After redoing this chapter, I personally love the growth between Aladdin and Savannah. Aladdin learning what it means to have testosterone and for Savannah to be challenged on her views of living...

Chapter Four: What Matters Most in Times of Peril

Aladdin stood there, hands lightly placed on his hips as he watched the young woman brush herself off. If memory served correctly, this would be considered their third encounter. And he has begun to attach himself to her; like a child would attach his or herself to their first playmate or best friend. She was an interesting character, this Savannah, and he determined he wanted to know more of her.

"As I said, you just can't seem to stay out of trouble," his smile beamed.

Savannah quickly grew out of her embarrassed state, now that she had collected herself, her guard was back up, and slipped back into character. "I'll have you know I was doing fine on my own," she argued. Although Aladdin didn't quite believe her, so, he offered a teasing grin.

"Uh huh, so, you had the entire situation under control while the guards were chasing you?"

"That's what I had planned," she responded not a moment sooner then he asked it.

The elder man glanced from one to the other. To him, it was all so confusing. All he wanted to do was go back home, crawl into his bed and sleep. Although, there wasn't all that much confusion at hand; as much as Savannah was attempting to put up a fight, Aladdin continued to weaken that chance for her, and made it all seem like a game.

"Right." He raised his eyebrow.

"It was!"

Alright, so, she was going to give up. She found this fight progressing nowhere and nowhere fast, and he didn't seem to be giving her much of a fighting chance at all. So, there was just no use in continuing. The more mature adult stood, knees knocking as he attempted to climb back up onto his own two feet. He was going to go home with or without an escort (not that he expected one, mind you). He was grateful enough that the two youths were able to help him escape and result unscathed.

Savannah heard the scrapes and shifts as he picked himself up, she offering a lending hand, he declined. "Are you going to be alright?" She asked him. He picked his humble eyes up at her.

"I'll be fine," he assured her. "I'll just take my leave now."

"Do you need any help?" She inquired further. He shook his head.

"I'll be fine," he responded, patted her hand, and began to slowly make his way out of the house. Quite a bold move, although he hadn't an option at the moment. He certainly wasn't going back down the way he came. He was going to risk himself getting caught in a more sensible way. Suicide, he felt, was far from appropriate.

As Savannah watched him teeter down, her gaze met back upon her saviors. As much as she didn't want to admit that he did, in fact, rescue her; there he was. "Yes, well, I should be leaving then." Her statement was bold. She would not allow him to mistaken it for a question. Savannah had to remind herself that she had to hold her own.

"You should leave with your father then," he said, watching the old man off. "He shouldn't be going off by himself."

"My father?" She asked, staring at him confusingly. "Oh, you thought? No, no," she laughed lightly. "No, he's just someone I met in the marketplace yesterday. He doesn't want help; I can't force him to accept help."

Aladdin merely nodded in understanding, although wondered why she was here on her own. Savannah, however, was unaccustomed to gestures and stares that weren't in a negative light. Her gaze hardened and decided to probe him the way he was her.

"Do you have some kind of a problem?" She asked sharply.

"No, no," he responded to her. "It's just that I have to wonder what a girl like you is doing out here all by herself, is all." He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he spoke, taking a few steps to the right.

"I've always been by myself," she said, though that came out softer than she intended. Being alone was tender with Savannah. Who wanted to be by themselves? She was strong about it, however, she wasn't trying to grab sympathy from the boy. Aladdin nodded once more, just to show that he was acknowledging what she was saying.

"What a coincidence, so have I." Not that that was anything unusual, street rats were often left on their own. This time, it was Savannah to nod. It was hard to break the ice and say something to promote a decent conversation. Abu, on the other hand, thought this was the perfect time for him to come and save the night with his shrieks to alarm them of the owners returning from their evening out. Aladdin peered over the balcony, then glanced back up at the female, "I guess this would be our exit then?" he questioned this with a teasing grin, only for her to smirk lightly in return and hop over the balcony's railing.

"One jump ahead of you," she said playfully, as though the twinkle in her eye suggested a challenge to see who could escape without being found first, in return for his interruption earlier on her challenge then. Aladdin followed her, not quite wanting to accept her "challenge" right there and then, perhaps he would after he had made sure she was at least half way down the building. He climbed further up the house and onto the roof, waiting until Savannah made it down onto the ground before he began to leap from top to top, she following on foot. They were sure the owners were none the wiser.

When they had caught up to one another on even ground, Aladdin slid down from the roof had he been currently on, shimmied down a rope, and met her on the ground, proceeding to stroll down the blocks of homes; few lights were on. If they were to glance in, they would see mother's tucking their children in before blowing out their only source of light, leaving another dark home on the block. Savannah turned her head away, proceeding to continue her walk with Aladdin, not too sure where their destination lied yet. It wasn't until a few blocks out of the way did he ask her.

"Do you want to see something amazing?"

His inquiry didn't sound exciting, nor did it sound serious. However, the offer did hum in her ears temptingly, and really, who was she to decline? So, she nodded, hurrying to catch up with him as he took her down sharp turns, grasping onto her wrist so she didn't lose her place. He continued on, head first into a building that seemed more like a maze, a labyrinth of sorts.

As they strolled towards their destination, a crowd again had congregated in the streets. They had paved a pathway for a horse to stroll. Savannah could hear the clopping of the hooves. Glancing to one another, they wound through the crowd until they could get a closer look.

"Another suitor for the princess," a passerby stated.

Savannah rolled her eyes. Another suitor? That made nearly over one dozen suitors to have graced her presence. Now curious, Savannah wondered why she turned down each and every one of them. Probably weren't good enough for the prim brat.

"I wonder when she'll choose?" a woman inquired, practically gushing with lust. "Each one is more handsome than the last."

"If she's looking for a husband, I've got a fine son for her right here."

The people were abuzz, words flurrying about. Aladdin looked down at Savannah as she poked through. The crowd was beginning to tighten and she was ultimately spat in the middle of the road. The commoners gasped, Savannah splayed out as she glared up at the whinnying horse.

"Ugh," The prince sneered in disgust. "Get this vermin slut out of my way."

Savannah glared up at him. When she refused to move fast enough, the prince retrieved his whip from the side of his horse. "I said out of my way, you common whore."

Eyes widening, Aladdin spat out from the crowd and took the initial sting from the very tip of the whip, letting out a grunt as the remainder of the whip curled around his forearm. "You won't strike her. In fact, I can tell you where you can put that whip."

"How dare you," The prince was appalled. Shaking the shock of the peasant's rudeness off, he felt the whip pulled from his grip. He growled.

"You poor roaches disgust me. You will never be anything more than the dirt you crawl on. If I wasn't on my way to living out my destiny, I'd have your throats slit. Once I'm sultan, I'll be back for you."

Aladdin allowed the coil of the whip to slide off of him and drop the ground. Seething, he reached down and helped Savannah up. His arm snaked around her waist in protection, pressing her to him to show the wealthy ditz that only his hands would be on this woman tonight. The prince scoffed, his horse kicking dirt back at him. Aladdin tensed himself, his eyes never once leaving his foe.

The crowd looked onto them in horror, although none lent out a helping hand. Aladdin urged Savannah back into the crowd to sift through them to the other side. It was time to go home. He heard the heavy gates close behind them.

"How disgusting," Savannah spat.

"Are you alright?" Aladdin asked, looking down at her and his angered simmered. She smiled and nodded. She had fallen, but wasn't scuffed, scraped, or bruised. She would heal.

"Let me see your arm," Savannah insisted, despite not knowing this man, he had saved her from a certain beating. Her stomach knotted as the stress of the situation piled onto her. She swallowed her anger back and looked up at Aladdin. He was ready to keep moving, and she would not reject the idea. There was no sense in brooding over something they couldn't control.

"It's just a little further," he assured her. His affirmation was well kept, she had to admit. But, she didn't say anything, just followed him up a few flights stairs, a ladder or two and then into a crawl space until they finally reached the very top. Abu attempted to keep the two away from one another by latching onto Aladdin, and blocking Savannah's view, then crawled down his arm and blocked their hands from touching when she needed leverage to support herself up. Aladdin was his friend and not hers, and the monkey just wasn't about to let her walk on in and take over like who she thought she was. Nope. It just wasn't happening. Though Aladdin saw it differently, and was going to let it happen with open arms.

When he had stepped onto solid ground, he crouched over and held his arms out to assist her up. Abu quickly scurried over to his shoulder and made a feeble attempt to bat her hands away. Aladdin glanced over to his shoulder, frowning lightly before grasping onto the others slender hands and slowly slid her up and into his abode. While she picked herself up, her body gently tapped into his, her eyes rising from his feet, to his bare chest, up to those chocolate eyes.

'Oh boy…Alright, Savannah, it's just a guy, like any other guy. Calm down and get a grip, girl!'

She deemed her thoughts would save her, yet, she felt the heat rise to her cheeks regardless; he offered her a gentle smile which didn't seem to make matters any better. Savannah swallowed hard, Abu glared at her, getting in between the two, flailing his hands in anger while he sputtered, shrieked, and whined. She heard the other utter a sigh while she slipped back into reality and willed the heat away.

The room was dark; she took a moment to adjust her eyes to the setting, letting herself absorb the darkness. She closed them, then opened again and finally found herself able to see somewhat. Aladdin took this time to think for a moment.

"I promised to show you something amazing," he suddenly said, reminding her why they were there.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess you did," she muttered, her mind distracted by the earlier incident.

A playful smile rose to his face once more as he stepped over to the sheet that covered the window, noticing the few beams of moonlight that had managed to seep inside to provide even the slightest bit of light. He drew back the sheet, the moonlight hitting her, bathing the young woman with its effecting rays. Though, he didn't bring her all the way to his home just to show her a moon, she was sure. Savannah could see that well enough in an alley on her own. No, it was what lied beneath it: the grand view of the palace.

Confusion overwhelmed her, how was it that an incident prior could occur and he still take pride in the view before him? He struck her the type to not allow one rotten bastard to ruin what he must have been dreaming of a lifetime. Alright, she could settle with that.

"Isn't it amazing?" he asked, quite proud of such a fine sight. This had been his greatest joy since, well, he wasn't sure since when. He put the earlier incident out of his mind, going back to what he had always wanted. Forget that spoiled bastard, he'd never win the princess, not with that attitude. He couldn't picture the snake getting very far with the people of Agrabah. No, there was a special place for people like him.

Savannah stared fixed at the large formation, mapping every detail into the contours of her memory bank. She glanced sideways at him. So, he was a dreamer. She had proclaimed herself a realist when there were no more dreams to comfort herself with at night. Not when there was a horror every morning when she woke. She assumed he took each day by and a dream and a dream alone; a goal, so to speak. She had to give him credit for having one.

"Speechless, I know," he said, admiring the view. There was no smile, more like a look of placidness and content. "Don't you wish you could live there?"

Now that was something she could laugh at. She thought about it. She didn't. "It's amazing alright," she said flatly and nothing more.

Aladdin turned away from the palace's view to her. "It's something. Don't you just wish, though? You wouldn't have to scrounge for food, no more hoping, or wishing. You'd have anything you could ever want, right there at your fingertips; you wouldn't have any problems at all."

"I suppose you could," she said, crossing her arms over her chest loosely. She was trying to look at it from his point of view, but, was finding it very hard to do so. A royal life seemed like it was almost everyone's wish. And truly she couldn't blame them. To live in the lap of luxury, have all the money and treasures in the world. Her thoughts trailed, she wouldn't want to rule, though.

She'd want to rebuild Agrabah, rebuild its system and how its inhabitants were treated, especially the children. It angered her so that the Sultan or his brat hadn't taken the time to notice what was going on outside their golden walls. It made her want to scream, cry; she didn't know what she wanted to do more of first, even if she wouldn't stoop that low. Being a hero was not on her agenda, she just wanted a difference made on their fair city.

But, that's just not how it went. It played a different tune and the game piece was in the other hand, the richer hand.

She stepped closer to the window. She was so close; felt she could almost touch the walls. Aladdin watched her, calling out her name several times before she took notice.

"Hmm? What?" She blinked. Savannah took note that they were two different people. But, as they said, opposites attract, no?

"Nothing," he laughed lightly, leaving the sheet to the side to give them greater light to see so they could chat longer. He was enjoying this time with someone else, the beginning of a new friendship as he saw it.

"So," he began, hoping to rouse another topic, since the converse of the palace bothered her for some unknown reason, perhaps something had happened involving the royals in general, but, he wasn't going to pry.

That was how the night progressed. They talked about various different topics, they skipped the part about themselves, the two of them got the vibe they would know more about one another in due time. So, there was nothing to rush. And since there was no rush, their chatting shifted all through the evening and developed into the sunrise. Savannah had shifted into a comfortable position, leaning against the wall, eventually drifting off to sleep when the conversation grew light.

Aladdin watched the sun begin to rise above the palace, his eyes glistening with so much hope; so much belief. He even thought, maybe, he'd share his dream with her. If he even gained position on the throne, he'd offer her a seat in power, once he figured out how he'd go about doing that. He was sure that someone so similar would enjoy that. Even if he hadn't quite realized just how different the two were.

He glanced over to the girl to question about breakfast, though found her asleep. He gazed at her contently for a moment, a light chuckle seeping past his parted lips, and lifted one of the blankets beneath Abu, who hissed softly about being stirred awake, and draped it over her slender, feminine form. He would just wait until she awoke. There was no sense in disturbing her.