Chapter Eleven
Third Person POV
Lily was speechless. When Jareth opened the doors, she wasnʼt expecting this. She had never seen anything so beautiful in any realm. There were brilliant colored flowers, dark green grass, lush trees, and a brick road that wound through the the entire maze of greenery. Jareth walked forward and turned to Lily, offering her his hand.

"Coming, love?" he asked, smirking at her. Lily blinked a few times before walking forward and taking Jarethʼs hand. He smiled warmly at her and held her hand in his while he led them into the gardens. "Itʼs beautiful here." Lily whispered, still amazement of everything around her.

Jareth looked down at her and chuckled. "It should be. This is the Royal Garden. There are flowers and trees here from almost every realm. Some are really quite rare now." he told her, smirking when she eyes widened slightly.

He lead her towards the middle of the garden where a marble gazebosat. In the center of the gazebo sat a water fountain. The clearest water Lily had ever seen outside of the Elven forests was spurting from its spouts. Jareth let go of Lilyʼs hand and let her go to the fountain. "Be careful." he warned when she went to touch it.

She looked at him questioningly. Jareth walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her and took her hands in his. Slowly, he placed their joined hands into the water. Lily gasped as she felt how strange the water felt. It was freezing cold, but didnʼt freeze or make her hands numb like frozen water would.

"These are the Waters of Aleris. They have extraordinary magical powers. Itʼs said that they can heal any wound, no matter how grave it may be." he whispered into her ear, intertwining his fingers with hers.

Lily could feel the power running through her the longer she kept her hands in the water. Jareth must have sensed this, so he slowly withdrew their hands. Within seconds, the water that remained on their hands and seeped into their skin. Jareth watched as Lily examined her hands. He took her hands in his and sat down on one of the marble benches, pulling her down with him.

"Lily, Iʼve been waiting for this moment for as long as I can remember, when I first met you in Shirin Forest." Jareth started, brushing a few stray hairs behind Lilyʼs ear. Lily remembered that day like it was yesterday. She had been terrified, but was determined not to show weakness. It was always her number one lesson.

When he showed no sign of harming her, she couldnʼt describe what it was, but she felt safe around him. He let off a certain scent that was calming to her.

She looked down at their intwined hands and smiled, but waited for him to continue. "I knew when I first saw you, though I was in denial at the time, I would do anything for

you and be anyone you needed me to be." he said softly, refusing to look up at her. He was afraid of what heʼd see in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice a little strained from shock. Jareth sighed lightly and looked up at her. He couldnʼt tell what emotions were running through her at the time, but he did see a flash of hope in her eyes and that gave him to courage to continue his explanation.

"I would have been anyone you needed me to be. A father, a friend, an inamorato. Anything that you needed." he told her. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Whatʼs an inamorato?" she asked, looking into his eyes. He chuckled and leaned forward, lightly caressing her lips. He pulled away and cupped her cheek before answering. "An inamorato is a lover." he whispered and chuckled again when Lily blushed a deep red.

Lily swallowed before asking another question, hoping her voice didnʼt crack. "Why? Why me?" she asked, her voice no higher than a whisper. Jareth smiled lovingly at her. Even though she was much older than she looked, she was still naive. "Because fay have something we call the Vow. Itʼs when a fey meets their soulmate." he told her.

Lily couldnʼt believe what she was hearing. All through her childhood, she had thought he was just her friend. Someone who would listen when no one else would.

When she didnʼt answer, Jareth decided it might help to explain things a little more easier. "When you called me a few days ago and asked me to take your memories, I did it without question because I knew you had your reasons." he told her, taking her hands into his and rested them in her lap. "I hadnʼt seen or heard from you in over fifty years and when you did call, I couldnʼt stop myself from coming to your aid."

They were silent for what felt like hours to Lily. Lily finally got up the courage to say something and looked up from her lap and into his eyes. "Do you have any idea why I called you?" she asked. Jareth felt a tug at his heart when all he saw was sadness in her eyes when she asked him.

He slightly shook his head. "Lily, you donʼt have to tell me anything if you donʼt want to. I trust your opinion." he told her softly. Lily shook her head and closed her eyes for a few seconds before continuing. "I want you to know. You deserve to know after everything youʼve just told me." she told him, squeezing his hands lightly.

Jareth nodded and stayed silent, waiting for her to continue. Lily took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Lily took a moment to get her thoughts together and looked deep into his eyes. Jareth felt his heart wrench again when he looked back, almost into her soul, and all he saw was pain.

"Well, I donʼt really know where to start." she said and paused for a moment before continuing. "I guess I should start from the beginning. Not the very beginning, but where

we left off." she said, taking their hands and weaved their fingers together as she spoke. Jareth stay quiet, wanting to hear what made her soul so sad.

"The war started when I was fifteen, so I wasnʼt old enough to leave home yet. So, I stayed and finished my training until I was old enough to leave. I spent two more years at home until I decided it was time to go. When I left, I made my uncle promise that he wouldnʼt do anything stupid while I was gone, like partaking anyway in the war. He just laughed and told me to be careful.

"I left without a second thought. All I wanted was to leave and see anything and everything. I traveled for years. At least up until the war ended. Because I donʼt have a realm that I can say is my own, so I couldnʼt fight. The Contemptibles wouldnʼt take me because of what I am and the Unimpeachables wouldnʼt take me because they wouldnʼt put me in danger.

"So, I did what any other self respecting half elf, half asrai would do. I traveled from realm to realm learning and meeting new people. I met some wonderful and awful people. There were very few who would actually accept me though. I learned very quickly to keep my identity secret.

I spent years in the mortal realm. The humans seem more open-minded than other races. Thatʼs why I spent over thirty years there. I just loved their culture, I couldnʼt seem to leave. The I got word from an old friend that the war had ended. I decided it was time to go home and visit with my uncle." Lily explained, her voice only cracking slightly at her last statement.

She paused for a minute, breathing deeply to try and calm herself. She could feel the tears building up and she didnʼt want to start crying again. She had already done enough crying.

"I waited for a week before returning home, giving everyone time to resettle after the devastation of war. My uncle had given me a dressbefore I had left. He had told me it belonged to my grandmother and had passed it down to him when she had no daughters. He gave it to me. I thought, what better time to wear it?" she said, giving off a shaky laugh that showed how much her nerves were going all over the place.

Jareth gave her hands a reassuring squeeze and Lily looked up and smile at him before continuing. "I went back home and got the most surprising news in my life. I was halfway back to our tree when a messenger from the Elf King. He told me that the king wanted to talk with me as quickly as possible.

"I thought that there wouldnʼt be any problem with going to the king before going home. My visit was supposed to be a surprise for my uncle. When I got to the castle, I was told that my uncle had been called for a battle in the nymph realm. He died when an orc caught him in the back of the head with his sword." she said while tears were streaming down her face, her voice a whisper and cracking.

"Thatʼs why I called you. It all became too much. He was the only family I truly had. My fatherʼs dead and Iʼve never even met my mother. She wanted nothing to do with me when I was born and shoved the burden onto my uncle. I called you because I hoped deep down that you werenʼt just a fragment of my imagination and I still had someone." she said, closing her eyes and letting the tears fall freely.

Jareth moved closer to her and pulled her into his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. Jareth sat in silence, rubbing soothing circles into her back and let her calm down. After a few moments, Lilyʼs grip around Jarethʼs neck loosened and she pulled away slightly. Jareth pulled a handkerchief from one of his pockets and wiped away the tears that stained her cheeks.

"Iʼm sorry. It shouldnʼt have effected me so much." Lily whispered, laying her head on Jarethʼs shoulder. She closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling of just being close to him. "You have no reason to apologize, love. You had every right to want a way out of the pain that you felt." he told her, wrapping his arms around her in a soothing manner.

"Iʼm glad though. About getting my memories back, that it." she said, nuzzling her nose into the crook of his neck, closing her eyes and inhaling his leather scent.

"And why is that, my Lily Pad?" he asked, smirking as he already knew the answer to his own question. Lily blushed and nuzzled her face deeper into the crook of his neck to hide it. "Because I get to be with you." she whispered. Jareth chuckled, lifting Lilyʼs head and holding her chin so she was forced to look him in the eye.

"Iʼm glad to hear you say that, love." he told her lowly before dipping his head and kissing softly, but passionately. He smirked a little when she was shy at first, but started to show enthusiasm. He liked to think that she was pure and didnʼt know the touch of a man, but he couldnʼt be certain. He hoped he was right, though.

He slowly pulled away and rested his forehead against hers, allowing her to regain her breath. "Lily, thereʼs something I must ask you." he told her after her breathing returned to normal. She opened her eyes, which had closed the second his lips touched hers, and looked into his. "Anything." she said, causing Jareth to grin.

He paused, taking a breath and cupping her cheek with his right hand as his left wound tightly around her waist. "Lily Valentine, will you mary me and rule by my side as Goblin Queen?" he asked, looking deep into her silver eyes, seeing into her sole again.