I have no idea how the epilogue ended up being the about the same length as the final "full" chapter, but here it is.
- -Epilogue- -
"Jareth," Juliana huffed, walking into his personal study before he could escape her, glaring at him. "I gave you time-"
"Not nearly enough," he interrupted, burying his nose into a book. "Try again in a few days, why don't you?"
"I GAVE you three days," she hissed, yanking the book down to stare him in the eye. "Now answer me."
He sighed and sidestepped her, walking towards his desk. "If I must."
"Jareth, that land is mine and you know it! Give it to me," she demanded, slapping her hand upon his desktop. "It's my right to it; you can't keep it from me forever."
He glanced up at her and contemplated dumping her in the Bog, but decided she'd probably enjoy just to spite him then squat in there for days until he would have to send someone to ferret her out. No, best just deal with her at the moment rather than spend days uselessly trying to find her again. "By conquers rights, it's mine if we want to get technical."
"I don't want to get technical, I want my home back, damnit!" she snapped. "You have your kingdom back. I helped you get it back. By right, you owe me, the least you could do is give it back." She looked ready to try and jump the desk to attack him. He didn't give her the smallest of victories by moving back when she began to invade his personal space as she shoved her face nearly into his.
In the quiet lull before she shouted arguing again or Jareth started retorting, there was a clear knock at the door. Both of them turned in frank confusion to stare at it, looking like they forgot it had ever existed. Taking the opportunity to dodge Juliana again, Jareth called out "Come in".
Sarah and Toby stood on the other side looking in at them. Toby raised a brow at them. "Fighting again, or is Juliana just going to tear your eyes out for the fun of it?"
"Trust me, it would be the most fun she'd have in years," Jareth drily quipped.
Juliana tossed up her hands in contempt. "And joy, don't forget the most joy too," she snapped before stalking towards the door. "Get out of my way; I'm going to drop kick some goblins over the wall."
"Careful they don't try to bite your toes off again," Toby replied as she stepped pass them. As Juliana began to walk away, Sarah hurriedly called out to her.
"Wait, Juliana," she began, reaching out to catch one of the Eleionomaese's scarves. "Have you seen Elizabeth? We can't find her."
"Again?" she asked, frowning. "Tried checking the window ledges?"
"Double checked," Toby answered.
"That's the second time in two days," Jareth observed lightly. "Elizabeth seems to be quite fond of finding hiding places in our castle."
Sarah looking uneasy at the wording of "our castle". "Well, if you see her, tell her we need to talk about…stuff," she finished lamely.
Jareth stood up and walked in front of his desk before leaning back casually against it and crossing his arms. "I'll see to it then that she knows you want to talk to her about 'stuff'," he replied.
She nodded, and grabbed Toby as she began to hurriedly walk away. "C'mon, let's try the kitchens again."
"You seem kinda flushed, sis, you okay?" Toby asked as she pulled him along, leaving Juliana and Jareth behind.
Juliana turned back to Jareth. "You…haven't told her then?" she asked, trying to word her question carefully.
He frowned. "I didn't want her decision to be …biased or…forced by any means."
Juliana stared at him a moment. "But surely…she has a right to know that the magic now-"
"Like I said," Jareth interrupted. "I don't want her to feel forced."
Juliana shared a stoic look with the Goblin King for a moment before finally nodding. "I …see then," she murmured before cocking her head to the side and deadpan saying "So that means even you can feel unsure about the 'heir' then."
"Go get Hog-brains," he glared at her and let the door snap shut with a gesture of his hand.
Crouched underneath a gum encrusted counter, (how did goblins get gum? Elizabeth wondered. Did they steal them?) Elizabeth hid from her mother and uncle as a cook, Eskubar, muttered about small children mucking about her kitchen. Ignoring the crusty cook, Elizabeth tried to tuck herself in further into the niche she hid in, waiting and listening for her family. So far she hadn't successfully convinced
her mother to agree to stay in the Underground, but then her mother hadn't convinced her to leave yet either.
As she sat under the counter, absorbed by her thoughts, she missed Eskubar and her assistant Snodgrass' silence nor the quiet footsteps until she heard a soft groan above her. Hoggle's face came into view.
"Little missy," he began, crouching down. "You've got your mother and uncle all wound up trying to find you, you know."
She sighed. "I know…"
"So why are you hiding then?" he grumbled. When she didn't answer, he sighed and offered her his hand to help her up. She stared at it for a moment before reaching out and taking it.
As soon as she was out, she brushed herself off and turned to him. "So what are you doing here, Hoggle?"
"Jareth sent for me," he answered. "Probably shouldn't have come—he'll probably try start expecting me to come all the time, though why he would call me at all is beyond me…"
Elizabeth smiled at his random ramblings. "What do you think he wants to talk to you about or maybe it's something else?" she asked as they left the kitchen.
"How should I know?" he shot back, shambling along next to her.
"Well, maybe it'll be something good."
"The only good thing he could do is finally let me take a vacation from that dratted Bog."
"Well, maybe he-"
"Elizabeth!" Sarah called.
"Uh oh," Elizabeth gasped as her mother and uncle came into view. "Now, I'm in trouble."
"Darn right you are," Sarah snapped as she walked up. "Stop hiding all over the place when I tell you we need to talk."
Elizabeth tried to look innocent. "What's there to talk about?"
"Elizabeth," Sarah admonished, glaring.
"Oh, so you found her," Juliana commented, coming around the corner. She glanced at Hoggle, "Jareth's in his office. He wants to speak with you and me within the hour. Come along."
"Hey, who you talking to like that, all high and mighty?" he snapped. She ignored, grabbed his collar, and began to drag him along unceremoniously.
"Hey! Juliana, go easy on him," Sarah shouted to them. "Now then," she started, turning back. "Elizabeth, we need to-" …only to find her daughter already gone. "Where did she-?" She whipped around and saw Elizabeth, chasing after Juliana and Hoggle. "Elizabeth!"
"I'll go get her," Toby told her before hurrying along after them. Not wanting to lose Elizabeth again or be left out, Sarah took off after them as well. By the time she and Toby caught up with them, Juliana was dragging Hoggle into Jareth's office while Elizabeth tried to tip-toe away. "Oh, no you don't," Toby grumbled then swept his niece up into his arms.
"I gotta go to the bathroom," Elizabeth announced instantly, trying her hardest to squirm loose of his grip.
"Elizabeth, enough, now," Sarah demanded.
Elizabeth cringed but went dejectedly fell limp. "Yes, momma."
"I'm putting you down, so no funny business, okay?" Toby asked, lowering her down. Elizabeth huffed as she sprang a few steps forward before turning to face them, feeling jittery. "You need to stop this hiding all the time, Lizzie, it's getting ridiculous."
"Sorry, sorry," she mumbled, scuffing the toe of her shoe against the floor.
"Now, we need to talk," Sarah began, making Elizabeth twitch. "Honey, I think it's time tha-"
Suddenly, from inside Jareth's office, Hoggle let out a loud yell sounding suspiciously like "yippee".
"What the hel-" Toby began before Hoggle nearly danced out of the room.
"Take it! I don't want it! FREE!" he cackled in delight before he noticed them standing outside the door and freezing up in shock.
"Is that normal for him?" Toby asked Sarah conversationally.
Sarah stared. "I…are you okay, Hoggle?"
Snapping out of his stupor, he tossed up his hands and laughed. "Great! Best I've ever been—haven't felt this good in years. Hah," he laughed turning back and wagging his finger at still Juliana. "It's yours, take the damn thing. Hah, freedom at last!"
"What's going on?" Toby asked, directing it to Jareth since Hoggle was still too caught up in his enthusiasm and Juliana was too caught up in her stupor.
"Oh, just finalizing some negotiations," he answered, smugly. "You see, I made Hogpen there 'Prince of the Land of Stench' so I could never just give back the Bog. Hoggle had to."
"You made him Prince of the Land-" Sarah glared at him. "Why?"
"Who cares!" Hoggle laughed with maniac glee. "It's hers now, and I can finally get away from that horrible place. Good riddance."
"Um, Juliana?" Elizabeth called to the Eleionomaese. "Are you okay?"
"Forgive her, dear," Jareth commented, still smug. "Her dearest life's ambition was just granted to her and she's reveling in it. As it stands, that's the longest I've ever seen her with her mouth shut ever."
That snapped her out of her silence. "Compared to you who never shuts his mouth."
"Uh ah," he tsked. "None of that. Now, we still have to talk details—the Bog-"
"-Swamp," Juliana corrected primly, smiling. Toby was taking a bit aback to see such a purely happy expression on her face.
"-Swamp, whatever, still falls to the over all control of the Goblin Throne-"
"Oh, whatever and all that, I've got work to do," she shushed him. He rolled his eyes but surprisingly let her pass with the comment. "First, we have to flood the Swamp and get rid of that smell, then we have to nurse the trees and-"
"Yes, well, that's all well and good too, just make sure you don't drown any goblins. Or Sir Didymus for that matter," he added. "Which reminds me, I'll have to set him up with a new post or he'll mope for ages with nothing to do."
Juliana was no longer paying attention to him; she wandered out the door, still setting up her plans under her breath. Hoggle, finally calming down, had to hurry after her to make arrangements with her to get his possessions out of the Bog before she and the rest of her people flood it.
"I'm glad she's getting her home back," Toby commented.
"It would have been a bad idea not to reward her after helping afterwards anyway," Jareth replied, returning to the other side of his desk.
"Speaking of getting homes back," Sarah began, turning to Jareth. "I think it's time we all went home too."
Jareth paused, fixing her with a even but rather blank look. She couldn't read anything from it at least, which made Sarah feel just a bit uncomfortable. His bland indifference made her feel like he was disapproving of her decision but then, why would he really want her to stay anyway, right?
"All went home?" Elizabeth repeated in horror. "You mean go back 'up there'?"
"Well, …yeah, where else?" Sarah tried. She sighed at the pained expression on her daughter's face. "Elizabeth, now you've known that we were going to go home all this-"
"That place," Elizabeth interrupted, "is not home! I don't want to go back there ever again!"
"Bethie," Toby tried, reaching out to her but she stepped back.
"I'm not going back! You can't make me! I won't-"
"That. Is. ENOUGH, Elizabeth," Sarah snapped. "We are going home, there is no reason for you to be acting this way. Look," she tried, lowering her voice back down, trying to reassure her. "I know it's hard now but if you give it a chance-"
"I don't want to give it a chance! I want to stay here, so I'm staying," she shouted and before any of them could stop her, she raced out the door and disappeared around the corner.
"Elizabeth!" Sarah shouted after her and took off.
"Oh, man," Toby groaned, watching them leave. "I hope I was never that much a drama queen at that age."
"Drama," muttered Jareth. Toby turned and watched him sit down hard on his chair. There were no traces left of the smug king from earlier, just a rather defeated looking man, gazing down at the floor.
"…she's probably going to take ages to find again," Toby tried. "Keep an eye out for her, while you, Jareth?"
"…just get out of my sight."
Raising a brow a the waspish reply, Toby left the Goblin King to his thoughts.
It was Jareth who found Elizabeth after all. He hadn't even really meant to either; he had simply walked by her hiding place and heard a strange noise. Upon investigation, he found huddling on the wide ledge outside the window. When he leaned out the window, he frowned as he saw her, knees tucked underneath her chin and sniffling.
He didn't care for crying; he dealt with his Prizes crying loudly by singing to them or having them removed. Elizabeth, at the moment, was too wound up to want to hear a song, probably, and if he tried to remove her more, she'd fall to her death from the height. Instead, he sighed then put his head and shoulders out the window, turned so his front faced the window, folded his arms, and sat on the sill.
"Your mother and uncle are looking for you," he told her. She cringed, coiling in on herself. He went on. "It's dangerous sitting here. You should come inside before you worry your mother more."
She didn't seem to listen. "Momma said she wants to go back. She yelled at me when I said I didn't want to go."
As Jareth remembered, Elizabeth had pitched a fit, not "said" that she didn't wanted to go. But he decided not to point that out. He glanced back at the window, to his reflection. I still need to tell her…
Elizabeth ignored his silence and went on. "She's never yelled at me like that…not since the funeral."
Jareth turned his head back to her. "Funeral?"
"My father's," she clarified and Jareth regretted asking. After a moment of silence, she continued. "Did you know after my father's funeral, mom climbed into bed and refused to do anything besides eat and go to the bathroom?" Her eyes, half hidden by her bangs, narrowed. "No matter what I did, she never got up. I could scream and cry and all she would do is lie there." She paused and looked out over the Labyrinth. "I hated her."
"Come again?"
"I hated her. So much," she nearly sobbed. "It was like loosing daddy all over again." This time she did break down in tears.
Jareth could only stare, at a loss. He never dealt with children as old as Elizabeth before, and now she was crying. Uncertainty was never his strong suit; so, without quite knowing what he should be doing, he unfolded his arm, and gently put it around the quivering girl.
"If we go now," she cried, "after everything's that's happened, after making friends finally…It'll be like that again! Just like when daddy died!" She clung to his arm and he gently pulled her over to his side, away from the far end of the ledge. She sobbed and held on, lost to her fear and sorrow. "Please, let me and momma stay, help me get momma to stay! I don't want to go back…"
Since he had nothing to say, he glanced away from her but quietly petted her hair in sympathy. He didn't remember crying like that, not even at his own father's death. How am I supposed to comfort a child when I have no idea what she's going through?
Finally he looked up and saw Juliana, still looking damp from the swamp with Toby at her side. Toby was looking at Elizabeth with distant eyes, lost in recollection. Maybe he was remembering his brother-in-law's death too, Jareth wondered.
By the time Elizabeth had started to calm down, the skies began to pour. Jareth delicately slipped back inside and maneuvered Elizabeth's shaking form in as well. When they were in, Juliana quietly helped him to a chair so he could sit with Elizabeth in his lap.
"…I'll go get Sarah," Toby announced, speaking for the first time before he left.
In Jareth's arms, Elizabeth went to sleep.
"I left her with Jareth," Toby explained as he and Sarah hurried down the hallway. Sarah, still anxious with worry, fought from urging him to go faster as he loped along beside her. He still declined to say where exactly Elizabeth was, otherwise Sarah would have run there already.
"You left her," she frowned angrily at him, "with Jareth."
"And Juliana," he added after a moment.
Sarah rolled her eyes and continued to walking. "By the time we get there, he'll probably have convinced her to stay here… not that she doesn't want too …already," she added softly. Toby frowned but didn't comment.
"Sarah," he began suddenly, making her glance at him, "why do you want to leave?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"A valid one," he shot back, annoyed.
She had the decency to look embarrassed for snapping at him. "Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that," she apologized. She glanced forward as they continued to walk. "We can't live here all our lives down here, what kind of life would that be?" she tried to sound light but he didn't look amused.
"According to Juliana? One worth getting helping people you dislike and fighting for," he quipped.
Sarah cringed at the harsh tone. You would think he was my big brother talking like that. "You just don't realize what it means to live down here, how dangerous it could be for Elizabeth-"
"Considering what happened a few days ago," he countered. "I doubt Elizabeth doesn't have a clue, Sar."
"Oh, what do you know?" she snapped, losing her patience with him.
"No, what do you know?" he argued back, stopping to turn and yell. "You and I spent the same amount of time here, I know enough! Elizabeth knows enough too-"
"You're not her father, don't tell me how to raise my child!" she screamed. Toby stepped back and watched as Sarah began to really let loose. "Just because you think she's knows what its like to live down here, that just because she doesn't have any friends up there right now, that it makes it okay to stay here? After what happened a couple days ago, you should understand why we to go! What if someone else comes to try for his stupid throne? I'm not going to let Elizabeth get involved with that!"
"Even if that's what she wants?"
"SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT SHE WANTS!"
"Do you?" he asked, quietly.
Sarah came up short, taken aback by his sudden composure and question. "What?"
"Do you know," he began, tone even, "what you want? What you really want?"
Confused, she stared at him. This is so unlike him, this calm questioning…and yet…it isn't, she supposed. He had been forceful like this when he asked her about how she and Jareth knew each other. Pushing past her unease, she bit out, "What I want is to know where my daughter is."
Toby frowned. "You know she's with Jareth," he argued then pressed on. "What do you really want? To go back to teaching classes to people how are only there to get a credit from your class? To go back to pay bills, grading papers, arguing with mom and dad? What do you want to go back for?"
"That's not why I'm going back!" she snapped.
"Then what is? What's up there that you can't find down here? You said yourself you and Elizabeth don't have friends anymore because you always lose contact with them," he tried. "You actually have friends down here. And it's not like you'll never see our family again, I'm sure Jareth would let you if you asked."
Why is he asking this? She thought desperately. "Well, why are you leaving?"
"Because I'm not ready," he admitted. She blinked and he looked away, to a window. "I'm still a kid, after everything's that happened, I get that now. So I won't stay here…I have to stay gone until I'm ready to stay."
"Are you saying…you're planning on living here permanently?" she asked, eyes wide.
"Eventually," he corrected. "If Jareth will let me. I think he will."
"Why on earth are you going to do that?"
He glanced back. "Why do you want to leave?"
She looked away. "…will you just take me to Elizabeth?"
Toby frowned and glared at her. Then he turned and began to walk away. "Go find her yourself," he snapped to her, leaving before she could stop him.
She started to shout at him then stopped. Toby refused to be helpful when angry at someone. Sighing, she turned about and continued walking, guessing to where they were.
She ended up wandering around, checking any room she stumbled on, and hoping to find them. She had no such luck so she tried their bedrooms again, first Elizabeth's, then hers, then Toby's. She paused, wondering if she should try Jareth's. Toby had mentioned he left her with the Goblin King. Grimacing, she headed over to his room, or at least what she was guessing was his room. She never actually saw his room, only his office from earlier.
When finally found a door that seemed grand enough that it might fit Jareth's ego not too far from his office, she tried looking in. To her rather mixed relief, she saw no one there either. Shutting the door, she frowned then turned to try his office down the hallway. It was the only other place that came to mind.
To her surprise, she did find them there. Elizabeth slept, curled up on the reclining sofa, next to the desk where Jareth sat, watching over her. He glanced up at her as she came in, standing. "She's been sleeping for awhile," he commented as she hesitated at the threshold.
"…thanks for watching her then," she tried. This is so awkward…when did it get so awkward? Probably about the time Elizabeth threw her temper tantrum. "And for, um, finding her too."
He nodded. "I'll leave her to you then," he said. As he started past her, he stopped, not looking at her directly. "I…have something I need to talk with you later as well."
"Yeah…me too," she replied. He hummed in acknowledgment and left. She waited until she was sure he was going before walking over to her daughter's side. "Elizabeth?" she tried quietly. "Elizabeth, time to get up."
Elizabeth heaved a great sigh but continued to sleep. Sarah saw that she wasn't about to walk up soon and gave her sleeping daughter a wry grin.
"Do you know what you want?"
She frowned the memory of her brother's words came back to haunt her. Of course she knew what she wanted?
"What you really want?"
…didn't she?
"Ack, now he's got me questioning myself," she sighed. She glanced down to her daughter, sleeping fitfully. What I want…
She had a job waiting for her. Their parents must be sick to death with worry. Elizabeth could make new friends. She would get over it.
What I really want?
"Jacob," she murmured her late husband's name. "What should I do? Jacob…"
She smiled self-deprecatingly. She knew what he would say.
"He'd say stay," she whispered, admitting to no one the truth. She glanced around, checking to see if someone might have overheard. Satisfied, she turned to look back at her daughter. She sighed. "Oh, Bethie, what should I do with you?"
In her sleep, Elizabeth smiled.
"Are you ready?" Juliana asked Toby, as he packed the last memento from the goblins into his bag. In his short time there, the whole population of goblins seemed to exalt him, Sarah, and Elizabeth as saviors and was always eager to show their appreciation of them. When they learned he would be leaving, they kept appearing from hidey-holes, offering gifts and trinkets as goodbye presents. Most of it was junk but he didn't like the idea of tossing away any of it.
"Yeah, that's the last of it," he said, straightening.
"So, how long you leaving for?" Hana asked, landing on his shoulder.
"Mmm, for awhile," he answered. "Jareth said that on the equinoxes and solstices would be the best time to visit, so I'm guessing I'll come back some time in September. Will you miss me, fairy?"
"Hmph," she grunted, flicking her wings in agitation. "Bah, the only bit about you I'll miss is your somewhat usefulness."
"Hey, I helped convince Jareth give you back wings, you know," he laughed in protest.
"Yes, well," she murmured in agreement, flapping her wings gently. "Thanks." It was true; after Jareth seemed to settle in with all the changes, Toby had gone to him to ask him to restore Hana's wings. Despite the fact that he couldn't return her original wings, Jareth had used his magic to make her grow a new set. The fairy, for all her bravado, was thankful for that.
Toby smiled and started to reply went he nearly fell backwards as a weight pressed itself against his legs. Looking down after stumbling back a bit, he found Stank staring up at him with large puppy dog eyes. "Toby stay…" he begged, trying to look pitiful.
"Ah, Stank," he began, leaning down to give the Rock Caller an affectionate rub behind the ears.
"Stop being such a baby, Stank," Hana order, flying off Toby's shoulder to land on Stank's back as he slid off Toby.
"Toby?" asked Skub. "You're really going then tonight?"
"Yeah, 'fraid so," he answered, bending down so he was closer to Skub's diminutive height. "You'll look after Hana and Stank for me while I'm gone, right?"
"Yes, sir!" Skub snapped a salute and stood at attention. Toby laughed and patted his shoulder.
"I'm counting on you then."
"Hey, I can look after me and Stank just fine, thank you!" Hana snapped, flying up level to his head. Before they could descend into a fight, there was a knock at the door. Juliana, who had backed away to escape their antics, opened to the door find Sarah on the other side.
"Is Toby ready?" she asked.
Juliana opened the door to let her in and see for herself.
"Hey, sis," he greeted her sheepishly. Last time they talked, he stalked off in anger. Knowing her, she should have still been mad but she looked composed on the outside at least. "I'm heading out tonight."
"I heard."
Was that a good sign or bad? He couldn't tell. "So, um, did you wanna talk or something?"
"Actually-" she began, however she was cut off when Elizabeth came racing in and tossed herself around his waist, nearly plowing him over.
"Uncle Toby," she hissed. "Please, help me convince momma to stay? Please?"
"I already tried," he whispered back as he bent down to hug. Sarah was giving them a suspicious look for their whispering. "I couldn't convince her either."
"But-" she tried, pulling back.
"If you're done here," Juliana spoke up. "It's time. If you want to leave, now would be it."
"Huh?" Elizabeth gasped in despair.
Smiling gently in sympathy, he patted her shoulder and gave her a nudge. Grudgingly, she moved forward. They all exited the room and began to walk to the find Jareth. Juliana led to him, where he stood in front of familiar looking mirror. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."
Jareth turned and raised a brow. "I assure you, I'm not."
"That mirror already tried to attack once," he argued, stomping up to him.
"The mirror tried to attack Uncle Toby?" Elizabeth asked in confusion to Juliana.
"His reflection actually," she clarified. Elizabeth still looked mystified but turned back to Jareth and Toby.
"That was because Deonte cursed the mirror to attack us. He wanted any one of us out of the way," Jareth explained. "This is a sacred artifact."
"Yeah, well, what's it got to do with getting me home?"
"Everything," Jareth answered, turning back to it. "This mirror is the gateway you'll use to get back to the Aboveground."
"Huh," Toby grunted for lack of a response. "So what do I do?"
"What do you do? Walk through it," he snorted. "It's a gateway, what do you expect?"
"Hey, last time I stuck my head in there, I nearly drowned!"
"Impossible. You cannot drown in a mirror."
"You saying I'm lying?" Toby huffed.
"No. I'm saying you're wrong," Jareth corrected him, smirking. "Have a little faith, Toby."
"Whatever," he grumbled, rolling his eyes and turning to Sarah and Elizabeth. "So, you ready?"
"No…" Elizabeth grumbled.
Then Sarah did something surprising; she glanced upward and shifted anxiously. "Well, yes about that…"
All sets of eye in the room fixed on her.
"You can cross over from world to world, like in September, right?" she asked. Jareth nodded cautiously. "So, I was thinking…maybe I'd wait until then to decide. That would be okay, wouldn't—hrk!" She drew up short as Elizabeth tossed herself at her.
"We're staying then?" she cried, clutching at her shirt.
"…yes," Sarah answered after a moment. Elizabeth nearly burst into ecstatic tears and Sarah couldn't help but notice Toby looking at her in approval.
"This means 'lizabeth and Sarah are staying!" Skub repeated enthusiastically.
"Congrats, Lizzy," Hana said, flying down and landing on the girl's shoulder. Elizabeth let go to properly celebrate with her friends.
Juliana slid closer to Sarah. "So I take it he told you then," she commented.
"Who told me what?" Sarah asked.
"Jareth, about the magic."
"What magic?"
"Oh…I see he didn't then," Juliana murmured.
"Wait a second, what magic?" she asked, glancing over to Jareth, who was being badgered by Toby about the Goblin King's suddenly good mood.
"The magic that keeps you alive."
"Keeps me…" she repeated carefully. "What magic?"
"When Deonte attacked you. Jareth used magic to heal you," she explained like she was talking to a simpleton. "The magic that keeps you alive binds you here."
Sarah saw red. "No," she growled. "He forgot to mention that one." When I get my hands on that little-!
Juliana viewed her anger with dispassionate curiosity. Humans and their strange mood swings. "He didn't tell you," she began, catching Sarah's attention, "because he was afraid that would be the only reason you would stay."
"…what?" Sarah turned to look at her.
"I suppose Goblin Kings can feel insecure too, hmm?"
Sarah stared at her then glanced back at Jareth, as if seeing him in a new light. "…Jesus, what am I doing?"
"Isn't this what you want?" Juliana asked.
Sarah glanced back her then at Jareth; he looked up and caught her gaze, looking back. Finally she smiled. "Maybe. Just maybe."
