Before he could react to her assertion that the baby was arriving as she began the crippling contractions of labor, a hand gripped Aladdin's shoulder and sent him sprawling backwards. "You are dead, street rat! I should have killed you all those years ago! You should have died in the gutter where you belong!" Achmed venomously screamed. With the blood of his father on his hands, he wielded his sword over Aladdin, slicing down as he attempted to strike him. "You are worthless! You are trash! You are nothing!" Rolling away successfully, Aladdin missed the brunt of Achmed's steel as he rose to his feet. Weak and in unfathomable pain from his mounting number of wounds, Aladdin fought past the agony his body was screaming with and suppressed the urge to grasp at his side where blood was surging at an alarming rate.

"Aladdin …" Jasmine whimpered deliriously, weakly reaching for him.

"Oh dear," Achmed snapped, looking towards Jasmine, "It would be a shame if something happened to your family." Approaching Jasmine with his sword pointed towards her, Achmed was suddenly sent sprawling to the floor as Aladdin tackled him furiously from behind.

"Stay away from her!" He shouted as they wrestled for control of Achmed's sword.

"Now, now! If you two can't play nice, I won't let you play at all," A serene, motherly voice echoed from above as Genie transformed into an aged woman with gray hair, rocking in a chair while knitting. "You need a time out!" Plucking Achmed off of Aladdin, he tossed him across the room into a grouping of his soldiers. Falling with an indignant huff, Achmed dizzily rose with the help of his men. "Al, get Jas out of here, I'll take care of them!" Genie shouted as he flashed back into his normal appearance before whooshing off into the battle to keep Achmed occupied.

"Thanks, Genie," Aladdin was able to grunt, rising again to his feet. Gently, he picked up Jasmine as she scarcely held onto consciousness. "Come on; let's get you out of here." He whispered as he carried her across the throne room, mindfully trying to evade being spotted by Achmed or any of his soldiers. Creeping along the back balcony, Aladdin finally made it to the secret passageway and opened the heavy stone door. Clutching a torch in one hand, he held Jasmine with the other and carefully descended the stone stairs as the massive door shut behind them with an unnerving thud. The intense sounds from the throne room were incredibly muffled as they entered the passageway. Winding down the stairs, he focused on each individual step as a torrent of pain continued to wash over him and muddle his mind. Trying to focus on the declining form of his wife, Aladdin pushed through with each agonizing step, aimlessly noticing the trail of blood he was leaving in their wake.

Jasmine clutched to him, her mind whirling as waves of searing pain ripped through her body. Trepidation enclosed her heart as she felt the blood continue to dispense from Aladdin; his various wounds continuing to indicate the accumulating peril he was in. Against the lambent, flickering flames of the torch, she looked up at him, dimly noticing his ashen and pallid complexion, the dark circles developing beneath his eyes. Yet, she knew, he would disregard every ounce of pain he was barraged with, every urgency his body would signal, if it meant her safety. If it meant her survival. She knew he would sacrifice his own well being, his own life, if he could guarantee she would endure.

"Aladdin…" Jasmine suddenly moaned against his chest as another contraction began to accrue, "Stop." In the middle of the flat and immense tunnel, he paused, placing her delicately on the ground against the stone wall as he set the torch next to them, the only light illuminating their incessant trek. "I can't go any further," she moaned hoarsely, recognizing the danger they were both in, the futility of their fragile conditions, "…the baby is coming."

"I know … It won't be much longer until we're in the dungeon and from there I can get us out of the palace. We can find help." He offered, glancing down the tunnel towards their destination, despairingly wondering how much longer he himself could go on. Holding his side, he felt the sticky, pasty warmth running from the dagger wound and began feeling unsteady. It trickled progressively and persisted to percolate despite all attempts to delay or halt the hemorrhaging. His arm ached tremendously, shrieking every time he bent it or placed any kind of weight on his muscles. His neck incision pulsated relentlessly, a searing, piercing sting radiating from Khalid's earlier gash. As he blithely took inventory of his injuries, he took a shaky breath and understood the possibility he might never exit the tunnel. 'Forget yourself. Focus on Jasmine.'

"No, Aladdin," she shook her head with tears forming in her eyes, "…the baby is coming now. You need to do the delivery."

"Jasmine, I can't!" Fresh angst filled Aladdin's depth as he looked upon her abdomen. "I don't know what to do!" The gravity of the situation began to weigh upon him as he gazed on her. Her life, along with their child's, was now in his hands. Literally.

"I know, and it's okay," she whispered as she tensed with a blinding contraction, "we'll get through this together," she grunted, her fists tightening as she was barraged with a wave of extraordinary constricting anguish. "I know you can do this. I trust you."

"Jasmine …" He began, searching for anything supportive to say, "I …"

"It's okay," she reassured again, watching his eyes fill with terror, "Our baby is coming. Aladdin, your son is coming." Trying to smile to help him relax, her eyes met his as another contraction barreled over her. Clutching his hand, she cried out in torment, sweat beginning to perspire along her brow. Adjusting herself, she slid down the wall and lay on the ground, hoping to ease the next contraction already beginning to build.

"Jasmine, not here." He pleaded, once again looking down the tunnel, calculating how fast he could carry her the rest of the way. "Not now."

"Yes, Aladdin," she nodded as she moaned, her eyes shut tight and lips pursed as the contraction wracked her body, seemingly splitting her in two. "Here. Now. This is it." She screamed as her blood felt as though it were beginning to boil. Positioning herself and preparing for the birth, Jasmine pushed Aladdin to his place, signaling where to go. Arranging for childbirth she had never thought to involve him; never imagined he would be the one having to deliver. After her extensive training sessions with the physician she was suddenly feeling lost, as if all her recent knowledge had escaped her. With no other options, she began to push with a penetrating cry.

Her assertion was enough for Aladdin. Resolved to help her efficaciously give birth, he tried to overlook all threads of fright and hesitation. "Jasmine, you can do this," He swallowed, encouraging her as she began to labor, "Allah, please help us," he prayed inaudibly, observing her struggle as she pushed. Ripping his cape from his back, he folded it over and set it aside.

She cried out, gripping the sand beneath her, digging her nails into the soft grains. Resting on her elbows, she grimaced in pain as every bone in her body rippled with tormenting distress. With another scream, she moaned as she pushed, feeling as though her body was ripping in half.

"Come on," Aladdin gasped, positioned and ready to support the infant, "Keep going," he excitedly exhaled as he watched his child enter the world. With a final push, Jasmine fell back with fatigue, panting and drenched in sweat. "Jasmine," Aladdin smiled with elation as pride overcame him, "… He's perfect!" The baby began to wail, crying out as Aladdin held him. Using the small dagger at his hip, he efficiently severed the umbilical cord and wrapped the infant tightly in his cape.

"Ali," she panted with a grin, a relieved laugh escaped her lips. "His name is Ali."

With a perceptive and euphoric smile he brought Ali to Jasmine where the baby rested on her chest. "Ali, huh?" He inquired with an understanding chuckle.

"That name has a lot of sentimental value," she giggled with exhaustion, shakily wiping her brow. With tears of joy glistening in her eyes, she gazed upon her son as he looked back at her in awe and curiosity. Flooded with love and adoration, she was overwhelmed by the resilient bond she instantly formed with him.

"You did it, Jasmine. He's amazing."

"No, we did this." Looking up at Aladdin, she smiled sublimely. "He is absolutely flawless." As Ali began to quiet, Jasmine gripped him securely to her as she pushed her now frayed lavender dress back down and attempted to sit up. "You're a father, Aladdin," she grinned with bewilderment.

"Yeah," he sighed happily, gazing upon his son. He couldn't pull himself from this reality, it was all so surreal. He and Jasmine had just delivered their son, in the middle of a shadowy, dusty tunnel, under the palace where they were under siege, and he couldn't wipe the dreamy, beaming smile from his face as he looked upon their child. "I love you, Jasmine," he reached out and caressed her cheek, wiping the blissful tears she had shed. "… and I love you, Ali," he stroked the top of the infant's head, pride and devotion warming his soul.

"And we love you, Aladdin. I can't believe he's here," she commented, pressing her cheek against the top of Ali's head. She felt increasingly weak and frail; her instinctive desire to rest was exceedingly powerful as she fought to concentrate on Ali and Aladdin, both in need of the physician's examination.

"We need to get out of here." Aladdin finally remarked, looking back towards the way they had entered the tunnel. With blood unremittingly flowing from his injuries, a newborn, and Jasmine recovering from unaided childbirth, he feared for all of their safety. "We can go-" He stumbled backwards, grasping at his stab wound. As everything started to spin, he tried shaking off the waves of dizziness. His mouth went dry, his focus wavered, and his arms began to tingle forebodingly. He had ignored his perpetual blood loss for too long.

"Aladdin," Jasmine watched him frightfully, "Aladdin, don't leave us now," she begged, watching him become weaker with each passing moment. As her gaze turned to his side where blood had completely saturated his clothing, she gasped, recalling the sight of him with a dagger plunged in his body. "You'll be fine," she stretched for him with one hand, holding Ali with the other. "You're going to be fine, we're all going to be fine," she tried to reassure him meagerly. "We just need to get out of this tunnel."

Collapsing onto the dusty pathway in the tunnel, Aladdin stumbled backwards with an aching grunt as his body weighed him down, drawing him to the floor where he fell on his back. Reaching out, he clasped Jasmine's hand, interweaving his fingers within her own. He looked at her, their gazes locking with panic and fear, as he drew short, strained breaths. His skin was entirely insipid as a damp, sheen sweat formed across his body. His pupils were dilated as his vision blurred, the shadows in the tunnel becoming a hazy distortion in his fading attentiveness. Despite the penetrating broiling temperature and stifling humidity in the tunnel, everything was becoming cold, so very cold.

"No, Aladdin," Jasmine shook her head in panic as she watched him fade. He was deteriorating at a petrifying speed; his life diminishing before her. "No, you're not doing this to me. You can't do this to your son, you need to hang on." Yet her words were stifled by her sobs as they began to conquer her, wracking her weakened body as she clung to him and Ali. The sand beneath them was pooled with crimson blood. Aladdin's blood.

"Jasmine, I can't- " As his speech slurred and tapered off, Aladdin's eyes fluttered shut despite his will for survival, and he plunged into a horrific oblivion. The last thing he heard was Jasmine's shattering echo screaming his name.