Waiting

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own the rights of Labyrinth or any of the characters therein. They belong to the genius Jim Henson. I only own the plot to this story and any original characters that come from it. Please, don't sue… I don't have any money.

Summary: Seven years is a long time to wait. Sarah has waited, but she never knew for what. After the Labyrinth, life became a bit easier, but she still felt out of place. New events in the Labyrinth may just bring her waiting to an end. JS

A/N: Ah, time to go back to the classics. I have been out of town for a while now and I had brought my DVD of the Labyrinth. I watched it, remembering it from my childhood and it has sparked my love for that world a new. The tale seemed to grow on in my mind and this came as a part of it. As for my Tin Man fanfiction, it is finished; I just have to update it regularly. I hope you all will enjoy this, because it seems I am going to enjoy writing it. Happy reading to you all!

Prologue:

"'There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book'," a voice recited softly from and old text book in front of a large vanity mirror. The young twenty-two year old woman looked over the name of the author and then to her reflection. Bright green eyes stared back and her long brown hair swept over one slender shoulder. She smiled and shook her head a little as she thought over the quote, "I doubt that Marcel Proust had any idea how right he was."

Sarah Williams stood from the vanity with the text book in hand. She put the heavy text back on her nearly full book shelf. It was one of the few text books that she had decided to keep from her college days and kept it up next to the fantasy novels she still collected. Being a Literature/Drama double major did bring a lot of interesting books and authors to her attention.

She took a quick look around her room to check for the fifth time if it was still tidy. It was quite a bit different from her childhood escape she had 'perfected' when she was fifteen. The walls in her apartment bedroom stayed white, but were decorated with many play posters or copies of Escher sketches. Her bed was a normal four poster bed with a dark blue comforter with a light blue sheet set underneath. Only a few of her old stuffed animals and fantasy figures littered her other bookshelf to the side of her bed. Her vanity was pushed to one wall of the room with the ever present pictures of her and her mother. She turned back to the mirror and tapped her foot in thought.

She had another performance tomorrow, which meant that she would more than likely see her little brother. He loved to watch her performances even though he doesn't quite understand most of the material. He was growing up so fast, she could barely believe it. And to think, just years ago he was a baby in need of rescuing.

It had been close to seven years since her adventure in another world. Where she saved her baby brother, made the best friends she could ever ask for and rumored to have broken a heart that no one ever knew was there in the first place. She turned to a large drawer to the side of the vanity and rummaged through it in search for a small box in the back. After her fingers found it she opened it and found her old music box and her worn copy of Labyrinth.

She smiled a little and laughed at the memories from long ago, "It was so long ago. It seems like it happened in another life all together."

"It pretty much was for you, Sarah," another voice entered the conversation and she popped her head up to look over the desk top of the vanity and into the mirror.

"Hello Hoggle," she smiled sweetly and sat back on the chair to sit face to face with her friend, "I didn't think that you were going to show up with how long you were taking."

"I wouldn't miss one of your calls," he frowned as if he was worried that she was cross with him, "The fairies weren't giving me an easy time. I came as soon as I could."

"I know, Hoggle, don't worry yourself about it," she placed the play book between her two hands as they laid in front of her, "I was just joking with you."

"I didn't think you still had it," he nodded to the book she still held in her hands.

"I didn't really think I did either," Sarah shrugged and carefully paged through the small book, "I put it in a small box and shoved it to the back of what ever space I could find. I guess in a way I wanted to keep it in remembrance. I mean, I have you, Ludo and Didymus that I still talk to regularly, but I like to have something on this side of the line too-"

Suddenly a few books and other items fell from the shelves behind her and hit the floor with a couple of thuds. She rolled her eyes as Hoggle frowned.

"Other than the random goblin mischief," Sarah giggled a little and heard the small laughs of the goblins before they ran for cover or disappeared in a small cloud of dust.

"You know, you could wish them back over to this side," Hoggle said as she got up to quickly replace the books once again, "You have the power and every right to do so."

"Where would be the fun in that?" Sarah smiled and waved her finger at one of the goblins that was careless enough to peek from around the corner of her bed. It ducked back down with a chuckle and Sarah picked up a stuffed animal that had also fallen from another shelf. She picked up the old bear and smiled sadly at the memory of Toby and how he had given her Lancelot back after his eighth birthday. He told her that he was getting too old for stuffed bears. She put a finger to the bear's nose and put him back on the shelf by her bed, "Besides… I need a little magic in my world. In a way, they still remind me that not all magic is lost. I need that more than ever now."

Hoggle noticed her suddenly sad expression and tilted his head at the picture of Sarah looking at the bear longingly, "I thought that you were doing well in your world."

"I am," she shook her head and sat back down in the chair, "I mean, I'm out of college… I just got a job in an acting company… I have some good friends and my family…"

"I feel a 'but' coming on," Hoggle groaned.

"That obvious huh?" Sarah sighed and put her chin in her palm as she leaned over the small play book ahead of her, "It's weird, in a way. Ever since I came back from defeating the Labyrinth, my life has become a bit easier. I am more mature, I know how to handle things better and I understand that I can't always get my way. I grew up within those walls while I searched for Toby with you and the others. And I've always been so grateful for that. It's helped me so much here Aboveground and made life a little more bearable."

"Then what's the problem? You seem to have everything planned and ready for your life to take off."

"That is the problem," she sighed and brought her legs up so she could hold them to her chest, "That's a plan of a life of a woman that just isn't me. I don't like waiting around for something to happen and just act on the side. Even though I love acting, it's more than a stone's throw when you act like you're in a fantasy land compared to when you've actually experienced one. It just seemed like I've been waiting ever since I got out of the Labyrinth."

"Waiting for what?"

"I… I don't know," Sarah shrugged, "I thought it was the end of college, but the feeling is still there. Like there is still something out there that has my name written all over it. I just haven't discovered it yet."

"You are pretty special, Sarah. Maybe there is something else that is calling to you," Hoggle smiled sympathetically and she smiled with a silent thank you. He suddenly turned a little serious and rubbed the back of his head, "I was wondering something…"

"Go ahead, Hoggle. You are my best friend and can tell me anything," she released her legs and turned straight toward her friend.

"I was wonderin' if you have heard from Ludo or Sir Didymus lately?"

"Not recently, no. Why?"

"Well, usually we would meet once a week or so to talk," Hoggle looked behind him as if someone was there, "Ludo, the big furball, was not at the last meet as he usually is. And I just have a nagging feeling about Didymus."

"I'm sure Ludo was talking with his rocks as always and Didymus, well, he can always find a certain item or passageway to guard. Didn't you tell me yesterday that he set off on his own little quest?" Sarah smiled and tried to reassure her friend at the same time she tried to reassure herself. Hoggle reluctantly nodded and she felt better, "I will call them both tomorrow. I am sure they will answer."

"We always do answer you when we can," Hoggle nodded and saw Sarah yawn with a hand over her mouth, "You're tired. Go to sleep. We can talk tomorrow. I ain't goin' no where."

"Thanks Hoggle," she smiled and saw Hoggle start to turn away, "Oh! Hoggle, wait!"

"What's the matter?"

"I have a question of my own," Sarah hesitated and looked at the play that was now open in her hands. She focused on a couple of lines, "How is Jareth doing?"

Hoggle tilted his head to the side a bit confused by the question, "He's… Jareth, I suppose. He's a bit more relaxed, but still the same Fae. He's stopped kicking me and actually calls me by my name unless he wants to get on my nerves. He doesn't really come out of his castle anymore. Not since-"

"I left," Sarah nodded and looked up at Hoggle as she closed the book, "Goodnight, Hoggle."

"Sweet dreams, Sarah," Hoggle frowned in question, but didn't ask.

The mirror faded and Sarah saw her own reflection again. She went to her small connected bathroom and changed into a long t-shirt and a pair of comfortable shorts for bed. She pushed a hand through her hair and reminded herself to take a very long shower in the morning. She climbed into her clean bedding and snuggled down into the warmth.

Hoggle stared at the mirror ahead of him for a few dozen minutes after Sarah had disappeared from view. He felt guilty and little more than dirty for having to keep things from his best friend, not to mention lie to her. But he knew better than to tell her the truth. The Underground was not the same place that she remembered. It was much more dangerous and he knew that if she really knew what was happening, she would try anyway she could to get back. She was loyal to a fault and she would do anything to help her friends if she knew what they were really facing. And the last thing he needed was for Sarah to get hurt or worse.

People and creatures were disappearing from the Underground. Well, some were, others had a far more horrible end. Hoggle and the other inhabitants knew that their king was not the cause of it. From the look of it, he actually was trying all in his power to stop it. He was spoiled and a jerk, but he was still a king with a kingdom to protect.

The problem was that they didn't know what the root of all the happenings was. It just started out of no where, as if an old prison burst open and all the evil seeped out. He never saw what the evil was, but he had heard it described as pure darkness or moving shadows. Something seemed familiar about them and poked at the back of his mind as if he knew of them from before, but he couldn't find the complete story or memory. He shrugged as he didn't really care what it was as he knew that Jareth would take care of it when the time came. Hoggle just hoped that his fears about Ludo and Sir Didymus were unfounded. He would hate to see the only other two beings that he considered friends to be in danger, or worse.

Hoggle jumped down from the area where his mirror was and got things together for his dinner. He grunted as she found that he needed a few more mushrooms that grew from the side of his small cottage in his personal garden. He put on a small bag for collecting and slung it over his shoulder.

"Darn mushrooms, have to grow in the cold season," he mumbled and made his way out to the side yard. He picked a few of the blue topped mushrooms and then began his trek back inside when he felt the air change around him. He shivered and stopped in his tracks. He knew it wasn't from the cold, "I know you're there, what ever you are."

Silence gripped the small area around his cottage. That in itself is strange since his cottage is in the same area as the front gates of the Labyrinth. He should be able to hear fairies or frogs from the small pond. Some kind of flittering of wings or a slight wind from the empty passages, but there was nothing.

"What do you want?" he asked and shifted his eyes to some of the trees at the side of his home.

The downfall of the king and the darkness of the land, a voice hissed into his ear from behind, We want the girl that is the champion and her power. The portal to lead us to her is through you.

Hoggle suddenly felt himself glued to the spot on his grass. He couldn't move, couldn't talk, couldn't even breath. He still was able to see everything, but he was frozen as if stone. He knew then that it wasn't the immense fear that overwhelmed him. He was under an enchantment. The only thing he could do was stand and watch. And fear…

Fear for his friends, and especially for Sarah. His dearest friend of all. Whatever this power or entity was, they knew about Sarah. They knew her defeat of the Goblin King and his Labyrinth. They knew about his ties to her and the portal in which they communicated with one another. And they now knew they had a way to reach her.

'I should have warned her,' he thought and looked straight ahead with frozen eyes, 'I should have told her about the danger. She doesn't know… Sarah.'

For the first time in quite a while, Hoggle felt a tear fall down from his eye. And couldn't even watch it fall to the ground.