Desperation

by: kelsfen

Chapter 1: Moving On

Disclaimer: Once more, I do not own any characters from Labyrinth, they all belong to Jim Hensen. I wish I had his brilliance, but alas I am just using his characters as an outlet for all my crazy fangirl dreams. Who can blame me?

Three years later...

"Toby! You come back here right this instant!" Sarah screamed at the top of her lungs. She was currently running around the house, trying to catch the little brat. She had learned to love and appreciate him more than ever since their return from the Labyrinth, but he still had an uncanny knack for driving her insane. His latest offense was stealing a pair of her favorite high heels, prancing around the house and scuffing the floors as he went. Her father and Karen were going to kill her if they found the floors destroyed when they returned home from their date. "Toby Williams you had better stop where you are!"

"Never!" Toby squealed and giggled, running around the couch until he finally fell into a laughing pile of twisted legs on the floor. Sarah quickly caught up to him and wrenched the stilettos off of his tiny feet. She gave him a quick swat to the rear and helped him stand.

"Get yourself on up the stairs and into your pajamas. I'll be up to tuck you in here in just a moment." Toby scampered up the stairs, sticking his tongue out at her for good measure. Sarah just rolled her eyes and started picking up the mess Toby had made of the living room over the course of the evening. She heard a snicker behind her and just barely saw a flash out of the corner of her eye as she was picking up, causing her to grin and place her hands on her hips. "Alright now come on out..."

Several small goblins appeared from behind the couch with delighted looks and a unison of "Miss Sarah!" before they all wrapped themselves around her legs.

"Aw hey guys, wanna do me a huge favor?" She was really glad to see them, especially now that Toby had made a huge mess of the house.

"Of course Miss Sarah!" the smallest goblin replied eagerly. He cuddled her leg and grinned up at her with muddy brown eyes.

Sarah grinned and gave them all a wink. "I need this house cleaned up, Toby has made an absolute mess. Can you guys help?" As ever, the goblins were more than happy to help their Sarah, and quickly hopped to the task. Sarah herself began picking up various toys around the room, tossing them in a basket by the door. Seeing her little troupe of goblins made her smile and for a second she let her mind wander, thinking back on someone else that had once told her he would do anything for her. Those mismatched eyes still managed to haunt her in her dreams at night. She gave herself a quick shake, leaving those thoughts behind. They were dangerous and she was so not in the mood right now to deal with that can of worms.

She made quick work of the mess and patted each goblin on the head in turn, sending them on their way to whatever corner they chose to hide in. One of the more fun things about her trip to the Labyrinth was the fact that she had acquired the little trouble makers and they all absolutely adored her. They were more than happy to pop in whenever she called and they were always happy to see her. The one thing wrong with this picture is she had not seen nor heard a peep out of the Goblin King since she had turned down his offer. Just thinking of that time, how she had told him no without so much as a flinch on her part, made her want to smack herself in the head. What had she been thinking?

Rubbing her now aching neck, she walked up the stairs slowly, taking her time to reach Toby's room. He of course was not in bed as instructed, but jumping up and down on the bed hooting like a wild child. Sarah just smirked and watched him a moment, waiting for him to see her and realize he was busted. It didn't take long before he caught her eye and dropped onto his bed unceremoniously.

"Toby, what have I told you about jumping on your bed?" Sarah gave him her sternest look before breaking out in a grin and walking over to hug her adorable little brother. She held onto him tightly and kissed his small forehead before shooing him under the covers. "It is time for bed now. Be good and I'll take you to the park tomorrow."

"Yes ma'am!" Sarah didn't believe she had ever seen Toby get still so fast. "Will you shoo away the monsters before you go?"

Sarah just smiled at her precious little brother and made a huge show of checking his closet and under his bed for any possible "monsters" that would get Toby. What he didn't realize is that everywhere she looked were hordes of small goblins, watching over him instead. Sarah smiled at them all and gave Toby the all clear before shutting out his light and blowing him a kiss before bed. She shut his door as quietly as she could, and walked as softly as possible to her room.

Once there, she sat down hard in her chair, giving herself a once over. She was really glad that she was not out in the public at this moment because there were dark circles under her eyes and they didn't seem to shine like they normally did. Not sleeping would do that to a girl, but she still wished she didn't look so tired. Although, who did she have to look good for? The only person that mattered was nowhere to be found, and she had no desire to date those simple minded idiots that she had met at the community college. No, it didn't matter if she looked bad or not, unless Hoggle minded terribly. Speaking of that particular man...

"Hoggley woggley, where are you?" Sarah knew he hated the endearment, but called him that anyway, just to see how miffed she could have him by the time he appeared. It wasn't long after until she heard a loud snort behind her and grinned into the face of her dearest friend.

"You know I would rather deal with fairies all day than to hear that name all the time..." He had his arms crossed and his usual surly look on his face, which made Sarah love him all the more.

"Well then maybe I should bring some fairies in here for you to exterminate. I'm sure that would give you quite the job." Sarah chuckled at how his glare just deepened and leaped up to hug him. "Oh Hoggle today you are a sight for sore eyes. How are things...well you-know-where." She never mentioned the Labyrinth by name, merely hedged around it in order to get the latest news.

Hoggle looked at her sadly and took her hand. "Still no sign of him Miss Sarah. Everything is still the same as when you left. The Labyrinth has a way of running itself, even without His Majesty to watch over it. I'm sorry." Sarah just smiled softly and patted his head.

"It's alright. I didn't expect anything to have changed. Just thought I would ask. How are the others?"

"The same Miss Sarah. They all want to come see you soon. They told me to ask if you would call for them soon?" Hoggle shifted from foot to foot, looking around nervously. "I was also wondering if maybe you could call us a little more often. The Labyrinth just isn't the same without you"

Sarah gave him a huge kiss on the cheek and grinned at him while he blushed. "Hoggle, trust me, I will call on you all more often. It gets awful lonely around here without the party you all bring. I'll make sure we all can be together again soon." She hugged him and sighed, stretching out the kinks of having watched after Toby all evening. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to get some shut-eye, Toby has absolutely drained me today!"

"Sure Miss Sarah, and if you need anything, don't forget we are all still here." Hoggle smiled and was gone in the time it took her to blink. Sarah was used to the sudden disappearances, and then imagined that someone else that always left glitter in his wake. She put a palm to her forehead and smacked herself a few times. Why was he on her mind so much today? She simply shook her head and headed to her closet, throwing on some shorts and a worn out t-shirt.

She found her way under her covers and sighed, pulling out the small journal that she had started keeping since she had left the Labyrinth. No one would ever believe the fantastic things she wrote down, and it was good sometimes to just put the words on paper. Tonight though, she just looked at it and sighed. She slid it back under her pillow and snuggled into her bed, her words coming out as a sigh. "I wish I could see the Goblin King again."

"My dear I thought you'd never ask..."

Author's Note: Dun, dun, DUN! Cliffhanger because I'm a mean human being! So I'm grateful to finally update again as Thanksgiving and then school this week had left me drained so far. I love reviews and I hope you enjoy!