Chapter Two

Sarah was woken in the morning by a strange tapping noise that sounded like someone rapping on glass. Still befuddled by sleep, Sarah mumbled something incoherent and threw her pillow over her head. However the tapping sound grew louder and more insistent and was accompanied by someone calling her name. Sarah tugged off her covers and sleepily sat up.

"What is it?" She mumbled.

"Sarah?" The voice was coming from her mirror. Then Sarah realised who it was. She jumped out of bed, completely awake now and stumbled over to her desk.

"Hoggle?" She asked in amazement. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in ages." Sarah felt a warmth spread through her body at the sight of her friend, which seemed to dull out the pain she felt from the night before. That was until she looked at him more closely, Hoggle looked very small and thin. He had lost weight since Sarah had last seen him and he looked worried.

"What's wrong Hoggle?" She asked.

"Sarah. I shouldn't be asking this, but I really need a favour." He said flatly. "You'll probably say no of course but I just thought I should ask."

"Why would I say no? You're my friend aren't you?" She asked.

"Yes Sarah, we are friend's but" Sarah cut him off.

'Why don't you come through the mirror and we'll talk about it."

Hoggle sighed. "I can't come through the mirror Sarah. The magic isn't strong enough. And I have ter be quick cause this connection is shaky and it might break at any moment."

"What is it Hoggle?"

"It's Jareth." Hoggle sighed. "We need him back, desperately. And no one has seen him since you beat him last year. No one that is, cept you."

"No one has seen him?" Sarah was stunned. "But he can't have, I mean I only ever saw him as an owl. And I'm not even sure it was him."

"Oh it was him alright. Who else would it be? He wants to stay close to you no doubt. And well he's probly afraid ter go home."

"Why would he be afraid?" Sarah wondered. Hoggle grunted in frustration.

"I can't go into details now, there isn't time. Will yer help?"

"Well, I guess? But Hoggle, I haven't seen Jareth for ages. Well I might have seen him last night.."

Hoggle looked closely at Sarah.

"Sarah, you have ter bring him back. Back to the Underground."

"What? But how can I do that? And besides, I haven't seen him, I think he's angry with me." Sarah felt a thud in her chest as she said this.

"Sarah, his magic is almost non existent right now, he has spent too long as an owl and he is weakening. He knows that he needs to come home, so if you can find him you should be able to bring him back here. But Sarah, we will only have one chance at this. You need to have Jareth here by this time tomorrow or it will be too late." And with that Hoggle faded away.

"Wait. Hoggle? How do I find him?" Sarah hand moved up to touch the mirror where Hoggle's face had just been.

"Great" she said to herself. "I've been trying to find him for ages, now I learn I have a deadline? And by the sounds of things I have to go back to the Labyrinth. I place I had happily left behind." But as soon as Sarah had said those words she knew she didn't mean them. While she was truly happy since she had returned from the Labyrinth she was also lonely. Despite the feeling of trepidation she had about returning, she felt herself come alive with excitement at the prospect. There was just one problem.

When Jareth had first come to Sarah as an owl, she had been more than a little apprehensive. In fact she was downright scared. When Sarah had fought her way through the Labyrinth a year earlier she hadn't been exactly afraid of him. Which as far as Jareth was concerned was probably part of the problem. But she had felt anger towards him; obviously for taking Toby (although that anger was later redirected at herself) but also for the way he had treated her. He mocked her. Almost everything he had said or done was mocking. Sarah found him to be an excellent companion as an owl; in that form she loved him very much. But what would he remember? Would he remember anything? Was she helping the person whom she despised most in the world? Sarah shook her head. She only knew one thing. She could not let him die. She felt strongly enough for him to not let that happen. Sarah pulled her thoughts together and headed for the bathroom.

Much later as she was walking back to the patch of woods where Toby had seen Jareth the night before she realised that it didn't really matter if he remembered or not. Jareth would always be Jareth. Once he had returned to his human form he would either be exactly as he was before, in which case she would simply return home. Or if he was different, if he had changed - … Sarah refused to think about that. Instead she turned her thoughts towards finding him first. Then she could worry about what he would say and how he would behave. Besides, Sarah did have an added advantage. She knew Jareth was in love with her.

Sarah winced as a branch brushed across the gash on her cheek. She had come to the small clearing where Toby had found Jareth the night before. Or had Jareth found Toby? Sarah wasn't sure. She had been to this spot five times already and was coming close to giving up. It was dusk and Sarah had been searching for him all day.

"It's not fair" She muttered to herself, and then she called out, "Come on! I know you love it when I say that, it gives you a reason to mock me!" Only silence answered her. Sarah sank down to her knees and then sat at the foot of a tree much like she had the previous night.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm really sorry. Please come home."

It seemed like she waited for hours. Eventually Sarah fell asleep, her head rested against the tree trunk, her legs splayed out in front of her and her hair falling like a waterfall around her face. When she woke up Sarah had an uneasy feeling like she was being watched. She swept her hair out of her face and found herself staring into a pair of bright eyes. It was him, still in the form of an owl.

He was resting on the top of Sarah's legs only a few inches from her face. Sarah lifted her head slowly, trying not to startle him.

"Jareth? Can you understand me?" She whispered. The owl gave a small hoot, and hopped closer.

"You understand that we have to go home? I mean you have to go home. I have to take you?" Jareth cocked his head and hooted again. He was looking rather shabby, his feathers were falling out and he was dangerously thin.

"Jareth it's time to go. Hoggle will be coming for us soon." Sarah checked her watch. "Oh my god, really soon, Jareth we have to get home now!" Sarah stood slowly and Jareth hopped to perch on her hand. Hoggle was right then, she thought. He will come with me. Slowly Sarah set off for home.

They had made it back to Sarah's house with only a few minutes to spare, As they were climbing in her bedroom window, dawn started to break. They waited in front of the mirror.

They were silent as the last few minutes past. Then there was a ripple of movement in the mirror and Hoggle's form appeared before them.

"Sarah, you must hurry we don't have much time left. I see you managed to find him."

Sarah smiled grimly, "I think he wanted to be found Hoggle. Despite his reluctance I believe that he knows he has to go back." She paused, "How do I do this? The last time I went to the Labyrinth it simply appeared before me. That was his doing, I haven't exactly walked through a mirror before."

"Its quite simple." Hoggle said. "All you must do is take my hand. The problem lies in if you believe that you can. That's why no one ever comes this way, its too hard for most people to believe."

"And he will come through with me?" Sarah asked.

"He will, but you must keep contact with him Sarah."

Sarah closed her eyes and reached out her hand keeping her other firmly gripped on Jareth. She felt a strange sensation as if her arm had been plunged into icy water. When she opened her eyes she discovered that she was back in the ruins of the Escher room as she had last seen it, Hoggle was standing before her, his hand still in hers. For a few moments Sarah thought she had left Jareth behind, she frantically looked around the ruins and found him sprawled in a corner, back in human form. She knelt before him and took one of his gloved hands in hers. Even through the fabric his hands felt like ice and Sarah could tell that he didn't have much time left. As she went to remove his gloves, to warm his hand with hers, Hoggle stopped her.

"Sarah, you can't. You can't take them off." Sarah started and dropped his gloved hand.

"Why not?" She asked softly.

"That's where his magic is, it's the only thing keeping it all in."

Sarah could not move her eyes from his crumpled and silent form, still clad in the white feathers she had last seen him in. "Will he wake up?" She whispered. "Is it too late?"

"It's not too late for him, but the magic is leaving him and you must act quickly or he will die and all of us with him, including you Sarah."

"What do I have to do?" She said, not moving her eyes from Jareth.

"You have to enter his mind. He has locked himself away somewhere, some place deep in his mind, and he won't come out unless you bring him out Sarah."

"Why would he listen to me?" She said softly. Hoggle stepped closer to Sarah and turned her face towards him.

"Because he loves you. You know that. All of this has happened because he loves you." Hoggle said as if it was a simple fact that could not be argued.

Sarah closed her eyes. "Tell me what to do."

It was a lot simpler than she first realized, once the initial fear was over it was easy to slip inside him as though his mind was nothing more difficult than a door to enter through. She could feel it, feel him, his mind working as a slight breeze played across her hair and she let her own mind be calmed by it. She was afraid to open her eyes. As soon as she did the confusion hit her.

It was as if all the confusion in her own mind was made corporeal and stood in the one room. It was so white, everything was so white, and there was so much movement. As her eyes adjusted the confusion settled somewhat, she became aware of colours flashing and dancing before her eyes. Despite the urgency of the situation she could not bring herself to move, as she was filled with an unexplainable terror. It was then that she realized where she was. The crystal ballroom.

Sarah willed herself to move, first her arms then her legs and torso recovered from their paralysis. Of course he would have gone here, this is where they had danced, this is where they had looked into each others eyes and understood the truth between them and this was where she had run away from him. Her memories of this place were mostly of haziness and a strange sick feeling, which she now knew to be the drugs he had forced upon her. She often wondered what would have happened to her and Toby if she had not looked into his eyes that night, it was as if a certain clarity had come over her and she knew she had to make a choice. She chose Toby. It seemed as if Jareth had chosen her or nothing, and was now wallowing in the depths of his memories as if that was all he had left. She had to find him.

Sarah wove her way through the ballroom, only dimly aware that she was wearing the same dress as she had on her last visit to this place. What she was acutely aware of was that Jareth was nowhere to be seen, which didn't make any sense if this was his memory. She kept seeing flashes of royal blue, but as soon as she focused on them they disappeared. This went on for what seemed like hours, as she passed between couples and pushed her way through the crowds only to see what may have been him disappear behind a pillar or a couple of masquerade dancers twirling fanatically. Sarah felt like stomping her foot, but was acutely aware that it would do no good and it was somewhat undignified to do so in a memory of Jareth's. For a few moments she just paused, as the dancers twirled and the colours flew past her. Sarah closed her eyes, opened them and put out her hand.

"Stop" she murmured, stretching her hand out in front of her like she was encouraging Jareth to step out of the confusion and take it. "Stop" she repeated more definitely, and as she spoke the room slowed, the colours blurred and she felt things grind to a firm and definite halt around her. And then he was in front of her, and everyone else had vanished.

To begin with, he just looked at her. Looked her up and down, just as he might have years ago when it all started. Looked at her like he was appraising her, or sizing her up, and then he spoke.

"How did you find me Sarah?" he said softly, and a shiver ran up the length of her spine.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered.

Jareth cocked his head to one side.

"Isn't that a question for me Sarah? You are inside my mind after all."

She looked at him closely, up and down just as he had done a moment ago. He was exactly as he had been to her before. Arrogant, cocky, stunning, powerful, terrifying. Dressed in the royal blue jacket from before, sparkles flying, hair identical right down to the blue streaks. And his eyes, one sharply blue, one soft brown, boring into her own as if there was no one else in the world save for them. It struck Sarah suddenly that this was an act. This was his way of still having power over her even now, even after everything that had happened, even though he was so close to death and to taking her with him.

"You have to come home Jareth." She stated softly, "We have played here long enough don't you think?"

Jareth eyes deepened and he let the act drop. Sarah could see his face lengthen and his body draw up, as if he had nothing left and had long been denied of any proper nourishment. Then her mind blurred and finally settled into darkness.