Turn back before it's too late.

I knew she wouldn't, but I didn't know if I wanted her to. I would have to return, to see her again. I loved her. I loved her the moment I saw her.

She had to look in her little bound book to remember the words. I laughed and cried. She could not overcome me that way. She would have no book. But it had to be those words.

If she had turned back, if I had made her forget about the child, then I would come back, offering for her to come to my kingdom. Not to win back her little brother. I did not believe that she ever could have done that. But to come inside, to join us.

To join me. She would be my queen, my lady in lace. The dance was wonderful. A childish joy sprang in me, like a first love. It was my first true love. There had been others, among the nobles that surrounded us, those that lived in the made-up worlds of the dances and the feasts and my other creations. None had lasted. I had never cared about them, only found them beautiful.

Sarah was more than that. She was perfect.

The ones living forever in my dance world asked me about her, when I returned to them after she escaped. My power was lessened, and I worked harder at strengthening my kingdom. I never took another child. I never left the lands beyond my creation again. They in the dance world, my noble class, my lords and ladies, asked me often. Where did she go, Your Majesty? Surely you have not forgotten her? That girl who you danced with one night for so long - it was almost an hour, Your Highness. Lovely one, that, King Jareth. Did you get her in the end? Could you bring her back? She was a strange one. An outsider.

I had healed the dance world when she broke the mirror, immediately, and made them forget. But I couldn't make them forget Sarah. I couldn't bring myself to. I couldn't wipe her memory away.

I lied to them, covering up my tracks. Don't ask questions. Why should you care where she went, you imbeciles? Yes, I treated my noble class better than my goblins, who were there for a sole purpose - to serve and amuse me - but that didn't mean I liked them any better.

Sarah. Sarah was the only one I cared about. I never could have forgotten her, even without the reminders.

Yes, I went back as an owl and sat at her window and watched her sometimes. She didn't see me. At least, not at first.

The second dance was better. Perhaps she thought it was a dream. At least she wasn't afraid. It lasted a long time. And when it was over, I left her smiling there.