Aladdin flopped across his bed playing Mario Kart on his DS, he had to admit, he knew having a DS was pretty old and childish by now and he'd much rather be on Phoebus' Xbox but his mum had tried and he knew she didn't have a lot of money. They had moved from Agrabah when Aladdin was a baby. His father got a job in banking and his mother stayed home to take care of Aladdin, but Aladdin's father developed cancer seven years ago and died two years later. It was a long two years keeping him healthy and an even longer five years without him. His mother had little work experience and all her family was back home. She was lonely and poor, and did everything she could for her son but sometimes it wasn't enough. Not that Aladdin was ungrateful, in fact, he took pride in helping his mum and always made sure she was happy before himself. The two were very close. This particular Saturday however, Galina Fa'ar had been rather stressful toward her son, barking orders at him since 9.00am. Her younger brother was coming to town. He was a tradesman and a witty guy but he hadn't visited since Aladdin was an infant and being the only family his mother had left, she was very anxious to have him meet her now grown son. Aladdin didn't sweat it thought, not really. Sure, he'd put on his best shirt but only because he respected his mum. Truthfully, all he'd been able to think about for the last few weeks was Jasmine. He knew he'd have to take her out soon while her offer stood but he had no clue where to take her, how make an amazing date or even how to approach her!
"Aladdin!" his mother called "Quickly!" Aladdin headed out of his bedroom and into the little adjoined kitchen/living room. His mum had set out lunch and was in her best, purple, dress.
"He's here!" she whispered and just as predicted, there was a knock on the door.
"Genie!" his mother threw the door open and a man with a bulging belly and electric blue suit fell into his mums arms for a warm embrace.
"Galina! Ah this must be Aladdin!" he stepped better into the small apartment
"This is him! My Aladdin! All grown up!" Galina beamed
"I don't know, he looks a lot smaller than I remember" Genie joked. Aladdin chuckled and shook the strangers hand.
"Please, sit!" Galina beckoned "I've made lunch, rice and chicken and some salad- Oh Aladdin! Get the drinks would you?"
Aladdin poured some lemonade into glasses while his mother and uncle took their seats and began eating,
"Aladdin" Genie repeated "good name, but can I call you 'Al' or maybe just 'Din' or about how 'Ladi'?" he said the last word in a Scottish accent and everyone chuckled.
"Al is just fine, Uncle Genie" Aladdin pulled his chair in and dished out the glasses of lemonade.
"Hey, hey. No 'Uncle'" he shuddered "Just call me Genie. So what the heck's been going on down here? What's the scoop? The gossip?"
Galina grinned "Oh you funny boy! You haven't changed a bit"
The siblings exchanged quick and pressing conversation before Galina began clearing the table, "And Genie, I'd be so happy if you were to truly get to know Aladdin. Since mother and father died, you're the only family we have left" Genie frowned at the sad words of his sister and Aladdin almost gawped. He was surprised to see a man so comical frown.
"Sure thing, sis" Genie said with a smile at his nephew. Aladdin smiled sadly too, he didn't realise how much his mother cared for his knowing of his family. He looked down at his phone and saw a text from Phoebus, 'Flynn's here, we're playing GTA. where u?'
Aladdin ignored the text and looked back up at his uncle. "So what's Agrabah like?" he asked earnestly.
Meg woke up and rubbed her eyes. She blearily looked over at the digital clock by the bed. 13:00. She groaned and pushed her head into the pillow, annoyed at the wasted day... and a sunny one too by the looks of it. She closed her eyes, defeated by time, she decided to just go back to sleep but the lump laying beside her turned to face her.
"Good afternoon" Hades said.
Meg groaned again "I can't believe how late it is, we overslept McDonald's breakfast"
"Pizza last night, now McDonald's" he tutted "You're gonna want to watch you don't get chubby" he teased, and he put his hands under the covers and pinched her belly. She hit at his hand and sneered, "Oh go away"
He sat upright and began pulling some jeans from the floor on, "Where are you going?" she asked
"Get you some breakfast, you're being so stroppy" he half laughed. Meg lay back down, smiling thinking about a coffee and a croissant. She let the silence pass, apart from the shuffling of Hades' clothes.
"Meg, my little nutmeg" Hades said slowly, but Meg didn't respond "So you've been spending a lot of time with Wonder Boy lately, huh?"
She opened her eyes and blinked at him, "Don't be silly"
"Oh I'm not" he said, his tone growing harsh "We're not official, if you want to date him, go right ahead"
"I don't want to date him. He isn't my type, and you know how high school boys are"
Hades grinned sickeningly "good" and he jumped off the bed and headed out of the apartment.
As soon as Meg heard the door slam she let a tear roll down her cheek and began to silently weep. Megara Miratio spent freshmen year hanging out with Esmeralda and Pocahontas. At the time they were good friends, even now she didn't doubt them, but Summer changed a lot. Meg hit puberty pretty hard, that, and her parents divorced. She spent sophomore year messing around, staying out late. Her grades went down the toilet and so did her reputation. She lost her virginity one night at a party to one, Miguel Dorado, a Spanish guy from the town over and never looked back.
In Junior year she met a guy, for real this time. She spent months with him and really loved him, only for him to break her heart. That was when Hades Gray started teaching. She didn't know why she did it. OK, she did. She was heartbroken and bored. Her grades were bad, her mentality was a mess and she was picking and choosing parents every other weekend. She strutted past Gray in small skirts and asked for 'extra help' which always turned into make out sessions. It was fun, it was dangerous and she loved it but as she sat there weeping she thought: every decision she had made the past few years lead her to this moment, sitting in her history teachers bed, scared to even talk to the guy she liked. It was true, she did like Hercules. He was different, he was kind and always made the effort but she sighed. She knew that he'd never like her back, not after he found out about what she'd done and who she used to be. Who she used to be.
Charlotte La Bouff skipped into Duke's cafe and jumped onto the closest stool "Tiana!"
"Hey Charlotte" Tiana turned from wiping the counter with a rag and some bleach in her hand and smiled. She was in a rather good mood today having only just started her shift and actually got a good sleep last night. Not to mention prom committee so far were keeping her motivated. "Aren't you headed for the mall today?" she asked
"Oh I've got time, besides I had to come tell you the news!"
"News?" Tiana poured some coffee for Charlotte,
"You'll never guess what happened yesterday! I went to the principals office to get our yearbook budget like you told me too when I bumped into the cutest guy!"
"What's he like?" Tiana said with a laugh, she knew how obsessive Lottie could be over new, cute guys
"Oh he's the bees-knees!" Charlotte giggled "He's tall and handsome and has the cutest accent!"
"And he goes to our school?"
"Oh not quite yet. He starts on Monday! I said I'd show him around and Mr Walt said it was a great idea! Oh Tia! I'm so excited!"
"I'm real happy for you, Charlotte" Tiana said, taking a plate of food from the cooks window. Lottie sat up ready to gush again, but a group of girls entered Duke's, chirpy and excitable.
"Come on Charlotte!" said Giselle
"We're going to meet some of the guys!" Adella waved her over. Lottie grinned and then gave Tiana a quick hug goodbye. Tiana tied her apron tighter and breathed in for her slow, eight hour shift. The news of the stranger with 'the cutest accent' completely fell from her mind.
Pocahontas had not spent a Saturday to herself in a long time. If she wasn't off to the mall with Esmeralda and the guys or finishing homework at the library, she was spending time with her grandmother or father; but today was different. Having completed all of her assignments last night, she sat with a large pizza in front of the TV, divulging in the new season of 'Orange is the New Black'. Her father had gone away that weekend with work, he was the co-CEO of 'Save the Wildlife' charity and he had lots of meetings, technicalities and work to be done both here and away. He was at a meeting in New York and would be one all weekend. Pocahontas knew that things were looking better and better for the charity and his going away was becoming more frequent. He'd been off to rain forests and campsites and visited so many different people. Pocahontas adored him for working in what he believed in, as for Grandmother Willow, she had gone on a short cruise that week that she'd won at a bingo night. Pocahontas wondered how a woman so wise and loving could really be enjoying herself playing shuffle board in the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, Pocahontas had been enjoying the peace and quiet, not that she told any of her friends her house was free. If she did, she knew that they would probably have planned a party for her and she didn't want that.
As the next episode started off and the overly long theme song began, Pocahontas sighed contently and sunk further into the sofa. Nothing could kill her peaceful Saturday. Nothing.
Ding Dong.
Apart from that.
She left the theme song running and headed for the front door, shuffling in her slippers with a slice of pizza hanging from her left hand. She half expected to see Esmeralda, frantically bored and wanting to do something or even Flynn with homework assignments and five dollars in their hands, but Pocahontas saw neither of these things.
Her brown eyes widened as she looked slightly upwards and saw a gorgeous chiselled jawline and a wave of blonde hair. A man with a crooked smile and eyes that smirked, stood, his slender body dressed in an ice blue shirt and navy trousers. She could have sworn everything stopped as they stared at each other. He held out his hand to shake, and she hesitantly took it.
"John Smith" he said, a husky and velvety British accent
"Pocahontas" she replied airily.
"Pocahontas" he repeated as if questioning it. Pocahontas snapped out of her hormonal gaze and the Orange is the New Black theme tune ended in the background. She became somewhat jumpy at the idea of it playing with her.
"Can I help you?" she asked, feeling awkward in her sweats with the half eaten pizza hanging greasily from her hand.
"Yes, yes- sorry" he said and he pulled a rolled paper from his back pocket "here to see Mr Powhatan Amonute?" Pocahontas was surprised at how carefully he pronounced her fathers name.
"My father" Pocahontas told him, "I'm afraid he's away until Tuesday. What do you need him for?"
"Land permission, my boss sent me" John Smith said and he gestured to the car behind him. It was plum and a chubby man sat inside peering over with a scrappy dog hanging out the window
"Wait, land permission?" Pocahontas shook her head,
The house Pocahontas lived in here was beautiful to be sure, her grandmother definitely used heritage for inspiration with native american touches everywhere and while the house was spacious and expensive, her father bought it solely for the land it came with behind it. A huge field leading off into the woods sat in her yard and 30 acres of the wood belonged to them. As you can imagine, it made Pocahontas' childhood a very fun one. As she got older they planted trees and flowers around the field and even let some of the grass towards the bottom grow for the likes of animals and wildlife. It was like her own little enchanted forest really.
"My father won't let you" she explained, "he bought that land to save it, so no one would build"
"I get it" he sympathised, "but land needs to be built on"
"Not this land" she said bluntly, "tell your boss not to bother coming back"
"Alright alright" John Smith said, "but-"
"But what?" she snapped, annoyed at how these people had come with no respect and no decency,
"Can I come back?" he half smiled, "for personal reasons, that is?"
Pocahontas' stomach formed butterflies and her knees could have fallen beneath her if she'd let them,
"What- why?" she asked coyly, "when?"
"How about next Saturday?" he grinned, "We'll get dinner"
Pocahontas managed a grin back and pushed her hair behind her ears,
"Sure" she said, "8 o'clock- and don't be late"
"Trust me I won't be" he winked and he headed down the garden path back to his unhappy looking employer.
Pocahontas smiled feebly before closing the front door and grinning like an idiot at how she used to think pizza was the only date she'd ever considered.
A/N aw man guys I love doing a bit of backstory! especially enjoyed doing Meg's
ALSO John Smith and Pocahontas are my OTP so I had major feels doing this (and yes I'll follow the disney and historical truths and have John Rolfe soon but for now appreciate John Smith and his perfectness)
I'd love for you guys to leave reviews! thanks x