Sarah closed her eyes and wished, sending out her most sincere hope with every fiber of her being. Cracking one eye open she looked. Nope, still there. Sighing she closed her eyes again- closed them so tight that her nose wrinkled with the effort. Maybe if she mouthed the words it would work! She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing her wish (even though she had no doubt that he could read lips). And she knew he was watching her.

Taking a deep breath, she wished again. If possible, with even more feeling as before- every fiber concentrated tenfold. Opening her eyes again she looked.

"Damnit," she cursed through clenched teeth. Still there.

"You could always try the door again. That was fun." Came the amused voice from across the room.

She scowled in its direction. The door had not been fun. The instant she had discovered that they were untethered here, she made a break for freedom, and as soon as her toes crossed the threshold, the unseen cord snapped and pulled her back. Landing hard on her rear, Sarah sat stunned for a moment before giving a very unladylike temper tantrum.

And he had seen it all- amusement dancing in his dual colored eyes and in a quirk of upturned lips. Surprisingly, he hadn't laughed at her.

Instead Jareth's laughter came later as they were lying side by side in his bed. Not too kindly, Sarah punched his shoulder to punish his mirth. She wanted to do more, but figured that keeping him alive was to her benefit. She could always kill him later- after this was over.

Unfortunately for her, the violence made him laugh all the harder. Huffing, she took one of her pillows, shoved it in between them as a makeshift barrier, shot him another baleful look, and turned away.

She shook herself out of her ruminations and started pacing, deep in a new train of thought. "No, I shall not be using the door again." She absentmindedly rubbed her backside at the memory and cast her eyes around the chamber. "There must be something." Sarah had tried everything she could think of to get the wretched thing off water, soap, shampoo, even holding it over a lit candle to see if the heat would make it expand. Nothing worked.

Sarah's green eyes lit with an idea and she paused mid-step. Oil, she thought. Some kind of oil or a lubricant- that might work, but there wasn't any here, was there? Striding towards the bed she rummaged through the small built in bookshelf on the wall next to it. It held a variety of her things: books, an empty teacup that was forgotten when their meal had been cleared earlier, hair ties, earplugs (Jareth snored terribly whenever he dealt with a Runner earlier in the day), a sleep mask to block out the blazing light of the often full moon, a sock, and a deck of cards.

Nope, nothing here to help. But another possibility flew into her head. Stepping neatly around the books and notes spread upon the rug around her, Sarah dashed off to his side- to examine his matching bookshelf. More books- in lettering that she couldn't begin to decipher, a watch, a few of his damned crystals, and… bits of string.

She looked up from her perusal, eyebrow raised in question knowing he was watching her.

"Threads of time," he replied to the unasked question.

"Ah." She went back to looking, careful not to disturb them. There, tucked partially behind a book was a small marble jar. Sitting on his side of the bed (she noticed it wasn't as hard has her side. She'd have to ask about that), and unscrewed the lid. Inside was a purple viscous looking goo.

Booted heels started towards her, and Jareth smirked knowing what she was going to do. "It's not going to work you know," he said as sat beside her.

"How is it you know ALL the things that won't work but you know nothing of what will?" she asked shooting him a dirty look.

He was getting tired of those looks.

Jareth eyed the unassuming bracelet on Sarah's left wrist. It was a delicate band made of silver, inlaid with a repeated golden carving mimicking the shape of amulet that hung around his neck. Jareth's own bracelet was securely wrapped around his right wrist. It wasn't as dainty as hers (who had ever heard of the Goblin King wearing anything dainty?), and the design matched Sarah's but the metals were switched- gold where hers was silver.

Still, they complimented each other, and anyone who saw the bracelets knew that theirs was a matched set.

"I've told you before. I'm not omnipotent. Besides, we wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't touched it." He said tapping her bracelet for emphasis with one black glove clad finger.

Sarah sniffed the goo inside the jar. "How was I supposed to know it was cursed? Besides, I wouldn't have touched it if you hadn't given it to me." She titled it to one side watching the goo slide around in the jar. Doesn't look dangerous, she thought.

Jareth sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, praying for patience. "Sarah," he pinched the bridge of his nose, I did nothing of the sort." He lowered his hand and looked at her. "I've told you that too. It was those idiotic goblins. It's not my fault they can't differentiate 'Sierra' from 'Sarah'. I told them specifically to "give this to Sierra and-"

Sarah cut him off. This was new. He had always been a little vague about how the package found itself on her doorstep. Sierra? Who the hell is Sierra? White hot jealousy flooded her brain and trickled through her nervous system. Sarah shook her head to stop it. Jealousy? Where had that come from? I am NOT jealous of-

"Who's Sierra?" she asked as calmly as she could, hoping that he didn't notice how tightly she was gripping the jar to keep herself from throwing it at him. After all, its contents could be their- no, her salvation.

Jareth had been reading the feelings that flitted across Sarah's face and, yes, he picked up a hint of jealousy. Jealousy was a promising start to admitting things. Even if only to herself. He smiled inwardly, careful not to let his triumphant emotion slip to the surface and spoil everything.

"A very powerful Fae, Sarah. That," he pointed again to her bracelet, "was supposed to go to her for academic and scientific study."

Sarah muttered something like "academic study my ass," but he wasn't quite sure he heard her correctly. Clearing her throat, she pointed at his bracelet. "What about that? Why do you have the other half?"

"This was sitting on my desk until the goblins announced that they had delivered to the 'King's Lady' and I-"

She cut him off again. "'King's Lady?'" She asked incredulously, her mouth hung open in slight surprise. "I'm known as that?" she ran her fingers through her dark hair in irritation. "What the hell, Jareth?" She put the jar on the bed and started pacing in front of him- grateful for the allotted freedom to do so. "Eight years of nothing. No word from you or your subjects." Sarah's eyes grew soft and sad thinking of them- his subjects- her friends. She smiled wistfully, her pacing slowing a bit. "You know, I had convinced myself that the Labyrinth was a dream?" Her smile grew misty at this admission before she resumed her questioning. "But little do I know, I am known here as the 'King's Lady?'" She stopped in her tracks and looked him in the eye. "What does that mean? Does it have something to do with this?" she asked as she lifted her banded wrist.

Jareth thought quickly. He couldn't give too much away. If he did, it would drag this process out even more. And as lovely a creature Sarah was, the constant proximity to her was starting to wear on him. Especially since he couldn't act on his baser desires.

"Champion is too complex for them," he replied, intentionally only answering one of her questions. "You, my dear Sarah, are the Champion of the Labyrinth, are you not? And in doing so, my subjects revere you as they do me, their king. And it only makes sense that some of my simpler denizens string together king," he pointed at himself, "and lady" he pointed at her. "Putting together, in their minds, the two people who inspire such awe and adoration."

Sarah huffed at this crossing her arms. That did make sense- too much sense but it didn't explain the situation they were currently in.

"And," he continued standing up and placing his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them gently, "if you would let me finish uninterrupted…" he trailed off.

"Fine," she snapped pulling herself away from his warm hands. I bet he gives great massages, her inner voice commented. Ignoring it, she sat back on the bed, picking up the jar. "Continue."

Jareth smiled and gave her a mocking bow. "As my lady wishes." He straightened, ignoring Sarah's scowl, and continued. "As I was saying, the goblins reported that they successfully delivered the package to you. Now, if they had sent it to the correct person, I would have had nothing more to do with this. But, since it wound up in your possession, I had no other choice but to put its mate on my wrist- in an attempt to call it back you see."

"Obviously," she said dryly.

"However, since you had already put it on, whatever intended spell was activated and I was brought to your side."

And he was, much to the surprise of both. After much yelling and cursing (her) and ducking of various projectiles (him), Sarah calmed down enough to listen to why he was there. "Blah blah, goblins are real. Blah blah, package sent to you by mistake. Blah blah, my, how you have grown. Blah blah, I'll be going as soon as I can get that back." Fine by her. She looked for a clasp- there was none. She tried wriggling it over her hand but the bracelet was too small.

"Hold on, let me get a pair of pliers," she said as she walked towards the kitchen.

She had only gotten about five feet away before her arm was yanked back. "What the hell, Jareth?" she spat out as she pulled her arm forward causing him to stumble towards her in response. He looked just as bewildered as she did, and backing up, pulled his arm towards his chest which made her step closer to him.

Standing still for a moment they both tensed as if a shared thought flitted through their minds and, bolted in directions opposite each other, slamming back together like a rubber band pulling into itself, and crumpled on the floor in a pile of limbs. Detangling themselves, they laid on their backs trying to wrap their minds around the situation.

Jareth raised his wrist to inspect the thin band of metal encasing it. So plain looking, so innocent. "Hmm, that's what this does."

And Sarah had no choice but to accompany him back to the Underground since his kingdom couldn't mind itself until they figured out a solution. Letting her pack some things, Jareth weaved a spell to allow her to absence to go unnoticed, and transported them.

Sarah adjusted to her new life rather quickly he thought, and with minimal fuss. He was happy at how fascinated she was with his way of life, quietly taking notes at meetings or hearings. And in the evenings Sarah devoured all the literature of the Underground that was printed in her language. During the past three weeks, she learned the ways of the Court, rules policies, laws, history- eagerly absorbing it all.

When the time came, the transition for her would be easy. Except, well, there was one thing holding her back. Sarah was in denial.

Just because he hadn't contacted her for eight years didn't mean that he didn't keep an eye on her. He watched her as he waited for her to grow and mature from a bratty teenager who bested him, into the confident and lovely young woman she had become.

Her dreams, of course had changed and matured right along with her. Going from silly faerie tales to more adult dreams. What job did she want as an adult? Actress? Lawyer? Teacher? Astronaut? All those possibilities and more drifted through her mind. Where would she live? What kind of car would she drive? As she aged, the dreams became more and more defined and detailed until Jareth could almost smell the roses planted outside of Sarah's dream cottage complete with a carpet of green grass out front neatly lined with white picket fence.

Other things took longer for her to flesh out. A husband. What would he look like? Have dark features resembling her father, or more on the fair side? Would he have stormy green eyes that matched hers, or unsettling, almost otherworldly mismatched ones that could threaten and adore in the same instant?

Once Sarah's subconscious whispered that suggestion the rest of her dream husband took shape. Angular face, slight but muscular frame, wild blonde hair that seemingly defied gravity. He would be as graceful and nimble as a cat; strong and regal like a king- a Goblin King.

And after that, Jareth decided it was time to get reacquainted.

Hence the bracelet.


Disclaimer: Jareth and Sarah belong to Jim Henson and Co.

AN: This was inspired by A Single Disgruntled Return by Kayka. She put the idea into my head of having Jareth and Sarah tethered together.