Aladdin Fan Fiction / Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Avatar meets Disney ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters. Disney gots Jasmine, Rajah, the 40 thieves, and the Sultan while Nickelodeon has Zuko and Iroh...lucky bastards.

A/N: Sorry but Aladdin will not being showing up in the fic. I love him (he is my fav. disney hero) but there's no place for him in the storyline. But there is a guest appearance from another female Disney character that will be showimg up...can u guess who?

---
"Who does this Prince Zuko think he is?" Jafar hissed as he worked in his secret lair. He hated the new guests once he saw them. That Iroh guy and the Sultan became best friends in less then one minute, now they were practically inseparable. Prince Zuko and Princess Jasmine didn't seem happy...but yet they were always around eachother. Jafar hoped they were fighting every time because if Princess Jasmine began to like this guy...Jafar shuddered at the thought. "And what is a Fire Nation? I never in my life heard of such a place!"

"And you've been around a long time!" Iago commented. Jafar glared darkly at him. "Er...I meant...who does that prince think he is?" Iago added hastily. "And what's the deal with the big freaky scar? Huh? I've never seen a prince damaged so bad!"

"Hmm." Jafar stroked his beard in thought. "Now that I think about it...neither have I. Princes usually don't fight their own battles. There's something really shady about Prince Zuko."

"What?" Iago asked curiously. "You don't think he's a prince?"

"If he is, he's not from anywhere near here." Jafar said, thinking out loud. "Him and his uncle do dress...odd..."

"Yeah! And what's the deal with all that armor he had on?" Iago asked. "Seems to me like he should be more of a soldier then a prince!"

"Either way I can't let him ruin my plans of taking over Agrabah. The princess is mine and it's only a matter of time before I convince her father." He glanced at his snake cane, smirking. "As a matter of fact...today just might be the day to do so. And as a bonus, I'll get rid of Prince Zuko."

---

Jasmine grinned like a kid in a candy store as she walked the busy streets of the market place. There were so many 'colorful' characters in Agrabah. They were always so busy moving around, occasionally bumping into her without apology but she didn't mind. Being out the palace walls was an experience she never wanted to forget. She was even happy she had to find a little spot to sleep at until morning came, which was odd coming from a girl who was use to being pampered and sleeping on silk sheets and soft beds.

She continued her way down the streets, grinning politely at every person that tried to sell her their products. She'd reply with a 'no thank you' and continue to the next stand to gaze at the things they had. A small, dirty, skinny boy standing next to her caught her attention. He was gazing hungrily at the fresh red apples, eyes pleading for the man selling them to let him at least have one bite.

"Aww!" Jasmine smiled warmly at the boy, kneeling down. "Do you want one?" she asked sweetly, reaching for one of the apples to hand it to him. A tight grip on her wrist stopped her immediately. She looked up to see Zuko glaring down at her. "What are you doing here?" she asked angrily. "And let go of me this instant!"
"Are you crazy?" Zuko shot back. "You're about to take an unpaid apple and hand it to this kid!"

Jasmine shrugged. "Your point...?" she asked, not seeing the error in what she was doing.

Zuko sighed, frustrated by the girl's naiveness. "It's sad a little kid knows better then you!" he replied, referring to the peasant boy who was watching them in confusion.

"Excuse me?" Jasmine asked incredulously. "What's so wrong with being polite to others? Something I'm sure you know nothing about."

"Listen to what I say...and I'll say it very slowly for you! You. Are. Giving. Away. An. Apple. You. Didn't. Pay. For." he said, like he was talking to a child. "You see that man and his monkey up there?" he asked, pointing to the top of a stand at a dark-haired man with a purple vest and red hat. His monkey distracted the salesperson as he took the watermelon.

Jasmine watched in amusement. "How clever of them!" she exclaimed. "What's wrong with that?"

Zuko growled in frustration. He felt like shaking the stupidity out of the girl. "That's stealing! Don't you know what stealing is?" he asked, annoyed.

Jasmine's eyes widened in realization. "That's what stealing is?" she asked incredulously. "But..." She looked at the starving boy. "He wants one..."

"Tell his parents to buy him one!" Zuko replied, pulling her up by her wrist. "Now let's go."

"Let go of me!" Jasmine snapped, pulling out of his grasp. "You may not care about others but I do! I'm going to buy this boy an apple!"

"With what?" Zuko asked. "Do you have any money on you? Any jewels or gold?"

"No." Jasmine replied darkly. "But I'm sure if we just ask the man politely-"

Zuko rolled his eyes. "You're bright ways of seeing things are really starting to annoy me! Not everyone is nice like the people at the..." he looked around, lowering his voice so the people wouldn't hear him. "palace."

"Your just saying that." Jasmine replied stubbornly, not wanting to believe people are so cruel to just let a kid starve. "I don't believe you."

"You wouldn't." Zuko muttered darkly, digging in his pockets. He was sure he had something to...ah! There it was! He pulled out a little gold coin, showing it to the clerk. "How many apples can I get for this?" he asked.

The clerk's eyes widened in joy. "My dear boy, you can have ALL the apples!" he replied, greedily snatching the coin from Zuko.

"Right." Zuko replied wryly. He grabbed an apple and handed it to the boy, receiving a huge grin from him.

"Thank you, mister!" the boy cried out.

Zuko grunted his 'your welcome' and turned to look at the dozens of apples he just bought. What was he going to do with all this stuff now? He glared at the princess who was actually smiling back at him. What is she so happy about? he thought darkly. Making me buy the kid an apple! Now what am I gonna do with all this..."Free apples for everyone!" Zuko shouted, getting everyone's attention.

Jasmine watched in awe as people happily made their way to the apples, thanking Zuko as they took one. He didn't look pleased but Jasmine could tell he felt good doing something nice for other people.

"That's amazing that a little piece of gold could cause so much happiness!" Jasmine grinned.

"Yeah...well...not everyone is as lucky as us." Zuko replied.

Hmm...Jasmine began reaching for one of her huge golden earrings, Zuko spotting her as she took one off.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, snatching the earring from her before anyone could see her take it off. "Do you want to be discovered?"

Jasmine frowned. "That's a very expensive piece of gold. Imagine what I can buy these people with my jewelery!" She tried to grab it back but he held it out of reach. "Give it back!" she demanded.

"Imagine trying to explain to these people where you got enough money to buy something like this!" he replied as she tried to snatch it back oncemore. "Use your brain...for once!"

Jasmine glared darkly at him, but deep down she knew he was right. All she wanted to do was help them like he did...it wasn't like the jewelery was anything special to her. She had plenty more back at the palace. "I just wanted to do something nice." she said, eyeing him suspiciously. "You never told me what you were doing here anyways." She placed a hand on her hip and waited impatiently for his answer.

Zuko knew this was not going to go well with the princess but he didn't care. The Sultan was worried about his daughter and Zuko felt it was his duty to at least make sure the princess; no matter how bratty she was, was safe at home. The Sultan was right about Agrabah not being a safe place for Princess Jasmine, she was out of the walls for less then 10 hours and already she almost managed to get her hand cut off.

"You're going back to the palace." he said sternly.

"No I'm not!" she replied hastily. "You promised not to tell my father! You said I could do what I want as long as I gave you your stupid supplies to get out of here!"

"I didn't exactly promise anything." he said. "Do you know what your putting your father through? Do you know how selfish you're being?"

"I am not being selfish!"

"You're father actually cares about you. Do you know how many people will kill to have that?"

Jasmine gave him a weird look. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "I know I'm lucky to have a father who loves me and wants what's best for me but you have to also understand where I'm coming from-"

"Then talk to him about it!" he hissed in reply. "Back at the palace!" He grabbed her wrist and began to drag her down the street, pushing past people as she tried to pull out his grip.

"Let go of me!" she yelled. "Let go of me this instant!" She began hitting at his hand, her feet digging into the sand.

"Would you stop causing a scene?" he asked, annoyed. He ignored her screaming and the sting of her hand slapping his. "You're embarrassing yourself!"

"And you're kidnapping me!" she snapped back. She fell to the ground and sat indian-style, refusing to move.

Zuko stopped once he realized she was sitting. There was no way he was going to drag her to the palace like this. "Get up!" he hissed angrily.

"No!" She looked away with a snarl.

Zuko glanced around at the people watching them in awe and curiosity. Great! This is the last thing I need! An audience! He was becoming both embarrassed and irritated by the princess's behavior. "Get up or I'll be forced to make you get up!" he threatened her.

Jasmine narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. "You'll do no such thing...AHH!" She was cut off as Zuko picked her up and hauled her over his shoulder. Jasmine shook out of her shock and began pummeling his back with her fists, outraged about her situation. "Put me down! What do you think you're doing!"

Zuko didn't react to her threats or her fists hitting his back. The way he saw it was he just had to get her back to the palace and to her father, then he can leave guilt free. If she ran away again after he and his uncle left then that was not his problem...not that it was his problem now either.

"Fine!" Jasmine cried out after she got tired of screaming at him. "Put me down! I can walk the rest of the way!"

Zuko raised a skeptical eyebrow. "How do I know I can trust you?" he asked. "You might try to run."

"Unlike you, I keep my promises." Jasmine replied. "Now put me down! This is embarrassing!"

Zuko didn't know what possessed him to put her down but he did. Once on the ground, Jasmine huffed at him and began to dust herself off. She looked at him, her mouth tight and thin; eyes gleaming dangerously, vowing to get revenge no matter what.

"I don't understand you." she said finally. "You come here...a place you believe to be some kind of 'alternate universe', practically beg your uncle to leave...and yet here you are. You have got to be the most confusing prince I have ever met!"

Zuko crossed his arms and fixed her with a hard glare. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

"What is it you want then?" Jasmine asked. "It's obvious you don't want to leave-"

"Yes I do!" he snapped. "I want to get out of here and continue my mission on finding the Avatar!"

"Then do it!" she snapped back. "You don't have to act like some heroic prince for my father! You don't need to impress him!"

"I am not trying to impress him!" Zuko retorted, disgusted about her even thinking he wanted the Sultan's acceptance. "He doesn't even matter to me! You don't even matter to me! The only thing I care about is-"

"The capture of the Avatar! Blah! Blah! Blah!" Jasmine interrupted, annoyed. "If we don't matter so much then leave! You'll be doing us; especially me, a huge favor!"

Zuko gritted his teeth in anger, steam coming out of his ears. This is what he gets for trying to do the rightful thing of making sure the princess was safe? What an ungrateful brat she was! What was even thinking of coming out her to get her anyways? What did he care if she got kidnapped or worse? She thinks she's so smart...let her take care of herself.
"Fine!" he snapped. "Go ahead! Explore your new life of freedom! I'm through trying to help you!"

"Go then!" she yelled, turning her back on him. Zuko's fist lit up with fire, but Jasmine didn't notice. She was too busy ignoring him. "I never asked for your help anyways!"

Zuko bit his bottom lip, trying his hardest to not throw the growing flame at the princess. It would feel so good to set her on fire...just once! Then he'd be satisfied, but he couldn't. He cursed himself and let the flame fizzle out, dropping his arm to his side. He scowled at her back. "I wish your husband the best of luck because you're going to be one aggravating wife." He began to walk away as she continued to stand with her arms crossed.

Jasmine sighed as she heard him walk off. She was suddenly starting to feel bad about everything. Was she really being stubborn and spoiled for wanting a life of love and happiness? No! I want to...need to...marry for love! Father doesn't understand and Zuko definitely doesn't understand! All he talks about is honor and the right thing to do. Well this is the right thing! Even if it is hurting my father...Jasmine frowned and glanced over her shoulder to watch Zuko walk back towards the palace. She didn't want to hurt her father, she just wanted him to understand where she was coming from. She also wasn't being exactly fair to Prince Zuko. He never really tried anything to get with her like the others. As a matter of fact he was kind of nice until she went off on him at the palace. He wasn't trying to marry her and take over Agrabah, he just wanted to get back home and restore his honor. Was that a bad thing?

Jasmine turned around and called out his name. What he said about people killing to have a father as nice and loving as the Sultan really got to her. She heard many stories about young children growing up without fathers; no one around to help take care of them while their mothers worked.

"Zuko, wait!" she shouted, jogging to catch up with him. She was making her way through people when she saw a huge man approach Zuko from behind. She stopped and watched in horror as the man pulled out a huge brick, ready to strike Zuko. "ZUKO!" she cried out, but she was too late. The man quickly knocked Zuko out and dragged him to an alley. Jasmine raced past the crowd of people and followed the man.

---

"Jafar! How nice of you to join us!" the Sultan exclaimed as Jafar entered the entertainment room. He glanced at Iroh to find him in the same spot he's been all night. He really liked those bellydancers and that tea!

"I just wanted to see if our new guest and his nephew Prince Zuko were enjoying themselves." Jafar replied, glancing around the room. "Where is our grand Prince Zuko anyways?" he asked, already knowing where the Fire Nation prince was at.

Iroh shrugged. "Haven't seen him all day! He told me we were suppose to be leaving today but he never came and got me." Iroh gave them a smug smile. "Not that I'm complaining!"

The Sultan grinned joyously. "We believe he might be with Princess Jasmine since we haven't seen her all day either!"

Jafar gaped at them. "Princess Jasmine's missing too?" he asked. "You think they're together?"

"We hope they're together." Iroh corrected.

"And you're not even going to go try and look for them to see where they're at or what they're doing?" he asked incredulously. Jafar knew Zuko wasn't in the palace. Iago saw the young prince leave earlier, muttering incoherent hotly. There's no way the princess could be with him unless..."I'll go check up on the princess!" he said hastily.

The Sultan waved it off. "Leave them alone, Jafar. Kids need their privacy."

Iroh nodded in agreement. "I know my nephew hates to be interrupted."

"What makes you so sure they're together? Hmm?" Jafar asked.

"Where else would they be?" The Sultan asked.

Fools! I'm dealing with fools! Jafar thought darkly. He put on a fake smile. "I'm just going to see if they need anything."

"Oh! And, Jafar!" the Sultan called out, stopping his advisor. "We would like some more tea, please!"

Jafar nodded and mumbled something incoherently, leaving the room.

Iroh and the Sultan exchanged glances and shrugged.

"What a nice man!" Iroh exclaimed.

---

"What are you doing?" Jasmine asked angrily. She watched the man throw a half-unconscious Zuko on the ground. "Zuko!" She was about to run to the prince until two men stopped her.

"What do we have here, Saluk?" one man asked. "It seems a streetrat girl spotted us!"

Jasmine struggled in the men's grip. "Let go of me!" she demanded. "And what are you doing with him?"

Several more men appeared as the large man circled Zuko. "Nothing. Nothing at all, darling." he grinned. He turned to the other men. "Check him for treasure first. I saw him pull out gold back at the market!"

Jasmine gave him a disgusted look. "Are you robbing him?" she asked incredulously.

"Among other things." the man replied.

"Other things?" she asked. "Who are you? And what do you want with Zuko?"

"The name's Saluk." he introduced himself. "And these men are the rest of the forty thieves."

"Forty?" Jasmine asked, gazing around at the many men in the alley.

"He has no more treasure, Saluk!" A man said after he was done patting Zuko down. "Should we just kill him now?"

"Kill?" Jasmine gasped. "No! Don't kill him!" She shook out the men's grasp. "Please don't kill him! I have gold! Just leave him alone!"

"I highly doubt that, sweetheart." Saluk chuckled. He kicked Zuko roughly in the ribs. "Worthless...just like the man said he'd be." He looked around at the other thieves. "Well, we aren't getting paid for nothing! Let's kill the prince!"

"NO!" Jasmine cried out as the men began to move in on him. "Here!" She quickly began to take off her gold jewerly and threw it at Saluk. "Take it!"
Saluk caught the jewelry and stared at her in shock. "This is worth thousands!" he said incredulously. "There's no way a streetrat like you can afford such jewelry unless..." He quickly snatched off her dirty robes, revealing a silk blue outfit and emerald headband. "You're the princess!" he grinned.

Jasmine scowled at him. "What's it to you?" she asked. She looked at Zuko who began stirring, regaining consciousness again. He's going to be ok...

"Oh, it's everything to me, Princess." he smirked, grabbing her roughly. "What do you say, boys?" he asked at the smiling men. "We caught ourselves our very own princess of Agrabah!"

"She can be worth millions!" a man exclaimed. "And the man that hired us never said anything about not harming the princess!"

"The man that hired you?" Jasmine asked, skeptical. "Hired you for what?"

Saluk gave her a sadistic grin. "I can't tell you, Princess." He turned to look at Zuko who began groaning. "But I'll let you watch if you wish." He thought a moment. "Though it might give you nightmares..." he shot her a sideways glance. "Oh well. I'm sure you can watch. It's time you got out of your fairytale world and experienced real life."

Jasmine spotted a long piece of wood against the wall as he talked to her. She glanced warily at Saluk then back at the wood. He was threatening to kill Zuko, she had to do something. Once he turned his back on her and made his way over to Zuko; kicking him once more in the gut, Jasmine ran for the wood and struck him with it.

Saluk cried out as he felt the pain of the wood breaking over his back. He turned to glare at Jasmine who scowled in return at him, she held the two pieces of wood in both hands.

"You little bitch!" He yelled. "What do you think you're doing?" He grabbed her roughly by the arms and forced her to drop the wood.

"Let go of me!" she hissed, struggling in his huge arms.

"Do you see what our royal pain-in-the-ass did?" he asked the men who began snickering. He glared down at Jasmine. "That took some real guts, princess! But it's gonna take more then a piece of wood to knock-OOMPH!" Jasmine elbowed him in the groin, causing him to release her. She slapped him hard across the face before running to Zuko.

"She sure is kicking your butt, Saluk!" one laughed. "Feisty little one, ain't she?"

Saluk growled his frustration, shutting up the others laughter instantly. He turned to watch Jasmine kneel next to Zuko, checking if he was ok.

"I'm this close to killing you!" he yelled, stomping towards her, his eyes shining menacingly. He pulled her up by her arm and grabbed her by the throat. "No one smacks me and gets away with it alive!" He released her neck, allowing her to gasp for air before slapping her across the face. The men began laughing as she landed on the ground next to Zuko.

"That's teaching her!" one exclaimed, applauding Saluk.

Saluk smirked. "What can I say? I have a way with the ladies."

---

Zuko laid on the ground, listening consciously to everything the men were saying. He allowed the man named Saluk to kick him around, waiting for his opportunity to get up and attack the men when they least expected it. What he didn't expect was Princess Jasmine to try to help him. He thought she despised him. He was mostly shocked when she actually grabbed a weapon and tried to protect him, getting her own self in trouble as she did. From what Saluk said, there were forty men in the alley willing and ready to kill him. But for what? That didn't matter now. It would be easy to fight off these men, they weren't benders of any kind (not that Zuko couldn't defend himself against them if they were benders). Zuko peered up at one man standing above him, his attention elsewhere. His gaze lowered to the man's belt, spotting two swords. Zuko smiled secretly. Bingo!

Once Jasmine landed on the ground next to him, he glanced at her. Her lip was bleeding from the strike she received from Saluk, her eyelids half-way closed. Zuko felt his body feel with fiery anger as he watched blood begin to make its way out her nose. What kind of man strikes a helpless girl? he thought angrily as he felt the fire in him begging to be released on these dishonorable, cowardly men. He then began thinking about all the times he fought with the watertribe peasant. Well that's different! She knows how to defend herself! Jasmine's eyes began to flutter open, catching Zuko's attention. Her eyes looked alittle glazed but other then that she seemed ok.

Jasmine noticed Zuko's amber eyes on her. She smiled weakly, "Zu-" He cut her off with a low 'shh', he didn't want the men to know he was conscious yet. She nodded, understanding. "Ugh!" Jasmine gasped in pain as Saluk pulled her off the ground by her hair, bringing her to her feet.

He brought his bronze knuckleduster up to her chin, tracing her skin lightly with the edge of his claw. "I should disfigure this pretty face of yours...maybe you'll learn how to respect a man."

"Odd," Jasmine responded hotly. "I hear that a lot lately."

That's it. Zuko couldn't wait any longer for his opportunity. He shot his leg out at Saluk, a blast of fire hitting the huge man's legs. Saluk cried out and released Jasmine who ran to the other side of the alley. She watched in awe as Zuko quickly got up and grabbed two swords from one of the thieves.

"What the hell?" Saluk asked as he saw the prince get up. "How did you...?" He glanced down at the fire fizzling out on his pants. "GET HIM!" he yelled outraged.

Zuko prepared himself for the fight. He clutched the swords tightly in his hands, striking every man that tried to attack him. He didn't use the sharp edge of the sword to stab any of them, he didn't want to kill forty men in one day. Instead he kept knocking the men around, either with the back of his sword or kicking them back with his legs.

Saluk couldn't believe what he was seeing. The forty thieves were being defeated by a mere prince! A boy nonetheless! He was tired of his men being thrown around like a bunch of ragdolls. He spotted a sword one of the men dropped while trying to attack Zuko across the alley. He quickly ran to go grab it, but Jasmine was quicker. She grabbed it and pointed it at Saluk's throat, stopping him abruptly.

"Don't you dare move!" she yelled. Saluk gazed down at the blade cautiously then looked back at Jasmine.

"You don't have it in you." he grinned as she glowered at him. He quickly snatched the sword from her, bringing it back up to her throat. "Like I said before, princess. It's time you stopped living in a fairytale world and experienced real life." He raised the sword as Jasmine watched in terror. Two sharp blades to his back stopped him.

"Drop it." Zuko demanded as he held his swords to Saluk's back.

Saluk chuckled nervously as he realized Zuko already defeated the other men. "For a prince you sure know how to fight, boy."

"Don't call me boy!" Zuko snapped. "The name's Prince Zuko. Now drop the sword or I'll be forced to make you drop it."

"He'll do it." Jasmine spoke up. "Believe me."

Saluk let out a defeated sigh, but grinned when he heard the familiar sounds of the other thieves getting back up. "Seems to me like your in a little trouble, Prince Zuko." he said.

Zuko glanced around to find himself surrounded by 39 other men, all with their swords and weapons pointed at him. Crap...they just don't give up do they? He looked at Jasmine who seemed terrified. Oh well, she was going to find out soon or later...

Jasmine saw Zuko gazing at her. She read the look in his eyes and gave him an affirmative nod.

Saluk noticed the exchange between the two. "What are you guys-OOMPH!" Jasmine kicked him in the groin again and quickly grabbed his sword; running out the way as Zuko turned to the other men, his body producing fire.

Jasmine stopped and watched in awe as fire surrounded Zuko, his body and swords engulfed in it. What the-She glanced around the alley and found a stray bucket of water on the ground.

"W-what? H-how's he doing that?" one man stuttered in fear. "The boy's on fire!"

"It's magic or witchcraft!" another cried out. "I did not sign up for this!"

"Let's get out of here!"

The men dropped their weapons and ran out the alley in horror. Saluk growled once more at Zuko before following the other thieves.

Zuko smirked, satisfied he didn't even have to use his firebending on the cowards. He turned to see Jasmine's reaction...but she was gone. Where did she-

"AHH!" Zuko screamed as a bucket of ice cold water was poured on him. He turned to see Jasmine with a worried look on her face, holding a now empty bucket of water. "What the hell did you do that for?" he yelled at her. He stared down at his soaked clothes.

"You were on fire!" she replied. "What did you want me to do?"

"What part of 'I'm prince of the Fire Nation' did you not understand?" he asked, irritated.

Jasmine rolled her eyes. "I didn't know you meant it so literally!" She threw down the bucket and eyed him cautiously. "You can produce fire? From your body?"

"It's called firebending where I'm from." he explained, rinsing the water out of his ponytail. "Thank you for the shower by the way." he added.

Jasmine shrugged. "Sorry...I thought you were combusting into flames or something..."

Zuko tried to hold back a smirk but failed miserably. "Combusting into flames?" he asked, amused. "Never heard that one before!" She grinned back at him, Zuko noticing the blood spilling out her busted lip and nose again. He frowned, "You ok?"

"What? This?" she asked, pointing to her face. "It'll heal eventually. What's a bloody nose and busted lip compared to injured ribs?" she said, indicating Zuko's bruised side.

Zuko forgot all about the pain in his ribs. He completely forgot the blows he received to them from Saluk when he began fighting. "It's nothing...I've had worse...believe me." Memories of fighting the Avatar, Katara, and Azula flashed through his head.

"You're bleeding!" Jasmine cried out. Zuko was about to reply that he was ok but Jasmine already closed the distance between them, lightly caressing the spot where Saluk hit him with the brick.

Zuko froze as her body got so close to his. He wanted to say something but found himself lost for words. She didn't notice his uncomfortableness; she was too busy examining his wounds, her big brown eyes filled with worry.

"You should probably sit down." she said. "What if you have a concussion or something?"

"I'm...fine." he managed to say. Why is she being so nice all of a sudden? He thought. What happened to the ungrateful, spoiled princess that seemed to love to argue with me so much? She was obviously replaced by a caring, nice princess who was concerned about him! And to be honest, Zuko wanted the bratty one back. He could deal with her a lot better, because this one was touching him!

"Still...I don't like the look of that bump on your head." she replied. "We should-"

"Hide!" He pushed Jasmine aside behind stacked crates in the alley. She crashed into the wall and fell to the ground.

"What the-"

"Shh!" Zuko whispered. Three guards from the palace walked into the alley, spotting Zuko standing casually next to the stacked crates.

"Prince Zuko, is it?" the main guard asked.

"Yeah." Zuko replied, peering at the guards. "Is there something you want?" he asked once he noticed the guards eyeing his wet clothes.

"Uh...Jafar is sending a search party out for Princess Jasmine. He says she ran away. Have you seen her?"

Zuko thought a moment and glanced at Jasmine who was staring quietly back at him. This has got to be the most stupidest thing I have ever done. He sighed. "Nope, haven't seen her." he replied.

"Oh." the guard gave him a skeptical look. "Well if you see her be sure to bring her back to the palace. And your uncle's looking for you too. He said he thought you guys were suppose to be leaving today."

"We are." Zuko replied hastily. "I just need some...supplies."

"I'll be sure to tell him." the guard replied. "C'mon, men! She's probably at the festival their having down at the plaza." The guards walked back out the alley.

Zuko looked at Jasmine who got off the ground, smiling joyously at him. Oh no...He had a bad feeling about that smile. She quickly ran to him; embracing him with a tight hug, and giving him a quick kiss on his cheek right below his scar.

"Thank you! Thank you!" she exclaimed. "I knew you weren't as heartless as you act!" She released him and stared at his shocked expression. "Are you ok?" she asked, bringing her hand up to feel his forehead. "You look flushed...want me to pour more water on you?"

Zuko shook out of his daze. "No! I just..." He tried to think of something but found nothing to tell her. "Sorry I pushed you into the wall." he apologized instead.

Jasmine smirked. "You did it to hide me! You're forgiven!"

"Right." he replied. Actually, he mostly pushed her behind the crates to get her off him. But he wasn't going to tell her that.