“Shouldn’t be long,” Aladdin promised.
Jasmine’s room was still empty. As Aladdin studied the red roses climbing up the pillars across from him and the golden goblets of carefully arranged flowers along the balcony, doubt crept into his mind. Genie was distracting Jasmine’s handmaiden right this minute, inviting her for a stroll through the palace grounds so Aladdin could have a chance to smooth things over with Jasmine. But was it really the best idea to sneak into Jasmine’s quarters like this? His palms began to sweat, panic rising. He’d need to think fast about exactly what to say before she called out for every armed guard in the palace to arrest him at once. And if she did, who could blame her?
It had all been going so well at the Harvest Festival. She’d forgiven him for his awkwardness when he’d first arrived at the palace. And then later, when they danced together they connected, just like they had when they’d met on the streets of Agrabah. She was beginning to like him; at least, she seemed to be. When his favorite song had begun to play, he’d thought he’d finally found his opportunity to really impress the princess. And while the crowd of people around him had cheered, he’d watched as disappointment spread across Jasmine’s face. He realized then what he must have looked like to her—just another prince, there for the attention and praise. She didn’t realize he was only there for her.
Aladdin had never connected with anyone the way he had with Jasmine that day on the streets of Agrabah. And when he’d discovered she was not a handmaiden of the palace but the princess herself, Aladdin felt heartbroken. As a street rat, he could never have a chance with a princess. But now, thanks to Genie, he was Prince Ali—worthy of trying to win her heart.
Suddenly, he stood up straighter. There was Jasmine. Just across from where he stood. She walked toward a collection of papers spread across a large desk. She was so engrossed in them she didn’t notice him standing there. Yet. Aladdin took a deep breath. He needed to get this right. He had to. This was his last chance to smooth things over. Whatever he said, it needed to work.
You can do it, Aladdin told himself.
But could he?
He tapped his knuckles against the balcony to get her attention, but she was so immersed in what Aladdin could now make out was an array of maps that she didn’t notice him. He hesitated before knocking louder.
“Come in,” Jasmine said without glancing up.
“I’m in already,” said Aladdin.
Jasmine looked up with a start; her eyes widened. And then they narrowed.
From seemingly out of nowhere, a tiger popped into view. And while Aladdin had never actually met a tiger before, this one seemed particularly enormous. Its fur shone a brilliant orange with white and black stripes across its body. The tiger faced him. And then, baring its teeth, it snarled at Aladdin.
Jasmine quickly stood and held up a hand toward Aladdin.
“Don’t move!” she warned.
“I won’t.” Aladdin raised his hands in the air. “I came because you left so abruptly.”
“How did you get here?”
“Magic carpet.”
“Huh.” She raised an eyebrow. “Actually, now that you’re here, I can’t seem to find Ababwa on any of my maps. Can you show me?”
“Am I allowed to move?” Aladdin glanced at the tiger. “Nice kitty?” The tiger growled, baring its teeth wider.
“Raja, don’t eat the prince,” Jasmine said. “He needs his legs for dancing.”
Aladdin flushed. “Did I go too far?”
“A little.” She nodded. “So…Ababwa.”
Aladdin edged past the tiger, which still studied him suspiciously, and picked up a map. This was going to be fun—showing her a country that did not actually exist. She didn’t seem too upset about the dance floor debacle, but now he’d gone and made things much worse. He had to find Ababwa on a map or be exposed as a fraud—which, Aladdin supposed, swallowing nervously, he was. How on earth would he get out of this one? He lifted the map up, obscuring himself from Jasmine’s view.
“Genie,” Aladdin whispered under his breath from behind the map, hoping the powerful being could hear him. “She has a lot of maps. I need to find Ababwa.”
“Have you lost your country?” Jasmine asked sweetly.
“No, no, of course not,” Aladdin said quickly just as Genie showed up on the map, so small he was almost imperceptible. He jumped up and down, pointing to where letters began to appear, spelling out the word Ababwa.
“Thanks,” Aladdin whispered. He could’ve kissed his little blue friend. Giddy with relief, he lowered the map. “See?” He pointed. “There it is.”
Jasmine leaned down to look at it.
“I don’t think so.” She frowned as she studied the map. “No, it’s not…” But there was no denying it. There it was: the kingdom of ababwa. She looked at another map to check its accuracy. Aladdin glanced around. There were so many maps of all different sizes. Many of them were marked, most of them worn around the edges. But they all now seemed to display the fictional kingdom of Ababwa, clear as day.
“How did I not see that?” Jasmine wondered.
“Maps are old and useless. No practical value.” Aladdin shrugged, trying his best to move away from the topic.
“Maps are how I see the world.”
“Really? I’d think a princess could go anywhere.”
“Not this princess.”
Aladdin brightened. He had the perfect way to make things up to Jasmine! And it was waiting for them just a few feet away.
“Well…” Aladdin leaned against a pillar as casually as he could muster, brushing some dust off his shoulder. “Would you want to—” But before he could finish his sentence, the pillar wobbled. A bowl of red pomegranates crashed to the ground.
So this plan is going great. Aladdin sighed. He bent down to pick up the pomegranates and put them back in their bowl. Raja walked up and licked his face. It must be going really poorly if the tiger was feeling sorry for him.
“Thanks,” Aladdin said. “I needed a face wash.”
Raja nuzzled Aladdin and purred. Aladdin petted the tiger and rubbed its ears. Cats loved getting their ears rubbed, at least the ones in Agrabah did, and wasn’t a tiger basically an overgrown cat? He looked up at Jasmine; she was staring at the two of them like they were doing synchronized cartwheels together.
“So, I was saying,” Aladdin said, straightening. “We should go see these places. There’s a whole world outside of books…Do you want to?”
