Whoopee!!One of my favourite chapters is done.I was in the bus from school and wham!the idea about the dress hit me like a bad migraine,so I facied having a shorter space of time between chapters 3 and 4.Okay,a big thanks to my reviewers:notwritten,FemmeLoki,TarahW and of course angel-tears-16 who is being forced to write a third chapter to her Labyrinth fanfiction.For the record,it wasn't my idea.

Read no further if you don't like masquerade balls,presents,mystery and a whole lot of questions.

In her memory, the Goblin Castle had seemed much larger to Sarah. Of course, she had only seen two rooms, but the others held an unexpected air of grandeur that the Goblin City outside lacked.

After a closer look, there was one thing Sarah admired; the ballroom. Circular, the walls were covered in what seemed to be crystals and mirrors. How ironic. She knew that this was where Jareth held the famous masquerades.

Then again, everywhere she looked, things in her head started to make sense again. She had learned to forget, but being here was bringing back those memories. And re-opening wounds.

Sarah could just imagine herself, that dress sweeping across the floor, searching for...who? She wasn't imagining, was she remembering? She forgot sometimes, the labyrinth had seemed so unreal, but it had taken hold and wasn't letting go so soon. Did it thrive on her? On Jareth? He seemed to want her, need her. Was it Sarah that actually made the Underground?

So many questions, but no-one to ask. She hadn't seen the Goblin King since last night, the goblins were avoiding her and she felt stupid for not taking the chance to ask him yesterday evening. She wanted answers; she wasn't leaving there without any.

That afternoon, she caught glimpse of him. Or at least proof that he was back. His study was firmly locked and so was his room at night. Sarah wondered.

She had made a mistake about Jareth. He had power of his own, the goblins were proof enough of that, he ruled over them with ease. It seemed he picked a "favourite" once in a while; Hoggle must have been his last.

He only had no power over Sarah herself. When she asked to wander his labyrinth once more, he had forbidden her. But it still hadn't stopped her. There wasn't any sign of either Ludo or Sir Didymus, although she did stay a fair distance away from the Bog of Eternal Stench. Sarah didn't expect Hoggle to be there, she had warned him that it wasn't safe in the labyrinth and then wondered why he had been there in the first place.

She had been in the Underground 3 days now, according to her watch. The clocks in the castle didn't seem to work on the same time, though, and sunrises and sunsets were confusing. After 3 days, she finally got the first part of what she was waiting for.

After the 2nd day, Sarah had retired to her room, only to find a box and a letter on the bed. She opened it eagerly, but what she found shocked her. A note from Jareth, written in small fancy handwriting, but she couldn't make heads or tails of it. Something about he hoped she could make some use of whatever was in the mysterious box. Curious.

The thing in the box stunned her even more. She picked it up, not daring to actually touch it at first, then hesitantly. She felt the material in her fingers; so much was coming back to her now. How she had felt in the ballroom, her desperate unconscious mind telling her to find Toby, her mind interested in Jareth alone. That had been the point, she thought sadly. Just a diversion, nothing more. Was that what she wanted? That the Goblin King had taken some attraction to her?

Sarah didn't know if she could bear going. She wanted to, but something held her back. She felt confused and remembered that was how she had felt last time too. Scared, for herself, for Toby, scared of Jareth. Perhaps.One last look at it made up her mind. Pressing it to her breast, Sarah realised that this time, maybe it wasn't just a distraction.

Jareth hadn't wanted to go through with the masquerade before Sarah. Now he felt he must. The idea of his "present" was so simple, yet genius.

The first guests should be arriving in the stairway any moment now. Taking one last look in the mirror, he saw something change. His stance, his eyes, he felt different. He felt like the old Goblin King again. Maybe this was what he needed all along. One last dance.

He picked up the fragile mask and closed the bedroom door silently as he went.

The masquerade came as a shock to the system for both of them. Jareth finding it familiar, but distant, Sarah, a memory brought into colour before her eyes. Nothing really changes in the Underground. Maybe it was time, maybe it was the subconscious, like some idiotic scientific explanation. Or maybe there was something there that you recognised, loved, feared, remembered, imagined. He never had been sure, though of course only he could know the answer.

A long time passed before they found each other. Everything was like the first time they had met. Sarah wearing the dress that Jareth had given her and the leaf-like hair ornament, the Goblin King the blue suit with the goblin mask. It was almost a replay of the first masquerade, he felt the same, and Sarah felt like there was a slight weight resting on her chest. She couldn't quite place what the feeling was, she couldn't even remember if she had ever felt it before. It didn't matter.

They felt like strangers till now, never quite looking the right way, saying the right words. Jareth hadn't used words to express himself to Sarah, as he'd said, he had lived up to her expectations ,altered time, turned the world upside all for her but still couldn't understand why. It had been there all along, right in front of him. Maybe he had denied it, dismissed it as an afterthought.

Sarah wasn't scared after all, she realised. But there was still that unknown feeling that wouldn't leave, gnawing away at her nerves like some sort of annoying gnat that wouldn't leave her alone. But she wouldn't leave this ballroom tonight. There were no goblins to fight, no baby brothers to rescue, no peaches to not eat. Just her and Jareth, trapped together in a sea of masks.

Their dance seemed to last forever. Perhaps it did. But Jareth eventually pulled away, and Sarah saw something deep in his mismatched eyes that hadn't been there when she had arrived. He was back, the witty, proud, mysterious Goblin King of the Labyrinth from 3 years ago. And he knew it too. A sly smile and Sarah did actually feel scared. Slightly, but it thrilled her, she knew he couldn't control her.

Jareth contemplated the young woman before him, her brown eyes didn't show any sort of regret whatsoever, her rose lips slightly parted. Now he remembered why he had chosen the Labyrinth. For this. And he had lost sight of it, a long time ago. But it didn't matter now, but there was one thing that did matter. He left her with a small token, ironic as he was, leant in close and whispered a phrase she had already heard,

"I've brought you a gift."

Jareth left her, just enough time to watch her look down to the crystal in her hand. Now he saw something on her face .Shock? Fear? Recognition ?

Another crystal to find Aislin ,he moved away from the largest crowd, attracting a few amused glances from some, annoyed from some, and ,as expected, jealous from a woman he recognised. Caress, her name was. He remembered her from the last masquerade, pretty, blonde-haired, with an extravagant mask to match her personality. She sauntered over to him/her eyes fixed almost fiercely on him. Jareth wasn't surprised.

"Caress" He said emotionlessly.

She smiled briefly then answered,

"Jareth. The Goblin King's showing off his little prize, then. It has been 3 months."

"She isn't a prize, not anymore. And you won't speak to her." That wasn't a question, he was telling her. Better make use of this new found power over people.

Caress merely narrowed her eyes and took off in the opposite direction.

Jareth smiled slightly, and made a crystal to find his uninvited guest.