While organizing the books that were left in the return bin, Belle found herself day dreaming. She remembered all her ambitions and her dreams of traveling, seeing the world. She had wanted to have adventures....grand adventures to unseen places. What happened? She was stuck, trapped, in a town where hardly anyone spoke to her unless they were looking for her husband and working in a library that only had a handful of visitors a week.

She glanced down at the pile of disorderly books in front of her and frowned. She had been so drawn into her daydream that her carefully thought out organizing system had turned into a random placement of books that made no sense at all. She shook her head and began to gather all the books into a single pile, starting her task all over again

Well this was certainly...different. He had ben dozing on his throne, and when he awoke he was decidedly not in his throne room. Jareth had awoken on a park bench, in a town that he did not recognize, though he had realized rather quickly that he was no longer in the Underground. After a stretch he stood, dusted his pants off with his hands and began walking down the street.

He was looking for someone, perhaps he could find someone that could tell him where exactly he was and why he was here. The streets were decidedly empty, was he thought was strange, but he continued searching for someone. He stopped when he noted the building that had a large clock above it. He shrugged and continued walking, peeking in the window and cocking a small smile when he noted the brunette inside.

Belle continued to sort her books, a frustrated expression grazing her face every time she made a mistake. She just couldn't seem to concentrate. After six consecutive errors, Belle slammed the book in her hands down on the wooden top of the desk, the wind from the impact causing countless papers to fly off the side of the desk. She began to walk around the desk, noting the papers strewn on the floor and giving them a forceful kick and she walked past them.

She paused for a moment, fixing the small section of hair that had come out from behind her ear and continued on her path towards the non-fiction section, grabbing a selected handful of books and carrying them back to her work place, stepping ever so carefully around the paper obstacle at her feet and dropping the books onto the desk.

Jareth watched her little outburst and rolled his eyes. Humans were rather strange weren't they? He sighed and looked down one side street, and then another before shrugging. She was the only one around, and she was working in the library. It would not be so strange for him to walk into so public a space. It wasn't like he was invading her home or anything.

Jareth strode into the library and looked around. It was small, and absolutely cramped with books, though it still had small town charm. He looked around for the brunette for a moment before cocking a brow and striding towards the area near the returns drop. There, sitting out on the counter, was a small worn red book that he would have recognized anywhere.

Belle, in her small tantrum, almost forgot to look up and greet the customer walking in the door. The little rang and she remained focused on her work for a little longer than she probably should have. "Good morning. Can I help you with something?" she asked lifting her head up and searching for the person that had walked in.

When her eyes finally found the visitor, they found an oddly dressed man. Hair to the ceiling, strange clothing, and glitter coming from, what seemed to be, everywhere. He was staring at something on her desk, so without drawing to much attention, Belle tried to find what he was looking at so intently. After a few moments, she found he was looking at one of her own books that she had brought with her. "It's a wonderful story." She said, trying to start up conversation.

Jareth didn't hear her when she first spoke up. His mismatched eyes were too focused on the book on her desk. He hadn't seen that since it was in the possession of Sarah. Either this was a copy, or somehow that book had found its way into someone else's hands. His fingers grazed the front cover and he finally heard the woman speak.

His eyes drifted up to her face, confusion clearly his expression. "Where did you get this?" He murmured, returning his hand to his side. He knew that this woman wasn't Sarah, or even related to her. His mind was running at a mile a minute, and he was honestly surprised that his hair wasn't doing it's little trick either.

Belle allowed a confused expression to grace her face for a moment before speaking again. She tried to remember exactly where she had gotten the novel, but all she was getting were memories of reading it under the large tree in Rumple's backyard. Finally, she recalled the first moment she saw the book.

"In all honesty, I think it found me. I found it in a pile of books in the back room when I first re-opened this place." she paused for a moment. "Why do you ask?"

He blinked. That sounded about right. The book had an uncanny way of finding people when they needed it. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I ask simply because, in the technical sense, it is mine." He crossed his arms and turned before sitting on the edge of her desk.

"Surprised that you do not recognize me." He looked up at her and smirked. "Jareth, at your service."

Belle listened as he spoke but when he sat on her desk she nearly had a panic attack. She moved quickly, her hand gently patting at his arm. "Oh please watch the books, their so fragile already." She grabbed the pile of Jane Austen novel's he had nearly sat on and moved them to a separate section of the desk. As she placed them down on the wood, she took a moment to think.

What does he mean recognize him?

She took a second look at him and studied his features. The Victorian-like clothing, the exertion of glitter, the hair she could have sworn was changing color before her very eyes. Suddenly, her eyes widened with excitement and she moved quickly towards the front of the desk so she could see his face again. "Oh my god!" she said, staring at him with excitement and confusion all at once.

He almost jumped when she patted his arm, and he remained completely still as she moved the books he had almost sat on. He watched her, noting the obvious love that she had for books, which brought a small smile to his face. When she moved to stand back in front of him he studied her just as intently as she was studying him.

Her clothing was obviously modern, as were her shoes, which made her almost his height. Overall she looked remarkably normal, but Jareth knew that looks could be deceiving. He looked up at her exclamation, chuckling slightly.

Belle tried her best to speak clearly, but the book geek inside of her was freaking out. "You....You're.....It's....I, um..." she paused her hands shaking wildly in front of her.

Oh my god, Belle. You're acting like a complete idiot. So he's a character from a book you read. You've seen thing that were a lot weirder than this pull yourself together.

She swallowed and took a deep breath. "What?"

Nice going, idiot.

Jareth snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. "I what?" He cocked his head to the side and shot a grin. "Not every book is false, that one just happens to be far more true than some of the others in this library." He gently picked up the little red book and flipped through it absently. "To put it simply, I am Jareth, the Goblin King."

Belle chuckled a little and smiled. "Actually, you'd be surprised at just how many of these books happen to be true." Belle let her arms fall to her sides and straightened herself out. "I know who you are." she said, laughing slightly. She thought of the many times she read that book. Over and over again during her and Rumple's separation, always reading over the scene that had a certain king in them. He was by far her favorite part about the entire book. "That book wasn't that worn when I found it. It's one of my favorites. As are you." She paused and flashed him a small smile, tilting her head minutely.

No you're not

Her face softened a bit and she tensed up a little.

Stop it. Stop it right now you're married.

Jareth chuckled and nodded. "Oh, yes. I have heard that quite a few human tales are actually true." He crossed his legs at the ankles and closed the book, turning it over in his hands. "It was not nearly this worn the last time I saw it either. Though it is obviously love worn and not damaged." He stroked his fingers over the gold title on the front cover. When she mentioned that he was her favorite he blinked and gazed up at her. "Thank you." He murmured, a small smile on his face.

"You're welcome."

Now look what you've done.

Belle tried to think of something to say that wasn't flirtatious or flattering. It had been only a couple of months since Rumple left, unwillingly left, but none the less. She did still love him....didn't she?

Unable to think of anything proper to say, Belle walked back around to the back of Jareth, attempting to busy herself with her work.