Thank you thank you thank you for all the reviews! I've tried to say thank you to everyone individually but it's hard to lol so thank you even the guests! Yes this is a modern fairy tale, a continuation of the movie. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll publish the next chapter! You guys have done such a great job of reviewing that I've uploaded five chapters already in less than 48 hours! Whaaaat?

The next morning

Sarah waited at the table for about 20 minutes. Or maybe more? Or less? Who knows at this point.

It was dead quiet. So quiet, that she felt unnerved by it. No goblins were in sight, even Evie was gone. She took this chance to look around the dining room some more.

It was spacious and gorgeous. Granite stones for the floor and beautiful rose wood for the table, coated with black paint and a white sheet on top. She noticed that the table cloth was a different color last night. Hmm. Maybe things had gotten dirty.

She started to get agitated. She HATED waiting around for something to happen. And she still wasn't sure about Jareth. He seemed like he was very spoiled but was trying to make the best out of the situation with her. He didn't seem to hate her anymore, but he sometimes acted like he did.

What was going on his head anyway?

She jumped at hearing the doors burst open.

Jareth marched in, looking agitated himself. He saw Sarah at the table and frowned. "You are not going to stand when I come in?"

Sarah didn't like that tone that he took with her. If he informed her that it was the etiquette here, then maybe she would listen but she was not about to take this petty reaction from him.

All she did was shrug and puckered her lips in mock pity.

He walked over to her, folding his arms and narrowed his eyes. "It is extremely rude for one to not stand when someone, especially a king, enters a room. And to not respond when he asks a question is even worse."

Sarah stared at him for a few seconds.

Then slowly stood up.

She mirrored him and folded her arms as well. "Well, it appears we are even since it is extremely rude to be extremely late for a breakfast with someone."

Jareth exhaled through his nose in puffs so loudly, Sarah was surprised that he didn't turn into a dragon.

He didn't take his eyes off of her as he sat down in his own chair. He took the bell and rang it.

Goblins came in just as they did the night before. For breakfast, they brought in some fruit with what seemed to be yogurt and some grained breads.

Sarah thanked the goblin for serving the food in front of her, and also made sure to thank for the night before. They smiled at her, and informed her that the goblins who served her last night were a different set of goblins but said they would pass the sentiments onto them.

After the goblins left, the dining room was once again as quiet as a tomb. Jareth made no move to eat.

"What?" Sarah snapped, seeing that he was staring at her.

"You were so intent on being rude to me, and now you're waiting to eat when I do. Why be polite now?" He lifted his feet and set them on the chair next to him, completely disregarding any manners.

She closed her eyes. Inhale, exhale. You can do it. Just talk to him politely.

"Well, I was not, in fact, intent on being rude to you." She told him plainly. "You came in late, then demanded that I stand. If you had just told me that it was the manners to do so, then I would have understood and remembered. Instead, you demanded respect instead of presenting yourself as one who deserves it."

"I am a king, that is all that is needed to be known for what kind of respect I deserve." He took a type of fruit that looked like an orange and peeled it.

Sarah took that same fruit to do the same. "There is this famous quote from my world. And that is, 'Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.' So if you were really a true king, you would not have to tell anyone so. You would have power just by giving the dignity and respect others deserve."

"Hmm." He said in thought. "You assume much."

"What do I assume?" Sarah inquired, not understanding what he meant.

"My subjects have a good life." He said. "They have comfortable homes and abundant food. They have celebrations and are happy. You think that I abuse them?"

"I never said that." Sarah shook a finger next to herself to emphasize her point. "I never said that you were abusive, or that you would hurt anyone."

"Then what do you mean?"

"I said that you keep demanding respect. You use fear tactics. You use angry words and acting like you're better than others. If you would just-"

"YOU ARE NOT THE ONE IN POWER HERE!" He yelled at her.

"HEY!" Sarah stood. "Don't yell at me!"

He snarled. "You have no idea what it's like to be a king. You have no idea what I do. You come here with your ideologies from your own world and tell me what to do when you have not even walked a step in my shoes. Oh look, a saying I am familiar from your own world!"

Sarah blinked. "I-"

"You are here under MY kindness and MY command. And here you are, telling me how to rule my own damn kingdom!"

He threw his napkin on his plate. "And for your information, I was late because I was working. As a king. You think that I will take advice from someone who hasn't even been here a whole day?"

Sarah couldn't believe him. She scoffed. "Seriously? Look, I'm not telling you how to rule. I'm telling you how to be POLITE, something you SHOULD have been taught, that is basic manners for EVERYONE. It's not about being a king, it's about being a good person."

"Save me from the lectures." He took his breakfast on the tray and stood up. "Good day!"

And he disappeared in a cloud of glitter.

Sarah grabbed her plate too. "Unbelievable!"

Sarah sulked and went to her room. To her surprise, she found something wonderful waiting for her.

"Hoggle! Sir Didymus! Ludo!"

She was enveloped in the biggest hugs possible by them. They were extremely happy to see her and she to them.

"Oh, I've missed you so!" She gave a kiss on everyone's cheek, Hoggle protesting because of his fear of the Goblin King.

Sarah started to cry. Ludo held her while Didymus patted her hand and Hoggle smoothed her hair.

"Why Sawah cry?" Ludo patted her back.

Sarah wiped her tears, not realizing how emotional she was. "I tried to call you guys for years. But you never came back."

"We couldn't, my Lady." Sir Didymus said with sadness. "His Majesty wouldn't let us to to thee."

"What?" Sarah couldn't believe it. "He wouldn't?"

"He said that we was traitors." Hoggle said with great disdain. "Damn him! He made us feel bad!"

Hoggle kept on talking about how much of a jerk Jareth was, but Sarah was no longer listening.

All she could see was red. That no good, rotten king had the NERVE to be so arrogant and then prevent her friends from seeing her. What was wrong with him?

"-he's been in such a bad mood ever since you ran the labyrinth and - Sarah?" Hoggle saw her eyes sort of glass over.

Sarah stood up. "He has ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT TO KEEP MY FRIENDS FROM ME!" She seethed. "I don't care how mad he is, to prevent someone from seeing friends because he's feeling petty is not okay!"

Before anyone said anything, she stormed off.

Sir Didymus looked at Hoggle. "Brother Hoggle! You know that the king is a good man!"

"He's a bully and a rat." Hoggle mumbled. "He wouldn't let us see her!"

"But you can see that their relationship is strained. You know how our Lady is so fiery, now I am worried that because of your words," he poked at Hoggle with a stick. "That he will now show his bad side!"

"Hasn't he always been on his bad side?" Hoggle shoved Didymus, irritated.

"Yes, but the goblins say that he has considered her a guest of honor! This may have ruined any good graces she has with him!"

"HOGGLE BAD!" Ludo yelled at him. "Make King mad!"

"Why ya gotta blame me?!" Hoggle sighed, his lips shaking in sadness.

Sir Didymus felt a bit bad. "It's not all thy fault, my friend, she makes her own decisions as well but now whatever delicate balance may have been broken."

"Well what are we waiting for then?" Hoggle got up. "Let's go after her before she ruins things. SARAH!"

"SAWAH!" Ludo called after her.

"My Lady, please listen to us!" Sir Didymus trotted to her as quick as he could. "Ambrosias, will you catch up?"

But Sarah did not listen. She stomped down the hall in anger. "JARETH!"

She had no idea how to find him, but she was going to storm the whole freaking castle until she did. "JARETH! GET YOUR BUTT HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

She got to another section of the hallway and shut the door on her friends. This was her anger and they did not need to get involved. She wandered around for another five minutes before she decided to go outside to look for him.

When she was outside, she realized how absolutely tired she was. And hungry. She hadn't finished her breakfast after Jareth stormed out.

Walking around, she saw a tree. A tall, beautiful peach tree. It was majestic and the leaves seemed to almost glow in the sunlight.

Hanging on the lowest branch was a peach. Large, juicy, ripe and ever so tantalizing.

Ever since her adventure in the Labyrinth, she had avoided peaches. Not because she hated them, as much as she tried to tell herself that. In fact, she was tempted by them.

She supposed she felt like what Eve would have felt in the Garden of Eden. Or Snow White when she took the red apple. Persephone when Hades offered her a pomegranate. There was something otherworldly about it, something so tempting. Even forbidden.

Something about this area just felt almost sacred. As if she should be taking her shoes off or something, like she was not supposed to be touching anything.

It was not magic that was beckoning her to do it. It was something in her, something from deep within that made her want to have a tiny taste.

She reached for it, plucking it out of the tree. All thoughts of Jareth fled her mind as she was intent on savoring this peach.

She opened her mouth and sank her teeth into the succulent flesh. It was so sweet and so delicious, she had never tasted anything like it! Her eyes rolled back as she took another bite, the taste of it satisfying her hunger.

"What. Are. You. DOING?"

Sarah turned around, having taken the last bite of the peach, only the pit left.

Jareth stood about ten feet away from her, slowly walking forward with anger on his face. "I won't ask you a second time."

Sarah swallowed, feeling a bit scared but refusing to show him that. "I was eating."

"And you think that you can just come here in MY garden to steal a fruit from MY Sacred Tree?" He loomed over her.

Sarah looked down on her feet. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me-"

"I know what did." He snatched the peach pit from her. "You just do not care about anyone's personal space. You are not allowed to be here."

"You're right." Sarah whimpered. "I shouldn't have touched the peach. I'm sorry. But I thought you said I was free to pretty much go where I wanted?"

"Are you really apologizing or are you just trying to get out of trouble?" He tossed the peach pit up and down in his gloved hand.

Sarah was so tired of arguing with him. "Look, everything I do is wrong, you keep getting upset at me for things that I didn't know was bad! You have every right to be mad at me for eating the peach but not for just wandering here. How was I supposed to know?"

Jareth growled. She was right, but he didn't want to admit it. Which in turn, made him MORE angry at her. It had been so long since someone had the gall to tell him what to do. It didn't matter if he was right or not, he was the king and his word was law.

"You know what?" He pointed at her. "You are here under MY hospitality!"

Sarah stood a little taller, hands on her hips. His eyes were filled with such loathing for her and she could say that she felt the same thing! If wishing didn't give her so much trouble, she'd wish that she had never met someone as terribly mannered and with such a bad attitude as HIM!

"You know, you're a spoiled BRAT!" Sarah yelled.

"Oh, I'M the brat?!" Jareth asked, incredulous. "Says the one who complains about how everything is unfair and wishes her brother away even though he did absolutely NOTHING wrong and was just a baby!" He tangled his fingers in his hair, as if to pull it out.

"I WAS SIXTEEN!" Sarah rolled her eyes. "You're a grown man who kicks goblins to the bog when he gets mad!"

"At least I have a basis for comparison!" He slammed his hands on the table and sat up.

"Seriously? You're just being dramatic, calm down!" She made a face to mock him. "Oh look at me tra la la!"

"HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME YOU LITTLE-"

"LITTLE WHAT?" Sarah roared at him. "What? Can't take insults? Been living alone too long? No wonder no one wants to be around you, you probably just insult them at every step and treat them like garbage, don't you?"

This was too much for him to take. "Get. Out."

Sarah put her hands on her hips. "Or what, Goblin King?"

Jareth made fists with his hands, his breathing just as rapid but much quieter.

Just when Sarah was about to make some sassy remark, he turned around and she stopped in her tracks.

His normally blue eyes were dilated to the point where all she could see were his pupils. He barred his teeth in a growl as she paced backwards.

"THIS IS MY CASTLE AND IF I TELL YOU TO LEAVE, THEN YOU BETTER DO IT!"

When his eyes focused, he realized that Sarah was gone.

Ah Crap, things were going so well! FREAKING JARETH! Okay yeah this part was a bit borrowed from Beauty and the Beast movie, but whatever lol. I thought I would have them yell at each other a bit, they still mostly loathe each other even if they find each other interesting after all. I hope you're enjoying this! So happy for the reviews!