Hey everyone guess what I have-another chapter! I was able to get this done since one of my assignments were given an extension and I finished one ahead of time.

Hope you enjoy!

Sakura had plenty of difficult moments in her life, all varying and igniting different emotions appropriated for each reaction to her situations. when she fought she felt exhilarated and cautious; when she had given birth she had felt nothing but overwhelming pain and after nothing but joy and fatigue; when Badr almost drowned after falling into the thin-iced river one winter Sakura had experienced the worst kind of terror and swore her heart stopped beating. She had been through plenty of difficulties and pleasures that life had to offer her and the emotions that came with them, she was unable to place this particular feeling she felt raging in the pit of her stomach as she stood face to face with the man she had walked away from ten years ago. Unable to utter a word after exhaling his name like you would the mist from your mouth on a cold winter's morning.

Then nothing.

Sinbad couldn't bring himself to speak nor move an inch as he stared at the pinkette before him. Ten years; he hadn't seen her and despite being alerted of her presence and having ample time to register himself; now that they were before one another there was as if something indescribable was possessing him to this state of stillness.

Then again, for both of them, silence and absolute stillness seemed like the most appropriate reaction when you weren't able to consider what would be the best thing to do-do nothing and hope for the issue to resolve itself. Of course that might not be their case.

Ino, Hinata, Badr, Esra and Kougyoku watched Sakura and Sinbad as they continued to stare at one another in a matter that made it seem like they had petrified each other. So deciding to break the ever growing awkwardness that the onlookers were beginning to feel, Ino went up to Sakura and tapped her friend's shoulder to pull her back to reality. As curious as she was being peaked over another closed casket of Sakura's buried secrets, there were actually other priorities to see to beforehand.

"Sakura," Ino coughed.

Turning away from Sinbad, Sakura addressed Ino, "What is it?"

Ino cocked her head over to Kougyoku causing Sakura to turn her back completely to Sinbad once more and that loss seemed to break Sinbad from the trance that he had been under although he still didn't make any move.

Sakura went to Kougyoku, resting her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Kougyoku."

"Y-Yes?"

"My friends and I are going to handle the injured civilians here. You go on ahead and see to Judar's injured alright?"

Kougyoku nodded, although she still looked like she wanted to protest, she chose not to go against Sakura in this. Ordering Ka Koubun and all of her subordinates to follow after her as she took her leave. After they all managed to pick themselves up from the dirt and rubble they were buried under.

"Will I see you again soon?" Kougyoku asked before she went to stand on the flying carpet, where everyone waited for her.

Sakura smiled back at her, although it was merely to mask the truth and painfully forced. "Probably."

With Kougyoku gone, Sakura knew that she was going to have a lot more to face than the opponent she had defeated and it was not going to be easy to overcome. One of her greatest weakness's.

While Judar and Kougyoku's attack on everyone didn't have any casualties, despite the damaged area, there were a lot injured so Ino, Hinata, Esra and Sakura split up in order to help everyone that was in need of it. Although the separation suggestion was on account of Sakura, as a means to stall for time to figure out what was going to happen next without her friend's or children hovering over her with that suspicious (yet earned) expressions on their faces. What this also did was serve as a permissible reason to move out of Sinbad's presence.

In the narrow paths of the quiet buildings there were tarps laid out with the injured lying on them and being tended to. While Sakura took that time to remain fully focused on nothing but treating the wounded while remaining a safe distance from the source that would inevitably take hold of her mind but that distraction did not last longer. Little more than three hours later everyone who was in need was treated, their wounds healed and were settled. Thus came the time to regroup.

Ino stood up walking over to Hinata who had come around the corner, waving to them man who she had just finished treating and her last patient. Hinata had treated some of the wounded and then she helped gathering supplies for them and distributing it out before she went to find her friends again.

"I'm done over here." Ino said.

"Me too."

Ino stretched out her arms, looking around, "Where's Sakura?"

Hinata pointed down another path, settled with many people and they spotted Sakura's hair in the distance through the darkness. She seemed to be finishing up as well then, a firm and focused expression on her face and yet there was distance in her eyes.

"What do you think she's hiding this time?"

Hinata shrugged, "I'm not sure, but I feel like it has something to do with that man we saw earlier."

"Yeah, I got that same feeling." Ino put her hand on her hips.

Esra and Morgiana had paired up together to help assist with all of the injured, they were making a few rounds to double check on everyone. They had also gone through the buildings to check for supplies for which included blankets and whatever could be used as medical supplies. The environment wasn't adequate for resting or treating the wounded but they had to do what needed to be done and at this point, comfort was a luxury that fell below health.

"Where did Badr and Alibaba go?" asked Morgiana, holding a stack of blankets in her arms.

Esra shrugged her shoulders, "They didn't say. Do you want to track them after this?"

Giving a brief nod, Morgiana started to make her way over to Sinbad and Ja'far who were helping with the wounded as well.

Sinbad was hurrying along to get everyone's injuries treated, so that he could have that conversation with the first and last women he had ever allowed into his heart. After Kougyoku left, Sakura had ignored his presence and spoke to her friends and children, telling them to help treat the wounded and then meet up after. Knowing her record for being able to pull elaborate escapes when you'd least expect it, Sinbad wanted to ensure that she wasn't going to just vanish again. There was a lot that needed to be addressed and he knew it would give her incentive to run if gave her so much as a wisp of suspicion that he knew what she clearly wouldn't want him to.

"There doesn't seem to be any casualties." Ja'far said with the same solemn expression as Sinbad.

"That's good." Sinbad said. "Let's treat the injured and then we can regroup."

Ja'far nodded, he was also a bit impatient for the regrouping as well.

Morgiana and Esra came up to the two men, carrying blankets. "We've gathered some cloth. And also handed out water to those who needed it."

"Thank you. You two should take a break." Sinbad suggested.

Morgiana shook her head abruptly "No, we're still going to help treat the wounded."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure my mom and her friends have that covered but we can go and double check."

Morgiana nodded, turning around to leave with Esra. "Right."

Before Esra left, she gave one more glance over to Sinbad and Ja'far. Sinbad said that she knew her mother and it seemed that he was telling the truth but the reaction the two had towards each other left the girl rather curious and somewhat disconcerted.

"They're sweet girl's; strong and kind-if not a little on the temperamental side." Sinbad chuckled as he watched the two leave.

Ja'far nodded, "Yes, they're considerate of those around them….and I see that Sakura's taught Esra how to heal just like her."

"Just like her." Sinbad whispered in a somewhat off distanced tone, then looked at Esra who was healing someone's injured arm and then wrapping a splint in it. Obviously she took after her mother in term of medics and that explained her monster strength not to mention her personality.

"Sin," Ja'far rested his hand on his king's shoulder to get his attention. "Are you sure you want to do this now? Maybe we can wait until this matter is resolved."

"I'm fine." Sinbad reassured Ja'far. "Besides, if I want to know the truth. I have to hear it from her."

After finishing their round about check up on everyone Esra and Morgiana decided to go looking for Badr and Alibaba and heard that they had gone into the building where the Fog Troupe stayed. They walked through the draftee hallway, Morgiana leading the way as she had been to the hideout before, what's more to the room. Morgiana noticed that Esra was being very quiet during their walk; she wasn't much of a conversationalist to start with, much like Morgiana herself but there was this distinct feeling the Fanalis got that something was greatly bothering Esra.

"Are you alright?" Morgiana asked.

Esra nodded, "I'm fine, just worried about my mom. She seemed completely out of sorts after seeing Sinbad. He told my brother and I, that they knew each other already but…"

"I didn't think she would know mister Sinbad too."

"Me neither; he doesn't seem like the kind of guy she would associate with." Esra replied honestly, as if attempting to relieve her own guilt for allowing the two to meet in the first place. She wished she had picked up on some sort of sign. Even if they did know Sakura, that didn't necessarily mean they were allies. Then again, Alibaba also said that he knew their mother so…

"Whoa! How did you get injured there!?"

"I don't know!"

"Ah, I have one here too!"

"Oh you've got to be kidding me."

Esra opened her mouth but quickly shut it, as they heard Badr and Alibaba's voices softly drifting through the hallways like the cold draft. They went over to the door with the dim light peeking under the cracks and opened it.

"Hey Badr, Alibaba we're…."

The girl's stood in the entrance of the doorway, becoming rigid at the sight of Alibaba and Badr with their pants down. Alibaba was on his bed, bent forward with his rear in the air (exposed) and Badr had his back turned with his shorts and boxes around his ankles. Morgiana dropped the bucket of water in her hands to cover her eyes with her arms. Both screaming in alarm.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"We were just checking our wounds!" Alibaba defended, still too seemingly struck to change his position.

Badr clicked his tongue, pulling up his boxers and pants, "Geez, ever hear of knocking Mini-monster?"

Esra rolled her eyes; she had seen her brother naked enough times not to care about that kind of modesty and as for Alibaba..."After what I saw before coming to this country; I don't think I'll ever be fazed seeing another naked guy ever again. And I've seen you naked before anyway."

Morgiana knew that Esra was referring to the first time they met Sinbad; even though there was a leaf hiding one part of him, the rest remained to be seen-it also flapped a little when Esra nearly pummelled him in the middle of the road.

Once settled, Esra and Morgiana started taking care of Alibaba and Badr's wounds. They were both injured after fighting Judar and then having to get back up to fight against Kougyoku's men.

"What's mom doing?" asked Badr as Esra handed him back his top after healing his back.

"She, aunt Hinata and aunt Ino are taking care of the wounded but mom said that we should meet her soon."

Badr frowned, "She doesn't want us to leave does she?"

Esra shrugged. She wasn't sure but after that strange encounter, it seemed that all the people their mother knew from this world had gathered together on this night and because of that there was no way of knowing what might happen next.

"Where's Aladdin by the way?" asked Alibaba.

After Kougyoku left and things quieted down, Aladdin went off on his own saying that he wanted to be alone. Ugo's battle as well as his sudden change had really distressed Aladdin and even more so after he was sent back into the flute. Alibaba explained that if Aladdin used Ugo too much, he would end up experiencing extreme fatigue and he had the feeling that was more dangerous than Aladdin made it out to be.

The four stopped when they heard someone screaming from the outside.

"Hey this kid's not breathing!"

"Someone call for help!"

Sakura smiled gently as she finished treating her last patient and left after ensuring he was comfortable, as one could be given where they were situated right now. Then after doing a quick round about to make sure that no one was suffering anymore from their wounds, the pinkette went to sit on a vacant staircase, a little ways from the chaos. Badr and Esra had gone off with the friends made while they were separated from her. Sakura was yet to get the explanation regarding how the two ended up in Balbadd like this together when Badr and Esra were apparently separated from one another. Then there was the matter of Kougyoku and Judar, the battle and-

Gripping the ends of her hair, Sakura slammed her head back wincing slightly at the involuntary force even though she didn't actually hit anything solid. Her thoughts were weights pulling her down as she attempted to swim up towards the surface for air and escape this sea of distress. To no avail.

Ino and Hinata soon found her crouched on the stair's with her knees up to her chin; which was hardly ever a good sign.

"Sakura, we've finished. What do you want to do now?" asked Hinata.

Sakura looked up to her friends standing in front of her; her eyes darting between the two for a brief moment before returning to her shoes.

"Let's find Badr and Esra and then we should get out of here."

"Why Sakura?" Ino asked quickly, narrowing her eyes.

"Because we need to get back to figuring out a way to get back home." Sakura stated as if it was obvious.

"No. That's not the reason." Ino stepped in front of Sakura, "You're hiding something again and I have a feeling it has something to do with that guy doesn't it?"

A tactful and sharp voice punctured Sakura's thoughts before she could come up with a reply to Ino. "Sorry to interrupt."

Sakura gasped softly, looking up at the approach of the two male figures. An extremely tall man, who without a doubt was a Fanalis and another man beside him, with white hair and visible freckles across his nose.

Sakura gasped as she looked at the white haired man "J-J-Ja'far...?"

The former assassin titled his head sharply in acknowledgment, "Sakura."

Her eyes trailed to the taller males standing beside Ja'far; the young man clad in gold armour with red hair and red eyes.

"Masrur?" Sakura gasped; the last time she had seen him Masrur was only but a child and now he had become this incredibly powerful looking man?

"Hello Sakura." he said in that same stoic tone he held since he was a child.

Ino and Hinata stepped in front to hide Sakura behind them but the pinkette stood up and moved to the front, holding out her arm as a barricade. "It's alright."

Ja'far addressed the three, "Before you make any plans; especially concerning travelling-

Sakura already knew what was going to be said and finished it, "He wants to have a meeting."

Ja'far nodded, "There's a few things that he wants to discuss-

"MOM COME QUICK." Esra and Morgiana ran over to Sakura, when they reached her, Esra started pulling her mother away from the others.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked,

"There's something wrong, with our friend Aladdin."

Aladdin was lying on the make shift bed set in the middle of a room that was moderately warm. His skin had become paler, his eyes were closed by his face contorted showing his distress. His breathing was shallow, heavy and pained. That was the condition Sakura had seen the boy in. He had apparently been feeding magoi to his djinn in the flute and he hadn't stopped even after collapsing. So Sinbad ordered the flute to be taken away from him. Currently, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Badr, Esra, Alibaba, Morgiana, Sinbad, Ja'far and Masrur were all crowded in the room.

Sakura placed her hand on Aladdin's forehead, sifting past his bangs and the red jewel on his head. Then she felt a spark of some kind, a surge or shock of familiarity hitting her in a wave that was short lived. Like waking from a dream, the feelings enticed within it strong but the memory and details of it gone. That was the best way to describe how Sakura felt when she looked at this boy with a tinging vague recognition.

'Solomon…'

Shaking her head, Sakura then looked at Hinata. "Hinata, tell me if you see anything."

"Right."

Hinata stepped forward, activating her Byakugan and thoroughly examining the boy's body to make sure that everything internally was healthy. "He looks fine, but his muscles are tightened and his heart beat is a bit slow."

"Ino." The blonde moved to help Sakura with the boy, lifting him up slightly to elevate him as Sakura checked his vital signs. After a thorough examination; there didn't seem to be much damage. So all Sakura could do was help Aladdin breathe easier by using her medical jutsu to give a short healing session to heal his body.

"Is he going to be alright?" asked Badr.

"After some time," Sakura murmured, frowning as she attempted to relive that feeling that had come over her when she saw this boy. But it vanished. "He's breathing easier at least; he's out of strength completely."

"He's used too much magoi." Sinbad told them. "Magi's might be able to use the magoi surrounding them endlessly but they are limited by their own physical ability."

Sakura looked down at the young boy, "So he's a magi too….?"

Aladdin's friends appeared distraught, including Badr and Esra. Sakura hardly ever seen them like this. Alibaba stormed out and Sinbad followed after him. Even without knowing the fully story of things, Sakura could practically feel the disruptive forces in the air and she wanted to get away from it, even though she clearly already swept up in it.

Sakura heaved a heavy sigh, "He should at least sleep better now. There's not much else I can do."

Sinbad glanced at her, with a light smile. "You haven't lost your touch."

A small jolt shot through Sakura when she glanced up at Sinbad but gave no response other than to turn away in a disheartened manner. She wanted nothing more than to leave before Sinbad got any inkling suspicions about her children. This world had caused enough complications without his hand and Sakura did not wish to endure anymore.

Badr and Esra were seated together in the corner of the room with Alibaba and Morgiana. As a means to break through the steel silence, Sakura direction her attentions towards the less intimidating individuals in the room for the moment.

"Okay, so would the two of your like to start explaining what's going on right now?"

Sakura didn't miss the glances between the two after she demanded her answers and she knew that the children were definitely debating on what they were going to tell her. There must have been quite a bit that had gone on when they were separated for that month-at least more than she thought would.

Eventually, Badr and Esra explained to the three women their happenings in that month they were separated. Esra explained how she met Morgiana and Aladdin (without bringing up the whole slave trader incident) and then how she ended up in Balbadd. Also meeting Sinbad along the way and that they helped him-leaving out the details of exactly how that occurred.

'So that's how she met him.' Sakura thought giving a brief glance over at Sinbad who was speaking to Ja'far.

Sakura then asked Badr how he ended up in Balbadd and the boy responded, saying he was teleported there from the beginning. He then met Alibaba and ended up with the Fog Troupe; a group of thieves who were the cause for one of Balbadd's domestic issues. Badr and Esra then explained to Sakura how they ended up meeting again; via the Fog Troupe who were out raiding a mansion and Sinbad who had decided to go after the Fog Troupe-but later joined after discovering the reason behind their actions.

Several minutes no one made a sound as they waited for Sakura to make the first response to the twin's overview of the past events.

"So let me get this straight…." Sakura inhaled softly, she pointed to Badr, "…You joined a group of thieves and you…" Sakura pointed to Esra. "Were assigned to hunt them?"

Both siblings rolled their bottom lips until there was nothing but the straight lines of their skin visible. Their postures stiff as they waited for what was to come.

Sakura was livid, at least now she knew how Sinbad had come to meet the twins and it didn't look like either were aware of their literal relation and she just had to somehow keep it that way.

"I joined the Fog Troupe because Alibaba and Cassim said they knew you."

"And so did Sinbad." Esra pointed out.

Ino and Hinata who had been silent for the most part looked around the room at all the individuals who claimed to know Sakura. It stands to reason that she must have been in this world longer than they initially thought, now it was a matter of placing exactly what kind of relationship Sakura had with these people for her to act the way she has been recently. They hadn't forgotten about what Sakura told them earlier on about not leaving this world on the 'best terms' with certain people and they happened to be in this country right now.

Hinata and Ino shared a knowing look as they realized the same thing. Without a doubt these were the people Sakura was speaking about. Only unfortunate fate had it that they would happen to meet Esra and Badr.

Hinata whispered to Ino, "What do you think happened?"

"I don' know." Ino whispered back, glancing around the room to make sure no one was watching them. "But we're going to find out. You don't avoid a guy who looks like that," Ino gestured to Sinbad with a curt tip of her head before coming back. "Without a really good reason."

Hinata just shook her head.

Sakura looked over at Alibaba as the boy sat with her children on the floor, along with the young Fanalis girl Morgiana. Soft strides she was in front of them, placing her hands in front of her lap, Sakura lightly bowed to the two.

"Thank you for looking out for my son and daughter."

Morgiana nodded lightly, and Alibaba smiled. "Uh yeah-oh by the way um miss Sakura-I'm-

"Alibaba." The pinkette smiled standing up straight again, "You remind me a lot of your mother, Anise."

It had been years since Alibaba heard anyone say his mother's name and coming from Sakura brought back the memories of those short moments the pinkette was with them in the slums. She had an odd warmth about her. She did not look at them the same way everyone else did. The way she looked at him and all of the children of the slums was the same way she was looking at him right now and that brought everything back in detail.

Sakura stroked the boy's head softly before pulling away. "You sure grew up fast. I can't believe you were that little boy who I was playing capture the flag with."

"Yeah," Alibaba looked down with a light blush on his face.

"So I guess you know the truth now about being a prince?" Sakura crossed her arms over her chest.

"Wait a minute," Sinbad interjected, "You knew about him too? How?"

Sakura shrugged lightly, "The former king of Balbadd might have told me when you weren't around and so did Alibaba's mother."

Sinbad looked away, running his hand over his face and muttering to himself that even after all this time, he was still finding that Sakura was keeping secrets from him but that wasn't really something he wanted to voice with everything else already filling the room with tension. There was still some matters he wanted to address but this was not the right time. It didn't make him any less eager or anxious to announce them though.

Then there was a chorus of ever growing murmurs from the outside, talking of a royal carriage arriving at the end of the road.

"What's going on out there?"

Alibaba and Morgiana immediately went to take a look. And-to Sakura's relief-Sinbad, Ja'far and Masrur followed as well. She didn't however miss the last moment's glance, their eyes met before he walked out. Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Badr and Esra followed soon after.

Sakura went outside along with Ino, Hinata and her twins. There was a royal carriage that had appeared; one of the guards that Sakura recognised from years ago went to open the carriage; which turned out to be holding an average sized man with black eyes and long dark wavy hair; dressed in fine robes suited for royalty and that's because this man was none other than the Deputy King of Balbadd, the second prince Sahbmad.

Alibaba and Sinbad immediately went to the front of the crowd that had gathered-most whom were on high alert by the appearance; to go and greet him.

"If it isn't Sahbmad." Sinbad greeted him as if he were an old friend. It wasn't that long ago when Sinbad had gone to have a meeting with him and his brother where he had been anything but this hospitable. "It's very brave of you to come out here among all these strangers. You're not here because Ahbmad told you to come are you?"

"No." Ahbmad said, crouching down to the ground, trembling. "I had to come to apologise. I put your life in danger."

"I see. So it was you."

Sakura watched from a distance with the rest of the crowd, she recognised the man from when he was younger. It doesn't seem like he had changed all that much from that one encounter.

"What's he doing here?" Sakura asked.

"You know who that is?" Ino said, although not really all that much surprised anymore.

"He's a member of the royal family of Balbadd, I think he's the second prince. I met him once when he was child." Sakura replied curtly, never taking her eyes off of the men speaking.

As they started to converse, Sakura paid close attention to what was being said.

Apparently, the leak from the military that Sinbad had discussed with them was the deputy king himself. He was also the one who informed the Fog Troupe that Sinbad was going to be hunting them, hence how they knew where to find him at the hotel.

"Sahbmad really did all that?" Alibaba asked.

Sinbad turned to Alibaba, "You didn't know?"

Alibaba looked away, "No…."

"I did it because of Alibaba." Sahbmad said timidly, looking away with a nervous expression. Although what he said did surprise his younger half-brother. "I thought that if Alibaba was leading the Fog Troupe, there might be hope for this country. Alibaba has always be able to do things that I couldn't. I want Alibaba to stop Ahbmad."

"Stop him?" Sinbad asked, holding out his hands in question. "What's so bad about Ahbmad that even his deputy king would choose to support the act of thieves?"

The rest of Sahbmad's explanation followed as to exactly why he would want Ahbmad, his older and 'full' brother to be stopped. It was then he gave the horrific explanation of all that has been happening in this country. It happened when the previous king had fallen sick. A man who called himself Banker had appeared before Ahbmad and offered him financial advice. During a time when trade with Parthevia had come at a standstill, Balbadd's economic situation was in trouble. He then introduced them to huang, a currency used initially by the Kou Empire, with a fixed value. For a while the banker had allowed them to borrow faun without interest but then after the economy became reliant on huang. There was an inflation on the currency and that had caused a loss. Eventually Balbadd had fallen into debt and had to pay back using the rights as collateral.

'The Kou…'

Sakura bit her bottom lip after hearing the Kou had used the paper currency and used as economic standard-especially when…

Sakura looked over Koumei's shoulder, as he read through some scrolls. These weren't from his leisurely materials though. They were actual important financial documents. "What are you doing?"

"Right now, just figuring out what to do about Kou's financial currency. We need to introduce it to the territories we've expanded on and there's some trouble with this. They refuse to use it because it's considered an 'inside' currency."

"You know, where I come from the value of our currency changes constantly, it fluctuates due. It's called inflation. So there's no fixed value."

"That's kinda like Huang here." Koumei stated

Sakura nodded and then jokingly added, "You know, you could probably take over a nation just by introducing the currency, since its value is dependent on the country that backs it."

"You think so?"

"Sure, with paper money the value isn't fixed so people can charge as much as they want and can keep increasing it. If a country other than Kou were dependant on this currency, then because Kou is the supplier of this currency they would evidently fall in debt. Of course I'm pretty sure most would see this ahead of time."

Taking back to that memory, something definitely did not sit well with Sakura then. What she heard afterwards only made her stomach's pit sink further. She hoped that she hadn't had an informal hand in this. Then again, she and Koumei talked plenty about expansion methods and colonizing of a country on account of their variety of knowledge on the subjects and their different painted intellects that would blend well enough to create new ideas on these matters.

"Despite the country's dire state, the nobles and higher ups were still living well. They wanted more faun but realized that there was no collateral. But then Ahbmad found some….in the people. He's going to use the people's rights as collateral."

Alibaba frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

Sahbmad shook in terror, clutching the side of his heads. "Ahbmad is going to turn Balbadd into a slave production country!" Eyes shut to hide the terror was futile as the deputy king couldn't mask his expression, the sweat running down his face as visible as his shaking form. "Every day Ahbmad spends money like water. The nobles and bureaucrats care about nothing but protecting their luxurious lives so they follow Ahbmad without question."

Morgiana, who had been standing silently the entire time was now tensed to the point of rived stillness, "Deputy King!" Sahbmad looked her way. "Did you come here because you want us to stop Ahbmad's plans?"

The man responded with a curt nod, "Th-That's right."

Morgiana stomped over to Alibaba, placing her hands strongly on his shoulders. "Let's put an end to this madness Alibaba!"

That statement had everyone quickly riled, including the Fog Troupe, the citizens joined with them and all of Alibaba's friends. They turned to the third prince for aid but Alibaba was just as shaken by the news and there was doubt in his eyes as he failed to reply to the voices of the individuals that were looking to him for the solution to this dire situation. This was the consequence of revealing his identity as the prince and therefore ignited the spark of hope in the people; that he would be the one they could turn to in their hour of need.

But Alibaba did not feel he was the best person for this.

Sahbmad then told them that Ahbmad was to marry a Kou princess and when the contract was signed, the people's rights would be handed over to the Kou Empire.

Sinbad then spoke, "I will ask Sindria's allies to submit a formal objection to the government of Balbadd. I'll definitely put an end to Ahbmad's absurd idea to sell his own citizens as slaves."

Watching from the distance, Ino looked back to her pink haired friend with a worried gleam in her face.

"Sakura; what exactly have we just crashed into?"

Sakura was staring at Sinbad's back, but when he turned around, she spoke.

"Trouble."

This was more than just being stuck between a rock and a hard place; Sakura could usually just destroy the rock but right now she was trapped between her kids, Sinbad, Ino, Hinata and a lot of other past individuals that have come out all at once. Everyone was going to need answers and she wasn't sure she could keep them to herself for much longer.

Ino rubbed the back of her head as she watched the commotion around her; it was going straight pass midnight and everyone was still bustling about. Things were enough of a catastrophe getting sent to another world and losing Sakura's children, but now it seemed that everyone that the pinkette knew from this world was coming out of the woodwork. It wouldn't have been such a problem if Ino didn't think her best friend was hiding something else from then. There had been a shift since arriving in Balbadd-rather since bumping into the people she apparently knew from here.

She watched with suspicion as Sinbad walked over to them, but his eyes were fixated only on the pinkette.

"It looks like things are going to get busy here." Sakura commented.

Sinbad nodded seriously, "It does. So before anything else surprises us, can we talk?"

There was a sharp and determined look on Sinbad's face that told Sakura she wasn't going to have much of a choice in the matter.

"Okay…"

..

..

..

..

..

After distinctly telling Esra and Badr to stay close and not wander; Sakura left with Sinbad, Masrur, Ja'far, Hinata and Ino, in an empty room in one of the old buildings, sitting a table, Sakura on one end with her friends and Sinbad on the other with his. As the two were in the centre on either side, it became clear where all focus would lie. There they were expected to be the ones to break the daunting silence and yet they barely moved an inch.

Hinata glanced over the pinkette towards Ino, seeing that she was just as uncomfortable as Hinata was about this situation. Obviously they were both curious for answers but they weren't counting on this kind of awkwardness.

Sinbad looked at Sakura.

Sakura looked at Sinbad.

"So," Sakura started, clenching her fists under the table.

"So…" Sinbad mimicked softly, tensing to keep his feet from shaking under the table.

Ino and Ja'far both interrupted. Ino slammed her hand on the table and Ja'far stepped forward from being Sinbad, realizing that his king wasn't going to be able to take the lead on this one.

"So-can one of you just start talking-

"In actual sentences." Ino finished for Ja'far.

Sakura and Sinbad pulled similar expression and directed them towards their so called friends before turning back to face on another. It was as if the butterflies in their stomach had turned to wasps and were stinging them inside.

Had this been a regular meeting between former partners, then perhaps the atmosphere wouldn't be so heavy everyone else could actually feel it. But this was Sinbad and Sakura; their relationship back then was anything but ordinary and that included their separation. It was a mutually disdained agreement. One that would only prove hazardous should they meet again, but that wasn't possible-at least it wasn't supposed to be.

"Where should I start?" Sakura finally asked.

"Well, I got a briefing beforehand but I'd like to hear on your side how you're here." Sinbad said, arms crossed in a defensive manner, struggling to maintain eye-contact with the pinkette.

"It's a long story."

"We've got some time."

Ino coughed, holding up her hand slightly. "Yeah before we get into that, could we…" Ino gestured between her and Hinata. "Get a little layout of how you all know Sakura? Like a crash course or something?"

The room went silent again and glances were exchanged between Sinbad, Sakura, Ja'far and Masrur.

Starting with introductions, Sakura gestured between everyone in the room as she introduced them. "These are my friends, Hinata Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka. They're close friends of mine from my village. Ino, Hinata, this is Masrur, Ja'far and….Sinbad." she paused. "They were friends I use to travel with while I was in this world."

There was a brief greeting between the five then and Sakura took that time to catch her breath and attempt to calm her wracking nerves but it was nearly impossible.

"So, you know that we're not from here?" asked Hinata.

Ja'far nodded, his arms neatly folded in the confines of his long sleeves. "Yes."

Sakura looked at Sinbad, "You told them?"

"Everything." Sinbad confirmed, causing the pinkette to swallow heavily.

"There a problem?" Sinbad asked.

Sakura shook her head but she missed when Sinbad muttered 'we'll see about that' but with such a low tone it was barely a whisper.

Sinbad had his arms crossed, a solemn expression on his face. "So you've already explained things to your friends?"

Sakura stretched her bottom lip in a crooked manner and flicked her head. "More or less."

Ino scoffed, "Yeah, we're pending for the full explanation."

"Well perhaps I can help with that," Sakura immediately gave Sinbad pointed look at his suggestive statement. There were certain things in this world she preferred to keep hidden behind the curtain and out of the view of Ino and Hinata, (as well as Badr and Esra). "But before that….There's a few things I would very much like to clarify as well. So Sakura; you can start."

'Oh crap.'

Sakura gave Sinbad more or less the same explanation that Badr and Esra had given to him about how they arrived in this world. The unusual mirror that transported them without warning and Sakura having none of her metal vessels on her because of the circumstances they were under when the occurrence took place. Sakura went as far as explaining that she, Ino and Hinata tracked Esra to Ballbadd.

Sinbad seemed captivated as he listened to her. "I see. But who was the women that appeared before you were transferred back here?"

Sakura's eyes hardened, "It was a member of the royal family of Kou. Gyokuen Ren."

It was like the wrong chord was struck during a solo master piece, what had given way to a story and now leaving a sour taste for the rest of the performance.

"What?" Ja'far asked in disbelief.

"The Kou again…." Sinbad narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know exactly why we were brought back here, but I think it has something to do with Al-Thamen." Sakura said. "Gyokuen mentioned it and also….Falan."

Sinbad inhaled sharply and exchanged a concerned look with Ja'far.

"Falan." Sinbad clenched his jaw, recalling the former Parthevian magician. He had encountered her after Sakura left and it had not gone as pleasantly. It wasn't a day he cared to go back to. Although it was clear now that the Kou Empire was involved with Al-Thamen and knowing that they were responsible for teleporting Sakura back to this world, it made him even more cautious and worried.

For a number of reasons.

"So…they're involved but you don't know their motive?"

Sakura shook her head, her brows creased and forehead drawing worry lines along the often smooth skin. "I know that it has something to do with bringing us here to this world but other than that, I don't know. Do you know anything else about Al-Thamen other than what Falan told us?"

"Let's just say we're aware Al-Thamen's not to be trusted." Sinbad stated. "And the fact that they brought you here without explaining their motive is cause for worry. Not to mention Judar's association with the Kou Empire."

"Speaking of the Kou;" Ja'far interjected, scanning everyone in the room. "How did you get the princess to retreat?"

Save gave the story on how she, Hinata and Ino ended up running into Kougyoku and Judar in the market place. While Sakura was sceptical, she told them that she was surprised to find that Kougyoku was completely oblivious about the matters at hand and Judar even more so because he was completely stunned to see Sakura again.

Sinbad chuckled dryly, "I forget that you had relations with Kou."

Narrowing her eyes, Sakura chose not to comment or they might end up taking the path down that subject and now was not the time for that nor was it appropriate in the time span that it would be pertained to. There was also something far more disconcerting that Sakura was stressing about and ever since seeing Sinbad again, that worry continued to linger above her like a dark phantom that she wanted to rid herself of. Although since it hadn't come up-immediately she stopped train of thought for if it arrived at its destination, Sakura was afraid she might have just tempted fate.

"So," Sakura straightened her posture, aligning her back with the rest of the chair. "What are you doing here in Balbadd?"

"Move it, will you!"

"Quit shoving me, mini-monster."

Esra shoved her brother lightly to the side, pressing her ear up against the door. On one side, she and Morgiana were piled against the door and on the opposite side was Badr and Alibaba listening in on the 'private' conversation that was of such importance they had to exclude everyone under eighteen. In a moment of natural childish mischief and curiosity, Badr and Esra followed after them and so had Morgiana and Alibaba as they fell for the group dilemma of contagious curiosity.

"What are they saying?" asked Alibaba.

"Shut up so you don't have to ask!" Esra hissed, leaning in closer with Morgiana closely beside her.

Sinbad's eyes fell on the ring hanging on Sakura's neck, and his eyes softened. Sakura averted her eyes, covering the rings with her hand. She didn't look to her right or left since she was cornered.

"Well, I came here for diplomatic reasons that I needed to take care of with Ahbmad but I found myself drawn into this countries domestic issues that I couldn't simply leave alone. See Balbadd had cut off trade with Sindria, so I came to resolve the problem but then we were told that because of the Fog Troupe it wasn't possible to resume trade. Out of respect for the former king, I chose to become personally involved and to capture the Fog Troupe."

There was evident confusion on Sakura's expression, she remembered the explanation from Badr as well as the message she read about Alibaba being the leader of the Fog Troupe. Some things were not coinciding well. "If that's the case, why are you with the Fog Troupe?"

"Because he's fickle and chose to switch sides." Masrur chided blankly.

Sakura nearly rolled her eyes, it seems that some things never changed. "Why didn't you just use your djinn equip to resolve the problem, as you use to?"

Before Sinbad could defend himself, Ja'far stripped him of his shield. "Because he passed out drunk on the road to Balbadd and was robbed of all his metal vessels."

For the first time since their encounter, Sakura nearly laughed but covered her mouth, pressing her hands against her lips to silence herself and ended up with a small snort.

"Thanks for that Ja'far." Sinbad glared at Ja'far who shrugged. He then turned back to Sakura. "So what are you planning on doing now?"

Another moment of silence fell over before Sakura replied, "Not too sure to be honest. We were busy looking for Badr and Esra after leaving the dungeon, I wasn't able to think that far ahead."

"It's usually your strong suite." Sinbad stated, and Sakura could sense the smile on his face when he did. It was difficult for her to be in his presence-not only him, Ja'far and Masrur not to mention they were all crammed in the same room with Ino and Hinata. This made her feel like she was in the worse position. The only thing that could make this worse was having Badr and Esra here as well.

"Well….We've still got to deal with the situation in Balbadd; but after that I can help you address this problem."

It wasn't a question or offer-it was a statement that couldn't have been clearer to Sakura. It was then she remembered exactly the kind of situation she was in. If she aligned herself with Sinbad again then she would constantly have a blade hanging over her head, ready to crack her skull and let the rest of her secrets fall out.

"I don't think you could-

"One of my generals is a magician, she might be of some help about this. She's an expert in magic." Sinbad told them. "You can come back to my country and I'll help you sort this out."

Blonde eyebrows knitted together, Ino spoke "Wait, you have generals?"

Sinbad nodded, "Yes, eight-two of them are Ja'far and Masrur here."

"Then…you would be…?" Hinata trailed and Sakura bit her bottom lip to stop herself from screaming. She wasn't in rights to stop Sinbad from revealing his identity-she just hoped that was all he would reveal.

Ja'far reintroduced Sinbad; giving in details that Sakura had purposely left out. "He is our leader and King. King Sinbad, the ruler of the country Sindria."

Ino spluttering, pointing at Sinbad. "You're a king?!" Sinbad nodded, she then turned to the pinkette. "Sakura did you know this?"

Sakura sighed, rubbing the corners of her eyes. "Of course I did."

Ino crossed her arms, glaring at the pinkette. "You know a lot of people in high places in this world, yet you haven't thought to go to any of them for help? First it was that princess and now this guy. Why is that?"

"What you mentioned earlier…" Hinata trailed, pertaining to Sakura saying she wanted to avoid certain people in this world.

Sinbad interjected before Sakura could come up with a response. "I might have an idea…."

Sakura looked back at him, their eyes met and held and something sunk from Sakura's throat to the pit of her stomach at Sinbad's sudden change in expression, even Ja'far and Masrur's aura's seemed to change.

"There's actually one more topic I need to address-or rather two."

It was as if her heart stopped.

Sakura swallowed heavily, "What is it?"

"The real reason you didn't reach out for help…." Sinbad took a moment to gather his thoughts in confronting the last thing he thought he ever would have to. "I might have a pretty good and also somewhat terrifying hypothesis as to why you would want to avoid everyone you know in this world." Sinbad clasped his hands together tightly, his knuckles turned white. Sakura felt as if her entire body had just been covered with a blanket of discomfort, urging her to fidget but she did not want to move an inch. The scenario was that of prey facing off with predator, one false move and they'll go for blood. And Sinbad was aiming for the jugular.

"I highly doubt that Sinbad." Sakura stated, attempting to stand her ground, even though she was standing in a sink pit.

As the prey took a step back, the predator took a leap forward. "It's been what….almost ten years since you were here right?"

Sakura's body stiffened; like prey attempting to play dead before fleeing but forgot that some predators liked to play with their food.

"And the last night when before you left when we said our goodbyes, the moon was what, half-new-quarter?" Sinbad continued until he heard Sakura's breath hitch sharply. Her eyes slightly widened as it dawned on her and that was all the confirmation Sinbad needed to know that the theory that had been, robbing him of his calm interior was about to reveal the answer.

"You know…don't you?" It felt more like a statement to Sakura than a question it had come out as.

Ino frowned, "Know what?"

"Sakura?" Hinata trailed but there was no response as it seemed that she and Ino became little more than ornaments in the room to Sakura.

"So…" Ja'far trailed narrowing his eyes. "It is true."

"You're surprisingly calm though…I thought you'd have more of a reaction." Sakura stated evenly.

Sinbad gave a humorless and short laugh, forcing it out to lighten the tension in vain. "I already had my episode. So don't worry about that." Sinbad then rubbed his temples, stretching his skin back and forth around his forehead but that did little to relieve the strain he felt.

"You're calm too Ja'far." Sakura said looking back to the young man.

"He tried to strangle me last night with his cords," Sinbad deadpanned, looking back at Sakura.

That was certain; last night was not peaceful for ether of them. Sinbad nearly passed out when he realized the high possibility and yet he wanted to hold onto the thought that this might have been a misunderstanding or miscalculation and that their theory was wrong, it was one of the reasons Sinbad was so anxious to see Sakura again; to get the final confirmation and now that he has….

Sinbad looked away for a moment before meeting Sakura's gaze again; he exhaled heavily, his head hung low a second and then straightened again. Then Sakura sighed in defeat but did not hang her head despite the urge to look away; she kept starring straight into those golden orbs.

"How did you figure it out?"

"I literally put two and two together." Sinbad stated dully.

She sighed again, "As expected of you…."

Ino then chided in, "Um, what's this about?"

Sinbad looked back at Ino and Hinata and then to Sakura. "You didn't tell anyone did you?"

Sakura shook her head, "Couldn't possibly."

"I do get that." Sinbad admitted, "And I'm not angry or anything like that. Just stunned."

The constant blurry curtain around their choice of words that made this conversation so vague was beginning to also cause an itch of annoyance and Ino wanted to tear it down.

"Okay look," Ino stood up from her seat in an attempt to tower over everyone although that was impossible considering who was in the room. "We might be a little late to this party, but Hinata and I have gone through hell along with Sakura. We've been transported to another world without warning, we haven't seen our husbands or children in a month and we have no idea how to get back home and everyone acting so damn aloof right in front of us isn't helping any! So it would be appreciated if you could brief Hinata and I, on this story so that we can all be on the same damn page, since we're all stuck in the same chapter!"

Again there was silence but within it, the gazes reached a consent and Sakura finally broke the silence. After contemplating, she decided that this was the time. There was no use to keeping it a secret now that it had already been figured out.

"Alright, one more introduction." Sakura said looking at Sinbad who gave a brief nod.
"….Ino, Hinata….this is Sinbad."

Ino frowned, "Sakura we already know that, why are you introducing him again."

Sakura clenched her fists tightly, "Because there's something I didn't tell you about Sinbad."

"What is it, Sakura?" asked Hinata.

"What did you tell us? Aside from the fact that he's a king?" Ino honestly didn't believe there was anything that could beat that revelation.

She soon found she was wrong.

The conquered of the seven seas chose to introduce himself then; his posture seemed straighter, his brought shoulders perfectly aligned and his chin raised strongly in a manner that demanded complete focus and attention on him alone.

"I'm also the father of Badr and Esra."

Everything went silent, inside the room and on the other end of the door and then something echoed through Balbadd's foggy night.

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"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"

DONE!

Well that's it everyone. I wanted to wait until my exams were over before I posted this chapter but I loved the reviews I was getting, I thought I'd give you one more before I went into study-mode hibernation for the next few weeks. I really do have a lot to get done. Don't worry, I'll be back eventually. And in the meantime….

DON'T FORGET TO REIVEW