A/N: This is a sequel to my story Many Happy Returns. You might want to go read that first, it's not essential but there will be things mentioned in this story that were established in that one. Warning for sexual discussion and a little bad language, but nothing graphic enough to warrant an M.


Sarah stared at the clock, daydreaming again. It was Monday morning, three thirty seven in the afternoon to be precise, and she was hopelessly bored. She had been working at Hills and Moon publishing house for almost nine months, editing dreary romance novels written for middle aged women who, as she had been told at the interview, "weren't married, had too many cats and read too much Jane Austen as a teenager". Sarah thought this description of their customers had been a little harsh, but as she had read more and more books she could kind of see what they meant. Every book had a brooding, difficult to please man who was the lead character's enemy at first but they fell in love and everything was fine.

Sounds vaguely familiar, Sarah thought with a smile.

Life was pretty good right now; she was hopelessly in love with Jareth, and they were living together happily in his house in Chelsea. She hadn't returned to America (except to clear out her old apartment at 3am with Jareth's help), and had gotten a job at the publishers without calling in any favours owed to a certain Goblin King. Her job was a little boring sometimes, but she enjoyed being around authors and learning about being an editor.

"Sarah, Mr Stewart needs the final edit of Forbidden Passion on his desk by Friday." Alison, one of Mr Stewart's secretaries, told her. Mr Stewart was the seemingly hundred year old head of the company, who took great care in checking every book before it was published. Sarah was impressed with his dedication to the business, even if the content of the books left a little to be desired.

"Sure Alison, not a problem. It's almost done anyway." Sarah had spent weeks trying to make a terrible romance novel at least a little readable, no easy task. The main task was editing out all the author's terrible euphemisms for the male genitalia. Really, Sarah thought as she looked down at the manuscript in front of her, who could ever get in the mood when someone calls it a "lovestick"?

Her phone rang shrilly, and she picked it up after a few rings. She really wasn't in the mood for work today, she felt distracted and on edge. She hadn't been getting enough sleep; Jareth didn't sleep as much as she did, and these past few nights he and his lovestick had been particularly demanding. Not that she was complaining, she thought with a smile.

"Sarah Williams." She answered, and the smile playing on her lips spread into a full on grin when she heard the familiar voice on the other end.

"Hello my darling."

"Hello love." She had found herself using more and more British endearments, something that amused Jareth. "Is everything alright? You don't normally call." He had more of a habit of just appearing in places when he wanted to talk to her. She'd only seen him a few hours ago when he'd taken her to work. One of many fantastic things about having a magical King as a boyfriend was that you saved a fortune on train fares.

"I could see that you were not alone so I thought telephoning would be more practical. I don't have much time." Sarah needed to have a word with him about watching her with those damn crystals. "I have to go Underground."

"I thought you'd already be there." She told him, spinning a little on her chair. He went back to his Kingdom every day, Sarah didn't understand why he was calling to tell her.

"I have been, I've come back up here just to use the telephone. I may be gone a little longer than usual and I didn't want you to worry. Juturna has had her baby at last, and I am expected to go to her Kingdom without delay and offer my congratulations. I haven't seen her for hundreds of years and just because she's popped out a sprog I have to go and act like the genial uncle."

Jareth and his twin sister always communicated through diplomats rather than talking directly to each other. Things were a little shaky between them to say the least, and Sarah knew that Jareth was more worried about the situation than he let on.

"How long?" Sarah asked, a little worried; they hadn't spent a night apart for the entirety of their relationship. She hated to feel so dependent on a man, but she told herself it was perfectly fine to enjoy being with the one you loved so much that you felt a little lost without him.

"Maybe two days? Three at the very most. I expect her oafish husband will want to have some political discussions about our latest trade agreement. Then of course there's still the issue of my heir that she won't stop banging on about."

Jareth had been getting increasingly frustrated with his sister's efforts to have her child be named heir to the Goblin Kingdom and Jareth wouldn't move an inch on the subject.

"I won't be able to come home to you, they'll be watching me, possibly even tracking my magic and I don't want to lead them to you. I'm reluctant to even use my crystals to check you're alright whilst I'm there, spies are everywhere in that court."

Jareth had been incredibly cautious and protective over Sarah; the transformation process had begun, or so he told her, and it placed her in a vulnerable position. Jareth had told her that the fact he had been able to trigger the change (with his lovestick, Sarah thought with a giggle) in her would be seen as an open declaration of his intention to make her his queen, despite the fact he hadn't actually proposed to her.

She had been fully aware of this before they had slept together for the first time, and had gradually been coming to terms that eventually she would have to leave everything she knew Above and take her place by Jareth's side as Queen of his domain. She had expected to feel a sense of fear or at least mild trepidation at this, but as the months had progressed she could think of nothing she wanted more. She hadn't told Jareth that she was ready to be his Queen, as she was sure he had planned to ask her exactly when it was right. She would have to be further along in her transformation, and she was growing increasingly impatient at seeing no signs of it.

Sarah couldn't see any difference in herself at all, no matter how long she stared in the mirror for. She had expected to feel something at least, but so far nothing had changed. Jareth watched over her carefully, making sure that the transformation wasn't overpowering her. Sometimes she was tired, more tired than usual, and he would put her to bed and refuse to let her move for several days until she was completely rested.

She tried to tell him it was just stress from work or exhaustion, but he would never listen to her. He wouldn't even touch her, telling her that she needed a break from all physical activity. She knew that every time they made love, her powers would grow a tiny bit stronger. To be honest, she thought she got so tired because they made love so frequently that the process wasn't going as slowly as it should have been.

"I'll miss you." She told him, imagining their bed without him in it to be cold and lonely. "Come back as soon as you can, okay?"

"Trust me dearest, if I had my way I'd never leave your side. I can't wait to come home to you and I haven't even left yet."

"Just do what you have to do and come back. I'll be lonely without you."

"Ah, talking of being alone. I've assigned some goblins to guard you. You won't see them, but they'll be there if you need them."

"You really don't have to do that, I'll be fine on my own." Sarah said stubbornly, and she heard Jareth sigh down the phone.

"Sarah, don't argue with me. You are the most precious thing in my life, I would never put you at risk by leaving you unprotected. And before you tell me," his voice said down the phone, just as she opened her mouth to protest, "I know you can look after yourself love, but just put my mind a little at rest, please sweet thing? Our time apart would be much harder if I was worried about your safety as well as missing you like crazy." Sarah softened, relenting.

"Fine." She looked around the office to make sure nobody was listening. "Those goblins better not touch any of my stuff." She told him sternly, remembering once a few years ago when she had gone to get a cookie out of the jar and found a plump little goblin dusting crumbs off it's mouth. Jareth normally didn't allow goblins inside his London home, so it struck Sarah that he must be seriously concerned for her safety. "Just hurry back. I better go, these books won't edit themselves. I love you."

"And I love you. Don't miss me too much." He teased her, and Sarah laughed.

"I'll try." She said, twisting the phone chord round her finger. "Bye, love. Be nice to your sister." She warned him, and she was rewarded with a light chuckle.

"I'll try. Goodbye darling." The phone line went dead, and Sarah placed the phone back on the receiver.


Sarah worked later than usual that night, seeing no reason to rush home to an empty house. She finished editing the dire manuscript and had started another one that was a little more enjoyable to read. She left the office around seven that evening, her spirits a little higher now she was working on something written by someone with an ounce of creativity.

The journey home felt long and sticky; it was the height of summer, and though England didn't get much good weather, they were in the midst of an unbearable heatwave. Normally, Jareth would come and get her and they would either walk home together and enjoy the weather or he would transport them to wherever they wanted to go. They spent many evenings enjoying dinner together or socializing. He really did have a vast circle of friends, and she had a few friends of her own. Most nights, however, were spent in the privacy of their own home.

They were utterly obsessed with one another, consumed by lust and love in equal measure. Sarah had thought that their passion for each other would die down a little as the relationship progressed; if anything, it had gotten more and more intense. There were times that they barely made it through the front door before their clothes fell to the ground and they were lost in each other.


Getting out of the hot and stuffy tube, she made the short walk from Sloane Square to their home on the King's Road. Jareth's house was huge, almost embarrassingly so; it sat in the middle of a row of terraced houses, three stories tall with large windows, and a set of stairs leading to the blue front door.

They lived a simple life, and most of the rooms were empty. The house was made up of twenty rooms, though they only used five or six. They both had an office each, and then a living room, a bathroom each, a kitchen and of course a bedroom. That still left several other rooms empty, and one in particular Sarah thought would make a nice nursery, though she was sure by the time they had children they'd be living Underground full time. She had also made a spare room into a comfortable boys bedroom where Toby could stay. Her father refused to let her see him, as she had expected, but she still held out hope that one day he'd let him come visit.

The first time Sarah had brought Linda to show her where she was living, her mother thought it was a joke. Twenty one year old college dropouts didn't tend to live in these swanky town houses in one of the most fashionable (and expensive) areas of London. The fact she was living there with a man who looked to be at least double her age probably didn't help ease her parents' concerns about her lifestyle.

Jareth could charm Linda, but on the rare occasions Sarah's father rang their home, his charm fell completely flat. Jareth told people he was an art dealer, and Sarah's father wasn't impressed by that career in the least. Sarah had given up caring whether or not he was impressed by anything to do with her life.

Although things were still strained with her father, her mother had come round to the idea of having Sarah in London. Jareth had thoroughly charmed Linda on their first meeting, to the extent that Sarah kicked him viciously in the shins under the table for flirting with her. That was their first argument.

They never really argued, except over silly little things like his habit of leaving old teabags on the kitchen counter. Sarah had never lived with a guy before, and although it had taken a little getting used to, most of the time things were almost sickeningly perfect.

Jareth took care of her without being overbearing, and was incredibly supportive of her career as well as her own writing. Her novel was almost finished, and she was getting ready to send it out to publishers. She'd rather not approach her work to publish it; she wasn't sure if she wanted to be the same type of author as the ones she edited. Jareth had assured her that she could keep writing as much or as little she wanted once they were Underground, and that he would never stop her pursuing a career.


Sarah was watching television, curled up in just her underwear to try and cool down. The house was cooler than outside but still felt stiflingly hot, even with every window open. It was still bright outside, but Sarah felt incredibly tired after a long day at work. She fell into a peaceful sleep on the sofa. She woke up with a start, hearing a loud crash of thunder that made her scream and jump to her feet.

Then she saw that it wasn't a summer storm to blame for the thunder but her stupid boyfriend, who was standing in the corner of the room.

"For fuck's sake Jareth!" She rarely swore, but her heart was beating so fast that she thought she might pass out from fright. "You know not to do that!" She was silenced when he ran over to her and scooped her up in his arms fiercely, holding her so tightly it hurt.

"You're alright. You're alright." He breathed, looking at her face closely.

"Of course I am." She answered, her brow creasing in a frown. "Why wouldn't I be?"


A/N: Hello! So, here's the sequel..it's a little more plot driven than Many Happy Returns, but I promise there will still be lots of Sarah/Jareth interaction and fluffiness. The updates won't be as fast as they were on the other story, but they should still be fairly regular. I found the title quite hard, and then I saw a David Bowie quote and it just fitted. Anyway! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I'd love to hear your thoughts!