*** A different time, a different place ***
"You hold no power over me!"
She had read those words on a book, and then repeated them aloud when the life of her baby brother, Toby, had been wholly dependant on her choice. She had pronounced those words under Jareth's sharp stare, and back then she had truly believed in what she said. For the first time ever since her mother ran away, Sarah had felt strong... invincible. In a matter of hours or ages or - however long her journey in the Labyrinth had lasted - the skittish, elusive and stand-offish girl had grown into a self conscious teen who was aware of her strength and ready to face life much like she had faced him; with her head high.
I don't care how terrifying you can be, she wanted to yell at him. I'm not afraid of your powers, nor of your Goblin army. I've won this game, Your Highness. And I assure you, it won't be the last game I win either.
Back then she had known that whatever adversity might be waiting for her in the real world, it wouldn't have scared her one bit - for nothing in the real world could be more terrible than Jareth, Jareth whom she had outwitted. Defeating him was just another way to defeat her own fears. I alone have power over myself, over my life! I. And no one else.
But was it true?
At that time, Sarah had told herself that it had to be so, that it was the only natural conclusion to her quest for her little brother, and that things couldn't have gone otherwise. You or I, Goblin King. We can't both win. Even though she had been swayed, for the smallest moment, by the bitter look in Jareth's eyes when he had thrown upward the little glass sphere. Yes, Jareth could have been cruel with her and Toby, he could have played much more rough than he did and crushed her blossoming self-esteem... he could, but he hadn't. He had faced her not like an immensely powerful mythological creature mocking a foolish mortal, but almost as though - they were equals.
Sarah wished to no longer thought about the Goblin King - wished she could just forget him at the end of her adventure. Yet she had never quite managed. And in the following years, she had grown more and more doubtful of the scathing words she attacked him with in that distant day.
If he truly holds no power over me, then why I can't seem to forget him? Why, when I'm having nightmares, I frantically call his name and suddenly wake up in the safety of my room? It was almost as if his name alone could chase away the shadows.
When things somehow went wrong with her life, or when Sarah came to stand before an obstacle, she'd think back about his defeat and feel a great self-confidence wash upon her - yes. But deep at hearth she couldn't lie to herself, and the truth was that what made her feel so confident wasn't the remembrance of his defeat - rather, it was the thought of Jareth himself.
Then, one day, she had read something about soulmates in a book, and she had felt - dazed.
It was all fitting. She and Jareth were more alike than any of the two cared to admit. Stubborn - brazen - and yes, maybe they weren't the most lovable people on earth, but behind the mask of cynicism and indifference, their hearts were attuned, in a way that had nothing to do with the rest of the world.
The day when she finally came to terms with the ties between them - her father had been killed in a car crash.
Toby had told her over the phone, and Sarah had quickly packed up her things and taken the first flight to meet her brother. She would have wanted to think that she was coming home - but that had stopped being her house since a very long time. She couldn't even recall when exactly she and her father had grown so... distant, although it had to be after Karen's death. Sarah had managed to reconcile with her mother-in-law and even lived some happy, carefree years with her family, following the adventure in the Labyrinth. But after Karen's death - it was as though the longing for the missed chances and the memories of their old disagreements had all stormed over Sarah's father, drawing him more and more away from his daughter. The outcome had seen Sarah moving to the opposite Coast of the States. She came back to her old house when it was her brother's birthday and for Christmas - and her father seemed sincerely happy to see her in those rare occurrences - but for the rest of the year, they barely ever called each other.
And now he was dead. Before Sarah had even had a chance to fix things, before her father had even found the courage to call on her and apologize. On the plane, suddenly, Sarah had realized that there'd have been no chance for them to make nice and she had burst in tears, unable to refrain. Time - with its merciless flow, with the power it held over the lives of people like her, people who had families and friends to mourn them - had suddenly seemed terrible...
She had pushed away those thoughts, and her mind had returned to that stand against Jareth in the Labyrinth. Once again, thinking about the Goblin King had chased away the darkness... but in a wholly different manner from what Sarah had expected. She had continued to mull about it during the flight, and even later, when a taxi cab carried her from the airport to the old house.
Toby's girlfriend, Charlotte, had let her in, and Sarah had exchanged a few words with her before rushing to greet her brother. She hadn't seen him since Christmas, and had felt a pang of sorrow in front of his pale, sunken face. His eyes were red and puffy, with deep shadows underneath. Clearly his father's death had been a tremendous shock, and for a moment Sarah had wondered whether her choice might be - after all - for the best...
They had embraced each other and stayed like that for a while. Without talking, without crying, in the middle of the room - there'd have been plenty of time for tears, before and after the funeral. Right then, the only thing that mattered was being together... a family. Even if it wasn't going to last.
She and Charlotte had talked Toby into swallowing some gulps of cold brew. Her nearly sister-in-law has told Sarah with her eyes that it was the first meal Toby touched, ever since the incident.
"It's tough, but you must get yourself together and hold on. For him", Sarah had begged.
Toby had grimaced.
"Yeah, I know."
"He'd be pained to see you like this..."
"I know!"
"I realize that it - hurts", Sarah had stammered, and her voice had broken while she struggled to hold back tears. "I miss him too... a lot."
A weak smile had flickered for a moment on her brother's face.
"I know this too."
Charlotte had whispered; "I'm gonna clean the dishes and go to bed." She had got up from the couch and ruffled Toby's hair affectionately. "You'll, uhm, want to be on your own. See you tomorrow, love. Goodnight, Sarah."
Later on, when her footfalls had vanished up the stairs, Toby had said hoarsely;
"I've already arranged things so that he'll be buried - next to Karen. That's what he would have wanted - I think."
Sarah had squeezed his shoulders.
"And you?", she had asked, looking him in the eyes. "What will you do now?"
"I'll sell the house and move somewhere else with Charlotte. Here I have too many..."
"... memories?"
"Yes. Of both."
"He would have been happy to know you've settled down. He really liked Charlotte."
Again, her brother had tried to smile. "Yes... she's a wonderful girl. I don't know how I could have managed without her." And, after a pause; "Or without you."
"Don't even mention it. Now I'm here."
"How long do you plan on staying?"
"I wanted to leave after the funeral, but now that I know your plans, I'll just wait until you and Charlotte move out on your own. If that's alright with you two", she had hastily added, not wanting to upset him.
"Your room is always there."
"Thanks." Sarah had looked at him affectionately and then, on a sudden impulse, she had asked; "Look, why don't you come with me? You and Charlotte. Would you like that?"
"You'd want us - to move in with you? In Reno?"
"No. I, er..." Sarah had gathered all her strengths, before adding; "I'm not going back in Reno, Toby. I'll settle a few things and then... I want to move there."
Toby had turned and looked at his sister as if seeing her for the first time.
"There? Do you mean..."
"In the Underground, yes", she had replied breathlessly.
Toby's reaction had been - disappointing. The young man had stayed silent, staring blankly ahead of himself. He didn't even seem to have heard his sister.
"Toby, please, tell something! Get mad, yell at me if you wish... but say something!", she had begged.
"I'm sorry, I was just - thinking. When did you get this idea in your head?"
"Today, on the plane. It was a last minute choice, but I feel it's the right thing to do."
Toby had nodded sullenly toward the dark rooms, that seemed emptier than usual. "Does it have anything to do with... this?"
"It has everything to do with this. I can't go on losing the people I care for, Toby, I can't..." In the darkness, Sarah had turned to look at him and for a moment she had struck Toby as small, helpless and fragile. As though she was the little sister. Toby would have wanted to comfort her, but all he had managed to say was;
"And what about - what about me, Sarah?"
"This is exactly why... oh, Toby, come with me - you and Charlotte! We could start over from scratch, just the three of us. Time flows differently in the Underground, it's not like - in our world..."
"What would you want - to live forever?"
"What if I do? That way we shouldn't worry about leaving someone behind or... being left behind." Those words had come out in a flash, before she even knew it. Seeing her brother's face darken, she had wanted to slap herself. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't..."
"You said nothing wrong, don't fret. By the way - what about that Gnome King..."
"Goblin", Sarah had corrected him. She hadn't been able to refrain a smile at the thought of Jareth's reaction if anyone had called him Gnome King.
"Yeah, him... You always said you knocked him down a few notches, remember? What will you do if he shouldn't let you stay in his world?"
"I'll think about it later", Sarah replied. Actually she wasn't certain at all of what kind of welcome Jareth would reserve her, but she didn't want to tell Toby about that.
Her brother only had the faintest memories of the Underground and of Jareth. Basically - he knew that world only through his sister's tales and the words of Hoggle, Didymus and Ludo.
When Toby was just a kid, he often asked to play with his sister's friends. But later on, as he grew older - he had come to consider them "loony" and disinterested more and more about them. The last time he had mentioned them was at the age of thirteen, when he has asked his sister if "those guys" still visited her.
"Yes, whenever I feel like talking with them", she had answered, surprised that he still remembered. "You'd like me to bring them your regards?"
"Maybe some other time", Toby had shrugged, before heading back to his Playstation.
That night, Sarah had seen the self same indifferent look on his face and understood what his answer would be.
"You don't believe in the Underground anymore, do you, Toby?"
"Sarah, please. Our father just died, and you're bringing up our... no, your draydreams!"
"They aren't daydreams! It happened for real - and you were there! Don't you remember when Dydimus told you about the lives of knights, and you just wanted to pull Ludo's horns?"
"Shut it!", snapped Toby, leaping to his feet. "I don't know if those things happened for real or if they only exist in my head. Christ, Sarah! The time for fairy tales is over. We're two grown-ups!"
It sounded almost funny that those words came from the nineteen years old boy - while she, the older and level-headed woman, had just claimed that the Underground existed for real.
And yet - Sarah had stood her ground, ever stubborn.
"Don't you see that here we're doomed to always leave something incomplete? I never told our father that I loved him, and now it's too late. I don't want it to happen again, Toby. I don't want to worry about time's passing again."
Her brother had lowered his head, without looking her way.
"Are you... sure?"
"I am. And I'd really like you to come with me, Toby."
"Charlotte would never agree. Even supposing that I believe in all this bullshit of an Underground - and I'm not saying that I believe it - she has her sisters, her parents. I can 't ask her to leave everything just for me."
"But her family could..."
"Could what, now? Move in an imaginary world? Sarah, be serious. If you talked about all this with one of Charlotte's relatives, they'd all think you've gone crazy." He seemed about to add something else, but then he had looked at her and his features had softened. "If this is what you wish, then go."
"But this way, you..." She didn't want to say it. She couldn't even begin to fathom a future without her brother - her only living relative.
"You claim that in the Underground, time has different rules than in our world. Are you willing to wait for me, Sarah?"
Her pulse had quickened.
"Wait for you? But..."
"I'm not promising you anything", Toby had added. "I don't want to live forever while my future wife and my children grow old and die. But if Charlotte and I were not to have kids... maybe some day, in a fifty or sixty years from now, we'll consider your offer. Are you willing to wait for a day that might - or might not - come?"
"Yes, of course. I'll wait you always, Toby", she had promised, and rushed in his arms. And finally, the two brothers had broken into liberating sobs on each other's shoulder - they had wept until the early morning hours.
The next three months had been frantic. After her brother and Charlotte moved to their new home, Sarah had briefly returned in Reno to get some sort of closure to her past life. She hadn't told a thing to Charlotte about her projects - Toby would have told her when the time was right.
Sarah had found a buyer for her flat; she had emptied the cupboards and taken all her things down the shelves. She was only going to take one thing with her - the old, worn out book with the red cover and the title in bright gold letters, the book that had followed her through a number of moves. She wasn't going to need anything else - where she was going.
She threw a last glance to the town's skyline, pulled the curtains closed and drew a deep breath. Then she murmured quietly;
"I wish the Goblin King would come and take me away. Right now."
Suddenly the windows were thrown open - even if there was no wind outside. A whirl of snowy white feathers clogged the room, and Sarah's heart leaped to her throat. She knew, even before turning, just who she was going to see.
Jareth. The Goblin King. Identical to what he had been like, nineteen years prior.
"Hello, Sarah. Did you call?"
