"This had better be important..."

Dianalia, Queen of the Nymphs, was not a happy Fae.

She crossed her arms, an annoyed look on her pretty face. She had been interrupted, quite rudely, during a spectacular date with the King of Summer by her worrywart mother. And just when he had been about to kiss her too.

Her mother paced in front of her anxiously, her eyebrows furrowed, "Oh, Dianalia, I don't know what to do!"

Dianalia, or Diana for short, rolled her eyes at her mother's overly dramatic performance. It was no wonder that most of the High Queen's children had a flair for dramatization. They had had a spectacular teacher.

Diana sighed, wanting to get this over with so she could get back to her date with a sun-bronzed hunk, "About what, mother?"

Her mother stopped suddenly, throwing her hands up into the air, "Your brother!"

One of Diana's delicate golden eyebrows rose, knowing exactly which brother she was talking about. There was only one brother who could cause her mother this much grief, "Jareth? Is he causing trouble again?"

The older woman shook her head and Diana could hear the anguish in her voice, "No and that's just it! He hasn't been causing any trouble whatsoever! All he does is sit in his castle, day in and day out!"

"You and I both know that Jareth was never that social with the other Fae, mother," Diana pinched the bridge of her nose, her irritation growing. Diana had grown used to Jareth's recluse nature and his strange habit of interacting with humans. Even when he'd been a child, he'd never expressed any interest whatsoever in playing with the other fae children.

The High Queen shook her head again, wringing her hands, "This is different! When I invited him to dinner last night, he didn't even try to torch the Spring Queen's hair when she flirted with him!"

Diana's eyes widened. Everyone in her family knew of Jareth's obvious dislike for the Queen of Spring. Every time that she would hit on him, a blast of fire would shoot out from nowhere, usually catching the Queen's hair on fire. Diana figured the stingy ruler would have learned her lesson already, but it seemed the woman was particularly dense and continued to flirt with her little brother, even though her hair wouldn't be able to take much more abuse.

Her mother continued rambling, though she now had captured Diana's attention, "What's more, I've heard he hasn't even abducted any children or made anyone run his Labyrinth…"

Diana's irritation was now entirely forgotten and replaced with worry, "That's certainly strange…"

Her mother nodded, her wide blue eyes anguished, "He refuses to talk to me…so I was wondering if perhaps you would."

Diana nodded, worry clouding in her stormy gray eyes. She knew that whatever was troubling the Goblin King must be serious since he never refused to tell their mother what was wrong. He had always been a mommy's boy. And for him to neglect his Labyrinth…well, the problem must be serious indeed.

With a last nod in her mother's direction, she poofed away in a cloud of glitter, determined to get to the bottom of this.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She found him sprawled on his throne, his blonde hair as wild as ever. Goblins ran around the throne room chasing a rather flustered chicken. When the goblins caught sight of her, they all drew in a collective gasp.

They ran around her, shouting with glee, "It's the Queenie queen! It's the Queenie Sissy!"

She rolled her eyes, kicking a goblin that was in the way as she strutted up to her younger brother's throne, flinging her own, slightly tamer, blonde hair behind her shoulder, "All right, sour puss, what's eating you?"

His mismatched eyes looked up at her and she shivered. There was a dull look to them, an immense sadness that was overwhelming. It frightened her to see it there.

"It does not concern you," there was none of the usual venom in his voice, only weariness. He would usually bite back with a smart comment if she attempted to nose around in his business.

She glared down at him, scared and worried, "You're my brother, of course it 'concerns' me!"

He said nothing, only gazed into his crystal, completely ignoring her. Her eyes narrowed. If there was one thing the Queen of the Nymphs hated, it was being ignored. She felt her anger flare at his attitude. She breathed in deeply, trying to control her temper. She glanced over at her brother again, feeling a slight pang in her heart. He looked so lost, so downright lonely and heartbroken. The word echoed around in her skull for a few minutes.

Realization suddenly dawned on her.

"You're in love…"

His mismatched eyes widened before they flicked around the room, as if trying to find an escape route and she knew she was right.

An earth-shattering squeal erupted from the blonde-haired woman as she glomped the unsuspecting male Fae.

"I would greatly appreciate it if you would remove yourself," he hissed, annoyance coloring his tone and a blush coloring his cheeks.

Diana laughed fully, happy that at least some of his old spark had come back into his mismatched eyes, "Soooooo, who is she?"

Jareth's jaw clenched and his eyebrows furrowed while he pushed her away from him. She recognized the stance from the many times he had used it on their parents. It was the 'I'm-not-telling-you-anything' stance.

The second thing that Diana hated more than anything was not getting her way.

She always got what she wanted. ALWAYS.

And she wanted to know who this girl was.

Her gray eyes flashed as she grinned wickedly. Jareth gulped, conjuring a crystal.

But before he could smash it on the floor and make his escape, Diana pounced, tying him up so he couldn't move a muscle. He groaned as he realized that the rope had magic woven through it so it was nigh unbreakable and very inescapable.

"Now, you ARE going to tell me WHO she is or you'll find yourself dunked like a doughnut into your own infernally smelling bog," she hissed under her breath.

His pale face grew paler at her threat. But his lips formed into a hard line and he turned his head away.

"Jareth, either you tell me or I'll break every bone in your miserable body, castrate you, and feed your remains to your goblins," she smiled at him sweetly, her gray eyes threatening.

He gulped loudly, his eyes widening in horror. If there was one thing that he had learned about his sister was that she always carried out her threats, no matter how ridiculous they sounded. But he kept his silence, his lips pressed tightly together.

" 'Er name is Sarah," a gruff voice spoke out, "Sarah Williams."

Diana turned to the small dwarf at her feet, turning her questioning gaze onto her brother once more. He glared at the dwarf, "I'll get you for this, Hogbrain."

The dwarf muttered, "It's Hoggle," before quickly shuffling out of the throne room, eager to escape the murderous look in the King's eyes. Diana pressed her knee into her brother's stomach until he whimpered, then smiled sweetly.

"So, Sarah…Tell me about her," her voice held the unspoken threat, 'or else'.

"Once you untie me," he turned his glare onto her, his mismatched eyes flashing with anger and embarrassment.

"You have to swear that you WILL tell me," she retorted, ignoring the murderous look in his eyes. She'd long become used to his glares when she'd interfere in his business, especially when it was business concerning the Labyrinth.

"Fine," he spat, glowering at the Fae woman and plotting different ways to dunk the traitorous dwarf into the bog of eternal stench.

Diana squealed in delight, planting a light kiss on her younger brother's forehead. He gave a small cry of indignation. Diana only giggled, amused at how riled she could make him.

She snapped her fingers, causing the ropes to fall away from him and disappear. He rubbed at his arms absentmindedly. She snapped her fingers again and a comfy looking chair appeared out of thin air.

Making herself comfortable, she turned to him, her gray eyes curious, "All right, start talking."

He heaved a huge sigh, sitting straight up in his throne. He knew it was no use lying, as Diana would pick up on it instantly.

"I met Sarah Williams when she was but a child of 8. I saw her in the park, acting out a fairy tale. She…intrigued me. She had such a vivid imagination," his mismatched eyes took on a far-away look as he recalled the past, "I often took owl form and visited her…She was a sad and lonely child. A few years later, she found my book."

Diana gave him a confused look and he expanded, "I had a book written about the Labyrinth. It was just a fanciful children's tale that I thought she would enjoy. Anyway, while that was happening, her father got remarried," he did not want to dwell on the information of the book too long, lest Diana decide to read it herself, "Her father and step-mother had a child. Tobias Williams, or Toby for short. The two adults would go out regularly, leaving Sarah in charge of the youngster. On a night when he was particularly fussy, she wished him away to me."

"So, this girl…what did she choose? Did she run the labyrinth?"

"She not only ran the Labyrinth…but defeated it," his tone was proud but his eyes held that desolate look once more, "She overcame all the traps I sent her way and won back her half-brother. Since she defeated it, I sent her back to her world along with her half-brother."

Diana narrowed her eyes, "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?"

He fidgeted, avoiding her gaze.

"You can tell me," she assured him softly, placing a hand over his.

"I…I fell in love with her, Diana. Everything I did, I did for her. You know I move the stars for no one…But I found myself doing just that for her. And then, before she left I offered her my heart. And she…she rejected it," his voice was soft, so soft that Diana had to strain to hear what he said.

She felt her heart twist, realizing that her brother had fallen for this mortal. HARD.

Fae fell in love once and only once. A Fae male would usually offer a crystal, signifying their hearts. Usually the female would accept the proffered gift. There had only been a few rare cases where the fragile heart was denied.

"Oh, Jareth, I, I don't know what to say," she felt no anger towards the girl. The girl was human after all, she probably had no idea what the crystal represented.

"I was foolish, I should have known better…she was still too young," he muttered, once again slouching on his throne.

Diana sat forward, eyebrow raised, "Just how young, brother?"

He flushed, suddenly embarrassed, "Fifteen, in aboveworld years."

Diana's eyes widened, "Of course she rejected it, you stupid…oh! She's only a child! You…you cradle robber!"

"Keep your opinions to yourself," he hissed, obviously embarrassed about the whole thing.

She shook her head, her eyes berating him, "You're right! You were completely foolish…How could a fifteen year-old HUMAN girl know of our customs?"

He said nothing, only sighing melancholically. Diana stopped ranting for a few minutes when it was clear that the Fae was no longer listening, her sharp features softening. As she looked at her miserable brother, a plan began to form in her crafty mind. She smirked triumphantly as it slowly took shape. Jareth took no notice of any of this, having gone back to watching Sarah through his crystals.

"I'm truly sorry, brother," she tried to keep the gleeful tone from her voice, "But I'm absolutely POSITIVE that everything will work out."

With those final words, Dianalia, Queen of the Nymphs, disappeared in a cloud of glitter, leaving behind a very confused and slightly irritated Goblin King.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I had so much fun writing Diana's character that I decided to do a oneshot about how she found out about Sarah. I do not own any of the characters except Diana. She is a part of my own overactive imagination. Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are welcome. I'm thinking of doing another oneshot where she meets Sarah. If you would give your opinions, I would appreciate it.