They traveled in three different silences; Sarah's of rage, Jareth's of annoyance, and Toby's of confusion. Sarah kept glancing around at the Labyrinth's walls.

"I know where we are," she said, half to herself.

"But can you get us to the center?" Toby asked.

She nodded. "If only I can find –"

"Why, 'allo again."

Sarah laughed and dropped to her knees in front of a small ledge in the wall. "Well, hello to you too," she said seeming to address the wall.

"Changed your mind about a cup of tea with the missus?"

She shook her head. Toby leaned in next to her and found she was talking to a small, blue worm wearing a red scarf. "No, thank you. I need to get to the castle in the center of the Labyrinth. Can you give me directions again?"

"Castle? That be a dangerous place for someone like you."

"I know, but I must."

"Alright then. Remember that nothing is what is seems. Take the left path this time."

"That's the one you told me never to take."

"That's because it'll lead you straight to the castle."

"Thank you. Perhaps I'll be back for the tea later."

"Good luck."

Sarah rose to her feet. She glanced back at the two boys. "Shall we?" She turned and stalked off down the left path. The two exchanged a look before hurrying after her.

"Sarah, how did you –"

"I made friends. It's something you'll probably never understand, Jareth." She glanced back, and then stopped in her tracks. Jareth almost ran into her.

"Sarah?"

"Toby!" She peered down the path franticly. "Where did he go? He was just there and now – Toby! Toby!" she screamed. A tear rolled down her cheek. She didn't want to be here, not traveling this Labyrinth again. The memories, the fact that her friends where disappearing, she 

was alone with the one man she never wanted to be alone with, it was too much for her to grasp. "Not Toby too. All my friends, gone."

Jareth grabbed her wrist. She glanced at his hand in disbelief before looking him full in the face. There was something in his eyes, something she couldn't name. He pulled her into him, hand around her back and head. Sarah broke and started to sob in his arms. It was a strange feeling to hold her there. He wasn't even sure why or what he had just done. Perhaps even the haughty Goblin King had feelings. Then Sarah pushed away from him, leaving a small wet mark on his chest.

"Come on. Let's finish this," she said, wiping his eyes with her right hand. He nodded, following her down the path once more. The worm had been right. The left path led them straight to the castle at the center of the Labyrinth. It seemed like the false Queen wanted the two of them to find her. There had been no more mishaps after Toby's disappearance. It was a clear shot to the castle gates. Jareth stopped Sarah before she could continue through.

"Wait, I'm not sure if I can go in. She might only blast me out again. That was not a pleasant experience. In fact, it kind of hurt," he told her.

Sarah looked at him with a face full of rage. "So you want me to go in by myself?"

"No, I don't want that either. It, it's hard for me to admit something like this Sarah, but I don't know if I could risk losing you again. Especially not with the Labyrinth itself seeming to want us together," he returned. "But you probably can't wait to disappear from the Underground again."

"This is all your fault. Why couldn't you leave everything well enough alone?" She buried her face in her hands, turning away from him. Her voice was muffled at first, but steadily grew stronger. "There was no one after you, Jareth. Oh, they tried and I would even date some of them, but it never lasted. Eventually they stopped trying, dubbing me 'Ice Queen'. Yet the emotion I put into acting, that always amazed them. Do you know why I was good at projecting emotion? No? I was thinking of you, always you. Anger at how you scared Toby and treated me, happiness for the adventure and us dancing together, sadness that is was all over. I waited for you. I thought you'd come and whisk me away like Cinderella. I don't know why since we fought the entire time. But my fairy tale had no happy ending, or even an ending. There was no prince riding up on a white horse, no beast to transform back into a man. Just me and the memories. I lost faith. Fix that, oh Great Goblin King."

Inwardly she was horrified. She, the strong Sarah, who kept all her feelings inside her was spilling her heart out to the one person she never wanted to hear it. Maybe it was just time for her to stop running and face it.

"Sarah, Sarah, look at me." There was something in her voice which made her turn around, a catch or a plea. He had always thought she had truly disliked him at least; it was a surprise to find she felt as he did. The limits of his power showed themselves again. Since she had never wished, kept it all locked away, he couldn't fathom her desires. He always thought he'd have to ambush her, but it seems she had ambushed him. He took her face in his hands. "How you turn my world, you precious thing." Jareth kissed her full on the mouth. Sarah stared at him in disbelief before kissing him gently back.

"Maybe I was wrong," she muttered. So he did like her, maybe even love her. At least now she knew he had been suffering in the solitude just as much as she had. Not that she would ever let him know that, oh no. Their fights were too much fun to give up.

"We need to finish this first," he said, his forehead resting on hers.

She nodded. "We go in together."

Jareth held her at arms length. "However, you can't face her looking like this. You need to be equals at least, though you are far superior."

"I suppose you have a plan," she said. "You always seem to have one. Though mostly they only aggravate me to no end."

"Trust me," was all of his reply. He hugged Sarah close to him again, running his hands down her shoulders and back.

Leather transformed into deep green fabric. He spun her out. Instead of the clothing Toby had brought her, Sarah stood dressed in a gown of Jareth's own creation. The off-the-shoulder short sleeves curled like two horns on either side. The skirt fell in soft folds to the floor with a spilt down the middle, allowing cream fabric to peek through. A narrow black belt encircled her waist and a black ribbon was wrapped around her right forearm.

"Wait," Jareth said, looking her up and down. "I know!" He twirled a crystal orb around in one hand. "I offered you a crystal before once," he continued idly, like they had all the time in the world. "You turned me down. What now?" The orb shimmered and became a wreath of pale flowers. These he placed atop of Sarah's hair, freeing it to fall in a sheet to her chest.

"Don't we make a dashing couple?" she asked, sidestepping his question quite neatly.

"Too bad we don't have enough time for me to ask you to dance."

"Come on. This is the only way to make sure Toby and the others will be alright." She gathered her skirts in one hand and began to head for the castle gates. "I'd better be able to get my clothes back. That was – is my favorite jacket. You know, I think you just like seeing me dressed this way."

He flashed her a lewd grin. "Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps."