"Come on Emir, hurry up!" Akiho whispered to his best friend. Well one of his best friends. Ben was his other best friend and the reason why Akiho was at the docks to begin with.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Emir whispered back, tugging a beanie he'd swiped from his big brother onto his head. Ben had said kids on the Isle wore beanies and there was no way Emir was going to get sent back to Auradon before he even got to spend time with Ben on the Isle. "You're sure we're going to get away with this?"
"Have I ever been wrong?"
"Yes. I have a list, would you like the short or the long?"
Akiho shook his head. "At least this way we get more time with Ben! We can sneak off when the food barge goes to the Isle and then when Ben's back on the Isle we can surprise him!"
"You do realize your mama and papa are going to notice you're missing right?" Emir asked as the two of them found a hiding spot.
"I know," Akiho nodded. "But Ben needs us. Therefore I have to do this. Plus your mama and papa will notice too, and so will Aziz and Ash!"
"Ash is a baby though!"
"No she's not, and she'd still notice you're gone Emir!"
"Okay," Emir nodded, figuring it'd be best to stop the argument before they got caught, and the two of them grew quiet as they waited for the food barge to leave. Though...something wasn't sitting right with Emir.
"Didn't...didn't Ben say the food barge usually leaves on the first of the month?" Emir whispered to Akiho.
"Yeah," Akiho asked. They had asked Ben when the food barge left for the Isle at his birthday party and, after asking his mom and then calling them insane, Ben had told them. "Why?"
"Akiho...it said ten on the calendar at mama and papa's."
"Are...are you sure?" Akiho asked but he knew Emir wouldn't lie about that. Plus it would explain why some of the food crates were kinda stinky. Like Abby was sometimes though Akiho wouldn't say anything when it happened. Only older siblings were allowed to point out when a younger sibling was stinky according to Shriekey, otherwise known as what Akiho called Audrey when she wasn't in ear shot or when Ben wasn't around.
"Should...should we go? We need to tell someone," Emir whispered.
"Hey!"
Emir and Akiho looked up to see a barge worker looking at them with slight confusion.
"What are you two doing here?" The barge worker asked. "This is no place for kids to play. Go on, run off."
"But—!"
"Seriously kid, I can't risk you getting hurt," the barge worker said as he ushered Emir and Akiho down the gangplank. "Besides, my boss would have my job if he found out there were stowaways. Go on, have fun. Be kids. There'll be more than enough time for you two to work the docks when you grow up."
"But I'll be ruling Arendelle when I grow up, not working some smelly old docks!" Akiho told him.
The barge worker snorted. "And I'll be married to Queen Elsa. Keep dreaming kid."
"No you won't! You're not Auntie Elsa's type!" Akiho shouted as Emir pulled him toward the docks. "She likes nice people!"
"Will you stop yelling at the idiot for a second?" Emir said. "Come on, we gotta tell someone! Ben'll want to know!"
"Should...should we tell our mamas and papas?" Akiho asked. "They could call Ben's mama and let her know! Plus then it's more official!"
"Look who's been listening to Ben," Emir teased. "Now come on, hopefully Carpet didn't fly off when we were on the barge."
Thankfully the colorful and possibly sentient Carpet hadn't flown off and the boys were able to get on.
"Where to?" Emir asked.
"A grown up," Akiho said and Emir shook his head.
"I know that! But my grown ups or your grown ups? Or do we go to Chip? He counts as a grown up right?"
"I don't know, maybe?" Akiho shrugged. "Let's do my mama and papa. Papa said once that the docks are watched by Arendelle so this impacts them."
"Right," Emir nodded and looked down. "Carpet? Can you take us to Arendelle please?"
Carpet shook his tassel and Emir sighed.
"Carpet, this is important! We'll go back home after we tell Akiho's mama and papa about the food barge. Promise."
Carpet seemed to nod and both boys held on tight as the colorful carpet took them straight to the formerly frozen kingdom of Arendelle.
"Do I want to know what you two were up to?" Elsa asked from her spot in the courtyard as Carpet gently landed in front of her to let the boys off.
"Auntie Elsa! What are you doing here? It's not game night," Akiho said, tilting his head.
Elsa shook her head. "Do you really think your mother and father didn't raise every alarm they could when they found out you boys were missing? Come on, there're four worried parents in the throne room who I think would be very relieved to see you."
"Wait...my mama and papa are here too?" Emir asked.
"They sure are," Elsa nodded though she grew confused as the boys seemed to sprint to the throne room. Normally she would have thought she'd have to comfort them for a bit and let them know that their parents weren't mad at them.
Then again...when it came to Emir and Akiho, you always had to be on your toes.
"Mama! Papa!"
"Emir, Akiho!" Aladdin exclaimed as the two tots ran through the doors of the throne room.
"Oh thank goodness you're both okay," Anna said as she knelt down to wrap her arms around her son. "Where in the world were you?"
Akiho shook his head. "Mama, that doesn't matter! The food barge is delayed!"
"The food barge...?"
"To the Isle," Akiho elaborated. "Ben told us that the food barge is supposed to go to the Isle on the first of the month but Emir said the calendar had the number ten for today, not one."
Aladdin and Kristoff looked at each other with slight frowns.
"Are you sure boys?" Jasmine asked. "This is a very serious thing and if what you're saying is true, we need to tell Queen Belle."
"So it's not the time to be telling tall tales," Aladdin added.
"I'm sure papa," Emir nodded. "Akiho and me even smelled the boxes of food while we were hiding on the barge. Food shouldn't smell like that! Even if they didn't mean to delay, Ben's mama should still know!"
"...Why were you hiding...on second thought maybe it's better if I don't ask," Elsa said from her spot in the doorway. To quote something she'd heard throughout the years ever since Auradon had been founded: there was a lot to unpack there but let's just throw away the whole suitcase.
"We should call Belle," Kristoff said.
Aladdin shook his head. "Kristoff, if there's something truly wrong with the food...wait..."
"Aladdin?" Jasmine asked as her husband seemed to trail off.
"The food...that was one of the reasons Beast was sent to the Isle..." Elsa said, seemingly catching onto the same train of thought Aladdin had. "And...and if the food is still going bad then..."
"Then it wasn't Beast sending the food in its inedible state," Aladdin said and looked at Elsa. "There's someone still in Auradon working to make the food we send to the Isle unfit for consumption."
"We need to talk to Belle. Now," Anna said. She might not have known the full story of what happened during that fateful council meeting where the former King had been sentenced to the Isle of the Lost but she did know that children were still suffering despite it. "Kristoff, go ahead and call her—."
"Mama, Ben said he and his mama were going to be in the library today," Akiho said. "It's why Emir and I picked today to hide on the food barge! Ben wouldn't miss us."
Aladdin groaned. "Belle's going to be preoccupied for hours," he said. He would never begrudge his fellow parent time with her child, especially with him now being gone half the year, but Aladdin also knew it would take a miracle to get Belle out of her library.
"Then we go to Belle," Anna said. "The boys flew here on Carpet so he should be able to hold two of us and the boys with no issue. I think it should be Aladdin and Elsa who go, you're both on Belle's council so you'll be able to get an audience that much faster. I'll call Cogsworth just to let him know you all are coming so he's not taken aback."
"Are you sure?" Elsa asked, looking over at her sister.
"Elsa, it makes the most sense," Anna told her. "Besides, we don't have time to argue about this. The longer that food delays, the longer kids have to wait to get edible food."
"Right," Aladdin nodded and kissed Jasmine on the cheek. "Come on boys, come on Elsa. Let's go let Belle know what's going on."
"And we can see Ben?" Emir asked, a grin threatening to split his face into two at the thought of seeing one of his best friends.
"Yeah, you can see Ben," Aladdin nodded. "It'll be the last time in a long time since you'll be grounded after this though."
"But why papa?!"
Aladdin raised an eyebrow. "Really? You didn't think you'd be grounded for stealing Carpet, sneaking off to the barge, and planning to spend six months or longer on the Isle of the Lost and not letting your mama, brother, sister, or myself know?"
"...maybe..."
"We'll talk about that later," Aladdin sighed and gently kissed Jasmine on the cheek once more before the four of them got back on Carpet and made their way to Auradon City.
"Sultan Aladdin! Queen Elsa! Queen Belle's expecting you, she's in her study," Cogsworth said as they walked into the castle. "Prince Ben is in his room—."
"Thank you Cogsworth but I think Belle will need to hear what the boys have to say before they get too distracted," Aladdin said.
"Oh, yes of course."
Aladdin gave the smaller man a smile before the four royals made their way to Belle's study and knocked on the door.
"Come in," Belle called.
"Belle, apologies for barging in like this," Aladdin said as the four of them walked into Belle's study.
"Don't apologize Aladdin, I know you wouldn't have unless it was important," Belle told him. "What's going on?"
"The food barge is still here even though Emir said it said ten on the calendar rather than one, and Ben said the food barge leaves on the first, and all the food on the barge was smelly like Abby and Ash are sometimes when Emir and me were on it so we could surprise Ben on the Isle and never have to leave him again!" Akiho said.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"How...how did you say that in one breath?" Elsa asked her nephew.
"You were taking too long, Auntie Elsa," Akiho shrugged.
Belle's hand went up to her mouth in shock. "If...if the issue with the food is still ongoing then...then it wasn't anything Adam did..." she whispered. "The real culprit is still at large..."
"You should talk to the people at the barge, Queen Belle," Emir spoke up. "They weren't nice. One guy didn't believe Akiho when he said he'd be ruling Arendelle when he grew up, and then the guy said he'd date Queen Elsa."
"Oh I already don't like the guy and I haven't even met him," Elsa shook her head.
"We need to have a full investigation done," Belle said. "I'll have the records for the shipping barge pulled immediately."
"Forgive me Belle for asking but...why wasn't an investigation done when Beast was sentenced to the Isle?" Aladdin asked.
Belle sighed. "I meant to...but then there was getting Adam ready for the Isle and breaking the news and then of course there was the election...and then a small part of me thought that with Adam on the Isle...the issue would clear up."
She shook her head. "I know, I know. That was wistful thinking and not the thinking of a Queen responsible for her subjects. But I need to make the issue right now. Elsa, Arendelle still controls the cameras on the docks correct?"
"We do, unless that's changed and Anna hasn't told me," Elsa nodded.
"Can you request the footage from the docks?" Belle asked. "I can get access to the records but I think seeing what's causing the issue might be better for when we confront them."
"Of course," Elsa nodded. "I'll call right now."
"Thank you," Belle said.
"What can we do?" Akiho asked.
"How about you go find Ben? Maybe the three of you can work with Mal to come up with ideas of what the Isle could have sent to them in an emergency barge," Belle said with a small smile.
"Come on Emir!" Akiho said, pulling his friend out the door. "Do you think anyone would notice if we put all the Brussel sprouts on the barge?"
"I don't think so!" Emir said. "I think the only thing that would be noticed would be if we put all the strawberries on the barge and that's just because Mal loves them so much!"
"You're keeping the Brussel sprouts!" Aladdin called as the two boys turned the corner but all the adults in the room could hear the groans of the two boys.
"Come on," Belle said as she walked over to her printer. "We've got records to go through."
"We?"
"You asked how you could help Aladdin. And I might be a book worm but I can't go through nine years of records by myself. Not with also raising two children and running a kingdom."
"You know you have help with the children raising part," Aladdin pointed out.
"Oh hush you," Belle shook her head. She knew he was only teasing, as they had developed a friendship as part of their Learning to be Royal club that they had helped set up. Pulling up the records of the food barge, Belle began to print them before looking at Aladdin.
"Let's get to work shall we?"
"Thought you'd never ask," Aladdin said, taking some of the freshly printed pages from her.