Disclaimer: Sarah, Jareth, and any other characters from the original movie do not belong to me. Don't sue me, I still don't have any money. If you don't recognize them from the movie, then by process of elimination, your best bet would be to guess that they're mine. Also, thank you again to my wonderful sister, Alicia, for proofing this story (she's hooked!). And remember, if you read, review!

Coming Home - Part Four

Steve caught Sarah right before she fell over. He carried her over and laid her on the couch.

"Why did she do that?" Derrick asked. "Shouldn't she be overjoyed to see you, J?"

"No, she shouldn't be," Jareth said. "You guys must listen. You cannot tell Sarah that we were engaged. She doesn't remember. If you guys tell Sarah, our world will die, as well as everything in it, which would now include you."

The guys looked at each other and at Sarah. Not remember? Then what more was there for Sarah to remember? Jareth was her entire life before Lord Russell came and took them.

"So what exactly will she remember?" Steve asked.

"I'm not sure," Jareth said. "Probably just that she was my best friend. She won't remember that she loved me. There's more to explain than that, but not now. I don't want Sarah to wake up and hear anything."

Sarah moaned and rolled over on the couch. She opened her eyes and looked up at the five guys standing in the living room.

"No. This can't be happening. Am I really from the Underground?"

"Yes," Jareth said. "You all are."

Sarah looked at Jareth. She remembered living in his castle. She also knew that he had been her best friend, a fact that she didn't want to admit.

"So, J," Sarah asked, "how hard was it then when I wished Toby away and you saw me and knew that I didn't remember anything?"

"You did what?" Steve asked.

"I wished away my little brother," Sarah said. "I was mad because I had to baby-sit and I wished for the goblins to come take him away. I had thirteen hours to solve J's labyrinth before he turned Toby into a goblin."

"Labyrinth?" Josh asked. "What Labyrinth? And what goblins? J, what happened after we left?"

Jareth looked at his friends. This was going to take awhile to explain.

Two hours later, Jareth and Sarah had finished telling their stories. Jareth of what had happened to the eternal city, and Sarah about her journey to save Toby.

"So when do we go back?" Danny asked. "I want to see what this creep did to our home."

"We can go now if you want," Jareth said.

"Yeah," Derrick said. "Let's go. Will we get our magic back?"
"Try and see."

Each of the guys flicked their wrists and perfect crystals appeared in them.

"Cool," Steve said. "Sarah, see if you got yours back."

"No," Sarah stated. "And I'm not going back either."

Jareth felt his heart slam in to the back of his chest. Not go back? She had to go back. She was the heart of this group.

"Sarah, don't be ridiculous," Jareth said. "You have to go back. It's where you belong."

"I'm not leaving Robby," Sarah said. "I love him. I don't care where I came from. Until three hours ago, this was the only place I knew as home. I'm not going to pack up and leave everything behind just because I got back some stupid memories of a previous life."

"But," Steve started.

"No!" Sarah shouted. "Look J, I know I was your best friend. But that was then. You can't possibly think we can just go back like nothing ever happened. You kidnapped my brother and made me go through thirteen hours of hell to get him back. If you think I can just pick up being your best friend after that, think again. I'm going back to my room. But first..."

Sarah flicked her wrist to make sure she still had her magic. When she saw that she did, she checked her room to make sure her roomie wasn't in there. When she was sure the room was empty, she transported and then put a spell on the room to make sure none of the others could transport in.

Sarah threw herself down on her bed. How could they even suggest that she go back now? All of them had lives here, not just her. The guys were on the basketball team, how were they going to explain this to their coach? And there was no way she was going to uproot and leave behind her family and Robby. Of course, she knew now that they weren't her REAL family, but they were the only family she had known for the past however many years. Sarah closed her eyes and was soon asleep.

Sarah recognized where she was. It was the same place she had been last night during her dream. She turned to find the glowing woman once again filling the darkness with light.

"I want some answers, please," Sarah begged the woman.

"Sarah," the woman said, "I told you that your life was about to change."

"Well, yeah, but I thought you were talking about college."

"No, Sarah," the woman said gently. "I was not talking about college. But you seem to be forgetting that I said your new friends would help you through this."

"No, I haven't forgotten," Sarah said, "but how can they help if they're going back and they won't be here?"

"They're not going back, Sarah," the woman calmly stated.

"But they said they were. What do you mean they're not going back?"

"It's not yet time for them to return. The day will come when you will all have to choose between the lives you lead now, and the lives you were taken from long ago. But until that time, you will not be allowed to enter the Underground. So do not worry. Your friends will still be here."

"That's good to know. But does that also mean that HE will be here too?"

"Yes, Sarah. Jareth has lived for so long without the comfort of his friends. But most importantly, he has lived without the comfort of his best friend, you. He's not going to ignore you now that you all remember him. He will be with you guys from now until the day you make your decision."

"And I suppose you're going to tell me to try and make an effort to be his friend?" Sarah asked. "Because I'm telling you right now, it's not going to happen. Do you know what he put me through?"

"I'm not going to tell you to do anything, Sarah. But I will tell you this, Jareth had no choice but to do what he did. You wishing away Toby was part of your destiny. Sooner or later, you would have done it and Jareth had no choice but to take him. He also had no choice but to let you win. That's the way it was written. If you had lost, I don't even want to think of what would have happened. But that is not why I am here."

"Then why are you here?" Sarah asked.

"I have come to warn you."

"Warn me?" Sarah asked, clearly puzzled by where this conversation was going.

"The danger you thought was past is still here. You must also warn the others. Jareth was in a weakened state the night his friends were ripped from his life. He wasn't thinking straight. It may have appeared to him as though the source of the evil had been obliterated, but sadly, Lord Russell suffered the same fate as you and the others. Somewhere on the planet, he has been reborn. I'm not sure if he has retained his memory or not, but beware. Should he ever remember who he is and where he came from, none of you will be safe."

With that said, the woman disappeared and Sarah felt herself waking up. Sarah opened her eyes and looked around her room. What that woman had just said had frightened her more than she would like to admit.

Jareth sat up straight in the chair in Josh's living room. He could sense that something was wrong with Sarah.

"J, what is it?" Danny asked.

"Sarah. Something's wrong," he said. "I can feel it."

"I feel it, too," Steve said. "I guess our twin bond is coming back. I feel it real strong, too. She must be terrified. Go, J. She needs you."

"J can't go," Derrick said. "Sarah put a spell on her room."

"Hello idiot," Josh said. "J's always been able to undo everything we have done. How do you think we got out of half those messes we found ourselves in?"

Jareth quickly removed the spell from Sarah's room and transported to Sarah's room. She was sitting on her bed, her face as white as a sheet.

"Sarah? Are you okay?" Jareth asked as he slowly approached her bed.

"How did you get in here?" Sarah asked. "Never mind. I know the answer to that. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you were all right," Jareth answered. "I could sense that you were scared. What happened?"

"That woman was in my dream again," Sarah said. "What she said has me more scared than I've ever been in my life. Even more than when I was trying to get through your labyrinth."

"What did she say? You have to tell me."

"I have to tell everyone. She told me I had to."

"Tell me first. After that, I'll decide if the others need to hear right away."

Sarah proceeded to tell Jareth what the woman had told her about Russell. Jareth's eyes widened in disbelief. Russell alive? None of them were safe anymore.

"This is not good," Jareth said. "I've always had the feeling in the back of my mind that I somehow didn't get rid of him completely. I guess this is why I've always had this feeling."

"So do we tell the other?" Sarah asked.

"Not yet," Jareth answered. "I think it's best that we keep this silent. Once we figure out exactly where and who he is, then we'll tell the others. But for now, we must stay silent. More for Derrick's sake than anything."

"Why for Derrick's sake?" Sarah asked.

"Derrick has an older brother here on Earth named Russell. I don't think it's him, but we can't be too sure. But since the rest of you look exactly like you used to, it won't be hard to figure out which Russell the right one is."

Sarah looked at Jareth in shock. Did he actually think Derrick's brother could be their own enemy? Sarah prayed silently that it wasn't true, then turned to Jareth.

"Jareth," Sarah began, "when you came in here, you said that you could sense that I was scared. How?"

"You and I were best friends, Sarah," Jareth replied. "I know that we have been separated for a long time, but the bond we had is still there. It'll always be there."

Sarah looked across the room at Jareth. She could sense how much pain he was going through, knowing that his best friend hated him. Before she knew what she was doing, Sarah walked across to Jareth and hugged him. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and held on for dear life.

"I'm sorry, J," Sarah said softly. "I can see now how much I've been hurting you. I do remember everything. All the fun stuff we used to do, and all the trouble we used to get in. I even remember all the fights we used to have. You always wanted your way because you were a spoiled prince, and I wanted my way because I was the girl. I didn't realize until now what was missing from my life. But now I do. I was missing my best friend. I was missing you."

Jareth pulled Sarah close and hugged her again. He knew that she was a far cry away from saying she loved him, but he was happy just knowing that he had his best friend back.

"Jareth, there was more that she said, besides the part about Russell."

"And what did she say?" Jareth asked, fearful that she may have revealed too much.

"The guys aren't allowed to leave Earth. She said it wasn't time for us to return and until that time, we wouldn't be allowed to enter the Underground."

"I figured as much," Jareth said. "Like you said earlier, you have lives here. Now it comes down to which life you want to live. Let's go back to Josh's. They can at least hear that part of the dream."

Jareth formed a crystal in his hand and transported them back to Josh's apartment. At that moment, Sarah's roomie, Amy, arrived. She walked in just in time to see the two figures disappearing from her room.

Well, well, she thought to herself. Won't my little friend be overjoyed to hear this. Amy curled her mouth into an evil grin as the two people disappeared completely from the room.