A Whole New World by Alan Menken and Tim Rice

I can show you the world; shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?

Jareth sat outside Sarah's window, perched on the branch that conveniently stretched across her room. Why was she doing this to herself? He clicked his beak angrily, at what, he didn't know. Her? Himself? There was no one reason.

But he just couldn't understand it. Running the labyrinth, knowing it was real, should have only made her dream all the more. Instead it seemed as if she was broken. Early in the evening, the sky was a purple wonder, a perfect fusion of shades that gave it an otherworldly appearance. It was magical. And Sarah? She was in her bedroom…studying.

Although he knew he would still hate it, he would have even preferred to see her with another man. At least she would be living with some sort of excitement in her life, getting as close as most grown humans did to adventure.

Unable to take it, he flew forward, tapping his beak loudly on the windowpane. The last Sarah would have jumped, scared at first but quickly recovering as a sense of exploration filled her curious face. But this Sarah tried to ignore it, finally throwing her pen down to look at the source of the pestering noise.

And then he got a reaction from her. She was sliding her chair back to turn out of the seat when she saw him, what looked to be a shriek escaping her lips turned into only a frightened gasp as her fingers flew to, but fell away from her mouth. They did not fall all of the way to her side, but only to her breast, where her fingertips felt her heart beat beneath the skin.

Then she scowled, both at the still-flying owl and here own foolishness. Still, she didn't step forward but only lifted her hand, shooing the animal away.

And it stopped. And stared at her.

"Go!" An uneasy feeling crept up her spine. She glanced quickly over her shoulder to ensure her door was closed, that no one would fine her talking to an owl. She crept forward, her back hunched slightly as to touch the window while keeping her body as far from it as possible. "I'm not letting you in," she hissed, snapping the back shut to jump back, but still not backing away.

His laughter echoed without a body, amused with only the slightest trace of sadism as the lock on the window slid open. Sarah's jaw dropped and then, her wits coming back, she turned towards the door. She could hear the window sliding open as she neared the door, and when the laughter stopped a shadow fell across the room. Her hand touched the doorknob when his voice sent a chill down her spine. "Sarah, Sarah."

Gently, she drew her fingers away, her heart skipping a beat. Why now?

Her voice caught in her throat, and she tried again, swallowing and licking her lips before managing it. "What do you want?"

Jareth reached his hand out to her shoulder, and she jumped from the contact, squirming away into the room. "What have you done to yourself Sarah?"

She turned to scowl at him again. "What I did to myself? I've done nothing. I'm who I want to be."

He sneered at her, but spoke before she could protest. "Who you want to be? Not the Sarah I know. You would be awfully boring to the Sarah I know."

Her jaw dropped. "Boring?" she hissed. "You're calling me boring?"

He cut her off before she could go into a defensive ramble, turning her to face the window. "Would you dare it?" He whispered as she crept forward without thought, stopping just short of the window that now portrayed the labyrinth.

"I—no." She paused again, gathering the determination she needed not to be captivated by its wonder. "I'm not going to take so stupid a risk." She turned herself away from the temptation of the window to find herself facing Jareth's throat, his face turned town towards her.

"So you think it's a risk?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "I remember when you would only see that as part of the adventure." Adventure. The word seemed to echo through her mind.

"Maybe I'm not that girl anymore," she finally managed, turning her head down from his face. Sidestepping, she escaped from where she was trapped between him and the labyrinth, clutching her arms to keep away the feelings that were trying to change her mind.

I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder, over sideways and under on a magic carpet ride. A whole new world, a new fantastic point of view. No one to tell us no, or where to go, or say we're only dreaming.

"Maybe I thin you are." He breathed, and only a muffled shriek escaped her lips before his hand covered her mouth, just after his other arm had wrapped around her waist and he pulled her through to where they had stood the last time, on the outside of the labyrinth. Smirking, he let her go and she shrieked again, gaining only a small satisfaction from the noise when she saw only an endless wasteland lay where her home should be.

"Damn it!" she shrieked, stomping and clenching her fists as she shook them at her side in a tantrum.

"How could you do this?" She snapped, waving her finger in his face.

One of Jareth's eyebrows raised, a smirk of amusement on his face at her defense. "My Sarah, you have changed." The only sound was the slap of her hand on his face, and Jareth very slowly turned his face back to her as she started to break down.

"That's what humans do, they change. People have to or else they're freaks, and people avoid them!" Tears started to push forth from behind her eyes, which were beginning to swell red from the fierceness of her emotions but she didn't care. "People have to move on from stupid stories, and live in the real world,"

"And stop dreaming?" he interrupted. Her hand flew again, for the second time he hit her so close to her heart, but he caught her wrist. Stepping closer, he stopped only when their chests were almost touching. Jareth started to push her again, the words almost out of his mouth, but she seemed to collapse into herself before he could.

"I had to!" She screamed, ripping her wrist away from him and staggering backwards. "You don't know how hard it is to keep something like that a secret, and I had no one to talk to about it! Not even my friends here could come to see me any longer, I couldn't take it anymore!"

She paused, taking a breath. Her next few words came out a bit calmer than before, but that wasn't saying much. "I had to. I wanted to still believe everything but I couldn't, it's just…" she stomped her foot, infuriated that no matter what she might have said before, this time it was absolutely true. "Not fair!" She fell down, all of her resolve that had built up so long turning against her as she sat on the ground with her arms pulling her knees to her chest, quietly weeping.

A softness came over Jareth and her sobs grew quiet as his shadow passed over her, his voice whispering to her. "It doesn't have to be that way."

She sniffled, pulling her sleeve across her eyes to dry away the damp tears. "What?" was all she could croak, disbelief through her voice. Wasn't he the one who had taught her not to rely on anything anyhow?

He knelt down next to her, a feeling of guilt in his stomach. "I never meant to have this happen, Sarah." His hand reached forward and a carpet flowed forward, a beautiful hand-woven rug with intricate designs around the borders. "Let me give you the beauty of it back."

A whole new world, a dazzling place I never knew, but when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear that now I'm in a whole new world with you. Now I'm in a whole new world with you.

Jareth was standing again, the carpet on the ground still as Sarah stared at it. It was so tempting… her still-sad eyes looked to the seriousness of his face, the almost plea to let him make it all better, and she licked her lips once, crawling forward. She heard him move, sitting behind her and instantly the carpet rose into the air, a gentle rippling going beneath her as it rode on the wind.

It raced off, quickly covering ground over the twisting labyrinth and despite herself Sarah could again see what had entranced her about it as a girl, reading the story over and over, keeping a model in her room. It was frightening, to say the least, but it seemed to hold a promise, an urge to keep you racing through its walls.

As they began to pass over the forest, the carpet slowed, hovering low enough over the trees that Sarah could have bent down and picked a flower, if she so chose. She could feel Jareth's breath on her neck as he leaned forward over her, both of them looking over the edge. "There's more than just fireys in there," he promised, and a shiver raced down her back, but she couldn't deny it any longer. She was enchanted once more, the fascination overcoming all of her former attempts to keep this majestic world at bay.

The carpet flew lower and lower to the ground as the trees began to clear, parting to reveal a large pond hidden beneath them. The water was different from the crystal-blue that clean water is in her world, instead a thick, gleaming silver and she couldn't make out the quick movements beneath its surface. However, she wasn't concerned with them for long as she noticed her own reflection, drastically changed from the last time she had seen herself.

Her jaw dropped, a quiet gasp emitting from her lips as she studied her reflection, Jareth's face appearing on the surface as well as he looked over the side of the carpet, watching her reaction. "My clothes…" she stammered, trying to comprehend what had happened. Yes, she had seen herself in this dress before, but she was almost sure she had been dreaming. Jareth had caused the dress to wind itself over her, instantly banishing her former clothes, and pull her black hair back in delicate decorations. Glancing at her skirt she saw that indeed it covered her whole body already, the pile of fabric that created the thick skirt pouring a little over the edge of the carpet.

"You don't like it?" He asked, and she looked down at herself again.

"No…just…why?"

He nodded towards the castle as they approached, and she noticed how much nearer it seemed now that she had been distracted over the reflection pool. Though stone walls were hard to see through, enough windows were pouring out light, a good amount of music accompanying it. "A ball?" She whispered, her voice awed, and she turned her head around to face him over her shoulder.

Again he nodded, a small smile on his face at her excitement. She was becoming Sarah again.

Unbelievable sights, indescribable feeling, soaring, tumbling, freewheeling, through an endless diamond sky.

They came to a wide window, his view from a king's chamber that sat conveniently above the ballroom, its sole purpose for him to be able to prepare and enter with the proper attention his crown commanded.

Sliding down the carpet, he landed neatly on his feet while Sarah was still perched on the carpet, her dress spilling across it. Reaching a hand out, he looked into her eyes. "Join me?"

Her eyes stared at the outstretched hand, as if trying to decipher anything else it could mean, but the urge to attend was much to difficult for her to resist. "Gladly," she returned, a smile decorating her face as she slid her hand onto the soft fabric of the glove.

The hallway at first looked rather thin, clearly only meant to let Jareth walk through at a time, but as they walked through Sarah saw the walls themselves moving to let her through, widening as she passed with him and coming together again after they were gone. She wasn't able to spend that much time pondering over it however, because the staircase ended at a ledge for the room to see them, and see them every person did. Almost as soon as she had set foot on the ledge, every eye in the room turned towards the two, respectfully bowing or curtsying towards Jareth. A moment passed where they expected him to make an announcement, and he turned his eyes towards Sarah's face before looking back over them to speak.

"My friends," he greeted, "I thank you for joining me in the festivities this evening." A half-bow closed his speech, "Enjoy yourselves as best you can."

Sarah, uncomfortable vaguely with being singled out alone with him, couldn't spend more than a minute worrying because she was so wrapped up in one of every girl's fantasies coming true—to really be seen as a princess, everyone looking only at you. He led her down the staircase, sweeping her out onto the dance floor to become one more couple in the swirling colored dresses.

Spinning in circles, the other guests passed by quickly but she could hear snatches of conversation, hushed words between them. "That girl…" "The king…" "Who…" "Are they…" "Does he…" "Is she…" She shifted like it was a shirt that wasn't on properly, but couldn't fix the feeling that easily. She found she couldn't look into his face anymore, when they were so close, him guiding her every step.

To distract herself, her eyes crept over every detail of the room. It was as she remembered it, only without that lost feeling. She was safe now, too. The ceiling was enormously high, and the walls like mirrors. Everything sparkled from the brilliance. The very guests were magnificent, moving gracefully around, and her eyes flickered quickly over each dress, though there was no question that hers was significantly lovelier than any of theirs.

It was like it was too fantastic.

"I need some air," she managed, when she was near enough to a short stairway, that clearly opened to the marvelous night. Pulling herself away, she hurried up the steps, or at least as best she could when the dress was in her way, and onto the balcony. Inhaling, she leaned on her arms, her fingers curling over the rough stone as she watched the twinkling stars. Nothing could match the night sky, away from mortal cities.

A whole new world, don't you dare close your eyes. A hundred thousand things to see. Hold your breath, it gets better. I'm like a shooting star, I've come so far, I can't go back to where I used to be.

"Something wrong?" A voice behind her said, causing her to jump.

Turning, she saw Jareth coming forward from the somewhat-faded din of the party, and she sat back on the ledge, looking over to the forest below. "No," she said softly, her eyes taking in all they could before they were, inevitably, returned home.

"Then what bothers you?" He asked, closer now, so close that she almost knocked into him when she turned again.

A mumbled 'sorry' came out of her lips and she stood, trying to slip to the side. "I don't know what to think of…" Her voice trailed off, but he could finish for her.

"All of this?" A pause. "Me?"

She took a breath, cautious to continue. Everything was moving so fast suddenly. "Jareth, I—"

"What was that?" He asked, his hand catching hers to pin back gently against the ledge. Her words seemed to catch in her throat and, though it wasn't much to most, he recognized the comfort level she had reached to go from speaking of him in third person to his first name. "I think that you've most definitely made progress, Sarah," he pressed, "and I'm not going to let you give up on either of us now."

She might have tried to escape, but his hand was holding hers still, and he brought his other hand to capture her other as his lips caught hold of hers. At first her eyes widened, panicked, but she knew there would have been no escaping it no matter how hard she tried. She was coming ever closer to him just as she was again with what had formerly fascinated her in the labyrinth. Everything was suddenly worth it.

"I can't," she finally murmured, his lips leaving hers, and she tilted her head down to stay free from him.

"Sarah," he whispered, dispirited.

"It's not you," she answered quickly, instinctively trying to take away some of the pain in his eyes but angry at herself for doing so. She wasn't ready for something with Jareth. "I really can't Jareth. I can't go back to living a normal life and forgetting this again. I can't stay here and leave my family."

She tried to walk away, but he caught her arm, stepping close enough to her to look down into her face. "I told you I'm not going to let you give up," he reminded her. "I promise you that I'll make living in two worlds work out."

It was like she was mesmerized, the promise in his eyes. He was absolutely right. She couldn't live that life anymore, and he was offering her something so much better.

His hands moved from her elbows for him to face the balcony edge. "Let's get away from here," he offered, "and you can say anything you want."

A whole new world. Every turn a surprise, with new horizons to pursue, every moment red-letter.

The carpet was stretched before her again, and Jareth helped her step up without slipping. Instead of zooming off this time, the carpet seemed to lazily drift along the wind currents. It was undeniable, Sarah couldn't resist the beauty there. And as much as she felt frightened by it as well, Sarah couldn't repel Jareth.

Colors were different in the Underground, as evidenced by the spectacular sunrise that was beginning to tint the horizon and Sarah could hear Jareth's mouth opening, him sounding remorseful about whatever she'd want to protest. But she figured there was no denying it. He had shown how sweet and patient he could be by offering to help her live between two worlds, she couldn't very much resist him in the least.

Leaning backwards, she cut off his speech by resting on his chest, her hands pulling his arms to wrap around her body with his fingers curled over hers. "Let's just enjoy this," she murmured. It might be much to take in, but it certainly wasn't something she was going to risk losing twice.

I'll chase them anywhere, there's time to spare, let me share this whole new world with you. A whole new world, that's where we'll be. A thrilling chase, a wondrous place, for you and me.