IslandOwlArcher asked: So did Jareth remove the bracelets manually or did Sarah "frozen" it (ie perform an act of true love like in the movie Frozen)?

Answer: He didn't remove them, but did end their bond to seek medical attention.

Also, this is a heavy dialogue based chapter. I'm trying not to have 'talking heads', but it's hard.

Jareth sat beside her on a stone bench, a look of concern on his face. Why would she not let him kiss her? As soon as they were settled, he immediately started checking her for any further signs of injury- going so far as to try to try looking down the back of her blouse- to see if she had started bleeding again.

"Stop that!" she snapped, grabbing his wayward hands and placing them firmly in his lap. "I'm fine. Lord Beinion saw to me that evening. Do not-" she pointed a finger in his face, "cover him in yack vomit," she warned sternly.

Jareth smirked at her protectiveness. Lord Beinion had come through for him- for them. He'd have to send him a thank you gift- maybe a basket of peaches. "Of course," he addressed Sarah, "I'm glad to hear it," he stroked her cheek.

Sarah sighed and gathered her dark hair over her right shoulder playing with the ends. She looked weighted and troubled- like she had a lot on her mind. "Jareth," she looked into his eyes, "how much do you know about humans?"

The smirk slid from his face. He wasn't expecting a question like that. In fact, he was expecting her to throw her arms around him and kiss him senseless. "Not much, why?" he eyed her warily.

"I have a feeling you know very little of us," she said with a pained smile. "Tell me what you do know."

He thought and smirked once again at her- playful mood overtaking him. "Well, you like scrambled eggs and have a stash of chocolate in nearly every nook in your apartment, and-"

"Stop," she said gently, smacking his arm, "not me. Humans- all of us."

That was another question entirely. "I know you live passionately and can be cruel to one another, but can love effortlessly as well." He paused cocking his head, "Is it because of your mortality?"

"My what?" she asked, surprised.

"Mortality. Sarah, Fae are about as close to immortal as one can be. We have feelings and passions but they take time to develop. And once they do, they last forever."

"Must put a kink in your love life then," she commented dryly.

"What do you mean?" he frowned.

"Well," she glanced away looking at a point over his shoulder, "don't Fae date?"

He shook his head. "No, we don't. We just fuc-" her eyes snapped back onto his, making him falter, "er, screw like rabbits until we're paired off," he amended.

Her green eyes narrowed at him. "What happens if you fall in love?"

"It's rare, but has been known to happen. In that case we can petition to be paired together."

"Oh," she said, hoping she understood where he was coming from. Wait, why does love keep coming up? He had mentioned it during her dream as well. 'Say you love me,' he had said- oh. Her eyes widened as it hit her. Oh- oh crap. So that's what he has in his head.

Regaining her composure and hoping he hadn't noticed, she asked, "So, you're saying you don't go out on dates? Get to know each other? Meet the parents- that kind of thing?"

He laughed. "All the girls I've ever-" at a frown from Sarah he paused "-talked with, my parents have already met- aside from you, of course," he said patting her thigh. As for dating, everybody already knows everybody else- what's there to know? It's carnally based, I suppose."

Sarah worried her bottom lip, afraid to ask her next question- in for a penny. "Would I have been 'carnally based?'" She suddenly wished she was someplace else and looked to the green grass waiting for his answer.

With gentle hands he tipped her chin up- forcing her to look at him. "No," he said firmly, "you are not."

She smiled shyly at him and turned her head away effectively breaking the moment. "What about my mortality?" she changed the subject.

Oh, he had forgotten that question. "Isn't it why humans love so quickly and fiercely? Because of your mortality?

There it was- that must be where he got it from. "No, we don't. Not all of us."

"Do you?" he inched closer.

"I- before I answer that I want to ask you something about me." He nodded, gesturing for her to continue.

"How long have you been watching…?"

"Ah." Jareth explained how he first noticed her as a potential Runner due to the magic of the Underground alerting him. "That's what first gave me access to you. And so, I performed my duty. I watched."

"And learned, and enticed," she finished fully knowing now how the Wished Away routine worked.

"And after you left- I couldn't help myself from watching. I'll always watch over you," he said quietly, almost shyly.

"Oh." Sarah felt a blush creep up her cheeks. "And to answer your question- no, I don't love quickly but when I do, it is fierce. Can I ask you something else?" Once again, he nodded- giving her permission to do so. "What about my dreams? Have you always watched," the blush fading, eyes growing cold even though her voice remained calm, "and influenced them?"

Oh that. Drat! She did notice. "I have dipped in from time to time, but no, that was a one-time thing," he sighed, raking his hands through his hair. He scooted closer to her so that their thighs touched. "Sarah, I- I wanted you to admit that you love me."

Sarah was not exactly floored given what he had said to her in that dream and their current conversation, but she wasn't expecting him to be so direct about it. "What do you think?" she stalled.

"I think based on your dreams you do," he said earnestly.

"On my dreams?" Apparently, sexy fun dreams equal love. She internally groaned. He really had no idea, did he? "Oh, Jareth," she grabbed his hands and held them in hers. "Dreams can be just dreams to humans."

"But aren't they the purest of thoughts- an exploration of desires and hopes?" His eyebrows drew up in confusion.

She sighed. "They can be- at least the ones that you're used to viewing for Wished Aways, but mostly they're just our brains trying to make sense of what's going in around us- inside of us at times. But they're not definitive answers."

Jareth felt his stomach start to crawl up into his throat- and had a sense that this wasn't going to bode well. "You're saying that…?" he swallowed, trying to rid himself of the feeling.

Giving up on hedging around the topic, Sarah bit the bullet. "Jareth, I don't love you. I know that's what you think- but I don't." The look was instantaneous- his hope filled face crumbled and fell like a puppy being kicked for being too happy. He tried to pull away but she held fast onto his hands, so he settled on looking away. "Jareth," she placed her hand on his cheek- coaxing him to look at her, "hear me out. For the last eight years I thought you were a dream. I thought the Labyrinth was a dream. How can I fall in love with someone who until two months ago, I didn't believe to exist?"

He drew a breath to respond. "Please, let me finish," she pleaded. "My dreams are my idealized version of you," she pointed to her head. "I love the idea of you, but I need to know the real you before I can decide if I love him as well." She placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. Another piece of the puzzle slid into place. The bracelets… the tethering… he wanted me to get to know him. "And for that matter, it's incredibly hard to realistically get to know someone, if you're tied to them 24/7." She shook the dull bracelet on her wrist. "Not your most brilliant idea, Goblin King, but," she smiled, "I think I understand your thought process."

Jareth wanted to turn into his owl form and soar through the clouds for the next week. This is not what he was expecting. Great Aunt Vi was right. He didn't want to deal with this right now but found that he couldn't make himself leave. "If you don't love me," his voice broke on the word 'love,' "then why did you save my life?"

She shrugged wincing at the twinge of pain emanating from below her shoulder. "Just because I'm not in love with you, doesn't mean I don't care for you." She traced the ruffles on the front of his shirt. "But, next time someone gets stabbed, don't remove the object." At his quizzical look, she explained. "The poker- even I know not to remove something like that. I could have died, Jareth."

The color from his face drained and he clutched at her hand that was still playing with his shirt. "I- I'm- sorry," he choked out.

"It's okay- you had to." She hugged him and he returned it. "I know iron is poisonous to Fae, and if you didn't, you would have risked bringing a deadly weapon into your world." He replied with a questioning grunt, making Sarah chuckle. "I learned that from all those books I've been reading," she explained, relaxing fully against him. She didn't pull away feeling comfortable being held by him and holding him in return. It was something they both needed. "Jareth? What were you doing in the Above?"

He disengaged them enough to look at her. "Taking care of that man," he growled. All thoughts of Sarah not loving him pushed aside.

"What did you do?" she whispered- all sorts of unsavory scenarios flitted through her mind.

"I made it so all he sees are his nightmares," he said with ferocity that scared her.

Sarah very rarely faced this side of him- the dangerous Goblin King side, so she was at a loss for words. Only managing to say, "Oh, that's terrible."

"Not nearly terrible enough. If I had my way, he would have been hanged for his crimes. He not only attacked royalty, he attacked… you," his voice softened and he reached out to cup her face. "I couldn't bear anything happening to you. I-"

Sarah stood, not wanting to deal with anymore confessions or misinterpretations of things. She walked a few feet away from the bench and stood thinking- weighing her options. She knew she was too close to the situation to be able to hash everything out. She needed space-she needed to go home. But what exactly was home now? She missed her family and friends and yet, she had grown accustomed to life here. Quiet evenings talking with him, learning about this world, going on Aboveground excursions, sleeping cradled in his arms at night.

Turning back, she looked at him. Though he tried to hide it, she read sadness in his eyes. Shit, she thought, I must have really done a number on him. A question he asked her soon after she arrived popped up into her head 'is being in my presence really that bad?' The answer was a firm 'no' back then, and continued to be a 'no' to this day. Being around him wasn't bad at all… it was just the circumstances that brought them together that weren't ideal.

It'll only be for a little while. Until I can figure things out, one part of her thought while the other sang, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Maybe it would.

Decision made, she walked back over, interrupting his thoughts which were no doubt miserable. "Jareth, I'd like to return to the Above. I need some… time… away from all this," she gestured around her, "to think."

****
He wasn't happy about it. Neither of them were, truth be told, but Sarah couldn't think of a better plan. Jareth was successful in persuading her to wait a few more days until her wounds fully healed for his 'peace of mind'. However, things had been a bit awkward between them- especially at night. That familiarity gone, they slept facing away on opposite sides of the bed- much like they had in the beginning.

And during the day, he left her largely alone to deal with his kingdom and to privately nurse his broken heart. She was doing exactly as he predicted- running away from him. Rejecting him again.

"Is there anything I can say? Anything I can do to change your mind?" he inquired as she packed her small suitcase with her personal belongings.

"It'll only be for a few weeks. Three tops," she looked up from folding a pair of jeans." He was sitting stiffly on the other side of the bed, face drawn, shoulders rounded in- as though he was trying to protect himself. She came around and sat next to him- he looked at her with such hopelessness. "Jareth, I promise- no, I swear this isn't goodbye. I just need to clear my head- I'm too close to the situation. Hell, I'm part of the situation."

He pulled her into a hug- his hold almost desperate upon her, like he couldn't bear to let her go. Resting his chin on her head, he breathed in the scent that was uniquely hers (vanilla and strawberries) and murmured, "I'm going to miss you."

"It's not like I'll be gone forever," she pointed out, listening to his heartbeat which was strong and even paced.

"Hmm…" he drew back. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," it was now or never.

And figuring he'd get no other chance to do so, he kissed her. It was simple and sweet- chaste, and when they parted they were sitting on her couch, her suitcase at their feet.

She kissed his cheek in thanks before getting up to see what had changed. Nothing- his spell had worked perfectly. Or almost perfectly. A fern that Karen had given her was dead due to lack of water and- she poked her nose in the fridge, gaging at the smell of rotted food. She'd have to clean that out. "How long have I been gone here?"

"A little less than a month, but I made sure you weren't missed. Currently, everybody thinks you're on vacation in Bermuda."

"Oh," she grabbed her cell phone which exploded with a variety of notifications since being reconnected to her mobile and wifi networks. Emails, news stories, game updates, and two voicemails were among the things that loaded within a few minutes.

Curious, she played the voicemails- one was an older one from Toby excitedly telling her of the new sheepdog puppy; the other from her boss asking if she could come in early next week. Sarah groaned- work and getting up early. The reality of not being able to lounge in bed (with a handsome Goblin King) slammed into her. Did she make the right decision? She knew she couldn't backpedal. They had agreed on three weeks… starting now.

Now, for the hardest part, they simultaneously thought, unaware that they were sharing it.

Again, they came together in a fierce hug- each unwilling to let go first. "Three weeks," she murmured.

"Three weeks," he agreed.

Sarah was equally disappointed and surprised when, in leaning up to kiss his cheek, her lips instead met air and were kissed by the glitter that was left behind- slowly falling to the carpeted floor.

Disclaimer: Jareth and Sarah belong to Jim Henson and Co.

AN: We're getting really, really close to an ending. Which, I have two in mind: optimistic or not. Haven't decided which way yet.

Thoughts, comments, & suggestions are welcome in reviews or PMs.