Finally. Lol. Computers been down. Blah. Sorry, I don't want this to be a way long story but it'll probably be at least two more chapters, though at least I know where I'm taking it lol I hope you enjoy, sorry I suck! Thank you all so much for reviews!! I love you guys!! 3 lol

Jareth sat in a tree at the base of the labyrinth, one leg pulled up against his chest and one leg swinging back and forth in the air beneath him as he absentmindedly played with the crystal in his hand and stared into the horizon. Looking into the crystal he could see Sarah and all she was doing. He was right to have sent Koxity to be with her. He was the least… goblin like. He understood normal humans better than the others.

Jareth sat contemplating what to do. It was clear that Sarah was not happy; her confidence had been muddled. Her confidence had been one of her strongest qualities… Now that she was unsure of herself she was clearly very uncomfortable. Koxity had been able to help her a bit though. Jareth looked down from his out-of-it stare and into the crystal ball. Sarah was eating rolls and stew with Koxity in the kitchen; Sinthrashtate had left momentarily to ease Sarah's mind. She kept looking back at him warily before Koxity got the message and had him go run errands. That really wasn't like Sarah, to be wary of a goblin. Jareth wondered if she was losing herself. Her whole personality had been based around her love of fantasy and her amazing confidence… she seemed to be losing them both here. Jareth didn't want to hold her here if she wasn't going to be the same Sarah he loved… the same he watched and dreamed of… this wasn't really his Sarah.

Jareth had been watching Sarah in the crystal since he left her. Smiling fondly as he watched her sleep; frowning and sighing as she woke up bewildered and cranky. He knew she wanted to go home… It was ironic because before he couldn't bring himself to send her home, knowing that he'd have to watch from afar as an owl, and now he was watching her from afar to avoid her.

She had always seemed to rather be living in her fairy tales when she was at home, and yet he watched her here and she seemed to rather be at home. Wasn't this close to her fairy tale world? He would have to convince her it was. His kingdom was… well… his. That was all it had ever been to him, but he would change it a little if it made her want to stay. He would do anything for her if she'd only do the littlest thing for him. He would also have to explain everything to her. What was part of his plan and what wasn't.

He sighed again. He guessed it really was time to go back. He'd have to face her sooner or later. It seemed to be more of a hassle than it should've been. He practically dreaded it. That was not like the Goblin King he knew himself as, unwilling to face a small obstacle like this. He would've rather just watched her exploring as herself, instead of fighting with her like he would end up doing probably... The Goblin King, pitiful and in need of help. He grimaced. He decided he'd just have to pretend as if it hadn't happened.

He frowned, realizing that that was the only plan he had. His confidence, too one of his best qualities, wouldn't work as well when he didn't know what was going to happen. Before he knew exactly how everything would go… to a point. Now he was completely without knowing what might happen. It bothered him, not being in total control of the situation. He was definitely in total control of his surroundings, of all of Labyrinth and beyond, deep into his Kingdom, but Sarah was definitely a force of nature he couldn't control; her being involved simply complicated everything, making him lose all hope of an easy approach, of an easy victory.

He closed his eyes and clutched the crystal in his hand with more force than was necessary. It shattered. He opened his eyes and looked down at the millions of shards of glass scattered around the room he had opened his eyes too: his throne room. He walked away from the mess as the crystal shards melted into water all over the floor. He walked slowly down the stair case, as if it would somehow make things easier if he had the time to think. He walked into the kitchen and leaned up against the wall. Koxity and Sarah hadn't noticed him yet, they were laughing at one of the goblins who cooked for Jareth, as he had fallen over his own feet, spilling flour everywhere.

Sarah turned around suddenly, as if sensing him there. She went completely silent. Koxity turned around to see what the matter was. "Oh, King Jareth!" Koxity made a small bow. He was the only one who really did that even when the King was in more of a playful mood.

Jareth couldn't really describe the look on Sarah's face. Sarah couldn't even describe how she was feeling. She was curious and angry at the same time. She didn't know what to say to him, so she kept her mouth shut. It didn't matter to her enough to get her opinion out this time, because she couldn't decide what her opinion was. Jareth stared back at her, smiling arrogantly as he usually did, but unlike usual, he, too, was without an opinion. He didn't move to say anything either.

They were both completely at a loss for words.
"Mrs. Sarah?" Koxity spoke up quietly. Sarah looked down at him, brought back to reality, at the same time Sinthrashtate came through the door, and seeing Jareth muttered, "King Jareth?" King Jareth looked towards him.

Koxity looked up at her, concerned, but didn't say anything more, and Sinthrashtate looked to King Jareth, confused by his … unusual silence.

Jareth knew he had to end the silence somehow… His arrogant smile stayed place as he spoke, taking a step forward. "Did you get a chance to look around your room, Sarah?"

Sarah flinched back at the sound of his voice, yet was allured by it… His voice was always so sure and kind in an arrogant sort of way. . . Sarah shook her head. She was thinking insanity. Must've been the food again. "Yes, I did get a chance to look around the room you left me locked in. Thanks for that by the way," she added sarcastically.

Jareth wondered why Sarah was always so much harsher when she spoke to him then when she had spoken to his subjects… most of them anyway. 'That's a stupid question,' he thought to himself. 'I've obviously disappointed all her expectations of me.'

"Well, Sarah, I couldn't have you trying to escape, now could I? Not that you could have," he smirked.

"I have an idea. you leave me alone for awhile and we can see if I can escape," Sarah looked up at him as he stepped slowly closer.

Jareth's smile widened as he stopped a couple yards from Sarah. "There is nothing and no one here that could send you home but me."

Sarah couldn't keep her eyes on his while he was this close for some reason. She found herself looking at the floor. She realized this and scowled at herself. Jareth was acting strange, which must mean that she must have some weight in the situation. She looked up at him defiantly. "Jareth what do you want?" she asked calmly, but as coldly as she could manage.

Jareth turned away from her, and as she blinked, she opened her eyes to somewhere new. She was in a small clearing it seemed… filled with roses of all different colors. She looked around, confused. Around three sides of the clearing were high, black wrought iron fences. On the fourth side was a wall of the castle. Beyond the fences all that was to be seen was trees. Crawling up the fences and castle wall was strange ivy with red roses. Placed around the bases of the wall and fences, and forming random strange patterns throughout the clearing, like a mini labyrinth, were hundreds of yard tall rose bushes. There were the strangest roses… navy blue, white, black, silver, iridescent purple… though the colors didn't really all go together, somehow it managed to look… perfect… Sarah had to do a double take, and she couldn't help but gasp.

"So you didn't seem to like your room; what about this? There is your balcony, there," he said, pointing up a ways on the castle wall. Sarah looked up. He was right; her balcony was three stories up, overlooking the garden, along with a deep blue, bright, clear sky. She hadn't come close enough to her balcony to see anything more than the horizon. It had been a shame…

Jareth broke the silence again. "My, my Sarah! You are quite quiet this afternoon, aren't you!" Sarah did yet another double take… it had been late evening only moments ago… Jareth was much more in control of this place than she had thought. He spoke again, "It is a shame you are; I'm sure you have so many questions you'd like to ask. Such a pity." He smirked.

Sarah stayed silent another moment, noticing that all she had seen on this, the backside of the castle… made the Underground seem like such an inviting, storybook place. From here the castle looked like it was kept up well. It looked lush and green in this, a small courtyard. The sky was blue and there were beautiful colors everywhere. Yet when she first came to the Labyrinth, as her adventure began… everything had been so dead. The sky, the earth, the castle, and the labyrinth… had all seemed so very run down and ill cared for.

Sarah looked over to see Jareth staring at her thoughtfully. He quickly put his smirk back on. Sarah decided there was no point to being angry anymore. She wanted to know some things too badly to keep up a whining, sarcastic unhappiness. Her curiosity over came her. "Was it all a lie then? Was everything staged? The turns I would take, the people I met… Hoggle!"

Jareth could see it hurt her terribly to believe that all of it had been just an act. "No, no, Sarah. Not at all. I knew how to begin it, and I knew how it would end. I steered it… but the adventure was yours. Hoggle wasn't acting; none of them were in on it."

Relief flowed down her features. She gazed around at the roses again. "I still can't understand this terrible, wonderful place," she said dejectedly.

Now that Jareth didn't have a motive, a direction to steer, as he had said, he wasn't much on talking really. Wasn't much for keeping up his usual demeanor when he was so unusually desperate. He could only try to really make her happy, and he had almost no idea how to make his dreams happen quick enough to satisfy himself. He wanted Sarah to love him now. He could be so impatient… and he was now. Impatient for her to fall in line, but he was also so busy watching her and wanting to please her that he didn't think so badly of the wait. "It is whatever I make it," he added simply, watching her closely.

"What is this place normally? Is it like this… beautiful and bright? Or as I saw before, dark and wilted since long ago?"

He walked up besides Sarah where she was staring thoughtfully down at a fairy on the other side of the fence. She noticed Jareth shrug out of the corner of her eye. "I would suppose that would depend on my mood."

"What was your mood in the beginning?"

Jareth sighed. He knew she could keep up her stream of questions forever. She liked to have all the answers. To know everything. She, too, liked to be in control; to make everything her stage to control. He didn't really want to tell her how he was feeling. She could've figured it out though, if she had tried hard enough. He had used to think that his kingdom conforming to his mood was annoying, showing all his subjects his faulty emotional self. Now that he was more in control of his emotions, it didn't matter. He was able to be his numb, arrogant self enough to keep the place the same, all the time. "The usual." She really didn't know what that meant, but neither did he. He wasn't really feeling anything. Not happiness or sadness or anger or anxiety or… whatever. He was just being himself, or maybe his mask. He had thought on it before, but had never decided which.

Sarah nodded, as if in understanding. She thought back on the first day she had been here. "Why am I here again?" She almost hated to ask. She turned and looked up into the Goblin King's usually cold and arrogant eyes. Something smoldered beneath them.

He didn't want to go back through the same thing that had happened before. This was all such a waste of time; he didn't want to end up losing an argument. "Because I love you," he said. It almost sounded like he was readmitting it to himself; but it almost sounded like it hurt. "I have given you every single thing you have asked for that was in my power to get you since the day I first saw you. Now I ask one single thing of you, and you throw a fit."

Sarah looked away. Did he realize he was asking the world of her? She stepped toward the rose bush with the glittery, silver roses and knelt by them. Was she expected to leave behind Toby and her parents and hand over the rest of her life to him? What about her dreams of a prince charming? A storybook wedding and marriage? Adventure and a job she loved? Where did all that fall in line? Jareth was certainly not a storybook prince, she thought bitterly. He might be able to act like one, maybe, but really he wasn't. He was just a cocky over confident, most likely lonely ruler of a kingdom. There weren't even any girls here. Sarah did a double take in her mind. No girls… Not really… How did the Goblins come to be? And hey! If he had all the girls on earth to pick of, why her? Should she be flattered… ? Being the queen of this place could be amazing… Sarah shook her head. It was too full. She needed to start simply. She didn't want him to see that she, for some reason she didn't want to figure out, was actually considering loving him. She would simply ask all her questions and try to get home. Kill his patience. Wait too long. 'He'll give up and I won't have to make the decision,' she thought. Much to her disappointment in herself, her mind hoped he wouldn't want to give up on her.

Jareth sighed as he watched Sarah. He could tell she had more questions. Many, many more. He didn't want to wait and answer her. He supposed he was going to have to if he wanted any progress at all. This could take a while. . . He could have fun winning her over though, he supposed. She seemed to be over her foulness though. Maybe everything was falling in line. . . slowly.