I LOVE MY REVIEWERS!! Thank you for your support, because you replied so quickly and with such enthusiasm this chapter is for you…. No recap this time, go back and read it for yourself!!

Disclaimer: I do not own 'the Labyrinth' the movie, that would be Jim Henson Company… I don't look like I would come up with something that brilliant do I? Hey… wait… don't answer that… Oh, don't own aspirin either.

My Kingdom for an Aspirin:

"How would a mortal say it? I doubt, in your mind, 'til death do us part' will come soon enough." To her credit, she didn't kill him in that instant.

Oh, how she wanted to… She remembered tings, yes, with clarity. Was this just another game? She was sure of it, now. She was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, why would he be here, working to earn his keep, if it was anything but serious to him? And why didn't he just snatch her up and carry her off like he had Toby?

Could he do that still?

"So… you're telling me… that we're married?" Her voice was breathless, slightly shrill. Her pale face was almost beet red and her hands were balled into fists. Jareth winced, and she wanted to punch him in the face. Handsome, manipulative bastard!

"Sarah… it wasn't me. Please, let me explain."

"Let you explain? By explain you mean let you lie to me and twist things until you're innocent, right?" She took a calming breath, reminding herself that she was no longer a bratty teenager. At least she hadn't spouted the phrase 'that's not fair' yet. "I really don't think this is the time to talk about it, Jareth. Maybe later we can sit and discuss it when Miss O'Fallon is cooking dinner."

There, that sounded rational enough. Even though she knew that by that time she would be packed and flying back to America, leaving this lying, heartbreaking Fey here.

"Sarah, there is no time for that. Miss O'Fallon found out about the marriage, and she took it upon herself to throw us a betrothal party." His words fell flat when he saw the murder in her eyes. She reached out and took hold of the rust-covered hammer, weighing it in her hands. Oh, she wanted nothing more than to hit him in the head until he understood what he had just done…

"And how did she 'find out about the marriage' before me?" Her tone ended on a shriek, her voice shrill in outrage.

"Now, Sarah-mine, I know what you're thinking about that hammer, and I must tell you it wouldn't help any to--"

"Not you, you lying, philandering, overbearing under-handed, sneaky bastard king! I have every intention of hurting rather than helping you. I think I'm tempted to put this somewhere the sun wouldn't shine if you sun-bathed nude!" His eyebrow rose in question, and she screeched, dropping the hammer to the rug, uncaring, throwing her hands into the air. "I'm so tired of you!"

"Sarah--"

"No! I dream of you, and I'm crazy about you. I wake up, and I want to wring your neck! I remember you and you terrify me. There isn't a single moment in the day where I don't think something about you, and I'm tired of it!" She moved past him on her way back up the stairs, her temper running so hot she thought she would self-combust.

It only got worse when he reached out and clasped her to him, drawing her flush against the planes of his body, his hands tight on her upper arms, those eyes now deep blue peering into her own. She would have been captivated with their depth if she wasn't trying to struggle free.

"Let me go you man-handling--" Her sentence was punctuated with a good shake from the man she was describing.

"Enough adjectives, Sarah. Let me get this straight, hmm? Stop wriggling damn you, if I want you free you'll be free, and not until then! All right now…" He took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm himself. She had no idea that there was a desire in him now that he hadn't felt in centuries. There was nothing more appealing than Sarah in a fit of rage.

Sarah cursed under her breath, but stood perfectly straight. She had no illusions that Jareth had developed patience in their time apart.

"You remember me, and.. Fear me?"

"You were a complete ass and I'm sure you know it! Of course I was afraid of you, you kept dropping me into peril and threatening me with the Bog of Eternal Stench. It doesn't exactly inspire love, devotion, and the rest of the warm-and-fuzzies I'd prefer to feel." Sarah jerked, trying to tear free of his hold. It only caused his hands to tighten on her shoulders and a small smirk to lift the corner of his mouth. She bit her lower lips to fight the urge rising in her to kiss his.

"Ah… well, that's understandable. I rule everything in the Labyrinth. It is a living thing, and we have an understanding. You'd be a fool not to fear that type of power." Sarah rolled her eyes, and Jareth shook her to return her focus to him. "What did you mean, you were 'crazy about me' in the dreams we shared?"

"Really Jareth? I don't feel like boosting your overblown ego right now."

"Sarah, I would speak if I was you. And I would do it before the large man holding me like a toy got too frustrated." His eyes narrowed, the blue sharpening with grey. So, Sarah realized, belatedly, his eyes were what she had been reading. They changed with his moods… It distracted her from her anger enough that she answered, honestly.

"It means I want you, I'm attracted to you. That first night, when I thought it was all a dream I almost asked you…" She blushed, and glared. She hated being embarrassed. "Look, you're an attractive jerk. So what?"

"Sarah, if I told you that I needed to go back to the Underground, and I needed you to come with me, would you come?" His voice was soft, methodical. It as the voice of the Goblin King as much as it belonged to the short-haired vagabond carpenter, and it made her want to agree and deny him at the same time.

"Do you need me to come with you, Jareth? Is everything there ok?" Her voice was worried, the tension in her from fear for her friends rather than anything else.

"No, Sarah, I'm not asking you to come back with me. Not now. But if I was asking, and I refused to tell you why, would you come?"

She shrugged, and nodded, knowing that she would. Now that she had her memories back, she wanted more than anything to go back and see the place she remembered. She would have gone back by now, she was sure, had she but recalled the place and knew the way.

"Do you recall what I said to you, the last time we spoke, before I came to your realm? Do you remember what you were offered?" He loosened his hold on her shoulders, and Sarah thought to run. But when she saw the tired, hopeful look in his eyes, she couldn't. She really couldn't.

"You offered me my dreams. You offered me… A place by your side. But I had to save Toby--"

"And you didn't ask me. Not one thing did you ask, you just took for granted that it was another piece to the game. I offered you your dreams, Sarah. If your brother being with his family in the Aboveground was what you desired, it would have been done. But pretty little mortal Sarah could never be wrong, and you were so sure that I was toying with you…" He looked bitter. It didn't fade as he lifted a now-callused hand to her cheek, caressing her soft skin.

"Why did you ask me those questions just now, Jareth?" Her voice was small, desire arcing in her, telling her to turn into his touch, to purr and let him make her feel thousands of things her innocent body was missing. She denied the urge, but only barely, with the tentative fingers of rage still clenched within her.

"I told you then, Sarah, what I needed from my Queen. Just fear me, love me, do as I say. I needed only respect, love, and the obedience a King needs from all of his people. Was it so much to ask for an eternity of love and devotion in return?" He released her, looking every inch the Kind, despite his humble, mortal clothes. His hair was shorter, falling just short of his shoulders, loose and silken. His flannel was buttoned, the sleeves rolled to show the power in his lean frame. His feet were encased in working boots, and his eyes were smoky, focused on her face.

"It was wrong for me, Jareth, I was too young--" His finger came up, silencing her, then tracing the soft fullness of her bottom lip. He caught the sigh that wanted to hiss out. It was still swollen from her biting it earlier.

"You fear me, in the memories. You respect the power I wield within the Labyrinth." Her eyes shut, slowly, and she tilted her neck to accommodate the height difference. "You desire me in the dreams we share. You hunger for me, even now. We are well matched, Precious One…" His lips descended slowly, and she met them. It was slow at first, soft, almost to spite the fury they both felt inside. Jareth was furious with his Father and the Council, and Sarah was just upset. It wasn't fair, that her choice was already made for her, her only real milestone left to her suddenly snatched away.

"It really isn't fair…" Her whispered words jarred them both back from the haze of comfort, the dream-like place they both fell into in each other's arms.

"No, but life never is. I asked you what your basis for comparison was, and I find that things are no more fair here than they are there." They drifted apart, Sarah to pick up the hammer she had wanted to use as a bludgeoning tool, Jareth to stare out the window. "You should think about it before dinner, Sarah."

"What?" The anger within her was dying slowly, steadily. It had done her no good to throw a temper tantrum. Jareth was just too good at quashing them.

"Before you think too hard about where to go, and what to do about the marriage we are both tied to, I suggest you recall my offer. It still stands. It always will." His back was to her, his posture rigid, his eyes skimming the garden and the gate, and the woods beyond.

"Why would you offer me my dreams? I've done nothing but reject you and accuse you." Brilliant Sarah, now you act like a mature adult. Why don't you just go over there and beg him to take you with him to the Underground and be done with it? Her inner voice sounded suspiciously like 16-year-old Sarah, so she ignored it.

"You don't know, do you? Silly mortal girl… I would give you all of your dreams, everything you desired, and still beg to give you more."

"Why?"

"Because Sarah, having you beside me for all eternity would make all of my dreams come true, as well."

It was too much, she thought, suddenly dizzy. The prickling feeling skated over her skin, and her vision blurred. She was going to faint. She was having a panic attack… The ripples were there, in the base of her head. She retreated, turning her back to him and dashing up the stairs to the relative safety of her room. She didn't want him to see her faint again.

Jareth felt the ripples too, and the echoes of her distress. The connection, as thin as a single thread when he had first come Aboveground, was now alive, as strong as any bond could be. He didn't know what made it that way, what he had said or done to make her acknowledge the connection between them. But he found it really didn't matter.

He smirked, even as he heard her calling out to him. "Jareth?"

"Yes Sarah? Are you feeling all right?" He had climbed four stairs before she replied, with a weak laugh.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. You should worry about yourself, I'm not done yelling at you. It will wait until after dinner though."

The relief he felt washed through him along with her humor. It felt like a caress on his soul. He didn't know what he had done, but he was grateful. Now if only his good luck streak would last through dinner… His head throbbed and he went in search of the bottle with the little white pills Maeve used when she had a headache.

"My kingdom for an aspirin…"

Upstairs Sarah sighed, looking out over the garden, and into the woods. What had caught his attention out here? She shook her head, looking out again. There were the flowers, to either-- Flowers to either sides o the door. And there was white stone like marble.. And the garden gate… Duncan had made the story about this house, she thought with a smile. It was nice of him. She wondered briefly if the old man would come to the engagement party.

She stretched again, reaching out to take up her pen. She had the strangest urge to write another book. Her editor would be pleased, she thought. And it would give her something to do until Maeve got home. She began writing, a smile playing on her lips.

The headache was growing in the base of her head, but it wasn't really bad, Just enough to make itself known. Ignoring it, she scratched out a title. 'How to tame a Goblin'. Very nice idea. Too bad there weren't instructions for taming Kings. If she was really stuck being the Goblin Queen, she would need a manual of sorts.

Author's Note:

I could have stretched this into the engagement party, but I have other plans for that… *wicked smirk* You'll just have to wait and see. Thank you again to all of those who read and reviewed, without you there would really be no point to putting this up day after day. You know how much energy it takes to make my lead characters do anything they don't want to?

Oh, and Sarah wasn't kidding, she really isn't through yelling at him. She is just waiting for a time when she is more likely to win. Smart figment of my imagination, right? Hehe… All right readers, until next time,

-Chaotic Reverie