A/N: I wrote this today in memory of artist, performer, and actor, David Bowie who sadly passed today. Labyrinth is one of my favorite movies and I know it would not have been the same without his stunning portrayal as the Goblin King or his lovely music. We will miss you, David! A kingdom is now without its king.
For best results, read this story while listening to "Home at Last" off of the Labyrinth Soundtrack.
Sarah hadn't thought she'd come back so soon. Actually, she hadn't thought she would come back at all. It had been a learning experience and the lessons she had been taught, she had never forgotten. Be careful what you wish for. Things are not always what they appear. Don't take anything for granted.
Things had gotten a lot better for Sarah after that night. She thought less of her mother and longed less to join her wherever she was, on the road or on the stage. She grew closer to her father, and even little Toby, though her stepmother still had a few things to learn, even so many years later. Thirty years had since passed and Sarah had a career and a home of her own now, but she had never forgotten her friends or the adventures she had had in Jareth's Labyrinth. Actually, overtime, she cherished the whole of those adventures, not just the successful parts, and thought long and hard about them and the way they changed her life.
"Sarah?" Sarah looked over her shoulder where Hoggle stood at the fence. Sir Didymus and Ludo also stood with him, looking at her with those same anxious eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Sarah gave them a gentle smile, nodding her head. "It's time."
The time she meant was the time to lay it all to rest. She and Jareth, though they had finally come to a mutual respect for the other, never really spoke after the events that happened in the Labyrinth. For a long while, Sarah had been concerned he might return for Toby and take him away again: a fear she knew was unfounded now. In fact, in the past thirty years, she had grown a sense of thankfulness for the king and the daunting trials he put her through. That fateful night had changed her life forever and she actually had him to thank for it. If it weren't for Jareth, would she be where she was today? Surely not.
Sarah had meant to return to the Labyrinth several times to tell him how much she appreciated what he had done for her, but she had never gotten the chance. Now, it was too late. Now, the goblin city was without its goblin king.
"Oh, Jareth…" Sarah approached the headstone slowly, a bouquet of flowers in her hands. They were from her snowball bush: fluffy spheres of delicate white blossoms . She thought he might like them. After all, they were elegant, they were like the gift he had once offered her, and like his world, they were not what they seemed. "I wish I had come sooner. We had such an adventure together, didn't we?"
Sarah crouched at the stone, reading the fairly typical inscription, not very serious, but goblins seldom were: Our King. Now magic dancing across the stars. She couldn't help but smile, knowing that Jareth would have suspected as much.
"He never did find an heir," said Sir Didymus as if reading her thoughts.
"That's why we've got a bonehead goblin running the place now," Hobble grumbled.
"Ludo sad!" the big monster wailed.
Yes, they were all sad, but in a way, it was a happy sad. Not that Sarah was happy that Jareth had passed, but that she finally got to come back and pay her respects.
"Thanks for the lesson of life, big guy." Sarah set the flowers down and rose, brushing the dirt from her hands onto the old pair of worn jeans she wore. "I don't think I could pay you enough."
As she turned from the grave and began her trek back across the small cemetery and to her friends at the gate, a soft wind rustled through the trees, combing through her long chestnut hair, pulling strands from the clip she wore at the nape of her neck.
"Sarah…"
A voice seemed to whisper in the wind.
Sarah paused at the gate, taking one last look at the headstone before taking the hand Ludo offered her and walking away. "Goodbye, Jareth."