Dreams of the heart

by

Raining Sky Guy

AN. I get the feeling that the more I write, the queerer I get. I… actually got uncomfortable with my writing and myself but then I used my motto of 'well whatever, I don't care' so I'm fine again. Oversimplifying everything ofc. Anyway, here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy!

All three of them had been so overly touchy-feely after last night's it was no surprise their whole day went away in one huge date. Morgiana being the most pampered of them all. But as each teen crossed the threshold to their room, the memories rushed back at them. For a long moment nobody started undressing, just staring at the innocent white bed with suspicion.

Slowly, as if they were wild animals treading dangerous paths, they went to bed. And just as Morgiana was about to lie down between them, she reeled back on her heels and pouted.

"I don't want to be in the middle." She voiced out in a mumble and her favorite persons in the world stared at each other, quickly realizing why. They had somehow dived into Morgiana's soul, exactly the day she had been between them both. Alibaba and Hakuryuu then eyed the space between them suspiciously and with growing trepidation. They didn't want to be at the center either.

Despite a small part of herself not happy that she was the only one to go through this, the girl still dutifully slid off the bed and headed for the couch—this was the best option she could come up with. As soon as the other two understood her intentions, they bolted out of bed and ushered her back.

.

There was a moment of silence as the three sitting teens stared at each other. Alibaba knew it was a decision between the Kou prince and him and given the frozen expression on the other, Hakuryuu was well aware of it. When he noticed the unease on both his younger lovers he couldn't help but sigh.

"Okay then, I guess that means it's my turn next." Alibaba said resignedly crawling to said place. He hurried though, when it looked like Morgiana was going to offer to sleep in the couch again and Hakuryuu was shooting him a puppy-eye-look. He gave them a critical stare from his sprawled position, prompting the other two. It was alright, he assured himself, maybe nothing would happen despite him being in the middle.

As Morgiana and Hakuryuu both cuddled to his sides, mumbling a quiet, "thank you." Alibaba couldn't help but smile goofily and puff out his chest in pride.

Sleep claimed the three.

Everything was white. It was a white expanse with nothing there. Hakuryuu looked around him confused, wondering just where he was. As he slowly got used to the whiteness, he realized he felt…cozy.

This place was warm.

The scarred prince blinked in surprise, a small blush on his cheeks before he chuckled softly. "Figures. This surely must be Alibaba's heart."

He started walking, trying to find either of his lovers, for some reason not getting tired of seeing nothing but white. In the distance a figure started to take form and he hurried after it.

It was neither of the persons he had been looking for. Heck he didn't know who this was.

"Hey dude, you don't belong here." The tanned, jaded-looking stranger told him as he blew out smoke of his cigar at his face. Hakuryuu scrunched up his face, hating the acrid smell. Why was such a person here?

"Who are you?" The prince demanded once he could breathe. The teen with the dreadlocks ignored his questions, blowing his smoke again to his face. "Oi, stop that!"

"Get out of here before I get mad." He said casually, the smoke getting denser and denser around the Kou prince. "Out, out I say."

And suddenly Hakuryuu's vision was filled with nothing but smoke that dizzied him until he couldn't tell up from down.

"Not gonna let you hurt him, dude."

Morgiana looked around her, squinting her eyes as she tried to search for her favorite persons. So far she hadn't managed to locate either of them. But surrounded as she was by this fuzzy-feeling white, she couldn't really worry.

It shouldn't surprise her, really, that Alibaba's heart was so pure. There was nothing but white for the eyes to see, but if she paid close attention she could feel all the positive emotions of Alibaba coursing through her body.

"So many people… what'cha doing here?"

Jumping away from the source of the voice she caught sight of…Cassim?

"What are you doing here, Cassim-san?" She asked, but then remembered Goltas and answered herself. This man protected Alibaba's heart. She lost her fighting stance as she bowed softly at him, "thank you for protecting Alibaba-san."

"Ah, you're the smart one, right? Still I can't allow you to be here." The thin teen smiled this time, before blowing smoke at her face. "Out I say."

"A-ah, wait, have you seen-?" Morgiana tried to speak through the smoke but when she managed to clear it, Cassim was gone.

White, white. Everything was white. If this supposedly represented his heart he had to say it was boring as hell. What was it supposed to mean anyway? At least Morgiana had her homeland as landscape.

Alibaba was grumbling to himself, annoyed by so much whiteness —couldn't it had been another color at least? Noo— when he heard laughter behind him. Alibaba almost gave himself whiplash turning his head. He knew that voice-

"Yo! Alibaba!"

"Cassim!"

It was his friend. Just like last time he had seen him, healthier even. He was lazily lounging, a cigar in his hand and a warm smile creasing his face. Tears wanted to escape his eyes as he was suddenly reminded of Cassim's last moments.

"But… you're dead…"

This Cassim stopped smiling as he lowered the death-stick and started walking towards him. He drew close enough to mess up his hair and put his face inches away from his. "Don't sweat the details, boss. Cheer up that face, it's been some while since we last talked, right?"

"Y-yeah, you're right!" Alibaba agreed, managing to smile back as his long-time friend let go and started walking away. "S-sorry about that. I'm so uncool…"

Brown eyes assessed him in silence as the teen with dreadlocks blew his smoke away from either of them. "Yeah you are. For thinking like that. Anyway, I should tell you that I don't think we'll be able to talk much right now. I've got…some things to go over."

"Things? What do you mean? And, Cassim-!" Alibaba cut himself off, a lump in his throat, but his friend blew smoke at him, playfully, "hey! Don't do that, I hate the smoke!"

"Just some intruders, don't worry. And yeah, I know you hate it." Cassim replied cheekily, puffing some more smoke at him that dissipated soon enough. But Alibaba wasn't paying attention to that anymore.

"Intruders you say? Cassim they're not intruders, they're-" here he blushed, getting self-conscious with the slightly older male but forged on as he remembered his close brush with a sword. "-They're with me, y'know, Hakuryuu and Morgiana…"

"They're not supposed to be here though." Was Cassim's stern reply. This point he would make Alibaba understand. It was for his safety either way.

Alibaba assimilated those words, pretty sure that he was mostly right, but really, that should also apply to the dead. "And why are you here?"

"Because you're an idiot, that's why." The dreadlock man answered, pointing at him with his cigar. Alibaba flushed slightly but when he didn't rise, Cassim shrugged, returning the thing to his mouth. "If you really can't guess I'm not telling you. But you could say… I'm fulfilling a promise."

Promise? What that had anything to do-? Alibaba snapped out of it when Cassim suddenly pulled out a scythe from his clothes. "W-wait! What are you going to do with that?"

"Hmm? Gonna take care of the intruders of course."

"I'm trying to tell you they're not-!"The blond hurriedly replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice, the tanner teen spared him a glance and the prince was sure he had finally gotten through when…

Poof.

Cassim was gone.

Alibaba's eyes widened comically.

Uh oh.

"Honestly, can't you guys leave already?" Morgiana turned around to find Cassim there once more, casually pointing a scythe at her and his cigar at someone to his right.

"Morgiana-dono! Are you alright?" Hakuryuu yelled, catching sight of her at the same time. He glared at Cassim then, "how dare you point your sword at her…"

"Hakuryuu-san, I am fine, please calm down." The Fanalis girl requested calmly as she too, focused on the spirit. "Cassim-san, we do not mean any harm. Alibaba invited us here."

Her words effectively made both males falter. Hakuryuu was assessing the other once again, remembering that Cassim was the name of Alibaba's dearest friend. While said dear friend lowered both arms, staring incredulously at them before rounding on someone behind them.

"Is she serious!? Now I'm really glad I'm here to keep your goddamned heart safe, Inviting someone here! Alibaba!" He ended with an disbelieving whine, his accusations a bit breathless.

The target of a disapproving, bordering on incredulous, stare the blond teen couldn't help but wince. "I'm-" He was already half-way through his apology when his features set into hard determination. "Yes, I think I have every right to invite them here. I promised Morgiana she wouldn't be the only one to go through this and also I don't see why would I want to keep my heart hidden from the people that hold it." He finished, cheesily enough.

Cassim's features sagged a bit. "Okay yeah, show off your love all you want, but really? Bringing someone else here? Any malicious intent, here, in the core of your soul could corrupt you! And before with that mad princess and the evil Djinn…It was such a close call Alibaba. I swore to myself I would protect you but if it hadn't been for Aladdin then I don't know how much longer would I-" The man grimaced and looked down at his feet while the blond stared at him incredulously.

That did not sound like a part of him. Could this really be Cassim? "But how?"

"What are you talking about, Cassim-dono?" The Kou's prince cold voice cut through his question and Alibaba looked up to see the unease and displeasure on his lovers' faces. "When did such an incident occur?"

"A-ah, it's already from such a long time ago…" Alibaba smiled weakly and an ill-colored crack formed at their feet, silently. It was minuscule, the only one that noticed being Cassim. Said male sighed.

"You're such a bother sometimes, Alibaba." He muttered to himself sadly, before he pointed his curved blade at Hakuryuu once more. "Oi oi! Don' go getting sidetracked! You've gotta go, no matter what the idiotic blond says."

"But…" The prince started, still not liking how this was going. Sad and feeling left out, the youngest didn't know what, but he wanted to say something. "I'm sorry. But I can't leave just yet. You… Alibaba-dono…"

He kept quiet, but it was easy to read his ice-blue eyes. 'Don't you trust me?' The boy grimaced and schooled his features into a frown, but Alibaba had already seen enough. The crack on the floor increased in size, approaching the redhead girl.

The Fanalis girl edged away, a frown on her face at finally noticing the vein in the floor. "Alibaba-san…?" She called out, not quite understanding what that was. But before anyone else could do anything, it reached Morgiana's feet and she froze in place. Her skin paled as the vein somehow started climbing up her leg.

Cassim kept dying. Why was he such an idiot? Why couldn't he save him? He was so useless. He had killed Cassim once and watched him die. Again. Useless. Cassim wouldn't have died if not for him. Anyone else would have found a way, but he had just rammed his sword through-

The first to react was the dead man, actually knowing what Morgiana was experiencing. The other two, however, immediately rushed to stop him as all they could understand was an armed teen going after a paralyzed Morgiana.

"Cassim, what's wrong with you!? Don't-" Alibaba managed before he was elbowed on the mouth. With his hold on his friend, both fell down. Hakuryuu reached them immediately after and tried to disentangle both men. "Stop, stop!"

Meanwhile, the Rukh that still was Cassim was worrying on what the Morgiana girl was feeling and how much could someone handle without starting to fall. After all, the pains of a soul get though by connecting with another's soul. If the other is weaker, then there's a danger of corruption. Alibaba would never forgive himself if such a thing happened. So when his legs were pinned by a struggling Hakuryuu, while Alibaba held his arms, he knew he had no other choice.

"If you're going to stop me, you'll have to kill me, again."

All emotion drained from beautiful ochre eyes, the visceral fear that plagued him taking over his senses, immobilizing him. All around them the white landscape tinted an ugly color as several more veins started appearing around them. Cassim knew his time was limited.

An unresponsive Alibaba was shoved none-too-gently on Hakuryuu and after tossing his scythe at them, the oldest bodily crashed into Morgiana.

As if it was a play on the light, as soon as Morgiana moved, the vein returned to the ground.

"Okay, cutie. You're leaving right this moment." Cassim groaned, lifting his head to see to his not-surprise tears streaking down Morgiana's face. Black-colored, to his distaste. He lifted the girl to her feet with him and —focusing hard— he slammed his foot down. The white around the impact area faded to black and suddenly it wasn't a color but the deep darkness of a pit. He was about to shove Morgiana down when she forcibly stopped him. Cassim almost fell down the hole himself, not expecting such strength.

"I-I can't leave, Cassim-san. Alibaba….Alibaba-san needs us. You too."

"You're a real sweetheart." Cassim replied dryly, but there was a hint of pride in his smile. He sobered up. "But it's gotten too dangerous here. All those lines can capture you, fill you with nasty feelings and in turn you'll corrupt his heart. You'll help more by leaving."

Morgiana hesitated, but one glance at the Alibaba that was frozen in fear, mingling with the Alibaba she had seen clutching Cassim's corpse and she was set. "Then I better don't let myself be corrupted."

Cassim didn't begrudge her, as she hurried over to her lover, but he gave himself time to feel as if he had messed up a bit by saying those things to Alibaba. He then saw both kids rounding on him, ready for confrontation and he smiled wryly. Maybe finally Alibaba would be able to confront his fear at last. He had to fight down a thrum of jealousy though, this was something he could never help Alibaba with.

Hakuryuu had somehow heaved Alibaba to lean on him, arm firmly wrapped around the bigger male's shoulders as he tried to call Alibaba's name time and time again. When Morgiana reached them, he glanced up at her hopefully —immediately subduing at her scary face.

The Fanalis descendant crouched down calmly before rudely yanking Alibaba by the front of his shirt, an almost-sneer in her face.

"Alibaba-san." She began, fully focused on the blond— meanwhile Hakuryuu was worried over the black trail on her face. "You cannot remain hiding this sort of things from us. You are not worthless! How could you even start to believe that!? Who has ever said that about you?!"

Alibaba's dull eyes looked away from her. Hakuryuu was speechless. Could Alibaba-dono, the most cheerful man he had ever met, actually feel like this? The Kou prince looked at Morgiana.

"What did you see, Morgiana-dono?" He asked, trying to know as much as possible of their situation. His fists clenched at his side, angry at himself for not having noticed this before. Morgiana's hold on Alibaba slackened and all three of them fell back to the floor, Hakuryuu there to steady the Saluja prince.

"A memory. Of when Cassim-san…died. Alibaba-san…he-he blames himself over it."

Hakuryuu almost let the older male fall in his disappointment. "Why? Why is it that you're so stupid?" He almost whispered, dragging a surprised Alibaba closer to bury his head on the back of his head, wrapping secure arms around him. "You're far from worthless, Alibaba-dono. You're precious to me, us. It should be obvious. Aren't we your lovers? Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"No, that's-!" At last the blonde regained part off his speaking ability, sensing the other's distress, but still out of it. Morgiana stepped into his personal space, crouching closer to him. He looked away again. "I'm really lucky, but you're better off without me- Cassim…"

"If you dare say that Cassim would have been better without you, I'll hit you." Morgiana threatened, frustrated and sad at the same time. Hakuryuu grunted in agreement. "You saved him from corruption. You let his Rukh return to the flow of life. He forgave himself…all of this because he got to meet you, be your friend-"

"If he hadn't known me, he wouldn't have to die that way!" Alibaba struggled against Hakuryuu without strength, feeling ready to crack. Why. Why were they seeing this? How pathetic, worthless he was? Helpless, unable to do anything…

"Don't you understand, Alibaba-dono!? Don't you understand what being a friend means? You were the one to teach me that! You taught me that people actually care about each other, are precious to others. You taught me I was precious to you! To Morgiana-dono!" The other prince said almost reprimanding. "Can't you see that you're precious to everyone? Why do you suppose we love you? I accepted being your lover because you are like the light shining in the dark." His cheeks heated up at how cheesy the phrase came out sounding but didn't back out. He had meant it.

"I just…" Alibaba mumbled, tiredly, sadly. Morgiana gathered her courage and kissed him on the forehead. Watery amber eyes met hers.

"If you still can't believe our word on Cassim being thankful for meeting you, why don't you ask him directly?" The Fanalis girl decided to say, Hakuryuu's words still making an effect on their thick-headed lover. Alibaba stared at her in confusion and Morgiana got off the way so he could stare directly at the solemn figure still standing a couple feet away.

Alibaba looked down at the floor, something hurting at seeing the familiar male. He managed to hash out a chuckle, "what are you talking about, Morgiana? Cassim's gone. This is just a figment of my imagination, like Goltas."

The girl who had taken a seat beside him, looked from Cassim to Alibaba and slowly shook her head. "No. It's different. Somehow, that person over there is really Cassim-san. Right?" Her last words were directed at the teen with dreadlocks. The latter rubbed his arm, looking at the floor before hesitatingly meeting his brother's eyes.

"…She's sorta right." He confessed, smiling at the blond's widening of eyes. He raised a hand to stop whatever the other seemed about to do and in the same movement, reached his mouth to pop a cigar that had appeared out of nowhere. "I… uh, I actually didn't want to leave ya'. I messed up and I was going to leave you alone…so I somehow managed to sneak in here. Saw your heart guardian and… we sorta merged. I guess I got the chance because of my —I guess it's yours now— earring."

A hand rose to finger the metal piece on his ear, the blond still not gathering any words. Something embarrassingly like a whimper escaped his lips and his brother in all but blood finally started approaching cautiously. "I'm gonna go ahead and answer why, since I see cat's got your tongue."

Cassim hesitated before he decided to push on with a hint of embarrassment. "I thought it was my turn at protecting you. And I like to think I have helped you. But… I sorta came here without asking for permission and… I had no clue how to reach you. I certainly wasn't expecting you to come barging in here y'know? But this is Rukh territory, I shouldn't be surprised by anything, really." Cassim huffed as he looked at the threesome.

"Let's not forget, I knew I couldn't have calmed you down alone. I worried I would give ya' pansy a heart-attack." Cassim joked good-naturedly, crouching in front of Alibaba. "Sorry for dying, 'libaba."

"No-it's not your fault- I'm sorry for killing you-!" Stumbling over his words, the blond quickly denied, falling silent at the darker skinned male smiled softly.

"Hey," he started, seemingly ignoring his complaints. "Remember my last words?"

Tears spilled from amber eyes, as he struggled against Hakuryuu's hold to straighten up. "I told you we're still friends, you idiot!"

"Yeah. I know." Cassim smiled. "And friends forgive each other. And look out for each other. " He slowly started to fade in the air, startling all three teens. "You forgave me for betraying you. You looked out for me to the best of your capacity. I failed you so many times and yet you allowed me to repent. I'm guarding your soul even if it's the last thing I do. I'll still be here for whatever you need, so let's start anew, brother."

The monologing man's smile froze in the air, as the rest of him completely disappeared, not before the words echoed all around them, "I think you three will work out. I leave 'im in your care, Morgiana, Hakuryuu."

And there was a hole on the ground and suddenly they were all falling out.

Alibaba was the first to wake up this time.

Breathing ragged, and shoulders heavy the blond sat up clutching at his chest, disoriented. As his breathing stopped hurting, he remembered. Everything that had happened in that white space, everything Hakuryuu and Morgiana and Cassim had said. A sob escaped him.

Trying to control his tears, hands covering his face, Alibaba felt the other two stir. He felt really embarrassed but he couldn't help but continue crying. It had been a long time after all, he thought as two sets of arms surrounding him protectively. It had been such a long time since that feeling of being a nuisance, a bother faded. Those two needed him, they wanted him here. It wasn't out of pity, out of happenstance; they loved him for who he was.

Cassim had forgiven him. He didn't blame him for his death.

As he finally let his face go in favor of hugging the living hell out of Morgiana and Hakuryuu he couldn't help but think he was so lucky. So lucky he almost didn't deserve it.

Almost.

AN.

So that's it for this chapter. You liked it? I told you Alibaba was turning into a crybaby xD.

Recommendation: Alibaba's inner world was based off the dj "Green Apple" (AlixHaku) by Itonoko. You can find it in myreadingmanga . Yerr welcome.

Thanks for reading this! Please let me know what you think! Meaning please review! Now there's only Hakuryuu left. And Sinbad's death of course.