Sarah spent another night tossing and turning in her bed. She was divided in her thoughts and decisions. She liked Dart a lot, what she knew of him anyway. He was one of the first guys who had given her positive attention, yet Lee's opinions and Hoggle's insistence that she would get hurt couldn't be ignored.

"They're just jealous." She said as she rolled over. "Lee wants Dart for herself and Hoggle is competing for my time." She sat up and looked out the window across the room. She sighed heavily. "I'm acting like a child." She announced to herself. "Like some spoiled selfish child. Maybe Lee is really concerned about me and I'm being unfair to Hoggle and my friends." She realized that she had overreacted badly and she owed apologies to those she had been unfair to.

She heard movement in the room next to hers and she knew that Lee was awake as well. She pulled herself from her bed and made her way across the room. Hesitantly she raised her hand and tapped lightly on the door. No answer. She tapped again.

"I'm sleeping, go away." Came the bitter reply.

Sarah opened the door slowly. It creaked as it swung open on ancient hinges. Lee was sitting Indian style on her bed and she looked furious.

'I said that I was sleeping!" She cried out upon seeing Sarah.

Sarah smiled. "Talking in your sleep, hmmm?" She slowly entered the room.

Lee noticed that Sarah didn't seem to be angry or explosive. She looked calm, serene, more like the Sarah she knew and not the stranger she had gone on vacation with. "What do you want?" There was no warmth in Lee's tone.

Sarah crossed the room and took a seat at the edge of the bed. She deserved the coldness. "I came to apologize."

"Yeah, well I don't want apologies."

Sarah frowned. "Then what do you want?"

"For you to get the stick outta your ass. What the hell has been your problem lately? We come to fairytale land and you act like a person I don't even know. I liked you better as quiet little Sarah with your nose in your books."

Sarah lowered her head. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me! Just quit acting the way you are. Dartaynian is bad news for you, Sar. Look at how he's made you act!"

'Dart has had nothing to do with the way I act. Jareth has."

Lee snorted. "Jareth? Jareth has done everything you wanted him to do. He's tried to reach out to you, but you won't have any of it. I don't know why you won't give the guy a chance."

"Because he doesn't deserve one." Sarah answered coldly.

"Everyone deserves a chance. Isn't that what you used to preach to me? God knows how many times you have forgiven my sorry ass when I've gotten into trouble or I've said something without thinking. Why can't you forgive the guy?"

"Why do you care if I forgive him or not? You don't know him, you don't know what he's done to me."

"I know exactly what happened between you two, because Hoggle told me while we were waiting for you to come back from Dart's. Jareth did what you wanted, Sarah. Why can't you see that?"

"He did what I wanted within the boundaries of his own selfish pleasure. He enjoyed being cruel and horrible to me and he enjoyed watching me hit dead ends."

"Wait, let's recap here. You were selfish and wished Toby away, Jareth took him, because he was asked to. You wanted Toby back and Jareth gave you a chance to defeat his Labyrinth. You defeated it and he kept his word and sent you both home. If Jareth had been fulfilling his own selfish pleasures he would have swept you off your feet and into his bed. It's a known thing in this realm that the Goblin King had feelings for the mortal girl who defeated him. I'm sure you're not that oblivious to the rumors and the stories." Lee crossed her arms over her chest.

Sarah ignored the atrocious comment. "Now let's back up. Jareth dumped me in an oubliette, he tried to scare my friends with threats. He drugged me with a peach and tried to push me off course. He tried to bribe me and trick me so he could win in the end. That doesn't seem like nice warm fuzzy feelings to me. As far as I'm concerned he doesn't deserve my forgiveness or anyone else's for that matter." Her voice dripped with ice.

Lee shook her head. "I can't believe how unforgiving you have become." She glanced over her friend carefully. "Did aliens take you away and do something to you? Are you a clone who looks like Sarah, but doesn't act like her? The Sarah I know forgives people. She's forgiven me plenty of times, and she's even forgiven her father and step mother after all the horrible crap they have put her through over the years. You're not the Sarah I know and I demand that you return her." Lee put her hands on her hips.

If the situation were not so serious, Sarah would have laughed, but instead she sighed. She felt annoyed. She was still the same Sarah. She could still forgive people, just not Jareth. And why the hell was Lee so hung up about her forgiving him? "Why do you want me to forgive him so badly? Why should you care?"

"You know, you're right." Lee shrugged. "I shouldn't care. I shouldn't care that he answered your call a second time. I shouldn't care that he brought us here for vacation and gave each of us beautiful rooms with clothes, servants and 3 meals a day without demanding anything in return. I shouldn't care when you strike him down for the smallest thing he does wrong around you. And I shouldn't give a flying fuck that he feels something for you."

Sarah gasped, but immediately denied the comment. "He feels nothing for me but bitter hate!"-

"He probably should feel that, but I don't think he does. Otherwise, he would not have done everything he has done for you."

"He probably wants revenge!"

"You can believe what you want, Sar. I've tried to open your eyes, but you're insistent on keeping them screwed shut! I may be some stupid, flirty girl who knows more about picking up guys and sleeping with them than about fairytales, goblins or magical creatures, but I can recognize when someone cares about someone else and they've been shot down. I can see when someone is hurting, and they are trying to hide it. And I've just seen someone get hurt for merely caring and that sucks. It really really sucks." Lee walked to the door that separated her and Sarah's room and swung it open. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go to bed. It's 3 in the morning."

Sarah nodded, suddenly feeling numb. She walked to the door and stood in the doorway.

"I'm hanging out with Hoggle and Ludo tomorrow, and the day after, I'm asking Jareth to go home. I don't want to be around to see the guy get his heart broken. You can do whatever the hell you want, because I don't care anymore." She threw the door at Sarah, who had to leap back to avoid getting hit by it.

Tears filled her eyes as Sarah stared at the door. Sinking to her knees, she began to sob.

* * *

The following day, Sarah felt lower than low. Lee had ignored her completely at breakfast, and so had Hoggle, who had joined them. She had sat there, staring numbly at her plate. Dartaynian arrived just before noon, and she was glad to be whisked away to his castle. She spent most of the day reading books in his library while he had meetings and gatherings with nobles from other kingdoms.

At night when she returned to Jareth's castle, she found Lee and Hoggle saying good night. Despite the fact that Lee had made fun of her friends upon arrival, Lee seemed to have grown close to Hoggle. Sarah realized that they had one major thing in common. Jewelry. Lee loved to collect jewelry, as did Hoggle.

Hoggle departed hastily when he saw Sarah coming, and Lee started for her room.

"Lee, wait, please!" Sarah called after her. Lee groaned, but turned to face her anyway.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Sarah. I thought that you might be sleeping at Dart's place. That's what he told Hoggle this morning."

Sarah shook her head. "He had unexpected business with a neighboring kingdom, so I came back."

"That's a pity. You should have stayed there." Lee turned back to the door and Sarah rushed at her, grabbing her wrist.

"Lee, please. If you're going home tomorrow, I want to spend some time with you."

Lee spun to face her. "Oh, now you suddenly want to hang out with me?"

"I always want to hang out with you."

"No, that doesn't seem like the case. You always like to hang out with Dartaynian. I'll be packing tomorrow. I saw Jareth this morning and he agreed to send me home around noon time."

"Well then, let me help you pack, or at least let us go to breakfast together. Please?"

Lee sighed and glanced at her friend. She noticed that Sarah looked pale and she grew concerned. "Are you all right?"

"I.I'm just tired. Tired of fighting with everyone. I've made some mistakes and I'm sorry. I've even decided to apologize to Jareth when I see him."

Lee's eyes widened. "Oh, really?"

Sarah nodded. "Really. I've been such a jerk to him. You were right, Lee. He should be forgiven. What he did was not so terrible."

"And where did this little change of heart come from?"

"I had a lot of time on my hands today. I spent the day in Dart's library. I don't think I read one word of any book I looked through. All I could think about was how I've acted like such a jerk. I've acted like how Karen would act to me. And that's unacceptable." Sarah's eyes filled with tears. "Can you forgive me?"

Lee didn't reply right away, but stood just gazing at her friend for a few moments. Unexpectedly, she pulled Sarah into her arms and hugged her. "I forgive you."

Sarah buried her face in her friend's shoulder and sobbed softly. "Thank.you."

Lee squeezed her tightly and then pulled back. "I'm glad that you've decided to forgive Jareth, too."

Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes with her arm. "I will forgive him, but who knows if he will forgive me. I don't deserve forgiveness after the way I have treated him."

Lee frowned. "I don't know how he's going to react to it, Sar. He might get pissed off, or he might fall over in shock. One thing I have learned about the guy when I watch him is that his emotions can often be difficult to read. He wears so many masks to hide behind that what he really feels isn't always clear." Lee broke into a grin. "If you forgive him, would you go out with him? He's really cute."

"Lee! I said that I would forgive him. Don't for a minute allow your over active imagination to believe much else will happen. Besides, I'm very happy spending time with Dart."

Lee rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything.

"Are you still going to go home tomorrow?" Sarah asked. The question hung in the air for a long time.

Lee nodded slowly. "As fun as this place has been at times, I really need to get back to reality. I just hope that I still have a job to get back to when I return. I never told work that I was going on vacation. I have my bills to pay, all that stuff. It's time for me to go back."

Sarah nodded. "I understand."

"But I will stay around long enough for you to apologize to Jareth. That I gotta see."

"Ok." Sarah tried to smile and ignored the dizziness that suddenly swept over her.

"What do ya say we have a sleepover for ole' times sake?" Lee suggested.

"I'd like that." She smiled as Lee linked an arm around hers and the two of them began to skip toward Sarah's room like they had as crazy high school students.

* * *

"Do you remember Jeremy Santos? He used to take those little plastic forks and pull them back like a sling shot and shoot those nasty green peas across the lunchroom." Lee laughed, leaning back on the cushion of pillows and blankets.

Sarah joined in on her laughter. "How could I NOT forget 'Pea boy'? I remember when he missed hitting old Mrs. Whyntrob and hit Principal Lenard instead!"

"That was so funny! Lenny was so pissed! He practically dragged Jeremy by his ear to the principal's office. Gosh, do you remember Luke Manchester? You had the biggest crush on him

Sarah blushed, remembering the tall blond. "It wasn't a big crush."

"Pfft. Yeah, that's why you'd get starry eyed and lost in your own world when you saw him."

"Ok, maybe I did that at first, but he turned out to be a real jerk. He started dating Cindy Hiller and I lost all interest in him. He treated me like crap anyway." Sarah sighed. She had more bad memories of high school than good ones. She hadn't thought about Luke Manchester in years. He had been a jerk to her, but a handsome jerk at that. Sort of like a certain Goblin King.

"He did turn out to be an ass. There was no reason for him to treat you the way he did."

Sarah shifted her position on the blankets that they were curled up in. "You were the lucky one in high school. Getting dates and going out. Everyone must have thought of me as such a loser. Absorbed in fantasy and books. I rarely left the house. I was always watching Toby and reading."

Lee frowned. "You're not a loser, Sarah, and you never were. They just didn't understand you, that's all. Just like I guess that I don't understand you at times. But I still like you. 'A friend is someone who knows all your faults, but likes you anyway.' Sound familiar?"

Sarah nodded. She had said that phrase many times when Lee questioned why she still dealt with her antics.

"Half the guys I dated were assholes anyway, Sar. You didn't miss out, really."

"I always felt like I did. I don't even know why I bothered to go to the prom. I didn't dance with anyone. I was miserable most of the night and I ended up leaving early."

"The prom sucked anyway."

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but the prom didn't suck. They had good music, good food, it was at a nice location. That country club was awesome. It only sucked for me. I was an idiot for going alone. I gave everyone a reason to pick on me in school for the next month until graduation. Graduation.my parents didn't even show up for that." Sarah sighed heavily, suddenly feeling like she did back in high school. A nobody.

"Sar, stop it. Why are you picking on yourself?"

Sarah shook her head. "I.I don't know. I'm tired and cranky. Maybe I should go to sleep."

"Are you feeling ok? You look a little pale."

Sarah feigned a smile. "I'm fine. Just tired. I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Ok. Sweet dreams, Sar."

"Sweet dreams, Lee."

"Hey Sar?"

"Yeah?"

"I bet if you dream about Jareth you'll feel better! Especially if you dream about whether he stuffs his tights or not."

Sarah groaned. Not this again. "You are such a pervert."

"Hee hee. If I were such a bad person, you wouldn't be hanging out with me. Night."

"Night."