AN: I don't own the Labyrinth or any of its characters. I wish I did, but I don't.

So, I had been reading a bunch of fics on the Labyrinth and decided that too many of them stopped just when it was getting good. My muse finally showed her capricious face. She danced with joy and drove me to start this. We'll see how long she sticks around.

I also wanted to apologize for the lack of updates on my other stories. The little bitch I call a muse just isn't having it. I suggested working on ANY of the other fics I have going, and she bolted. I have caved to her whims once again. I hope you can forgive me.

This fic is 1234 words long. (And no, I didn't plan it that way)

'Give me the child.'

"Sarah, beware, I have been generous up until now, but I can be cruel."

'Generous. What have you done that's generous?'

"Everything! Everything that you have wanted, I have done. You asked that the child be taken, I took him. You cowered before me, I was frightening. I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you. I am exhausted from living up to your expectations. Isn't that generous?"

'Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city. My will is as strong as yours, and my king-'

"Stop. Wait. Look, Sarah. Look what I'm offering you. Your dreams."

'...and my kingdom as great.'

"I ask for so little. Just let me rule you and you can have everything that you want."

'...kingdom as great...damn. I can never remember that line.'

"Just fear me. Love me. Do as I say and I will be your slave."

'My kingdom as great...my kingdom as great. You have no power over me.'

She shot up in shock from a dead sleep. Her hand scrubbed over her face as she groaned in frustration at another interrupted night. Looking over at the clock, she flopped back onto her pillow with a sigh. 4:18. Might as well get up. It had been almost 13 years since she'd said those words to him. 13 years since she had last seen him. 13 years since she had saved her brother. 13 years since she'd returned home from the most magical, frustrating place she had ever been. 13 years since she had felt at home.

She hadn't figured out what he had been offering until she had graduated high school, but by that time, it was too late. He had been offering her his kingdom, his subjects, himself, and she had rejected it all. She really had thrown his generosity back in his face. But at 15, she'd only been focused on getting her brother and getting back home. She hadn't stopped to think about what his words had really meant, what he had really been offering her.

Throwing off the blankets, she headed for the shower. Grabbing a towel along the way, she looked at herself in the mirror above the sink. Her skin had started growing translucent and no matter how much or what she ate, she had been losing weight. Her friends had asked if she was alright, and she told them she was, but honestly, she wasn't. She was far from 'alright.'

She couldn't stop thinking about him. Her Goblin King. She had asked Hoggle and Didymus, even Ludo, if they had seen or heard from Jareth. Nobody had. Hoggle did tell her that there were rumors of him having fallen into a death-like slumber, but that she shouldn't worry about it. Didymus had chimed in saying they were only rumors, after all.

She had thought about asking one of them to bring her back there. She hadn't done it, though. She wasn't sure if it was out of fear, or shame that she didn't return. As a child, she did fear him. She had feared him like no other. She had also loved him. She just hadn't understood what that more secret feeling was at the time. She really hadn't understood it until she had started dating.

She hadn't experienced budding love for someone other than a family member until she had started truly dating. No boy had roused the same feelings that he had. No boy had stirred her body or her heart like he had. As she'd grown into a woman, no man had done any of the things her Goblin King had.

Sighing, she stepped from the now cold water and dried her gaunt body. Her skin felt overly sensitive, and at the same time, amazingly numb. She could feel each bone beneath her paper-like skin. It worried her and perplexed her doctors. She had been diagnosed with disease after disorder, only for further testing to come back negative. She had yet to find someone that could give her an answer as to what was happening to her body.

Her small breakfast of a nutritionally packed protein shake, two scrambled eggs, a slice of heavily buttered toast, and half of a clementine didn't interest her in the least. She sipped at her shake while she mostly just pushed her eggs around. Mornings after sleepless nights were always like this.

Tossing everything in the trash or down the sink, she walked to her vanity to try and make herself look human for work. It was getting more and more difficult to pass muster anymore, and honestly, she didn't really care. She just wanted to sleep. Her eyes wandered over the mirror as she thought of her friends in the goblin kingdom.

Suddenly, Hoggle appeared before her, gazing back at her through her mirror. Panic flashed across her mind. She hadn't spoken to him since the dreams had first started, over a year ago, before she had fallen sick. She watched as his brows pinched in concern and his head canted to the side a little. "Sarah? Is everything alright?"

Suddenly, tears were in her eyes as her lip quivered. She shook her head. It was all she could do unless she wanted to fall to pieces. She wasn't alright. She was sick, probably dying, and nobody knew why. She couldn't sleep. Dreams of Jareth and the Labyrinth kept plaguing her nights. There was nobody to talk to about it all except them, but she hadn't wanted them to see how bad she'd gotten.

She felt his arms wrap around her thin waist and broke into great, heaving sobs as she collapsed into his arms. Before she knew it, Sir Didymus and Ambrosious were there, comforting her. After a moment, huge, furry arms had wrapped around all of them. Her beloved friends had come to save her once again. How many times had they done this since she'd returned with Toby? For a long while, there were only her sobs.

Once she quieted down, Hoggle asked if she needed anything, and before she could think, her mouth was speaking. "I just want to see him. Talk to him. I wish-" The small paw over her mouth stopped her as her tear-soaked brain caught up with her wayward mouth. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized her mouth had almost spoken what she had kept hidden in her heart.

"Wishes are powerful, Sarah. Make sure you want to speak it before you really do." Didymus said softly. She nodded as he pulled his little paw away. For a while afterward, nobody spoke, they just sat there, holding each other, soaking in the peace the others offered. Her alarm went off, scaring Ambrosious.

Laughing, she disentangled herself from the cuddle pile and shut it off. Turning back, she smiled fondly at her amazing friends, love shining from the depths of her dull aqua orbs. Hugging each one tightly, she said her goodbyes as she started getting ready for work. As she dressed for the office, her mind wandered back to her time in the goblin kingdom. Her mouth spoke what she most desired, and most feared, before she could stop it.

"I really do wish the Goblin King would come save me."

AN: I wanted to thank the guest that left the wordage correction. I appreciate you bringing that to my attention. Thank you. :)

If anyone sees anything else I may have missed or done incorrectly, please feel free to let me know. I do love making things easy and correct for you. :)