Hey, basic disclaimer; nothing that came from the movie Labyrinth belongs to me, nor does the movie. I might be able to take claim for an OC or two, but I'm not even sure about that.


Disembodied staircases floated in the expanse of darkness around them. He stood before her, dressed in white feathers.

The girl looked at him with eyes of wonder, those green eyes, cruel in their innocence, but he advanced on her on the uneven ground.

Without speaking, he offered her a crystal.

Suddenly, she had aged, her eyes were cruel with knowledge now, she was taller, more powerful, more beautiful. She looked at him, and then at the crystal, but she rolled her eyes in annoyance at the orb and turned away from him.

In a desperate move, he lunged forward and grabbed her arm, but like water, she slipped through his fingers and walked right up the ledge.

She looked back at him and smiled suddenly, almost maliciously, and stepped over the edge and disappeared into the darkness.

[1]

Jareth awoke covered in a light sweat and immediately groaned to himself.

That girl haunted him, even now. After all of this time, she still invaded his dreams and disturbed what precious sleep he could get in this chaotic Kingdom of his.

"-you have no power over me!"

Jareth shuddered at the memory of that night.

He had been so close – so close – to possessing the girl! If he had distracted her just another few seconds.

Those green eyes haunted his memory as he stared at the canopy of his bed, not seeing it. Her eyes were so naïve, innocent; and in that innocence, cruel, and unaware of everything that she was being offered and was refusing.

Grimacing to himself, the Goblin King sat up in his bed and swung his legs over the side, pushing the curtains away. He had to look in on her. Now.

As much as the Goblin King hated to admit it, he had watched Sarah through his crystal for years, only doing so when he absolutely couldn't resist the temptation. That girl tortured his every waking moment, now. He was bitter, angry at losing, at her rejection, and it burned within him, knowing that she was walking around in her world without any sort of punishment for what she'd done to him.

More than that, it tortured him that he still wanted her.

Pushing that thought aside, Jareth twisted a crystal to life in his hands, then turned it that way so that the crystal would show him Sarah.

Jareth's frown deepened at the sight that greeted him.

Sarah had aged seven years since her run. She was a woman now, not the girl she had been. Sarah's black-brown hair was held back in a tight braid that fell to her hips, her legs more shapely, her curves more developed. Her facial features were also more striking; her face had thinned, any baby fat she'd had at fifteen was gone now, and her features were more defined. What little makeup she wore, made her eyes stand out of her face like emeralds set in ivory.

Sarah was dressed in a skirt and a t-shirt as she balanced a tray with two glasses of ale and one colorful alcoholic drink while she pushed her way through the crowded bar that she worked at in the evenings.

Jareth didn't fail to notice the looks that she got from various men through the room in their fogs of intoxication. Many of those men looked at Sarah as though she was a piece of fruit, ripe for the picking, peeling, and tasting, but Sarah didn't seem to notice their gazes and continued through the crowd as though on a mission.

Finally, Sarah reached a table with two men and a woman, and with a smile, delivered the drinks to their respective owners. The smile was trained, forced, and he recognized it as one someone in the royal courts would wear.

One of the men casually reached out and touched Sarah's hand while he thanked her, but she removed it from his reach casually and left them, not bothering to look back.

As Sarah returned to behind the bar, a particularly intoxicated patron attempted to slap her bottom, but without even looking or acknowledging him, Sarah placed her tray between her behind and the mans hand in time to stop the contact, startling both the patron and Jareth.

How did she know that was coming? Jareth wondered, leaning towards the image involuntarily.

Shortly after getting behind the bar, her boss told her she could take a break, and she quickly exited the crowded room in favor of a significantly smaller room that Jareth wouldn't have considered a lounging room.

The room was poorly lit, there were no windows, a couple of grubby couches, a low table, a mortal device known as a television, if he remembered correctly, and a few locked vertical boxes that he supposed the workers at this bar must keep their things.

Sarah plopped herself down on one couch with a sigh. She looked exhausted, and proved so when she closed her eyes for a few seconds and her breathing immediately started to slow.

It was then that there was a knock at Jareth's bedroom door, making him growl. He didn't acknowledge the knock, and returned to watching Sarah as she sunk a little deeper into sleep.

The little knock persisted, but Jareth shoved all thoughts of it away so that he could truly appreciate what he was looking at.

Sarah was so vulnerable, so peaceful, and if only he'd had the power, he would have reached through the divide between their worlds and snatched her away. But she had forbidden him from such an action.

Sarah moaned slightly in her sleep as she scrunched her face up slightly. A few more moments and Jareth might have been able to slip into her dreams, but the knock returned, more persistently than before, snapping him out of his concentration.

[1]

Sarah's eyes snapped open at the same time with a sharp intake of breath. Her eyes darted around in a startled manner for a moment, tension filling her body, as though all of her muscles had suddenly locked up. After a moment, she took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm her rapid heart.

Then, she moved her eyes to the poster hanging by the door and narrowed her eyes slightly. She didn't know what was so special about this poster, it was only for some cheesy movie that her boss had fallen in love with.

Sarah let out a small breath, resigning herself to knowing that, whatever she reason, she had to do this.

"You should probably get that," she said to the poster, "It's important."

Sarah stared at the poster for a moment longer before standing up and heading over to her locker and pulling out her purse to pull out a small notebook, not much larger than her old copy of Labyrinth and pencil.

Opening the notebook to the marked page, she saw the sentence she had written that morning.

Two beers and a rainbow daiquiri, at bar, guy will try to grab your ass.

With slight smile, Sarah crossed it out and wrote another sentence below it.

Rain tomorrow, bring umbrella. Tell Toby truth about that night.

[1]

When Sarah had turned her head towards him, Jareth had been startled, but as soon as she spoke, a chill ran down his spine.

"You should probably get that. It's important."

When she didn't break eye contact and the knock came again, Jareth crushed the crystal in his hand, a sense of unease looming over him.

Jareth knew that Sarah couldn't have possibly speaking to him, but it seemed like she had been. It had felt like she was looking straight through him, like she knew. But it couldn't have been.

His mind filled thoughts of Sarah; how could she have spoken to him without summoning a crystal herself? Did it have anything to do with the man that had tried to touch her? She couldn't have. It couldn't be related.

But then why did she do it?

Another knock came from the door and Jareth looked up and shook himself.

He was overreacting. There was nothing going on with Sarah. But as much as he convinced himself, and hardened his face into an angry scowl for the Goblin who was undoubtedly waiting at the door, he couldn't shake the feeling of foreboding.

"Why have you disturbed my sleep?" The Goblin King growled at the door, loud enough that the goblin could hear him. "What do you want?"

He heard a frightened squeak from the other side of the door before a trembling voice answered, "Sorry, kingy, but letter came! Important letter! From 'nother land!"

Jareth's eyes narrowed at that. It was not common to receive a letter from a neighboring Kingdom at this late hour unless it was urgent, and even then, the last letter he had received had been warning against a fugitive who had proven to be innocent.

The King stood and stalked over to the dying fire, and with a wave of his hand, caused the fire to spring to life once more. Then he sat in his armchair and summoned a small glass of wine into his hand.

"Enter," the Goblin King stated, exuding the aura of an owl getting ready to swoop down and catch its prey. And everyone in the Goblin Kingdom knew very well that owls would rip their victims apart alive with their sharp beaks.

The goblin who had been unfortunate enough to have obtained the letter quickly scuttled in, its head lowered so its helmet drooped forward over its eyes and it walked straight into a side table near the King. The frightened little creature with its brown, leathery skin and beady black eyes looked up at its King cautiously, trying to adjust its helmet so it wouldn't fall.

Jareth only watched the creature with his peripheral vision, refusing to look at the thing. When it stared at him for a minute too long, Jareth spoke.

"Place the letter on the table and get out," he said, cold anger lacing his voice.

Gently, the goblin reached up and placed the green envelope on the table, before turning tail and running awkward out of the King's chambers, both hands on its helmet to keep it on.

With a wave of his hand, Jareth caused the door to slam loudly behind the little creature before looking at the envelope.

As soon as he saw the writing on the envelope, Jareth groaned and brought a hand up to pinch his nose.

Adelaide, Queen of the Green Desert, had written him a letter with impeccable timing, no doubt detailing the ultimatum that the Council had given him the day before, and making an offering.

Without even opening the letter, Jareth tossed it into the fire and leaned back as he watched the flame catch and curl the paper, turning it black. But out of the corner of his eye, a flash of green appeared on the table next to him.

Turning sharply, Jareth's eyes were disturbingly met with the green envelope once more. Jareth sneered.

The woman had enchanted the letter so it had to be read. She had anticipated Jareth's immediate disregard for her and had taken measures. Forced his hand.

Reluctantly, Jareth ripped open the letter and began to read.

[1]


I have returned from from my several year long hiatus and am going to completely repost this story as a brand new thing. I have deleted the old one, but if you were reading the old version, welcome back. I'm so sorry about the wait. I'm going to try to post a chapter a week.

Also, reviews are appreciated, criticism is also welcomed, and if you spot potential grammar or writing errors, I don't mind if you point them out.

Lastly, I would appreciate a Beta for this story so that it isn't complete crap and there AREN'T a lot to point out. Thanks for your time, and hopefully you like it. :)