After an early-morning sword-fighting practice with her dad, to which Aladdin commented she was "improving wonderfully", Alia joined her whole family, as well as Genie and Jordan, for a large, delicious breakfast before her mother dragged her into a dress fitting.

Alia and Jordan had already picked their dresses, but some final alterations needed to be made and finalized by the seamstress Jasmine hired before the gowns were deemed fit for the future King's coronation.

Alia stood in her bedroom atop a stool in front of a few mirrors while the seamstress stuck a few pins here and there.

The dress had capped sleeves with a sweetheart neckline. The top and bodice of the gown was a medium lavender color that faded to cream just past her waist. The bodice was lightly decorated with gold sequins. The skirt of the dress was thick and ruffled enough to give it some volume and long enough to cover her feet, which Alia would have gold, strapped heels on come the day of the coronation.

"So, how's school been?" Jasmine asked her daughter casually. She was dressed in her more casual, at-home outfit of her favorite sea green tube top and harem pants and was lounging on Alia's bed.

They were in Alia's bedroom, which was a rather large space that was decorated with both traditional Agrabah-style as well as more modern day additions, as well. It was similar to how Alia's mother's room had been decorated when she was younger.

There were doors on the far side of the room that lead out to a round balcony that was almost as big as the bedroom itself, which Alia loved to sit out on when the nights were cool enough to watch the stars. In the center of the bedroom was a circle of green curtains surrounding several comfy pillows, a long, turquoise couch, and a table with a mirror and space for her laptop, should she need to use it there. There were also a few comfy rugs covering the ground in this area to add a cozy feeling that the ornate marble floor lacked. Alia's actual bed was against the wall near her bedroom door. It had a large, round mattress nestled between two marble pillars with green curtains draped over it. This is where her mother was currently seated, Raisa resting her chin on Jasmine's lap while the Sultana stroked her head.

Alia stood several feet away while the seamstress worked.

"School's been good." Alia answered her mother's question. "I got an A on my last History of Auradon test."

"That's wonderful, sweetie." Jasmine beamed at her. "But that wasn't really what I was asking about."

Alia turned her head slightly to look at her mother in confusion. "Oh? Then what?"

Jasmine eyed her like she should've known the answer. "I think everyone's heard about Prince Ben's proclamation. I also heard that one of the four kids Ben chose is the son of Jafar."

Alia turned away and looked at the reflection of her dress in the mirror to avoid her mother's eyes. "Oh. That."

"Yes. That." Jasmine agreed in an amused voice. "Have you met him?"

Alia chewed her bottom lip nervously. "Well,…"

"Alia, just tell me." Jasmine urged gently.

Sighing in defeat, Alia turned her head to look at her mother, since she couldn't move the rest of her body for fear of being stabbed by a needle. "Okay,…yes, I've met him. His name is Jay, and he's fun and nice and great at tourney but I don't have a crush on him, he's just a really good friend." she explained quickly, deciding not to even think of mentioning the more complicated feelings she had when Jay was around.

Jasmine lifted a single thick, black eyebrow. "You seem a bit defensive for someone who sees him as only a friend."

"Because I'm tired of people suggesting otherwise." Alia countered defensively, resisting the urge to cross her arms over her chest.

"Okay, okay. So, you and…Jay are friends, then?"

"Yes." Alia admitted in a softer voice. "He's really nice, Mom. He's nothing like Jafar was in all your stories."

"Okay, just keep in mind: Jafar was a master of manipulation who used others to do his dirty work. No matter how nice Jay may seem, there's always a chance he may be the same way."

"I know, Mom. Everyone keeps reminding me of that." Alia admitted. "I'll be careful."

Alia spent part of the rest of the day with Jordan, and even hanging out in the garden by the fountain with Raisa. She also got to sit in on a meeting between her father and some representatives from Arendale to discuss trade and other royal responsibilities. Responsibilities that would one day be Alia's to handle.

The representatives stayed for dinner before Sultan Aladdin escorted them to the airport where their own plane was waiting to return them home.

As evening wore into night, Alia walked through the palace halls toward her bedroom, ready to at least prepare for bed.

A flash of purple zoomed past Alia's shoulder, creating a gust of wind that blew some of her black hair past her face. Something small bounced on her shoulder before leaping past her, shrieking angrily.

Alia paused in her walking, a slight grin tugging at her lips.

Magic Carpet zoomed farther down the hall, Abu scurrying close behind. Carpet spun around, keeping high enough in the air that Abu couldn't reach him, and used his hand-like tassel to wave Abu's small, purple and red fez tauntingly out of the small monkey's reach. Abu leapt for it, babbling and squeaking furiously when Carpet moved it just out of his reach.

Alia laughed quietly as Carpet spun and continued on down the hallway. Abu scurried after him once more, leaping up onto a tapestry hanging on the wall in order to gain some height. As he flew on after Carpet, the tapestry he'd swung from fell from it's hanging rod and fluttered to the floor.

"Abu!" Alia scolded, changing course to approach the fallen tapestry.

"Uh oh." she heard Abu squeak as she knelt down and lifted part of the tapestry, as it had folded in on itself. Seeing a familiar face on the colored fabric, Alia stood up and hung it back up on the rod, straightening it out before stepping back to get a better view of the familiar tapestry.

Her father was younger; newly made the Sultan. He was wearing his formal Sultan garb of his turban with the large, purple feather and his Sultan robes. Next to him sat Jasmine, also recently-made Sultana judging by her age. She was wearing her formal, light purple dress that nearly matched her husband's feather. The dress left her shoulders bare, and she was wearing a matching headband with a sapphire in the middle, gold earrings, and a gold necklace.

Both Sultan and Sultana were smiling into the picture on the tapestry, and they were both holding something.

Propped up in Jasmine's arms, tiny face staring into the picture like her parents, was a tiny baby girl, no more than a couple weeks old, wrapped loosely in a light purple blanket. She had a head of thick, black hair, chocolate brown eyes, and tan skin.

Alia was looking at herself as a baby.

Shifting her eyes, she looked over at what, or rather who, her father was holding.

In Aladdin's arms was a baby very similar to Alia, held propped up in a way similar to how Jasmine was holding her. This baby was wrapped in a blue blanket. It's eyes were a chocolate brown like Alia's, and they were even a similar shape. It's hair wasn't as thick as Alia's and it was a shade lighter than hers, more of a very dark brown. It's plump, baby lips were even tugged up slightly in a tiny smile.

This was Alia's twin brother, Jason.

Alia smiled slightly as she gazed at the family picture. The first, and only, official royal picture of the whole family.

As Alia's eyes moved back to her brother, she found herself drawn to his eyes. As she stared into the fabric copy of her brother's eyes, she found her smile falling slightly. Even though she wasn't actually looking at her brother's eyes, she found herself drawn to them. There was something…very familiar.

Alia stepped closer to the tapestry, her hand lifting without thought until her fingers lightly touched the soft fabric near his face.

There was no life behind his eyes, since it was nothing more than carefully-chosen brown fabric, but she couldn't help feeling a tug at the edge of her mind. Of course she recognized her twin's eyes, despite the many, many years since she'd seen him, but there was something else there she felt she should recognize.

Then, it hit her.

Gasping slightly, Alia stumbled back a few steps away from the tapestry. She didn't realize how far she'd stumbled back until her back hit the wall on the other side of the hallway. She stared, fixated, at her brother's picture. Her mind was racing with thoughts. There was no way, absolutely no way, what she was thinking was remotely possible.

She'd seen those eyes before. Recently. Very recently.

She'd seen them in Jay.

That was it. That was why she'd thought Jay's eyes were familiar from the moment they met. Of course Jay's face and physical appearance was completely different from when he was a baby; he was sixteen years old now, after all. But his eyes were still the same. That was why she recognized his eyes and not his face. He didn't look like Jafar, he looked like Aladdin. Aladdin and Jasmine and Alia.

"Ellooo." A small hand suddenly waved in front of Alia's face, breaking her stare down with her brother's picture. She glanced over and saw Abu perched on her shoulder, his fez returned to his head. On her other side, Carpet was standing on the floor, tapping his hand-like tassels together worriedly.

"I'm fine." Alia whispered, looking back at the tapestry. 'No,' she thought to herself, 'there's no way Jay is Jason. Absolutely no way. It's physically impossible.'

And yet, as Alia forced herself to continue walking down the hall toward her room, she couldn't get her mind-and heart-to completely agree.

She reached her room in a daze and climbed into her bed, not even bothering to change, mostly because the thought didn't even occur to her. As she curled up under her light blanket, her mind recalled a memory from her childhood. A story she'd been told so many times she remembered all the details as if she'd been there.

"Tell me a story, Mama." a young, ten year old Alia asked, bouncing slightly in her bed.

Jasmine chuckled warmly, sitting down next to her daughter on the big bed. "Alright, which story would you like to hear, sweetie?"

"About my brother." Alia answered seriously.

Jasmine gazed down at her sadly for a moment. "Are you sure? You know that's not a happy story. And it scares you."

"I won't get scared." Alia declared. "I'm a big girl now. And I know no one can get me. Because Rajah will protect me," she pointed to where Rajah was sitting next to the bed, his chin rested on the mattress, "and Daddy will protect me, and you will, and all the guards. Oh! And Raisa!" she added, tugging her three month old tiger cub toward her and cuddling Raisa to her chest. Raisa rubbed the top of her head along Alia's chin, making her giggle. "Please, Mama!" Alia begged.

Jasmine sighed, but she was smiling slightly. "Okay, if you want." Scooting around slightly, Jasmine leaned back against the pillows, pulling her daughter toward her.

"Well, you and Jason were born in January, and your father and I planned on you both sleeping in the room just next to ours for the first year or so. And from the moment you two were born, Rajah rarely left either of you. He followed us around when we carried you and Jason, and he slept in your nursery every single night.

"When you two were only three weeks old, your father and I were woken late in the night by a loud, thundering roar." Jasmine continued.

"Rajah's roar." Alia cut in, knowing full well how loud the big tiger could roar when he was angry. He'd never roared at Alia, of course, but he'd roared at people who had dared to upset her or endanger her in any way.

"Yes, Rajah's roar." Jasmine agreed with a sad smile, brushing some hair from Alia's forehead. "Your father and I ran as fast as we could to your room, knowing Rajah wouldn't do such a thing without reason.

"When we got to your room, we saw Rajah up on his hind legs, his head stuck out of your bedroom window. I could hear a baby crying in one of the cribs in the room, but your father and I raced to the window to see what Rajah was looking at. All we could really see was someone in a dark hooded cape running away across palace grounds. I could still hear you crying, so I hurried to comfort you. That's when I realized. You were in your crib, crying and wiggling about. But your brother's crib…it was empty." Jasmine whispered, her eyes glistening. "Jason was gone. Aladdin ran from the room calling for the guards. The palace, the village, even the nearby kingdoms. Everywhere we could think of was searched. But we couldn't find him. Our son was gone."

Alia rested her head on her mother's chest. Although she couldn't remember her brother, she felt the loss as much as her parents. Even just hearing the story of her twin's kidnapping, it made her feel closer to him. It closed that hole that his disappearance had left.

"Don't worry, Mama." Alia whispered. "The bad guy won't get me. I'm safe here."

Jasmine hugged her daughter close, kissing the top of her head. "I know, sweetie. I know."

Alia took a deep breath, staring blankly up at the curtains covering her bed. She knew now there was no way she'd get any sleep. Despite knowing it was impossible for Jay to be Jason, her aching heart couldn't help filling her with an impossible hope.

XXX

Whew, I better get some reviews for this chapter! Just to let me know what you all think, pretty please? Reviews make me happy! (Well, as long as they're nice.)