I'm glad that everyone is enjoying this so far. Patience for the action. It will come!

Forgiveness.

Ary was giggling as Ravenna and El chased her around the gardens. "Bet cha can't catch me!" she cried out, racing away. The two goblins were no match for Ary. The young mortal child had long legs and she could easily outrun the goblins, with their short, stumpy ones.

Ary wasn't paying attention to where she was going, as she was glancing back at the goblins. Two strong arms grabbed her and she screamed.

"They can't catch you, but I can."

"Daddy! You scared me!" She hugged her father tightly. Jareth smiled at her and placed her down gently, on the grass.

"How did your lessons go?"

"Very well. Meg said that we did such a good job today, that we could go outside to play. It's so lovely out."

He nodded. "Where's your mother?"

"She was walking through the garden, smelling all the new flowers in bloom."

Jareth placed a kiss on her cheek. "Go on and play with your friends."

'Bye daddy!" she cried out. He waved, as she tore off through the grass, the game of tag starting all over again.

* * *

Sarah loved spring, she always had. The trees beginning to turn green with leaves, the flowers blossoming, the warmth, the chatter of birds.

She could hear Ary and her friends running around the gardens, playing tag, their joyful laughter filling the air. She smiled, thinking back to when she was that young, playing with her neighbors. She had missed them terribly when she had to move. Her whole life seemed to change, after that move and things had not been the same, since.

She rounded a corner, her shoes clicking softly against the flat stone slates. This garden often reminded her of the one that Jareth had taken her to, on their first date. It didn't possess, swarms of fireflies, dancing about the night sky. Nor did it possess elegant white gazeboes or fences. But it was still beautiful, and it was a place where she could go, to find peace.

Jareth had been so distant lately, except for their playful interlude in his study, but even that, was short lived. At times she wondered if she and Ary's decision to stay, was the right one. She loved Jareth more then anyone, but he was moody at times, and had little patience. He could snap at you in an instant, and seconds later, he was fine.

Despite that, she knew she would never leave him. He had become her whole life, maybe too much a part of her life. She panicked if she didn't know where he was. She had begun to rely on him, for everything. She wondered if she should help Meg teach the children. It would be something to help keep her time occupied. Also she didn't want Ary to forget their world. She was only 8 years old. She could easily forget where she came from, as she matured.

She missed Toby terribly. He and Cheryl had been busy moving into her old house. They had both taken time off for the move, and now they found it difficult to get time off for her wedding. Cheryl said that she believed she could get the time off, but Toby's boss was being difficult. The summer months were approaching and he needed Toby more then ever.

Ary had only been able to visit for two weekends, since their arrival in the Labyrinth. She didn't seem to mind as she had 4 new best friends to play with. Besides that, her birthday was coming up. She was too excited, thinking about presents and cake, to dwell on the lost time with her uncle.

Sarah sat down on a stone bench and sighed. She removed the hat she wore. It was a plain straw hat, wide brimmed, with an emerald ribbon that had been tied loosely around her throat, to keep the hat in place. She had very fair skin, and being out in the sun too much caused her to turn red. She needed the hat to fend off the sun. Jareth never seemed to sunburn, despite his pale complexion. Then again he had magic, perhaps that was the reason.

She sighed and rubbed her temples. She felt a headache brewing. It had been so long, since she had been plagued by one. She closed her eyes, as the headache throbbed in her head. She jumped when cool leather, brushed softly over her skin. The headache was gone by the time she opened her eyes.

Jareth was sitting beside her, glitter scattered on the ground around him. He had used his magic to appear beside her. There was concern in his eyes as he gently touched one cheek. She pulled away, inching to the farthest spot on the bench from him.

"You have not gotten a headache in a long time." He tilted his head, gazing at her along the length of his nose.

'I guess I didn't have a reason to get one." The words made Jareth feel as if it were his fault.

"You feel stress." A quiet statement, followed by a look of tremendous concern. "Sarah, I'm sorry." He whispered. He looked beautiful in the sunlight, his long hair, golden in the warm light. His blue eye was crystal blue, his hazel eye slightly lighter in hue then normal. He was an incredibly handsome man and she was lucky that some beautiful woman had not snatched his heart, before she had. But his beauty, didn't excuse his temper or his reason for keeping things from her.

"Yeah, well so am I Jareth." Her voice was bitter, her brows slanted with annoyance, over her beautiful hazel eyes. "I mean, I thought that we were past all this bullshit. You expect honesty from me, and when it's your turn, you don't deliver." She was shaking her head, her long dark hair flowing around her.

"I was only trying to protect you. Is that so wrong?"

Her brows rose over her eyes and then lowered. "Protect me? From what, Jareth? Life?"

He shook his head, the longer strands of his hair, falling down his shoulders. " There is enough stress and turmoil in life as it is, I thought if I…didn't add anymore…." He was gazing at her stomach and suddenly she knew, what was going on.

One of her hands instinctively touched her abdomen. "You were worried that I might lose the baby. That I couldn't deal with extra stress and it might cause me to have another miscarriage."

He nodded slowly.

"Damn it Jareth!" she exploded. "I'm pregnant, not incapable! I can deal with things better now then I could before. Don't you see that you made me strong again? Your love for me, it brought me back. Brought me from the depths of my depression, made me able to face things. But when you start keeping things from me, I worry." Her anger seemed to have dissipated as she reached out, to stroke his cheek. It always amazed her, how soft his skin was.

"I'm sorry. I only made things worse by becoming secretive."

"I'll forgive you, if you promise never to do it again."

He leaned in closer to her, brushing his lips against her forehead. "I promise."

"Good, now tell me why you can't sleep."

He sighed and gathered her hands into his lap. "I'm having nightmares."

"I feared as much."

"They're awful Sarah. Dreams about my past, of things I've done wrong. And the worst ones are about you."

"Me?"

He nodded, running gloved thumbs over her soft hands. His head was bowed, his hair hanging in his face. He finally gazed up at her, his expression full of fear. She felt worry in the pit of her stomach.

"My greatest fear, is losing someone whom I love. It always has been, it always will be. Perhaps that fear drove me to promise Artyagon, that I wouldn't love again."

He squeezed her hands gently. "I have a duty to my kingdom, but my heart belongs to you and it has from the moment I first saw you. If I lost my kingdom, it would be difficult, but I would survive. I could not however, survive without you. Every dream that I have had, with you in it, you are injured or you die. And every time that I awaken, I search desperately beside me to see if you are still there. I don't know if these dreams are a result of my fears, or something else. But these dreams frighten me. They are glimpses of what could happen." If I don't protect you…

She continued to touch his face. Not much frightened the mighty Goblin King, yet on more then one occasion, he had admitted to her that the thought of losing her, frightened him. "How am I dying? A natural death or is someone killing me?"

"Someone is killing you. A shadow, a man without a face. He turns to me at the last second before my dream ends and I see his face, but I can't remember it when I awaken." He lowered his head onto her shoulder and she rested hers, against his hair. "I don't sleep for fear, that if I close my eyes, the dreams will return."

"How long has this been going on?" She gently stroked his hair.

"A few nights. I thought they would pass, but they seem to grow worse."

"Maybe you should see Meg. Maybe you're ill." She continued to stroke his hair, as if she were soothing a small child.

He sat up and looked into her eyes. "I've already seen Meg. She told me that I am healthy. I believe that she tried to protect me, with a spell. I won't know if it will work, until tonight."

"And if her magic doesn't work?"

He looked away from her. "I don't know…."

She leaned over and kissed him gently. "We'll figure something out if her magic doesn't work."

He smiled and kissed her in return. He felt her hand, bury itself into his hair and he reached for her. With his magic he made his gloves disappear from his hands. One bare hand fell upon her shoulder, the other fell to her round stomach, making slow, gentle circles over it. He kissed her gently at first, his kisses deepening as she responded. Suddenly he pulled back, his eyes wide.

"What? What is it? Jareth?"

He gazed down at his hand on her swollen stomach, his fingers gliding over the soft fabric of her dress. "It moved. I felt the baby move." His eyes lit up as he felt the child again. Sarah smiled and brought one hand down to meet his. He positioned her hand where his had been.

"Oh my gosh, I felt it too." She looked up at him to see that he was grinning, from ear to ear. He looked so proud. Being the Goblin King and not having any children to call his own, must have been agonizing for him. It was obvious with his care of Ary and even the goblin children, that he loved being around children. They brought out the youth in him, the goodness, the kindness.

"You know what this means now?" She asked him. He shook his head. "I'm going to be up at ungodly hours. I'm hoping this kid isn't going to be restless like Ary was. She kept me awake for nights, moving and kicking."

"It also means that the pregnancy will not last too much longer, correct?"

She smiled. "There will be less then two months remaining, when the weekend arrives."

He sighed, a sad look in his eyes. "I will miss seeing you like this."

"I won't! You're going to miss having to help me put my shoes on? My moaning and complaining?"

He grinned. "Ok maybe I won't miss those things, although I will miss your dependence on me, your shyness. You are always beautiful to me, my Sarah, but seeing you like this, swollen with my child, is the most beautiful thing of all."

She grinned. "Sometimes I wonder how the hell you became the Goblin King."

"What do you mean?"

"The Goblin King is supposed to be cold, cruel, manipulative, not sweet, sappy, romantic, and emotional."

"I am all of those things my love. Of course, I only like to share the sweet, sappy, romantic and emotional side with you." He placed a quick kiss on her lips and put his arm around her. Together, they walked through the gardens.