So, since the last chapter, I managed to acquire all the rights to Labyrinth! Wait, I didn't? Shoot...uhh...^^"

I guess that means none of this is mine except the plot, and any characters I create!

Her eyes flicker between me and the peach for a moment, and I can see the word "No" sitting on the tip of her tongue. She looks back up at me again, and this time her eyes rest on mine as she takes a bite. She slowly chews and swallows, and I wonder what happened to make her fear the fruit so much. When she realizes whatever apparent horror she fears will not come to pass, she takes another bite with more confidence. The only thing I can think of to be afraid of would be my magical peaches, but I haven't given one of those to anyone in centuries. Or have I? Is it possible I gave her one? If so, which kind? Not for the first time, I wish I could remember when she was here last.

"Sarah, did I give you a peach, when you were here last?"

She gives me a look that I cannot decipher, then says, "No, Jareth. You didn't." Something about the way she says that tells me it's only a half truth, though.

I watch her finish eating, then escort her upstairs to her room.

"I have things I must attend to, Sarah. If you would like, Binky can escort you to the library if you wish, or around the palace. But, I do have things that must get done today. Perhaps tomorrow we can see your other friends."

Her smile slowly grows. I force myself to ignore the unexpected way it makes me wish to smile back."Thank you. I would like that. Will I see you for dinner?"

"Yes. It will be just us, I believe."

"Okay. Thank you, my King." She dips into a curtsy, then turns and walks into her room. I smile and disappear.

I lean on the arm of my chair with my face in my hand. Running a kingdom of goblins is surprisingly difficult. They are, by nature, disorganized little creatures. I stand up and leave my study. No point in trying to do this tonight. I won't make any progress. I keep getting distracted by images of Sarah. Not the ones of her now. I can only suppose they are from before. Mostly one of her in a white dress, a ridiculous poofy thing. Surrounding the image are strains of music. I feel like I should know the song, but it slips away.

I strip down and take a bath, hoping to ease the stress of the day. After relaxing, I change into a clean shirt and head to bed relieved that my headache is fading. However, before I can lay down, an ear-splitting scream sounds loudly enough for me to hear it through the stone walls of my castle. Only one creature is close enough for that. I disappear and reappear in Sarah's room, where the ear-splitting cries escalate into absolutely deafening. I walk to her and start shaking her, trying to wake her from the nightmare that has her in it's grasp.

"Sarah! Sarah, wake up!"

She lays there with her arms above her head as if bound, and her legs stretched out similarly, screaming. I grab her shoulders and try to shake her, but she fights me. She lays there throwing her head back and forth, still screaming, crying "No! No! Get away from me!" Then, of all things, she screams "No! Jareth, help!" It gives me pause. Why, of all things, of all people, would a mortal child scream to me, the King of the Goblins, known far and wide for my cruelty, for help?

After another minute of her screaming and fighting me, then her eyes suddenly open. She stares at me, breathing heavy, then looks around. "Jareth?" she sounds small and insecure. I let go of her and move to stand up.

"You were screaming. I came in here to wake you up. You were disturbing my rest." I can see the hurt in her eyes, compounding with the fear left from her dream. And what I don't understand is why it upsets me to see it. To know that I put at least some of it there.

"Sorry. Sometimes, I have these really realistic dreams. Not too often though…"

"And do they always leave you screaming?"

"No. Occasionally, they are good. But…they still scare me…."

"And why is that? You don't fear anything that you should, as far as I can see."

"They seem to have a tendency to come true."

Her eyes focus on me, begging me to tell her she's not crazy, that it's normal, that it's just coincidence. But nothing is ever coincidence. But it's not normal. "Give me an example, Sarah."

"After my Mom and dad divorced, I dreamed I had a little brother named Toby. A few months later, Dad met and married Karen. A year later, she was pregnant with a boy. She named him Toby. I never mentioned the dream to either of my parents. Before the my mom died, I used to have nightmares about a car crash. About being rushed to the hospital while they zipped a body bag over my mom. Two weeks after they started, the nightmares came true. There are more, but they haven't come true yet. And there are more that have come true. I stopped some of them. I dreamed a little boy got run over, the next day I saw the same little boy start to walk across the same street. I grabbed him and ran across. The car barely missed us."

I summon a crystal and hold it near her face. "Sarah, watch the crystal." She does, and I carefully unleash the spell inside. As the bright flash fades, she blinks and looks at me. "Well, it looks like you have some Fey blood in you. Which makes it possible that you can see the future. It's a rare gift among the Fey, but for some reason, it's one of the most common in humans with Fey ancestors."

"So, what I see will come true?"

"Not always. Your actions, as well as mine, and the actions of many others can effect that. My tutor taught me that the future is a constantly shifting, constantly changing thing. A million factors can effect the smallest thing. It's a very imprecise ability. Seers are a rarity, and one that can See with any degree of accuracy is even rarer. So, there's no use worrying about it."

"But what I See might come true?"

"It's possible. You See the most likely outcome currently. Can you tell me what happens in your dream?"

"It's hard to tell. It's fuzzy and hazy. I'm tied down, and I'm hurting. It's really dark, and I'm scared. Something went wrong. A plan, it went wrong somewhere. And then the pain starts. It's the worst pain I've ever felt. It's horrible. It's like my skin is getting ripped off my body. All I want is for it to stop. And I know, somehow, that you are the one that can make it stop. But I also know that you can't come save me. If you do, it's all over. If you, we'll lose. And whatever we are going to lose, it's important. Too important to lose. More important than me and my pain. And I know you won't come. But I know you're still going to make it stop somehow. I don't know how. But I know you will. You had a plan for this. And then I wake up."

For the first time in centuries, I feel what can only be described as compassion. And none of the disgust I would normally feel at someone thinking I would rescue them. Me, the terrifying Goblin King, with no personal allegiance. Yet this girl, this little human slip of a girl, barely more than a child, even in her world, Sees a future that would have me trying to save her.

Well, no one ever said the future would make sense.

Eventually I get her to relax and go back to sleep. I go back to my room and my bed, but stay awake for hours trying to piece together the pieces of a small, chestnut haired girl.

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