Terra ran a finger gently over the petals of the softly glimmering daisy on her table.

"Happy fourteenth birthday, Terra," she murmured to herself.

She was tall for her age, but very slim. Her hair reached all the way down to her waist. She always let it hang loose.

Terra glanced briefly at the black and white ball gown hanging on her wall. Today was the day of the great ball, where all the courtiers and elegant Fae folk from all over the kingdom and beyond would journey to the King's Palace and enjoy a day of drinking, dancing, and gaiety.

Terra didn't want to go. She wasn't one of them. She'd certainly never felt like one of them. The only connection she had was Jareth. Her adoptive parents had long since split up. Her father had left not just their home but had gone even beyond the borders of the Fae kingdom. Terra's mother had coped with the split by becoming even more of a socialite. She rarely even slept in their own home anymore. Even worse, everyone in the court knew about it. Terra could hardly walk down the street without getting weird looks. Turned out that the court had already known since she was a baby that she had been adopted. Her parents had been unable to bear children, and after finding her as an abandoned baby, they took her in, which turned out to be much to their regret later on.

Even Jareth knew the truth, not that it had ever really changed their friendship or the way he saw her. Terra marvelled at his ability to shrug such things off so quickly and still be so accepting of her. If anything, their bond had deepened since the fact. But as they had grown, they had inevitably found themselves with less and less free time to spend together. The loneliness had begun to sink into Terra's heart and torture her. Recently, she had found herself unable to sleep at night. She would often wander down to the lake and just watch the waves lapping at the shore.

Terra often couldn't help but wonder what the years to come would bring. No doubt Jareth would become more and more preoccupied with princely things and soon he'd have no time at all for her. She scolded herself for being so selfish; she couldn't hog Jareth all to herself. He had a privileged life to lead and she, well...

Terra stood and moved to the window, looking down on the long cobbled street below that stretched beyond the gates of the Palace and into the ever-distant horizon. How she longed to travel it, to venture far beyond the wall of the castle and unlock the secrets that lay there in the wild, untamed regions of the land. She wanted to learn magic, she wanted to learn how to fight, she wanted to be able to look into the face of danger and conquer it, she wanted to be like the heroes in the history tales, she wanted to be remembered.

She didn't want to be worthless, doomed to live out the rest of her days in the court just smiling and dancing her way to death.

Her unfocused eyes centered on the daisy again, then back to the ball gown.

Like it or not, she had to at least try to fit in.

~Time skip~

Terra struggled to breathe as the dress tightly hugged her body. She had to be careful not to trip over her own feet as she descended the golden stair onto the shining ballroom floor. She squinted up at the beautiful crystal light hanging above them. At the head of the room were seated the royal family, waiting for the last of the guests to arrive. Despite the immensity of the room, Terra felt the crowd pressing in on her, causing her to feel even more suffocated. She walked awkwardly to the edge of the room and pressed her back against the wall, determined to stay there the whole time. After what seemed like a lifetime, the King rose from his seat and declared the start of the great ball. With a wave of his hand, the King caused a row of tables to appear along one wall. They were covered with food, half of which Terra had never even seen the like of. With that, the royal family began to mingle with the crowd. Terra remained where she was for fear she would trip up and make a fool of herself in front of everyone if she dared try to move from the spot. So she stood there, chewing her lip and drumming her fingers against the wall.

It was going to be a long day.

"Terra!"

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Terra's head turned at the sound of the voice. She had to do a double take before deciding it was really Jareth; he looked so odd in all those fine clothes. If it hadn't been for his mismatched eyes and unruly hair—of course they couldn't tame that—she probably would have dismissed him as a total stranger.

Jareth beamed at her, "So you made it."

"It's not really something I could say 'yeah, I'd rather not' to," Terra reminded him sourly.

"Well, since you're here, aren't you at least going to dance?"

Terra snorted, "Me? Dance? Where have you been for the last fourteen years?"

Jareth's stunning eyes gleamed in the crystal light, "I'll give you a lesson in dancing as a birthday gift."

Terra gaped at him, "You remembered..."

"Of course I remembered!" he said, taking her hand and leading her away from the wall, "Just follow my lead."

"Jareth!" Terra protested, "I'm going to trip in these ridiculous shoes!"

"Then take them off."

Terra stared at him, "You have got to be joking."

Jareth grinned cheekily, "Maybe. But I'm sure it'll do you a world of good. You're going to be here all day after all."

Terra sighed in defeat and bent down to remove the uncomfortable heels. With a snap of his fingers, Jareth made them disappear before placing his free hand on Terra's waist.

"Alright," he said, "Now just put your hand on my shoulder and watch what I do. You'll have it in no time."

He guided her across the dance floor, step by step, swaying gently to the music.

"Oh, um, Terra," he said, his smile disappearing, "I have something I wanted to tell you. I mean, my father is announcing it tonight anyway but I kind of wanted you to be the first to know."

"Know what?" Terra asked.

"Well, you know about the goblin kingdom, right?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"Apparently the old king stepped down and father says—"

"Jareth!" A hand suddenly seized the prince's arm and a young blonde girl with icy blue eyes stepped into view. "You promised you'd dance with me!" she whined. Turning her cool gaze on Terra, she asked, "Who's this?"

"A friend," Jareth answered before turning back to Terra, "Sorry, Terra, this is Princess Meena. She's visiting from a neighbouring kingdom. Don't worry, I'll explain what's going on later."

Terra felt his hand slip out of hers and she was left standing there alone amidst the swaying crowd.

I think the wall is calling, she thought sullenly.

~Time skip~

"Excuse me, dear," a kind voice said.

Terra whipped around to see a tall woman with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes smiling down at her. She didn't fail to notice the elegant jewels and ornate crown the woman wore. Terra realized it was the queen standing before her. With her mouth half full of food as she had inevitably become more and more hungry over time and had found her way to the food table, Terra clumsily curtsied.

"Not necessary, dear," the queen said warmly, "But I wanted to ask you. Are you Terra?"

Terra quickly swallowed her food and nodded stupidly.

"Yes, I'm Terra. But how did you—"

"Jareth talks about you and I've sometimes seen you two together. He says you're a wonderful friend."

Terra couldn't help but smile at the remark but she wiped the expression off her face quickly when she saw a hint of sadness in the queen's eyes.

"Terra," she said, clasping her hands together, "I am so sorry for the hardships your family has gone through."

Terra stared, "Well, th-thank you, your majesty..."

"Now if you'll excuse me, my husband is about to make an announcement."

Terra nodded and half curtsied as the queen turned away. Straightening, she looked over the crowd with a tinge of worry. Jareth had wanted her to know something, but he hadn't found his way back to her since Meena had practically carted him off. Where was he?

A light tap on her shoulder answered her question, and Terra turned to see Jareth smiling at her.

"Miss me?" he asked, his peculiarly pointed teeth flashing.

Terra opened her mouth to answer when the King's voice rang out, "My lords and ladies! I have an announcement! One that is both pleasurable and grieving in equal measure. It has come to my attention that the king of the labyrinth who presides over the goblins has stepped down from his throne. This, of course, means that I must appoint a new king. I am proud to say that my son Jareth has agreed to rise to the challenge! Your young prince is going to become the Goblin King! Unfortunately, time is cruel and he is bound to leave on the morrow. I am hoping that all of you will be there to see him off."

Jareth looked over at Terra and smiled coyly, "Surprise."

Terra felt like someone had just kicked her in the gut. She could feel the blood draining from her face.

"Oh..." was all she could manage to say.

"Yes, it's shocking, really. But when I thought about it, I realized it was just what I always wanted! A position that gives me complete power without having to worry about all the ridiculous responsibilities like my dad has to put up with. The goblins are stupid creatures. All they need is a powerful ruler to set them straight and the rest of the time I can do whatever I want! Don't you think—"

Jareth's words died away as Terra pushed her way through the crowd. She stumbled past some surprised looking guards and out the palace gates. She didn't stop. She ran down the street, the cobblestones cold and rough against her bare feet.

Jareth was leaving, leaving her all alone, and not just for a little while. It was going to be forever. Her only friend was leaving her forever.