Sarah wandered the abandoned village again, searching for the child. She could hear him crying, and just beyond the smoky mists of the destroyed buildings, she could see the Goblin King searching for her, calling her name in a soft whisper that carried over the heated carnage. She had to avoid him until she knew more of what was happening.

She heard a woman singing in German, but couldn't see her. The woman sounded so near that Sarah was surprised to not find her.

"Sarah," the little voice called to her. "Where are you, Sarah? I need you."

"I'm coming," she called, seeing a flash of blond hair from a window. She ran into the house and searched blindly. The furniture was burnt into shapeless hulks, blocking her path at every turn. The woman's voice came out of the blackened nothingness.

"He's upstairs, child - go to my precious son, tell him I never stopped loving him." Sarah glanced around her but could barely see her way in the darkened rooms. She coughed, feeling her way towards the broken staircase.

Somehow she made it up the stairs and found the boy huddled in the corner of his bedroom, shaking with fear. He looked to be around twelve now, still so young, but she could see the strength hiding somewhere within him. She just had to help him find it for himself.

"I'm here," she said, wrapping the boy in her arms. He held onto her tightly, crying into her shoulder.

"He scares me, I don't want him to come back. But he always does - he tells me I'm bad, that I killed my mama. But I came back for her," he held up his burnt hands and Sarah gasped. "I came back and tried to find her, but she was burnt up. I came back even though she didn't want me."

She saw the explosions again, the goblins grabbing for him. She watched the boy run away to find his mother as the world burned around him. He pulled at the embers of his home, ignoring his hands blister under the intense heat. Sarah had a vision of the boy being raised by a fair but harsh Goblin King who would defend him against the taunts of the goblin armies. They thought him too human to lead, until he had pushed that humanity so far down inside him that it couldn't find him again.

"She did want you, Jareth - she loved you so much. You have to believe that," she said, rocking him in her arms. The woman's song grew louder, the words of love filling the room like a blanket of devotion.

"How can you know?" the boy sobbed, hanging onto her. She wiped tears from his dirty face and smiled.

"She told me so," Sarah said softly as the door burst open. They looked up to see the Goblin King in battle armor, eyes crazed with pain. Sarah shielded the boy from his adult self, knowing that the end was near. The woman's song stopped abruptly as if it had never been heard.

"You lie," the older Jareth screamed, running towards them, sword drawn.

"Sarah," the younger Jareth cried out, and in an instant, Sarah was falling through darkness, still holding onto the boy.

JSJSJS

Sarah looked around in shock. She was in the Escher room and somehow she realized she was awake. She was alone but she felt the eyes upon her, watching - waiting.

"Who's there?" Sarah called, daring her watcher to be revealed. A soft laugh and a flurry of light filled the room. Seline appeared, watching her closely. The blue haired woman crossed her arms and gazed at the girl who had won Jareth's soul and hadn't realized it. Such a pity.

"Trying to save the man who's trying to kill you. Tell me Champion, do you wish for death so fiercely?"

Sarah glared at the woman, trying to decide if she would turn out to be an enemy or an ally.

"He's in pain, he didn't understand his mother's sacrifice. I won't let him think he's alone, he's not." Sarah was stubborn and somewhere, in the darkness, Jareth listened.

"You pity him," Seline taunted, "you wish to break what is left of his spirit."

"I can't pity him," Sarah said in a low growl. Jareth had heard enough and dragged the boy out in the open, the blade at his younger self's throat.

"You cannot. You must not," he mocked. "You think to banish me by making me weak, by listening to your lies - my mother's lies. It will not be tolerated."

"Jareth, you wish for your humanity, but you fear it," Sarah said softly. His eyes grew hard and he pulled the blade closer to the young boy's throat.

"I fear nothing! You should be afraid, you and your cruel eyes. I loved you even as my heart knew it could not love another. But you mocked me, taunted me with your pretended innocence. I offered you my heart and you abandoned me just as she did."

"Like everyone will leave you, Jareth," Seline spat out. Sarah glared at her before turning to the Goblin King, praying he would listen.

"Your mother loved you Jareth, she had to do what she did to save you. Remember that night. Remember the way she carried you away from the flames - away from the men trying to harm you. She gave you a chance at life."

"A life of cruelty and pain, beaten by guards to make me stronger. Starved by fine nobles who ate feasts in front of me to teach me discipline," he hissed, staring down at his hands. The gloves were off now and Sarah saw the reason for them. Deep scars covered his skin and he bit back a sob of pain. "So much agony to lose someone who was supposed to love you. She never looked back when she threw me to the goblins."

"Jareth, remember her song," Sarah said. "It bonds the two of you - like kindred spirits."

"I saw you in the park and thought I had found a kindred spirit." He looked up at her, crying openly. "And you used me with your damned book, laughing at my expense in your room with your beloved companions."

"All because you killed your mother," Seline whispered harshly. The younger Jareth spoke up now.

"I did not! And I will not blame myself for it any more." He looked up at his older self. "It is time to forgive. That is the lesson Sarah was sent to teach you - teach us. We must not live in fear for something we could not change."

A shimmer danced over the walls and settled in front of them. It took the form of a woman with blonde hair and kind green eyes.

"You are mine heart," the woman said. "Forgive yourself for believing you were less than my beloved son. Forgive me for trying to keep you safe."

"I forgive you," the younger boy said to his mother and her spirit sighed. "I love you, Mama."

Jareth released his younger self and fell to his knees. "Mama, forgive me."

"Mine angel, you are the sun and moon to be always." Jareth's younger self hugged the older and a soft breeze swirled, surrounding the two halves of Jareth's nature, bringing them back together in a burst of light. Where the two Jareths had been, a baby swaddled in a white cloth hovered in front of Sarah. Seline and Jareth's mother nodded to each other and his mother faded away.

"What happened - where did they go?" Sarah asked, shocked. Seline smiled.

"When you defeated him, his soul split in two. His human side knew you could save him but his darker nature would not believe. He was in agony, Sarah, not knowing if he had a place in either world, human or Under Ground. He's at peace now. He'll be reborn human, somewhere in time. He'll remember nothing of this life."

"Or me," Sarah said sadly. Seline smiled.

"I'm sorry if I seemed cruel, it was what he needed to continue his fight. Now he can start over."

"Will he have a good family?" Sarah stared at the baby, tears filling her eyes.

"I will see to it," the Guardian said softly. "And now it is time for you to return home."

"Will I - remember?" Sarah asked. She nodded at the girl who was still destined to be Jareth's own someday. Though it was prudent not to mention it now.

"And someday, if you wish it - you may meet him again. But he may not remember you."

"That does not matter - I'll remember him."

Sarah grew sleepy and faded to the floor. When she awoke, she was home in her own bed. Sighing, she snuggled into the blankets and made a wish that would someday come back to claim her.

"I wish that I could tell him how much he meant to me."