Two years. Two long years, of tears and dreams, broken hopes and unspoken wishes. Her
parents wondered if she would ever grow out of that phase. They didn't see an end in sight.
Sarah sat at her vanity, staring at the person she'd become. She was eighteen, yet still she
dwelled on the past, on her adventure in the labyrinth. Feeling the need for companionship, she
called on one of her friends.

"Hoggle? Hoggle, I need you." She waited a moment, and the dwarf appeared in the mirror. He
looked angry, something Sarah was not familiar with.

"Cor! What d'ye want this time, eh?" Sarah just stared at him, open-mouthed. "Stop gaping
a'ready! You's think I wanted to see you's teeth. Now, what d'ye want?"

"H- Hoggle? What's the matter?" Sarah didn't understand.

"Yer what's the matter! Fer two years I's sat here and listen to ya. I's tired of it! It doan do me no
good. It's been two years, Sarah. And now, now it's too late an' all yer fault." He began to
mumble. "Blasted mortals. Yer a fool, Sarah! Seein' as 'ow there's nothin' ye can do now, I's
gonna tell ya what ya been needin' ta hear! Ye're blind, missy. Two years, and ye've never seen
that you's loved Jareth, or that he's loved you! Now it's too late, an' all on account o'yer
stupidity! I's not subjugatin' meself to this anymore!" And with a huff, Hoggle faded from the
mirror.

Sarah just stared at where her friend had been. Did she-? She gasped when she realized
what Hoggle said was true. And if Hoggle was honest about Jareth... Ye gods! But what did he
mean, it was too late? She hurriedly whispered to the mirror.

"Sir Didymus? Are you there?"

Slowly, almost reluctantly, the fox-knight appeared. Sarah looked at him hopefully, but
when he spoke, his voice was cold.

"Milady, I must agree with Sir Hoggle. Fare the well." And with that, he faded away. Sarah grew
frantic.

"Ludo, Ludo, please! Tell me you haven't left me too!" The monster didn't appear, but she could
hear his voice echoing.

"Sawah...wong. Bad Sawah." In tears, and desperation, Sarah called to the last person she could
think of. The only person she had never called before.

"Jareth, Jareth, what's happening?" She spun around when she heard his voice behind her.

"How pleasant to see you again, my dear." He smirked at the look on her face. "What's wrong?"

Sarah could not stop crying at her friends' betrayal. "What has happened? Why are they all
leaving me?" The Goblin King just smiled at her mockingly.

"You would think that you had grown out of your childish fantasies by now, Sarah. I suppose
they are leaving you because you have disappointed them. Such a pity."

"How- how have I disappointed them? What has made them hate me so suddenly?"

"I assume it is the fact that I'm getting married." Sarah's jaw dropped.

"What has that to do with me?"

Jareth smiled cruelly. "Absolutely nothing." With those words, the fragile hopes that Sarah
had built from Hoggle's words were shattered, along with her heart. Jareth noted this, and twisted
the blade deeper. "The fact that it has nothing to do with you is what has them angry." He
caressed her cheek. "Ah, what might have been, Sarah. You could have been my queen."

"I had to save my brother. What did you expect me to do?" She turned her eyes away from his.

"You've never understood, have you, Sarah? You still think it was about your baby brother." He
clicked his tongue, his tone disgusted. He let her chin drop from his hand. "'Ah, what fools these
mortals be.' The wisest words any of your kind have ever said. It was never about your brother,
Sarah, it was about you.

Being king, I was given one chance to wed for love, instead of politics. I took that chance two
years ago. Having loved a mortal, she had to prove her worth to the other Fae. You may have
beaten my Labyrinth, Sarah, but you lost the game."

Sarah stared at him, wonder turned to regret. "I would have given into you, had my
brother not been at risk." Jareth scowled.

"Foolish child. Your brother never was at risk."

"How was I to know that?" Her pain turned to anger. "What kind of queen were your kind
looking for, if she were willing to sacrifice her family for her dreams? Was I supposed to be
selfish?" Jareth stared at her stonily.

"You were obviously not the right kind of queen. That mistake was not made, thankfully. Now, I
am to be wed, whether or not my subjects approve of my choice."

Sarah sat down, not realizing that she had risen. She sighed in defeat, and pain. She
looked back up to the King, barely meeting his eyes. "Is there nothing I can do?" The expression
on his face was indecipherable.

"Nothing at all."

Stifling a sob, Sarah raised her chin a notch higher. "Then I guess this is good-bye."

"Good-bye." Jareth turned to leave.

"Wait!" Sarah held her hand out, pleadingly. The Goblin King slowly turned back to her. "Kiss me
once, for old time's sake." He smirked.

"We never kissed in the 'old times'."

"Then kiss me, for what might have been." Jareth smiled coldly, then swooped in to claim her lips.
In that kiss, Sarah discovered what all she had lost, what all would never be hers. As he lifted her
lips from her, she whispered softly, "If only I had known."

"If only..." Jareth responded, smirking at her.

Closing her eyes, Sarah spoke. "I wish the goblins would come and take me away, right
now." She opened her eyes to see Jareth glaring at her. She could hear snickers all of the room,
and could feel small hands reaching out to her.

"Stupid child! Stop that, you pests, leave!" The goblins silenced and acquiesced. Jareth turned his
gaze back to Sarah. "Do you realize what you wish, child?"

Her head hanging, Sarah admitted her defeat. "I- I can't live without you." Cruel laughter
followed that remark.

"And you won't be able to live with me, either. Such a pity." Sarah could not lift her head. Jareth
snatched her under her chin and lifted it for her. "You will remain in my world, forever. You will
experience everything my subjects do. And you will be shunned by them all, for turning me down.
As I have mentioned, they do not like my new choice." He grinned mockingly. "And you will
learn of everything that I do. My marriage, the birth of my heirs... everything." He shook his head.
"Once I said you were cruel, Sarah. But you have changed. This- masochistic cruelty of yours
does not appeal to me. So you are off, Sarah, to live in the Underground, alone for eternity."

A crystal shattered, and Sarah looked around. The hovel was filthy, and she supposed that
if she were to live there, she would need it to be a bit neater. She wiped her eyes and started
tidying. Her new life had just begun.



**A/N: Yikes. Tell me if y'all want me to continue. Personally I feel like flaming myself. I'll go
take a bath in the BOES, so excuse me. *shakes her head* The first inspiration I have in a long
time, and my muse makes it something mean. Do y'all want to know what happens? *shivers
unhappily* I'm not sure I want to. Well, R/R anyway. I might continue, just because this is all that
my muse has on my plate right now.