A/N: It's me again. This chapter is dedicated to Artisan Monkey, since I know him in person and I know for a fact he's going through a bit of a rough spot.

I have decided that the Agrabah section will be six chapters long in total, so after you read this you're 2/3 done. This isn't my favorite world in this story (actually, it's my LEAST favorite) but try to bear with me.

Let's get this party started!

Chapter 4: Family Ties

Abu and Iago found themselves locked inside a small wooden cage. A particularly fat thief was sitting on Carpet, and Aladdin stood next to Cassim. Abu chattered something to Iago. "Escape?" the parrot translated. "Not likely. Our ride home is grounded, and Sora... well, it's been nice knowin' him."

Aladdin felt no better about the situation. "How could you do this, Dad?"

"I don't see why you're complaining." Cassim retorted. "You're in either way."

"But Sora's my friend!" Aladdin protested. "He wouldn't even be in this mess if it wasn't for me."

"His loss." Cassim shrugged. He turned to Sora. "Knock 'em dead, kid. Seriously."

Sora took his place at one end of the room, and Sa'luk took his position at the other. A thief stood between them, bearing a long scimitar. He raised it into the air, then brought it down again. And so the challenge began.

The thief with the scimitar barely had time to scramble out of the way before Sa'luk lunged at Sora. He swiped at Sora with his clawed knuckleduster, but Sora evaded the swing in the nick of time. Sora knew that Sa'luk was too strong to go toe-to-toe with, but Sora had the advantage of speed. He dodged another of Sa'luk's swipes before the thief used his unarmed hand to punch Sora hard in the gut.

Sora flew toward the nearest wall. He quickly reversed his position and kicked off from the wall, using his momentum to crash into Sa'luk, sending the thief toppling to the floor. Sora quickly summoned his keyblade and pointed it at Sa'luk's head.

With reflexes that surprised everyone present (Sora most of all) Sa'luk swatted the keyblade aside with his claws. In a flash, Sa'luk was on his feet and gripping Sora by the collar! Sora struggled helplessly in the larger man's grip as Sa'luk led him toward the cliff. But just before Sa'luk threw Sora over the edge, Sora kicked Sa'luk in the stomach and flipped over the thief's head! During the brief second that Sa'luk was stunned, Sora kicked slammed a blunt part of his keyblade into the brute's back. Sa'luk plummeted over the cliff and into the awaiting sea.

Or so Sora thought.

As Sora looked down to see where Sa'luk had landed, he found the thief's claws dug into the cliff's craggy face. Just below Sa'luk was a narrow path along the cliff. Sa'luk removed his claws from the cliff and landed with a thud onto the path. Sora jumped after him.

Before Sora landed, Sa'luk's claws were poised for the kill. Sora twisted in midair, saving his guts from being spilled by the unforgiving blades of Sa'luk's knuckleduster. He could not, however, prevent the three long gashes in his shoulder where the claws had connected.

Ignoring the burning in his shoulder, Sora swung the Oathkeeper keyblade hard at Sa'luk. Sa'luk caught the keyblade with his claws. This battle of strength had been tried twice already, and Sora knew he could not win. Instead, he broke contact with the knuckleduster and rolled backward. Sa'luk, still pushing his entire weight onto his arm, suddenly fell forward. Sora took the opportunity to trip Sa'luk up with his keyblade. He'd intended for Sa'luk to land harmlessly onto the path, but the thief had leaned just a little too far to the right.

He was sent plunging over the cliff.

Before Sora knew what had happened, he heard a great splash as Sa'luk met the sea a hundred feet below. The Keyblade Master looked down to find only ripples in the water left of Sa'luk's fall. Sa'luk did not resurface. He must have been dead.

Sora lowered his head in regret for having killed this man, but he had little time to reflect on it. A long coil of rope descended from the cliff, obviously waiting for him to climb it. Sora obliged.

As Sora reached the top of the cliff, he was surprised by what he saw. The Forty Thieves (well, thirty-eight now) were all glaring at him. "I thought our side won!" Iago cried upon seeing the malicious looks of the thieves.

Sora raised his hands defensively. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! He just kinda fell!"

Before Sora could protest any more, the thieves were leading him, Aladdin, and the newly freed Iago and Abu to Cassim. The King of Thieves stared harshly at Sora, his arms crossed. "You killed Sa'luk. The code of the Forty Thieves is very clear on this point." Sora looked up at Cassim, expecting the worst. Instead, Cassim told him, "You're in. Welcome to the Forty Thieves."

Jasmine was in the palace, gazing out into the stars. She couldn't sleep knowing that Aladdin was out there somewhere, risking life and limb to find his father. The Princess of Agrabah was so deep in thought, she didn't hear Genie's approach until he whispered to her, "Boy. And I thought I was blue."

Jasmine didn't seem at all surprised by Genie's sudden appearance. "You would know if Aladdin was in trouble, wouldn't you?" she asked her magical friend. "I thought he'd be back by now."

"Wow." Genie commented. "You and Kairi must have a special Princess of Heart mind link or something. She asked me the same exact thing... but with Sora instead of Al."

"I guess we're both worried." Jasmine mused.

Genie placed his hands on Jasmine's shoulders and gave her a warm, friendly smile. "I'm gonna tell you exactly what I told her: they will be back."

Jasmine only sighed as she looked out into the night sky. I miss him already. she thought. As good as the Genie's intentions were, the magical comedian wasn't the first person on her mind. She wondered if Kairi was taking this as hard as she was.

"I find my son and lose my enemy. You did your old man proud."

Cassim was walking with Aladdin, Iago, and Abu through hidden catacombs of the Forty Thieves' lair. Sora had stayed above, bandaging his wounds and helping Carpet get ready for the trip home.

"To be fair, Dad, it was Sora who killed Sa'luk. I just watched." Aladdin corrected his father.

"A technicality." Cassim shrugged. "You led him here. And if he hadn't fought, he would've been killed."

"Does this code have any rules that don't end in death?" Iago asked.

"It's a strict code." Cassim replied. Apparently, no such rule existed. "But there is one thing that I added: we never hurt the innocent."

"Uhh... for future reference, I'm as innocent as the day I was hatched." Iago said with the best innocent face he could manage.

It wasn't very convincing. Abu made a noise that very much sounded like, "Oh brother."

Cassim ignored this as he removed a small medallion from his blue cape. The medallion depicted what appeared to be a golden hand--the very same hand depicted on Aladdin's dagger. Cassim placed the medallion into a matching indent in the wall, and the wall slid back to reveal a hidden room. "My men don't even know about this place." he told Aladdin.

Cassim took a torch from just inside the wall and began to light several fires around the room to see by. The room was instantly illuminated enough for Aladdin and his companions to see the assorted knickknacks strewn about. "Listen, boy." Cassim told his son. "There is a treasure... the ultimate treasure. Compared to this, a pharaoh's tomb is a pauper's grave; a sultan's fortune nothing but... lunch money! And I am this close to it."

"That's tantalizingly close." Iago commented. Aladdin only frowned and crossed his arms.

"But it's on an island that's never in the same place twice!" Cassim added as he dug through a large cupboard nearby. At last, he removed from the cupboard a very large scroll. "The Vanishing Isle."

"That would be a problem." Iago observed.

"What is this 'ultimate treasure'?" Aladdin asked skeptically. He could hardly believe it! His father had left him and his mother all alone to find some silly treasure that couldn't be found? It was ridiculous!

"The big one, boy." Cassim replied as he unfurled the scroll. "The Hand of Midas."

The scroll depicted what appeared to be a large turtle. On the turtle's back was a large, golden hand very similar to the one on Cassim's medallion. It was the most vague treasure map Aladdin had ever seen. "It's just a myth!" Aladdin said indignantly.

"It's not a myth, boy!" Cassim argued. He approached a curtain at one end of the hidden room and pulled it back. Beyond it was a narrow stone staircase leading to an underground inlet of the sea. "It was once right here! Look, boy! There's your proof!"

Aladdin descended the stairs and looked down into the water. What he found shocked him. It was a sunken ship, seemingly made form solid gold! "From stem to stern!" Cassim shouted. "Every piece of railing, every peg and board, all of it! Solid gold!"

"Adopt me, daddy-o!" Iago squawked. The little red parrot was in heaven! He'd never seen so much gold in one place before, not even in Jafar's service!

"Touched by the Hand of Midas." Cassim explained.

"And sunk by it." Aladdin added angrily, ascending the stairs again.

"You don't understand!" Cassim argued. "You don't know what it's like to have nothing! To stare up at the palace and know you deserve more! To be called... street rat."

Aladdin's heart skipped a beat when he heard the familiar words. "Yes." he sighed, remembering the countless times he'd been forced to outrun the sultan's guards and resort to petty theft just to survive. "I do."

"I knew exactly what I wanted for my family." Cassim told Aladdin, wrapping an arm around his son's shoulders. "The best. I couldn't give up and go back empty-handed! But weeks turned into months and months turned into years..." Cassim took a deep breath. "I came back to Agrabah one night. But I couldn't find my wife." For the first time in a very long time, the King of Thieves had to fight back tears as he told his painful tale. "I thought my family was lost forever. At that moment, I would've traded anything to get your mother back."

"We never wanted gold." Aladdin told his father. "We wanted you." Aladdin too fostered painful memories. His, however, involved watching children come home to their fathers each night as he wandered the streets, knowing he didn't even have a father to come home to. It was very hard for him to bear such a burden, but bear it he did--for over two decades, in fact. "I wanted a father. I still do. Come to my wedding! This time, you have an invitation."

"Aladdin," Cassim said, staring at the ground, which had now become inexplicably fascinating. "I just don't know."

"Dad, I'm not going back to Agrabah until morning." Aladdin assured the now self-conscious King of Thieves. "At least think about it."

Aladdin left the secret room to check on Sora and Carpet. Abu followed close behind, but Iago stayed with Cassim. "Aladdin doesn't understand," Cassim told the parrot, "it just wouldn't work. I don't belong in his world."

"The Oracle doesn't belong in his world, either." Iago pointed out as he perched on Cassim's shoulder. Now that Aladdin and Sora were elsewhere, the greedy bird could revert to his old, selfish ways. A plan had been concocted in his brain ever since Sora passed the challenge, and he intended to enact it now. "It belongs in the hands of two enterprising treasure hunters: you and me."

"The Oracle." Cassim hissed as he waved Iago away. "It's probably just another dead end."

"It works!" Iago protested. "That's how the kid found you! It knows everything!"

Cassim's face lit up. "Everything?"

"And I know where they stashed it." Iago bragged. "Cassim, we are talking about the wedding of your only son. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

Cassim smiled thoughtfully. "How can I pass it up?"

The beach outside of Agrabah was peaceful. The night sky was beautiful to gaze upon, and the water was as smooth as glass.

Suddenly, a bubble broke the stillness of the water, followed by another. More bubbles ensued, followed by a great rippling. As the bubbles and the ripples increased in number, an earth-shattering splash echoed throughout the desolate beach.

Sa'luk was wrestling with a shark.

The strongest member of the Forty Thieves had survived his fall down into the ocean below, and now struggled to come ashore again. He was currently grappling with a large shark. At last, he plunged the brazen claws of his knuckleduster into the thick hide of the shark and made a deep slash in its back. As the life drained from the shark, Sa'luk hurled it onto the beach and stepped ashore. Only one thought remained in his mind: he must exact revenge on Sora.

In Agrabah, Razoul was making his nightly rounds. It was a routine patrol... except this time, he was scheduled to meet an anonymous informant who'd recently appeared in the city.

"Captain."

Razoul turned to find his informant, a muscular man with skin as pale as the moon that illuminated the night. It was Sa'luk! "You're alone," Sa'luk continued, "good."

"So you are the one with information about the Forty Thieves?" Razoul asked. The poor fool of course had no way of knowing that Sa'luk was a prominent member of the Thieves--that is until a certain Keyblade Master sent him hurtling of a cliff.

"What would you say if I handed you the King of Thieves?" Sa'luk questioned.

"I'd say what's in it for you?" Razoul returned.

"I'll just sleep better knowing he's off the streets... and on the executioner's block." Sa'luk chuckled.

"Everyone knows the King of Thieves cannot be caught." Razoul said matter-of-factly. He didn't like it when people knew more than he did, and he often acted smarter than he truly was (not all that difficult to do, actually). "What miracle do you possess?"

"Two words that will make you Agrabah's greatest hero: open sesame."

It was dawn. When Aladdin had told Sora that they weren't leaving for Agrabah until morning, Sora had taken the words to heart and forced Aladdin to be ready as soon as the sun peeked out of the eastern horizon. He was so anxious so be with Kairi again! He knew Aladdin was a little less rushed to reunite with his own lover since he had been reunited with his father. Still, when dawn came, everyone was ready to leave, Cassim included.

Aladdin was currently showing Cassim how to ride on Carpet. "Hop on, Dad!" he shouted.

"Oh no." Cassim argued. "It's a rug. You sweep dirt under it, you don't fly on it. At least I don't"

"Don't be afraid! It's fun!" Aladdin protested.

"I am not afraid." Cassim huffed. "Now get off that thing before you break your neck!"

"I trust Carpet with my life!" Aladdin pleaded.

"We'll take horses." Cassim insisted. "Horses were good enough for my father, and his father before him, and they have always been good enough for me."

"He sounds like a father all right." Aladdin sighed.

Sora grinned and patted Carpet's head (a term I use loosely). Due to his fight the previous night, the shoulder of Sora's jacket was torn so that his shoulder was completely exposed. Although he was skilled at using Curaga magic, three long scars ran across Sora's shoulder. It would heal in time, and Sora was sure Kairi would be able to fix his jacket... as soon as she stopped fussing about how much danger he could have gotten into. "I guess it's just you and me, buddy." he told the animated rug.

Carpet flattened out so that Sora could hop on. "See ya, Aladdin." Sora told his friend before Carpet set off for Agrabah at top speed.

As expected, Carpet was much faster than any horse, and Sora made it to the palace in only fifteen minutes. He had just finished thanking Carpet for the ride when Sultan waddled up to greet him. "Oh! Hello there, Sora! Quite a nasty cut you have there!"

"Yeah." Sora shrugged. "It'll heal."

"Sora, you wouldn't happen to have Aladdin with you, would you?" Sultan asked.

Sora shook his head. "No. He had to take a horse, so he shouldn't get here for another half hour or so."

Sultan's face fell. "I see. And Jasmine was so excited, too. Well, I'll be the one to deliver the bad news. Do make yourself at home, Sora."

Sultan was about to scurry off, but Sora stopped him. "Do you know where Kairi is?"

Sultan nodded and smiled warmly. "She's sound asleep in the guest bedroom. She stayed up most of the night waiting for you, but exhaustion finally got the better of her. She looked dreadfully uncomfortable, but no one had the heart to wake her. The guest room is up the stairs and to the left."

Sora nodded and raced up the stairs to find Kairi.

Sure enough, Sora found Kairi fast asleep on her bed in the guest room. She was still dressed in her daytime clothes (even her shoes), and she looked like she had simply passed out and collapsed onto the bed. She looked peaceful even then, and Sora himself barely found it in him to wake her. So he settled for a compromise.

Sora stretched out onto the bed beside his mate and began to gently stroke her hair, tucking stray strands behind her ears. "Sora..." he heard her moan softly, but she did not wake right away.

A moment later, Kairi's eyes flew open and she stared into the cerulean orbs of her husband. "Sora!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck. After a while, she rose from the bed and placed her hands on her hips. "What took you so long?"

Sora stood up too. "I'm sorry, Kai. I would've been here earlier, but Aladdin wanted us to stay until his father agreed to come with us."

"Was he that stubborn?" Kairi wondered.

"Let's just say I know where Aladdin gets it from now." Sora said with a grin.

"That bad, huh?" Kairi giggled. Suddenly, she caught sight of Sora's wound. "You're hurt!" she cried, placing her hand ever so gently over the claw marks.

"Just an unfriendly reminder to keep up with my keyblade practice." Sora shrugged. "I haven't trained with it since we got married. But it'll heal soon. I was actually hoping you could fix my jacket later. It is my favorite, and you're the best at sewing stuff."

Kairi crossed her arms. "Sora Hikari, I can't believe you! You come back to me with three giant scars on your shoulder and your biggest concern is whether or not I can fix your stupid jacket?" Kairi lost control of her emotions and threw her arms around Sora again. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Sora was a little confused, but returned Kairi's embrace nonetheless. "Why were you worried? It was just a little rescue mission, that's all. Did you not think I could handle it?"

Kairi hugged Sora tighter. "I think you can do anything." She looked up at her mate sternly, but never loosened her grip. "Don't you ever scare me like that again! I love you too much!"

Before Sora could protest, or even promise Kairi that he wouldn't scare her like that again, he found his lips locked with hers. He shrugged and gave in to the kiss...

Until a voice from downstairs called, "Welcome, Aladdin! And you must be Aladdin's father! So glad you could come! Jasmine will be anxious to hear this news!"

Kairi and Sora parted. "Wanna go down and watch the fireworks?" Sora asked.

"What do you mean?" Kairi replied.

"I'll tell you on the way." Sora assured her. "Let's go."

A/N: Well, there you go. Again, the quote-for-quote movie lines were used for filler space, and they DO help the story along a little.

Thanks to Shire Folk and Syrena Li for reviewing my story! This is Shire Folk's first review for this story, even though he reviewed every hapter faithfully in my previous one. I always enjoy feedback, even if it's criticism (except flames. Flames are bad.)

You will receive charming gift baskets... unless of course I can't find you or if I forget. I hope the fight with Sa'luk didn't disappoint anyone, but the one in the movie was even shorter!

Until next time, Lord Moldybutt signing off.