Chapter One
Sarah Williams sat on her bed watching as the rain fell outside her bedroom window. Her heart ached in her chest for something she had unknowingly thrown away. As she sat there on her bed, the memories of her magical run in the Labyrinth haunted her. The dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep resembled bruises. Sarah's vision became blurry when her eyes focused on a picture of her holding Merlin close to her. Sarah found her beloved companion seeming to fall asleep out by the maple tree in the back yard. Sarah didn't realize until she had touched Merlin that her faithful dog would not be waking up. Sarah hugged her pillow in sorrow remembering the harsh way her step mother had responded to Sarah's sorrow over losing Merlin. Karen had never been attached emotionally to anything involving Sarah and was glad that the mangy mutt would no longer be trailing muddy paw prints around the house.
Sarah wiped away her unshed tears and picked up the bookend that resembled her dearest friend Hoggle. She smiled weakly as she trailed her finger over the gnarled features of the goblin's face. Sarah missed the friends she had made during her run, she missed them greatly. Over the years Sarah had tried to call on her friends when she needed them, but except for that one visit her friends didn't answer her call. She missed Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus. She also reluctantly admitted to missing the Goblin King himself.
As soon as Sarah thought his name the image of the Goblin King came unbidden into Sarah's mind, Jareth with his blond spiky hair all in disarray, his Gothic, regal shirts, and tight fitting breeches. At the memory of the intimidating King, Sarah shuddered.
Without thinking Sarah uttered the first words that came to her mind, "Oh how I wish I could return."
Jareth's eyes popped open the second he heard that familiar voice whisper in his mind.
Oh how I wish I could return. Sarah's lonely voice echoed dimly, not quite a wish but still his magick reacted to such a strong voice of emotions.
With a gesture of his hand a crystal appeared out of thin air and an image of Sarah, his Sarah, materialized in its depths. "Say it again, Sarah." He whispered afraid that she wouldn't say the words he needed to whisk her away.
"I need you." Sarah uttered, a tear slipping down her cheek, the words causing a tugging sensation in the back of Jareth's mind. Over the last few months Sarah had uttered those same words, but before those words laced with power had been uttered for her friends she had made during her run in the Labyrinth. Now, those powerful words were aimed at him, whether Sarah realized it or not.
"I miss you." Sarah continued unaware of the magick that whirled around her. "I miss you Jareth."
Shock flitted across the Goblin King's face but was quickly replaced with his mask of indifference, only his eyes betraying his haywire emotions.
"I want to go back." Sarah's voice continued coming from the crystal and echoing in his mind. Jareth's breath caught in his throat and he froze, afraid if he moved that somehow all this would end up shattering like a dream.
"Come on Sarah. Say the damn words." His thoughts ordered her.
After two long years of watching Sarah in his owl form as she slept and monitoring her through his crystals as she lived her life, Jareth was impatient and more than happy to assist in Sarah's wish to be taken Underground.
"Come on Sarah, say the words." He growled getting restless his words laced with his magick as the Goblin King.
Sarah buried her face in her pillow her eyes squeezed shut, the ache in her heart pushing her to do something foolish and maybe just a little dangerous. Without further thought to the situation Sarah sobbed, "Goblin King, Goblin King, where ever you may be, make this world far away from me!" She tensed her body bracing for the lighting and thunder that always accompanied the Goblin King's entrance Aboveground, but to her disappointment nothing happened. Nothing, not even the wind rustled outside.
"Well damn," Sarah muttered, and for some reason tears fell faster from her eyes. Soon, her pillow was wet from crying so much. Sometime in the early morning exhaustion finally dragging her down into a fitful sleep, Sarah murmured, "I wish the Goblins would come and take me away right now!" Sarah's tears still glistened on her black lashes, wet trails from her tears still evident on her cheeks as she fell asleep.
When Sarah opened her eyes to the familiar sight of her childhood room she had to fight the intense sense of disappointment that threatened to overwhelm her. "It was a lie, wasn't it?" Sarah asked her reflection in the mirror. "It was just a stupid little girl's fantasy to be loved." She walked over and grabbed the music box that sat innocently on her dresser, the figurine with long black hair that fell to her waist smiled cheerfully at Sarah. Twirling the little key Sarah closed her eyes as the familiar haunting tune filled the room. With a flash of anger, Sarah sent the fragile toy from her childhood flying across the room.
Sarah braced herself for the crash that would accompany the music box's demise Sarah's muscles tensed instantly regretting that the large crash would cause her step mother to come investigate and berate Sarah for such a violent show of emotion. When the satisfying sound of the music box smashing into pieces didn't come Sarah spun around and was shocked speechless at the sight of the man who stood in her bedroom doorway cradling her childhood keepsake in his hands as if it were something precious to him.
"Now Sarah," he murmured his voice soft. "Is that any way to treat your favorite toy?" As he spoke he wound up the toy once more and the song filled the room, louder this time then the little music box could have ever played on its own. Sarah doubted if any other person had been holding it that she could have heard it from across the room so clearly.
Sarah stayed frozen in place searching for the right words to explain her fit of rage to the emotionally distant Goblin King without embarrassing herself and revealing her inner thoughts too clearly to him.
"It reminds me too much of you." Sarah finally reluctantly admitted in a quiet voice.
Jareth tilted his head at an angle reminding her so much of the snowy white owl that frequently habited the tree outside her window, his mismatched eyes seeming to watch her every movement as she stared up at him.
"Then why did you call for me, Sarah?" He asked his tone arrogant but his expression held a hint of intense sadness.
Silently, Sarah walked over to the window that over looked the backyard, the large maple tree branches hit the side of the house and scratched at the window pane. Sarah shivered involuntarily at the sound and sight of the little goblins that all held on to the tree branches outside, twisting their little bodies in odd angles, their eyes straining to see inside to catch a glimpse of their King at work. Sarah winced when one Goblin kicked a smaller one causing the little one to fall down the tree, but at the very last second the Goblin vanished to safety.
"Sarah." Jareth's voice jolting her out of watching the little creatures plays such a deadly seeming game. "Why did you summon me?"
Sarah turned from the window and glared at the mighty King before her. She meant the glare to look intimidating but the unshed tears in her eyes ruined the effect. She saw through her blurred vision that the usually unflappable Goblin King's eyes widened in shock at the sight of her tears.
"My dreams…you took my dreams…and replaced them with you." Sarah could barely talk through the lump in her throat. "All I see is you! And that place!" She couldn't bring herself to say the word 'Labyrinth' out loud at least not to the man who ruled over it. Sarah looked up at the being who had taken her dreams away from her and who had haunted her ever since that fateful day. She stared up at him and uttered the one burning question that her soul demanded she knew. "Why?"
At the heart wrenching utterance of that one word Jareth forgot to breathe. Was Sarah actually agreeing, no admitting to being in love with him? Could he dare hope that the girl he'd been trying to win over for so long actually love him back?
For the first time that Jareth could remember he struggled to control his emotions but just barely kept the desire to pull Sarah to him and crush her in his embrace in check. "I don't take dreams, Sarah, I offer them." Jareth said gritting his teeth. He really didn't take dreams; his crystals did when someone touched them. The wave of nausea threatened to steal Jareth's balance from him. "I haunt your dreams the same way you haunt mine, my dear." He finally managed from his dry throat, not a lie, so it helped settle his stomach.
Jareth took a few steps toward Sarah who had her back up against her bedroom window. Outside the window Jareth could barely see the Goblins who pushed a baby bird off the branch. He watched as the little bird tried to fly but failed. With barely a flick of his finger Jareth made sure the little bird was placed safely back in its nest safe from the trouble causing Goblins.
Sarah watched him with wary eyes as he approached her. Jareth lightly touched her cheek with a gloved hand. He had some satisfaction when Sarah closed her eyes in surrender. "I offered you everything. I offered you your dreams and your wishes but you rejected me." He said, his power lacing his words making them echo slightly.
"Wishes are for little children. They are worthless here in my world, Jareth." Sarah admitted her voice sounding weak. "I don't even remember how to wish for anything besides magick anymore."
"I offered you all that I could." He whispered, trying but failing to keep his emotions under control he knew somewhere in the Underground a storm was brewing in response to his inner turmoil. "I offered you me, my heart."
Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.
"Jareth," Sarah gasped, the memories clouding her mind, zapping her strength making her knees buckle and the ground rush up to meet her. She braced herself by her hands and knees. Jareth's pristine boots shining reflecting her too pale face back at her. "Please, please Jareth, I want to go back. I want to go back Under-"
Jareth stopped her words by placing a hand over her mouth preventing her from saying anything else. "Don't Sarah." He warned his voice a deadly growl. "Don't wish for something you'll end up regretting."
Sarah shook her head her eyes never leaving his. "I want to go Underground!"
"Damnit Sarah!" Jareth roared his anger over taking him. "I want you to think this through!"
Jareth stepped back from her giving them both their space. With a flick of his wrist a crystal appeared in his hand. He held it out to her in the mystic way he had. When she flinched away from it he knew she wasn't ready to trust him completely.
"Honestly, Sarah, it's only a crystal. It will only show you where I am at any time you want to see me." He said holding out the crystal to her. "You have thirteen hours in which to change your mind. However I am not a very patient man."
Sarah lightly took the crystal from him and managed a slight nod before he disappeared from her sight.
Jareth barely managed to keep himself in check long enough to give Sarah the crystal instead of just taking her with him back to the Underground. He was mentally kicking himself for giving her a chance to change her mind. His Sarah wanted to return to him and to his realm, his kingdom, but why?
Why? Why didn't he take me with him?
For months she'd dreamt endlessly of him, in both her sleep and awake Sarah was haunted by the Goblin King. She was haunted by what could have been. Sarah was constantly wondering if all that he promised was true and if it wasn't then she'd never know until she tried. The fear of wishing to be sent back and professing her desire to Jareth only ending in him turning her into his slave or worse a Goblin had prevented Sarah in the past from calling out to him.
Sarah was fairly certain that Jareth loved her. At least that's what she hoped.
With shaking hands she picked up the crystal that Jareth had handed her. The little orb responded to her touch instantly filling with a swirling silver cloud. To Sarah's surprise an image of Jareth appeared and showed him pacing his throne room much like a tiger in a too small cage.
Jareth paced his throne room trying to calm his growing sense of panic that Sarah would change her mind when he went back to bring her down to the Underground. At the same time he didn't want her to hate him when she found out he'd whisked her away and she couldn't return. He wanted her to know if she returned she was his and he had no intention of letting her go.
When a rush of magick caressed his skin he knew Sarah was looking in on him. He looked up knowing that he would be looking directly at her when she viewed him in the crystal. He gave an arrogant smirk to her and with a flick of his wrist three crystals appeared in his hand. He began twirling them faster and faster until his fingers ached from the strain. And in full view of the crystal's power-the one Sarah held-he raised a crystal in one hand and let it go. One by one the crystals turned into bubbles each holding an image of Sarah.
Sarah gasped at the image of herself in the dress she had worn in her dream. Reacting as if she had been shocked by the crystal Sarah threw the orb away from her and immediately the crystal became clear and transparent once more. Sarah had always assumed that the Crystal Ballroom had been just a dream because she had woken up in the junk yard bordering the Labyrinth and the Goblin City. Now Sarah had other ideas about her time in the magickal ballroom.
Jareth had known the exact moment Sarah had ceased to watch him in her crystal. Again he swore under his breath at the foolish idea to give her a crystal of her own solely for the purpose of watching him when she wanted to. He had to make certain she would choose him this time. For two long years he'd frantically relived those last moments in the Escher room with Sarah. What could he have said that would make her stay with him? What could he have done? He'd done enough hadn't he? He'd worn himself out trying to live up to her expectations. And from his knowledge he'd done a damn good job too. Yet she still had fled. She still denied his offer for her to stay with him.
What would it take? He wondered shattering a crystal on the throne room floor. As he stormed out the crystal fragments disappeared in a shower of glitter.
That night Sarah dreamed she was once again trapped in the oubliette. Except this time Hoggle wasn't there to save her. Instead only silence filled the dark and dank hole.
Isn't this fitting? Thought Sarah as she slumped miserably on the hard earthen floor. I wanted to be back but instead of being happy I'm down in the one place I hate most about the Labyrinth-the place of forgetting-the damn oubliette.
And why was she stuck here in the first place? All because she'd believed the Goblin King had fallen in love with her. She mused, her-a stupid, foolish teenage girl-could never hope to win the heart of the great King Jareth.
Furious with herself and the Goblin King forever letting her dream that she was loved, she picked up a rock lying on the ground and threw it at the far corner wall shattering the dream much like it had before when Jareth had given her the drugged peach.
Jareth watched as Sarah slept monitoring her through yet another of his crystals. He didn't know why he'd checked on her so soon or why he didn't just take her to the Underground right now as she lay asleep. Yet he knew why he didn't take her with him now. He knew if he took her she would never forgive him for taking away her choice.
"Jareth," She whimpered in her sleep.
His eyes flew to focus on her face wondering what she was dreaming of and why he was a part of the dream, with a wave of his hand he found himself firmly planted in Sarah's dreams.
The dream had changed to the Crystal Ballroom dream she'd had when running the Labyrinth and now relived every night. Except in this version she wore a dress of blue black that would have been scandalous had she not had a black slip under it. Sarah stared in slack jawed awe at the Goblin King's attire of red and black.
The all too familiar tune from 'As the World Falls Down' filled the dance hall. Sarah once again found herself searching for a way to Jareth's side. She kept getting glimpses of him, a flash of red and black, flashes of out of control blond hair, but Sarah couldn't seem to find a way through the blurring chaos that was the crowd of Goblin-like masks.
Sarah would have jumped if she wasn't struck mute when Jareth materialized out of the crowd right next to her. As always the Goblin King swept her up into his arms and they danced around the masked Fae that crowded the floor. As always the Fae around them made crude gestures and laughed, but for Sarah the noise of the other Fae was drowned out by the King who held her in his arms. Sarah stared up into the Goblin King's mismatched gaze and for the umpteenth time felt herself falling for him again.
A love that will last within your heart.
I'll be there for you when the world falls down.
Sarah shivered in his embrace and she knowing that it was yet another dream told the Goblin King, "I want to be yours, forever." She laid her hand over his heart and sang to him.
I'll be there for you when the world falls down.
She didn't know exactly what woke her up but she knew what she had to do. She grabbed the crystal wanting to see Jareth but when his image didn't appear she threw the crystal against the window doors knowing that it wouldn't shatter.
So when the doors to the balcony that connected to her room flew open and lightning sounded Sarah screamed as the owl flew in. She shook uncontrollably, remembering the night that same owl had appeared and informed her that her baby brother was gone and would be gone from her forever if she didn't save him. Sarah fell to her knees the half-forgotten memories rushing back. She felt the same terror she had the first time the Goblin King had made himself known.
She covered her eyes and begged, "No please, not again." Although her eyes were squeezed tight the image of Jareth standing in front of her, smirking, was burned behind her eyes.
"Sarah," his voice was calm almost reassuring, "Why are you afraid?" he sounded hurt by the way she hid.
"I'm losing my mind," she croaked out. "I'm in love with a figment of my imagination."
She heard a rustle of movement and a hand grabbed her wrist and violently pulled her to a standing position. "Sarah," he whispered menacingly in her ear his anger evident in his tight grip on her upper arm. "I am not a figment of your imagination. I am indeed real."
Sarah stared up into his eyes, tears forming behind her eyes. "I'm going insane," she whispered, "All I think about is going back. It's all I dream about."
She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see his reaction, "I can't go back to being just plain me, letting my imagination run wild when I know what's real," her voice took on a desperate note. "I want magick, not this!"
"I offered you that." He began, tilting her head up to look in her eyes, "Sarah, I offered you that and more."
Jareth's heart felt as if it would break seeing Sarah so shattered like this. He knew he was the one to blame. He'd been manipulating her dreams since she'd returned to the Aboveground. He'd hoped that in making her dream of him she'd fall in love with him but the last dream had-for some reason-affected her more than any other dream of the Underground.
"I can bring you back to the Underground," he offered, "All you have to do is say the words one more time."
Sarah's eyes reflected a moment of panic. "What will happen once I do say the words, Jareth?" her uncertainty evident in her voice. "How will I live in the Underground? I have no powers or magick."
Jareth couldn't help his initial reaction, he laughed.
A chill ran down her spine when he laughed.
Oh my God, she thought, he will make me be his slave, forever. Sarah jerked away trying to free her grip on her upper arm.
"Dear Sarah," he said cupping her cheek with a gloved hand. "You have more power than you think."
"But that isn't enough, Jareth," Sarah responded, "I need magick in a world filled with it."
"Sarah, I promise you safety. You will live in my castle with me." He looked down at her, his expression soft. "As my equal."
Her shock showed in her eyes and her arms went limp. Sarah gave her childhood room one last glance before looking back at Jareth. "I wish the Goblin King would take me away right now!"
Instead of sweeping her up into his arms as Sarah had expected, Jareth took a step back. "You cannot return Aboveground ever again if you wish this." His voice was sharp and full of authority. "Visits are permitted, but you will never again be just a mortal."
Sarah smiled up at him and murmured, "Being normal is overrated. Loving you made it impossible to be normal." Sarah gave a giddy laugh before she said, "Take me home."
And with that the pair disappeared in a whirl of sparkle.
