Jareth paced restlessly. Every once in a while, his mismatched eyes would find their way to the large window overlooking the ruin city, searching for Sarah. She had came to him early that morning, asking for time to herself to think, but that she would return at noon to finally receive all the answers that she sought.

The sun had reached its peak, and still no Sarah. Jareth wasn't used to waiting, and it was very obvious from the heavy pounding of his boot heels on the hard stone floor that his patience was rapidly reaching the end of its rope.

Just as he raised his hands to call forth a crystal, the heavy oak doors swung open and Sarah walked in. The doors closed again behind her, sealing them off from the devastation that was he's once great city.

"Ok," Sarah began, her voice strong and level as she took a seat at the head of the dining table. "I want to know everything that has happened since I left, and I want to know why the Labyrinth suddenly decided that it doesn't want you for a Keeper anymore."

Jareth stared at her, wondering where the fragile girl he had brought had gone and who this take-charge woman in her place was. Walking slowly to the table to sit with her, he couldn't help but notice how the green blouse he had chosen for her this morning creased her like a second skin, and how the khaki skirt she worn skimmed across her knees like his fingers longed to. Sliding into the seat to her right, Jareth longed to reach across the table and pull her into his lap, but knew that she would only push him away again.

"Jareth?"

Shock made him jerk his head up. His eyes collided with hers.

"Please tell me." Her voice was soft and slightly pleading.

Jareth found he was unable to deny her.

"After you… left, the Labyrinth became unhappy." Jareth's words were slow, as the pain of what he was sharing once again sliced through him. "It took a while, before I realized what was happening." The truth, Jareth knew, was that he was too caught up in his own pain to notice that he wasn't the only one suffering. "It was little things at first, like flowers dying in spring and the crops not being as rich as they should have been. Then, one day, everyone was gone."

Sarah, who had managed to hold his eyes for his whole speech, finally dropped her eyes and stared instead her hands, which were clasped into tight fists on the table top. "Gone? But, where?" Her question was faint, as if she couldn't imagine such a thing.

"I don't know. I went into the city, trying to find someone, anyone, but they were all gone. It was as if they just stood up and walked away without looking back. I spent days, searching and wondering, trying to find some sign that I wasn't alone. When I returned to the castle, the Labyrinth's walls became to fail. Never before had the walls fallen, not once in the thousands of years I have been here. The sight of this once great maze crumbling into nothing, it was more than I could take." Jareth looked away from Sarah, feeling the familiar angry at her carelessly spoken words rise to the surface once more.

"So when did you know that you were no longer the Keeper?" Her inquiry was gentle, as if she somehow knew the pain that realization still brought him.

"I left the Labyrinth, to seek out an Elder who could tell me what was happening. When he informed me that I was no longer the rightful Guardian on the Labyrinth, I didn't believe him… Until I tried to return."

Her head jerked up at the anger in his voice. "Tried to return? You mean—"

"That's right, dear Sarah," the sarcasm worked its way into his voice without his control. "Since I was no longer the one the Labyrinth had chosen, I could no longer return without the official Keeper."

"How long ago was that?" Her question held a hard edge, as if she really didn't want to know.

Sarah jerked back as Jareth suddenly stood, pulling his chair back violently and walking briskly to the window. He turned his back to her and did not answer.

But Sarah found that she needed to know. Standing as well, Sarah made her way over to him. She reached her hand out, as if to touch his shoulder and lead a comforting hand, but fell away just short of physical contact.

"Jareth? How long?"

Jareth turned his head just enough so that their eyes could meet. "Long enough to watch you grow into the woman you are now."

Shock colored her face as she took a slight step back. "9 years? You've been away for 9 years?"

Turning, Jareth stared down at Sarah, torn between love and hate. He wondered which emotion would outlast and defeat the other.

An evil smirk twisted his lips. "Yes, Sarah," her name was more of a hiss, then actually words. "For nine years I have watched you grow, live, laugh, and enjoy life, while I have been trapped in your world."

"Tr-trapped?" Sarah couldn't help the stutter, any more than she could help the two pick backwards steps she took in retreat to the menacing tone of Jareth's words.

Jareth watched her backing away from him with equal parts of sorrow and triumph. "Yes, dear, sweet Sarah. Trapped, in my owl form, for 9 long years, waiting for you to call for me so that I could return to the only home I have ever known."