Her feelings for Jareth had been a surprise, to say the least.

During her stay in the Labyrinth, she had been far too preoccupied with saving Toby to contemplate the fair-haired Goblin King. To her, he had appeared as a one-dimensional character, a faceless actor meant to fulfill the role of villain. He, himself, had stated that he was meant to be merely evil and nothing else, an adversary for her to defeat.

"Everything that you wanted I have done. You asked that the child be taken - I took him. You cowered before me - I was frightening. I have reordered time, I have turned the world upside-down, and I have done it all for you!"

It was there, in his last words, that his cruel facade had slipped, his last words and only once before, at the ball. Searching for him, stealing glances at him, making her way towards him...it had all felt so dangerous, so frightening, but so exhilarating, all at once. But the moment their eyes locked, the very instant his fingers intertwined with hers, she had known, for the duration of a single dance, that he was not someone to be feared. Maybe it was his attentive gaze, maybe it was his gentle touch, but likely it didn't matter. Whatever it was, it had disappeared when she had shattered the bubble, and his last words were brushed off as simple trickery, a final challenge.

The truth hadn't hit her until after her Labyrinth friends had left. Only then, alone in her bed, had the sincerity of his offer dawned on her.

And in her mind, he transformed from a cruel manipulator to a momentary savior, a halcyon memory of sorts. And like all precious childhood memories she kept close to her heart, she forgave the darker bits in favor of savoring the sweeter moments.

By the time two years had passed, all she recalled of Jareth was the comforting warmth of his body during their dance and his last desperate offer.

Now, however - now, with her back against the Goblin King's chest, his arm still secure around her - it all came back to her. Every ounce of fear and rage rushed to the front of her mind, only strengthened by two years of suppression. For a moment shock numbed the surge of emotion, and Sarah tilted her head back to stare dumbly at the ethereal man, her astonished expression almost perfectly mirrored on his own sharp features. And then...

She punched him square in the jaw.

"Hello to you too, Sarah," he greeted, tone caught between irritation and amusement as he rubbed the forming bruise gingerly. It was gone in an instant. "How wonderful it is to see you again."

"You bastard!" Sarah spat, fists curling and uncurling with rising rage as she fought the urge to hit him again. She hardly spared a glance to her new surroundings; a throne room of sorts. "What the hell did you do with my boyfriend?"

"Yes, your...boyfriend," Jareth spat the title as if it were acid. "Lovely boy, really, to wish you away to goblins."

That stung, and Jareth smirked with malicious pleasure as Sarah deflated. "He didn't...he didn't understand what he was doing..."

Jareth lifted an inquisitive eyebrow. "He didn't heed your warnings? Didn't believe your secrets?" he asked.

Sarah refused to meet his gaze. She was falling too easily back into his familiar mind games. She had defeated him, yes, but he had always held the upper hand in their verbal battles. Each one was like a dance she didn't know the steps to, and she had to depend on Jareth to smugly lead her as she stumbled along behind him.

Dance...damn! Sarah thought as the memory clouded her mind. A flash of blue fabric, a snatch of serenade, and Sarah quickly tried to distract herself from the feelings threatening to choke her. Unfortunately, the brief recollection had extinguished all the lovely anger she had been venting, and that only left...

...fear.

"Are you...are you going to turn me into a goblin?" Sarah managed to ask, feeling shaken.

Jareth cocked his head, bemused.

"If Terry doesn't run the Labyrinth," she elaborated, biting her lip as she glanced at him from beneath her lashes. "Will I be...are you going to turn me into a goblin?"

"You don't seem to hold much faith in this boyfriend of yours," Jareth commented. Sarah glared but couldn't deny it. "But as for the question of whether or not I transform you..."

Jareth seemed to think for a long while, conjuring a crystal and juggling it easily, much as he had done so long ago in her parents' room. Even as he "hmm"-ed and "huh"-ed, Sarah knew his mind was already made up. He was simply dragging out the suspense to torment her.

She took a moment to inspect the room, staring at the bright eyes that hid just beyond the shadows, the small goblins watching their King and former runner with interest. In thirteen hours, would she also be stalking her new King from the dark corners of his castle?

Finally, Jareth gave her a toothy grin.

"That would be an awful waste, wouldn't it?"

Sarah blushed, her cheeks darkening even more at the light chuckle that followed her reaction. Nonetheless relief gripped her and with her anxiety temporarily vanquished, the events of the day hit her hard. Her fight with Terry, her return to the Labyrinth, her reunion with Jareth...she couldn't hold back the yawn that escaped her.

Jareth moved to stand beside her, placing a gloved hand on the small of her back. "Come, Sarah," he said. "I'll show you to a bed. You can rest while I give instructions to Barry."

His voice was soft, laced with the sort of delicacy one would use to coax a small child into sleeping, not a nearly grown woman. With a tired nod, Sarah let him transport her into a simple white room, containing nothing but a large bed with pearly satin sheets. Sarah crawled under the blankets, sighing contentedly as her head hit the softest pillow she'd ever felt in her seventeen years of living.

She had to admit, Jareth was a lot more agreeable when he wasn't holding her baby brother captive.

"Terry will beat the Labyrinth, you know," she declared boldly, her voice faint as sleep began to creep over her. Her eyelids slid close.

The sound of a soft chuckle and the feeling of deft fingers tucking her in.

"We'll see, Precious," Jareth's voice followed her into her dreams. "We'll see..."

Only later would it occur to Sarah that the bruise Terry had caused to form on the small of her back had disappeared the moment Jareth had brushed his palm against it.


A/N: Hope the explanation at the beginning brought Sarah out of the dreaded realm of the OOC, at least a bit.

I know it may seem long and a tad dry - usually the sort of thing I would, admittedly, skip - but such monologues are necessary when you're twisting someone else's fictional universe to fit your own fantasies.

Next is Jareth's POV. Look forward to it. Or at the very least don't dread it - there's no reason for that, silly pumpkins.

Oh, and one last thing:

The seduction of the review button controls you...you cannot deny it...you must review...ohm~