Aladdin - the Arabian Nights

Chapter 34

Jasmine was delighted when Aladdin told her what he had done for Genie, when she returned from her carpet ride several hours later. She could never stand to see anything imprisoned in any way. That was all she said about it; she gave no more signs of being angry with Aladdin, and no sign of blaming him in any way for her recent ordeal. Aladdin was not quite so unaffected as Jasmine. When she told him how happy she was about what he'd done, his face fell and he turned away from her, unable to meet her eye.

I'm sorry, Jasmine. I shouldn't have let this happen. I should have protected you....

"Aladdin?" A puzzled frown came over Jasmine's lovely features. "Aladdin, what's wrong?"

He couldn't tell her. How could he? What would she say if he pointed out that all the horrible things she had just gone through had been his fault?

Jasmine touched his arm, turning her gaze so he couldn't help but meet it. "I'm fine now. You and Father don't have to fuss over me anymore." A small grimace crossed her face. "Please stop fussing over me."

Jasmine could at least be satisfied that her father was no longer fussing over her. He had decided that as long as Jasmine was back and the villain of this adventure had been exposed, everything was fine and life could return to normal. Jafar had been publicly denounced by the Sultan, who gave a royal decree that Jafar was no longer welcome in Agrabah, and that if he ever dared set foot in their city again he was to be seized and beheaded at once. Meanwhile the people of Agrabah spent some days in celebration for the return of their Prince and Princess, and both the Sultan and Jasmine encouraged the general belief that Aladdin had been the hero of this adventure and saved his wife from the clutches of Jafar, never seeming to notice how uncomfortable Aladdin became whenever the subject came up, or how little he felt he deserved this praise.

And another year passed, with life mostly back to normal. Aladdin threw himself into helping his father-in-law rule Agrabah, having more responsibilities than ever now that the Sultan was without a Royal Vizier, and wanting more than ever to prove his ability to look after the people and ensure their well-being. He was also more affectionate with Jasmine and more attentive to her needs than ever, giving her everything she expressed the slightest desire for whether it was a certain type of snack or to see a particular sight on the Carpet. Jasmine figured this was a leftover effect from almost losing her, and in part it was. But every time this happened, Aladdin hoped Jasmine had seen that he could support her and give her everything even without Genie's help, that he wasn't some useless good-for-nothing without those unlimited wishes. Ever since his and Jasmine's return to Agrabah, Aladdin had stopped gravitating to the prince outfit that Genie had given him, now favouring clothes that were more similar to what he had worn before becoming royalty: a soft purple-and-white overshirt worn open with no shirt underneath, white baggy silk pants that actually fit this time, and a purple-and-gold striped fez hat with matching belt – but with shoes, always with shoes. Somehow it felt more real, more genuine, and less like he was hiding some part of himself and living in fear of anyone ever finding out. He thought Jasmine liked his new look better too – at least, she was forever running her fingers through his newly exposed unruly hair, and tracing them in hearts across his bare chest. Aladdin had also used no magic since rescuing Jasmine. Genie was free now, and he had destroyed Jafar's staff, smashing its red hypnotic eyes to pieces against the palace floor, rather than try and figure out how to use it. He didn't want to touch or use anything of Jafar's, or leave it lying around for anyone else to get hold of.

Aladdin wondered if they really had seen the last of Jafar. Jafar had to realize he would never again be welcome in Agrabah, that Aladdin and Jasmine would have told the Sultan everything he'd done. But would that really stop him? This was Jafar; Aladdin had already made the mistake once of thinking Jafar was defeated and wouldn't dare try anything again, and look what had happened. But, Aladdin told himself, this time Jafar was without magic or shelter or any position of power to come back to. It would be a lot harder for him to find a way of targeting Aladdin or Jasmine anymore. They couldn't even be sure Jafar was still out there; for all he knew, Jafar had died in Africa. Aladdin never asked Jasmine what she thought about it because he didn't want her to have to think about Jafar. He didn't want to think about Jafar.

Jasmine recovered from her ordeal surprisingly quickly. She had started smiling and laughing again right away, and was soon entirely back to her old self. Yes, she no longer liked to wear anything on her wrists, and yes, she had developed a strong distaste for the colour red, but as she had never been much in the habit of wearing bracelets or red clothing anyway, none of that affected her too much. She might have been more conscious of her freedom than before, but then she always had been, so any difference there was hardly noticeable. Genie said Jasmine's fast recovery was normal for a Disney Princess, and Aladdin had to take his word for it because he still didn't know what a Disney Princess was.

Genie visited regularly. Sometimes he stayed for several days or a couple of weeks, other times he just popped in for a few minutes before heading out on his next adventure. But no matter how short the visit was, he always took the time to exchange stories of adventure with the young couple, to put on a bit of a show and make them laugh, or once to help Jasmine make a special dinner for Aladdin. Every visit was welcome. Aladdin and Jasmine both found they could talk to Genie about anything, which was fortunate because Aladdin still hadn't discussed any of his feelings about the kidnapping incident with Jasmine. He couldn't admit to her how useless he felt, how he had failed to protect her, how he should have done more. Genie knew that Aladdin would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with a start, half-expecting to find Jasmine gone even though he knew that wouldn't happen, still breathing a sigh of relief when he saw her lying beside him, chest rising and falling peacefully as if there was nothing in the world to worry her, and how he then silently promised himself that he would never let anything bad happen to her ever again. He knew that Jasmine was beginning to feel stifled by Aladdin's constant attentions to her, even though at first she had been enjoying it, but now she would have traded all these attentions for just one conversation about whatever was still bothering him. He knew that Aladdin knew nothing about Jasmine's feelings on the matter, and that Jasmine knew nothing about Aladdin's. And he thought that Aladdin and Jasmine could very easily sort out all these feelings by just talking to each other about them, and told Aladdin in particular so several times before giving up on trying to convince him.

Jasmine would have been perfectly happy again, if it wasn't for Aladdin. What had happened to the way they had connected on those first two nights together, when she had told him everything about herself and he had listened and understood and treated her like a real person?! She'd thought it would be different if she married Aladdin, that she would never be just his possession, that she would actually get to share his life with him the way True Loves were supposed to....

Jasmine's thoughts were beginning to turn again to Fatimeh. She had never been allowed to meet their city's resident holy woman, and then after her wedding, well, her life had been so perfect that she hadn't had a single thing she wanted Fatimeh to pray for her about. But now she wondered. Could Fatimeh possibly be able to give her some clue as to what was making Aladdin act this way? Could she help Aladdin with whatever it was so he could act like himself again? Did she perhaps do marriage counselling? Fatimeh helped the people of Agrabah's dreams come true all the time; surely she knew something about happy marriages. Yes, Jasmine had spoken to Genie about her feelings, and he had been a wonderful listener, but Genie wasn't around all the time and was Aladdin's friend besides. Perhaps Fatimeh, being less close to the situation, would be able to offer some other sort of help?

Author's note: If I had been more familiar with existing after-Aladdin content at the time I was writing this, I would probably have gone more for the angle that Aladdin was avoiding Jasmine, always flying off on adventures without her, both in order to protect her and to prove his own abilities. I think that was the piece I was missing at this point in the story, because I do feel like we need just a little more detail on what it was Aladdin was doing that Jasmine was so mad about!