Disclaimer: I do not own Aladdin in any way, shape, or form. It is copyrighted to…ahem…somebody-that-I-do-not-know.

A/N: I hope that somebody's reading this, because I feel like an idiot writing an author's note because there's a chance that this story is horrible and nobody wants to read it because it's too twisted to comprehend. And if you are reading this, please review to make me feel better. Wink, wink.

Chapter 2

Surprises

(Sorrah, Jasmine's Personal Handmaiden)

"Dearest Sorrah, will you please brush my hair?" called Jasmine's voice from the next room of our apartment suite. "Yes, of course," I called back, picking up an ivory-edged brush from her dresser and hurrying into the next room, holding up my long, red skirts. I tucked the brush into my golden sash and swung my long, black braid over my shoulder. "Yes, Jasmine?" I asked, sticking my head into her bedroom door that was adjoined to my own.

Jasmine was sitting with her legs crossed on her bed. I was shocked to see that she was still wearing the red clothes that Jafar had made her wear a few days ago. "Princess," I stammered. "M-may I ask…" "Yes, Sorrah?" she asked, looking up from the scroll she was reading. "Why are you still wearing those clothes?" I asked, sitting down in a chair and taking out the comb. I loosed Jasmine's long hair and began to brush.

The Princess sighed. "It's a long story. Things have gone so fast these past few days that my mind's still struggling to keep up, if you know what I mean." I kept brushing, choosing to stay silent and let the chirping of birds outside of the stained glass window do the talking, while inside of the chambers, the only sound was the soft swish of the brush as it swept through Jasmine's long, raven-colored tresses.

"Sorrah?" said Jasmine. "Yes?" I replied, tying her hair back to the way that it used to be. "I know that you don't like Aladdin, but he will make a great Sultan," she said unexpectedly. I jumped. "You mistook my meaning, I was merely surprised that you-" Jasmine cut me off. "No, you don't need to lie. Besides, you're probably the only one in all the kingdom that would dare to argue with me, except the Mother and Jafar."

I didn't know what to make of that, so I reached for another red hair ribbon, much preferring the old, pale blue ones.

Jasmine stopped me. "No, it's alright. I'd like to keep it this way today." Jasmine turned around. I nearly gasped, because her personage was transformed when she left her hair half down. Though it was tied with a ribbon in the back, it fanned out around her shoulders and down to her elbows, gently waving. Her crown rested on the top of her head. "You look stunning," I said. Jasmine all but ignored me except for a small smile.

………………………………….

Jasmine and Aladdin's official wedding was supposed to be that day, as the first one was unpleasantly cut short. I was supposed to be Jasmine's only bridesmaid, as she claimed I was her closest friend, (figures, as she was never out of the palace before with the small exception of Aladdin). I had been clothed in a dark blue sari with moons on it, with a black silk cloth I wrapped around my head and clutched under my chin, with golden henna suns imprinted onto it.

The Sultana was at the front of the procession, waiting for Jasmine and me to come down the isle. The Sultan had died long ago, so there would be none of that. Aladdin was also up at the front, dressed just as he was when he was still pretending to be Prince Ali. Jasmine was still in the red attire, though she had switched the bottom for a long, trailing red skirt with a soft screen on top of it.

"Now, before I pronounce them man and wife, does anybody have any objections?" said the Sultana, glaring at Jafar as if daring him to say anything. He didn't, but as in the first wedding, Aladdin interrupted. "I object!" he stated. Jasmine looked at him incredulously, as if to question his sanity. I was on the verge of questioning his sanity too, until his next words shocked me to the bone.

"I cannot marry the Princess, because I do not love her," said the about-to-be-married Aladdin. There was a hush in the crowd as everybody turned to stare at Aladdin. The Sultana was also looking at him, amazed that after she had changed the law, after all the fights she had with Jasmine, after all the preparations and money required for this grand of a wedding, that the man was admitting he did not really love her daughter.

"I love another," continued Aladdin. I glanced at Jasmine's face, which had stayed oddly calm throughout all of this. "That is more fitting to my rank, which is a street rat, as I'm sure everybody knows about." At his place next to the throne, I saw the hint of a smirk on Jafar's face.

Aladdin turned to look at me. "Her handmaiden, Sorrah." I blinked, wide-eyed and stupid, at him. I was not hearing this, this wasn't happening. Since when did Jasmine's beloved choose to love me, and when had I been informed? Never. Wonderful. As Jasmine, and pretty much everybody else in the room, turned to stare at me, I clutched the cloth around my head tighter, squeezed my eyes shut, and waited to wake up from this nightmare.

When I opened them, I was still there.

………………………………….

The whole kingdom was in an uproar.

Me, being Jasmine's handmaiden's, job was to keep a close eye on her door. Throughout the day, the Sultana had tried various times to send people to fetch Jasmine, and finally, had come by herself. I was quite flustered to lock the Sultana of Agrabah out of her own daughter's room, but my orders came only from Jasmine, who had locked herself in her adjoined section of our suite and refused to come out.

I finally could not stand it anymore. I took a midak and picked Jasmine's lock with it.

Inside, I found Jasmine slumped on her bed, still wearing the red clothing that Jafar had forced her to wear. Her hair spilled all over her face as she looked at me. "Sit with me, Sorrah," she said dully, not seeming to realize that I had just broken into her room. I sat down, obliging, next to her on the bed. Her face was grimy and tear-streaked. I clasped my hands respectfully in my lap and waited for Jasmine to speak.

"I knew, you know," she said quietly. "We argued about it for ages, but I finally realized that if I really do love him, I'll let him do what his heart says." She sobbed, unable to continue. We lapsed into an uncomfortable silence as I whispered, "I'm sorry, Jasmine. I truly had no idea." "Of course you didn't, Sorrah," she replied.

What should have been a joyous day of celebration for the kingdom had turned into one of the biggest political problems in the history of Agrabah.

And what was I going to do? I would end up in the deepest, darkest and dankest prison cell that there was in the palace if I was lucky and the Sultana believed me and Jasmine when we claimed that I had no idea of Aladdin's supposed love for me.

As if sensing my thoughts, Jasmine suddenly said to me, "You must run away, Sorrah." "What?" I asked, totally taken aback. Though I had been born outside of the palace, I had been raised inside its walls of luxuries since the age of seven. I remembered little of the grimy outside world, and it was a dangerous place for me to go without experience.

Jasmine sat up and turned to me. "If you do not, my mother will either lock you up or have you executed, no matter what I will say to her to have you stay alive. You must run away!" "But-" "Sorrah! That is an order from your Princess. Do this one thing for me, please. You're all I have left, and I don't want to lose you to the prison cells," she whispered, clasping my wrist and staring pleadingly into my eyes.

I sighed.

"If it would please you, Jasmine." Jasmine slumped back onto the bed. "Gather your things. You must leave tonight, because I will go out of my room. All of the court's people will be gathered in the Grand Hall to hear what the Sultana will sentence you and Aladdin to. I will do what I can for Aladdin, but you are only a slave in the eyes of others. I could not stop any harm to you with all the power that I have."

I nodded, trying not to cry. Jasmine gave me a gentle push. "Hurry, pack your things, Sorrah." She hugged me. "I will miss you." I didn't answer, only rushed into my adjoined room and began throwing what little I wanted to keep into a small, lightweight bag.

As I came out, I was dressed as a young merchant boy. I had wrapped a band of long, dull tan cloth around my head for a turban and pinned it with one of Jasmine's dullest brooches. I wore simple, coarse clothes. I had even gone as far to draw on a light mustache with some kohl lying on my table.

"Goodbye, Sorrah." "May Allah bring you peace, Jasmine," I told her. Then I was out of the room, looking at the sunset out of the window, probably the last time that I would ever see it from the palace. It was my clock, seeing how much time that I had left before I must flee.

A/N: Review as always, please.