Untitled

by Cat Foxglove

Ten years after her first journey through the Labyrinth, Jareth suddenly comes back into Sarah's life...

2. Part I- A Path Between the Stars

PART I- A Path Between The Stars

I

"Damn it Jack, it's not going to work! I don't know how you convinced Liz to go on that business trip, but in the past these people have turned out to be more stubborn than a donkey's rear end! I know that they won't turn, but NO! YOU had to go and tell her that..." Sarah, now twenty-four, was cut off in the middle of her tirade by a noise. The door to her room opening.

"Sarah? Aren't you hungry? You've been on the phone for three hours, and talked to over fifteen people! Can't we order a pizza?"

Sarah turned towards the eleven-year-old boy who had just entered the room.

"Yes Toby, just give me another five minutes," Sarah said as her brother left the room, being careful to shut the door behind him. She turned back to the cell phone.

"Now, where was I? Oh yes. Now listen Jack..."

Sarah spent four of the five minutes searing Jack's ear, then hung up the phone only after he said that he would call Liz back. Knowing him, that would never happen. Her partner could be, no...WAS, SUCH a son of a ... well you know. He was never on time for work, he always showed up late for meetings, etc... and he NEVER EVER, did what he said he would until it was too late. She went downstairs and into the kitchen. Toby had already ordered the pizza, with extra cheese, of course. She found him sitting in the chair by the window, staring out into the woods behind the house. " What are you looking at, Toby?" she asked, as she too peered out the window.

"There's a huge white owl out there," he said, pointing to a nearby tree "and he looks a little lonely."

Of all the silly things. How can an owl be lonely?

"He?" she said aloud "Why is it a he?"

" I don't know, it jut seems more appropriate. I mean, it looks sort of like... I don't know...a... a king. I don't know how to explain it. It just, well, does."

" You know Toby," she said " I think you're right, he... it... does kind of look like a king. The last time I saw an owl like that was..." her voice drifted off.

"Sarah? Are you ok?"

" Hmm? Oh, yes Toby I'm fine. I think I hear the pizza guy." With this last, Toby took off towards the door, the money to pay for their lunch in his hand. Sarah went out onto the back porch, then down into the garden and sat, looking up at the owl. It was huge, and it looked like another owl she had seen once, ages ago. An owl that was really a man. A man with two gorgeous blue eyes, one a shade darker than the other, and a voice that stirred something inside her every time she thought back to the adventure she had had as a young girl.

Allo... I'm Hoggle... You have thirteen hours... I shall save thee fair maiden...

Sarah, friend... How you turned my world you precious thing... This, is an

oubliette...I'll lay my love between the stars... Ah, a young girl... Search me?!

We're just the knockers... Anyone here want to play a game of Scrabble?

So many memories. So many questions unasked, and so many unanswered.

II

There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes, a kind of pale jewel, opened and

closed within your eyes, I'll place the sky, within your eyes.

She remembered that song, so long ago now. A ball in a crystal, a crystal ball. Masks, two hours left to find her brother. A peach to make her forget. A room full of staircases- and Escher room. Taking a leap of faith to save Toby. The crumbling of the Escher room. Her final confrontation.

The crystal he had been holding was pulled in, she had been able see the heartbreak in his eyes, and tossed into the air. As it came down, he turned into an owl. She had reached for it, but it popped on her fingertips like a bubble, and the clock struck thirteen, no twelve, for she was home.

It seemed like a lifetime ago. She sighed, and went back into the house, turning around once to whisper,

And remember, fair maiden should you need us... Yes should you need us, for

any reason at all...

"Jareth, if that's you, I... I... Oh forget it! What am I saying?!?!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When she got back inside, she found Toby sitting at the table, looking worried. " Toby? Why haven't you started lunch?"

"Where were you, Sis? I was starting to get worried!"

"God, I'm sorry Toby. I was in the woods behind the house. I wanted to get a good look at that owl. You know, we haven't had a Barn Owl near the house since you were one." *The year HE had come to take you away, all because of a STUPID wish on my part, and I had to go through his labyrinth to save you. I had to run from the cleaners, hold my breath in the Bog of Eternal Stench, get dumped in an oubliette, and get over a bade case of vertigo in a crazy room full of stair cases that you and HE seemed to have no problem getting around in. Not to mention the fact that I was tricked into eating a poisoned peach, to attend a ball in a crystal, to be made to fall in lo... Why should he come back? I defeated him years ago. I don't even know if that owl was him. So why am I jumping at shadows? It's been nine years since I last saw the man. He's most likely forgotten all about me. * " Toby, I'm sorry I worried you. Let's eat.

"Ok!" He seemed to be much more cheerful.

III

Jareth was bored. There was no longer anything to do in the Underground. Parties became tiresome, changing the Labyrinth was dull, and nobody had wished a kid away in several years. He also could not get HER off his mind. She was the first to beat him at his own game, and she had one it in under thirteen hours. Yes, she had had help from Hedge wart or what ever his name was, that big beast, and that little fox-like creature that guarded the bridge out of the Bog, but she had gotten to the oubliette all on her own, and she should have given up in the very first ring of the Labyrinth, the never-ending passage. How had she found... Oh yes, the worm. At least he had tricked her into heading the long way. Had she gone left, she would have found herself at the castle's back door.

Well, there was no sense in brooding, it had been several years. He decided that it was time to pay a visit to this girl who had turned his world inside out, upside down, and who had captured his heart. She had been too young for him then, but she was an adult now. "She's most likely forgotten all about me," he mused. "But, in case she hasn't, we shall see." There was a flash of light, and where Jareth had stood, there was now a large Barn Owl. It flew out the window, into the sky, and disappeared.

IV

Sarah had just finished lunch. Toby had gone off to play with a friend, and would most likely stay for the night. But in case he did come back and she was gone, she left him a note telling where she was. She felt that it was time for a trip down memory lane. She went back through college, not much happening there except her burying her self in work. Senior, Junior, and Sophomore years in High School, not much there either apart from theater and the prom. Freshman year, that was something to remember. That was when it had all began.

She went up to the attic. In a trunk in the far corner were her childhood memories. She rummaged through them, and took out a crown of flowers, and a long white dress. Lastly she took out a book bound in red leather. The Labyrinth.

How many years since she had last looked at it, she did not know. Her adventures in the Underground had begun with this book. The day after her return, she had thought it all a dream. Until she had seen that Lancelot was missing. She was about to go insane, when she happened to tee Toby toddling past her door with Lancelot held in one hand. She had realized then that it had not been a dream.

She got up, took the dress, garland, and book, closed the trunk, and went back to her room. She slowly pulled the dress over her head, put on the garland, took the book, and left the house. She went down the street, along what had been a path, and was now overgrown, through a back street, and down the main road of the town to the park. She looked around, got her bearings, and began her journey.

V

She ran across the stone bridge, feeling like a fourteen year old kid again, instead of the twenty-four year old woman she was, and slowed to a walk as she approached the obelisk. She began to speak, the words coming back to her as though they were all she had ever spoken. "Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city, to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great!"

Suddenly, although she had not noticed, the sky was dark, and thunder rumbled. But this time, she remembered what came next. "You have no power over me!"

She smiled, recalling how Merlin had barked at that point, the thunder had rumbled again, and she had seen the clock. She looked again, and saw the time. Seven, fancy that. Sarah did a double take. Had she been in the park for six hours? "Oh no, Merlin," she cried, even though the dog was no longer there, "it's seven o'clock! Come on!" She ran for the bridge, glancing up at the sky, and the rain started as she crossed. This time, as she raced the rain home, she heard the words that were being sung, coming from the air.

"No one can blame you, for walking away, but too much protection, no love injection.

Life can be easy, it's not always swell. Don't tell me truth hurts little girl, cause it hurts

like hell. Hurts like hell. Hurts like hell."

VI

Sarah reached the house and flopped down on the porch. As she ran up the steps, she was glad to find that her stepmother was not there to yell at her because she was "...an HOUR late!" Not that she did, anymore. A bolt of lightning ripped through the sky. It was followed by a clap of thunder, so loud that she jumped. The rain began to come down in sheets. It was then that she spied the owl.

"Is it just me, or is that owl the some one as before? I wonder..." she trailed off as the owl flew down an landed on the trapeze that hung from the roof of the porch. Sarah had hung it, along with a swing, the past year. She was working from home now, and had to have a place to sit. Staying in the house was too confining for her. She couldn't stand working in an enclosed space for too long, no matter how large it was. And working at a table, when you have five or six boys who are ten yeas old running around you, is no fun. So she either sat on the porch, or on the patio when Toby's friends were over. She had a kind of mobile office, with her powerbook and cell-phone. She sent everything to the office by fax, and meetings were conducted over the phone. If she had to meet with more than one person at a time, they had dinner at her house. Jack, Sarah's boss, trusted her enough to let her work from home. She always met her deadlines, sometimes even getting projects in early, and was a good person with whom to conduct business. So, she worked at home.

Besides, her parents both had jobs that took them away for days, and they didn't have the money to hire another nanny. Why bother? They had one, and she came along with the house. The first nanny they had to hire was while Sarah was away at college. That one turned out to be a disaster! Now, they could go away without having to worry about their son's safety. Their daughter was, at least, a little sane. And here she was, sitting on the porch, soaking wet, pouring out the story of her life to an owl. Crazy!

But, there was something familiar about that owl. Or rather, two somethings. Sarah had never seen an owl with blue eyes, and certainly not one that had one eye with a dilated pupil. Was it her imagination?

"Jareth?" The word formed on her lips, but she could not say it. The owl tilted it's head to the side, and words came from the air, into her head. A whisper. A confirmation.

"Just fear me. Love me. Do as I say, and I will be your slave." The owl vanished in a burst of light, and in it's place stood, or rather, sat, Jareth, King of the Goblins.

VII

"Damn! You might have warned me about the roof!"

Sarah laughed. Jareth had the funniest expression on his face. He was rubbing the top of his head, and his shoulders were flat against the roof of the porch. He was glaring at Sarah, but he was also grimacing from the bump on his head at the some time. The combination of those two expressions were what had made Sarah laugh.

"I should think that after all these years, you would have learned that you are a lot smaller as an owl than you are as a man," she said. "By the way, you might want to get off that bar before its hooks fall out of the roof. It was meant to hold a little boy, not a Goblin King."

Jareth tried to slide off, and ended up falling flat on his face on the porch. He now had a bump on his head, and a sore ribcage.

"Umm, Jareth? That's what your hands are for. You grab the bar, and swing down. Not flop off."

"Thank's for telling me."

"Nothing hurt? It would be a shame if that lovely outfit you're wearing was mussed."

"No, my clothes are not damaged. Only my pride."

"Yes, your pride always was overblown. Well, now it's a bit thinner!"

"Ha ha, very funny. My head, at least, will heal, but I'm not sure about my ribs."

"You poor thing. What, the goblin King can defy gravity, reorder time, turn into an owl, show people their dreams, and change babies into goblins, but he can't heal himself? Such a pity!" By the time Sarah was through with this taunt, Jareth was fuming. His face was red, his eyes were bugging out, and she could almost see the veins in his neck bulging.

"Not funny, Sarah. Actually, I CAN heal myself, but that takes more energy than I wish to spare. I think I ought to reintroduce you to the Bog."

"Sorry, Jareth. You can't do that for several reasons. One, I didn't wish for anything. Two, I'm not in the Labyrinth. Three, you're in my world, one that is non-magical, and don't have the power to do much besides turn into an owl and fly back home. Four...'"

"All right! You win!" Sarah smiled smugly. "I take it you wish to know the real reason I'm here."

"Besides majorly annoying me, making me miss a deadline for the first time in my life, and forcing me to have a civilized chat with my all-time biggest rival, whom I defeated years ago? This ought to be rich!"

Jareth was noticing that people walking past the house were staring at them. Well, more likely him. He did look like something out of the dark ages. That or the '80s rock period. After all, he liked to keep track of what was happening up above. Problem was, he hadn't been above since she had wished her brother away, so styles must have changed. Oh well. Let them think he was a freak. He didn't care. What he did care about was having people stare at him. He loathed people who stared at him! "Could we talk inside?"

"Oh, all right. But if you try anything, I swear, immortal or not, you'll be dead."

VIII

Sarah, against her better judgment, led Jareth into the house. She sat him down at the table, then sat down herself. The note to Toby she threw in the trash.

"Ok, Jareth. Start talking. Why are you here?"

"You intrigue me, Sarah. You are the only person who has solved the Labyrinth while I have been in possession of the throne, and I have been puzzled as to how you managed. I know that Hedge Wart...Hedge Hog...Higgle...Haggle..."

"HOGGLE!"

"Yes. I know he helped you, but he was gone part of the time. How did you get all the way to the oubliette on your own?"

"Feminine Intuition."

"Right. No, really. How did you get there?"

"The some way most giant stand up mazes are solved. Pure luck, with a little bit of smarts thrown in every once and a while. And a lot of frustration. Well, I was going towards the sound of Toby's crying. Not that that lasted long after you dumped me in that oubliette!"

At the mention of his name, the boy came running into the room, followed by his friend Tommy, and Tommy's brother, Sam. The boys came careening down the hall and into the kitchen where they came to a screeching halt at the sight of Jareth. Something about this strange man was familiar to Toby, and he was a little scared. He had vague visions of distorted creatures, and a castle, but he dismissed them as vivid imagery from one of the stories that his sister used to tell him. Besides, he didn't want to seem afraid in front of his friends.

"Sis, what's going..."

"Toby, would you mind going into the family room? Tommy, Sam, please return to your house and tell your parents that Toby can play tomorrow."

"But... Why?!" protested the boys.

"Just go."

"See you tomorrow, Toby?" asked Sam.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow."

When the brothers had left the house, Sarah sighed. She asked Jareth to come with her to the den. She'd need help explaining the man's presence to Toby.

"Sis, who is this guy?" he asked when they entered. "Where's he from, why is he in our house, and why is he dressed like some '80's rock star wanna-be? "

Jareth frowned, then pulled a crystal from the air and placed it in Toby's hands. The boy was gaping at him.

"Toby, kindly shut your mouth, you're not a codfish."

"Sarah, that's from 'Mary Poppins!'"

"Well, it's true. You are NOT a codfish. Now, kindly close your mouth before it freezes in that ugly expression!"

Toby closed his mouth. Jareth told him to look into the crystal, but Toby shook his head. He wanted to know why this strange man was in their house.

"Toby..."

"Yea, Sis?"

"If you look into that crystal, it will give you the answers to your questions." Sarah was parroting the words Jareth was sending into her head. She didn't know how she could understand him, but somehow she could. "It's magical," she, or rather Jareth, said in response to Toby's dubious look. The boy hadn't been sure about all this, but as soon as he heard the word 'magic' he knew that it would have to be cool. After all, his sister had always told him that true magic was rare on Earth, and that most magic tricks were merly slight of hand. But this guy had pulled a crystal right out of thin air, and in Toby's own house. This magic had to be real!

As Toby gazed into the crystal, colors began to swirl, and he seemed to be looking at his parents room an a stormy night. He saw a baby in a crib, and his sister. But she looked a lot younger, like the pictures in the living room that showed her with him as a baby in her arms. He realized that the baby in the crib must be him! So he was looking back in time. His sister had just left the room and... Hey! Where'd you go, Sis? Why am I in this huge room surrounded by weird, disfigured creatures? Then he was back in the room,yet not, looking at his sister as she confronted a strange man. The Goblin King, she had called him. So that's who the guy in the den was. He was the Goblin King! Toby next saw all of his sister's adventures in the Labyrinth, the creatures she had befriended, and her defeating of the King.

Sarah glanced up at the wall, and noticed the time. "Oh, damn!" she cried. "If I don't get back to work, I'll miss my deadline!"

Toby looked up from the crystal. He had just seen the party his sister had had with all her Labyrinth friends. He had also seen something she had not seen. The owl that had gone flying away from her window and disappeared into the full moon.

"Mr. Goblin King sir, whatever your name is..."

"Jareth."

"Yeah. Have you been hanging around here as an owl for the past few weeks?"

Jareth turned red as he looked at Sarah. She was glaring at him. Don't worry, Sarah. He sent to her silently. I haven't become a peeping tom. At this she turned red.

"Yes, Toby. I have been hanging around. I wished to know how you and your sister were doing." He gave Sarah a look that said he would tell her more later.

"Toby, ten o'clock. Bedtime, big guy."

"Aww, do I have to?"

"Yes. Now scamper upstairs, take a bath, and get into bed. I'll be up in half an hour to tuck you in." Toby didn't budge. "Toby, if you don't go upstairs now, I'll have the goblins come and take you away." Now what had made her say that? Toby looked at her with wide, terrified eyes.

"You wouldn't send me there again, would you, Sis?"

"Again? But how..."

"He saw everything in the crystal," Jareth murmured in her ear.

"No, Toby. I won't send you there again, IF you do as I say when I'm babysitting you. Now, vamoose!"

"I'm NOT a baby," Toby muttered as he scampered up to bed. Sarah took her laptop and phone, and went back out onto the porch. She sat on the swing and started to type. Just as she was attaching the finished project to the e-mail to Jack, Jareth came out onto the porch. He saw that she had ended the e-mail to her boss with 'Love Sarah,' and those two words sent him reeling against the wall.

"Jareth? Oh, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. But how long does it take a broken heart to heal?"

Sarah had put down the computer without sending the letter and attached file off, so she changed the ending of the letter to simply her name. Jareth saw this change, and slowly got to his feet.

"Do you love him?" Sarah looked puzzled. "I said..."

"Jareth, he's my boss."

"Yes, I know. But you still haven't answered my question."

Sarah sighed. "No. I don't have any love interest in him. At least, not any more."

"Not any more?"

"I thought I loved him. He has always been good to me, and has treated me with respect. He even sent me a box of chocolates and two dozen roses on Valentines Day. At least, I thought they were from him. The card said they were from a secret admirer, but when I asked him if he had sent them, he was either having a bout of amnesia or..." She trailed off when she saw Jareth's face. "YOU sent the chocolates and flowers?"

"Guilty as charged."

That confirmed her suspicions.

"Why?"

IX

Jareth explained that he had loved her ever since she had first called on him. She had a fire possessed by none of the other girls and women who had wished children away. He had thought it to be a harmless passion at first, but it had developed into something more. He had given Hoggle the peach to give to her because he wished for her to forget her mission and stay in the Underground with him forever. But she had been thinking only of saving Toby, and had broken free of the spell. He had pleaded with her during their confrontation in the fallen Escher room, but could see that she was still too young for him. So she had left his life for what he thought was forever. Yet she had called the creatures from the Labyrinth into her world, and in doing so had included him. But somehow, he could not enter the room. So he flew home. All he could do was to bide his time, waiting for the day when Sarah was grown up enough to understand what he had asked of her all those years ago in their final confrontation.

"So, let me see if I get what you're attempting to say. You've been hanging around here for the past nine years, waiting 'till I was grown up enough to understand what you had said ages ago? Jareth, I knew what you were saying. You would be my slave ONLY if I would be your's. Sorry, that will never happen. Having you shower me with all the things I could possibly desire under the conditions that I should fear you and do as you say are worth less to me than my freedom."

"Oh, Sarah. You still don't understand, do you?" he sighed. "The whole 'Final Confrontation' was written in the book. Anyone who reaches that point in the Labyrinth has to speak their 'Through dangers untold...' lines, just as I have to speak mine. No, all I want is for you to spend all eternity with a man who has been on his own for years."

"Lost and lonely. I've been alone far too long" Sarah mumbled. She looked at her watch. "Jareth, I have to go tuck Toby in. Do you think... that is..." she smiled. I sound like the worm. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Yes, I would like that. There is something I need to ask you."

X

When Sarah came downstairs, Jareth was seated at the table. A cup of tea was steaming in front of him, and as she sat down, one materialized in front of her. Jareth was looking at her in a funny way. They drank their tea in silence, each one studying the other. When they were through, Jareth asked her to join him outside.

"Lovely, isn't it?"

"What?"

"The moon. I looks like a golden orb, rising over the tree tops."

"It's a harvest moon. I love to come out here at night after Toby's asleep and just look up at the sky."

"There was a moon like this the night you came to the Labyrinth for the first time," Jareth sighed. He turned to Sarah and saw her quizzical look. "Yes, the cold hearted Goblin King does have a few weaknesses and soft spots. The sky is one, and you, are another."

Sarah turned away so Jareth could not see her face. But he could tell she was weeping.

"Sarah, are you crying?"

Oh, how could she have thought this man to be cruel? Evil? Like he had said, everything he had done, he'd done for her. And in the ballroom, she had felt the stirrings of something. She hadn't been able to name it then, but she could now. The way Jareth was speaking, the way he had looked at her earlier, yes he loved her. Was she ready to leave the world she had been born into? Could she love this man? Only time would tell.

"Jareth," she turned to him and he gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. "What was it that you wanted to ask me?"

"Sarah, I wish to know if you will consent to live with me for all eternity."

"Jareth, I'm not immortal."

"If you came to the Underground, you would stop aging and become immortal. And immortal you would stay, even if you came back to this world."

"This is so sudden. I mean, I have a job, and I have a family. I don't know if I can leave."

"It would only take about two weeks for the magic of the Underground to set in and make you immortal. Also, if he likes, we could come back in a few years and bring Toby to the Underground."

"Hmm. I am due for a vacation. I could tell Jack I'm going off to a remote island with my fiancee."

"That might work. At least the remote island part is somewhat true."

"But first, I should introduce you to my parents. They'll both be back in a couple of days. You could meet them then."

"Don't you mean your father and your stepmother?"

"I just think of myself as having three parents. After all, a stepmother is still a mother, isn't she? And I don't think of Toby as a half sibling any longer. He's my brother, I love him, and that's all that matters. I'd give my life instead of having him hurt. Or turned into a goblin, for that matter."

Jareth glared at her, and Sarah laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Toby woke up around midnight, he looked out his window and saw the full moon. Looking out into the back yard, he saw his sister and Jareth standing on the patio,looking up at the stars. Jareth had his arm around Sarah, and she was leaning her head his shoulder. Toby smiled, glad that his sister was happy at last, and went back to sleep.

XI

Two days later, Sarah introduced Jareth to her parents. They asked all sorts of questions. Strangely enough, each answer turned out to be true.

"Where did you meet Jareth, Sarah?"

"I met him a few years back, but we just ran into each other again a couple of days ago."

"How did you meet him?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you another time. It involves a very stupid wish on my part."

When her parents asked Jareth where he was from, he told them that he had been born in England, and was then sent to a small kingdom on a remote island out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to live with his mother after his father died in a shipwreck. He had come to America ten years ago to study music and art, and had moved to their town. He had been asked to visit Sarah's school when he was twenty and they had met then. Of course, after a couple of years, he had to return to the island and take over the kingdom as his mother had just died. Of old age, thank heaven. She hadn't died in a tragedy as his father had.

"But, you're so young!"

"My mother had me quite late in her life. She was nearly sixty, if you can believe that. So she was in her eightys when she passed on." What Jareth didn't tell them was that because of the magic of the Underground, he had stopped aging when he was 35 (his age when he arrived below). What was the point?

Sarah's parents asked Jareth to have dinner and stay the night. They wished to get to know their son to be better. After all, their daughter was soon to be a queen!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, after her parents and Toby had gone to bed, Sarah asked Jareth if his tale was true.

"Every bit. Well, my mother was actually 480 when she died, but because she lived on earth until she was eighty, she looked eighty for the rest of her time in the Underground. And she was sixty when she had me. Quite an old bird, you'll have to admit!"

"But, you said that I would become immortal if I went to live in the Underground! How did your mother die?"

"She sacrificed herself to save the kingdom. An evil sorcerer was about to take over, so she went to fight him. He was killed, but in the process drained her of her life force. She lived to see me established on the throne before passing on."

I don't remember Jareth being this friendly. Sarah thought with a sudden realization. And I certainly don't remember being this taken with him! Fog began to swirl before her eyes, then water surrounded her, and just as it became hard to breathe...

XII

Sarah woke up to the sun's rays shining on her face. It was noon. * I'm gonna be late for work! Ooh, Jack's gonna kill me!*

"Sarah? You said you'd be up an hour ago to take me to the zoo! It's Sunday, remember?" Toby's voice came drifting up the stairs, slightly accusing.

Sunday?? But, hadn't a week passed by? Jareth had come, and...

"Sarah? Your boss called around ten to remind you that the Stirling project is due on Tuesday."

Stirling? Due Tuesday? What day WAS it? She looked at the calendar. If she was meant to take Toby to the zoo, then it must be... the 15th! She laughed out loud. The whole thing with Jareth coming to see her had been a dream! An incredibly real one at that, but a dream all the same. And she remembered seeing herself through Toby's eyes, and Jareth flying away from the Goblin City in owl form. That could NEVER have happened in real life!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah and Toby were walking around the zoo, when Toby spotted a sign that read "This way to the Aviary."

"Hey, Sarah? Can we go there?"

"Sure, kid. But, you've never been all that interested in birds before."

"So? We talked about parrots on school the other day, and I want to see one!"

"Well...ok. We'll go to the Aviary. But afterwards, we have to go home. I still have that project to work on, and if I know my colleagues, they haven't done a thing."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once in the aviary, Toby had run off. Sarah wasn't too worried, after all, it was a very small building, and the path was circular. He would be back in a little bit. In the meantime, she'd get some work done. Sarah called the office, and left several messages for Jack, who seemed to be "away," but, knowing him, was more likely asleep and had the ringer on the phone off. Her colleagues were hopeless!

"Oh, how did I wind up working with a bunch of complete idiots?!"

At that moment, Toby came running up. He was jumping up and down, and waving his hands and yelling all at once. "Sarah, Sarah! come quick! He's here, he's here, he's HERE!!"

"WAIT A MINUTE! Calm down! Who's here, Toby?"

"Only one of the greatest people on earth! Don't tell me that you've never heard of him! C'mon! You must have listened to him when you were younger!"

"Toby, who exactly are you talking about?"

"Can't tell you now, no time! Just... c'mon! Follow me!" With that, he was off again. Sarah sighed, walked around the corner after her brother, and stopped dead at the sight of a man who looked very much like someone she had once hoped never to see again.

XIII

A tall man with spiky blond hair was standing in front of one of the cages. He was looking at a barn owl with an odd expression on his face. Sarah heard him mutter something that sounded like "Why did I even bother? Right. She called, and I came, but I wasn't allowed inside. It really is a shame that I seem to no longer be a part of her memory. There was so much I wanted to tell her, but she broke the trance before I could. What a pity. I only wish..." He sighed. It didn't matter any longer, she was beyond his reach. Why did he even try? Oh yes, because he was bored with the Labyrinth, and it didn't matter how many times he altered it, or how many he subjected to its endless passages. Life had lost meaning for him, but for one small thing. One person had the power to change all of that. He may not have had power over her, but she certainly had power over him. But, what was a mere man to do? "I wish I could find some way to make her understand. But now, I have no interest in what anyone else thinks, I've been away from the kingdom off and on for longer than ever before, what's happening to me?" He suddenly felt someone was watchng him. He turned to find a young woman giving him a rather strange look. Surprise, confusion, fear, and something else. Loathing maybe, he couldn't be sure. She quickly turned away to speak to the little boy who stood at her side.

"Toby, was there something you wanted to show me?"

"Toby?" the man breathed to himself, his brow furrowing in concentration. "I've heard that name before..."

"Yeah!" yelled the boy, "Him!" and he pointed to the man in front of the owl's cage.

"Are you quite sure?" the woman asked him with a slight frown.

"Yeah! I've seen him before! I just can't remember where." He stamped his foot, and then ran up to the man. "You're HIM, aren't you?"

"Who?"

This is NOT happening, thought Sarah. I WISH I knew what was going on! The world spun around her, and went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jareth awoke in his room in the castle beyond the Goblin City to the shouting of his subjects in the streets outside. It had been several years since Sarah had come to the Underground, and things had pretty much returned to normal. Well, as normal as they could be in this place.

"I never dream! So what was that about?"

"Your Higness!"

"What do you want now, Flibble?"

"Your highness," Flibble bowed. "There's a lady here who wishes to talk to you."

"A lady?" Since when did Ladies come to the Goblin City? It was too...unsanitary... for most of the fae women to even venture near the place. Besides, nobody but Hedgewart or whatever his name was knew how to get through. Well, there was one other person, but she was gone. "What does this lady want, Fribble?"

"Flibble," the goblin muttered under his breath. Why is it so hard for him to keep names straight? "She wishes to speak with you. She was in the throne room when last I saw her."

"Thank you Fribblet. I will see what she wants. Dismissed." The goblin did not move. "I said, you are dismissed. Unless you with to end up in the Bog!"

Flibble squeaked and was gone, out the door, and down the hall, and out of the castle. It was so hard to keep servants inside the castle walls nowadays.

XIV

Sarah came to in a large room. A room that seemed very familiar.

"NO! Jareth!!!!!!!" Several goblins came running at her cry. She pointed at one and told him that she wished to see the Goblin king at once. "Ooooh! When I get my hands on that little..."

She paced around the room muttering to herself. The nerve of that man! How dare he! She hadn't even used the right words. But then again, since when did he ever play by the rules?

Suddenly she whirled around as she heard footsteps behind her.

"Hello Sarah, long time no see."

That voice, satin and ice at the same time. Sunshine and moonlight. "No, this is not happening. I am not here. This is only another dream." And with that, the reasoning side of her mind took over once again. After all, she had seen herself seeing him dreaming about herself and he, and Toby looking out the window at them. It was all one large, run on dream. "Ok, Sarah, enough dreaming, wake up."

The sun was streaming on her face, and the phone was ringing. She picked it up.

"SARAH! You're late! Where's the report on the Michelsons? Get over to the office, now!"

Jack was yelling at her again, that was a good sign. She looked at the clock.

"10:30?! DAMN!"

She was dressed and out of the house in a flash, and finally, she was awake.

Or was she?