Oh, I am good, Aladdin thought as he stared at the beautiful servant girl in front of him. He had just figured her out with nothing to go on but her clothes, a fancy bracelet, and some keen observations.

Turning away from her, he walked to the window of his broken tower and looked out at Agrabah. He had been living there, tucked above the city, for years. But Dalia was the first person he had ever brought to his home. It had felt right, somehow, to bring her there, and while he knew Abu wasn't happy—the monkey was still chattering away—Aladdin was glad to be spending time with her. He wanted to get to know her better, to understand why she would leave the palace in the first place.

Looking back at Dalia, he gestured at the colorful landscape outside the window. "You should tell the princess she should get out more," he said. "She needs to see what the guards are doing to the city."

To his surprise, Dalia looked visibly upset by his words. Her eyes grew sad and she clasped her hands, her knuckles turning pale. "They won't let her. Ever since m—" She stopped, shaking her head. "Ever since the Queen was killed, the Sultan's been afraid. And his vizier preys on his fear."

Aladdin nodded. Everyone had been afraid since the Queen had been killed. Stumbling upon a group of vicious thieves while making her way through the market, she had been attacked and left for dead. Before then, the Sultan and the Queen had often found their way down to walk among their people. They had been beloved by the citizens of Agrabah. The Queen's kindness and beauty were spoken of throughout the city, the Sultan's benevolence known and trusted.

But the Queen's death had changed all that. "Those thieves weren't even from Agrabah," Aladdin said softly. "The people loved her."

"They did, didn't they," the servant girl said, her own voice soft. Nervously, she began to walk around the hideaway, running her fingers over odds and ends that Aladdin and Abu had "collected" together over the years. Knocking over a stringed instrument, Dalia looked up guiltily. "I'm sorry." Leaning down, she picked it up and held it in her hands. She began to strum. The music bounced off the walls and covered them both in a blanket of sound. Aladdin watched, mesmerized by the way her fingers effortlessly moved over the strings, the way the instrument seemed an extension of her arms. Aladdin realized he was humming along to the tune.

As the music faded, Aladdin smiled at Dalia. "My mother taught me that song," he said, fondness in his voice.

"Mine too," Dalia said, looking surprised by his revelation. "It's all I remember of her." She paused wistfully, then turned back to him. "And ... your father?"

"I lost them both when I was young," Aladdin said. "Been on my own ever since." He felt his throat close with emotions he had pushed down for a long, long time. Fighting to regain control of himself and the moment, he shook his head. "But it's not so bad. I've got a monkey." Hearing Aladdin, Abu finally stopped chattering angrily and looked up, clearly pleased to be what made his friend happy. "I just put one foot in front of the other and get through the day. Only ..."

He let his voice trail off. Should he share how he truly felt? What he really longed for? Dalia seemed to be interested, and she hadn't run screaming from him yet. But so far he had been playing it pretty cool ....

"What?" Dalia prompted.

Aladdin shrugged. Why not tell her? He would honestly probably never see her again, and he couldn't deny there was something about her that tugged at him, made him wish he were a different person. "I wake up every day wishing things will be different," he finally said. "But it never seems to change. Sometimes, I almost feel—"

"Trapped."

Aladdin's head snapped up. He looked over at the servant girl. That was exactly what he had been about to say.

She went on, her words echoing the ones in his head. "Like you can't escape what you were born into ..."

Their eyes locked and silence fell over the tower. Aladdin felt something rush through him. Something he hadn't allowed himself to feel since his parents had died, something he couldn't quite name yet but knew with certainty he wanted to feel again. He felt his arm begin to reach for Dalia's, his fingers tingling at the anticipation of touching her hand—

And then a loud trumpeting sound blasted through the air, startling them both. Looking out through the opening in the tower wall, they saw a fleet of ships entering the harbor. The trumpets sounded again, announcing the arrival of someone important.

"I have to get back to the palace," Dalia said, her expression hardening, the moment between them lost.

Aladdin nodded. He was sure that whomever it was who had just sailed into the harbor was heading to the palace. And that meant Dalia would most likely have to get back and help her princess prepare for the visitors. Ushering her down the stairs, Aladdin led her in the direction of the palace. They saw a procession begin to form at the docks, and Dalia's footsteps quickened as Aladdin rushed to keep up.

"Another prince coming to court the princess ..." he speculated.

"Yes. And I have to get—" The girl stopped and looked confused for a moment, then shook her head. " Her ready. Do you have my bracelet?"

Nodding, Aladdin reached into the bag he always carried across his chest. Small but deep, it was a great place to put things he picked up during the day. "Sure, it's right—" He stopped. He dug his hand deeper and rummaged around, his brow furrowing. "I'm sure I put it in here ...."

Next to him, Dalia frowned as she watched him struggle. He knew what she was thinking. It was written all over her face. "That was my mother's bracelet," she said, her eyes dark with fury. "You are a thief. I'm so naive!"

"No!" Aladdin protested. "It's not like that—"

But Dalia didn't wait to hear his excuse. She disappeared into the growing crowd that was gathering to see the newest prince to arrive in Agrabah. In seconds, she had blended in among the people and vanished.

Aladdin stood looking into the crowd with a mixture of hope and frustration. Hope that Dalia would come back, and frustration that she had left thinking he was a thief. Which, while technically true, wasn't true in this case. He honestly had no idea where the bracelet had gone. He was just about to go after her when he was almost run off the street by a line of drummers. They banged on their instruments, heralding the presence of one Prince Anders of Skånland.

Jumping back to safety, Aladdin saw that not everyone was as quick on their feet. Two small children were frozen in fear—right in the path of the giant horses carrying the palace guards. Aladdin looked desperately back and forth between the guards and the children, hoping the guards would see the little ones and pull their mounts up. But the guards were oblivious to anything but the prince they were protecting.

Aladdin groaned. He was going to have to do something. He couldn't just watch the children get flattened. Leaping forward, he put himself between the lead guard's horse and the two small children. The horse let out a fierce whinny and reared back on its hind legs, its powerful legs kicking at the air. On the horse's back, the guard let out an angry shout.

"Street rat! Get out of the way!"

"Who are you calling a—" The words were out of Aladdin's mouth before he could stop himself. He clamped his mouth shut, but it was too late.

In a group, the guards dismounted and surrounded him, pushing him back against a wall. At that very moment, someone threw a bucket of slop out a window a few stories up. It fell all over Aladdin, covering him in kitchen refuse.

The guard whose horse had reared let out a cruel laugh. Jabbing his finger against Aladdin's chest, he shook his head. "You were born insignificant, you'll die insignificant, and only your fleas will mourn you," he said. Then, with a sneer, he got back on his horse and the procession continued.

As the crowd dispersed, Aladdin brushed an orange peel off his shoulder and let out a sigh. What good was it to help others? It had gotten him nowhere today. He had made Dalia mad and gotten a leftover-soup shower trying to help the kids. Maybe the guard was right. Maybe he was just a street rat and always would be. But, he thought as he headed back to his tower, he wanted to be so much more. He wanted Dalia to see that he was so much more.

He climbed up the steps and walked over to look out at the palace, his mind still swirling. He wanted Dalia, and everyone, to know that if they only took the time to look closer, they would see he wasn't just a thief. But how could that ever happen if no one took a chance on him? How could he prove himself to Dalia when he would probably never see her again?

Feeling a tug on the bottom of his pants, he looked down and saw Abu. The little monkey's familiar face at least made Aladdin smile. The monkey scampered up and stopped on his shoulder, chattering excitedly. Then he reached under the small vest he wore and pulled out a piece of jewelry. Aladdin's eyes narrowed. It wasn't just any piece of jewelry; it was the bracelet Dalia had been wearing.

"Abu!" Aladdin shouted. "Now she thinks I'm a thief!"

The monkey shrugged as if to say, And your point?

"I mean, she thinks I stole from her ," he said.

Grabbing the bracelet out of Abu's hand, Aladdin walked over to the gaping hole in the tower. In the distance, the palace was afire with the setting sun and candles in the windows as everyone prepared for the arrival of Prince Anders.

A smile spread across Aladdin's face. That was it. Everyone was waiting for Prince Anders—which meant everyone would be distracted. Which meant it would be a very good time to try to sneak in and find a certain princess's handmaiden and return her bracelet .... IvNP2iOCy1DTu4/7mcVRuwtDoD/vRrvP2zHR3CsctP08um0QW6RLbnRqObumPrAZ