Sarah felt as though the ground beneath her feet had vanished. She leaned back against the crib, if only to have something to anchor her against the feeling that she might fall through the earth or float away at any second.

Under the layers of shock that reverberated through her body, though, she could picture it. Picture the offhand way that it might have happened, with Jaye screaming louder than usual, Lori trying simultaneously to get the house in order and get Jaye to calm down. Maybe Lori had remembered snippets of Moon Gems. Maybe she'd been reading to Jaye from Outside Over There. Maybe she'd rolled her eyes or thrown up her hands just before she said it, knowing that Jaye was too small to comprehend the words. Maybe she'd even laughed as she was saying it.

And then he would have really been gone, and Sarah felt sick knowing almost exactly how Lori would have felt, that sense of creeping dread, and of course the defensiveness that she didn't mean it, no one ever means things like that…

And then Jareth would have appeared out of thin air, and it was hard to guess who would have been more shocked to see the other. Maybe Lori had mistaken him for the actor who played Jareth in Moon Gems, at first. Maybe she'd thought it was a joke in very poor taste.

She wondered how much Jareth had told Lori, how much Lori would hate her now for keeping this particular secret…

You selfish fuck, this is NOT about you.

Except that is about you. At least about the fact that you never got around to telling her something really, really important.

She gradually became aware that Nick and Miguel were standing in the doorway staring at her. Miguel took the note from her hands and his mouth fell open.

"Sarah, is this from…"

Sarah started speaking very fast, realizing that she was desperately trying to fill the silence and the thoughts that rushed into it. "I was going to tell her…I was going to tell her everything, once they started working together, but then everything happened and I didn't know how to tell her, or I just forgot to because I was living in my own goddamn head for months…why didn't I tell her, why the fuck didn't I tell her—"

Miguel gripped her shoulders. "Sarah, take a breath—"

"I told everyone not to, even though it sounded crazy, you saw it, I posted it like multiple times on multiple social media platforms, "Don't wish your goddamn kids away, even as a joke," there's no way she couldn't have—"

"Lori doesn't use social media," Miguel said.

Sarah flinched. "What?"

Miguel looked inside the crib again as if to confirm that Jaye really wasn't there. "It's like a thing with her, remember? Always has been, her agent hates it, wishes she would set up accounts to promote her plays…"

Nick glanced between the two of them. "Can someone explain to me what's going on?"

Sarah's mind was racing. "Lori wished Jaye away," she said.

"What the—she would never do that, she loves Jaye, she's not—"

"She wouldn't have meant it," Sarah snapped. "Not that it matters. All that matters are the words."

Nick stared at her. "That's insane."

"Yeah, no one ever said quasi-imaginary worlds were logical," she said. "Why didn't I tell her, why didn't I tell her…"

She barely heard Miguel's vague words of reassurance as she pulled out her phone to look at the time and check for the last text she'd received from Lori. Three hours ago. Ten hours left, give or take…

She ran back to the living room to where a full-length mirror hung in the entryway, only slightly wider than a human body. She pressed her hand against it.

"Hoggle? Hoggle, are you there?"

The mirror rippled. She heard Nick gasp.

"Jesus Christ—"

An image of Hoggle standing in his kitchen gradually came into focus. She could see a fire burning in the hearth behind him and a pot of something bubbling over it.

Hoggle wiped his hands on a ragged-looking towel. " 'lo, Sarah. He said you might be comin' through soon."

Sarah turned to Miguel, who looked terrified as she hugged him tightly.

"I'm going to fix this," she said. "One way or another. I promise."

"Sarah, maybe we should—"

She shook her head as she hugged a very confused-looking Nick. "No time. Just trust me on this one." She forced herself to smile. "I love you both. Tell the kids I love them too."

And before she could lose her nerve, she dove through the mirror.


"Ye coulda warned me, Sarah, fer the love of Goblindom…"

Sarah winced at the pain in her backside as her stiff limbs slowly came back to life. Her momentum appeared to have knocked a few vegetables and a wooden bowl of flour onto the floor, which Hoggle was now irritably picking up.

"Sorry," she croaked, brushing flour off of her jeans and helping him tidy as she stood up on wobbly legs. "Has she—have you seen her? My friend?"

Hoggle sighed. "Yeah, eh, about that…he tried t' send me after her. Y' know, like he did with you."

Sarah frowned. "He—you mean he told you to take her back to the beginning?"

"No—well, yes, but…" Hoggle took a deep breath and looked around as though someone might be listening in. "That's what he SAID. But he also mentioned that the lady was yer friend. Like, gave me a really long stare when he said it."

Sarah felt relief rush through her. He's cheating. Or he's trying to cheat without cheating. "So did you help her, then?"

"I tried, but…it were the strangest thing. I know the damn labyrinth like my own garden, know where everyone usually ends up, but no matter where I went, I couldn' find her. And when it seemed like I was gettin' close t' her I swear the damn hedges or stones would move."

Sarah's heart sank. "It's onto him," she whispered.

Hoggle nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Well, we'll have to figure something else out, then. What's the quickest route to the castle from here? Is there, like, a magic door?"

Hoggle went to the storeroom door in the corner of his cottage. "'Course there is."

He unscrewed the strange-looking handle on the door and popped it into a socket on the other side. When he opened it, Sarah saw a dimly lit tunnel.

She knelt down and hugged him. "Thank you. For everything."

He made a dismissive sound and then tensed slightly when she didn't end the hug.

"Sarah? Ye all right?"

She nodded, forcing herself to let go. "Yeah. Just…trying to remember how to be brave."

Hoggle rolled his eyes. "Don' think ye ever forgot that." His expression grew serious. "You…you ain't plannin t' kill him, are you?"

Sarah's mouth fell open. "No, I—is that even possible?"

"Dunno. No one's ever tried."

"Well, no, I definitely don't want to—I just want to make sure Lori gets her baby back."

Hoggle nodded. "Well, 'should ye need us' and all that, even if the labyrinth ain't makin' it easy to help folk right now…"

She hugged him again before stepping through the doorway. "I'll call."


It didn't take long for the tunnel to become a recognizable corridor of the castle. Sarah had learned its basic twists and turns some time ago, though as befitting a castle in a sort of world-between-worlds there were certain hallways and rooms that only seemed to appear at certain times.

Things got noisier as she neared the throne room. When she opened the door the goblins were rolling a large, half-empty barrel of something that could have been ale around in a circle, with one goblin unsuccessfully attempting to balance on it as it rolled.

Jaye was nowhere in sight.

Maybe she made it to the center. Maybe she already got him out.

One of the goblins noticed her and waved. "Blue lady! Blue lady got more blue!" It pointed to her hair.

Sarah waved. "Hey. You guys, uh, haven't seen a baby here recently, have you?"

Another goblin slumped its shoulders. "King took baby away," it pouted.

Sarah blinked. "Took it away? Where?"

The goblin shrugged and then looked up at Sarah eagerly. "Blue lady bring baby back? Play?"

Sarah nodded. "Right…lemme find the baby first, okay?"

Several goblins clapped their hands and then resumed rolling the ale-barrel. "Okay!"


The door to Jareth's bedroom was slightly ajar. When she opened it she saw that the lighting was dimmer than usual—some of the candles in the wall sconces had gone out, and the ones that were usually lit in the window or on the desk weren't burning. His desk, she noticed, was a mess of books, parchment, and quills, with torn or crumpled pieces of paper scattered on the floor.

He was seated in the large chair next to the bed, wearing a version of his usual loose-fitting shirt, tight trousers, and billowing cape. He looked up when she came in, though the lack of surprise on his face told her that he must have sensed her presence a long time ago.

His face didn't look especially gaunt—maybe because Lori's wish had replenished him, she realized—but his eyes looked haunted.

Her stomach gave a lurch at the sight of him. She'd often imagined what it would be like to see him again, what she'd say, what he'd say, but she hadn't counted on the feeling of utter powerlessness that it would inspire.

Jaye was asleep on his chest. Jareth held him gently in one arm, the other idly stroking his dark, curly hair. Minus the elaborate hairstyle and theatrical clothing, Sarah realized, it could have been a simple image of a father and his child.

When he spoke she felt the pain in his voice as if it were her own. "Hello, Sarah."

She winced at the sound of her own name. "Hey."

He glanced down at the baby. "I'm rather good at getting them to go to sleep, actually. Though I suppose having a bit too much fun with the goblins would tire anyone out."

Sarah resisted the urge to grab Jaye, knowing that she wouldn't be able to take him back through a mirror with her. "Where's Lori?" she asked.

His eyes still focused on Jaye, Jareth produced a crystal that floated toward her, images dancing inside it. Her heart sank.

Jareth stood up and laid Jaye down in the center of his very large bed, placing oversized pillows around him like walls. "She made it rather far, actually, before she ended up in the oubliette," he said, returning to his chair. He chuckled, and there was no warmth in it. "Wasn't exactly elated to see me. I greatly doubt she'll want to direct my play now."

The crystal vanished, along with an image of Lori frantically searching for a way out of the dimly-lit pit. Sarah took a deep breath.

"Hoggle said you sent him to…lead her back to the beginning," she said, glancing around the room in the same way that Hoggle had.

"Yes. You could say that the labyrinth and I have been arguing a bit of late. It might have gotten…fed up with my defiance."

Sarah clenched her fists and took another deep breath. "I want to take Jaye's place," she said.

Jareth folded his hands over one knee. "Yes, I imagined you'd say something like that."

"Well…can I, then? Take his place and you'll send him back with Lori?"

He stared at her, his eyes filled with a kind of fascination that she'd seen only a few times, but that had been enough to melt her heart toward him. "You would do this? Though you bear no responsibility for what happened?"

She looked down. "I never stopped you," she said quietly. "I didn't want to know about it. You were right. And I never got around to telling Lori about you, which was just stupid, and now she's paying the price for it."

"That may be true, but you didn't give Lori a copy of a certain children's book as a gift. You didn't make her very momentarily weary and overwhelmed. You didn't put the words into her mouth."

"And no, you can't take the child's place. This particular sort of magic only deals in children, and while I've never been certain of the exact moment when a human leaves childhood behind, I would say that you're well past it."

Sarah closed her eyes. In the back of her mind she'd known that it was a long shot. And, she guiltily admitted, a part of her had hoped it wouldn't work.

"Right, then I'm going to go out there and find her and help her," she said, striding toward the bedroom door with more confidence than she actually felt.

"I see. And how, I wonder, will you find the oubliette that she's trapped in?"

Sarah paused. "I remember where it was. I'll just search for the door guards."

Jareth sighed behind her. "Sarah, during any given run there are more than a hundred oubliettes in the labyrinth."

She turned around. He was smiling slightly, but it wasn't mocking. "A hundred?"

"Yes, depending on the labyrinth's mood. It changes with the runner, or with…other things. I've never really been quite sure what makes the labyrinth do what it does, actually, and it hasn't exactly been forthcoming."

"Well, I'm going after her anyway, because—"

"You don't need to. She's going to get the child back."

Sarah blinked. She studied Jareth for signs that this was some sort of game, but his face seemed sincere.

"She…she is? How?"

He stood up and reached a hand out to soothe Jaye, who was tossing and turning slightly in his sleep. "Suffice it to say that I've done some…studying since you last saw me." He glanced over at his desk, which was indeed piled high with a host of new books. "It will take a bit of effort on my part, but I believe I can get Lori to the castle without incurring the labyrinth's wrath." He produced another crystal and let it hover in the air. Sarah saw Lori in the oubliette again, and as she watched a door opened and flooded the small room with light.

Sarah felt relief wash over her. "Well. That's wonderful to hear."

He nodded. She noticed that his hand was gripping the arm of the chair tightly. He didn't have the gaunt look that she'd seen when he'd been need- and wish-malnourished in the past, but he seemed to have aged, if only slightly.

She put her hands in her pockets and took them out again. "So."

He uncrossed and crossed his legs. "So."

She watched as Lori made her way through a hedged section of maze. "How long does she have?"

Jareth made an image of a clock appear in thin air. The hands pointed to eight. "Five hours. More than enough time."

"Good."

There was a long silence. Sarah could hear the faint sound of goblin revelry down the hall.

Jareth cleared his throat. "She and the child will appear back in their own home after she reclaims him, you're welcome to simply wait for her there, through the mirror in Hoggle's home," he said, rather quickly.

She sat down on the edge of the bed, keeping one eye on Jaye's sleeping form. "I'll, uh, just wait here for her. If you don't mind," she added quickly.

"Not at all."

She felt him watching her as she glanced again at the books on the desk, noticing several ancient-looking tomes with Goblin titles but also works of philosophy and poetry—Kant, Ovid, Aristotle.

"Interesting study materials."

He shrugged. "I had a great deal of free time suddenly. I thought I should put it to good use."

Another silence. "You've cut your hair," he said.

"Yeah."

He seemed to be waiting for her to say more. When she didn't, he said, "I preferred it long."

"I know you did. That's why I cut it all off."

His expression was pained, but one side of his mouth curled slightly. "Do you really take such pleasure in spiting me, even now?"

Sarah shrugged, hoisting herself up onto the bed and pulling her legs up against her chest. "It's a mortal thing. Cutting your hair when you want to…move on."

He flinched. "And did you want to? Move on?"

She sighed. "Not really, no. Just kind of felt like I had to." She suddenly remembered the incident from a few days before and glared at him. "Oh, and speaking of moving on, I'd hoped you'd stopped pulling stunts like the one in the bar. Or are you going to tell me that a whole shelf of glasses just magically crashed to the floor?"

He folded his arms. "I was jealous."

"No shit."

His face betrayed the faintest hint of a smirk. "I was gratified to hear, though, that you were occasionally sad when you woke up without me in your bed."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "How many times have I told you not to eavesdrop—"

"Sarah, you said my name and touched a mirror. You knew that I would hear whatever you had to say, regardless of how inebriated you might have been."

"You could have plugged your ears."

"You caught me in a rather vulnerable state, I couldn't help listening."

Sarah stared at him. "Did you just use the word vulnerable to refer to yourself?"

He ignored the question and stood, pacing aimlessly from one area of the room to the other. Within the crystal, Sarah could see that Lori was nearing the outer gates of the Goblin City. Silence stretched between them again.

"I said some horrible things to you," she said quietly.

He didn't turn around. "Not all of them were untrue," he said. "I also said some terrible things to you."

"Yeah, you weren't all wrong, either." She pulled her knees tighter against her chest. "I didn't—look, I'm not saying it wasn't hot, you being bad, but it wasn't—that was never the only thing I saw in you, okay? You were funny. You were a good writer. You saw things in ways that I never saw them."

"And I put you in an impossible position. 'Keep taking the babies and I'll hate you, or stop taking the babies and twist yourself out of existence.' Not really fair of me." She closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Jareth leaned against his desk. She noticed yet again that he seemed to be gripping it tightly.

"Did you really not mean what you said? The night that you brought me Lori's revisions for my play?"

Sarah froze. "Which part?" she asked, knowing exactly which part.

"You said that you loved me. Was it really a slip of the tongue?"

Sarah let her chin fall forward onto her knees. In the crystal, Lori was halfway between the gates and the castle.

"It wasn't a slip of the tongue," she mumbled.

"What?"

She stood up and crossed the short distance to him. "I said it wasn't a slip of the tongue. I meant it, but then I was terrified because I know it came out of nowhere, and I was scared that you didn't feel the same way at all and that maybe you'd say it back just to make me feel better, so I figured it was better to just never mention it and forget it ever happened, and then everything went to hell anyway and God knows you probably hate me now, so—"

"I've loved you since the day you offered to write me an ending."

Sarah's mouth froze in mid-sentence. "You what?"

He reached out to touch her cheek. "I didn't know what it was at first, that feeling. I didn't think I was capable of it. I've felt desire, of course, covetousness, even affection. But not…that."

"And you're right, I don't know that I could have said it back to you then, because I was terrified."

"Of what?"

He stared at her, seemingly shocked that she didn't know the answer. "Of your mortality."

"My…oh." The knowledge hit her like a heavy weight.

It wasn't that he'd felt nothing.

He just didn't want to watch me die.

"I read and wrote a lot, while you were gone," he said, gesturing toward the scattered papers and books on the desk. "Mortal philosophy. Literature. I tried to understand the feeling, in the hope that I could find a way to defeat it." His laugh was hollow. "It didn't work, of course."

"In a way I was relieved that you were disgusted with me. It meant that the future was less frightening. I read that the pain passes, in time."

Sarah swallowed hard. "And did it?"

He cupped her face in both his hands and let his forehead rest against hers. She could feel his breath on her cheeks.

"No," he whispered. "And thank the fucking gods for that."

He kissed her, and the need that flowed out of her was a torrent that she felt coursing through her veins and skin, and he drank her in hungrily as she threw herself against him with a cry of anguish that was part pleasure and part hurt, because she had missed him, missed him so terribly, and if this was a very bad idea she really didn't care…

She gasped when he pulled away, one finger stroking the angles of her face as if to memorize its contours. "Thank you," he whispered, kissing her one more time, "for meaning it."

Sarah suddenly noticed that the noise down the hall had gone quiet. She looked at the crystal—Lori was in the castle.

"How are you going to—what did you find out about how to—"

Jareth lifted the sleeping baby and cradled him comfortably in his arms. Sarah could hear footsteps in the hallway.

"You're brilliant, precious," he said, his voice sounding strangely hoarse, "but you have always had a talent for seeing what you wanted to see." He looked up at her, and something in his eyes made her feel cold. "Hearing what you wanted to hear."

Sarah stared at him, at the small sheen of sweat that had broken out on his brow, at the sudden shallowness of his breath…

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed pieces of parchment on his desk with words written in frantic-looking script, some lines crossed out.

Send the dwarf—
Labyrinth too strong—
Bargain with—

And then one line, clearer than all the others.

You know you can't live with it.

She felt dizzy. Behind her, Lori's footsteps grew closer.

"There has to be another way," she said, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. "There must be another way, she's got plenty of time, you could send her back into the maze, she'll figure it out—"

He smiled. "Perhaps she would." He brushed Jaye's nose with a finger. "I wasn't willing to risk that, though."

"Look, if you're trying to make an impression, well done, this is a ridiculously unselfish act, but—"

"Unselfish?" He seemed genuinely surprised. "Intriguing. Though I suppose, from your perspective…" He shook his head. "No. Believe me, Sarah, this is a selfish choice. I'm choosing to avoid an endless lifetime of knowing you could never forgive me." He kissed her forehead, and she could feel his whole body shaking with effort. "Still, think of me as unselfish, if it pleases you."

Sarah gripped his shoulders. "Jareth, please don't do this, I know you wanted a goddamn dramatic ending, but I'm begging you—"

"Not the ending I would have chosen, definitely." His smile was forced. "I'd like to have seen my play, for one."

The door to Jareth's bedroom opened. Lori stood there, gasping for breath, her hair and clothes disheveled. She stared between the two of them.

"Sarah?"

Sarah's eyes were fixed on Jareth. "Please, there's time, we can—"

"Sarah, I didn't mean it, you know I would never mean it, it was so stupid—"

"Let's think, together, I'm sure there's something—"

Jareth moved slowly toward the doorway. Sarah noted that every one of his steps seemed to grow heavier, as though chains were binding him to the earth. His body shimmered slightly, and Sarah felt the ground begin to rumble.

She stepped in front of him, still pleading with her eyes. He gently pushed her aside and held Jaye out to Lori, who took him. "I return your child to you, my lady," he said, choking on the words. The rumbling intensified. "We have no need of him here."

Sarah felt her world grind to a halt as he turned to look at her, smiling through what must have been unimaginable pain.

He reached out to touch her face with a hand that seemed to be shifting in unnatural ways, blood pooling on his fingertips.

"I wish I could have seen everything else you're going to create."

And then he vanished.