The air was chilly.

He was warm.

A pale blanket of snow covered the streets that he drifted down. The Goblin King was going nowhere in particular. Simply just wandering. Specks of snow softly twirled their way through the sky, one landing on the shoulders of his leather brown cloak.

Torches lit up the streets. The flickering light reflected in his golden pendant. Jareth ignored this. In fact, he ignored most things these days. His mouth tasted of goblin ale and he was sure that while he could usually hold his own drinks, tonight he had surpassed his limits.

Which was hard for a man that had forever to build up their tolerance.

He hummed as he walked. His boots left a trail of footprints in the snow. Then, he felt it, a wish. Something tugged at the back of his mind. Jareth paused. His breath catching. A mischievous grin slowly stretched across his lips. His eyes glinted as he waited.

A child had been wished away. He felt the portal between the worlds stretch open. It was like a gaping hole in his kingdom. An invisible one that human eyes could not see but magical minds could sense. And Jareth slowly let his magic seep out of him.

His magic began to saturate the snow around him, melting it, then it shot out towards the direction of the portal. He waited still. Inside his head he could feel his magic prod at the surface of the open gateway to the aboveground. It tested it, waited for it to expand further so that a creature might be able to enter - or, more importantly, exit - then tested it again.

Once the portal had become sufficiently wide enough, his magic spread around it and gripped the edges. Still, he waited. He conjured up the image of the hole in his mind. Jareth couldn't see it from where he was, but being a powerful sorcerer - he could read it. He could read the magic and tell exactly how it would look if it was visible.

Then, he felt it. A warm body neared the magical portal - creeping closer. Others began to follow it. Creatures poured out of the labyrinth to creep up to the portal in excitement. Jareth felt his heart pumping in his chest. His gloved hands reached out in the direction of the magic, his eyes closed and his mind searching. One of the creatures touched the portal. Testing its readiness. Then, seeing that it was good for entry, the creature took a step back and prepared itself to travel through.

Jareth let a wicked toothy smile overcome the grin that had stretched across his face. The creature leaned forward to the portal - he could feel it just graze the surface of it with it's nose - and Jareth brought his hands together so fast that the sound of his gloves meeting reverberated through the empty streets around him.

The edges of the portal where his magic gripped were slammed shut. He could feel the labyrinth itself protest in anger. Buildings shook and shouts from within reached his ears. Jareth could feel the shock of the poor goblin that had been on the edge of entering the aboveground. When the labyrinth's protests faded away after a moment, Jareth let amusement color his features.

He felt white hot anger flash up from the ground. The spirit of the labyrinth hadn't thought he was capable of such things. And perhaps, it was too much power that he held. The ability to resist the summons and forbid the goblins from taking the child. It was old magic, and magic like that aged like wine.

With that thought, Jareth sent the labyrinth a surge of emotion: smugness. Then his arms dropped to his side and he resumed his drunken walk back to the castle. He sung along the way, making plans on sleeping throughout the next day.

Suddenly, the world around him changed. The image of the goblin market around him tilted and transformed. The world flipped and it seemed as if he was gazing at it through a crystal. Distorted. Edges of the scene that played around him were stretched. The scene around him warped and transformed.

He no longer felt the frosty air. His kingdom was far, far away from this land. It was warm, comforting, he noted. The smell of old books filled his nose.

Humans filled the room. It seemed to be quite a popular book store. Jareth took a step forward and entered fully into the busy scene around him. Everything was muffled. Faces were blurred. People passed by him as if he was no more than just another mortal.

His blue eyes caught a lock of dark hair disappear into an aisle before him. He found himself following.

Jareth watched the mortal woman as she wandered through the store. Her eyes red-rimmed and cheeks rosy. She had a scarf around her neck. It must've been cold outside here in the Aboveground, as well.

She sniffed loudly, then inspected the shelf before her. Jareth kept his distance.

Rubbing her eyes, the girl wandered into the next aisle.

He walked to the space that she had previously occupied and watched her silently through the gaps between the books. She turned, quite suddenly, as if she could sense him in the aisle next to her. Her pale face was facing his, but her eyes were gazing up too high. The girl was quickly distracted by the title of a book in front of her. Jareth studied her piercing green eyes. Perfectly shaped - like that of a cats - and shone like emeralds. They were fascinating to gaze at.

Obviously, she looked on. Her hands that were encased in winter gloves reached up the grab the book. Fingers encircling it, she pulled it from the spot directly in front of Jareth's face. If she hadn't been so focused on it she would have seen him.

Odd it was how little he cared if she did. He wanted her to see him. Wanted her to acknowledge him. Maybe she would run, maybe she would run to him. He found himself lost in that thought. His mind drifting…

Her eyes flickered up to his, suddenly aware of his intense gaze. The book she held slipped out of her hands. It hit the carpeted ground next to her feet and the loud thud broke him from his imaginings. He stared at her - she stared right back.

Jareth let a haughty smile twist his features. What will she do, he wondered. Run away or run to him? He watched her features. Her lips parted - probably in shock, he thought - but then she did something unexpected. Her mouth formed into a smile. It showed a set of perfectly straight white teeth.

"Sorry," she half-said half-whispered. "I didn't see you there. It made me jump." She continued to smile sheepishly at him, then broke eye-contact.

His grin turned sour. He stood frozen as the beautiful woman adjusted her scarf and awkwardly shuffled out of the aisle.

Dread pooled in his stomach. Never would he have expected no reaction from her… Certainly not after everything he'd done.

Perhaps he had pushed too far?

Or maybe she'd outgrown him? It wouldn't have been the first time a mortal had done such a thing… Forgotten.

His heart thudded in his chest. He wouldn't allow that.

Jareth found himself rushing out of the aisle. His presence tall, confident, but urgent. He swept up the book that she had dropped before she'd simply… walked away.

He rushed out of the vacant walls of books. His sharp blue eyes furiously searching the room for the pale beauty. Oblivious humans packed the room. He found himself too impatient for them.

His palms were sweaty. Long slim fingers gripped the book tightly.

Jareth searched each aisle for her. His footsteps were heavy against the carpet. He twisted through the walls lined with words. Each aisle looked the same to him.

His ears picked up a sound - an exhale - as if someone was trying to stifle their sobs. Blue eyes flickered to the noise and saw the girl bending down and inspecting the bottom shelf of books in the centre of the store.

He slowed his steps and approached her. Somehow disappointed by her calm composure. She didn't look like she was crying… Why would she be here of all places if she was about to break down?

Perhaps she was cold, he reasoned. Her nose was runny, or something.

Jareth extended his arm and held out the book. He was shocked to see he wasn't wearing his usual attire. No gloves. Jareth frowned and looked down at himself. No heeled boots and a missing cloak. A leather jacket and jeans. He looked surprisingly… Human. But why?

She turned around and jumped at his presence. Jareth realized he was still standing with his arm holding out her book. He quickly read the title:

Magick: Volume 1

He found himself smirking at the title.

"You dropped your book, precious."

"Oh," she said, standing up. She gave him a polite smile. "I appreciate you giving it back to me." The woman took it from his hands and cradled it against her chest. "Well," she said after an awkward moment, "It was very nice meeting you…"

"Jareth."

"Jareth."

She nodded at him, some of her dark locks falling out from behind her ear. Jareth frowned as she turned away and began to walk towards the front desk of the store. She left him there…

She just left him. Not a word.

Not an ounce of recognition.

He glanced down at his hands. Was it because was appeared as a mortal? Did she not remember him so much that she couldn't tell who he was in such mundane attire?

Jareth found himself silently watching as the woman disappeared out of the front doors of the store. She didn't look back.

He felt a heavy feeling of some sort of negative emotions press down on his chest. Jareth stumbled back and every face in the store twisted to look at him. The humans grinned, their smiles stretching with an impossible width. Their eyes flickered and their voices whispered to him.

You can't have her.

You don't deserve her.

She forgot you, your majesty.

You'll forget, too.

Then the world tilted again, but this time he was met with darkness. A black screen before him. He blinked, and then recognized that he was in a bed. Sarah's bed. The black screen was the ceiling above him.

Jareth sat up, his mind returning from the world of dreams. The alarm clock read three in the morning. He sighed and rose from the bed, careful not to disturb Sarah from her sleep. His dreams had left his heart racing and his mind turning in thought. Resigned with the fact that he wouldn't sleep anymore tonight, Jareth made his way to the living room.

The labyrinth had promised him that today he could contact his brother - possibly find a way to escape from this world.

He thought of his dreams. Of him closing the portal on the goblins before they could snatch the children away. It was a petty thing, he knew. He'd done it out of spite - not out of the kindness of his heart.

And the dream with him chasing the mortal in the bookstore. It was Sarah. No one else had eyes like hers. He thought of the longing he'd felt for her. Some sort of twisted desire to provoke feelings out of her. In this dream he had bad intentions towards her. He could tell… and yet, a secret longing for the chase to be over with. A longing for her to look up at him with something more than anger and fear.

When she looked up at him without an ounce of recognition his heart had stopped. He briefly wondered if these were memories. They had felt so real. The emotions and vividness so intense. Perhaps this was what the labyrinth was showing him?

Yet, he couldn't recall anything that led him to waking up in this alternate universe that the labyrinth had created. He felt as if there were more holes in the story that was missing. And the voices at the very end of his dream certainly were not part of a memory of his.

He couldn't recall the last time a mortal's face had twisted like that. The voices that had spoken to him were not human. They were neither male nor female.

You'll forget, too.

He felt a spark of anger. The labyrinth had made sure of that. It was holding its card close to its chest and kept him in the dark. Once he became Goblin King again he'd make sure nothing ever held any sort of power over him again.

With a determined frown set on his angular face, Jareth set off to ready for his brother. He'd get back to the labyrinth. He'd get his power back. Nothing would stop him.

Disclaimer: I don't own the labyrinth or any of its characters. If I did Jareth and Sarah would be happily married and live a perfect fairy tale life together. The end.

Alright, so the story is finally picking up now. I can now say that it is slowly creeping out of the beginning stages. We should see some interesting events begin to unfold.

Yus.

As of now I have the entire story planned out and know almost exactly what's going to happen. Yay. Also, reviews are the best. Love it, please keep it coming y'all. It's the only way I can communicate with you guys. Even if you're just popping in and haven't followed. I'd love to hear from you. :)

(I just used 'ya'll' and 'you guys' in the same paragraph. Confuuuusinggg.)

Reviews:

Brienandrea20 - Yeah, I think it's in Jareth's nature to be a bit cold/unattached but he also seems to be a hopeless romantic at heart, so his cold demeanor towards Sarah won't last for too long. ;) It's not going to be exactly like The Family Man in all of the ways - but it is definitely a romance. There will be some J/S love. Don't worry - I got you. Lol. The plot is inspired by that movie but I think you'll see quite a few differences in the next few chapters. Thank you so much for reviewing! Really glad you're enjoying the story. :)

KBates - Thanks for your input and leaving a review. Have no fear! I have everything already planned out and you'll have to see what happens... *wink wink* Also, try to picture that wink with some slyness. *maniacal laugh* Anyways, glad you're enjoying the story! :)

Norehnka - Yeah, it's been weird writing a story from mainly Jareth's point of view. Most stories (mine included) tend to be heavily on Sarah's side of things. It's a fun challenge, though! Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad that you're glad that I updated, lol. I love to hear feedback from people. :)

ArgentSimurgh - Thank you! You want more? I shall give you more! Here, have a chapter. ;) Thanks for leaving a review!

Random American - Awe, thank you. Yup, he'll learn along the way all about balancing priorities. Thank you for all the wonderful compliments. I'm flattered. And hope you continue to enjoy the story! Thanks for your review! :)

Whack-the-beetle - Awe, thanks! I think that when I originally came up with the plot it was going to play out more on the fluffier side but it sort of took a different turn. I should warn you, though, that I am a total hopeless romantic and fluff may be prevalent in the future. I just hope I do it delicately. Lol. But for now Jareth and Sarah will continue to be confused at each other. At least for another few chapters or so. I hope you continue to enjoy this story. :) Thank you for reviewing.