Author's Note: Well, this is my first real fan fic. So please be gentle
with me. I mean, constructive criticism is always good. I like that because
it helps me improve. Just don't tell me outright how much I suck. I know
that already, I don't need to be reinformed.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth. I don't own anything to do with Pride and Prejudice (covering my bases here, people). If I did own these things, you'd better believe I'd have my own personal Jareth and Mr. Darcy. Oh, and a Ludo. Honestly, who doesn't need a big dumb cuddly beast?
"Toby!" The slender woman cried as she chased the giggling boy through the living room of his parent's house. "Get over here right now!"
Sarah cornered the hyper seven-year-old behind the couch. Just as she thought she had captured him, he slipped from her grasp almost causing her to land face first on the sofa. A loud noise escaped her mouth, sounding like a mixture of anger and annoyance. They did this every time she babysat him. It often left her exhausted and wondering how in the world her father and stepmother could possibly do this every night.
"Toby, I am through playing games damn it!" She said as she stalked through the room.
"Oh, you just said a curse word! I'm telling." Toby said, standing still just long enough for Sarah to grab him. Her hold around his waist was tight, tight enough to keep him from squirming out of her grasp but not so much as to hurt the boy. He voice turned from teasing to whining. "Hey! Let me go! Sarah, come on."
"No. You were supposed to be in bed nearly a half an hour ago. And if I have to bolt the door to make sure you stay in there, that is what I'm going to do."
Sarah took the struggling boy upstairs with the level of difficultly increasing with each step forward. "Twenty more minutes!" The child begged, but it was to no avail. Not even the forced tears at his hopes of a later bedtime could get him even an additional moment. Yet, the child persisted.
Sarah laid the child down on the bed. She smiled down at him, "You know, you've always been this difficult to put to bed. I can remember when you were a little toddler and you would scream and cry until I rocked you to sleep."
The defeated child looked up at her. There was an obvious sulky tone in his voice. "Is that when you tried to call that stupid Goblin King you tell me about all the time?"
"Oh, stop that you. You love hearing the legends about the Labyrinth. But, yes, that was the time that I had wished there really was a Goblin King to come and take you away." She paused for a moment as she tucked Toby in. "I'm glad he didn't, though. You're the best little brother anybody could ask for." Sarah planted a kiss on the boy's head, producing a loud smacking noise that made him groan. She desperately wanted to add something about Toby being a better workout than any gym could offer for a much better price, but that would probably insult him.
"Quit it. I hate it when you get all mushy. Tell me a story."
"Not tonight, kiddo. You're already up way too late. I still have a couple more weeks before I have to go back to school. That's plenty of time for me to tell you almost every cool story I know."
"But, Sarah-"
"No buts, mister. Now go to sleep. Mom and Dad will kill us both if they get home and you're still wide awake." Sarah had to cringe at calling her stepmother that. The woman had recently become more tolerable than she had been years ago, but it did not mean that Sarah's feelings for her had become much warmer. She did not like the woman; it was plain and simple.
"Fine!" The boy groaned, clutching Lancelot to his chest.
"Good night, Tobester."
"G'night."
Sarah exited his room, shutting the door behind her. It was such a relief to finally get the child to go to bed. She felt a pang of guilt at having to lie to her brother yet again. If she had not told him in the first place, this would not be happening. One night Toby was being particularly obstinate and she tried everything she could think of to get him to go to bed. Finally, Sarah decided to take advantage of the boy's imagination and offer him a story in exchange for his going to bed. He immediately accepted, so Sarah told him of the Labyrinth.
It was the worst part of coming home, because now Toby expected to hear new tales of danger and the evil Goblin King. Sarah wanted to tell him everything about her experience, but he was too young. He would not believe her or he would be angry. It was just so very hard to have to constantly lie like that. And the memories that her partial fabrications brought back were not exactly her fondest. She would much rather forget them than have to recount them for her excitable little brother.
Sarah finally left her position by the door of Toby's room and headed down the hall towards her own. It was time to begin preparations for the spring semester of her senior year. A few more months and she would be out in the real world. She had already received several offers from companies for her to start writing there upon graduation.
She had never really given up on her dream to be a great actress, but the logical side of her brain that had awoken not long after her trip to the Labyrinth told her to go after something more realistic. Screenwriting involved her two passions and allowed her to pursue a career in acting at the same time. It also gave her access to all of the important people that she would need to befriend in order to get the best auditions.
The young woman flopped down on her bed and took a look at her room. The entire area was cluttered with her clothing and various other items that she had decided to bring back from her dorm room. She leaned back and took a small paperback from her nightstand. "Pride and Prejudice," she said quietly. "What I wouldn't give for more of a social life so I wasn't, at 21, sitting alone in my bedroom with a book on a Friday night."
***
"Finally," Toby whispered at hearing his sister's footsteps slowly become softer and then the quiet click of her closing her bedroom door.
The boy jumped out of bed and got down on his hands and knees. "Stupid Sarah, making me go to bed early. I don't even have school tomorrow," he muttered as his pudgy hands dug around beneath the bed. With a small smile, the boy pulled out his favorite blue truck. "Vrrrm." he imitated the noises of an accelerating vehicle. After a few more moments of play, he purposely crashed the toy into the leg of his bed.
Toby got up and started to look for something more fun to do. He walked over to his bookshelf. If Sarah wasn't going to tell him a story, he might as well read one for himself. He was at the point in his education where reading was still new and exciting. His family had begun to teach him to read just before he entered kindergarten, so he was more advanced than most of his friends. Sarah had thought that his learning to read early in life was so important that it was nearly crucial for her to teach him. His parents had consented to keep her off of their backs. They had no objection to Toby learning to read; they just did not have the time to teach him themselves. If Sarah was the one to keep up with it, they did not mind her teaching him. She remained true to her word and spent a substantial period of time teaching the boy.
His little fingers ran over the titles of all the books. As though his hand had a mind of it's own, it reached for a slightly overused read book. He pulled it out and sat down next to the nightlight that stuck out of the electrical socket near his bed. "The Labyrinth," he said slowly, sounding out each syllable.
"This is where Sarah gets all those stories she tells me." He still couldn't believe that she refused to tell him a story that night. Mom and dad wouldn't mind. "You big stupid jerk!" he whispered, throwing the book down on the rug before him. The force of the impact caused the book to open, only a few pages into the story. Toby looked down at it, curious as to which part of the story it was. It had opened to the part about the girl wishing her brother away.
"Stupid Sarah. Maybe I should wish you away. That stupid Goblin King would probably teach you!" Something told him not to do it, but he was beyond the point at which stopping was an option. "I wish the Goblin King would come and take Sarah away right now!"
***
"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah," The voice pulled her away from the introduction of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley into the world of the Bennet sisters. Something about it was frighteningly familiar. She wanted to attribute the interruption to her mind, but she knew better. And sure enough, upon wrenching her gaze away from the novel in her hands, she set eyes upon the Goblin King himself.
"You." she nearly whispered. After a moment of staring at his smirking face in awe, she began to panic. There could only be one reason for his being here, and she was sure it was not to sit down and have a polite chat. "Oh no you don't! You can't have Toby and there is no way that we're going back to that stupid Labyrinth," her voice was raised. It was funny how he seemed to make her feel like a fifteen-year-old again after simply appearing before her.
"My dear Sarah," Jareth began, "whatever makes you think that I'm here for your little brother?"
"Then what are you doing here? I'm sure you don't regularly check on those of us that have faced your Labyrinth."
"Though the reactions of said people would be quite amusing, that is not my purpose here."
Sarah glared at him for a moment. "Are you going to get around to telling me what your reason for being here is, or can I go back to reading?"
Jareth approached her, touching a gloved finger to her cheek. He leaned forward, his lips nearly brushing her earlobe. He whispered, "This time, it is you that has been wished away. I've come to bring you to the Labyrinth."
Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth. I don't own anything to do with Pride and Prejudice (covering my bases here, people). If I did own these things, you'd better believe I'd have my own personal Jareth and Mr. Darcy. Oh, and a Ludo. Honestly, who doesn't need a big dumb cuddly beast?
"Toby!" The slender woman cried as she chased the giggling boy through the living room of his parent's house. "Get over here right now!"
Sarah cornered the hyper seven-year-old behind the couch. Just as she thought she had captured him, he slipped from her grasp almost causing her to land face first on the sofa. A loud noise escaped her mouth, sounding like a mixture of anger and annoyance. They did this every time she babysat him. It often left her exhausted and wondering how in the world her father and stepmother could possibly do this every night.
"Toby, I am through playing games damn it!" She said as she stalked through the room.
"Oh, you just said a curse word! I'm telling." Toby said, standing still just long enough for Sarah to grab him. Her hold around his waist was tight, tight enough to keep him from squirming out of her grasp but not so much as to hurt the boy. He voice turned from teasing to whining. "Hey! Let me go! Sarah, come on."
"No. You were supposed to be in bed nearly a half an hour ago. And if I have to bolt the door to make sure you stay in there, that is what I'm going to do."
Sarah took the struggling boy upstairs with the level of difficultly increasing with each step forward. "Twenty more minutes!" The child begged, but it was to no avail. Not even the forced tears at his hopes of a later bedtime could get him even an additional moment. Yet, the child persisted.
Sarah laid the child down on the bed. She smiled down at him, "You know, you've always been this difficult to put to bed. I can remember when you were a little toddler and you would scream and cry until I rocked you to sleep."
The defeated child looked up at her. There was an obvious sulky tone in his voice. "Is that when you tried to call that stupid Goblin King you tell me about all the time?"
"Oh, stop that you. You love hearing the legends about the Labyrinth. But, yes, that was the time that I had wished there really was a Goblin King to come and take you away." She paused for a moment as she tucked Toby in. "I'm glad he didn't, though. You're the best little brother anybody could ask for." Sarah planted a kiss on the boy's head, producing a loud smacking noise that made him groan. She desperately wanted to add something about Toby being a better workout than any gym could offer for a much better price, but that would probably insult him.
"Quit it. I hate it when you get all mushy. Tell me a story."
"Not tonight, kiddo. You're already up way too late. I still have a couple more weeks before I have to go back to school. That's plenty of time for me to tell you almost every cool story I know."
"But, Sarah-"
"No buts, mister. Now go to sleep. Mom and Dad will kill us both if they get home and you're still wide awake." Sarah had to cringe at calling her stepmother that. The woman had recently become more tolerable than she had been years ago, but it did not mean that Sarah's feelings for her had become much warmer. She did not like the woman; it was plain and simple.
"Fine!" The boy groaned, clutching Lancelot to his chest.
"Good night, Tobester."
"G'night."
Sarah exited his room, shutting the door behind her. It was such a relief to finally get the child to go to bed. She felt a pang of guilt at having to lie to her brother yet again. If she had not told him in the first place, this would not be happening. One night Toby was being particularly obstinate and she tried everything she could think of to get him to go to bed. Finally, Sarah decided to take advantage of the boy's imagination and offer him a story in exchange for his going to bed. He immediately accepted, so Sarah told him of the Labyrinth.
It was the worst part of coming home, because now Toby expected to hear new tales of danger and the evil Goblin King. Sarah wanted to tell him everything about her experience, but he was too young. He would not believe her or he would be angry. It was just so very hard to have to constantly lie like that. And the memories that her partial fabrications brought back were not exactly her fondest. She would much rather forget them than have to recount them for her excitable little brother.
Sarah finally left her position by the door of Toby's room and headed down the hall towards her own. It was time to begin preparations for the spring semester of her senior year. A few more months and she would be out in the real world. She had already received several offers from companies for her to start writing there upon graduation.
She had never really given up on her dream to be a great actress, but the logical side of her brain that had awoken not long after her trip to the Labyrinth told her to go after something more realistic. Screenwriting involved her two passions and allowed her to pursue a career in acting at the same time. It also gave her access to all of the important people that she would need to befriend in order to get the best auditions.
The young woman flopped down on her bed and took a look at her room. The entire area was cluttered with her clothing and various other items that she had decided to bring back from her dorm room. She leaned back and took a small paperback from her nightstand. "Pride and Prejudice," she said quietly. "What I wouldn't give for more of a social life so I wasn't, at 21, sitting alone in my bedroom with a book on a Friday night."
***
"Finally," Toby whispered at hearing his sister's footsteps slowly become softer and then the quiet click of her closing her bedroom door.
The boy jumped out of bed and got down on his hands and knees. "Stupid Sarah, making me go to bed early. I don't even have school tomorrow," he muttered as his pudgy hands dug around beneath the bed. With a small smile, the boy pulled out his favorite blue truck. "Vrrrm." he imitated the noises of an accelerating vehicle. After a few more moments of play, he purposely crashed the toy into the leg of his bed.
Toby got up and started to look for something more fun to do. He walked over to his bookshelf. If Sarah wasn't going to tell him a story, he might as well read one for himself. He was at the point in his education where reading was still new and exciting. His family had begun to teach him to read just before he entered kindergarten, so he was more advanced than most of his friends. Sarah had thought that his learning to read early in life was so important that it was nearly crucial for her to teach him. His parents had consented to keep her off of their backs. They had no objection to Toby learning to read; they just did not have the time to teach him themselves. If Sarah was the one to keep up with it, they did not mind her teaching him. She remained true to her word and spent a substantial period of time teaching the boy.
His little fingers ran over the titles of all the books. As though his hand had a mind of it's own, it reached for a slightly overused read book. He pulled it out and sat down next to the nightlight that stuck out of the electrical socket near his bed. "The Labyrinth," he said slowly, sounding out each syllable.
"This is where Sarah gets all those stories she tells me." He still couldn't believe that she refused to tell him a story that night. Mom and dad wouldn't mind. "You big stupid jerk!" he whispered, throwing the book down on the rug before him. The force of the impact caused the book to open, only a few pages into the story. Toby looked down at it, curious as to which part of the story it was. It had opened to the part about the girl wishing her brother away.
"Stupid Sarah. Maybe I should wish you away. That stupid Goblin King would probably teach you!" Something told him not to do it, but he was beyond the point at which stopping was an option. "I wish the Goblin King would come and take Sarah away right now!"
***
"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah," The voice pulled her away from the introduction of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley into the world of the Bennet sisters. Something about it was frighteningly familiar. She wanted to attribute the interruption to her mind, but she knew better. And sure enough, upon wrenching her gaze away from the novel in her hands, she set eyes upon the Goblin King himself.
"You." she nearly whispered. After a moment of staring at his smirking face in awe, she began to panic. There could only be one reason for his being here, and she was sure it was not to sit down and have a polite chat. "Oh no you don't! You can't have Toby and there is no way that we're going back to that stupid Labyrinth," her voice was raised. It was funny how he seemed to make her feel like a fifteen-year-old again after simply appearing before her.
"My dear Sarah," Jareth began, "whatever makes you think that I'm here for your little brother?"
"Then what are you doing here? I'm sure you don't regularly check on those of us that have faced your Labyrinth."
"Though the reactions of said people would be quite amusing, that is not my purpose here."
Sarah glared at him for a moment. "Are you going to get around to telling me what your reason for being here is, or can I go back to reading?"
Jareth approached her, touching a gloved finger to her cheek. He leaned forward, his lips nearly brushing her earlobe. He whispered, "This time, it is you that has been wished away. I've come to bring you to the Labyrinth."