When her aunt walked out of the carriage, she didn't greet Jasmine. She walked straight to Father.

"Now," she began. "I would like to know exactly why you are allowing one of my nieces to marry a no account street rat!" she yelled at him.

"What?" asked Father.

"Aunt Fara."Jasmine began.

"She's been mad ever since you rejected her nephew, you know, her husband's brother's son, Prince Achmed. She thought he was perfect for you. He's a nightmare. Doesn't think about anyone but himself. She was so, so mad that you insulted him."

"I didn't insult him."

"No. I'm sure you didn't. I'm glad you rejected him. I wouldn't have wanted him as my brother-in-law."

Aladdin just stared at the Sultan, and his sister, who kept screaming. Suddenly, Genie appeared, and listening to Aunt Fara's remarks about Aladdin, took her, in his hand, and pitched her out of the palace, just as he had done with Jafar's lamp.

"Thank you." said Aida. "She really is a nightmare."

"And to think you've had to be putting up with her for almost eight year." Jasmine said.

"Yes, well, my sister has always been somewhat, easily upset." said the Sultan.

"Don't worry about her." Jasmine told Aladdin. "This is my sister, Aida."

Aladdin shook Aida's hand.

"I hope you're as much fun as my sister said in her letters. She said you actually have a flying carpet, and you took her on a ride. Well, that must have been a lot of fun. I've always wanted to fly. I don't suppose you'd be able to take me?" she asked timidly.

"Why certainly."

Carpet, who had been standing behind Genie, reacted the same way as when he had seen Abu walking towards the jewel in the Cave of Wonders. He remembered when he had had to give the Sultan a ride. It had not been an easy task, going around, and around. He had gotten dizzy. He hoped his other daughter wasn't the same.

Aladdin gestured Carpet towards him.

"Oh, look!" cried Aida. "And it's purple, my favorite, favorite color! And it was gold. A perfect combination" she said as she climbed on.

"Let's go, Carpet!" Aladdin said, and they were off.

Just as Carpet suspected, Jasmine's sister was more like her father. She kept asking to go faster, and faster. Luckily, however, she didn't care how many times they turned, and they didn't have to go in circles. She just wanted the speed, to feel as if she were flying herself. Carpet performed the same trick as he had done with Aladdin and Jasmine; he threw them up in the air, circled once, and caught them again. But he had made a fatal mistake.

"That was lovely, do it again, Carpet. Again!" Ida cried.

And it seemed that Aida, unlike the Sultan didn't seem to want to stop. She couldn't get enough, but finally, they had to come down.

"Oh, oh. That was fun." she said.

"Yeah."said Aladdin, who seemed to have gotten a bit nauseous.

"When can we go on another ride again?"

"Whenever you like."He said.

"Well, I guess we better go inside." Jasmine commented.

"I like him." Ida told Jasmine. "Or should I say, I like the carpet. Well, him, too. Was that a genie, the one who threw my Aunt Fara?"

"Yes, that's Genie. He's also a friend of Aladdin's. And this is Abu, and of course, you already know Imago."

Genie smiled and bowed when Jasmine introduced him, Abu did the same, however, when she introduced Imago, Aida remembered that he no longer was with Afar, and now he was Aladdin's friend.

"Hello, Princess Aida."said Iago. "It's certainly nice to have you back again."

"I'm very glad to be back, Iago."

"Yes, you'll find that things are going to be very different now, without Jafar here."

"I certainly hope so. I never did understand how Father would have him here, advising him."

"The snake staff." Jasmine said quietly. "Remember, I wrote to you about that. Aladdin was the one who realized that Jafar was controlling Father."

Aida nodded.

During supper, they talked about the preparations for the wedding. The Sultan was in even more cheerful mood than was usual, both because of the wedding, and because Aida was back with them, even though his sister would not be present.

"Well, she certainly would not have done any good. All she ever does when she goes to parties is criticize."Aida told him. "And are any of your relatives coming, Aladdin?"she asked.

"Um, I don't have any relatives."he said sadly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I always thought that, well, you know, ordinary people always have a lot of children. I've seen so many, when I've caught glimpses outside the palace. I thought you had a lot of brothers and sisters."

"No, I don't."

"Well, but that brings up an excellent point."said the Sultan. "An excellent point. The invitations, and who they will be sent to, and the number of guests, and so forth. Dear me, it's going to be quite a large amount of work now, isn't it? I did hope that Fara would have been here to help us."

"Oh, no, Father. Aunt Fara always organized the dumbest and most boring parties I have ever seen. And that's saying something. Perhaps the only good thing about them was that she spend so much money on them. You wouldn't even be able to enjoy anything, because you couldn't see it. Like, you know, Prince Achmed, he would always be present, well, almost always, and well, he would fit right in. Your eyes would hurt from all the light reflecting off the gold, silver, diamonds, and so forth. I always said he dressed like that so you wouldn't be able to see his face, because if you did, it would scare you away."

"How true that is."Jasmine said.

"But then, you see, she wouldn't even let me keep a kitty I picked up once. I'll never understand. She said it was because I picked it off the street. Well, it was hungry. I gave it to one of the maids. Oh, Genie, you are so funny."

Genie was preparing dessert.

"Just remember to put enough chocolate in it. I love chocolate. And do you have any idea what you want your dress to look like, Jasmine. It's a pity brides have to wear white, you know. They should be allowed to wear another color, a pretty one."

"Well, I wanted gold trimmings."

"I wouldn't have chosen gold. I would've chosen something else."

The Sultan was laughing at Genie and Abu, who was helping Genie with the dessert. Aladdin and Iago arguing about Iago being the royal vizier, and what Aladdin should do when he became sultan, and Jasmine and Aida discussing Jasmine's dress. When they had finished, Jasmine and Aida went to Aida's room, where they kept their conversation going.

"I'm glad to be back in my own room. Besides, you know, I think you should carry a bouquet of jasmines. You are, after all, named Jasmine."

"I hadn't thought of it that way."said Jasmnie. "I thought just as long as the flowers were white."

"And the flowers should be real. Not those fake ones. I've always hated the fake ones. Aunt Fara always used them. She said it was because they cost more money. They just aren't, well, real flowers, and it's not the same."

"Yes, you're right."

"What about the cake? What shape is it going to be?"

"I don't know."

"Well, once I went to a wedding with my Aunt Fara, and they had a very nice cake. It was baskets, you know. It was made to look like baskets, with a fountain in the middle, and another, they were swans."

"That sounds nice."

"I can't decide which one was nicer. I liked them both."

"Oh, look at the time! We're not gong to want to get up tomorrow! Good night."

"Good night."

The next day, the baker and the dressmaker came to the palace. Jasmine told the baker about the basket and swan cakes, and asked his opinion.

"You should wear a long veil, of course."said Aida. "And I know you'll think I'm crazy, however, you should wear hoops, you know, a hoop skirt. It would be kind of fun to wear a nineteenth century wedding dress."

She giggled.

"I don't think so. I like this one better."said Jasmine, pointing to one design.

"That's one's beautiful! You will look beautiful in it, Jasmine. I think you should take it."

"Yes, I think so, too."

And the dressmaker started measuring her.

Genie and Aladdin were supervising the preparations around the palace. Iago came to tell Aladdin that they wanted to take his measurements for his wedding robes.

"How's everything going?"he asked Genie.

"Not a single mistake!"said Genie. "Al's wedding is going to be perfect! Make no mistake!"

"I think I'm starting to see that."

"Out of the way, now, out of the way!"Genie cried to three guards who were standing in the way of two men who were trying to get a table in. "Careful, now, careful. Careful with the fountain, please."

"I always did like that fountain."Aida said about the fountain with the peacocks at the top. "Genie! We should decorate the fountains!"she cried. "See, put flowers in the water, maybe around the peacocks for example, and around it, and so forth. Jasmines, of course, as that will be what the bride's bouquet will consist of."

"Excellent idea!"exclaimed Genie, and he turned into a gardener, and jasmines appeared around the peacocks's necks, the dome in the middle, one on each point, and swimming in the water.

"Beautiful!"

So on and so forth, the preparations continued. Gifts started to arrive, however, Aida said that no one should on any account tell Aladdin and Jasmine about them, that they should hide them, until the wedding day. Being back in Agrabah, and by the fact that her father was not so strict about leaving the palace anymore, Aida almost always, once a day, rode her mare, Tormenta, into the market place. She liked to see the vendors, and what they were selling. One time, she ran into one particularly mysterious peddler.

"Oh, good morning," said Aida.

"Good morning." said the vendor.

"You've traveled, I see. I'm also well traveled, I guess you could say. Not in the same way as you, but, well, you got anything interesting?" she asked him.

"Yes, ma'am, I have traveled."

"My sister is getting married, you don't suppose you have something I could give her for her wedding, do you?"she asked.

"Ah, a wedding. Yes, I do believe I do."

Aida hopped off her mare, and stepped closer. The peddler got out what looked like a staff, or a scepter. It was old, and covered in dust.

"A scepter, or what is it. It'd probably make a nice design, somewhere."

"No, no, not a design, young miss. Not a design. It is the Oracle."

"Oh."said Aida, looking confused. "I've heard something around those lines, you know. Like, it tells the future."

"Not just the future, but the past, the present."

"So you could learn anything."

"One thing."

"I see, I think."Aida said. "I'll take it."

Aida brought the Oracle back to the palace, and asked the maids to polish it, make it shiny, and place it with the other gifts.

They also had to prepare the menu. One of the things Aida enjoyed about traveling with her Aunt Fara was that she always got to try new foods. Aida also got a new dress just for the wedding, and finally, the big day arrived.