If Nadir and Adil thought that their little escapade would go unnoticed, they were mistaken.

While they were running with Leila and Inaam, their mother was frantic with worry back at the palace when she had woken up that morning and saw that her sons were not in their rooms.

Soon after, she had every servant turn the palace upside down looking for the runaway princes and ordered the guards even to look outside, although that was a remote possibility since they had never gone out of the gates in their lives.

But the sultana was leaving no stone unturned, as she demanded that the whole palace search everywhere, although the guards protested as it was getting late in the day and that they would go out and search tomorrow.

And Jawahir wasn't going out of her way to help as she was glad to be free of Adil, which also allowed her to carry out her grand plan.

Which was what she was doing at that very moment down in her secret lair as she held the sultana's blue diamond in her hand.

Tala was complaining while huffing and puffing out of breath as she ran on some wheel that powered a vast hourglass and created a thunderstorm necessary for the machine to work.

'With all due respect, Your Obnoxiousness,' the parrot said, panting as she caught her breath,

'Shouldn't we be out looking for the princes instead of creating this artificial storm?

You know that I hate exercising and getting all sweaty! And why couldn't we have waited for a real storm instead of using this clunky contraption?'

'As if I want to spend my precious time looking for that little brat and his brother! Today is the rare day that I don't have to care for him!' Jawahir sneered.

'And dear Tala, we are near a desert, it only rains about once or twice a year, and we are not going to waste any more time waiting for that to happen, so stop complaining and get back to running!'

'Yes, oh devious and selfish one!' said Tala sarcastically as she resumed running on the wheel while angrily muttering under her breath.

'Now, this will show us the street diamond, the one that we have been searching for,' said Jawahir as she put the blue diamond between the beaks of two giant gold statues of rocs which held a massive hourglass in their wings.

Sand started to move with the diamond and the storm that Tala was creating, as Jawahir chanted,

'Sands of time and storm of destiny, show me the one you desire, the one who may enter the cave.

Show me the street diamond.'

The sands took on the form of the Forbidden Cave and then slipped through the hourglass, showing an image of Leila climbing up the stairs to her hovel. Jawahir had the biggest grin on her face as she curled her fingers around the hourglass.

'Yes, yes, finally I have found her!' she said, 'I have found the street diamond!'

'Her?' Tala said, questioningly, when she got a glance at the image, 'that street mouse?

That's the one we want? I think not; she seems like a complete bimbo to me! Couldn't you've picked a better one?'

'She's perfect, Tala, and you know it!' Jawahir snapped,

'Now, all we need to do is persuade the guards to invite her to the palace! It's all falling into place now!'

She then laughed as thunder boomed and lightning flashed around her.

'Wonderful,' Tala said while breathing heavily.

Just then, she heard Saira's desperate and panicky voice outside the lair, which made the storm die down, and she was calling out for her advisor,

'Jawahir, Jawahir, where are you? I need you right now!'

'Damn it, just when my plan was coming together!' Jawahir shouted, 'but duty calls after all.'

'Coming, my lady!' she then said as she hurried up the stairs with Tala flying behind her.

'So, you and Adil are brothers?' Leila told Nadir as they climbed up the long and winding staircase to the girls' hovel with Inaam and Adil following behind.

'Yes, we are, just as I am right in assuming that you and Inaam are sisters?' said Nadir while Adil chuckled and Inaam rolled her eyes.

Smooth, Nadir, real smooth, Nadir thought as he groaned to himself.

'Sorry, way to state the obvious,' he then said, but Leila smiled to show that she didn't mind,

'That's cute,' said Leila fondly,

'But, yes, we are sisters, and you are not my brother! I had to say that to make it less weird and creepy to the fruit vendor, especially since I had only just met you.'

'Well, if you hadn't, I would be going home with only one hand!' Nadir laughed, 'I'm surprised that such punishment exists in the city for stealing!'

'Well, welcome to Alzawaya,' said Leila, 'the streets can be rough and unforgiving, especially for newbies like you and Adil, as this must be your first time here since you..'

'What do you mean by that?' Nadir said.

'You..kinda do stand out,' said Leila, 'but your brother seems to have picked things up fast!' as the two saw their younger siblings had already entered the hovel and were watching them from the window.

'Hey, are you two slowpokes going to come up or what?' Inaam shouted.

'Well, I'm a fast learner too,' Nadir said.

'If you are, why don't you pole vault into the window, then?' Leila said in a teasing way as she grabbed two long wooden poles and handed one to Nadir while she effortlessly jumped inside.

'Oh, you are on,' Nadir said, laughing.

'Honestly, Leila, what are you trying to do? Make the poor guy fall and break his neck?!' Inaam said once the older girl was inside, and she, along with Adil and Dalia, was arranging some feast on the low wooden table with the food that Dalia had stolen earlier.

'It's not my fault; he wanted to prove that he can learn things quickly,' said Leila, a bit defensively.

'You just saved him for having his hand chopped off, and you egged him to jump in here?! And this is the guy you were eye-flirting with, and you want him to hurt himself?' Inaam said.

'I better get the rope so that he can climb up the wall rather than..'

But before Inaam could finish her sentence, Nadir effortlessly jumped through and made a graceful landing on his feet to the surprise of the girls, Adil and Dalia, who squeaked excitedly.

'Wow, you did it!' Leila said, going over to Nadir, who smiled triumphantly at his success.

'I told you I learn things fast,' said Nadir as he studied his new surroundings.

It was a complete contrast to the palace as it looked relatively small and dingy and was devoid of many homely items apart from the small table, thin blankets, a couple of vases with roses and a worn pink curtain.

'So, this is where you live?' Nadir said.

'Yep, just me, Inaam and Dalia, we come and go as we please,' said Leila,

'It's not much, but we've done our best to make it home, and it does have a fantastic view of the city and palace!' as she pulled the curtain to reveal a vast gaping hole in the wall where the palace and the city buildings shone in the early afternoon sun.

'Oh, that's…lovely..' Nadir said, somewhat uneasily, 'and is Dalia….'

'Our monkey and one of our partners in crime!' Leila said as the monkey chittered happily and jumped onto Nadir, which surprised him initially, but he laughed as she climbed upon his shoulder.

'Nice to meet you, Dalia,' said Nadir, chuckling as he shook her paw, and Dalia squeaked in delight.

'Well, she seems to like you already!' Leila said, smiling while Dalia chittered and Nadir gently scratched her chin.

'You seem to have a way with animals.' She then said.

'You could say that,' Nadir replied.

'Hey, stop chatting and playing with Dalia and come and get something to eat! We went to a lot of trouble to get this 'feast'!' Inaam said, getting impatient.

'Yeah, I'm starving!' shouted Adil.

Leila and Nadir chuckled and went to join their siblings, who were already eating the bread and apples, and Dalia went over and carried four worn gold goblets for the rosewater.

'Fancy some rosewater, guys?' Leila said as she poured the pink liquid carefully into the goblets.

Nadir hesitated for a moment but remembered how much he loved it, especially since it was scarce for the girls to get it, let alone enjoy.

'Yes, that would be lovely, thank you,' said Nadir, polite as ever, as Leila passed him a goblet.

'Yes, please, it's our favourite!' Adil said as Inaam passed him his goblet, and he immediately took a huge gulp, not caring about his lack of manners.

'Adil, where are your manners?' Nadir said, sighing as he took a sip.

'Well, we're not at home anymore; I can eat and drink how I please!' Adil said, taking another big swig and eating his apple loudly and with his mouth open.

He then let out a belch without so much as saying 'excuse me,' as Inaam giggled and Nadir rolled his eyes.

' I do apologise for my brother's appalling table manners,' Nadir said.

'Oh, don't worry about it, Inaam and Dalia's table manners are far worse than his!' Leila laughed.

'Hey!' said Inaam as she cut up the apples into slices and placed them, along with two slices of bread and four green grapes, onto the table.

'Come and get it!' she said, and eight hands and two little monkey paws reached out and grabbed bread, apple slices and grapes, and the sounds which echoed around the hovel were chomping, sipping and slurping.

All the while, Leila and Nadir were eye-flirting while Inaam and Adil chattered and laughed while eating with their mouths open, and they had a 'competition' to see who could spit grape pips the furthest.

Eventually, Leila and Nadir got tired of their siblings' rowdy and noisy behaviour and lousy table manners.

They decided to move near the window to sit on the ledge and enjoy their lunch in peace while sipping rosewater.

'Wow, this rosewater is sweet!' Leila said as she took a sip, feeling the sweet pink liquid on her tongue,

'I can see why you guys like it so much. Do you drink a lot of it where you come from?' she then said.

'Well, yes we do,' Nadir responded, although it sounded like he was distracted when he said it.

He looked outside and saw the palace standing so high and mighty above the city.

'Great view, isn't it?' Leila then said, 'I like to come here and look at the stars at night and see the palace. I've always wondered what it would be like to live there.

You know, to have riches beyond our wildest dreams, to wear beautiful clothes and jewellery, have expensive make-up and perfume, being waited on hand and foot, never worrying about anything..'

'Sure, it's nice, if you like being told what you can and can't do, what to wear, always having everything laid out for you, having to behave like a wind-up doll….' Nadir said bitterly.

'Being dumped on a governess you hate,' Adil chimed in.

'Better than having to scrape for food, wondering when your next meal will come, always having to dodge the guards who have it in for you, always having to keep one jump ahead of them….' Leila then said,

'Being threatened by vendors, being told you're worthless..' Inaam then said.

'You're not free to make your own choices…' said Nadir,

'You're bored and cooped up and have to make your fun….' Adil said.

'Sometimes you feel.. you just….' Leila said,

'You feel so..' said Nadir.

'Trapped!' they both said simultaneously, which surprised them, realizing that they were starting to have more in common than they thought and had a real connection.

'And every night, I look to the stars and wish..' Leila then said,

'That my life was different!' they both said again and then burst out laughing.

'Wow, that's amazing!' Leila said

'I know, we seem to have a lot in common!' Nadir said, 'and we've only known each other for a few hours!

But being with you, I feel different. I mean, you're the first person who has understood me.'

'Me too, I feel the same way,' said Leila, 'I think that eye-flirting we did earlier was telling us…at the risk of sounding sappy… I think that we meant to meet each other.'

'And it was the vendor that brought us together since my brother and your sister encouraged me to steal those grapes,' Nadir said.

Then both of them looked down and saw that they were holding hands!

Embarrassed, they quickly pulled them apart while Dalia made a disgusted face at their flirting; Inaam grinned ear to ear, and Adil said,

'Ewww, gross!'

'Get a room, you two!' said Inaam fondly while Nadir and Leila laughed together.

'Come on, Adil, let's leave these lovebirds to flirt and say mushy stuff to each other while I show you my fencing moves.'

'Okay, but I warn you, I'm a great fencer!' said Adil.

For the rest of the afternoon, Adil and Inaam played loud and boisterous games and did some fencing (with Adil able to match Inaam, which amazed her), and Dalia was quite content to eat the rest of the apples.

Leila and Nadir were happy to be in each other's company, playing cards and chatting or sitting in comfortable silence while watching the sunset, their budding feelings for each other slowly blossoming.

'Aw, look how cute they are together,' said Inaam when she and Adil were playing her version of chess (since many of the pieces were missing).

'Yeah, I'm glad that my brother is finally happy. I haven't seen him smile in ages, maybe ever!' said Adil,

' But there's just one thing that has been bugging me, Inaam, and I want to ask you something.'

'Sure, buddy, what is it?'

'What's your sister's name?'

It was late at night as Inaam and Adil were asleep on the floor (Leila had insisted they stay the night). However, Dalia was still awake, sitting near Leila and Nadir and listening in on their conversation.

They were still on the window ledge, eating the red grapes and drinking the last of the rosewater, looking at the beautiful diamond sky and the bright illuminating moon.

'It's been a great day, hasn't it?' Leila said as she tossed a grape to Nadir, who caught it in his mouth.

'It has, one of the best I've had for a long time,' said Nadir, tossing back a grape to Leila,

'You have been so kind to Adil and me, and I'll be forever grateful for that.'

'You're very welcome,' said Leila, 'but I'm just curious about something.

Since I've told you about my life, I never even asked where you came from because I already know you aren't from around here. Why did you come in the first place?'

'I'd rather not say,' Nadir said hesitantly.

'But you can tell me, honestly, you can trust me. Do you trust me?' Leila said.

Seeing the sincerity in Leila's eyes, Nadir sighed heavily and said,

'It doesn't matter, I ran away, and I'm never going back! My mother can send all the guards she wants, but they'll never persuade me!'

'You ran away from home?' said Leila, 'and did Adil….'

'Adil followed me, even though I told him not to, but he managed to escape anyway,' said Nadir.

'Why did you run away?' asked Leila.

'My mother is forcing me to get married,' said Nadir as he took a swig of rosewater.

'That's terrible; you shouldn't have to do that, especially to someone you don't love.' Leila said sympathetically.

'That's what I told her, but she refused to listen. The marriage is what she wants, not what I want.' Nadir said.

Having heard their conversation, Dalia jumped up and down, squeaking and chattering angrily.

'What's Dalia trying to say?' said Nadir.

'Dalia, what have I told you about eavesdropping?' said Leila, wagging her finger in disapproval at the monkey. Dalia squeaked an apology and chittered to Leila.

'Dalia says that what you have to do is unfair, and she wishes that she could help you.' Leila said.

'Tell Dalia that is very sweet of her.' Nadir said, smiling.

'And I'm sure that Inaam would want to help you if she wasn't sleeping!' chuckled Leila,

'Like you should be, Dalia! Go to bed now!'

Sighing, Dalia clambered over to her blanket and settled down to sleep near Inaam and Adil, who soundly slept, oblivious to the chatter of their siblings.

'Still, at least you've been lucky,' Leila said, 'We face real threats out here in the city. Street mice like us are easy pickings for those who have bad intentions for us.

We could have ended up slaves or in a harem or, even worse, having both hands chopped off or thrown in prison.

Fortunately, we've avoided that fate, but there's always this feeling we have when we go out to steal, the feeling that one day, we might get caught.

It's tough out here, and many of us have to steal to survive, and many children have to go hungry since their parents can't afford food and even have to dig around hoping to find scraps.'

'I know, I saw it for myself today,' said Nadir, 'I never realised how many people live in poverty, and my mother turns a blind eye towards it.

It was a real eye-opener, yet I felt free being out there, more than I had ever been in my life.

And I have you to thank for that as well,' as he reached for the last grape just as Leila did, and they found themselves holding hands again.

They didn't let go this time, and Leila found herself looking at one of Nadir's golden bangles on his right wrist. It was a little faded, but to her, it was beautiful.

'That's a beautiful bangle you've got there,' she said, as Nadir quickly tried to hide it.

'Oh, that old thing, it belonged to my father,' he hastily said, 'I never really liked it; it's too gaudy for me, and it's started to fade a bit.'

'I like it, wish I had one myself,' said Leila, wistfully.

Seeing the girl looking longingly at his bangle, Nadir took it off and gently slid it on Leila's right wrist.

'Here, I want you to have it,' he said, smiling when he saw the shocked look on Leila's face as she then admired the bangle which fit perfectly on her wrist.

'I have another one like it. It's thanks for what you have done for me and a sign of our new friendship.'

'Thank you so much; I love it,' said Leila.

'You're welcome,' Nadir replied, and when the two leaned near each other, their heads bumped together, almost reaching out for a kiss.

'Oh!' they both said, giggling.

'We are awkwardly adorable, aren't we?' Leila said, only for Nadir to kiss her.

It took her by surprise, but soon she returned it. It was a quick kiss, but it spoke volumes about their feelings.

They smiled and chuckled awkwardly, but it was clear that they enjoyed it and kissed again for longer until they broke apart, slightly blushing.

With fatigue finally catching up to them, they grabbed some spare blankets and lay on the floor.

They fell asleep near each other with their hands firmly entwined together, stroking each other's fingers and not letting go the entire night.

And Leila's new bangle gleamed brightly in the moonlight.