She was there, in his little dream world, dancing.

Spinning.

Turning.

Twirling.

Cavorting.

She was having fun there, it seemed. Dressed in a flowing blue gown, that swept the floor as she moved, whirled with her slight form, and spun in graceful arcs with each twist. Her hair was flowing in a slight wave down over her shoulders, to the midpoint of her back. And her eyes, he already knew, where the blue of the dress; a sapphire that was unthinkably beautiful.

She was mesmerizing.

Jareth set the crystal globe down in a vain attempt to divert his thoughts away from the woman that he held in his realm, trapped within a world of dreams that she could never escape, one that he had created especially for her.

But she did not want to escape, it seemed. She was perfectly happy in the world he had created for her when she wished herself to his land so many months before.

For months she had done nothing more than dance there, in the dream, abandoning herself to the faked pleasures he offered. She knew it wasn't real, had said as much upon first entering that world, but that didn't stop her.

She danced and forgot – it was what she wanted.

He did not know what she came here to forget, and it did not matter. If she wanted for everyone to forget her he could do that. If she wanted to forget where she came from – he could do that, too. To forget her pains was what she desired, and she was harmless in her current state.

And so he let her dance.

But, as the days passed and she continued to dance, he had begun to notice something interesting, slightly disturbing; something that he could not deny and had no control over. It was this thing that he feared would be the end of him if he didn't give in to the desire soon.

He wanted to dance with her.

This was it.

Her life.

All wrapped up in a dance.

A waltz. . . or was it? She had never known dancing in her life. . .before.

There were men and women, old and young. And they all wanted to dance with her.

But she felt nothing for them.

Not a single thing.

That was her life.

She remembered feeling something once. Feeling it so strongly that she would have ended the world just to make herself feel better. Though. . . she couldn't remember what it was that had made her feel that way. It must have been good, though; something so pure and lovely that she had adored it with all of her heart.

She couldn't remember now, though.

And that was for the best.

If knowing what that other thing was hurt her, then she was happy just not to know any more. This place was nice, filled with smiling happy people that just wanted to dance.

So Kagome danced.

And forgot.

Jareth moved through the dancers, cursing the whimsy that had brought him to this particular portion of his reality. She was here, and he had known that before he set out – before standing from his throne and kicking aside the little goblins in his path. He had known all along that he was going to go to her.

He was just powerless to stop himself

Something in her called to something in him; and whether that something was good or bad he could no longer deny that it was there. He had to go to her; not doing so could drive him mad, he was sure.

Though, being who he was – wasn't madness already a part of his nature? Perhaps that was why he was drawn to her so heavily. She was a little on the mad side, just as he was. He could be drawn to her for no other reason than that.

Somehow, though, this feeling was deeper than that – he just couldn't put his finger on why.

He found her dancing in the middle of a group of men, twirling from partner to partner. They stared after her, laughing and chattering as they were constructed to do. But they were not real men, nor did they have real emotions or feelings.

He did.

Taking a place in the group, he waited for his turn in her arms – and when it came he could not explain the feeling she gave to him. Laughing blue eyes, shimmering black hair. These were the things she had brought with her to his realm, not facets of the dream he wove for her.

"You are lovely tonight, dearest one."

"Thank you kind sir," she laughed, face flushing just as it had the first time one of his constructs had complimented her. Some things changed, and some remained the same. He was happy to see that the blushing was one of them. But she had not yet realized that he was not just another dream image. . . and he did not know if he wanted her to realize. She was so happy here; and with a start he realized that he wanted to keep her that way, to not intrude on this world she had built up in her mind. He didn't want to make meaningful conversation with her, didn't want to ask her why she had come to his realm.

He didn't want to do anything to remind her of the sadness that had brought her to him in the first place. As long as she danced and laughed, he could be happy. He could join in the fun at any time, experience her light. . .

And then move on.

She released him back into the circle of dancers, moving on to her next eager partner; and Jareth faded into the background, leaving the same way he had come.

He would come back tomorrow.

And the next.

There was no reason not to; no reason to leave her here by herself, even if she never realized that was the case. He could dance.

And dance he would.

For all of eternity, with her in his arms, in his mind.

~*~The End~*~