Ok, a little earlier than usual, but you all have been so great with your reviews and criticisms that I decided to release it early as a reward. Keep up the great reviews and as always, let me know what you think at the end of this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from the movie and/or video game.

Chapter 4:

Dastan and Tamina sat in the cell for hours trying to come up with a plan of escape. There were no windows in any of the cells around them—as far as they could tell anyways—and nothing to use to try and force open the lock. They decided that the best way to get out was to try and overpower one of the guards that brought them food; so long as he was alone and did not have any immediate help. As they were figuring out their final run to freedom, a guard appeared in the passageway holding a tray.

Dastan stood immediately to watch him and identified all of his weapons but stopped his plan of attack upon seeing the guards waiting near the entrance. He looked over at Tamina and shook his head slightly as the guard unlocked their cell.

"Here Persian," the guard said as he roughly pushed a pile of clothes into Dastan's hands. Without another word, the guard turned on his heel and locked them up once more. Dastan and Tamina looked at each other.

"He gave us clothing?" Tamina asked at a loss for words. Dastan began to unfold all the pieces that he had and laid them out.

"Well, at least we can get out of our sleeping clothes," Dastan muttered as he looked at the clothes. Tamina examined the clothing and realized that there was only men's clothing.

"Perfect," Tamina mumbled as she looked at the raggedy shirt and pants that she supposed to be hers.

"Not a fan of rags, Tamina?" Dastan asked amusedly as he watched her.

"Not particularly," she admitted.

"Don't worry, they're quite comfortable, as long as they fit right," he smiled as he handed her the smaller shirt.

"Are you accustomed to wearing rags Dastan?"

"Yes and no. I was born in the streets of Nasaf before the king adopted me. The first ten years of my life were spent trying to survive each day and night. These would have been top quality clothes," he explained. Tamina walked over to one of the corners with her back to Dastan and began to change.

"I had no idea," she said. "I assumed when Tus told me you were not his brother by blood, that you had been a son of a noble or diplomat or something and had been orphaned."

"No, I was nothing more than a street urchin. I had the great fortune to catch the eye of the king as I attempted to escape his guards," Dastan continued as he pulled his shirt over his head. Tamina's eyes widened as she turned around once she had finish dressing and noticed what state of dress Dastan was in. She turned back around quickly, hoping he hadn't seen her, and felt heat rise in her face. She had only caught a glimpse of his back, but it was a long enough glimpse for her to notice the strong muscles of his shoulders and a few scars.

"Wh…what were you doing that warranted arrest?" she stammered trying to compose herself.

"I interrupted them from beating Bis to death after he spooked one of their horses."

"Oh," she muttered. Once she thought she had waited long enough for him to be fully clothed, Tamina turned around and remembered the food tray. Dastan had already divided the one loaf of bread and handed her the larger piece.

"Thank you, but surely you will need the larger piece," she said. Common sense told her that Dastan ate more than she did and she was sure that the small piece of bread in his hand was not going to sustain him.

"Street rat, remember?" he smiled. She smiled back half heartedly and looked down at the bread she clutched in both her hands.

"Dastan, do you know anything of the tortures Kosh was speaking of earlier?" Tamina asked quietly. He looked up at her and knew what she was really asking: what were they going to do to her.

"It will not come to that," he said confidently. "I will not let it get that far." Tamina noticed how quickly his protectiveness of her rose again.

"I cannot tell them anything," she insisted.

"You will not have to. We will be gone by the time Kosh reaches that point."

"So you have a plan?" she asked hopefully.

"Almost," he replied sheepishly. "I'm still working out the finer details."

"That doesn't inspire much confidence," Tamina mumbled under her breath. Dastan glared at her. "Sorry."

"Why don't you leave the escape plans to me and try to get some sleep," Dastan suggested as he handed her the cup of water.

"That's a good idea, well half a good idea anyways," she said as she sipped the water then handed it back to him.

"Half a good idea?" he asked.

"I'm going to pray and think about an escape plan too. I refuse to be summoned to Kosh with only a half brained scheme and your assurances that you have everything under control." As she was ranting, she was watching Dastan walk around the cell; he seemed to be cleaning up the discarded clothing.

"Half brained scheme? Well Tamina, I must say that is an insult if I ever heard one. Most of my schemes as you so call them turn out quite well. Most of my accomplices turn out just fine when their wounds have healed," he retorted quickly. "Here," he handed her the robe she had worn earlier. "Use it as a blanket and lay on the clothes. That's the closest thing to a bed I can manage."

Tamina looked at the spot he was pointing to and realized that he had used his discarded shirt and pants to make a small cover between the dirty prison floor and her body as she slept.

"Is that some sort of Persian training or something?" Tamina wondered out loud trying to keep her genuine curiosity from sounding like insulting sarcasm. At Dastan's confused stare, she motioned to the bed he'd made. "You seem to always be making beds on the floor."

"You're going to have to lay that down on top of the clothes there and then wrap the other half over yourself," he ignored her.

"What about you?" Tamina said before she could catch herself.

"Concerned about me being too cold?" Dastan smirked.

"Not at all, all the hot air your full of is bound to keep you warm," she recovered before she lay down on the makeshift bed. She turned her body away from him and faced the wall. Dastan's smile widened once she couldn't see him. He liked their sparring; it was comforting to him. He lay down next to her with his back to her as well, and tried to fall asleep.

He had fallen asleep relatively easy. That should have been his first clue as to the night he was going to have. As Dastan tried to rest, images and memories of his first days in Alamut began to trickle into his dreams. They started out innocent enough and he did not force himself to wake, but he should have once he recognized that he was not remembering the past that he had just recently experienced. He was remembering the past that he had changed. His father's body burned and writhed in pain before his eyes as Dastan stood over him. Garsiv's face as the Hassansin's darts pierced his chest and the look of surprise that crossed his eyes as he fell to the ground. Tus' dead eyes as he lay on the ground after Nizam had slit his throat.

All of these memories he saw clearly. None of the events seemed to have been lost to the time elapsed, but Dastan could not open his eyes. It was as if something was compelling him to watch his most painful moment come to life once more. He saw Tamina as she came to his aid as he battled the Hassansin, turning his own snake on him. He felt the warm tenderness of her lips as they exchanged their first kiss. The love he felt for her rippled through his chest, but his mind recalled the next event and love turned to fear. He was clinging to the rock face, his good arm holding him, while the arm Nizam had punctured with a blade was holding Tamina. She knew he would never let her fall even before he said it. Dastan looked into her eyes and saw the love she had for him more clearly than he had before. He searched for her eyes again only to find tear stained orbs of pain and regret staring back. Her words of them being together rang in his ears like a curse, and he felt her release his hand. She screamed his name for the last time, and the sound made his heart break all over again. He yelled back for her, grasping the air where her hand should have been. He continued screaming until he finally forced his eyes open.

Dastan bolted upright, panting and sweating slightly despite the cold that had settled in the prison. Tamina was awake next to him, rubbing his back and pressed a soothing hand to his cheek.

"Dastan, I'm right here," she whispered as she continued to rub his back. "What's wrong? You're trembling." He looked at her with a dazed expression. He took a few deep breaths to try to calm himself, but they didn't work.

"What…what happened?" he finally managed, knowing full well what had happened, as he wiped his face with both hands.

"I'm not entirely certain. You had been moving around all night; I thought you were trying to get comfortable, so I covered us both with the robe. It seemed to work for a minute because you stopped. Then you started turning your head and mumbling. I tried to wake you to make sure you were all right."

"I'm fine," he replied automatically. "Just a nightmare."

"Dastan, you woke up in the middle of screaming my name. That is not something to suggest that you are fine."

"I told you they are nothing more than nightmares…"

"And a few tormented wishes," Tamina interrupted. "I am not stupid Dastan. I know that whatever these nightmares are they have something to do with me and you screaming my name in the middle of the night proves it. What aren't you telling me?"

He looked at her for a moment as if seeing her for the first time since he was violently awoken by his dreams. Would it hurt their present relationship to tell her that they had eventually fallen in love in a time only he knew of? The last thing Dastan wanted was for her to fall in love with him because he had told her it had happened before. He didn't want her to feel obligated to love him. He was in love with her because of the person he knew she was; his experiences with her unveiled that to him. She had no such experience and he knew that it was something that would, ironically, have to come with time.

"Dastan? Are you still with me?" Tamina asked, a hint of concern in her tone.

"Yes, Tamina, I'm all right." He smiled at her as if to prove it. "I know you are not going to understand this, but I cannot tell you yet of the nightmares. It would reveal too much about that time and could impact this time in a way that I do not know if I could survive. I have been given a second chance at a life I thought I had lost, and I do not wish to endanger it by revealing too much."

"Oh," she breathed. Tamina dropped her hand from his back slowly and placed it back in her own lap. She remained silent as she thought on his words. After another moment of contemplation, she looked back up at him, the serene façade of the royal Princess and High Priestess of Alamut back on her face.

"I understand," she said. "I promise you, I will never ask you again. When and if you are ever ready to tell me, I will listen. But I will never approach the subject again." Dastan hated the way she had reverted back to the Guardian of the dagger, but he understood why she did. She turned away from him and lay back down. He let out another deep breath before joining her. He knew he may have just prolonged the chance for her to love him, but he was not going to implant the idea in her head. She had to come to that realization based on her own feelings.

Neither one of them went back to sleep. They just stared out in front of themselves thinking about how things had changed so suddenly, not just in the past few minutes, but in the past few hours. Tamina felt hurt, but she could not understand why. It wasn't as if she was close enough to him to feel that his lack of trust was some sort of betrayal, but at the same time, that was exactly how it felt. She wanted him to trust her with his secrets.

Before her mind could analyze her feelings any further, the sound of a lock unlocking and footsteps on the stone passageway reached her ears. She sat up to see Dastan already standing at the cell door looking toward the noises.

"There are about five guards coming this way," he whispered over his shoulder.

"Kosh must be growing impatient. If he knows as much about the dagger as he has suggested, he is probably not willing to wait for me to make up my mind," Tamina thought out loud. Dastan remained quiet as the guards stopped in front of their cell with wicked smiles on their faces.

"The general wishes to speak with you," the guard with the keys said as he unlocked the door. "Both of you."