A "Freak" of nature...

Sarah sipped at her coffee and turned to see Aryanna walk into the kitchen rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning Sweetie. Sleep well?"

Ary yawned. "Very well mommy. I dreamt that...." She yawned again.

"What love?"

"That...that..you know who came back."

Sarah smiled. "You mean Jareth?"

Aryanna nodded still rubbing her eyes.

"Well it appears that your dream came true." Came an accented masculine voice.

Ary was wide awake now, not a trace of sleep in her eyes. Standing beside the far wall of the kitchen, dressed elegantly in a white poet's shirt, black vest and long flowing black cape, black pants and boots, was the Goblin King.

Ary looked up at her mother who smiled sweetly as she took another sip of her coffee. "Am I still dreaming mommy? Is he really back?" Sarah nodded.

Jareth walked towards the little girl, the heels of his boots clicking on the linoleum of the kitchen floor. He knelt in front of her on one knee. "Good morning Aryanna."

Aryanna's eyes widened and then a smile spread across her face. She lunged at him, throwing her arms around his neck and he scooped her up into his arms twirling her around the kitchen.

"You came back!"

"Of course I did."

"Mommy missed you." Ary whispered softly.

Jareth glanced at Sarah and flashed her a smile before gazing at the 8 year old in his arms. "Did she?" he asked raising one brow. "And how about her daughter?"

"I missed you too!" She leaned closer to Jareth and whispered in his ear. "Mommy didn't do the spelling tests like you do, but she tried hard." Jareth let out a small chuckle.

"We'll just have to teach her how it's done, won't we?" He whispered in her ear. Jareth gazed at Sarah to see her smiling sweetly at him.

She realized that he would make a wonderful father. Maybe that was why he stole children. Perhaps he liked them but didn't have any of his own.

Jareth placed the little girl back on her feet. "All right time for breakfast. You have to be ready for the bus in 15 minutes. You overslept." He told her.

She rushed to the cabinets grabbing her favorite bowl and a spoon from a drawer. Jareth was standing in front of the cabinets with one hand on his hip, the fingers of the other was tapping his lips. "Let me guess. Ary would like Fruit Loops for breakfast?"

"Yeah!" She erupted in a fit of giggles. Jareth grinned and took the box out of the cabinet. The phone rang as he was pouring the cereal and some milk into Ary's bowl.

Sarah set her coffee mug on the tile counter and then walked to the phone. "Hello?"

* "Hi Sarah. *

"Good morning Toby."

* "I just wanted to call and make sure that you were all right. And I wanted to say that I'm sorry. There were a few things I should not have said last night." *

"It's all right Toby. I forgive you."

* "You sound like you're in a good mood this morning. What brought that on?" *

"I'll give you one guess."

Toby didn't need to guess when he heard Jareth and Aryanna laughing in the background. * "Jareth showed up." *

"Yep." Sarah glanced at Jareth giving him a shy smile. He smiled in return and then focused his attention on Aryanna. "He showed up not long after you and Cheryl left."

* " Sarah just do me a favor and be careful ok. I know you...I know you love him. Just don't set yourself up for more heartache ok?" *

"I can handle it Tobe. Have some faith in me."

* "I have faith in you. It's him that I don't trust. " *

"Lighten up will you? I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself."

* "yeah I know. I love you. Tell Ary I love her too." *

"I will. I love you too. Bye."

"Was that Uncle Toby?"

Sarah smiled. "Yes sweetie. He says he loves you. You'd better hurry up and finish that cereal. The bus will be here in 10 minutes and you haven't dressed or brushed your teeth yet."

"Did you make my lunch mommy?"

"Sure did. It's in your backpack."

Ary nodded and finished her cereal and then rushed up stairs to dress. Sarah walked her to the bus 5 minutes later while Jareth stood on the porch leaning against one of the poles. Sarah ignored Linda who stood outside with her daughter Melanie on her own driveway. She could feel Linda's stare on her but she pretended she didn't notice and kept her attention on her bubbly daughter.

After Ary had gotten on the bus Linda glanced over at the porch and seeing Jareth standing there, her eyes widened. She pointed at him crying out. "Freak!!!" Jareth's brows rose and he shot the woman an annoyed glance. What the hell was her problem?

As Sarah walked back to the house she started to laugh.

"Freak!!" Linda cried out again. She was on the edge of the property line still pointing an accusing finger at Jareth.

Sarah jogged to the porch and laughed as she pushed Jareth into the house through the door. He was clearly annoyed.

"What was that all about? Why was she insulting me? I did nothing to her. I did nothing but stand on the porch." The expression on his face was a cross between annoyance and anger.

Sarah reached up kissing him quickly on the lips. "Linda is convinced that I am allowing a freak to stay in my house."

"Pardon me?" One eyebrow rose delicately over his blue eye.

"A freak, you know...someone who is different."

"I am aware of what the word means. Although from what I understand it is a word that is often used as an insult."

Sarah let out a sigh. "She saw you crash land in the backyard and transform the night you were hurt."

Both of Jareth's brows rose. "That happened late at night. Doesn't that woman sleep?"

"Apparently not, because she saw everything. Since most people can't transform from owls to men she thinks that you are a freak. Good thing she doesn't know what you really look like." Sarah told him giving him a glance over and referring to the spell he had placed over himself to hide his true appearance.

The annoyance faded from his eyes and was replaced by such seriousness. "Do you consider me a freak?.....Because I am not like....others?" His voice was soft and meek.

She realized that he had never questioned his appearance before and he really had no reason to. Everything in the Underground was so different from Aboveground.

Sarah gazed into his eyes with a smile. "No, I don't think that you are a freak. You're unique." She told him her eyes searching over his wild blond hair, his pale skin, his eye brows that tilted up at an odd angle, the makeup surrounding his eyes that to her didn't look like makeup, but a part of who he really was. Finally her eyes fell upon his mismatched eyes and locked on the blue and hazel orbs... "But you're not a freak." She told him shaking her head. "Not to me."

Jareth grinned at her sweetly and then a smirk formed. "We shall have to teach that awful woman a lesson. No one insults the Goblin King and gets away with it."

Sarah grinned. "We might be able to have some fun with her now that you've got your strength and your magic back."

He grinned devilishly. He would enjoy nothing more then to toy with that annoying woman. "But why should I waste my strength and magic on her?" He lowered his lips to her and gave her a crushing kiss. He rested his forehead against hers and whispered, "When I would willingly use them to seduce you..." His mouth returned to hers. She could feel her knees buckling. There was such power, such passion behind every one of his kisses. He put his arm around her back to steady her and continued to kiss her. His lips left her mouth and trailed soft kisses down her neck.

"Jareth ...stop..." She squirmed but he didn't release her.

He chuckled against her neck, his voice vibrating on her skin. "You'll have to try harder than that to convince me." He teased.

"Jareth..." She was trembling in his arms. "I...I...I have to go to...work."

He pulled back from her clearly disappointed and she straightened herself.

"As much as I would like to stay here with you I can't."

"I know. I'm sorry. That wasn't very gentlemanly of me to do that to you before you had to leave for work. I only meant to tease." He watched her pull her hair back into a ponytail to look more presentable.

"We'll have time for this later. You can seduce me all you want this weekend when Ary goes to stay with my brother." Oh God had she just said that aloud? She tried to act as if she had not said it and appeared calm on the outside. But inside she was shaking. As much as she wanted him to seduce her, she was frightened. The last time she had given into her physical side she had ended up pregnant and the man she loved had left her.

"As wonderful as that sounds I do not wish to rush into anything. We haven't even gone out on our first date." He told her gently stroking her face.

Relief filled her for a brief moment followed by confusion. "Huh?" First date??

He smiled innocently at her. "Our first date. In your society it is custom for those courting to go on a first date. To get to know each other."

"Yeah but we're past that Jareth. Most people who are going out on a first date don't live in the same house and don't see each other everyday. We've already broken the rules."

"So we have bent the rules slightly. I still wish to experience a first date." He kissed her hair. "With you."

"Jareth..." God, she was feeling like a nervous teenager who had never gone out on a date before. She decided to take a logical approach. "It isn't like you can just take me out to dinner and a movie anyway." She told him trying to brush the subject off as nonchalantly as she could.

He played with her hair. "Who says I can't take you out?" he persisted.

She raised a brow at him. Was he serious? Should she remind him that he didn't own a car, didn't have any money?

He saw her expression. "You doubt me? I may not be from your world Sarah, but I have my own way to go about this."

"Oh this is going to be good."

"It will be. This weekend the courting will begin." He gazed at her longingly and she felt her cheeks warm with a blush.

"So what's this week then? Nothing?"

"No, but it would be difficult to get you alone with your daughter in the house. So I'll wait until this weekend."

"Yes. That would be difficult. Especially because she loves to spend time with you."

"What's the matter? Jealous?" He smirked.

"Hardly, although I wouldn't mind more time to spend alone with you. We'll only have a few hours each night after Ary goes to sleep to be together."

"And we should cherish what little time we have. A few hours each night is better then nothing at all." She nodded. He bent his head down and placed a kiss on her neck. "We could use those hours to get to know each other..."

She dropped her head back so he would have easy access to the rest of her neck. He placed a few soft kisses on her skin and she felt herself giving into him, despite her fear, despite her past. "Getting to know each other ..." She sighed deeply and looked into his eyes longingly. "I like the sound of that."

He pulled back. He looked startled and nothing like the arrogant Goblin King she knew he could be. Was he afraid of her? "Sarah I didn't mean like that. I told you I wished to proceed slowly and I meant it. There will be a time and place for...more...but not now."

She smiled sweetly. God she loved him. He seemed to understand her and what she needed before she did sometimes. He was unlike anyone she had ever met.

"I know..." She sighed. "I should go. I don't want to be late for work." He nodded and she grabbed her coat from the closet putting it on.

He stepped closer to her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Have a good day Sarah."

"I'll try." She planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "See you tonight." He nodded and watched her disappear through the door into the garage.