"No, it's ok. Don't worry about it. We'll try it again some other time," Jareth could hear Sarah saying to Moira. Inside the house, Kevin was still screaming, a heartrending guttural scream that pierced the night like a dream-terror. Jareth leaned against a tree and closed his eyes, trying to block out the sound.

Goodnight," Sarah told Moira at last. "I hope Kevin feels better tomorrow."

"Thanks, Sarah," answered Moira. "Again, I'm so sorry. I don't understand what set him off so violently."

Sarah waved her off and turned to walk down the path. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Jareth braced against the tree. He had reacted almost as acutely to seeing Kevin as the boy had to seeing him. His face had paled to ghostly white and his eyes had flown open in shock. Sarah knew something was wrong and she was determined to get some answers.

"Jareth, what was that all about?" she asked him bluntly.

"I-I don't know," he answered in a breathless whisper.

"Bullshit," spat Sarah. "I've never seen Kevin act that. And you look like you've seen a ghost. What is going on?"

"I told you," Jareth tried to argue. "I don't know why the boy reacted that way, but it's unnerved me to no end!" He moved away from her but she followed.

"Jareth, I know there's more to this. What are you not telling me?" she laid a hand gently on his arm and looked up at him, genuinely concerned.

He crumbled. Putting his face in his hands he moaned. "Oh gods. Oh gods, Sarah! I never thought I'd see that boy's face again!"

Sarah stepped back, alarmed. "Come with me," she told him. "We're going back to my place and you're going to tell me everything."

A few minutes later Jareth was seated on Sarah's sofa with his head in his hands, trembling. Sarah tossed a faded blanket over his shoulders and pressed a cup of tea into his hands.

"Talk to me, Jareth," she coaxed. He looked up at her with red-rimmed eyes and groaned.

"I've tried to run from this for so long…" he whispered. "I should have known it would catch up to me sooner or later."

"What are you talking about?" asked Sarah.

Jareth leaned back on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling. "Ten years ago," he began. "I was still King of the Goblins. I was disenchanted by the whole thing, but felt it was my duty to remain and rule over the Underground and the- the Labyrinth. There were few summons those days. Children were already addicted to their devices and video games. They had little use for wishes, selfish or otherwise. But there were two boys, twins. Very close, those two. Like different sides of the same coin. The older was headstrong and defiant, the younger one was gentle and quiet. But they were best playmates and took great delight in each other's company."

"Kevin and Keiran?" asked Sarah.

"Yes," Jareth replied.

He paused and took a deep breath and Sarah could see his expression visibly darken.

"Then, a little sister came along," Jareth continued. "She was sweet, but fussy and her parents doted on her. So much so that the older brother began to feel a bit jealous. The younger one wasn't so bothered, but the older was angry over his parents' perceived favoritism toward their new "little princess". The younger brother made the mistake of telling his older brother about a story he'd read. A story in which a young girl wished her baby brother away to the goblins and the goblins happily took him. The foolish boy made a wish…"

"Keiran wished Lily away?" Sarah asked, shocked. Jareth nodded.

"I was duty-bound to take her. She was a lovely little thing, red hair and bright blue eyes. I gave Keiran the option to win her back. He didn't seem at all interested in that proposition, but his brother managed to talk some sense into him. He agreed to run."

"Did Kevin run as well?" asked Sarah.

"No," answered Jareth. "As the sole wisher, it was Kieran's duty to win Lily back. Kevin stayed behind. Perhaps I should have let him join his brother. Maybe the boy wouldn't have been so heedless. So reckless."

Sarah shook her head, confused. "What happened, Jareth?"

Jareth passed a hand over his face and drew in a deep breath. "There was an accident. I had warned the boy to take the dangers of the Labyrinth seriously. He refused to listen. He plunged in blindly… slipped. Fell. He- he drowned."

Sarah gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth.

Jareth sat up and looked at her with an expression of deep sorrow and pain. "I tried to save him, Sarah. But there was nothing… If he'd only listened to me!"

Sarah closed her eyes and shook her head. It couldn't be true. This couldn't be what happened. She remembered what Moira had said.

"There was such suspicion surrounding what happened. Everyone had the same question, 'How does a seven-year-old boy drown in his bed?' But I had no answers, no explanation. To this day I don't know what happened to my boys…"

"What about Kevin, Jareth?" Sarah said coolly. "What happened to Kevin?"

Jareth shuddered and looked down at the floor. "I brought Lily home. She was fine. Had a lovely time playing with the goblins. I was at a loss as to what to do with the dead boy. I didn't want him to have simply disappeared into the night. I couldn't abandon him to the elements. I decided to leave him peacefully in his bed."

"Oh Jareth," groaned Sarah.

"His brother was waiting for us. He wanted to know what happened. I tried to explain. The boy was distraught. He blamed himself for telling him the story. I- attempted a spell of forgetfulness. To make him forget about the wish. I didn't want him to live with guilt. He was only seven years old. I…"

"What happened, Jareth?" Sarah asked flatly. Jareth looked at her and saw that her eyes had grown cold.

"The spell went horribly wrong. Even now I don't know what happened. The boy's mind fought me. He was in hysterics and I pushed too hard… It did something to him."

A sob escaped Sarah's lips and she began to openly weep.

Jareth reached for her hands. "I never meant for such things to happen," he cried.

Sarah pulled her hands away from him. "Isn't it convenient for you that Kevin can't talk? Can't tell anyone what you've done," she snarled.

Jareth stared at her, taken aback by her fury. "Sarah, love, it was an accident. I blame myself for what happened, but it was an accident. Surely you understand that."

Sarah straightened her back and stood. "I need you to go, Jareth," she said softly.

"Why?"

"Because I can't be with you right now. I need to process all of this. Maybe we'll talk later, but now I need you to leave." She motioned toward the door.

Jareth shrugged off the blanket and set the cup aside and stood. "Sarah," he began. "Please understand that I-"

"GO!" shrieked Sarah. Her eyes were full of tears but he could see there was a rising tide of anger there too. He turned away sadly and walked out into the night.

Sarah fell, boneless, into a chair and wept.

"Hi, this is Sarah. I'm unable to come to the phone right now, but if you'll leave your name and number and a brief message, I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!"

The tone buzzed and a raspy voice spoke over the line.

"Sarah, please," said Jareth. "Pick up, love. It's been over a week. I want to talk about this. You have to understand that it was all a horrible accident. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. Especially you. Please. Answer the phone and talk to me."

There was a long moment of silence. Then a sigh. Then he hung up.

Sarah turned in her bed and faced the wall. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to scream at him and stomp her foot and slap his beautiful, stupid face. She also wanted to gather him up in her arms and tell him everything was going to be okay and kiss him until he forgot his own name. She hated herself for being so conflicted.

"It would be easier if I could just outright hate him," she said aloud.

"Things are rarely so black and white, Sar-"

Sarah sat up and turned to see Moira standing in the doorway of her bedroom holding a brown paper bag.

"I knocked several times and you didn't answer, so I let myself in," she told her. She held up the bag. "I brought ice cream."

Moira moved toward the bed and pulled a carton from the bag and handed it to Sarah along with a spoon.

"Thanks," Sarah said with a sniffle.

"You look like you could use some Rocky Road," said her friend with a small smile.

"Is that your way of telling me I look like shit?" asked Sarah. She peeled back the cover of the carton of ice cream and scooped up a spoonful and shoved it in her mouth.

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything, but when's the last time you took a shower?"

"What day is it?"

"Tuesday."

"Five days then," Sarah admitted with a wince.

"Do you feel like talking about it yet?" asked Moira. "I mean, everything seemed to be going so well and then the next thing I know, you're holed up in here looking like the ghost-girl from The Ring."

Sarah gulped down another big spoonful of ice cream.

"Did it have anything to do with the thing with Kevin? I still don't understand why he reacted that way to Jareth."

Sarah shook her head. "No," she lied. "Well… it was kind of the catalyst for a conversation where I found out some really difficult things about Jareth."

"Like what?" Moira asked, leaning in.

Sarah considered telling her friend what Jareth had told her, but decided against it. It wasn't her secret to reveal, not that her friend would have believed her.

"Let's just say he was indirectly responsible for someone I care about getting hurt," she said instead.

"Like how indirectly responsible?"

"He was there when someone got hurt and tried to make things better but ended up making someone else get hurt in the process."

"Hmm," said Moira, pondering. "That's tricky, Sar. When did all this happen?"

"A long time ago," she answered.

Moira let out a long sigh. "It sounds to me," she began, "like the two of you need to talk about this."

Sarah started to interrupt, but Moira but a finger to her mouth.

"I know you're hurt and angry, Sarah, but you can't tell me you've never done something horrible that you immediately wished you could take back."

"What's said is said."

"But I didn't mean it!"

"Didn't you, now?"

Sarah flopped back onto her pillow, spoon in hand. Moira was right. She had done the unthinkable before. It was only by sheer dumb luck that she'd been able to make things right.

"Life is too short for unforgiveness, Sarah," said Moira. "You love Jareth. He loves you. You guys should be making gorgeous blonde-haired green-eyed babies, not quibbling over a mistake that was made years ago."

"But-"

"But nothing, Sarah," chided Moira. "Who wins if you stay mad?"

Sarah took another bite of ice cream instead of answering.

"Tell me," said her friend. "Do you think Jareth is a bad person?"

Sarah shook her head no.

"Has he ever been unkind to you? Ever physically hurt you? Ever even been cross with you?"

Another head shake.

"Then why are you so intent on punishing him for something that happened ages ago, something he's obviously already beaten himself up over?"

"You don't understand the full story," Sarah argued.

"Perhaps not," Moira said, turning toward the door. "But you and Jareth need to talk. Allow him to explain. Tell him how you feel. Work it out together. Don't throw it all away for righteous indignation, Sarah."

"Thank you, Dr. Phil," Sarah groaned.

Moira smiled. "I've had to be forgiven of my fair share of atrocities, my friend. And I've had to forgive plenty, too. It isn't easy, and it doesn't excuse what the other person has done, but it frees you both to move forward. Isn't that something you would like to do, move past this?

Sarah nodded.

"Then I suggest you get yourself over to London, my friend. After you shower, of course."

A/N:

And we have have Revelations! What do you think about Jareth's admission? Would you forgive him if you were Sarah? What if you were Moira? I'm dying to hear your thoughts, so PLEASE! for the love of all that is good, let me know what you think! Don't make me beg. Oops, too late.

Next Thursday is Thanksgiving in the US, so the next chapter will most likely drop a bit early. It's a doozy so don't miss it!

~Fanny~