I can't believe I did that.

Sarah was still beating herself up about kissing the Goblin King; the one who had tricked her, threatened her, treated her with disrespect, kidnapped her, put her through all kinds of trouble! She tried to tell herself he had done it by force - tricked her mind, played with her emotions in some Goblin-Kingish way, but it was no use trying to cover up... she did it all on her own. The closest he had come to ever successfully touching her was when they were dancing in the crystal ball the year before; but that didn't count because he HAD made her forget her brother and attracted Sarah to him. No - she was not forced to go through with that awkward deed.

And yet - she had enjoyed the moment. She loved that power his possessed, loved the gentle strength that he had, and his deadly grace...

Once she had finally pulled away from Jareth, he had stared at her once more, tearing deep into her with those eyes that appeared icy at first glance, but softened over time. He had left her to think - ponder the reason for doing what she had done, and now she was over with pondering; she wanted... she didn't know what she wanted.

When Sarah stood up from her bed and tried the door, it was amazingly unlocked. So she stepped down the stone hallway to find where everyone was. The place was deserted, but Sarah could hear voices in a room around the corner. She passed down the corridor, approached the door, and opened it slowly, he suspicion as to where everybody went finally over.

It was strange - the room was filled with Goblins of all different shapes and sizes. In the middle of the mess of the weird creatures was a round- topped throne which Jareth sat on casually; not at all like a normal king would - not a bit properly. He sat more like one might on a couch; head propped up on his elbow and neither of his feet on the ground. She could see that he held a hand whip not unlike one you'd see a horse rider carrying, and at the sound of the door opening, the Goblin King turned to face Sarah.

"So you finally realized that you are no longer confined," Jareth stated, his face still expressionless, talking over the raucous noise of all the Goblins conversing in the room.

"What am I supposed to do now that I'm not locked in a room?" Sarah asked sarcastically, "Go to the kitchen and make a hot-dog?"

"If that's what you want," Jareth said plainly.

"What, are you just... letting me go?" Sarah asked hopefully. Jareth frowned.

"Now WHERE do you think you'd leave to if I just 'let you go' as you put it?" The Goblin King snorted, "Into the Labyrinth?" Sarah glared but didn't reply. Jareth gave a small sigh. "You're NEVER happy, are you? You're never satisfied - you always want more."

"I never said I wasn't happy," Sarah muttered.

"You're not smiling."

"Well I never said I WAS happy, but you just assumed I wasn't satisfied with you," Sarah said.

"Are you?"

"Am I satisfied with you?" Sarah wondered. Jareth nodded. She hesitated. "You've - changed," she said slowly, "You're not the way I knew you before."

"I have not changed a bit, Sarah," Jareth answered, "It is YOU who has changed."

"I don't know what you mean," Sarah said shortly.

"You don't remember your old self - how much one can change in a year! You were a pretty, selfish, brat... only a child. You've grown up, that's all."

"You can't grow up in a year," Sarah said simply.

"More than you may think," the Goblin King said, narrowing his eyes.

"I have to go," Sarah said, turning from the room that was making her feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Wait," Jareth called after her. She turned back around.

"Yes?"

"Do you still despise my presence?"

Sarah was silent for a moment, but she knew her answer straight away. It just surprised her so much that she had forgotten to speak. "No," she replied. Then she left, closing the door behind her and leaving Jareth to his thinking amidst the noisy Goblins.

* * * * * * * * * *

Xander was on the beach of the Bog of Eternal Stench. No way he knew how he got there - he was so triumphant that he had tricked the Helping Hands into setting him back up into the daylight, he hadn't seen the stone he stood on. It had collapsed underneath him and he went flying down a chute and was almost plunged into the depths of a REALLY stinky swamp.

Now his only problem was this extremely annoying talking fox that wouldn't let him cross the bridge to get OUT of the place.

"WHY won't you just let me through?" Xander muttered as the fox bounced around on the bridge, protecting his territory.

"No one is allowed to cross without my permission," the fox said quickly. "Now do you plan to fight me, or leave?"

"I can't leave, I have to go save my girlfriend from the Goblin King!" Xander protested.

"Ha! You can't fool me with excuses," the fox said proudly.

"It's not an excuse, you crazy little critter, who KNOWS what he has planned for Sarah!" Xander said grumpily.

The fox's ears perked up. "Did you say Sarah? And which Sarah might this be?"

"Oh yeah.. she says she's been here before... and I can tell WHY she never told me about it," Xander grumbled.

"Sarah is an old friend of mine! Very brave girl, she is!" The fox shouted.

"Then you'll let me cross the bridge?" Xander asked hopefully.

"Let you cross the bridge? Of course! If there is any way to save the fair maiden, then I would gladly let you come along to help me save her," the fox said.

"THANK you," Xander breathed, stepping across the bridge.

"Just a minute," the fox said after him, "Ambrosius! Ambrosius, where are you?" He whistled and a Sheepdog bounded out from behind a tree. The fox jumped on top of the dog and said, "Let me introduce myself, I am Sir Didymus."

"Well Didymus, you really are a bit kinder now that we're off to save Sarah," Xander grumbled. "I'm Xander."

"It's SIR Didymus, Xander, but the quicker the pace we travel at, the faster we get to the castle," Didymus crowed, "Let's go Ambrosius!"

So they left - Sir Didymus atop of his dog, and Xander following hurriedly - becoming more and more confused after every moment of being in this place.



A/N: C'mon! You have to admit Didymus is the cutest little character from Labyrinth. I had to put him in here. You have to commend me for a lot of trouble, cuz I wasn't sure of the names of the fox and his dog so I had to watch the movie all over again! Ech, what the heck, I wanted to. More to come, thanks for waiting! :)