AN: This one took a little longer, since it is a little longer. ^^ I'm working on chapter 4, so please keep the reviews coming. ^^ I promise I'll keep updating at least every 4 to 5 days at the most. :)

Oh, and in case you didn't know, The Labyrinth, Jareth, and Sarah do not belong to me. Unfortunately. Everyone else though is mine! Mwahahaaa...Erm. Right.

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Beyond Strange Love by Cynthia Dysis

Chapter 3: Wished Away, Taken Back

Sarah sat at her desk in her classroom grading papers. The students were off at lunch, and she had so much paper work she needed to get finished, lunch was the only spare moment she had. She was refreshed this morning, not having any of her usual dreams since the incident in the tub three days ago. She had finally been able to get into her old habit of doing things without feeling drained all day long. Sighing, she made three more X's on one of her students papers. It was a test over 'Great Expectations', where the students had to indentify symbolism, do a character analysis, and quote certain parts of the book. While some had read the book and study, it was obvious that a good deal of the class had not. Sighing she picked up Michelle's paper and smiled. The young girl had beautiful handwriting, and always did exceptionally well on all of her test. Leaning back Sarah began to read the report, pulling her hair out of it's clasps she let it fall back over the back of the chair, and ran her hand through it to smooth out some of the unruly curls. The sun from the window floated in and hit her hair, lighting up the red in it. Running her fingers through it she looked at it.... it seemed to change colors more and more everyday. She remembered when her hair was brown as dirt, and now it could appear completely red if the light hit it just right, and no longer straight, but full of curls... And that wasn't the only thing... her eyes were changing colors too... where once they had been a light hazel brown, they were now almost completely green, just the outer edges remaining a dark brown. Her skin was turning whiter... she had always been fair complicated, but now her skin was white and smooth and flawless. It was like she was turning into someone else.... 'Stop that' she told herself. 'It's just hormones or something.... probably happens to everyone.' Shaking her head she looked down at Michelle's report...

"The main female character is the object of Pip's affection, Estella. She is the most convincing of the female characters in Great Expectations, because she is the most dynamic. Estella is often seen as dark and cruel, she constantly embarrasses and undermines Pip, although he is hopelessly in love with her. Unlike most female main characters, Estella does not embodied kindness, wisdom, and warmth. She is cold, cynical, cruel, and manipulative, which is what makes her such a compelling character. Though all her faults it is always subliminally hidden that Estella possesses a heart which makes her a dynamic part of the story. The readers also feel a certain amount of pity towards Estella, since she has been trained at birth by Miss Havisham to 'break young men's hearts'. Her story is also an ironic one, since Pip envisions her to be everything he wants and cannot have: love, wealth, and a good living. Estella herself is without love as she repeatedly tells Pip she 'has no heart', she is not happy with her life with Miss Havisham, and came from a poorer beginning that even Pip. By the end of the story Estella has matured into a women, and through her damaging childhood and bed marriage to Drummel, she learns to trust her true feelings, thus allowing her to come into her own and be with Pip in the end..."

The rest of the test was the same, all beautifully and eloquently written, no grammatical or spelling errors. With a red felt tipped pen she wrote an A+ on the front of it, and wrote Michelle a little note about how well developed her report was...she had always loved it when she teachers did something like that. 'I never though I'd be doing it though...' she said silently to herself. And she didn't. When she was 18 she had imagined 28 to be so...old. That she would already have established herself on Broadway by that age, that she would have been a successful actress with awards and showstoppers under her belt. With thousands of fans and admirers and a devilishly handsome younger lover...with long golden blonde hair.. who was lean and tall with a slow sensual smile and long delicate fingers...with a voice that could melt butter and make women swoon just at the sound of it...two stunning mismatched eyes.. one a translucent sky blue....and the other a dark, sexual earthy brown, tiny flecks of green peeking out from their depths...

'What the hell am I doing.' she thought, blinked twice and realized she was describing him again. 'Oh damn...' Shaking her head she tried to dislodged the mental picture of him from her minds eye but she just couldn't. An unearthly sensual man clad in those pants were just to much for her willpower to overcome. And then she did something she never did anymore. Blush. 'Oh bloody hell, I'm blushing over some non existent probably most definitely non human imaginary adolescent ideal and his tight breeches! I really need to get out more... probably a warning sign from my body that I need to speed things up so I don't end up some old spencer with 50 cats and still teaching 5th grade drama like Mrs Winston..' At the thought she groaned. Mrs. Winston was her drama teacher when she was in elementary school. Old and constantly smelling of mothballs and sauerkraut, Mrs. Winston was one of the most bizarre people Sarah had met to date. Almost always wearing an overly bright floral dress, which now that she thought about it resembled shower curtains more than clothing, and was always, always, covered in a rainbow assortment of cat hair. She wore think soled shoes and big very faux clunky jewelry, and said words like 'marvelous' and 'darling'. She was always losing her pens and pencils to, but not like most people...setting them down somewhere and forgetting them, having the couch eat them...she had the largest beehive hairdo that Sarah had ever seen as well. She was still sure that it single handily helped in depleting the ozone layer and was positive just by the amount Mrs. Winston used that she should have bought stock in Aqua Net.. It was also the home to Mrs. Winston's writing utensils... she would stick them in her hair, then forget about them, and spend the next ten minutes finding something else to write with, which would also get lost in the mass of blue tinted hair. Sarah always wondered what happened when Mrs. Winston got home and took her hair down. If she was always surprised every night to find a small collection of pens and pencils falling from her head. And what did she do with them after she found them? 'Probably put them somewhere where she would remember them, then forgot them' Sarah mused.

Shaking her head Sarah leaned back in her chair and picked up the next test, and began glancing over it. Groaning she picked up her pen and began making little red X's. 'I guess they can't all be wonderful' she thought. After marking the X's, writing the C, and leaving a little note on the test Sarah stood up and stretched. Lunch was an hour long and she had been sitting their 35 minutes, and she was so stiff! 'Nice, long, hot bath tonight...' a shiver ran down her spine, remembering of what happened the last time she took a long soaking bath. Since then she had been taking short cold showers, afraid of falling asleep again and drowning in the tub. She had also went 3 night with none of her usual dreams, so she was just going to keep up what she was doing now in the hopes that they would just go away. Sighing she sat down in her plush chair and pulled her purse out from under the desk. Reaching in she took out a waterbottle, and a peach. Taking it out she looked at it, turning it over in her hands. 'How ironic' she thought. 'I must have just picked it up by mistake... Shrugging she leaned back and sipped her water... lunch was usually when she relaxed during the day. From her window she had a great view of the woods behind the school, and being mid October everything was a beautiful array of golds, red, purples and oranges. Biting into the peach she titled her head and looked out the window... Ever since then she had had a weakness for peaches. At first she was afraid to eat them, afraid she would fall into another enchanted sleep. But, once she realized she wouldn't, she ate them constantly. Taking another bite she leaned her head back and closed her eyes... she would just relax for a little bit..just a minute...

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There was no one there... everything was black. But there were voices... a multitude of voices.. Everything sounded fuzzy, like it was far away...

'Darling... my treasure...come....'
'come.....'

The voices in the background grew louder.... she couldn't make out what they were saying but it sounded as if they were chanting something... then, silence. Everything grew still and Sarah felt goosebumps rise on her arms.... then he spoke..

'At last my love, I've been so lonely without you.....'

Sitting up with a start Sarah quickly looked around to take in her surroundings. Seeing she was still in her classroom she gave a sigh of relief. For a moment she thought she might have...... looking at her desk she picks up the remaining half of the peach and threw it in the garbage. 'Ok, no more of those for a while...'

Standing up she smoothed out her dress and pulled her mini jacket up over her shoulders, she was suddenly very chilly. Glancing up at the clock she saw that she had 3 minutes until the lunch bell rang to release the students back to their classes. Picking up the tests she had just graded she walking to the desks in the front of the classroom and began setting each one down at the students desk. She knew the students would want to see what they made as soon as the got back from lunch. After setting the last test down she made her way back to her desk just as the bell was ringing, and the stampede of students made their way back down the hall. Sitting down in her leather desk chair she smiled at the students as they made their way back into the classroom. They had to rehearse the play, and a few students were staying after school to get some extra practice in before the performance tomorrow...

Leaning over the side of her desk Sarah reached into her bag and pulled out the copies of the modified script she had printed out a few days ago. She had changed part of the script due to the dreams she was having.... Remembering back to when she had gone on her little 'trip' to the Underground, and how her first phrase to send Toby away hadn't worked. She had changed the script to that....'Because you never can be to safe...and the last thing I need is for a student to get kidnapped by a strange man in black leather and breeches and glitter.' Shaking her head she sat the scripts down on her desk, and walked to the front of the class to talk to the students about their grades.

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Walking onto the stage in the auditorium Sarah felt like she was home. She had forgotten how much she had missed the stage. The house lights were down and the seats in the auditorium weren't even visible... it would help with the students nervousness if they couldn't see how many people were out in the audience. The whole stage glowed with the overhead lighting, and Sarah thought...'Well, if you can't do drama this is always the next best thing."

Smiling she turned to Michelle behind her, who had asked if she would help her practice her line after school.. "Ok lets work on the scene where the Princess wishes her little brother away to the Goblins. Michelle, you stand left stage I'll stand in as the Goblin King, Zack's part, on offstage right. Ok... Let's go." Walking toward the right front of the stage Sarah watched as Michelle acted out her part perfectly, down the the facial expressions. She was sure this play was going to be a hit and secure her job here, and she just knew that the children's parents were going to love it. She had lost her initial jitters about doing it after a little script changing and the students wonderful response to it. She had some real talent in her class... Michelle and Zack were wonderful... and her stage crew was amazing. So deticated even though they weren't out in the spotlight, painting and creating extraordinary scenes and sets, getting props from everywhere. The enchanted forest set was Sarah favorite, although it was the messiest, with all the glitter the students had used to cover the plywood trees they had constructed. Michelle walked more toward the middle of the stage... towards the baby cradle that had been set up and reached inside to get the 'crying' baby. During the play they would have someone offstage making the crying and cooing noises of the baby prince. Picking the baby up Michelle tried to get it to calm down, to get it to stop crying...from singing to it to rocking it, the baby wouldn't shush up...

"Fine!" Michelle said, holding the baby on her hip. "Do you want a story? Ok... Once.. there was a poor poor Princess, who's stepmother was always mean to her and never let her do anything. She was forced to stay home and take care of her younger baby brother. But the baby was awful, terrible! He made the princess miserable. But what the baby didn't know was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with girl, and he had given her certain powers. The young princess had come close to wishing her little brother away, but never did, because she knew he would be turned into a goblin forever and ever. But one day, when the baby had been particularly mean to her she could stand it no longer.." At this point the baby was supposed to let out a horrible wail, and Michelle scrunched her face up and held the 'baby' out from her. Once it quieted down some she looked at it with distain..

"Oh!" Michelle acted "I...I...I wish..." She let her gaze wander and her eyes unfocused, giving her a faraway look... "I wish that..." Looking back towards her empty hands where the baby would be she said "I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!"

Sarah thought she was going to die. She was going to die right then she knew, a heartattack, that's what the papers would say. She had a heartattack at 28 and died. She knew she had changed the script, she knew she had! And she had saved it. Hadn't she? She was sure she had. So why had Michelle just said... that! Fear gripped at Sarah heart, and she looked frantically around, looking for a hint of black leather, blonde hair, glitter, anything. But everything was as it should be. Michelle had not noticed she reaction so she had kept on acting, and now looked at Sarah for confirmation that she had said she part properly. Blinking, Sarah walked out onstage, looking around the whole time as if someone where going to jump out from the shadows and snatch both of them up. "That...that was wonderful Michelle. Wonderful." Sarah wanted to hurry up and get out of here as soon as possible... part of her was glad too, because it showed that all these years it had only been a dream of hers.. that her worrying and fear had been for nothing... but another neurotic part was still fearful and wanted out of there now, before anything else had a chance to happen.

"You did a great job... how about we call it quits then? You know all your parts and your great. I have no doubts that you'll perform exceptionally well tomorrow." She smiled to mask her uneasiness.

Michelle didn't notice a thing, and just smiled. "Ok Miss Williams! I guess I'll see you tomorrow in class then... and thanks for staying after and helping me with this. It was just really hard to get the feel of it right.. Anyways.. see you tomorrow!" Waving good-bye to Sarah, Michelle walked down the stairs on stage right and into the auditorium to pick up her bookbag. A few minutes later Sarah could hear the double doors in the front close. Standing in the middle of the stage Sarah suddenly felt very venerable. like she wasn't alone.. the darkness of the house light no longer seemed comforting...paranoia creeped it's way into her brain and she looked around again, making sure no one was behind her, no one was in the corners. Walking to the side of the stage she picked up her jacket and slipped it on, picked up her toutbad and purse, and walked offstage 'Your just nervous and jittery' she told herself. 'See? Nothing happened, everything is completely alright, your completely safe, nothing is going to happen..' Walking to the powerbox she began to turn the stage lights off, first stage left, center stage, overhead, and then stage right. Now she stood in the dark of the backstage area, only the green light above the exit door letting off any light. She walked towards it as quickly as she could and pulled out her keys to the auditorium to unlock the door. Dropping the keys she curse and bent down to pick them up. When she did the hairs on the back of her neck stood up...a shiver ran through her spine... she felt sick to her stomach for a moment before she stood up straight again, shaking her head. She kept waiting for someone to come out from the shadows and pounce on her. 'I need to get out of here...' she mused.

Then she heard something hit the floor onstage, as it someone had dropped it from the catwalks above. She heard it roll along the stage. She could see the shadow under the curtain, and it rolled towards her and the exit door. Underneath the curtain rolled a perfect crystals ball, and even though there were no lights on it seemed to glow. Rolling towards her it stopped only when it hit her foot. Sarah stiffed... bending down she picked it up and turned it over in her hand. It was warm... and beautiful.. even though she looked right at it there were no reflections in it... it was just..perfect. She had seen something like this only once before... it had been presented to her, a gift... But no, that wasn't real... that was something she had made up... suddenly she felt dizzy, and she knew she was going to pass out...her knees buckled under her and she started to sink to the floor when she felt a pair of arms reach from behind her and lock around her waist, pulling her upright and squeezing her to something..something warm and hard... she felt something brush her ear.. and then she heard that voice that had haunted her dreams, slow and smooth, that reached down into your bones and melted them...

"Hello Sarah..."

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Jareth had been waiting for three days... what seemed like an eternity for his services to be called upon. He had been restless since he awoke, just waiting for Sarah to be wished away to him, to see her once more, to have her here so he could start the business of making her remember all she had forgotten. When he had spied on her and changed the document on her computer (he had found out after he returned what it was called) he was sure that the set of events had been put into motion, and that she would be wished to him any time. Now it was just occurring to him that it could be weeks before someone got a hold of the document and read this changes he had made to it. 'I've waited an eternity...' he thought, 'I guess a few days more cannot hurt.'

Early in the afternoon he felt the familiar tingling at the back of his mind, letting him know he was needed. He had rushed without a second thought. But it was not Sarah, and he had to carry out the wish with distain, wishing he were somewhere else... Now he sat in the throne room, bored out of his mind, slowly creating crystals and letting them float about, his patience growing shorter by the moment. The fact that the fate of his kingdom waited in the hands of whoever wished Sarah back drove him mad! But he could not go and get Sarah himself... and this was the only way. He was just going to have to wait it out as best he could... Waiting was what he had done for eons now wasn't it? Ever since they had been cast down... ever since she had been taken from him.... Now she would return... now she would take her place next to him... As soon as she remembered. Jareth rubbed his eyes. 'She must remember... everything depends on it. My powers are already weakening... the Gate has already begun to take over part of the Underground... she must remember.'

He let his mind wander... he had not seen Sarah face to face in 13 years... he knew she had changed. Mortals lives were so much shorter than the immortal... they aged so much quicker. He had seen through the crystals that Sarah had grown up psychically into a stunning woman... he had let his eyes drift over her frame while she was sleeping and smiled, she looked more like her true self now than she did when she was younger and they had first met. Her skin was paler, smoother than when she last went through his Labyrinth, and her hair was almost red... its true color. He wondered if she had dyed it, like most mortal women seemed to do, or if it had just changed on it's own accord.... which would mean...He shook his head. There was no point in getting his hopes up. Sarah might not remember anything of her true self, which he was hoping against. Things were going to be hard no matter what, he knew she would not be happy about being brought back here, and then he would be forced to reveal her past to her. He hadn't even begun to think about how he would do that... telling her flat out was out of the question. She wouldn't believe him first of all, and if it did trigger something in her memory she might just think that he put it there, which wouldn't solve anything. Sighing he leaned his head back against the throne and closed his eyes. He hadn't planned any of this out at all... he had no idea what he would do with her once she arrived, or how he would handle the situation. All he knew was that she was coming to him, and that was all that mattered right then. That he had won, had bent the rules to get her back. She was coming home, to him.

And then he felt it again, that familiar tingling sensation in the back of his mind...the tug from some invisible force that told him he was called upon. For the briefest of seconds he felt slightly nauseous, things turned fuzzy, and then black. Then he stood upright, and a smile made it's way slowly across his lips. With a graceful motion of his hand he appeared in his usual attire for this business... black breeches, with black knee- high boots... a black jacket of hard leather, and black breastplate. A long flowing black cape fell behind him, spun from the softest silk, and his talisman hung from his neck, imbedded in his breastplate. Producing a crystal he held it in the palm of his hand, closing his fingers around it and felt it's power and magic running through his body...'Sarah' he thought, and his heart leaped in his chest. Sarah had been wished to him... and now he would be going to claim her, and bring her back where she belonged. He had tricked fate, and now he was in control, and now things would be set right.

Looking into the crystal he saw Sarah, in the dark somewhere... obviously nervous about something... more beautiful than he had imagined her. And she was his. 'My love' he thought, 'at last...' His eyes looked sad for a moment, something swirling deep in their blue and brown depths, before drowning, disappearing. Opening his hand he let the crystal dropped, and it broke into a thousand shards, crystal and glitter swirling all around him. When it settled, the throne room was empty.

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Below the throne room, deep in the heart of the castle, a sound like a thousand dying voices could be heard wailing, screaming. A pair of iron doors glowed red. The Gate grew stronger. The Underground's magic faltered for a moment, and far to the North and entire forest simply disappearing. Beyond it, nothing. Aboveground a child slept in it's bed, their teddy bear tucked under their arm, thumb in their mouth. They dreamed of unicorns, and fairies, and magic. And then, suddenly, they dreamed of nothing.