So a lot of you were not happy in the last chapter. What a way for me to come back from the dead, right? I do apologize for that however this has been the plan since the very beginning. She was always going to lose this baby, whether I'd publish this three years ago or five years from now. I apologize for making you all sad but it had to happen! I hope you continue to read anyways

This chapter can be very triggering if you've ever lost a baby so please skip it! I don't want to cause anyone any unnecessary grief. But this chapter is pretty dark.

Also, little side note, I realized that I have not written "in the heat of the fright" which is the episode that Mirage is originally introduced in. I'm most likely going to throw it in later as a flashback episode. That was my fault though, I accidentally skipped it. It will be written though so don't worry about that!

Disclaimer: I have no ownership over anything that has to do with Aladdin. So don't think so. Cause you'll be wrong. Then everyone will laugh at you. It'll be funny.

Chapter Forty-One:

A month had passed since I lost my baby. Everyday I woke up and for just one moment I would be in a bubble of peace. And then I'd remember everything and my world would turn grey once more.

I was numb to the world. Affection was a feeling of the past. I worried for the day Jasmine has her baby because I'm afraid I'll only be reminded of what I had lost. What if I couldn't bring myself to love him or her because I didn't know how to feel anymore? I could feel myself falling deeper and deeper into despair with each passing day.

So I kept myself locked in my room, away from everyone. Aladdin and Jasmine would have their little family, I had lost mine. I wanted to hate them for that and that scared me. I should be elated for my brother and sister in law.

I was too selfish, it seemed.

And then there was Genie. He and I could barely look at one another, let alone have a proper conversation. I felt so guilty for the loss of our baby and some part of me felt like he blamed me for it. I knew that wasn't possible, Genie would never put something like that against me. But the way he avoided me almost felt as if he did.

It didn't help that my guilt was eating me up on the inside. What if questions became my living hell. What if I had hidden better so that Mechanicles hadn't captured me. What if I had alerted someone to my arrival so that they could have better protected me. What if I had walked away as soon as I realized the danger I was putting myself in.

What if I had never left the palace?

Though from what the healer has said, my falling off the edge of a cliff wasn't what killed my baby. He'd been stillborn, gone long before I'd even gone into labor. According to the healer, he'd died two weeks prior, shortly after our run in with Mozenrath. When I thought about it, it was most likely because of a combination of being zapped by Mozenraths power and being pulled by his weird crystal thing that was meant to trap power. I knew the baby was also weak after the thirdac had sucked some of the magic away.

Those events are most likely why I lost my baby and they were all my fault. Genie begged me to stay home, to protect our vulnerable child. And I refused. I pushed and fought with him until I got my way. And now I was paying the ultimate price.

I wouldn't blame Genie if he hated me. I hated me.

So I just laid here, curled up in a fetal position and buried under blankets on my bed. There were some days where I never left this spot. Eating was always a chore for me and usually my brother would be the one to convince me to.

But I never talked to anyone. I hadn't spoken a word since I'd found out. People would come and go, pleading with me to open up to them. I tuned everyone out though. What was the point of any of this after I killed my baby.

Kristy was still here. I think she thought that she'd be the only one I'd open up to. However no one could pull me out of this ever growing black hole.

She tried though. She was the one who finally came into my room and ripped my blankets off of me. "You need to get up." Kristy scolded me, one hand still clutching my blanket and the other on her hip.

I stared blankly at her for a moment before turning my body the opposite way.

"Oh no, you don't! Kendra this has gone on long enough. I know you're hurting, really I do. But you can't spend the rest of your life in this bed. Your family needs you." Kristy tried to reason with me, but still I said nothing. "Genie needs you."

I sat up in a flash and glared at my friend. For the first time in a long time, I felt something. It was rage. "Don't. Don't you dare bring him into this. He doesn't need me, I'm the reason we lost our baby." I snapped. Then I felt the anger drain out of me. "If he was smart, he'd stay away from me."

"Kendra Marie Mahmad!" Kristys finally snapped, her voice louder than it was before. "You are not the reason the baby was lost. It was tragic, yeah, but no one blames you. And you know what else, Genie is out there hurting just as much as you are. So get off your damn ass and go grieve with your husband and family. You'll never move on if you don't try."

"MAYBE I DON'T WANT TO MOVE ON!" I leapt from the bed to stand toe to toe with my best friend. "I did this, Kristy. Everyone keeps telling me it wasn't my fault but it was. I kept pushing myself, going out on all these adventures when Genie would beg me to stay home." I gasped for a breath as tears streamed down my cheeks. "Oh God, I literally fought with him, Kristy. I questioned his trust and I pushed him away. All he wanted to do was protect me and the baby but I was so… so.. SELFISH."

I fell to my knees in a disheveled heap and my grief poured out in a flood of uncontrollable tears. Gut-wrenching sobs tore at my throat. Kristy kneeled down and encased me in her arms. She herself felt the oncoming tears as she held her best friend. In all their years of friendship, she had never seen Kendra this shattered before. It broke her heart.

Kristy couldn't even begin to understand the pain Kendra was in at that moment. She'd never experienced anything like this before. But she knew she'd be there for her, no matter what. So she just held her friend in arms. I was thankful she was there for me.

She held me until my sobs finally quieted. Kristy ran her fingers through my hair. I didn't move for several minutes after the tears stopped. When I pushed myself up into a sitting position, Kristy stayed put. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"Oh Kendra, you can't keep all this bottled up inside you. You need to talk to someone, anyone. Whether you believe it or not, we need you. Everyone misses you, even Iago." Kristy tried to joke. My lip upturned a little at that, the closet I'd been to a smile in so long. "Come on, just leave this room for a little bit. Spend some time with your loved ones."

I took a shuddering breath before nodding. "Okay." Kristy helped me stand up. "Just give me like twenty minutes to freshen up." My nose wrinkled. "It's been a hot minute since I bathed. Man do I miss showers. We should invent them a few thousand years early. "

Kristy laughed. "Girl I miss them too! We totally should. Now go, I'll just wait right for you."

After a quick bath, I brushed my hair and braided it. Honestly it was kind of nice to be clean again. I hadn't been taking the best care of myself lately. Putting on clothes that weren't pajamas was kind of a relief too. It almost felt like things were normal again.

Almost.

I joined Kristy in my room again and she offered me her arm. I accepted it and the two of us walked out of the bedroom.

We hadn't walked far when we ran into the Sultan, Aladdin and Jasmine. They were leading a tall, overweight woman- who reminded me vaguely of the Queen of Heart's from the animated "Alice in Wonderland"- on a tour throughout the palace. I'd gotten back most of my memories from my time in the other dimension. I wasn't sure why I'd lost them in the first place, I guess the baby's magic interfered with my mind somehow. It was weird.

Anyway, my family was surprised to see me out. "Kendra!" A heavily pregnant Jasmine exclaimed. She marched towards us and threw her hands around my neck. "I'm so happy to see you out and about. I've missed you." She practically cried in my ear.

"Hello Jas." I returned her hug. I thought it'd be hard to see her again, and I was scared that I'd resent her for still having a baby when I'd lost mine. But I just felt love for her and my niece or nephew.

Aladdin came up beside his wife and hugged me as soon as she let go. "I've missed you too sis." He told me after he pulled away. I took his hand and squeezed it before smiling sadly. Then I apologized for being absent this past month. "Ah don't sweat it, Kendra. You're here now, that's all that mattered."

"So who are these lovely ladies?" The Sultana asked before I could give a reply to my brother. "I was under the impression that you only had one daughter, Sultan."

"Yes, well I have only one biological daughter. Kendra and Kristy may not be related by blood, but I consider them daughters in my heart." The Sultan replied matter of factly. I felt touched by his words. After losing my dad, I never thought I'd get to feel a father's love again. Both the Sultan and Cassim loved me like I truly were their daughters and I felt so lucky to have the two of them in my life.

"Oh of course, I understand. I don't have any children of my own sadly, but I try to keep myself occupied. If the two of you aren't busy, I'd love for you to join us on our tour." The Sultana suggested.

Everyone turned to me, gauging my reaction. I looked to Kristy but she only nodded her head to let me know it was my choice. Well, I was already out of my room and it was refreshing to spend time with my family after so long. "Yeah okay. That should be fun." I consented.

"Splendid. Let us continue on then." The Sultan gestured for us to follow him. Kristy still held onto my arm as we walked. I was grateful to have her as my pillar of strength. Aladdin and Jasmine followed beside us. For a while, we walked in silence while the Sultan pointed out different rooms and artifacts to explain to the Sultana. I listened to him, slightly fascinated by his knowledge. I'd lived here for a few years now but had never been given a tour like this.

"What's in there?" The Sultana asked, interrupting him as he was explaining the history of a statue we'd just passed. I recognized the entrance, it was to the Sultan's toy room.

His face had heated up as he quickly tried to make up an excuse, "Here? Oh, just my private... study." He coughed. The Sultana opened the door to the toy room. She looked around the room, her face instantly lighting up when she saw what was inside. "Toys!" She gasped and ran in.

"Yes, well, I thought we were in the west wing. A thousand and one rooms, you know!" The Sultan chuckled in surprise. The four of us followed them into the room.

I was slightly amused watching the Sultana run around the room, clapping her hands with joy. Aladdin must have been as well. "I think the Sultana is made for your father, Jasmine." Aladdin chuckled to his wife. Jasmine shrugged, looking unsure. "Uh, hold that thought."

The Sultana was playing with all the toys, a little more roughly than the Sultan was comfortable with if his expression was anything to go by. "I just adore toys! Playing with little things is such fun!"She giggled in fascination. The Sultan ran behind her, setting each toy back it's rightful place.

"Pity that you must return to your kingdom so soon, isn't it?" The Sultan asked, though anyone could hear the relief in his voice. It was obvious that the Sultana made the Sultan very nervous. The Sultana shrugged and said she could squeeze in a few more. "Days?" The Sultan offered, but she shook her head.

"Weeks!" She nearly squealed, much to the Sultan's disappointment. It was obvious that he didn't know how much longer he could deal with her. "Oh, how... delightful." He replied weakly.

"Something tells me the Sultan is not thrilled by this new development." Kristy whispered in my ear. I nodded my agreement. Then my attention turned to Rajah. He had just entered the throne room. The moment he laid eyes on the Sultana, his ears fell flat against his head and he growled suspiciously.

That was peculiar.

"Rajah! That's no way to greet a guest." Jasmine chided as she waddled over to her tiger and put a firm warning hand on Rajah's back. I exchanged a look with Kristy before we joined Jasmine. I gently brushed my fingers through his fur and was surprised to feel that he was shaking.

"Oh, you can let him go. I'm a real cat person at heart." The Sultana shrugged as if the giant's cat growling did not bother in the least. Rajah slinked away, still growling. Aladdin shouted the tiger's name out, however the Sultana's attention was now elsewhere. She was looking over a model of Agrabah. "Dear Sultan, you must be so proud! Agrabah is a beacon of peace and prosperity."

"Oh oh oh! Very delicate! Oh my." He gasped, afraid for his most prized possession. If anything happened to his model, he'd be devastated. However, the Sultana ignored him and picked up the model buildings.

"An inspiration to the entire Seven Deserts. What with its wise and benevolent sultan. Happy and contented citizens." She said as she looked over them. The Sultan begged her to be careful as she held the model palace.. " A model of perfect, placid harmony. Which is why it must be destroyed!"

My head snapped up at that. I heard Jasmine gasp when the Sultana suddenly threw the palace down, smashing the entire model city to bits. The Sultan let out a cry as his hard work was destroyed before his eyes. The Sultana laughed at his pain. "Fools!"

"What the hell is going on." Kristy growled and immediately took a protective stance in front of me. Aladdin had done the same for Jasmine. Before another word could be said, Genie entered the room with an aggravated Rajah dragging behind him. My heart sped up a little at the sight of my husband. However it wasn't from happiness or love, it was fear. I was afraid of Genie. "I heard a crash and found this kitty." He was saying but the moment he laid eyes on the Sultana, he yelped in surprise.

The Sultana laughed before she transformed into a familiar villain. "Mirage!" Aladdin growled in disdain. We had had a run in with her a few months prior. I'd hoped not to see her again. Especially with how much she scared Genie. "When will you learn? Your stupid tricks can't beat me." Aladdin said, ignoring the fact that Genie had now disappeared.

"Until now. Poor Aladdin. While you were busy giving the sultana the royal treatment, I had already cast Agrabah's fate in stone." Mirage smirked deviously and pointed out the window. We all looked out to see a small black pyramid outside the city walls.

"A dark destiny will overcome your fair palace. The soul of the city will be ripped apart!"She laughed as she ripped up a kite hanging from the ceiling and disappeared. Genie came out of his hiding spot from behind a toy then. "Whew! Evil incarnate has left the building!"

"What could it do? It's just a pyramid." Aladdin shrugged, not really understanding what the big deal was. The pyramid started to rise out of the ground. "Actually, it's a obelisk." Genie informed him before pulling out some binoculars to get a closer look and then disappearing. I guess he decided to go take a closer look.

"What do you think it's for?" I spoke up for the first time.

Kristy and Jasmine both had puzzled looks on their faces. "Not sure, but if it's Mirages doing, it can't be good." Jasmine replied decidedly.

"Well, it's a nice monument, but I don't see— Genie!" Aladdin jumped in surprise when the blue guy reappeared. "Everything is going to be fine. Al, can I have a word with you?" He tried to reassure everyone before teleporting himself and Aladdin away.

Jasmine, Kristy and I all shared annoyed looks. Then Kristy crossed her arms and said, "Something's up. Let's go find them. These guys really need to learn how to share with the whole class."

We agreed with her and then the three of us took off towards the gardens. Sure enough, Aladdin was there with Genie, Iago and Abu. He was pacing back and forth with his head down, clearly deep in thought. He looked up at the sound of our footsteps and winced. "Guess I can't keep anything from you guys, huh?" He asked sheepishly.

"Of course not brother. We all know you too well. Now what's going?" I questioned, a hint of teasing in my voice. They looked surprised at that, I hadn't joked with anyone in so long.

Aladdin rubbed his chin. "Basically this obelisk has a killer shadow. As the sun sets and the shadow stretches, it makes everything in its path disappear. We were just about to go take a closer look at it. I knoooow Genie already has but I want to look at it myself."

"Well we're coming too." I told him firmly. It's been a while since I've gone on an adventure with my brother. Maybe getting back into some semblance of a routine will help me feel better. Jasmine and Kristy took my arms, as if to show us as a united force against the guys. The men looked as if they wanted to protest, but our determined glares shut them up quickly.

When we reached the obelisk, everyone just sort of stared at it. I shivered, feeling it's cold, dark power. This thing was pure evil in nature. "I've defeated Mirage before, I'll do it again." Aladdin attempted to reassure us. I don't think it worked very well, at least it didn't for me.

"And I'd be disappointed if you didn't try." Everyone jumped in surprise. Mirage's face had appeared on the surface of the obelisk. "I'll even give you a sporting chance. There exists a magic mirror that can stop the shadow, but it can only be found at the top of the world."

" Oh, how convenient!" Iago spoke up, not at all trusting the reflection before him. After all, this was the evil incarnate they were talking about. Trusting her word seemed to be really stupid. However, I knew my brother would ignore him. We all knew Iago had a point when it came to not trusting her. But this was Agrabah that we were gambling with. We'd do anything to protect this city and the people of it.

"Then don't go." Mirage growled back at the bird before turning back to Aladdin with mock sweetness. "And as the people of Agrabah succumb to their dark fate they will curse the hero who failed: Aladdin."

"We've gotta go get that mirror!" Aladdin exclaimed after she disappeared. The others looked uncertain but I agreed with him. We had to do something.

"Not necessarily. They haven't built the magical obelisk that I can't demolish!" Genie spoke up. Hearing my husband's voice brought back all those bad feelings of guilt and shame. Because of this, I was not able to look at him when he talked. Though I did chuckle quietly when Iago, Abu and Carpet backed up nervously. None of them had much faith in him, which Iago wasn't afraid to say. " I will find the precise point of the structural weakness."

I looked away from the obelisk, and my husband, to stare out at Agrabah. Sometimes I wondered about my dimension but I had always felt like Agrabah was where I was meant to be. Lately though, my mind kept going back to the place I was born. There wasn't really anything there for me, my family was all here, but it would be a fresh place to start over. Losing my baby had cast my world into a depressing state of grey. Perhaps going home would provide me with a new start.

Those thoughts were dangerous and I shook my head to get rid of them. I should be happy here. I had my best friend, two father figures, and brother and sister with a baby on the way, a wicked cool tiger and two (mostly in one case) talking pets/friends and a husband who I knew loved me more than anything in this and every other universe. Lately, my shame kept me from seeing how incredible this all was.

"Ooh ooh! Ow!" Genie's exclamation of pain broke me from my thoughts. "Maybe you'd better look for that mirror, just in case." He informed my brother sheepishly.

"Maybe?! What're you waiting for?! That shadow is creeping straight to the palace! A place I like to call home." Iago shouted at Aladdin, who rolled his eyes.

"How about Aladdin and I go try and find this mirror thing. Jasmine, you stay at the palace. It might be a good idea if Kristy stays with you too. I don't trust Mirage. She might be up to something more than just this obelisk thing. Genie," I delegated before lifting my head up to meet my husband's eyes. His expression was unreadable, which was honestly kind of strange. He was always such an open book. I swallowed. "You stay here and see if you can do something about this thing."

Neither of us broke our gaze for several moments, not even when he gave a sharp nod in agreement. It wasn't until Kristy spoke up that we looked away. I had a funny feeling in my chest that I didn't know how to explain. "Are you sure you're up for this?" My best friend asked.

I smiled weakly at her. "I don't know, but I'll never get back on my feet if I don't ever try."

"I think that's a great idea. It might be best if you accompany Al here while Kristy stays with Jasmine." Genie spoke up. A small, dark part of me wondered why he was so eager for me to leave. Did he want me away from him? Did I repulse him so much that the thought of me staying here in Agrabah was horrible? It couldn't be true, of course. Genie loved me. Right? "You guys go, and dress warm."

Genie zapped Aladdin and I into shorts and tank tops. "Oops, sorry." He chuckled sheepishly before zapping us into winter clothes.

"Thanks, Genie. Come on, Carpet." Aladdin nodded and motioned for Carpet to follow him and I. However, Jasmine stopped us before we went anywhere. "Wait! Doesn't anyone think it's odd that Mirage told us about the mirror? It could be a trap." Jasmine pointed out and I had to admit that she had a point.

"But she probably thinks we think that. Or would she think that we think that she thinks that? Ooh, she's tricky!" Iago tried to reason, however he just ended up confusing himself and everyone else even more. They both had a point however, there was no way to tell what Mirage had planning.

"She thinks I can't do it, but she has a surprise coming! Let's go! Top of the world, Carpet!" Aladdin said as he helped me onto Carpet. Both Iago and Abu were joining us on our mission. We took off, leaving behind Genie, Jasmine and Kristy.

XxRebelWriterxX

"So where exactly do we find this mirror?" I asked my brother as we flew over what was essentially the North Pole. It amazed me how quickly Carpet could get us to places but I supposed that was because he was magic. I was thankful for the warm clothes Genie had given us but it was still difficult to adjust when you lived in the sweltering desert.

"Something tells me we're close!" Iago spoke up as he looked around the frozen wasteland. Aladdin seemed to agree with him. "We're getting warmer, I feel it." He said. Abu shivered and repeated the word warmer questionably. In his opinion, things were getting colder. "Look!"

We had just arrived at an ice cave shaped like a scary face. Everyone eyed it suspiciously, I don't think any of us were getting a good feeling about the place. Iago had no problem letting his opinion known. "New plan: we evacuate the palace and live in exile on some resort island. There's no shame in that." He said.

"We're going in!" Aladdin decided however, completely ignoring what the bird had suggested. We flew into the cave slowly all on high alert for any danger. " Nada. No mirror. Carpet, let's move." Iago nearly demanded.

Suddenly Mirage's shadow appeared on the wall of the cave. "Congratulations, Aladdin. You have reached the enchanted cavern. Deep within you will find many mirrors, but only the one that reflects the truth beneath appearances will save your city." She instructed with an almost sly grin.

"What if we choose the wrong mirror?" I asked, slightly nervous to know the answer. Mirage just laughed before her shadow disappeared. "How rude." I hugged while Iago let us know that he was freaking out now.

"This way!" Aladdin motioned and we all followed him deeper into the cave. We came into a room and I nearly gasped in amazement. "A lot of mirrors..." Aladdin whispered in awe and disbelief.

There were mirrors covering the walls of the cave. Abu stood near several of them and they all either reflected himself or the reflection of himself.

"Whew! For a minute I thought it was a room full of monkeys!" Iago suddenly exclaimed, much to Abu's chagrin. "Don't let him touch anything! Remember the Cave of Wonders incident."

Abu began chattering angrily at Iago, but he ignored him and began looking at himself in the mirrors. I was amused to see that Carpet was doing the same thing. Aladdin shook his head. "You're beautiful. Come on!" He said, almost sarcastically. I looked around, mumbling to myself about the truth behind the appearance. "What does that mean?" Aladdin wondered aloud. Abu was looking in a mirror that made him look muscular.

"Let's just make a random selection and- Hello!" Iago suddenly exclaimed. He landed next to another mirror. This one showed him wearing gold and jewels. "I like this mirror. It knows that greatness lies beneath my feathered exterior."

Aladdin walked past a mirror that showed his reflection wearing his normal "streetrat" outfit. He picked it up. " I found it!" He said at the same time Iago tried to pull his own mirror free, with little success. "Iago! No!"

"Got it!" Iago smirked in victory when he pulled the mirror free of the ice. However, just like the incident in the Cave of Wonders, the cave began collapsing. Mirage's voice suddenly rang throughout, saying that it had been the wrong choice while Aladdin shouted for everyone to get out. " Fine by me!"

I tried to run towards Carpet when I was suddenly yanked backwards. Turning around, I saw that my cape was pinned down by a large icicle. There was an ominous cracking noise and when I looked up, I saw another huge icicle about to fall directly on me. "Well shit." I cursed and tried to pull my cape free. It wasn't budging and so I tried fumbling with the buttons to get it off. Aladdin flew over and helped me get it off just in time.

Carpet picked them Abu and Iago before we all flew towards the exit. However, Aladdin realized something and stopped them. "Wait! The mirror!" He shouted. Carpet zoomed back into the collapsing cave and Al grabbed it just in time. Then we were out of there, flying as fast as we could while it completely collapsed behind us.

"Does anyone else feel like that was just a little too easy? Everything just sort of fell into place, you know?" I pondered out loud.

"No, everything fell in that place." Iago snorted. Everyone glared at him while Abu pointed at him and began to chatter angrily. Iago shrugged. "It was not my fault! I picked a good mirror. That cave just wasn't built to code, that's all." He defended himself.

"I just don't trust Mirage." I said with a small frown.

Aladdin nodded in agreement. "She is evil incarnate. Of course she can't be trusted. But she can be beat." He replied firmly.

XxRebelWriterxX

When we arrived back at the palace, I could tell that Aladdin was too confident in our win. However I still had the strange feeling that everything wasn't okay. I don't know why, per say, I just didn't trust how easy it was to get the mirror. Sure the cave nearly collapsed on us, but that was mostly due to Iago's incompetence and narcissism.

We were greeted by the Sultan, Jasmine and Kristy. They all had wide grins on their faces and for some reason this unnerved me. The Sultan went over to my brother when we landed. "Aladdin! Good news, I trust?"

"Eh, Mirage never had a chance." Aladdin waved him off. I didn't like how Aladdin was just waving it off. Sometimes my brother's cockiness was irritating.

Genie suddenly flew in through the window and lifted Aladdin up in the air. He also had a wide grin on his face. His eyes seem to be sparkling in a way that I hadn't seen since we lost the baby. Now I definitely had alarm bells going off in my head. I know Genie and I have been estranged for the past month but there was no way he could be this joyful, not when our little family was falling to pieces. "Oh, yes! The home team has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat!" Genie cheered.

"I thought you were working on the obelisk?" Aladdin asked. He looked just as confused as I was. I finally saw a spark of suspicion in my brother's expression. That's good, I thought he was losing it or something. It was almost too obvious that something was wrong. "Oh, pshaw. I knew I could kick back when you got that magic mirror." Genie grinned, basically confirming our fears. My husband knew a lot of things, but there was no feasible way for him to know we had returned with our target.

"How did you know we found the mirror? We literally just got back." I prodded, my voice coming out more icy than I truly meant it to. I just didn't have a good feeling. Something was telling me that this wasn't my husband. "It's not like you were there to help when we nearly got iced!" Iago yelled, Abu was quick to agree with him.

"Well, I am a genie. I know these things." Genie laughed and then he suddenly wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. I stiffened in surprise. We hadn't had any contact in so long, it almost felt foreign. A part of me felt warm and fuzzy at being in the arms of my husband again, but a larger part also knew that this wasn't right. I don't know how, but I knew this wasn't my husband. Even if he did theatrics like Genie did. He had now pulled away from me and turned himself into a chef. 'I know why the French eat snails," Genie turned into a triangle, "I know the hypotenuse of the Bermuda triangle," He went back to his normal form, "and most of all, I know that you had better stop that shadow!"

"No problem. I'll be back in time for a late lunch." Aladdin shrugged before hopping onto Carpet and flying out of the palace. He wasn't gone very long when we heard the sound of people cheering outside. I looked out the window and watched as Aladdin flew around the city, basking in the praise he received.

"Aladdin has triumphed! Come, Princesses!" The Sultan exclaimed before walking away, confusing me even more. He had never called Jasmine or I that before. I wanted to say something, but before I could, I was interrupted by Aladdin's return. "Here he is, dearest!" The Sultan pointed out to his daughter as my brother flew into the window. Aladdin informed us that it had been a piece of cake to take the obelisk down. "Bravo, my boy! You have earned a richly deserved rest." The Sultan congratulated. What a strange way for him to word that.

"Dudes, it's time to par-tay all night!" Genie cheered. He picked me up and spun me around. I gasped in surprise and demanded he put me down. He didn't look too worried by the icy tone in my voice. He just put me down and continued on his way, dancing as he walked.

XxRebelWriterxX

Things were getting weirder and weird as time passed. Currently Genie was sculpting a statue of Aladdin. Genie did weird things all the time but this was a whole new level. "This one's for you, Al. It is called, "Hero Who Has Saved City From Many Deadly Dooms, But None So Nasty As Most Recent." He announced cheerfully.

"Hm, it's lovely, Genie. But I prefer the real thing." Jasmine chuckled as she took Aladdin's arm and snuggled into his side. "Me too!" Iago's obnoxiously loud voice suddenly split through the air. Everyone turned to see Iago, Abu, and Carpet all standing in the doorway. "Hi, Al, buddy!" He grinned and the other two quickly mimicked him.

"Uh, you guys okay?" Aladdin asked. Iago waved him off and said they were fine before gesturing for Abu to go first. Abu denied his offer and told him to go first. So Iago insisted he did so. Never before I had seen those two get along this well. It was disturbing on some many levels. Even Aladdin had an astonished look on his face. "My friend, let us enter together, as brothers, as equals." Iago finally decided and they walked into the room with their arms around each other.

I shot my brother a worried look. "Aladdin, don't you think they're acting a little... strange." I asked. Aladdin merely raised his eyebrows and repeated a little with almost disbelief.

" Hey, get with it! Those two kids have caught that good time lovin' feeling! I know how that feels anytime I see my beautiful wife." Genie exclaimed with a wink in my direction. I just raised an eyebrow and turned towards the Sultan as he entered the room. " My dear boy! The whole city is cheering for you! Once again you have defeated that nefarious creature Mirage!" The Sultan chuckled and clapped his hands together.

"Was there ever a doubt? And, uh, that still bothers you, huh, Kendra?" Aladdin asked me almost guiltily. I frowned slightly. "Aladdin, it's not that I doubt you. Something feels... wrong."I replied in hopes that he'd listen.

"Indeed. It's wrong that our young hero is not celebrating victory!" The Sultan shouted and began to pull Aladdin out of the room, Jasmine and Kristy following quickly behind them. I'd honestly forgotten they were both in the room. Neither one of them had spoken much, which was certainly odd. They both always had an opinion about things. More and more things were not making sense. I watched them leave before deciding to go to my room.

When I walked in, I couldn't help but scan my surroundings. Even my own bedroom felt off. I always got a weird feeling in my head anytime I walked into a room I'd never been in before. So far, I'd gotten it in every single room I'd been in since we landed. "Something just isn't right here." I mumbled to myself. Genie suddenly materialized in front of me, scaring me just a bit. "What are you doing, hiding in here my love. You should be partying up with everyone else! Woo!" Genie laughed and began to dance around me. I frowned at my husband's imposter and shook my head.

"Who are you? You are not Genie." I growled angrily.

Genie suddenly began to morph and in his place stood Mirage. I gasped in surprise. "Well, well, it seems the street rat princess is smarter than she appears." She laughed at me. I blinked and suddenly we were inside Mirage's sphinx-shaped home. " Welcome to my home, Princess Kendra. Your little friends missed you so much."

"What?!" I exclaimed as Iago, Abu, and Carpet all ran up to me, looking desperate.

"Kendra! You're here to rescue us, right?" Iago asked, though it sounded more like a beg. Mirage informed him that he was wrong, I'd come too close to 'spoiling her fun with Aladdin'. "But the kid beat your stupid shadow! We all saw it with our own eyes!" Iago reminded her, not completely understanding the situation. I sighed and said that you had to see the truth beneath the appearances. "One mistake and you people hold it against me forever."

"No, I mean that wasn't really Agrabah. It was all a mirage!" I explained, my eyes widening in disbelief. How could they all have fallen for her trap"

"Exactly. And what a mirage! The counterfeit Agrabah was easy, but to make convincing copies of you, that took a little research by," She transformed in the sultana from earlier, "the sultana." Mirage smirked as if she had just completed the greatest victory of all.

"So it was all phony. The palace, the fish kabobs, everything!" Iago gaped. He did not like this at all. I shook my head. "Not all of it is, Aladdin is very much real.."

"And the arrogant hero is having too much fun as a winner to realize that he is about to be the loser." Mirage smirked before using her magic to show them Aladdin standing with copies of our entire family. It was trippy to see a version of myself with my brother. However I couldn't help but feel a coil of fear in the pit of my stomach. My brother could very well be in over his head and not even realize it.

XxRebelWriterxX

Time passed slowly in this strange world. I wished we had another mirror or something so we could see what was going on in the real world. But Mirage had left nothing when she had disappeared minutes before. I was laying on Carpet as he floated lazily above Iago and Abu. I think we were all wishing for something to happen.

Then, suddenly, we were in the desert.

Aladdin stood in front of us, Mirage at his side. She was smirking at the five of us. "Now what." Iago groaned. I rolled my eyes and replied that Mirage had clearly brought us here to gloat. She had won, Agrabah was gone. "Can you blame me? It's sunset and Aladdin is stranded in the middle of the desert. Time is up, and the hero has fallen." Mirage laughed victoriously

" Oh, I don't know about that, Mirage." I looked at the obelisk in surprise, having heard Genie's voice come from it. It had turned into a giant totem with my husband's face on it. "Psych!" He grinned, much to Mirages horror. "Can't you tell a mirage when you see one?" Genie asked before he "rolled up" the fake sky, and they could see that it was still not quite sunset. Iago looked confused, saying that he wasn't completely clear on what was happening, but thought it was a good thing. "So, for starters, we're not out of time yet!"

"And Aladdin?" I asked. Genie grinned at me and shouted at Aladdin to come out. He did so, flying on Carpet while holding the mirror. "Thanks Genie." He called out to his best friend as he flew by with a wave.

"It cannot be!" Mirage gasped, not at all liking this change of events. Aladdin and Carpet flew towards the palace. Genie chuckled and said something about it being a good thing that he checked his messages. However, that was when Mirage zapped him. "No one makes a fool of Mirage!"

Genie coughed. "Kids, don't play evil incarnate. Somebody always gets hurt." He managed to squeeze out before he passed out. Mirage teleported away, leaving me alone with the animals. Genie woke up then and looked around. "Hey where'd Al go? And Mirage, for that matter?" He asked me. I pointed towards the palace and told him to hurry. We could walk the rest of the way there. He nodded and took off with a flash.

By the time we met up with the others back at the palace stairs, Mirage had been defeated. "Pretty clever, eh? Tricking Mirage with a mirage?" Genie chuckled. Iago rolled his eyes and asked if they had won for real that time. "Yeah. This time we won for real." Aladdin replied.

I was glad everything felt normal for once. However, now that all the excitement was over with, I could feel myself losing control of my emotions. What little color I had managed to find now turned back into gray. I felt numb, to the pain and to any other emotion I would normally feel at this point in time. "Um, guys, I think I'm just gonna head back to my room for the night." I spoke up, interrupting whatever conversation my family was backing.

Kristy must've seen something in my eyes, because she was instantly by my side. She looped her arm through mine. "Why don't I escort you there." She offered with a friendly smile.

I opened my mouth to tell her she didn't need to, when Genie suddenly spoke up. "Actually do you mind if I do so? I want to talk to Kendra." He asked my best friend. She turned to me, silently asking me with a raised brow if this was what I wanted. Truthfully I didn't want to be alone with my husband. I was scared of him, of what he might say. But I knew I could avoid him forever so I gave her a tiny nod. She released me and I walked to Genie's side. "Shall we?" He offered me a tentative smile.

"We shall." I returned his smile, albeit warily. He didn't offer his arm like Kristy had but that was okay. I think we were both still unsure on where the other stood.

The walk was quiet, an awkward tension palpable in the air. Just a few months ago we'd gone down these very halls, laughing together and enjoying one another's company. We dreamed about our future and we were excited to hold our little girl for the first time.

Now there was this ridge between us and neither one of us knew how to fix it. I barely knew how to deal with my grief from losing the baby, let alone how to save my crumbling marriage.

And crumbling it was.

I sighed, unable to deal with the silence anymore. "So… how have you been?" I asked lamely. I just didn't know what to say to him.

Genie rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh you know, I've just been hanging around…" he trailed off awkwardly. We lapsed into silence once more. I couldn't help but feel annoyed. We'd been married for nearly a year, but we've known each other for nearly three. Never before had we struggled this much to communicate with one another. Genie sighed just as I had done earlier. "How have you been."

"Just peachy." I snapped. I felt my face flush and ground my teeth in frustration. Deep down I knew there was no reason to get angry at him, but I couldn't help it. Weeks worth of pent up emotions were breaking through the cracks in the wall I had built in my mind. I wanted to remain numb to my feelings but something told me that wasn't going to work.

Genie stopped in his tracks and I turned to look at him. For some reason, I could feel a rage boiling inside me and it was directed at my husband. I was angry that he hadn't been there for these past few weeks. He had abandoned me when I needed him most. Did he even care? "Kendra, sweetheart, we need to talk about this."

"Talk about what?" I gritted my teeth. "The fact that you haven't so much as talked or looked at me in a month? Or the fact that you so clearly blame me for losing our baby. I'm sorry I wasn't good enough to be a mother." My words sounded ridiculous even to me as I spoke them, but I needed to say them.

Genie winced at my words. "You know that's not true. I could never blame you for that." He tried to assure me. However, considering the fact that he couldn't even look me in the eyes, I wasn't sure I believed him.

"Oh but you do. Genie, you can't even look at me." My hand shook when I reached out to touch him. He flinched at the contact and I quickly withdrew it. "I can't even touch you. I just, I don't know what to say or do." Tears of frustration gathered in my eyes. Still, he did not say a word. I blew out a breath of air. "I-" I started to say but abruptly shut my mouth.

"I don't know what to do either Kendra. I don't blame you for us losing the baby. I just-" he sighed. "I just don't know how to process this or where to go from here. I want to be strong for you but I can't be, not right now at least."

I wrapped my arms around my chest and turned away to stare at a wall. All the anger I felt had deflated, leaving me with an empty feeling once more. "Maybe… maybe it's best if we take a break." I finally managed to say, though my voice cracked.

"Is that what you want?" Genie asked me and I just shrugged. We lapsed into silence once more. Neither of us looked in the others direction and I could feel the rift between us grow even more.

"Honestly can you see us moving on anytime in the near future?" I looked up and caught his eyes. "Do you think we can get past this and try to be a couple again? Maybe even one day try for another baby? Or do you think we're destined to grow further and further apart?"

I don't know why I asked him these questions, but for some reason I needed to know the answers to them. It wasn't fair for me to ask him about them though. It was too early, the pain was still too fresh. There was no way he could give me a logical answer when we were both in such a state.

Genie took a deep breath and looked away from me. "Perhaps a break is a good thing. I think we both need some time to ourselves."

I laughed dryly. "We've had a month to ourselves Genie. When are we going to start working on our marriage?" I felt a flash of anger once more and the next words tumbled out of my mouth before I could even think about them. "Maybe it's best if we just go ahead and get a divorce since neither one of us has any intention of repairing our broken relationship."

I immediately regretted my words, but I couldn't take them back. I threw the 'D' word out there with absolutely no hesitation. The damage was done. Rationally, I knew I should've immediately apologized and asked him to forget I ever said that. However, I was way past rational thoughts.

Genie face tightened up and I saw a hard look in his eyes. "Yeah, maybe we should."

Those words hung between us, poisoning the air with negativity. For several minutes we didn't talk, instead we just stood there and stared at one another. I think we both were waiting for the other to say that that would never happen. We both wanted to believe we could fight this strain on our marriage and come out stronger in the end.

But we both remained silent.

I turned around and walked away from him without looking back. He didn't say anything, didn't try to stop me. There was nothing more that could be said. In that moment, we both felt like it was truly over.

And once again, I could feel my heart breaking.

Oof that was hard to write. So yeah, I warned you guys that things were just going to get worse and they definitely are. I am not enjoying this, why did I come back to such a depressing story arc! And sadly I still have more depressing crap to write. Le sigh. I do apologize to my friends. However, I promise there is a light at the end of the tunnel! Things are hard now but these two crazy kids love one another. They just need to pull their heads out of their asses.

Please leave me a review, if you'd be so kind. I love hearing from you all! Expect a new chapter sometime between 7-14 days from now!