Chapter Eighteen: To know all along what hides in his depths Sarah stopped kissing the Goblin King for second to take in her new surroundings: it was a dark room, with a fire lit up that cast a ghostly like on the furniture and the walls, making shadows seem alive and dancing some mysterious, never-ending dance. The walls were decorated with paintings of landscapes of the Labyrinth, views of other faraway, magical places, a beautiful painting of the Castle beyond the goblin city and a full body portrait of King Jareth, dressed in black and dark blue looking both cruel and so very sad.

"Your bedroom" she whispered into his neck, breathing heavily from the lack of oxygen caused by a long kiss.

"Yes" he replied almost as breathlessly as her, his hands holding her waist tightly, as if afraid that she would fade any minute. "Does it. I mean. Is it all right for you? I. I could stop" he whispered then, but they both new that he wouldn't be able to draw away from her.

"You can't stop." she murmured huskily against his ear "Just as I can't stop. We are well matched, you and I"

He chuckled whole-heartily and she giggled as his spiky hair tickled the left side of her neck.

"One of the Goblins might come and what would it happen if he found us this way?" she teased slightly, all the way titling her head to a side, inviting Jareth to place his lips upon her slender neck.

"At first he or she would be shocked. but then he or she would go get drunk, and probably forget the whole thing" he replied, tossing his vest aside and starting to fight with the ribbons that were knotted together, keeping Sarah's nightgown in it's place.

"You could have chosen a simpler nightgown to wear, my dear one" he whispered, half-annoyed and half eager to be rid of all that white silk and lace.

"If I had known that a handsome Goblin King was going to take it off when I first put it on I would have chosen to go to sleep with nothing but the satin bed sheets. It's such a pity I didn't think about it earlier" she muttered back, giggling when he lifted her from the floor and tossed her to the bed.

"You can always wear my sheets, darling" he offered her with a wicked grin, as he joined her in the huge, canopy bed and closed the curtains around it.

"So we won't shock the innocence out of any of those good-for-nothing subjects of mine" he explained. Sarah smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the lips.

And someone coughed.

"Good Riddance!" the Goblin King muttered, opening the curtains with one swift movement and glaring at whoever had interrupted them. A little pixie, red from head to toe, smiled awkwardly at the Monarch and bowed rather clumsily.

"Sorry for bribing in like this, you Majesty, but. I have something urgent to give you and I was instructed to trust it into you very hands, and no one else's" the magical petit creature replied. Sarah put a hand over the King's arm and tried to calm him down.

"You are scaring the poor little one out of her wits!" she scolded softly, getting off the bed and arranging her disheveled appearance all the way having a horrible sense of déjà vu.

"I have been on this very situation before. I would never have thought three years ago that I would be caught TWICE in a compromising situation with the Goblin King" she muttered under her breath, shaking her head "Things have gotten way under control"

As she was having these thoughts the pixie was informing his Highness (who was trying hard not to set the poor winged creature on fire) about the annual New Moon's Ball, which was going to take place in the fairy King's Palace that year. The Monarch groaned as his was reminded yet again of that dreadful etiquette affair he disliked so much that he often didn't show up and later claimed to have forgotten. So they had started sending him messenger to ensure that that wouldn't happen ever again.

"Tell the Fairy King I'll be there." he muttered with resignation, sighing in defeat. But the pixie didn't go away.

"Ejem. Majesty, I have one last request from the Fairy King. He asks you to please help him decorate the Ballroom of his Castle" she whispered timidly, holding her breath at the end to look at the. well, at the very pissed off blond Fae.

"What's the matter? Can't he do that all by herself?" Sarah asked suddenly, not understanding at all why the fairy-boy couldn't handle the preparations for the Ball. By the time he gave her an answer the pixie had vanished from the room. You know. better to be safe that sorry.

"The last time he tried to do that he set the whole room on fire. His magic backfires from time to time. He is still young and has yet to master the art of Fairy magic"

"In other words, the kid is a lame magician. I can understand that. And if you are going to see him, send him my deepest sympathies. After all I of all people know how painful can be to mess up with magic. I can't count the amount of times I've fallen from the air to the floor after teleporting"

Sarah said all that in a light tone, but he knew she was sorry for being interrupted in the middle of. Well, you know. And, on top of it all, he was going to go away.

"Sarah, I hate these social affairs, but I will hate this one more if it will mean to be apart from each other. Come with me"

"To the Ball?" she asked, unsure. The thought of being scrutinize by hundreds of snobbish magical Lords and Ladies didn't appeal to her at all. But, of course, Jareth could be a very *persuasive* man when he wanted to.

"You know I can make you go to the Ball." he practically purred, his eyes darkening and his mood becoming more. mysterious.

"No, you can't" she retorted, grinning "You've got to go and help fairy-boy to decorate the Ballroom"

"Blast!" he muttered "I've already forgotten. But I'm your King. You shouldn't make me realize when I'm wrong"

"Couldn't help it. but I'll go. After all, I can't let you go to a ball full of beautiful Fae women"

"Do you really trust me so little?" he couldn't help but ask. She laughed, mimicking him perfectly and replied with an arched eyebrow:

"Don't you remember? The first time we danced I had to practically tear you away from the arms of two rather voluptuous women"

He smiled at the memory of their first dance and gently kissed her forehead.

"I'll be here later at night to escort you. Now I must go." he was saying when suddenly a clock began chiming loudly "As soon as I deal with little old Miranda"

Before he could vanish from the room Sarah transformed herself into a cat and grabbed one of the ends of his black cape and whispering tiredly:

"For the Love of the Underground, Jareth, it is MELISSA!" honestly, the nerve of that goblin King!



It was pure madness. The staircases lead to nowhere! Newton would have a hell of a time explaining gravitation in that little room. It was just like that paint. The paint from. from.

"Escher!" she shouted, her voice echoing painfully. Melissa wanted to cry and ran far away from that place, but she knew she had little time and her baby-sister needed her. She knew also that the goblin King had made the Journey easier for her. Why? Maybe he had been occupied with other things or something like that? (Yes, something like that. but nothing a little girl should her of).

"Kim!!" she yells, running climbing up and down staircases that seem to form the most dreadful maze of all. the one where you have the feeling you are getting nowhere and that, no matter how much you run, you'll never get what you're looking for.

"This Room, little girl, is like living without the sunlight." a voice whispered suddenly, and when the little girl looked up she saw the King of the Goblins, dressed in black, looking at her and absentmindedly adjusting his gloves.

"Like living without the sunlight?" she asked, confused. He smiled wolfishly and nodded.

"Yes, it's like living without the sunlight. Like loving without your heartbeat" he replied.

"But. that's impossible. You can't live without the sunlight. You can't love without your heartbeat"

The King stood up and laughed rather evilly.

"Exactly. It's impossible. Just as this room" with those words he jumped from the staircase and vanished. But when Melissa looked up again, there was a black cat standing where Jareth had been.

"Lady Sarah!" she cried, smiling. The cat meowed and jumped from a staircase to another till she was beside a cradling baby.

"Come and get her. if you can" Sarah taunted. She needed the girl to want to get to her sister, which was the only way to win.

"Come and get her before he comes!!" she urged, still in the form of a cat whose glowing red eyes focused on little Melissa.

"I'll try"

But she didn't try hard. And the thirteen hours ended, and the child was in the King's arms. He looked at the cat with annoyance.

"Stay out of this, Sarah" he warned. The animal turned into the woman with raven hair.

"I'm only here to watch, Jareth" she replied, her eyes telling him that she wasn't lying.

The girl appeared in front of them, looking scared and so very sad. But the King had a face that seemed made of stone when he told her plainly:

"You lost. The child will remain here. But you must go to the safety of your home. You and everyone who knew Kim will forget her and live happily ever after. And you will play again with your toys and your costumes, while she lives the life of a goblin"

The child pleaded, cried and dropped to her knees. Sarah watched impassive, and Jareth was confused by that. He knew that Sarah respected him but he also knew that she would choose to help a girl and break the rules over being in good terms with him or obeying him.

"I can't go!" Melissa sobbed 2Please. I'll."

Jareth held his breath.

'Say it. say it..' he mentally urged 'come on, say it'

"I'll take her place!" she finally uttered and the Monarch smiled.

"That will be not necessary. You have proven to love you sister and to be willing to sacrifice yourself for her. You are worthy of Kim, so you both may go" he told her plainly, trying to hide a smile.

'I knew she would do it. I knew she would say the words'

"It's all about saying the correct speech here, isn't it?" Sarah asked softly, while she took Kim from Jareth's arms and placed her in Melissa's waiting arms.

"You knew? That I would let her and her sister go?" he asked curiously and Sarah nodded.

"I knew it all along. I saw it in the depths of your eyes the time you first faced Melissa in my presence and the time you were trying to get Kim to sleep. Kindness; that is what I saw. That's the reason I didn't intervene" she explained softly. He stood there for a minute and then kissed her with a force that surprised the immortal human.

"Thank you, Sarah" he murmured in her ear before disappearing in a cloud of glitter. "thank you for everything."





Author's Note: I did it!!!! Another chapter. Three more to go and it's a wrap!!!! Errr, no, wait, that with music videos. Oh, yeah, I meant to say: It's an endddd!

Anyway, sorry for my tardiness. I had exams. I swear. We have very short periods and this one was shorter than usual. Anyway, after studying dynamics and the Endocrine Systems, it feels good to write this story. Thank you all and wish me luck, I have my last exam (Psychology) tomorrow! See ya,

Sabina (*insert sarcastic and cynic remark here cause both me and my muse are to tired to think about one right now)