"Jareth?" she whispered again in shock, her breath catching in her throat, "Is it really you"

He nodded silently, "How long have I been gone?"

"Two years." Tears began rolling down her cheeks silently with relief, "We thought you were dead."

"That long? I was captured by some mercenaries, and held prisoner. They were going to send for a ransom, but then I was pronounced dead, so they left me in the cell. It had salt in the bars so I couldn't travel home. They kept reordering time to disorientate us, to keep us all quiet" he paused, wanting to spare her the horrific details of his captivity. "Their fort was invaded a week ago and I was freed. I returned home as soon as I could, but everything was so different"

He looked almost scared, it was the most vulnerable that she had ever seen her brother, and it shocked Danae to the core. "It doesn't matter now" she comforted him "you're home. I missed you so much!" she wiped the tears off her face roughly, as she hugged him tightly. "It's all been so hard"

It was at this moment Jareth noticed the sleeping child behind him, as she stirred, though still deep in slumber. "Oh God, Nae. I've missed so much. Is this your little one?"

Danae backed away from her brother, staring at him wildly, "No" she paused unable to form words, "Jareth, she's yours."

Jareth couldn't have been more astounded if Danae had told him that the child had dropped from the sky. His child? When had this happened? He hadn't even known that Sarah was pregnant, was it possible that she hadn't told him? Things had been strained before the battles.

But as he gazed upon the sleeping infant all the questions vanished from his mind. There was no doubt about it, she was his. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on, peaceful in sleep, her tiny fingers clutched around her pillow. Tears started streaming down his face as he beheld his daughter for the first time. "What's…" he started to croak, but his voice left him. "What's her name?"

"Jelana" Danae told him softly, before speaking quietly to the maid standing in the doorway. "Could you find Lord Aldous, inform him what has happened and ask him to travel to Bridga and fetch Sarah immediately."

"Jelana" Jareth whispered, mostly to himself, trying out the sound of his daughter's name for the first time. He turned to Danae suddenly "Why is Sarah in Bridga?" he asked puzzled, she should be here with her daughter, and Danae shouldn't let her roam the Underground unaccompanied.

Danae glimpsed at her sleeping niece and instructed Jareth suddenly "We will discuss this downstairs while we wait for Sarah. I don't want to wake her up." Jareth looked at her for a moment, not used to being commanded by his sister, but did as he was bid anyway, and followed her down to the throne room, and watched as she sat on the throne calmly, trying to cope with the shock of the living ghost that was standing before her.

"Sarah has been acting as an ambassador for nearly two years now, and she's in Bridga on political reasons, trying to negotiate some trading rights." Jareth slouched against the wall behind the door, trying to take the masses of information in.

He didn't have long to process his thoughts as the throne room door was slammed open and a frantic Sarah hurried in. She was dressed in full formal evening attire. A black silk dress, with a tight bodice and moderately flowing skirt, with a matching lace shawl, which was draped over one arm, as she hurried into the throne room.

"Is everything alright?" She asked Danae, worriedly, panicking that her daughter had taken ill, as she could think of no other reason for Danae calling her home so soon, not noticing Jareth as he stood behind the door. "Where's Jelana?"

"Sarah, look" The Queen replied, staring at Jareth, still in disbelief herself.

Sarah turned to follow Danae's gaze slowly, unsure of what she was going to see. As the former Goblin King came into sight she gasped, dropping her small receptacle onto the floor, her mind not registering the smash of the mirror inside. "My God" her voice barely more than a breath.

"Sarah, I…" he started, but she cut him off.

"No…" she whispered shaking her head, "You're dead"

"Sarah he's back!" Danae told her, a strong not of relief in her voice.

Sarah turned to the Goblin Queen, "Good for him."

"Sarah?" Jareth questioned.

"Not now Jareth" she told him firmly "I'm tired and I need some time to process this." With that she turned and walked away, heading to her room.

Jareth watched her walk away, his head hung in confusion and defeat, and he looked at Danae, not understanding Sarah's reaction at all.

Seeing Jareth's face, Danae smiled apologetically, "It's a lot to take in Jareth. You just need to give her some time to come to terms with this."

"I thought… I just thought that she would be happy to see me."

"Believe me, she is. But it's been a hard time for her, getting over your death, and she loved you so much, bringing up your child without you. She's just shocked, that's all. She'll be fine in the morning, you'll see."

But Sarah wasn't fine the next morning, in fact she wasn't to be found anywhere. Jareth hunted all over the castle for her, but she and Jelana seemed to have mysteriously disappeared. He hunted for them in the gardens but to no avail. He returned to the castle, to ask Danae where they could be, only to find Sarah walking up the steps back into the castle, Jelana in her arms. She had taken her daughter out into the city to see the goblins that morning.

However, before he had chance to strike up a proper conversation with her she quickly made her excuses, as Jelana needed a nap. Over the next few days this pattern kept up. Jareth rarely saw Sarah, during the day she was always busy, she wasn't present at meal times, preferring to dine in her room with Jelana and Camille. When Jareth did see her, she quickly made an excuse to avoid speaking to him. Danae and Aldous had noticed Sarah's odd behaviour but said nothing to Jareth as they didn't want to worry him.

Almost a week later Sarah was sitting in the gardens with Jelana, playing happily with her daughter in the sunlight, it was times like this Sarah liked best, just the two of them. Jareth approached her and sat down. Sarah ignored him coolly and Jelana looked at him apprehensively.

"Hello Jelana" he said quietly to his daughter. She stared at him wide eyed and backed behind her mother slowly.

"Say Hello sweetie" Sarah encouraged gently. But Jelana remained silent.

"I'm your Da…"

"Jareth, that's enough" Sarah silenced him, before he completed his sentence. "I don't want her hearing something like that from you."

"You haven't told her who her father is?" he demanded angrily.

"As far as she's concerned, her father is a man in the picture in her room. But she doesn't really understand that yet."

"I would like to take her out for a while if that's alright with you Sarah, he said standing up" he addressed their daughter "Come here Jelana" the child stared at him, looking slightly worried.

"Jareth, I don't think that's such a good idea" Sarah told him, craning her neck to see his face. Jelana was generally quite uncomfortable with strangers, it took her a while to warm up to new people, and Sarah didn't want to cause her any unnecessary stress.

"Jelana come here" Jareth repeated firmly. Causing Jelana to grip her shoulder tightly, clinging to her mother.

"Why won't she come to me?" he asked Sarah angrily, as she stood up, scooping Jelana into her arms as she did so. Her daughter burying her head in her mother's shoulder. "I'm her father and she's acting as if she's afraid of me"

The last nerve that had been holding Sarah's composure over the last few days snapped under Jareth's demanding questions.

"The reason she won't come to you Jareth, is the same reason she's afraid of you. You'll just have to give her time to warm up to you." She told him glaring; she really didn't want to be having this conversation.

"But I'm her father", he argued.

"She doesn't even know you Jareth!" Sarah shouted angrily, walking back into the castle, leaving a bemused Jareth behind. As she walked into the throne room she bumped into Camille.

"What's the matter Sarah?" the nursemaid asked, seeing the distressed look on Sarah's face.

"I really don't want to talk about it at the moment Camille" Sarah apologised.

"Well you know where I am if you need me."

"Thanks" Sarah replied gratefully, preparing to take Jelana upstairs. But she was stopped by the maid.

"I'm going over to see my daughter for a couple of hours, and she's got a little one about the same age as Jelana, how about I take her with me? Give you a couple of hour's peace."

"You don't mind?" Sarah asked, she really could do with a rest, she hadn't been sleeping well this last week, and she was feeling so tired.

"Course not, you look like you need a break, and she's never any trouble."

"Thanks Camille" Sarah smiled handing Jelana over to the small nurse before kissing them both goodbye, "See you later"

"Bye Sarah" and she vanished with Jelana.

Before Sarah could go three steps she was intercepted by Jareth who had followed her from the gardens. She had been making a conscious effort to avoid him for the last week, however today she just couldn't shake him off.

"Sarah wait" she ignored him and carried on walking, pretending that she couldn't hear him.

"Sarah!" he practically cursed, grabbing hold of her arm and preventing her from walking off. "Sarah, what is going on?" he asked her as she tried to shake her arm from his grip, but he held fast.

She turned round to face him, "Nothing Jareth" she answered sweetly before trying to pull away from him, but he still held onto her tightly.

"You don't talk to me, you've spent the last week avoiding me, and I don't understand why."

"I don't want to talk about this" she replied, doubling her efforts to get free, but to no avail. He wasn't going to let go until she told him exactly what the matter was.

"Well I do." He replied calmly.

"Damn it Jareth. Let go of me this instant" she demanded angrily.

"Will you tell me why you've been avoiding me?"

She glared at him hatred in her eyes. "Fine"

"I didn't tell you this before I left but I love you"

He was expecting a multitude of reactions, but not the one he received. She slapped him across the face. Hard. "Don't you dare"

He let go of her arm dejectedly. "I don't understand, things were so good before I…" he struggled to find the right word.

"Left?" Sarah supplied for him, her voice venomous.

"I didn't mean to" Sarah began to walk away, so he grabbed her by the arm again.

"But you did!" she rounded on him, knocking him off balance as she shoved him against the wall to get free. "You died!" she screamed at him, "And it nearly destroyed me. You left me all alone." She began to sob, unleashing all the pain she had been holding. "I had to raise our child on my own. You've been gone for two years. We all thought you were dead, and we had to get on with our lives, and we did. Then you just waltz back as if nothing has happened, and you expect me to be ok with this?"

"Sarah I'm so sorry."

"You died" she sobbed, sinking down onto the floor, sobbing into her knees. The floodgates had been opened and she had no choice to let it all out. "I loved you so much, then you died."

He knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around her, and she didn't object. She buried her head into his shoulder and wept though her heart would break, releasing all the anger and the grief that she had been holding since his return.

After a while her sobbing subsided and he helped her to her feet. "You were the only thing that kept me going. The only reason I stated alive in that prison." He told her softly, wiping the tears from her sleeve.

She suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck. "I missed you so much" she confided in him quietly.

"I'm back now" he promised her, lowering his lips to hers.