Jareth leaned back in his throne, staring out the window at the setting sun. The sky was turning shades of pink and purple. He heard the chirp of small bird in the distance and smirked. A little red finch flew in through the window and circled the room several times before perching on his outstretched hand.

"How was your day, Cassandra?" he asked.

There was a puff of glitter that disappeared into nothing and Cassandra stood before him. She leaned over and kissed him.

"It was wonderful, darling. You should see what the humans have now!" she sat in his lap and he put his arms around her.

"It's some sort of cart, and if the children give the man some coins, he gives them something called an Ice Cream! One of the children dropped one, and I tasted some of it - it was so cold but it tasted really sweet."

Jareth frowned. "I'll never know what you see in those humans… Did you spend the entire day Aboveground again?"

Cass chuckled as she got up. "Of course I did. It's so wonderful up there, Jareth. I wish you'd go with me one day." she sighed.

"Humans are so dull, Cass." he shook his head. He wanted to change the subject - he knew Cass could talk for hours about the humans. "Are we still going on our picnic tonight?" he asked, eyes lighting up.

"Yes, I'll just be a moment." she said as she left the room, looking back over her shoulder to give him a smile.

As Cassandra went to change her clothes, Jareth went the opposite way to the kitchen to get the picnic basket the goblins had packed earlier. They met at the doorway and they walked out to the gardens. The moon had risen and lit up their pathway. They walked down the path, arm in arm, and Cass leaned her head on Jareth's shoulder.

Now that the sun had gone down, big yellow flowers began to open, casting a heavy perfume in the air. Green moths fluttered about, and the sky was filled with twinkling stars. Cass took a deep breath ands silently wished that things would stay this way forever. They walked in silence to the meadow where they often came. Jareth spread out a blanket on the soft grass and they both sat down.

The food consisted of sparkling lemonade, fruits, and cake. As they ate they talked about various things, what the goblins had done recently, what Cass had found in the human world, and idle gossip from the neighboring kingdoms.

The next morning they sat down at the breakfast table as the serving goblins brought their food from the kitchen. The goblins put their plates in front of them and promptly left.

"Jareth?" Cassandra asked softly.

He looked up from across the table.

"Would you go with me the next time I go Aboveground?" her eyes glittered in the pale morning sunlight.

Jareth wrinkled his nose. "Maybe."

She sighed. "You've said 'maybe' so many times… Just come with me, once?" she poked the food on her plate with her fork. He noticed she wasn't eaten much of it. Cass didn't think he would ever accompany her to Aboveground. It had been decades she had been trying to get him to go. He always found a reason for not going.

"Wouldn't you rather go somewhere around here? There are so many places better than Aboveground." he took a sip of water. She smiled sadly and looked down at her plate. For a brief moment Jareth had a funny feeling, that something wasn't right, that he should go with her today, but it passed after a moment and he thought nothing of it. They continued their breakfast and spoke of other things.

Cassandra stuck around for a while after breakfast was finished. She stood next to Jareth's throne and leaned on the arm rest. Jareth was sitting on the throne, leaning forward and trying to understand what the goblin in front of him was trying to tell him. The goblin seemed to think this matter he brought before the king was of the utmost importance. The problem, however, was that neither Jareth nor Cass could understand what he trying to say. He was waving his arms about and saying things that didm;t quite sound like words. Jareth furrowed his brow and tried to focus. Cass tried to hide a chuckle behind her hand.

Finally, Jareth raised a hand to stop the goblin. "Stop, stop. I'm not understanding you. Start slowly from the beginning."

The goblin started again, but it was not any more understandable. Jareth hid his face in his hands. Cass turned away and laughed softly.

"Alright!" Jareth said abruptly. "Don't worry about it anymore, I'll fix it for you." he was taking a wild guess about what the goblin wanted. Surely it was asking for help on some matter? Hopefully if he promised help to creature, it would go on it's way and sooner or later forget.

The goblin nodded happily and ran out of the room.

Jareth sighed and leaned back in his chair.

Cass giggled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Are you sure you don't want to go with me today?" she asked softly and slipped her hand into his.

Jareth felt something gnawing in the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He squeezed her hand. "Not this time, love. I'll see you when you get back."

"Hhm." she gave him one last smile as she went to the window. After her last glance back she transformed into the small red finch and flew out the window into the horizon. Jareth smiled as he watched her go, feeling a little sad, but he didn't know why.

Jareth had gone to the Goblin City not long after she left. He wanted to buy some flowers for her for when she got back. He felt the smallest amount of nagging guilt for not going with her. There was always next time, he told himself. He was in the market, trying to decide between the light pink poppies and the bright violets. He was beginning to think of getting of both.

He was about to decide when a small group of goblins came running towards him. "King, King!" they cried. They looked out of breath and terrified. "Something - something bad has happened."

It was at that moment Jareth's world fell down around him.

The goblins had said the words, his mind had comprehended what the words meant, but he could not bring himself to believe the meaning behind them. He shook his head. Time seemed to slow down.

"What?" he asked, his own voice sounding far away and foreign.

"There's been an accident. Lady Cassandra didn't make it." the goblins looked at him with fear in their eyes. "We looked all over for you - starting with the castle. Something happened to her in the Aboveground, she came back very wounded. Sh- she didn't make it." the goblin swallowed back tears. When Lady Cass had come crashing through window of the castle in her fae form, badly injured and on the brink of death, she had been asking for Jareth. The goblins around her had done all they could to help her, and a medic goblin came as quickly as he could, but it was too late for her. She was too far gone. She had asked one of the goblins for a scroll and some ink.

"She wrote this for you, King." a small goblin said in a wavering voice. Jareth took the envelope and clenched it in his hand. His eyes darted around the market. A few goblins were looking at him as though they knew something was wrong. He didn't want to read the letter here.

"What happened to her?" he asked, trying to keep in control of his emotions.

The goblins looked down. "We aren't sure…"

He nodded at them. He couldn't seem to find any words, so turned and quickly teleported back to the castle.

He could hear goblins in the background wailing and crying. The medic was speaking to a few others before he noticed Jareth was back.

"Your Majesty!" he called when he saw him. He walked over to the king. "I'm so sorry your majesty, but there was nothing I could do. Not even if I was able to treat her right away." he shook his head sadly. "It seems it was her fate to go at this time."

Jareth, whose eyes were roving the castle, turned to look at the medic upon hearing those words. "What did you say?" he asked sharply.

The medic noticed the glint of malice in Jareth's eyes, and he realized he might not have picked the wisest words. He swallowed. "I, I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Out." Jareth pointed to the door. "Out, all of you."

None of the goblins needed to be told twice.

He went right to his library and locked the door behind him. With shaking hands he opened the letter. It started off in strong handwriting, but progressively got shakier and messier.

'Dearest Jareth,

I want you to always remember that I love you. My only regret in life is that I couldn't stay here with you. I love you so much Jareth, I'm sorry.

I was in the Aboveground watching families in the park - I was thinking of of us, the family we wanted to have - when I saw a Warg. It was stalking a little girl in the park. I went to distract it from her, but it was too quick for me. I managed to defeat it, but not before it bit me. I knew what I risking when I confronted it. I regret having to leave you, but I don't regret saving the girl. Please, Jareth, go to the Aboveground, just once, for me. See the humans. Discover their world. They are worth it - they are worth protecting, and I want you to see that. That is my last request of you. Goodbye, my love

That was it. She was really gone. Jareth put his face in his hands and sobbed.

The was deceptively sunny. Birds flew through the air and chirped, and a gentle breeze blew across the land as though there wasn't a care in the world. Jareth saw these things and felt they mocked him. He stood by the graveside of lover. Just a week ago they had been planning a their wedding. Now he had had to plan her funeral. Ever since that day he had been different, he had changed. All the goblins spoke of it in whispers. He became colder and crueler. Boggings happened with alarming frequency. He lost his patience more and more. He had become sullen and angry. Cass had always been there to calm him and keep him in check. But now she was gone.

On the fourth day after she had died, he suddenly left the castle in his owl form. He went Aboveground, fulfilling her last request. He circled the skies and watched the humans. He saw men going to work in the mornings, sipping their coffees in their polished cars, he saw children walking to school, toting books and all manner of things with them. He saw people in stores, buying and selling string objects. People playing in parks and walking down the sidewalk. And he despised all of them. Every single one. All so selfish, so wrapped up in their own little world. the humans were cruel to each other, and he looked upon them with disdain. For many days he returned to the Aboveground, hoping each time to see what Cass saw in them. The more time he spent there, the more he was confused by them. They seemed so full of contradictions. After time, they all started to blend into one another, and no matter where he went, they all seemed to be the same.

On the thirteenth day of watching, he saw something. He was in a park, perched in a tree. His eyes scanned the grounds, taking in all there was to see. The wind blew towards him and carried a voice to this ears.

"For aught that I could ever hear by tale or history, the course of true love never did run smooth"

Those words… It was a girl's voice, high and clear. He looked until he could see the owner of this voice. For a moment his breath stuck in his throat. This girl looked so like Cassandra when she was younger, it almost startled him. He watched as she read from the blue leather bound book. She sat on the grass with her dog next to her, with no idea that someone was watching her.

This was the first human who stood out to Jareth, the first who seemed… different. He stayed watching her and listening to her read out loud for the rest for the rest of the afternoon. As she left he decided to follow her. She skipped all the way back to her home, neither her nor her dog noticing the owl that flew not too far behind them.

It wasn't until Jarteh got back to the Underground that her realized the whole time he was watching the girl he hadn't been thinking of Cass of at all. He went back as often as he could, watching her as she recited poems and plays in the park, or through her window as she did homework. She fascinated him. She was so like Cass, but at the same time, she was unlike anyone he had ever known before. He wanted to learn more about her. He wanted to know everything he could about this strange girl.

Author's Note: Girls, if someone follows you around and watches you from the shadows, chances are he is a creeper and should be avoided. :(

This story just... kind of went that way... *shrugs*