"So did your dad tell you how much we'd be making?" Flynn asked as he and Aladdin walked from his place to Pridelands for a celebratory drink.

"Well, it'll be a nice chunk of change considering how rich Ursula Jungle is. And you know how George would do anything to protect those animals, so I think it'll be very lucrative for us."

In addition to being a good steady job for Aladdin, he knew it was also a good opportunity for him to spend some quality time with his dad. Cassim was a well known PI and he made a good living at it, too. But the majority of his cases took him out of Fantasia. When his mother died, unexpectedly, Cassim had been away and Aladdin was put into the foster care system until he was a teenager. And now, even though he lived with his father in a palatial Swann Lake mansion, oftentimes, Aladdin was home in a big house all by himself. But he was hoping that this new job would change things a bit.

"Right on. With Sparrow out, I feel like we have nothing to do. I was worried Meg was gonna kick me out here pretty soon."

Aladdin laughed.

"Yeah, I know. I thought Eric and Sinbad would have something up their sleeves but they've been pretty silent."

"Sinbad has other reasons not to talk to me, but I get what you're saying."

They were just about to round the corner from Notre Dame Terrace on to Walt Street when they quite literally bumped into Angelica who was in a huff to get home.

"Pardon me...oh," she said realizing who she had bumped into.

"Hey, Ang. How's it going," Flynn greeted trying to diffuse the awkward tension. But from where he was standing, neither Aladdin nor Angelica had realized he was still standing there.

"Aladdin."

"Angelica."

"It's good to see you."

Aladdin nodded, unsure of what to say.

"I've been trying to call you."

"I know. I've just been...uh...busy."

Angelica nodded in response, fighting back the tears that were begging to pour out.

"I see."

Flynn's eyes darted from Angelica to Aladdin. Both were intently starring at the other. Neither of them saying a word. Never one for awkward silences, Flynn spoke up.

"Okay, well we have a beer that I'm most definitely sure is waiting for us down the block, so we'll catch you later, Ang."

Flynn put his hand on Aladdin's back and urged him forward.

Angelica stood on the street corner and watched longingly as the two of them walked down the street. She missed Aladdin so much and she hated to admit that she missed Flynn's friendship too. There had to be some way to get Aladdin to listen to her.

Down the street, Flynn was trying to get Aladdin to listen to her, too.

"So, how long are you gonna go without talking to her about all of this?" Flynn asked.

Aladdin sighed.

"I want to talk to her. I really do but I just can't get over how quickly she was willing to talk to Norrington without even thinking about the consequences. And it really ticks me off that she was that upset about her sister and Jack."
"Dude. Don't get me wrong, Es is one of my best friends, but she fucked up. She had an affair with the only guy that Angelica's ever - …. ooohh, I see now."

"Yeah. Exactly. Angelica as over Jack as she thinks she is and it really bites."

"I hear ya man. I mean...what the?"

Flynn didn't finish his sentence. A figure in his line of vision had him stopped in his tracks just outside the entrance to Pridelands. Across the street stood Anya in a daze. Her blue eyes were staring off miles ahead of her at nothing in particular. She looked almost catatonic. Without thinking he nudged Aladdin and gestured to where he was looking. Both rushed across the street.

"Anya? Anya? Are you okay?" Aladdin asked.

When there was no response, Flynn decided on a different more direct approach. He put his hands on Anya's shoulders and shook.

"Anya, are you there? Wake up!"

On instinct, Anya's knee jerked up and if Flynn hadn't been so wiry and quick, her knee would've hit its target in Flynn's crotch.

"Whoa. Whoa. Anya, relax! It's us!" Flynn shouted, covering his crotch with his hands.

"Anya, are you okay? Did something happen?" Aladdin asked.

Anya shook her head and blinked a few times to regain her bearings. She looked around and noticed that she had walked all the way from the Norrington Estate way up past the pier, Mount Olympus Park and Mouse Mountains. She didn't remember the walk at all. All she could think about was what her mother had revealed to her that afternoon. And tears started to form in her eyes.

Aladdin and Flynn looked at each other, both unsure of how to handle a crying girl. They both separately wished Will was here because he was better at handling tearful females than they were.

"Whoa. Whoa. Anya, it's okay. You didn't kick me. I'm fine," Flynn said hoping humor would help.

She laughed in spite of herself.

"Oh, Flynn. It's not that. But thanks for the laugh. I really needed it."

"Always here to help."

"What's going on? How did your meeting go today?" Aladdin asked, careful not to speak in generalities in case onlookers overheard.

Anya desperately needed to confide in her friends. She needed to vent. But they were standing on a public sidewalk in a public place and given the information she'd just received, it was not safe to do so.

She remembered that Will had left her a key to his apartment in case she ever needed an escape from Adam. She dug in her pocket and pulled out the key.

"Come with me," she said.

Aladdin and Flynn shrugged their shoulders and followed her across the street toward Walt Street Flats.

Once safely inside, Anya went directly too the kitchen and looked through all the cabinets.

"Something we can help you with?" Flynn asked, unsure of what she was doing.

"Nope! I think I found it," she replied with her head deep in a cabinet next to the stove. She pulled out a half drunken bottle of Caribbean rum and held it up.

She then got out three glasses and poured generous amounts into each.

"Jack never likes to be without his rum," Aladdin said as Anya served him a glass.

"And I need about four more bottles where that came from to deal with what I just went through, but this will have to do for now."

Flynn plopped himself on the couch with his glass of rum and put his feet up on the coffee table.

"Alright, Anya. Time to spill the family tea. What happened that got you looking like Night of the Living Dead?"

Anya took a deep swig of the rum and prepared to share the story of her family's past.

"Let me start from the beginning. I married Adam's father very young," Uberta started. " I was barely eighteen I think. It was a long standing arrangement by our parents that we were going to be married. I thought it rather romantic really. And for the first few years it was.

"We had Adam. His business ventures were doing well. But as Adam grew I noticed things about his father that I didn't like. He was so firm with Adam. Adam had to be perfect at all times. If Adam couldn't master archery or horseback riding within his first try, it wasn't good enough. But Adam tried so hard to please his father.

"And then he began to mistreat me. He was verbally abusive, always calling me names, ridiculing my appearance, criticizing how I spent my days with Adam. And then Adam would join him. He was barely 5 years old and Adam was yelling at me like I was a worthless slave. And what's worse is I began to believe it. Slowly and slowly my appearance and my self worth began to deteriorate.

"Oh sure, friends like Adelaide voiced their concerns over tea but I would wave them off without a care. This was what my parents had laid out for me. Who was I to go against their better judgment? I had a beautiful home, nice things, food on the table and a son. I had no reason to complain.

"But then it got worse. When Adam wouldn't get his way, he would throw things, pillows, toys, books, anything. And his father would encourage him until I gave in. Eventually, when I was perceived to be disobeying my husband's wishes, he would slap me. One time he almost shoved me down the stairs in a rage."

Anya gasped, imagining the mental and physical torment her mother endured at the hands of her own husband.

"He would let Adam watch. 'This is how you tame your woman, son,' he would say. And I felt absolutely powerless to stop him."

"What about Marie? What about Sophie? Couldn't they help you? They seem so nice."

Uberta shook her head in sadness.

"Neither of them knew. And to my knowledge I don't think they know the whole story to this day."

"Then what do they think really happened?"

"They only know what happened after Fasir got involved," Uberta continued. "On the rare occasion that I found myself alone at a dinner party in this very home, Fasir approached me after dinner and confronted me about bruises on my arm that I was desperately trying to hide.

'Your eyes don't sparkle, anymore. Your voice has no light cantor anymore.' When I tried to I brush it off as nothing, Fasir knew better.

'Don't lie to me, Uberta. I know he's not just a beast in name only,' he said. That very night I confessed everything I'd been keeping inside for so many years. That very night he began making plans to get me out of my husband's home. He had lost his own wife in child birth with his son Derek and it was maddening to him that a man would treat his wife this way.

"When I finally got out, I wanted so badly to return for Adam but then I remembered the monster that his father had created. I remembered the hurtful, hateful things he would say to me. It pained me to do so as a mother, but I couldn't take him with me. I would lay awake at night, praying that he knew I loved him and that he wouldn't turn into the monster his father was.

"Then I discovered I was pregnant. And I was overjoyed that Fasir and I had created a child of love and not of arrangement. I was so excited when you were born, Anya. You were my miracle baby. When you were born, everything changed for me. I felt a hope I hadn't felt in years. Derek seemed to adore a baby sister and in the weeks following your birth, I thought just maybe you would change Adam too. So Fasir arranged a meeting with my former husband and asked that Adam be reunited with me.

He refused. It got physical and Fasir ended up killing my husband in self defense.

"But Adam had seen the whole thing. Adam was so young but wanted revenge and he took a candle and threw it in Fasir's face, not killing him, but blinding him. After that, my hope was gone. Adam was shouting that he wouldn't rest until Fasir was dead. Marie and Sophie tried to calm him down and they chalked it up to grief, but I knew better. They didn't. I lived in that house. They didn't."

"So that's why they never mentioned you to me."

"Oh, I wish that were so, dear. I really wish that were so," Uberta continued. "After the death of my husband, Fasir and I married. I gave up all hope of ever getting Adam back. He was under Marie and Sophie's guard now and although they meant well, they just saw me as a cheating wife and mother who abandoned her son. I feared for you. I feared that they would take you away from me. Fasir told me that as long as he lived, he would not let that happen.

"But Marie had solicitors knocking on our door everyday, demanding that we give you to her to raise. You were born when I was still married to Adam's father so legally you belonged to him as well. To keep you safe, I put you in an orphanage so they would never find you and take you away from me. It was the most painful decision I had to make but if I to do it for your safety. Adam was hell bent on vengeance even as a boy."

Tears were streaming down Uberta's face as she concluded her story.

"When you got older, Fasir and I made the decision to find you. Now that you were older we felt that we could better keep you safe. But Adam got wind of our plan and he found you first. He refused to let me see you. When Derek would try to approach you, a guard would intercept. He said he would only let me see you when Fasir was dead. If it wasn't for our estate manager Rogers, this meeting may never have happened."

"Where is Fasir?"

Uberta sighed.

"He's at a facility north of Ape Mountain. The burns to his eyes have caused him many of infection so he is constantly under a doctor's care. But his location isn't known in most circles. Derek makes sure of it."

"So if what I'm gathering is correct, you're my mother who fell in love with my father after running away from a difficult marriage in which you had to leave my brother behind but you had to give me away because said brother and his grandmother threatened to take me from you and have my father killed?"

Uberta nodded.

When Anya had prayed for a family, somewhere to belong, she certainly wasn't expecting this.

"Wow," Aladdin said after Anya had finished regaling them with the tale her mother had told.

Flynn took the last sip of rum straight from the bottle.

"Heavy shit."

"Yeah. Tell me about it.," Anya responded.

A/N: Phew that was A LOT. Next chapter probably won't be for awhile. Need to do a little more brainstorming but we've got some juicy stuff to go on. And pretty soon the Black Pearl will be back in port so stay tuned for that! Also – in the Aladdin TV series, Fasir was a blind mystic seer so I wanted to give him his own backstory a bit. Not sure yet if he will have that big of a story line (probably not) but now you know Anya's secrets!