Disclaimer: I do not own any of the character of the Labyrinth nor profit from this in any way.

A/N: Join perspective this time. Some large changes have occurred in the Labyrinth in the few hours Jareth has been gone. Different time zones and stuff. You'll see.

Sarah opened her eyes with Jareth's lips still on hers. She shoved him away and stumbled on rocky ground. She let out a small shriek of surprise before landing on her butt on the dusty ground.

Jareth laughed, already feeling better being in his own land, "The mighty conqueror of the Labyrinth," he mocked.

Sarah stood and whipped the dirt off grudgingly, "I'm not a mighty conqueror. I don't even remember half of it."

Jareth had stopped smiling though, the laughter had dimmed from his eyes. He looked over Sarah's shoulders, and what he saw turned his stomach and made his heart shrivel in his chest. The walls of the Labyrinth, once a beautiful earthly gray-brown, were black as pitch. The sky had a red tint to it, the moon was black, and the fountains outside the gate were filled with blood. How long had he been gone?

Time in the Underground passed differently then the Aboveground. Sometimes you could spent an hour Aboveground and only a minute would pass in the Underground. Sometimes it was reversed. It was possible that his few hours in Aboveground had amounted to days, weeks, or even years in Underground. He swallowed, pushed his way past Sarah, his mouth open slightly. His Labyrinth... his city... his people. All of it had changed.

Sarah came and stood beside the dethroned goblin king, her eyes sweeping the horizon. "This isn't what I remember." She whispered.

"It's different. Years may have passed." It was the short version. "By all ye gods," he murmured, "I wouldn't have thought... my kingdom." Jareth was suddenly outraged, "Filth!" He spat, kicking at the dust, "The disgusting piece of slime! He did this. That—that asshole!"

He yelled, guttural, wordless and broken, before turning from the horrid sight. He sat right down in the dirt, his head in his hands, and cried a single tear for Underground.

Sarah had built a fire and Jareth was off collecting some sort of animal for them to cook and eat. Her memories were scattered, slightly incomplete. Her memories were especially clouded when it came to Jareth. She remembered her trip through the Labyrinth, her friends, but that was about all. God, how could she have forgotten her friends?

But the significant gaps when it came to the goblin king frightened her somehow, made her wary of him. She knew that in him lay the hopes for her return home, and so she would help him with whatever he needed help with—something about getting through the Labyrinth and some guy who had taken over as king—but she wanted answers.

A twig snapped behind her and she whirled. Jareth stepped into the firelight, two fairy plump rabbits slung over his shoulder. He held them up. "Happy?" He hadn't exactly been thrilled going off hunting for them, but she had proved useful when he was away. He wouldn't have thought she would have been able to start a fire.

Sarah smiled a little, "How do you propose we cook it?"

A half hour later the two rabbits were on a makeshift spit, the fat dripping off them and into the fire, where it sizzled and pop for a few seconds before quieting. Jareth sat next to Sarah, produced a flask from his hip and drank deeply. He offered it to her. "What is it?" She wasn't used to alcohol, though she had had it once in a while.

"Wine," he said, "The best. Never-ending flask, that's what it's called. It turns the liquid inside to whatever the master whispers into it. I asked for wine. I could ask for something else, if you want it."

Sarah shook her head and drank deep. The wine was thick, and pulled at the back of her jaw like strong wines are ought to do. As she lowered the flask, it felt heavier, like some invisible faucet had refilled it. She didn't let her surprise show as she handed it back to Jareth, "Thank you."

"Your welcome," he placed it back into the sash tied around his waist, and stared into the fire. A long moment passed between them in silence, in which Jareth stood up to rotate the rabbits on their stick. "You have questions for me, don't you?" He said, when he said back down.

Sarah looked at him, not very surprised that he had guessed, "Some, yeah."

"Feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer."

She didn't really like his wording, but she asked anyway, "Why did you take Toby?"

He looked surprised, "You asked me to."

"I did?"

"Yes, you did. 'I wish the goblins really would come and take you away,' were your exact words. I took him, you had a change of heart and you challenged my Labyrinth for your brother."

Sarah looked into the fire, "Was I really that cruel?"

Jareth stared at her.

"To banish my brother, I mean."

"You were naïve, that's all," the words fell from his lips before he had time to consider. Actually consoling the one who beat you?—a voice mocked in his head, a voice that sounded like Dionysus—Yielding to her like she wants? "You were stupid," he corrected, "Very stupid."

She glared at him, but didn't lash out, "Why did you take him?"

"You just asked that question, my dear. Have the years dulled your brain?"

She ignored his mocking, "I mean; why did you grant my wish?"

He fell silent on this one, scratching in the dirt with a twig he had picked up. These fiddling tendencies were getting on his nerves. The king of the goblins did not fidget. He was calm and collected at all times. He dropped the stick, "I was in love with you."

The words hit Sarah one at a time, and she saw them as they came at her. It was like watching a hail storm in slow motion. "In love...?" she whispered into the darkness, turned away from him. He was staring at her with his flickering blue eyes. Like fire they were.

"Yes, in love. I was,"—you still are, a voice whispered, and he ignored it—"in love with you once. I commanded the goblins do your bidding."

Sarah turned back to face him, slowly. When they were staring at each other, eye to eye, she blurted, "I have a fiancé. I plan to go back to him."

The words hurt him, but he didn't even blink, "Very well. As you wish."

"Are you in love with me now?"

"No." The lie slipped off his tongue easily. He had been in love, trying to forget, for nearly nine years now. But he was an expert liar.

She stared at the rabbits. "Dinners ready."

The night was cold and when it came time for them to sleep, Jareth spread out a blanket he had amazingly produced out of his back pocket. It was so thick they couldn't feel the rocky ground. Even though only a few hours had passed since Sarah woke up, her bones ached with tiredness. She fell asleep immediately and, in the night, she wrapped her arms around Jareth and pressed against him for warmth. He was awake when she did that, and as he held her, and she held him, he regretted his decision to ignore her those long years. He wished that the woman sleeping so peacefully beside him was his, not this other mans. He wished that he had known what kind of a woman she would become. He wished so many things but, most of all, he wished that she'd fall in love with him. He wished he could have the woman he had craved, and hoped that she craved him equally.

And above them, the merciless red sky blinked yellow stars down on them. And almost a hundred miles away in the goblin castle, Dionysus watched them sleep in an enchanted mirror and grinned. He would look forward to tomorrow, when they dared his Labyrinth. For it was his now, not Jareth's, and he controlled everything within.

A/N: Tell me what you think!