Sarah didn't know where she was or how she got there, but she did not question it. There was no memory of how she wandered into the room of darkness, the walls glowing with a warning of what was to come, if only Sarah had paid attention.

"It's okay, we'll get out of here soon," she said calmly to the little barn owl by her feet, although her heart was practically beating out of her chest.

The owl hopped next to her, carefully holding one wing close to its body. Sarah glanced down, picking the little raptor up.

"Oh no, are you injured? It's okay, I got you."

She knelt down, holding him in her lap. She gasped, the feathers, painted with the crimson of the owl's blood, staining her hands.

"Please, help him!"

"Hold him still, please, so that I can heal him."

Sarah did as told. She did not turn to see who was there to save them, focusing right on the owl, trying to soothe him as best as she could.

"Shh, I'm here. I'll take care of you."

She examined his face, the beady black eyes surrounded by soft feathers. She heard the clipping noises that seemed endless. She tried to turn her head.

"What-"

"Focus, please!" The person scolded her. "Pay attention to keeping him still so that we can finish this. If not, we could make things worse."

So intent on saving the suffering owl, Sarah held his face. Strangely, he was calmer now, as if the pain could no longer touch him. Slowly, his movements slowed, his eyes closing.

Sarah furrowed her eyebrows. Something didn't feel right. She looked to the side, seeing that they were clipping the feathers. Not just the damaged, bloody feathers, but the good feathers too.

She blinked. In the space of that blink, she grew bewildered, as if forgetting her whole purpose. She looked down on her hands, frozen as the stone mountains.

In her hands was Jareth's sleeping face, if one could call it that. Instead of hair, the perimeter of his face was surrounded by soft, white barn owl feathers. The wings were gone. The legs were gone. So was the body. All she had was his face.

"Jareth, no," she whimpered. "What happened to him?!"

"He'll be fine," the voice said, sounding proud of the work they did. "All the bad parts are cut off. He'll grow everything else back. You'll have to take care of him until then."

The voice faded into the background. Nothing mattered now. All that mattered was Jareth. All that mattered was that she wasn't going to leave him, that she would take care of him no matter what.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed, holding his face to her chest. "No, no, no..."

Something in Jareth told him that he should be mortified, that he should be in pain. Everything just felt so hazy…

"Jareth, no…"

He had a broken wing and the next moment was looking into Sarah's face. He felt no pain but could feel his body snapping all the same.

All he could do was hold onto Sarah, looking into her eyes as she whispered sweet words of comfort to him. Telling him that she was proud of how still and good he was being.

He would do his best to be quiet. Only for her was he so willing.

He blinked and was unable to open his eyes again. He could no longer feel his limbs or his body. He could only feel the wind from Sarah's breath on his feathers. His face was so unnaturally cold, as if bare from the loss of feathers.

He could hear her whimpering, and he tried to open his eyes, but it was as if someone had glued them shut.

He had to go to his Sarah, had to find her and make her feel better.

"I'm so sorry."

There was no need to be sorry. He was the one who should be sorry, unable to open his eyes to hold her as she cried. He wasn't even hurt, just immobile for some reason.

If he could just open his eyes-

Jareth pried his eyelids open, the veil of dreams lifting from his mind and body. He breathed in relief, holding his hands up to check for his fingers and his feet for his toes.

That always grounded him after a strange, out-of-body experience of a dream. This was quite odd, seeing as ever since he became the Goblin King, he was able to control his dreams to some degree. He did not always do so, but at least he had the ability to. Except for tonight, apparently.

"No, no, no…"

His ears pricked at the small, whimpering noises. He immediately turned to his left side, heartbroken at the sight of his beloved so agitated and suffering.

He had known Sarah long enough to know that if she was whimpering, it had to be something devastating.

She often expressed her emotion in very obvious ways, something he loved about her and worried about should she ever become his queen due to the harshness of faerie court.

She did not shy away from sobbing when she was feeling low or making grunting noises when she was angry or frustrated. She did not hold back with her tears. She was very open when she was happy, expressing it verbally and being physically affectionate.

He heard her whimper only once before. That was when her grandfather had passed away. She curled up into a ball as she did now, in a state of shock and confusion. She described it to him as feeling like her emotions were blocked, perhaps in order to protect herself from the full effects of helplessness and loss.

"Sarah, wake up."

He shook her carefully. There had been nights when she would reflexively fling an arm or a leg out at him, still asleep.

Once, she nearly got him in the eye. This time, however, she curled even tighter into the ball, her whimpering quieting but increasing in frequency.

Jareth would just have to risk getting smacked upside the head by her.

He picked her up easily, cradling her in his arms. Rocking her back and forth, he hoped the motion would pacify her.

"I'm here, Precious, I'm here."

He did not invade in her dreams, for that was something he only did for runners of his Labyrinth and in the most dire of circumstances outside of current runners. Even so, he never encountered a situation where he had to.

He only entered dreams with express permission of the dreamers outside of their run.

Sarah slowly opened her eyes, still whimpering, even while awake. She looked up to Jareth brushing her tears away with his fingers.

"Jareth," she breathed.

She flung her arms around him, no longer whimpering but tears still falling. Jareth felt them land on his bare shoulder as he continued to rock her.

"Bad nightmare?" he asked her gently.

"The worst," she mumbled.

"Anything I can do to make you feel better?" He brushed her hair with his fingers.

She was quiet for such a long time that he thought she forgot his question entirely.

"Tell me about what we'll do together as a couple. Some adventures we'll experience."

Ah, taking her somewhere away from this moment. He happily obliged.

"We could go to Egypt, see the wonders of the pyramids. However, I suggest we go to Hatshepsut's Temple and immerse ourselves in the hieroglyphs. We could dance in the midnight sun in Antarctica-"

"Antarctica?" she smiled, no longer crying.

"You wanted to visit every continent, did you not?"

He pulled back, happy to see her trying to smile, even though it didn't yet reach her eyes. "Perhaps play with some penguins. Then we would go north to see the auroras in Iceland."

"We could see the terracotta soldiers in China too," she added. "Swim in the Great Barrier Reef. Go hiking in Brazil."

"Don't forget the Underground," he reminded her. "We could visit caves so large, they have jungles inside of them. There are flowers that bloom every one-hundred years. We could eat peaches and swim in the rivers without a care."

"Don't forget the people, both Above and Under."

Slowly, the smile was returning to her eyes. "We can meet with the locals, true locals. Not the ones that they set up for tourists. We can see how they live and get to know them."

"We can join in on their festivals and explore delicious meals." The thought was making his stomach growl.

They continued listing so many ideas that Sarah grabbed a pen and a notebook to write them down. The pit of darkness in her heart from her dream was fading, grounded by just touching Jareth.

"I feel better. I still feel anxious from my nightmare, but it's not nearly as bad as it was before."

He placed an arm around her shoulders. "Do you want to speak about it?"

That was a phrase he had to learn from her. Jareth did not often talk about his emotions, having been raised a Prince of the High Court, grandson to the High King and even more so when he became Goblin King.

One's emotions could be used as liability.

"Maybe a little," she placed her hand on his leg. She couldn't look at him, envisioning how he had been a barn owl, and how she had been frozen, unable to help him.

"I couldn't save you."

She held her tears back. He was fine; he was here and was holding her. "I couldn't control what was happening, and you trusted me to take care of you, and instead, I let whoever it was just hurt you."

Jareth hugged her again, doing his best to reassure her. "I'm fine, Sarah. I'm here."

He was not fine. He had the same dream she did. Which would not have been a problem, except for the fact that his proverbial hands were tied in said dream.

If he was sharing a dream with her, he should have been able to stop it. The fact that it was a rather violent dream made him even more nervous.

The only time he hadn't been able to control a shared dream was when Sarah chose to break apart the dream bubble he created for her when she ran his Labyrinth.

Perhaps it was nothing. It was very possible it wasn't, for the Dreaming changed all the time. He didn't think it would do any good to make Sarah worried until there was something he knew she needed to worry about.

Soon, she went back to sleep, snuggling against him. Jareth restlessly tossed a crystal up and down in his hands, worried as to what this meant.

He forced himself to close his eyes and fall asleep, trying to seek the answers he so needed.

Relieved, Jareth found that he could at least control this dream.

He dressed in black armor, his makeup done in dark hues as he strode to the front of Dream's Castle. He technically could just "pop in", as Sarah would put it, but he didn't risk it. A king must not go through the back but must present himself as a guest to another reigning king.

"State who you are and your business," the three Gatekeepers demanded.

Jareth bowed his head in deference. Though this was not Lord Shaper himself, the Gatekeepers were his representatives and were the protectors of The Dreaming. A wyvern, griffin, and hippogriff were the right creatures to take the responsibility. He dared not cross them.

After all, even the Goblin King must bow to the Endless.

"Gatekeepers," he greeted. "I am King Jareth O'Brien of the Goblins. I am Lord Shaper's Delegator of Dreams. I stand here with my amulet given by Lord Shaper himself as a symbol of my station."

He held out his horned amulet with the infinity symbol inside. "I seek to visit his library. There is no need for me to visit Lord Shaper."

There was no need to bring up any worries to Lord Shaper. At least at this time.

The Gatekeepers allowed him through. "We welcome you, King Jareth. Stick to the path that is set for you. If you do not, we cannot guarantee your safety."

"Thank you, Gatekeepers."

As told, he stayed on the path and arrived at the library in no time.

He went to the section of Goblin Monarchs, hoping to read up on abilities and responsibilities that he had pertaining to the Dreaming. Those books held stories of the lives of previous monarchs and perhaps there were clues as to what was happening between him and Sarah.

As he thumbed through the section, he realized that something was terribly wrong. Nothing was organized as it should be. Taking a closer look, he found that the covers of the books did not match up with the contents inside, as if someone had ripped them out to Frankenstein them.

"King Jareth."

He turned to see the librarian. "Ah, Lucien. Just who I need."

He placed the book back where he had found it. He had hoped to not see anyone during his little trip, but if the books were out of order, well, what better way to find books than to talk to the librarian?

"I am looking for a few tomes to read."

Lucien wore a pained smile. "I am not able to help you at the moment, Your Majesty. I'm afraid we are a bit… occupied."

Jareth was so occupied with thinking of Sarah that he almost missed how gaunt Lucien looked. Lucien thrived on keeping busy and rarely looked so fatigued. It was concerning, to say the least.

"I suppose it has to do with the misplacement and damage of the books?" He ducked right on time as a book flew past his head, switching places with another book. "Good gods, what is happening?"

Lucien appeared a bit conflicted, then relented. "The books have been doing things on their own."

Despite the years of training to hide his emotions, Jareth couldn't hide them now.

"Pardon me?"

"They are flying out of shelves, rearranging themselves. Then they started to rip apart and join with other halves of books. It is fruitless to attempt to place them where they belong. I predict that soon, the pages themselves will rip apart and the fragments find random places to be."

"Has there been a pattern?" Jareth inquired.

This was strange indeed. In all his years as Goblin King and reading about other goblin monarchs, he had never encountered this either.

Could it be related to Sarah's dreams?

"I've tried," Lucien said with frustration. "It's a bit difficult when they constantly change. Lord Shaper has some theories."

"I wager it's useless of me to ask, but I will anyway. Is there anything I can do to assist?" Jareth tactfully probed.

Lucien sighed, gazing at Jareth regretfully. "I would like that, but you know how Lord Shaper is. He does not like anyone interfering with his realm, even though, technically, your responsibilities do include this realm. Even if he wanted you to, I'm unsure how you would be able to do so."

Jareth inclined his head. He did what he could. "Thank you, Lucien. If you believe I can be of assistance, would you pass that on to Lord Shaper? He is much more likely to listen to your counsel than mine."

"Of course. Thank you for the offer."

"If that is it, I best be on my way." Jareth made to transform into his barn owl form.

"Wait, Your Majesty," Lucien stopped him. "I would appreciate it if you did not share the troubles of the Dreaming with the rest of the faerie court. Especially-"

"My grandmother? Queen Titania will not hear of this from me, I vow to you," he promised. "She and I are not on good terms. Besides, I would be shooting myself in the foot if I were to share with the rest of the faerie court the troubles of the Dreaming."

"Shooting yourself in the foot?" Lucien stared at Jareth as if he grew two more heads. "My my, I can see how your relationship with Lady Sarah has influenced you, since you are now using human phrases."

Jareth rolled his eyes playfully. "Indeed. I've picked up some habits from her, as she has from me. Farewell, Lucien."

"Farewell, Goblin King."

Sarah woke up, disappointed at the empty space next to her. The dream she just had wasn't as bad as the previous one, it just felt strange and splintered. She had hoped to see Jareth when she woke. She understood though, he was a king with responsibilities, and he did not usually leave her unless he told her first.

She hugged his pillow, breathing in his scent. She shuffled a bit and found a note on it. Picking it up, she couldn't help but smile when she read it.

Good morning, Precious,

I regretfully had to leave you far too soon. Tearing myself away from you was quite difficult, as always. Some business came up, and I promise to make it up to you some time.

I had the most wonderful time with you last night and look forward to seeing you again soon.

In the meantime, enjoy the coffee and muffin I brought for you. As always, should you need me, I am only a wish away.

All my love,

Jareth

She exhaled in disappointment, folding the note back and placing it in a box. She found the coffee and muffin, smiling when she took a bite out of it. Blueberry from the bakery nearby, her favorite.

Maybe today would be a good day, after all, despite the nightmare she had.

Sarah's nightmare was actually based on a real nightmare I had not long before I wrote this scene. The face was my brother's. It was horrifying and I don't know why my brain makes up stuff like this. It's nice to be able to use it in a fic, helps me to ground myself about how it wasn't real lol.

I know there's a lot of Jareth doing stuff but I promise that Sarah has her own kickass storyline coming up later, lol. As always, I'm a sucker for reviews! Thank you so much!