The small group of Jareth, Sarah and Sir Didymus arrived at a wall. It was tall and extended so long that the end of it couldn't be made out, covered in climbing roses, a large wooden door stood in front of them.

Sarah glanced at Jareth. He didn't acknowledge her look, and moved towards the door.

"What is this?" Sarah asked.

"You'll see," Jareth said as he opened the door and stepped through the doorway.

Sarah looked at Sir Didymus and walked through the doorway with him. They found themselves in a huge garden. It was filled with all sorts of exotic and beautiful plants, and paved with a stone path. Off in the distance they could see a river which seemed to run through the whole garden.

Sarah looked around in awe. "Do you like it?" Jareth asked her.

"This is what you are giving me?" she asked her voice quiet.

"Almost, there is one more thing," Jareth said pulling out a crystal and offering it to her.

Sarah didn't move to take the crystal. She had a great deal of distrust for them. "It's perfectly safe, Sarah, take it," Jareth encouraged her.

Sarah bit her lip and picked up the crystal. Upon her touching it, the crystal melted and disappeared, appearing to dissolve into her body. "What!" she cried in alarm.

"Don't be frightened," Jareth said soothingly. "It has merely become part of you. You see that crystal has given you power over this garden, similar to the power I hold over the labyrinth. You may change and shape it however you like. You can keep host here, and if you so desire it, I cannot set foot in your, well, kingdom,"

Sarah didn't say anything but stood and changed the color of various plants, testing the power she held.

"What a beautiful gift, Your Majesty! I'm sure My Lady is very grateful," Sir Didymus said with much enthusiasm.



"Do you like it?" Jareth asked as Sarah had not said one thing since she learned what her whole gift was.

"Yes," Sarah said softly.

"It isn't quite as large as it looks, and it certainly is much smaller than my own kingdom, it actually wouldn't qualify as a kingdom in itself. But, you have total control over the land within these walls," Jareth said gesturing at the garden in front of them.

"Why?" Sarah said turning to look at him. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"Why do you think Sarah?" Jareth answered Sarah's question with a question.

Sir Didymus seemed to sense that he wasn't needed any longer, or perhaps he had something to do, either way he spoke up saying, "My Lady, if you do not require me any longer, I think I shall leave,"

"Yes, thank you Sir Didymus," Sarah said turning from Jareth and Sir Didymus and making her way down the path to the river.

Sir Didymus bowed to Sarah's back and to Jareth and left the garden. After he had left, Jareth followed Sarah. They both walked in silence. When they reached the river Sarah looked towards a small boat that was waiting in the water, "Do you have any power here?" she asked casually.

"No," Jareth answered. "In these walls I am powerless; the crystal I gave you was all the power I held within these walls,"

Sarah turned and faced him. "You never answered my question, why are you giving me all of this?"

"Because Sarah, I want to show you that I am not as bad as you think," Jareth closed the distance between them and lightly put his hands on her upper arms. "I wanted you to know that I care for you,"

Sarah didn't move out of his light embrace. "I'm not a young girl full of dreams and fantasies of what the world could be like. I never did trust you when you offered me gifts before, if you remember, I don't know why you think it should be any different, especially now that I'm much older. I don't care for you like you want me to," she said softly.



"You will," Jareth said confidently leaning in to kiss her.

Sarah began to move backwards to evade his kiss. Jareth stopped his advancement but stayed leaning towards her. Sarah looked away from him, and bit her lip in quiet contemplation. Jareth straightened up and watched Sarah, cursing himself for trying to move things too fast and hoping that he hadn't just ruined his chances with her by being reckless.

An awkward silence fell over the pair. "Perhaps," Jareth said slowly trying to break the tension, "I could show you how to use the magic? It can be trickier than it seems. I could also instruct you as to how to use it without draining your energy too much,"

Sarah turned to him "Okay," she said simply as she walked over the small boat sitting in the river and got inside. Jareth followed suit and they floated down the river.

"I suppose I should start with some basics," Jareth said pensively.

"Like what?" Sarah asked as she looked out across the water, noticing that the boat was approaching an island in the river that made her think of a big hill, rather than an island.

"Moving things would be a good start," Jareth said grabbing the paddles that were inside the boat and beginning to row the last distance between them and the island.

"How long will this take? I had thought to explore here before it got dark," Sarah asked looking up at the sky for signs of it getting dark.

Jareth laughed "Oh, Sarah, it will take much longer than a day to teach you everything you need to know. But I will stop my lessons early enough today for you to explore my gift," his shoulders began to hurt from the rowing, while he was in good physical shape he usually relied on his magic to perform such tasks for him. It had been a long time since he had done anything like rowing. But he squared his jaw and muddled through, not wanting to show any signs of weakness to Sarah.

The boat eased gently next to the dock attached to the island. Jareth and Sarah exited the boat and tied the boat up to the dock. They then began to walk up the stone steps in front of them. The steps wound around the island, stopping at the top.

Note: Sorry for taking so long with this chapter. It was so hard to write for some reason. Also, it is a bit short, but that's because I want to at this point cut to Sarah's point of view and it would work better for me if I did that in another chapter. Hopefully this one will be an easy write. Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and story alerts. It is very encouraging and I thank you for even bothering to read my story, let alone like it.