Chapter 13: The Wedding of the Century

It's funny how easily people are able to go back to their old lives when surrounded by familiar faces, no matter how long they had been apart from it. Not that Xion's break had been especially long, but immediately upon boarding the Gummi ship she was back in the routine as if nothing had happened. In fact, she had been doing a bit more than before, perhaps to make up for lost time. Donald needed a second hand at the controls? Xion was there. Stop Goofy from blowing up half the ship while making dinner? She was on it.

Right now, though, Xion was sitting on her bed in the little room she had been given before. Her jacket and boots were off and she dug her feet into the sheets. Everything was exactly the way she had left it; in fact, she would have thought everything that had happened recently was a dream were it not for Jiminy sitting on the nightstand with his journal open.

"And you say you had a whole lifetime of memories in there?" The little cricket lifted his hat and scratched his head with the back of his pen before returning it to the pages.

Xion was silent, opening her mouth on more than one occasion but snapping it shut after deciding to phrase things different. Finally she pulled her knees up to her chest and nodded. "Yeah, though it was more like a summary. Only some important moments had detailed memories."

Jiminy scribbled Xion's words into the journal and then glanced up at her. "Hm, I wonder how they managed that without Naminé?"

"Sora said that that Tron guy he met told him." Xion fell back onto the pillow and grasped at Stitch's charm, once again expecting it to be a thalassa shell that her fingers found instead of the smooth stone. "He said that in that world we're as easy to change as programs."

Jiminy nodded as he wrote that bit down into the journal as well. "Well gosh, maybe I should be asking Sora some questions too. I'd like to have an entry on this Tron fellow."

"It'll have to wait." Xion sat up and Jiminy turned his head, both looking to the open door where Kairi had entered. The red-headed girl smiled and pointed down the hall. "Donald says we're coming to the next world. We're starting the search for Riku in a place called, um…" She frowned and looked up to the ceiling, sorting through her memory to recall the world's name. "Agrabah?"

"Agrabah?" Xion slid off the bed and grabbed her jacket. "That's our next stop?"

"Yeah, I think so. Is it a world you've been to before?"

"We've been twice, and Xion has once!" Jiminy piped up as he jumped down to the tile floor. "Golly, I wonder what trouble you'll get into this time?"

"Well, actually, I went there a few times with the Organization," Xion said. Then she turned to Kairi. "Agrabah is Jasmine's home."

"Oh!" Kairi's face brightened. "Jasmine! Okay, come on, let's get going!" Kairi took off down the halls of the ship and Xion followed in a hurry, trying to catch up to her with one boot only halfway on. Jiminy's calls for them to slow down were drowned out as the halls opened up to the cockpit of the Highwind, with Donald sitting in the pilot's chair and Goofy humming a song in his own seat. Sora, however, was up on his feet with his hands on the window sill as he looked out at the sandy world coming into view.

Kairi joined him by the window. "Is that it?"

"Yeah," Sora said with a nod. He pointed out the window to a darker section of the world as they flew closer. "That's the Cave of Wonders where Aladdin found Genie's lamp." They flew into the sun now, passing over the ruined city they had seen in their last visit. "And that's where we flew through a maze of invisible walls with Genie's powers."

Kairi nudged Sora in the side and giggled. "Half of what you just said flew over my head."

"Well, I guess we'll have to introduce you to everyone!"

Over the next hill Agrabah was revealed in all of its shining glory. In fact, Xion thought, it looked even shinier than usual, especially the palace. It appeared to have been polished to perfection. The rest of the buildings were decorated with vines and flowers of all kinds, and a huge line of people, including what appeared to be twenty camels, were standing at the gates to the city.

"I wonder what's going on?" Donald asked, turning his attention for the moment from the controls to the city.

"Looks like some kinda party!" Goofy said with a laugh. "Gawrsh, won't they be surprised when we show up to join in!"

Xion, however, noticed something besides all the decorations and crowds of people. "Look." A little beyond the city limits was a swarm of Bandit Heartless and Dancer Nobodies battling it out in the desert. One of the Dancers knocked a pair of Bandits up into the air and they appeared to crash into something invisible, stopping in midair and then falling into the sand. For the briefest of moments a massive dome of interlocking hexagons appeared around the entire city of Agrabah. "There's a barrier protecting the city from the fighting." It must have been Genie who set it up, likely alongside Jasmine with her Princess of Heart powers. Genie had done something similar to keep Jafar out in their last visit, hadn't he?

"How are we supposed to get in?" Donald wondered.

"All those people at the gates don't seem to have a problem," Kairi pointed out. "Maybe it just blocks Heartless and Nobodies." In proof of her point, the Highwind passed harmlessly through the space that the barrier occupied as if there was nothing there.

Donald brought the ship down a little ways away from the line of people outside Agrabah, kicking up sand in a small storm as it descended. Goofy handed out canteens of water to everyone as they made their way to the exit, which Xion was thankful for. Last time she had nearly passed out in the desert from thirst, before the peddler had found her.

"I'll stay here to hold down the fort!" Jiminy called from the cockpit. "Bring back some stories for my journal!"

Sora's hand was on the door, but he hadn't opened it yet. "It's going to be really hot and really dry," he warned Kairi behind him.

Kairi smiled and shrugged. "I'm ready for it." She held a hand up and showed off her magic by making droplets of water swirling around her arm.

"If you say so…"

But despite Kairi's assurances, she reacted with a shocked gasp when the door opened up and Agrabah's dry desert air immediately flowed inside of the ship. While Donald scrambled to push everyone out before the hallway was filled with sand, Xion brought a pair of fingers up to her suddenly parched lips. Reaching for her canteen, she caught a glimpse of Kairi behind her already taking a long gulp of her own.

"Don't you want to save that?" Sora asked with a chuckle. "I warned you." Kairi glared playfully at him and one Watera spell later the group was marching over the dunes with a very wet Sora in the back.

As they came over the last dune and approached the city gates, Xion saw the camels she had noticed from above heading inside—each one had two baskets strapped to them, and the owner of the camels was walking to each one and patting a hand on the lids. Their owner was a tall man with a blue cloak wrapped around his face and body and held together with a golden badge, which on the one hand Xion thought seemed rather suspicious but on the other hand it appeared reasonable for desert travel.

The dome barrier around them rumbled again as Heartless and Nobodies continued to fight outside. The crowds of people waiting to enter Agrabah murmured worriedly in all kinds of languages, glancing up now and then at the hexagons with evident concern that they wouldn't hold.

"Don't worry," the familiar growling voice of the guard assured everyone. Xion recognized him—Razoul, was it? He was the guard Iago had been hiding from last time. "The genie's barrier has held this long. It won't fall any time soon." Razoul, with his arms crossed, watched as the nervous visitors continued through the stone arch and into the city. As he only gave people the barest of uninterested glances when they passed in front of him, Xion was surprised when his tan hand was held in front of her and halted their group.

"Well, well." Razoul leaned forward with his hands on his hips and smile, exposing a missing tooth. "If it isn't the 'new court wizard.'"

Xion smiled awkwardly at the large man while everyone else gave her weird looks. "Hey there, it's been a while."

"What lie are you going to spout to get in this time?" Razoul asked, straightening up, crossing his arms, and raising an eyebrow.

"Hopefully none?"

Razoul grimaced. "Well, the gates are open to everyone today." He looked to Sora, Donald, and Goofy behind her. "And I imagine the street rat would like to see his friends. However-"

"Oh my, such a crowd!" A frail old man with a bushy grey mustache walked up to them, speaking to Razoul. A large pack was on his back, burdening him and lowering his body to the ground. It looked rather painful. "In all my years, never have I seen the streets so full of bustle and hustle and assorted commotion."

Razoul eyed the old man warily, but he seemed harmless. "Our princess is to wed," he explained.

"Jasmine's getting married?!" Sora asked with a gigantic smile. "That's great!"

"Yes, wonderful!" the man agreed with a nod. "And who's the lucky prince?"

"Not a prince at all," Razoul spat. "Just a no-account street rat!"

Donald glared at Razoul and moved forward, shaking a finger at the guard. "Hey, that's no way to talk about-"

"No way!" The old man tossed his pack off and stood up straight. His tanned skin faded away, revealing a jolly blue Genie underneath. Genie grabbed the shocked Razoul and grinned wildly. "Try it phonetically. It's AAAALADDIN!" Fireworks erupted from his fingertips and light weaved through the air, spelling out their friend's name in the sky. Razoul grumbled and walked away, leaving Genie standing in front of the gates with the group.

"Hey, Genie! We missed you!" Sora said, running up to the big blue lug.

Genie turned around with a ridiculously, impossibly huge smile on his face and scooped all of them up in a giant hug. "Sora, Donald, Goofy!" He glanced to their right. "Xion! I knew it, I told you you'd be pals next time I saw you! And…" He looked to Kairi and frowned. "…Red Xion! Oh, it's good to see you all again!"

Kairi laughed awkwardly, apparently a little overwhelmed by Genie's energetic personality. "My name's Kairi. We haven't met before."

"Oh thank goodness. For a moment there I thought I was losing my marbles." To emphasize his point, a brown bag appeared in Genie's hand and he held it upside down, pouring glass marbles into the sand.

Goofy scratched his head. "Gawrsh Genie, can ya tell us why the city is so busy?"

"Of course! Why the decorations, guests, and all-around hubbub? It's really quite simple, you see…" With a flash of light and a puff of blue smoke, all of them were suddenly standing in the middle of the crowded Agrabah streets while Genie held a snowglobe miniature of the city in his hand.

"There's a party here in Agrabah, there's excitement in the air. People pouring in from near and far, 'cause Jasmine and Aladdin are gonna have a weddin'!"

"They're finally getting married?" Donald asked.

"You bet! There's a party here in Agrabah, and everybody will be there." He ran up to two citizens and held them closely. "So if you're a pauper or a shah, do somethin' with your hair!" Then he turned back to them and leaned in close, investigating their appearances. Genie grabbed Goofy's arm and checked his sleeve with a measuring tape.

"You mustn't wear an outfit that's naughty," he explained while pointing behind him to a pair of women on the street corner. "And a turban that's unraveling just won't do. No earrings that are tasteless or gaudy…" Genie poofed up a fashion designer's outfit for himself, complete with a measuring tape hanging around his neck. "You're gonna look gorgeous when I get through." He gripped at one of the zippers on Sora's outfit and pulled, and in another puff of smoke the boy was standing in fancy, traditional Agrabah clothing. With a snap of his fingers the rest of them were dressed similarly.

While Donald admired his reflection, Sora took off the poofy white hat he had been given and allowed his hair to spike back up. He turned to the girls only to immediately look away and try to hide his reddening face.

Kairi glanced down at the frankly rather revealing pink outfit that Genie had put her in with some dismay. "How does Jasmine stand wearing this…?" Tugging at the blue cloth on her arm, Xion had to agree with her sentiments.

Genie didn't seem to hear her. "I like it! Now, it still needs something else… What does it say to me? It says…mode of transportation!" He whistled loudly and soon a familiar purple and gold carpet flew out of the palace and down to them. As Carpet approached Genie cast another spell and made him grow. Before anyone really even realized what was happening Genie had shoved all of them onto Carpet and they took off into the sky.

"I'm so lost right now," Kairi said with a small laugh.

Xion smiled and shook her head. "Same here, and I've even been here before."

Goofy grinned and held his hat down to keep it from blowing off. "That's just Genie for ya!"

Genie showed up next to them, dressed in a sharp suit and holding a microphone. "And now we take you down to the palace, where everyone has celebrated all night long."

A second Genie suddenly appeared on the other side of carpet. This one had a baseball cap on and was holding a skateboard. "Without Jafar and all of his malice, everybody's happy!"

The first Genie shoved the second one out of the way. "What could possibly go wrong?"

Xion considered that question as they soared over the decorated buildings. With the Heartless and Nobodies kept out by Genie's barrier and Jafar gone, what else was there? The occasional party-crashing thief, perhaps, but no doubt the palace guards could keep them out. That's what they were trained for, after all.

Carpet flew through a large window in the palace and shrunk down to normal size, dropping everyone off in the large but empty chamber. Genie arrived a moment later and stretched his arms. "My buddy's getting married and you're gonna see just how much I can do!" Holding his hands up high, bolts of light and fireworks flew out all around them. Xion blinked her eyes to adjust to the bright light, and as she looked up the room was now decorated rather extravagantly. A podium with a pavilion around it stood at one end, with a carpet leading down the stairs, across the shining, polished floors and to the gold-lined door at the other end room. Piles of gold and jewels lined the walls near the door.

"Genie, this is wonderful!" Xion exclaimed. "Al and Jasmine are going to love it."

"Boy, I sure hope so! Now then..." Genie landed in front of the group with a notebook in his hands. "We have five unexpected guests, which mean that the cooks need to account for you! Will you be having the chicken or the sea bass?"

Sora chuckled and walked past Genie over to one of the windows. "Where are Aladdin and Jasmine, anyway?"

"Oh, they're in the gardens." Genie blinked. "Oh! They're gonna be late for their own wedding at this rate! Kids, can ya help me get them?"

"Leave it to us, I guess," Kairi said. She leaned over to Goofy. "Who's Aladdin?"

Goofy chuckled. "Aladdin's our pal! He's Jasmine's true love."

Kairi smiled. "Okay, yup. Leave it to us!"

But despite all of this, something was bugging Xion; or rather, a certain lack of something. "Genie, where's Iago?"

Genie's good mood noticeably deflated. "Oh. He's over there." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, toward the pile of treasure where a familiar red parrot was digging through the gold.

"I like this wedding stuff so far!" Iago said to himself, apparently not noticing everyone else yet. "Maybe if I'm pleasant, I'll get to keep a present."

"Iago!"

The parrot turned around at Xion's voice and dropped the golden chalice he was holding. "Well, if it isn't Xion and the Key-kids! Where have you been lately?"

"Have you stayed good?" Sora asked with a smirk.

"I have! I swear, I've gone straight!" Iago coughed and kicked away a jewel that he had picked up during their conversation. "A-Anyway, shouldn't you go find the lovebirds? I'll just, uh…I'll watch the wedding gifts, yeah."

"I hate to leave the bird alone, but he's right." Genie looked out the windows with a pair of binoculars. "Ah-ha! Found 'em! Look at those two lovebirds, sitting so close together… Getting it on like-oh. Oh, those are actual birds. My mistake." He turned away, looking in a completely different direction. "There they are! Come on men, we have a wedding to get to!" Genie poofed away in a puff of blue smoke, but apparently had forgotten to take them with him because everyone else still stood in the large chamber.

"…So…" Kairi began slowly. "Do we…go see them?"

"I guess so." Sora shrugged. He glanced over to the treasure, where Iago had been joined by a drooling white duck. "Donald, come on!"

Donald grumbled and peeled his eyes away from the rubies. "I'm coming, I'm coming…"

The first thing that came to mind about Agrabah's palace was how big it was. They wandered around for quite a while before a helpful Carpet directed them down the correct corridor. As they walked down the white and gold halls, Xion felt a tap on her shoulder and looked over to see a questioning Kairi.

"So what was up with the bird back there?"

"Oh, Iago. We have a bit of a history. Last time I was here he wanted my help to apologize to Aladdin and Jasmine; he used to work for Jafar, who was one of the villains looking for the Princesses of Heart."

Kairi gave a concerned frown. "Should we really trust him then?"

Xion shook her head. "Iago's good at heart, he's just cowardly. And greedy. Like Donald, but worse."

"I heard that!" Donald quacked from in front of them. The two girls laughed.

The palace gardens were just as big and fancy as everything else there. Carefully trimmed hedges and colorful flowers surrounded a marble fountain where the three familiar figures sat on the water's edge. Aladdin, dressed in white, blue, and gold, held a sheathed dagger in his hand as he spoke to Jasmine and Genie. Xion could just barely hear the tail-end of his words as they arrived.

"…and it's all that's left of my father."

"Your father?" Genie asked, scratching his head. "Why, I don't think you've ever mentioned your father before. Oh, another unexpected guest! Al, quick, tell me: will he want the chicken or the sea bass?!"

Aladdin shook his head and clipped the dagger onto his belt. "He's not coming, Genie. He died a long time ago."

"Oh… Oh, Al. I'm sorry."

Jasmine placed her hand on Aladdin's. "It's never easy to lose family. My mother, too…"

Aladdin shook his head. "I didn't just lose him—I never knew him. I never learned from him. What do I know about raising a family?"

Sora, not one to see a friend depressed, immediately marched forward to the fountain. "Hey, cheer up, Al! Isn't today your big day?"

Aladdin glanced up in surprise, and Jasmine's face mirrored his own. "Sora?" He tried to stifle a laugh but failed. "What are you wearing?" Sora tugged at the white cloth while Genie muttered under his breath about critics. "Never mind, this is great! When did you guys arrive?"

"Just a bit ago. And it's not just me, Donald, and Goofy. Xion and Kairi are here too!" Aladdin glanced behind Sora and while his smile didn't fade it did weaken. Xion held her breath. The last time she and Aladdin had met, she had accidentally screwed everything up by allowing Jafar into Agrabah.

"Hey, a friend of yours is a friend of mine." Aladdin grinned and walked over to Xion, holding a hand out. "Let's start over, okay?"

Xion smiled and took Al's hand. "Sure thing."

Jasmine and Kairi, meanwhile, had immediately started talking like old friends. Even despite the short time they had met back in Hollow Bastion, it seemed that the Princesses of Heart had a special sort of bond.

"I can't believe we came just as you're getting married!" Kairi said happily.

"I know! This is such a great coincidence! I'm glad to have a friend here to see this!"

Xion, for her part, didn't join in the celebrations. Her eyes were locked on the dagger hanging from Aladdin's hip—more specifically, on the golden hand sigil on the hilt. Where had she seen that symbol before…?

x-x-x

Abis Mal had fallen on hard times. During the battle with those Organizer guys, he had fled the castle without a second thought. And he didn't regret that decision in the least, because the little man knew without a doubt that he would have died to the Heartless had he stayed behind. But after returning to Agrabah, things had gone south for him. Reduced to petty thievery to survive, day after day eating half a loaf of stale bread, or a rotten melon. Oh sure, he had always been a thief before, granted, but at least he hadn't been a street rat.

When the Heartless arrived several weeks later, Abis Mal had thought for sure that Maleficent was coming for him. But the Genie's barrier kept the shadows out of the city, and for that he was thankful. Still, though, it didn't fill his belly or his greed.

But that was all about to change.

Today was the royal wedding, which meant jewels and gold of all sorts in the palace. Oh sure, security would be tighter, but Abis Mal had learned enough with Maleficent and Pete to at the very least know how to open a corridor of darkness. He'd get in, take his fill, and get out before anyone would notice him.

Chuckling to himself, the little man barely noticed the herd of camels walking in his path led by a man in a blue cloak. The man looked down at the golden badge holding his cloak together, marked with a hand emblem, and dusted the sand off of it before ordering the camels to halt. When one of the many baskets clinging to the camels started to tear open, Abis Mal quickly ran and hid behind a wall.

"Why must we wait and hide while you get to wander freely, Cassim?" The speaker was a growly, rough voice. Abis Mal spared a glance to see a tall, muscular man with grey skin and a bald head. He was speaking to the cloaked man.

"One of us has to keep a cool head, Sa'luk." The cloaked man – Cassim, apparently – said. His voice was a deep, intimidating baritone.

Sa'luk scoffed. "Are we ready yet?"

"Nearly. While they're all munching caviar, create a small disturbance. I'll sneak in from behind."

Sa'luk glanced behind him, eyeing a nearby elephant. He grinned. "Oh, you'll get your disturbance, Cassim. How about a parade?"

"As long as no one gets hurt," Cassim warned with a pointed finger. Sa'luk grumbled in disgust at the order but nodded his head in acknowledgement. With that Cassim ran off.

Sa'luk turned to the camels once his leader was out of sight. "Men, it's time!" Muffled cheers rose up from the camels and the baskets began to open and tear apart. Scoundrels and villains of all shapes and sizes came pouring out of their hiding place, a total of thirty-eight in all. Counting Cassim and Sa'Luk that made forty. And Abis Mal knew what that meant.

The legendary and infamous Forty Thieves were in Agrabah. They were after the wedding gifts, just the same as him.

Abis Mal gulped. Things may have just gotten very good for him, or more likely very, very bad.