Wow guys, radio silence. I didn't get a single review or angry pm. How disappointing. I know people were upset by the last couple chapters. I hope you're still ready because it's all going up from here, I promise.

We're gonna start the chapter from Genie's POV. Time to learn about all of his thoughts from the past two chapters. Enjoy!

Anyway sorry for the delay. I moved out of my parents house so I was busy with packing. On top of that, work has been hella busy and that's where I get most of my writing done. It's taken me ten minutes to write this because I keep getting interrupted. Anyways, sorry for ranting lol.

Enjoy!

Chapter Forty-two:

Being a Genie meant that I had gotten used to things being out of my control. For most of my existence, I lived to serve master after master. Sometimes I met a good soul, a human who just wanted simple things like a home, source of income, and the chance to start a family. Those times, however, were few and far between. I was forced to serve more bad eggs than I'd ever like to admit. Some of the things I'd had to do still haunted me to this day. I never thought I'd have a chance at a real family, free from all Masters.

And then I met them, Aladdin and Kendra. They freed me from my prison, welcomed me into their life, and accepted me as their family. I fell in love with Kendra, married her, and soon we would be welcoming a beautiful baby girl. Everything was finally going right, I was happy.

That all changed in one moment.

The second I saw my wife go plummeting off the side of a cliff, there was an explosion of fear like I'd never felt before in my chest. Being a slave to so many had nothing on the helplessness I felt when I thought I was watching my wife's death.

I flew towards the wreckage as quickly as I could. Seeing the smashed robot made me feel sick to my stomach, I wasn't sure how anyone could survive this. "Kendra! Kendra!" I shouted to no avail.

By now, Aladdin, Abu, and Iago had arrived on Carpet and they joined me in my search. They called her name with me in hopes that she'd hear. I looked around in despair and could feel the tears begin to pour down the sides of my cheeks.

"Over here!" Iago shouted and I rushed to his side. I saw Mechanicles and Waheed push through the rubble. They were both supporting my unconscious wife. I quickly reached in and pulled her into my arms. There was blood dripping from a cut on the side of her head.

"Kendra." I whispered, and shakily tucked away a stand of hair from her face. Her eyes fluttered but they never opened completely. "Kendra sweetheart, hold on." I begged her. "Just hold on."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Mechanicles approach. "Um Genie?" He coughed awkwardly. I turned to glare at him, this was all his fault after all. "I just wanted to inform you that Kendra went into labor before we fell. Waheed and I tried to brace her for impact. I'm sorry we couldn't do more."

I knew Kendra needed to see the healer so I just stiffly nodded at him. Then I took off for the palace. For the second time in less than twenty four hours, I was bringing the healer someone seriously injured.

Mavis was expecting me when I arrived. Iago sat in the corner, breathing heavily. He must have flown ahead to warn her. She directed me to the bed before kicking out Iago and I. "I will keep you updated when I can. For now I need space to work!" She promised me before shutting the door. I stood there a moment more, unsure of what to do next.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. Aladdin had arrived and he directed me over to a nearby ledge so that I could sit down. I could only stare ahead in shock. My wife and unborn baby were in there fighting for their lives and I could only sit here and do nothing. My magic could fix a lot of things but I knew this was beyond my control. I felt as if I should be able to do something, anything to help my family. I couldn't do a thing though and the guilt was destroying me on the inside.

We sat there for nearly three hours. Jasmine had joined us shortly after Aladdin had arrived, the Sultan not too far behind her. Even Rajah was sitting close to Iago and Abu. No one spoke a word as we waited to hear news from Mavis.

She finally walked out of her door with a tired look in her eyes. Something in the way she held herself instantly had me on edge. I knew something had gone terribly wrong. I shakily stood up and met her halfway, the others not too far behind me. Jasmine came up beside me and wrapped an arm around mine. I was thankful for the show of support because I knew whatever Mavis had to say would possibly destroy me.

Mavis took a deep breath. "Princess Kendra will be alright. I imagine she will have a mild concussion and she will need to take it easy. I had to perform an emergency surgery." Mavis hesitated for a moment more before she looked me straight in the eyes. "I'm sorry to say the baby did not make it. By the looks of it, he was stillborn about two weeks prior. It is not uncommon for woman to not experience symptoms of a miscarriage when it is so late into the pregnancy."

I just stood there, rooted to the spot. I could think or process the information I'd been given. How could I possibly respond to that? I could hear Aladdin asking Mavis questions, but the words sounded far off. For once in my life, I was completely speechless.

"-nie? Genie, you there?" I heard someone trying to get my attention. I focused on the owner of the voice, which happened to be Aladdin. He was looking at me with concern and I just told him I was fine. I was unable to say the words though, instead I just stared at him. The longer the silence lasted, the more worried he became. "Genie?"

I felt dizzy, the world seeming to blur around me. Black dots filled my vision, taking it over completely until I finally fell backwards, succumbing to the cool black void.

XxRebelWriterxX

Telling Kendra the news had been the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life. We'd both been surprised to hear that the baby had been a boy, rather than the girl the Oracle had said we'd be having. However, given the grief we both felt, neither of us commented on it much. It did not matter what the gender of the baby was, they were gone. We lost our child and both of us felt as if it were the end of the world.

When she let out that agonizing wail, I could only flinch at the sound. Deep down I knew I should go to her, comfort her, but I could not get my limbs to work. Once more I was frozen with grief and guilt. I could feel the tears streaming down my face when my legs suddenly gave out and I fell to the floor. I wrapped my arms around my knees and silently stared straight ahead.

I felt as if I'd failed my wife. If only I'd been faster, better, stronger, then maybe I could have saved her from this fate. I should have tried harder to keep her at home where it was safe. Maybe if I'd have used my magic to keep her here, we'd be celebrating right now instead of grieving. A small part of me was angry at her. Kendra insisted on going out on dangerous missions, even when I begged her to stay home to protect our baby. She was the reason we lost him.

Those thoughts frightened me. I didn't want to be angry with my wife. I knew she loved our baby, it just wasn't in her nature to stay in one place. Especially if her family was in danger, Kendra would do whatever was necessary to save them. Some part of me wanted to hate her for not listening to me, but I just couldn't. I loved my wife with everything in me. Still, it scared me how easy it was to blame her and that just caused me to feel guilty.

So I left the room without another word. I didn't comfort her, I wasn't there when she needed me most. This made me feel as if I were unworthy. Kendra didn't deserve a coward for a husband. I knew I needed space from her and I was convinced she wanted the same thing.

I stayed away from her for the next month.

My lamp became my new home. I would go on adventures with Aladdin just so I could feel some normality. I just wanted to move on. Unfortunately that meant leaving my wife behind.

The first time I saw her after we lost the baby was a surprise. She hadn't left our room the entire time we'd been apart. I had been floating around the palace aimlessly, something I'd been doing a lot lately. That was when I heard a loud crash. I rushed towards it, when a tiger appeared out of nowhere, blocking my path. Rajah's furr was standing up and he was baring his teeth at the door that led to the Sultan's toy room.

I picked him up and entered the toy room. "I heard a crash and found this kitty-" I started to say, however my eyes landed on a peculiar woman that I recognized immediately. I yelped and puffed away, hiding behind a toy. Mirage was the one being in the universe who I feared absolutely. She was pure evil. I stayed in hiding until she was gone. "Whew! Evil incarnate has left the building!" I sighed in relief.

The Obelisk had me on edge when I discovered it's power. I wanted to keep Jasmine out of it, so I poofed Aladdin away. However, the girls quickly found out. That was the first time I realized Kendra was there as well.

She looked pale, and she'd definitely lost some weight. There were shadows under her red-rimmed eyes. She'd clearly slept as much as I did, which was not at all. However, despite how terrible she looked, I had never seen a more beautiful woman. My heart ached and I longed to take her in my arms once more. I refrained from doing so. Kendra deserved someone better than myself, someone who could be there for her when she needed them most. I had failed that.

It was amazing to see how determined she still was. When she insisted on going with Aladdin, I couldn't help but agree. She needed this, I knew she did. However, I saw a shadow pass over her eyes when I spoke up. It was clear she did not want me around, I had hurt her too deeply. This was something that I could not blame her for.

While they went on their mission, I attempted to solve my own. However, my thoughts kept going back to my wife. I didn't know what to do or say to her. The guilt I felt was practically overwhelming. This was something I didn't know how to fix, maybe there was nothing I could do. Perhaps this was just the end of us. That thought left me feeling hollow inside. I looked for the right girl for ten thousand years and I'd finally found her. It only took one tragedy to tear apart everything. Perhaps I just wasn't meant to be in a relationship. After all, I wasn't even mortal. One day I would watch her and everyone I love die.

Maybe this was for the best and, with a heavy heart, I accepted my fate.

When we defeated Mirage, I felt a momentary high. When Kendra gave me a slight smile, I felt hope. So I asked to walk her back to our room, that way I could talk to her. Even as we walked though, I could feel the tension in the air.

I soon felt as if I made a mistake talking to her. It was too soon. When she tried to talk to me, I could only give awkward half answers that I knew hurt her. I came to a stop and turned to face her. The way her lips had tightened, I knew she was angry. I couldn't blame her for that, I had abandoned her. "Kendra, sweetheart, we need to talk about this."

About us.

I knew those words hung in the air despite the fact that I hadn't said them. Kendra gritted her teeth and spat out, "Talk about what? The fact that you so clearly blame me for losing our baby. I'm sorry I wasn't good enough to be a mother."

I winced at her sharp words. "You know that's not true. I could never blame you for that." I couldn't even look at her when I spoke. Deep down, I knew what I just said was a lie. Because I did blame her to some extent and I hated myself for it. I didn't want this to ruin us, but a part of me felt as if I couldn't trust my own wife. I heard her tell me that I did, in fact, blame her. I flinched when she laid a hand on my arm. We were both at a loss for words. "I don't know what to do either Kendra. I don't blame you for us losing the baby. I just-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."

Kendra crossed her arms and stared at a wall. Her voice broke as she said these next words. "Maybe… maybe it's best if we take a break."

"Is that what you want?" I asked her with a heavy feeling in my chest. I knew it was coming, we hadn't been okay in so long. When she asked me if I could see us moving on in the near future, try and be a happy couple again, try for a new baby, I couldn't answer her. I didn't have one for her. I felt like I needed time, time to think and time to heal. A month really wasn't that long of a time period. I took a deep breath and looked away, not willing to see her expression at my next words. "Perhaps a break is a good thing. I think we both need some time to ourselves."

She laughed dryly. "We've had a month to ourselves Genie. When are we going to start working on our marriage?" I didn't say a word. "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."

There it was. The words I'd been fearing for so long, but knew they were coming. I felt my world crumbling all around me. I had lost her. But I couldn't break down in front of her. So instead, I tightened my face and looked at her coldly. "Yeah, maybe we should." I regretted those words the minute they were out. It was too late to take them back now. So we both stood there in silence.

I wanted to wrap her in my arms and never let her go. However, I felt as if it were truly over. There was no taking back what we'd just said. When she turned and walked away, I wanted to call after her, begging her to come back to me. I wanted to tell her I loved her and I never wanted to lose her. I wanted to kiss her lips and promise her forever.

I remained silent, allowing her to walk out of my life.

XxRebelWriterxX

(Kendra's POV)

"Aladdin, there are some things you just can't fix. My marriage happens to be one of them."

Three weeks had passed since Genie and I had our talk in the hallway. Neither one of us had spoken, looked at, or even been in the same room as the other since then. I'd gotten better at not being a complete hermit in my room, spending more time with Kristy, Aladdin, and Jasmine whenever possible. We hadn't gone on another adventure yet, but I was sure one would happen soon enough.

However, now that I was doing better, Kristy decided it was time to go home. She missed Cassim and I couldn't blame her for wanting to leave. However, I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to my best friend, so I decided to tag along. It had been some time since I'd seen my father and I felt like time away from the palace would do me some good.

So that's why I was currently in my room packing up a bag to leave. Aladdin was trying to convince me to stay and talk to Genie. "I know, I just hate seeing two of the most important people in my life so upset. I don't understand why you need to leave either. You and Genie just need to talk this out. I know you guys love one another and you're both miserable. I don't get why you're both being so stubborn."

I glared at my brother. "We're not being stubborn, Aladdin. We both just have deep rooted issues in our marriage that neither of us have figured out how to resolve." I zipped up my bag and threw it behind my shoulder. "I just need some time to think. I really don't want a divorce, but it's out there, I said the words and I can't take them back."

"I'm sure if you just talk to him, everything will work out. You guys aren't even trying." Aladdin frowned and ran a hand through his hair.

"I know." I sighed. "But I'm so scared. I don't know what to say to him. The last time we tried to talk, it didn't work out so well. I just got so angry at him and I was so harsh. He didn't deserve that. I just don't have a very good hold on my emotions right now. I'm afraid I'll damage our relationship even more if I talk to him before we're both ready."

"But when will that be?"

"I don't know."

We fell silent. I knew Aladdin wanted to help, but this wasn't something that had an easy fix. Genie and I were walking on thin, thin ice that was cracking beneath our feet. One wrong move, and we'd drown. I wanted to fix our marriage, but I just didn't know how to safely do that.

"Look, you guys aren't leaving till tomorrow. How about you, me, Abu and Iago sleep at the hovel? Genie will be there too, but I'm positive he'll stay in his lamp. Let's just spend some time together like we used to. Sometimes I miss those times when it was just you, me and Abu, taking on the Agrabah marketplace everyday." Aladdin nudged my shoulder playfully,

I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "That one year we spent together as street rats before you, my dear brother, fell in love with a princess. But yeah, that actually sounds really nice. Sometimes I miss it too."

Aladdin practically cheered before running out to inform Jasmine that he'd be gone for the night. I watched him go with an amused grin. My brother was something else, that's for sure.

Since my bag was packed, I decided to go for a walk. I made my way out into the gardens and sat down by the fountain's edge. The sun was just now beginning to set, leaving behind a calming glow. I closed my eyes and enjoyed a moment of peace. Living at the palace certainly had its benefits, that for sure.

"Mind if I join you?" My eyes flew open in surprise. Standing in front of me was Genie. He looked nervous, his left arm was clutching his right. I could only stare in shock, unable to form words. "Or maybe not…" He trailed off with a disappointed sigh. He started to walk away and I felt myself panic. I didn't want him to leave! But I couldn't get myself to react or do anything. He was several steps away before I finally jumped up.

"WAIT!" I practically screeched. He stopped in his tracks and looked back with wide eyes. "Wait… please, stay." I pleaded. He slumped in relief before joining me at the fountain once more. I smiled nervously at him, and licked my suddenly dry lips. "Thank you." I whispered, unable to speak at a high volume now.

Neither of us spoke for several moments. The air was charged with an unrecognizable tension. It wasn't necessarily bad. It was like we both had something we needed to get out, but were unsure on how to go about doing so.

It finally became too much for me and I blurted out, "I don't want a divorce."

Genie didn't look surprised by this, but he did look absolutely elated. "Oh thank goodness! I wanted to say the same thing." He turned to face me completely and took my hands in his. "Kendra, these past few weeks have been the worst of my entire existence. I thought I was losing my wife and I didn't know how to get her back. I thought that maybe I deserved it because I wasn't there for you when you needed me-"

"NO!" I suddenly shouted, scaring him in the process. He went to take his hands away but I held them tight. "Genie, you didn't deserve the horrible way I've been treating you. You lost your baby too and we were both grieving. Our mistake was grieving alone instead of together. But that was OUR mistake. We both let the strain on our marriage get worse and worse. We're both to blame for this."

Genie pulled one of his hands free and gently tucked a loose hair behind my ears. "You're right. We both shut the other out but I don't want to do that anymore. I know we need to work on building our trust back up, but I want to do whatever it takes. I love you Kendra. I need you in my life."

I couldn't help but let out a watery laugh. I had tears once again running down my chin, but this time they were ones of happiness. "Oh Genie, I love you too." I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him close. He returned it just as fiercely. When I pulled back again, I felt lighter than I had in such a long time. Having my husband back in my arms helped fill a hole in my heart that had been steadily growing since the loss of our baby.

"Let's do something tonight." Genie suggested. "I think we need to spend some time together, we have a lot to talk about and figure out."

I agreed with him. "First we need to find Aladdin. I had plans with him for tonight but somehow I think he'll like this better." I giggled. Genie nodded and the two of us walked off, hand in hand to find my brother.

XxRebelWriterxX

Aladdin was positively thrilled when we told him that Genie and I wanted to spend some time together. My brother even winked playfully and gave me a thumbs up as we walked away. I rolled my eyes playfully back at him. He was such a dork.

Genie decided we needed to get away from the palace for a bit. He surprised me even more when he didn't just fly away from Agrabah, he flew all the way to the other side of the world. We arrived in the same area we had camped at right after Aladdin had freed Genie. I couldn't believe he remembered this place.

"Wow, Genie, this is amazing." I grinned at him, my heart swelling with love and appreciation for my husband. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and kissed the side of my head. "What better place to reconnect then the place where I really started falling in love with you."

"Excellent point, my beautiful wife, and that's why I picked it! Now let's get everything set up!" Genie grinned before releasing me. With a flash of magic, our campsite was reborn, complete with a two-person tent, a campfire with two foldable chairs, a picnic table and grill, a couple of hammocks hung between four trees, and several tiki torches placed around the perimeter. "Perfect!"

I grinned at my husband. "This is perfect!"

I took a seat beside the fire and closed my eyes, enjoying the moment of peace. I heard Genie pull up the other chair beside me. When I opened my eyes again, it was to see he was now closed and he looked so peaceful. My heart skipped a beat, I'd forgotten just how handsome he was. Falling in love with Genie had been easy, he was beautiful both inside and out. I'd let myself forget just how much he set my soul on fire but I swore to myself then and there that I never would again.

Genie was my best friend. We'd been through so much together. I knew we'd get through this and come out stronger than ever. We had both said and done so many things in the past few months that had nearly destroyed our marriage. However now we were ready to talk it over and rebuild that trust and commitment that we had had on our wedding day.

"Penny for your thoughts." Genie's eyes had opened and he smiled questionably at me.

I giggled and took one of his hands in my own. "I'm just so happy to be here with you. I hate that we'd let things get so bad between us. I don't ever want that to happen again. Let's make a promise to always talk to one another when we're uncertain or upset about something. We need to communicate to have a healthy marriage, bottling up all our emotions won't solve anything."

"You're right. I don't want to ever face something that scary again. I had never felt more powerless than when I thought I was losing my wife. I promise to always talk to you about my feelings. I'll do everything I can to keep you by my side for as long as I'm able to." Genie vowed.

Feeling satisfied, I stood up and then sat down in my husband's lap. I laid a hand on his cheek and kissed him deeply, pouring as much love as I could into it. He returned the kiss with just as much passion as I did. We didn't pull away until it became necessary for me to breath. "I know we have more to talk about, but I really think it's time for you to take me to bed." I whispered breathlessly.

Genie looked at me intensely, causing me to shiver. "Anything for you, my love."

XxRebelWriterxX

The next morning, I woke up feeling lighter than air. We'd only planned to stay there for one night, so packing up was bittersweet. I made Genie swear that we'd come back here soon. This place had earned a special spot in my heart and I knew it did for him too.

We were just about to take off for home when Genie paused. "Aladdin is rubbing the lamp." He picked me up and we poofed away. While he could just basically teleport to any location, Genie usually preferred flying everywhere. Life was all about the journey after all, not the destination.

Plus disappearing and the reappearing at a new location was kind of disorienting.

We arrived at an empty field. There were some scattered tree stumps but that was it. Directly in front of us was Aladdin, Iago, Abu, Carpet and Thundra. "My forest is disappearing! I'm powerless to stop it!" The latter was exclaiming with despair.

"These trees aren't just pretty, they supply the majority of the world's oxygen." Genie chimed in, alerting the others to our presence. My husband set me back on my feet but he kept his arm wrapped around my shoulder. Abu and Iago both looked surprised to see how close we were standing to another. It had been some time since we had shown any kind of affection towards one another.

"Kendra!" Aladdin was ecstatic to see us together. However, even his joy couldn't hide the worry he had for Thundras rainforest. "Genie! Any ideas on what we should do?"

A phone suddenly appeared in front of Aladdin and he picked it up. Genie's voice came through the speaker. "You've reached Genie phone. If you know the name of the crisis you would like to address, press one. Enter now." My brother, though confused, pressed one and said disappearing trees. "Please hold." The phone vanished, replaced by Genie dressed as a farmer. He was holding what looked like a sack of seeds or something. Magic beans, if I recall correctly. I could vaguely remember this episode. "New, improved, magic beans." Hah, I was right! "Guaranteed to grow into trees faster than overnight. Comes with a special Genie hologram trading card. All for the low price of one cow."

"Beans grow trees?" Aladdin frowned in confusion. I shrugged, it really depended on the bean, I suppose.

"Beans, seeds, Cadillacs. They're magic, Jack. Observe. I flick a bean into the air and where it lands a tree grows there." Genie threw a bean on the ground. Iago, in an attempt to flirt with Thundra, unknowingly stood on top of it. Suddenly a tree grew out of the ground beneath him, throwing him high up into the air.

"¡Bueno! Genie, ha ha ha! You're muy splendifico!" Thundra cheered, Genie blushed and I playfully bumped him with my hip. "She's definitely right about that."

"Aw, Tacos al carbon to you, too!"

"Great, let's start seeding. But be on your guard. We may run into whatever destroyed those trees in the first place." Aladdin decided and then he, Abu and I hopped onto Carpetand took off. Genie, Iago and Thundra followed beside us as we soared through the sky, dropping magic beans as we went.

"Anyone else getting Jack and the Beanstalk vibes from this." I joked. Genie was the only one to understand that reference and we both laughed at the bewildered looks on our friends faces. "It's great to have my memories back, I'll finally be able to understand all your pop references again, Genie."

"Thank goodness for that! It's much more fun when there's someone else who gets my jokes!" He winked at me. Then he giggled and nudged my brother's side. "Psst, Al, check out the love birds!"

I turned my head and watched amused as Iago tried, and failed, to get Thundras attention. She seemed more focused on regrowing her rainforest. In fact, she seemed kind of annoyed with Iago's attempts. She suddenly took a dive and Iago followed quickly after her. Abu began chattering and pointing at something below us. "Huh? Abu, what? Oh no…" Aladdin trailed off when he spotted the swarm devouring all the trees we'd just planted. Genie muttered something about beans being cheap while Aladdin steered Carpet away. "Come on, we're checking it out!"

Genie flew ahead to get a closer look. When we got to him, he had changed into Sherlock Holmes-esque clothing. "Watson, I've discerned the problem. It's termites!" He informed us in his best British accent. Then he held up a magnifying glass so we could see the tiny bugs. Genie then transformed into a naturist. "Termites: any of numerous highly destructive social insects of the order Isotera that usually feed on wood."

"Yeah, but they're eating the entire forest. And fast." Aladdin pointed out. I scrunch my face up in thought. "If I remember correctly, this had something to do with Mechanicles. I have vague memories of robotic termites in the rainforest." I informed them.

A dark shadow passed acrossed Genie's face at the mention of Mechanicles name. I knew he was most likely thinking about our last encounter with the Greek villain. I laid a hand on his arm and smiled at him. It was my way of reassuring him that I was okay and I was here for him. He returned my smile lovingly and kissed the top of my head.

Then he returned to the problem at hand. "Hungry, hungry termites require…" he shrunk them down to an inch or so high. "a closer, closer look. Now which way did they go?"

Abu pointed at something frantically. Aladdin and I spotted them immediately and yelled Genie's name. The termites were headed towards us. From this size however, we confirmed my theory; they are not real termites, but tiny machines. "Kendras right! They're mechanical! See all the little gears and cogs and-" he had opened one of them up and got caught in the gears, pulling him inside the termite. "Ow! Oh! Ooh, this is completely unpleasant! Ouch! Oh, ow, ooh!"

"It's definitely one of Mechanikles's inventions!" I put my hands on my hips. "And we need to stop him before he completely destroys this beautiful rainforest."

"And we will." Aladdin swore before he ducked one of the termites. "But first we need to get out of here." He jumped onto Carpet, Abu and I immediately followed suit. "Go, Carpet! Go!" However a termite grabbed onto Carpet with its jaws, throwing us off. "I hate being small."

Abu pries the termite's jaws open, freeing Carpet, but then he gets trapped. I didn't see what happened next because Aladdin and I had our own problem. A different termite was now advancing on us.

However it didn't get too close before it exploded, courtesy of my husband. "Hey guys!" He grinned then he began growing to his normal height. "I figured it out! The secret to fighting termites is to remain big!" However before he could make us our normal size, he hit his head on a tree branch, knocking himself out.

Aladdin and I grabbed a stick and charged at our own termites, flipping them over. The termites quickly righted themselves and came after us. I tried to hit it with the stick, but it just eats the stick. "Oh, right. Termite, wood!" I chuckled awkwardly. I turned and fled, nearly bumping into Aladdin as I did so. While we managed to avoid one another, we still tripped over my unconscious husband.

"That tickles!" He woke up laughing. However when he realized our predicament, he paused. "Al! Kendra!" He returned us all to our normal size.

"I would prefer to not ever do that again." I groaned and rubbed my temples. Thundra flew towards us and asked what had happened. "Well, you see, you got a bad case of termites here, my friend." I explained to her.

"I don't understand."

"Mechanical termites are destroying your forest. It's the work of Mechanicles!" Aladdin expanded upon my explanation. Thundra was still confused and asked what Mechanicles was. This launched into a long story about who he was and what our history was with him.

After we explained everything to Thundra, we tried once more to beat away the termites but we weren't having much luck. There were just too many of them. Genie even tried turning his hands into magnets to attract them, but they just ate his hands!

It seemed hopeless.

"Quick, these pamphlets will educate the termites about the ecological effects…" Genie held up a bunch of pamphlets, but the termites just ate them, "…of destroying the rainforest."

"Mechanicles has really outdone himself this time." Aladdin growled. "We have to locate Mechanikles's hideout. Come on!" We took off on Carpet. However it didn't take me long to realize we were missing someone. "Um guys, wheres Iago?"

XxRebelWriterxX

A couple of hours had passed before we finally found his hideout, though Iago was still missing. We couldn't worry about him at that moment however. Iago could take care of himself, we needed to save the ragin forest. By then, we had already set our plan into motion. Genie had come up with an environmentally safe way to keep the termites off the trees and us. Now we just needed to deal with the villain.

We confidently entered the hideout and Aladdin, me, Genie, Thundra and Abu all shouted out to him, in that order. "All right, Mechanicles!"

"Come on out!"

"We know you're in there!"

"And we're going to kick your tree-killing caboose!"

"Uh huh!"

A cage suddenly dropped down on us. Genie turned into a welder. "Fear not. I'll have us out of here faster than you can say, "Hey everybody! Look! Why, it's a genie with a blowtorch." Whoa!" He was suddenly sucked out of the cage by a vacuum and into a tiny bottle. "Hmm, should have picked a shorter phrase."

"Probably." I chuckled and crossed my arms.

Mechanicles walked into the room then. "I knew you were coming… so I baked a cake." He laughed, showing off his cake shaped toolbox. His face twisted in disgust when his eyes landed on Thundra. "Another jungle squawker! Foolish Aladdin. It's not very hygiene-friendly to travel with such tick-ridden companions."

Thundra grabbed Mechanicles's shouted at her to let him go. "This is a Mechanicles?" She asked us. He looked affronted as he informed her that he was the greatest of the Greek geniuses. "El greco, soon you will wish you had left my forest a long time ago." She warned before she let him go.

"Scooter! Get the disinfectant! The iodine! The squawker touched me! It touched me!" Mechanicles whined as he stomped away.

" I wonder how he knew to expect us." Aladdin questioned. I spotted Iago and crossed the room, caged up as we were and pointed him out. Thundra was surprised to see him there and Iago tried to pretend he was someone else. I still had my eyes on Mechanicles, who was having Scooter wipe off his nose with a q-tip.

"Ooh, thank you! Scooter, fetch the termites. Soon, squawker, you will wish you had left the forest a long time ago."

XxRebelWriterxX

Mechanicles had tied us all up and dragged us into the forest right outside his hideout. He had, of course, separated me from the others. I was now at his side and, from the dark glares Genie kept sending him, I knew my husband wasn't happy. I was just annoyed at being singled out again, but I suppose I should expect it by now.

"Behold, the strength of my entire termite army! I considered having them feast on the forest before your very eyes, but then I had a better idea. You shall be the appetizer!" He laughs. "Bon appetit! Watch, Scooter, and remember always your enemies' shrieks of pain."

I wasn't worried about my family, I knew they'd be okay. I couldn't help but sigh though. "Mechanicles when are you going to give all this up?" I asked him.

"Whatever do you mean?" His attention shifted to me as the termites began crawling towards everyone else.

"When are you going to stop with this world domination thing? I know you're not a bad guy and I know you care about me. You risked your life to try and save me and my baby. I owe you for that. I want to be your friend, but I can't if you continue down this path." I explained to him.

By now the termites were crawling over everyone, however it didn't affect them. The only one in danger was Iago. The ropes were the only thing that was devoured. Abu freed Genie so he could save Iago from being eaten alive.

They went to advance on Mechanicles, but I held up a hand to stop them. He was deep in thought, processing the words I'd just said to him. He looked up sharply. "You would really want to be my friend? Even after all the times I threatened you, your husband, and your family?" He asked me seriously.

Genie looked apprehensive but I nodded. "Yes I would. I've made so many mistakes the past several months, and I've learned just how short life can be. We lost our baby." I paused at Mechanicles sharp intake of breath. "I held onto my anger and guilt for so long, it nearly destroyed my marriage. I'm tired of it. If you're willing to make a change, I will meet you halfway and I will protect you." Then I looked over at my husband. "It wasn't his fault Genie, he tried to save me. I want to forgive him for everything, just as I've forgiven myself for the loss of our baby." Then I looked at my brother. "Will you join me?"

Aladdin only hesitated a moment before he walked to my side and laid a hand on my shoulder. "We all have a past, even I used to steal from others to survive. If you're willing to turn over a new leaf and be good, then I'd liked to be your friend as well. My father is the King of thieves so I'm used to hanging out with criminals anyways." He offered Mechanicles his hand, who quickly shook it with a dazed expression.

I looked at my husband. He crossed his arms. "I don't like how you're constantly trying to steal my wife from me. If you promise to stop, then I'd be happy to have a new friend."

Mechanicles smiled weakly and then offered Genie his hand. "I care very deeply for Kendra, but I know she is yours. It's time I let my feelings for her go and just be a friend to her and to you. I promise, Genie."

"Woohoo!" Genie cheered and instead reached around his arm to pull him in for a hug. "One thing you should know about me, I'm a hugger!" He laughed.

"Oh no, the wrinkles!" Mechanicles whined but I could see the slight smile on his face. However, it dropped and was replaced by a confused frown. "Not that I'm upset or anything, but I just realized something. How did you survive my termites?

"That would be thanks to my patented formula of goose grease, elbow grease, athlete's grease and papaya puree! That was Thundra's contribution." He winked at the rain bird, who thanked him. "It creates a coating so slippery that termites slip right off!"

"Fascinating!" Mechanicles looked impressed.

"We have marinated every tree from the tippy-top leaves to the lowest roots." Thundra added with a satisfied smirk. Aladdin also added that we'd covered ourselves before going to his hideout.

Mechanicles shook his head in disbelief. "It's no wonder you were always beating me. You guys are a great team."

I laid a hand on his shoulder. "We could use a brilliant engineer on our team, if you know anyone who'd be available." I winked at him. He looked positively delighted by the idea. Genie wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I smiled at him and then looked down in time to see Thundra give Iago a kiss. I guess they figured things out.

Everything actually ended amicably for once. We invited Mechanicles to come back to the palace with us, but he decided to stay at his hideout for now. He wanted to straighten up and take care of his mechanicles bugs before he did anything.

After helping Thundra with replenishing the trees of the rainforest, we said our goodbyes, Iago reluctantly. And soon enough we were on our way back to the palace.

XxRebelWriterxX

"Where the hell have you been?"

When we got back home, I was greeted by a very cross Kristy. I'd forgotten to tell her I wouldn't be going with her after all before leaving with Genie. My guess is Aladdin had never mentioned it either.

"Sorry Kristy! I forgot to tell you I was staying here. Genie and I finally made up." I chuckled nervously and then reached over to hug my husband around the waist. "We went camping last night, then we helped Aladdin save Thundra's rainforest from Mechanicles robot termites. By the way, he's on our side now. So yeah, it's been wild."

Kristy rolled her eyes but she had a smile on her face. "Well, I'm happy for you and Genie. Just tell me next time. I was supposed to be on the road hours ago. I'm ready to get back home to Cassim."

Genie and I exchanged a look. "Well, there is one more thing." I turned to face my brother. "We were going to talk to you about this when we were all together at dinner, but now it is good I suppose. Genie and I decided we need some time away from the palace. These past few weeks have been trying, for us and for our marriage. So we want to go somewhere else for a week or two and reconnect. I've been wanting to see dad for a while, so I figured this would be the best way to go about that."

Aladdin looked sad at the thought of saying goodbye to us, but he also understood where we were coming from. "I'll miss you guys." He said with a frown. "You'll miss the birth of Jasmine and I's baby." He looked hurt by this so I stepped forward and hugged my brother.

"I know, it's not ideal. However we need to put our needs first right now. We'll be gone two, three weeks max. I hope you can understand why we need to do this. It isn't to hurt you or Jasmine. We just need some time together, away from here." I explained to him. He still looked unsure but he nodded his consent. "Thanks Aladdin." I hugged him.

"You get to be the one to tell Jasmine though." Aladdin smirked when I pulled away from him. I pouted and rolled my eyes playful. "Chicken." He winked at me.

I shoved his shoulder, causing him to burst into laughter. Then I turned my attention to Kristy. "Can you wait one more hour so Genie and I can get our stuff and say our goodbyes?" I asked my best friend.

"Well, I've waited this long."

Genie and I cheered and then took off towards our room. We could hear our friends laughing behind us. It felt good to be laughing and joking with them again. I had been heading down such a dark path for a long time, it seemed like I'd never get through it. And while the hurt was still there, my heart ached for the baby I lost, I knew I had an amazing support system to help me get through anything.

Including the amazing man whose hand held my own.

I knew we still had a long journey ahead of us. We both said things we regretted and we'd need to build that trust back up together. If there was anyone who could do it though, it was us. I snuggled into my husband's side. "I love you, Genie."

"I love you too."

Squeals with happiness! See I told you guys they'd be happy! Honestly though, they weren't supposed to make up til the end of the chapter, but I guess Genie was impatient. The next thing I know, he's there at the fountain with her. But hey they belong together!

Next chapter will be with Cassim finally! I'm excited to bring his character back. Expect it to be at least a week before it comes out. I've been alternating between writing this and my rewrite transformers story so it will probably be closer to two weeks.

I really hope to see some reviews guys. Everything is back to happiness and we got so much story left to tell! Time next time! A.R.F.