Chapter 2

Jasmine and Aladdin were waiting in the dining room with the sultan. They heard Jafar had a guest staying in the palace and felt that inviting them to dinner would be a nice gesture. Usually Jafar would eat in his own corroders not wanting to converse with others, knowing it would just end up in arguments and fights. Jafar did have a bit of a temper and the couple both agreed that letting him live in his own isolation was the best way of letting his temper settle. This was one of the few occasions where they were having a meal with him.

"Now Aladdin, please don't upset Jafar during the meal; I don't want his temper becoming unmanageable." Jasmine pleaded. Aladdin and Jafar hardly ever talked, in fact they never talked. Jasmine and Iago would be the communicators. Iago decided that he wouldn't take sides when they let Jafar back into the kingdom. He would go to all the meals and give his unwanted opinion then find a way to talk to Jafar later.

"I know Jasmine, but what if he says something to upset me? I can't just sit here letting him push me around." Aladdin complained.

"Just be the bigger person and ignore it. Remember you are going to be the sultan, not him. Don't stoop down to his level." Jasmine contemplated.

Aladdin sighed and looked up at the ceiling waiting for his enemy to appear for dinner.

All heads rose when Jafar and his mystery guest came into the room. All showed a little a little shock when it was woman, a very attractive woman. They came in gracefully with Jafar pulling out the chair for his beloved guest. They both smiled; Rachel's was sweet and Jafar's had a tint of evil in it, of course.

"We are pleased to have you and your guest Jafar." The sultan quivered.

"Thank you for having us. Everyone, I would like to introduce my guest and date for the Desert Ball, Rachel." Jafar introduced Rachel. He gave a look to Iago who knew Rachel as a very strong person. Iago knew something was up.

"We are pleased that you've came Rachel. I'm Jasmine and this is my fiancé Aladdin." Jasmine greeted sweetly. She observed Rachel very closely. She was beautiful. It was like staring at painting. She was happy that Jafar had found someone but couldn't help but wonder how he had managed to get someone this gorgeous. Jasmine started to envy Rachel for her remarkable beauty; however it might have been more than just the beauty.

"How do you do, I'm Aladdin." Aladdin properly introduced himself. He, like Jasmine, was taken away by Rachel's features and was trying to figure out how she could fall for Jafar.

"Oh, I'm the sultan." The sultan butted in.

"It is very nice to meet you all." Rachel replied. "I'm so happy that you are letting me stay here." She looked at Jafar who was amused with their little act.

"We are glad you are." The sultan said gingerly. Rachel seemed nice and loving to him, nothing like Jafar.

"So Rachel where are you from?" Jasmine asked while pouring everyone some wine.

"I live in the southern part of Italy." Rachel responded.

"Sounds lovely, I hope this dry desert heat isn't much of a trouble." Jasmine was particularly an expert in geography.

"Oh it's fine. I'm actually pretty use to it." Her eyes went to Jafar whose expression turned into a warning. Rachel kicked him underneath his seat so no one would see her.

"Do you come to Arabia a lot?" Jasmine started passing around different foods in nice pots.

"I use too. I was part of a touring show for a long time. We traveled around the meditation and Arabia. I retired a couple years ago."

"That sounds splendid." The sultan commented. "What exactly did you perform?"

Jafar gave Rachel an I-told-you-so look. She rolled her eyes at him with no one noticing. "We were a magic group. I was the assistant but I did learn a few card tricks." She lied.

When Rachel said magic something clicked in Aladdin's mind. Rachel had to posses some magic abilities which explained how she knew Jafar. Obviously Jafar either tricked this girl into going with him or she too was evil and they were scheming.

While the Sultan and Rachel were talking about what card tricks she could do; Aladdin glared at Jafar. Jafar smirked back; he knew that the street-rat had caught on to the whole magic thing. He knew that Aladdin would find a way to convince the others that Rachel was not good and try to uncover his plans. Jafar was fully prepared for this, but his scheme was totally out of the box for him that no one could ever figure it out.

Jasmine noticed Jafar's and Aladdin's eye-war. She was so annoyed with both of them for still holding grudges. Jasmine decided that to stop this glaring she would try to get one of them involved in conversation.

"So Rachel how did you and Jafar meet?" Jasmine asked, kind of out of the blue. Jafar and Aladdin now looked away from each other.

Rachel had also noticed Aladdin's and Jafar's eye-war. She was starting to like this Jasmine girl. She knew how to orchestrate conversations; getting people to do what she wanted them to, without even asking. She decided to also play this game.

"Hmm, I have to say Jafar is better at telling the story then I am. Would you like to tell it Jafar?" Rachel gave him a big smile. Jafar knew Rachel just wanted to toy with him.

He gave a fake smile. "Of course, it was a very late night and I was getting back from a meeting in a distant kingdom. I saw Rachel's show and offered to buy her a drink. We went into a tavern and I guess we just hit it off. We have been very good friends over the years but now we want to take our relationship to a new level." Jafar explained. He put his hand around Rachel's which was on the table. Jasmine saw this and felt again some weird feeling in her heart. She had never really felt this feeling. For a split second she wanted that to be her hand. Why?

"All the luck to you." Aladdin said out of nowhere. Jasmine gave him a sharp look like Jafar was giving Rachel earlier. "So Rachel, do you have any family nearby?"

"I have a sister who lives near here, but the rest of my family is pretty spread out." She answered.

"Is your sister older or younger?" Jasmine asked.

"Uh, older; about three years I think." Rachel hesitated with her answer which proved to Aladdin that she defiantly was someone to watch out for.

"How nice." Jasmine replied calmly.

The room became silent after that. Aladdin knew that Jafar and Rachel were up to something. Rachel felt a little awkward being the new person. Jasmine had this weird envy towards Rachel. Iago wanted to know what Jafar was up to. Jafar just didn't like any of them and the Sultan was totally confused.

Jasmine knew that being a good hostess at dinner parties was essential for being a good wife. She had to find some way to engage everyone in active conversation. "Does anyone know the host for the ball this year? I have only heard his name being bounced around a couple times." Jasmine wondered.

"He is a very accomplished king, apparently has two sons both married." The sultan inputted.

"Apparently he invited Monzenrath I heard." Jafar informed everyone.

Aladdin gave him a look in disbelief. "Why would he invite Monzenrath? He is pure evil."

"Probably so he won't get attacked by him. Honestly fear can do the most ridiculous things to people." Jasmine scolded.

"I agree; the emotion just makes people irrational." Rachel glanced at Jafar.

"Well any emotion can do that." Jafar retorted.

"How so?" Jasmine wondered.

Her question back-tracked Jafar a bit, he felt weird talking to her in front of Aladdin. "Well any emotion can cloud ones judgments if it is given time to manifest the brain." He reasoned.

"Can you give us an example?" Rachel asked quickly. She was looking at Jasmine's eyes connecting to Jafar's. Something about it made her uneasy.

Jafar quickly turned his head to look at her. He gave his common evil smile. "Love, for instance."

There was now this unsettling tension in the room. There was a long pause before anyone spoke. This gave Iago to leave the room without anyone noticing. He flew to Jafar's room and hid. Hopefully he would find out what Jafar was planning.

Rachel was the first to speak. "I see what you mean. People do stupid stuff in the name of love all the time. However some irrational decisions can turn up to be good."

"That is all in the matter of how you look at things." Jafar pointed out.

"But your way of viewing things can be different from others." Aladdin gave a confident smile. He looked at his soon to be wife knowing what love could do to someone.

"Exactly, and your view all matters on your judgment. So emotion always has to have some input on your logic." Jasmine rebutted. "However love is a tricky emotion because there are different levels of love."

"I would like to know those levels you are speaking of." Jafar wanted to say princess at the end but Jasmine was not a princess anymore; she was about to be queen soon. Jafar used princess to make Jasmine seem inferior to him; even though princess was a high position. Jasmine never liked the idea of being a princess; it meant having little power but respect that came from fear, also she liked her name better than a dumb title. Jafar used this towards his advantage in irritating Jasmine.

Jasmine hesitated with her answer. "Well—there is—uh—um, well some would say first comes attraction or chemistry—"

"You mean lust?" Jafar interrupted her. He gave a seductive grin.

Jasmine pursed her lips. "Some foul minded people may think that, but for those with pure minds I think attraction is on the first level." She scowled.

Aladdin looked like he was going to inflict the worst pain imaginable to Jafar. His eyes were deadlocked on Jafar's and his anger shattered his face. Jafar, however, did not feel threatened by the street-rat; he knew with the genie on vacation that he had the upper hand.

Jasmine continued noticing Aladdin's temper building. "The second level is more of lust I presume. But with lust also come rage, passion, and jealousy. These all lead to fights—"

"I'm sorry but how can a fight result in a good relationship?" Jafar asked.

"You could say that's for the third level. A fight or argument usually determines if the relationship will continue or not. If the couple can get over the fight, then yes it will go on, but if they can't then usually the relationship ends." Jasmine articulated. She noticed Jafar's satisfaction in the answer which surprised her.

"Alright I think that should rap up this conversation." The sultan piped up. He didn't like the way things were going, especially the fact it Jafar asking about Love, which after all is a delicate emotion.

"Well I would like know what happens after level 3?" Rachel inquired. She gave a slight wink to Jafar who smiled back.

"Oh, probably happiness, but only brief," Jasmine started to answer disobeying her father.

"Why?" Both Aladdin and Jafar asked. They were shocked that they both asked the same question.

Rachel giggled quietly, making Jafar roll his eyes. "I agree with Jasmine. If a relationship is always happy then it can get dull." She gave a reassured smile to Jasmine.

"Thank you. So after happiness comes tough problems and compromises. Once those are arranged love can fully happen. It's basically accepting someone for their flaws and their strengths." Jasmine put her hand around Aladdin's; trying to comfort his envy and insecurity. He smiled back at her.

Jafar was almost disgusted by the couple's love and affection. He peered at Rachel who had a warm smile on. She knew that this must have irritated him, but it was not the time to show disapproval.

Jasmine also seemed to notice Jafar's envy. She kind of liked it, surprising. Of course most men adored her, but knowing that Jafar did too gave her some boost in self-esteem. Even in comparison with Rachel, who was the definition of the word "beauty", she could still be on his mind. Then some weird emotion came over Jasmine. She saw Jafar in a weird way which she had never felt. A type of attraction was brewing and Jasmine didn't know what to do with it.

She faced back towards the table. "Sometimes, though, love can change. That is why you see couples who have affairs. I think that means, however, that in the steps of love they made a mistake."

"Or it could be as you said, the love has changed. I think you have proven my point of emotion being part of every decision; so maybe those who have affairs are just listening to their feelings. It's fair to say that repressing those feelings is unhealthy; therefore going with them can end up positively. An affair can work if the one being cheated on can learn to forgive." Jafar gave the smuggest smile he had ever given.

Jasmine blushed, knowing exactly what he was referring to. She then gulped and kept a straight face, not wanting anyone to notice. Aladdin clenched his fist in fury; it looked like he was going to kill Jafar right then and there. Rachel and the sultan were the awkward ones out. Rachel only appeared to be indifferent and the sultan baffled.

"So," The sultan said after a moment of silence. "I think it is time for dessert!"

A/n: Please comment! If you want any questions answered I will gladly answer them!