Jareth appears in the desolate waste that once was part of his hedge maze. There is nothing but blackened ruins except for the few bushes that survived because of the spell that followed Hellboy through the Labyrinth. Going over to them, he lays a hand on them. Not even a smudge of soot mars the leaves of these few remaining plants.

With a sigh, the king looks back over the devastation. It looks like he feels: black and desolate. After years of careful planning, everything is ruined. Sarah has once again returned to the Aboveground, never to return. He doesn't care what that walking fish said, he knows that she's gone forever. Sitting down in the ashes of his maze with his back to the hedge he was examining, he places his head on his drawn up knees and wallows in his self pity.


Sarah stands in the Labyrinth not sure which way to go. Finally, she just picks a direction and goes. She knows that she needs to get somewhere, but she's not sure where or why. As she walks, the walls start to crumble and fall. She starts to run, but the bricks still come down and she barely manages to dodge the falling debris.

She runs around a corner and comes out into a blackened area. There's nothing around but soot and ash for at least a mile around her. There is one anomaly. Out in the middle of all this waste, is a six foot high hedge. Carefully, she heads towards it.

When she reaches it, she realizes it's not one bush but three in the shape of a U. Cautiously walking around it, she nearly trips over a figure on the ground. He doesn't move or acknowledge her presence. She leans down to touch him, but voices stop her.

"Don't," they say.

Turning around, she sees the Wise Man, complete with his talking hat standing a little ways off. She walks towards him.

"I'm glad you're still alive," she states.

"We are not who you think we are," the figure and the hat reply in unison.

While only two mouths are moving, Sarah hears several voices at once when they talk.

"Who are you?" she asks.

"We are the Labyrinth," it answers. "Your mind has given us this form in order to try and comprehend what is happening."

"Oh," she replies. "If you're not really the Wise Man then who's that over there sitting on the ground?"

"That is the Goblin King," they respond.

"Why is he here?" she asks. "Why am I here?"

"We are dying," they reply. "Without you, he will become as desolate as this landscape and die. If the king dies without an heir or a Queen to rule in his place, the Labyrinth will die as well."

"How can I help?" she inquires, dreading the answer.

"You must return," they answer. "Leave your world, and come back to us forever."

"It's only forever," she whispers, "not that long at all."

"You must return," they state again.

"I don't know if I can," she states.

"You must return," they repeat.

"But…"

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sarah bolts into an upright position, startled out of a sound sleep. Trying to remember the dream she was having, all she can remember is a desolate landscape, the Goblin King and the Wise Man talking with a lot more voices than he should have.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The door buzzer goes off again and Sarah drags herself out of bed. Yawning and stretching all the way, she finally reaches the speaker by the front door. She pushes the "Talk" button.

"Yes?" she asks groggily.

After not getting a response for a couple of seconds, she remembers to let go of the "Talk" button and press the "Listen" button.

"…you answered," comes the less the pleasant sound of Sarah's stepmother. "Well, hurry up and open the door already."

Sarah complies with pressing the release button for a few seconds and then heads towards the couch. Toby's still asleep on the couch. Sarah looks at him for a couple of seconds, noticing that in sleep he looks so sweet. Looks can be deceiving. Reaching down, she shakes him awake.

"Wake up, Toby," she orders. "The parental units are here."

Toby grumbles and rolls over, trying to ignore Sarah and falls off of the couch in the process. With a cry of pain, he sits up and glares at his sister.

"I'm telling Mom and Dad that you made me sleep on the couch," he threatens.

"And I care because…?" she asks. "Get dressed and get your stuff together. They're on their way up."

Sarah turns and heads back into her room to get changed. As she finishes dressing the buzzer on the door goes off. She heads for the door but is cut off by Toby barreling past her. He flings the door open and all but knocks his mother over as he runs into her arms.

"How's my precious baby?" she coos in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Did you miss Mommy?"

"Sarah was mean to me," he cries with crocodile tears. "She made me sleep on the couch."

"What?" Karen screeches in indignation as she walks into the apartment with Toby still wrapped around her waist and Sarah's father trailing behind them. "How dare you make him sleep on the couch!"

"This is my apartment," Sarah states.

"I don't care," Karen interrupts. "You don't make your guests sleep on your dirty old couch."

"Yeah, if he was an invited guest, I would let him have the bed," Sarah snaps back. "But he wasn't invited now was he? You and Dad decided to dump him on me again. You're lucky I even let him in the door."

"Now, Sarah, don't speak to your mother that way," Richard tries to intervene.

"First off, she's not my mother," Sarah counters, rounding on her father. "Secondly, I'm sick and tired of you two dropping him on me whenever the mood strikes you. I don't have time to play babysitter to a whiny little brat."

"How dare you…?" Karen begins to threaten.

"Trust me lady, I dare," Sarah snarls back. "Toby, go get your stuff together. I have to leave for work in ten minutes and I don't have time for you to dawdle. I refuse to be late again because of you."

With that, she heads back into her bedroom to finish getting ready for work, by the time she reemerges, Toby is cramming the last of his stuff into his duffel bag. Karen has a look of distaste clearly written across her face as she looks around.

"How can you possibly live in the horrible little apartment?" Karen asks. "It has no view whatsoever, and don't even get me started on the neighborhood. I wouldn't be surprised if someone has broken into our car already. Richard, you did remember to set the car alarm, didn't you?"

"Yes, dear," Richard answers.

Sarah just ignores them as she grabs her purse and an apple and then heads for the door. Holding it open, she waits for everyone to leave before shutting and locking the door. She tries to put as much distance between them and herself as they all troop down the stairs towards the lobby. All the while, Karen is loudly complaining about the building, the lack of elevator and the neighborhood but mostly she's grousing about Sarah herself and the mistreatment of Toby.

As Sarah steps out of the stairwell, the landlord of the building pops out of his apartment right in front of her. He's a rather disgusting man. He wears a ratty old pair of jeans that are at least one size to small and a grubby undershirt with various stains on it. His hair is greasy from lack of water and shampoo coming in contact with it, his rather large belly hangs over the top of the jeans and he smells of unwashed human, stale beer and even staler tobacco smoke.

"Hey, sweet cheeks, where you goin'?" he asks with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"To work," she answers without making eye contact.

He steps out further into the corridor and blocks her path with his bulk.

"Your rent is late," he states.

"I get paid on Friday," she replies, still not looking him in the face. "You'll get your money then."

"You know, I could over look the rent if you just do me one little favor," he suggests.

"I know about those 'favors'," Sarah retorts. "You'll get your money on Friday, like I said."

"Maybe I should just kick you out," he snarls.

"You do that," she snaps back as she scoots past him.

Sarah exits the building and sees her 'family' getting into their Mercedes S Class. They see her, but don't bother to offer her a lift to work. She turns the corner and has to run to catch her bus.

An hour and a bus and train ride later, Sarah finally walks into the book shop she works at. As she walks in the door, her boss is waiting for her. She quickly checks her watch.

"Ok, I know I'm on time," she starts.

"Sarah, please join me in my office," he states.

She follows him into his tiny office in the back of the store with a sense of dread. He closes the door behind her and than takes a seat at his desk.

"Sarah, I hate to tell you this, but we're going to have to let you go," he says sadly.

"What? But why?" she demands, a sense of panic setting in. "I've only been late a couple of times, and I've never called in sick. I've worked hard and I've done everything you've asked of me."

"It has nothing to do with your performance, Sarah," he tries to reassure her. "The store isn't doing as well as the home office would like. Because of that, we have to let several people go. I'm sorry."

He pulls an envelope out of his desk and hands it to her. She opens it and finds her final paycheck inside. She looks at the amount and the panic increases ten fold.

"This is barely enough to cover my rent, I won't have enough for food," she states quietly. "Couldn't you please just let me work through the end of the week?"

"I'm sorry, it's out of my hands," he replies as he stands back up and heads for the door. "If you need a reference, please don't hesitate to use my name."

"Thanks," she mumbles.

She stuffs the envelope into her purse and heads back out of the office. She leaves the store and starts to walk. She's not sure where she's going, she just goes.

Some time later, she finally looks up and notices that she's wandered into Central Park. She looks around and notices a nearby pond with a couple of swans in it and a stone bridge over it. It brings back memories of a fateful evening nine years ago.

The memories of her dream flood back into her brain, nearly knocking her off of her feet. The images of a collapsing Labyrinth and a defeated Goblin King leave her shaken to her core. The Wise Man/Labyrinth insisting that she must return; that one turns her stomach into a knot.

Taking a seat on a bench, she pulls the apple out of her pocket. She stares at it for a while, remembering another fruit that turned her world upside down all those long years ago.

Suddenly, she's holding a peach. Sarah nearly drops it, and then remembers what happened in the throne room before she left. Jareth's words from the ballroom come back to her.

Everyone who comes here absorbs a little bit of the magic into them, some more than others. It mostly depends on their convictions as well. A person who doesn't believe in magic before he or she comes here isn't likely to absorb any magic or at least very little of it.

But what if that person truly believes in magic? What then?

Concentrating again, the peach turns back into an apple. Well, it all most turns back. While it has the shape and smell of an apple, the skin is furry. She takes a bite and is surprised by its sweetness. It's the perfect combination of apple and peach.

"Maybe I should give up trying to be an actress and become a magician," she mutters. "Or better yet, I'll open a fruit stand selling really weird fruit. Oh, yea, I'm sure there's a really big market in that."

With a sigh, she sits and watches the swans swimming by, just letting her mind wander where it may. Mostly her mind wanders its own labyrinth, taking several different twists and turns. The Goblin King is the most frequented thought followed by images of a crumbling Labyrinth.

Eventually, she notices that it's starting to get late and people are now heading home for the day. She knows she should get going, but the thought of fighting her way through the crush of bodies that will be on the subway and bus and then the possibility of having another confrontation with the landlord makes her wish she was already home with all of her heart.

In a blink of an eye, the bench is gone and Sarah is falling. She lands on her back and she ends up staring at the ceiling in her apartment. She lies there for several minutes contemplating the surface above her. The stained peeling paint reminds her again of the Labyrinth. Finally, she decides to get up off of the floor.

"No wonder Jareth always stands up before popping from one place to another," she grumbles as she brushes herself off.

As she heads into the kitchen, she notices that there's a message on her answering machine. Pushing the button as she passes, she stops as her father's voice fills the apartment.

"Hi, Sarah, it's your father. We just got home and Toby's been telling us a pretty amazing story about a demon, a lady that can set her hand on fire, a big orange monster that can call rocks, a dwarf and a one eyed fox who rides a sheepdog. He also mentioned something about goblins and a Goblin King. Now I know we've asked you to stop filling his head with those fantasies you were so fond of as a child. Since you haven't listened to our wishes and the fact that we're now going to have to pay to send Toby to a therapist, your mother and I have come to a decision." There are several seconds of silence before he continues. "We've decided that you're never to contact us again. Especially Toby. I'm sorry this is the way it has to be, but you forced the issue with making him believe all of that crazy stuff. Goodbye, Sarah."

Sarah stands in her little kitchen staring at the machine for some indeterminate amount of time. She expects to feel something after hearing her father's declaration, but nothing comes. Not anger nor sadness nor regret or anything else for that matter, just a sort of numbness comes over her followed quickly by a determined resolve.

Finally, she comes to a decision. After tossing out the remains of her apple/peach, she decides to take inventory of her wardrobe. When she is done going through her closet, only a few outfits past muster for what she wants. She sighs, plops down in her vanity chair and contemplates what to do next.

She sits and stares at herself in the mirror above her old white vanity. She decides to make a list of things she'll need to do and get, so she pulls out a pad of paper that some real estate agent left and a pen. She starts to write.

By the time she is done she has a rather lengthy list that takes several pages. She goes over the list one more time and then heads towards the kitchen again. She hits the erase button on the machine as she passes it and then makes herself something to eat. After she's done eating, she cleans up the kitchen, showers and then heads to bed. She lies there for several minutes wondering if she's making the right choice. Then she remembers the message from her father, and she knows that she's making the right decision.