It had been five weeks since the fountain orchards. Three weeks since he had seen Eldan. Jareth needed to get a grip and stop being so distracted, there was no point letting the kingdom go to waste while he wasted his time and energy on the vague hope that Sarah was going to appear again. He threw himself once more into the upkeep of the kingdom, visiting the goblin city and many of the inhabitants of the Labyrinth proper. Maintainence was conducted on the borderlands, and more help was provided for Hoggle in order to combat the increasing faerie problem at the outer walls.

Jareth spent his time not only conducting visits around the kingdom, but also in boring finance meetings about where the Labyrinth needed upkeep, and once again taking up his duties as King, lord and master of the Labyrinth, half of each coin, stealer of babies, and protector of the Goblin realm. After a tired day of tedious Goblin meetings, Jareth spent an hour or two tucked away in the vast library that comprised the whole of the south tower, poring over huge amounts of books on subjects as varied as memory loss, projection of souls and ghasts, breaking spells, mis-directed and malfunctioning spells, and other such subjects that he thought might be useful to getting Sarah back. He had no luck.

After two weeks of this hard work, Jareth was sat in the library, attempting to read a text that was so old that the ink was slowly flaking away, candles burning all around him.

'If a spell be caste in bad fayth, or the caster not paying to the spell the proper attentions, the spell maye result in a loss of memory. No waye has yet been found that breaks this nuance of spell-casting. Some suggest that this cannot be undone wythout un-casting the whole spell. Some claim that even when the spell is un-cast, the memory loss will remayn. I am of the opinyon that the memory loss may be reverted wythout the breaking of the spell, but I am yet to fynd out a way to do this.'

Jareth stopped and read that last paragraph over again. 'At least one person hundreds of years ago had faith that the spell could be broken', he thought to himself. Jareth rubbed his knuckles into his eyes, and when his vision had cleared, he glanced at the candle, noting that it had almost burnt down completely, and that he had been in the library far longer than he had planned. He slowly began to tidy away the various papers, and books, and notes that he had scattered across the tabetop, hearing the patterings of feet as he did so.

'I know. Thank you Maxedik. I lost track of time. I'm coming now.' He spoke curtly to the Goblin, not wanting to be reprimanded by the small librarian.

'Jareth?'

Jareth's head snapped up. His eyes adjusting agonisingly slowly to the dark that surrounded the small pool of light created by his candles. Wondering if he had imagined it. He must be sleep-adled, having spent much more time reading than was good for him.

'Jareth? Where am I?' The voice came again.

'Sarah?' Jareth's heart started racing. Surely he hadn't imagined it a second time? 'Sarah are you there?'

'Where am I? Why am I here?'

She sounded scared, and tired, the lack of joy in her voice made Jareth think that she was not there by choice.

'You are in the Labyrinth Sarah. Do you remember last time my love? Step towards the light so that I can see you.' He hoped that she remembered at least something.

'Last time? When you took Toby? Or... or was it in that stone place with the peaches?' She sounded so unsure, it broke his heart, but slowly, slowly, her feet carried her towards the circle of light, until she was fully immersed in it. Her white dress twisted around her, her hair falling down by her pale face. She looked scared. Jareth suddenly realised that she had spoken of the peach garden. She must have been there since he last saw her. The thought that she had continued to come to the Labyrinth in her sleep over-joyed him, even if he had not been there to see her.

'Last time I saw you we walked in the fountain orchards darling. You came here in a dream. Are you dreaming now Sarah?'

'I don't know. I don't remember.'

She sounded so confused and broken that his broken heart shattered into even more pieces.

'I think you're dreaming my sweet. Your soul longs for the Labyrinth, even if your waking mind does not know it.' Maybe by explaining what was happening to her, he might abate some of her fears, and maybe she would remember when she woke up. 'We're in the library in the castle darling, although it is late at night and dark, so you can't see very much. I'll bring a candle and we can walk if you wish?' She nodded at that, but still looked miserable.

Jareth picked up a candle that had not yet burnt completely down and they began to walk along the aisles. Sarah staying silent, but staring up at the huge shelves of books. 'Clearly,' thought Jareth, 'her love of books had followed her into the Overground and stayed with her as she grew'. The thought made him smile. Maybe there was more of his Sarah left than he had realised.

'Do you remember the fountain orchards?'

She shook her head. 'I must have forgotten'.

Jareth wondered at her ability to accept the things he said as fact in her dreams. She surely would not have taken everything as the truth so readily had she not been dreaming.

'We walked and spoke of your predicament. We established that you were dreaming. You are trapped in the Overground Sarah. Your true home is here. With me.' He thought that maybe telling it to her straight would help it stick in her mind.

'That may well be true. I wouldn't know.'

'The time you believe to be our first meeting was no in fact the first time we met. We have known each other for many long years Sarah. The book, The Labyrinth, it was placed in your hands by me in order to convince you to remember your life. I took the boy, I hoped that being in the Labyrinth would jolt your memory. But your love for him stopped you from seeing. Something I can't be angry at you for. I am glad you love the boy.' He looked down at her to see how she was taking all of this information, but Sarah was just walking along beside him quietly, she looked confused and upset still.

'We love each other Sarah. Very much. I wish you would come home to me.'

She looked up at him then.

'I love you?' He hated that the first time that he heard those words from her in so long they were a question.

'Very much', he replied.

'And I am trapped? In the Overground?'

'Yes darling. Your body is trapped there. But your soul is free to roam in your dreams which is why you can project yourself here. It is your soul wanting to come back. If you let yourself follow your soul then your body will eventually comply and your mind will remember'.

They had walked for a long time now. Jareth's candle was almost at it's end, and still they walked along the rows of books. Sarah deep in thought, and Jareth waiting for her to speak.

'Why am I trapped? Did I do something?'

He stopped walking and turned to face her, 'Sarah, my love, it is difficult to explain' but he stopped there and held the candle closer to her skin. 'You are fading darling. You're waking up.'

She looked at her surroundings, noticing that they were beginning to grow translucent. Her eyes found Jareth's and they were wide and afraid. Tears crept down her face slowly, they would not even reach her chin by the time her face had faded almost completely.

'Remember me darling, come back soon.'

And with those parting words, he was alone again. The candle sputtered and died, drowned in wax, and darkness engulfed him.