June 27, 1986


Two weeks of summer already had passed by, and Sarah was completely bored out of her mind.

She found amusement in laying on top of her bed, staring at the ceiling.

All of her friends were too busy with summer jobs or whisked away on family vacations far from the New York suburbia they lived in. The books she was required to read for the next school year were all read, all ideas of potential story ideas were written out before being tossed to the floor, and Karen was taking Toby to visit her parents for the weekend. Her father was up to his ears in his own work, and wasn't able to take time off of work for a trip just yet.

There was a couple of chores that she was supposed to do, but who actually wants to do chores? Certainly not Sarah Williams. Not now. She couldn't find the motivation to get from her bed.

But hey, it wasn't all too horrible. There was that one week with her mother in New York City!

In the middle of August, right before school was starting up again. After her mother was off her tour.

Ugh.

"This isn't fair!" Sarah groaned into a pillow, letting out a wave of frustration.

You say that so often. I wonder what your basis of comparison is?

Even now, his voice still echoed in her head. It was as if her mind was a record player, repeating the phrases he said, remembering the tone and influxion of his words. No matter how hard she tried, Sarah could not forget about him. She wished - no. No more wishing. Wishing brought in too much trouble.

A sudden chill ran down her back. Sarah felt the feeling of someone watch her grow, crawling on every inch of her skin. She sat up, jerking her gaze in all the empty spaces of her bedroom.

Nothing was there, of course.

The Goblin King wouldn't show himself that easily. He was waiting for that perfect moment. The everso, perfect moment where Sarah would finally let down her guard and he would swoop her in his grasp. An owl with talons ready to sink itself into her flesh, digging deep.

However Sarah wasn't going back to the Underground without a fight - should the Goblin King decided to drag her down. She would kick and claw and scream her way into beating the Goblin King a second time, making certain he didn't come back a third time.

"Just come out already and stop spying on me!" Sarah said out loud, eyeing around the room once more. With one hand, she grabbed a pillow. Better to be armed with something of use, rather than her bare fists.

Nothing - correction, no one, was there.

"Goblin King, I command you to come out of hiding and show yourself!"

No one replied.

"Goblin King? Hellooooo? Any one there?"

Again, not even the faintest murmur was breathed out. All of this shouting was nonsense, and Sarah knew better than to try to provoke the Goblin King. Why was she doing all of this anyway? He'd probably had long forgotten about Sarah being in the Labyrinth. Surely there was some other fifteen year old girl running the Labyrinth and rescuing her brother from certain goblin-transformation doom.

"I'm getting something to eat." Sarah mumbled to herself, sliding off of the bed to head downstairs. She walked over to her door, placing her hand on the doorknob to open her door. The doorknob was freezing cold, almost frozen in place. Flinching at the touch, Sarah backed away from the door.

Say your right words, precious. Say them, and you will receive what you've asked for.

Right words? What right words?

Sarah didn't know what that meant. She couldn't possibly wish herself away. It didn't work like that - well, she hoped it didn't work like that. Biting her lower lip, the feeling of dread fluttered around her chest. Something was happening to her, and she had no idea how to stop it.

Sarah reached out for the doorknob, again finding the metal to be frigid. She twisted it, the seering through her flesh, as if the door was really on fire, instead of being the sinister ice cold. Before she was able to escape, Sarah felt her mouth open, speaking one word she dared to never utter.

"Jareth."

She dashed out of the room, shutting the door behind her before she ran downstairs, heading towards the kitchen. Turning a corner, Sarah half expected him to be there, lounging on the couch, apple in his hand. No, it wouldn't be an apple. It would be a peach.

He wasn't there.

Disappointment settled in for a brief second, the feeling soon vanishing with anger. "LEAVE ME ALONE, GOBLIN KING!" Sarah shouted at the top of her lungs. Her face twisted in a fury, fingernails digging into her palms.

The empty house replied with silence, a stillness clinging onto the air. Sarah let out a dry laugh, placing a hand on her forehead, pushing back the wisps of her hair. "I...I shouldn't think about this anymore. It's going to drive me insane."

Another dry laugh later, and Sarah was in the kitchen, washing the dishes, per her daily chore list she was given. The warm, suzy water soothed her, quelling the bewilderment and dangerous ideas of the Goblin King. Place a dish in the water to let it soak, Sarah rubbed her soapy hands, forming an 'O' shape with her thumb and forefinger. She blew gently, and bubbles formed. They circled around her, existing for a few seconds before popping into nothing.

She pointed her finger at one roaming bubble, letting it rest on her fingernail. The bubble stayed there, Sarah leaning it to try to see if she was able to see her reflection. Immediately, the bubble popped her in face, droplets of dish soap getting all over her nose and mouth. Her nose wrinkled up, a small smile twitching at her lips.

Everything felt...right. No, right wasn't the correct word. Safe.

Sarah felt safe, in this moment. She glanced outside the tiny window that was above the sink, leaning down to get a good look. The sun was now beginning to set, meaning her father would be soon be home from work, bringing Chinese take out with him. Since Karen was gone, the two had hardly cooked, neither of them possessing the culinary talents she had. Sarah had attempted last night to make a Shepherd's pie, but was completely taken back by the recipe, opting out to just boil spaghetti noodles and reheating a jar of tomato sauce on the stove.

There was someone odd about the sun, however.

Usually by this time, it would've changed into a smoldering orange, drooping down all over the neighborhood houses in the hills. Instead, it remained it's sunny yellow, frozen in space. Sarah rubbed her eyes with her arm, thinking it was probably some trick of the eye. Nope, the sun was still there, looming above as a symptom of something, terribly, terribly wrong.

"It has been rather fun watching you do the dishes, however, I am getting so bored of playing this game with you, Sarah."

No.

Oh god, no.

It can't be him. It cannot possibly be him.

"It is me," The Goblin King answered, watching the terrified girl turn around, eyes widen open with fear. "Who else do you think it would have possibly been? None of your...companions would play a trick on you in this manner," he leaned against the fridge, eyeing the hanging family photos and scribbings by Toby. "Last I heard, you weren't in the habit of talking to them."

Sarah bristled, grabbing the first thing she could think of - a sopping, dripping, wet plate, and chucked it directly in the Goblin King's face. He merely grabbed the plate out of the air, holding it by his fingers so his clothes would not be touched by it. "I don't think your parents would be fond of you breaking a plate."

"Get out!' Sarah said to him, her voice low and hoarse. Her body trembled slightly, overwhelmed with the urge to flight or fight. She decided to stand her ground, a fiery glare combating his own coolness. "I have no quarrel with you, Goblin King. Leave in peace, before you suffer the consequences for merely presenting yourself before me."

The Goblin King burst into a fit of laughter. A thunderous, laughter that mocked Sarah's attempts to be intimidating.

She continued her glare, before shouting at him, "I asked you nicely to leave me alone. Why can't you do that?"

His laughter settled down to giggles, and with a gloved hand, he wiped away the tears from his eyes. "Now there's the Sarah I'm fond of! Your little display of bravery was pleasant, but I much prefer the more blunt side of you."

"What do you want?" Sarah asked him once more, drying her hands off with a dish towel, and crossed her arms. He must have been summoned from the Underground when she had uttered his name. It's not like she had wanted to - it was almost if the words were placed in her mouth. Sarah was compelled to heed what was said.

"Oh, just a friendly chat. Catch up on each other with the latest gossip and such," The Goblin King dramatically sighed, walking towards Sarah slowly, his heeled boots echoing on the tiled floor. "Let me help you with that."

Sarah tried backed away from him, but not very far as she was right by the sink. There was no where else to go. "There has to be something else you want from me, Goblin King. You don't seem like the type who offers to help with the dishes."

The Goblin King laughed once again, this time genuinely finding Sarah hilarious. He was less cruel. "You are half correct but,..."

"But what, Goblin King?"

"I have a proposition for you Sarah." He said, rolling up his sleeves, then taking off his black leather gloves gingerly, and placing them beside the sink. Sarah expected to find his hands wrinkly and gnarled up, with filthy fingernails that were long as cat's claws. It was a shock to see normal, well-kept hands. (And dainty too!)

"Uh huh, sure. It's going to be one of those things where you say 'Oh I'm gonna give you your dreams' and then end up turning me into a frog so you can steal my brother back." Sarah childed, glancing down at the sink. She was almost done with the dishes, why was he offering to help? God, this Goblin King was strange.

Suddenly, her stomach growled, loud enough that it stopped the Goblin King in the middle of holding a sponge. Never had Sarah felt such embarrassment. She felt her face turn into a bright red, and she wrapped her arms around her stomach.

"Would you...like me to make you dinner?" The Goblin King offered, arching an eyebrow at the girl.

Sarah only nodded, too flustered to say no. If the Goblin King was going to attempt to steal her brother back, she might as well get a free meal out of him.


The Goblin- no, Jareth, was surprisingly excellent at cooking. His skills could rival Karen's, if he knew how to make anything other than dishes from the Middle Ages. Not that Sarah minded - she was curious to see him attempt to make fried chicken or

Sarah nibbled at the meat in the beef stew, enjoying the smidge of cinnamon flavor Jareth added in. She wasn't even done with her bowl, while Jareth was going back for seconds.

"Do you want more water, Sarah?" He asked her, his hand reached out to take her glass.

She nodded her head, handing him the glass. Once she swallowed, Sarah gave him a small "thanks."

This whole...situation, if one were to call it that, was more surreal than her time in the Labyrinth. Sarah was alert, on guard in case the Goblin King wanted to whisk her away and throw her down an oubliette.

Instead he was doing the dishes, told her to only call him Jareth from now one, and made dinner.

A rather delicious dinner; better than any old Chinese take out her father would bring back. Jareth had slowed down time by a few hours, and there was still time left before her father was home. Maybe she could have a bite or two and save the leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.

"Jareth?" The word was strange on her tongue, each syllable carried its own weight of power. "What did you want to talk about? We haven't really talked about anything else and…" Sarah trailed off. She didn't know how to word "This is pretty weird, why are you doing all of this?", in a more sensible manner.

"And you want to know why I'm doing this?" Jareth finished for her, scooping another ladle of the stew into his bowl. He placed the steaming bowl on the countertop, in front of where Sarah was sitting, swirling his spoon around. "I want to be friends."

"FRIENDS?" Sarah nearly spat out her soup.

Friends? With the Goblin King? The sole enemy of Sarah, as a companion. The thought of randomly calling Jareth on her telephone sent her into a fit of giggles.

"Stupid, teenage human girls," he mumbled, continuing to twirl the spoon in his hand. "I'm serious. No trickery, or solving Labyrinths involved. I feel, as the Goblin King, I should at least have the friendship of the first human who has solved my Labyrinth."

"Have you had anyone else?" Sarah asked, leaning on the edge of the chair. "I mean, in the Labyrinth. After me."

"No, I haven't. You're quite the rarity in the Underground. Not a lot of people believe in fairy tales these days. Modern contraptions and how the world has changed...there is no more room for our kind. You no longer fear us." Jareth explained, his eyes lowering. There was something sad about the way Jareth spoke.

"You mean there are no more children being wished away?" Sarcasm riddled her voice.

"Yes, no more children are being wished away. The Aboveground has their own way of dealing with unwanted children." Jareth said, taking in a spoonful of the stew, blowing on it gently before siping at the broth.

"At least we don't turn them into goblins. They're either sent to foster homes or are adopted out. One of my friends is in a foster home." Sarah commented. Truth be told, she didn't know much about how the system worked. From what her friend, Tracey, told her about it, it wasn't all smiles and roses.

Maybe kids were better off being wished away.

"I don't turn all children who are wished away into goblins. If they are too sick or too weak, I must, but most of the time I give them to my subjects, who in turn raise them as their own," he explained, hiding the smirk. "I'm not the villain you think I am, Sarah."

"Were you going to turn Toby into a goblin? If I failed to solve the Labyrinth?" She shot back at him.

"No. He would have gotten the same treatment as any child, but I digress." Jareth leaned over the counter top, looking into Sarah's eyes. "I call a truce between us. You have won the chance of having power over me. Will you take it?"

Sarah pretended to ponder on the offer, grabbing the bowl and loudly slurping the leftover broth. In of the corner of her sight, she noticed the Goblin King rolling his eyes in frustration. "There is one thing I need you to do, if I am to accept your generous offer."

"Spit it out."

"You have to leave my friends alone. Hoggle told me last week he almost got bogged because you caught him talking to me. That's why I haven't talked to them recently!" Sarah crossed her arms, copying the arched eyebrow Jareth did.

"Fair enough. That's a deal." He let out a heavy sigh, wondering why he thought this would be a good idea. A play-thing, waiting on hand and foot for the whims of a teenage female.

"Oh! You have to cook for me when you visit." She added, now smirking.

"...Fine. Not every time though - your parents would get suspicious of their cookery being used."

"Deal."

And Sarah laughed.


A/N: You should never write chapters with food as a plot point. You will end up hungry, and frusterated that you cannot each the deliscious food you are writing about.

Thanks for all the follows and views so far! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I will see you in the next one! :D