𝐀 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐂𝐊'𝐒 𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 - Aladdin AU

٦ - emerald

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DILRUBA BADAWI AWOKE IN HER RENTED ROOM in the apartment building situated in the city of Agrabah's market square, for the fourth morning since she had arrived.

This was already her fifth day here—fourth morning because she had arrived in the rented room in the afternoon of her first day in Agrabah, so that morning technically didn't count.

Dilruba stretched her slender form on the bed, hearing the early bustle of the market square chirrup into her ears, the sounds of vendors setting up stalls and the arguments of the early bird customers who had made use of their early rise that day to haggle some good deals and bargains before the rest of the city awoke.

She watched the translucent curtains on her large window flutter in the early morning breeze—which was significantly cooler than any breeze she'd felt here since her arrival. She watched the glimpse of the abandoned building adjacent to her own where she had first seen her mysterious savior.

All Dilruba could think about when she was back in this room, was him, it seemed. For she couldn't look at the window and not notice that darkened abandoned building where he had stood at the window's edge and stared at her. She couldn't then stop thinking about her brush with a gruesome death that he had saved her from. Then, she couldn't stop his spoken words from flooding her head, and the vision of his dark eyes from torturing her.

Dilruba knew it was all because he had saved her life. If he had just looked at her—stared at her while standing at a window sill of an abandoned room in a darkened building, she would not have given him a second thought after that dream she had had. The human mind was complex, it craved stimulation, she knew that. That dream was just her brain using fodder for stimulation. Dilruba would've forgotten about the man quickly, for she was used to men looking at her. The way she earned her living called for people to look at her when she danced, or recited poetry. So she wouldn't have minded the man's impudence much.

But then he had saved her life, and she couldn't stop thinking about it. She was forced to think about him, to make space in her mind for him. She had done that with all who had ever genuinely helped her, and then she had dedicated herself to them, making a promise to herself to always consider them for however long she lived. The number of people on that list weren't many, in fact, she only had Fatima aapa's name on it. The old woman had saved Dilruba on the streets when she was fifteen, letting her do what she needed to do to beg for money, but making sure no man preyed on her in any sort of way.

Fatima aapa was the only name on Dilruba's list, and when she had become old enough to realize the woman's aid and had cultivated her own talents and had gained the governor's association, Dilruba always considered the woman. She had gathered money enough to buy the woman a vendor's stall, bought materials for her when the woman had hinted at the fact that she had made jewelry as a young girl. Dilruba helped the woman start to earn properly, and though her earnings were still not that steady, Dilruba made sure to contribute every day. She started calling the woman "aapa" after her name, a term of fond addressing used for elder sisters or other elder females to whom one was not necessarily related.

Slowly, Dilruba ran her fingers through her locks and made to get off the bed, her bare feet touching the wooden floors as she reached for a side table where she had laid out the recent Opal stoned bracelet she had bought from Fatima aapa on her last day in Hegra. Admiring the iridescent gleam of the stones, Dilruba fastened the bracelet onto her wrist.

It looked elegant resting against her smooth olive golden skin. She had resorted to wearing it daily whilst she was in Agrabah, as something to keep her grounded and on her feet. Her eyes ventured back to the window, and she thought of her other savior as she reached her hands at the back of her head to gather her hair and put it up in an embellished claw clip she had at hand.