Chapter Four

(Sarah and Toby)

Sarah woke the next morning the hole in her heart still raw from her wishing her life away the night before. Robotically she went through the working day, not really paying attention to the world around her. She didn't want to be here, she just wanted to crawl back into bed and let the tears come again that she'd been holding back for so many years. To wallow in the pain she felt inside, knowing that she would never love again. How could she after having loved the most perfect guy in the world, and letting him go. She had been so stupid, so young and naive. Hell if he gave her the chance again right now, to hell with Toby she'd have stayed in a heartbeat. But you couldn't turn back time and have your choices again. No matter how much you wished it.

Her phone was ringing silently, vibrating down the desk towards her. She ignored it, Sarah didn't feel like talking to anyone right now. Just to get on with her work and to go back home and drown how she felt away in a bottle of red wine or two where no one could see her.

When Sarah had finished preparing the final folder, and set it on her boss's desk she breathed a sigh of relief now she could finally escape. Picking up her bag, she headed for the train home regretfully remembering she had promised to drop in and see her brother that evening. She daydreamed the ride away thinking of all the days gone by. Loves found and lost again, doodling random designs on her notebook when she should have been writing case notes. She hadn't really been paying much attention to what she was writing, but when she glanced down at the paper she realised that she had written one word over and over again. Jareth, Jareth, Jareth….and so on staring back at her.

She grunted in annoyance at herself and threw her book and pen back in her bag. Continuing the journey staring out of the window panes lost in thought.

Toby had grown up since the days of the labyrinth, and tormenting his big sister. At barely 16 years of age, he already owned a penthouse apartment in a nice area, with wonderful views and a profitable career as a manga artist. Drawings littered the desk and were hanging up around the room. Fairies, dragons, stone mazes, dark elves, goblins and much more.

He remembered the labyrinth so well and he kept those memories alive by drawing them. Making up stories in which he used all the people he remembered meeting. Then if the memories started to fade he just had to read his books to refresh them and keep his mind form clouding with age.

Through his childhood, Toby had revisited the lands many times. He would just turn a corner on the way back from school and he'd find himself in the goblin city, or dancing with the fierce fireys. Then just as suddenly it had all stopped. He hadn't been able to access those lands in years no matter how he tried.

The last time he had ever visited, he had been 11 or 12 and had stumbled onto a crumbling path on holiday one day. He had been walking the path a while before he realised where he really was, an old and broken down piece of the labyrinth. Crumbling matter and decaying stonework all around him. He had been there only moments longer, before he heard a voice and turned to see Jareth stood behind him. The man looked broken and beaten, but he had summoned the strength to glower at him.

"BE GONE!" he had said, his voice thundering through the remains of the stones. Toby had found himself back on a cold grey street near his home, miles from where he had just been. Never again had he seen those lands, which was why he forced himself to remember them every day. He knew it was important that he had to remember, for Sarah cause she couldn't remember for herself.

Toby was painting the finishing touches on his sister's birthday gift. A large portrait of the Goblin King, his eyes glowering at the viewer. He knew that Sarah couldn't remember, or didn't believe anymore what had happened. His mother had seen to that over the years, he had tried to stop it, tried to help her, but his mother had insisted that Sarah had dragged him into her delusions. He had learned fast not to speak of it, or he would have been shoved into drugs, and treatments as well and then who would help his sister!

This painting had been strange, it wasn't what he had planned to make her at all, but as soon as his brush had touched the canvas this is what he had been drawn to. His mind wouldn't think of anything else, he had been drawn to making this piece for her. It felt like life or death that he had to finish it this night or it would be too late. Jareth's eyes seared into him as he added touches of grey to the pupils, making him look oh so alive.

Toby didn't know how or why this picture would suddenly help his sister. The years of enforced medical hep had pushed her into such a deep state of denial it seemed hopeless. The impending wedding proved that to him, how on earth she could ever think about marrying some other guy when she loved the King so deeply. Toby sighed, he wanted his sister to remember so very badly, to have someone to share all this with.

More importantly he worried what had happened to the realm and the King. Jareth had looked destroyed the last time, so sad and broken without her love. He almost felt like he was playing match maker between the two even after all this time. He glanced down at the pieces of his latest manga he had left out for her to see. It was due out in just a few days now and spoke of the Kings search for his Queen who had fallen from the realms and turned into a human child with no memories of who she was. He had drawn the girl to be his sister's twin, all he had to do now was make her read it and hope for the best. Even a spark of knowledge or remembrance.

He looked at his watch, Sarah should be here soon for drinks. They had arranged it ages ago, and this was why he was rushing to finish and dry the eyes on the portrait. He grabbed up a hair dryer and carefully fluffed the canvas to dry the final cover layer as quickly as he could.

The clock chimed 9pm, where had the time gone! Moments before it seemed it had only been 7! Toby swore and rushed into the bedroom to change. Leather trousers, black cotton pirate shirt, he dressed like someone from the labyrinth most of the time. Rushed gel through his hair to spike it quickly, and was just pulling on his leather boots as she knocked on the door.

Sarah had dragged herself exhaustedly from the tube to her brother's house when really all she wanted to do was ring him and tell him she was sick. Something had kept spurring her on, despite how she felt, regardless of any thoughts or feelings of her own she knew she had to get there. It was a strange feeling, like the one she had had the other night when she had heard the voices whispering to her. She was scared she was going mad again.

She knocked on the door, and he greeted her unevenly with one platform boot on and one off. She smiled warmly, "Toby one of these days you are going to break your ankle in those!"

Toby hugged and launched himself into a hug with his sister, he was never too old for those. "It's been too long sis."

She hugged him back, "I know it has, I'm sorry Tobe I really am."

Stepping in and letting him shut the door, she looked around the flat littered with his artworks. "Business doing well then?" she asked, looking for something but she wasn't sure what.

"As always." He answered with a cheeky grin dragging the second boot on. He uncorked a bottle of vintage red wine and poured her a large glass. Sarah took it gratefully, she needed that to settle her nerves, and she sipped it in larger amounts then would normally be polite. "Five years underage and you can still buy this, sometimes I worry about you." She stated.

"You wouldn't be my big sister if you didn't worry, I promise I only use it to lure young girls to my den of pleasure." He teased.

Sarah squatted at him with her free hand, he dodged out of the way easily, watching to make sure she was drinking enough of the vile liquid. Wine wasn't his thing, but he knew it was hers. She flicked through his drawings, "You are going to be a millionaire by the time you are of age." She commented draining the glass. She almost felt jealous of his happiness and success for a moment.

"That's the plan," Toby said topping her glass back up to the brim. He wanted her at least slightly drunk before she saw the painting, try and cushion the blow or remove her defences he wasn't quite sure which. That was why he had bought some larger glasses then normal, and what he was promised was a very potent aged brew. By the way Sarah's cheeks were starting to redden it looked like he had been guided well.

Sarah took another big gulp of the potion, the wine was calming her nerves and dulling the ache in her heart. She had to stop herself from snatching the bottle off him and gulping it straight from there. She needed to forget so much right now, lock back down those memories and feelings that had been resurfacing. The glass was nearly empty again, she didn't know how it was going down so fast, she was sure she wasn't drinking it that fast as he topped her up again. "You trying to get me drunk little brother?" she asked.

"Would I do that?" he asked innocently pushing one of the drawings closer to her. She'd drunk enough by now that she let it slide easily enough. "I have a new book coming out in a few weeks." He mentioned.

"How interesting." Sarah said distractedly. She felt dizzy for a moment, nothing to do with the wine, but more like she had vertigo. Like she was standing at a great height looking down, she had never been good in high places. She downed the rest of the glass in one trying to ignore the sensation. "What's it about?" she asked, thinking she really didn't want to hear the answers.

Toby wondered what was happening to his sister, she had been looking at a drawing of the labyrinth and then she had grown distant and distressed again. Still she was off balance in more ways then one and he might not get another chance so he pressed on. "It's about finding a lost love, the king knows that his queen is out there lost and alone, and needs him. He can't find her because she doesn't want to be found. She is too frightened of herself to allow him to love her, and worship her, and be her slave. She's even frightened of how she feels towards him. So you can never be truly happy, can you Sarah?" he asked.

Sarah's head snapped around instantly, replying without even really knowing what she was saying. He had triggered the part of her which remembered just as he had hoped he would. "You don't know what you are talking about, you are just a child." She said with scorn, "You have never been in love, you don't know how this feels. He's nothing like that, he's…."

She trailed off, having seen the edge of the painting under a cloth he had used to partially hide the scene. She ripped it off in one motion and stared at the face looking back at her. The face of the man she loved more then life itself. The glass dropped from her hand and shattered, everything around her seemed so unreal right now, so distant. Other then the image in front of her, the faerie man, with his cloak of feathers and a crown of pure light. Toby had captured the very essence of the King in this image.

That face captivated her, drew her to it, obsessed her with how it looked. "Was it real? Was all of it real? And him?" she asked Toby desperately, "Did I forget everything?"

Toby nodded, "It all really happened, you really did save me, but at the cost of your own heart and his. The King of the Goblins really did fall in love with a girl, and he really did grant her certain powers. I gave you the book for Christmas hoping it would be enough, I've been trying for years to help you remember. I'm sorry sis I didn't know what else to do."

A tear escaped his eye and she watched it fall down her brother's cheek. She was drawn back to the picture, "Oh Jareth, my love, what did I do to you? What did I let them do to me!" she whispered touching his painted face wishing so hard that it was really him standing there.

Toby came up and put his hand on her shoulder, "You need to remember your soul mate completely. You need to remember the labyrinth and how to get there. He needs you, without you he is dying. Please Sarah, grab on to anything you have left of him and hold on to it, or he will die and then you will too. You can't live without out him any more then he can without you."

Sarah touched her brother's hand and squeezed it drawing strength from him. "I need him Toby, so badly. I tried to move on, I tried to be normal, human but I can't. I screamed myself horse wishing for him to come back for me. He doesn't want me anymore I broke his heart, I lost my chance for happiness forever."

Toby opened his mouth to answer her, to try and reassure her it wasn't too late, but in his heart he wasn't sure. Sarah suddenly doubled over in pain, screaming, her face white, and her knuckles digging into his arm making it bleed. "What's wrong?" Toby demanded, "Tell me what's happening, what you need!"

Sarah couldn't answer him, her mind was full of images of Jareth lost and alone, hidden away from the world just like she had. She heard him whispering, and strained to hear the words. "Goodbye Sarah." And then she saw him jump out of the window, and his broken body hit the ground. She screamed hysterically, muttering his name over and over.

She was crying, lashing out, screaming, Toby tried to calm her and stop her from hurting herself. "He's dead, don't you see I killed him and I never even got to tell him that I loved him!" she howled.

"Then tell him now!" Toby insisted, "Let the last words he hears be yours. He deserves that much!"

Sarah curled into her brother's shoulder, living off his strength because hers was no more. She braced herself and spoke the words she needed to say, that he needed to hear. "Jareth, King of the Goblins, I love you. I always did and I always will. Please forgive me, please don't be dead. I love you, I need you!"

Somewhere a very long way away, Hoggle stood next to Jareth's body too scared to touch him. Too frightened to find out if what he saw was real or not. Because if it was real then everything changed, nothing would ever be the same for any of them. Hoggle heard a whispering in the air around the castle and around them.

Just for a moment he saw a shadowy figure of Sarah, much older then he had last seen her and she appeared in front of him. She looked at Hoggle and nodded, then knelt by Jareth never touching him. Leaning down towards his ear. "I love you Jareth, now and forever, please don't leave me." She whispered before fading away. Leaving the servant and the master alone again.