Fan Fiction ❯ If There Be Thorns ❯ By Any Other Name ( Chapter 4 )

If There Be Thorns

By Maggie Griffin

CHAPTER 4: By Any Other Name

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Sadira was unaware of exactly how much time passed since she had made her way to Agrabah. By the time she got there, the pain from her stomach had gone completely, as had the sun set into the sky, giving way for the desert cold of the night.

"This is all my fault, I should have been able to do something. You think, I have all these powers...well what good are they?" she muttered under her breath as she tried to keep control of the sand that transported her back to the city. She was finding it a bit difficult, particularly after what had just transpired.

The city came into view in the distance, and Sadira narrowed her eyes, willing the sand to move faster.

~Come on....it could already be too late....~

**********

The garden had begun to look a bit frightening to Aini. While it still retained its immense beauty, the un natural lights that faded in and out through some of the more translucent leaves gave the place a rather spooky effect, like a forgotten world.

~Well it is, in a way~ She reasoned, trying to get comfortable on the bed of thick leaves that Arbatus had left for her to rest on.

To her immense relief earlier, Arbutus had not killed her, as he had implied to Sadira. He had instead, showed her the garden, making it clear that this way to be her home from now on. Ai had not objected, though wether from fear or contentment was unsure.

Arbutus had also taken the time to show her all that was to be seen, which had turned out to be much more then she had anticipated. A small waterfall had been hidden behind dense shrubbery at one corner of the garden. It had parted at Arbutus' whim, spreading apart to reveal the flowing crystalline water.

Trees grew in vast amounts all around the garden, as if holding together an impenetrable fortress. Green grass grew everywhere, not a single blade turning yellow with age. Flowers had outlined the corners, spreading around in pretty patterns, and Arbutus had explained that was part of his own unique art.

"A living art!" he had called it, gesturing to the flower beds around them.

Before the sun had set completely, he had bade her to climb the winding vine-like staircase Ai had noticed early, leading up to the small gazebo-like structure that hung in the air, supported by vines and wayward branches.

Aini recalled standing up there, looking out to the rest of the garden. For a brief moment, she had felt completely at peace, as if the ever-present fear that was always been a part of her had temporarily evaporated.

Now, she lay in the dark corner, jumping at every whistle caused by the wind stirring the leaves and flower petals, which seemed to stir in the moonlight.

Finally, Aini rose to her feet, unable to fall asleep where she had lain. She made her way carefully through the garden, making sure she didn't step on any flowers or plants. After a moment, she saw the familiar sight of the winding staircase, and made her way up to the gazebo.

The moonlight struck the center, which had no roof, only large leaves that swept upwards in an angle. The center was filled with flower petals of different colors, and now looked even more beautiful bathed in the moonlight. Aini made herself comfortable in the center of the patch of light, and was asleep in moments.

A figure moved beneath the gazebo, appearing at the foot of the vine stairs. His willowy frame moved with grace in the darkness, like a lost spirit moving among the shadows. A fine hand reached out, grasping one end of the stairs, and the thin faced looked upwards, towards where he knew the little child slept.

Arbutus sighed, and shook his head. He had kept an eye on Aini, convinced that at any given moment when his back was turned, she would try to make a run for it. As anticipated, she had rose in the night, and moved through the garden. He had planned to catch her at the gates, but had become confused when she had begun to climb the stairs.

Now, he knew she slept, feeling her essence at rest at last.

He had sensed her confusion earlier, and looked down at her with that look on her face, one he had never seen before. Her eyes had been closed tight, and every part of her had seemed tense, awaiting the horrible punishment he had promised the other witch he would no doubt deliver.

Of course, he had lied. Had he wanted to truly kill to appease his need for justice, he would have taken the one directly responsible. Yet he much preferred the poetic justice contrived from simply taking the little one. Let the witch keep thinking the child was dead. That way, her punishment would last an eternity.

In the meantime, he would think of some way to put the little one to some good use. He didn't really need much help in the tending of his garden, that was out of the question.

"But you are a pretty little thing, a flower, by any other name...," he whispered. "Perhaps I can use you to inspire some of my work. Nothing else has worked so far....," he trailed off sadly, walking away from the staircase and towards the vines iron gate that separated his world from the world of death outside.

That was the beauty of it. Whatever creation he did make would last an eternity. Even when all life outside had extinguished, leaving that world in death and decay, his garden would continue to bloom.

A garden of eternal life, as the child now with him would come to realize soon enough.

"All eternity little one, you will have all eternity to learn!" he sighed.

Eternity was a lonely word.

**********

"First and foremost, would you please calm down!" Jasmine demanded, taking Sadira firmly but gently by the shoulders, and sitting her down.

"How can you expect me to calm down with what's happened? He said he was going to kill her, he...," Sadira started again, wide-eyed and frantic. Nearly ten minutes ago, she had rushed into the palace as if all Hades had broken lose and chased after all. She had rose in on the sand, breaking past the gate and Razoul, who had immediately assembled guards, but had dispensed them when Aladdin and Jasmine had managed to calm Sadira down.

"For one thing, I can help you if you take a deep breath and tell me who 'he' is!" Jasmine suggested gently. "And who 'he' is going to kill!"

"AINI! DON'T YOU GET IT, ARBUTUS WANTS TO KILL AINI!" Sadira screamed, trying to get to the point and go after the Earth Elemental. "Oh...it could already be too late...," she moaned miserably, trying to hold back tears that were threatening to fall at any given moment.

By that time, the entire group had assembled in the grand hall, and a crowd of open-mouthed spectators now watched Sadira in shock.

"Did you say...Arbutus?" Aladdin asked, disbelief clear in his voice. "As in garden-Arbutus, the one who kidnaped Jasmine?" He added, earning him a scowl from the princess.

"But Al, didn't you...I mean....you know....," Genie muttered. "...kill him?"

"Well, we did re-plant his heart afterwards. Or life-source, whatever it was," Jasmine recalled.

"Hello? Are you all going to stand around here debating how he could have come back, or are you going to help me save Ai before he kills her?" Sadira demanded, now more then a little annoyed at their lack of interest in what was in her eyes, a sure tragedy.

"First off all, Arbutus will not kill Aini, so you can put your fears at ease there!" Jasmine said gently.

"What? No, I mean you should have heard him...," Sadira started, but was cut off by Jasmine.

"What exactly happened?"

For the next short while, Sadira sat in front of Aladdin, Jasmine, Carpet, Iago, Abu, Genie, and the Sultan. She explained how she had been teaching Ai to work with the magic scrolls of the sand, and about the small sand storm that had somehow gone out of control and grown into one big sandstorm. Sadira explained that she had failed to grab control of it when Ai had let it go, and the storm had raged off into what they had later discovered had been Arbatus' garden.

"They he popped right out of the ground in front of the temple entrance, made some very believable threats, took Aini, and took off!" Sadira concluded. "So can we please go now, please?"

"I told you....no matter what Arbutus said, I highly doubt he'll kill her! Chances are, he just made you think that to make you feel guilty and thus punish you for an accident he thinks you caused!" Jasmine reassured.

"Jas is right!" Genie agreed. "Look, we can get her back, but we can't just go in there magic-a-blazin' and expect to take Arbutus out! We need a plan. We all know what happened last time we had no plan, and went after him anyway!"

"Yeah, big branchy-sized bruises, and one un necessarily dead Earth Elemental!" Iago muttered.

"Yeah well, this time it could be someone worst that could accidently end up dead!" Jasmine hinted, and everyone grew uncomfortably silent, knowing she was talking about Aini. "Arbutus won't hurt her because she poses no threat to him or his garden. The most that will happen is that Ai will probably be terrified of him, with his quick temper of humans....," Jasmine muttered.

"Never the less, you must save her somehow! Ai is just a child, she may soon be an adult, but she does not know how to take care of herself like you all do. She will not fare well around Arbutus, and I doubt she will enjoy being kept a prisoner!" The Sultan spoke.

"Alright look. First we'll make some sort of plan, give it a little while. Arbutus will be expecting an attack after this, and with his garden buddies on the alert, we won't stand a chance!" Iago suggested. "Give it a little while, a few days at the most."

"A FEW DAYS? ARE YOU INSANE?" Sadira screamed, but Genie put a hand on her shoulder to silence her.

"I hate to say it kiddo, but big-beak is right! We can't just go in with no plan, and with Arbutus ready for an attack."

Sadira fell quiet for a moment, debating all that had been said and weighting it around in her mind. She hated to admit it, but the argument against her was logical. Arbutus would be powerful, that further fueled by his recent hatred of having his plants and flowers crispified at the power of the sand storm. He would also be expecting something, and going after him without a plan at a time like the present would not be very smart.

"Three days! Three days to come up with a plan, let that plant-freak cool down, and then get Ai back. After three days, I find him myself, with or without the rest of you!" Sadira finally spoke, her voice menacing. She meant exactly what she said.

Aladdin nodded, and the group set to deciding what was to be done.

**********

Aini woke up to the bright rays of the sun shining behind her closed eyelids. She felt wonderfully warm and comfortable, more so then she had ever felt in her life, even in Jasmine's beautiful palace.

For a moment, she was confused as to where she was, and sat up quickly. However, her memory returned to moment she caught proper sight of her surroundings and realized she was up in the gazebo-like structure.

Ai stood up, walking to the edge and looking out towards the garden. The strange lights that had kept it so dimly lit the previous night had gone, replaced in favor of the natural sunlight, peaking over the horizon and brightening the garden for her to see.

Suddenly, Aini recalled who had brought her here, and wondered where Arbutus had gone to. While she wasn't exactly brimming with excitement at the idea of seeing him again, if he was the only other person here to talk to, she figured it would be nice to be on better terms with him then the standard captor-prisoner.

Especially since she strangely, didn't feel much like a prisoner.

Climbing down the staircase, she set towards the small stream that flowed by it, washing the last remnants of sleep from her eyes and temporarily blinding herself with the cold water. She reached down to wipe the clear water off her cheeks with a corner of her dress, and her hand grasped a cloth-like material.

Assuming it was the corner of her dress, she brought it up and dried her face with it gently.

"You know, some would consider that rude!"

The flat, humor-less voice startled her so badly she shook, her eyes flying upwards and meeting the almost frighteningly tall frame of Arbutus.

A little too late did she realize that was still holding on to a corner of his robe.

Aini felt her cheeks burn painfully, looking down with the knowledge she was probably blight red from embarrassment.

"I'm...s..sorry! I t...thought...," she started, not finishing when Arbutus cut her off.

"Never mind that! Tell me, how was your first night in my garden?" He asked. "Did you not like the sleeping accommodations I laid out for you?"

Aini blinked.

"Is that why you were up and about during the night?" He reminded, a small sneer appearing on his lips.

Aini shivered, her eyes falling back down to the floor. She bit her lip, feeling more and more embarrassed at moving about during the night.

"I c..couldn't...," she stopped, a bit too intimidated by Arbutus staring her down to continue.

"Why do you stutter so much?" He asked, a bit annoyed. He paused suddenly when he noticed her clenching and unclenching her fists, and shivering slightly. At first, he had thought it was simply from the morning coolness in the air, yet now, he could see a completely different motivation behind it.

Strangely, it disturbed him.

"Your...afraid of me!" It was a statement that made her look up in shock, eyes big and green and full of the fear that Arbutus had guessed at. "No, not afraid are you little one? Not at all....but terrified."

There was an incredibly uncomfortable silence then, and each second that went by seemed more painful then the next for Aini, who continued to look back at Arbutus, though unable to look him in the eyes. Instead, she concentrated on the thorns that jutted out from the strange, shield-like object draped around his chest.

When his long fingers brushed her cheek, Aini was so badly startled she gasped. Yet to her immense surprise, she didn't pull away.

"You know, this place is one of life. Life that can last...a very, very long time! Like every flower here, it will not be extinguished by any natural means. This is the place that you will live in from now on.....and I live here as well. This garden and I are a part of each other, and you are a part of us now, in a way....," he trailed off, trying to find the right words to finish of the rather strange speech he had started.

Ai's gaze had softened as Arbutus' hand lightly stroked her cheek.

"There is nothing to fear here little one, certainly not with the immense amount of fear you have inside you!" Arbutus murmured gently, his almost musical voice easing Aini's fear. "Like everything in this garden, I will look after you!"

All was silent once more, and Aini found her fear had eased away completely, replaced instead with an odd warmth that had started at her cheeks and now rested around her chest. After a moment, her mouth lifted slightly in a small smile, and when Arbutus offered her his hand, she took it gratefully and rose off of her kneeling position on the ground.

"Thank you!" She spoke shyly, barely above a whisper. But the stutter had vanished.

**********

Next, Sadira and co. make up a plan in the span of three days. Arbutus finds himself growing more and more fond of Aini.