I have terrible mixed feelings about this chapter, but I deserved to give this fic at least a decent ending. It'll be completed in the next chapter, so, don't think I screwed you all! I love all my readers, you guys are awesome for hanging around for so long until the end and all my new readers, as well! Thank you, so much! I definitely gave Jafar more dialogue, which I was happy about, so that's a plus?
"I knew I recognized you the moment you set foot into the palace," Jafar said as he rose from the audience chamber throne, taking slow and small strides towards Savannah. "You and that wretched urchin companion of yours. I wondered to myself where you had managed to find such tasteful clothes. These are far more indulgent than you're accustomed to stealing. And then it hit me," he said, pausing for dramatic effect as he picked Savannah's chin up between his fingers, thrusting her head to meet his eye. "You have my lamp."
Savannah's silence confirmed what he had suspected and Jafar grinned. "I would like it back, my dear. And you will fetch it for me." His fingers slithered around his scepter, amused at her stern expression. She was keeping out from lashing. Of course, he tried to kill them. His eyes measured her frame and clothing for any tracings of the lamp. It was not on her persons. "Because if you don't, I would hate to think what would happen to your companion."
He knew he had her attention, and so he continued. "You see, all I have to do is tell the Sultan who you two really are, then your little friend will be locked up and eventually killed for treason. And I will make certain you watch as he dies slowly and intimately." The more he spoke, the wider Savannah's eyes became. Death? Death and she were not friends, not in the least. She couldn't bear to risk Aladdin's life. She lost her mother; she couldn't lose him on top of it.
"What do I have to do?" Savannah asked, her voice broken and yearning for release of Aladdin's life.
"Just go to him when he returns," he instructed.
"Don't you dare hurt him," Savannah hissed, which caused Jafar to grin a malicious grin.
As Jasmine stepped down from Carpet, Aladdin reluctantly let her hand go and settled back down onto his transportation. Jasmine leaned against the balcony, smiling contently.
"Good night, my handsome prince," she cooed.
"Sleep well, princess," he said and leaned in towards her as she ended their evening with a farewell kiss.
"Until morning," she bade. She would speak to her father and would fight until this was settled. She had done everything asked of her. Out of many men who approached her, she chose a suitor. Her father was Sultan, he could change any law he desired. The man she chose did not have to be a prince, in her opinion. Although she knew in terms of her father, her opinion meant little.
Aladdin waited until Jasmine disappeared behind her curtain before he drifted back down to their meeting place, back flattened against the carpet as he cheered himself on for accomplishing his goal of winning the girl. "Finally, for the first time in my life, something has gone right."
She was relieved to see him return. Savannah approached the carpet and sat upon the edge. "So, it looks like the evening went well?"
"Oh, Sav, you should have seen it! And I did it. I told Jasmine the truth, and you were right, and I-"Aladdin was rambling. Savannah pressed her finger to his lips to shush him and smiled.
That didn't stop Aladdin from pulling out the lamp and summoning Genie. Genie perked a brow to see the smile on Aladdin's face. Savannah was astonished that he would call out to Genie now.
"I take it the night went well?"
"Better than well, Genie. I did what you said, I told her the truth."
Genie smiled a paternally proud smile as he rubbed Aladdin's shoulder. "I'm proud of you kid. Now, have you thought of your second wish?"
Aladdin glanced at Savannah thoughtfully. "I'm going to give this next wish to Savannah."
Her eyes widened gently and she shook her head. "No, Al, these are your wishes. Save them. Use them for something good."
"No, I've got everything good in my life now. I have my friends, I have Jasmine. What more could I want?" Aladdin asked and passed the lamp to Savannah. She felt how warm the cool brass was in her hands, the weight of a singular, nearly limitless wish was. "Genie, I wish for Savannah to have the next wish."
She could wish selfishly and get her happy ending. She could wish for Aladdin's happy ending to happen flawlessly. She could also wish for the Genie's freedom now. There was so much power she had in her hands; she barely knew where to begin. Slowly, she held a hand to cup Aladdin's cheek, showing him a warm smile of gratitude.
Aladdin leaned into her hand and looked at her, quizzically. Savannah gasped as Aladdin fell forward in her lap, the flesh tender and beginning to swell where the club had made contact with his head. Savannah cupped her mouth into her hands and snapped her head back to Jafar as he entered the clearing.
"You said you wouldn't hurt him," she seethed.
Jafar ignored her and approached the two lithe forms, yanking the lamp from Savannah's lap where it fell. Jafar smirked at her, and held up his prize. Savannah wanted to save both Aladdin and Genie. Genie had been good to them, despite it being a verbal contractual agreement. She had built a connection with the big blue lug, and she stared on helplessly as Jafar's eyes gazed at the brass lamp hungrily. He had finally gotten what he wanted, and was about to rid himself of the competition. There was no stopping the power hungry sorcerer now.
"Razoul, take the girl away. Toss this fool into the sea. Make sure they both don't return. At least not unscathed." With a flick of his cape, Jafar tossed the cloth away as he walked off, staff in hand. Razoul hoisted Savannah away, despite her protests. The more Savannah struggled, the less patience Razoul had for her. Savannah had to get to Aladdin, her heart stopping as she heard the splash Aladdin's body made when it came in contact with the ocean.
As a hold on Savannah became more difficult, Razoul moved his hand to gain a better grasp on her. He grazed her breast, held her hip, wrapped around her waist and up towards her neck. When his arm reached her neck, she leaned down and her teeth sank into his arm. Didn't matter whether or not she was in a pretty outfit, she was still firm in her street roots. She was harsh enough to draw blood and with a holler, Razoul let her go as she scrambled away.
The burn in her thighs was agonizing, Savannah ran and the chafe of the satin mesh of her costume was enough to make her cry. However, when she found her leverage, she dove in after Aladdin. Razoul and the other guards were hot on her heels, however, they stopped. They glanced at one another.
"Street rats travel in packs, boys," Razoul commented, sniffing. "She just couldn't live without him."
Sav stroked deeper into the depths. The water was murky, but pushed on until it became clearer, but still the salt bit into her raw and chafed thighs. She caught up with Aladdin, hoisting him by his arms. She struggled to reach the surface with Aladdin's weight, feeling the air reaching its limit, her lungs at their maximum capacity. They burned; she ached terribly for release and a gulp of fresh air that momentarily didn't exist. If she didn't think fast, they both wouldn't make it.
She pushed Aladdin up, and then used the tip of a nearby boulder that shouldered the side of the cliff to push them up. Savannah felt Aladdin slip from her grasp. Quickly, she gathered hold of his cape and hoisted him to her, like horses reins and her arms gathered beneath his pits once more, pushing him upward. Savannah felt compelled to apologize to him when they surfaced. She gasped as her head emerged, welcoming the air that flooded into her. She choked and sputtered, clutching her friend to her tightly.
He wasn't breathing. Her heart momentarily stopped and kicked towards the shore, laying him on the rocky ledge and shook him. She was already welling up, her anxiety taking full control as she nearly panicked. Genie was nowhere to be found, and Savannah had an uneasily feeling as she glanced towards the palace. Jafar had the lamp, it was only a matter of time before he looked to seize control altogether. As Savannah looked down at Aladdin, shaking him and pounding on his chest, feeling a momentary urge of hopelessness.
"How could I have let this happen? How could I have been so foolish?" She choked and struck Aladdin's chest once more, leaning in to see if she could feel breath or a heartbeat. She felt neither. "I let you go…" She collapsed against his chest, defeated. She hadn't the strength to bang on his chest like a monkey or shake him. She felt lost, almost as lost as when her mother passed. There was nothing Savannah could do.
Her mother was ill; there was no way Savannah could save her. Medicine was expensive and money ran dry on food and herbs. Her father was gone, her brother, she was the only one that remained until Aladdin. He slowly became her family, the family she desperate held onto. And now she even let him fall from her grasp, and there was no one to blame but her.
So, now there was nothing to do but grieve. She lowered herself to lay with him and let her tears fall. As strong as she tried to be, she was still a woman, and even the strongest women cried. She lingered her fingers over his chest, letting her fist make one last surge of contact with it out of a lapse of anger. She was moving through anger that he left her, in the stages of grief. Damn Aladdin, damn him for leaving her. It was his own selfish stupidity that he got himself in this position. Damn him for getting water all over her hair.
Water? She glanced up, so wrapped up in her loss that she hadn't taken notice to the fact that Aladdin had spit up on her. Frozen in shock, her eyes widened. "Al...?" She squeaked, and he replied by erupting into a fit of coughing, slowly sitting up as she wiggled her way into her own position of seat and rubbed his back. "You're alive…"
Aladdin rubbed his chest and grimaced at the pain that sprung up there. He glanced at her before being flung back into her tackle. "Ow, Savannah," he hissed before breaking out into a grin. "Hey, I'm okay, I'm okay. What happened? Where's the Genie?"
She separated from him. There would be all the time in the world to continuously remind him over again how she saved him from raging death from the hands of a jealous sorcerer. That would make for quite a bedtime story, she believed. Aladdin repeated his question to her when she lacked an answer, but all Savannah could do was rise from Aladdin to look towards the palace.
"I'll get the lamp. I think you need to get to Jasmine, now."
Aladdin rose from the ground with Savannah's assistance and glanced up to see grey overshadowing the palace. A sense of dread washed over the duo as they glanced at one another. Savannah's heart quickened, as did her breath and felt the anxious lump form in her throat once more. Aladdin glanced for the quickest way to the palace, and that was to climb the cliff.
The two climbed, Aladdin beneath Savannah so if she were to fall he would catch her. It reminded her of the old times of losing the guards in the marketplace, climbing and scaling the unfinished and jagged walls of the poor. Her hands were numb and Aladdin's had begun to bleed, the salty air stung their worn and cut bodies. With a body still weary from having nearly drowned, Aladdin slipped and lost his footing, only to fall onto the form of Carpet, who had been drawn to them by Aladdin's grunts of displeasure. Savannah's heart lightened, for once, at the sight of the flying spectacle and openly lunged onto the carpet from her jagged ledge. She felt a sense of relief and rubbed her hands together, sighing contently. Aladdin was focused on what lied beyond the cliff's edge.
It was the Genie, large and guarding the palace. Grey storm clouds lingered above them and Jafar beamed from the very top of the palace. "It's over, street rat!" He cried, manically. Aladdin's focus trailed to Jasmine, who was chained to the palace doors, stripped of her blue regal attire for a fiery red garb only fit for a snake. The blood began to boil in Aladdin's veins as he snarled and dove towards Jasmine and the Sultan, who appeared scared and confused as to how all of this came about. He paused halfway, suspended in frozen animation as Jafar's scepter controlled the carpet.
"Not so fast. You think you can steal from me and take what rightfully belongs to me?" Jafar grinned. "I promised you a reward, boy. You did what you were asked; you retrieved the lamp for me. As much of a nuisance as you've been, I have it at long last." He cackled triumphantly. "Genie, I'll have my second wish. I wish to be an all powerful sorcerer!"
With a momentary break in Jafar's previous command, the staff broke and the trio, including Carpet, fell. Aladdin ran to Jasmine after knowing Savannah was at least stable. He had to break Jasmine and her father free before Jafar could conduct further damage. Savannah, however, saw the lamp within reach. Jafar would be fixed on Aladdin, powerful or not, his eyes couldn't be everywhere. She crouched and crept, sliding against the wall of the palace, glancing continuously back and forth between Aladdin and Jafar.
Jafar had grounded at level with Aladdin, wrapping Aladdin with a glowing red tether. As much as Savannah had been surrounded by magic as of late, it still surprised her when it happened. She sharply gasped, quickly shutting her mouth.
"Take a good look, Princess. Your Prince is no more than a filthy commoner. You see your highness? The boy you placed all your faith into is no Prince at all." He spat.
"More of a Prince than you'll ever be, Jafar," Jasmine snapped. Savannah eased herself back into her task of retrieving the lamp. She still had her wish to be granted and she had just the one.
"I don't think so, young street mouse-" Savannah's wrists were bound by the shimmering magical red tether and suddenly she was levitating. She wriggled for freedom, and that seemed to excite Jafar more. "You see, there's just no room for you here." Uncertain of what that meant, Savannah quickly shot her eyes to Aladdin before she disappeared. Aladdin cried her name out and glared up at Jafar.
"Where did you take her!?" Aladdin demanded.
"I would worry less about her, you filth, and worry about yourself. I don't see how you can win against me, boy." He forced Aladdin's tether to his face. "You're defeated!"