I stared up at Judar, my nerves a muddled mess. Finally he let out a brief sigh, grabbing me by the hand and walking past me, jerking me along with him.

"You've always been such a pain," he growled, causing me to rehash every single time he'd called me a pain, or troublesome, or a bother, and I suddenly felt a little wrong for even making contact with him tonight.

He halted right in the middle of the dancing crowd, spinning me abruptly as a new song started to play.

I twirled and came to a halt, my wide eyes meeting his as he pulled me close enough for our chests to brush against each other. "I thought you didn't dance," I said in a trembling voice, amazed that he didn't just shoo me away at the first sight of me.

He rolled his crimson eyes before spinning me again and catching me rather elegantly by the waist. "I don't, but I never said I couldn't," he muttered. I peeked back at him, catching sight of his cheeks flushing pink under the festival lights.

"Judar, you really don't have to..." I said, feeling a little guilty that he actually got up to dance with me.

"Tch, as if. You're so annoying and stubborn, I doubt you would have let me tell you no," he said, his hand brushing along my hips, causing my face to heat up.

(I would have left you alone, actually...)

I was sort of glad he didn't though. I was over my own embarrassment, indulging in the fact that I finally had someone to enjoy the festival with- even if it was Judar.

Just as the song had come to an end, I tripped over something and fell against Judar, landing heavily against his chest.

He was quick to react, his arms catching me by the waist and pulling me back upright.

"S-sorry," I stammered, glancing around at the ground in an attempt to find whatever I'd tripped on. I questioned whether or not I was just a klutz when I found that there was nothing there.

Judar only shrugged, making his way out of the throng of people.

---

"Damn, I thought for sure that would spark something!" Alibaba said as Jafar pulled back his red fiber threads from the dance floor before Mei could lay her eyes on them.

Jafar then let out a sigh. "I don't know if pitting them together like this is the best idea though," he said flatly but still consenting to Sinbad's ridiculous orders.

"We'll have them all patched up before the night ends!" Sinbad roared, apparently a little too chipper from the mass quantity of alcohol he'd consumed.

Little to Mei and Judar's knowledge, Kougyoku, Hakuryuu, Alibaba, Aladdin, Morgiana, and Sinbad were all plotting little mischievous acts from behind the scenes.

---

I hastily followed after Judar as he wandered through the festival.

"Don't you have a whole plethora of new siblings to go play with or something? Go cling to one of them instead of me," he growled, not bothering to slow down for me.

"Well, as much as I prefer that option, everyone seems hellbent on doing anything else but staying with me," I snapped back, stumbling along right on his heels.

Judar let out an angry noise, spinning around abruptly to face me. "Fine!"  he yelled. "What is it that you wanna do? Just tell me so we can get it over with," he grunted, crossing his arms over his chest.

Normally, I would have felt bad for forcing someone to keep me company... But I was buzzing with a devious joy.

I dragged Judar from stall to stall, casually making small talk now and then, despite his ignoring me completely as he trailed grumpily along with me.

I couldn't help but notice strange occurrences between us at the festival as well; things repeatedly happening like unusually dressed but vaguely familiar people bumping me into Judar as they passed by or Judar's plates of food going missing right from under his nose, forcing him to share my food with me instead.

---

"Ugh, I'm so full," Aladdin whined, patting his bloated stomach.

"It's because you keep eating all of Judar's food while he's distracted," Alibaba said, his voice brimming with determination as they set up their next vantage point.

"Get ready, Aladdin. They're standing together!" Sinbad said, rolling the tiny magi up to the edge of the bushes for a better shot at the couple in question.

"Alright!" Aladdin said, focusing on the little paper lantern on the tabletop between where Judar and Mei were standing. "Har-Har Infigar!" he said quietly, casting a small speck of fire into the paper lantern.

"That should get their attention and get them talking!" Alibaba exclaimed.

The spark burned brightly within the lantern, illuminating the space Mei and Judar were in with a gentle orange glow.

"How pretty," Morgiana said, observing the fire that had now crawled over the paper lantern's lid and onto a new surface.

---

The feint smell of smoke caught my attention and I glanced back at Judar, my eyes widening in utter horror.

"J-J-Judar!" I stammered, unsure of what I should do.

He glanced at me before realizing that his long braid was engulfed in a blazing and furious fire. "Mei! What did you do!?" He screamed in a panic while trying to pat out his hair.

"I didn't do anything!" I refuted angrily before hurriedly looking around for something to put out the fire. I then remembered my metal vessel, pulling it out from a hidden sash under my gown. "Aleia, Sharrar-- oops!" Water gushed from the blade, soaking Judar down to the bone.

He stood stock still as I did my absolute best to stifle my laughter.

A moment passed before Judar snapped. "Oh, this is your idea of funny?!" He shouted angrily.

---

Sinbad and the others all remained hidden in the bushes, mouths agape as they watched the scene unfurl before them.

Aladdin shook his head vigorously. "It was just supposed to create a spark between them!" He explained in a panic.

"Aladdin, you set him ON FIRE," Alibaba scolded.

"This doesn't look good," Sinbad said, watching Judar getting worked up.

---

I didn't know how to react and ended up casting my gaze to the floor.

(I should've known that this wouldn't have gone smoothly. I don't know what I was thinking, dragging him around the festival with me like this. And yet--)

I couldn't hold back my laughter anymore. I laughed until I couldn't breathe and Judar simply watched, his expression blank as I wiped the tears from my eyes.

"I'm sorry, I just-" I stammered through my giggles, being cut short by a cold splash dribbling down my hair and face.

I peered up at Judar and noticed he had poured an entire cup of water over me.

My voice was suddenly serious as I spoke, "Oh, so that's how it is?"

"I guess so," he said, snatching another cup from a random passerby and readying to throw its contents over me.

I readied my blade and Judar's lip pulled up at one corner. He tossed the cup over me and the water rained down, catching at the end of my sword. "Nice try but I guess you didn't consider the fact that I can manipulate water," I said, hurling the water back at him.

He froze the liquid just before it hit him and it fell and shattered into a million pieces. He then grabbed another cup from a nearby table and tossed it over me. I didn't bother stopping it this time, letting him have his fill of revenge as the cup's contents fell over me like rain.

I started to laugh again, noticing that the cup had actually been full of liquor.

"Gah, you smell like that drunkard Sinbad now," Judar teased, wiping the droplets of liquor from my face with his thumbs.

I chuckled at his reference before meeting his gaze with my own. His hand froze against my skin as our eyes met and suddenly I felt feverishly warm inside.

Judar's cheeks flushed pink and he pulled his hand away quickly. "Let's go back for now and get cleaned up," he suggested, his voice coming across as a little strained.

He headed for the palace and I waited a moment before following hastily behind him.

*Lemon warning for the next chapter ;D