The sound was barely audible and at first Jasmine questioned whether or not she actually heard it. She slowed the riding lawn mower to a stop and turned it off. She flinched as the music from her headphones suddenly became louder without the noise of the lawn mower. She quickly pulled the ear buds out of her ears.

Silence.

Then a crash. It was loud; as if something had gone through a large window. Jasmine was almost positive it was the same noise she had heard earlier. She jumped off the lawn mower, stumbling slightly but then running towards the house. Her father was in the city for the day, so only Tzipporah was in the house. Jasmine's first thought was that Jafar had come back and Tzipporah was starting trouble with him.

Jasmine was just pulling open the back door when she heard shouting coming from upstairs. She recognized the voice immediately as Tzipporah's. But who was she yelling at? They very rarely got visitors; with the exception of Jafar and there was no way Tzipporah would let him anywhere near the inside of their house.

Jasmine darted towards the stairs. She was halfway up when she heard a gun shot. The deafening noise halted Jasmine. Her heart thumped rapidly and she gripped the railing tightly. Fear froze her in place as silence filled the house. A few beats passed before she heard scrambling. Jasmine tried to calm her heavy breathing as she quietly continued to make her way upstairs. Every instinct told her to run outside and call for help, but she had to check on Tzipporah.

"Get back here, you rat bastard!" Tzipporah shouted.

Jasmine sighed in relief to hear her sister's voice. It sounded like it was coming from the hallway outside of Jasmine's bedroom. She hurried the rest of the way. As she turned the corner, she crashed hard into someone running from the opposite direction. They both tumbled to the ground. Jasmine landed on top of the person.

"Don't move," Tzipporah demanded.

Jasmine wasn't sure who she was talking to, so she stayed put. She looked down to see a young man her own age pinned beneath her. He was gorgeous with thick black hair, tan skin, big brown eyes and muscular arms. If he wanted he could have easily shoved Jasmine off of him, but he just looked stunned and almost afraid. Beside him was a sack, though Jasmine couldn't tell what was in it. Tzipporah pointed her rifle at him as she picked up the sack. She glanced inside, then turned her attention back the man.

"Please don't shoot me." His voice was surprisingly calm despite the look on his face and the situation he was in.

"Why not?" Tzipporah growled. "Did you really think you could break into our house, steal from us and get away with it?"

The man wiggled underneath Jasmine, but she leaned forward and pressed her hands against his chest to keep him down. His pecks were hard and sculpted and momentarily distracted her.

The man gave up trying to wiggle free. "Please. My sister and I have been out of work for months and we're trying to take care of our mother." He turned his pleading gaze towards Jasmine. "She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and we can't afford to get her help."

A small part of Jasmine doubted his story, but a bigger part of her felt sympathy and pity for him. If he was telling the truth, he certainly needed the money more than they did.

Jasmine slowly stood up. Both the man and Tzipporah gaped at her. Tzipporah quickly regained composure and pointed the gun at him again.

"Don't you dare get up."

"Calm down, Tzipporah," Jasmine said, holding out her hand to the man. He made no attempt to move.

"Wise man," Tzipporah muttered.

Jasmine shook her head. "Don't be afraid; we're not going to hurt you."

Tzipporah snorted. "Speak for yourself."

Jasmine ignored her sister. "What's your name?"

"Aladdin," he replied, not taking his eyes off the rifle.

Jasmine offered her hand to him again. "I'm Jasmine and this is my sister, Tzipporah."

Tzipporah stared hard at Jasmine for a moment, but finally rolled her eyes and lowered her gun. She dropped the sack on the floor with a clank. "It's all stuff from your room, Jaz."

"I'm sorry," Aladdin told her. "It was the easiest room to sneak into."

Jasmine nodded. She knew that; it was also the easiest room to sneak out of. She rummaged through the sack, but there didn't seem to be anything of real importance in it. She picked up the sack and turned around. Aladdin was now standing, but remained tense. His gaze kept falling on Tzipporah's rifle. She noticed this and gave him a smug smile. None of them had any doubt that she would use it if she got the opportunity.

Jasmine held the sack out to Aladdin. "Take it. You need it more than we do."

"Are you serious?" Tzipporah practically shrieked.

Jasmine glanced at her sister. "I'm serious. It's not like we're in danger of going broke. We can do a good thing here by helping Aladdin and his mother."

"If he's telling the truth, you mean," Tzipporah spat.

Jasmine shrugged and turned back to Aladdin. "They're my belongings and I don't feel like it's a loss. Take them, Aladdin, and get your mom some help."

Aladdin hesitantly took the sack. "Thank you."

Jasmine smiled at him, but before she could say anything Tzipporah stepped between them.

Tzipporah was a good few inches taller than Aladdin and she stared down at him. "You've taken enough advantage of our hospitality. Now, get out of here before I pull the trigger."

Aladdin turned and quickly ran downstairs. Jasmine crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at her sister.

"What?" Tzipporah asked, innocently.

"Were you really going to shoot him?"

"Well, yeah; he's an intruder."

Jasmine shook her head. "You're unbelievable."

"I'm unbelievable? You're the one who just let a criminal get away with stealing from us."

"I felt bad for him."

A small smile formed at the corner of Tzipporah's lips. "You always did have a thing for tortured bad boys."

Jasmine blushed. "What are you talking about?"

Now Tzipporah laughed. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You let him go because you thought he was hot."

"That's not true."

"You're lying." Tzipporah pointed at her with the gun. "Just admit it."

Jasmine couldn't help smiling. "Fine. I admit it; I was attracted to Aladdin."

"I knew it."

Jasmine sighed. "That's because you know me better than anyone."