Title: Finding Hoggle

Author: Devlyne

Published: 8/10/2016

A/N: A companion piece to A Faded Memory; just an idea that's been floating about in my head. Edited 8/11 - a few missing words, missing sentences and corrections.

Chapter 1: Abominable Pride

There were easier ways to move about the Labyrinth but she had insisted that they go by foot. It was better for them and they would get fresh air and exercise. Besides, Sarah had tried to reason with him, they could have a picnic somewhere nice. She had seen many areas of the labyrinth which were good spots on her trip through it. Well, assuming that those bits and pieces were still there of course. After all, hadn't she learned that the labyrinth was alive and moving to its master's whim? That was the excuse that she'd given him for wanting to actually walk the corridors of the labyrinth. Jareth had agreed with her, of course; there was very little he wouldn't agree to for Sarah. He was regretting being so agreeable at the moment.

"Well it can't be much farther; you said that he lived on the edge of the Labyrinth." Sarah's voice drifted back to him from somewhere up ahead. She seemed much more used to the walking and he was loathe to let her know how out of shape he felt.

"When I said the edge of the labyrinth," Jareth hedged slightly, not really wanting to admit that edge could have been one of a dozen places. "I meant the southern edge, of course. Not where you met him the first time. He seemed much happier in the warmer climate." He stooped to look at a fuzzy blue caterpillar moving along the wall before flicking it off of the stones. There was a faint squeal as the creature went flying only to land on another bit of the wall a few feet away. Nasty thing; his lip curled with disgust.

This was not going to end well. He knew this but Jareth convinced himself that Sarah's heart was as forgiving as ever. Why wouldn't it be? She'd been in Underground six months now and they'd spent that time wisely. Already the younger goblins looked up to Sarah and she'd been drawn in to more than one plot to overthrow Jareth; these amused him to watch and listen to. She would tell him each detail of the alleged plot as they ate or sat together. Never mind that sometimes she never saw the leader of that particular plot again or if a small portion of his followers were suddenly well rewarded.

"Are we heading in the right direction?" Sarah called back, bringing Jareth out of his thoughts of rebellion and treachery.

His eyes shifted skyward. Unfortunately, yes, they were heading in the right direction though he neglected to tell her so. "He might not be happy to see me, you know. Not that I would ever suggest you traverse so dangerous a place alone, but need I remind you how I punished him?" He was absolutely not afraid of Hoggle or exciting the man's ire. Jareth puffed his chest out slightly; he was the Goblin King. Now, the woman that accompanied him, that was a different story. Jareth deflated but quickened his pace to catch up to her.

"That's your own fault, isn't it?" She answered, matter-of-factly, though the look in her eyes was mischievous. "If you didn't go about terrorizing those who are less than you, there wouldn't be so many rebellions to deal with. Face it, they like me better, that's why they're always trying to get me to join them."

Jareth sputtered behind her and she had to stifle a laugh. The heavy picnic basket was shifted from one arm to the other as Sarah continued to pick her way down the corridors. Her tall companion was left standing in the middle of one watching her retreating figure. It had been a strange time together since they'd returned to Underground. She was better some days than others but this unique sense of humor, the return of it really, had only begun in the last month or so. There had been sometime between her last breakdown and now. As much as Jareth felt indignant toward her words, he was glad to hear the teasing tone.

"They…they do not! I am their sun, their moon…" His declaration brought laughter from ahead and he hurried to catch up to her. Oh, she would pay for that wound to his pride. "I will have you know that I am very well-liked by my subjects."

This was going to cause a fight later, he could tell. Sarah didn't like it when he referred to the denizens of the labyrinth as his subjects. She felt that it sounded too controlling. Maybe, she'd tried to convince him, if he were less controlling they would like him better. Never mind Jareth trying to remind her over and over again that he was a King and they were, in fact, the subjects of his kingdom. She understood but he was fast learning that just because Sarah understood didn't mean that she thought it was right. He should be a kind and benevolent king or at least less of a devious trickster.

Sarah had stopped to set the picnic basket down, rubbing at her wrists and forearms to ease the tingling in them. "Are you their starry sky too? Because right now, it sounds like you're writing a love poem, not talking about the people whose well-being you're supposed to look after." She said seriously and her face was set in that determined expression he did not like.

He found the need to roll his eyes and instead picked up the basket, looping it over one arm in an undignified manner. No one but Sarah would see him like this so it didn't matter if he showed a bit of weakness to her. He didn't answer right away but started down the corridor again, leaving her to rest a moment. Was that what he was supposed to be doing? The point of being a king was to rule and he had plenty of subjects to rule. Of course, there had been that exodus a few hundred years ago. A long finger tapped his chin lightly in thought before the blond head was shaken and Jareth put that from his mind. It had been too long ago for most to remember.

"Are we arguing?" Jareth murmured to himself, glad that she wasn't close enough to hear his uncertainty. At least arguing was a return to her old character traits, though it seemed to be tempered with the wisdom of being slightly older. She was still too young to be wise yet. Louder, Jareth called back to her, "What do you suggest then?"

There was no immediate answer so Jareth kept stalking ahead, looking for more caterpillars to torture and flick off of the stone walls. "I said…what do you suggest then?" His voice rose once more before Jareth turned back, the basket swinging loosely on his arm and smacking his hip. Nothing. The corridor behind him was completely empty and he could hear no sounds of movement. "Where the devil has she gone?"

Retracing his steps was not difficult as the corridor only went in two directions but when Jareth reached the opening where Sarah had stopped, she wasn't there. His green eyes flickered one way and then the other, before a hand lifted and the spark of magic left his fingertips. There was no way Jareth was going to leave her lost in the labyrinth or become lost himself; it was his labyrinth and that would be undignified. Blue sparks surrounded the goblin king and then moved about attaching themselves to surrounding walls. They followed along the lines of the mortar, outlining the bricks making them glow faintly. After a moment, he began to follow a particular thread which had turned purple and pulsed now and then. Ah, a hidden opening; one of the ones disguised to look like part of the wall when glanced at casually.

"Sarah?"

The wall had given way to a field of tall grass which ran down in to the southern forest. It was a haunted place like every land adjacent to his but he felt no current danger. Instead, the field was peaceful and quiet. The object of his hunt was sitting on a stump just outside of the forest, reclining back and enjoying the sun as she waited. He was always amazed at how quickly she could slip away when he wasn't paying attention to her. That didn't happen often but Sarah had given him the slip in town a time or two when she'd gotten upset with him.

"Oh, there you are." Her voice soft as her own green eyes lifted to his face. "I thought you would catch up in a moment." She was mad at him or disappointed. Jareth could hear it in her voice.

The basket was set beside the stump she reclined on and Jareth waved his hand, taking a seat in the chair that appeared next to her. His eyes were on the forest and what he could see moving in the shadows. To be honest, he did not fully understand her disappointment with him. He was as he had always been though there were small changes since she'd come here. For Sarah's sake, he did try to be gentler with his subjects though not kinder. It wasn't that he didn't have kindness in him, but it was mostly reserved for her at the moment.

A heavy sigh escaped Jareth's lips, his head tilting so that he could see her in his periphery a bit better as he spoke. "I've told you before that I'm not a nice man," he began, "but I am trying Sarah. I hope you see that." He did not reach out to touch her, giving that bit of space while they spoke.

"I know." Her voice small and the words came out with a tremor behind them. "I can't help it, you know. I just…I want them to see you how I see you. I want them to see the person that you show me all the time. You're kind to me."

Time, he needed time. They had all the time in the world as Jareth kept telling her. He needed time to learn to be a different man and Sarah needed time to heal. Some days their time felt very rushed as though they were trying to get to the end before the middle had been gone through. He sighed again and brushed his fingers through the hair that fell over one shoulder, tugging at it lightly and then glancing over at her. He couldn't show his subjects that person yet; he wasn't ready to. Maybe there was even a part of Jareth that was insecure or saw it as weakness. He had long ago admitted that Sarah was his weakness but he did have others.

"I'm…" His tongue darted across his lips, words chosen carefully. "I'm not ready to show them that yet." His lips quirked up at the corners though the smile was not a happy one and Sarah was sad to see it. "I fear you might have found my pride. I cling to it still." Not as hard as he had last time, if he could admit to it, but it was still there.

For a time, Sarah sat quietly at his side and gazed in to the forest, considering what he'd said. He had pride but she was guilty of having pride too. While she didn't agree with his method of running his kingdom, nagging him about it might not be the best way to go. If Jareth could be shown another path he might take it, but that would require someone to show him. A deep breath was taken as she thought over whom she'd met from the other courts so far and then discarded them as potential allies. No, there was no real good influence in the Underground. At least, not one she'd met just yet.

"Well then…" Sarah murmured after they'd been silent some time. "I suppose I will have to do it for you. I'll be nice in your name until you've battled your pride enough to do it yourself." Her eyes were on his face then, head tilted so that they could see one another easily. "And when you're ready, you can help me."

And just like that, the decision was made. She would be his good influence and show him how to be a good king. There was doubt that she was strong enough to do this but there was no one else and he couldn't go on as he was. She had daily seen the damage that pride could do to a kingdom. If nothing else, it would be nice to stop being drawn in to revolts, no matter how halfhearted they were. Sarah pushed up and took up the basket, holding her hand out to him.

"Come on. You said the southern edge of the labyrinth; this is the southern edge. He must be around here somewhere." Her words held hope and Jareth took her hand, kissing the knuckles.

He rose fluidly and the chair disappeared as Sarah's arm was taken and looped over his own, patting it gently. "The house is not much further, but as I said before we left the castle…my scouts said he wasn't there anymore." Jareth reminded her, not wanting to see that hope fade. "But I am sure there will be some clue that perhaps you recognize. We will find him."

They started across the field together toward the edge of the forest though at the last minute Jareth turned her away from the trees and headed west. When he'd said the edge of the labyrinth, he hadn't meant the immediate edge. Hoggle had wanted to be close but not too close and he could hardly be blamed for feeling that way. The house was not stone with a fence or anything that Sarah would immediately recognize as a house. It was a dugout bored in to the side of a hill with only one window and a little door. By the time they reached it, they were a fair distance from the walls of the labyrinth.

"This is it?" She asked before pushing the small door open, not bothering to knock. It was empty, as Jareth had said it would be. A wooden table in the front room with two chairs which she could make the dim outline of, a fireplace and then one narrow hallway leading to what was probably a bedroom. A very small house but somehow it fit what she imagined of Hoggle. There were dishes lining the fireplace mantle and a cauldron still hanging inside the fireplace. No one had been here in some time if the spider webs were any indication.

Sarah frowned at the empty echo the house had. "He's not here." She had hoped that maybe the little man had come back to this place, but there were no signs of anyone living here recently. "Well…we just have to keep looking."

Despite her brave words, Jareth could see the slump of her shoulders and almost taste the disappointment. It didn't matter that he'd warned her prior to their arrival or even before they'd left the castle. No, Sarah had hoped. Sometimes hope was such a dangerous thing. He stepped outside in to the fresh afternoon air and looked about the rolling meadow the house was situated in. There were very few fairies here and a good view of the labyrinth and forest. It was a good place, probably peaceful at night, away from the goblins. A place he could see Sarah coming to enjoy time with her friends; a place she could heal.

"Yes." He announced, glancing back at Sarah, framed in the doorway. "Yes, we will have to keep looking. This is far too good a spot and I should like it guarded. Hoggle will do for a guardian. I mean, what would happen if the fields were overrun with fairies? We can't have that. No, I'll have to retrieve him."

And with that, Jareth made up his mind to put the tiniest bit of his pride aside and find Sarah's friend. It definitely wasn't going to end well, or so the little voice in his head told him. Well, the things that people did for love.