It had taken Penelope longer to get out of the car. She could hear Sarah yelling, calling out various names and exclamatories. Her friend's words ran through her head- Jareth was a fae! Then there had also been some proclamation of love. It wasn't until she stepped out of the car, the empty condo registering in her brain that the urgency of the situation settled on her.

Sarah was now crumbled on the door step crying with her face to the ground. In between sobs she mumbled, "I'm too late! I am so sorry! Too late!" Penelope glanced at the clock on the dashboard- noon ticked by. She went to her friend. Gathering her in to her arm's she tried to comfort her. "I lost him Penelope," she sobbed. "I'll never have another chance. But I love him!" Her voice rose and shook. Gently Penelope patted her head.

A car's tires screeched at the curb. Looking over her shoulder Penelope first saw Senor Oberon. His face was stern and agitated. Then her mother appeared holding a small item protectively against her chest. She looked anxious. The two approached them. "Sarah!" came Oberon's voice authoritatively. "Sarah Williams! Get up at once!"

She honestly considered defying the command. His voice, his tone though suggested that horrible repercussions would follow if she did not obey. She looked up. Her eyes once more brimmed over at the sight of Mrs. V. "He's gone!" she exclaimed not caring if the older woman understood her dilemma.

"Be still child," ordered Oberon kneeling down and detangling the two women. He helped Sarah to her feet. His normally gentle brown eyes had gone quite intense. "Tell me what happened."

Her eyes darted around. "I got here and he was gone!"

"Anything before that?"

"I-I, I don't know."

"Think Sarah!"

"A dream." She recalled how she'd dreamed about the empty condo and seeing her companions. She even remembered what they had said. Oberon listened with complete interest. "They took him!"

"A minute early at that," murmured Penelope standing.

"At the least. He had grown so weak, he was drained…" His eyes went far away. "Tell me Sarah, do you love him?"

The young woman squared her shoulders, sighing and holding back her tears. "With all of my heart."

"Then you know what you must do. You still have a chance. Kayla!" She was at his side clutching the object to her. "Give Sarah the Ardduc."

Penelope gasped. "You stole it from the university?"

"It is the only way."

"Shush mi hija! This is beyond our realm now. Here mi querida!" She handed the baked relic over. "I know," she then added. "Jareth, Senor King, he told me. Use it."

Sarah was feeling stunned. She was torn between finding Jareth and finding out just how much Mrs. V knew. The smooth stone of the relic in her hand helped her to focus. Find Jareth, she told her self, pay the fee to the Woodland King before the darkness hurts anyone.

Oberon's hand was on her cheek drawing her eyes to his. "I cannot help you until you call for me, and time is short."

Penelope was sputtering. Mrs. V looked strangely calm. All she could focus on was the texture against her skin. It was smooth, comforting; it was right for her to have it. It was right for her to use it. Spices free and wild came off the Ardduc, mixed with the time of the centuries. She stepped back from the group. The words came to her as if she had known them her whole life. They had a native quality to them. "Out of the mists and through the veil, I call thee forth Woodland King! Come to my aid!" With a mighty heave she threw the Ardduc to the ground smashing it to pieces.

What followed was a sight few mortals have witnessed. A mist with seeking tendrils sprang forth from the shattered remains of the relic. A million spices invaded the senses: thyme, rosemary, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The mist sought out the feet of Senor Oberon. One moment the elderly gentleman stood in their midst in his suit and tie, the next robes were tumbling down from his shoulders. J. K. Oberon was no more. In his place the Woodland King stood. He glowed with a holy halo of light. Without hesitation Sarah sought his embrace. "There, there my child." He held her gently. "I am here to help."

Even the linen of his robes smelt familiar. "What must I do O Great King to save my beloved?"

"His subjects took him early. No doubt their actions were out of concern for their king's health. They returned him to the realm of the Underground just before your dead line. I can grant you two minutes of unhindered passage."

"Just two?"

"Time for time. I will set you before the castle. I-,"

"Wait! Hold up!" It was Penelope who spoke. "She's not going at this alone. You're sending me with her. Don't argue with me Sarah," she snapped when her friend began proclaiming how she must do this thing alone. "If our dreams, the palm reader's words, my mother's sixth sense are all any indications of just how important this all is, then you're going to need help."

Oberon's hand was on her friend's shoulder. "I will send you. Sarah," he pulled her away from the security of his arms. "you must go now. Save him and learn what your subjects have done." She nodded.

Having turned her around she noticed that the street melted and molded into what looked like a courtyard. A familiar courtyard. There was a fountain decorated with dwarfs relieving them selves, a cobble stone walk way, and an impressive castle. A few goblins were visible, frozen in time. She hesitated, one of Oberon's words lingering. "My subjects?" She turned her head to look back.

Oberon stood with an arm around Kayla. "What is Jareth's is yours, just as what is yours is his." Kayla smiled as if the statement held some infinite wisdom.

Sarah turned towards the castle. "Just as we are each others," she concluded in soft tones. With Penelope by her side they crossed the veil into the courtyard into the Underground. The two minute count down began.

The moment they crossed the very air seemed to move. Things weren't frozen, they were slowed down. Oberon was holding back time. The eyes of one of the goblins moved painstakingly towards them. "Run Penelope!" she exclaimed.

"Everything has slowed down," her friend commented as they broke out into a jog.

"It will continue to speed up the closer our time is up. To the castle doors!"

They charged the doors, straining against them to open them. Twenty seconds ticked by.

The heavy door budged, hardly enough to squeeze through. A millions smells and sights rushed at Sarah. She ran the length of a hall that her feet seemed to know. They were heading towards the throne room. Her heart thumped a quick, steady beat as she moved. A chicken, half flying was making it's descent in a comical way, with a goblin rushing after it. A few others made surprised expressions, delayed with the enchantment over the kingdom. She saw the throne, the circular pit, and then the stair case. No, wait- there was now three different stair cases. Two led up and one led down. Which one? Penelope breathing heavily at her side asked, "All right which way?"

Her heart beat was speeding up in panic. "I don't know!" Her eyes darted to each opening: which one? Forty seconds ticked by.

Then she saw him. A small goblin that looked very much like her makeup loving Dink was sitting on the first step of one of the stair cases. It took five seconds for the recognition to show on his face and another ten for him to raise his hand to point. He was trying to tell her: up the stairs Lady! The king is this way! Sarah grabbed Penelope's arm. "This way! He's up this one!" Her heart actually seemed to calm as she ran the length of the stairs. A full minute ticked by.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Jareth felt so tired. He stood down cast in the middle of his room. His shoulders slumped and his skin was ashen. She hadn't come. After her promise to return that same night, she never did. He had waited. He had waited so patiently.

Then the coughing fits had begun. They had wracked his body with pain. His subjects found him in the early morning hours half passed out from lack of oxygen on the condo's living room floor. Goblins make for loyal subjects. They helped him to the couch where he laid insisting on waiting; wait for Sarah, she will come.

His eyes drooped as he stood, causing him to sway.

He had known that the deadline was close. Every time his eyes slid shut he could feel the blackness lurking so near, so very close. He would then force his eyes open, praying that she would be there. Every time he was disappointed only seeing the face of one of his subjects fussing over him. One moment he had been lying, sprawled out on the piece of furniture, the next he found him self collapsing on a large bed. He realized that his subjects had taken him home.

Why was he still alive? Out of pity he should be dead. Standing there he could not fathom what power was keeping him alive. If his subjects had intervened then he could only logically conclude that Sarah had been too late. He was ready for the moment that the blackness would attack him. There was now an unhealthy amount of mundane air in his lungs. It was only a matter of time.

He looked down at his hand where he clutched the dying red petal flower.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

The landing they found themselves on met with a long hallway with wood floors. Four doors lined the way, two on each side, while a fifth marked the end. Candelabrums were hung as well, their slow moving flames causing eerie shadows. Sarah breathed deep, trying to find some sort of sign or sense of logic to where he could be. The hall way was causing goose bumps to break out all over her arms and legs. She glanced at Penelope who resembled a spooked cat. "Sarah," she began to say. "is there something oddly familiar about this hallway?"

Yes, there was. It was almost as if she was expecting something to come rushing up at them from the stair well. "Our dreams."

"We ran along a hallway."

"He opened the door at the far end."

A faint buzzing noise began, almost like finding reception on a stereo with little blips of coherent sound. Time was speeding up. "Go Sarah!" Her friend turned to face the stair well.

Sarah threw herself at the door. A brief struggle ensued as she pulled on the door when she should have pushed. She shoved with her shoulder sending the door flying in. Behind her the buzzing was sounding more like a crackling. "Hurry up Sarah!" Penelope ordered as she watched the goblins gain speed as they mounted the stairs. Sarah's eyes swept the room. There- near the door to the balcony. He was like a ghost. Her heart beat out a tremendous thud. "Jareth!" she called as she ran to him.

He felt the strong arms wrap around him and the warm body press against his own. Had death arrived as a hallucination? What a glorious way to die! He smelt her hair: spring time and oranges. Death had arrived as a sweet hallucination. He inhaled again, his lungs burning. Hesitantly he raised his arms to hold the vision to him.

Sarah became aware that she was crying again. She thought she had lost him. Here he was alive and she could hold him again and kiss him again. "Jareth I'm here!" she said looking at his face. His pupils were dull. "I'm here because I love you! I found my way to you because I could not be without you!" Still he looked at her through those sickly eyes. Then she kissed him. She pulled his face close to hers and took his lips as possessively yet endearingly as she could. "I love you," she murmured against his face.

"Sarah." his tone sounded surprised.

"Yes?"

He pulled away to look at her. His fingers touched her cheek. "You came… to stay?"

"Forever."

He blinked and color appeared in his pupils. In one swift move he had her in a kiss.

Some where something clanked and clattered. Voices could be heard. She could make out Penelope's, yelling something about being careful and demanding that "they" get out of the way. Jareth smiled into their kiss. Two minutes had ticked by. A brief silence returned in which Dink proclaimed, "Hooray Lady and King!" Then there were shouts of joy.