A/N: Howdy folks. This early update is to celebrate two months of posting. Wow. It REALLY does not feel that long. I would like to thank all of you who have stuck with this story, and welcome any new readers. You're in for a ride. I appreciate all the thoughtful reviews that people leave, and the ones that just express appreciation. All my notifications for follows and favourites always bring a smile to my lips. I really appreciate the encouragement. Thanks folks. This wouldn't be happening without you. And with, no more babbling (until the second author's note where there is PLENTY more) the moment you've all been waiting for, Chapter Ten. Enjoy!

March 21st, Sarah's twenty-third birthday, dawned bright and clear, if still cold with the remnants of winter's dying breath. Katara had swimming practice that morning and as soon she left Sarah sat in front of her mirror and called to her friends. They all showed up, their images superimposing on each other in her small mirror, and sung for her what was possibly the worst rendition "Happy Birthday" since Jareth banned the goblins from singing it on pain of the pain after the first time. What exactly the pain was, Sarah didn't know. Sir Didymus said it was much too offensive for the ears of his lady, Ludo would only say "The pain bad" (which was the only time Sarah had ever heard him use a definite article) and Hoggle would turn a combination of white, green and orange whenever Sarah would bring it up, and stay non-verbal until she changed the subject. Whatever the pain was, she assumed it was pretty horrifying. She spoke to her friends individually then. First was Ludo. Sarah asked him how he was, but he didn't have much to say, they'd all caught up for several hours the first day she got a flower.

"Gift fo Sawah," he said, holding out his hand and tossing something at the mirror that separated them. A small beautiful green emerald fell onto her dresser with a small clatter. Sarah picked it up. It was exactly the same shade as her eyes and it sparkled in the sunlight.

"Oh Ludo," she said, wanting to wrap him in a hug, "It's beautiful."

"Sawah pwetty. Stone pwetty. Sawah nice. Stone nice," Ludo said, smiling and nodding proudly at his flawless logic. Sarah smiled at him and slipped the stone into her small jewelry box, where she kept all of his such gifts. She had gathered quite the collection of precious and semi-precious stones over the years, not to mention all the other ones whose value were purely sentimental. Sarah would not have parted from any of them for either of the worlds.

Next came Sir Didymus. His gift for her was his yearly book of tales. Any person who wanted permission to cross his bridge in the Bog had to tell him a story of them or their people. Sarah had tales from all over both worlds. He knew she loved the stories he brought her every year and so would write out each and every story meticulously, in his clear, cursive, flowing hand, and give her that year's collection on her birthday. Sarah would read little else—that wasn't assigned, anyway—until she finished the volume. She'd read hundreds of new stories that way. She thanked him profusely for his gift and with a bow, he vanished. Finally, it was just her and Hoggle.

"Hiya Sarah," he said. "Happy Birthday." He threw through the mirror two objects. The first was one he gave her every year. It was a bouquet of yellow roses and irises. Sarah picked it up and smelled it.

"You didn't have to you know," she said, like she always did. Seven years later, he was still worried about being her friend. She'd refused to let him doubt verbally and so this was how he reaffirmed it every year, and, every year, she told him he didn't need to.

"Yeah, well," he said gruffly. He still felt guilty about wishing her away, however accidentally. "I just thought your room could use some colour."

"Of course." Smiling at him, she put the flowers off to one side to pick up the other gift.

It was a simple necklace with a silver pendent on the end that had a spiral embossed into it.

"Thank you, Hoggle," she said, picking it up and watching it spin before her eyes. She undid the clasp and put the necklace on. Eyes still looking at the desk, she asked a question that had been bothering her for a while.

"Hoggle," she said, fingering the necklace. "Why did you wish me away? What happened?" How could you do that to me? Was left unsaid.

"I, um, er, I...I..." Sarah looked up at her stuttering friend who was wringing his hands and looking very nervous. He never had been a very good liar.

"Jareth told me you wished me away," she said.

"And you believed him?" Hoggle asked, looking for a way out.

"Yes," Sarah said simply. He hadn't been lying when he told her that. "I did. Why, Hoggle?" Hoggle gave her a defeated look, his shoulders slumping.

"I didn't mean to," he said sadly. "I just wished there was something more he could do for you than just let us through. I didn't think anything would come of it. And I knew he wouldn't hurt you after he helped save your step-mother last year. I didn't mean for nothing to happen."

Sarah frowned in confusion.

"How did that wish end with me—" she stopped herself from saying 'in his bed' not wanting her friends to know that bit of the story "—in the Underground," she finished.

"The Labyrinth interfered," Hoggle said, looking a little worried. "That hasn't happened in a very, very long time..." he trailed off. "Honest, Sarah. I just wanted you to feel better and he was the only person I knew who I thought might have been able to help."

Sarah considered her friend's words for a moment before reaching out and plucking a yellow iris from the bouquet he'd given her. She held it out and as soon as it touched the mirror it disappeared from her hand and reappeared in Hoggle's.

"Your friendship means a lot to me, Hoggle. Keep the flower to remember that." Hoggle carefully, lovingly, tucked the flower into his vest.

"Thank you, Sarah," he said, looking at the flower rather than her. He had never been very comfortable with open displays of emotion. "And happy birthday." And just like that he was gone. Sarah sighed and picked up the book Sir Didymus had given her. She went over to her bed, sat back and started reading.

Around eleven, Katara came back and changed before grabbing her books and heading towards the library, waving to Sarah as she left. Sarah found her eyes flicking towards the clock as it started it's count down to noon. 46 minutes. 33. 24. 13. 7. 3. Sarah put the book down. She was never late when she said she'd call and she never missed a call without calling before hand to reschedule. 56 seconds till noon. 30. 15. 3, 2, 1... The phone rang. Sarah grabbed it.

"Hello Kiddo," her mother's voice came over the phone. "How's my birthday girl?" Sarah smiled to hear her mother. They hadn't talked since last month's phone call and it was great to hear her voice.

"Great! How's England treating you?" she asked. Linda and Jeremy were spending the next six months in England doing a shoot for a new movie. She had been in the middle of packing for the move when she and Sarah had last spoken.

"Just fine, but it's not every day my only daughter turns twenty-three. Tell me more about your life, how are classes? You have any plans for tonight?" And so Sarah spent the next half hour happily updating her mother on her classes before getting around to her plans for that night.

"Me and my friends are going to go to open mic night at the Jasmine Dragon."

"The tea shop? What, no going out for some wild parties? What's the use of going away to University if you don't go get horrifyingly drunk every once in a while while you're still young enough to recover from it?" Linda teased her daughter over the phone.

"Mom!" Sarah cried, smiling despite herself. "It will be a nice, responsible, laid back, safe night. One that I'll actually be able to remember."

"Eh, memory's overrated. Tell me, will there at least be a boy of the boyfriend variety attending this laid back evening?"

"No," Sarah said, a little sadly. Her mother caught on to the tone immediately.

"Is there a boy you wished was attending?"

Sarah paused for a moment and thought that over. Wished was a strong word... and besides, she'd hardly call Jareth a boy.

"No," she finally replied.

"Sarah Jane Williams, you may have been able to lie to your father when the need arose but you could never hide anything from me. Just who is this boy?"

"Well, I wouldn't really call him a boy..." Sarah trailed off weekly.

"Oh?" Linda mentally prepared to back up whatever her daughter decided to do and tell her she loved her no matter who she dated.

"More man, than boy..." Sarah thought about his pants. Yep. Definitely a man.

"Oh, ho!" Linda said, mentally changing gears. "Spill, Sarah. Now."

Sarah took a deep breath.

"We met during an event when I was fifteen then lost contact till March break where he showed up and helped me deal with the anniversary." Linda gave her daughter a moment to collect herself, taking a moment to grieve herself, before continuing this line of conversation.

"Seven years and not a word and he shows up out of the blue?"

"Well," Sarah said, trying to figure out how to phrase what happened in a way that wouldn't have her mother calling the white coats. "He reentered my life through a mutual friend."

"How long were you guys friends, when you were fifteen?"

"I wouldn't call us...friends, exactly. About ten hours," Sarah replied in an attempt to be casual.

"And you remembered him after seven years?" Linda asked, wondering what could have been so memorable.

"It was an intense ten hours. Besides, he's a memorable guy," Sarah defended herself.

"Intense, huh?" Sarah could just hear her mother's raised eyebrow. "Isn't fifteen a little young to be having any... intense activities? Particularly ones that last ten hours?"

"MOM!" Sarah cried indignant. "It's not like that! We were on opposite sides of a competition." Linda paused, waiting for her daughter to answer her unspoken question. "I won," Sarah finally added.

"That's my girl!" Linda said, smiling proudly at her daughter's victory. "So, where is this guy now? And what's his name? I can't keep calling him 'this guy'"

"His name is Jareth and I don't know. He just kinda walked in and walked out and now..."

"Now?" Linda asked, curious about this man in her daughter's life.

"Well, I don't know. A few days ago he sent me flowers but I've heard nothing since..."

"Flowers? What kind?"

"Forget-me-nots."

"Huh." Linda paused and thought over what she knew. "Sounds to me like he's still interested. Wait and see what happens, I guess." She switched the topic back to Sarah's birthday. "So, did my package arrive on time?" she asked. Sarah leaned over to grab the package she had picked up at the post office on Friday.

"Yep, sitting right in front of me, waiting to be opened," she said eagerly. Her mom often managed to get her amazing gifts for her birthday and Christmas.

"One sec, let me put you on speaker."

"Happy birthday to you," sang her mother and Jeremy. "Happy birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Sarah," they held the last note before going into harmony for the last line of the song. "Happy birthday to you." They had beautiful voices. Sarah had always admired her mother's voice. She herself had never been a great singer.

"Yes," Linda said, sensing Sarah's unvoiced impatience. "You can finally open your present."

"Yippee!" Sarah said gleefully. She ripped open the package as her mother chuckled at her childish glee. Inside lay a CD case. Sarah picked it up, wondering who her mother had picked out for her this time. She was normally pretty good at guessing what music Sarah would like. She'd been the one who introduced her to David Bowie who was by far Sarah's favourite artist. This was easy to tell by the many, many David Bowie posters that covered her wall. Sarah read the CD jacket.

"No way," she breathed, completely unable to believe that what she held in her hands was real. "NO WAY!" she yelled, holding David Bowie's soon-to-be-released album 'Black Tie White Noise' in her hand.

"I think she likes it," she heard Jeremy mutter to Linda.

"This isn't supposed to come out till next month!" Sarah cried, cradling the CD to her chest. "How did you get this?"

"A woman has her ways," her mother said mysteriously. "And it helps when you did a movie with the singer himself. It came out in '86, you remember? Oh, what was it called..."

"Maze?" Sarah asked, knowing the answer. She owned a copy of every single movie her mother had ever been in and watched all of them many times.

"That was it. Open the case." Sarah did as she was told and almost fainted. It was signed. With a message. "Happy birthday, Sarah, from David Bowie," was on the inside of the jacket. Her mother and Jeremy had signed underneath.

"Breathe, kiddo," Linda advised. Sarah took a breath and launched into a long stream of "Thank you,"s and "You're the best"s with some "BEST GIFT EVER"s thrown in for good measure. When she paused from breath her mother interrupted.

"You're welcome, kiddo. I'll leave you to listen to your new music before you explode with excitement. Happy Birthday. Have fun with your friends tonight. I'll talk to you Easter Sunday, ok?"

"Sure thing Mom. Talk to you then. Thanks again. Love you!"

"Love you too Kiddo," Linda said, smiling, before hanging up the phone. Sarah promptly slid the CD into her Walkman, put on her head phones and spent the next several hours listening and relistening to her new CD.

When Sarah returned from dinner, Katara was waiting in their room. She was wearing clothes that were better suited to going out for drinks than open mic at the Jasmine Dragon but Sarah couldn't really blame her. She didn't get to go out often, what with having to keep her grades up to keep her scholarship, so when she did, she often took the opportunity to get dressed up. Katara looked at her roommate in the mirror with a critical eye as she put the finishing touches on her make up.

"You going to get changed?" Katara asked. Sarah looked down at her loose blouse and faded jeans. They were a little under dressed for open mic night, but not overly so.

"I was just gonna go like this," she shrugged. Katara's eyes hardened and it took all of the courage that Sarah had needed to run the Labyrinth and then some not to run screaming there and then.

"Sarah," Katara said sweetly. "It's your 23rd birthday and you are going out with friends. Wear something nice."

Katara in dress up mode was not someone to mess with, even if it was Sarah's birthday. Sarah walked over to the closet and pulled out the green top with the silver clasp that rested just below her collar bone, the low back and the neckline low enough to hint at cleavage without being too much and a pair of skin tight black pants. She looked stunning in the outfit and knew it. It was also one she was comfortable in. Between the two qualities, Katara would not object. Sarah came out of the bathroom, put on some make up to complement her outfit and turned to look at her friend. Katara gave her the once over and nodded in approval. The women grabbed their coats and headed outside. They left so quickly that neither one noticed the owl sitting in the tree outside their window. Once they'd left the owl took off on silent wings, hooting a hoot that, if one listened carefully, almost sounded like the word "soon".

The weather had taken a sudden change for the worse and while earlier it had been clear and bright it was now heavily overcast and the wind was picking up something fierce. Sarah turned up her collar against the wind as they walked. As they turned onto the small university town's main street they saw Sokka disappear into the karaoke bar. Sarah turned to her roommate.

"Isn't he supposed to be meeting us at the Jasmine Dragon?" she asked. Katara wore a grim, slightly irked expression.

"Yes," she growled. "He is. Come on, let's go grab him and then meet up with everyone else." The wind howled as the two ran down the street. Sarah couldn't help but be reminded of a storm long ago. This one was so similar. A block down from the karaoke bar, the rain started to fall in a heavy downpour, unusual for the season. The girls sprinted the last few meters and ducked into the bar.

"Wait here. I'll go grab Sokka," Katara said before disappearing into the crowd. Sarah looked around for as she waited for her friend to return with her wayward brother. She jumped when thunder crashed outside and all the lights in the bar when out. A sudden gush of wind blew open the door and someone yelped before shutting it. Sarah's heart was pounding—the storm, the lights, even the window for God's sake. 'Well,' she thought to herself, 'he always did have a flare for the dramatic.'Sarah held her breath and waited for what ever would happen next.

The opening chords of a song started to play, and after the introductory bars, a male voice filled the room.

"I know when to go out," the voice—a voice she was very familiar with—said. "And when to stay in. Get things done," The club's stage lights came on, lighting the figure of a man on the stage, less well lit figures standing in groups behind him. The music changed a little, the piano coming in. The lights came up more fully on the stage as Zuko started singing one of Sarah's favourite Bowie songs.

"I catch the paper boy,

But things don't really change,

I'm standing in the wind

But I never wave bye-bye"

On the strong beats the lights came up one at a time to light the back up singers. Toph and Aang stood at one mic, Sokka and Suki, who she'd met a few days ago at the Jasmine Dragon, at another, and Katara at a third. Sarah laughed in surprise and joy at their thoughtfulness, forgetting to be disappointed that it wasn't what she had hoped it was.

"But I try, I try," Zuko continued to sing now with the gang joining in. He had a pretty steady voice that suited the song well, even with its characteristic rasp. He continued singing the next verse, starting to dance to the music with the rest of the gang and obviously fighting down a blush. When the chorus came along the rest of the gang started singing too

"Never gonna fall for," sang Zuko.

"Modern Love," sang the gang.

"Walks beside me"

"Modern love"

"Walks on by"

"Modern love"

"Gets me to the

"church on time," they sang all together.

And so the song went on in a not terrible cover of David Bowie's "Modern Love." Sarah decided that in terms of quality it fell halfway between her Underground friends' rendition of "Happy Birthday" and the beautiful harmonized version her mother and Jeremy had sung. When the large instrumental part of the song came up Zuko turned, grabbed Katara and pulled her forward to dance with him. At first Katara looked a little self conscious but in the few bars of instrumental they both lost the self consciousness they had been burdened with and seemed to really enjoy dancing. They almost seemed to forget the entire bar was watching them. Sarah smiled to see her friends dancing together happily.

Zuko visibly remembered where he was just in time to raise the mic and throw himself back into the song. Katara stayed beside him, using his mic to sing the chorus parts and with her by his side he seemed to completely lose any self consciousness and sang and danced the song through to its final chorus "Modern Love"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!" the gang chorused into the mic when the music had faded. The words were almost overwhelmed by the thunderous applause that filled the small bar. They bowed, even Zuko, who seemed to remember to be embarrassed, before trooping off stage and going to group hug Sarah. Sarah laughed and smiled in the middle of the huge hug and thanked her friends profusely before they all made their way over to the table they usually sat at when they came here. Toph sat next to Sarah, their backs to the stage with Badger sitting next to her owner, being the good seeing-eye dog she was. Next to Sarah sat Zuko, across from her, Katara and Aang and on the other side, Suki and Sokka.

"So," Toph said, grinning like a loon, "enjoy your gift?"

"Yes, that was amazing," Sarah said, smiling and laughing. "How did you convince Zuko to do that? What dirt do you have on him and what do I have to do to get some?" Zuko immediately said, "Toph," in a tone of voice that was halfway between supplication and threat.

"Don't worry, Sparky!" Toph said, waving a hand reassuringly in his direction. "I remember our deal. Sorry Queeny, but nobody gets this dirt on Sparky. Part of the deal I had to make to get him up there."

Sarah sighed mock-dejectedly, but nothing could stop her from smiling right then. It had been such an amazing gift. The practice that must have taken, and the lights that had performed with them—the entire performance had been just incredible. That reminded her...

"How did you guys manage to pull off the lights thing at the beginning of the show?" she asked. Suki spoke up for the first time that night.

"Ty Lee, a woman on my team at the firehouse, her little sister works the lights and sound here. All I had to do was ask and Team Rosa was on it. It was kind of scary watching all of them work together. They coached the singing, the dancing, figured out the lights, the works. There are seven of them who look practically identical." She frowned for a sec before shaking her head and looking around. "Who wants some drinks?" she asked.

"Me," Toph said, loudly thumping her fist down on the table. "I'll cover the first two rounds."

It was fourty-five minutes later, when they were all on their second drinks when a female voice came over the sound system.

"Another song for our birthday girl! Let's have a round of applause Sarah Williams." Applause started going around the bar as Sarah sipped her drink and the opening chords to "China Girl" came over the sound system. This person knew her taste in music, whoever they were. The quiet first few "ooooh, my little China girl"s came on. Sarah paused, tilting her head to listen a little better. That hadn't sounded like "China"...

Katara looked at the stage and her eyes widened.

"Sarah," she said, grabbing her friend's arm. "That's him!" she cried, "The guy who gave me the flowers for you!" Sarah stopped breathing. Her heart started to pound. She couldn't believe it. Here? Now? After over a week of near silence? She wanted to turn around but couldn't quite bring herself to to do that yet. She couldn't handle being wrong right now. She didn't want to turn around and have him not be there.

"This one's for you, precious," a voice— she knew that voice— said before breaking into the song.

"I could escape this feeling,

With my Mortal girl,

I feel a feel a wreck without my

Little Mortal girl,"

Sarah could not believe he had just sung that out loud, in a public space. She looked at her friends, who didn't seem to notice anything strange about the lyrics he was singing. In fact, Katara seemed to be telling them about what she knew of this mysterious man. Sarah tuned them out and went back to focusing on Jareth, his hair, less wild than normal, wearing modern clothes (though the pants were far tighter than was presently fashionable, almost but not quite as bad as his usual fare) and looking directly at her.

"I hear her heart beating," he gave her a knowing look,

"Loud as thunder,

Saw they stars crashing.

"I'm a mess without my

Little mortal girl,

Wake up in the morning," He winked at her, the rat bastard! Muttering from the peanut gallery increased.

"Where's my

Little mortal girl.

I hear her heart's beating
loud as thunder
Saw they stars crashing down

"I feel a-tragic
like I'm Marlon Brando
When I look at my mortal girl
I could pretend that nothing really meant too much." His eyes saddened there, and the for a moment he looked away from her.

"When I look at my Mortal girl
I stumble into town just like a sacred cow
Visions of Labyrinths in my head
Plots for everyone
It's in the white of my eyes."

His eyes darkened and he looked at her with a smile that had more than a hint of threat behind it.

"My little Mortal girl
You shouldn't mess with me
I could ruin everything you are
I'll give you crystal ballrooms
I'll give you eyes of blue
I'll give you Fae who rules the Goblins

"And when I get excited
My little Mortal girl says"

He sang to her with lidded eyes.

"Oh baby just you shut your mouth
She says: sh-sh-shhh"

There was a moment of stunned silence at the excellent performance into which Jareth murmured,

"Happy birthday precious,"

That broke the spell and the bar was filled with applause at what had to be the best and most sexually charged performance of the night. Jareth left the stage and made his way over to Sarah's table. Sarah got up and went to meet him before he could come near her friends.

"You disappeared," Sarah accused, coming to a stop before him.

"I did," he said, holding out a sprig of purple Hyacinth.

"You said forever," she continued, looking at him, not the flower, the apology that he would never say aloud.

"I was misinformed," he allowed.

"You're engaged," she said sadly, almost dejectedly.

"Not if the Labyrinth, Klio or I have anything to say about it," he said determinedly. He waved the flower a little. "I will not leave you like that again, Sarah." Again his voice caressed her name. "I promise you that for as long as the choice is mine to make." He held her gaze fiercely and Sarah believed him. He would not abandon her again. Sarah reached out and took the flower from him. Jareth glanced over her shoulder to where her friends were sitting, all except for the petite woman with the dark hair and pale eyes looking at them.

"Will you introduce me to your friends?" Jareth asked. Sarah looked over her shoulder and winced to see them all looking at her and Jareth with curious gazes. She looked over at Jareth and saw that he looked entirely too comfortable with the situation. She waved a finger at him.

"No funny business," she said, glaring at him.

"King's honour," he said, with a small smirk. Trusting he meant it, Sarah turned to walk over to the table where her friends sat waiting. She could feel Jareth walking behind her, his presence was so strong. When she got the the table, everyone looked up at her expectantly, except Toph, who seemed to be searching her memory for something. Badger was growling under the table.

"Guys, let me introduce Jareth, an... acquaintance of mine."

"Now now, pet," Jareth purred, coming up to stand directly behind her. She could feel the heat he was giving off. "I'd hardly call us mere acquaintances."

Hearing his voice Toph jumped up and pointed in Jareth's general direction. "YOU!" She cried.

"What are you doing here? You had better not be here to try to take me back, I don't care what wishes my parents made!"

Everyone stared at Toph confused, although, at the mention of her parents, they all tensed, ready to defend their friend if need be. Jareth merely threw back his head and laughed. "On the contrary, my dear Miss Bei Fong. I am delighted to see you got out of there. There is far too much potential in you to let waste away in that mansion. You can not guess how pleased I was when I heard you had befriended my Sarah." Sarah wasn't too sure how she felt about being claimed in such a way but most of her was too busy reeling from the fact that Jareth and Toph knew each other to notice other emotions.

"Wait," she said, "You know each other? But you didn't say anything," Sarah turn to look accusingly at Jareth.

"At the time I didn't think it relevant," he excused himself.

"But...how?" was all Sarah could manage.

"Her family has been dealing with my kind for many, many years," he said. "Miss Bei Fong—"

"Toph," she interrupted, raising a hand.

"Toph," Jareth smiled slightly. "I assure you that I mean you no harm. My business here is purely with Sarah. We met several years ago when she... called on me. And have only recently been reacquainted." Toph frowned for a moment before sitting down, grabbing Zuko's sleeve and leaning over. "I need to talk to Uncle." she said quietly. "And soon." Zuko gave her a concerned look, but said, "Sure." The rest of the gang seemed to relax, seeing Toph no longer worried and Sarah's confused, but not concerned, body language.

"Alright," Sokka said, standing up after getting a reassuring wave from Toph. "I am not nearly tipsy enough to be dealing with this. Who wants a drink?" Hands went up around the table. "Right. I'm going to be back with alcohol and we can all get to know each other a little better and learn how these two lovebirds,"—Sarah squawked indignantly, while Jareth smiled possessively— "met over a nice drink. For now, we celebrate Sarah's birthday. Hip Hip,"

"HURRAH!" chorused the rest of the gang. Sarah and Jareth took their seats at the table and enjoyed a night of talking and drinking with friends. No more was spoken of how Jareth and Toph knew each other, although she did blanch when Sarah was telling them about the competition that she had won.

"Only by 30 seconds, precious," Jareth had said.

"Only cause you took time off. You broke the rules!" Sarah had accused.

"My game, my rules, pet," Jareth had purred at her. Toph had taken a large swig of her drink and muttered into it, "I thought she liked her brother." Sarah was too distracted to hear.

Finally it ended and they all started walking back to res, all a little tipsy. Sarah and Jareth walked a few steps behind the others in silence. When they got to the doors of res Katara looked back to see if her friend was coming.

"Go on," Sarah said, gesturing at her friend. "I'll be in in a few minutes." With one last concerned look, Katara left Sarah and Jareth alone. When the door had closed behind Katara, Sarah turned to her old adversary and new friend.

"What changed?" she asked "Why are you back?"

"Your friends," There was just a touch of a sneer on that word, "went and spoke to Klio who showed up and talked some sense into me. We are now both more determined than ever to see this engagement fall through. She has her lady," he took her hand and raised it to his lips, brushing the back of her hand with them before speaking, never breaking eye contact, "and I mine. I told you I would not disappear again like that Sarah, and I meant it. I also promise to continue to send you your friends should I ever not be able to see you, as long as it is in my power to do so." His mismatched blue eyes looked at her with such sincerity that Sarah couldn't help but be moved.

"Promise?" she asked, voice soft but strong.

"Promise," he assured her. He let go of her hand. "Ah," he said, smiling, "I almost forgot." He summoned a crystal and offered it to her. "Happy birthday."

"Not my dreams this time, right? Cause there's this really weird one I keep having with a duck that I REALLY do not need to relive." Jareth snorted at the image.

"Not your dreams, not this time." She held out her hands and he dropped the crystal into them. When it hit them it transformed into a necklace to match the one he was wearing even now, beneath his shirt. "I will always come for you when you call me wearing this. Call on me should you ever need me. It is also a connection to the Labyrinth. Wearing it you can wish yourself between worlds anytime you like. This way, if I don't come, you can hunt me down." He smirked. He rather liked the idea of Sarah hunting him down. He liked far more the idea of getting caught. He looked up at the sky. Seeing the position of the moon, he sighed.

"I fear I must leave. Good night, sweet Sarah."

"Wait," Sarah called, stopping him before he poofed off. "You're forgetting something."

"Am I?" He asked, eyebrow going up.

"Yep," Sarah replied glibly before throwing herself at him. She wrapped him in a hug. He stood still for a moment, shocked, before responding in kind. Sarah held him close for a few minutes, taking in his scent, the feel of his body pressed against hers, the way his hair was just long enough to start to tickle her cheek. Finally, Sarah stepped back.

"Jareth," she said.

"Yes?"

"Ever pull something like that again and so help me I will hunt you down and emasculate you with a toothpick." She glared so fiercely and spoke with such confidence that, even after centuries of learning how to hide his emotions when the need arose, he had to fight the urge to swallow.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good night, Jareth," Sarah said warmly.

"Good night, Precious," Jareth replied before disappearing again. It could have felt like the time in her kitchen when he had disappeared, but it didn't. This time was different, Sarah thought to herself as she fingered her new pendant. This time, there was hope.

A/N: Hold on to your hats folks, this is going to be a long one.

First, I want to talk about my interpretation of Linda. Often in this fandom Linda is villainized like their is no tomorrow, or if not, made to seem very inattentive or incompetent. This drives me crazy (Sorry if you've written such a Linda). It's not a problem that it's a trope. It's a problem that it seems to be the only trope. I can count the number of fics I've seen where she's treated as a real person without taking my shoes off. Just because a marriage falls apart does not make EITHER of the parents evil. Just taking from the movie (I apologize if there is other evidence elsewhere but I'm just working from that) there is no evidence that she is a terrible mother or person. In my head canon (and so the canon of this fic) she wanted to be an actor, didn't get her break and so settled down. When she did, she found it wasn't quite for her, and so she kept a hand in in theatre. There she was discovered. She knew if she stayed and forsook the life she passionately desired she'd come to hate and resent both Sarah and Robert. Neither of them deserved that. And so she left to pursue her career. She left Sarah with Robert because she knew that she'd be moving constantly and that was no way to raise a child (in her opinion) constantly tearing her away from friends, never letting her had a stable home, always making her switch schools, and she didn't want to do that do her daughter. She insisted on a divorce so Robert could find someone else (she did want him to be happy, she just wasn't right for him or he for her) and Sarah had the chance of having a real mom who would live with her. She kept in regular contact with Sarah which had the unfortunate side effect of not letting Sarah move on and causing the animosity with Karen.

A similar situation in this fandom exists for Karen, though it's not nearly as bad. It also drives me crazy when I run across it too often (again, sorry if you have that kind of fic) and so my characterization of her was born.

Second, all flowers that appear in this story have meanings in the flower language. I leave their meanings up to your Google foo. I learned the meaning of the Hyacinth in a wonderful story called "Tokens of Affection" by Sinku. I HIGHLY recommend this story and links for both the story and the author can be found under my favourites. Do yourselves a favour and go read.

Third, I had considered other Bowie songs, particularly "Heroes" and "Days". However, both were more problematic. "Heroes" because NO WAY is Jareth after "Just for one day" he wants for ever and ever. He also strongly objects to the line "Nothing can keep us together". I was told to pick another song on pain of Bog. When I suggested "Days" I was offered a first hand encounter with The Pain. I don't know about you, but I REALLY don't want to deal with that. Apparently, it wouldn't do to have the King seen in such a weak position, no matter what Sarah would have liked to hear. (Sarah agreed it was a great choice, though. Unfortunately, she is no defence against The Pain, )which I suspect might have something to do with singing Goblins.))

On a side note, my sister is a wonderful person, but unfortunately, can't sing Bowie to save her life. This lead to much giggling during the bits with the songs.

Fourth, Sorry about the Meta Fiction. I couldn't resist. Although, Maze (at least in this cannon) has nothing to do with Labyrinth. It was a murder mystery. Turned out the butler did it. Not to original, but still a good movie. :P

And finally, thanks again for sticking with me. I would like to give a shout out to my regular reviewers Honoria Granger and Write more. I appreciate the reviews though, instructions are a little bit of a turn off. Opions are welcome. On that note, I just want to also shout out to M. I love the review. I hope your hang over wasn't too awful. Please review again. It made my day.

Please leave all thoughts on the story or my character interpretations in the little box right there. Come on. You know you want to ^_^