wowowowow thank you for the reviews so far! I hope you'll all continue to review. Introducing Sarah, about five years later after the events of the film. lots of love!

Sarah Williams was home from college for spring break. She was looking forward to spending time with her family for a while and look for summer jobs before her last year of school. If possible, she may even see some of her friends from childhood and high school.

But the person that she looked forward to spending time with the most, by far, was her brother, Toby.

He was six years old now, healthy and very intelligent. At least that's what Sarah thought, she supposed that everyone thought that about their child or siblings but he really was very smart. And their bond was incredibly strong, even with the many years between them.

She parked her car in the driveway and excitedly walked to the front door, eyes bright and excited. The door opened to a blonde lady (Karen always dyed her hair different colors and Sarah always tried to guess which one she would be doing now).

"Sarah!" Her stepmother enveloped her into a hug. "You're earlier than expected! I'm not even done washing your bedsheets yet."

Since her teen years, she had grown to understand that her stepmother truly loved her, and was doing her best. She was a kind woman with many flaws but no one can say that she didn't love Sarah.

Sarah waved. "Nah, don't worry about it, it's not like I'll be sleeping right now anyway. I'm just glad that you kept my room for me to use."

"Well, so long as you want, that room is yours." Karen smiled. "What's that you got there?"

"Oh this?" Sarah held up a bottle of wine with a big smile. "It feels good to be old enough to buy alcohol by myself!"

"Ah, just what we need!" Karen beamed. "Your father asked me to get some for this evening but I guess you beat us to it. How do you feel, being 21 years old now?"

"Meh." Sarah set her purse down. "Not really any different, and you know me, I was studying on my birthday anyway, nothing fun."

Karen puckered her lip out in sympathy. "Well, I'm afraid life isn't that exciting here but we can do something to celebrate your birthday besides the usual dinner."

"Oh, how can it not be exciting? You got a six year old." Sarah laughed. "And speaking of which, where is the little buddy?"

Right on cue, she saw a mass of messy blond hair zooming towards her from the back kitchen door. "SARAH!"

Sarah was almost knocked backwards at Toby hugging her legs. His blue eyes looked at her with pure adoration. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too!" Sarah picked him up, and with great difficulty. "Holy cow, you're so heavy!"

"He's growing like crazy, isn't he?" Karen agreed.

"PIGGY BACK!" Toby tugged at her.

"Toby let your sister settle for a minute!" Karen laughed. "I know you're excited."

"I got all week for you." Sarah ruffled his hair lovingly. "Why don't you help me bring my things to my room?"

"Okay!" He trotted after her.

They talked and played a few games together. Toby told her about how he and his friends were making dinosaur drawings and that he was pretending to be a Jedi at school during recess. When it was dinner time, he was still talking her ear off.

"-and then Mom and Dad let me watch Star Wars last weekend!"

"And what did you think?" Sarah asked.

"I'm going to be a Jedi!" He grabbed a stick he found from outside and made lightsaber noises.

The door opened and Sarah saw her father, Robert, standing at the door. "Sarah!"

Sarah went to hug him. "Hi Dad! WHOA!"

He picked her up mid hug and swung her around, the two laughing their heads off, just as they did when she was small.

"Hi Daddy!" Toby hugged his father who picked him up and kissed his cheek.

"My two kids are here, and my lovely wife made some delicious food." He sniffed the air and gave Karen a loving kiss. "What could be more perfect than this?"

They dined and chatted happily, Toby asking for wine then made a face when Robert allowed him one small drop on his tongue, yelling that it tasted gross and that grownups were weird.

After dinner, Sarah saw her stepmother starting to dress into comfy pajamas. "Karen, today's Friday. Isn't it date night for you and Dad?"

"Oh it's fine, you're home, and we don't have a babysitter anyway." She waved dismissively.

"Karen, I'm not a dumb 16 year old anymore." Sarah folded her arms and smiled. "I can babysit Toby, it's okay."

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's that he's very stubborn about going to bed lately." Karen said. "I don't want you to have to deal with that on your first night back for break."

"I got him, I promise!" She smiled. "Go to a movie or take a walk around that pretty park with Dad or something. Spend some quality time together that doesn't involve the little Squirt. Even if he stays up late, it's just one night."

"Hmm, that does sound nice..." Karen smiled gratefully. "Alright, you've convinced me."

Thirty minutes later, Toby and Sarah made a fort and were making puppet shadows.

"Hey, you two!" Robert opened the flap and sat with them for a moment. "Looks like fun!"

"Can you play with me here tomorrow, Daddy?" Toby begged. "It's so much fun!"

Robert patted his head. "Sure! Hey, I'm going to have a date with your mom now, okay? Listen to Sarah and go to bed when she says so."

He turned to Sarah. "Thank you for suggesting a date night, it's been a bit stressful and I was tired but Karen and I really do need some time alone."

"I get it, Dad." She beamed. "You guys go and have a good time. I can hold the fort down on my own." She waved her hand around their fort.

Robert shook his head at the pun. "Dad jokes are my thing! Alright, don't burn the house down!"

"Why do you always say that?" Toby rolled his eyes.

"Bye!" Robert waved before Toby could sass him some more.

The two siblings played for a bit in the fort, and then it was time for bed. Getting Toby to change and brush his teeth wasn't too bad, but to actually stay in bed was another issue.

He was tired and cranky but he absolutely didn't want to sleep.

"I. DON'T. WANT. TO!" He stomped his feet and glared at Sarah.

Sarah sat next to him. "Kiddo, you have to sleep."

"Why do you get to stay up?" He grumbled.

"Because I did my time of sleeping early at your age." She put her hands on her hips. "Listen, if you're good, I'll sneak in a marshmallow to you tomorrow when you're Mom's not looking. But you can't tell anyone or else I'll never do that again."

Toby contemplated this, unsure. Then he nodded. "Okay, but can you read a story?"

Obviously he was stalling but she figured that one story wasn't going to hurt. "Sure. Which one?"

She expected him to pick some Dr. Seuss book, quick and easy.

But instead, he picked a small, red book.

The Labyrinth.

"This one!" Toby put it in her hands, totally unaware of how his sister was turning pale. "I like this story! Mom was reading it to me earlier."

"Where did you find this book?" She asked, her throat suddenly dry.

He shuffled his feet. "I went in your room. And I found it. I like the story of the girl and the Goblin King, can you read it for me?"

Sarah held the book, still unsure. She hadn't read it since that day... "I don't know buddy, it's really long."

Toby started to whine. "Sa-rah! I want you to read it! NOW!"

He stomped his feet and grunted all over, then sat on his bed, angry.

"Aw, come on Tobes." Sarah tried to sit next to him but he just moved to another spot.

"You just want me to sleep, just like Mommy and Daddy!" He yelled. "I want to play, and you're supposed to be cooler than them."

Sarah gasped and put a hand on her chest, pretending to be very much offended. "I AM cooler than them! I offered you a marshmallow! Now, would Mommy and Daddy do that?"

"You're making fun of me." He grumbled. "I'm angry at you."

Sarah sat by his feet. "Well, I don't want you to be mad at me. What can I do to help? What compromise can we agree on?"

Children are just tiny humans. They are often still learning about their own feelings and how to express them. They're still learning about how the world works and how people around them feel. That's how Sarah was trying to show him, to reason with him.

Toby didn't want to think about how Sarah was looking at him sadly. He knew that she wasn't going to let him stay up late because she was on their parent's side. He knew that he wanted to stay up, and he was going to do it. He was so angry that there was only one thought in his mind.

"You're mean!" He yelled at Sarah.

Sarah tried so hard to not roll her eyes. "Toby-"

"I WISH THE GOBLINS WOULD TAKE YOU AWAY RIGHT NOW!"

Thunder could be heard almost instantly, even though there was no sign of lightning. Sarah opened her mouth in horror. "Toby, what did you do?"

Before she knew it, a strange feeling swept her up. It was like lighting ripping through her body but she felt no pain. She didn't even feel human, but rather, like the wind itself.

In the distance, she was sure that she heard goblins whispering.

It felt like an eternity but also instantaneous when she could feel her limbs again. At first, everything felt hazy and groggy, like she just woke up. The memories came back first, the ones of her coming home and then getting wished away by Toby.

Thank god, it must be a nightmare, she thought.

But why did her bed feel so hard? Why didn't she have a pillow?

She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. The first thing she saw were a pair of boots.

She slowly looked up to meet a pair of mismatched, bright blue eyes from a man with peculiar hair and eye markings.

The Goblin King.

dun Dun DUN! Jareth is here!

So this chapter is based a lot on my own family and my siblings. I'm the oldest, with three younger siblings. Toby is a mixture of all my siblings, how they loved to play but also argue with you at every single turn lol. And does anyone else's dad tell them to not burn the house down because my stepdad does that ALL the time lol.

Thank you for the lovely reviews that you've left already for the first chapter! Obviously it was very much like the Beast's backstory but I wanted to mold it for Jareth. It's fun writing him as this person who's not evil but isn't good either. In fact, I don't think I'd want to be friends with someone like him from the first chapter, which makes it perfect for the next chapters with him and Sarah. Let me know what you think!