Disclaimer: This story up to chapter 4 has been mildly edited to not only correct minor errors but to also bring it up to date with the current preferred format of stories on FF. I admit it's a bit weird to suddenly want to pick up a story nearly ten years old now- maybe it's the magic of the first day of October at work- but the concept's become interesting again so I hope old watchers and new readers alike can still find some enjoyment from this old piece that saw me through one of the worst times of my life. (10/1/15)

—

Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.

O well for the fisherman's boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!

And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break
At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

The party with her friends had ended late into the night. Sarah plopped down onto her bed, exhausted. Arms and legs sprawled, she looked lazily over at her clock just as the red display turned to show 3am. The girl just stared at it, not fully understanding how late it really was, and with a smile lingering on her face, she rolled over and went to sleep.

There was a haze, pale in countenance, but it seemed to encompass every color of the rainbow in to one giant, insubstantial mass. A hand grasped at it, only to have the mist slip easily in between its fingers and back into the swirling cloud. The figure attached to the hand stared at the haze before it. What was this hiding? What was it hiding?

Sarah awoke with a start. Groaning, she pulled a hand away from her warm body and slammed it onto her alarm clock, abruptly putting an end to the offending noise.

You're kidding me, she though. School? After all that? Don't I get a free day or something?

"Sarah!" a voice called. Karen. Great. "Are you up yet?"

Sarah rolled out of bed, stiff from sleeping in her clothes all night. How does she manage to go off at the same time as the alarm? "Yes! Just getting up now!"

The answer seemed to placate her stepmother as Sarah began to get ready for school. Her actions were automatic after years of the same routine- out of bed, yes I'm up, off with the night clothes, on with the day clothes, washing up, half way down the stairs and—

Sarah stopped dead. She'd taken 5 steps down the stairs when she had finally woken up enough to realize exactly just what had happened. She had given away her brother, fought to get him back- fought him to get her brother back- and now she was here, walking down the stairs in what should be a normal routine, as if none of that had ever happened. But it had happened, she thought to herself. The Goblin King, Toby, all of it. Sarah breathed. Toby. She leaned over the railing to look into the kitchen to see her baby brother sitting safely in his high chair, happily playing with some cereal that he had knocked out of his bowl. She straightened up. But had she lost any time? Hadn't she been in that strange world for at least 10 hours? But here was her step-mother behaving as if everything was normal. If anyone would notice a change in time/space continuum, she would. The woman didn't miss a thing. Taking a deep breath, Sarah proceeded down the rest of the stairway.

She rounded the end of the rail and walked into the kitchen. Karen spotted her taking a seat, and placed a bowl in front of her.

"Good morning," Karen said as walked back to the sink to finish washing dishes from the night before.

"Good morning," Sarah answered. She began to pour some cereal for herself while watching her step-mother from the corner of her eye. Would she think anything different had happened in the space of what was supposed to have been a normal evening?

"Umm, out of curiosity," Sarah started, "what's today's date?" It was better to hurry up and get that suspicion of lost time out of the way.

"The 27th of September. Why do you ask?"

Sarah inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. It was the same day! Or rather it was the day after, and things were still in their normal order. Of course they would be.

"No reason. I'm just horrible with dates and numbers, that's all. I just wanted to make sure."

Karen stopped mid scrubbing and frowned slightly at her step-daughter. "You've always been so good with things like that, though. What's brought this on?"

Uh-oh. Sarah had to think of an escape route. She grabbed for her wrist and found her watch. Slinging her arm up from under the table, she nearly knocked her bowl over in her haste to create a distraction.

"Oh, hey, look at that! I'm going to be late for school if I don't hurry. Can we pick this line of conversation back up this evening? I gotta run!"

Sarah quickly stood up and made for her backpack next to the front door, leaving Karen in a mild state of surprise.

"Okay. Uh, see you this evening, then. And you can go out tonight!" she called after Sarah. The girl paused just as she was about to open the door. "We felt kind of bad about last night, so tonight you're free, okay?" Karen smiled. Sarah smiled back and waved before ducking out the door.

It had been a mistake to leave so early. It had also been a mistake to blow her stepmother off like that. Sarah sighed. Now, after all that's happened, she kind of felt bad about her behavior the night before. She'd acted like a child.

In an effort to kill time, she took the 'scenic route' to school, and it led her through town. Main Street was lined with budding trees, and it was only now starting to pick up a bit of traffic. Shops began to open and their keepers unlocked the doors and flipped the signs that indicated they were open for business. A new jewelry shop had just opened across the street, too. She'd have to go and look at it after school to day…

As Sarah drifted off into her reverie, she didn't noticed the person coming from the other direction who seemed to be equally lost in thought as she was. A collision, of course, was inevitable. They bumped into each other, knocking a bundle out of the young man's hands in the process.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Sarah cried.

The boy dusted himself off. "Oh, no, you're fine, you're fine."

Sarah knelt down to help him retrieve his lost papers and books. "No, really, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I was pretty much lost in my own dream world when- "

The boy smiled at her, and Sarah promptly blushed.

"That is to say…." Her words trailed off. Such blue eyes…

"It's perfectly fine," he concluded for her in a light accent. She couldn't quite place where it was from. "You could say I was off in my own dream world as well, so let's just say we're both guilty." He smiled again, and held out his hand "The name's Justin. And you are….?"

Sarah snapped to. "Sarah. My name's Sarah." She smiled in return and shook his hand.

Justin was taller than she was by another foot, and with sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes, Sarah concluded that he had looks that could kill.

"Well, Sarah," he continued, "It is very nice to meet you. And what brings you out to this ghost town so early in the morning?"

Sarah couldn't help but smile. "Oh? I was just, um, killing time before school started. I had to get out of the house. And you?"

Justin shrugged. "Much of the same, really. I was just going to return some of these books to a nice old lady who let me borrow them for awhile." He grinned at her.

Sarah stifled a laugh. "Old lady?"

"Yeah! She's let me borrow some of her first edition prints for a research paper on Dickens I've been doing. I wanted to read what some of the original endings to his stories were." Suddenly, Justin caught a glimpse of the display on his watch. "Oh! I've got to hurry. Sorry, Sarah, but it was nice meeting you!"

"It was nice meeting you, too!" Sarah called after him as he made his way in the direction she had just come from.

"Perhaps we'll see each other again!" he called.

"That would be swell!" and she waved as she turned back to the sidewalk in front of her.

That would be just my luck! she though hastily to herself. It must be Karma- yeah, that's what it is- that he'd duck out of the conversation just as I did with Karen this morning.

She hit the palm of her hand against her forehead. But who needs guys, anyway? I've had my fair share of pretty guys for the past 72 hours. No more, thank you. I just want to be left unconfused for a day, that's all I ask.

Sarah sighed, and looked behind her in the direction Justin had gone. A lone hawk, however, caught her attention as the only thing in the sky. It brought back memories of a large owl that had beaten at her window only the night before. No more.

She was almost to school, and needed no more distractions when it came to eventually facing her friends.

"Sarah!" Rebecca cried as she ran over to see her best friend.

Sarah turned around. She couldn't believe it. It almost brought tears to her eyes to see her friend running to meet her, and it reminded her again of what exactly she'd gone through because of her own selfishness. The idea that she could have lost these people forever struck her hard in her chest.

"Hey!" Sarah called back, and as soon as she was in arm's length, she hugged her friend.

"Whoa, now, I do have a boyfriend, you know. I know I'm irresistible, but…"

Sarah laughed and let her go. "I'm sorry. I was just so happy to see you." She looked at her friend, about to cry. Rebecca raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Are you okay, hon? What's gotten into you?"

This time it was Sarah's turn to look surprised. But that's right. They don't know everything that's happened. Her expression then grew serious, And I cannot tell them, either. I won't tell them. They shouldn't have to know. Besides, she was a little more than ashamed for what she'd put her brother through, not to mention what she had been subject to while in the Labyrinth, that she didn't want them finding out any way.

Rebecca narrowed her eyes in concern at her friend's sudden change in facial expressions. She put a hand to Sarah's forehead. "Do you have a cold?"

" 'Becca!"

The girl turned around to see a tall, lanky boy with brown hair come up and lecherously put his arms around her.

"Hey, you! Stop that! Can't you see that Sarah's not feeling well? Brian, you jerk…"

Brian loosened his hold on his girlfriend. "Got a cold, Sarah?"

Sarah smiled as she watched them shortly argue and then bring their attention back to her.

"Ah, yeah, I think I do. Is something going around, you think?"

Brian slowly shook his head. "Around this place? Who knows. It's a miracle we aren't all dead from some mutant disease from this school."

This comment got an elbow to the ribs by Rebecca.

"Come on, girly," her friend said. "We'd better get to class before Mrs. G gives us detention for a week for merely existing."

Rebecca shook off her boyfriend and took Sarah's arm as they made their way to class.

The three friends took their places in their homeroom class just as their teacher began to make announcements.

"Students, before we get started, I just wanted to announce that we have a new student with us today." The short, middle aged woman raised a hand motioning for the new student to stand up and introduce themselves.

Sarah gasped. Justin stood up and made his way to the front of the class, and smiled at Sarah in surprise at seeing her again. Rebecca nudged her friend.

"Hey," she whispered. "You know that guy or something?"

Sarah didn't answer, but merely stared.

"Hello," he began. "My name is Justin Elis, and I just moved here from over seas."

Suppressed squeals could be heard from some of the girls in the class as they ogled what they considered 'fresh meat' in the man department.

"Thank you, Mr. Elis," Mrs. G added in dull tones. "We're happy to have you join our class." She shot the whispering girls a frigid look to which they silenced immediately. "Very, happy. In fact, I think a few of us might be too happy."

As the teacher sat to take attendance, Rebecca took this time to introduce herself to the new kid, as Brian gave the guy his most classic look of resent. Sarah just stared. Wow, she though. Who would have thought?

Contemplating her good luck, Sarah thought she heard someone call her name.

"Ms. Williams," it said more persistently. "Are you here today, by chance?"

Sarah looked up only to lock eyes with her dreaded homeroom teacher.

"Y-yes, ma'am. Here!"

The teacher rolled her eyes and continued to read off names. She was then prodded by Rebecca.

"Hey, you'll never guess!" her friend whispered to her.

"What?"

"I convinced him to eat lunch with us today! We got to him first. He said no one's asked him yet! What luck is that?"

Sarah's eyes widened. "You did what?"

"Shhhhhhhh!" Rebecca put a hand over Sarah's mouth. "You wanna get detention?"

The girl pouted. "No, but why'd you go and do that?"

Rebecca frowned. "Don't you want to welcome the new student to school? Why Sarah, how inhospitable of you." She smirked. "You act as if he scares you or something."

This time it was Sarah's turn to frown. She watched Justin as he turned around to wave to her. Sarah smiled and waved in reply.

"Ah, maybe you're right. I've just been really wary of new people since the Gob— Ah, I mean, since, I, um, got xenophobia? Heh…."

Rebecca stifled a laugh. "What's gotten into you today? I think you really have caught something. Well don't get close to me, whatever it is."

Sarah stuck her tongue out at her friend, and Rebecca smiled.

She's right. I'm overreacting, she thought to herself. But….as strange as it sounds, though…no, impossible. He's just blessed with gorgeous eyes.

This year was turning out to be more excitement than she had bargained for. Starting high school, fighting for her brother's life in the underground against a man she'd never really forget- Yes, him, and now there's this guy.

Lunch rolled around and was surprisingly normal, Sarah concluded. The only difference was that now they were now a group of four instead of three, and "The more the merrier!" Rebecca had said on their way home. Sarah had laughed. Things were finally getting back to normal.

"If you say so."

—

4 Years Later…

"Hey!" Justin called.

Sarah was out of breath, running from her pursuer. She was laughing so much she couldn't see straight, which worried her because she was afraid she'd run into something.

"You little thief, get back here!"

"Oh, come on! It looks good! You don't need this!" Sarah waved the offending object in front of her as she spoke. She then turned to duck behind some trees when she landed right into him.

"AHHH! How in the-? Justin, how do you do that? I just saw you!" Sarah stared wide eyed at the boy she'd just seen who had previously been just twenty feet behind her. Justin merely smiled and held out his right hand.

"Hat, please."

Sarah looked at him sulkily. "It isn't fair. I'll figure out how you move so fast one day!"

He laughed at her. Sarah smacked him on the shoulder.

"Oh, so you think it's funny, eh? I mean it! I'll find out!"

"I don't doubt you will, my darling, but until then…." Justin paused as he looked at Sarah.

Sarah blushed slightly under the boy's gaze, his brilliant blue eyes seemingly lost in her green ones. She moved a bit closer to him, when suddenly he smiled. Sarah frowned.

"What?"

"Gotcha!" Justin yelled. He snatched the hat from the gaping girl, shoved it on his head, and ran off in the opposite direction.

Sarah stood there in shock.

"Whaaaat? You did not just do that!"

Sarah sighed in defeat and leaned against one of the trees. That jerk. It's like he's always egging me on, and then he runs off before I can get a word in. It's so much like—She stopped mid thought. No, no. We're not thinking about that anymore. It's been years and I'm over it. No.

The girl sank down on the ground, put her hands over her headm and rested her forehead on her knees. She was a senior in high school now, not freshman, and she knew better than to let her past, let alone her emotions, get the better of her. Did she like Justin? They'd certainly spent all of high school together, and she knew him well after all this time. Yes, the attraction was there, but….something was off. Never once since they'd gone to school together had she ever known him to have a girlfriend. Granted, Sarah had never really 'gone steady' with any boy herself, but she still dated here and there. Justin did none of that. But that wasn't important, was it? So what was the problem?

Mist.

She had been searching for something that evening. It had been lost, taken from her, but what was it? Sarah's head shot up. I forgot all about that dream.

"Saaaarah" a voice called. The girl turned her head to see her best friend coming towards her. Rebecca grinned.

"Seduced into losing again? Tsk, tsk, you'll never survive in the real world."

Sarah stood up out of indignation. "I was not 'seduced', thank you, and no, it doesn't always work." She furrowed her brows. "And after what I've been through, I could survive anything, so there."

Rebecca laughed at her friend. "Well don't you make a fine picture. Survived what, by chance? High school? Or is this alluding to that 'thing' you refuse to tell us about?"

Sarah shifted uneasily. She still hadn't told them about her adventures in realm of the Goblin King, simply because after all this time it had seemed really ridiculous to even bring it up again. Although it had been a couple years since she'd spoken to Hoggle or Sir Didymus, she still felt that they were her friends just as Rebecca standing before her was her friend. The rest of it didn't seem to matter. Not even him, she thought. Sarah still refused to think anything about the being that had kidnapped her brother. She had known something around that man that even after three years she couldn't quite discern. Yes, she hated him for what he'd done to her, but there always seemed like there was more to it than that. Regardless, Sarah chose to ignore it in the long run, and simply live her life.

"Never mind that," Sarah answered. "And Justin can have his stupid hat. If he doesn't want to show off his wonderfully remarkable hair cut, that's up to him."

Sarah turned around and started back into the trees around her school.

"Aww, Sarah, don't be that way! I was just joking!" Rebecca followed her friend.

They walked in silence for awhile as they moved more into the trees. When they could no longer see the school, Sarah found a stump and sat on it. She propped her elbows on her knees and put her hands around her face. Rebecca frowned.

"You okay?"

No answer.

"This is about Justin, isn't it?"

Sarah just sat there, motionless.

"Sarah?"

There was a pause. The girl on the stump took in a deep breath.

"It isn't…." No, don't use it. You've already used it once today. You promised yourself you wouldn't use it anymore! Her thoughts gave up, and Sarah went ahead and said it. "…fair. It isn't fair."

A very displeased sound came from Sarah at having to use that terrible sentence. It brought back so many memories and reminders of things she'd tried so hard to forget.

Rebecca was all sympathy as she cautiously approached her friend and placed an understanding hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, all's not lost. He hasn't got a girlfriend. Maybe he's just one of those guys that doesn't see what's in front of him. Maybe if you told him-"

"No, that's not what it is." Sarah shook her head.

Rebecca raised her eyebrows. "What is it then?"

She began to fidget. I can't tell her. I want to, but I can't. Sarah looked up at her friend's concerned face. Dammit, this isn't fair! I don't know what to do anymore.

Suddenly, Sarah began to cry. The tears came slowly at first, and Rebecca knelt down to see her friend better as she rubbed her back. Finally, after four years of pent up frustration and anger at her own weakness, she sobbed. She sobbed, and Rebecca, not knowing what else to do, simply held her as Sarah cried onto her shoulder.

I didn't want to hurt my brother! she seemed to say through her tears. I was selfish, and what was worse was that I almost stayed! I almost gave in to more of my selfishness and stayed with that bastard! I can't tell you, Rebecca! I can't tell you what I've been through! I don't even know what I want anymore!

It all seemed so absurd suddenly. She was 18 and had her whole life ahead of her. If anything, she had four more years of thinking space because of college. Sarah leaned away from her friend and wiped at her face with her sleeve. Rebecca's face was stricken with worry as she brushed the hair away from her friend's face as she stopped crying.

"Better?" Rebecca asked.

Sarah laughed. "Who knows?"

The two girls smiled at each other, when a voice sounded from behind them.

"My, you poor thing," it said sympathetically.

The girls jumped, and Sarah nearly fell off of her tree stump. Eyes huge and mouths gaping awkwardly open, they stared at the tall figure standing before them. It was a woman with long, shining hair the color of the richest rouge, and as she walked toward them, the beautiful pale silks of her fitted dress seemed to almost float above the ground as if abject to the idea of dirt. A dark cape of grey draped her shoulders and shifted to reveal elegantly gloved hands by her side.

Sarah straightened up. "Who are you?"

The mystery woman smiled. "I'm here to give you guidance, just like you called me to."

The girl narrowed her eyes, not really sure what to expect next. "I did not call you to do anything. Please go back from wherever you came."

At this the woman laughed. "But my dear, it was you who summoned me! I have been waiting all this time to help you!"

"Sarah!"

Both girls turned to see Justin running towards them. He spotted the woman almost immediately, and his face simultaneously darkened. He looked at Sarah. "Don't listen to her."

This time it was Rebecca who spoke up. "I'm sorry, what? What is going on here?" The girl looked confusedly from one person to the next. "Well is anybody going to tell me?"

Sarah simply looked at the woman and tried to figure out how she'd summoned her when she hadn't really said anything substantial for half an hour.

The woman glanced at Justin, but then raised her hand towards the girl. "Come. Take my hand, and I will be able to solve all of your problems."

Her smile is so warm, Sarah thought, and unknowingly began to raise her hand to meet the outstretched one as if caught in a spell.

Twigs and leaves were heard cracking underfoot as Justin drew closer to them. "Sarah, no! Sarah!" His voice broke. Sarah continued to move slowly, as if in a daze, towards the red haired woman's hand. Justin gritted his teeth.

"Sarah, I want you to go out with me!"

Shock. Sarah stopped, and turned her head towards him as her had suddenly dropped. Her spell having been broken, the woman's eyes widened in disbelief. She then glared at the boy as tears threatened to converge in Sarah's eyes.

"What?" It came as almost a whisper. "What did you say?"

Justin looked down for a second and shuffled his feet on the forest floor. "I said….I want you to go out with me."

"Lies!" the woman cried. "What else could you possibly want to do with this creature that now you want to steal her heart as well!" She snapped her head back towards Sarah. "You! Look at me, please! All this man wants is to hurt you!"

"And you would do what else?" he fired back. "Why are you after Sarah?"

"She called me here! It is she who asked for my presence!"

"You lie!"

"Ask the girl herself, then!"

"Sarah!"

Sarah had been sitting in shock over the whole display. Rebecca was clinging to her at this point and at a complete loss for what to do.

"What?" she answered wearily. Sarah suddenly had the urge to sleep under all this stress, and really fought to keep her eyes open.

Justin looked at her pleadingly. "Did you call this woman?"

Sarah rolled her eyes and huffed. This was getting ridiculous, "How the hell should I know? I never know when I call strange creatures from beyond who 'just want to help'. Why should this occasion be any different?"

Justin's eyes widened as the woman took a step forward, a triumphant smile on her face.

"See? Now leave her to me!"

"I'll do no such thing!"

And so the argument raged on as Sarah sat defeated and staring off into the woods. Huh, I guess I really don't care anymore. She smiled to herself. It was good not to care anymore, right? As she mused to herself, a bright flash just above her line of sight caught her attention, and, like a shooting star, it streaked towards her, and the shine landed at her feet. Absorbed in their argument, the other two hardly seemed to take notice, but as Sarah looked down, what she saw took her breath away.

Before her feet lay a beautifully intricate design of worked metal with blended silvers and golds, with delicately inlaid curves that created what appeared to be a small coin. She leaned over and reached a hand down to pick it up. Suddenly, the mysterious woman and Justin's argument ended as both heads snapped in the direction of Sarah.

"Don't touch that!" they both yelled at once.

But it was too late. Sarah's finger had brushed against the polished metal- there was a bright flash- and she was gone.

A/N: Original note here said to please excuse the massive set-up at work here, and I believe that still holds true. Thanks very much for reading!