Disclaimer: Labyrinth and all characters from said film belong to Jim Henson and George Lucas, those geniuses. I own nothing (nothing, nothing, tra la la) but Ilie, the little purple worm, and the (seemingly tired and over used) plot.

A/N: One more chapter, altered only slightly. Apologies to everyone, though - it's Halloween, and this poor story still isn't up and running fully. I'm such a procrastinator...

Wishes In The Night
By: Moonlit Seductress
Chapter 4

Sarah sighed in delight as she slowly sank into the steaming bath Ilie had drawn for her. She had spent the entire day teaching Jareth about the modern Aboveground – and not just music. They had gone into technology, history, society, entertainment, and other countless topics.

To her vast surprise and considerable joy, the Goblin King was a voracious student, gobbling up every scrap of information she could give him. He made notes through the whole discussion, jotting down tidbits on an endless scroll, in a strong, flowing script. He would occasionally stop her, asking questions to clarify something, sometimes commenting on similarities or equivalents in the Underground.

To say it had been a pleasant day, however, would be somewhat stretching the truth. There had been a tension hanging over the conversation from beginning to end. Jareth had made a significant effort to contain his sarcasm and restrain his biting comments. Sarah, in turn, had tried her best to remain calm, and had succeeded in not running away in tears or a rage. While both parties considered the exchange an accomplishment, it was only a small one – they still had quite a ways to go.

Sarah traced her fingers idly around the smooth lip of the tub,reflecting on the day's events.Jareth's existing knowledge of the Aboveground had ended around the early 1800s – when people had truly stopped believing in the magic. He had visited on a few occasions through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but for the most part, people had ceased wishing their children away. Indeed, his last visit to Sarah's world – excluding the one two nights ago, when Sarah had wished herself away – had been eight years earlier.

Asking him why he so interested in the Aboveground had caused a bleak expression to settle on his face. In early times, when magic and gods and other such beliefs had been strongest, there had been a portal connecting the Underground with the Aboveground. There had been many visits back and forth between the two worlds, and the prospects for the future were rosy.

However, something had tainted the happy alliance between the worlds. What that something was, no one was sure, but it had forever destroyed the link connecting the Underground and Aboveground. Creatures from the Underground escaped into the human world and began to destroy it. In return, the humans attacked the inhabitants of the Underground when they ventured into the mortal world, and even went as far as crossing the threshold and attacking the Underground itself. In a desperate move, Jareth's great grandfather had sealed up the portal between the worlds, forever separating them.

The only person who could move past the barrier would be the current Goblin King. He alone would possess enough power to pass through the sealed portal and venture into the mortal world. Nevertheless, the only reason for doing such a thing would be to retrieve children who had been wished away. The Goblin King would transport the child and whoever wished them away to the Underground, and would return the wisher to their world when the thirteen hours was up.

Sarah, as she learned, had been the only exception to that law. By completing the Labyrinth, she had been granted the power to pass between the worlds whenever she felt like it. Part of this power had been what had allowed her friends to join her in her world.

She had been shocked to learn that she could have returned to the Underground. For some number of years after her trip through the Labyrinth, she had daydreamed about returning – and she had been quite chagrined to realize that her desire had been solely to see Jareth again.

Wrenching out of her recollections, Sarah sat up quickly, causing the water to slosh around her. 'If I could leave on my own all along…why am I still here?'

"I wish I was back at home," she said loudly, waiting for the elaborate bathroom to disappear. It stayed frustratingly solid, however, and Sarah gritted her teeth in annoyance.

"I wish I was back at home!" she repeated, louder. She felt a sudden presence in her mind, accompanied by a very familiar voice.

'My apologies, Sarah, but your attempts will not work.'

"Jareth!" she gasped, looking around wildly. But the blonde Fae was nowhere in the room.

'I had wondered how long after our discussion it would take you to try and use the power,' Jareth commented. She snarled. "Let me go home! Why won't it work?"

His voice took on an amused tone. 'After learning about your powers, I took certain precautions to ensure that should you return to the Underground, they would be abolished. I couldn't have you skipping off home, now could I?'

"You jerk!" Sarah shouted. Jareth only chuckled, his touch on her mind fading away.

Climbing out of the bath, she quickly toweled off, throwing on the robe that Ilie had provided and exiting the bathroom. She walked quickly down the hall and stopped in front of Jareth's door.

Before she could knock, the door swung open, revealing Jareth wearing a smirk and – not much else.

He was clad in only a pair of loose black pants, very different from his usual tight breeches. They hung low on his hips, and he showed – no, flaunted - a flat stomach and subtly muscled chest. Crossing his arms, he leaned against the doorway, watching as Sarah's face pinked prettily.

"Can I…help you?" he asked slowly, very obviously raking a gaze from her head to her toes, before lifting his eyes to meet hers again. Sarah's mouth opened, but no sound came out.

She was very close to turning tail and fleeing back to her room, but she was tired of running away from him. Squaring her shoulder and lifting her jaw haughtily, she desperately willed away the blush that still tinged her cheeks.

"Why won't you let me go home?" she demanded imperiously. Jareth's devilish expression faltered for a second. "I've told you why," he replied easily, but his eyes darkened with disappointment.

Once again, Sarah's mind was screaming that he was too close – and was definitely not wearing enough clothing. Seemingly of their own free will, her eyes kept returning to his sculptured physique, and the woman inside her was very pleased by the sight displayed for her.

As she forced her focus back on his face, she noted the smirk that had returned to his eyes. She had been caught looking.

Very deliberately, he closed the small distance between them, once again overwhelming her with his masculine scent and piercing stare. "Why do you insist on ignoring me, Sarah?" he said softly, his breath gusting over her upturned face, warm and cool at the same time.

"Because you're a jerk and a scuzzball and you won't let me go home," she breathed, her hands betraying her as they strayed out to touch the pale skin of his chest.

"I'm not a scuzzball." His face was closer now, and she could see the desire burning in his blue and green eyes.

"Yes, you are." She tilted her head unconsciously, eyes fluttering closed as his lips captured hers.

The kiss started out gently enough, but soon Jareth's handssnaked out to drag her nearer, pressing their bodies into closer contact, and his lips became more insistent, his tongue slipping past Sarah's lips. She gasped at the suddenness of the move, but did not pull away, her hands skimming over bare flesh to clutch at broad shoulders.

Jareth broke the searing kiss, only to lower his mouth to her neck. Her head dropped back, allowing him access to the soft skin of her throat. She was dimly aware that he was moving them, slowly backing up into his bedroom. His hands left her waist, roving around her body as she raised her own hands to tangle in his silky blonde hair.

Her legs bumped into something – Jareth's bed. Absently noting that he must have reversed their positions at one point,she allowed him to layher down carefully, never once stopping the open mouthed kisses he was pressing on her neck and collarbone. But as soon as her head touched the velvet covers, her eyes flew open.

"Stop," she gasped out, voice hoarse. Jareth paused, his breathing harsh and panting, his face twisted in a mix of confusion, anger, and longing. "Let me up," she continued.

"Sarah, just – "

"No!" she exclaimed, fighting free of his grip. She fell off the bed, landing ingloriously in a heap on the floor. Jareth raised a hand to cover his face, his chest still rising and falling quickly.

"We can't do this," she said, straightening her clothes. Jareth didn't move, his voice slightly muffled by his hand. "What is 'this'?"

Sarah scowled at him, but as he couldn't see her, it had little effect. "This!" she snapped, rising to her feet. "This…you and me, this…this!" She could not bring herself to say anything further, knowing her face was already burning red.

He lowered his hand, rising smoothly to stand over her. "I'm surprised to know that you are even aware of what we were doing, as you do not seem mature enough to even speak of it." His disdainful expression, together with the sardonic words, made Sarah's blood boil.

"Ooh…you arrogant, pompous, overbearing…" she seethed, glaring at the Goblin King. He tilted his head mockingly, as if interested in what else she would call him. But Sarah could do no more than throw up her hands in frustration. "You can't just come and seduce me into your bed!"

That did it. "As I recall, it was you who came to me. And as for me seducing you into my bed…you came willingly enough."

Sarah paled dramatically, the blood draining from her face, and the anger draining from her eyes, replaced by something deeper. Then she smiled, a saccharine smile, stepping towards him. When she was as close as she dared get, she drew back her hand and slapped him smartly across the face, turning his head.

The realization began to sink in as the surging adrenaline receded, leaving her with very dark thoughts. 'Oh crap…I just slapped a King. A Goblin King!'

She watched fearfully as he slowly turned his head back to look her full in the face. One normally pale cheek was stained a cherry red, and his face was devoid of its usual smirk. It was icy, his mismatched eyes glittering like diamond chips as he observed her.

He moved with such speed that she hadn't even seen him coming. Suddenly, his hands were gripping her arms, his fingers biting into her flesh like steel. His sub-zero features loomed over her.

"You will never touch me again in such a manner," he said in a low voice. "Might I remind you that you are merely a guest in my house, and that I could easily strand you in the darkest corners of the Labyrinth."

She nodded quickly. Making an elegant gesture, a crystal flashed into existence on his fingertips as he extended his hand towards her. The sight of the clear orb, as well as the dark expression, plunged her into remembrance.

"Just as I can be so cruel…"

Those long ago words brought frightened tears to her eyes. She did not notice his stony appearance fade as he gestured again, and his bedroom disappeared, replaced with her own. Sarah choked on her tears, sinking onto the bed and curling into a ball.

In his own room, Jareth burst onto the balcony, leaping off the edge. He was in owl form before he could fall an inch, winging furiously into the black velvet night.

The sky had already begun to turn pink when he came to a halt, perching on a thick tree branch and reverting back, a hand over his eyes. He had come dangerously close to loosing control and conjuring that crystal for other reasons instead of merely transporting Sarah back to her room. His behaviour had frightened her quite badly – he had seen the distressed look in her eyes. He had scared himself rather badly, truth be told. Never before had he been that angry with her – not even while she had been traveling through the Labyrinth. And now he was supposed to be seducing her, not terrifying her.

He was certain, however, that it was not merely the slap that had ignited him. She had been responding so nicely when he kissed her, touched her…and it had suddenly fallen apart. With the added frustration of rejection, her strike had been the proverbial last straw.

Still, that was no excuse to have terrorized her. He was a man of honour and principle, not one of those sniveling toadies at the Seelie Court who took pleasure in dominating women. Pushing aside the tendrils of worry and guilt that spiraled through his mind, he transformed back into an owl, flapping off in the direction of his castle – and the woman he had mistreated.

Jareth was shocked to find Sarah awaiting him in the dining room. Her face was slightly tear streaked, her bloodshot eyes bearing dark smudges under them. As he strode into the room, she stood, approaching him with a wariness in her eyes that saddened him. She lifted her chin delicately.

"I apologize for my behaviour yesterday," she said quietly, not quite meeting his gaze. "It was unacceptable of me to touch you in such a manner."

He took half a step towards her, stopping when she tensed. "Sarah," he said gently. "It is I who should be apologizing. As I said, you are a guest, and I should treat you as such, not frighten you." His eyes watched her, radiating concern. "I will be very distraught if your indomitable spirit is crushed by my foolishness." He held out a hand to her, silently begging forgiveness.

Sarah stared at the gloved hand, flashes of last night's crystal coming to mind. But she forced the unpleasant images away, accepting his hand. She was shocked when he pulled her close, gently enfolding her in a warm embrace, that same hand lightly stroking her hair.

Giving in, she allowed herself to bury her face in his chest, hoping he would not see the relieved tears that leaked from her green eyes.

A/N: I know, Sarah seems a bit weepy. But if you look, she only cries when she's frustrated or angry (a truly horrible habit that I have) or when she's upset. And I'd say having the man who just tried to get you in the sack threatening you with deadly crystal balls is fairly upsetting. Please review!