The goblin king looked at Sarah strangely then, something akin to warmth sparkling in his mismatched eyes.

"Just when I feel I've figured you out, you surprise me, and I have to begin all over again," he said quietly.

"I could say the same to you," Sarah replied. And she meant it. For so long, he'd been the villain of her fairytales, the dark thing that lurked at the edges of her nightmares. But she had felt kindness from him, had seen him speak gently to his servants, had witnessed how he held her opinion in such a high regard. She found herself thinking now, in that peculiar and eerie garden, that perhaps he wasn't at all what she'd thought him to be. Somewhere along the way, somehow, Jareth had changed.

He released a small sigh next to her and she was pulled away from her thoughts.

"What was he like?" Sarah asked, wanting to know more about the creature that had once captured the heart of this seemingly heartless being.

Jareth was silent for a moment before responding. "Ilyeras was..." he searched for the words, "dazzling. He was a son of the moon, of which there are many. He was beautiful and mysterious and sparkling. I've never met another like him."

"What happened to him?" Sarah piped, not liking how Jareth was referring to Ilyeras as if he were no longer living.

"When the gods found out about us, it was not enough to send me away. They summoned Ilyeras before their court. As a lower fae creature, he was easy for them to dispose of. They had little use for him." Jareth's eyes watered. "They butchered him. Right before my eyes. And then they banished me to this horrible place."

"And everytime you see a goblin, it reminds you of what they did," Sarah supplied, already knowing it was true.

The goblin king nodded in response and kept his wet eyes on his gloved hands which were clasped solemnly in his lap. He shook his head softly and tried to smile.

"There is no point in reliving those memories. He will never return. And I had lost hope of ever feeling the warmth he inspired in me. Until I found you." His voice was smooth and gentle as he looked at her. She felt herself pulling back reflexively at the attention he placed on her. "You trusted in the fairytales. You believed in true love. You held onto the hope that magic was real, that other worlds, far more beautiful and complex, existed and glittered just out of your reach. Because of your dreams, I was hopeful that there was still beauty in the many worlds. And that, dear Sarah, is why I loved you from the start."

Sarah was shocked. She couldn't find the words to reply to him. It made sense now, his determination to have her all to himself. But he'd gone about it the wrong way. He'd frightened her and tried to trick and trap her, when all he'd needed to do was show her who he truly was. She lifted her chin and met his gaze.

"You manipulated me," she said carefully. "You brought me here and forced me to play a twisted game you didn't think I could win. You tricked me. You tried to enslave me. I'm sorry, Jareth, but how could I believe that was love?"

"I know what I did," he replied, his voice growing hard. "It is in my nature, don't you see? I'm not mortal like you. I was crafted from far darker things than flesh and blood. I cannot make up for what I've done to you, but I can't promise you that my days of deception are over. I am of the Fae, after all."

Sarah listened to his words, sensing their truth. She chewed on her lip as she looked back over the gardens, away from his searching eyes. She wasn't sure she'd ever understand him. And perhaps she didn't need to. Knowing that he was capable of real love, that he was sorry for what he'd done to her, that he was willing to share his memories with her, was progress. Looking at him again, she found she no longer feared him. Instead of the fear that normally constricted her breathing when he appeared, she felt something closer to warmth and fondness. And so, Sarah did the unthinkable, something that would have made her younger self scream with anger.

She leaned across the bench and planted a gentle kiss on the goblin king's cheek.