Sarah shielded her eyes against the sun as she made her way down the stairs to the empty court yard. She looked over the Goblin City; quiet except for a few birds flying by, thinking that the Goblins were probably still inside the castle with Jareth.

She strolled to the fountain, peering at her reflection in the water which flowed smoothly into the pool. Her hair was combed nicely and everything was the way she wanted it. After retreating back to her room from boredom of exploring the castle for over an hour, Sarah had found supplies on her dresser to be able to at least look decent enough for her own satisfaction, and now she was bored again, with nothing to do but stare at her reflection.

"Do you like it?"

Sarah turned, feeling she was getting used to Jareth's quick entries. "Hello Jareth," she said calmly.

"So?" He asked, striding down the stairs to where she stood.

"Like what?"

"The dress," Jareth replied.

Sarah looked down at herself, remembering she found a dress in the back of her closet along with the things on her dresser, and liked it a lot. She had tried it on, but subconsciously had never taken the time to put her normal clothes back on. She thought the dress made her look like a princess.

"Very much," Sarah answered, pulling at the sleeves.

"Found it in your closet?"

"You put it there."

The Goblin King's eyes wandered around the court yard, then trying to make conversation, he asked, "Do you like the fountain?" Nodding to what stood behind Sarah.

"Well there's nothing else to look at," she replied sensibly.

"You're still not happy, are you?" Jareth sighed.

"I don't KNOW what I am," Sarah said. "Happy, maybe... but in a different sort of way I've never felt before - nothing like jumping-for-joy happy. More like a pleased sort of happy. I'm confused; this isn't going the way I had planned."

"What isn't going the way you had planned?"

"You took me against my will, by force - I was mad, and I never thought I would be standing here talking to you as I am now. I never thought I'd ever speak in anything less than a hateful tone when standing in the same room with the arrogant Goblin King... I never thought I could feel, well - almost NORMAL when around you," Sarah tried to explain.

"ALMOST normal?" Jareth repeated wonderingly.

"You're not exactly normal, now, are you?" Sarah pointed. Then she added quickly, "It gives you a look of mysterious uniqueness that is something I've never seen in anyone before. It would make you stand out in the middle of a huge crowd of people as if you were flung into the center of a black sea of heads in China or something..." she trailed off.

"Sarah," Jareth said quite out of the way, "When the time comes... do you wish to be saved?"

Sarah shook her head in confusion. "I can't say, I'm sorry.. it's just one of those situations that you have to be in at the precise moment to really know what you'd say."

"What would you say... right now?" Jareth asked.

"I just - I don't know!" Sarah answered harshly. A bit more harshly than she intended.

Jareth stared silently in Sarah's direction for another moment or two, then proceeded to exit up the stairs back into the castle. "Sarah, relax. Your heart will tell you what you wish to do," he said, shutting the door behind him.

Sarah grumbled and plopped down on the side of the fountain, running her hand through the cool water. "What was I SUPPOSED to say?" She asked herself darkly. "Who is it I love? Xander or Jareth?"

* * * * * * * * * *

"We're close now, to the Goblin City! It's just out of our vision, I can almost feel it!" Didymus shouted excitedly, bouncing up and down on top of Ambrosius. "Faster, Ambrosius! We can't keep the Goblin King waiting! If it's a fight he wants, it's a fight he'll get, ha ha ha!"

"Wait!" Xander huffed as he tried to keep up with the Sheepdog sprinting down a hill. "Don't forget me!"

"You're a fast boy, you can very well keep up!" Didymus crowed, still riding at the same speed.

"Hey!" Xander shouted out of breath, struggling to keep up with Didymus' dog.

After about thirty seconds of running, Ambrosius began to slow down, then walk, and finally lay panting on the ground, refusing to go any further.

"I can't believe you, Ambrosius!" Didymus said, jumping up and down at his dog's heaving side. "Get up, get up, get up!"

In no time at all, Xander soared past Didymus and his dog, shouting, "C'mon Didymus, you can keep up, can't you?!"

"Ambrosius," Didymus ordered, kicking the dog's side, "If you don't get up right now, I won't feed you for a month!" The dog, hearing the word 'food' perked up and jumped back to his feet in no time. "That always works," Didymus said to himself proudly, leaping back onto Ambrosius. "Proceed," Didymus muttered to the dog. The Sheepdog bounded after Xander, who jogged at a constant pace.

What the group didn't know, was that Jareth was watching their every move in a crystal ball at that very moment. They also didn't know that he had a surprise for them in store - and NOT a very nice surprise at that.



A/N: Thank you all for waiting, umm... *checks calendar* ONE DAY for this next chapter. It's a little shorter than usual, but nothing much less than everything else. I know I haven't written anything really interesting for the last few chapters, but I'm planning for much more action once... well, I'm planning for much more action, I can tell you that. Thank you all! :)