Disney's Aladdin:

If Only In My Dreams

By Jill D. Weber

Part 1 of 2

(Disclaimer: All characters are owned by the Disney Corporation and used without permission.)

He had been trapped by that dolt Aladdin. Trapped! In spite of all his powers! But he knew of a device that could free him. His enemies had it in their grasp. Now all he needed was to persuade that rat to use it in a way that would be beneficial to him.

It was not easy to adulterate a book in the material world, but the scroll was magic, which allowed him to manipulate the wording. It took months to rewrite it and redo the illustrations. Then he began his campaign.

The wind was cold and cutting, even by a genie's standards. The big blue one could have protected himself from the wind, but he needed the discomfort to take his mind off the emptiness inside. The wind whipped the icy sand through the last vestiges of the once proud city of Agrabah. Genie stopped at what he thought was the right spot and began to dig. After what seemed like hours he finally found a marble tomb that bore but a single name: Aladdin.

The genie touched the worn carving, then threw his head back to howl his pain to the uncaring wind.

And bumped his head on the lid of his lamp.

"Huh?" Genie poured himself out of the spout and looked around. Agrabah still stood in all its splendor... and squalor. This hovel definitely fit the latter category. Genie shook his head. He wondered about Aladdin's refusal to accept better living quarters. But then, he still lived in his lamp, though he was now free to go wherever he chose.

There was a small sigh from the pile of cushions near the 'picture window' (that is, the gaping hole in the wall). Genie floated over to examine his mortal friend. Aladdin lay on his back, with his arms curled around his head. His silky black hair fluffed defiantly in all directions, mostly across his eyes. The Magic Carpet was tucked up around him like a blanket in spite of the current heat wave. Abu and Iago were on cushions an arm's length away from Aladdin's head.

Genie's now awake mind insisted there was nothing wrong with Aladdin. He was not injured or sick. Or was he? Genie poofed as quietly as he could and wound up in a blue tunic with black shoulders and Star Fleet insignia (Next Generation). He whipped out his medical tricorder and pointed it at Aladdin. He pushed a button, lights flashed and indicators indicated. Genie frowned at the readings.

"Of course, it would probably help if I knew what this thing was saying," he muttered. He zapped it with a translation spell and these words formed on the screen:

"This is just a prop, you hockey puck. Why don't you take out a loan and buy yourself a life? At least wait for television to be invented before you turn into a couch-rutabaga."

Genie snorted. "And I thought Iago was bad." He tossed the snide-

corder out the gap in the wall. He poofed into his usual outfit, pulled out a stethoscope and moved toward Aladdin. Genie reconsidered. The cold disk might wake the boy.

Genie tenderly pushed the silky hair out of the boy's eyes and felt his forehead. No fever. Gently pressing his ear (the one without the cold gold earring) to Aladdin's chest, Genie listened for a moment. Steady heart beat, slow breathing, nothing unusual. All was well.

So why the bad dream?

Genie faded back into his lamp, but had a difficult time going back asleep.

The wind was cold and cutting; Jasmine clutched her hair to keep it from tangling in the bushes. She had to reach Aladdin! She crawled onto the narrow ridge that Aladdin was clinging to, but she couldn't reach him...

"Jasmine!" Aladdin said. "I'm slipping!"

"Hang on!" Jasmine whipped her hair ribbon out, it was thin, but made of good quality silk, it would have to do. She tied the jewel to the end and tossed it to Aladdin.

He caught the ribbon just as his handhold crumbled. The silk slipped right through Jasmine's fingers and Aladdin plunged out of sight. "NOOOOOOO!" screamed Jasmine. She lunged...

And found herself nose to nose with a bewildered Rajah. Dazedly, she pushed herself off her floor and looked around her familiar room. "Just a bad dream," she whispered. Then she buried her face in Rajah's neck. "It was just a bad dream."

The wind was cold and cutting, and Iago's feathers were blowing in directions feathers were not meant to go. "Can we get out of here now?" he complained.

"We have to finish our mission," Aladdin said firmly. "A lot depends on our finding..."

Whatever Aladdin wanted to find found them first. Something reached up from the ground and grabbed the street rat, dragging him under. Abu shrieked...

Iago was awakened by Abu's screams. As was everybody else. "Wha...? Hey?" Iago found himself flapping in circles around Aladdin's dingy hovel.

"Abu?" Aladdin's soothing voice spoke gently. "Take it easy buddy. It's all right. It was just a bad dream."

Bad dream, right. Iago flew out the gap in the wall and looked around. There were no monsters in sight.

The parrot went back in to find Carpet wrapped around Aladdin. The twain was soothing the distraught monkey the best they could.

"What happened?" Genie was asking.

"Abu had a nightmare," Aladdin explained.

"Him, too?" Genie exclaimed.

"What is this, an epidemic?" Iago said sarcastically.

"You had one, too?" Genie exclaimed as Aladdin said: "You both had a nightmares, too?"

"Welllll... sort of... if you call Aladdin getting swallowed by the earth to be a nightmare, yes."

"Yuck," was Aladdin's reaction. "Next time, make yourself the star."

"I usually do," Iago said dryly. "What did you dream?" he asked Abu, but it was Carpet who answered by miming an avalanche, then pointing to Aladdin.

"Another nightmare about me?" Aladdin was taken aback. He was further shocked by Abu's vigorous agreement.

"Abu says he dreamed of quicksand," Iago said.

"Never mind, I get the picture." Aladdin looked at Genie. "I'm almost afraid to ask."

Genie shrugged. "All I dreamed about was digging up your tomb from where the sands of time had concealed it."

Impulsively, Aladdin hugged Genie, squashing Abu in the process. "Sorry," he said to the indignantly chattering simian.

"Hey, don't we get any sympathy?" Iago squawked. "I think our dreams were worse!"

"But Genie's might actually come true," Aladdin said somberly, thinking of his own mortality versus Genie's immortality.

"Oh," Iago said.

"Well, let's try to get back to sleep," Aladdin said.

"What, after all those nightmares about you?" Iago squawked. "Don't you think its odd that we all had nightmares dealing with you getting buried?"

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," Aladdin said.

"Can't we at least go to the palace? This hovel would give anybody nightmares," Iago complained.

"I didn't have any nightmares," Aladdin pointed out.

"Okay, anybody normal, even semi-normal," Iago punctuated his comment with a glare at Genie and Abu. Then a winning argument came to him. "Besides, what about the Princess? If we all had nightmares, maybe she had one, too."

Aladdin drew in his breath with a hiss. "I hadn't thought about that," he confessed.

Iago knew he had the kid hooked. Aladdin would do anything to protect his Princess, even from a nightmare. By the time he'd finished the thought, Aladdin, Abu and Genie were mounted on the Magic Carpet and flying out the gap in the wall.

"Hey, wait for me!" Iago squalled, flapping after them.

"Yes, that's right. Run to the palace. That's where the key is."

Jasmine's room was lit, and they could hear voices.

"I can send some men to fetch the street rat," Rasoul sounded too eager.

"No, that won't be necessary," Jasmine sounded heartsick.

Aladdin couldn't stand it. "Jasmine?" he called. Then he hopped off Carpet. He should have hopped first. He'd forgotten how fast Jasmine could move and she almost knocked the both of them off her balcony.

"Whoa!" Genie said, catching them as they bounced against the rail. "No flying without a pilot's license."

"Sorry," Jasmine said, wrapping her arms firmly around Aladdin's waist, partly for balance.

"You've had a nightmare, too?" Aladdin asked. He hugged Jasmine as he spoke.

Jasmine nodded, then her eyes widened. "Too? You mean, you've all had nightmares?" Of course, she added to herself. How else would they have known to check?

"They all had nightmares," Aladdin reported. "All of them about me being buried."

Jasmine described her dream as her father and Captain Rasoul came out onto the balcony.

"So, you're all right, Street Rat" grunted Rasoul brusquely. He was still not used to the idea of the Street Rat being a 'welcome ally' at the palace.

"Yes, thanks for asking, Rasoul," Aladdin said impudently. He still wasn't used to the idea of allies with the guards.

Jasmine and the Sultan exchanged exasperated eye rolls. They weren't used to allies who were hostile towards each other. Oddly enough, though, their antagonism helped Jasmine regain her composure. She didn't think they would squabble if there were immediate danger.

After everyone had finished describing his nightmare (or, in Jasmine's case, her nightmare), there was a pause as they all mulled over the implications.

"I take it neither of you had a nightmare?" Genie asked the Sultan and Rasoul.

"Er, no, not that I can recall," the Sultan said, pulling on his beard.

"I was on duty," huffed Rasoul. "Naturally I did not have any nightmares. Not that I'd consider those dreams to be nightmares," He glared at Aladdin as if he thought the street rat had planned this.

"Funny, I would have thought that me getting killed... by somebody else... would be a nightmare to you," retorted Aladdin.

"Stop baiting each other," Jasmine ordered. "That isn't getting us anywhere."

"Nothing else is getting us anywhere, either," Aladdin said. "I think we should all try to get some more sleep. Maybe we'll be able to think more clearly in the morning."

"That's easy for you to say," Iago grumbled. "YOU aren't the one having the nightmares."

"You have a point," Aladdin said. "If you have a better idea, I'm all ears."

Nobody had a better idea.

"Well, then I'd better get back to my duties," Rasoul said, with a glare at Aladdin. "I have to make one last inspection before I retire... for the night."

"Er... yes, you are dismissed Rasoul," the Sultan said before Aladdin could say anything rude.

"Good night, my princess," Aladdin said. He kissed her hand and backed out of the room, the guys trailing after him.

"Try to get some sleep, dearest," the Sultan said worriedly, patting her hand.

"I will, Father," Jasmine promised.

They exchanged cheek kisses and the Sultan left. In spite of the heat,

Jasmine felt the need for something warmer and changed into a woolen nightgown. Then she crawled into bed and pulled the blankets up to her chin.

The wind was cold and cutting, and Jasmine didn't want to see any more. She knew she was dreaming, and she knew how the dream was going to end.

"Jasmine!" Aladdin's voice sounded desperate.

Jasmine told herself that this was only a dream, that there was no real danger to Aladdin, but she raced toward the cry nonetheless. Aladdin was sprawled on a frozen river, and the ice underneath him was beginning to crack. "Jasmine, help!" he cried. Jasmine pulled off her scarf and tossed it toward Aladdin, but the ice broke before he could grab it and he was swept away.

"No-oo-oo!" shrieked Jasmine, forgetting this was a dream. "Aladdin!"

"I'm right here, Jasmine," Aladdin's comforting voice broke through her nightmare's haze. He rested one damp hand on her shoulder.

"Easy, Dearest," her father said in a soothing voice. "It was just a nightmare." The Sultan patted his daughter's hand reassuringly.

"I know," Jasmine said, forcing her voice to stay steady. "I even knew I was dreaming, but..." she swallowed, and looked out the window, dawn was breaking. "Excuse me, but I think I'll get dressed now. I don't think we'll be getting any more sleep tonight."

She stood up, then blinked at Aladdin. "Do I *want* to know why you are soaking wet?"

"No," Aladdin replied, pushing his soggy bangs off of his forehead.

"Because his suggestion of going to back to sleep was a NOT a good idea," grumbled Iago, giving Genie a Heavy Significant Glare.

Genie glared back. "I said was sorry about that shower," he huffed. "I was dreaming..."

"About fire, yes, you told us," Iago refused to admit he was glad that Genie had awakened everybody before Jasmine had started screaming. His own nightmare had involved a volcano.

Aladdin sighed. "I guess we need to figure out some course of action."

There was weariness in Aladdin's voice that alarmed Jasmine. A closer look at her fiancé's face did not reassure her. There were circles under his eyes and his skin had an unpleasant pallor. "Aladdin, are you all right?" she asked. "Did you have any nightmares?"

Aladdin shook his head. "No, not that I remember, anyway." He sighed. "I'm just tired."

"Maybe you didn't sleep well last night," Iago snarked. "I can't imagine why!"

"Iago, this is NOT Aladdin's fault," scolded Jasmine.

"Then whose fault is it?" demanded Iago.

The question made them all pause and think.

"Do you suppose this could be somebody's fault?" Aladdin asked, looking at Genie and Iago, the two magic experts. "Could somebody be sending the bad dreams deliberately?"

Genie rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It is possible," he said. "But why everybody except you? I'd think you'd be the target."

Abu scooted to Aladdin's shoulders, scolding and shaking a fist at the Genie.

Genie held his hands up. "No offense, Al buddy, but you are the official hero around here." He waved one of his hands and a medal appeared around Aladdin's neck.

"No offense taken," Aladdin. He looked at the medal and decided he didn't want to know what 'FIDO' meant.

Abu contradicted him... loudly.

Aladdin grinned and stroked Abu on the head. "I think Abu is just hungry. Maybe we should have breakfast," he said, knowing that food would distract Abu from almost anything.

Abu humphed at them, then perked up at thought of eating.

"Well, sleep seems to be out of the question," the Sultan said.

But it didn't take long for the Sultan to start dozing off. It had been a long day. They sat around the table in the informal dining room; everybody but Aladdin and the Sultan nibbled on fruit while they waited for Safiya, the head cook, to fix breakfast. The Sultan saw that Aladdin was nodding off, so he didn't feel so bad about not being able to keep his eyes open.

The wind was cold and cutting, and fierce. "I don't like the looks of this," Jasmine said. "We'd better go inside." Jasmine and Aladdin moved away from the balcony's railing, but before they made the safety of the palace, the wind became a whirlwind. The balcony cracked and tilted away from the doorway.

"JUMP!" cried Aladdin.

Jasmine lost her footing and began to slide.

"Jasmine!" cried Aladdin. He leaped to the princess' side and heaved her through the doorway. The effort sent him tumbling away from safety, to the edge of the falling balcony... and over.

"NO!"

"Father?" Jasmine's worried voice woke the Sultan. "Wha? Oh, I guess I must have dozed off..." he raised on hand to his forehead and rubbed it rather dazedly.

Jasmine placed her hands on his shoulders. "Father? Are you all right?"

"Yes, Yes, I am fine," he looked over his daughter's shoulder and saw Aladdin pushing himself to a sitting position and rubbing his eyes. "But these nightmares are beginning to get seriously worrisome. They are definitely not natural."

Rasoul entered the dining room at that point. "Your Highness, are you all right?"

The Sultan nodded. "Yes, I'm fine," he said.

"What are you doing here?" Aladdin blurted in surprise.

Rasoul chose to take offense. "I'm on duty, Street Rat. Shall I have the Royal Librarian come and explain to you what the word 'duty' means?"

Aladdin bristled, but a pleading look from Jasmine curbed his tongue. "I didn't mean that as an insult, I was merely surprised. You were on duty last night," Aladdin gritted.

"And your point would be?" Rasoul said patronizingly.

"When are you OFF duty?"

"I'm never off duty," growled Rasoul.

"No wonder you're always so grumpy," Aladdin sniffed. "You should get yourself a life."

Rasoul turned purple and flexed his muscles. Aladdin bounced to his feet and tensed, waiting for Rasoul to take a swat at him.

Jasmine grasped the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes and shook her head. "Can we *please* confine our energy and attention to the matter at hand?" she inquired with conspicuous patience.

Manfully, Rasoul refrained from saying something regrettable in front of the princess and contented himself with scowling down at his smaller antagonist.

Aladdin scowled back, but allowed Jasmine pull him down beside her. Jasmine sighed to herself, but knew there were too many years of bad blood between her fiancé and her captain to expect it to suddenly vanish.

"Let's get down to business, shall we?" she said. "Does anybody have any thing to say regarding the nightmares? Preferably, something useful?"

"How come Al hasn't had any bad dreams?" Iago groused.

Aladdin's first response was not coherent, since it was mumbled around a yawn-stifling-fist. He tried again. "I don't know. Do you think it's important?"

"Of course it's important, you dolt. You are the target."

"It's got to be," Iago said. "The nightmares are pointedly about you. So, what have you been dreamin' about, kid?"

Aladdin blinked a few times as he rummaged around through his memory. Finally he gave up and shrugged. "I don't remember," he said. "I usually don't remember my dreams."

Iago began to pace "Think, Kid, think. You must have been dreaming about something..." he looked pointedly at Jasmine. "...Or someone. So, what was it? It couldn't be anything natural."

Aladdin massaged his temples, and tried to remember what he'd been thinking and feeling just before he had heard the Sultan cry out. After several long minutes he gave up again and shrugged. "I don't remember any dream," he said.

"All I remember is a lot of greyness." He sighed and slumped into his cushions. "And cold," he added suddenly. "Greyness and coldness."

Iago didn't like the sound of that and he stopped pacing in mid step.

Jasmine didn't like the looks of that, so she spoke up.

"What does it mean?" she asked the parrot.

Iago swallowed and croaked out. "A Dream Channel."

"Is that cryptic utterance supposed to mean something?" the Sultan demanded. The humans, the monkey and the rug looked to Genie for an explanation.

Genie had gone from Robin's egg blue to a very pale sky blue. "Oh, of course."

"Genie?" Aladdin asked in alarm. "What is it? Another one of those t.v. things?"

Genie shook his head and looked unwontedly serious. "No, Kid. A Dream Channel is a spell that allows a Dream Raider to take over a person's dreams, then his mind and then his... soul."

Aladdin and Jasmine shivered and moved closer to each other. "But I haven't been dreaming," protested Aladdin.

Iago and Genie exchanged grim looks. "That's because the Dream Raider has been stealing your dreams," Iago explained. "All that is left is a feeling of cold greyness. It also robs you of the benefits of sleep, so no matter how long you've been asleep, you still feel tired."

Aladdin yawned again. "Oh, but why has everybody else been having nightmares about me?"

"Dream magic has residual effects," Genie said. "Like, if you throw a stone into a pond, the ripples splash water on everybody else. Stealing your dreams caused psychic ripples to splash nightmares on your friends."

The cold, grey voice laughed. "Finally, they think they know the truth. Now maybe that goof of a genie will persuade that poofy haired dolt to use IT. So I can use HIM!"

To Be Continued!