"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked.

"You are here because you wished yourself away, Sarah dear. Do you not remember that?" He asked. She didn't know if it was a sincere question or a taunt.

"Of course I remember! I just didn't think any of this was real…"

He looked at her curiously as she looked down and picked at the long sleeve of his jacket she wore.

"I…I thought this was all just some weird dream I had as a teenager. I tried to convince myself that all of this wasn't real." Sarah continued. At this point, she didn't care if he was listening. She was just trying to work through her thought process out loud.

"How could I ever believe any of this…you... were real. I had a wild imagination and blamed that for most of this. I am sure that if anyone went through what I supposedly did, they would question their sanity too. Who cares if I wish myself away! And if the Labrynth wanted me back! I distinctly remember that you only took away children. I shouldn't be here."

Jareth watched as Sarah started to move away from him and towards the fireplace again. He felt almost hurt that she did not think that her time in his Labyrinth was real. Was it such a horrible memory for her that she had to repress it into some childish fantasy? Of course, he had to play the villain in these situations but he did not think that the only champion to his Labyrinth would come to suppress her memory of it.

"Oh, sweet Sarah. I understand your confusion and nihilism. There is an underlying cause as to why you are the Labyrinth's inception ,which was created by my great-grandfather to protect the first kingdom he created, there has never been a champion. It was created for failure. He made it so only the inhabit of the city and guests were able to enter the Goblin City. To allow the maze such power, it was granted its own magic. This magic gave it the ability to change endlessly and trap those who seek to attack. Much has changed in those thousands of years since my great-grandfather and the same threats he encountered dont exist now. He conquered all the remaining realms and became the High King of our world. The Goblin City would only be bestowed upon his heir. Hence the importance of the Goblin City. The Labyrinth was later transformed by my grandfather into a human trap. Tricking humans into giving up children of all sorts to become citizens of our realms since reproduction is highly rare among us. Despite what assumptions you've made, the children do not become goblins but Fae folk who live long and fulfilling lives. Those who are wished away and can't be won back do not deserve to spend their days with people who wish them away. It was always said that there would be a champion to the Labyrinth but it was more a myth than a foretelling."

Sarah watched as he approached her and stood by her next to the fireplace. She felt an ache in her heart when she remembered the moment she wished away Toby.

"The person who defeated the champion was the only one that truly regretted what they had wished for. The person who ran the Labyrinth before the 13th hour was the only one who would truly be accepted by the High Courts and become a ruler in our world because they must possess some magic in their soul, whether from birth or exposure. You, my Sarah, are the champion of the Labyrinth and are the only one besides myself that can control it."

"When you had left and rejected my offer, the Labyrinth had refused to cooperate with me. I spoke to its essence and it told me that only its champion and king united would be able to rule it. It refuses to produce the food that feeds by subjects. It was withering and destroyed itself with your presence gone."

Sarah shook her head trying to wrap her mind around all of this information "So because I refused to stay here, your labyrinth is dying?"

"Yes, Sarah. You see, I could not bring you back here myself. You declared I have no power over you. That is still true. But my magic extended to you and watched with anticipation to bring you back. The Labyrinth itself waited for the smallest opportunity to bring you back whether it be a mumbling wish. You were not allowed to return to the Underground without saying those evoking words. I wanted you to return on your own accord. Now that you are here, those who are not loved can be wished away and brought into the world that welcomes them. The first true realm can continue to thrive. You are an equal ruler to the Labyrinth as I."

This was too much for Sarah to handle. Everything she thought she knew about this place seemed to be wrong. She had convinced herself that the Underground was more of a Hell but instead he was making that argument less truthful.

Jareth continued, "When I had last seen you I offered you things that you did not understand. I had become convinced that the champion of my…our Labyrinth was worthy to stay here but I am glad you did not accept my offer, Sarah. You were much too young and I much too naïve about the situation. Your years in the Aboveground were much needed and I believe that the Labyrinth sensed that as well. You would eventually come back to us."

"But I don't understand…what you offered me was so…" Sarah stopped her though and he filled them in for her.

"I offered you things that you did not comprehend. I pleaded with you to fear me because I feared you equally. How could I not? The first champion in the Labyrinths history deserved to be feared. I asked you to love me. You were much too young to understand love. I was certain that a match for the maze would also be a match for myself. We are both the rulers of it and both share a soul with it. But I also do not regret telling you of my generosity. I did indeed do everything that you have asked of me. But I was only a villain to you. I was meant to be that villain. You asked me to take that child. I took him. You cowered before me when you reach my castle and I was frightened that you beat it. I have reordered time for you and turned the world upside down to show you what I and this world had to offer you but your young heart only had your brother in mind. I was admittedly tired of living up to your expectations. Your expectations that I was your enemy. But as I previously said, you were much too young to understand this."

Tears were starting to prickle in Sarah's eyes and she turned slightly so he couldn't see her.

"What am I to do now? Everything that I ever thought about you or this place has turned out to be a total sham. I tried to convince myself for so many years that I hated this place with all my soul but it was the only thing I could think about every day. Why couldn't I stop thinking about it?" She begged him to answer her. It caused him distress to see her so distraught.

"Because your soul is bound to it. Eventually, you would have returned to us. With the amount of magic you already naturally possess and with what you unknowingly gained in your time here, you would have eventually been unfit to live Aboveground. You would have slowly become ill and eventually died when exposed to that environment that does not support your magic. Your only true and natural place to be is here, despite what you have come to love and know."

"I could have died? You can't be serious?" She didn't want to believe him but her medical history spoke for himself. She did become increasingly ill after returning from her trip here and every illness she had ever had was unknown to her doctors. There was a weakness she felt from every sickness and she secretly knew it was going to become worse.

"You may visit the Aboveground but living there would become fatal. I am certain in all these years you have felt its effects on you."

Sarah allowed the tears to spill from her eyes and a sob was starting to slowly build in her chest. Her entire life changed in an instant and in one of the most unimaginable ways possible. Every little question she could have had was slowly starting to be answered and everything she had come to know as reality began to crumble. The worst part for her was that she wasn't upset that she was in the Underground, but because she had been suppressing her memories and time here. She could have realized this sooner. She could have called through her friends in the mirror and asked questions but instead, she naively passed through her years without known the damage she had caused in his world. In a world that she was truly meant to live in.

Jareth approach her slowly and with caution. She was still sobbing into her hands and when he placed a slow hand on her shoulder for some comfort, she threw herself into his chest and held onto him tightly. She was supposed to be furious with him and screaming at him to take her back home. The younger Sarah he knew would do exactly that but now she was different. He had seem over the years how she had grown into a lovely woman but he never expected her to change so much. She had matured over the years and was sure that being told all this new information was not an effortless manner. She still had the same fierce green eyes he had come to love and passion that he missed but he was glad she was not screaming at him in her old childish ways and demanding him to bring her home to her eventual doom.

Jareth couldn't help but wrap one arm around her back and the other to her hair. He gently ran his hand through the soft locks he remembered smelt of salt and ocean. His cheek rested atop her head and he hoped that the magical wave of calm and relaxation helped her stop her tears. He did not want to be the cause for her tears and begged to himself he was truly not the cause of them. The thought of her in such distress was enough to make him want to kick a goblin across the Labyrinth and into the Desert Realm.

Sarah slowly picked her head up after the tears had stopped and Jareth released the hand from her hair to wipe away the remaining tears with his thumb. She smiled gently as he tried to comfort her and told her "I do not wish to ever see you cry again."

"You know I always felt you when you watched me through your crystals." He did not know what to say. Was that even possible?

Sarah continued "It was always as if someone was standing over my shoulder but I couldn't see it. I always felt it"

He smiled down at her and said, "Again you prove that you are extraordinary. Those are created specifically for stealth yet your magic must have picked it up."

She smiled against his welcoming hand on her cheek. It brought her comfort to know that those moments were real and he was truly watching over her. It might have as well explained a lot of odd situations that have happened to her throughout the years. She would have to ask about that later. His grasp on her was much too distracting and she felt that if this moment ended, she would never relive it again.

His hand still stroked her cheek as he saw her mentally work things out. He adored the way her lips occasionally twitched to a smile and eyes gently roamed his face as she thought to herself. If only he knew what she was thinking.

Jareth decided he would place a gentle kiss on her cheek to show her his gentle affection towards her. He had a hard time admitting that his champion had stolen his heart through her everyday passions and graceful transition to adulthood. He had witnessed her dedication to her talents like painting and poetry. He adored her interest in education as she studied every subject in her schooling with dedication. He watched as he cared for her brother with fierce protection and love. He remembered her headstrong attitude towards every roadblock she had faced. All these years he witnessed the stubborn child he had first met after she wished away her brother become the only person that could soften his heart and control him with only a smile and look from those emerald eyes. He had in a sense, truly become her slave without her acknowledging her power over him.

Sarah felt as he placed that gentle kiss on her cheekbone and stared into his eyes as he pulled away. Whatever control he possessed at the moment flew out the window because, in that moment, Jareth leaned in to place another kiss on her cheek that moved down towards her lips, just next to the corner of her mouth.

Both felt a few seconds pass between then as he watched her eyes to detect away hesitation or negative emotion but none of those were there. She just stared blankly into his eyes as he looked down at her with hesitance and wanting. Both did not know what to do as Jareth still held her in his grip against his chest and hand on her flustered cheek.

Slowly he leaned in again and planned to place another kiss amongst her cheek but Sarah tilted her head ever so slightly and captured his lips onto hers in an astonishing kiss.