They lay in bed together, content in one anothers arms. Jareth had been so pleased at Sarah's progress that things had gotten a little carried away. They lay naked on top of the bed sheets, breathing heavily. Sarah felt calmer than she had done earlier, as though all her tension had been lifted from her.

"What was that with your mother earlier, Sarah? It was most peculiar. Linda was very upset." Jareth asked her, his fingers toying with the amulet dangling from her neck.

"I don't know." Sarah said quietly. "It was like I just couldn't stand it anymore, I just snapped. She didn't even do anything. I'll call her tomorrow, say sorry." Jareth looked at her, his face serious. She felt like a kid being told off by their teacher.

Jareth knew now why Sarah had acted so rashly; it must have been the effect of Juturna's magic. Linda was under a spell, he knew, but he couldn't break it yet. If he wanted to, he could free Linda with just a wave of his hand, but then Juturna would know that he knew. She had disguised her magic heavily, making it almost undetectable. He was unsure how she did this, but whatever she'd done wasn't powerful enough to fool him for long.

"You must control your temper. That could have been the reason you were suddenly able to move yourself. Emotions have a peculiar power over magic."

"Do emotions control your magic?" Sarah asked curiously; Jareth didn't seem the type to let feelings have power over him.

"I control my magic, darling." He said firmly. "Emotion used to be something that I thought rather distracting. It's another Fae trait, we can be cold fish I suppose. Then you came along and changed all that. I am old enough and educated enough that I can block out my feelings. You're a young thing, a child really. This will all come in time, like learning to walk. Second nature."

"A child?" Sarah frowned. "Is that how people will see me?"

"You're a changeling, so it will be a little different. You look to be around five hundred years old, but your powers will be underdeveloped and your skills weak at first. I intend to keep you close to me, you would be an easy target. Like a baby bird fresh from the nest."

"An easy target for what?"

"All manner of things. Assassination, magical manipulation. Some foolish man might even try and make you fall in love with him. I would so hate to have to kill somebody early in our marriage." He said, grinning.

"They'd have a tough time doing that. Somehow, I've only got eyes for you." She smiled, reaching up to kiss him. "It's nearly been a year you know."

"I know. Next week, on your birthday. I remember our anniversary, as well as your day of birth. I believe that would make me something of a model boyfriend by human standards."

"Yes, well done for remembering one date." Sarah said, pretending to clap him. "I guess a year doesn't feel like much to you."

"No, it's like blinking. Though I have noticed time seems to be slower up here."

"You haven't reordered time again, have you?" She joked softly. "I hope it's been an enjoyable blink."

"The very best." He pressed a kiss to her hair. "I hope to have several thousand years as your husband, Sarah. This first year has been incredibly special to me. You've changed me."

"I don't want to change you." Sarah said, stroking his arm. "I like you the way you are."

"I'm different around you. You make me feel calmer, like I might actually be a good person. It's most unsettling." He joked, and Sarah smiled. Something about him shifted; he suddenly seemed concerned. "I do think perhaps.." He tailed off, and Sarah looked up to see that he looked worried.

"What's wrong?" She asked, running her hand across his stomach absent mindedly.

"I am a little concerned that you will think differently of me when we are back at the Goblin City. Perhaps our relationship will change, you may not love me so much." He said, so quietly she almost struggled to hear him. Sarah was surprised that he would admit something like that. He never showed any vulnerability, any weakness; it was something that had always both intrigued and frustrated her.

"Why? How could I possibly love you less? I've seen you in the whole Goblin King persona, if I can love you after you repeatedly tried to kill me and kidnap my brother, what would change?"

"I suppose. I have certain ways that I am expected to behave, as both a King and a Fae male. In public I might have to be a little more reserved. I don't want you to think that my feelings have in any way lessened if that's the case. When you meet my parents, I might seem a little cooler. I can't explain why, it is the way we are. Well, most of us. My mother is the most affectionate woman you will ever meet, an anomaly among Fae. We are all about image and perception, the vain creatures we are."

"Oh really? I would never have guessed you were vain. You wear a new outfit every day, use more eyeliner than me and our house has more mirrors than a carnival fun house."

"They are portals to my world, Sarah." Jareth said defensively, and Sarah laughed.

"Of course they are, that's why I catch you staring into them twenty times a day."

"I like to look my best." He said lightly. "So you'll understand if I seem a little distant?"

"I guess. Just as long as we can still have moments like this." She said, kissing his bare chest. They spent so much time together that to lose it would be upsetting. Their relationship was based around much more than just sex, but it was an important part of it that they both thoroughly enjoyed.

"Oh yes, darling. Moments like this are what I live for." He kissed her fiercely, and she felt as though his love for her was burning her skin. How could she doubt that he loved her, when he could make her feel like this? When his love was the very thing that was changing her entire biology?

"Happy birthday darling."

Sarah groaned, still half asleep. "You too."

"I don't think birthdays work like that, love." Jareth chuckled, and Sarah opened one eye. He was wearing only trousers, and was holding her breakfast on a tray. Opening her eyes properly, she laughed when she saw that he had placed a candle in a piece of toast. He brought the tray nearer her, and she blew it out.

"What time is it?"

"Nearly twelve."

"You should have woken me."

"You looked peaceful." Jareth shrugged. He handed her a few envelopes and a parcel. "These came in the post for you."

"Thanks." She said happily, sitting up. She could see the parcel had an air mail stamp on it, so assumed that was from her dad. Ripping open the first envelope, she read the poem on the front of the card aloud.

"To a special daughter, who has brought me nothing but joy, it seems like only yesterday you were playing with your toys. Now a lady with a life of her own, it brings me happiness to see how you've grown. I wish you a life full of happiness and a world full of dreams, though nothing is ever as perfect as it seems."

Sarah stared at the card. "That got a little dark at the end. Maybe the person at Hallmark lost their rhyming dictionary. Anyway, nothing says "I'm a great mother" like a pre-written poem telling me my life might not turn out as great as I think it will. Happy birthday to me, hey?"

She opened it, reading the brief message her mother had written inside. Things were still a little tentative between them; Sarah had called to apologise, but she could tell Linda had been hurt by her words.

"I find the birthday card tradition most strange." Jareth said, taking the card from her and examining it. "A poem written by somebody else and sold by the millions doesn't exactly scream sentiment. Much like Valentine's Day."

"I know, but it's how we do things. I know you loved that heart shaped card I got you for Valentine's, no matter how much you try to deny it." She joked, tearing open another envelope. "When it's your birthday, I'll find you the tackiest 'husband' card I can find. I'm not sure they do "Happy Sweet Sixteenth Hundred" cards."

"A gap in the market." Jareth sat down on the bed, crossing his legs underneath him. "I shall relish any card from you declaring that I am your husband. We still need to book a venue, by the way. If we are getting married when you want to, we have less than two months."

"I know, I know. Maybe it was too soon. I've just been so busy at work." Sarah had been assigned a new project that was taking most of her time up. She was hoping they could get a slot at a registry office, but still hadn't called them. If they had to change the day, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

"I can sort most things, Sarah, but it would be best if we actually booked somewhere rather than just using magic to make it happen." Jareth told her, and Sarah frowned.

"Why? You use magic for everything else." She pointed out, not entirely unreasonably.

"It might seem a little odd if the person marrying us has no idea what's going on once the spell breaks. Who's that one from?" The card Sarah had just opened sat unread in her lap. She glanced at the front, a nondescript illustration of a courtyard with some fountain in it, and opened it. She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"Judith." She tossed the card away, and Jareth caught it. "Just toss it in the trash."

"I'll look at it first." He said lightly. Sarah shrugged and opened the next card. Jareth looked at the picture carefully; a fountain. His sister really was unsubtle; she was named after the Roman Goddess, who had been a friend of their mother's. She had written on the inside using green ink, which Jareth knew was made using plants and commonly used by the Elves. Jareth could see by the roughness of the letters that she had used a feather quill.

Honestly, she was so conspicuous she may as well have signed the damn thing Juturna. Did she honestly think that her brother wouldn't recognize her handwriting? Perhaps she was cleverer than he gave her credit for, and the whole thing was a game, lulling him into believing he had the upper hand. He could sense no magic within it, so it wasn't enchanted in any way. How odd that she would go to the trouble of sending Sarah a birthday card with no ulterior motive. Jareth waved his hand over the card and it vanished; sent to the Underground where he could examine it properly later.

"Aunt Helen sends her regards." Sarah said, placing a card with a kitten on the front on the table beside their bed.

"Who's Aunt Helen?" Jareth asked; Sarah had so many relatives he was losing track. His own family was small, and the tangled web of aunts and uncles confused him greatly.

"My aunt. Her name is Helen."

"Oh of course. I feel so much more enlightened now."

"I wonder what's in this box. It's pretty heavy." She struggled a little with the tape sealing it closed, and Jareth simply touched it, making it vanish. "Um, thanks." She opened the box, throwing aside the tissue paper. There were several wrapped gifts; Sarah wondered if her dad was making up for their estrangement with a little old fashioned overcompensation.

Opening the card, she saw it was handmade by Toby. It made her frown; he had drawn the Labyrinth, complete with Goblins and a little drawing of a man that looked like Jareth, dressed in black. A little disturbing. Jareth laughed.

"My thighs aren't that big." He said in mock outrage, and Sarah threw a piece of tissue paper at him. "What?"

"Why is he drawing the Labyrinth? He didn't even see it." Sarah asked him; Jareth had always reassured her that Toby had been kept safe in the castle.

"I don't know." Jareth shrugged and Sarah tutted at him.

"I'm not happy he still remembers it. He was such a tiny baby."

"Sarah, I promise you it's harmless. I think it's funny."

"I know you do." She said crossly. "I don't think it's funny. I still feel awful about wishing him away."

"If you hadn't have wished him away, we would never have met. It was fate, precious. Besides, he was well taken care of. I even sang him a song."

"A song?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "I hope it was cheerier than the ones you sang to me."

"It was, I assure you. He enjoyed it."

"Hmm." She began to open the gifts; Toby had sent her a beaded bracelet he made for her, all pinks and purples. It was sweet, and she slipped it on her wrist straight away. She pulled out another bundle and frowned. "Apparently, this one is for you."

"For me?" Jareth took it, and when he unwrapped it, he laughed. He lifted it up to show Sarah.

"He sent you a Ninja Turtle?" Sarah asked, looking confused. "Why did he send you that?"

"This was his favourite one, I remember him telling me. Michelangelo, this one's called." Jareth told her, turning over the toy in his hands examining it carefully. Sarah laughed; it was funny how a gift from a seven year old could make even a King feel like a small boy again.

"Well, if you're good I'll let you play with it for ten minutes a day." Sarah replied sarcastically, finding it sweet that Toby liked Jareth enough to give him his favourite toy. Every time she called home, Toby would ask about Jareth excitedly, and they had spoken a few times.

She opened the rest of her gifts; a new cardigan from Irene that looked like something a grandma would wear, a book on how to plan the perfect wedding (Sarah was so behind that she was actually a little grateful for that particular gift) and a beautiful, leather bound diary.

"Wow, that's so beautiful. Those were nice gifts."

"Get dressed and I'll give you my gift." Jareth said, moving to get off the bed. Sarah shook her head, grabbing at his arm. He looked at her in amusement.

"Maybe I want a gift that involves wearing nothing at all." Sarah said, pouncing on him.

"This is incredible." Sarah breathed, staring out over the water. "I can't believe you brought me here."

"I thought it would be rather nice. I've always considered Venice to be the most romantic city."

"I hope this isn't the place you bring all your dates." Sarah said, and Jareth laughed.

"Just you. I've been here before, of course, but alone."

"Good. There's nothing as unromantic as a man who takes all his women to the same place."

"All of 'my' women? Sarah, I'm not a pimp. Can we change the subject? It's taking a turn that is distracting from my intention."

"What is your intention?" She asked wryly. They had been in the city for hours, walking around and seeing the sights. Sarah had never been to Italy before, and Jareth was excited to show her all the sights. Although he had spent most of his time in London, he had been there before - though things had rather changed in four hundred years.

"I need to give you your gift?"

"This isn't my gift?" Sarah asked, looking at him carefully. "I think bringing me to Venice is a pretty good gift. Are we going to end up on a different bridge on October 25th every year?" She asked jokingly. They were in a forgotten backstreet, away from tourists, on a tiny bridge that looked as if it might collapse at any second. The sun was beginning to set, and the water shone as though it was on fire. It was perfect.

"Perhaps. I'll have to find the perfect bridge Underground for your next birthday."

"Next birthday? That soon?" Sarah asked with a smile. It was reassuring to know that her transformation would be complete that soon; she hadn't told Jareth, but she was feeling exhausted again. "I expect a nice bridge, then. If I'm Fae, won't I only have a birthday every hundred years, like you?"

"I'd like to celebrate your birthday every year. I don't want you to have to give everything you know up just because things have changed a little." He told her, and she smiled.

"Thanks. That's sweet."

"I can be sweet when I want to be." He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her lightly. "I love you."

"I love you." She smiled, turning back out to the water. Jareth moved next to her. She looked so happy, so content and he still couldn't believe that he was the one who helped her to feel this way.

"I need to give you your gift." He whispered into her ear, and she turned to face him. She covered her mouth in surprise when she saw that he was one on knee, again, holding a beautiful ring out to her.

"I know the last ring caused some issues." He said, smiling. "So I thought I should get you another. Will you marry me?" She pulled him to his feet, and kissed him deeply.

"You are so thoughtful." She said into his mouth as he slipped the ring onto her finger. She looked down at it; a simple gold band with an enormous diamond sparkled in the sunset. "This is too much."

"Nonsense. You can't be engaged without a ring, and I thought this was rather beautiful. Not as beautiful as the one I designed," he said smugly, "but beautiful for a mortal ring."

"Thank you." Sarah smiled, holding it up to the light. "I love it. When I can, I'll wear the other one. You know that."

"Of course. Happy birthday my love."

A/N: I had a few requests for more romance, so there's a nice romantic chapter for everyone. I won't be updating tomorrow, so wanted to get this up before I left home. Please review!