Summary: What if Jafar was too late finding the 'Diamond in the Rough?' An AU where Aladdin and Jasmine make good their escape, and this time Jasmine is the one doing the lying.

A/N: Yep, this is a 'What if?' AU. It was interesting to me that in the movie, Jasmine also lies to Aladdin about her identity for, like, a day, but she gets off scot-free, while Aladdin is the one who struggles with whether to tell the truth and gets all the blame for lying. Also, Jasmine only gets the freedom she so desires for a day. So I wondered what would happen if Jasmine weren't forced to reveal herself so soon. Would she also be tempted to pass herself off as something she's not, as Aladdin was? This story explores how this would change the plot and how our heroes develop. The only pairing is Aladdin/Jasmine. I will admit, it's a bit darker and more mature than the movie, and borrows a few elements from the musical and the original tale as well (though not the TV series—never seen it). If you're still interested after this slightly expanded summary, then please continue, dear reader…

"Seek me out the Diamond in the Rough."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?! How can a diamond go in after the treasure? It's an inanimate object! I think that cat has been in the sand way too long—"

"Quiet yourself, Iago, or I shall lose my patience. I am trying to divine a solution to this little predicament."

As far as Jafar was concerned, Iago was being willfully ignorant, and he hadn't the time or inclination to disabuse him of his erroneous conclusions. That birdbrained…bird could continue to be confused until he decided to wise up and use the brains sorcery had gifted him with. He continued working through the necessary calculations in blessed silence. To Jafar, it couldn't be clearer that the guardian of the Cave of Wonders was referring to a person—a very specific person, at that—and this business about the 'Diamond in the Rough' was merely a figure of speech. But how to find this individual? It could be anyone, anyone in the whole world.

Well, not anyone. It had to be 'one whose worth lies far within.' That along with the particular figure of speech used implied that it was a person who was of good moral character, but had fallen on hard times—someone whose appearance and social circumstances were at odds with their potential. Still though, there were so many possibilities that fit this description that one could travel for years and not manage to find the one he sought.

But now, after many hours of poring through books and scrolls detailing obscure branches of sorcery, Jafar thought he had an answer. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do. It would, of course, require him to obtain the Sultan's ring, which should not be difficult. He had found over the years that the Sultan was susceptible to hypnosis.

The hard part was going to be the lightning. Agrabah being located in a semi-arid climate, thunderstorms did not often occur. Such a storm might transpire once a year during the rainy season if they were lucky. Fortunately for him, the rainy season was about to begin. And when it did, Jafar would be prepared to capture this precious resource.

Jafar finally stood from his seat. "Come, Iago, we have much to do in preparation."

"So now are you gonna tell me what's going on? You shouldn't keep me in the dark, Jafar. How am I supposed to help out if you never tell me anything?"

"Oh, my feathered friend, I do apologize. I assumed that even someone of your humble mental faculties would be able to grasp the essentials of the situation."

Jafar swept out of the room, laughing at Iago's indignant squawk. Despite the difficulties of the current circumstances, he was in a good mood. He would triumph despite the obstacles. He always had.

If she were being honest with herself, Jasmine had to admit that the view of the palace from here was really beautiful. It was just too bad that she couldn't bring herself to look at it without also summoning the anger, guilt, and sadness she felt about her life there and her ultimate decision to leave it. Seeing the look on Aladdin's face as he wondered innocently what it would be like to live there was the last straw.

"Sure. People who tell you where to go or how to dress," she responded, bitterness evident in her voice.

The boy looked surprised. "Huh, it's better than here. You're always scraping for food and ducking the guards."

Jasmine was only half listening to him though, still deep in self-pity. "You're not free to make your own choices."

"Sometimes you feel so..."

"You're just…"

"Trapped."

Hearing their simultaneous pronunciation of the last word, Jasmine looked up at the boy and answered his smile with one of her own. It was nice to know that there was someone in this world who understood what she was feeling.

Her new friend cleared his throat and grabbed an apple from his monkey, rolling it down his shoulder and bumping it off his elbow to her. "So, where're you from?"

She smiled a bit at the gesture, but it quickly faded in light of his question. "What does it matter? I ran away and I am not going back."

"Really? How come?" He came to sit next to her, concern evident on his features.

She sighed. She wanted to tell him the truth—or part of the truth anyway. It was nice to have a sympathetic ear for once. "My father's forcing me to get married."

"Oh, that's—that's awful." The boy's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't have agreed more. Not that getting married in and of itself was terrible, but an arranged, political marriage to a man she neither knew nor loved? She didn't want that. She feared it. She didn't want to admit to being afraid of anything, but it was this fear that had led her to drive her suitors away before even giving them a real chance.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as the boy suddenly yelled, "Abu!" The monkey was putting up a fuss about something, chattering and scolding as he raced back to his perch on the broken wall.

Jasmine was curious what all the fuss was about. "What?"

The boy turned away from glaring at the monkey. "Uh, Abu says, uh…that's not fair."

Jasmine smiled. She hadn't needed to see the light come on in the boy's eyes as he thought of a response or the shock on the monkey's face to know that this wasn't quite the truth. "Oh did he?" She glanced up at him playfully.

"Yeah! Of course."

"And does Abu have anything else to say?"

"Well uh, he wishes there was something he could do to help," the charming boy responded as he moved closer. Jasmine felt her heart rate increase at his proximity, as it had almost ever since he had walked into her life that day.

Jasmine glanced down, and in that moment realized what she wanted and found the courage to act on it. She looked back up into his eyes. "Tell him that's very…sweet." She felt her face grow warm as the boy moved even closer. Her eyes fell shut.

Jasmine's first kiss was chaste and sweet, the press of the boy's lips against hers gentle and warm. It left her wanting more, but she let it end there, for now.

It wasn't until much later, curled up for the night in the boy's arms on a blanket on the floor, that she realized that she didn't even know his name.