Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus and a handful of the brainier goblins were sitting in the sunken pit of the throne room playing a casual round of dominos when the Goblin King came crashing through the door. The noise sent goblins flying and one landed right in the middle of their playing space, tossing the pieces every which way.

"Damn it!" cried Hoggle. "I was winning!"

He crossed his leathery arms over his chest and glared up at the Goblin King who was still stomping about the room, throwing empty ale mugs and kicking chickens out of the way. Jareth noticed Hoggle grimacing up at him and reached down into the pit to grab the dwarf by the back of the collar. Hoggle screeched and squirmed as he was hauled up to the Goblin King's eye level.

"Tell me, you sorry little scab," Jareth hissed. "What do you know about Chase Lewis?"

Hoggle continued to fuss and wriggle against the Goblin King's grasp.

"I don't know nuthin', you big rat," he replied. "And even if I did why should I tell you? It's Sarah's business not yours."

"So you do know something about this boy!" Jareth spat into the dwarf's face.

"No! I mean, I..."

"Hoggle, if you don't tell me what you know this instant I swear I will drop you and this whole pitiful lot into the Bog."

"Fine," ceded the dwarf. "But will ya put me down?"

Jareth obliged, unceremoniously dropping him on his backside onto the hard stone floor. Hoggle scrambled to his feet, rubbing his bruised bottom.

"Alls I know is that Sarah was talking to him at school," he began explaining to the Goblin King. "She said he had asked her out on a date. She seemed real excited. I wanted to find out how it went, but she never called us back to tell us."

Hoggle lowered his gaze and Jareth could see that the little dwarf was bothered. It made him feel a bit better that he didn't seem to be the only one that Sarah had expelled from her life. He looked down at the rest of the rag-tag gang and noticed their hurt expressions as well and it rankled him. How dare that insolent girl cast them aside! All for the favor of an adolescent boy?

Jareth stomped over to his throne, swatted away the chickens that were nesting in it and sat down, still fuming. How could she? After all that had happened between them... She had agreed that they were friends and he had thought, maybe... He shook his head. It didn't matter. She'd had her fantasy playtime and now she was done with them. She wanted a normal, boring existence just like every other member of her race: wake up, do some job, come home, go to bed and then start all over again. Well, that was fine. She could have her mundane, tedious life. He was finished wasting his time and magic on her. He addressed Hoggle and company who were still sitting around the pit.

"There will be no more visits to Sarah Williams," he announced. "No matter how many times she calls or how pathetically she pleads."

As if on cue, Hoggle's plastic bracelet, the one Sarah had given him, lit up. He looked at it, then at Jareth.

"She's calling now," he said.

"You're not to answer," commanded the Goblin King.

"But..."

"Anyone who defies me will be thrown into an oubliette and forgotten. Is that clear?" Jareth challenged.

They all nodded, except for Hoggle who stared at his blinking bracelet.

"She's still calling," he said sadly. "I can't just ignore her."

"Hmph!" Jareth cried. "She has no problem ignoring you." The look on the dwarf's face almost made him regret his words. He stood and approached Hoggle and held out his hand. "Give that to me," he demanded.

Hoggle hesitated, but finally obeyed. As much as he still loved Sarah, it hurt that she'd been too busy lately to talk to him. He handed the bracelet to the Goblin King and watched as he shrank down into his owl form. Clasping the still-blinking bracelet in his talons, he flew out of the window of the throne room and over the putrid Bog. He opened his talons and let the bracelet fall into the middle of the foul-smelling swamp where it landed with a plop and disappeared beneath the murky water.

Satisfied, Jareth flew back to the castle to find his throne room deserted. Hoggle, Didymus, and Ludo had all abandoned their game leaving the pit empty except for scattered dominos. The goblins had moved off to another part of the castle, taking their flagon of ale with them. Even the chickens had dispersed. The throne room was completely empty and, most alarming, quiet. Jareth sat down on his throne and swung both legs over one side. At last he could hear himself think and spend some quality time alone without having to step over goblins or deal with traitorous dwarves or stupid, selfish, dark-haired girls-

"Damn," he cursed under his breath. This was ridiculously dull. At least with the goblins about he had someone to yell at. And as for the dark-haired girl...

Jareth quickly looked around before pulling a crystal from the air. He let it spin atop his index finger as he stared into it.

"Show me the girl," he whispered.

The crystal shimmered as it spun before clearing to reveal an image of Sarah sitting at her vanity. Her face was streaked with tears and she was calling for the dwarf. He watched her frustration build before she gave up, jumping from her chair and hurling herself onto her bed. Jareth smiled wistfully at her irritation.

"Serves the little princess right," he snarled. "She always did have a habit of taking things for granted."

He started to turn away from the crystal, but Sarah's voice caught him off guard, calling him back.

"Jareth," she was whispering to the ceiling, "Please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I took it all for granted, especially you." She paused and wiped her big green eyes with her sleeve. "Just come back. Please. Please come back, Jareth."

"Damn you, Sarah Williams," Jareth hissed. He hurled the crystal onto the stone floor, dashing it to a million pieces.


A/N: It's raining. I'm hormonal. There is angst.

Thank you all for the lovely welcome back! I am so happy to be able to return at last!

Keep the love and comments coming.

Fanny