Sarah was completely exhausted when she finally reached the lake but nevertheless it took her breath away. The sun had set about an hour ago and the lake sparkled black and white in the silvery light of a full moon. Small waves lapped the shore causing blue bioluminescence whenever the water was being disturbed. She had seen pictures of something similar in her world before. The most famous photographs were of an island in the Maldives. She had never been but she was sure that this otherworldly display at least rivaled the one in her world if not surpassed it.

The sand was snow white in the moonlight, extraordinarily soft, it squeaked when she walked on it and her feet sometimes sank into it up to her calves in some places.

The lake itself was surrounded by mostly forest but a small part was backed by very large rocks that glittered vaguely in the moonlight. Sarah walked towards these rocks as they seemed a safe option for rest. No animal would be able to attack her from behind. The rocks at first seemed to stand in a straight line but on closer inspection they were slightly crooked and she moved towards where they formed an upside down L shape.

She lay down in this relatively safe space, pushed her back up against the wall and sighed in relief at the prospect of sleep. The rocks were still warm from the sun and she was grateful for their ability to store heat as she felt thoroughly frozen.

Closing her eyes, she herself drift off into much needed sleep.

Jareth watched Sarah sleep near Lake Ail Elu through one of his crystals. Her pale face shimmered in the moonlight, contrasted by the dark mass of her long hair. She looked peaceful and he enjoyed seeing her face without any animosity towards him reflected in it.

There was no point in stalling any longer. He twisted his hand, made the crystal disappear and transported himself to Lake Ail Elu.

Crouching down next to Sarah, his hand reached out, longing to touch her soft hair and face. He quickly withdrew it. She would not appreciate his touch if she were to wake up. He would never get to touch her or kiss her again thanks to his utter stupidity. Where had this craziness even come from? Sure, he was sometimes prone to get angry but he would never do something that would destroy all his carefully laid plans and cause someone he deeply cared for such emotional pain.

She was shivering in the cold night air, he conjured up a woolen blanket and covered her with it to give her some warmth.

Sadness enveloped him. She was lost to him forever after what he had done but although he knew she would never want to see him again, he needed to explain as best as he could why he had trapped her.

He leaned back against the rocks that her head rested against, close enough for her to see him once she woke up but of reach for any potential physical assaults or to cause her too much alarm.

He would let her catch up on sleep and then face her ire.

When Sarah awoke, the moon had moved across the sky and was no longer directly illuminating the lake. She blinked, stretched and sat up. Judging by the ambient light, it was just before sunrise. Somehow she had always been able to tell the slight difference in brightness that occurred in the few minutes before dawn. The sky was still as dark as night but something was different. Maybe it was the utter stillness or the fact that the night was always coldest just before dawn. Maybe she could indeed tell the difference between the various shades of darkness within the night sky ...

She saw him as soon as her eyes adjusted.

He was seated about 20 feet away, casually leaning against the rocks, his legs stretched out and he was watching her.

Anger welled up within her. "What is that you want, Goblin King? I'm not going back with you!"

He cringed at the sound of his title. Hearing anybody call him that was painful enough but knowing that she was using it on purpose instead of his name to hurt him tore him up inside. Although he didn't blame her for not knowing the history behind the Labyrinth and the Goblin King.

"I know," he replied quietly.

"I will fight you tooth and nail if you try to take me back."

His eyes widened in surprise and hurt crossed his face for a split second. "I'm not here to force you back either."

"Then why are you here?" she asked exasperated.

He kept quiet, not knowing how to begin.

"Why in the hell are you here, Goblin King?"

"I came to apologize."

"You what?"

"I'm sorry for tricking you Underground, Sarah."

She stared at him open-mouthed. Out of everything she had expected him to say, this had never even crossed her mind.

"You. Are. Sorry? SORRY? What the fuck was going on in your mind when you did it in the first place? You fucking tricked me when I tried to help you! And now you are sorry? What the fuck?", she yelled.

"I didn't mean to."

The irony was not lost on her.

"You didn't mean to," she stated deflated. "Really? How can you NOT MEAN to trap somebody in another world? This is so completely different from wishing my brother away. I didn't know any of this was real. If I had known I would have never done it. You on the other hand knew exactly what you were doing."

"Yes. I did. And I'm sorry. I'm here to explain what happened."

"Honestly, I don't care for your explanations. You can leave now."

"Sarah, please," he begged.

"No, there is nothing you can say. I don't accept your apology and I do not forgive you. You knew exactly what you were doing. And now you expect me to listen to your excuses? Hell no!"

Jareth pulled up his legs and wrapped his arms around them.

"I haven't been myself these last few hours. I came to see you in New York because ...," his voice faltered, "Because I wanted you to get to know me. And maybe, just maybe, you would like me," he finished. His voice had become so soft she had trouble hearing what he was saying. Hoggle's words came back to her mind, "He's love-sick!"

"Tricking you into my world had never been on my mind. I cannot explain what happened, but everything was suddenly different when I woke up in your room. I didn't care anymore about consequences. I was sick of being lonely and not getting what I wanted. The pain, the pain of being alone for centuries was gone. I felt so free. Nothing mattered anymore. All I knew was that I wanted you and had to have you no matter the consequences. I know it is not a good excuse but it is all I have and I'm very sorry Sarah. Something is very wrong with me. I think I have gone insane. I cannot think straight. Terrible headaches come and go that make me lose consciousness. I woke up from one and suddenly felt all this regret. It isn't what I meant to do. I never wanted to cause you pain. I also know that you cannot forgive me and I don't expect you to but I just really needed you to know," his voice broke at the last words and he rested his head on his knees.

His confession felt like a slap in her face. How could she have been so stupid?

Please review!

Sorry, I meant to write more but really got to go to bed! The next chapter will come much sooner and will also be shorter as it's the second part of this chapter.