A/N: Sorry for the delay ... my computer crashed and I lost everything, including the ending to this story. So I had to rewrite it all over again. Bare with me, I will post the ending eventually. (I DO have a life outside haha) Anyway, please, enjoy!

- Chapter Seven -

Moments passed.

While Jasmine stood before Mozenrath and contemplated his offer, it seemed a staggering amount of time. Her mind was whirling. What was she to do? It wasn't within her to hand over Agrabah to it's most dangerous enemy, nor could she possibly leave Aladdin there to rot in Mozenrath's dungeon subjected to his torture each day. She prayed to Allah for the answer for what she should do, for the strength to find the truth within her. What should be done? How she could take care of the people that meant so much to her and the man she had promised her life to when she was told to make a choice one over the other. Could she find it within herself to possibly sacrifice the good of one for the betterment of another? Yet, if this was all just a game to Mozenrath, perhaps there was a way to manipulate his own schemes. Could she play him like he had played her? Was it possible?

"Princess, I don't exactly have time to watch you mentally debate your answer. What will it be?"

Jasmine inhaled slowly and sharply and prayed she was playing the right card, otherwise she was going to pay dearly for her bluff. "Agrabah." She whispered, the pain in her throat as she spoke hurt worse than she had anticipated. Oh, Allah, what had she done? What else could have been done?

Mozenrath blinked. "What?"

"You're making me choose and a Princess is taught that the needs of the people outweigh her own. My need for Aladdin is less than the need of my people for safety within my city. I cannot choose Aladdin." She felt lost. She began to feel a horrible premonition that she had betrayed Aladdin. "Since I have nothing else to bargain with, I suppose there is nothing left to discuss between us." Jasmine looked at Mozenrath sharply, letting tears well up in her eyes to allow him to see her defeat.

"You should know then that I will make his life a living hell from here on out. There is not a day that will go by that he will not wish for the sweet release of death. I will make him suffer in ways that you cannot comprehend and all the while he will have you to thank for his misery." His naturally pale skin began to glow crimson in anger and resentment for Jasmine's choice. This was not how it was supposed to work.

"And one day you will pay for your deeds, and the satisfaction in knowing that alone is enough for me. I can only hope that I bare witness to your undoing." Her heart pounded violently in her rib cage. Easy, Jasmine, easy. Jasmine gave Mozenrath one last look before finally turning her back and heading towards the entrance of the study. How long had she been there? It seemed like days had passed and considering how worn and tired she had become, she could easily believe that days had come and gone since she entered his kingdom.

"Princess." He called, a dark and resonating warning in his voice. "We're not through. This is not over."

"It is for now." She replied without turning back to look at him as she crossed the threshold into the hallway. Once the door had shut behind her, she leaned against the mahogany frame and tightly shut her eyes. Tears streaked down her cheeks and she wrapped her arms around her chest. Oh Allah, what had she done? What if Mozenrath simply went to his dungeon and actually killed Aladdin for her choice? Making her pay for her decision? How could she live with herself knowing he suffered because of her? Knowing he died not only for her, but because of her? Gathering her composure, she held onto what remaining hope dwindled precariously within her and held the image of him and the sense of touch she had momentarily with him earlier. Within the study, she heard a dull thud and a crash of objects hitting the floor followed by muffled curses and outraged shouting. Obviously she had done the complete opposite of what Mozenrath had wanted and so marked the beginning of her game. Warily, she left his Citadel, surprised how easily he had allowed her to leave his kingdom, yet noting his vow to continue their struggle. For now she only wanted to return home, it was the most she was capable of at the time.

"Dearest!" The Sultan shouted as Jasmine entered the Palace throne room, disheveled, tired and bruised from her time in the Land of the Black Sands and her journey home. Bracing the side of the door frame she entered, her legs buckled and threatened to give out if she did not rest them soon. "Where on Earth have you been?" He exclaimed and rushed over to her, eyes full of fear and dread as his daughter nearly passed out before him from fatigue. The world started to spin as relief from being home washed over her body and filled her with as sense of safety and relaxation. Still, she pressed on to deal with what was happening.

"Father . . ." She panted as he reached her, placing one of her arms around his shoulder to steady her weight. "I . . ." Faster and faster the room started to spin, her breathing became erratic and her face had paled to a ghostly glow. Spots danced wildly in front of her eyes and her head became light as she began to tumble into delerium. Genie and Carpet rushed into the room and frantically began to assess Jasmine's health.

"Shhh, it's alright dearest." Her father soothed beside her. It had become to hard to keep her eyes open, and it felt so tempting to shut them and rest for a few minutes. Just a few minutes. "We'll get you taken care of."

"But Father," She whispered. "Aladdin . . ." Before she could finish, she slumped against Genie and her father and passed out from sheer exhaustion in the middle of the throne room two days after she had left for the Land of the Black Sands.

"How is she doctor?" The Sultan asked the physician outside Jasmine's room where she slept. The door to her room was open ever so slightly for the chance Jasmine should awake and need him. Worry creased his brow as he talked to the aged doctor before him, his expression sullen.

"She took quite a beating, Sire. She obviously withstood an incredible amount of pain. Besides the superficial wounds and scrapes she obtained, there's evidence that she had internal bleeding and broke more than two of her ribs. Physically she's exhausted and strained and needs a lot of rest and relaxation before she can fully recover."

"So she'll be all right." The Sultan prompted.

"Physically she will be. Emotionally, I'm not sure. That will take much longer."

"I understand." The Sultan nodded and glanced back through the opening in Jasmine's door once more before shutting it. Lowering his voice, he spoke with sorrow. "She's been through a lot lately, and I think I know where she's been the last few days. I'm worried that the events that have recently taken place will cause her to self destruct, perhaps evidence of this was her most recent adventure leaving her bedridden as of now. Is there anything I can do, doctor?" Wringing his hands the Sultan eagerly waited for the doctor's response. He did anything for his daughter since she was born, this incident was no different.

The physician scratched his temple thoughtfully and shook his head. "If said events were as tragic as you're leading me to, than time is the best thing for her." The Sultan nodded and offered his gratitude before leading the doctor down the hallway.

Jasmine awoke to a stabbing pain in her abdomen, a pain that radiated from her lower stomach and fanned out across her body reaching all extremities. Slowly, she pulled back her blankets and tenderly touch the fresh dressing that covered an apparent wound she had received from Mozenrath. How many did she carry and was not aware of? How many blasts had she been subjected to from his gauntlet that she was just now paying for? Shaking off the remaining grogginess and wave of dizziness, she arose from her bed onto wary legs and stumbled across her room. She had to tell her father what Mozenrath had done. She had to tell them Aladdin was still alive.

He was alive. He was there. He needed her. There wasn't much time before Mozenrath would hurt him because of her actions and she had to do something to stop him before he took out his anger on Aladdin or came after the city. Each passing moment made her feel like her plan had gone awry. What if she was wrong? What if she had misjudged the situation? What could be done then?

Just as Jasmine reached the door and placed her hand on the knob to turn, her abdomen began to scream in agony from her wound. The pain soared across her belly and burned in her heart, placing a vice on her breathing. Wincing, she pulled away from the door and slumped onto the ground. Groaning in pain she clutched her side and prayed for it to leave long enough for her to reach her father. Trying her best to ignore the flaming torture, she tried to reach for the knob to open the door. It was then she noticed the blue haze covering her body.

Immediately she turned back to her room and gazed up at Mozenrath, gauntlet glowing majestically and emitting a strong and powerfully steady wave of energy on to her which she had mistaken for her wound. Smiling, he watched her writhe on the floor, staring up at him in bafflement as he subjected her to countless waves of showering anguish. "I told you we weren't finished." He said curtly as he approached her and cut off the band flowing into her. "Maybe next time you'll listen."

"Leave me alone Mozenrath." She strained, her voice was hoarse and nearly a whisper. Her mouth was dry and her lips were cracked, skin paled and eyed dimmed. "Our business is done." She tried with all her might to push herself off the floor, but her arms and legs were numb from his sudden attack and refused to obey her.

"No, its not. You see, I don't have what I want."

"I don't give a damn about what you want." She coughed, her cheek pressed onto the marble of her floor as she continued to try to lift herself up. "Go to Hell."

Mozenrath stepped forward and bent down to where she lied crumpled and beaten on the floor. It would be so easy . . . so easy to just finish her off then and there and take over the city. But, where was the fun in that? Where was the pride in the capture or the glory in the victory? Sure it would be a piece of cake, but that's not why he took Aladdin as his prisoner instead of killing him on the battlefield. "No Princess. All this will be over when I get what I want." His voice was low, nearly sultry. "I want Agrabah."

Jasmine regained some semblance of strength and lifted her head off the floor and leaned against her arm, propping herself up. Smiling devilishly she almost laughed. "Well you're never going to get it." Before she could let out a wry chuckle, he backhanded her across the face, causing her balance to falter and her smile to vanish.

"You've forced me to do this. You have forty-eight hours, Princess." He stood and looked down at her as she rubbed the reddening side of her cheek. "Forty-eight hours to hand over Agrabah or Aladdin is dead. No mirage this time." With a defiant flick of his cape he was gone within a shimmer of haze and dust. Jasmine braced herself against the door as she lifted herself off the floor and stumbled out of her room.

"Father! Genie!" She cried out, her voice strained and not as loud as she would have liked. Regardless of her volume, they were close enough to hear and came rushing down the hall to find her leaning against the door jam, paler than before and wide-eyed with delirium. "Mozenrath was just here." She gasped out once they had reached her.

"Dearest," her father sighed. "You were probably having a bad dream. Let's get you back to bed – "

"No! I'm not imagining things!" She retorted, pushing away their attempts to lead her back into her room. "Listen to me, I went to see Mozenrath, I went to settle the score for what he did to Aladdin."

"Oh Jas," Genie sighed. And here he had thought her suicide thoughts were gone. "Nothing anyone can do will bring Al back, and – "

"But that's just it!" Jasmine exclaimed, "He's not dead. Aladdin isn't dead." The Sultan and Genie exchanged extremely worried expressions before trying to get Jasmine back into bed again. "Stop it! Stop it!" She pushed them away yet again and stood on her own, desperately trying to make them understand. "It was all a mirage. Everything. He never killed Aladdin. He locked Aladdin in his dungeon and replaced him with a mirage to make it look like Aladdin had died."

"Genie, go get the physician." The Sultan murmured quietly as he took Jasmine's hand.

"The physician? You need Dr. Phil for this one." Genie stood and rubbed the back of his neck in bewilderment. "But its almost crazy enough to be true." He scratched his chin thoughtfully and recounted the actions at the battle the last time he saw Aladdin. Yet, was he really buying it to be a possibility because he wanted so desperately to believe Aladdin could be alive, or did he truly credit Jasmine's words? She would never make something like that up, but what if she wanted it so bad she made herself believe?

"What?" The Sultan questioned with a raised brow as he turned to Genie. "She needs rest, she isn't well and fanning this imagination isn't doing her health any better. I must insist that she return to bed and get some sleep before this gets out of hand."

"Stop it!" Jasmine shouted. "I am not losing my mind! I know it sounds insane, but I saw him. I saw Aladdin. Mozenrath locked him in his dungeon and took away Aladdin's memory so he doesn't even know who I am. He doesn't know any of us." Her voice cracked and tears threatened to spill. "This was all his elaborate plan to get Agrabah."

"Oh, Jas." Genie placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. "I'm sorry you have to go through all this."

"Don't worry about me, we need to worry about Aladdin. Mozenrath just came to my room and threatened to kill the real Aladdin if I don't renounce my position as Princess within forty-eight hours." The Sultan shook his head wearily at the situation. "I can't do either Father, I can't." She sighed and looked from her father to Genie. "But I do have a plan. This all started because of Mozenrath's game, his ruse. I want to return the favor."

To Be Continued . . .

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