* Just a quick note to explain that I have changed the name of the fic from 'Courting Sarah' to 'Mirror Dust'. After posting the first chapter I found another Laby fic called 'Courting Sarah' and unsure of the rules about this, opted for a name change before chapter 2.

Also probably should have mentioned earlier that I don't own any of the characters, except maybe Twitch but I don't think he is aware of it..short term memory loss and all. *

Sarah was still miserable hours later, she couldn't bring herself to be anything but frosty for the rest of the afternoon with the moving team she had been referring to as "Chaos and Clutz" in muttered expressions since the mirror incident. Even the thrill of finally being in her new home couldn't completely take away the feeling.

During the drive to her new apartment she had called for each of her friends in every mirror she could find; gas station toilets, her rear view mirror, even her tiny makeup compact mirror. "Hoggle? Ludo? Please, if you can hear me I need you. Sir Didymus..?"

Nothing. Not that she had ever tried any of these alternatives before but she had to try, right? The thought of never being able to call on her friends again was heartbreaking, what would they think of her? That she simply didn't care enough to respond? What was worse though was the inexplicable and inescapable feeling of being utterly alone. Like a piece of her was gone or a connection had broken somewhere, never realising how much she depended on it before it was gone.

Sarah sighed again and continued to unpack boxes of books. She glanced longingly at the broken mirror on the coffee table. She knew it was silly and pointless to bring it with her but the idea of leaving it behind was too painful. She would fix it, somehow. Maybe if she could get the frame fixed somewhere then have a new mirror fitted to it, but would that even work? If the rear view mirror and the compact didn't work, what's to say another mirror would work in the original frame.

Leaning over to pick up a misshapen shard, Sarah stroked it longingly and whispered "Hoggle? Hoggle please come, I need you."
Again the silence taunted her. Perhaps... she thought, perhaps if I called to Him he would answer her? No, she chastised herself, remembering the look on his face when she left the Labyrinth. Memories of that moment swam through her vision, the Goblin King in a billowing, white, feathered cloak pleading with her...

"Love me, Fear me.."

The strain of the day reached it's peak and Sarah choked back a small sob. Today wasn't meant to have gone like this, it was supposed to be a day of liberation and adventure and once again she was sat on her floor surrounded by books feeling immensely alone. Wiping her eyes she shook herself and stood up.

"I need to go out" Sarah announced to the empty room of unpacked cardboard boxes.

The Goblin King had arrived at Sarah's erstwhile childhood home to find most of the lights out, in his owl form he had flown to Sarah's window preparing himself to confront her for the first time since she had cruelly rejected him, only to find her bedroom dark and empty.

"Well that was anticlimactic" he thought drolly to himself, but upon further inspection he noticed that the room was not just empty but completely devoid of everything including her furniture. "She's... gone?"

Materializing in her dark bedroom, Jareth stilled for a moment, appearing more shadow than man. The Goblin King sniffed the air like a predator seeking prey, but as the scent of her reached him he inhaled, deeply. His eyes fluttering closed momentarily as memories of Sarah bombarded his senses.

Watching her act out lines in the park with her hair held back by a flowered circlet, a flush of pink in her cheeks from the summer's heat. The scent of her hair as he leaned over her in the tunnels under his labyrinth, the frightened look in her eyes before she squared her shoulders "...it's a piece of cake..." his memories mocked him. A ballroom and a white dress, how she had clung to him as he spun her through a crowd of masks.

It had been years since he had last visited her, even to watch from afar. The Goblin King had become accustomed to keeping his distance, choosing to watch her at his leisure through his crystals. He had watched her grow into a beautiful young woman. But the distance he had kept through the years did nothing to temper the affect on him now.

The Goblin King didn't know whether to be confused or downright angry at her for deciding to leave her home. Something inside him mutinously whispered "She's moved on... without you, she doesn't need you anymore".

"Ha! Doesn't need me? Not for all the stars in the Underground!" Slipping back into his owl form, Jareth flew outside.

"I'll find our precious Sarah, she couldn't have strayed far". Turning his wings away from the dark building he gained altitude and headed out of the neighborhood, reaching for that feeling inside himself that was always present when he watched her through his crystals. Reaching out with it, seeking her.

Frustrated and tired, Sarah had given up on finding company tonight and had instead turned her attention to finding her bed.

Having forgotten that it was a mundane Tuesday, Sarah had found, to her dismay, all of the bars half empty. The handful of people who occupied these bars were either in a group, animated in their excited discussions or exceedingly old and far too drunk for any real conversation.

She had seated herself at the bar and tried to make conversation with the girl serving drinks but after 10 minutes Sarah got the impression that she was bothering her more than inspiring a new friendship.

Now she was plodding back to her apartment, despondently kicking stones into the gutter. A flash of white caught her eye for a second, but when she looked there was nothing.
Turning onto her new street, Sarah marveled that she hadn't gotten lost. She was even starting to feel a little chirpier as she got closer to home. Planning to soak off the day with a hot bath when she got in.
"Well, it's not like my day can get any worse!" she giggled to herself.

A/N: Thank you so much for following this story! This is my first fic and I'm still crazy nervous over it. Please review, it all helps me. Hopefully, I'll be able to upload Chapter 3 before the end of the week. Also, apologies if I've balls'd up any American terminology, I'm painfully British and the challenge of writing as an American is a little more difficult that I first imagined. Feel free to correct me, I'll take it like a champ! Love Love Love x