**I do not own any of these characters**

Chapter 11

"Welcome to the New World," Aladdin said.

Belle opened her eyes slowly. Wherever they were, it was bright and she wished to avoid blindness. As her pupils adjusted to the light, she quietly gasped. Reluctantly stepping up and away from the comfort of Aladdin, she walked off of Carpet and onto warm sand.

To her left and right stretched a long, white-sanded beach that curved until it eventually faded into tropical greenery creating a small quiet bay before her. The water was the purest aquamarine she had ever seen before in her life. The waves came in small swells, which probably contributed to the clarity of the water.

Though she surmised it was still early in the day, already this beach had reached very warm temperatures. Unlike Agrabah, where the dry heat could easily be tolerated, Belle felt that the oppressive air around her would make the sun hard to tolerate for much longer.

That didn't matter, though.

She had never set foot on a beach before.

She had never felt the sand between her toes or smelled the salt on the air.

She had never felt the occasional spray picked up from a cresting way caress her face.

Belle was in paradise.

Without so much as a second glance at Aladdin, she ran toward the water and didn't stop until the waves reached her knees. She knew she would have to eventually explain to Nadia how her pants and tunic had come into contact with saltwater, but that was only a minor thought running through her head.

She turned around in place, taking in the hills that gradually gave way to dense forests and palm trees until she caught sight of Aladdin.

He gave her a start; for a moment, she had honestly forgotten that she was not alone.

"Having fun?" he asked, still seated on Carpet lazily, stretching out the leg with his broken foot.

"Yes! This place, it's—it's—" For once in a very long time, Belle felt herself at a loss for words.

"Amazing?" Aladdin tentatively suggested as Carpet floated him toward her.

"Yes! It's beautiful."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. The small waves collapsing into themselves, the rustle of branches as the wind blew through them, the salt on the air; all of it conspired to fill her heart with joy.

Belle hadn't felt so simultaneously at peace and elated in quite some time. The only moment her mind could recollect that was even similar to this was Adam presenting her with the castle's library.

What joy at having the world at your fingertips, and it is all mine! she recalled thinking.

Before she could dwell too much on the past, she felt a breeze carry away the veil that had fallen to her shoulders. It floated off and away down the shoreline.

With a small cry, she tried to reach for it, but her feet had sunk deep into the sand keeping her briefly trapped in place. Speeding off on Carpet, Aladdin chased after the veil as it floated further down the beach. Carpet's tassels grazed the water, kicking up spray behind them. Their chase, however, was to no avail.

Belle waded toward him as he floated back to her, suddenly shame-faced with a dripping wet veil in his hands. She chuckled to herself, for he looked so much like a child who had broken a parent's prized possession.

"I'm sorry," he said downcast floating before her, now sitting with his legs gingerly crossed before him.

"Aladdin," Belle said taking both the veil and the hand that held it in hers. She was so filled with happiness, wonderment, and gratitude that she did not even think about the implications of such a gesture.

He looked down at her with both shock and surprise in his large brown eyes. "Yes?" he said quietly.

"Thank you," she responded with the deep sincerity in her voice and heart. Aladdin grinned in response and looked away sheepishly.

"This?" she continued. "This is wonderful. I have truly never been or seen anything like this in my life. Stories, words, and even pictures only provide a sparse reflection or depiction of what it is to stand in this great world and experience a place for your own, with your own eyes, ears, and nose."

At hearing her own words, Belle immediately wondered that if Adam could also hear her now, would he feel slighted by her comments. She knew the guilt must have flashed upon on her face, for Aladdin's smile faltered and he pulled his hand away, leaving just a dripping green veil in hers.

"But?" he continued for her, as he clearly expected her to make a caveat based on her change in manner.

Belle quickly changed her demeanor. Adam would want me to be here and happy, she reminded herself.

"But nothing," she said smiling again. "This is wonderful. You do realize that the scales are now much too much in my favor. I will have to do something to balance them so we are even."

"Don't start with that," Aladdin said, as he floated back toward the beach waving his hand dismissively at her. Belle followed him to plead her case, but he stopped her in her tracks when he hopped off Carpet onto his good foot.

"This is the deal," he said facing her. Aladdin wasn't too much taller than Belle, but now it felt as though he towered over her. It didn't intimidate her either. Rather, as he stood before her now, Belle felt inclined to pull him closer so she could feel the warmth and comfort of being wrapped in his arms.

"Are you listening?" he said, snapping her out of her thoughts of warm embraces.

"Yes," she said with a little bite to it than she intended.

"You are doing me more good than I can ever repay. Yes, you are the reason I am temporarily unable to walk. However, I owe you. End of story."

"But—" she started to protest.

"Nope," Aladdin responded by putting a single finger on her lips.

I can't believe he just did that, she thought. No man should ever touch a woman on her lips like that unless he were her husband.

Of course, neither Belle nor Aladdin were people committed to or particularly concerned with following social norms; but still the gesture crossed a line that both were immediately aware of the moment Aladdin's finger landed on the young woman's lips.

Though she had spent the evening in very close proximity to him, wrapping her arms around his waist at a time and sitting between his legs, that seemed to be borne of necessity rather than volition. At least, that was what Belle was telling herself to excuse the typically prohibited proximity of the pair last night.

His finger on her lips, however. That was borne of volition. Don't think that, she chastised herself. Belle knew that the moment she started reading into Aladdin's gestures, or dwelling on the way his rough skin felt against her lips or how her heart beat faster when they were close to each other, that she would be indulging in thoughts and feelings she shouldn't indulge in—for a myriad of reasons.

Adam, she thought.

Aladdin's and my platonic work arrangement, she continued more practically.

Your heart, a small voice in her mind suggested.

"End of discussion," Aladdin said sternly when he pulled his finger away from her lips.

Belle felt a pang of disappointment as he walked away to lie down on a patch of shade beneath a palm tree in the sand.

She stood there, unsure how or where to sit. With the flood of thoughts and emotions wracking her brain and gut, she couldn't quite sort out whether she should lie down next to him or sit at a proper distance.

Aladdin at this point had already relaxed, closing his eyes and resting his head on his arms behind him.

"Where do you think we are?" he asked without opening his dark brown eyes.

"Hmm?" Belle replied.

"Guess where we are. I want to see how much you know about the world and if I managed to surprise you."

"Well, you definitely surprised me and I do know a lot about the world that aren't just about geography, so I don't know if your question is actually a good assessment of either of those things."

Aladdin opened his eyes, propping himself up on his elbows. He gave Belle a cocked eyebrow and a look of incredulity, as if to ask without words, "Really?"

Belle mockingly sighed and began to walk around to make observations.

"Well, it's very warm, which means we are close to the equator and/or in the Northern hemisphere. I would gather, based on the foliage that we are not any further north than the latitude Paris is on. You also said when we arrived here that we were in the New World and given that you said we were traveling toward the sun, I gather that we must be somewhere in the Americas."

Belle could see that Aladdin was impressed, but there was still an expectant look on his face. She cocked her eyebrow at him. "Is that close enough?" she inquired.

"Eh, I expected you to get closer, but I guess that's fine." he said falling back onto the arms folded under his head. He closed his eyes again.

Belle, however, turned around and began looking more closely at their surroundings. She knew she could figure their location with much more precision. She was intelligent and well read.

And she wanted him to know that.

"The palms here are tall. The trees and other plants are dense, which means there must be a lot of rainfall and a lot of sun. Since we are likely north of the equator, I do not believe we are in the rainforests of the southern Americas. That puts us in the northern Americas."

When Aladdin didn't move from his position of repose, she continued to study the tree line. She heard a bird call from above. She peered through the dense leaves. Though it was camouflaged by its bright green plumage, she could make out other distinct markings of blue and red.

"Amazona vittata," she muttered to herself.

"Nope, not the Amazon," Aladdin said sitting up with a smug and victorious look on his face. "Seems I have puzzled you!"

"No," Belle said, confidently sauntering over to him letting her light green tunic brush against her legs to exaggerate her swagger. "You have not. I did not say the Amazon. I said Amazona vittata. It's a bird."

She pointed above and Aladdin looked behind her.

"Seriously?" he turned back to her. "You know about birds, too?"

"Yes," she said with a confident grin, placing her hands on her hips. "So, I will now tell you that Mr. Amazona right there is endemic to only one place: Puerto Rico."

She stood there, waiting for his reply. She knew she was right, even if he didn't tell her so. But it would still feel so sweet to hear him say it, she thought.

Not letting on his admiration for her skills of deduction, Aladdin shrugged his shoulders. "Eh. You got it," he said dismissively and slumped back down into his position of repose.

Belle let out a cheer and clapped her hands in delight. When Aladdin did not share in her celebration, she was disappointed.

"Are you not impressed, Aladdin?" she asked, slightly surprised that she would even care about soliciting his approval.

"Oh, I am," he said with still-closed eyes. "I'm just now preoccupied with figuring out a place to go next time that will actually stump you."

Belle felt both confused and excited.

"Next time?"

Aladdin quickly jumped to his good foot, hopped onto Carpet, and pulled Belle up with him.

"Next time," he said as they sped off into the air, leaving the beach far behind them.