Character: Alibaba

Rating: K

Genre: General, family

A/N: Fluff. Just plain fluff. _(:3 」∠)_

Warning: This is purely my own imagination of Alibaba's past and future, so it may involve some OOCs.

"Mama, what are those?"

Anise looked up from her laundry at the yellow buds aggregating at the bottom of a stalk. Already the buds held a vibrant yellow color, contrasting sharply with the dull green leaves supporting the branches. Given that Balbadd was just entering summer months, the buds still had some time before blooming.

"Those are the dok khuen ratchaphruek," she looked longingly at the bud-filled branch. They were common in the palace grounds since their golden petals were a delight to behold during the summer season. That was how she met the king originally. She was trying to cut off a few branches for ornamental purposes when the king chanced upon her. One thing led to another and their relationship progressed till the point where she bore Alibaba.

"Doh ku-" Alibaba's face twisted in concentration as he tried to pronounce the word.

"Dok khuen ratchaphruek," Anise giggled as she ruffled her son's hair. Even though she lived a hard life after coming out from the palace, she didn't regret it one little bit. Seeing her son growing up into a fine-looking child was more than she could ask for…

"Hey, what are you still doing here for?"

Both mother and son looked up to see Kassim standing in the yard. He waved at Anise before turning his attention to the other boy. "Come on, I heard that they caught something new in the harbor. Let's go check it out!" Without waiting for a response from Alibaba, he ran out from the yard, towing Mariam behind him.

"Wa- wait up!" Alibaba shouted as he gave chase.

"Be careful!" Anise reminded him. She only received a quick wave of hand from Alibaba before he too, disappeared down the street.

Once the children were out of sight, the smile on Anise's face dropped. Like any mother, she only wished the best for her children. But life in the slum was hardly a suitable place for young minds. She had tried as hard as she could to shield the three children from the darker aspects of the slum, but she knew that the trio was bound to see some things inappropriate. Just the other day Alibaba had asked her what the women standing in the corners were doing*, and Anise had promptly distracted him by giving him an apple.

Nonetheless, Alibaba was a bright child and it was only a matter of time before he figured things out. Anise could tell from his plays with other children that he has good potentials. He was perceptive and street-smart, and those are qualities that could help him navigate through society. The only thing she regretted was being helpless at raising him out of the slums, where she knew his qualities could be cultivated into brilliance.

~oOo~

Summer approached swiftly and the streets of Balbadd was decorated with thousands of golden corollas. The grand sight attracted a lot of visitors from far and wide to participate in the annual flower festival. Historically, the flowers were limited only within the palace grounds. But nature knew no boundaries, and soon, seeds were accidentally dispersed into the town. Within a few years, the plant had taken hold and flourished in the common streets. Only then did Balbadd's royalty decide that they could hold an annual flower festival to spur Balbadd's economy.

The slums were also particularly active during these months. An influx of tourists meant more business. While the adults were occupied entertaining customers, Alibaba and the other slum kids were kept busy as well. They threaded the golden flowers into little pieces of jewelries, hairbands and bracelets that they would then throw upon tourists. After that, they would crowd around the unlucky tourist and force him or her to pay for the trinket**. Fortunately for most of the time, the tourist was wealthy enough and in a good enough mood to pay them. Other times, they were chased by angry guards when the tourist reported them. Even then, it didn't take long for the children to find ways to disperse into the crowd and lose the troublesome guards.

For young Alibaba, summer season would always be his favorite season. He enjoyed looking at the variety of people flooding into the city where he would spend most of his time in the market - whenever he was not forcing bauble onto some poor tourist - hanging around and listening to all the tales of adventures from different tourists. At night, he imagined himself in some of those adventures and dreamt of the day when he would leave the slum. Of course he would bring his mother, Kassim and Mariam along as well, and they would journey throughout the entire world. It was these dreams that kept him hopeful throughout these years.

Another thing that Alibaba liked about the summer were the flowers. Those bright yellow inflorescences reflected his hair color, making him feel less left out. In the slums, he was the only one with fair hair and often found himself the target of ridicule. Even in the town of Balbadd, Alibaba had rarely seen anyone else with hair as bright as his. But during those months where the flowers filled the sky and his hair color complimented the season, he received a lot of positive attention from the visitors. It was only then that he felt less insecure about himself and his unique attributes.

As far as Alibaba knew, only one other person had a similar hair, and that was the 'Old Man'.

The first time Alibaba saw the Old Man was during the flower festival where he glimpsed the figure passing through the parade.

He must be a very special person, Alibaba thought, as he saw all the guards surrounding the man. There were two other mean-looking children trailing after the man, but Alibaba ignored them. He was more fascinated by the man's hair color and how it resembled his own. After some queries, Alibaba learned from his mother that the man was called a 'king'. Back then, the concept was still foreign to him. All he knew was that this king person was supposedly in control of everything in Balbadd.

Well then, he must not be a very nice man, Alibaba thought to himself. If he was nice, his family wouldn't have to live in the slums. They would be enjoying the same sort of lifestyle as other people.

Who would have thought that the not-very-nice-old-man would be the one that came to retrieve him a few years later when his mother passed away. And who would have thought that Alibaba's head of golden hair was a sign of his royal birth.

"There are so many beauties here!" Aladdin smiled as he eyed all the women in the market.

It had been years since the world rid itself of Al-Thamen. Alibaba had accepted his role as the new sovereign of Balbadd with Aladdin as his Magi and Morgiana as his closest bodyguard. Long gone was the self-conscious boy from before. Now he was wiser and more confident in his own actions.

Alibaba laughed at Aladdin's comment. Somethings never change, he thought with a touch of nostalgia. Sure, the days of adventures and irresponsibility was over, but there was a new journey ahead of him. And with any new journeys, there are always rewards. His would be the scenes of smiling citizens in his country.

Today they were celebrating yet another flower festival. Like all those years before them, the flora was a grand sight. People cheered when a wind blew through the canopies, raining down thousands of flower petals. In an instance, the whole street was littered with petal carcasses, lighting up the whole town in a golden splendor.

"No wonder they called this the golden shower tree," Aladdin said as he stared at the sight before him.

"Indeed," Alibaba replied.

Just seeing the petals walked him back on his own memory lanes - the times when he would stare at the flowers during summers long past. Or the times when he would be stringing the buds unto a trinket, trying to compete with the other kids on who would weave the prettiest headband. These flowers had witnessed it all; his progression from a dirt poor nobody to the highest noble of the country.

"Come on, let's enjoy the wome- I mean, food!" Aladdin shouted as he dragged Alibaba and Morgiana with him despite their high status.

For a moment, Alibaba reminiscent the days when Kassim would drag Mariam and him down the streets.

"I'm coming!" the king grinned as he followed the other two out.

Some things just never change.

Further notes:

I know Ohtaka based Balbadd off some Mid-Eastern/Indian countries. However, when I saw the Saluja royalty's attire, I immediately thought of Thailand. And my friends pretty much agreed with me that the shirts resembled Thai shirts. So this oneshot is pretty much written with the image of Thailand (with some mix of India) in mind.

* In India, prostitutes would stand around the corners to attract customers.

** Ohtaka mentioned that during one of her information-gathering trips, there were a bunch of kids crowding after her and trying to sell trinkets to her, and I thought that was just too cute to not include it. (I had a similar experience while in Italy OTL)

The flower in the story is called the Dok khuen ratchaphruek in Thai, or golden shower tree. It's a common tree in SE Asia and quite pretty when it blossomed. Historically, there was an actual festival held with these flowers in honor of the longest reigning monarch in Thailand. (more information can be seen here: wiki/Royal_Flora_Ratchaphruek)