Chapter Text
Aladdin panted as he raced through the streets of Agrabah, his tiny body able to allow him to weave and dive through the crows of people with ease while his pursuers had more trouble doing so with their much larger adult bodies. He clutched the item in his hold protectively so as not to lose it after working so hard to obtain it. He could hear the yelling of the guards getting further and further away but he dared not look back. His eyes flicked around, looking for something to hide him safely until the guards were gone.
Up ahead he spotted an alley and a smile broke out of his face as a plan started to form, he knew the alleys of Agrabah like the back of his hands and if he could just get to it he could disappear with the guards being none the wiser. He risked a quick glance back to see if the guards were looking in his direction. A grin split his lips as he saw they were momentarily distracted and he took that chance to slip away into the alley.
The further into the alley he ran the softer the guards shouting became. He giggled with childish excitement at how easily this had gone. When he could no longer hear the voices he stopped for a moment to catch his breath and check on his prize. He held a large loaf of bread up and sniffed it happily, his stomach grumbling eagerly to have a bite. He licked his lips and was about to take said bite but was momentarily distracted by the sound of sniffling. He looked around in confusion, he hadn’t seen anyone when he had ran in here.
He slunk along the wall, clutching the bread close to his chest in case it was a trap to take it. He poked his head around a corner and blinked at what he saw. Sitting on a box not too far away was a boy about his size though he was dressed in much nicer clothing. Aladdin frowned at the sight, why would such a nicely dressed kid be crying in the back alleys of Agrabah? Aladdin slowly tip-toed closer until he was behind the kid and he tapped him on the shoulder “You okay?”.
The child shrieked at the sudden touch and flinched away. The sudden action caused Aladdin to flinch back also. “D-Don’t come a-any closer! I-I have a weapon!” The mystery child threatened as he scurried to the opposite side of the alley.
Aladdin quickly moved back as well after hearing that, clutching his bread protectively “I was just trying to see if you were okay!”.
The fancily dressed child finally saw who had touched him and he slowly relaxed once he saw that it wasn’t an adult he didn’t know “S-sorry… I’m lost and… I thought you were a grown up, I was told to be wary of strangers”.
Aladdin slowly relaxed as well when he realized the other kid wouldn’t try to stab him “that’s okay, I did sneak up on you… your clothes look really fancy so you aren’t from around here”.
The boy nodded and he sniffled again “I’m visiting Agrabah with my father but… I wanted to explore and I didn’t listen to him when he said to stay close… now I can’t find him”.
Aladdin listened and moved closer to the boy. He kind of felt bad for him and he thought about what to do “Well… I could help you try to find him? I know this city like the backs of my hands and until then you can stick with me so you don’t get lost any more”.
The boy looked at Aladdin with wide eyes of wonder “you would really do that for a stranger?”.
“We won’t be strangers once we know each other’s names, my name is Aladdin” he told the fancy boy.
The boy smiled and giggled softly at Aladdin’s reasoning “My name is Ali, it is very nice to meet you Aladdin, thank you for helping me”.
Aladdin flushed at Ali’s gratitude, no one had ever been happy to have him around before and it made something warm and tingly spread inside him “It’s no trouble, I didn’t really have anything else to do today anyways…. Do you want to come to my place for a bit before we go find your father? I have an awesome view of the city and maybe it will help you figure out where you need to go?”.
Ali brightened at hearing that and he nodded eagerly, his worries suddenly forgotten “I would love to! It will be like an adventure! I’ve always wanted to go on an adventure”.
Aladdin grinned, infected with the other’s excitement and he took the boy’s hand “Well then come on! One of the best times to see the view is at sunset and we should get there just before!”.
Ali happily followed after his new friend, both boys radiating pure happiness and excitement as they ran through the alley. Aladdin led the way since he knew where they would be going. It was quite the path to take but both boys blazed along with giggles of joy. Just as Aladdin had said it was almost sunset before they reached where he lived. He helped Ali up into the building, making sure the other watched his step.
“Come on!” Aladdin called as he tugged Ali over to the window “It’s starting!”. Aladdin grabbed the curtain that covered the window and tugged it aside, showing the world outside his home to his new friend. Ali looked on with awe in his eyes, the sight was breathtaking; no rare gem could ever outmatch the beauty of Agrabah as the sun's rays covered everything with hues of orange and red.
“It’s so pretty” Ali said softly as he placed his little hands on the edge of the window. Aladdin pulled himself up to sit on the edge, his bread still in hand. He held the other hand out to Ali and the boy smiled as he took it, using the help up to sit on the ledge beside his new friend. The moment was disturbed by a grumbling stomach that didn’t belong to Aladdin. Both boys blinked in surprise and then Ali flushed in embarrassment as his stomach grumbled again.
“I didn’t eat lunch” Ali said sheepishly as he looked away from Aladdin and rubbed the back of his neck.
Aladdin looked from his friend down to his bread then back again. After a moment's thought he split the bread in half and held it out to Ali. Ali looked up and blinked in surprise at the offered bread “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you”.
“I wouldn’t offer it if I wasn’t sure, besides I can always get more tomorrow” Aladdin lied, he didn’t want his new friend to feel hungry or bad about taking the food he was offered.
Ali took the bread after a moment of hesitation and smiled in gratitude at Aladdin “Thank you, when we find my father I’m sure he will be happy to repay you for this”.
Aladdin blinked in surprise, he hadn’t thought about that “really? Are you sure?”.
“Of course, my father always repays any debts” Ali smiled happily at Aladdin then took a bite of the bread. For some reason at that moment it was the best tasting food he had ever had.
Aladdin had a similar thought as he took a bite of his own bread and as the two watched the sun set over Agrabah the two boys thought about how they wouldn’t rather be anywhere else at that moment. They sat there for a while longer, just chatting and having a good time. Before they knew it the sun had set and the stars had slowly spread across the night sky.
“We should probably get some sleep, we can find your dad in the morning before all the people are out in the market” Aladdin told Ali as he slipped off the ledge. Ali followed a moment later and Aladdin led the boy over to where he slept. It was a pile of hay covered by a large cloth with a smaller piece of cloth he used as a blanket sitting on top of it. The two boys climbed on top of the makeshift bed and settled down under the blanket.
“Aladdin.. I’ve been meaning to ask, where are you parents?” Ali asked softly as he prepared to fall asleep.
Aladdin was quiet for a long moment and Ali almost thought he had fallen asleep. “I don’t have any parents” he finally said quietly. Ali couldn’t see the other’s face in the dark but he could hear the sadness in his voice. The young boy frowned in worry at hearing that, his friend lived alone with no mom or dad?
“But then who takes care of you?” Ali asked as he reached out and took the other’s hand.
“I’m a big kid, I don’t need anyone to take care of me” Aladdin said, putting on a brave front for his new friend so the other wouldn’t think he was weak. Despite that he gripped the hand back, the loneliness settling back in the more they talked about it.
Ali was quiet for a long moment as he simply laid there holding the other’s hand. He thought about how lonely and scary such a situation would be and in a way he kind of understood, he didn’t have any friends so his days were rather lonely when his parents were working. After a long moment of thinking about it an idea started to form in the boy’s mind and before he knew it he was grinning very big.
“Aladdin” Ali whispered as he tugged the other’s hand in case he had fallen asleep.
Aladdin heard the excitement in Ali’s voice despite how soft it was “Yeah?”.
“What if I could convince my dad to bring you home with us? You could be my brother!” Ali giggled, liking his idea the more he thought about it.
Aladdin was stunned. Ali wanted him to be his brother? “You… you want me to be your brother?”.
“Yeah!” Ali said a little louder then went still for a moment before speaking again in the same soft tone “I’m an only child and life where I live gets boring because I don’t have any friends…. I don’t want to lose my only friend”. Ali’s grip on Aladdin’s hand tightened and Aladdin gripped him back just as tightly.
“What if your dad says no?” Aladdin said uncertainty, not wanting to get his hopes up.
“He hasn’t said no to me yet when I ask him for something, I’m sure once he hears about all of this he will agree in no time” Ali said confidently.
Aladdin let Ali’s confidence inspire hope in him and that night both children went to sleep with dreams full of a future of good times together.
The next morning both boys were up early, watching the sun rise over Agrabah; it was just as magnificent a sight as the night before had been. When the sun was fully risen the two left Aladdin’s house and began their trek through the city. Thankfully it was just early enough that not many people were out roaming the streets just yet so it made it simpler for the two boys to roam about.
“Do you know where your dad would be?” Aladdin asked Ali as he looked from building to building.
Ali frowned as he also looked around “I dunno, we arrived yesterday and he didn’t really tell me much about this trip”.
“So he could be anywhere in Agrabah?” Aladdin asked “It’s a big city, if we don’t have a starting place it could take us days to find him”.
Ali felt tears building up in his eyes at the thought of it taking so long to find his father but he quickly scrubbed them away, he wouldn’t be a big cry baby any more; if Aladdin could be strong without his parents then so could Ali “Then we better get started”.
The two boys searched high and low for Ali’s dad, asking people they came across if they had seen him. Some adults answered them with an indulgent smile and others chased them away with annoyed scowls. The day progressed like this and the longer they went without making any progress the more disheartened they were becoming.
“There’s got to be somewhere your dad would go” Aladdin huffed with a frown as they took a break by a well.
“Well… we could always try at the palace” Ali said after a long moment of thinking “Maybe he had business with the Sultan and he would know where my dad is?”.
Aladdin blinked in surprise at hearing that. Maybe he should have thought of this sooner because of the kind of clothing Ali wore but his young mind hadn’t made that kind of connection.
“Are you sure?... People like me aren’t allowed in the palace” Aladdin said with a small sad frown.
“You’ll be with me so it should be okay” Ali said brightly as he took Aladdin’s hand and smiled at him.
Aladdin gave him a small smile back and the two continued their walk, Aladdin leading the way to the palace. Fate had other plans for these two boys and it all started with a snake startling a donkey that was pulling a cart.The donkey startled and backed it’s cart into a large tower of boxes. The boxes became unstable and started to topple over. Aladdin had let go of Ali’s hand, his sadness momentarily abated as he ran a little head. The young street rat didn’t notice the tower of boxes but his new friend did.
Ali cried out as he ran towards Aladdin. Aladdin paused and looked back at Ali in surprise. Time seemed to slow down as two sets of eyes, one terrified and the other confused, met. Ali just managed to shove Aladdin out of the way just as the boxes came tumbling down. Aladdin tumbled and rolled from the shove, falling just out of reach of the crashing boxes. It took him a moment to sit up and shake off the dizziness but then he realized what had happened and he scrambled to his feet and looked upon the pile of boxes with rising horror until he couldn’t contain his scream.
“ALI!!!!” Aladdin cried out as he ran to the boxes. He was shoved out of the way by several grown men, the adults quickly swarming around the pile and shouting at each other, drowning out the desperate cries of the little boy who was continuously being shoved away until he couldn’t even see the boxes any more. No one would listen to him as he tried to get their attention. Aladdin was drowning in hopelessness and despair, no one would help him and his best friend because all they saw was a boy dressed in rags getting in the way.
He was forced to stay far away from the boxes for many hours after the incident. All he could do was stand there and cry helplessly, Ali was probably already dead. Aladdin may be young but he wasn’t stupid, he knew what death was; you don’t survive on the streets without knowing. Ali had probably been crushed or suffocated or or or… Every time Aladdin thought about it new tears started to fall. Ali was dead and it was all his fault.
It was dark by the time Aladdin finally moved. He slowly walked away, his whole body numb from the realization that he would never see his best friend ever again.. They had only known each other for two days but it already felt like a lifetime away. Aladdin made his way back home and he fell upon his hay stack, he had no energy left to shed tears. The street rat let his body finally pass out, cheeks still damp and nose still dripping. It would take him a few days to finally find the will to get out of bed but even years later he couldn’t will himself to let go of the memory of two young boys holding hands in the dark and dreaming of the day the two could become brothers in everything but blood.