It had been a few weeks since Sarah had that dream. In some respects, it woke her up. Made her take a good look at her life and notice that she'd lived in a dream world - after she'd left the Underground. Then again, looking back, she wasn't completely sure that the Underground wasn't just the elaborate dream she'd made up. It seemed like so long ago, perhaps it was never real.

Wedding plans were in full force now – Daniel's PR people were ALL over this, so much so that her head was on a swivel all day until she went to sleep. In which case, she was chasing something that she never caught up to, and woke up more tired than she was the day before. Staring up at the ceiling, as was her routine until she finally fell asleep, her mind raced to earlier in the day.

As a child, she always knew that she wanted a beautiful wedding. The details changed with age, but all the same, she knew what she wanted. One of the things she definitely wanted was to be able to pick her own wedding dress. It didn't look like she was going to have much input there. She'd turned down two or three over the last weeks, but it seemed that she was going to be dressed by a designer that also happened to be a friend (and high contributor) to the family.

She got out of bed with a sigh; headed right to her window and opened it. It was fall and the icy air that blasted through the window was an odd relief. It blew right threw her t-shirt and pajama bottoms. She closed her eyes and wished she wasn't there.

Jareth narrowed her eyes at his crystal. He'd been quite disturbed with the past few weeks' developments. Seeing his Sarah in wedding dresses to take the hand of another man maddened him more than he'd like to admit. His kingdom was reflected his mood. The goblins around the castle kept their distance. The runners of his Labyrinth were met with particularly harder tasks than usual, and Jareth's particularly bad mood didn't offer any of his usual mischief. New goblins had run amiss lately, and he didn't even enjoy his victories.

All she had to do was call to him. It was like her last moments in the Escher room, he almost begged her to stop – to stay there with him. As he had pointed out, he asked for very little. All this could have been avoided if she'd not been so stubborn. If she wasn't still so stubborn. She was the exception, the Goblin King bowed before no one, begged no one, and even though he was only seconds before doing so before she rejected him, he would not now. With a wave of his hand, the crystal disappeared.

"Oh, Precious. How long are you going to keep doing this to yourself? To us? Darling, just call out to me and I can end your suffering there." He lounged across his throne with a sigh. Of course, her suffering there would end there. She had amends to make up for in the Underground. And she would.

How long would it take for her to call out to him? Not long. Not long at all.

Sarah closed her eyes tight and took in a deep breath of the cold night air.

"I wish the Goblin King would come and take me away. Right now."


all i want is a little love - i promise you'll like what you get in return.