Suddenly she made out the sounds of cheering on the other side of town. Curious, she headed towards the sound, weaving through back allies and abandoned storehouses until she finally saw a giant crowd standing by the palace gates. She looked around, trying to find the cause of excitement.

Then she found it. There was a man, riding through the crowd, on a beautiful white stallion. The crowd gasped and pointed at the richly adorned sword he wore at his side, and the fine silk he wore. A great purple plume rose proudly from his red hat. He must have been royalty. Sadeera sighed, another royal come to seek Princess Jasmine's hand in marriage.

Sadeera had never met the princess, but she imagined that she fit the typical royalty stereotype: stuck up, selfish and ignorant. Thousands of rich princes had come to her, seeking her hand in marriage, and she had turned down all of them. Sadeera felt a twinge of annoyance at the princess's stupidity. But what could you expect? She was royalty. It was practically her job to be spoiled and snobbish.

Suddenly, the crowd let out a frightened gasp that swept down the streets and wrenched Sadeera's attention to the road. When she saw what had caused the crowd to react, her hands flew to her mouth, her dark brown eyes widened in fear. Two little children had run out into the road. One was a little boy, and the other was his older sister. They were obviously beggars. Their clothes were tattered and torn and hung over their bodies like limp, dusty curtains.

"Pony! Pony!" The boy's voice echoed through the streets, somehow louder than the rest of the towns gasps and shouts. Oblivious to the danger he was putting himself in, he reaching for the Stallion, running beneath its dangerous hooves. If he got kicked, he would be dead before anyone could blink and eye.

His older sister, maybe seven or eight, flew after him, grabbing him to her and trying to hold him back. But it was too late. They were already in the prince's way. They had startled his horse and ruined his welcome parade. And it was not in princes' reputations to be forgiving.

The man on the horse sneered down at the children, disgust flashing up in his black eyes. "Insolent brats!" He spat with his nasally voice. His hand flew to his saddle bag and before anyone knew what was going on, the long, cruel whip was in his hand, raised threateningly above his head. Sadeera involuntarily. They were only children… "Out of the way!"

Sadeera covered her eyes, unable to watch. Someone screamed, and the little girl tried to shield her brother with her body.

"Hey!" The new voice ripped through the crowds, silencing the crowd. It was deep and throaty and frightening, like a loin roaring. It was followed by the sound of the prince's whip lashing against flesh.

Sadeera parted her fingers and looked through them, and stared in silent shock at what she saw. After nine months he had finally appeared again. Aladdin had returned. The whip was viciously curled around his upheld forearm, as the young man stood protectively between the children and the horse. He was just as she remembered him, his young strong body was dust covered, and glistened in the afternoon sun. The cloud of yellow dust around him settled back into the road and revealed his angular, tanned face, and his hardened, square jaw. His long raven hair fell into his dangerous dark eyes… he was furious.

Akyra burst out of the crowd, shoving past men who were twice her size, and elbowing her way through women, regardless of the respect she was supposed to show to them. Soon she had emerged into the street and scooped up the young boy in her arms, taking the little girl by the hand. Then, with a glance at Aladdin, she walked them calmly out of the streets and hid them in the crowd, who parted for her as she glared daggers at them. Some out of them moved out of pity for the children, others out of shock, and a few out of hatred and disgust for Akyra herself. She held each of their glare's defiantly, daring them to do something. None of them did. They were filled with a strange, deafening silence as she passed them. Soon, they had swallowed her and the children up, and Sadeera couldn't see them anymore.

Suddenly, attention was turned back to Aladdin, as he yanked his arm back, tearing the handle of the whip from the shocked prince's arm. "If I were you, I think I could afford to learn some manners!" he snapped angrily, breaking the stiff part of the whip in half and throwing it to the ground in disgust.

The prince sat rigidly on his horse, shocked and outraged for a few moments before he scoffed and pushed his horse forwards, his arrogance resumed. "But you see you are not me, you merely in someone who is in the way." The prince punctuated his word with a swift kick into Aladdin's chest. Sadeera cringed.

Caught by surprise, Aladdin fell backwards into a mud puddle in the street. Thick, putrid, brown liquid splashed over his body and soaked into his hair. The crowd erupted into laughter and Sadeera tried in vain to push her way forwards to get to him.

Instead, it was Akyra who appeared at Aladdin's side. Sadeera watched as Akyra stood loyally beside her brother, who wiped the mud from his face and stood up beside her. Sadeera didn't need to see his face to know that he was furious. Brother and sister stood proudly together as the crowd's laughter died down. For the first time Sadeera noticed Abu sitting on Akyra's shoulder, chattering angrily away at the retreating prince.

"Hey look at that, Akyra," Aladdin said loudly, so that the whole crowd could hear. "It's not everyday you see a horse with two assholes." The crowd fell into a deadly silence, as the prince stopped abruptly, just beyond the open gates of the castle. Time seemed to stop. Everything and everyone hung suspended in the silence, waiting for the impending explosion.

"Two assholes and no brain." Akyra replied just a loudly, her smooth, even voice seemed calm, but Sadeera knew that she was just as angry as her brother.

At this the prince turned around and cast a vicious glance at the two dusty figures standing on the street. He smiled at them wickedly as the gates began to close. "You two are nothing but street rats!" he accused. "You were born street rats! You will die street rats! And only your fleaswill mourn you!"

The gates closed as Aladdin slammed again them. There was a moment of silence as the entire city watched the way the boy gripped the handles of the massive, wooden doors. Then, in a final burst of rage he slammed his fists against them, causing a loud boom that echoed down the silent streets. Angrily, Aladdin reached down and grabbed the first thing he found, which happened to be a rock the size of his fist, and hurled it over the wall, his muscles rippling with the effort. He stood for a while, panting, before he stormed back up to Akyra, who waiting for him.

The crowd was thinning as many were leaving to go home. The prince was gone and there was nothing else to see. "We're not worthless," Sadeera heard Aladdin say to his sister, his voice a low, menacing tone. "And we don't have fleas." He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it momentarily out of his eyes, only to have it fall back into the dangerously dark brown orbs.

"What a pathetic, little man." Akyra said, her stormy eyes still glaring at the door. "He has no idea…"

"Come on," Aladdin said, restless and still irritated. "Let's see how those two kids are doing."

They walked off together back towards town, and Sadeera tried desperately to follow, but before she could they had disappeared in a stream of moving people. She sighed and turned back towards the streets, at least she had gotten to see them again.

Aladdin sat on the cushion at his house. Akyra sat on the "window" frame, which was really a part of the wall that had been knocked out. It was a rather large hole, in fact there wasn't even much of a wall there at all. It was like a huge gaping wound in the room, that no one knew how to fix.

Akyra dipped a thin, tattered rag into the clay bowl, which held a small pool of water and rung it out, coming to sit by him. She rubbed the cloth along his face where there were still mud streaks.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about." Akyra said as she worked the mud from his skin. She was gentler over the purple bruise that was beginning to form on his chest where the prince had kicked him.

Aladdin stared at the wall angrily. "It just makes me so mad." Aladdin said. "That all these people see us as are…"

"Street rats?"

"Don't use that word." Aladdin said, darkly, turning his face away from her so that he was looking at the wall.

"You've never had a problem with it before." Akyra said as she rubbed at a spot on his chin.

"It sounds so degrading, it makes us seem like we're just common thieves."

Akyra sighed and dropped the rag. "Why does it matter what he thinks of us?" She asked him, her smooth, calm voice sounded suddenly tired.

"It doesn't." Aladdin said, stroking Abu who was curled up beside him on the stone floor.

"Then why are you so upset?"

"I'm not!" Aladdin snapped.

Akyra rolled her eyes. Typical.

Aladdin sighed, frustrated. "Ok! Fine! I'm a little upset."

"What's wrong?" Akyra asked with a sigh, brushing her hair behind her ears.

Aladdin was quiet for a long time before he finally answered. "We're not worthless." He said. "No one in the city even knows us."

"What are you talking about now? Everybody knows who we are." Akyra asked, shaking her head.

"They know who we are!" Aladdin said, frustrated, his voice bordering a shout. "They know our names and they know what we look like, but nobody even knows who we are. They just think of us as…" he sighed losing his steam as he leaned his head against the corner, "street rats." He finished quietly.

"I thought you didn't want to use that word."

Aladdin gave her a look that said, 'you'd better start taking this seriously or I'm leaving'. She sighed tiredly and sat down beside him, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Aladdin… what you're saying is true… nobody knows you… we're street rats. And so nobody takes the time to find out what a good person you are." She said.

"We are." Aladdin reminded her.

Akyra smiled. "We are, that's the point. We're good people Aladdin… you're a good person. You saved a pair of children today." She reminded him. "What does it matter if we're a little different? We're good people, whether anyone else knows it or not. And in the end, I think that's all that matters."

Aladdin sighed. "I just can't stand living like this." He said. "I wish we… had a chance…"

Akyra sighed and leaned her head on her brother's shoulder. "That's just the way life is…" She said softly, she sounded tired.

"One day," Aladdin said, turning to the knocked out side of the wall, through it, he could see the massive palace where the sultan lived the setting sun washed its pillars in a shimmering golden light. "One day we'll live in the palace, together. And we'll eat like kings, and do whatever we want to do…" Aladdin said. "I'll show you everything." He said as he watched as the setting sun turn the great white columns of the palace a golden color. "And we'll never have to worry about food or water or bathing… we'll have money. All the money we could dream of. " He continued. "And people will know who we are." he said. "We'll be more than just… street rats…" he turned and to look at his sister, but found that Akyra had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Her darkly tanned face was expressionless and quiet as she rested on him.

He sighed and smiled a little before turning back to their window. He watched as the setting sun was replaced by a haunting sliver of a silver moon, and the golden palace turned to a bright white cloud in the distance. His eyes flickered shut and before he knew it, he had slipped into a beautiful dream world… a place where he was free, and he was loved… a place that he wouldn't be able to remember in the morning.