Please note, I don't own anything related to Labyrinth and/or Inception. Please forgive me if someone else has had a similar idea; this is original, one-shot only, told from Jareth's perspective. Constructive Criticism is always welcomed, as well as praises :-)

"Please leave a contribution in the little box"

When she entered the Ballroom full of dancers, it wasn't like anything she recognized. That's because it wasn't her dream...it was his.

I didn't know if this would work. All I knew is that I hoped it would. The bubbles held dreams; I didn't know which one she would choose, but I knew which one I hoped she would select. The last crystal drifted from my fingertips, and the familiar drowsiness I knew would come began to seep into my consciousness. When I awoke, I would be in my dream- whatever dream she had selected. This was the nature of the spell.

It was a unique spell, one that I had never used on a runner before. But I'd never had a runner like my precious Sarah before. This spell was a dirty trick, one that would reveal not only my feelings- but hers as well, making us both vulnerable at the end. It was a risk I chose to take. I knew what she wanted me to be, but I also knew what I wanted to be to her.

Oh for so long I'd watched my precious Sarah. Her soul had called to me the moment she was born, and I knew for certainty she was meant to be my Queen. For a immortal, the idea of having a mortal bride is terrifying. We love completely and utterly, and our love for our mates lives on in legend and lore forever, never dying. While the memory of our love never dies, our mortal lovers do, leaving a chasm so deep in our souls it is near impossible for us to love again. And yet, we cannot deny it when we feel our soulmate near, or, as in my case, feel her born. She was just a babe then, and I filled her sleep with dreams and dances, entertaining her endlessly.

She rarely gave her parents trouble. They did not know that it was I that kept their babe gurgling happily. And she never saw me. She was always too young, and she is still too young now to understand what she is to be. Queen to the Goblin King. She is still yet too young to understand this notion, and yet...

I needed to give her an idea. I needed her to know that I would give her everything eventually, and that I wasn't the villain in her stories. That thought haunted me as I fell into my dream...the dream Sarah had chosen.

Oh she was devastatingly beautiful even now, even so young. The glow of womanhood was just beginning to bud beneath her childish innocence. I just watched her; watched her weaving amongst the party-goers, wondering where she was, wondering where I was.

"There's such a sad love, Deep in your eyes

A kind of pale jewel, open and closed within your eyes

I'll place the sky within your eyes...

There's such a fooled heart,

beating so fast In search of New Dreams,

a love that will last within your heart

I'll place the moon within your heart...

I smiled, laughing as she looked for me. I was delighted it was Me she wanted. In her subconscious, she sought me. Even as she denied me in her waking hours, in her dreams, she looked for me. I let her catch a glimpse of me. Our eyes locked; her stunning green eyes innocently watching me; for a moment so open, so vulnerable to me. For a moment, so was I. I vanished before my own weakness could show.

I watched closely even as I danced with one of the projections in my dream. I had known this projection woman, in real-life. But this was just my subconscious image of her. I didn't like the way Sarah seemed frightened by what was happening; she was so lost, and yet...so ripe. Smiling, I moved towards her. I knew that because it was me she was looking for, she would not refuse as I took her hand.

Even as we danced, she was still so insecure. My projections were beginning to notice she did not belong, and were glaring at her through their masks. Sarah felt the tension amongst them, and it scared her. I knew that she could not stay much longer before my projections closed in on her.

Regardless, it still hurt when she wrenched herself free from the safety of my arms. Regardless of my own hurt that she would willingly leave my arms, a part of me was proud of her. My spell was halfway broken- all she had to do was remember when she awoke what she had came to the Labyrinth for. And when she had seen the clock, something in her mind had triggered. She would remember. She was halfway there. This was my soulmate. While I couldn't make the Labyrinth easy on her, I believed she would win. I believed in her. My soul would not be bound to any normal mortal; for my soul to have sought out this beautiful, frustrating girl she had to have a will of iron, a strength that far surpassed any fae.

Sarah. She didn't even know she was my other half. She had no idea that she was the only one who could defeat the labyrinth.

I had created the labyrinth to separate myself from everyone, including a fae woman I had thought myself to love. Once I discovered her true nature, I concealed myself within the center of my Labyrinth, swearing that only my one and only could defeat it. When my Fae lover couldn't defeat it, I felt all was lost. I waited centuries, each runner holding new promise. Some were Fae women, enchanted by the idea of defeating the Labyrinth and in turn, my heart and hand in marriage. None made it. Sarah was different. I had loved Sarah from the time I clapped eyes on her, and as I watched her youthful beauty a new stirring began within me. While still too young, I am still but a man, and very much aware of her budding womanhood.

The Fae are a strange race. We can have many lovers and many loves, but very few of us find our true soulmate. It is said that once we do, our lives are lost to that person. We recognize that person from the moment they are born- knowing that one day, when they are ready for us to take them, they will never need any other lover. We become everything to that person; we know all of their secrets, their flaws, their dreams, desires, everything. We give them everything, just to see them smile upon us with favor. We live for our soulmate. But I am bound by the rules I made, and so she must run the Labyrinth.

And she must win. And my world must fall apart. That is just the way it is done. I only hope that at the end of her journey, after she has become the victor, will she realize the true prize: My heart, my soul, and complete power of my kingdom. It still doesn't mean that her rejection of my offer won't hurt, that I won't be disappointed. But she is yet a child. Time will bend her mind to me, and her heart will not forget me.

For she is mine.