Sakura's emerald widened. 'Aladdin!'

"I want to be a source of strength." The boy's words reached her ears. "I'll always reach my hand out to you." He turned slowly with his hand outstretched towards Alibaba. "I always will. Hello, Alibaba."

Sakura shifted her eyes from the shocked expression on the blond boy's face to the smiling Aladdin, who had Light Rukh dancing around him. He pose was confident, with the wind ruffling his blue hair and his staff held in his hand as he looked at each one of their faces with his smile still on his lips.

"Aladdin!"

"There you are, midget." All eyes turned to Judar and Sakura glared at him heatedly. She didn't know exactly why but Aladdin's appearance had woken something inside her; a new kind of drive that gave her strength and hope and determination to keep on fighting despite the odds being against them. Even the pain in her arm was starting to subside.

"I won't lose again." continued the Dark Magi. "Because now I have a Djinn too!" The beast behind his roared. "Call out your Djinn now!" He aimed one of his blades at the blue-haired boy only to have it shattered by Aladdin's force field.

"You mean Ugo-kun?" said the boy with a soft smile but Sakura could see the sadness behind it. Well Ugo-kun is…." He gripped the flute hanging from his neck. "….no longer here." Alibaba and Morgiana gasped.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Judar with narrowed eyes. "If you can't bring out a Djinn, then you're nothing but a dump kid who needs to die." The Black Djinn prepared to attack and Sakura was just about to lunge in front of Aladdin with her hand ready to form a series of seals when the blue-haired boy beat her to it.

"But….." Blinding light exploded around Aladdin and the sheer power that it held hit Sakura like a tidal wave.

"What?! The Rukh's protection? Wait, no…."

The light around Aladdin began to take form and Sakura gasped in astonishment when she noticed that it was none other than the familiar shape of Ugo's arms. "But Ugo-kun has left me power!" The crossed arms of Ugo stopped the Djinn's dark sword from reaching Aladdin and as the blue-haired boy raised his staff towards the sky, the whole body of Ugo rose along with it. In all her years as a shinobi, Sakura had never seen anything remotely as magnificent as this.

"It's a white giant!" one of the guards said in amazement as all eyes of those present were glued on the awe-inducing sight.

"That has the shape of a Djinn but it is just regular heat magic." mocked Judar but Sakura found herself shaking her head at him. 'You don't understand…This is not about it whether it is regular magic or not…..' Due to her now enhanced ability to sense both chakra and magoi, she knew very well the energy trail each of these elements left behind. And this….This was something else. It was raw, unadulterated power. It didn't matter if it was regular heat magic or something else…Light danced around Aladdin like raging fire in a display that caused her both fear and awe.

Judar chuckled mockingly. "You are so boring! Hurry up and die!"

But his words had no effect on the blue-haired boy, whose serious expression never changed. With his staff held above his head, a sphere of light purple energy started to form with a similar one forming in the hands of the white giant standing behind him. Sakura's eyes widened. 'What magnificent power….' She could almost feel Aladdin's energy tickling her skin.

"Harlharl Infigar!" Aladdin let his attack loose and it hit both the Black Djinn and Judar, whose face was set in an expression of surprise and disbelief. As the light died down, Sakura's eyes were met with the little boy's smiling face. He turned to Morgiana.

"Alright Morg, could you take Sinbad-ojisan back to the city? There are some people in here that he needs to see."

"B-But!"

"It'll be okay." Aladdin smiled at her. "Now go!"

Sakura glanced at Sinbad in worry. The ice had melted from the heat caused by Aladdin's powerful attack but she still wasn't sure that it would be wise to move him. He was weakened and she hadn't had the chance to heal his wounds.

"So what? That's all you got?" She tore her gaze from the purple-haired man and aimed a heated glare towards Judar, who was watching them from inside his protection field with a mocking smirk on his face. "You got my hopes up for nothing, you dump kid!" Black Rukh started to gather around him at an alarming rate.

"Hmm…..I guess I lose." said Aladdin out of nowhere, causing several people to gasp. "My magic is still incomplete. There is no way I can go toe to toe with him." He turned to Alibaba. "I need your power. You can defeat him and that Black Djinn."

"But….I don't have a sword and I'm out of magoi. I can't fight anymore!"

"I can't do much about the sword but I sure as hell can do something about your magoi."

Alibaba looked up in surprise when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder and his golden eyes widened when he saw Sakura standing tall beside him with her palm once more alive with bright green light. He felt her energy surge through his veins like fire.

"But Sakura! You have already given me much of your magoi! At this rate, you'll end up collapsing!"

"Don't worry about me and focus on what you have to do. You are our only hope, Alibaba and I have faith in you. You have already saved this country once. You can do it again." she said firmly and her voice left no room for argument. And she meant every damn word. Despite the odds being against them, deep down she knew that he could do it. Because that was who Alibaba was. Because he had chosen to fight for Balbadd when he could have just walked away. Because he had managed to give hope to those who had only known despair.

"Sakura-nee-san is right, Alibaba." said Aladdin as he came to put his hand on the boy's other shoulder. "Look carefully, Alibaba." Bright light engulfed them both and an arch of light rose to the sky. "This country still holds the fire of hope. A righteous fire that will allow the people to get on with their lives and overcome their fates. You are the one who sparked that, aren't you? You're the one who raised their spirits!"

"Everyone….." whispered Alibaba and Sakura could see that whatever Aladdin had shown him had shaken the boy but not in a bad way. Her gaze was drawn to the sky and emerald eyes widened when she saw a bird made of fire rise. 'No…..That's not fire…..'

"The Rukh are drawn by that desire to live! To forge onward. That's why we can still fight!" The bird dived in from above and engulfed Aladdin in its warm light.

"More heat magic?" wondered Judar but there was a significant lack of his previous arrogance and mocking spirit in his voice. But Sakura paid him no mind. Her eyes were focused on little Aladdin and the Light Rukh swarming in from all directions. She stared transfixed as the swirls of light were concentrated on the blue-haired boy's forehead before starting to expand and spread all around them. Light Rukh tickled her skin and flew around her head before gathering around Aladdin, who had his eyes closed in concentration. Sakura along with Alibaba gasped when the little boy's cerulean eyes shot open and a glowing eight-pointed star appeared on his forehead. A maelstrom of light rose above him and Sakura gasped in surprise when she saw a number of figures outlined in the light before they were absorbed in Aladdin's flute in an impressive display unlike anything else she had ever seen in her life.

"W-What did you just do?"

Aladdin turned to Alibaba with a smile. "I asked everyone to come. So that they can guide you and your friend." His expression became serious and he pointed his staff at the Black Djinn. "He is completely trapped into darkness right now. The only way to free him is to break through that darkness with your sword!"

"But my sword is…."

"Don't worry. Amon's sword can be reforged. So long as we put our power together!" He raised his staff in the air. "Harlharl Infigar!" Light Rukh flocked to him and a huge sphere of pulsating energy formed above their heads.

Judar laughed mockingly. "That again? I told you that doesn't work on me."

However, Aladdin's smile never faltered as he turned to them. "Sakura-nee-san, please stay out of this." He smiled at her brightly when she nodded and he shifted his blue eyes to the blonde prince. "Let's go Alibaba!" One swing of his staff was all it took and the sphere of energy embraced them before engulfing them in flames. Sakura gasped and she instinctively took a sharp step forward but she held back. She had promised Aladdin that she wouldn't interfere and she trusted him. Both of them.

"It is made of flames!"

"The only magic I can use right now is heat magic. Luckily enough, your sword works with fire! It's more than luck or coincidence thought." When the flames died down, Sakura's emerald eyes widened in astonishment as she gazed upon the shinning black metal of a completely reforged Amon's sword.

Alibaba started at it in amazement. "Amon's sword is back!"

"So what?" growled Judar and sent a rain of ice spiraling towards them only to have them repelled by Aladdin's force field. "Now go, Alibaba!" exclaimed the blue-haired boy without taking his eyes off the dark Magi.

"But what about you?" A kunai flew past his cheek with Judar as its target, though it never really reached him. Sakura leapt beside Aladdin with her hands already forming a series of hand seals and her emerald eyes hard with determination.

"Don't worry Alibaba! We'll be fine. No one's going to be hurt while I'm around. You focus on the task at hand. Now go!" A stream of fire flew from her lips, completely destroying Judar's icy daggers, making the crimson-eyed male growl in annoyance. The blonde boy nodded curtly and determinedly before charging at the Dark Djinn. In the corner of his eye he saw streams of fire shattering and melting the ice blades that were aimed at him, clearing their path for him to reach the Djinn. Alibaba jumped with Amon's sword held tightly in his hands. This time, the blade was met with no resistance and the beast roared as Amon's flames rose around it. Suddenly, tendrils of darkness sprouted from the Djinn's body and started pulling the blonde boy in. Sakura gasped in fear for the boy and made to jump to his aid but Aladdin placed a hand in front of her before she could take another step. The pink-haired woman gritted her teeth but stayed back even as she watched Alibaba get swallowed but the black demon.

"What?" said Judar with a mocking smirk. "Did he get swallowed by the Dark Djinn? Guess he was bluffing."

"I have something to tell you too."

His crimson gaze turned to Aladdin. "Huh?"

The eight-pointed star on the blue-haired boy's forehead started glowing brightly and Judar had to cover his eyes with his arm to shield them. "W-what is that?" Suddenly, his eyes widened almost in fear and Sakura watched in fascination as his expression changed from his mocking smile to an almost frightened one. "W-What is happening? Stop! Stop!" he screamed and clutched his head as if he was in pain before collapsing to the ground before Aladdin's feet. If she hadn't seen his dark side, Sakura might have even felt sorry for the trembling dark-haired male. Worried emerald eyes rose to stare at the black demon standing still some distance away from them.

'Good luck Alibaba…And please….please come back…'

XxxOxOxOxxX

"Sakura-nee-san! Stay close to me!" shouted Aladdin as another one of Judar's ice blades shattered on his force field.

"Damn it! Y-You brat!" growled the dark Magi as he rose on shaky feet, one hand clutching his head. "What the hell did you do to me?" he screamed and aimed another ice attack at them. The ice shattered on Aladdin's protective field that was shielding them. Judar sent a barrage of ice blades and Sakura worriedly glanced at the blue-haired boy. She didn't know how much longer he could keep it up but she guessed that it wouldn't be long before his force field weakened enough for the dark Magi's ice daggers to reach them. She placed a hand on his back and tried channeling as much chakra as she could into his system. It was the only thing she could do for him at this point. With her chakra reserves running low and the scar under her joint sending waves of pain throughout her body every couple of minutes, trying to go against Judar with her own two hands while he was on a rampage was as good as asking for a quick and probably painful death. She gritted her teeth and pushed harder but she was quickly loosing strength as her chakra slipped away from her.

Aladdin began to back down as Judar pushed harder on his force field with his magic. Sakura fell to her knees. The closer the dark Magi came and the more he pushed them with his dark power, the stronger the pain in her arm became. The scar felt as if it was pulsating and it burned; it burned like hot iron. Judar smirked evilly at them and raised his wand with light gathering around its tip.

'CRACK!'

"Alibaba!" exclaimed Aladdin and all eyes to the Dark Djinn that had crevices all over its belly with light sipping through them. Judar growled dangerously at the sight. Sakura felt hope grow in her heart and she continued to stare at the still black demon in anticipation and worry. As the seconds passed, more cracks appeared on the monster's body and the light shining through them grew brighter and brighter as the beast roared. The Dark Djinn exploded with light that shot to the sky like a volcano eruption. The cloud of darkness that had gathered above the palace and the whole of Balbadd immediately dissolved and the dark storm clouds parted to reveal the blue sky.

Judar trembled as he fell to his knees. "What's happening…..to my power…."

Sakura rose to her feet beside Aladdin and she narrowed her eyes when she saw an arch of Black Rukh engulf the dark Magi in a sphere of darkness before moving him to where the man with the checked mask was standing. The man's crimson eyes shifted between the blue-haired Magi and the pink-haired woman at his side.

"We'll meet again." he said and disappeared in a cloud of Black Rukh.

'We sure as hell will…' thought Sakura as she glared at the place he had been standing a second ago with blazing emerald eyes. Sobbing reached her ears and she turned to see Alibaba shedding rivers of salty tears over the ashen body of Kassim. Tears started to ran down her own cheeks at the heart-wrenching sight and she approached the boy with slow steps before kneeling down before him. She cupped his cheek with her hand and kissed his forehead. He didn't react and tears continued to run down his cheeks but she smiled a watery smile and let her own tears mingle with his as they hit the body of Kassim.

'You did something that I never could…..You did it Alibaba…..You saved him…..'

XxxOxOxOxxX

Sakura stood to the side as she watched Aladdin comfort Alibaba. While she wanted nothing more than to be by his side, there were some things that she still didn't understand and that only the blue-haired boy could tell him.

"You can't keep on crying Alibaba. Or he won't be able to return."

"Return?"

They raised their eyes towards the sky to see an arch of light Rukh flying above their heads and Aladdin smiled. "Those who die don't disappear." he explained to a confused blonde prince. "They return to the great flow of Rukh. Solomon's Wisdom!" The eight-pointed star on his forehead started to glow brightly and Alibaba gasped in surprise and amazement when the figures of two people appeared before them. The young man stared at them in disbelief with a gaping mouth.

"Mom? Da-The late King of Balbadd?"

"They, or more accurately their Rukh, is now a part of a much greater whole, which wraps around and flows through the world." Aladdin turned to the blonde boy with a smile. "That's why, even though it is sad when people die, it's not an eternal goodbye. They are always watching your choices and your journey. They are always watching over you."

Sakura's heart swelled with joy as she watched a smile of happiness form on Alibaba's lips.

"Go on, everyone! Go back to your loved ones!"

Tear prickled at the corners of her eyes as she watched all those who had been lost reunite with their loved ones and as sad as it was to see them go back to the great flow of Rukh, Sakura knew that the light had returned to the hearts of the people of Balbadd.

"Aladdin! Alibaba! Sakura-san!"

Sakura felt arms wrap around her waist and she returned the girl's embrace. She ran her fingers through Morgiana's red hair and smiled at her brightly despite the tears still in her eyes. "Hey there Morg-chan! Today's a beautiful day, don't you agree?" The girl looked up at her with a smile and Sakura patted her head fondly. "Go now! They are waiting for you!" she urged the red-haired young woman and motioned to Aladdin and Alibaba who were smiling and waving at them from a few feet away. The girl nodded at her happily before running off and engulfing the two boys in a bone-crushing hug. Sakura allowed a content smile to grace her lips at the sight and she giggled when the three fell backwards from the force of Morgiana's embrace.

A hand on her shoulder made her turn around and the sight of a limping but very much alive and smiling Sinbad made her own smile widen. Jafar and Masrur were standing on either side of him, supporting his weight. The purple-haired man squeezed her shoulder lightly and his touch sent a jolt down her arm.

"Thank you. For everything…"

Sakura chuckled. "How many times do I have to tell you? You don't thank a medic for healing the injured."

Sinbad laughed a rich laugh and stared deeply into her emerald orbs with scintillating golden eyes. "No you don't. But you do thank a friend for risking her life to save yours."

Sakura stared at him with sparkling eyes and gently touched his fingers on her shoulder with her own. "I guess you do…."

TBC

Yay! Finished with the Balbadd Arc! Coming up next is the one and only Sindria! I hope you liked the chapter. SinbadXSakura moment at the end! From now on, there will be more SinXSaku interaction and things will eventually heat up between them! Yay! But don't worry, she'll have her moments with other characters as well! Anyway, a reviewer mentioned why I keep so close to cannon and it's a good thing they did because it reminded me that I have to explain a couple of things about the story that might help you understand what's going on a bit better.

When I started this story, I wanted to write it in a way that would make Sakura seem as if she had always been there. Basically, the story of Magi from her perspective, through her eyes. What I want to show is that her presence in the Magi universe led things to happen the way they did. Things happened the way they did in cannon because Sakura was there (Though, I'm not sure whether I was successful at it or not). What we call cannon happened because she was there.

A few examples:

We know that in the Balbadd Arc, Alibaba had a change of heart regarding the fate of the city and the monarchy. In the story, we see that Sakura was the one to cause that change of heart. It's because of her that he did what he did.

Also, Kougyoku ordered Engi, Entai and Enshin to kill everyone because she thought that they were Sakura's friends.

Sakura was the one to heal Aladdin when he collapsed after giving Ugo-kun too much magoi.

The reason why Alibaba managed to reach Ahbmad was because Sakura was there to fight and kill Engi.

Moreover, Alibaba was able to defeat the Dark Djinn and ultimately save Kassim and Balbadd, because Sakura and Aladdin were there to give him their chakra/magoi.

I hope I explained it well enough and didn't confuse any of you. There will be more examples in future chapters. To tell you truth, what I really want to focus on in this story is mostly Sakura's relationships with the characters of Magi. Anyway, next chapter's coming up soon so stay tuned. Until then….READ AND REVIEW!

Lots of love!