This is my first Labyrinth fiction thing, but I can take flames. So no worries about hurting my feelings. If you can review I would appreciate it. But I'm not going to be to upset if you don't want to. So I guess I'm saying do whatever comes naturally :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth or any of its characters.

Nothing Never Hurts Again

The owl had for the most part gone unnoticed. It sat in a tree over looking a medium size suburban house in Wisconsin, staring unblinkingly into one of the front windows. Car doors slammed, children screamed, church bells rung and still the owl didn't move. The owl was of a mysterious nature, its feather where white but in the right lighting they took on a blondish tinge and its eyes... it is hard to say exactly what color they were for one appeared to be a light blue like the morning sea while the other was a dark green like a midnight forest. The owl seemed like a quiet disturbance in an otherwise normal neighborhood.

A dark haired girl of 16 was in the room that the owl watched. She sat in front of her vanity, lightly brushing back her long hair and mumbling quietly to herself. "I'll never get it right," she sighed as she put the brush down. 'The worlds not fair', Sarah thought, this was something she knew with absolute certainty and she could not see how it would do her good to think otherwise.

Sarah had just gotten of the phone with her mother, Linda. 'Her part time mother actually,' Sarah thought to herself, her mother had really only been present in her life when it was convenient for her. Linda had raged and hissed when Sarah had told her that she would not be attended acting school that summer.

"But honey, "Linda cooed sweetly, "If you don't start training now you'll be behind all those other pretty girls when you start performing."

"I'm not going to be an actress mom," Sarah said calmly, "It's just not want I want to do any more."

There was a long pause on the other end. "Did Karen put you up to this?" Her mother's voice quivered slightly, "because if she did I'll come down there straight away. I won't have her telling you what you can and can not..."

Sarah quickly cut her off, "Karen had nothing to do with this. I just changed my mind that's all." Sarah was now quietly fuming to herself; she was tired of Linda constantly trying to make Karen out to be the wicked stepmother. It had been due to Linda's endless criticism of Karen that Sarah had taken this long to befriend her step-mom.

"What's wrong with being an actress?" By the end of the call Linda had thrown out everything she could think of. She had even begun to cry in to the phone (making sure her daughter could hear every blubbering moan of despair) about how she had always dreamed about her only child following in her footsteps. At last Linda had no choice but to come to the realization that her actress's charm no longer had power over Sarah.

Nevertheless Sarah was hurt. While her voice might have seemed unwavering on the phone it was only to hide the instant pain caused by her mother's remarks. She was a better actress than Linda would ever have guessed. Tears formed in her eyes. She could not get it right. She could not make everyone around her happy. But Sarah would not risk losing herself to make her mother happy, and she would defiantly not take the risk of the stage.

'It reminds me of the ballroom that's why,' Sarah thought. The same lies and cold hearted leers from those around her, how easy it became to slip into the part, the role of innocence among the lions. She had for many mouths now been trying to forget the drugged dream that from time to time would dance in her head as she slept.

"It's been almost a year now hasn't it," Sarah stared into her mirror hard, as if trying to see something else in it that wasn't there. 'The Labyrinth,' she wondered, 'is it still there.' Her time there had been so short, though at the time it had seemed like an eternity. There had been both good and bad parts about the Labyrinth. It was a maze that incorporated both deceit and trusts in its structure, and required more than determination to beat. 'And I did it,' Sarah thought with sudden awe, 'I beat the Labyrinth.' No it was something that she would not forget. It was what made her strong; it was what had changed her from the spoil brat she was into who she was today. To forget the Labyrinth meant she would have to forget all the friends she had made there and that she thought was as good as wishing them dead. Yet there were parts she would like to forget.

Glancing at the clock Sarah gasped. It was fifteen minutes till school; she'd have to run if she was going to make it in time. Waving a quick goodbye and a rushed apology to Karen, Sarah ran out the door with her book bag slung over one shoulder.

Sarah passed Merlin, her old sheep dog, on her way out. He was barking fiercely up at the tree. "Oh Merlin whatever your barking at," Sarah cried thinking it was probably some stray cat or a bird, "leave it alone."

But Merlin didn't stop barking, he continued with out regard for Sarah's words, his eye's never leaving the tree. Merlin had seen the owl, had in fact seen it many times over the last year. The dog had noticed its presents often when he when out with his mistress, and had seen how it's eyes never for a moment left her face. Even now as Merlin growled up at it, the owl watched silently as Sarah ran down the block to school.

The small back alley Sarah took as a short cut to get home was usually empty. It was a wide concrete street that let in a lot of light. She knew the way by heart, therefore she rarely had to look up while walking down it. She could let her mind wander as she walked down such streets as this, and Sarah appreciated that enough to make up for its lack of beauty.

The alley was not empty today, Sarah noted with a small frown. A group of senior boys Sarah recognized vaguely as going to her school when slumped up against the wall and laughing with each other. Her first instinct told her to turn back, she could go another way. But in truth she knew she had no real good reason to turn back and they had already spotted her walking their way, it would look stupid to turn around now.

One of the boys, that was wearing a light blue baseball cap, let out a loud whistle as she passed. "Hey sweetheart, want to make my day." The boys let out a round of laughter.

"Come on baby give me just a little kiss. That's all

I really want," another one chimed in.

"We all know you want more than that," A boy with crop short blond hair said laughing.

"Hey you where are you going," a short boy with a basketball jersey on said, "'cause I wouldn't mind giving you a ride." At this there was a howl as the boy grinned from ear to ear as the rest of the boys let his juvenile pun sink in.

"Shut up guys," a tall brown haired boy said seriously, "come on leave her alone, the last thing she need is assholes like you bugging her." A few of the boys punched each other in the arm to get each other to shut up. 'They are like the goblins," Sarah thought as glanced up at them from the corner of her eye.

"Come on," The tall boy said smiling kindly up at Sarah, "I'll walk you home."

Without further consideration he took the book bag from her arm and steered her out of the alley way. Uncomfortable by her situation Sarah mumbled a quick and short 'thanks' to the boy now walking next to her.

"My pleasure," he said smiling open mouthy down at her. "I've seen you often at school, Sarah isn't it," he said still smiling. All she could do was nod dumbly perplexed, she could not remember ever seeing the boy beside her now, and couldn't imagine that he, who she now saw to be quite good looking, noticed her.

"We share a physic class together. You sit three desks ahead of me," he continued, watching her closely.

Sarah frowned embarrassed. She never paid attention to the other student in her class. "I'm terribly sorry, I don't remember you."

The boys smile faltered a little. "Well that's a sure way to break a guy's heart. My name is Walter, nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand and Sarah shock it rather lamely. "I'm real sorry bout those guys back there they have trouble containing themselves every time a pretty girl like you walks by. Not a brain in the bunch," He finished laughing.

"Oh." Sarah stared at her feet missing her solitude already.

"I play football you know." Sarah looked up at him. "I'm really good too; the coach might even make me quarterback." He stuck out his chest proudly, displaying his muscles. "You ought to come and watch me play some time; I'd think you'd enjoy it."

"Um...," Sarah search for an excuse to no avail, "Sure." She had decided she didn't really like this boy; he was like one of the masked faces in the ballroom. Desire plain in his every move, caring nothing for what his smile could do to a girl, trying to play the hero in a sea of wickedness. The kind of person only in it to gain what he wanted. The image of the Goblin King danced across her mind, she closed her eyes briefly as if to crush the thought between her eyelids.

This seemed to make Walter happy and he trotted after her for a way in silence. "My house is just around the corner if you want to turn back here that's fine," Sarah said when they reached a convenient store near her house.

"Oh yeah sure," Walter said handing her back her bag.

Sarah watched him as he crossed the street to the convenient store. Several of his friends from the alley met up with him all were grinning and smacking him on the back, Walter just grinned back at them. Sarah shook her head and continued walking. "Not a brain in the bunch indeed."

Sarah opened the door to her house and was immediately greeted with the sound of her baby half brothers screams. Karen came down the stairs her hair in disarray and the crying three year old babe tucked under one arm. "Sarah, thank goodness your home," Karen said sounding thoroughly exasperated, "Toby has been crying for you for hours."

"There, there Toby," Sarah said putting down her book bag and reliving her Stepmother of her crying charge. "What's wrong? You know you shouldn't be giving your mom such a horrible time. You really should be ashamed of yourself."

Toby wiped his mismatched eyes. "The goblins in my room, they're picking on me Sarah." Toby whimpered a fat tear drop clung to his round cheeks. "They told me I couldn't play with them unless I looked like one of them." Sarah's eyes rounded in utter horror, she clung tightly to Toby securing him in her arms as if any moment he was going to disappear.

"He's been ranting about goblins for hour. I told him there was no such thing, he won't listen. I even checked all over his room, just in case there was a mouse or something there is nothing there. But no matter what I do I couldn't calm him down, he kept crying for you to come," Karen said. She looked tired, really tired.

"Go lie down Karen I'll take care of this." Karen looking relived gave Sarah one last look that clearly said are you sure. Sarah gave her a small smile, "I'm sure."

Sarah waited until she heard Karen's bedroom door shut. "Toby," she said quietly, "How long have you been seeing goblins?"

Toby looked confused, "The goblins. But the goblins have always been here. They told me."

Sarah tried again. "When do you see the goblins Toby?"

"When they come to play with me."

'Bless Toby's three year old mind,' Sarah thought sarcastically, 'I make sense of what is going on.' She had to check, because if what Toby was saying was true. Jareth, the Goblin King, had not given up as having Toby for a goblin just yet.

Please review if you liked it so I know that I'm not destroying the story completely. So go ahead indulge yourself, review, do something you never knew you wanted to do.