Author's note: Standard disclaimer still applies with one addition: the parts about Shakespeare were inspired by, surprise surprise, Shakespeare. Please review!!

Jareth walked beside Sarah in silence, reminiscing about the first day they'd put her plan into action. She'd shown up outside his throne room on that first morning, ready to go. Not wanting to be the source of delay, Jareth had promptly followed her. Sarah had walked with purpose, surprising him with how well she'd come to know her way around his castle in the three days she'd been there. As if her path were clearly delineated before her, Sarah had led him through his castle, through the bustling foyer, out into the Goblin City, not stopping until she'd brought them face-to-face with the city gates they'd passed through the day before. Jareth had watched her every move, waiting for some show of hesitancy, a sign that perhaps she didn't want to go through with her plan after all. He'd had no such luck.

Before them had been the barred city gates, the carven boards straining sinisterly against their restraints. Jareth had stepped resolutely forward to open the doors, resisting the urge to ask her if she was sure, knowing she absolutely was. The task of unbarring the doors would have been easily accomplished with Ludo's strength, but both he and Sarah had come to an agreement on that count: her friends were to remain behind. It was only rational: why risk more than they had to? Besides, they'd move easier and faster if it were just the two of them and not five, or six, if you counted Ambrosius. Jareth had raised his hands, using his magic to remove the bar. Once the bar was gone and the doors were free, they'd instantly swung open, forcefully bringing to mind the image of a gaping maw just begging its prey to enter. Sarah was quick to oblige the Labyrinth, walking through the open doors without a backward glance, and Jareth had had no choice but to follow. Once they were inside, the doors had swung shut with a resounding thud, sending a shower of dust into the air. Sarah hadn't looked back.

Jareth had fallen into step beside her, alert to both their surroundings and her countenance. He wasn't going to let her suffer in silence as she'd done the day before. She had looked pale in the dim morning light, but aside from a look of determination and the signs of intense concentration, she looked well. She didn't seem distant or carried away. She didn't seem to be smothered in a fog of alien thoughts, and that was heartening. They'd walked the entire day, stopping to rest only once, speaking little. Jareth had been on his guard for anything the Labyrinth might hurl at them. Sarah had been quiet as well, perhaps because she was concentrating so hard, on what precisely Jareth had no idea, or perhaps because she realized how much was at stake and how it all would rest on her shoulders if anything went wrong.

As they'd turned back to the city that day, Sarah had finally spoken. "Let's walk very casually towards the gates. No matter what happens, stay calm and don't run. If something comes over me like yesterday, don't go any further, but don't try and save me."

He'd nodded once to show his understanding, but not necessarily his agreement, and then did as she said. They moved in silence once more, the look of concentration intensifying on Sarah's face.

Jareth had felt the same thickening of the air, the same pregnant hush all around them save for the sound of their feet. He forced himself to match her stride, step for step. There had been distant rumblings of thunder, but not the same monstrous claps as before. However promising that was, Jareth had still been on-edge. Untapped adrenaline coursing through him, Jareth found Sarah's calm, sedate pace frustrating. But he did as she said. And, unbelievably, the Labyrinth had let them go. They had stepped into the goblin city, safe and unharmed, the gates reluctantly closing behind them.

Jareth had turned back to make sure the city gates were closed, and that was when Sarah did the unthinkable: she'd hugged him. Her arms around him, her soft body pressed tightly to him, the scent of her hair tempting his nose…Jareth had closed his eyes in momentary bliss. He'd returned the embrace, but let go quickly lest he be tempted to linger in that position all day. Sarah had released him, and Jareth finally caught a glimpse of her face. Gone was the look of concentration, of wary determination; all she showed now was relieved happiness.

"It worked! I can't believe it worked! Oh, Jareth, what a wonderful relief!"

"Yes. Quite. Wonderful relief," Jareth managed to get out, equal parts relief and disquiet making him tongue-tied. Sarah didn't notice his stumbling speech, caught up as she was in relaxing against the city wall. That had been a week ago. Each day the Labyrinth had made some sign of protest at her exit, but – and this might only have been wishful thinking on Jareth's part – but it had seemed to lessen every day. Whatever Sarah was doing seemed to be working. Progress, perhaps?

They'd done exactly the same things for the past seven days, falling into a comfortable routine easily enough. Although they walked side-by-side, Jareth led, using his knowledge of the Labyrinth to guide their steps. Today, Jareth had felt it safe enough to relax his guard and enjoy himself a bit. Sarah'd asked him specifically to find a place where they could rest for most of the day; she felt they deserved a break from the endless, aimless walking, and Jareth quite agreed. He directed her to the remains of a once-neatly trimmed box-garden. The plants, like the rest of the Labyrinth, appeared dead. In their current leafless state, they resembled nothing so much as shriveled grey skeletons. Cozy, wasn't it? They found a quiet corner in which to sit down, which was a piece of cake because all the corners were deathly quiet.

Sarah sat on the ground without preamble. She didn't know why she felt so comfortable with Jareth, why he made her feel so at ease. Aside from the past week, the only time they'd spent together was as adversaries, and even then, she'd only been in his company for a few minutes at a time. Those brief meetings were hardly the basis for the friendship Sarah now felt developing between her and Jareth. It just didn't make sense. What made even less sense was how different he seemed. Before, he'd seemed…well, there wasn't a word for how he seemed. Mysterious? Alluring? Taunting? Powerful? He had been all those things and more, and he still was – but in a drastically different manner. Before, he'd been the all-mighty Goblin King. He'd looked down at her with those same, glorious eyes and made her feel every inch the insignificant and petulant child that she had been then. Now, he was…Jareth. Just Jareth. She couldn't phrase it any other way than that.

Perhaps their easy rapport had something to do with her dreams. She had, after all, seen him every time she'd gone to sleep in the past eight years. He'd been waiting for her every time she'd entered her dreams, even here in the Underground. The past few nights she'd had that same dream, the one where he offered her everything she'd ever wanted. He'd held his arm outstretched, a gleaming crystal nestled in his open palm, waiting for her to choose. But when she'd opened her mouth to respond, those six words she'd been compelled to utter every time before hadn't come. She hadn't said anything at all, and that had been strangely uplifting. She'd awoken relieved, glad that she hadn't disappointed her dream-Jareth for the first time. In this dream, both she and Jareth had been full of hope.

But that was a dream; this was now, and right now, Sarah had several questions for Jareth. She leaned forward and said conspiratorially, "Well, now that we have some time to kill, I have a proposition for you."

Jareth sat about a meter away and reclined against the stone wall, looking interested but wary. "I'm listening," was all he said.

Taking that as an encouraging sign, Sarah continued. "Well, I've come to the conclusion that I know practically nothing about certain things – everything really – everything to do with the Underground. The Labyrinth, the goblin city, goblins, dwarves, fireys, …you. I'd like to know more. That's an understatement. I'd love to learn everything I can while I'm here, and you are the only person I can think of who could fulfill that wish. But to make it fair to you, you can ask me any question you like and I'll answer it. Question for question, quid pro quo. Deal?" She knew it wasn't much of a bargain; it was contingent on the hope that he might have questions to ask her, and what could he possibly want to know about her?

Jareth struck a thoughtful expression. "You drive a hard bargain." A dangerous bargain. He'd answer any question she had about this world, as long as they weren't about him. That would be … dangerous, for them both. Still, he'd get the chance to learn more about her, from her point of view, and that was a chance he'd jump at any day. "Very well, I accept. Since it was your idea, you should ask the first question."

Sarah thought for a minute, apparently sorting through a long list of questions, trying to find the one to ask first. Now that she'd gotten his permission, she couldn't think of an appropriate question. All that kept running through her head was 'Why don't you have an heir?', and 'How did you come to fall in love with me?, followed by the loaded 'Do you still love me?' She was certainly not going to ask those. Sarah snagged the first suitable question that came to mind, seizing upon it before it could escape and asked, "Was your castle really built by goblins?"

"Yes. My turn." He smiled at her indignant expression.

"Jareth! That's not funny! Elaborate, please."

"That wasn't part of the agreement." Sarah gave him a meaningful look, and he conceded. "Oh, very well. Yes, the goblins built my castle, over a millennium ago. It was built for the first goblin king. It took almost one hundred years to built, or so I was told, and every goblin at that time had a hand in its construction. You'll find the goblins have rare talents for extraordinary things, and when the cause is great enough, they can forget themselves and be useful for a change. Now, is that enough elaboration, or shall I continue and list the chief architects and their current descendants?"

It was a challenge, and Sarah was ready for it. "Is that your question?" she countered.

"Touché. No, it isn't. All right, let me think." Jareth thought for a moment, and for several more moments. What would be a neutral question? Something that wouldn't reveal too much of him and what he knew about her? Jareth seized upon the first seemingly-innocuous question that passed through his mind and asked, "What is your favorite book?" He almost winced at how boring a question it was, and then almost winced again when he realized in which direction she could take her answer.

Sarah was pensive before answering. "I'm not sure if I have a favorite. I've always loved to read – anything of fiction. You can imagine how the titles have stacked up over the years. Hmmm. Well, I do remember my first favorite book, and that was Beauty and the Beast. I was a child, mind you, so don't laugh."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Jareth said, relieved she hadn't asked about that little red book in her room.

His relief was short-lived, lasting the approximately five seconds it took for Sarah to ask her next question: "How did the play about the Labyrinth come to be written?"

Another near miss, Jareth thought, knowing how lucky he was that she didn't ask how she'd come to possess the book in its recently-revised state. He answered her question as truthfully as possible. "Over the years, the Underground has been host to a number of Bovies – Abovegrounders, that is. One of them was a playwright, although I forget his name now. He wasn't the only one of his kind to visit the Underground either. Tell me – and this is my question – are you at all familiar with a dramatist, long-dead now, known as Bill Shakespeare?"

Jareth knew the answer, but couldn't have anticipated the way her eyes sparkled and her face lit up as she said, "Of course! He's possibly the most famous playwright in the history of the Aboveground. I've read almost all of his plays, and even acted in a few."

"Really? Well then, this ought to interest you. For your next question, ask me for the names of my parents."

Sarah eyed him questioningly, but did as he said. "What are your parents' names?"

"Oberon and Titania." Jareth watched as she made the connection, and that didn't take long at all.

"Oh my God! Your parents were the inspiration for A Midsummer Night's Dream? William Shakespeare actually met your parents? That's amazing!" Her excitement abated a bit, and then, "Wait. Did you actually meet William Shakespeare? The William Shakespeare?"

"Regrettably, I did not. I was elsewhere at the time, and I later heard that it was an event of great amusement. But, I can assure you that the high court of the Underground has never contained, does not currently contain, and will not ever contain anyone by the names of Peaseblossom, Moth, Cobweb, Mustardseed, or Puck."

With a good-humored sparkle in her eyes, Sarah asked "What about Robin Goodfellow, or Bottom?"

Jareth laughed. "No, none by those names either."

Sarah joined in his amusement, but stopped laughing abruptly, an unbelievable thought taking shape in her mind. "Do you mean to tell me that you were alive at that time, over five hundred years ago? Jareth, how old are you?"

That sobered him up quickly enough. "I'm considerably older than you, and that is all you need ever know. Now, I think you owe me, let's see, one, two, three, four, five, wait…six questions." He counted on his fingers for dramatic emphasis, and then met her pseudo-glare. "Where shall I start?"

"That's five now," she stated primly, realizing that although she'd started the game, she was up against a more-than-worthy opponent.

Jareth mocked her prim tone, asking, "Whatever do you mean?"

"One more down, four left."

"Ah, so she knows how to fight dirty I see." Jareth flashed her a debonair grin and said, "I wouldn't have it any other way." He was silent a moment, and then asked, "What did you do after you beat the Labyrinth?"

Hmm. Well, he had her there: she had eight years of experiences she could draw from to answer that question; where should she start? Like his first question, she wasn't sure she could provide him with an adequate answer. But she'd try. Best start from the beginning. "The first thing I did was check on Toby. I gave him my Sir Lancelot doll, the one he still plays with now when he thinks no one is looking."

Yes, Jareth knew that. "And after that?"

"I had a party with my friends – Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, Ambrosius, the goblins. They made a terrible mess, but when I woke up in the morning, they were gone and so was the mess. Fortunately for me, too. I was lucky enough that my parents weren't woken up by the noise we made; I'm not sure how I could have explained a mess of that scale."

Jareth knew that too. Who did she think had cleared away the mess and made sure her friends got back to where they belonged safely? Feeling a bit repetitive, he asked again, "And after that?"

"And after that, I cleaned my room. Not from the party – from the clutter of my childhood. I needed to grow up – my time in the Labyrinth taught me that much. I packed up most of my toys, and put the ones Toby didn't want in the attic. Then I did my homework. Well, most of it anyway."

Once more Jareth asked, "And after that?"

"And after that, I stopped fighting with my stepmother. Now it's my turn."

"So it is. Ask away."

Sarah had her question ready. "In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Oberon and Titania were the king and queen of all faeries. Were your parents the king and queen of the entire Underground?"

"They were. They still are. They currently reside in the High Court of the Underground. They will rule for many years more, and then when they decide to step down, I suppose my younger brother will claim the throne. The last I heard, he was ruling a small kingdom not far from the High Court, no doubt honing his kingly skills. How did your family react to your new behavior?"

His abrupt transition from answer to question was not unnoticed by Sarah. On the contrary: she mimicked it. "They loved it. It was a long-overdue change. My stepmother was in tears the day I went off to college. You said you have a brother; what's his name?"

"Charles. My parents were an unimaginative lot when they named us boys. Where did you go to college?" Jareth was enjoying this rapid-fire exchange; it was such a welcome change to speak to someone as intelligent and lively as Sarah was.

Sarah was enjoying it too, searching for her next question while answering his. "A small, all-female University on the eastern coast. I studied foreign policy, international relations, languages, literature, and drama for four years before graduating. You said 'Us boys.' Do you any have other siblings?"

"Aside from my brother, I have a younger sister named Astera; she's married to the king of Elyssa. What made you choose those particular courses of study?"

"I don't know. When I was accepted to the university, I looked over their list of majors, and International Relations just sort of struck a chord with me. I've always liked learning about other countries, other cultures, other languages – so I decided to study more of the same, and then learn something about how to deal with those differences. There are other kingdoms besides the Labyrinth and the High Court of the Underground?"

"Yes. More than a hundred, all ruled by the fae. Which of Shakespeare's roles did you perform?"

"Beatrice, Olivia, and Bottom. I was part of an acting troupe on campus, and we spent a year performing nothing but Shakespeare. Playing Bottom was by far my favorite role. If you're the eldest son of your parents, why aren't you next in line for the throne of the Underground?"

"Because I don't want it." His words had finality about them; she must have hit a particularly sensitive nerve. They fell silent for a few moments. Jareth was sorry to have ended their conversation so abruptly, and tried to restore the ease of just a few minutes ago. "Sarah, about tomorrow. I won't be able to accompany you. You see, I've always made a point of visiting with my subjects once every fortnight, to hear their concerns, grievances, petitions, and to lend a hand when needed. With the current state of affairs, I've increased the frequency – now I meet with them every week, and-"

"And that means tomorrow," she finished for him.

"Yes. Now, I know you're quite capable of doing this on your own, but it would put my mind at ease if you waited until I was able to join you before re-entering the Labyrinth." He could not spend the entire day worrying if she was safe; he'd go mad. "Please," he added.

To his infinite relief, Sarah acquiesced. "All right. I can use the time to catch up with my friends; Hoggle's been sounding increasingly jealous of the time I've spent with you, although he'd never admit it. We'll resume the day after tomorrow."

"Thank you," Jareth said quietly. He gave the sky a calculating glance. "I think it's high time we began the journey back."

Sarah mirrored his action, looking at the veiled sun. "So it is." She accepted his hand, and let him pull her to her feet. Once she was standing, Sarah took her hand from Jareth's, busying herself brushing off her pants before she started walking back the way they came.

Jareth involuntarily clenched his fist, longing for the brief moment of contact they'd just shared. Shaking it off, he watched Sarah walk past him, preparing to leave this pitiful excuse of a garden. Adjusting his slight bag, Jareth looked back to see if there was anything they'd forgotten. After a brief scan, he turned to follow Sarah, but then just as quickly turned back. It couldn't be, he thought. But it was. In the corner where Sarah'd been sitting, barely discernable from the leaf litter on the ground, was something that hadn't been there before. A tiny, living something. Peeking its white face above the brown leaves, so fragile that the slightest breeze might have whisked it away in the blink of an eye, was a flower.

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Author's Addendum: Please review!