Chapter 32: You can't change me

The thieves were sitting around the lair, bored out of their mind. Since Cassim went with Aladdin and Sora and Sa'luk had been killed, the thieves didn't have any co-leader to tell them what to do. All the thieves decided to do is play poker while gambling the stolen goods they managed to get from the wedding.

"I see your call and raise you two."

"Same here."

"Me too!"

"Ha Ha! Four of a kind! I win!"

"…"

"But how can you have four aces? I have two of them."

"YOU CHEATER!!!!"

"I didn't cheat; you're just rubbish at poker."

All of the thieves then turned their attention away from the death fight to the entrance which was currently opening.

"I wonder who it is."

"Cassim properly forgot something."

Couple of thieves stood up just in case as all of them watched the entrance. They just had confused faces on them when no one came through. The thieves went to relax again went everything just went blank.

BOWBOWBOW

Sora, Aladdin and Cassim walked past the palace gates and looked up at the palace. Abu was sitting on Aladdin's shoulder while Iago was sitting on Cassim. Cassim looked at his surroundings while Sora and Aladdin carried on looking at the palace.

"Looks like Genie has everything ready." Aladdin smiled, looking at his father at the corner of his eye.

"No surprise there." Sora laughed, "Let's just hope that he hasn't put a swimming pool in like he tried to do last time." Cassim went wide eyes as he turned his attention towards Aladdin.

"Genie? You have a genie?" Cassim gasped, "Have you used all three wishes yet?"

"Oh, please, don't go into it." Iago sighed while using his wing to wipe his head, "It's just too painful."

"That's because you was working for Jafar and you was contently hit with Donald's thunder spell." Sora replied to the parrot. Before Iago could say anything, a 'POOF' of smoke appeared to reveal the supernatural Djinn.

"Oh, Al, Sora, You're back!" Genie cheered as he hugged both Aladdin and Sora.

"That's great, Genie. Uh--"Sora chocked from the lack of air. Genie put a hand over Sora's mouth to stop him talking.

"Security's tight." Genie said in a serious tone as he let go of Aladdin and Sora. "No big crowd. Immediate family only." Cassim just stood there dumbfounded as he watched the all-powerful Djinn talk to his son.

"Does that mean that we aren't invited anymore?" Sora sobbed, he still wanted to be the best man.

"Don't worry, Sora." Genie assured him, "You, Kairi, Donald and Goofy are still invited. If it wasn't for you, Donald and Goofy; there wouldn't be a wedding."

"Perfect, because this is my--"Aladdin tried to introduce his father when Genie just whizzed next to Cassim.

"No lowlifes this time, other than the parrot, of course." Genie cut off

"Hey! Who're you callin' lowlife?!" Iago flapped his wings angrily, "I've turned over a new wing, I swear." Genie ignored Iago's comment and whizzed back to Sora and Aladdin.

"I'd like to see one of those Forty Thieves get within an inch of your wedding." Genie said confidentially while folding his arms. This made Cassim and Iago smirk at each other.

"Allow me to introduce--"Iago began introducing

Cassim chuckled before finishing the introduction, "The King of Thieves."

Genie just stood there motionless before he started to panic. He then started to lock down the palace with high-top security and turned into dozens of swat policemen while saying 'code-red' over and over again. The police genies surrounded Cassim and Iago while pushing Aladdin and Sora out of the way. The genies then aim their machine rifles at the two. "Do not attempt to move, or we'll be shooting ourselves." Genie said to Cassim.

"Genie!" Sora called out as him and Aladdin tried to push past the genies.

"Back off, guys." Genie warned them, "This creep's got a yellow sheet as long as my arm."

"Genie, meet my dad." Aladdin finally introduced.

All of the genies went wide eyes and looked at Aladdin and Sora in shock. When Aladdin and Sora nodded to confirm that Cassim was Aladdin's father, Genie turned back to his original self and started to approach Cassim. "If you're Al's dad…AND the King of Thieves, I just want to know one thing." Genie said roughly while grabbing part of Cassim's blue saik.

"Yeah?" Cassim matched.

Genie suddenly let go of Cassim and turned into a waiter. "Will you be having the chicken or the sea bass?" Genie asked.

Cassim was just confused by Genie's change of personality while Sora and Aladdin was just laughing. When Sora stopped laughing, he thought that he'll see if the others are back and went into the palace while Genie complained about Cassim's clothing.

BOWBOWBOW

Kairi was watching Donald and Goofy talk to each other as she sat at the side of the room. She was thinking about all the stuff that Donald and Goofy had told her and she just couldn't believe it. She though that Donald or Goofy would have told Sora straight away about this, mainly because it concerned him the most. She could see that Goofy didn't like keeping these secrets as much as she did, but it's for the safety of the worlds and for Sora's sake.

"Guys? Where are you?" Sora's voice came from the other room.

Donald quickly shouted back to Sora while Kairi got up again. Kairi walked over to Donald and Goofy as Sora came in the room. Sora smiled at the three as he approached them. "Hey guys." Sora greeted, "How was the Cave of Wonders?"

"It would have been better if the place didn't collapse on us." Donald grumbled

"You guys alright?" Sora freaked out

"We're A-Ok Sora! Ah-yuck!" Goofy confirmed as he done a thumps up. Donald looked at Sora's arm like Brian had told him to do while they were at Agrabah and just looked worried.

"I can't say the same thing about you, though." Donald said in a serious and worried tone.

"What do you--"Kairi stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Sora's hand, "Sora! What happened to you?" Sora looked confused at the worrying faces that he was receiving.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sora asked, "I'm fine." Kairi, Donald and Goofy all pointed towards his right hand. Sora looked at them confusedly before bringing his right hand in front of him and saw what the problem was.

His hand looked like a Heartless claw.

"Gee Sora, what happened at the lair?" Goofy asked. Sora didn't answer; he was clenching and unclenching his shadowed fist.

"Sora?" Kairi said quietly. Sora looked away from his hand and looked at the three again. He then shook his head to clear the thoughts that he had before answering.

"I wasn't sure what happened." Sora began explaining while looking at his claw, "When we first got there, I seemed fine and was able to summon the Keyblade. When we were fighting this guy so we could stay alive, I couldn't summon my Keyblade. Before Sa'luk managed the attack, I decided to fight without the Keyblade and just ended up clawing him on the chest."

"I think it's best if we check your health when we get back to the Gummi." Donald replied. The three of them agreed. Sora, Donald and Goofy started to walk out the room while Kairi didn't move; Sora looked behind him to see that Kairi wasn't following.

"Kairi, are you alright?" Sora asked as he started to walk back to her.

"I'm alright" She lied, "I just got something to think about. I'll catch up."

"Ok, I meet you in the throne room." Sora replied and left the room like the others. Kairi was now feeling worse than before as she took out the note that Ven had left behind and read the one line that seemed to be making sense…

BOWBOWBOW

"My boy Aladdin must have been born under a lucky star to find such a treasure."

Sora looked to his right to see that Kairi had just made it in the throne room to see what was going on. She came next to him as well as standing next to Donald and Goofy.

Cassim was currently inspecting his son's bride-to-be. Judging from his poetic flattery, he approved of the marriage. "You are most definitely Aladdin's father." Jasmine said with a smile toward Aladdin, who was standing beside Genie at one side of the room. Cassim no longer wore the raiment of the King of Thieves, but rather the finery of a noble. Judging from this, Sora assumed that Genie must had won the argument about The King of Thieves clothes and changed them.

"It must have been dreadful!" Sultan exclaimed. "Trapped by the Forty Thieves!"

"Uh-oh." Sora gulped

"Why? What is it?" Kairi whispered to him

"Oh nothing."

Fortunately, Cassim displayed the same shrewdness he had used when getting the thieves to agree on making Aladdin and Sora facing the challenge in the Forty Thieves' lair. "I try to block out the memories." he told Sultan with a false gleam of lament in his eye.

Sultan believed every word. "Say no more." he told Cassim. "Not another word on the subject."

"Yes." Cassim agreed. "Let's turn to happier thoughts--the blessed union of our children!" To emphasize his happiness, he wrapped his arms around Sultan's waist and picked him right up off the floor!

Sultan was not used to being picked up, but he understood Cassim's sentiment. "Indeed." he managed to gasp through his constricted lungs. Cassim laughed and set Sultan down.

"It worked, Genie! They love him!" Aladdin whispered to his magical companion.

"It was the hat." Genie replied. "Nothing does the trick like a smart chapeau."

"It's more than that." Aladdin corrected him. "All he needed was a second chance."

BOWBOWBOW

Sa'luk walked out of the lair with most of the thieves captured. He had turned back into his original self after leaving the lair. His Unbirths was still guards and was carrying the wooden cage full of thieves. While the thieves called him a traitor, Sa'luk's rage built as he was unhappy that Cassim, Sora or Aladdin wasn't at the lair.

As one of the Unbirth soldiers approached him, Sa'luk clearly took his anger out on it. "He's not there!!" Sa'luk growled at his soldier.

"But he wasn't there, sir." The Unbirth whimpered. Sa'luk saw the fear in the Unbirth and let it go, causing it to disappear. Sa'luk was about to rage on the other Unbirths went he gained an idea. He then started to walk back towards the lair.

BOWBOWBOW

Everyone was ready for the wedding again. While Kairi was with Jasmine and The Sultan, Sora, Donald and Goofy was with Aladdin, Genie and Abu…all that was missing was Cassim and Iago. Everyone was wearing formal garments again expect for Sora who decided to go Final form instead of wearing the itchy Arabian suit.

"I wonder where he could be. I hope he hasn't gotten lost in the palace." Aladdin wondered.

Suddenly, Genie transformed into a big brown warthog, said, 'Hakuna Matata,' and transformed back. "Whoa! I had an out of world experience there," he said.

"You reminded me of someone," said Sora.

"Do I? Who?" asked Genie.

"I know a warthog who always says that," answered Sora.

"A… warthog?" asked Aladdin. "And I thought I seen crazy things."

There was a long pause before Genie broke the silent. "Maybe he wants to make an entrance," said Genie.

"What?" asked Sora.

"Aladdin's dad. Maybe he wants to make an entrance," repeated Genie.

"We'll go and look for him." Donald volunteered and began walking out of the room. "C'mon Goofy!" Donald called out. Goofy hung his head low and started to follow him.

BOWBOWBOW

After a couple of minutes searching, they couldn't remember the way back. "Uh, are you sure we came this way Donald?" Goofy asked, "I'm sure we past that painting a couple of minutes ago." Donald was about to complain to his tall friend went they heard some voices. Donald and Goofy hid behind the wall and listened to the voices.

"Here's the monkey's lock picks. You know how to use 'em?"

Donald and Goofy looked around the corner to see that the voice came from Iago and was sitting on Cassim's shoulder. It then hit the two, they were near the entrance of the treasure room and Cassim was unlocking it with the lock pick. When Cassim and Iago when in the treasure room, Donald and Goofy hid besides the door and watched the two. They saw Cassim approach the specter.

"I promise you, bird," Cassim assured his parrot companion, "after this, I go straight."

"You're gonna give up being the King of Thieves for Al?" Iago asked

"I've missed out on so much; I don't want to miss any more." Cassim replied as he reaches towards the specter. As soon as Donald and Goofy heard Iago say 'King of Thieves', they began approaching the two kooks.

"STOP!" Donald shouted and froze the two in time. Donald and Goofy walked over to the two and looked at them disappointedly.

BOWBOWBOW

Jasmine, Kairi and The Sultan had come in the room after hearing that not only was Cassim was missing but now Donald and Goofy. Sora was on his communicator, trying to contact Donald and Goofy only to realise that their left their communicator in the throne room. Aladdin was worried about his father's whereabouts while the others were thinking what to do.

"Genie, could you go look for them? " Aladdin asked his blue friend, "They have been gone for a long time."

"Don't worry Al, I'll sniff them out." Genie replied and turned into a blue version of Pluto. This caught Sora's attention.

"Hey, I wonder what happened to Pluto. I hope that he's okay." Sora said out loud. Kairi's mouth opened to say something but quickly closed it as she remembered what Donald had told her.

Genie began to sniff the ground. "I need a scrap of his clothes or a lock of his hair." he called to everyone. Suddenly, his nose bumped into a shoe with Cassim's distinct scent. "Or a shoe." Genie amended. "A shoe's goo--AAAH!" Genie turned back to his original self when he found that Cassim and Iago was in the custody of Donald and Goofy. Everyone was surprised by this while Sora and Kairi were shocked by Donald and Goffy's actions.

"Donald, Goofy, What are you guys doing?" Sora asked questioningly

"What is the meaning of this?" The Sultan demanded

"Your Majesty…" Donald said sadly, "We found him in the treasure room after the specter…."

"And found out that he's The King of Thieves." Goofy finished in the same tone of voice. "And Iago lead him to it." Goofy then held up Iago, who was chained up as well.

"This is a big misunderstanding!" Iago pleaded. "It's a slap on the wrist and community service kind of thing!"

"Now I know why you really came back." Aladdin fumed. Cassim hung his head in shame.

"Your father is the leader of the Forty Thieves?" Sultan gasped. "Th-this is most..." Sultan could not finish his sentence. He was in disbelief! His daughter, the princess of Agrabah and a Princess of Heart, was going to marry the spawn of a crook!

"Aladdin," Jasmine addressed her fiancé, "did you know?" Kairi looked at Sora in the same way, only to receive no answer.

"I thought I could change him." Aladdin sighed. "I had to try."

"You can change my clothes, Aladdin." Cassim told his only child, "but you can't change who I am."

"What should we do with them, Your Majesty." Donald asked the Sultan.

"Father, isn't there another way?" Jasmine asked. She didn't support Aladdin's choice to try to change Cassim, but she did support Aladdin. It would break his heart to see his father incarcerated.

"I'm afraid there is not." Sultan said sadly. "Take them to the dungeon."

"Dungeon?" Iago repeated.

"For life." Sultan continued.

"Life?" Iago managed to yelp before Donald froze Iago's beak in place.

"C'mon guys, you can't do thi-" Sora begged Donald and Goofy but was stopped by Aladdin. Aladdin then looked at Genie.

"Is there anything we can do?" Aladdin asked

"I'm sorry Al. There are some wishes which even I can't grant." Genie replied sadly as they watched Donald and Goofy take Cassim and Iago to the dungeons.

A/N: Now for messages:

inukagrules: That sounds like a good idea actually, I see if I can fit it in.

Shadow S: I don't know why I'm replying to you, you go to my college. Oh well....Thanks for reviewing and I can't wait for Expo. YAY!!!

Also, my brithday is in 6 days and I might not update until after, we will see.

May the light in our hearts kept us strong

Kingdommad