I want to thank everyone for your patience and understandings as I have been SO BEHIND on this story...I hope this is still interesting to people...

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Disney Characters, I am just using them for my own entertainment..**

Chapter 10-Riff Raff Street Rat

Only one word crossed Maggie's mind as she wandered around the village. HOT. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she looked around. There were so many people walking around; some were buying things, while others were trying to sell.

"FRESH FISH! WE CATCH 'EM, YOU BUY 'EM!"

"TRY THIS MELON…YOUR TASTE BUDS WILL DANCE AND SING!"

"What my taste buds would really like is water," Maggie whispered, wishing the rain from Belle's world had followed them here. She looked around at all the people, hoping to see a familiar face. Unfortunately, Aladdin was nowhere to be seen.

"STOP, THIEF!" a voice screamed. Maggie quickly turned around and saw guards with their swords out, looking in their direction. Maggie glared at Flynn, who shrugged his shoulders and began shaking his head.

"This time, whatever it was, I didn't do it!"

"Who cares?!" Maggie yelled, "Run!" It didn't help that they were already sweating from the incredible heat wave, but now they had to run through a crowded marketplace. People shrieked as they tried getting out of Flynn and Maggie's way. Flynn was a natural at dodging and weaving through a crowd. Maggie, however, was having a bit more trouble. As she was trying to catch up to Flynn, someone bumped into her hard enough to make her fall. The young orphan girl tried to scramble to her knees, but the vision of a large sword inches from her face stopped her. Slowly, she looked up and couldn't believe it…

The guard holding the sword was none other than Aladdin. Dressed in the fabric of the royal guards, his gray eyes glared down at her as if she did something wrong. Maggie knew who was responsible for this, and had a strong feeling she would see him soon.

Flynn, now donned in a turban and large robe to conceal his face and outfit, peered over the corner of a cart selling macadamia nuts. His eyes scanned through the marketplace until he saw Maggie—being taken away by the guards.

"What of the other thief, Captain?" one guard asked another.

"We'll find him eventually; one thief is better than none," the shortest of the guards reasoned. "Take her to the sultan."

Maggie tried fighting off the guards until the guard picked her up with great ease and flung her over his shoulder. Flynn watched as they carried her away from the marketplace, while the villagers continued about their business; like it was an everyday thing to have guards carry someone away.

Flynn bit his bottom lip, and then mentally blamed the orphan girl for making him do that. On the one hand, he was free of that weird child; he could go after the book himself.

But where would he start? They only had a little over two days now until she's trapped here forever with her friend.

Why is that your problem? Go about your business, gather up the treasure, and get your happily ever after!

Flynn considered his greedy little conscience and the idea it was inventing, but was stopped by one thought:

Would you really leave that poor girl alone?

He groaned softly, knowing the answer. Without another thought, he stayed in the shadows and headed towards the palace to rescue his friend.

The palace was beautiful on the inside. Polished marble, gold everywhere…Maggie only wished to be visiting under better circumstances. The doors swung open and the guard finally placed Maggie on the ground instead of dangling over his shoulder in the air. After straightening out her dress, she looked up and saw Jafar smirking at her. He was donned in a white robe with gold trimmings and a matching hat.

"We brought you the thief, Sultan." Aladdin said, bowing on one knee. Maggie looked from Jafar to Aladdin.

"Sultan?!" she said in shock.

"Leave us," the Sultan commanded. Aladdin bowed once more before following the other guards out. Jafar stared down at the orphan and smirked.

"Humph…so you are the fabled Storyteller? I pictured you taller. Like what I've done with the place?"

"Not really," Maggie mumbled. Jafar, obviously ignoring Maggie's remark, waved his serpent staff in the air. A paper appeared out of thin air and was floating in front of Jafar until he plucked it from the air with his long, thin fingers. Maggie knew all too well what that paper was…

"Agrabah," Jafar read aloud, "past the grand desert and into the bazaar full of merchants, and street rats like Jasmine. Agrabah is well known for not only its glamorous palace, but for the Sultan that rules over the land: Me…Jafar. With Agrabah being protected by Aladdin, the captain of the royal palace guards, who's to stop me?"

Maggie glared at him and replied curtly, "You're looking at her."

Flynn hid in the shadows, watching as the guards never seemed to be distracted. There were four muscular guards standing as still as statues, guarding the entrance to the palace.

"You'll never get in through there," a voice whispered behind Flynn. The thief turned around and saw a beautiful woman standing behind him. She had long dark hair and dazzling gray eyes. If it weren't for the rags she was wearing; pants with a tear on the right knee and a shirt with dirt on it—she could have been-

"Royal guards are always blocking the entrance…if you want to get in," she said with a smile, "follow me, handsome."

"Sweetheart," he replied, "I'd follow you to the moon if I could. By the way, I'm Flynn."

The girl nodded. "I'm Jasmine."

"Ah, a beautiful name for a beautiful woman," he cooed. "So…why do you sneak in the palace?"

Jasmine shrugged. "I like the view," she answered in a nonchalant tone. Flynn had a feeling that there was more to the story, but decided not to press the matter. "Now you're going to need a better disguise than the one you stole," she advised. In an instant, she grabbed Flynn and hid in the shadows once again. They waited for what seemed like forever until a guard finally passed by without seeing the two concealed in the shadows. Jasmine grabbed the unexpected guard and Flynn, knowing what to do, quickly punched him. The guard let out a groan as he slipped into unconsciousness.

"From what I hear, you have three da—no, TWO days—to change things back," Jafar informed the young orphan. "There are multiple worlds under our control…Did you honestly think you could change anything?!" he cackled.

"Anything is possible…I've already fixed one." Maggie countered.

"Are you sure about that?" he challenged. The hint of pride in the new Sultan's voice made Maggie uneasy. The young girl bit her bottom lip as she thought back to Belle's world. Belle has to know what's going on by now, she thought to herself.

"That's what I thought. Nothing can be changed unless—"Jafar hesitated, giving Maggie a sly grin. "Now…why would I spoil the fun in telling you everything? Guard," he called out, "we're through here…take her away." Maggie heard the doors open and watched Jafar turn away slowly. Maggie's mind was still circling around the question Jafar had challenged her with.

She wasn't sure. Not only was she unsure about Belle's world being changed back, but she wasn't sure if she could help the rest of the worlds in time. Not without her book…

She looked at the paper that Jafar still had; the one paper that changed the world of Agrabah. Without hesitating, she lunged for him and attempted to grab the paper, only to be snatched from behind and pulled away. "Let me go!" she yelled, kicking and wiggling in the guard's grasp.

"Let's go, kid," the guard whispered. The orphan girl was suddenly silent. No one called her 'kid' except for….

Sure enough, as they rounded the corner, Flynn let her go. "We gotta get outta here, kid. There are guards everywhere," he warned. "It won't help if we are both caught."

"I need that paper!" Maggie protested, "the one Jafar has!"

"Not right now, you don't," Jasmine advised, "unless you want to get locked up by—"

"Hey, you!" a voice called out. Maggie turned around and saw Aladdin rushing to them. "I don't recognize…who…you….uhh…" The words trailed away until the angry guard was in complete silence, his gray eyes staring just past Maggie in awe. Maggie looked behind her and saw Jasmine reflecting the same look.

Flynn cleared his throat. "I've been ordered to throw these street rats out of the palace," he explained in a voice of authority. "So, if you'll excuse me…"

"Hmm? Oh…right," Aladdin glanced at Flynn for half a second before staring at Jasmine again. "You look…."

"Familiar…" Jasmine whispered in reply as they rounded the corner and left Aladdin alone with his thoughts.

"That was a close call," Flynn sighed as they made it back to the streets. "Here, I got you something," Flynn said as he tossed a bag to Maggie. "The mirror is inside already. I don't want to be carrying your things the entire time." The bag was made out of beautiful, smooth leather. Sure enough, inside was the enchanted mirror they received from the last world they encountered. "Now lemme get out of this outfit. Don't want people getting suspicious of a guard being nice to 'street rats'," he chuckled as he turned the corner. Maggie looked over by Jasmine who was staring at the palace.

"You want to know why I always sneak into the palace?" she asked aloud, her gray eyes still fixed onto the glamorous architecture. Without waiting for a reply, she continued. "Because I feel at home…I know it's stupid, a street rat living in a palace," she sighed softly, "but I just can't help but feel like I don't belong here…I belong in there…with him."

Maggie raised an eyebrow. "Who's 'him'?" she asked.

"That guard…he looked so familiar," Jasmine confessed. "I wish I could see him again."

Maggie bit her bottom lip, and then had an idea. "You know, we still need that paper Jafar—erm, the Sultan has. If you were to sneak in and retrieve it…you could have a better chance of seeing the guard." Maggie smiled as she shrugged her shoulders. "Just a thought."

Jasmine looked from Maggie to the palace and smiled. "You've got yourself a deal, on one condition."

Maggie raised an eyebrow. "O-kay?"

"You have to tell me why the paper is so important," Jasmine stated. "I'm not about to risk my life for just a piece of paper."

Maggie nodded. "If I were in your shoes, I'd want to know everything, too. It—how do I put this? It will fix everything in this world. Agrabah wasn't always like this…and you weren't always a street rat."

And so Maggie explained. She told Jasmine everything; she talked about the different worlds, How she met Flynn, she talked about Stacey, her best friend that was kidnapped by Shadowman, and the missing pages from her enchanted book that the villains have and the effects it has made on the worlds of Disney.

Jasmine let the words sink in. "You're braver than you look, Maggie," she finally said. "Sure explains why I can't remember anything past yesterday. Okay, Maggie, you have a deal! But before I leave, I have one more question for you." There was a pause. Finally, Jasmine asked, "If the book was really enchanted, couldn't the book create its own stories? Why would it need you to write things?" After a small pause, Jasmine shrugged her shoulders and quipped, "Just a thought."

Jasmine snuck into the palace with great ease and made her way through the corridors. "Let's see…if I were a piece of paper that had the history of Agrabah hanging in the balance," she whispered to herself, "where would I be?"

"Not in the hallway, that's for sure," a voice whispered behind her. Instinctively, she jumped and clenched her fists, ready to fight. What she wasn't expecting was the guard that she saw earlier. "We meet again, street rat," he said with a smile. His gray eyes seemed to be even more handsome up close.

Jasmine couldn't help but blush a little. "So, what happens now?" she asked, mentally kicking herself for getting caught so quickly.

The guard rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, I'll have to take you to the dungeon," he admitted. Then, he looked around and raised an eyebrow. "That's funny," he said with a hint of sarcasm, "I don't remember where the dungeon is. Looks like we'll have to walk around until we find It," he suggested.

Jasmine smiled. "Oh, well…if that's what we have to do, who am I to disobey the Captain of the Guard?" she whispered back. "By the way, you don't have to call me street rat. I'm Jasmine."

The guard smiled. "I'm Aladdin."

"This is taking too long!" Flynn whispered. "We have to keep moving if we want to get you out of here."

"But the paper-" Maggie protested. She didn't want to leave without the paper, but it seemed like she had no choice. The sun was going to set soon, and they still haven't found Stacey.

"I'm sure Jasmine will find a way to have the paper sent to you. Now, come on!" Flynn insisted.

"You mean this?" a voice called out. Maggie turned around to see Jasmine holding a small piece of paper, a look of accomplishment on her face.

Maggie's smile seemed to get bigger. "You did it!"

"With a little help," Jasmine confessed. Moving to the side, Aladdin walked out of the shadows and smiled at the street rat.

"It's just a piece of paper…what's so special about it?" Aladdin asked.

"Thank you!" Flynn agreed.

"Aladdin…it's not just a piece of paper," Maggie corrected, getting a little annoyed. "It's so much more than that. You're so much more than a guard. Soon, everything will make sense. You just have to trust me."

Aladdin nodded. "Okay. Now, get out of here before they realize what happened."

Maggie nodded. "You know, you need to get some rain here," she commented. As soon as she said that, there was a crash of thunder, followed by the slow trickling of raindrops. The rain was cool and refreshing to the touch, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Even the peasants in the marketplace stopped what they were doing to enjoy the moment of relief.

"Perfect timing on your part, kid," Flynn complimented.

Maggie looked over to her friend in shock. "Flynn, did you just...compliment me?" she teased.

He shook his head quickly. "N-no! I was just..uh...observing."

"Jasmine?" Aladdin asked, touching her shoulder. "Maybe...I could see you again sometime?"

Jasmine smiled. "I'd like that very much."

Little did the group realize that they were being followed by a red parrot.

"This ain't good. I'd better tell Jafar!" Iago whispered in panic as he flew off.

Belle wandered through the village the next morning, holding her book in her hands, reading through the pages for a third time. People stared at her with confusion.

"Look, there she goes," one villager said.

"That girl is so peculiar," another commented. "I wonder if she's feeling well."

Belle didn't pay attention. She was entranced with the words, reading about daring sword fights, and a prince in disguise. She smiled to herself as she dreamed about what the Prince would be like.

"Good Morning, Belle," a familiar voice called out. When she looked up, she saw Gaston holding his prize goose he most likely just hunted. "I shot this out of the sky for you, my love."

"Um," she hesitated, suddenly feeling awkward. "That's-nice. Well, goodbye," she called out as she walked past her fiance, her nose back in her book.

"That book," Gaston thought to himself, a scowl forming on his face. "Where did she get that book? Come to think of it," he patted down his pockets, "Where's my paper? Didn't I have books banned?"

Hope you enjoyed that chapter! Sorry it's a bit short, I have so many other projects going on, but I promise I will do my best to keep writing! Until then, reviews are very much welcome!