Sarah drifted in and out of consciousness, seeing strange and unusual things behind her closed eyelids as if it were actually happening. Memories replayed themselves, foreign conversations hummed their steady messages, and the girl could do nothing but listen. . .

"Jareth hated the Aboveground for what they had taken from him. So he constituted the Wishing system and created the Labyrinth. . . . "

"The King wasn't always like this you know," the old goblin confided gently. "He used to be happy . . . He was once a kind Monarch who cared for his people."

"What happened to him," a smaller goblin asked anxiously, clinging to her elder with the intensity of a frightened child.

Here Mariya smiled wistfully as she pulled her youngest daughter closer. "He fell in love, little chuvla. And as all who have lost in love, he grew bitter and disheartened."

"With Lady Sarah," the child questioned, but Mariya was already shaking her head.

"No, dear one. I speak of the King's first love."

"He loved someone before Lady Sarah?"

"Yes, years ago. . . He chose a queen to stand by his side."

"Why does King Jareth love Lady Sarah if he had another Queen," the little goblin asked in confusion, muddy eyes wide as her small mind raced to figure out what her mother was telling her.

"The King loves Sarah because she won his heart," Mariya answered sincerely.

"But what about the first Queen," the child asked. "What happened to her?"

Tears filled Mariya's eyes as she answered her daughter's innocent inquiries, but the sorrow of the memories was an obvious weight on the poor goblin's shoulders.

"Lillian died, chuvla . . . She died before she could ever become our Queen. . ."

"Have you considered my offer?" Jareth asked, his eyes locking on hers the second she lifted them.

"I have, Jareth."

Jareth lifted an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"I have made my decision . . ." She said before she faltered again, her emotions almost getting the better of her. Sarah took a shaky breath in a false attempt to clear her head.

"What is your choice, my love?" He asked gently, all traces of his cocky self gone within an instant.

Now was the moment Sarah had been dreading; the moment where she gave away her freedom and put away all her dreams.

"I-I-,"She stuttered, trying to bite past the declaration of submission she was trying to spit out.

It seemed impossible to say the words. She had come so far and now it was all in vain. The Goblin King had won.

"I will be your bride Jareth," Sarah said finally as bitter tears quietly fell from her eyes.

Jareth reached up with his gloved hand and caught one of her tears on his finger. He looked at it carefully with unblinking eyes that seemed sad before he held up his tear stained finger and twisted his hand in a circular motion. Instantly in the tears' place was a small ball made entirely of crystal.

"Your dreams were never meant to be taken Sarah," Jareth said as held the dream crystal in his hands.

"But they are being taken, Jareth."

He looked up at her and gave her a sad smile.

"Yes," he agreed, bringing his hand up to her blotchy red cheek. "Please Sarah, try to understand that I have no choice." Jareth pleaded softly. "My kingdom is dying. Without a Queen at my side, the Underground and my people will cease to exist . . . I am doing this because I must."

"But you're also getting what you wanted," Sarah accused, bitterly. "All the trouble you've gone to is not merely a service for your kingdom."

Jareth was silent for a moment before he said the only thing he could.

"I love you Sarah," He said once more extending the crystal to her. "And I am offering you your dreams."

Sarah stared at him, her eyes blurring with her tears. But even without her vision she knew what the crystal showed.

"Will you be my Queen? Will you help me rebuild the Goblin City with a firm hand? And will you accept your future by taking your dreams?" Jareth inquired as he grazed his pointer finger across her chin and cheek.

Sarah knew what her answer was, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. . . Not when it meant the end of everything she had known. And yet, she couldn't turn away from him again. . . Not now or ever again . . .

Sarah opened her eyes after what seemed like an eternity of having them closed, and almost immediately clenched them shut again. It was almost as if a miniature sun had been placed directly in her line of sight. It was blinding and more than a little frustrating.

Why was it so bright?

Sarah counted to ten and once more tried to open her eyes. After several moments of some severe struggling, the young woman's eyes finally adjusted to the light and her focus returned. Though at first, she had to squint because of the intense white that flooded her vision.

She looked around at her surroundings in wonderment, noting that she must have been moved when she had passed out. That, or everything in the cave had been magically altered within the span she was unconscious.

Where she had been a in a pitch black cavern with menacing shadows and a dark presence, the girl was now sitting in a cave laced in pure white and shinning gold and silver.

With closer inspection Sarah realized that the rocks were natural and the bright patches were made with actual gemstones and precious metals. And with the assortment of raw beauty, Sarah was certain that the richest man's fortune would have paled in comparison.

"The crossroads to the Higher Realm were created to please the eye of the beholder. . . In all my visits here, I have never known someone with such an affinity for white."

Sarah's head snapped up in surprise as she looked for the owner of the unknown voice.

"Higher Realm?"

"The human equivalent of Heaven," the voice explained. "This cave is the gateway between the realm of the Rulers – Deities of the Underground – and the Goblin Kingdom. It is a very sacred, harmonious place."

Sarah nodded in agreement, concurring that it was indeed a very 'harmonious' place, when she saw a brief flash of movement from the corner of her eye. The young woman turned to gaze at the one who belonged to the soft-spoken voice, and was met by the most beautiful and unexpected sight she had ever seen.

The woman who stood before Sarah was quite tall, but could only be described as elegant. With long, silvery-white hair, stunning violet irises, and a face that would have made cherubs weep, the woman was awe-inspiring. But these features meant nothing to Sarah as she slowly rose to her shaky feet and drew closer to the beauty.

Sarah's light green eyes filled with unshed tears, as they met the vibrant violet ones, and for a brief moment they just stared at one-another. The younger of the two shook her head as realization made her gut clench with emotion.

It wasn't possible. . . It couldn't be . . . her.

"No," Sarah gasped aloud, once more shaking her head in disbelief. "It can't be . . ."

The beautiful woman reached out and placed a gentle hand on Sarah's shoulder, giving her a small smile.

"Stop fighting yourself, Sarah. Believe in yourself and trust your instincts."

"I can't," Sarah whispered as her voice cracked and tears began to fall from her misty green eyes.

"Why," the woman asked affectionately, moving to brush the girl's tears away. "Why would hoping for something be so bad?"

"Because I can't be wrong about this!"

The woman was silent for a moment at the outburst, but then made Sarah meet her gaze. And as the two stared at each other, the violet pair of eyes shined with an unexpected tenderness.

"Ask me the question, that haunts you Sarah," she bid the younger woman. "You won't progress unless you are willing to take the chance of being wrong."

Sarah studied the elegant beauty for several long minutes, her cheeks becoming stained with miniature rivers, before she took a shaky breath and asked her question.

"Who are you?"

The woman smiled. "Who do you think I am," she countered quietly.

"I think . . . – I think you are Lillian Williams," Sarah answered in a choked whisper. "I think you're my mother."

After saying this, the young woman waited for the heart shattering denial, already feeling the familiar weight shift in her chest, and work its way to overwhelm her. But it never came.

The woman pulled the distraught girl into a hug, and placed a kiss to her forehead, as she spoke.

"Yes Sarah, it's me."

Hoggle had always prided himself in his ability to remain calm in bad situations, but he was currently throwing his talent to the wind as he looked to the man he hated the most for help.

"Jareth!"

Jareth looked up from his research; his reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, as his mismatched eyes came to focus on the dwarf. Though he was tired from his lack of sleep, the Goblin King was still very aware of his surroundings and any distractions that occurred in the room while he read the ancient manuscripts.

"What is it Hedge-Wart?"

Hoggle ignored the rude tone with the indifference of someone who was used to insults.

"Somethin's wrong with Sarah!"

Jareth was up and out of his chair in mere matter of seconds, and was soon standing above the sleeping form of the young girl. The King watched her face, and without delay put his fingers to her neck to check her pulse. Her heartbeat had increased considerably, which was grounds to be worried.

"Move," Jareth hissed anxiously to the small dwarf as he sat on the bedside, and rolled up his sleeves. When Hoggle didn't obey, Jareth looked at him with annoyance. "Do you want Sarah to suffer because of our differences? Or are you just trying to prove a point?"

"Promise yeh won't hurt her," Hoggle said in a shaky voice, trying to sound firm, but ultimately failing.

Jareth forced himself to nod and his tone was a bit softer than before when he answered. "I promise, Hoggle. I promise. Now will you please move?"

Hoggle, apparently pleased with the vow, jumped off the bed and moved to the other side of the room where his companions sat in a small huddle. Ludo had cried himself to sleep not too long ago, and Sir Diddymus and Ambrosia sat on the floor playing a game of scrabble, which Marshus the Goblin had been kind enough to fetch for them. The friends didn't know how long they would have to wait for Sarah to wake up, but they knew they could never leave her side again. They had to stick with their friend no matter what the future might entail.

Jareth murmured spells under his breath and fought the magic barriers that surrounded the girls' brain, trying to see what was happening to her, if only for a moment. With a particular counter spell in the works, the King fought the magical barrier with all his strength, willing his mind's eye to see what Sarah was seeing so he could help her.

Sweat poured from Jareth's brow as he fought with the unknown force. And with a small yell, he was finally able to break through and see. But since the King was so drained by the effort, he was only able to keep his spell up for several seconds before he was forcefully pushed out of the different reality, and crashed back into the moment.

And as Jareth's eyes opened, the companions who had been watching him saw as tears formed in the Monarch's mismatched, glazed eyes.

Hoggle ran back to the Goblin Kings' side and hesitantly laid a hand on his forearm. "What is it, Jareth? What did yeh see?"

Slowly the Goblin King lifted his eyes to the dwarf's and Hoggle took a startled step back.

Hoggle had known Jareth for more years than he would have liked, but in that moment, the dwarf could say that he had never seen Jareth look as he did now. Where the Goblin King was usually a cold, snarky, collected bastard, he was the picture of someone lost. Never before had Hoggle seen Jareth look so surprised or . . . empty.

What on earth could he have seen, that made him thus?

Jareth took a deep breath and Hoggle, with some difficulty was able to make it out.

"She's with Lillian. . . She's with her mother."

Sarah cried freely as she hugged her mother, letting all her fear and desperation pour from within her. No more charades or masks; only emotions in their purest forms.

Lillian held her daughter, offering comfort with her silence and the calming hand that was stroking the girl's back. "It's alright, little song bird. I'm here."

"But you died!" Sarah hiccuped between sobs. "You died!"

"Yes," Lillian agreed, placing a kiss to her child's hair. "I am dead. But I have come back to help you."

Sarah looked up at her mother with her teary eyes. "I missed you so much."

The woman's violet eyes filled with tears too now, though it was a sign of joy on her part.

"I missed you too."

Sarah reached up and kissed her mothers' cheeks, just as she had done countless times when she was little. "I love you, mom."

"I love you too, Sarah," Lillian said with a happy laugh, "So very, very much."