A/N: I'm updating fast because this is the one story that I have inspiration for right now. All of the other ones are duds. Need to overcome writer's block!

Chapter 3

All's Fair in Love and War

(Aladdin)

I was in chains.

The same two midget guards that had brought me into the palace had locked sturdy, iron handcuffs around my hands. I tugged absently on the rusty, old chain that held them together, not really expecting my efforts to be rewarded. I sat in one of the smaller dungeons, waiting for my trial to come and watching as the sunlight shafting in through the small window turned from bright yellow to gold to pink.

Finally, I heard the rusty squeak of the hinges on a door being opened. Two guards dressed in fancy purple vests of the royal army opened my door and hefted me up roughly. "Time for your trial, kid," said one of them. I was a head taller than him. Who was he calling kid? I was dragged across the cobblestones of the prison cell, listening to the dank sounds of dripping grime.

Somehow, I was expecting to see Sorrah there with me, as she was involved in this whole thing too. I couldn't have stood watching her being executed. It was both a disappointment and relief when she wasn't there. I bowed my head, allowing the guards to drag me as long as they could. I did not want to look at Jafar's face, because he would be wearing a satisfied smirk. I did not want to look at the Sultana's, because hers would be stone-like and full of loathing.

"Aladdin," she hissed.

I did not reply, only stared at my princely shoes. "You broke my daughter's heart and chose to love another instead, after for you, the law was changed, Jasmine argued her voice hoarse, and hoards of money were spent. What should your punishment be?" Finally, I could bear it no longer. I tilted my head ever so slightly so that my long, black bangs covered my left eye and I could just glance at Jasmine's face.

She was immobile next to her mother, on the opposite side of Jafar. However, her eyes were red, and puffy, full of tears. I was about to let my held-in tears spill too. I never meant to cause her so much pain, knowing how much she loved me. But, the reason that we could never be together was as much a shock to me as it would be to Sorrah if I told her. I sighed. If only I could see her, just one last time before I died.

"You will not die," said the Sultana icily, seeming to enjoy keeping me in suspense of my fate. "You will be exiled outside of the palace walls. You may never return, on pain of death. Do you understand?" I did not move. Inside, I was rejoicing: I would live! "Do you understand?" the Sultana roared a second time. Feebly, I nodded my head up and down. "Guards!" said Jafar's voice.

Their grip tightened on my arms. I felt the fabric of my wedding outfit brushing against my arms as they hefted me up and dragged me toward a side entrance of the palace. "We will give you until darkness to get off of the palace grounds!" Jafar's voice called after us.

………………..

The sun had almost all but vanished behind the horizon as the guards left me in a large, grassy courtyard. Instantly, I opened the latch on the gate and ran across the ground at a lightning fast speed, toward freedom. Once I was outside on the deserted street, I took one last look at he magnificent turrets of the palace.

Hawkers selling their wares were calling out a last few hopeful cries of advertisement as they cleared up for the day. Taking off my fancy turban and switching my shirt for the old purple vest I used to wear, I started out into the street. There, I purposefully dusted up my new pants a bit. There was the bread stand that I had used to steal from, and the angry-looking baker when he saw several boys munching on his bread, unpaid for.

For the night, I supposed that I would have to settle in on the ground.

………………….

Something, or somebody was poking me.

It wasn't sharp, it was blunt, but still it was rather hard and I groaned, rolling over on the crusty ground. I pulled my arms lazily over my head and waited for the person to stop. However, they just kept poking me, in the back now. Finally, I let a few small shafts of sunlight spill through my fingers. "What?" I said groggily. "Greet the day, Laddie!" said a voice that I knew all too well. I shot up like a bullet.

"Genie?"

Sure enough, the pale blue djinn was standing with his large arms crossed, raising an ironic eyebrow. Next to him was a wizened old geeser that I knew all too well. "Adwin!" I cried in delight. He only nodded his head slightly and pulled his ragged brown cloak over his head. I realized that he must have been poking me with his stick.

"So you're staying with him nowadays?" I asked Genie, because Adwin was mute. My best friend shrugged. "Well, he's a right pain if you ask me, but I need a roof to stay under if you know what I mean." I laughed. Adwin the Elder had raised me as a child on the streets, when my parents had died. If he had never taken me in, I wouldn't have made it this far into life.

I started to swagger, like when I tried to be casual at the same time stealing a loaf of bread back in the good old days, where there were no politics, no palace…and no Jasmine. I sighed. Genie looked confused all of a sudden. "So, what are you doing back out here, Al?" he asked curiously. "Aren't you supposed to be snogging away with Jasmine?" I slapped Genie on the arm. "You pervert." Genie grinned widely. "Ten thousand years in a tin gives you time to think about all kinds of things." I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. "I don't even want to know."

"So, how are you enjoying your freedom?" I asked quickly while Genie was distracted. I would prefer to not give him the content that I had been exiled out of the palace that I was once destined to live in. The Genie shrugged. "Well, I've been trying out new things, you know? I've taken up pottery, selling bread. I even tried on women's underwear!" he declared proudly. I stared at him, gaping. "You never cease to amaze me." "Well, I am a genie after all."

Adwin tugged on my arm. I noticed then that we were in front of his little modest hut. I bowed low to my former guardian. "Thank you." Adwin nodded in response and went around the back to get firewood for tonight's dinner. Genie tugged on my arm. "C'mon, Laddie, l'mme show ya around!" I shook my head. "You do remember that I lived here for thirteen years, right?" "Oh. That."

………………….

Dinner was some stale bread and a small chunk of roasted chicken for everybody. I ate greedily, having not eaten the entire day. Adwin and Genie watched me eating long after they were done. "So, tell me, Din," began Genie slowly. "How is it that you're out here?" I refused to answer. Instead, I stuffed a big piece of chicken into my mouth and swiveled around on the long log that I was using as a seat defiantly. Genie whispered to Adwin. "What do you call that? Denial."

"C'mon, Allie. You're our best friend!" protested the Genie. I heard Adwin tapping his walking stick on the ground. I sighed. There was no avoiding them.

"Well, I'm exiled from the palace." "WHAT?" roared the Genie, standing up. Adwin looked calm, as if he had expected this to happen. "But…you and Jasmine were in love, you were a prince…dude, what happened?" he said, looking at me with large eyes. I sighed. "It's a very long story." "Well, we're here to hear it," said Genie back, stubborn as ever.

So, we stayed up long into the night as the moon rose up as I told of how I had fallen in love with Sorrah, and the Sultana had exiled me out here. "Well, it's not so bad," said the Genie sympathetically. "Young love, it always ends this way," he muttered.

I ignored him completely and said, "Thanks for listening anyways, guys. I feel a lot better about the whole thing." Genie stopped me as I stood up to go inside the hut and sleep. "But, Aladdin," he whispered urgently. "If that's the real reason that you and Jasmine broke up, and not because of Sorrah…" I shook my head. "I don't want to talk about it. Sorrah had really nothing to do with this. I hope she's alright…no, I don't want to marry Jasmine for an entirely different reason."

Genie nodded. "I can sense the unease in your heart." I looked at him in surprise. "Wow, you're being serious?" Genie shrugged. "Yeah, well, I decided to act more responsible now that you're sort-of my master again. Just, Adwin still has two wishes left, and it's a little hard to communicate with him, if you know what I mean." "What did he wish for?" Genie snorted. "Food, what else?"

……………….

The next morning, I stretched my arms outside of the hut and stopped dead in my tracks. The Genie and Adwin hastily stood up from the logs in front of the house, looking guilty as if they had been conferring about something privately that they didn't want me to know about. But that wasn't the reason…the Genie was dressed in a hot pink tutu over baggy pants that were supposed to be women's underwear. He also had on a sari.

"You're…you're A CROSSDRESSER!" I yelled in disbelief. "Al, keep it down!" said the Genie. "You're GENDER CONFUSED!" I continued.

Genie sighed and said, "Well, I guess I better wait for you to quiet down."

Finally, when Adwin had seated me comfortably on a log and we'd told the neighbors my outburst was from drunkenness, the Genie said to me urgently, "Lad, we're going to get you into the palace. Do what you have to do with Jasmine's, er, problem." I stared at him, wide-eyed. "What?" I said weakly.

Genie sighed. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to repeat it several times to get it through your thick skull. We are going to dress you up as a woman and-" "Wait, now hold it just a second there," I said slowly. "You're going to dress me in that and expect the guards to let you in?" Genie snorted. "Of course not." I sighed in relief. "We've got make-up too!" he said triumphantly, looking proud, pulling out kohl, red lip paint, and some powder. I groaned.

"Kill me."

A/N: Please review as always!