Disclaimer: I own nothing. It's all Jim Henson's… all of it…

Too Late?
By Cariah Delonne.

Chapter 6

"What do yer want?" the dwarf said obnoxiously to his monarch. "I've tended every garden in the Labyrinth, and still yer not happy?"
"Shut up Higgle," the Goblin King said disdainfully. "I did not bring you here to listen to your incessant whining. Indeed, considering the circumstances, I thought your punishment rather lenient."
Hoggle glared in return, but did not reply. Jareth smirked. "Still not forgotten about that pretty little mortal? A pity. But, I have something to show you…" he gestured towards his left hand, which lazily twirled a crystal around his fingers. Inside, Sarah stood, looking around the stone walls of the Labyrinth in bewilderment.

The surprise and anger of the dwarf was just as he had anticipated, and he sneered contemptuously at the attempts to threaten him. Lazily, he tapped the riding crop against his ankle, waiting for the tide of insults to wash over him.
Scowling at Jareth, Hoggle watched as he lounged over his throne. He wore his arrogance like a mantle, his anger simmering just beneath the surface. Hoggle went silent at the expression of jaded anger on the King's face.
"Are you quite finished?" came the monarch's bored tone.
Hoggle didn't meet his eyes, but nodded sullenly. It had been years since he had been quite so angry – Hoggle hadn't seen him quite so angry since she defeated him. And now she was back.

"Wha… Wha… what are you gonna do to her?" he stammered.  
Jareth laughed, cold and cruel. "I'm going to teach her Haggle. I'm going to teach her that to truly defeat someone you have to understand what you are saying, to understand what you are doing. She understood neither. I'm going to show her that I know exactly what the consequences of my actions will be for her, and that I will act upon them anyway. I will destroy her, and you will play a part." His laughter echoed around the Labyrinth.

*****

Sarah froze when she heard the laughter, but shook her head and kept moving. She was beginning to tire – her legs were sore, and she was hungry – she didn't remember feeling quite so exhausted last time she had come through here, but then again, that had been fifty years ago hadn't it? Besides, Jareth had said it himself, it wasn't a race, it was a battle. She didn't even know where she was supposed to be headed.

Wearily, Sarah slid her back down the wall, landing at the foot of the stone with a soft thump. She refused to play this childish game any longer. For an immortal, Jareth was just a spoilt brat who liked his own way above anything else.

"What is she doing?" Jareth hissed. The crystal shattered against the wall as he hurled it in frustration. Hoggle ducked and the goblins all ran to the other end of the room, as far away from their monarch as possible without actually leaving his presence.

Sarah's image in the crystal seemed to waver and fade, to be replaced with her appearance as it was in the aboveground. Lines returned to her face, and her hands became less deft in their movement.

Angry, and forgetting his plan with Hoggle, he exited the throne room and appeared by her side. "Just what do you think you are doing?" he spat.

Sarah looked at him insolently. "I'm resting Jareth, isn't that obvious. But I am afraid this spot just suddenly lost it's appeal." She stood and turned to walk away.

"How dare you turn your back on me!" he said quietly, his anger emanating from his soft voice. Sarah heard his tone and paused in her step.

She turned back to him, her head raised confidently. "I dare Jareth, because I can. I always have defied you, and I always will. Do not expect me to take part in your games. You lost."

Jareth's anger burned in his heart, and his eyes flared. "Sarah…" he warned. "Take another step, and you will regret it more than those foolish words. And you will regret them."

She took another step, and another.

"I am not afraid of you, Goblin King," she taunted. "I am no longer fifteen. You are no longer the romantic villain you once posed as in my childhood. You may have power over my stay here – but you have none over me, or my actions. Some things have not changed." Sarah turned the corner, and ran straight into him.

He watched her, as she stepped back, and he advanced with every step she moved away. Sarah felt her back press against the cold stone, and Jareth moved a final step closer. He dominated her, towering above her, cold and angry. There was no amusement in his eyes as he glared down at her, and Sarah felt the first prickling of fear.

"Despite being four times the age of when we last met Sarah, you seem to have gained little wisdom."

Noticing the change in her body, as he wiped her face clear of all the lines gained by age once more, Sarah hated him with passion. His words bit into her, and she spat in his face at the insult, ducking away underneath his arm as he cried out in anguish.

Before she had taken two steps, the world was swirling around her, and her third step found her in a room she had never laid eyes on before.

Glancing quickly around, she found it was a bedroom, one end lined with books and amusements, the other with a bed, closet and a door she soon found led to a bathroom. There was no exit door. No way to get out.

"Jareth…" she growled. "Where am I?"
His voice echoed above her. "In your new chambers… I hope they meet your standards," he said mockingly. "You may not be leaving them for some time. Until you decide to stop acting like a fifteen year old girl, for instance."

Sarah glared around her as his laughter scornfully echoed, before fading away, leaving her in silence.

*****

A/N:  Okay, so a little clichéd, I know, but hey! It's fanfiction!! Please review, and if there's any suggestions, let me know! =D
~Cariah.