To everyone who's commented on his wings: I'm glad that you're having a lot of feelings about it. It IS really sad! I swear I didn't just do it for dramatic effect although that is a big reason. I think chapter 10 or so is when you'll see why I've made him lose his wings and if it's not clear then read my notes at the bottom of the chapter. :) thank you thank you thank you!

To the guest reviewer CoolKid: lol yeah it was predictable, a lot of it IS inspired from that Disney film lol. Unfortunately (or maybe not idk) it was WAY more similar than I guess I remembered. Oops. I hoped that I still added my own twists enough for it to be interesting as I didn't want to totally make a carbon copy of Beauty and the Beast. There will still be similar elements but hopefully you'll still enjoy it! Thanks for the review!

The next day, Sarah and her friends had breakfast and lunch together. No word from Jareth at all in asking her to meet with her.

Sarah tied her hair up in a bandana, with her friends at the library. "There's so many amazing books here!"

"Quite, My Lady." Sir Didymus held one such book. "And all are in quite good condition. His Majesty has a large collection."

"Too bad these aren't in any kind of order." She looked at the books. These are put in the most random of orders but obviously taken care of. "Where does he get some of these books from?"

Hoggle shrugged. "Who knows, who cares."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Well, how did he become king? I mean you live in this kingdom, shouldn't you know about him?"

Ludo shrugged and went back to playing marbles with Evie. Or at least it seemed like that, Sarah wasn't sure since it looked more like they were just rolling them around.

A few other goblins were there, as they were quite taken by Sarah. They enjoyed her warmth and her softness, in stark contrast to their king. They were also curious, since she had been the king's nemesis but had saved him the day before.

"The High Queen is the one who decides who becomes monarchs, My Lady." Sir Didymus answered for her. "He has been king for as long as any of us can remember, for only a few types creatures are immortal in the Underground. Creatures like the fae like him or elves."

"How old is Jareth? He must be old. Who was king before him?" She looked at each book and wrote notes about what types of books they seem to be, so that she could organize them later.

"Stop askin' questions about that rat." Hoggle grumbled. His deep dislike for Jareth was not helping Sarah at all. "Plus he dun't like talkin' about his past. He gets mad whenever someone does."

"Okay okay." Sarah sighed. "I get it, you don't want to talk about it."

She was just so curious, but it was probably better not to ask anyone right now.

"So many wonderful books to read." She thumbed through a few of them, taking them with her.

They went to Hoggle's hut. Ludo was a bit too big for it (Hoggle was a dwarf after all), so they stayed outside most of the time. Sarah and Hoggle baked some cookies together, Sir Didymus spinning insane stories.

Sarah told Hoggle about what Jareth said, about how he wasn't the one who stopped them from talking to her.

"He's still a rat." Hoggle mumbled.

"I know, I'm not excusing his behavior." Sarah mixed the frosting, tasting it. "But I refuse to stoop low and to blame him for things that he didn't do. That would be dishonest. It's called taking the high road."

"Why does you even care?" Hoggle put his dishrag down and put his hand on his hips, staring up at Sarah. "He's been so mean to us this whole time."

"I KNOW!" She yelled.

Hoggle stepped back, shocked. Sarah had whined, been annoyed, but had not yelled at him in anger before.

Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose. "I know." She said again softly. "I just… okay look, has he done anything that makes him irredeemable?"

"He sent us to the bog." Hoggle snorted.

"Yeah, but if he wanted us to go in, wouldn't he have?"

Hoggle thought about it for a moment. "Still dun't make it fine."

"No." Sarah agreed. "But don't you remember me? Do you think it was fine that I got you in trouble with him? That I wished Toby away angrily? That I complained the whole time?"

Hoggle shook his head. "No. But you are me friend. Ya can't make someone change, Sarah." Hoggle warned her, his face scrunched with worry. "You can't hope for someone to change."

"Trust me, I'm smarter than that." She promised him, a hint of bitterness in her voice. "I had ex boyfriends… friends… loved ones who have taught me that."

Hoggle felt sorry for her. "Girlie, I didn't mean ta make ya sad."

Sarah wiped a few tears away. "I know, and I don't expect to change Jareth. That's his choice. I just want to make the best of the situation. Tell me, how often does he actually spend time with anyone? Does he even have a friend? You're his gardener."

Hoggle understood what she was saying now. "No. He usually just tells people what to do for him, like to get stuff done. The closest thing to a friend is goblins."

"And we all know that goblins aren't exactly the easiest creatures to be friends with." She looked outside as a few were trying to ask for Sir Didymus to show his sword to them.

"I know what it's like to be loved. To have kindness. From friends like you, you know?" She held her hand in his. "Everyone deserves a second chance. Even Jareth. He's so lonely, that maybe if someone showed him kindness, but still stayed firm, then maybe he would be better. I think he's lonely, and maybe he forgot how to act with anyone. I wonder why he's isolated."

"Dunno." Hoggle didn't want to feel empathy for Jareth, but it was hard not to when Sarah did. She of all people experienced the worst of his wrath and had every reason to hate him. If she didn't, should he? "He never goes anywhere. Just sulks. He's a good king, he does what he can ta keep everyone safe and in line. There are other fae who live in this kingdom but no one wants to be around him for some reason. We just all kinda do our own thing."

"Hmm." Sarah thought a bit about him. "Well, I'm here now. Maybe I can be his friend."

She thought about their banter during dinner the night before. He was fun to actually talk to, when he wasn't being a conceited git. Ever since her time in the Labyrinth, she was much more kind and thoughtful of others. She still did not take ANYONE'S crap, but she felt like if she could be forgiven, then surely Jareth could. Especially if he's being a good king.

"Maybe." Hoggle got some food together in a basket. "If anyone can, it's you. I knows that you is very good at that stuff. Ya can get anyone to be ya friend, even grumpy ol' me. I guess I didn't have no friends until you, so maybe ya could be his first friend."

Sarah got the cookies and set them on a plate. "Well, thank you. I love being your friend too. I do miss everyone here. I really did need all of you."

Jareth woke up, realizing that he had been sleeping for most of the day. It was night time again, and he felt a longing to spread his wings and fly in his owl form. He tried to not break down again at the thought of his lost wings.

He had heard a ruckus outside earlier that day. When he looked out, he saw Sarah, her three companions, and a bunch of other subjects having fun in the gardens. He saw her dance and sang silly songs with them, even lecturing the goblins when one tried to eat a flower.

How he wished that he was there, and not here. He told himself that it was because he was bored but he knew that even that was not true.

It was so much more than that.

He heard a little knock on his door. "Jareth? May I come in?"

Sarah?

Now that was unexpected, but he wasn't going to say no. "Come in."

Sarah opened the door, a basket in her hand. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

Jareth pretended not to care too much about her presence. "Fine, thank you. I'm healing well, have been sleeping most of the day."

He wondered why she was there. He thought that she would rather not see him unless he called for her.

Sarah smiled for him. He was putting his tough guy act but the moment she smiled, she could see that he softened quite a bit. "Hoggle and I made cookies earlier. I made sure to save some for you."

She pulled the container of cookies out of the basket and gave it to him.

Jareth looked at them, beautifully decorated too. No one gave him presents unless they wanted something. Maybe Sarah was different? "Thank you. These look lovely."

He had a little nibble, instantly lighting up. "Oh my."

The way his eyes widened and the corners of his lips twitched just made Sarah want to melt. "I knew you'd like them!" She looked quite proud of herself.

He ate that one and another. "Whatever the recipe is, please give it to the chef."

Sarah said she would. She got out something else from the basket. "So I found this chess set while deep cleaning the library. None of my friends of goblins know how to play. I was wondering if you did? Maybe we can play a game?"

Jareth wasn't sure why in the world she was asking him to play a game with her. But before he could answer, she was setting up the board.

He found that she was an admirable opponent, as she had been when she was first in his land. He taught her some tricks and she to him.

"Ah!" She put her hands to her face in horror when he captured her queen. Again.

He shook his head. "Sarah, you really must pay attention."

"Those pesky knights." She mumbled, her nose scrunching in annoyance.

They played a few more games. Sarah yawned, quite tired.

"Go to sleep." He told her, feeling better than he had been in ages. "Thank you for playing with me.

"It was fun." Sarah agreed.

She packed her stuff up. She made sure that his bandage was on tight enough but also not too loose. She tried her hardest to not touch his bare skin, keeping as professional as she could even though she was blushing like crazy.

"Sarah?" He asked.

"Hmm?" She tucked the basket on her arm.

"Since you mentioned us starting over, let's try breakfast again. In the same dining hall."

"Sure, I'd like that. I mean, it's what friends do, spend time with each other, no?" Sarah answered, feeling her heart skip a beat. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Good night, Jareth."

"Good night, Sarah." He said back.

When she closed the door, he sat there for a while, thinking about her. And his situation.

Sometimes, the pain of being alone consumed him so deeply that he didn't care if he just wasted away. Hence the lack of a court physician. His goblins and kingdom would be fine.

He didn't think that his life was that worth it. No one needed him, and he was miserable. He had long given up on breaking his curse. What was the point, no one was going to truly love him anyway.

But these few days, even though he was so close to death, he felt the fire of life reignited in him. Sarah had brought back that flame, had made him worried for someone else.

And she had called him a friend.

He turned over, smiling at the thought of being her friend. Yes, he would very much like that indeed.

I hope you liked seeing Sarah's side of things, how she refuses to excuse Jareth's bad behavior while being empathetic to his situation. It's to also show her friends too. Hoggle hates Jareth, but he realizes that she's right that if Jareth was wanting to be a better person then he should give the king that chance.

And yes, a new beginning for Jareth and Sarah! Somehow I seem to make them play chess together. I guess it's just something that I remember loving to play as a kid with my own brother, lol.