***Aladdin***

She wasn't happy. Actually, she was really disappointed. Sinbad had ruined her day with Judal. That really sucked. After Sinbad had left she went to the gym and worked out until she felt like she would collapse. She had been dizzy as hell, and had practically crawled to her rooms. What a horrible ending to a great day.

She finished writing her album the next day. She sent everything in to Ugo, who would send it to Sinbad or whoever it was he normally gave things to.

The third day after meeting Judal she had to go in to meet Sinbad, the choreographer, Ugo, and the musicians who would be accompanying her this time around. She wasn't really in the mood for any of this. The day dragged by so slowly. Sinbad had made "corrections" to her music to "make it flow better." To her it just sounded off. It had sounded perfect to her before, when she had taken the advice Judal had given her. She didn't like that Sinbad had changed it, but didn't care enough any more to tell him. She was slipping back into the emptiness again. It was different though. She couldn't figure out why.

After a lunch she didn't eat and several more hours of working on what seemed like nothing to her, since they kept disregarding what she was saying, she said she didn't feel well. She told Ugo that he could stay and finish up. Sharrkan could take her home instead. He wouldn't mind.

When she finally arrived home she called Kouha. She had promised to tell him about the boy she had met and she never had. So why not now? She would talk to him about it first, since he knew there was a boy. She hadn't told anyone else. She normally would talk to Alibaba but he had been really busy recently and she didn't want to bother him.

Kouha didn't pick up. Figures, he was probably still filming. She slipped into the shower. On a normal day, the hot water would help, but right now it didn't. She sighed and got out, wrapping her hair and body in towels before moving into the kitchen. She hadn't eaten since yesterday, now that she thought about it. She didn't really feel like eating anything now though, so she grabbed a granola bar, knowing that if she didn't eat anything at all she would be all dizzy and shaky the next day.

She curled up on the couch, watching Criminal Minds while she finger combed her hair. She wanted to not be alone, but there wasn't anyone she could call right now. Alibaba, Morgiana, and Hakuryuu were all super busy with school. Kouha was out filming his movie. Her mother was in the hospital again and her father was probably working late again. Judal;s image came to her mind, but she pushed it away. She didn't have his phone number or email or anything. She snapped out of her little reverie when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Aladdin! It's Kouha. I'm sorry I missed your call earlier; I was in the middle of shooting a scene. This idiot actress they have playing my love interest kept saying her lines incorrectly. The director was really annoyed, so he kept making us redo the damn thing. We must have run that scene fifty times before he was happy with it. What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I just thought I would talk to you about the other day. I never did tell you about it."

"THE BOY! Oh yes. Spill it. You found him all on your own didn't you?"

"Yes. What does th-"
"Aww, my little protégé charmed a boy into going out to lunch. I'm so proud. How was it?"

"It was really fun. He has a kind of cynical personality and he cusses a lot, but he was nice and it was really fun. He made me laugh a lot."

"Hmmm. Interesting. You found him in the music shop?"

"Yeah, he was playing the harp. It was so amazing. And he plays piano beautifully too. He came over after lunch and helped me with some of the piano stuff I've been having trouble with. And-"

"Wait, did you say 'came over' as in to your apartment? My little Aladdin is growing up. He didn't make you do anything you didn't want to though, right? If he did I have a new knife I have been dying to try out. It would cut through him like butter, stain everything with re-"

"Kouha! Calm down the sadistic talk a bit, okay? He didn't do anything. We just sang together all afternoon in the piano room. He played and we made a little game out of who knew the lyrics and stuff. It was really fun."

"Well, as long as you liked him. Did you get his number? When is the next date?"

"I didn't have the chance to get his number. He would have been a really cool person to practice with, but Sinbad came over and wanted to hear the album so far and he got this really unhappy look on his face before he left."

"Sinbad scared your date off? How rude! You should yell at him. And he shouldn't be coming to your home. That's inappropriate."

"Kouha, not this rant again. It's fine. I just wish I had gotten the chance to get his number first. Anyway, how is filming going?"

"It was mostly fine until today. One of their idiot actors insulted Kougyoku and she was crying. I was so about to hurt him, but En got to him first. When they came back from their little walk the other guy looked scared shitless. It was hilarious. Agr. I have to go Aladdin, the director wants Koumei to do his scene with me now. He's gonna try to wake Koumei up and I really don't think that's a good idea. He's already unhappy about having to be on camera. Oh shit, this isn't good, I gotta go. Bye Ali-darling!"

She fell asleep watching T.V. on the couch.

The next morning she woke up to the smell of bacon. She opened her eyes slowly. She could see Ugo moving around in the kitchen. She called out a good morning before slipping into her room and getting dressed, brushing her hair, and applying the minimal amount of makeup she used every day. She reemerged from her room as Ugo set her food on the kitchen table. She sat down and started eating slowly, thinking about how to ask him her question. Ugo just sat there waiting, as if he knew she wanted to say something.

"Ugo?"

"Yes Aladdin?"

She wanted to ask him about so many things, but at the same time it felt like the questions she had were something she should talk to Solomon or Sheba about. She just wasn't sure what to do.

"Um. I ahh," she trailed off, unsure.

"Aladdin," He smiled waiting for her to respond.

"Solomon asked me to set up a dinner for the two of you. You haven't seen each other in a while and he is a little worried. You seem to have something on your mind recently, but you haven't talked to anyone about it."

Leave it to Ugo to know everything, or most things at least. Aladdin should have expected as much.

"I-I don't know who to talk to. There is a lot I want to talk about, but I don't feel close enough to dad anymore to talk to him, and mom is in the hospital and always sleeping, and you have to work and I don't think my friends can help me because I don't even know what is wrong."

"Aladdin, you can always talk to me if you want to, but sometimes there are things that you have to talk to a parent about. Even if you don't have the best or closest relationship, parents are there to help you no matter what. I think whatever it is you should talk to Solomon about. He misses you asking him for advice, even if he tries not to show it. Why don't you two have dinner at the French restaurant downtown that you both like? I can make a reservation for a private room."

"I-ah okay. Please do that."

The conversation continued on about the new album and the planning of another tour, this time in Europe. Ugo had called her in sick that day apparently. It worked for her, she didn't feel like dealing with another day like yesterday.

~~~At dinner with Solomon~~~

Aladdin was the first to arrive. She was early, but the room was ready so she sat at the table, sipping the water the waiter brought her. She thought about things that had happened recently. About the emptiness in her chest, the way it had been completely forgotten when she had spent time with Judal. How her chest had felt hot. How her face had burned. How he had made her laugh for the first time in what felt like forever, a genuine laugh not the false laughs she gave to hide her pain.

When Solomon got there the usual pleasantries were exchanged. The waiter took their order.

"Aladdin, you look thinner. Have you been eating?"

"Probably not as much as I should, but I'm never really hungry. And I have been working out a lot." Aladdin decided against trying to fool Solomon. She really needed to talk to someone and if Ugo said her dad would be a good choice, then she would trust his judgment.

"I see. Well, at least make sure what you do eat isn't a bunch of junk food. If you aren't eating very much you should at least get as much out of what you do eat as possible. I don't want you to get sick."

"Don't worry, Ugo has been making sure I stay healthy!"

"I'm sure he has." Solomon offered her a fatherly smile as the waiter brought their food. They took a few minutes to eat before Solomon interrupted the silence. "So, what's on your mind?"

"I don't know where to start."

"The beginning is usually a good place." She smiled at the very Sheba-like look she gave him and continued, "How about the eating? You used to love food. Why aren't you eating?"

She looked at the food she had been pushing around her plate. "The magazines. And the other celebrities. And the producers. They all said I needed to lose weight or that I was too heavy for a celebrity. Even Sinbad said I needed to lose a few pounds. I don't want any of them to look down on me, or use my weight against me as a reason why I'm not as popular as so-and-so or why I can't have a certain part in the movie because I don't have the perfect body."

Solomon looked at her for a while before replying, "Since when does what other people think bother you?"

"Since it mattered! Since whether or not people liked the way I look meant I could or couldn't do something. Producers and Directors are so picky!"

"Aladdin calm down. You are who you are, and if people don't like that then they don't deserve to have you as part of their project, whatever it may be."

"I guess. I want to act too, but Sinbad and the others keep saying there isn't a movie with a part I could play. I know I could have played a part in the last Sindrian movie! It's so frustrating."

"Why don't you go to an audition rather then wait for them to request you? Would that work?"

"I tried that once but Sinbad wouldn't let me. He said in his company big celebrities are always requested."

"And you can't do those plays at the theater like you used to. In that case you will just have to be patient. They will want you soon enough. Is that all that's bugging you? The sixth sense I gained when I became a father says otherwise."

She smiled a bit at that. "I haven't felt happy for a while. I feel alone. Even when I'm with other people. It's like there is a hole in my chest, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger. It keeps getting worse and I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm missing something, but I don't know what is missing. At first, I thought it was my friends, but I have been spending more time with them recently and it hasn't helped. I don't think it's because I miss acting, even though I do. I feel lost. And then I met this person the other day and we spent time together, we ate lunch together and sang together for hours and I forgot all about the emptiness. Actually, I got this really warm feeling in my chest. And then Sinbad came over to listen to my progress on my new album and the other person left and I felt like the emptiness came back, except now it is worse, and I don't even know why I was able to forget about it to begin with because singing normally only makes it a little bit better."

Solomon smiled. "Is this other person someone you like? Do you admire him?"

"Yeah, he is actually my favorite singer. He went off the grid for a while but then I heard him play the harp in the music store we used to go to together and I got him to go to lunch with me and then I convinced him to come practice music with me. It was really fun. Wait, how did you know it was a boy?"

"Father's intuition. Do you like him?"
"Yeah I think he is really nice. And he has this really nice singing voice, it kinda draws you in and-"

"Aladdin, I meant do you like him, like him. As in a crush."

Her cheeks got really red. "I didn't think about it that way. Is that why my chest got all warm and my cheeks were burning?"

Oh boy, his daughter was pretty damn dense. How did she not realize she was attracted to this new boy. It was adorable, his little Aladdin falling in love for the first time.

"Probably. Those are common reactions when you are attracted to someone."

"Really? Ahh-oh um, that's really weird, my first celebrity crush huh? But he is so far out of my league! This is horrible."

"Aladdin, last time I checked you were a celebrity too."

"Yeah but he is so much more impressive then me! He can play a bunch of instruments really well and he sings beautifully, and he is a model, and an actor too! I am too much of an amateur at this to come close to comparing. Besides, I didn't have the chance to get any of his contact information." She let out a hopeless little sound. Solomon just chuckled. She was being adorable.

"Aladdin, what's his name? I'll find him for you."

Her entire face seemed to brighten at that. "Really? His name is Judal. He is part of the Al Thamen label but he has been taking a break recently."

Shortly after they bid each other good night and went their separate ways. Aladdin felt better now, Ugo had been right; she needed to talk to her father more often. Solomon knew most fathers would have freaked out at the idea of a daughter at home alone with a boy, but he trusted Aladdin not to fall to any kind of pressure and to make smart decisions. If she wanted to do some things with a boy, he wasn't going to stop her. In his opinion she needed to make those decisions on her own, they weren't his to make.

Hello!

Okay so that was a ridiculously long chapter. I almost split it into two parts but then changed my mind and kept it together.

So, now there is some interaction between Solomon and Aladdin.

Just to be clear, Aladdin is 16 and Judal is 19. I can't remember if I already mentioned Aladdin's age or not.

Please place your vote in the poll, it will be open for a little while longer.

Anyway, the next few chapters will have some more interaction between Aladdin and her friends (or possibly love interests) as well as some other pairings as soon as I get a feel for what you guys want and what I want to do.

How do you like Kouha's character? I want him to be protective over Aladdin. I think it's cute

Until Next Time!
-Kizuna