A/N: This chapter was difficult to start, because I just couldn't decide who's POV it should be in. I think my sense of humor is shriveling, so it's supposed to be on the more comical side. I spent like a long time debating with myself who's POV it should be in. Notify me if that just made any sense at all. Nice review, by the way, Haillie 

Disclaimer: I don't own Aladdin.

Chapter 22

The Press

(Laddie)

The royal palace was still a mystery to me.

As far as I was concerned, the place was tangled up in political traps and hidden meanings, the type of stuff that street rats didn't have to worry about. To be frankly honest, I didn't care for it at all, if it hadn't been for Jasmine. I'd do anything for Jasmine, and I'm not even trying to be cheesy. Jasmine was my light in a room of darkness, my flower in a garden of weeds, my…

You get the point.

Well, remember how I said I would do anything for her? Anything at all? I wasn't lying. Except for going into the same room with the press. Anything but them.

Yes, I did realize that I was going to become Sultan of Agrabah, (possibly), someday if this whole thing worked out with me and Jasmine in favor, and I would most likely be dealing with the press everyday. But from what I had seen and heard from them, it was not an experience that I was, at any means, looking forward to.

I also realized that it was absolutely necessary to inform the press of our present situation. But I didn't want to do it, and the fact that it was unavoidable didn't make me want to do it any more.

So, there we stood, in front of the doors that led into the throne room. Inside, there was a muttered chattering. The Sultana was on my right, Jasmine was on my left. On the Sultana's right was Jafar, looking cool and composed. If his hands hadn't been shaking, I would have thought that he was immune to the press.

Genie had decided, that in the present situation, he would hide out. He had currently shrunk to the size of my pinky toenail, and was hiding in my waist sash. Jala's lamp was shiny and foreboding, resting there on Jafar's black sash. Haillie, on the other hand, had chosen to reside into her lamp also, but her lamp was hot pink. I wonder why.

Then we pushed open the door.

I was listening to the squabbling men's conversation, since they hadn't notice the four of us walk in. "Stop eating my walking stick!" cried one man, launching himself across the table, only to get hit in the face with a pastry filled with gooey sauce. A fat man with something slimy dripping from his nose apologized profusely, then grumbled something like, "Thanks a lot for getting in the way of my flying pastry. Now there's gooey stuff coming out of this thingy."

Just then, an immensely tiny little man with an amazingly large handlebar mustache walked past, with his pointy nose stuck into the air, and finally noticed us. "Order!" he cried to the rest of the wildly screaming men. Instantly, silence hung in the air. A lamp detached itself from its holder on the wall and exploded on the tile.

"Oh, crap," said the small man, and then quickly threw himself on the ground before the Sultana and begged forgiveness for his language. The Sultana sighed and dropped her face into her hands. "Oh, Allah," I heard her mutter.

………………..

Fifteen minutes later, everybody was seated at their respective places around the long, oval press table. Jafar and the Sultana sat at the front in large, throne-like chairs with me and Jasmine on either side. Sorrah had not been allowed to attend the meeting, because of her status.

"Men, listen, and listen well," the Sultana began in a booming voice. "Today, we are called together to be witnesses of some earth-shattering news, that will, perhaps, affect the fate of Agrabah for the next generation and on."

An extremely old man snorted in his sleep and slipped down a notch in his chair.

The Sultana promptly ignored him, and continued. "It has been discovered that my bloodline is not the true heir to the throne of Agrabah, and what is more, Jasmine is not my blood daughter." Silence. Then, whispering. Gasps. Some "No!"s.

"Silence!"

I had always wondered how royalty knew how to do that. I shuddered in my seat and scooted as far away as possible from the weed-like young man sitting next to me, because he had stretched his index finger as far up his nostril as it would go, and was currently rooting around for something.

"This is shocking news, I know. But I have more. As you are all sitting down, I find this a fitting time to present it. Jafar has recently come upon another genie, and my daughter Jasmine, it seems, has possessed one for the last seventeen years." Silence this time, painful against my eardrums.

It was broken when the booger-man exclaimed, "I found gold!" and took his finger out of his nose. Jafar smirked and brought out Jala's lamp. "Jala! Arise!"

She materialized in a wisp of green smoke and grimaced, annoyed. "'Arise'? Since which century was that one used to call out genies? Not in my lifetime, I can tell you that, and that's saying something."

Jafar knitted his thin brow together, and Jala fell silent. "Haillie," said Jasmine, looking like she dreaded Haillie's meeting with the press.

Haillie did come out, but she took one look and screamed an ear-shattering shriek. I covered my ears and winced. "The press! Oh, Allah, hide me!" She dove behind Jala, who sighed, rolled her eyes, and glared at Jafar. "I hate you." Jafar smirked back. "I find pleasure in replying that I hate you too."

Instantly, the press took out cameras and started snapping pictures. (I wonder where they got them. I myself had never seen such contraptions before. There were only rumors from the Outside.) One was of Jala and Jafar.

Jafar turned to Jala and smirked again. "I wonder if you will show up in that picture, or do genies not appear?" Jala fumed, and vanished into the lamp so quickly that it rattled and spun in fast circles over the tabletop.

And that was when the earthquake struck.

It was only a small earthquake, but it shook the table, and it turned over. It was about to crush Jasmine! She had fallen over, but the men had been able to get away from the heavy stone of the table. "Haillie! I wish for me to be safe!" she screamed.

And then Jasmine was standing beside me, looking astonished. The table landed with a BOOM, and the dust settled. Haillie looked amazed too. "That was my third wish," she said quietly. "I'm not longer your genie." Jasmine didn't seem to process that fact either, and promptly fainted into my outstretched arms.

I sighed, and brushed away a strand of hair from her forehead. That's when Jafar made his move. "You might not have Jasmine as a mistress anymore, but now that you're open you're my genie!" Haillie's face contorted into a grimace, and moaned.

"Oh no. Oh have mercy, no."

Jafar's only response was to cackle gleefully like a child.

A/N: Hope you liked the little twist!