Disclaimer: I do not own Jareth, the Labyrinth, or any of its inhabitants. I do own anything/ anyone/ anyplace that I created in this fanfic… which I also own… XP nah!

Crystal Shores owns Jennifer, Twist and Ariel.

Summary: War is brewing in the Underground and it seems as though Sarah's favorite Goblin King is in the center of it. Alliances are being formed quickly but also broken just as fast. Tension rises in the continuation of Heal Me, Hurt Me!

Warning: Jareth is totally out of character. So is Sarah.

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Last Time:

"Kara..." Jareth started cautiously. "What happened to your hair?"

"My darling older sister," she announced darkly, twirling a strand of neon green hair around her finger.

Jason ran up and grabbed her hands. "I will avenge you Kara!"

"Thanks Jason. Make sure you do," she muttered, pulling her hands from his and walking back out.

Once she disappeared, Jason turned and nodded once to Jareth. "Good night."

"Night Jason." He stepped out and closed the door behind him, leaving Jareth to stare out the window and wonder what the hell he was gonna do…

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Heal Me, Hurt Me – Part II

By: Kadasa Mori

Chapter 8 (February 9th)

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Jareth rubbed his eyes wearily. When he'd first been given this job he figured it would be a life of adventure, mayhem and action. It seemed all he did now was look over paperwork, sign on the dotted line. He groaned and flopped back into his chair, an arm over his eyes. I HATE paperwork…

"Good morning Jareth."

He lifted his arm and found Sarah walking in. He raised an eyebrow. "It's two in the afternoon."

"It's morning for me." She grinned. "Dinner's gonna be late today so if you're hungry you should probably eat now."

"I ate a few hours ago. I'll be fine."

"All right! See ya later!"

Jareth frowned as Sarah walked out of the room. She was acting normal, but slight movements told him she was still angry at him. He spun his chair around to stare out the window. She had every right to be… it wasn't that he didn't apologize because she knew that saying 'I'm sorry' was difficult for him and he had said it… she was just confused as to why he said it, which would take a lot of explaining that he didn't actually want to explain. He scowled darkly.

"Well that's a nasty face!" He barely kept himself from jumping out of his skin and turned slowly to find Jason seated on his desk, hands holding his feet. He grinned. "Hi!"

"What?"

"Can't I see my bestest buddy without a reason?" Jason asked innocently.

He growled darkly. "What?"

"The panthers are on their way here. Valdis sent word that Azrael would be here by dinner on Saturday." An eyebrow rose and Jason shrugged. "More monsters I believe."

He cursed darkly. "Do you know what it was?"

"Nah… something nasty though I think. Valdis wouldn't comment any further than 'another monster attack.'"

He rubbed his shoulder with a sigh. "Damn… and we still can't figure out where they're coming from…"

"Toroku's got an idea." Jareth looked up sharply and Jason held up his hands quickly. "I can't tell you cause I don't know. He informed me through the grapevine that he had an idea but he wouldn't disclose it unless you were there. I suppose it's information that shouldn't be spoken aloud…"

"Hm… When is he coming?" Jason shrugged again. "If you're in contact with him at all in the next few days tell him to tell me that Samra wants to visit and we shall set up a date."

"Kay."

"Jason!" Both spun to the doorway as Kira leaned around. "Oh good! There you are! Sarah needs help with the decorations!"

He grinned wickedly. "I'll be there in a minute!" She nodded and raced off. He turned back to Jareth. "Shall I be putting up more guards around my Realm? My people can't be attacked anymore Jareth."

He nodded. "Not enough to raise suspicion but enough to hold off another attack. We need to start preparing."

"Gotcha." He slid off the desk and walked to the door. "See ya at the party!"

Jareth nodded then spun quickly. "What party?"

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"And we need this table to be over here… oh! And some balloons right here maybe… we'll have a cake in the center with the cookies around it and drinks on the end and-oh! Kira! Where are the streamers?!" Jennifer raced up and held out the colorful streamers, Ariel running up behind her, Twist beneath one arm, the other holding her streamers. "Thanks you two." They nodded and hurried back over to the other girls, helping them color pictures to hang on the walls.

Taka walked up, limp hardly noticeable now even though it had only been two days. Sarah scowled in envy at having two healers on hand to heal you up in two days when it would've taken her at least a month to get over her injuries… if she even survived them that is.

"Jenn and Ari are very happy to be helping out. Thanks for letting them."

"It's no problem," Sarah murmured, trying to reach higher and tape the streamer to the wall. Taka shifted and suddenly rose up beside Sarah. The brunette turned quickly, two wings on the woman's back fluttering to keep her in the air. She took the streamer and tapped it to where Sarah wanted it before landing lightly back onto the floor. She realized Sarah was staring and blushed lightly.

"Sorry. I forget not many people know I can do that… It's just half-shifting into my bird form."

"Can I do it?"

"If you've a form to shift into." As they moved down the table, Taka continued to explain. "I'm from a long line of sparrows so our ability to shapeshift has passed down the line. Washi's from a long line of eagles so he's also a strong shifter. It's very strong in my family and his so my girls should be able to shift despite what birds they become." She fluttered up to attach the streamer then landed lightly beside Sarah. "The Goblin King can shift. You should ask him to try and teach you."

"Hm…"

Taka glanced over then bit her lip. "I may be out of line but… what caused this rift between you two?"

Sarah smiled wearily. "He… said something nasty and I'm still trying to figure out why he said it."

"Mm… I take it that it was totally uncalled for?" Sarah nodded. "Talk to him. He'll explain why." She attached the streamer then landed and lay a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Life down here is… difficult. Just ask him." Sarah nodded and sighed, holding out the next streamer.

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After an hour the streamers were up and ready, food all out and plated, kids sitting in the corner playing a game and most everyone lounging on the couch. Sarah frowned, realizing the guest of honor wasn't in the room and headed outside to search for him. After a fifteen minute search and no red-furred panthers showing up, she headed back to the library.

Once she entered, she found that there were two new additions to the group (coincidentally the ones she'd been searching for). "Valdis!" she chirped happily, setting the cookies down on the table. The blue haired panther turned then nodded once, eyes going back to Kara who was talking to her. "Haimon!" Sarah shrieked, the maroon haired panther turning to look at her dully. "I heard your birthday was last week!!"

"Yes it was."

"And you didn't tell me?!"

"No I didn't."

"WHY?!"

"Because I knew this would happen… just with worse results…"

She wailed and tugged on his sleeve. "How could you do such a thing?! This is a belated birthday party now! I thought it was a birthday party!!"

"There's not much difference." Wrong thing to say. She wrapped him in a headlock, wailing loudly. Valdis walked by smirking as he struggled to get out of her grasp with no success.

Twenty minutes later when Jareth walked into the library, there was a very ruffled looking maroon panther seated on top of the bookcases, glaring down at him. The blond fae raised an eyebrow, then turned to find Sarah attacking another helpless victim and sent Haimon a sympathy nod, continuing on his way.

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"Okay everyone!" Sarah announced. "We're going to play a wonderful game! It's call Hide and Go Seek!" The adults rolled their eyes and the kids cheered happily. "The game is different in this way. You don't just pick a spot to hide in. You have to hide from everyone because you don't know who the seeker is." She held up a crystal and tapped her shirt. It turned bright blue. "I'll be the seeker first. When I tag someone, they're automatically the seeker. They have to count to twenty to give me a chance to get away then they have to go find people. We'll only stay in the west side of the castle though to make it easier, all right?" They cheered again. "All right. Go!"

As they raced out of the room, Sarah turned to the others. "Well?"

"No way in hell Sarah," Jareth said dully, setting three cards on the table.

"I would, but I'm playing poker," Jason announced. "Checkmate."

"There's no checkmate in poker," Alan sighed as Meta snickered.

"Idiot," Valdis and Honou chimed.

Sarah sighed and turned to the others. Venus, Samra and Evie ignored her, Kira looked away innocently and Kara just gave her a dull stare. She sighed again with a pout. "Fine! I'll play by myself."

After another few seconds she hurried from the room. As she trailed up and down the halls, she listened carefully. There were no sounds coming from the rooms. She knew the perfect spot to hide but she just needed to tag someone fir- She stopped dead as she heard a soft giggle behind her. Trailing back in near silence, she peered around the edge and found a foot beneath the curtain. She stepped back a few paces and made noise as she entered the room.

"Hello?" she called and heard the girl gasp quietly. "Where are you?" She peered through a few cabinet drawers and under the bed before walking to the curtain. "I wonder where Bella could be?" She opened the 

curtain on the right and sighed. "No Bella but these curtains are filthy! I think I should take them to the wash." She scooped up Bella and the curtain she hid in and headed for the door. "The maids will be very happy to scrub these!"

"Wait! Wait! I don't want a bath! I'm here!" Sarah gasped and set her on the ground.

"I found you!" Bella laughed and threw her arms into the air. "You hid so well!"

"Is it Bella's turn?"

"Uh huh!" Sarah motioned to her shirt and Bella gasped as it glowed bright blue. "Count to twenty!"

Bella slapped her hands over her eyes. "One! Two! Three! Four!"

Sarah hurried from the room and towards her hiding spot, a gigantic chair facing a window a few rooms up. She slid into the room and into the chair, sitting cross legged. No one would be able to see her if they just walked past. Grinning, she lay back to get comfy.

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She should have thought this one out.

Sighing, she tapped her fingers against the arm of the chair. No one had been by the room in at least an hour. She'd heard someone run past but couldn't make noise fast enough for them to hear her. She sighed again, beginning to get bored when a cold nose touched her hand. She shrieked and spun, nearly falling out of the chair to find Riley sitting there. He barked and Emily came running into the room. A smile split her face as she ran to Sarah and held her arms out, receiving a hug.

"Are you it?" Sarah asked. Emily nodded and point to Sarah's shirt which now glowed bright blue. "All right! Go hide!" Emily nodded and hurried out of the room. Sarah turned to Riley whose tongue lolled and he wagged. "Good boy Ril-" He spun, looking behind him then raced out of the room after Emily. Sarah rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "One… two… th-"

A dark growl from Riley made Sarah sigh, cursing the small creature he was stalking to hell. In a minute the creature would start shrieking its head off and Riley would go chasing it down the hall barking loudly until Jareth told her to make him shut up before he was thrown in the bog.

When he snarled viciously and someone screamed, she shot out of her seat and raced down the hall. Emily was on the ground and Riley had sunk his fangs into a man's arm, head thrashing side to side, the man screaming bloody murder and reaching for his fallen dagger.

"No!" Sarah shouted and tackled him away from the dagger, Riley still gripping the man's arm. "Emmy! Run!" Emily just stared, frozen. "RUN!" she shouted at the blond who jerked, eyes wide in fear, then turned and ran away.

"Get off me!" the man shouted, trying to shove Sarah away but she held on tight to his other arm, trying to keep it from the dagger.

"JARETH!" she screamed just as he grabbed the dagger. Both hands were full so she lunged forward and sunk her teeth into his arm, copying Riley who was tearing at his other arm. He howled and she grabbed his wrist, pulling away from his arm and grabbing the hilt of the dagger, throwing in the other direction. A hand slammed down on his wrist beside her face and she gasped, spinning to find Jareth and Alan beside her. He nodded to her and she slid away quickly, Riley backing off as well.

Alan held his wrists, Jareth standing in front of him. "Who are you?"

The man sneered and spat at him. "I will not talk Goblin King."

Jareth's eyes glimmered and he grinned cruelly. "I suggest you do. You may live to see daylight again."

Before anyone could react, the man's foot came up and connected solidly with Jareth's ribcage sending him flying backwards. He slammed into the wall, his head cracking sickeningly against the stone wall. As he slid to the ground, a warm trickle easing its way down his neck and back, world getting blurry, he found a bright blue object racing towards him and screaming for him.

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Jareth frowned as he slowly regained consciousness. His world was blurry but after a few blinks became focused. He looked around and found a smiling face staring at him. "Hey," she whispered.

He smiled faintly. "Hey Ma…" A frowned grew on his face. "What are you doing here?" She put a finger in front of her lips and pointed to his legs. He looked down, just now feeling the pressure on them. Sarah had an arm flung over them, her other arm pillowing her head while she sat on a chair beside the bed, out cold.

Hotaru leaned down beside his head. "She's been there for the past two days. Please try not to wake her…"

"Two days?" he whispered back.

"You've been out that long. You still have a nasty bump-" Sarah shifted in her sleep and they both shut their mouths. Hotaru shrugged like 'oh well.' He nodded and smiled his thanks. He received a smile in return and a hand brushing his hair back. She turned and walked out, shutting the door behind her.

Jareth smiled at the sleeping brunette before falling back to sleep. He woke a few hours later when her arm pulled back and found her sitting up in slight confusion. "Evening," he murmured.

She blinked at him then grinned widely. "Jareth! You're all right!" She jumped out of her seat only to flop down beside him and hug his head. "I thought you died!"

"What?"

"You didn't move after that guy threw you into the wall and I was so worried! But you're alive! Which means when you get better you owe me muffins for saving your bum."

He scowled. "You were so much more pleasant when you were asleep…"

She giggled then smiled warmly. "I'm glad you're all right though."

"No muffins if I died?" he asked sarcastically.

She grinned. "Yes. But also no Goblin King." He glanced at her then sighed, getting into a sitting position. He motioned her forward and she raised an eyebrow, leaning forward.

He kissed her but before she could scold him for it, grinned. "I would've missed you too." She laughed and kissed him back.

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"I've got dinner!" Sarah announced happily, walking into Jareth's room. He was still in bed, papers spread out all over, one hand in his hair, the other holding another paper up. He glanced over and gave her a faint smile. She rolled her eyes and set the tray down, shoving all of the papers away.

He scowled at her. "I just spent an hour organizing those."

"Well then you can spend another hour reorganizing them after you get better."

"I'm fine."

"That is not an adequate excuse for your physical or mental well being." He raised an eyebrow. "Now eat your dinner before it gets cold." He rolled his eyes and took the soup from her, quietly sipping at it. They ate in silence for a few minutes before she shifted uneasily. "Jareth?" He glanced over from his soup. "Why did you use my family as an insult?"

He paused then set his spoon down and sighed. "Sarah… I'm a Goblin King. I use whatever insult I can. It's… it's been programmed into my mind to automatically fight back with the worst I can deal." He picked up the spoon to distract him, stirring the soup. "It's not all niceness down here. You fight for the right to rule. Many people thought I got it easy, my father being the High King. He just gave me the Goblin Kingdom and the Labyrinth to rule over when I decided not to be High King."

She looked at him sharply. "You were going to be High King?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought I told you…"

"I don't recall."

"Yes. I was to be named High King but after my sister was killed I needed out and came here. It was in disarray so I took over and began building. Many people thought that I got scared off and ran away so I wasn't a favorite in the council for a long time. I had to stand up for myself to keep anyone from tearing apart what I've worked so hard to create." He tapped the spoon against the bowl. "It's like… well," he winced, "like a criminal killing people so that others fear him. You've got to build up a tolerance to the voices and speak back in a language they understand as 'don't piss me off.'"

She chuckled. "I'm sure you've got that language down pact." He smiled humorlessly. "Well then… if you promise to never say it and actually mean it, then I suppose I forgive you."

"I didn't mean it."

She let out a sigh. "Good… I mean I knew you didn't but knowing you really didn't-"

He leaned forward and pulled her into a one armed hug. "I'm sorry."

"I know." She hugged him back. "Thanks."

"Mm…" He pulled away and waved a finger. "Now finish your soup before it gets cold." She stuck her tongue out in response.

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Walking down the hall, humming to herself, Sarah looked around, examining the various paintings and wall hangings as if she'd never seen them before. It was more of something to do rather than actually looking at them for she was bored… which was not good for the citizens of Goblin City.

"Sarah?" She turned and found a familiar orange haired panther standing there. Azrael smiled and waved. "Hi there."

"Azrael!" she cried and raced over to grab him in a hug. He laughed and hugged her back. "I missed you!" She pulled away and looked around. "Are Aidan and Beck here too?"

He nodded. "Valdis and Haimon as well." He grinned. "I heard about Haimon's birthday party." Sarah cackled. "I know Rebecca's is in April… the 27th I believe."

"Will you plan with me?" She suddenly frowned. "Oh but Beck's a girl… she'll be happy for a party…"

"Aidan's is August 5th."

"Azrael!" Aidan cried as though wounded as he turned the corner. "Don't tell her that!" He turned to Sarah. "Azrael's is March 12th."

At Sarah's grin, Azrael pouted. "Thanks Aidan." The golden haired panther gave a half shrug and swung an arm around his shoulders.

"So where is our valiant Goblin King?" Aidan asked.

"Up and about somewhere. Hotaru has been trying all morning to get him back into bed. Apparently three days in bed for a welt on his head isn't enough." Azrael and Aidan didn't laugh and she frowned. "What?"

"Are you making fun of me?"

She yelped and spun, Jareth standing there, arms crossed. "No!" she protested quickly. He glanced towards the panthers who nodded then smirked as she scowled at them. "I was telling them your mother was after you to get you to rest some more."

He made a face. "Hn… she's looking for you."

"Why?"

"Something about something." He waved a hand. "I'm far too busy to listen."

She rolled her eyes. "As you command your majesty. You two coming?"

"We'll meet up with you later," Aidan nodded. "We've gotta make our rounds."

"Kay!" She waved and hurried down the hall.

Jareth turned to them. "Well?"

Azrael ran a hand through his hair. "Three more… We've gotta stop it Jareth."

"What was it this time?"

"A Foschia," Aidan answered, Azrael hugging himself and looking sick. "We… we were a few feet away when it happened…"

Jareth winced. Incubos were by far the worst of the creatures but a Foschia, a creature of the mist, was in a close second. It swept up, using the fog to mask itself and attached itself to its victim, quickly sucking out the oxygen 

in their body and replacing it with water leaving the victims drowning on dry land, coughing up their watery blood.

"We need to think up a plan so that we can get out if we need to," Azrael said. "I can't lose any more of my people to these monsters."

Jareth nodded. "How long are you staying here?"

"We can only stay four days maximum. They'll be expecting us back by next Thursday."

"Good. I'm going to get the council here as well. We need rescue plans and escape tunnels-the works. Everything needs to be written out and ready to go at a moment's notice."

Azrael nodded. "We'll help as much as we can."

"Thanks." He motioned down the hall. "You should probably catch up with Sarah before she destroys something."

Laughing, Azrael, tugged Aidan in the direction the brunette went. Once they disappeared, Jareth sighed heavily and continued towards his den. Looks like even more paperwork…

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To all Heal Me, Hurt Me Readers and Reviewers,

Okay, you know those Listerine Minty Strip thingys? So I just randomly found a pack lying underneath a pile of junk in my room and thought, what the heck? So I'm eating them and for one, they're burning my mouth and for two, they get stuck to the roof of my mouth. So now I'm trying to get it off like a dog does to peanut butter and it's burning my mouth!! And I looked on the back of the packet and it says "Phenylketonurics: contains phenylalanine" which I assume is the ingredients … what?

If I don't post for like a year, it means the phenotonics have killed me.

Yeah. So besides murdering phenotonics, this chapter nearly killed me. I had the idea but then the idea floated off like jellyfish in the ocean and it became… this… this horrible chapter of horribleness that you all must deal with because I'm too lazy to fix it… I mean look at it! It's… blark… but Azrael's in it! (snugglez panther) He's so cute!!

And yes I know. I need to update my dA account. I shall work on that as well and hopefully will post something soon! And I've been finishing replying to everyone and was so excited because the reviews were on 7.3 or 7.8 and I was like "Yes! I got them done only a week after they were written… then realized it was August… (weeps)

Thanks for being so patient with me guys. I love you all!!

Kadasa Mori

Next Chapter Preview: Chapter 9

"So what did you get Sarah for Valentine's day?" Honou asked cheerfully.

Jareth turned to him in confusion. "Huh?"

"You did get Sarah something… right?"

"When's Valentine's day?"

Jason groaned and smacked his head against the table while Honou paled. "You're kidding…"

Jareth scratched his head. "What day is it?"

"It's the thirteenth you idiot!" Taka shouted. "Are you insane?!"

The blond fae paled then cursed darkly. Jason looked up. "Jareth. You'd better get her something. If you don't, I don't think the world shall survive much longer. We won't have to worry about monsters with Sarah about."