Zee watched with faint amusement as Sarah had taken up a broom as a weapon. She looked around wildly as the other Ughlánas popped up here and there, giggling and then vanishing. He did have a moment of guilt when he saw how horrified she was at Toby's disappearance. Zee knew that she loved her little brother, and that her wish was one made in misplaced anger, but… words mattered. He didn't know how this whole situation came about, seeing as Sarah was supposed to wish herself away, not the baby, but… the Labyrinth always knew what it was doing. Far be it for him to wonder about it.

With an almost dramatic flair, lightning flashed, and thunder rolled, the glass doors leading to the outside blowing open with a strong gust of wind that carried with it a cloud of leaves, rain and glitter. To his surprise, Kingy appeared in his owl form, flying around as if he'd been blown in on the wind himself.

Zee was very aware that the Labyrinth always changed Kingy to look like what the wisher expected. One reason was because it fit the 'fairy tale' that the wisher was able to identify him. The other… was something of a safety measure. No one Above had a clear idea of what the Goblin King actually looked like, which meant that he could walk the streets among the humans without anyone being the wiser.

But… his owl form? What gives?

For some reason, the Labyrinth transported Jareth in his owl form. He materialized in a dark bedroom, blown in with the wind and rain from the open French doors. He flew around a bit, disoriented, as the wisher cringed and threw her arms over her eyes. He soon got his bearings, moving over to the open doors to transform himself back to Othánas. As his vision adjusted to that of his natural form, he was puzzled by the lack of information on the child he'd received from the Labyrinth. A quick glance at the room told him that it was a baby. A male baby. Other than those two tidbits, the identity of the child was a mystery.

He turned his gaze to the wisher, the usual words hovering on his lips when he felt the blood freeze in his veins.

It was Sarah Williams. His heart-bonded. His future Queen.

Details now flooded his mind. Her home life. Her family. The child that had been wished away was Sarah's own brother, willed to him by Sarah herself.

Motionless from shock, he stood in the opening of the French doors, the rain sprinkling upon his back. He felt the wind whipping his hair all around him, along with a cloak of some glittery, sparkly black material. The collar of the cloak was tall, almost a parody of the vampire cloaks he'd seen in costume shops Above. In the vortex of air, hair, and fabric spinning around him, he could see more glitter, drifting and falling as if it were snow.

Glitter? What the…

Tearing his gaze from Sarah, he caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror, mounted on the wall above a heavy dresser. He was clad in the tightest, most sparkly black leather clothing he'd ever seen, as if it were a cross between armor, motorcycle leathers and a disco ensemble. His hair, normally neatly braided, was wild and stuck out from his head in all directions. His facial features were still his own and recognizably so, but he looked… older. His eye markings, usually quite subtle, were exaggerated with more makeup than most human women wore.

All of that barely registered on his brain before he realized just how tight the pants were. He was grateful for the darkness of the room, otherwise he'd see the blush of embarrassment burning in his ears. He could already feel the flush creeping into his cheeks.

Oh, what fresh hell is this?

Sarah had thrown her arms across her face to shield her eyes. She could hear the flapping of the owl around the room but was too afraid to look and see. She could feel the wind blowing around her, carrying raindrops with it that dampened her hair and clothes. Soon, she realized the flapping had stopped. Cautiously, she moved her arms down from her face.

Silhouetted against the backdrop of the storm was a man. He was wearing a dark, high-collared cloak that swirled around him in a vortex of wind and glitter. His long blonde hair was wild and whipped about his head in a storm of its own. She could see the glint of gold around his neck, but any other details about him blended into the shadows.

Then there was a flash of lightning that lit up his face. He stared at her, an unsettling smirk on his lips, his eyes riveted on hers with an intensity that sent a stabbing sensation running through her gut. He took a step towards her, but Sarah was frozen, unable to move back as he came closer. His gaze was almost hypnotizing, and she felt her lips part, as if in awe.

The glint of gold she'd seen was some sort of amulet with a sickle-shaped sigil on it. He was dressed in some kind of sparkly black leather, which clung to every plane and angle of his body. He wore black boots and on his hands were black gloves.

Tall… he was tall. And he stared down at her, his eyes reflecting what seemed to be a thousand different emotions before settling on a mix of disdain and amusement. His face was hauntingly familiar… almost like…

Dear God, it can't be Bowie…

No… it wasn't. Not really, although the resemblance was uncanny. He had sweeping angular brows that arched high over his eyes. Eyes that did not have the single dilated pupil that David Bowie had. Eyes that had some sort of markings around them… makeup maybe. The angles of his face were very similar, but it was almost as if what she was seeing was… changing somehow. He was older like the 80's Bowie but also… younger like the Glam Rock one. And for a moment, her mind couldn't decide which one to focus on before his image solidified into the older version.

"You're him, aren't you?" Sarah said, her voice trembling. "You're the Goblin King."

His smirk deepened as he cocked his head at her, his eyes flickering over her briefly. When his gaze returned to hers, she took a steadying breath.

"I want my brother back, please… if it's all the same."

"What's said is said," he replied, as he crossed his arms. His baritone voice washed over her like a wave. British accent… but with a little lilt to it, Irish or Celtic… Sarah wasn't sure. What she did know was that the sound of his voice sent tremors of excitement through her body. A sensation of heat unfurled in her belly, her knees weakened, and it was all she could do to remain standing.

It took every ounce of will for Zee not to burst into hysterical giggles when he saw Kingy's outfit.

A veteran of many a wish, Zee had seen Kingy in every sort of guise. From an ancient, wizardly man to an actual werewolf (or at least the humans' version of a werewolf… Zee had seen the real thing and it wasn't even close), there was really no limit on what humans could think up. But this… this was different. He saw Kingy glancing at the mirror across the room and watched in amusement as his ears flushed. Kingy was handsome, no doubt, and got lots of attention from the girls back home, but he'd never been dressed in such a… revealing… outfit before. It probably wouldn't have given him such embarrassment if it wasn't for the fact that Sarah was so young.

Zee watched as Sarah's eyes widened at the sight, and he half expected that she'd burst into the same giggles that Zee himself was fighting. But she didn't. Her eyes ate him up, a mix of fear and admiration swirling in them. And Kingy…

Oh… now what is going on here?

Kingly looked… shocked. More shocked than the situation called for. Sure, Sarah was supposed to wish herself away and not her brother, but… why was Kingy so surprised at the sight of her?

Using his othersense, Zee looked at both Kingy and Sarah, and then got his second jolt of the night.

Stretched between them was a faint silver thread, almost iridescent and glowing with a sort of magic. One end was anchored in Kingy's heart, the other in Sarah's.

Oh my… they're heart-bonded.

Well, that certainly explained why Kingy was so flummoxed. And it might explain why Sarah was in such a mood earlier. With her being Above and Kingy being Below, the distance would cause their hearts to hurt. Then again, maybe it was a new development, since Kingy never mentioned having found his heart-mate before.

For a moment, Zee was rather happy at this turn of events. Kingy had been so lonely, and so was Sarah. Now that they'd found each other, they didn't have to be lonely anymore, didn't have to hurt anymore. Sure, she was too young to marry at the moment, but Kingy would be patient. And the Goblins would finally have their Queen.

But as he watched their interaction, he realized that something was wrong.

He didn't think it was the fact that Sarah was human… Kingy knew as well as Zee did that Humans and Othánas had married and had children in the past. And Sarah was pretty. And nice. A little immature, but nice.

Then Kingy conjured up a trick scarf, tossing it at Sarah. To her, it would appear as a snake, then transform into a scarf. It was a common joke back in the Goblin Kingdom, but Zee could tell that it frightened her.

Way to go, Kingy. How about tossing some flowers at her… it would work better.

But somehow, he knew that Kingy wasn't trying to woo her… not at this moment. If anything, he seemed… down. Disappointed.

Why so down, Kingy? You've found her. Finally. You can be happy now.

But for some reason, Kingy was anything but happy.

Author's Notes:

This is one of those scenes where I had to follow the movie pretty closely. I wanted to explain how Jareth appeared to her looking the way he did (his appearance being taken directly from her mind by the Labyrinth). I also needed to establish his initial shock that his heart-mate is also a wisher.

A couple of small details to notice… when Sarah gets her first look at him, her mind can't decide whether he is a younger or older lookalike to David Bowie. This is because very briefly, she could peek through the glamor to see his true self, before the Labyrinth solidified his appearance to her.

The Labyrinth also transported him in his owl form. This puzzled him (and Zee), but makes sense when you realize that the first time she'd laid eyes on him, spoke to him, was when he was in his owl form. The Labyrinth wanted her to associate the owl (which she had imagined as her fairy tale prince) with the Goblin King that he was in reality. If he'd appeared to her initially only in his Glam Rock getup, she might not have made the connection.

If you're suspecting a little matchmaking going on here, you'd be right. The Labyrinth is definitely tweaking things in this situation.

And I just had to poke a little fun at his reaction to his outfit. While I found it to be really HOT the first time I saw it, as did Sarah, Jareth (as I've written him at least) would NOT be comfortable wearing such a costume for an underaged girl to gawk at.