Out of Doubt

Summary: Five years after her adventure, Sarah has lost touch with her childhood. When she is about to give up on magic in a world of reality, she finds one man that shows her that not everything is what it seems. And that many fantasies are just memories waiting to be reawakened. JS

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or original plot of Labyrinth. The characters of Candlewic, Agmøür and Låmpsöniüs are the property of Brian Froud and are from 'Goblins of the Labyrinth'. I do not intend to make any money or profit off of this fanfiction. I am just a dorky twenty something year old girl who wants to play with Jareth and Sarah for a little while.

Prologue:

"There are two ways to easily slide through life; to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both save us from thinking."

–Alfred Korzybski

At twenty years old Sarah Williams had grown into a beautiful young woman with her feet planted firmly on the ground. She went to school and decided that facts were much easier and more solid things to hold on to in her life instead of the fantasy that she worked so hard to embrace as a child. She fell out of love with the things she could no longer see, and fell into a compromised like with the reality that surrounded her.

Her childhood toys and stories packed in boxes and put into the attic until she was able to give them to her own daughter when she had her own family. Her costumes from her mother were carefully put into storage and forgotten over the years that she grew. She barely even remembered what material they were made out of anymore, or what they once felt like against her skin.

It all seemed to happen fairly quickly. She was sixteen when she found that she didn't need to be reminded of the fantasy that would never be. She buried her dreams in her mind- never to hear from them again- and packed her many memories of her childhood away and out of sight. She needed to focus on what needed to be done. It was time to grow up and find the things that were really important.

She stopped talking to mirrors in hopes that it would hold her imaginary friends. She stopped dreaming of her imaginary land that she created from a play that she once read long ago. She stopped seeing little grinning faces that bumped stuff off of her bookcases and knotted her hair while she slept. She grew up in a year and her little brother was left to fill the role of dreamer that she abandoned since he began to talk.

At three, Toby began to talk partial sentences about Sarah's old stories of which she would humor him with for another year after she packed up her mementos until she turned seventeen. She just couldn't bring herself to do it anymore. She wouldn't poison him like she had herself. He would have to grow up one day, and she would not stop him.

At four, he drew many pictures of castles, one in particular, and goblins. Many, many goblins. Sarah just shrugged her shoulders and continued to plan for a college career at a top university. He was still a child and he still had dreams. At least she didn't humor them anymore and commented how well he could draw and not on the subject of the drawings themselves.

At five, he would visit her apartment next to the large university she attended and would talk about what he found under his bed and how small goblins with the names of Låmpsöniüs (of whom he usually called Lamp), Candlewic and Agmøür would take things and hide them in his closet. Sarah would listen to her brother's stories and would always wonder how he managed to make such stories from shadows he saw in the corners of his room. She wished she could do that with her writing classes.

Then finally at six, he told himself that he would finally break the news to his older sister that something terrible had happened in the Underground. She would understand- she was there once before according to Låmpsöniüs, Candlewic and Agmøür. Not only was she there… she had defeated the dreaded Labyrinth and its king. The Goblin King.

"Sarah?" Toby picked up a simple snow globe that Sarah had on her desk corner of Hawaii. He tossed it a little in his hand and then turned to his sister who was writing on her computer again. She was trying to write another story for another class. Toby always thought it was funny that his older sister wanted to become a fantasy writer when she couldn't remember most of the fantasy that she had lived through.

"Yeah, Toby?" She said as she finished another line and saved the document. She turned to him to give him attention.

"You remember the Underground, right?" Toby asked and tilted his head to the side.

"From the story I used to tell you?" she asked as she got up from the chair. She slightly hoped that he didn't ask that she would tell it to him again. She always felt a pull at her heart when she retold it, as if it meant something a great deal. But it was only a story, right? Besides, she hadn't told it to him in over three years now.

"Right…" Toby sighed and eyeballed the snow globe, "Do you remember Jareth?"

"Jareth?" she mulled the name over in her mind and leaned against the desk with her hip. She put a finger to her lip in thought. She remembered this story so well when she was fifteen and sixteen and now she couldn't remember which character was which, "That was the dwarf, right?"

"No that's Hoggle," Toby rolled his eyes. He then took the snow globe in his hand and pushed it toward Sarah, "You don't remember, Sarah?"

Sarah shook her head as her eyes involuntarily focused on the snow globe in front of her.

Suddenly Toby began to pull lines from her story, "'If you turn it this way, it will show you your dreams.' You remember?"

Sarah thought about it only slightly as the picture of white feathers and a crystal ball appeared in her mind. She shook her head to clear it and nodded to her brother, "He was the Goblin King in your story."

"In your story, Sarah," Toby reminded her and put the snow globe back. Was she ever going to remember? Did she even want to remember anymore? How long has it been since she even thought about her old friends?

"What about him?" Sarah shrugged and turned toward the door with a wave over her shoulder to tell Toby to follow her to the kitchen for dinner. She needed to do something before her mind began to regress. She really didn't need that kind of attack with only three and a half weeks to the end of the semester.

"He's gone."

Something made Sarah stop in her steps. Something screamed at the back of her mind: 'That wasn't supposed to happen. The story was over.'

There was a pinch at her heart, but again she shook it off as she reminded herself once again, 'It was just a story, Sarah.'

"What do you mean?" she turned back at her little brother who hadn't moved from his position on the edge of her bed.

"Agmøür told me yesterday," Toby said in a sad voice, "Told me that King Jareth isn't in the kingdom anymore. Something happened that the goblins don't know. All they know is that they don't have King Jareth. He's just gone. The goblins want you to help them."

"Toby it's just a story," Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes, "Now come on. Let's get something to eat."

"But it isn't just a story," Toby shook his head and hopped off the bed after her. He grabbed her hand and pulled on it lightly, "You went there, Sarah! With Hoggle and Sir Didymus and Ludo! You lived it, and you used to love it. Just like they loved you."

"Toby that was a very long time ago that I dreamed that story up," she shook her head.

"But it wasn't just a dream… you lived it!" Toby yelled and pulled on her hand harder, "So did I! Don't you care about them anymore?"

"About who?"

"Your friends," Toby let go of her hand and took a step back in disbelief, "They remember you. So did he. He's gone Sarah. The whole Labyrinth can die… and you don't even care."

"I don't care about things that aren't real," she knelt down and put a hand on her brother's shoulder, "I grew up and out of fantasy. I only write it now because I know the different things that must go into those stories. Everyone grows up, Toby. You will too, one day."

"I never want to grow up like you did, Sarah," he pushed her hand off his shoulder and then ran to the bathroom.

He locked himself in there for the rest of the night. Karen came to pick him up an hour early and Sarah said a sad goodbye to her brother who didn't even look at her. He never did that before.

That night Sarah sat on the ledge of her window seat and stared off into the night sky. She sighed as she tried to remember the imagination she once had. She couldn't remember much except for those white feathers, and a pair of strange colored eyes gazing through a crystal ball.

"Maybe fantasy isn't such a good subject matter to write on," Sarah said to herself and pushed away from the window. She almost could feel her mind begin to fall back into the past and she really didn't need that, "Sleep is the best thing right now. Just get some sleep, clear my head and then call Toby tomorrow."

As she walked back to her room she didn't see the small goblin at the edge of her couch with a white owl feather in one hand and a blade longer than he was tall in the other. He was only a foot tall and covered with armor over his slightly hairy body and long tail. The helmet over his head shifted a little with the bottom mouthpiece as his nose twitched a little in aggravation. He made a sad sound in the back of his throat and shook his head with a small clank with his armor.

"Lady doesn't remember," he said and put his back to the side of the couch with his sword to the side. He looked at the feather with a frown, "Doesn't want to remember. Run out of time soon. What Agmøür do now?"