All we know is that she's just a girl. Duh. Suddenly, the twins from the alley ran out, probably to go 'pet the pretty pony'. But the boys startled the horse, they were almost trampled to dust, good thing their sister pulled them behind her.

"Out of my way, you filthy brats!" the Ugly prince said, lashing out his whip. It was a good thing Aladdin and I rushed towards the kids. Al took the hit, causing the whip to get tied around his arm.

"Hey," Al snapped back. "If I was as rich as you, I could afford some manners!" he threw the whip back at the Prince.

"And good grooming too. You got a teeny-tiny bit of ugly ALL OVER YOUR FACE!" I said. Some of the onlookers laughed.

Prince Ugly glared at us. "Oh… I'll teach you some manners!" Ugly kicked Al into a puddle of mud. That got my blood boiling. No one and I mean no one insults my brother. I helped Al onto his feet. He was about to rush to attack the Prince, but I stopped him.

"Well, people of Agrabah, would you look at that?" I called out. He glared back at me. "If you would insult the prince-, "I spat out that word. He doesn't deserve it- "saying that He looks like his horses' rear end, the horse would be insulted!" The bystanders roared with laughter. Even the Prince's horsed neighed. Prince ugly sneered at me.

"You are a worthless street rat." Ugly said smugly. I just wanna punch his face off, there and then. "You were born street rats; you'll die street rats! And only your fleas will mourn you." He sneered at us.

I picked up a pebble and hurled it to his head. And it was a hit, ladies and gentlemen! He glared back at me, getting his whip, but the doors to the castle slammed shut. I sighed with relief. The occational guards that chased us were enough for the day, thank you very much. The people of Agrabah went back to their businesses.

"I'm not worthless," Aladdin muttered. "And I don't have fleas." –He scratched the back of his head. - "Come on, guys. Let's go home." His voice sounded sad and dejected. Maybe the insults were getting through him.

"You don't have fleas, Al. Neither do I." I was to make him laugh. "Fleas eat the nutrition from their hosts. We don't have nutrition, remember?" He grinned half-heartedly as he gave me a light slap at the back of my head.

I tried a few more jokes while walking. Nothing seemed to cheer Aladdin up. He just gave me smiles… no cheerily laugh. No telling that my jokes suck. It's either he's too affected with what Prince Ugly said, or that my jokes are really lame.

It was already dark when we reached our humble abode. It was quite a long way home, besides, we went through several stop overs; like an empty house where we took a bath and washed our clothes (we borrowed some of the house owner's own clothes. It's a man's house. No daughters, no female companions in the house. I have to dress like a man even at home. Oh well. We'll return those clothes after a week though), and the fruit stand where we can steel an apple so easy, we can do it with our eyes closed. And we did.

"Riffraff, street rat…

I don't buy that.

If only they'd look closer

Would they see a poor boy? No siree.

They'd find out, there's so much more to me." Aladdin sang sadly as he tucked Abu in for the night. Wow. This is the first time he's really affected with the name-callings. Or maybe I'm just not paying attention. Now I feel sad too.

He sat down on our "balcony" with a sigh, and then looked up at the sky. Our balcony overlooks the entire Agraban marketplace. And it also has a wicked view of the Sultan's Palace, and right now it gives off a glowing effect due to the dome-shaped roofs reflecting the moon's light… or something. To live in a palace… that would be the life.

"Someday, Abu, Mira, things are gonna change. We'll be rich, live in a palace, and never have any problems at all." He said with vindication. I looked up at the sky, spotting a really, really bright star. I remembered what our Mother told us; that when people die, they became the stars, looking and watching over to those whom they've left.

I looked at the star, closed my eyes and made a wish. 'I just wish we won't have to steel again.'

Little did I know, my wish will come true.

More or less.

/

To be continued.