Sometimes I hate every single stupid word you say

Sometimes I wanna slap you in your whole face

- True Love by P!nk

"You have got to be joking."

Sarah wished she were joking, but unfortunately, she would be letting Hoggle down. "Look," she said, "I don't like this anymore than you do. The only reason I agreed to come with him was because he promised he would leave me alone if I did." Hoggle pursed his lips, bushy eyebrows knitted in a frown. "Hoggle, you don't have to worry about me. I'll be just fine." His frown began to dissolve, if only a little.

"I certainly hope you will be. The Underground can be a dangerous place and knowing that Jareth will be the only one around to protect you is what worries me the most." Her lips curved into a wry smile.

"I'm not about to be some damsel in distress that needs protection." And there was no way in hell she would be giving him a reason to protect her. "But I understand what you mean. He's not the easiest person around to trust." Hoggle huffed.

"Darn right, he ain't."

"When are you leaving?" Didymus queried.

"Jareth wants to leave right away. The sooner, the better, he says. So I came to say goodbye. For now, that is."

"But when will you be back?" Hoggle demanded to know.

"I'm not sure. Maybe in six, seven days?" Jareth said they might make it to their destination in three days. Right now, he was packing everything they would be needing for the journey. He had asked her if she wanted him to pack her things along with the rest, but she had said no. She'd rather keep her belongings in the backpack, where she knew she had them. Hoggle resumed his grumbling, very much dissatisfied with this turn of events.

"Seven days. Unbelievable." His, as well as the others' disappointment, was understandable. They had all planned on spending the next couple of days with their long-lost friend and instead, she was ditching them to go on some quest with her enemy. Speak of the devil…

"Are you ready?" Suddenly, he was just there. They never saw or heard him coming. Sarah recognized the brown leather jacket he wore. In this light, it almost looked purple. Grey breeches and black riding boots covered his legs.

"Almost." She turned back to her friends, giving each of them a goodbye hug.

"Goodbye Sarah." She received an encouraging smile from Ludo. This wasn't farewell. She would return.

"Until we meet again, fair maiden." Didymus took off his hat and bowed. With his guard down, Sarah seized the opportunity to kiss his cheek. She had never seen him blush before.

"Don't you even think about kissing me again," Hoggle warned her as she went in for a hug. "We all know how that ended." Nevertheless, he held onto her for just a moment longer than the rest. There was one more thing he needed to tell her. The words came out in a silent whisper. "Be careful."

They went separate ways and now it was only her and Jareth. He took her to the other side of the castle where two horses were waiting for them. One velvet black and one shimmering white; already equipped from head to hoof. Apart from saddles and bridles, said equipment also included saddle bags, no doubt containing everything Jareth had packed. Sarah stopped dead in her tracks. "Wait… Are we riding there?" Jareth cracked a smile and forced himself not to laugh.

"You didn't think we'd be travelling by foot, did you?"

"How was I supposed to know you had horses?" He admitted that she was right, but he didn't tell her that. To him, it was as obvious as the sun rising.

"What kind of a king would I be if I didn't?" She wanted to come up with a clever retort, but nothing came to mind. "Sarah, I'd like you to meet Desdemona," he gestured to the white horse, "and Calypso," then the black one. "They're sisters."

"Really?" Given how dissimilar they were, Sarah never would have guessed. Carefully, she approached Calypso and reached up to pat her mule. It was soft like velvet.

"Have you ever ridden a horse before?" She raised her shoulders in a shrug, like it didn't matter that much.

"Only a couple of times. I know the basic stuff."

"I suppose it will have to do." The way he said it suggested it did matter that much. "Let's be off, then." In one swift motion, he was up on Desdemona's back, waiting for Sarah to mount her own horse. He was watching her like a hawk as she put one hand on either end of the saddle and brought her left foot to the stirrup, but she couldn't get it in. It was too high up and only slipped away from her. She lost her balance and brought her foot back onto the ground with a groan. She didn't have to look to know Jareth was smirking.

"Are you doing all right, Precious?" God, how she hated when he called her that. Persistent as ever, Sarah tried again, still without any luck.

"She's quite tall," she said with a strained voice. And it was the truth. Calypso was a very tall horse. Even taller than her sister, in fact, which made Sarah believe Jareth had done this on purpose.

"Or perhaps you're too short?" Her foot came down with an audible thud. She glowered at him.

"Are you calling me short?" she asked, daring him to repeat that. Okay, so perhaps she wasn't as tall as many other women, but in her opinion, five feet and six inches was not short and he didn't really have the right to mention it. "Listen mister, if you want to bully me about my size, I'm not going to back down without a fight. Compared to most of the men I've met in my life, you don't really pose that much of a threat. And you're clearly trying to compensate by wearing heels." She gave a not so subtle nod to his boots. Jareth dropped the smirk.

"You know I could send you to the Bog for showing such insolence." And to think she actually had the audacity to look him in the face and sneer.

"But you won't. Now help me get up in the saddle. Do you have a stool or anything I could use?" Jareth hopped back to the ground.

"No. But I will help you." He came to stand by her side and, without asking for permission, he placed his right hand on the small of her back; the only spot her backpack wasn't covering. Just as long as that hand didn't go any lower… She felt the heat of it through the fabric of her clothes. When he spoke again, his mouth was much closer to her ear. "Grab the pommel and put your foot in the stirrup." With an exasperated sigh, she followed his instructions. This time, he was there to support her weight and keep her balance in check. "All right. Now, on the count of three I want you to push yourself up. One, two, three." His hand slid down further, but before she could protest, he had already pushed her up in the saddle.

"Who gave you permission to do that?" She loathed the unrepentant smile on his face.

"Um," he said, pretending to think, "I believe you did." She raised her brows at him.

"Me?"

"You asked me to get you up on the horse and that's what I did. Now, are you comfortable or do I need to make any adjustments?" Putting her malevolent thoughts aside, Sarah placed her right foot in the other stirrup and decided that she was comfortable.

"No, it's fine."

"Good." He sounded satisfied. Once again, Jareth mounted his horse, grabbing the reins only with his right hand. The sun illuminated the blond wisps of his wild hair and he truly looked like a king. Nudging the sides of the white mare, he told her to walk on. Sarah followed suit.

"We're not going to go through the Labyrinth, are we?" she asked, dreading what kind of dangers and creatures they might stumble upon.

"Worry not, Princess. There is another way out." Princess? Since when did he start calling her that? Sure enough, they came to an archway leading into a garden. Here, they stopped and Jareth began to explain.

"This archway will take us to the southern border of the Labyrinth and from there, we'll have to reach our destination without any magical transportations."

"Let me guess, because there is a rule that says so?" If it was possible to travel with the help of magic, Sarah did not doubt that's how they would have done it. He smiled at her.

"You're not far off. The Underground consists of several kingdoms or realms. Currently, we are in the Goblin Kingdom." Sarah resisted the urge to roll her eyes and say "No shit, Sherlock." Instead, she let him finish explaining. "And each realm is protected by magic, which means that I can only use magical transportation within the borders of my own realm and – of course, your realm – because there is no magic aboveground."

"Right. Sounds logical." It became clearer day by day that even magic had its limits. "So I take it we'll be traveling between realms?"

"That is correct."

"So in which realm does our destination lie?" A couple of seconds passed before he answered and in those two seconds, Sarah could see something surfacing in his eyes. Like old secrets which had been long hidden from the light of day. Memories that were painful for him to relive. They had to be, for his words seemed forcibly spoken and, somehow, out of regret.

"In the Faerie Kingdom." Without another word, he nudged Desdemona's sides again and she walked on through the archway where they both disappeared right before Sarah's eyes. For one moment, she considered just getting the hell out of there. But something made her stay. Perhaps it was her sudden need to know what it felt like to step through a portal. Either way, she didn't have a choice, because Calypso was already heading toward it on her own accord. Sarah gripped the reins tighter and as she felt the magic begin to engulf her, she shut her eyes, only one thought going through her mind…

He better be on the other side.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is quite short, but I felt like it was a good point to end at. And Sarah, you did ask him to help you get up on the horse. Just deal with it. ;)