"Sarah, are you ever coming home?" Toby looked over at his big sister from his car seat and Sarah had to marvel once again at how much older than nearly four he sounded. She debated for a moment on how to answer his question. In the end, she decided she couldn't lie to him.

"I don't think so, Gobs."

Toby looked crestfallen. "Why not?"

Sarah sighed. "Moira asked me to leave. And as long as she's living there, I can't go back."

Toby was quiet, and Sarah knew he was busy putting his little brain to work processing this information. Sarah turned into the driveway of her and Toby's favorite restaurant. Sarah remembered countless times that she'd been there with her mother, before Toby was born. Her father brought her and Toby there with Moira, when they were first married. Sarah hadn't set foot in this parking lot in over five years.

They got a booth in the back of the air-conditioned building. They ordered chocolate shakes and hamburgers, dipping their fries into the frozen drinks as they talked.

"So why doesn't Moira leave?" Toby asked her. "Then you could come back."

Sarah took her time answering this question, not wanting to instill any unnecessary hostility in the young boy, even toward Moira.

"Because Dad loves Moira. He asked her to come live with us, and they got married. It's up to him to decide when she leaves…and I don't think that's going to be any time soon."

"Why?"

Another tricky question. She had no wish to cause her father to lose face when it came to his son. "Because…Dad has…" Sarah was stumped.

"Doesn't he want her to go?" Toby interrupted her thinking.

Sarah sighed. "I think a part of him does. But he can't ask her to leave, it isn't that simple. He…isn't strong enough."

Toby seemed to understand exactly what she meant, to Sarah's relief. She decided to take this opportunity to tell him what she'd taken him out to tell him. She reached across the table and took his tiny hands in hers.

"Listen to me Toby, and listen carefully. I love you, and I love Dad, and if I could come home to look after you both, then I would. But I can't. So you have to learn to take care of yourself. Moira is dangerous, in a lot of ways. You have to understand that none of what she does is your fault. Don't let her make you sad, or angry, or upset, because it will only make things worse. You are a very special little boy, and you can't ever forget that. You are better than her, you are above her. Don't ever let her tell you different."

For a brief moment, Sarah saw something flash in her brother's eyes—something that wasn't small, weak, or four years old. It was strong, regal…even royal. And it was in that second that she knew his destiny held something far greater than this world, than this life. This little boy was to grow up to be a leader, a King. Toby nodded in agreement to her words, assuring Sarah that he would be just fine in that house.

Which was good, because now there would be no reason to resort to kidnapping, which was plan B.

Sarah smiled at her brother. "So, you're turning the big 0-4 tomorrow. What do you want to do for your birthday?"

Sarah pulled into the driveway of her father's house, behind Moira's car. Sarah swore under her breath, hoping Toby didn't hear her. She half believed that Moira wouldn't be back by the time she brought Toby home. But there was no turning back now.

She took Toby's hand and walked with him up to the front door, rang the doorbell. As the door opened, Sarah saw her father's face lined with weariness and heard Moira's voice from the kitchen. "Colin, is that her?" Her falsely sweet tone made Sarah's blood run cold.

Without waiting for an answer from her husband, Moira emerged from the kitchen. Upon seeing the evil expression on her face, Sarah relaxed. She's no more than a monster. Brute strength, no brains. Sarah prodded Toby into the house, watched him run past Moira, up the stairs and—Sarah could only guess—into Sarah's old room, which had most likely been given to Toby.

Moira stood before Sarah, silent and staring. Sarah took a deep breath. "Toby's birthday is tomorrow. I'd like to take him."

Moira folded her arms. "Would you?"

Sarah nodded curtly, and Moira laughed. "The last time I checked, it didn't matter what you did or didn't like."

"Moira, don't let the past interfere here. It's his birthday, let me take him for the day."

"Absolutely not."

"Toby wants to go with her." Colin's voice shocked both his wife and daughter, and they both turned to look at him. He didn't return the stares; instead, he directed his attention to his shoes. "Let him go, he wants to be with Sarah."

Sarah felt a surge of love for her father as he made his first step toward standing up for himself. Moira turned her attention on her husband. "Shut up, Colin."

Sarah's heart fell as her father backed down a bit. Don't give up now, she pleaded silently. Her father mumbled something to the floor that sounded something like, "He should be happy."

Moira was furious. "Stay out of it. It doesn't concern you."

She'd finally done it. She'd said exactly the right thing to break the spell, at least for a moment. Her father looked up from his feet and stared at his wife. His voice shook a bit, but he was nevertheless unafraid. "It does concern me. These are my kids. Toby is my son, too, and he should have what he wants for his birthday, damn it. And he wants to be with Sarah." He turned to his daughter, who had tears in her eyes. "You can pick him up in the morning. I'll make sure he's ready to go." And without another word, he walked past Moira into the kitchen.

Sarah took one last look at the monster and left.

Driving home, she swelled with pride for her father. She worried, too, because she knew that Moira's abuse would double until she cut him down again. But Sarah was just as certain that she would leave Toby alone from now on.

Sarah pulled up to Jeanie's door around four o' clock. She planned on telling Jeanie that she could go back to work on Monday (for, of course, Jeanie had given Sarah a few days off work to recover). She only had two weeks left of school, then she would graduate and hopefully head off to college…so much was in store for her, and she was simply floating on air as she entered the house.

In fact, Sarah was too high to realize how confusing the scene in Jeanie's living room was as she walked in. Luke and Jeanie sat on the sofa, and had obviously been deep in conversation until Sarah came in. Now, Luke stood up, looking slightly pale.

"Hi!" Sarah exclaimed as she embraced him. "What's going on, what are you doing here?"

Luke shot Jeanie a look, and Jeanie hastily headed off into the kitchen. Sarah sensed the energy for the first time and her face fell. "Is everything okay?" she asked, knowing full well it wasn't.

"Sit down, Sarah," Luke said, and they both sat.

There was a tense silence in the room as Luke looked like he was trying to gather up the words for what he was trying to tell her. Sarah felt it best not to say anything, but the suspense was tearing at her chest cavity. Finally, Luke took a deep breath.

"I have to tell you something, Sarah, something you aren't going to like. But first, I want to you know that I have truly come to care about you and it was never an intention of mine to bring you pain. It was all due to bad planning on my part, and for that I am eternally sorry."

Sarah narrowed her eyes at him. "What's going on?"

"I'm not who you think I am. I've deceived you, because I knew you could not love me as I was."

Sarah was utterly perplexed. "What are you talking about? Luke…"

"That isn't my name, it's simply one conjured up by a creature so pathetic and desperate that he went to extreme means to win your heart. Two years ago, I fell in love with you, and it's haunted me every day since. It's affected everything, I can't sleep…"

As this monologue went on, his voice changed and Sarah noticed he was speaking strangely. Something nagged at her memory, she knew that voice, she knew those words. She racked her brain, tried to recall…that voice. Where had she heard it? Those words…She knew them, could almost picture the lips that spoke them…she was near panic, she had to remember…

Then, it hit her in an explosion of realization, her head pounding with the horrible idea. She put her shaking hands to her temples, trying to drive out the knowledge that just a moment ago she'd been desperate for.

"No," she whispered. She looked up at his face, the recognition doubling as she saw him, her headache worsening. "No, it can't be. You aren't…"

Suddenly, the room shifted and spun. Sarah stood up, but lost her balance and reached for the arm of the couch to steady herself, but it was gone. Before she could fall, though, the spinning stopped and Sarah stood on a familiar hill, overlooking an all-too-familiar landscape. The Labyrinth shimmered in the moonlight (for, of course, time moves quite differently there) and every star winked and sparkled with a brilliance one can only imagine Aboveground.

Sarah shook her head to clear it and glanced around. She turned to her left and came face-to-face with Jareth, back in his original form, standing several feet away. Tears of rage came to Sarah's eyes as she fixed him with a wrathful glare. "How could you? You pathetic, sniveling little creature, how dare you barge into my life and mess with my emotions that way?" Sarah's voice began to rise until she was practically yelling. "What could you have been thinking?" She moved closer to him and he made no move to back away. She began to beat on his chest with her fists. "You sick, twisted son of a bitch—"

Jareth gently took her wrists in his hands to stop her from hitting him further. She wrenched out of his grip and stood back. "Don't touch me."

"Sarah…"

"Don't. Don't even start. I cannot listen to any more of your manipulative lies, I want to go home."

"Will you please listen?"

"Why should I? Face it, Jareth. I won. Are you really such a sorry excuse for a king that you can't handle the occasional defeat? You couldn't just let it go, you had to play this horrible little joke on me for your own sick entertainment—"

"It wasn't like that. Every night I go to bed, and I can think of nothing but you. You defeated me, and I loathed you for it. But that wasn't the reason for my agony—my powers have dwindled, my kingdom has gone to rubbish, I can't rule, I can't concentrate…and why? Because I love you. And I have to live every day knowing that you absolutely despise me. If there was ever a doubt that I have a heart, know that I most certainly do. Because I can feel it breaking."

Sarah looked at him, motionless. "You expect me to believe that? Honestly, Jareth, if I learned anything from our last meeting, it's that you will do absolutely anything to have as much power as possible. And wouldn't that be the ultimate victory? To win over the one person who ever made you feel less than supreme?" She shook her head, crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, forgive me, but I have no wish to be the one to restore your ego. Now send me home."

Jareth almost started to protest, but the look in her eyes showed the truth. He had lost to her will yet again. With a wave of his hand, he was alone on the cliff, and as he gazed over his kingdom, he thought that the Labyrinth had never looked lonelier.