26. Equal

Ultimately, it took many days—and several nights—to find her.

The door opens cautiously. "My Sultan…?"

"Are you in contact with your son?" she asks without preamble.

The woman's head snaps up, and already her eyes are wet. She nods.

"The riot… My mother…" Swallowing. "It was no one's fault.

"Please tell your son his exile is over."

Despite her father's reservations, she insisted. One child parted from a mother is tragedy enough.

Tears only brighten this mother's joy. "People said she was a vision, your mother. I say she had vision. And I see you are her equal."


A/N: Man, this could be so much more than 100 words. What we know about the death of Jasmine's mother is limited, so I used what few clues I could find. I think we can assume it likely took place outside the palace, hence Jasmine's virtual imprisonment from that point on. However, Aladdin's assertion that the people had nothing to do with her death, that they loved her, lead me to suspect that it could've been accidental. The idea of an escalating riot was just something I borrowed from one of the deleted scenes for convenience. Anyone have any alternate theories?