A Suitable Gift

By Jill Weber

Part 1 of 3

Disney characters copyrighted by the Walt Disney Corp. and used without permission. The villains are mine and not to be confused with any other person, living, dead or fictional.

In spite of, or perhaps because of, the bitter cold, there was a small crowd around the steps. The building the steps lead to was nothing much to look at, its walls were crumbling and the roof was half gone. A casual observer might not have understood the reason for the crowd's interest. The man in the shadows was not a casual observer. He knew what was going on: Princess Jasmine was giving clothing and blankets to the poor of Agrabah.

However, he did not understand why she was doing it, it seemed like a waste of time and money. So he watched to see if he could figure her out, after all, she was going to be his bride someday.

This doesn't make sense, Princess," the bright red parrot squawked from the girl's brown clad shoulder. "Even you can't afford to clothe everybody in Agrabah! Why even try?"

"Iago, I have to do something!" exclaimed Jasmine as she handed a coat to a thin, shivering girl. "I have so much, and they have so little." She handed a cloak to a stooped woman holding a squalling baby. "Besides, it's a fair trade-- they get a warm feeling outside, and I get a warm feeling inside!"

The parrot flapped his wings and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right, get philosophical, it's easy for you... your warm! And I suppose it's acoincidence that this gets you away from that Prince Wazzoo," he sniggered.

"Iago, the scarves?" Jasmine reminded him pointedly. "And why would I want to get away from Prince Wasim? The trade agreements he's come to talk to Father about will bring more jobs to Agrabah."

"But more jobs means less poor people, and less poor means less warm fuzzies for you," Iago mocked. Then he added: "Besides, he keeps drooling on your feet."

Jasmine looked at her new green boots. "That's why I bought some waterproof boots," she giggled. Then she shook a finger at the parrot. "Now, stop trying to get out of work, Lazy-Feathers."

"Yeah, yeah," Iago muttered. He flapped over to a basket and snagged a bright red and yellow scarf and handed it to a street urchin. "Here ya go, kid. Who cares if its ugly? Beggars can't be clothes horses."

The boy took the scarf with a shy smile, then ran off to rejoin his mother, who was waiting to get shoes. "Here you go, ma'm," Aladdin said in a subdued voice, handing her a pair of soft boots. "I think these should fit."

He smiled tiredly at the boy with the new scarf and handed him a pair of shoes. "I don't think we have any more boots your size," he said. "But these should keep your feet warm."

The boy eyed the shoes dubiously.

"I know," Aladdin said. "I prefer to go barefoot myself, except in weather like this!" he looked at the sky and shuddered. Then he coughed. "'Scuse me," he said to the boy. After a few minutes thought, the boy took the shoes. Aladdin spent a few moments wondering if he'd actually wear them, or if he'd sell them. Then he forced himself to pay attention to the task at hand.

Iago gave Aladdin a sharp look, then went back to handing out scarves.

It was late afternoon when, after many glances around, Iago handed out the last scarf from his basket. But he hesitated before getting another basket, then he flapped over to Jasmine's shoulder.

"You ever hear the saying "Charity begins at home?" he said in a quieter tone than normal.

Jasmine chuckled, looking at him sideways. "Really, Iago, you can't tell me you're cold under all those feathers!"

"I'm not talkin' about me, kiddo, I'm talkin' 'bout blue boy over there," Iago's voice went even lower, as if showing concern was something he was ashamed of.

Jasmine looked around and frowned. "Don't be silly, Iago, Genie's not here. He's gone to visit Eden, the Genie of the bottle. Eden's little mistress has started school, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Iago snapped. "Genie and Aladdin have been bragging about that street mouse's... er... Dondi's getting that scholarship so much you'd think they were her uncles or something. But Genie isn't the blue boy I'm talkin' about, I meant Ah-LAD-din, you know, your boyfriend?"

Jasmine frowned at him. "Don't be silly, if Aladdin was cold, he'd tell... me..." her voice trailed off uncertainly as she really looked at Aladdin for the first time that day. He really wasn't blue... he was more greyish-brown, almost the same shade as his disreputable coat. He looked as cold as the people he was handing shoes to. But while the beggars also looked excited, Aladdin just looked...cold.

"Yeah, su-u-ure he'd mention it," Iago sniped.

"Aladdin, are you all right?" Jasmine asked, half expecting the answer she got.

"S-sure, I'm f-fine," Aladdin insisted, pretending to be very interested in the basket of shoes.

Abu, who had been handing out warm hats from his perch on the magic carpet, bounded over to Aladdin and clambered onto his master's shoulders, scolding at Aladdin and shaking his clenched paw.

Jasmine put her hands on her hips, cocked her head, and gave him an "Oh, really?" look.

"Abu, Jasmine, I-am-perfectly-all-right," Aladdin tried to look indignant, but only managed to look cold. "Now, will you stop fooling around? It's getting late and we have all this clothing to give out."

Jasmine looked at the baskets of clothing and frowned. She estimated that it would take a couple more hours to hand all this out. Much as she wanted to help the poor, she didn't want Aladdin to kill himself. "I wish Genie were here," she muttered. "He'd get this stuff distributed in a wink."

In response to her wish, Carpet swooped down, scooped up all the baskets, then flew down the line of paupers, tossing clothing out with all four tassels. It wasn't quite a blink, but the clothing was distributed much faster than it would have using the old method.

"Geez, why didn't you do that sooner?" said Iago, wrapping his wings around him and shivering.

"Nobody asked him," Aladdin defended his Magic Carpet.

Jasmine took hold of his arm, cursing herself for not noticing sooner how weary he looked or how threadbare his coat was."You're freezing," she said. "Why didn't you say anything? We could have given you one of the coats."

Carpet floated up, dusting off his tassels.

"Good work, pal," Aladdin said. To Jasmine he added: "There are so many other people who need those coats. Besides, I'm fine. All I need is something to eat."

Jasmine cupped her free hand around Aladdin's chin. "Don't be like this, why won't you let me give you a coat?" She pulled at his chin so he'd have to meet her eyes.

Aladdin resisted, looking at the ground instead. "I... you've already given me plenty of clothes," he protested weakly. "I don't like accepting gifts from you when I have so little to give you in return." (He also hated her taste in clothing, but didn't think it was advisable to say so.)

"Aladdin!" Jasmine said in fond exasperation. "Gift giving isn't a contest, and it's not a business transaction. I don't give you things because I want you to give me things back! I give them to you because I want you to have them! You should just accept them graciously."

Aladdin snorted. "Like the way you accept Wazzoo's gifts?" he asked with a sardonic smile.

The man in the shadows hissed angrily. "How dare that street rat take my name in vain!" Prince Wasim growled under his breath. He moved closer, so as to record any further insults for future reference. He didn't notice that he was no longer alone in the alley.

"That's different!" protested Jasmine, thumping Aladdin on the chest with her fist. "If I accepted any of Wasim's gifts, he might get theimpression that I liked him... the way I like you. Giving him false hope would be rude wouldn't it?"

"Well..." Aladdin said.

"On the other hand, if you continue to refuse to accept my gifts, Imight decide that you aren't really interested in me!"

Aladdin's eyes went wide and his voice went up. "Jasmine, you know I... mrrph..." It was impossible to finish his sentence with Jasmine's mouth pressed against his, so he gave up and leaned into the kiss, shifting his arms to encircle Jasmine's waist.

Carpet folded his tassels underneath him so his 'chin' was resting on his 'hands'. He loved mushy stuff. Carpet was the only member of the audience who did. Abu made a 'eeeewww, yuck, cooties!" face and Iago flapped around the young lovers, fussing: "Oh, for crying out loud! Why does it always come down to the lip-wrestling? Don't you two have any sense of decorum?"

Reluctantly, Aladdin pulled away from Jasmine enough to hiss out of the corner of his mouth: "Shut up, Iago, this is the first time all day that I've been warm."

"Ah-HA! I knew it! You are cold!" Jasmine said triumphantly. She yanked on his arm and hauled him onto the carpet (in both senses of the phrase). "I'll bet you don't even have a shirt on under that flimsy excuse of a coat! If you won't have any consideration for yourself, think about me! What would I do if you caught your death of pneumonia?"

"Jasmine, I...

"Home, Carpet!" she ordered imperiously. "Aladdin has an appointment with the royal tailor."

Carpet gave her a thumbs (tassel?) up sign and 'ffwwwiiished' off in the desired direction.

"But Jasmine..." protested Aladdin, who had visions of another sissy suit like the last one she'd given him. Prince Wasim didn't hear the rest of the protest. He came out from the alley where he'd been lurking and scowled after the magic carpet and its passengers. "How dare that... street rat bandy my name about is such a familiar fashion!" he snorted indignantly. "OOoooo, if that Princess Jasmine wasn't so beautiful... or her father so rich... I'd just... take my trade agreement elsewhere. Gah! I have to get rid of that Aladdin, somehow."

"Do you wish Aladdin dead, your highness?" a voice cackled from behind him.

Prince Wasim whirled and found himself confronting a withered old hag, dressed in the tattered remains of clothing that looked older than Agrabah and she smelled like she hadn't bathed since the city had been founded.

"I what's it to you, witch?" he demanded, (she had to be a witch, no one else could smell like THAT!).

"I have something in common with you," the Hag hissed. "A desire to see Aladdin suffer. The street rat once stole some fruit from me... rare fruit that I needed for a spell, fruit that I risked my life for... and he fed it to his MONKEY! I want revenge!"

"Then why don't you get it for yourself?" Prince Wasim asked snidely.

"I lack opportunity!" the Hag said. "I cannot get near him without his Genie sniffing me out."

('Who needs a Genie to sniff you out?' wondered Wasim, but, in anuncharacteristic fit of self-preservation, he said nothing. Not even princes can insult witches with impudence.)

"So you need me to approach Aladdin... and take the blame," Wasim sniffed. "Blame? For what? All you need to do is give the lad a present. Where's the blame if something you buy in the market is... dangerous?"

"The blame is with the merchant," Wasim smiled. He didn't trust this hag, but he figured if push came to shove, his word would be taken over hers.

"It's agreed then," he said.

"Not yet! You haven't said if you want Aladdin dead or not," the Hag said.

Wasim rubbed his neatly trimmed beard and thought it over. "No, I don't want him dead. I just want him out of the way for a long time, so I can win the Princess. I want to see the expression on that street rat's face when Jasmine marries me! "

The Hag smiled, showing green fuzzy teeth. "Exc...ssss...ellent," she hissed. "That is so much worse than anything I could think of. Besides, I can't kill anybody."

"Why not?"

"It's a witch thing. Now come along and I'll tell you what you need to do."

Aladdin managed to convince Jasmine that he really needed a good meal. But all during the meal, Jasmine kept talking about clothing. She'd even emphasized her point by going off for a few minutes and changing into a warmer pair of pants and a long sleeved, off the shoulder top. (Aladdin couldn't figure out how that top would keep her warm. Not that he was going to complain, it sure kept him warm!)

As soon as Aladdin finished eating, Jasmine grabbed him by the arm and began hauling him (with Carpet's assistance, Carpet had liked that last outfit) down the hall towards the Palace Tailor.

"Jasmine, really, I'm fine now!" Aladdin protested, still trying to avoid another overly pretty, sissy suit. He had a vivid memory of how Abu, Iago, Genie had laughed at him. Even the sand monster that had kidnapped Jasmine had laughed at it. "I don't need you to buy me a suit! I can have Genie make one for me when he gets back from his vacation!!"

"No you won't," Jasmine said. "You don't like accepting presents from Genie, either. Every time he offers you something nice, you start with the 'I promised myself I would never misuse your powers' routine."

"I just don't like to misuse his powers," Aladdin explained. "I'd rather take care of myself. But I promise, I'll get some new clothes as soon as he gets back."

Jasmine and Carpet exchanged considering looks, then decided 'Nah!' at the same time and began hauling on his arms again. "You might catch pneumonia before then!" Jasmine said.

Carpet liked Genie, but had little faith in the rambunctious blue one's taste. So he kept pushing for the Palace Tailor. Aladdin looked around for help, only to see Abu, his faithful sidekick of many adventures, laughing himself sick. Iago was turning blue under thefeathers from laughing so hard.

Obviously, both of his 'faithful sidekicks' remembered the last suit.

For a brief moment, Aladdin considered rubbing the lamp... but interrupting the Genie's romance to get out of getting a new suit didn't seem fair... or safe. Besides, Genie would probably just laugh at him, too.

Aladdin tried digging his heels in, but Carpet, tired of the struggle, swept him off his feet and wafted him off to The Tailor of Doom. Jasmine gracefully hopped onto Carpet and silenced Aladdin's protests by the simple expediency of sitting on his chest.

Abu jumped onto Carpet to laugh in Aladdin's ear. Aladdin gave him a 'and who's side are you on, furball' glare and squirmed, but it looked like he was really going to get that new suit.

"Oh, don't be such a baby!" Jasmine said. "You need to learn to accept gifts graciously. Besides, you'll look so..."

Carpet jolted to a halt, knocking Jasmine from her perch. Aladdin took advantage of the distraction to roll off Carpet. Once on his feet, he whirled to see what had stopped Carpet and found himself facing Prince Wasim.

"Oh, hi," Aladdin said, pushing his hair out of his eyes nervously.

Wasim staggered back a step, frantically trying to keep his pile of packages from falling out of his arms. Aladdin jumped forward and helped steady the stack.

"Princess Jasmine! How good to see you again!" Wasim said. "And Aladdin, my young friend, how are you doing?"

Aladdin and Jasmine exchanged glances. For some reason, Wasim's effusiveness struck them as being forced. Almost like he was covering up something... probably the fact that he really didn't like Aladdin, they decided.

"Um, I'm okay," Aladdin said, scuffling his boot like a schoolboy. He really hated it. Every time one of Jasmine's rich and cultured suitors showed up, he felt unclean and uncouth and began to wonder what Jasmine saw in him. (A question that puzzled many other people, as he well knew.) "How are you?" he added, somewhat belatedly.

"I'm quite well," Wasim said. "I was visiting your charming market place and picked up a few gifts."

Carpet made stairs so Jasmine could step gracefully to the floor.

"Prince Wasim, I appreciate your kindness, but I've already told you..." Jasmine stopped when Wasim held up his hand.

"Now, Princess, you are jumping to conclusions, these presents aren't for you, they're for your friends!"

"For us?" Aladdin and Iago chorused. Abu squeaked out something that sounded like 'for us?' Carpet pointed to himself, though he was sure he wouldn't get any presents. (What do you give a carpet, anyway?)

"Certainly, let's find a place to sit down and I'll show you," Wasim smirked.

For a moment, Jasmine and Aladdin felt queasy, as though one of the villains they had fought was setting them up for something. Then both decided that they were letting their imaginations run away with them. The five adventurers exchanged looks and shrugs, then Jasmine led the way back to where they'd been eating.

Everyone except Jasmine and Carpet took advantage of their surroundings to start snacking. Jasmine's appetite was not as large as Aladdin's, much less as large as Abu and Iago's.

"So, what did you get?" she prodded curiously when it looked like eating was going to shove thoughts of presents out of everybody's mind.

"Oh, right, the presents," Wasim said, as if they'd been pushed from his mind by the food. He started digging through various baskets and bags and handing wrapped boxes out to the others.

Iago was given a pair of red and blue booties designed to keep avian feet warm. "Hey, these are nice," he said, looking at his feet with admiration. "And they go so well with my feathers!"

Abu received a hooded jacket embroidered with bananas. He squeaked out a thank you and tipped his hat to Wasim.

Carpet got a lint brush.

"It isn't much," Wasim apologized. "But I couldn't think of what else to give you."

Carpet gave a few experimental brushes, then bowed his thanks.

"And for you... Aladdin, my friend..." (Wasim almost blew by choking on his words. He covered by pretending to choke on a date.) After swallowing half a glass of water, Wasim continued. "I have a very special gift for you." And he pulled out a suit. It was nothing spectacularly fancy, just a wool, medium green tunic and pants, with some sort of design in black at the hems.

Carpet was heartbroken. It was looked like Aladdin wasn't going to get that suit from the royal tailor.

Aladdin wouldn't have normally accepted a gift from a rival, but this beat a sissy suit from the royal tailor! "Thank you, Wasim!" he said with genuine gratitude. "It's just what the princess ordered."

"Mine would have been nicer," Jasmine muttered sotto voce to Carpet, who 'nodded'.

"Oh, good," Wasim said. "I do so hope you'll wear it soon." This was the first sincere thing he'd ever said to Aladdin.

"Good idea," Aladdin said. "I think I'll go change now." Aladdin spoke with enthusiasm. Not even the Royal Palace had what Genie called 'central heating', and though it was warm in this room, bundling up seemed like a good idea.

"And Princess, if you will please allow me to give you a token of my affection...?" Wasim asked.

Jasmine thought she had Wasim's motives figured out now. If she didn't accept the 'small token' of his esteem, Aladdin might feel obliged to refuse his present. And, though she wanted to see him dressed up fancy, it was more important to her that he dress warmly. And if Aladdin liked this plain suit more than one of the royal tailor's lovely suits... she finished the thought with a mental shrug. Who could figure men out anyway?

"Why, thank you, Prince Wasim," she said graciously. She opened the package. "Oh, Wasim! This is no 'small token'! You shouldn't have!" And she meant it. The diamond set in the gold pendant was as big as a walnut.

Dazzled, she picked up the gold chain and held the diamond up to the light, making it glow like a miniature sun.

"Please, Princess," Wasim said. "It was the only thing I could find in your market that even came close to matching your beauty."

Jasmine blushed. "I... it's the most beautiful necklace I have ever seen," she said. "Thank you, Wasim." And she immediately began planning on what to give Wasim. It had to be worthy of the diamond, without being something... romantic. She didn't want to lead him on.

Then, a little nervously, Jasmine shot a glance at Aladdin, wondering if he would be jealous that Wasim gave her such a fabulous gift, or if he'd be embarrassed that he could not match it. She needn't have worried, Aladdin was too busy gawking at the gem to feel either emotion.

Aladdin's spellbound expression was mirrored by Abu and Iago, reminding Jasmine her friends were reformed thieves (well, Iago and Abu were semi-reformed). She could just see little abacus disks shuttling in their minds as they calculated how much they could fence it for.

Except Carpet, who was neither an ex-thief nor calculating rates. Instead, he swooped around the room agitatedly. 'Perhaps he was still upset about the suit,' speculated Jasmine, with a mental apology for lumping Carpet amongst the 'thieves'. Her gaze returned to the diamond, so she didn't notice

Iago whisper something into Abu's ear.

"Allow me," Wasim said, apparently not noticing how the others had been turned into drooling idiots. All attention was glued to the diamond.

"Why, thank you," Jasmine said. She knew she shouldn't accept such an expensive gift, but she just couldn't resist. (Ex-thieves weren't the only ones who could be enchanted by beautiful jewels.)

Aladdin's gaze followed every movement of the diamond until it came to a rest against Jasmine's warm brown skin. Then he realized exactly what part of Jasmine's anatomy he was starting at. He 'eeped', jerked upright, stepped back a pace, and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Um, Jasmine..." his voice trailed off as his brain refused to supply any more words.

Jasmine folded her arms, tapped a foot and glowered. "So, what, exactly, are you dazzled by?" she asked in a "come up with the right answer fast, boy, it's almost Rajah's dinner time" tone of voice.

"Uh," Aladdin hesitated. 'What would Genie do in a situation like this?' he wondered. Something dazzling, he decided.

Not being able to do any of Genie's magic tricks, Aladdin decided to try another way of dazzling. He bowed low and said passionately: "The combined beauty of you and the diamond completely overwhelmed my senses, My Princess."

Then he straightened and his big brown eyes met her big brown eyes in a look that would have melted a polar ice cap.

Jasmine, not being anywhere near as cold as a polar ice cap, melted into his arms.

"Nice save," Iago said, then squawked and fluttered his wings in disgust. "Aw, geez, do we have to make with the tongue tussling!? We got company you know!" He flew around the room, molting copiously on the happy couple.

"Oh!" Jasmine said, breaking away and blushing. She'd completely forgotten about Prince Wasim, which really isn't any way to treat the man who just gave her a diamond worth enough drachma to clothe... half of Agrabah?

She looked at it speculatively. Well, maybe not half, but the right buyer would certainly give enough money to clothe a lot... Oh, no! Now she was thinking of fences!

"Um, sorry, Wasim," Aladdin was saying. "I guess we got carried away."

Wasim waved his hand as if it were of no importance. "Not at all, I don't blame you a bit. Though I must admit I wish I were in your place, young man."

'Young man!' thought Aladdin with a mental snort. 'Oh, well, it's better than the perpetual 'BOY' everybody keeps calling me.'

"Do try on the suit. I so want to see how it looks on you," Wasim urged, as if the only thing on his mind was seeing his friends enjoy their new gifts.

"Oh, right, good idea," Aladdin said.

"You can change in the guest room," Jasmine said, taking him by the arm.

"Excuse me, Prince Wasim, but it's much too cold for Aladdin to go back to his quarters tonight. So he's staying over in his usual guest room."

"I am?" Aladdin asked bemusedly, only to get a royal elbow in the ribs.

"You are," Jasmine informed him, twisting his arm behind his back.

"Of course, my princess, I will see you later," Wasim bowed gracefully and laughed to himself.

"We'll be right back, Prince Wasim, and thank you again for the lovely necklace," Jasmine said, muscling Aladdin out of the room, followed by avid monkey, a greedy parrot and an anxious Carpet.

To Be Continued