A Whole New World || J. JAFAR

Five - Auradon

ALI

We'd managed to fight off Uma's thugs relatively easily. I'd somehow been designated the babysitter role and stuck by Ben's side as he ran recklessly through the battlefield, saving his life on more than one occasion whilst being yelled at by the others to get Ben out of the way when he caused more trouble than necessary while stumbling into their fights. Now, we relax into the soft leather seats of the Auradon limo that Jay and the others brought across to the Isle with Mal, Ben, Carlos, Evie and Lonnie in the backseats and Jay and myself up front. 

I was too annoyed with the King for so recklessly endangering himself and others that I couldn't trust myself to hold my tongue, so here I am in the passenger seat of the limousine, resting my head against the window as I stare at the rapidly passing outside world. I ignore the aching cut on my hand that I'd received when saving Ben's life — yet again. I'd chosen not to tell the others about how I'd gripped the blade of a pirate's sword to pull it away from Ben's neck and cut my hand in the process, not wanting to worry them. It's probably not that deep, anyway.

"Hey," Jay says softly, one of his hands falling to rest gently on my knee. His thumb rubs calming circles on my skin. "You okay, babe?" I hum softly, unable to keep the smile from forming on my lips as I tilt my head to look at him, resting my hand — not the injured one, thankfully — on his and interlocking our fingers. I squeeze his hand gently.  "Yeah, I guess," I tell him. "You?"

"I'm ready to go home." He says with a soft laugh. I can just barely hear the others talking amongst themselves in the back seat of the limousine, the screen between us and them doing wonders for my building headache as I chuckle with him. I take a pause, admiring the Jay's side profile, feeling my lips begin to pull further at the edges as I drink in the sight of him. "I say, once we're back at Auradon, we have a day-long nap and then go and visit Agrabah. Mom's been talking about wanting to see us again soon."

Jay smiles, peering at me out of the corner of his eye, and lifts our joined hands to press a kiss to mine. "Sounds like a plan." He releases my hand and takes out the remote that generates the bridge to Auradon, pressing it before he lowers the screen between us and the back of the car. Almost instantly, there's an awkwardness in the air that could only have come from Mal and Ben. "Hey, Lonnie," Jay calls, catching our friend's gaze in the rearview mirror, "How about you come by practice later?"

I feel the pit in my stomach lessen as I hear Lonnie laugh softly, her smile obvious in her voice. "What, you in the mood to break some rules?" She jokes. I snort and twist my body to face her, lifting my hand for her to slap and wincing in pain as she does so, having forgotten about the open wound on my hand. I hiss and pull my hand back into me. 

"Oh, my god!" Lonnie cries. I feel the rest of the group in the back of the car tense, Jay's eyes burning into me.

"What's wrong?" Mal calls out. I open my voice to respond, but Ben beats me to it.

"Ali's hurt." He says, his voice stiff with uncomfortable worry. "He cut his hand when he was saving me from one of Uma's pirates." I frown as I meet his eyes, still holding my hand close to my chest. "I thought you said it was just a scratch." Ben adds softly, a guilty shade in his eyes. 

"It is," I try, lifting my hand to show off the wound in the back seat only to wince in pain again when I brush my hand against the side of my headrest. 

"One hell of a scratch." Mal says. She faces Ben, her face pulled into a scowl. "You knew he got hurt and you didn't tell us?" The accusation in her tone is obvious. I turn to face the front with a sigh, closing my eyes as I try to block out their argument. I peek open an eye when their loud voices become muffled, finding Jay's long finger pressed into the button that controls the screen between us and them. I meet his gaze, smiling gently.