SHE'S ALLLIIIIIVVEEE!

Yes, that's right, you heard correctly, folks! I'm back and ready for business! You thought I gave up, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU!? But alas! My will is as strong and my kingdom as great!

But seriously... I am terribly, utterly, sorry. All I can say is that the first semester of college was a lot more hectic than I thought it would be. I joined clubs, got two jobs, had a full class schedule... and also experienced the beginning and end of my first relationship! Ha! So... that was fun. Perhaps now I'll be able to write steamy scenes with a bit more accuracy, no? ;)

As for this chapter, I have a feeling its probably extremely under-whelming given the 5 month waiting period... *cough cough*. I'm sorry! But this whole affair has taught me that I need to stop saying "I'll write when I have time". Because I never have time. Ever. So I'm just gonna write when I damn well feel like it!

Please feel free to berate me all you like, though. Actually, I think I waited so long with this update that all of my old faithful reviewers probably won't even bother... but hopefully I drag in a new set of reviewers to tag along with this adventure! I look forward to meeting (and hopefully reuniting with) all of you!

With that said, I believe you've waited long enough.

**The song inspiration for a scene in this chapter was "Puppeteer" by MAX, submitted by Shiro Anubis**

***Quote submitted by labyrinthlover30**

Chapter Six - No Place Like Home

"I don't know where I'm going, but I'm going. Are you coming with me?" - Unknown

oOo

Hour Number Seven - Continued

Sarah stirred the ladle in her hastily heated Progresso stew, mouth watering and mind whirring. The Goblin King was sitting, frozen as ever within the time trap of his own spell, in her living room with a stomach that sounded like a beast. Her own stomach whined contemptuously, having only been fed with an orange from breakfast and junk food from studying.

She snickered to herself, imagining his glare when he saw her eating - even if it was just re-heated soup.

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you want some?" she rehearsed, cloyingly innocent. "No? Ah, well, more for me then!"

If someone asked her why she was so giddy about having a one-up on His Highness of High Horses, she was not sure she could have given a coherent answer. He was just always so poised and polished, always one step ahead - barring, perhaps, the thirteenth hour on that fateful night so many years ago. In any other situation, it seemed as though he always held all the cards. In the Labyrinth, he had been magical and devious where she had been clumsy and dependent upon friends. He was ethereal and graceful where she was ordinary and human. He was commanding and devil-may-care while she worried life to bits and then analyzed the pieces. Even with their deal - even though she had been the one to propose it - he was sultry and satisfying where she was raw and clawing.

If she could make him a little uncomfortable by having some stew, then she was damn well going to enjoy it. Maybe she'd kill two birds with one stone and use that 'Sexy Spoon Licking' technique that Amanda had showed her once. After all, who said that hunger only came from the stomach?

Grinning like the Cheshire cat, Sarah poured a bowl of soup for herself, holding it carefully between both hands as she made her way to her futon seat. She briefly considered grabbing a fresh peach from the refrigerator for symbolic reasons, but decided against it lest she spill her soup all over herself.

Walking carefully, she tried to be as silent as possible, hoping to work in a scare factor as well. The Goblin King was in the same position as always, of course. It put a slight damper on her mischievous planning when she realized that she would not be able to see him jump even if she did scare him. She pouted - what a pity.

As if he could sense her - or, perhaps, smell her food - his stomach let loose another animalistic roar just as she was behind him. Startled, she stopped. In that moment, she forgot about her plan and her own hunger. Sarah felt the warmth in her hands, the scent of her meal, and… the frustration in the air. Something had changed.

This is wrong, a voice in her mind piped up.

Sarah hesitated, feeling as though a spell had been broken. But what was so wrong? It was just harmless pranking, wasn't it? What was there to get worked up about?

Shaking her head at herself, she took another step, but stopped when an echoing groan sounded from the Goblin King. He still couldn't see her, she knew, which made his sound all the more piercing. She had the feeling that he would not dare make such a sound in her presence - it sounded too much like he was suffering.

He's actually in pain, she realized with a start. She looked down at the steaming bowl in her hands. Where only minutes ago it had made her mouth water, now she could hardly swallow for the dryness of her throat. And I was going to taunt him with that?

Without another thought, she quickly pivoted and retreated to the kitchen area. Shakily, she set her bowl down on the counter and stared at it as though it was a poisoned apple. She frowned, suddenly conflicted and not quite knowing the reason why. Desperately, as if seeking approval - from whom, she did not know - she tried to see her prank in the carefree light that she had imagined it just minutes ago.

It was futile. Now it seemed more like she had been planning to eat fresh steak in front of a starved, chained dog. She felt disgust rise in the back of her throat like bile.

I don't want to be like that. No one should. All of her reasoning from just moments before seemed dashed to pieces. She thought that she could taunt someone with hunger because she felt… what? Inferior? Threatened? Sarah grimaced, hands gripping her kitchen counter painfully. She sounded like a villain in a children's story. That's not who I am.

Taking a deep breath, she made quick work of dumping the remaining soup into a Tupperware container. She paused when she reached her bowl, but found that she no longer had an appetite. Even the idea of eating now made her feel ashamed of herself. Wordlessly, she emptied it into another container and stored them both in her refrigerator. She took her time washing her dishes as well, trying to stave off the feeling of guilt, suddenly dreading being within the Goblin King's gaze once more.

You have nothing to be guilty about, technically, she reminded herself. You turned back before you really did anything!

Then why did she still feel the cowardly urge to run and hide in the safety of her bedroom?

You're being ridiculous, she scolded herself as she laid out the last of the dishes to dry. With a pang, she remembered Jareth's barb the other night.

Childish...

She grimaced, feeling the prick of the accusation ever more sharply. Yet, nothing would be more childish than suddenly retreating to her room and hiding from her own conscience.

With false bravado, she propelled herself into the living room to stand before the Goblin King, looking much more commanding than she felt.

"Okay, so here's the deal - "

She was immediately interrupted by a slightly less thunderous rumbling sound emanating from Jareth. His eyes said that he was less than pleased.

Feeling her confident front waver, Sarah bit her lip. When her unsure gaze met his steadfastly perturbed one, it was all over. With a frustrated sigh, Sarah threw up her hands and cracked.

"Don't look at me like that! I really can't do anything about it, and you know it! Your mouth is closed. And even if it wasn't closed, I'd have to feed you something you didn't have to chew, and even then we're not sure if your esophagus would work correctly, and you could choke and die, and then where would we be?" She was exasperated and babbling, and she knew it. Despite the truth in her words, she found that she could not meet his eyes. She forced herself to anyway, finding that her jaw set on its own in defense against his accusing glare. Crossing her arms, she resurrected her facade. "Besides, this was your mistake in the first place. I certainly didn't ask you to come make yourself at home in my favorite love-seat before I broke the Time Crystal, now did I?"

When her answer went unanswered in the silence, she huffed. "Exactly. So you can take your -" she gestured wildly at him, "- psycho voodoo eyes and glare at something else. In the meantime, I have some studying to do."

Not five seconds later, barely even giving Sarah enough time to dramatically flop on her futon, the crystal shattered into the next hour. Feeling a cold wave of shock wash over her, she realized that the entire last hour had been practically wasted. Her head hit the back of her cushion, eyes closed, willing the tension to seep out of her neck and shoulders. She filled her lungs with air deeply and slowly, attempting to remember the advice from all of those yoga classes from freshman year.

The chiming ended. Silence, if not tranquility, reigned once more. Sarah's lungs deflated until there was nothing left. She opened her eyes, picked up the last book on her list - Jareth's overview of the Fae Court - and began to read.

Hour Number Eight

About thirty minutes into reading the amalgamation of Fae Courtiers, Sarah was beginning to realize how fruitless it was to try and keep them all straight in her head.

With a groan and a sigh, she set the book down on the table, trying to focus on dispelling her early headache. Leaning her elbows forward on her knees, she rubbed at her temples.

"This," she said to herself, "is ridiculous. I feel like I'm cramming for midterms, or something - only that I've missed most of the semester of classes and I'm trying to learn it all in one day!" She threw up her arms in disbelief, flopping back on her futon to stare at the Goblin King in bafflement. "There are so many. Do I really need to know all of these?"

The cutting look from Jareth was probably a 'yes'. Sarah huffed.

"Well, do you know all of these?"

He rolled his eyes and stared ahead of him, as if not even deigning to acknowledge the question with an answer. Get back to your reading, silly Sarah.

She pursed her lips. "Hmph. Easy for you to say."

What she had not realized was that the Fae Court was divided into several small sub-kingdoms - almost like clans - that were further ranked by what ring they were in. Then there were those who intermarried between rings and clans, and whose children had married as well, and it resulted in a tangled knot of kinship that she was powerless to unravel.

I want to just tear these pages out! she thought in frustration. Maybe then it'd be easier to see, at least.

Just tear them out...

Struck by sudden inspiration, Sarah sat bolt upright. Quickly, so as not to lose what little steam she had left, she ran back to her room and began rummaging.

"Ha!" she exclaimed triumphantly, feeling significantly more optimistic. If she noticed Jareth's inquisitive stare as she hurried back to her seat, she made no note of it. One of the projects in an old anthropology class - an elective she had taken out of curiosity - had been to construct a kinship map or family tree. The only mediums that they were allowed to use were note cards with brief profiles, tied together with color-coded string to create a web. Sarah had been surprised as how fun it had been, and how much she had learned - it was like constructing chemical equations with people. This family and that family are the reactants to produce a whole new generation, bonded together now by a simple marriage or two.

She just hoped that it would help her again.

Spreading her materials, she quickly took inventory. She had about one hundred note cards left over, yarn the colors of black, red, and white, and a box of thumbtacks that might come in handy. With an uneasy glance at Jareth's book, she confirmed the suspicion that one hundred would hardly be enough… but it was a start. Thinking carefully, she grabbed the text and flipped to the oldest personage that she could find, and began to work from there.

When the crystal shattered into the ninth hour roughly thirty minutes later, Jareth was too absorbed in watching Sarah's new project to even think about hunger anymore. For the last half hour, she had been hard at work turning the blank wall of her apartment into a map - maybe 'web' was a better word? - of family and relations that he had known his whole life. She had ended up grabbing a chair from her kitchenette in order to use as much room as she possibly could, from top to bottom. Every time she posted a new one, she would read his little booklet - highly condensed, of course, to only the most important circles, whose toes she had to avoid stepping on - she would mutter to herself, scribble a few things on the card, and tack it on the wall before moving on. She was truly immersed and focused, and he was surprised to see the circles of the Fae Court already expressed so clearly on her wall. He never would have thought of viewing them that way, but there they were all the same.

As the nine reverberations made themselves heard, Sarah took a breath and stood back to survey her work. Jareth thought that she looked very pleased with herself. In all honesty, it was a refreshing change from the previously sullen, cooped-up air about her when she was reading nonstop. She took a brief break to tear up more paper, presumably for use in her project.

Just as she wiped at her forehead and seemed to be about to get back to work, she paused and cocked her head at her web. With a beguiled little crease between her brows, she stepped forward and touched a single notecard. She muttered something outside of Jareth's hearing, but turned back to the book and flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for.

"Liadin." Her mouth formed the syllables based off of the phonetic break-down beside the name: lee-din. "Daughter of the King of Shadows. How odd…" Looking between the book and the wall, she stepped back again, tracing the family lines with her finger. "Out of all the old clans with a single child, she's the only one who hasn't married."

She looked back at the book. "She's beautiful… and rather scary. It says here that 'among all the Fae in the Outer Circle, she and her father have the strongest prejudice against humans and adhere strongly to the traditional ideology of humans as inferior beings'." She seemed to shiver. "Guess I'll just being staying away from her, then, won't I?"

If all goes well, my dear.

But Sarah, of course, could not hear him, and was instead studying the wall once again.

"But really, she's not all that different from the others. Just about every single family has at least one human slave per household, if the history book is correct. Even if it wasn't, your overview paints half-bloods and kidnapped human spouses as outcasts or worse." She turned to him with her hands on her hips. "How exactly do you think this is going to work?"

When he just stared at her, she huffed again. "Of course. You can't answer me. How convenient, right?" Her mouth quirked and she shook her head. Jareth's attention was instantly diverted to her lips, and his desire to be unfrozen suddenly intensified. Seeing the same smirk he often wore draping itself across her mouth was surprisingly alluring. "I guess you're kind of useless to me until you can answer my questions, huh?"

Jareth definitely would have taken offense to that, if he had been paying attention.

Sarah breathed noisily through her teeth and returned her attention to her book and wall, ultimately turning her back on him. Jareth was most certainly not disappointed.

"Well… back to work, then."

Hour Number Nine

Another forty-five minutes later showed Sarah's apartment wall to be completely taken over with a mess of note cards, scraps of torn paper, and strings of different colors. One of the family trees had spilled onto the floor, and she was currently going through the painstaking process of moving one around to make room. She had to move her chair multiple times and nearly fell more than once. Sometimes she would step back to see how it was looking, only to curse when she realized that it all needed to be shifted over just a smidge that way, or the whole thing wouldn't work. Once, when she tugged too hard on a car, the string came loose from it, making the entire string-and-note-card web to come fluttering to the floor, tangling itself. It had taken her ten minutes just to make a new card and get the web to working condition.

The final straw, however, came when her thumb-tacking got just a touch too frustrated. One moment, she was jabbing one faded note card next to another, muttering under her breath, and the next, she had a tack sticking halfway through the flesh of her thumb. She yelped, and truly would have fallen backwards if she had been standing on her chair.

Involuntary tears burned her eyes at the same time that bright red blood began to swell from the small wound. Immediately, she stuck it in her mouth, trying to lav away the coppery taste. She sniffed. It was definitely deeper than she had thought it was.

Well, at least the tacks aren't rusty. Heaven knows that I need to go in and pay for a tetanus shot like a hole in the head.

Sarah turned to go get her first aid kit, but stopped when she noticed the Goblin King's eyes. They seemed to be crossed between laughing at her, and showing concern.

Oh, precious thing, they said. Did the nasty, mean, evil drawing pin bite you?

"Put a sock in it, Goblin King," she mumbled around her thumb.

She went into her bathroom and found a Hello Kitty Band-Aid (compliments of Toby - "Because you're a girl!"), and dressed her battle wound. It throbbed unpleasantly, and she could already see a little red dot forming on Hello Kitty's cheek, but she supposed that it would have to do.

Returning to her wall, she ignored the Goblin King's gaze at her back, and took care to not lose her temper with the thumbtacks. The crystal cracked into the next hour.

Hour Number Ten

Nevertheless, it had been worth it, she thought - although it looked more than a little chaotic, it had been tremendously helpful and, if she squinted, she could see a pattern throughout the different families. She had one final note card left over, complete with name and little else.

Looking at it with resignation, she tried to tell herself not to be surprised. In her defense, she would have tacked it with the others long ago, but it said nothing of the Fae's parentage, spouse, or offspring.

All it said was Jareth the Goblin King.

Sarah turned abruptly and waved the book turned to the offending page in its namesake's direction. "What exactly is this about, hmm? What, did you just pop into existence, tight pants and all, to rule over some labyrinthine kingdom?"

When he pointedly looked at the ceiling, she huffed and stomped her way over to him like a petulant child. Feeling quite at her wit's end at being so close to finishing her project and denied the last hurrah, her hands closed in on either side of his face, surprising her prey enough to get him to look at her. She could feel a muscle in her cheek twitch.

"I have been working on this for hours, Goblin King," she muttered threateningly. "Hours. I am doing this all so that I might understand your world better, at your request, so that I might not make a fool of myself at this damn ball that you signed me up for."

Slowly, she brought her face closer to his, never breaking eye contact, fighting the urge to snarl in frustration. "So why," she ground out, "must you make everything so difficult."

The Goblin King's eyes had widened slightly, much to Sarah's pleasure. She was just about to call it a victory when she noticed his eyes dilate slightly and flick down to her lips, which just happened to be in an angry pout. That was when she realized that this was the first time that their faces had been so close since he got here. She could map out the exotic space pattern in his irises - the cold blue that spoke of winds rising goose flesh on her arms, and the molten golden-brown that spoke of lava at her core.

Sarah might not have even realized that she was slowly being hypnotized if one small detail about his eyes had not cut into her consciousness: the longer she lingered, the more his eyes shone as though they belonged to the cat who ate the canary - the more he looked like he was gloating.

With a quick inward breath, she straightened, as though the air in her lungs was also blowing her face away from his. When the breath subsequently left her in a heavy sigh, she put her hands on her hips and tossed the thoroughly read overview onto its author's lap.

"Well, that's quite enough of that, I think," she stated briskly. Whether by 'that' she meant 'studying' or 'staring far too deep into the Goblin King's eyes for my own good', even she didn't know. "Time for a study break, if I don't say so myself." It was probably long past time for a study break, actually. Her eyes stung and her head felt numbed with information. She would have to find a way to make a study guide later… after a good nap. But first, she had one last task to check off of her wishlist for this enchanted day.

The triumphant look in his eyes faded cautiously into a more wary one. Sarah smiled innocently and went off to find what she had in mind, grabbing her laptop along the way.

Hour Number Twelve

The next thing the Goblin King knew, Sarah was wedging herself between him and the arm of the love-seat, balancing her foldable piece of technology between them. She brought a blanket with her, and proceeded to make herself quite comfortable. His only wish was that he could at least turn his head so that he could glare effectively.

What game are you playing at now, woman?

"Oh, this? This isn't much… just a chick flick to unwind. You don't mind, do you, Jareth?"

Jareth would have blinked in surprise if he could, and not for the first time that day. How she managed to respond to his thoughts with such accuracy was beyond him.

But that was not what was important right now. What was important was what exactly a chick flick was, and what form of torture it would become.

After clicking a few buttons here and there on her contraption, followed by some odd whirring noises from the machine, light and sound blossomed on the screen. Sarah removed her hands from the typing area and began to simply watch. With a distinct lack of options, the Goblin King hesitantly followed suit.

The background image looked vaguely blue and sparkling, with music playing that was definitely not from this era. Words - primarily names and their titles - phased in and out, written in pink. Finally, a title appeared that was not a name, and was in the center of the screen, written more largely than any of it predecessors. Jareth deducted that this made it important. It read simply:

13 Going on 30

Fifty seven minutes later, Sarah was snoozing softly in the crook of Jareth's neck, but his eyes were riveted to the "chick flick".

He was absolutely fascinated. The screen told a story of magic that only the most talented of his people had been able to master beyond illusion - age travel. Although, it was rather flawed, in his opinion… a human skipping from age thirteen to age thirty with no memories of the lapsing time? The idea was just silly and impractical - what was the point of age travel in that case? Still, the story itself showed him a side of humanity that he was rather familiar with - simply with brighter colors and rather staged circumstances and performances. The cruelty of human youth was one of the main driving factors of his kingdom's business and, as it just so happened, of this story's plot.

Yet, this displayed not just the manipulative ways of youth, but those of the 'matured' as well. Jareth felt himself drawn into the story despite its lack of sense and general ridiculousness. Without warning, he found himself very much attached to the fate of Jenna, the main character, especially at the current moment in the bard. She was realizing that the life she so wished for was not everything that she had hoped, and she was beginning to understand the price she had paid to be so swindled. His heart ached in solemn empathy. No one knew better than he that wishes could be dangerous, heartless things.

Just as poor Jenna seemed at the very lowest she could get and he anxiously awaited the turn of the plot, a terrible, awful, horrific thing happened. The Time Crystal shattered out of its spell.

The machine's screen fuzzed and blipped into blackness, a side effect as waves of magic flowed through the air like ripples. The moment the first wave hit him, his muscles abruptly relaxed as though he was being transformed from automaton to human. Immediately, he unfolded his legs and was about to stretch himself when a sleepy noise to his right reminded him that he had become Sarah's pillow. Uncertainly, he paused, instinctively not wanting to disturb her rest, but torn by the urge to obey his body's needs and maybe wreak some revenge.

He never needed to make the choice. As he craned to view her face - cracking his stiffened neck in the process - he saw that she was already awakening. Her eyes did not find his, however, or not right away. She was transfixed by the pulses of magic emanating throughout the room as their time bubble reordered itself. The chimes continued counting up to thirteen, and the sun in the sky reversed its pattern outside the window. As all the other times that Sarah had been in contact with magic, her face was a tapestry of awe. The green of her eyes reflected the golden waves threading themselves throughout her living room, with the western sunrise fading fast in the distance. Mouth slightly agape, her lips turned blissfully upwards as she closed her eyes and seemed to listen - the more the crystal chimed, the stronger the magic's song became. Jareth found himself in marvel as well, but not of the magic that he was sure he took for granted. Rather, he was astounded still that this seemingly ordinary human woman could be so in tune with his world, and could be so breathtaking in her rapture of it. Of a will not his own, his hand rose so that his thumb could graze her jawline, as though tentatively touching a piece of art. Some kind of spell was weaving itself around him, and he could not find it within himself to care one whit.

Her eyes reopened in a way that reminded him of clouds parting to reveal the sun. The magic in the air seemed to have descended in a residual haze, because even as one spell unwound itself, another breathed itself into her irises. More emerald and clear than he could remember ever seeing them, Jareth could bring himself to belief for a brief second that perhaps she did have some Fae blood within her.

Then the gold faded with the last chime of the crystal - the sun was in the same position it had been when Sarah had begun the spell, and everything was as it should have been. Her eyes still managed to make him feel as though it would be to miss something spectacular if he looked away.

After a moment, she began smiling slowly - the Goblin King would almost call it 'bashful', if he believed that Sarah Williams had ever been bashful a single day in her life.

"Hi," she murmured. He arched an eyebrow in response. In truth, he could not seem to find his voice. It didn't seem to matter - her grin simply grew more mischievous. "So… how'd you like the movie?"

The what? Jareth blinked, taken aback by the odd question… and by the fact that she had not realized just how completely he had been under her spell. Close call, that.

Then he fully realized what she had just asked, and what it meant.

"Jenna!" His eyes widened. Looking around, he saw that the machine Sarah had used had toppled to the floor at some point, muffled and cushioned by a stray pillow from Sarah's nest. Jareth lunged for it, turning it this way and that, despite the screen's determination to stay dark. With wild eyes, he turned to Sarah. "What happens? In the story, how does it end? Does Jenna begin a new life with Matt, the honest human friend? Does she succumb to her life after her ill-fated wish? Does her annoying blond friend get her comeuppance?"

To his chagrin, Sarah only stared at him with what seemed to be shock. In a moment, she had bubbled into incredulous laughter, even as he grasped at her shoulders.

"What is it, woman? What?"

"You - I can't believe that you're - " Sarah wheezed. Rather uselessly, she attempted to pat him on the chest in consolation. Clearing her throat, but speaking with a grin in her voice still, she continued, "If I had known that movie would have gotten you into such a tizzy, I wouldn't have even bothered cutting your hair."

A wave of shock hit Jareth like a bucket of ice. His hands flew from Sarah's shoulders to his considerably lighter head. He managed to restrain himself from shouting in surprise at being reminded, but Sarah's expression of barely-contained mirth said that it mattered little. He conjured a crystal and transfigured it into a small mirror, pointedly not looking Sarah in the eyes and making much ado about looking foreboding.

It looks… appealing.

He blinked and stared a few more moments, bringing a tentative hand up to feel the shortened style. He had completely forgotten about his intention to satisfy his morbid curiosity and then turn it back to normal immediately.

Why does it look appealing?

A snicker to his right made him jerk his head in that direction, caught between a glare and a look of bafflement.

"What's the matter, Goblin King?" Sarah crooned mischievously. "Would look you like something more goblin-worthy?"

At his look of bordering hostility, the imp beside him burst into laughter once more. "Oh, come on! You like it, admit it!"

Jareth promptly stood and made himself look regal in an act to cover up the intense need to stretch. "I will do no such thing - because that would be completely and utterly ludicrous."

Just as Sarah stood and opened her mouth to retort, an odd kind of high-pitched gurgling, rumbling sound penetrated the room. Both stood in silence for a moment, puzzled, wondering if they had heard correctly. Then, with wide eyes, Sarah looked down at her stomach in bewilderment.

Eyes darting uncertainly from Sarah's face to her stomach, Jareth's own eyes widened when he realized what she was implicating. "That was you?"

Sarah didn't look up. "I've never heard it make that sound before."

"Didn't you eat - "

"It sounded like something was dying in the Bog!" She exclaimed, horrified.

"Yes, but why are you - "

"Jareth, should I be worried?" She sounded on the verge of hysteria.

"Sarah!" Exasperated, he grasped her shoulders. "First of all, no, you will be fine - I have heard much stranger sounds come from a human's stomach over the millennium and although that was certainly odd, it was not worrisome. Secondly," he frowned and looked her in the eyes. "Why are you so famished in the first place? You did eat earlier, did you not?"

Sarah blushed and evaded direct eye contact, mumbling a response low enough that even his Fae hearing could not catch it.

"Sarah…" he warned.

She huffed. "I said that I didn't exactly eat earlier."

Jareth released her shoulders at the same time that his eyebrows rose inquisitively. "Why-ever not?"

"It… I don't know..." she struggled for the right words, shrugging. "It wouldn't have been right."

This quiet admission momentarily stunned Jareth into silence. He had to admit to himself - he was impressed. Although he had glared and looked surly, he honestly would not have held anything against her if she had satisfied her hunger while he could not. So, while it was perhaps a foolish thing to have done, he was touched by her integrity nonetheless. Few humans had ever had the knack to surprise him as much as Sarah did.

"Well then, precious, I'll cut you a deal." He drawled, melting back into his character. "Why don't you fix us both up some…" He glanced at a clock. "... breakfast, and all will be forgiven."

She smiled slowly up at him, reflecting some of his own cockiness back at him. "Even your hair?"

Jareth pursed his lips. "Yes, I suppose - even the hair."

She grinned, and stuck out her hand. "Deal."

As the heady scent of the twice-reheated stew met her nostrils, Sarah could not help but feel as though she might drown in her own saliva. Nothing had ever smelled so good! Her stomach pined even as she raised the first scalding bite to her lips, effectively turning a portion of her taste buds into sandpaper. It was still satisfying, however, hearty and filling. So focused were both of them on sating their appetites, in fact, that the only sounds in the room to be heard for many minutes afterward were the desperate clinking of spoons and slurping of mouthfuls.

The soup did not last long. Jareth, understandably, finished first, but Sarah was only a few bowl-licks behind him.

When both bowls were set on her kitchen counter, the two just stared at each other, as if trying to process what had just occurred. They looked at each others' empty bowls. Jareth noticed that Sarah had a bit of broth on her lip. Sarah noticed that Jareth's bowl was licked so clean, it looked to have come straight from the dishwasher.

Their laughter resounded at the same time, bursting spontaneously, as though they were two children who now had a shared secret joke.

"I think… I think I have more soup," Sarah commented through chuckles. "I can go heat it up…?"

The Goblin King nobly attempted to hide his inexplicable mirth behind the dignity of his signature smirk, but the amusement in his eyes could not be obscured.

"I think that might be wise," he replied.

Thus, Sarah broke into another can of soup, and the two demolished is only slightly less quickly than the first. This time, at least, they had time to look at each other and make remarks every now and then.

This is the first time we've ever eaten with each other, Sarah realized with a start. She wondered why she felt like that was significant, somehow knowing that it had to be. It tugged at a memory like a string that she had to follow before she recalled the source - it reminded her of The Count of Monte Cristo.

Never eat or drink in the house of your enemy.

Well, then. She supposed they could hardly be enemies... but the company during the meal was nice in any case.

Ten minutes later found a pair of bowls and spoons sitting in Sarah's sink, with her vow to wash them later hanging over them. Sated and feeling playful, Sarah stole into her dry goods cabinet.

"Time for dessert!" Sarah could feel the Goblin King's eyes watching her, as though he could smell her devious desires.

In the cupboard, hidden behind a sheaf of taco seasoning packets as a ward against unwanted moochers, lay the prize which she sought - the jar of nutella. Only for use in the most serious of circumstances, her favorite mode of consumption was straight out of the jar via spoon. If she was feeling particularly indulgent, she wouldn't even bother with the spoon. Heaven.

She already had the lid off and was poised to attack before she caught an expectant look from Jareth out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh, you thought this was for you?" She asked coyly. Unconcerned, she reverently dipped her finger in the cove of sweet decadence. "What makes you think I'm sharing? This is far too good for the likes of you."

"Indeed?" Questioned the Goblin King. He had leaned himself against her kitchen counter, obviously not too torn up to be left out. Still, his air turned curious, especially after Sarah's expression turned rapturous as she licked the chocolate hazelnut spread from her finger.

Resistance was futile. Sarah's eyes closed of their own volition and she moaned in ecstasy. The spread smoothed over her tongue like velvet, coating and smothering her taste buds with opulent sweetness. She savored her bite, licking her lips to recover any lost film of sugary goodness. She opened her eyes to take a second fingerful - it absolutely begged to be eaten again - and found that the Goblin King was watching her with a very odd expression.

Sarah felt her face heat, realizing what this probably looked like. "What?" She asked defensively, deciding to play dumb. Jareth only smiled crookedly and began advancing like a cat stalking prey. She could practically see his tail waving behind him.

"How cruel of you, precious," he purred. Gently but firmly, he grasped the wrist of her hand that was stained with chocolaty goodness, tracing circles over the back of her hand. She felt herself being hypnotized, and couldn't seem to bring herself to protest. "That you would keep such a delicacy all to yourself."

All she could do was stare, transfixed as first his tongue, then his pointed teeth, then his expressive lips grazed over her confection-ed digit. Her eyes glazed over when he sucked ever-so-slightly, the heat growing in his gaze as much as it was in her stomach. Just as slowly and as tantalizingly as he had begun the whole process, he released her.

"Delicious." His voice practically sounded like a growl.

What happened next was a flurry of movement and hazy need. All Sarah knew that she was suddenly and ravenously kissing the Goblin King, moaning into his mouth that still tasted like the most divine kind of dessert she could imagine.

Hurriedly, she set the nutella on the counter to free both hands to attack the Goblin King's hair - still in its shorter style - and pull him closer. Glove clad hands slid under her shirt and splayed across her back, pressing her further into his chest. The cool leather on her heated skin felt as delicious as the sweetness on her tongue. A clumsy shuffle backwards found her with her back against her kitchen wall. Instinctively, she hopped a little and wrapped her legs around his narrow waist, chuckling huskily when he almost stumbled before gripping her rear to hold her steady. The chuckle quickly turned into a groan when she felt his arousal against her in a promise of what was to come.

Feeling flushed and heated, she arched her back and struggled to wrestled her shirt from her body, tossing it carelessly. Jareth took the opportunity to begin lavishing her chest with attention, making Sarah's head loll back as her breathing became irregular.

"Perhaps," she panted. "We should relocate?"

Jareth merely hummed in agreement. Hours later, Sarah still wouldn't be able to remember if he whispered some kind of magic spell, but it seemed that they were in her bedroom with significantly less clothing in a matter of seconds as opposed to minutes. In the current moment, however, Sarah hardly cared to keep track of where the seconds - much less her clothes - were going. She strained to feel more flesh on her flesh, battling for dominance and begging to be dominated. Pushing herself to give as much as she received, she peppered Jareth's skin with as many kisses and nips as he showered onto hers. She savored every moan from him, answering with her own as he lead her into a dance deeper than magic.

Roughly an hour later, Sarah was returning to normal after basking in her afterglow, she swung her legs over her bed to find a shirt. When her poor aged mattress squeaked alarmingly, shuddering beneath her, she froze. Instinctively found Jareth's eyes, laughing incredulously.

"So," she started, pulling a shirt over her head in the process. It was roughly two sizes too big for her, and flowed with drama in its sleeves. Definitely Jareth's. "Do you think this -" she gestured to their rumpled state, " - will always happen in this room? Because if so, I should probably get a new mattress."

Jareth considered her, putting his hands behind his head in a show of complete unabashedness. "That depends, precious - would you like a change of scenery?"

Sarah looked around her rather shabby, book-cluttered apartment, and stayed pointedly silent.

He smirked. "There is another mattress that I should think would suit you."

"Indeed?" She asked with an arched brow. After a moment, she nearly bit her lip. I'm starting to sound like him. Lord help me.

Jareth didn't seem to notice - or care. Instead, he simply approached her and, without warning, let his magic slide over her skin. She gasped, reminded instantly of their recent activities, and was left wanting more when it faded far too quickly. When she came back to her senses, she was clothed in a nice but not overwhelming poet's shirt and flowing skirt, and Jareth had regained his outfit.

"Would you like to go there?" He murmured, suddenly very close. She had an inkling of what he was talking about, and knew the answer long before it left her lips.

"Yes. Very much."

He smiled slowly and allowed his arms to encircle her. As he pulled her close, his mouth lowered to her ear. "Brace yourself, precious."

She did as she was told this time, prepared for the searing alien sensation of transportation magic. The hot glass grazed over her nerves, the feeling of coming undone assaulted her - but it was somehow much more bearable this time. All she knew was that she couldn't wait to open her eyes. Giddy butterflies swarmed in her stomach.

As the magic trickled off down her spine, the first thing Sarah noticed as she gasped for breath was that the air was different. It was a little sweeter than she remembered it, and perhaps muskier too. She was so focused on gulping as much of it as possible into her lungs that she forgot to do anything else.

"Sarah, precious," Jareth's voice murmured close to her ear. "Open your eyes."

She did - and there is was. Sarah forgot how to breathe at all as she drank it in. It was the view from one of the tallest rooms in the castle, she could tell, because she could see for miles. The lush green of the garden maze, the bustling Goblin city, and all of the mysteries and stretches besides.

I'm home.

"Welcome back, Sarah."

Important Note: For those of you who wanted to see what Jareth's new hairdo looks like, I've changed the story image into the picture of David Bowie that inspired it in the first place - that is, until the next update. Once the next chapter comes, the image goes back to normal! (If anyone is reading this from the future who didn't get to see this glorious picture, just PM me and I'll send it to you or something... I found it on pinterest, so it's a little difficult to just write down the URL).

Reviewer Responses!

silverbloodelf: thanks for your support and the song! :D My muse thanks you as well, for the compliment.

pgoodrichboggs: Hope there's enough teasing in this chapter to satisfy your cravings! ;)

PreciousQueen: thanks for the quote and song! I absolutely ADORE Phantom of the Opera! :D

blumarshin: Thank you for your kind words, love! I'm sorry that I definitely did not update soon... but I hope you'll stick around all the same!

Charlemagne Gryffis: First of all, I'm not sure if I've said this before, but I love your pen-name! Secondly, I apologize for taking so long... but worry not! I'm in this until the end! :) (no matter how long that takes)

Guest: You said that the last chapter was amazing and that you love Jareth and Sarah's chemistry. Well, I think YOU'RE amazing, and I love YOU'RE chemistry! ;D

Comicalfreaka: Hahaha, I'm glad you liked the hair scene. I just couldn't resist incorporating a little more Bowie into my Jareth. 3

Clarisara: Thank you so much! Believe it or not, there is much more to this story than the summary lets on... (heehee). So I'm thrilled that you enjoy my take on things so far, and that you picked up on the underlying depth! Despite my extreme tardiness, I sincerely hope that you come back for more!

tonemara: *uneasy chuckle* yes, well... I hope the suspense of the last chapter didn't kill you too much, because you would be very much dead by now.
... You're not dead... are you?

Flower: Thanks for commenting again! I really tried to keep your previous comment in mind while writing the last chapter. Looks like it paid off, eh? And please, worry not about the ball being the last scene - we've barely scratched the surface! Sarah and Jareth have many many many more adventures to come. (Seriously, the outline for this story is, like, ten pages. It'll be fine).

Moriah: I'm glad you see the dimensions of the labyrinth that I'm working in - I really like stories that get creative about it, so I'm trying to do the same! :D I hope you continue to give your feedback on how it's working!

labyrinthfanatic: Thanks, girlie! Hope you stuck around to see more!

Saphira113: *more uneasy chuckling* Yeah... sorry about that... I didn't really think it'd take me this long to update. Hope you enjoy the chapter anyway!

Honoria Granger: You already know how much your reviews mean to me, especially the last one. I am satisfied with this chapter because of your help! :)

polysunshine: Oh my! Well... I love you too! :D ~You starve and near exhaust me~ ;D. Thank you for the quote and the song input - funnily enough, I had already planned on Bring Me to Life by Evanescence. Guess great minds think alike! :D

labyrinthlover30: Glad you liked the hair scene, and thanks for your support on the depth of the labyrinth! Hope you'll stick with me!

Jill: Thanks for the song! Love it! :D

Shiro Anubis: And a picture you shall receive! If the posted one isn't enough or doesn't work, just google "David Bowie blonde hair" or "David Bowie with cigarette" - most of those are pretty accurate. ^^

LovelyAmberLight: The haircut was TOTALLY worth it! ;D And it looks like Sarah has been punished in a rather unconventional method. *eyebrow waggle*

Hollywood33: Thanks! Hope you stuck around to read this update! :)

AFoolishMortal: Thank you! I love my Sarah as well. ;) I really hope you like her even more as the story progresses!

Gqueen: No, I'm absolutely in love with YOU! ;D Hope it was steamy enough for you deary! (Although it might have been a tad rushed in my opinion... but we are our worst critics!)

**Challenge of the Chapter**

Because you all have been extraordinarily patient (not that you had much of a say in it, I suppose) and because I feel overwhelmingly guilty, I'm going to let you choose what path you want the next chapter to take us. Do you want to see:

1) Sarah bonding with goblins in the Goblin City

2) Time-skip to Sarah working with her chemistry, making new discoveries, and maybe some goblin flashbacks

OR

3) An introduction to some new and unknown characters that will become key to the rest of the story?

LIMIT: One vote per person. Choose wisely! See you next time, my dears!