Blasted computers and human technology! Password and account hacking is hellish without magic! How do human hackers DO this? Human news reports speak constantly of 'identity theft' and say how simple it is… if that is the case, I do believe I may need to increase security around my kingdom. If a 'hacker' can do in minutes what has taken me so many years to accomplish… well, they may yet discover how to enter the Underground on their own and wreak absolute havoc! I shall NOT have my throne usurped by that Bob Gates fellow!

But ah, at least I have finally gotten here. At last!

I do understand how this must seem to you readers. I am sure you may have thought that this was just a story by a girl who works in an office, written in her spare time, and that she forgot about the story and life went on, or that she had been all ready to update the next chapter of her story until her computer ate the chapter and she was so devastated by the loss of all the many long hours of her hard work that a rewrite was not possible. And that, though she tried many, many times to start again for the sake of her beloved characters and even more beloved fanatics, she had to wait several years until the memory of the intricate details of her lost work had faded back down into the simple outline for the chapter that she originally had planned, and she could finally rewrite the chapter anew.

If that is what you believe, well, then I cannot tell you how wrong you are.

This is real. I am real, and yes, I know it has been years, but… well, I was never one for human technology. Fanatics of this story, if you are still out there, will remember this fact. Laugh as you wish, but yes, it truly has taken me these many years to guess my Wren's password and break into her account so that I might reach out to you all and…

Hmm. Well. I thought surely she would have continued with her writings… though it seems now she has not.

My original intent was to tell you what truly happened, to tell you my side of the story, so that you would all reach out to her and explain on my behalf, but it would appear that… she has not explained the events that occurred at all. At least, not fully. It would appear she left you all as hangers on a cliff.

My dear fanatic friends, I do not know you, except perhaps for a few, but I shall call you my friends for now, seeing as how it seems I have not been alone in missing my dear Wren and deeply lamenting the loss of her tales. Friends, it is high time you all knew the events that occurred the day you were all left hanging, left wondering if you would ever hear more, if you would ever know what happened. For a great many things have happened. Terrible things for which I have nothing but endless regret.

As you all remember – or, if you do not, I am sure you can use the computer in front of you to maneuver the great international network and read of the happenings to refresh your memories – I had previously used magic to tap into Wren's writings before. And if I have done so before, why did I not do that again? Why did I not speak up sooner?

The answers is that I could not. I have committed a terrible offense, one that broke my Wren's delicate heart so fully and completely that… she said the words that banned me from her. Yes, you know them. The words. With all my magic and all my power, I cannot touch her or contact her in anyway.

But… I cannot turn my back to her memory. Not like I did in the past, to someone else. Someone who shall never be named again, thank you very much. Or, at least, who shall not be named after this account, as avoiding the name will be quite difficult and time consuming. I cannot let Wren go… at least… not until she knows the full truth. I owe her no less than that.

And so, after a brief time of wallowing in my own misery and despair, I set out to reach to her, to reach to you, fanatic readers, to plead my case and to beg forgiveness in the only way I could – as a mortal man.

But of course I am the Goblin King still. So laugh all you wish – I deserve it, for my betrayal, and so I will allow it for now – but yes, it has taken me all these years to manually obtain a dictionary and narrow down possible word and number combinations to guess her password as any other commoner.

And so I am here. I, Jareth, ruler of the Goblin Kingdom, have come to tell you what really happened, the full truth of it, and to ask you to reach out to her. I do not deserve her forgiveness; I accept that. But she must know the truth of what happened, what I discovered, and how I truly feel. What I will always feel.

I give you my confession.

Mya had that look on her face. That look of sheer smugness and joy, much akin to a goblin who has discovered the key to my personal cookie store room.

"Mya…" it would be much easier to contradict her silent accusation if there had not been redness in my own cheeks.

"I like Wren," she said simply from her seat on the plush couch in the sitting room of my personal chambers. "And from the looks of things, you like her too."

I quirked an eyebrow at her, "Your observation skills are astounding."

She giggled, her black ringlets of hair bouncing around her face. "Oh Jareth, I knew you had been spending almost all your free time with her – even rearranging time to be with her – but I didn't realize you were…" she gestured with her hands, her mouth trying to form the words.

I stopped her, "Please, Myanya…"

She tilted her head to the side and gave me another one of her looks – this instance was the 'do not lie to me' look. "I came for a visit and found you holding this woman in your arms, on your lap, and snogging her quite thoroughly. Are you going to tell me that she is not special to you?"

I sighed, leaning against a pillar in the room. "She is special to me, Mya. And we were not snogging."

"But?"

"I mentioned no butts."

It was her turn to sigh. She stood, smoothing the front of her dress and approached me, her keen eyes analyzing me. We stood there for a long time, watching each other.

"You sometimes think too deeply on matters, my friend. You always have."

I blinked. This response I was not expecting. "I think…? Well, that is certainly part of what I am required to do, is it not? I would make a poor king indeed…"

She waved a hand dismissively at me – a gesture only she, as a childhood friend, could possibly make without earning a one way trip to the – and scoffed audibly, "I was not referring to your ample abilities as king, Jareth, and you know it." She reached out a hand and tugged a strand of my hair. "Sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants. You have always overthought these things…" With a soft laugh and a gentle smile, she folded her hands in front of her. "Such as you did when you proposed to me, long ago. You still remember?"

I groaned and turned away from her, laughing a little as well, and moved to stand and look out the window. "Yes, Mya, I remember it well."

I felt her come and stand beside me, but did not turn to face her. "Why do you still scoff at it? It was sweet."

I winced, "It was foolhardy and awkward for us both."

She laughed again, "But well meant. Dyer planned on marrying me and you worried that his… then-wandering ways would crush my fragile spirit. The way his fist nearly crushed your nose when he discovered that you had offered yourself to me first."

I sniffed.

She slapped my shoulder, "Stop scoffing. It was sweet, and I was – and am – grateful to have seen your much softer side."

I finally looked at her, "Do you dare admit that you were not as appalled at my asking as I was, even as the very words were coming out of my lips?"

She paused thoughtfully, then finally gave in and winced a little at the memory, "… alright, it was rather dreadful."

"Ha!"

"But that was only because Dyer and I had been courting for many years, you were Dyer's closest and dearest friend, and you and I never had feelings for each other stronger than siblings," She punched my shoulder playfully, "My heart always belonged to Dyer, even before he knew it."

"I know. I was so afraid for you, with his wandering eye towards the female sex…" I shook my head, "I misjudged his honor, thinking he would break your heart, and thought I could intervene and spare you. It was not my place."

She sighed softly. "It was not your place, that is true… but you honestly misjudged me more than Dyer."

A frown creased my brow. How had we gotten on this subject again? I honestly preferred not to remember the awkward days between my closest friends. Still, I considered her words.

I am king and, though, perfect in many ways, I am at times slow to come to conclusions I do not like to admit. As her meaning set in, my frown deepened. "I misjudged you, but not Dyer, meaning that…" I swallowed, hard. "Mya, he was unfaithful?"

She nodded, a calm expression on her face. "Yes."

Dyer would die. I would use my own hands to remove his head.

Myanya calmly reached out and took my chin in her hands, turning me to look at her, "Do not think you are anything less than transparent with me, Jareth. You will not harm Dyer. It was years ago and there are no more lies between us. He suffered greatly for what he did. His penance has been paid, trust me."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

She pursed her lips, considering. "You have always had difficulty thinking through and understanding matters of the heart. Dyer loves me, and though it took him a while to fully understand the feelings of his heart, that love has never lessened. If anything it has grown over time, as has my love for him. For all the pain and trouble it was at the time, I do not regret his infidelity because it was a threshold he needed to cross. I would have preferred it if it could have been crossed before our marriage, but," she shrugged, "Fate is sometimes strange. Perhaps there was a lesson in the event that I needed as well."

I folded my arms, still feeling unhappiness at such news. "I still do not see how this lesson applies to me or why I needed to know this."

Lifting her palms, she stared down at them, her eyes distant. "I… fear for you, my friend. You are so hesitant to embrace your feelings for Wren..."

For as long as I have known her, Myana has been at times touched with what many attributed as precognition. Oh, she was no Oracle, but she had a sometimes frighteningly strong intuition. When she looked up at me in that moment, a great fear settled on my heart, for I could see in her eyes that something about my fate was whispering something to her soul. She understood it no better than I, but it was strong enough to have compelled her to tell me of one of the most intimate and private details about her marriage. She would not have spoken about the matter to me otherwise.

"I suppose I fear that whatever it is that holds you back could hurt you both," she shook her head, "And that would be a mistake as grave as the one my Dyer made."

"Are you saying I would be unfaithful?"

She shook her head, "No. But have you fully accepted your relationship with Wren as something to be faithful to?"

My temper flared, "I am courting her, Mya, and I would not be doing so if I had no intention of being faithful!"

"Ah, but does she know what courting means to you? What it means for Fae?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

My temper deflated under a swell of guilt. I had not spoken to her about what it meant and, though I am certainly no expert on Aboveground customs, I did know that Wren's definition of 'dating' held a distinctive difference than 'courting'. Mya was right, I was holding back.

I moved to sit and ponder on this revelation silently. Mya, sister of my heart, sat beside me and waited until she could wait no more.

"Perhaps," she ventured gently, "The first step would be to admit to yourself at last what is so plainly obvious to everyone who knows you."

"And what would that be?"

I could hear the tender smile in her voice. "That you are in love with her."

I sighed. Her words echoed through my head and, yes, my heart. I parted my lips to reply…

… And a strange shudder ran through the castle. I sat bolt upright, stunned.

Myanya grabbed my arm, startled. Of its own accord, a crystal appeared before me, hovering in front of my face. Mya gasped when she saw it. "Did you…?"

Plucking the crystal from the air, I clenched it tight. "No, I did not make the crystal."

She looked at me, worried. "And that vibration? Jareth… what is going on?"

Clenching the crystal, I pressed my lips into a firm line, trying my hardest to keep my voice calm. "A former runner of the Labyrinth has returned to my kingdom…" I unfurled my fingers, showing it to Mya. The image within revealed a woman with short black hair standing at the castle gates.

"Sarah has returned… and she is demanding my presence."

"You cannot go!" Myanya raged, throwing her hands in the air. "That woman broke you! Throw her out! I will throw her out! I will toss her out on her ear with my own two hands!"

"Please calm yourself, Mya," I pleaded, using my magic to change my clothes to more formal attire. I could feel magic of the Labyrinth pulling at my choices, requesting my blue formal wear, indicating that this is what she was hoping I would wear, but I refused and dressed myself in black. It was requesting, not demanding, and so I would keep my choice in the matter. "You know how this magic works. She is a champion of the Labyrinth. No other, besides Wren, though that is different, has ever chosen to return. No one else bothered to figure out the power they would have if they did… though, few others discovered the precise words that would earn them that right, as Sarah did…"

"She's evil!"

"Mya, please, this is not helping me…" I pinched the bridge of my nose. I did not like the matter any more than she did, but I had no other choice. "You know I have to allow her to return and give her an audience."

She whirled on me, her face pink, her hands clenched, "You know that magic is for those who have won but regret what they won, and are allowed an appeal with the King in order to try again or give up the winnings, and frankly that is for people who wished for something ridiculous, like a… a… I don't know, a pet monkey or something!"

"Yes, yes, I know… but regardless of the purpose, it is there. I do not know how she figured it out, but she is here and I have to hear her out."

"This is wrong! You cannot allow this!"

"I have no power over this!"

She glared at me, furious, though I could tell it was at the rules by which I had to abide and not at me specifically. "Jareth… have you even considered what this will do to Wren, if she realizes Sarah, THE Sarah, is here?"

I clenched my hands at this. Yes, that was the question, was it not? Wren was tenderhearted and often times insecure. I was almost positive in that moment that if Wren did come to visit and to find Sarah there, she would think the worst of it. Would I have time to explain before it broke her heart? Or would she lose her temper and storm away?

Was there a way at all to explain this? And even if there was… would it hurt her anyway?

"I will handle Sarah quickly and be done with the situation. Sooner the better." I created a crystal of my own, viewing an image in it of Wren's ring. "I will… temporarily suspend her access here, so she does not come and find Sarah…"

Myanya was shaking her head, "You invited Wren to dinner, Jareth…"

I sighed. I had forgotten that fact. "I refuse to allow Sarah to have any contact with my Wren. I cannot take the risk of Wren getting hurt…" my voice broke as I popped and dissolved the crystal. "I will send a note that dinner has been cancelled. I will go to her later, when I have a moment, and explain… as much as I can without telling her about Sarah's presence."

"Wren is a champion as well, is she not?" Mya reasoned. "Surely there is nothing that one champion could wield over another… certainly nothing that Wren could not withstand or otherwise counter."

"It is not the physical effect that worries me," I said. With another sigh, I moved to the door. "Mya, will you come with me?"

She snorted in a very un-ladylike manner. "No. I will not give that woman audience. I do not like her."

A small smile tugged at my mouth. "Are you planning to pout and stay in your room, then?"

"I do not pout," Lifting her chin, she marched up to me and tapped me square in the chest with her finger. "This is a very bad situation and I do not like it. I know you are bound as King, Jareth, but I caution you to be careful. A snake may still bite you, even if you have been kind to it, as it is in their nature. This one has already bitten you; please try not to let it happen again." She moved around me to leave my quarters, then turned back, "Also, I shall be in Wren's quarters. Not to intrude on the space you have given to her, but… I am currently your guest as well. If I am there, she cannot intrude… and I think Wren would prefer that."

I gave her a grateful smile, "Thank you, my sister."

She sniffed a little and left the room.

With a wave, I magically transported myself to the throne room to finally face my past.

I felt numb, facing her. How does anyone handle a situation like this without any sort of royal training to fall back on? In that moment, I felt like that was all I had beneath my feet. She was a guest, and that made me a host.

The woman I found standing in my throne room, already waiting for me, was not what I had been expecting, and it made me feel foolish, because of course, with the passing of the years, she would have grown and changed. I really should have expected that much.

Time had been kind to her physically, yes, but I could feel that her spirit had changed. She was thin, almost too thin, but fairly shapely. Her hair, once long, was now cut short, styled and curled. She wore a red dress, and, when I entered, she smiled and walked towards me in a manner that she clearly thought was provocative and enticing.

"Hello again, Jareth," she said, grinning delightedly, "You haven't changed one bit."

"Welcome," I said formally, "Champion of the Labyrinth. Few have become true champions and even fewer have chosen to return. As champion, you have earned the right to be a guest here…"

To my delight, she looked as bored at hearing my speech as I did at delivering it. Eventually, she cut me off with a wave of her hand, "Really? After everything we have been through, you welcome me back like this?"

I frowned, "We have been through nothing. I am the Goblin King, and you are a champion of the Labyrinth. Despite what you might think, Ms. Williams, there is nothing personal between us."

She sighed and looked around the room, folding her arms across her chest. "Perhaps not at the moment," she commented idly, as if she was speaking about the color of the walls.

I did not like her demeanor. "As King," I said, continuing my formal address to her, "I would ask your purpose in being here."

She turned to face me again, this time smiling, her eyes glittering. "I was hoping you would ask that." She clapped her hands once, an excited gesture, and slowly came to stand closer to me. Once she was within a few yards, her eyes widened a little bit. "You really haven't changed, have you? Gracious, you have no idea what a trip this is…"

"Your purpose?" I said, pressing my lips into a tight line.

She nodded, "Fair enough of a question." She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin, meeting my gaze, "Can't a girl just come back for a visit?"

I sniffed, "No."

"Aw, come on. Why not?"

I rolled my eyes, "Clearly you can, as here you are. However my meaning is that usual Labyrinth Champions learn their lesson and move forward with their own lives. They do not keep focusing on their time here, and they certainly do not return for social calls."

She tilted her head to the side and smiled, "Well, see, there are two things about that. First of all, I did go on with my own life. I worked hard at school, graduated college, married, got a job. It wasn't until years later that I realized that this place, this Labyrinth, was still very much a part of my life."

It was until this point that I maintained my aloof demeanor. Unfortunately, news that she had married visibly stunned me somewhat. "You are married?" This news pleased me in a strange way. Was it truly possible that she only did come for a social call?

She grinned a little, "I'm not now. And that is part of why I am here. I moved on, I tried to move on, but it was when I realized the Labyrinth was still very much a part of my life. I was a counselor, and the children I worked with were just like goblins. My failing marriage to a beautiful, but emotionally unavailable British man… well, that was part of the key. I didn't realize it until my Labyrinth friends pointed it out, but he was very much like you."

I blinked, startled again. "Your Labyrinth friends?"

She nodded, "Yes, that was the other part. They have always been with me. Visiting me often. Perhaps I was the first to make friends here, but… Jareth, the long and the short of it is that when my marriage failed, I finally realized that everything was pointing me back here, to this world. To you."

I looked at her sharply. "Perhaps your life is one that will always be touched by magic, but if you think that fate or whatever powers that be have pointed you to me, you are quite delusional. I currently have a relationship, not that it is any of your business."

She folded her arms, "Mm, yes, my friends told me that, too. Its big news around here, you know. The king now has a new girl in his life, emphasis on girl." Before my temper could send this woman straight to the bog, she continued, "That was the other point I wanted to make to your comments. Apparently not all Labyrinth champions move on with their lives. Some come back to visit often, running all over the Labyrinth, and even date the king."

"You will watch your tone," I said, my voice low.

She was smart enough to see the danger in my voice and took a step back as she tucked a strand of her short hair behind her ear. "That was how I knew it was possible to come back. And also how I realized that… the offer you gave me, at the very end of my run. That was real. My friends confirmed it, don't deny it."

I rolled my eyes and looked away from her. This was not going as planned.

"My point in all this Jareth is that… you and I, we each tried to move on, to replace each other, and it failed. This girl… she's a child. And I came back to finally accept my destiny. I know the rules now. I have come to stay the weekend and… to win you back."

And with that, my weekend from hell began.

Saturday had been a veritable nightmare – and being one who deals in dreams, I feel highly qualified to make that assumption.

The day had started out fine. The previous night, I had made plans to go with Wren to a concert Above. She was happy, and so was I – it gave me an official, diplomatic excuse to get away from Sarah.

But, of course, that happiness was not to be.

Myanya had insisted, upon learning of Sarah's intentions, that Sarah be placed her usual rooms. They were nicer than what Mya would have wanted her to have, but this had its advantages. First, they were the farthest away from my own, so, as Mya insisted, there would be no accidental wanderings into places where she was not welcome. Second, this put Wren's quarters, where Mya had insisted on staying, between our rooms. While I did not feel it was necessary for Mya to be my chaperone… I was sincerely grateful for her presence. Sarah's presence unnerved me in ways that I still cannot fully explain.

How does anyone explain this? I would be lying if I said there was no temptation there. Was it lust or desire? Heavens, no. It was the unknown. I believe there is a term used Aboveground in regards to what Sarah was to me: the one that got away. I neither wanted nor needed her. Wren made me happy. But there was a factor of the unknown. If Sarah had stayed, if she had taken my foolish and rash offer… would I have also been happy? I am royal, I am a sorcerer, yes, but I am no Oracle. I felt confused, uncertain, and had indigestion that easily rivaled that of Aboveground Mexican food.

I was grateful for a solid reason to keep Sarah as far from me as possible, and especially because it seemed to be the answer to my problem. She wanted to stay the weekend, and I would comply. I did not have to spend time with her during her stay. But then Saturday evening brought about a new trouble, which changed the game entirely.

Mya had been so busy in her fussing about Sarah-proofing the palace that she had neglected to inform her brother, Tillan, of her change of residence within the palace. Tillan decided to visit his sister immediately upon arrival, but did not realize that the dark-haired woman who was asleep in a dark room was not his sister, but instead an exhausted Sarah who had come down with the Aboveground/Underground travel equivalent of jet-lag. Sarah, in her magic travel-induced haze, succumbed to absolute stupidity, and mistook Tillan's blond hair as my own.

I am sure you can see how this quickly became a very bad situation very quickly. By Aboveground standards, the awkwardness of the situation was bad enough. Now add in the fact that this happened in a magical environment where there are usually goblins somewhere in the nearby vicinity, and I can assure you, it was worse.

It exploded.

… yes, I mean that literally.

I will be frank – I am not sure how it happened. I have asked Tillan many times since, and even he, who's magic had potentially sparked the actual explosion, does not fully know how it happened. Our best guess on the matter is that Sarah's amorous response reacted highly negatively with Tillan's sibling-based magic. All I can officially say on the matter is what I found when I arrived on the scene. Goblins were running everywhere, Tillan was slumped against the wall looking stunned, and Sarah was standing in the middle of the room, covered from head to toe in pink cake frosting and chicken feathers.

To say that it was chaos was an understatement. The next few hours were spent in calming goblins, fixing the damage at ground-zero, cleaning up palace guests, discovering that feathers and frosting are difficult to remove, even with magic, and reassuring poor Tillan that no, it was definitely not his sister who had accosted him.

Mya was very little help, as she could not stop laughing.

In this chaos, it became apparent that I simply could not leave the castle for the time being. Later that evening, with a heavy heart, I had to cancel my concert plans with Wren.

Sunday morning, as I sat on a stool in the palace kitchen to break my fast alone, Tillan found me. He was taking things well, considering the previous night's events, and very few things could truly dampen his cheerful demeanor, but he, like his sister, had come to the conclusion that he was very displeased by Sarah's return.

"Shall we trade?" he asked lightly. "I will eat away my sorrows and you can go talk to your ex-girlfriend."

I stiffened, "I am not 'eating away my sorrows', Tillan."

He shrugged and pulled up a stool to sit alongside me, "I never said you were, I was merely stating what I, myself, was intending to do. I was the one who had a strange woman stick her tongue down my throat and then explode into a cloud of feathers. I think I have full right to eat my weight in bacon."

"I cannot apologize to you enough, my friend," I said, shaking my head. Then gave him a sideways look, "… do you have any idea where the frosting came from?"

He reached over and plucked a piece of bacon from my plate, stuffing it in his mouth. "Not a damn clue."

I nodded once, figuring it was best not to explore that particular subject at the moment.

He chewed happily and swallowed, "Oh, I nearly forgot the whole reason I came to find you. Bacon, you know…" he stole another piece. "Clucky is looking for you."

I blinked, "You mean Sarah?"

He nodded, "I shall call her Clucky."

I just stared, waiting for an explanation. When he did not give one, I decided to leave that be as well. "What does she want?"

"Overall, I'd say to kiss you like she did me last night, but, you know, at the moment, to speak with you about last night's events." He laughed a little as he finished the rest of the bacon.

I groaned, "How can you take this with such humor?"

He frowned, "How can you not? Her whole purpose in being here is preposterous. You are with Wren, now. Honestly, Jareth, I do not understand why you do not just explain this to her and be done with it."

I frowned, thinking of how I had disappointed Wren the previous night. "It… is not so simple."

He looked at me sharply, "You cannot be… considering?" he said the word like most people speak of the Bog.

"No! No, of course not," I ran a hand through my hair, "Tillan… I do not know how to explain… this is a part of my past that was so difficult to put behind me, and now suddenly here it is again…"

He cut me off, surprising me with a suddenly steely glint in his eye, "You forget that I know this story nearly as well as you. I watched you fall to pieces and wallow in your own misery, until Wren came along. She adores you, respects you, and occasionally puts you in your place. If you had put this behind you, it would be simple." His face softened, "So do it now."

"I beg your pardon?"

Tillan stood and folded his arms, thoughtfully. "Consider Sarah, if that is what it takes. Stop avoiding her and actually look at her. Sit with her, have dinner with her, talk to her. Get your questions out. Decide if that spark that originally caught your eye is still there, if this is, as she seems to think, a grand reunion of fate, or if she grew up and changed, and the real spark is the one that you found in Wren."

I was not sure what to say, and before I could figure it out, Tillan claimed my empty plate and walked away.

"So, what brought about this change of heart?"

I looked up across the table at Sarah, trying my best to be polite. This whole situation made me feel so very uncomfortable, but, after some deep thinking, I knew Tillan had a point. This was my challenge, an uncertainty I had to face, confront, and move forward from, regardless of which direction it sent me in, and I could not do hiding from my past. So, after Tillan left me, presumably to seek out more bacon and make good on his plan to eat his own weight of it, I went to seek out Sarah and invite her to dinner.

Staring at her from across the table… I began to wish that I had both done this sooner and also not done it at all.

I gave her what she wanted. I gave her a formal, fancy dinner together. It was, after all, the least I could do after she had been frosted and feathered. We would talk and try to get to know each other, just… to see. I would be fair.

And in many ways, while I watched her sit and chat from across the table, flipping her hair this way and that, toying with her nails, I began to wish I had just opted to do this sooner. Perhaps if I had had dinner with her the very first night she came, I would have noticed just how much she annoyed me that much sooner. Things might have been, like Tillan said, quite simple. There were some things about her that were nice, sure, but I found myself noticing more and more things that were not to my liking.

Her hair, for one. Yes, I confess, I like long hair. Now you all know. Short hair is quite fine on some, but of my own personal preference, I prefer long. As I stared at Sarah's now-short coif, I found myself wondering how long Wren's might grow in a few years…

I also quickly decided that she was much too thin, and that was… surprisingly distasteful to me. This revelation was rather a surprise to me – I had never quite considered size. Oh yes, Wren had brought size prejudices to my attention right from the very beginning, and we had discussed sizes and shapes many times before, but I had not exactly thought about the topic in terms of my own preferences.

Sarah's jaw was sharp, her neck straight, and her collarbone prominent. She looked boney and hard, not soft and delicate in the least. I decided that my preference must be with softness, not size, as I simply could not imagine my Wren being so thin that she would look as hard as Sarah did. Even if she lost weight and was thin, my mental image of her reminded me more of Mya – a soft, delicate slenderness, not hard edges with protruding bones.

My mental revelations continued on silently while we spoke and chatted. The more I thought about it, the more I noticed patterns in my decisions. Was it really the hair or the size or the softness? What if Wren had short hair and was lean and hard edged?

The thought made me smile. She would, of course, be adorable.

My preferences clearly did not matter. Sarah was who she was, and that was fine… but I simply preferred Wren. My Wren. Her smile, her laugh, her sassy attitude. Her looks did not matter, it was all of her that made her who she was and made her my ultimate choice.

"Hello?" She was looking at me impatiently.

"Apologies," I said, smiling a little and shaking my head. "I was distracted. What did you ask?"

She grinned. "I asked what brought about your change of heart? You were giving me the cold-shoulder to say the least, and then next thing I know we're having dinner. What prompted the change?"

Her smile bothered me and was what made me wish I had not agreed to dinner at all. Tillan's advice had been sound, but giving Sarah what she wanted had seemed to give her the wrong idea about my intentions.

I sipped at my water glass, "You came all this way and are my guest. I should have been a better host."

She tipped her head to the side, "Is that the only reason?"

I met her gaze as I considered how to answer her. "Sarah," I sighed, "You and I have a past that is both… awkward and also… non-existent."

She blinked, "Excuse me?"

I raised an eyebrow, "You spent thirteen hours in my Labyrinth, and of that time, only a very small fraction of that was in my company at all. Be reasonable and ask yourself the question that I had to ask myself – does a few hours imply any sort of actual relationship?"

She played idly with a napkin, thinking for a moment before she spoke, "I know what you're saying. I was asking myself that same question for many years. But, I know that the offer you gave me at the end was real. If there was nothing there, why did you do that?"

It was a fair question. I did not exactly know myself – it was one of those things that I had not put much thought into. "It was a rash decision, I know. There was a spark about you that caught my attention. After monitoring you for so many hours as you went through the Labyrinth, I found myself caught up in the idea of who you would grow to become, I suppose… but the truth, you surely cannot deny it, is that we did not know each other. It was impossible. You were right to turn me down and to choose your brother. How is he, by the way?"

She frowned, looking annoyed, but forced a smile, "All grown up now, and absolutely drawn to anything that has to do with magic. He doesn't remember the Labyrinth, though."

I nodded, "They usually do not."

She sniffed a little, "But he remembers enough to have spent many years doodling goblins all over the walls of our house."

I could not help but grin.

She sighed again, looking around the dining hall in which we ate. She had asked for a small, private table to eat dinner at, and so of course I had complied – but that left a lot of room around us. There was soft music magically playing, too, also at her request.

"Dance with me?" she asked suddenly, smiling at me.

I nearly choked on my food, "Pardon?"

She stood and approached me, holding out her hands. "Oh come on, dance with me. You can't tell me you can't, I remember dancing with you before…"

I hesitated, but finally gave in with a sigh. "Alright, one dance…"

As I stood, she pulled me away from the table and before I knew it, she was cuddled against my chest, much closer than I cared to have her. "Sarah, I am growing quite weary of your insistence…"

I forcibly took her by the waist and moved her out to arm's length, yet somehow we managed to end up dancing at a compromised distance that was somewhere in the middle. She gave me a sheepish smile, "Can you blame me for trying? I really don't think you fully appreciate what all I went through to actually get here."

"I can appreciate your tenacity just fine," I said, "But this is starting to become beyond excessive. I have told you, I am courting a woman…"

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes, I know all about her."

I eyed her suspiciously, "You do?"

We stopped dancing momentarily and she looked up into my face. "I know she's barely more than a child, about the same age as my brother."

I shook my head, "She is grown. By Fae years, you are still barely more than a child."

She ignored my comment and instead reached a hand up to touch my cheek. "Jareth, can you really, truly, tell me…" her voice became soft, the false notes and pretenses falling away. For the first time, a glimmer of the Sarah I first met began to shine through. "Can you really tell me that… you don't want me?"

I swallowed, uncomfortable at her proximity and even more so at her touch. "I do not want you, Sarah. This is going too far.."

"Kiss me," she said, her voice pleading, "One kiss, please. Kiss me as you nearly did in the ballroom, just once, and then tell me that you don't want me. A real woman…"

I shook my head and started to push her away, but before I could stop her, she completely overstepped her bounds, grabbed my face with both hands, and pressed her lips to mine.

And that was it.

That kiss sealed it; put the final nail in the proverbial coffin. She did not smell right, her lips did not feel right, and I knew, with no doubts in my mind or in my heart, that no, I did not want her. She was Sarah, and I did not want her. The only kiss I wanted was Wren's.

I loved Wren.

Three seconds was what it took for me to push her away. I was stunned – no one had ever taken such bold liberties with me (Wren being the exception), and the whole absurdity of the situation just seemed to crash in on me. She wanted me back? How was it even possible to get me 'back', if I had never been hers? How foolish had I been to let it get this far?

The final nail. Three seconds of an unwanted kiss… and I realized the coffin was my own.

I pushed Sarah back and as I inhaled a breath to say the words that would put an end to this nonsense, a small, pitiful, strangled sob brought me up short. Just a small sound, but a sound I knew. It sent chills down my spine and settled ice in my stomach.

I turned and there, in the entrance to the dining hall, her face frozen with horror, stood Wren.

There was nothing but silence. I could not speak – I was suddenly under the crushing weight of guilt, humiliation and grief, and I could feel it splintering and cracking my heart. I did not know how long she had stood there, what she had heard, or what she had seen, but her face was enough to tell me that she had seen enough to hurt her deeply.

She was staring at me, her round blue eyes now overflowing with tears that spilled down her cheeks rapidly. She could not move, but little sobs were hiccupping her chest. She did not move until her eyes finally flickered over and landed on Sarah, and then she found her voice, her fists balling and her face going red.

"T.J.," she spat. "Tobias Jerome Williams… Toby Williams! T.J. is your brother! You USED me! You used us both to get to him!"

Her words confused me at first. I glanced at Sarah, and, with a start, realized that Wren was speaking to her and not me. Sarah stood there, her arms folded across her chest. She looked guilty, but held her chin up, defiant. Guilty, but not sorry.

"Hello Wren," she said simply.

Wren staggered forward. "My class… the tickets... all for this. You even… you even hid your name, so I wouldn't know… Sarah Flemming! T.J. told me… " Her eyes turned to me again. She doubled over, her balled hands pressing to her chest. I thought perhaps she was going to be sick, but instead her face scrunched up and she sobbed, her mouth open in a silent scream. She was in pain, and I could feel it – her heart was breaking.

I ran forward, desperate to say something, desperate to hold her, but as I got close, she swatted me away. "How could you?" she cried at me. "How could you?"

I finally found my voice, but as I tried to speak and reached for her again, she swatted my hands away again. "Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" She turned and ran from the room.

"Wren!" I yelled, chasing after her. "Wren, please! Let me explain!"

"Go away!" she sobbed, her voice shrill, "Go b-back to your precious S-Sarah!"

I chased her nearly half way through the castle before she slumped against a wall, crying too hard to run anymore.

"Please," I begged, touching her shoulders, "Wren, please let me explain…"

She turned and physically shoved me away, "Don't touch me! You were kissing, I saw it! S-she came to spend the weekend with you, and you… you…"she covered her face with her hands, "… you chose her over me…"

"No…" I could feel my own eyes beginning to burn with tears, "Wren… you do not understand…"

She stood upright suddenly, looking a bit frantic. She grabbed her ring, her breath coming rapidly, and yanked it off her finger. "I don't want to hear it! I… I c-can't!"

The chill feeling spread through me again. It was ominous and made me, yes even the Goblin King, quite terrified. "Wren… do not do anything rash… I beg of you…"

Anger hardened her eyes as she looked up at me. "Don't tell me what to do! You…" she looked almost dizzy as her words invoked the strong, ancient magic. The same magic that would supply a desperate mother or sibling with the words that could wish someone away, that could call me to the Aboveground… and that could banish me from her life entirely.

"Wren…" I desperately tried to grab her, but it was too late.

Her fingers counted the crystals on the ring she held in her hand, and with a tiny, final sob, she whispered, "… you have no power over me."

Finished counting the crystals, magic swirled around her and she vanished. Her ring, which had not been on her finger, but in her hand, clattered lightly to the floor.

My knees buckled and I fell, dropping to the ground. Those words, said with such intent, were potent. Even one with no magic had the potential to invoke the banishment of my magic. For the moment, I could do nothing and, without her specifically revoking the words, I would be magically banned from her. My Wren…

I fell to my hands and knees, caring not that such actions are unbefitting royalty, and wept.

Mya and Tillan found me in my grief stricken state, Sarah in tow. In the time since then, I have come to have pity for her, but in that hideous moment, Tillan was landed with the assignment of restraining me as Mya sent the sad, mortal woman home. I learned later that Mya had calmly explained to her that while she did technically retain rights to return Underground that, other than visiting her friends, it was in her best interest if she did not make regular trips to the Goblin Kingdom or the Labyrinth, or she would most likely be charged with high treason, stripped of her rights, and dunked in the Bog.

I know that my friends feared the worst for me, and with good reason. I did spend several months wallowing in self-loathing and grief. Then after a few months, I allowed my grief to settle into resolve. With help from my dear friends, we located and studied the ancient binding magic. All my uncertainty was gone – I knew my heart, knew my heart would not be changing, and knew that I had to find a way around my new… restrictions. I would not – could not – accept her refusal until she knew the whole story.

Eventually, an answer came: the words that banned me only did so magically. I could not use magic to contact Wren in any way – this included going Aboveground to see her. I was allowed to go Above if my business called for it, but if that business was to find her and speak to her, it could not be so. Even email, as internet service does not reach my kingdom without magical assistance, was not allowed. Unless she herself was to seek it out, any and all Underground magic would be withheld from her presence.

And so now we come full circle. You know the events that led us here – I have given you all the confession of my foolishness, you know the price I have paid, and you know the time and effort I have devoted in order to get her back.

And so I shall leave you now with my final plea. Speak to her, let her know. I am unworthy, but please be my voice.

Humble regards and gratitude,

Jareth