I'll Be There For You

Jareth, King of the Goblins, sat in his rather noisy throne room, watching the clock. As goblins are not the brightest of creatures, they are highly suggestible. If their king decides to go to bed, the goblins would go off to their own beds. Of course, they'd get worried if Jareth decided to go to bed before ten thirty, Underground Time, and they'd know if he altered the clocks. It was getting increasingly harder to stay put and tough out the last half hour, as Jareth desperately wanted to check on Sarah. He knew she needed him, but didn't know why. He did, however, know it could wait another half hour.

Jareth looked towards the door as he heard a disturbance, as opposed to the usual Goblin noise. He looked to the nearest goblin and said, "Go find out what's going on."

"Yes, my lord," the goblin squeaked, and scurried away. It took him a couple of minutes to return. When he again reached his king, he bowed and said, "My lord, it's the three who helped Lady Sarah through the Labyrinth. They wish to speak with you."

Jareth looked towards the clock again and waved his hand, "Send them away."

"But, my lord," the goblin squeaked. It did not do to contradict the Goblin King. Jareth looked back at the goblin. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with Sarah's friends. "The dwarf says he was sent to see you."

Jareth sighed and replied, "By who?"

"My lord," the goblin said, relieved he wouldn't be kicked for disobeying his king, "By Toby."

Jareth straightened himself up. If Toby had sent him, then there was a good reason for the three creatures' presence. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" The Goblin King asked in an impatient voice. "Send them in. Everyone else, shut up!" Jareth's voice was barely below a yell, and echoed in the silence that followed.

Hoggle entered the room, followed closely by Sir Didymus and Ludo, all three bowing when they reached the Goblin King. Hoggle was the first to speak. "Your majesty," he began, "We's been sent to you by Toby to ask for your help."

"What kind of help?" Jareth asked arrogantly.

When Hoggle faltered, Sir Didymus spoke for him, "My lord, Lady Sarah might be in serious trouble."

"What?" Jareth yelled, standing up. "What kind? How?"

Ludo was the next to speak. "Sarah ran away."

Jareth sat back down, speechless. He put one foot up on the side of his chair, resting his elbow on his knee, and his chin on his hand, thinking.

As Hoggle shuffled his feet, suddenly uneasy with the silence from his king, Ludo suddenly found the floor very fascinating. Sir Didymus was the only one who could find his voice. "My Lord," he said gently, "Toby was most adamant about our coming to you to ask for your assistance."

Jareth chuckled silently. "I doubt those were his words." He sat up straighter and looked at the little fox. "How is Toby doing?" He had watched both Sarah and Toby only occasionally, and Sarah more than Toby.

"He's doing very well. Both his parents and Sarah spoil him," the tiny knight responded.

"He very cute," Ludo added, looking up at Jareth. "He remember Goblin King."

"What Ludo means," Sir Didymus said, "is that he remembered you, my Lord, without Sarah's help."

"His first word was Jareth," Hoggle said, trying to soften the blow from Sarah's absence in the Williams household.

Jareth smiled. "Of course it was," he said arrogantly, "and I'm not surprised Sarah left. I had thought she would try something else, though."

"Like wishing herself Underground, Sire?" Sir Didymus asked quietly.

"Exactly," Jareth responded. "Now leave me, all of you." When the goblins made no movement except to watch the three departing figures, he shouted, "Goblins included." At once, the throne room emptied, save for a fox, a yeti, a dwarf, and a king.

As he was about to step out the door, Ludo turned around, silently bumping into Hoggle and Sir Didymus. "Goblin King help Sarah?" he asked quietly, and the dwarf and fox turned, awaiting the answer from the king.

"I'll leave immediately," Jareth said quietly. Then he did something completely unexpected, and kept as a secret between fox, yeti, dwarf and king. He walked over to the three friends, and, very quietly, said, "Thank you for coming to me." With those words spoken, he conjured a crystal to change himself into an owl, and flew out the window.

Sarah Williams sat in the middle of a dark alley, leaning against a wall, arms resting on her knees, tears streaming down her face. She looked up, frightened, when she heard a rustling noise, tears stopping momentarily. She wiped the tears from her eyes when she saw a large, white owl. The owl tilted its head slightly and hooted gently.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah said angrily. The owl gave sad, quiet hoot. Sarah put her head back in her hands, to hide the tears that had begun spilling again. "I'm sorry Jareth," she said, calmer. "I shouldn't be mad at you, for anything. I asked you to take Toby, and then you gave him back. It's just that I…" Sarah paused and looked up at the owl. "I didn't want you to see me like this. I just… I wish," Sarah began babbling, but her words were drowned out by a clap of thunder. Then the sky opened up and decided to pour down on the two. "Oh, it's not fair," Sarah cried.

The owl flew in a small circle and, in a flash of glitter, turned into the Goblin King. He kneeled down and put his hand out towards Sarah. She looked at his hand, a little confused. "Come with me."

Sarah put her hand in Jareth's and stood up. "All right, Jareth," She said through her tears. "Take me away from this awful place."

Lightning struck and thunder rolled as Jareth pulled Sarah close to him, wrapping his arms around her. He whispered in her ear, "I'll do anything you wish for me to."

Sarah looked up at Jareth and said quietly, "I wish you would take me away." Lightning flashed again, and thunder began to roll, and was suddenly silenced, as everything around the pair turned pitch black.

Sarah felt Jareth remove one of his arms from around her, and four candles were lit. They were standing by a bed with red fabric for the canopy. The blankets were down, and matched the canopy. The four candles that had been lit were suspended in the air, about foot from the bed, two on either side. Jareth waved his hand and Sarah was dressed in a white night gown, completely dry.

"Where are we?" Sarah asked, hugging Jareth.

"Your chambers," the king responded. "My chambers are the next room to the right. Should you need me, I'll be there for you." With that, he kissed Sarah's forehead, and left the room.

Aboveground, in a house in New England, a dwarf tucked a three-year-old boy into bed, a fox and a yeti close by, all three telling him that Jareth had indeed gone to help his sister.