Sarah's eyes opened as if she had only been blinking. She was standing upright in a room that she was so familiar with. In a room that she saw many times in her dreams. The Goblin King's throne room was exactly the same as it was when she'd found her way there as a fifteen year old girl. Of course it hasn't changed. You're dreaming, Sarah, she told herself.

At first, she'd thought that the room was empty of all other creatures but herself; the silence ringing the room almost eerie in its unusualness. Of course, she wasn't alone. In dreams like this, Sarah's unconscious mind always conjured up Jareth's image to fill the void and nothingness.

There was something different about this particular dream, however. And Sarah was quick to identify it. As he sat, reclining in that curved throne of his, dressed simply in a white, loose poet shirt and those all-too-tight trousers, something was out of place.

And it was the paper in his hands. Sarah blinked at the Goblin King for a moment, as if trying to understand why her subconscious had Jareth reading through those ridiculous reports that her psychiatrists wrote to keep tabs on her mental faculties.

She almost couldn't hold back her frown as that wicked smirk turned his lips upward. A small chuckle escaped him as he flicked over to the next page of the report. I guess me imagining him reading it was bound to happen someday...

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't laugh at my bad luck and stupidity," Sarah said, unimpressed that even her imaginary-Jareth was laughing at her mistakes.

"This report really is quite ridiculous Sarah," Jareth said, waving a hand so that the papers vanished into thin air.

She shook her head and replied, "Don't you think that I know that? I'm not crazy."

A dazzlingly devilish smile took hold of the Goblin King's features as he answered, "I certainly don't believe that you are."

Sarah blinked.

"That'll be a grand total of you and I that have come to that conclusion then," she answered almost bitterly.

Jareth paused, almost as if he was using the time to study Sarah. The gesture might once have made her feel uncomfortable, but since she'd spent the last year under near-constant observation, Sarah just stared plainly back at the Goblin King.

"I wonder, Sarah..." he almost mumbled to himself.

"What?" she asked.

Jareth frowned slightly at her blunt tone, but the expression quickly faded as he chose to ignore it.

"Being in the Underground for a period of time leaves its mark on a person.

It appears that your mark just happened to mean that you weren't as cautious and secretive as you should have been when remembering... things. You also consumed fae food, something that most know not to do. Fae food changes things entirely."

Sarah literally had to stop her mouth from falling open as she stared at the Goblin King.

"So you're telling me that I was bound to end up in the mental asylum?" she asked incredulously.

"It was always a possibility," Jareth replied, something hidden in his mismatched eyes as he spoke.

"Thanks. That's nice to know," Sarah replied sarcastically.

"So what do you want now anyway? I take it that you're not just here for the laughs?"

Jareth smirked as he answered, "The question is, what do you want, Sarah?"

She blinked.

"What?"

"Really Sarah, your lack of manners is quite shocking," Jareth replied, slightly irritated.

"I've been locked in the loony bin on drugs I didn't- and don't- need for a year, so please do forgive me," she bit back sarcastically.

Jareth rolled his eyes at her and asked simply, "Do you want to stay here?"

"Stay?" Sarah asked uncomprehendingly.

Jareth nodded once, the fact that he was constantly having to repeat himself starting to annoy him.

"I... Why?" Sarah said, dumbfounded.

"You are a part of the Underground just as much as it's a part of you, Sarah. You belong here; as your reaction to returning Aboveground has proved."

She gave no reply. She couldn't say anything. Too many emotions and thoughts were whirring through her mind for her to be able to speak.

"Or I can send you back to the, how did you say it, 'loony bin'?" Jareth continued.

"So I can stay here? Here? In the Underground?" Sarah answered after a while.

His tone exasperated, Jareth said, "Yes, Sarah, that's what I'm offering you."

Sarah took a deep breath. Jareth was telling her that she could stay in the Underground- that she was meant to stay in the Underground. And she didn't have to go back. There has to be a catch, Sarah found herself thinking, not daring to hope that there would be nothing. With a deal with the Goblin King, there was always aprice to pay in return.

"And... and what am I to do once I'm here?" she enquired tentatively.

"Are you accepting?" Jareth asked, something akin to hope in his voice.

"Perhaps... If you answer my question," Sarah replied, remembering to be cautious before agreeing to anything.

A smirk took hold of Jareth's features as he watched the woman in front of him. Even now, after spending so long in the institution humans had built to house and care for those that they classed as mentally unstable, she remained the girl he'd observed running his Labyrinth.

Sarah was most certainly not insane, if she had been then she wouldn't have belonged in the Underground- with him. And she definitely would not have thought to have queried him on such a thing.

Raising his eyebrows slightly, Jareth finally replied, "What you would do here is yet to be determined. But I can assure you that it will be better than living life in a mental institution."

Sarah stared at him, her green eyes wide and unblinking. He was really offering her everything that she could want. Her friends. Her sanity. Her life. Her freedom.

"You're probably right about that," Sarah nodded.

"Yes, I would like to stay here."

"Truly?" Jareth asked, leaning forward slightly in his throne.

"You're offering me everything that I could want; if I said no then I'd actually belong in that place," Sarah answered as a bitter smile played on her lips.

"Ah, but you said no once before, don't you remember?"

Sarah paused. The Goblin King had offered her her dreams before, and she had turned him down. But last time, Toby had been at stake. Now, Sarah had nothing left to hold her to her life Aboveground.

"That was different..." Sarah reasoned.

"I had to rescue Toby-"

"Rescue?" Jareth interrupted, one eyebrow raised.

Sarah blushed and tried to correct what she'd said.

"I- I didn't mean- it's just... not the same, she finished lamely.

"Indeed," Jareth replied curtly.

Something, then, seemed to cross his mind as he sat in his throne before her.

"You do realise that by agreeing to this, you are also agreeing to leave the Aboveground world forever?" he asked.

Sarah paused, but finally nodded.

"You will never be able to see your family again," he cautioned.

"It's not like I see them anyway," Sarah countered, her voice almost sad.

"I might as well be dead to them."

"You know, it's funny that you should mention death," Jareth said, the smirk returning to his features.

"Oh?" Sarah asked, genuine confusion fading across her face.

Jareth did not answer for a moment, almost as if he was considering how best to explain himself.

"Well, you see; if you truly want to remain here, and to accept my offer; you must die."

Sarah froze.

"What?" was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

And it was followed closely by, "Are you insane?"

"The irony of being asked such a thing by a mental patient," he replied nonchalantly.

"Listen Jareth, I'm not crazy. Not normal, but definitely not crazy enough to think of killing myself."

The Goblin King's expression turned to a frown as he stared at the woman in front of him.

"You would not die, Sarah," Jareth answered, his voice almost stern.

"You would simply take on a new form."

He could see Sarah's mouth open as she tried to object, but Jareth silenced her with a glare and continued.

"You will still have your mind, your memories- your appearance, even. The only difference will be your body. To remain here, you must leave your human form behind, so that when you return here, you may do so to the body of the fae you were obviously meant to be-"

"Fae?" Sarah questioned, too many questions running through her mind.

"If you are to live in the Underground along with the rest of my subjects, I will not have you die and age as humans do."

A flash of something swept through Sarah as what he was saying hit her. He's going to make sure that I can't die or age? she thought blankly.

"B-but why?" she asked, still confused.

"You belong here, Sarah; and, regardless of what you might think about me, I would not see one of my subjects suffer."

Not her, anyway, he added to himself.

"So- so you can really... This isn't some sort of trick, is it?" she asked, doubt creasing her brows.

Jareth shook his head. The fact that she questioned his offer annoyed him slightly, but a small part of him was pleased that she would not just willingly and blindly follow his instruction. When she was reborn, however, that would be a different matter.

"I have to die," Sarah murmured quietly to herself.

The look on her face told Jareth that she really was considering it. So she should, he thought. She needs to be here. She belongs here.

Yet, however Sarah tried to imagine it, she could not fathom a way to do it. Suicide was a serious matter, and she'd never before considered it- even with living in that ridiculous mental hospital.

How was the question that hung on the edge of her lips. She was watched all day and all night. Someone came to check on her every fifteen minutes, just to make sure that she hadn't killed herself. And she knew that the time estimate was correct, because she'd once spent an entire coincidental thirteen hours straight, counting the intervals of the orderlies' appearances.

So it would have to be quick. And she had nothing sharp at her side; that sort of thing was kept well away from her. The only thing she could think was to strangle herself with one of her shirts or something of the sort. How cliché, Sarah thought sadly.

And there was, of course, the possibility looming over her that Jareth actually wasn't telling the truth at all and that this was some sort of revenge for her beating his Labyrinth. But Sarah dismissed that thought quickly.

Since the idea of her killing herself had been broached, Sarah realised that even if she didn't get back to the Underground, and even if she did really die, at least she wouldn't have to live the pointless existence that she had been living over the past year.

"How?" Sarah asked finally.

Jareth's mismatched eyes flashed with an inhuman emotion that Sarah could not quite recognise as his hand rose in front of him. The crystal that appeared in his hand was not what made Sarah gasp; it was the way that one fluid flick of his wrist had the crystal transform as it landed on one finger tip.

Sarah stepped forward to take the newly-formed peach from him, aware of what this meant- aware that this could all be some sort of trick. She looked over it and saw something she had not expected. Exactly where his finger had been, there was one tiny, heart-shaped bruise on the peach's skin.

"Until next time Sarah."

"Wait, when-?"

"-As soon as you take a bite of that peach, you may return... Soon, Sarah," Jareth urged, before he disappeared.

Author's Note: Hope you like it and I hope you'll let me know what you think. :)

Kit xx