AN: Warm summer greetings to you all! Man, it's been super busy but super fun. Hope you guys are having a great summertime!

Sarah overcomes a big issue in this chapter. It's quite a relief. It doesn't make everything all puppies and rainbows, but it's a giant step forward in the direction we're all waiting for ;). I apologise for any mistakes or wordiness that didn't get cut this chapter: I'm in a bit of a hurry to post this before I'm off to more summer camp and such tomorrow. I couldn't leave you guys hanging for another week right?

Last chapter we left off with Sarah running off into the forest on the outskirts of the labyrinth...where Jareth told her not to go. How will he react? What's going to happen while she's in there? Read on and find out!

Chapter Nine: You've Run So Far

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Strength and weakness. Abilities and vulnerabilities. One displayed and the other concealed. But sometimes there were concealed strengths and displayed weaknesses unknown to those who bore them.

Jareth held a crystal in his hand. He stared into its gleaming depths and tapped it with one finger. Colours swirled within. He released it, but it continued to float in the air until it expanded and the colours contoured and defined into an image. But it was still hazy.

It was a blackened mass of rock crudely shaped into forms resembling a living structure like a castle or a manor. No living thing grew anywhere within sight, and the sky above was veiled with grey clouds. Although its image was blurry, he didn't need to see it clearly to know the details eyes could not discern within the crystal like the feel of the scraping rock and the eerie silence only broken by an occasional howling wind. Once it had been called the Raven Manor for it was indeed Fiachna the Raven Mage who had made it his dwelling for nearly five hundred years.

Now it was abandoned, but Jareth had to check to make sure that was still the case. Although Sarah thought he wasn't doing anything about his enemy, he had begun studying alone in the Tower every memory and piece of knowledge about the twisted creature. Strength and weakness. Weakness and strength. To know both of your opponent's was to gain the upper hand, and he had to work quickly since Fiachna already seemed to pinpoint his with frightening precision.

It was true that rumours had spread seven years ago that someone finally made it through the labyrinth, but the King of the Goblins was known for being a recluse who revealed only what he wished to and no more than that. You see, he was not the only one of the Fey in the Underground by any means. Hundreds of them lived. Twenty of them formed a Sidhe Court, and others beside himself also ruled kingdoms of their world as kings and queens of different sects or races. Jareth had become an enigma and mysterious figure to the Court and others of his kindred, so any information about his doings or his kingdom were strongly sought after.

He assumed Fiachna heard the rumours about the incident and discovered more information than anyone was ever meant to. That also meant he'd gone to the Aboveground to watch Sarah to try to snag her in his dark webs.

Deep fury burned like hot coals in his chest. Fiachna had been a nuisance. Not anymore. Now he'd chosen to stir Jareth's wrath in the worst way possible. Any weakness and any strength that could be played upon, he would find.

A prick in the back of his thoughts startled him from his hatred. He frowned and called the crystal back to his hand where it shrunk to its normal size. The image shifted and transformed. What he saw made him throw the crystal against the wall in a shatter of glassy pieces and transport himself instantly away from the Tower.

"Curse that girl and her foolishness!"

A steady beat of drums. A chorus of loud voices with a snatch of song here and there. Laughter echoing through the trees.

The shaded forest loomed around Sarah as she darted off the path into the gnarled trees in the other direction of the dreaded noises. Those bizarre, vibrant creatures called fireys had tried to take her head off before and would likely try again if they caught her. The light was dim, only veiled sunlight soaking through the high canopy, and the air was dense here like being in a small space threaded with earthy aromas like fresh dirt and tree sap. The ground sloped down a little until it evened out again out of view of the forest path, and that's where she slowed almost to a stop to look around.

Even though she was older now, Sarah still longed for adventure. What was life if you didn't really live it? She didn't want the moments to just pass her by and watch them fade away. Here in this magical forest in a fantastical kingdom of the Underground far, far from home, life pulsed through her like living light rushing through her veins unlike any sensation she'd had in her normal life. The last time she ever felt this way was the first visit to the labyrinth whenever she would conquer one step and make it to the next. Although her life was in danger, she didn't worry. Without taking any risks or facing any trouble, life wasn't much of a life at all but a bare existence that bred lifeless people.

Lost in the joy of adventure and exploration, Sarah forgot to notice her surroundings.

A loud screech like that of a hawk or an eagle pierced her ears. She clapped her hands over them. It came from above her. With slow trepidation, she tilted her head back to look up and see the creature that made the terrible noise.

On a thick bough of one of the mangled trees sat a winged beast somewhere between an eagle and a fox: its body covered in brown fur and its snout long like a fox, but its shape and yellow eyes like that of an eagle. It was huge, at least the size of Sarah or bigger with a wingspan twice her height. Those glowing orbs followed her every move.

And it stared down at her like it had found its next meal.

For a split moment she debated on whether standing her ground or fleeing would be the better option. When the bird-like being spread its wings again and lowered its head, she definitely chose flight.

She turned and ran.

Through the trees, vines, and underbrush she darted on light feet. The flapping of large wings rushed overhead, but she tried to stay in tight places where the thing couldn't reach her from above. A bit of an odd-shaped rock formation jutted out of the ground with moss splotched over its surface. She headed straight for it and found a niche to scramble inside of. The fox-faced creature gave another screech as it clawed at the rock but couldn't manage to reach its prey with those long talons. Sarah was pressed against it as flat as she could go, but its claws still came within a foot of snagging her shirt.

At last it gave up and soared up into the treetops again. Sarah released a sigh of relief and checked to make sure it was gone. When she was sure it really left, she stepped out into the open and began walking back in the direction she'd come to find the road again so she wouldn't get completely lost out in the wood.

The sound of wings snapping on the air was the only warning that the creature had come back. She screamed and dropped to the ground and rolled as it swooped down at her. Once back on her feet, she was off into the trees again in hopes that the beast would give up the chase for good.

Something unexpected happened then.

The fireys were peculiar beings with even more peculiar abilities and how they found her she never could figure out. But find her they did.

The bird-like thing gave a cry and swerved to the side away from Sarah. She stopped and stared as it flew off the other way after all that time pursuing her.

A shout of discovery brought her back to reality with a sickening jerk. She whirled around and saw one of the bright red and orange fireys looking down at her from the top of the slope with a finger pointed straight at her.

"Look!" he cried.

Two more loped over towards him and spotted her too just as she gave a frustrated groan and turned to run. As her legs leaped over logs and her body wove in and out the trees, the fireys decided to give chase and whooped and hollered as they raced after her.

Stupid. Stupid, stupid...she chanted at herself as she tried to find somewhere to lose the creatures. She could hear them closing in on her.

One of them suddenly leaped in front of her. She darted to the side to avoid a collision, but another one appeared there too.

"Where you tryin' to run to?"

"Yeah, yeah! Don't you want to see something amazing?"

They closed in much like before. Sarah tried to dash in-between two of them, but they drew in tighter.

Just as she was despairing her luck for the day, the fireys withdrew from her just as quickly as they came. Their beak-like mouths curled down and their shoulders hunched. Their knees seemed to knock a little too.

A familiar tall figure draped in his imperial black cloak stalked towards the trembling creatures. His high black boots glided over the uneven earth like it was a smooth walkway. Nothing seemed able to diminish that confidence and that distinguished bearing that exuded from him.

"You even think of laying a hand or foot on her and I'll throw all your heads into the Bog of Eternal Stench and leave your bodies running around the forest!" the Goblin King declared.

They gave off a round of "of course's" and "no, no never's" and "yes, your majesty's" with bobbing heads and shaking hands.

"Well?" the king drawled.

They all exchanged glances with each other. Then they were leaping away in the opposite direction without another sound. Sarah blew out a sigh of relief that stirred her side-swept bangs.

But then the Goblin King turned that fierce gaze on her. All at once she felt like a child in need of a scolding after doing exactly what he told her not to and running into trouble because of it. She could be stubborn, but this time she was very aware of her mistake.

"Sarah, what was the one thing I asked you not to do?" His deep voice was low, pronounced, and the accent crisp.

"To go into the labyrinth," she murmured with her head lowered.

"And what did you do? You went immediately after I told you not to do that very thing! Didn't you think I had a reason to make that demand? You passed through the labyrinth before, yes, but that doesn't ensure your safety trying it again. I can't keep watch over you all the time!"

"I'm sorry, okay! I really am. I didn't expect something like this to happen and I just wanted to...I don't know...to get out of there."

His brows rose a little, and he tilted a shoulder forward towards her. "You're not a prisoner of mine. It was your choice to come here where you would be protected, so this need to get away completely baffles me. The only person needing to be saved is you, Sarah, not some little boy or helpless creature that needs me to be fought off. When you challenged the labyrinth years ago, I stood aside and said little because otherwise you would have lost great opportunity to claim victory on your own—and with the ones who were drawn to help you because you first helped them—a victory that changed you from a mere child to a growing woman." His back straightened as the ferocity of his expression diminished. "But not this time. This time I've committed to keeping you safe, not pushing you to your limits. This time your strength and persistence are not enough."

His voice crashed over her and wrapped around her heart like squeezing fingers. Yet again there were riddles within his words that she longed to decipher, but for him to imply that she was strong embarrassed her after her mishap.

"How can you call me strong?" she said softly. "After I've proven weak all those times I've..."

"Run away?" he finished when she trailed off. "Always running away, Sarah. Why are you always running?"

"Even the strong have things that they fear."

"And what are you afraid of?"

"You."

Jareth's heart quivered in his breast. Was Sarah truly afraid of him so much so that she would run away into the labyrinth where it wasn't safe? But it didn't make sense, not when she'd called out for him when true and pure fear had taken her standing before the anger of Fiachna. Perhaps her fear for him wasn't what it seemed...

Within the green wood the shade of her bewitching eyes was deeper and more vibrant, but the shame in them dulled their brightness. To him she was as lovely as the blush of golden dawn with painted colours in the sky or an evening lit with stars and the moon glistening upon the still waters of a lake; but to see her ashamed troubled him.

He reached out a hand and lifted her chin with a finger. "Sarah...when I asked you to fear me, this wasn't what I had in mind."

His lips pulled into a bit of a smirk at her deep blush, and he dropped his hand from her chin. Strangely enough, though, she didn't reply and refused to look at him. He spared a few moments to study her without her watching, noting all the lines and curves of her face, the face that haunted him for years. From subtle indicators it was clear that conflict stormed inside her with her brow furrowed a little, her focus lost deep within, and her lips slightly parted while her hands rested fisted against her sides.

Just as he was about to suggest they return to the castle at once, Sarah raised her head and looked him straight in the eye. Ah, now there is the Sarah I know. Confident and unafraid and certain. And so very beautiful...

"You also said you were exhausted from living up to my expectations of you," she said.

That struck a nerve. His focus sharpened instantly.

"If that was true then is anything you say or do real? If everything you did before was because I wished it or expected it, what's any different now when my expectations and wishes are different? How do I know you're not just playing along and being who I want you to be and saying what I want you to say?" Her dulcet tones that he usually enjoyed had a sharp edge. "Or was everything you said then even true? You could easily have been lying."

That didn't just strike a nerve but caused a slice of pain across his heart. No wonder she was acting so conflicted and unusual since the moment they met again after all those years: she didn't know whether to believe anything he'd said back then. She's smarter than that, I know it. I think it more she doesn't want it to be true than actually believing that rubbish.

"Look at me, Sarah," he said firmly. When he was sure he had all her attention, he continued even though it was extremely difficult to say the things he was about to say. Being vulnerable once and receiving rejection was bad enough, but to relive those moments a second time was not without struggle. "I swear that I only lied to you once. Just once when I said I'd turn the baby into a goblin, because I really had no intentions to since there are more than enough of those running around. You see, lying is for cowards and fools and I don't consider myself either one."

"What about the labyrinth and all your games you played? It's built to deceive!"

"Perhaps, but didn't that dwarf and the worm tell you: things aren't always what they seem, so you can't take anything for granted. It wasn't built to deceive, it was built to keep anyone from beating it." Jareth gave her a bit of a sly grin. "I may be King of the Goblins, but I can assure—as you can already see quite well—that I am not one of them."

Sarah searched his eyes very intently for what felt a lifetime—a lifetime of hers, certainly not his or that would have been forever.

"You were under my power," he said when she didn't speak, "but that also meant I was under yours. Your wishes and dreams I could sense like a whisper of a thought, and so I did much of what you desired, even the things you didn't even realise were your wishes. It affected some things, yes, but not everything. I was not your puppet just as you weren't mine. Except the fate of the baby, everything I said was true and everything I said was what I wanted to say."

At last something broke through the walls she'd hastily built up around her as soon she returned to his kingdom, and he could see it in her eyes. Her rigid posture relaxed almost imperceptibly as a weight lifted from her shoulders.

He turned around to hide the relief he was sure wrote itself all over his face. He walked a few paces forward and surveyed the area. Every once in a while he meandered through his great creation to inspect its state and well-being, especially with so many creatures at their own will living within its walls. Like those blasted fireys and their penchant for throwing around heads and legs.

When Jareth glanced back at Sarah she was standing after bending over to pick something up from the ground and then fingered it in her hands while examining it.

"We will return to the castle," he said. "I don't intend to linger out here."

Her head lifted, then she nodded silently.

Since it wasn't exactly a short walk and he didn't feel like walking through the junkyard or the Goblin City, they would use his magic to instantly return, but hopefully Sarah was willing. Or he would just do it without warning her.

She lifted the small item in her hand close to her nose, and he realised she was smelling a flower. Then he saw what kind of flower.

"Sarah, no!" he cried with an outstretched arm.

But it was too late.

The bright blue flower speckled with black along its soft petals dropped from her hands and her eyes fluttered shut as her body went limp. Jareth leaped forward to catch her before she fell.

"Nightdream," he muttered angrily.

He swept up her legs so he could carry her, giving a curt sigh that the first time she was in his arms she was unconscious.

NOTE: I found this amusing. Maybe it's just me...But to give a slight spoiler for next chapter, we meet again with some very familiar characters who all love Sarah very much...

Please review! It makes me so incredibly happy to open my e-mail and find that people have given me some feedback :). And I'll be off to help with junior high camp for a week, so I'll see you all on the other side!