A/N: I have nothing of interest to say today. Sorry. I'll post the next chapter up after Christmas.

On the copyright side of things, I do not own the lines I have used in here from Through the Looking Glass or The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Enjoy the story, and tell me what you think. You know how it works.

Chapter Three: Unwanted Interaction

Ever drifting down the stream --
Lingering in the golden gleam --
Life, what is it but a dream?

THE END

That was it. The last page of probably the last book he would read in a very long time. Jareth closed the book, smiling fondly down at the worn cover. It hadn't taken nearly as much effort to read this one as it had its predecessor; apparently being in practice encouraged faster reading. Funny how that worked…

He glanced at one of the clocks that he had set on his wall. It had nearly been a month and a half for him, or so it appeared. That meant Kayla's two weeks would be ending soon… meaning he would have to pull himself together enough to pay the girl a visit.

He had wanted to spend the entire month moping around his tower, virtually ignoring anything that was going on in his kingdom… He had actually ignored a child's wish the first few days into his depressive moping… but then, a week later, when the same child wished again, he had just taken the younger sister without giving the child any sort of a second chance to save her. It wasn't until a few days later, when the girl-turned-goblin passed by him while trying to catch a runaway chicken, that he had realized the problems that he was creating through his actions.

So for the first month, instead of moping and feeling sorry for himself, he had simply governed the kingdom as much as he used to years ago, purposefully forgetting why he had been in such a state to begin with. He had even taken the liberty of creating a new occupation, so that now several goblins, Suddy (the girl) included, had been recently employed in breeding chickens.

It wasn't until he noticed Lancelot and the book on his table, after passing them by subconsciously for weeks, that he truly remembered anything that had happened, and by then, many of the emotions that surrounded the event had diminished. He was truly starting to get over her… that was when he was first able to pick up Through the Looking Glass and start reading it. And now it was finished, meaning he would have to return it… It was a good thing he knew where Kayla lived. He really didn't feel like visiting that library again – not just yet… Maybe never again.

-

Jareth glared up at the Library's name with a twisted sense of hate. This was the fourth day in a row that Kayla had not been at home when he attempted to visit, and was also the last chance he would probably have before the book would become late and Kayla's so-called 'perfect record' would be ruined. He had hoped that she wouldn't be here, but then, if she wasn't, then he had no possible idea where to find the girl…

Another problem he found was he was starting to find that it no longer seemed tedious every time he had to wear a more "human" disguise. This in itself was an indication that he was spending far too much time in the human world other then answering the few wishes that still occurred in this society. At the moment, he was walking around in a loose white sweater and a pair of denim jeans… which compared to what he was used to, felt completely uncomfortable (though in his mind, he still looked as attractive as ever).

He sighed heavily and entered the doors to the library cautiously, trying not to draw any attention to himself. The library was less packed then it had been the last time; there were less then a quarter as many people. He pulled the book out from his jacket. It had been nice enough of Kayla to borrow it for him, but perhaps it also would have been a good idea for her to also explain how to return it… In any case, if she was in the library as often as she claimed to be, there was a high chance the girl was here now. He probably should have checked here the other three days as well, but he had sort of hoped that returning to the building would be a last resort.

As he walked through past the isles upon isles of books, peering in each one to check for Kayla, while at the same time trying not to run into Sarah, he almost failed to notice that, without intention, he had drawn some unwanted attention to himself. He was the Goblin King; he was so used to being able to observe things that he forgot to allow his mind to realize just what it was that he was noticing…

In this case, it thankfully only took him a few minutes to realize that Cindy of all people was trailing behind him. He looked at her with a rather displeased expression, placing one of his hands on his hips and tilting his head. "Why are you following me?"

Cindy stood there and smiled, apparently oblivious to how little he liked her. "I was just wondering if you were looking for Sarah… you two are still together, aren't you..?" She walked up to him with a mock-innocent strut, glancing up at him timidly.

He actually considered telling her the truth; that they had never really been "together" to begin with. He considered explaining that Sarah didn't want him in her life, and that he had been... He considered the fact that maybe talking to someone was the best action considering how, even now, when he had finally gotten most of his feelings of Sarah to diminish, he couldn't complete his own thoughts on the matter… Then he remembered who he was talking to and decided it was probably better for the girl to not know that he was single. Even if there was a need for someone to help him get over Sarah, which there really wasn't, Cindy was most certainly not on the top of his list… "Actually, I wasn't looking for her at the present. I was looking for-"

"Why wouldn't you be looking for Sarah?" Blast. What was it with humans and not allowing him to finish saying anything!? "Anyone who needs to have a conversation with her that causes her not come back to work that day must be quite the friend, wink wink." Her timid smile turned into a rather knowing one, which considering how inappropriate her implications were, and for that matter how wrong they were… Wait, Sarah what? She had actually left after all had been said and done? He had just assumed she had gone back to work after she had left… Had the girl gone home? Come to think of it, considering how upset they had both been, that probably made a lot more sense then-

His thoughts were cut off rather suddenly when the girl stepped far too much into his personal space bubble, and was practically inches away from actually touching him. He stepped backwards a little awkwardly and frowned down at her. No person he didn't like was ever permitted to be near someone of his stature… He regained his composure and glowered at the girl. "Just what are you trying to achieve at such a close proximity?"

Cindy didn't appear phased in the slightest. She flicked her hair back and battered her eyes, while Jareth cringed in disgust. "I was simply trying to figure out what initially drew Sarah to you. I mean, she's not exactly the kind of girl who dates a lot of guys, you know? But of course, I have a feeling that anyone would want to date you, handsome." Cindy winked at him, for real this time instead of just saying it... Ugh.

Jareth glared at her. "That is none of your concern, and it certainly doesn't mean you have to attempt to test me out yourself, now does it?" He was starting to sound rather cold-hearted. Were Cindy not apparently a friend of Sarah and were they not in a place that was decently populated, he could guarantee that the blond would not be nearly as joyfully oblivious to his disinterest as she was at the present.

Cindy pouted slightly, batting her eyes innocently. Jareth cringed. Did this girl ever give up!? "I wasn't going to do anything naughty, honest!"

"Yes, well, I'd rather not give you the chance… I have absolutely no interest in women who seem to appear to exhibit no sense of morals…" he stated coldly, "So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to continue searching for my friend now." Jareth turned around sharply, starting to walk in the opposite direction. When it became apparent that Cindy wasn't following, and must have given up, at least for the time being, he relaxed… just a little.

As he continued to search for Kayla, now that he had managed to slip away from the distraction, he pondered on girls like Cindy. Just what was it that caused them to lose their morals so completely? It was actually quite irritating, when he thought up the several reasons. It was probably the parents fault; almost every good or bad principle could be directed at how the parents treated their children. They were supposed to be the role models, and yet so many of them failed to act as one properly. It was actually a good thing that many of the children he had to take in as goblins were the ones that were treated poorly; it was one of the few things he liked about his job. In all honesty, being turned into a goblin was often better then being rescued.

Jareth found that had wandered into the children's section of the library, where Kayla and he had found Through the Looking Glass during his last visit. The shelves were multitudes of colours; probably just as many, if not a little less, then the books were. It reminded him of the kind of thing his goblins had once done to his castle when he had left for a day – They had covered every inch several of the inner walls with different layers of fruit...

"'Good day,' said the Scarecrow, in a rather husky voice."

Jareth perked up as a voice started to come into hearing range. He continued down the isle he had started to progress down, wondering why no one was shhhhh-ing them for talking so loud.

"'Did you speak?' asked the girl, in wonder." Whoever it was, they were changing their voices for the different characters, sort of like what his mother used to do when he was younger.

"'Certainly,' answered the Scarecrow. 'how do you do?'" He paused for a moment to think… Now that he could hear the voice better he could also tell that it most definitely belonged to Sarah. Did he really want to deal with her again…? So soon…? She could jump to conclusions again, or perhaps somehow manage to find an even more hateful rant to say to him; it would be chaos… But then, it would be unwise to not look in the children's section for Kayla… If she was anywhere in the library, this was the most likely location…

"'I'm pretty well, thank you,' replied Dorothy politely. 'How do you do?'"

…well... a proper goblin would go for the chaos…

A/N: Yes, Cindy is important to the storyline. I'm only creating characters who would have some semblace of importance in moving the plot, because the movie gave us very little in the way of humans other then Sarah and little bits of her family. Don't worry about that, if you were at all.