Almost Heaven

By- An Unknown Foreign Beauty

Chapter 3- Sunrise

Aladdin didn't know how long he was running.

He had climbed the palace wall and headed for the alley between the palace and the slums nearby. Lightning forked and thundered overhead, slowly one or two drops of rains landed softly over the thirsty sands. Cold desert wind blew, and Aladdin shivered. There was a strange pain in his side, his head spinning with every step he took. Cautiously, he placed one hand over his aching side, and his fingers met an arrow shaft protruding from his flesh. He tried to pull on the shaft, and with a sickening crack, the shaft broke between his fingers.

His vision was wavering, it was getting very hard to breathe with every step he took. Aladdin gulped for air for a few seconds, leaning against the nearest wall, trying to steady himself, his hand leaving bloody handprints everywhere.

Fat raindrops continued landing one by one over his face, over his eyelashes, making his blurry vision more and more blurry. Someone was calling his name.

"Aladdin."

A familiar face. He narrowed his eyes to have a better look. A familiar flurry of a green skirt and yellow veil rushed near him and caught his arm before he tumbled forward. Abu chattered over her shoulder and jumped over Aladdin's. His hands were desperately clinging around his master's neck for support.

"Morgiana." Aladdin sucked in a deep breath, happy to lean over her shoulder.

His whole body was aching. The sand beneath his feet was already stained crimson with his own blood. He just wanted to lie down anywhere.

"Morgiana, you don't need to…" he sucked in a breath, his voice was fading. He didn't want to burden anyone with his misery.

"Hush…" Morgiana placed one of her fingers over his lips, her big eyes full of tears, "You are hurt. Let's go home."

Aladdin nodded weakly. He had no control over his body anymore. The world around him was already fading.

In the darkness, all he could remember the most beautiful face he had ever seen.

Dalia.

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Dalia stood, arms crossed, watching the princess tearing through the gardens. Two guards were trailing behind her, searching for the thief who just broke into the palace. She could also hear the princess's disappointed voice as she tried to explain the situation.

"I told you there is no thief." She declared. "Maybe you have heard Rajah's roar." The guards nodded in unison, eager to leave this ordeal. One of them was already yawning. Only the royal vizier seemed to remain unconvinced.

"Tigers don't speak, princess." Jafar was gripping his cobra staff tightly. Jasmine took an exasperated breath, clearly frustrated with the royal vizier.

"Do you doubt me, Vizier Jafar?" Her unedifying glare locked with the Vizier. Unknowingly her grip tightened around one of the rose bushes, and she let out a squeak as she pricked her fingers.

Dalia saw blood appearing in the princess's hand, and decided to step in finally. "Princess," She rushed beside her. Jasmine was already cradling her injured hand with another.

"You are bleeding." She quickly tore a piece of her dress and wrapped around Jasmine's bleeding fingers, and tugged on her arm, ignoring the royal vizier's glare. "You need some medical attention now."

Jasmine didn't move. The vizier kept staring.

"Princess," Dalia tugged Jasmine's arm again. "You need to see the healer."

"Yes," Jasmine finally spoke, as if waking up from a trance. Her gaze dropped on her bleeding fingers and she quickly bit her fingers with her lips, as if trying to lessen the pain. The binding around her fingers was soaked with blood.

The vizier blinked finally, and let out a sigh. Dalia wondered if he sounded a bit disappointed. His gaze dropped on the princess's bleeding fingers. "I am sending the royal healer, princess." He bowed and turned to leave.

Dalia let out a sigh of relief as she followed behind Jasmine. She was in pain. Not in physical pain, but there was a pain in her heart. Two of them grew up together. Sometimes she wondered if she knew the princess more than herself. Still, she wondered what was bothering the princess so much. She wrapped her one arm around Jasmine's arm gently and forced her to face her.

"What is it, princess?"

Her words made Jasmine stop in her tracks, and look at her. "I saw a bloody handprint over the wall," Jasmine said softly, her big brown eyes were already brimming with tears. "He is injured, Dalia."

Dalia gripped her hand and patted it softly. There was a strange look of agony in her eyes that she had never seen before. It made her heart ache. She knew how much Jasmine cared for the thief. There was a strange connection between the two of them, although she didn't understand much. But she felt there was something strong that linked the street thief and the princess together. "I am sorry, princess." Her voice was soft.

"Help me sneak out, Dalia. I need to see him." Her words bounced around the stair and Jasmine could hear the desperation in her own voice.

Dalia shook her head. "If you get caught, I'll be thrown in the dungeon."

"You know I'd never let anything happen to you," Jasmine said.

"The dungeon," Dalia repeated. "That is the thing that would be happening to me."

It was time to change tactics. Walking over to her, Jasmine took her handmaiden's hands in her own and gave her the most pathetic expression it seemed she could muster. Dalia sighed. She could never deny her. Jasmine just needed to pull on the right heartstring.

"Just one more time." Jasmine pleaded. The thought of Aladdin lying on the roads, bleeding already added more pain to her aching heart, and her handmaid's denial made her eyes water, "Please, Dalia?"

Dalia sighed. Then slowly, she began to nod. "I hate that I'm weak and can be talked into anything and can't say no," she said, trying not to smile, "But you are in love with that boy, aren't you?"

Slowly blood began to creep to the princess's cheeks, spreading to her neck. But she said nothing. She only threw her arms around her best friend, kissing her on the cheek. "Thank you." She whispered in her ears.

"I wish I didn't love you," Dalia hugged her back.

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Jasmine tugged the white stripped veil closer to her face. In her arms, she was cradling the vial of concoction in her that Dalia was able to manage for her from the royal healer for her bleeding hand. But she didn't need the medicine actually. It was only a minor prick.

Jasmine had never navigated through the roads of Agrabah in the dark before. She stood outside the palace wall, trying to remember the maze which was the alleys of Agrabah. She had been through this maze only once, and that day Aladdin was with her.

Aladdin…. Her heart ached with the thought of him. It was her fault. If she hadn't insisted on him, he wouldn't get into this trouble. She took a deep breath and stepped forward. She needed to find him. She must.

The roads were different in the dark than in the light. The bazaar was strangely silent. It had just stopped raining a while ago. The roads were still muddy. The sky above had already cleared, revealing the moon shining again overhead. One...two... three... she continued to count her steps. She had resorted to this tactic every time she broke out from the palace. Five hundred one...five hundred sixty-five... in the faint moonlight, she recognized a familiar archway.

The hiding…

She ran through the deserted roads until she reached near a broken mosque at the end of the road. Every brick seemed so familiar. How could she forget the place where she met the most extraordinary man she had ever seen. She tugged on a rope and a hidden ladder appeared. She quickly grabbed the ladder and climbed upwards. Five hundred seventy...five hundred seventy-three... one more step upwards.

Then she saw him.

There was blood everywhere. Over the floor, over the walls. In the middle Aladdin was laying, sprawled over a dirty mattress, face pale, eyes closed. Her eyes searched his face desperately for any sign of life.

"Aladdin." She was about to run beside him, but her path was already blocked by a strange unfamiliar girl.

"Wait…" She said, her eyes scanning her from head to toe, until her eyes rested on the shining bracelet in her right wrist, "You are the girl from the palace, aren't you?"

There were anger and desperation in her voice. Jasmine didn't know who she was or what she was doing here. All she wanted to shove her aside and run near him, but there was something in the girl's eyes that made her stop. A strange sorrow. Jasmine gasped. It was like looking into a mirror.

"Yes." Jasmine nodded. The girl's eyes narrowed. She didn't trust her, Jasmine realized. There was no reason to trust her either. She had been lying to everyone since the day she set her foot here for the first time. Two women locked gazes, Jasmine waited. A second later she moved away from her way and dropped beside the man lying on the floor.

"He is shot." She said softly, there was strange softness in her eyes as she looked at Aladdin's sleeping face.

Protectiveness, Jasmine realized.

"I don't know what to do." The girl nodded, and Jasmine couldn't but feel a pang of jealousy the way she was holding one of Aladdin's hands. She shook her head, trying to brush the thought aside. She slowly walked beside the girl, and looked at Aladdin's pale face, the way his body shuddered with every labored breath he took.

There was no time to feel jealous.

She tore her gaze from his face and looked at the other girl, "I have some medicine. If you help me, I can help him."

The girl startled and looked at her. There was still doubt in her eyes but she nodded anyway. She moved aside, letting Jasmine take her place beside Aladdin. "By the way, I am Morgiana." The girl said, giving her a sad smile.

"I am Dalia." Jasmine returned her smile.

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Jasmine only hoped whatever she was doing, was doing right.

She gently unfastened the buttons of his red vest, unbuttoned his shirt and eased them off him. He was so much caked with blood that she couldn't even make out the original color of his shirt. And when she was done, she could actually see his injuries now. There was an angry wound in his right with the arrowhead still buried inside. She bit her lips to this unsightly appearance of the once handsome thief. He was so pale, panting, and even though it was only the cooling off, he was shivering. Morgiana handed her a knife and she sucked in a hesitant breath. She had never done this before.

"Are you sure?" Morgiana was doubtful too.

"Yes," Jasmine tried to sound confident, wanted to be confident. Of course, she had read some books on medicine. But she was not sure if she was able to do it. Her hand was shaking violently as she let the knife cut through his skin, while he was wincing with her every move.

Jasmine almost bit down her lips into half, when she was able to drive to the knife into the wound, carefully dislodging the arrowhead. She let out a sigh that she didn't know she was holding back. She took it in her palm and threw it outside. Her gaze met Morgiana's who looked relived as much as she was . She gave her a smile that she didn't know if she really deserved. Together they finished wrapping the wound with a fresh cloth, and Jasmine was surprised to see a strange tenderness in Morgiana's eyes. She had no idea who she was, or what her relationship was with Aladdin, but somehow she knew both of them were on the same page now.

Only she didn't belong here.

That night, Aladdin was right. They would never belong together. Her presence in Aladdin's life would only bring danger. He had had enough troubles in his life already, and she could let him dive into more troubles. She needed to leave. She had to.

"I need to go." She told Morgiana who was carefully arranging pillows under Aladdin's head. She blinked when Jasmine rose to leave. Slowly and very slowly Jasmine walked near the broken stairs, her brain was still screaming, telling her to stay. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the thought, and kept walking. She needed to leave. She needed to forget. She needed to disappear from his life. She needed him to stay safe.

There was a tug in her hand. She turned and surprised to find Morgiana standing behind her.

"Al needs you, Dalia." There was a sad smile on her lips.

"What?" Jasmine was surprised. Was she so transparent that even this girl could see through her?

"But.." She hesitated. But Morgiana had already had taken her arm, and almost dragged her near the mattress where Aladdin lay. She pushed her down on the floor.

"Stay."

Then she left, leaving two of them alone.

In the faint silver light of the dying moon, Jasmine noticed a few drops of sweat on Aladdin's lips. She placed a trembling hand on his forehead, and her hand almost burned from the heat emitting from his skin. He was burning up. Cold desert wind blew, and he unconsciously scooted closer to her, searching for warmth. One elbow managed to clip her stomach and Jasmine fell beside him over the mattress. His other arm encircled her waist.

The cold air was pricking her skin, sending goosebumps wherever it touched. Jasmine sighed and tried not to jostle him too badly as she sat up. Not that it seemed possible to even move at this point, what with the death grip his arm had around her waist.

Her heart kept running wildly in her chest. She had never been cuddled by a man before. His heat was scorching her skin wherever his skin contacted with hers.

She needed to run the fever down.

She searched for a bowl, which helpfully Abu grabbed for her, and dabbed a piece of cloth in the cold water. She smoothed the hair around his face. It was so soft and thick, Jasmine wondered. Carefully she placed the wet cloth over his burning forehead. His breathing began to even out. He had a hint of stubble growing around his jaw. Jasmine poked it once, tracing the smooth skin around his cheeks, marveling at his ethereal beauty. He was too beautiful to be real.

Why was she here? There was so much difference between them. She was well aware this relationship was not going anywhere. Her presence would only bring danger in his life. But there was a strange emptiness threatened to engulf whenever she wanted to imagine his absence in her life. It was like a strange string that kept pulling two of them together.

He shuddered slightly as she brushed her thumb over his lips. Jasmine blushed and withdrew her hand. But his hands clutched at the fabric of her blouse in the back, fingers almost digging into her sides. She resisted the urge to wriggle away from the heat of his body. She doubted he'd let her, first of all.

Second of all, another strange feeling was trying to overcome her consciousness.

What was this feeling called? Love? She was not sure.

She looked down at him, head pillowed in her lap, cheeks pressing against her thighs. He was still out. His warmth was scalding her skin under her harem pants.

It was almost ridiculous. She had never touched a man in this way. The way he curled up around her, he looked so young, so vulnerable, almost like a child. He startled at the cool touch of her hands on his neck, eyes snapping open, wild with fear.

"Who?" He winced, blinking in confusion.

"Hush… It's me. Jas...Dalia." Jasmine gently pressed her hand over his eyes, closing them. There was a strange ache in her heart; she didn't know what it was.

"Dalia." Aladdin repeated. His eyes were already closing under her touch, his voice sounding distant. There was a smile on his face, almost peaceful.

Reviews? Favs? Follows?

Next chapter- Jafar finds out something.

Hope they are not much OOC.

I am going on a break for the next two weeks, so my readers stay patient. Besides we are having a good number of reviews and faves so far. Can I hope to reach 50 reviews and favs before the next chapter comes?

Errors are all mine. English isn't my 1st language, consider them nicely.