The alarm clock radio was blaring the Bangles, but Sarah wasn't ready for any kind of Monday yet and hit the snooze button, still in a fog. She sat up and touched her damp cheeks and reflected on her dream. Could it have been real? Did the Goblin King really come and dance with her in a dream?

It sounded crazy.

Her thoughts went back to her trip to the aquarium with Toby the afternoon before. She had smiled at his enthusiasm; he had been completely fascinated by the varieties of strange and colorful fish. Toby's running commentary was often hilarious, he thought that the mandarin fish looked like a cross between a frog and a hummingbird, wanted a pet axolotl and was disappointed that sea dragons didn't breath fire. Sarah remembered she had wished him away all those years ago, resenting having to babysit him. Now she enjoyed spending time with him, she couldn't imagine her life without him.

Could her dream have just been her brain processing the events and thoughts of the day, her memories and her regrets?

She remembered how some of the sea creatures had made her think of the denizens of the Labyrinth. There were goblin fish (creepy cute), a preserved goblin shark (just plain creepy), and a blobby faced fish that looked like a goblin to her. There was even a poufy white jellyfish that had reminded her of that huge dress she had worn in the ballroom.

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense that it had been nothing more than a very vivid dream.

But he had seemed so real. She could still feel where his hands had held her while they danced, and the intensity of his gaze. He had been just as she remembered, well... except that sharks can't wear tight pants.

The radio suddenly blared again; traffic report, it was officially Monday morning.

"Ugh!" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes and hopping out of bed. "Okay, I'd better get moving"

The apartment was small, but cosy, furnished with family hand-me-downs and thrift store finds. Tiger, her orange Mainecoon cat was asleep in a beam of sunshine on the couch. Her most precious possessions were in the bookcases, tomes of childhood memories and the classics that she devoured as a teen. And a few tchotches she couldn't part with.

Sarah went through the motions of her morning routine; made her bed, brushed and braided her waist length dark hair, got dressed (blue jeans and a khaki green blouse), fed the cat, packed her lunch, ate some toast... but she couldn't shake her dream.

That's odd... don't dreams normally fade from memory when you wake up?

She looked up at the clock in the kitchen and realized that all this daydreaming was going to make her late for work. Gulping down her now lukewarm coffee, she grabbed her lunch and ran out the door, praying that traffic wouldn't be too bad.

No such luck.

Sarah arrived at work ten minutes late. The old red brick building was a former warehouse, with high ceilings and large windows, and she loved it. The printery rented space on the third floor; there was an open area for the machinery on one end, three cubicles on the other. On the wall opposite the big windows were three doors leading to a small break room, a large storage closet and a tiny bathroom. Carla, her boss, only frowned slightly as she saw Sarah slip in the door, she was busy reviewing designs with one of their regular clients. The only other employee, Tina, was adjusting the silk screen, preparing to apply a new color.

Once at her work space, Sarah grabbed a stack of orders and tried to concentrate on work. Her desk was a good reflection of herself, not exactly tidy, but not quite cluttered. There were a few family photos, one of Toby as a toddler with Merlin (she still missed that dog), another of the whole family together when Toby had received a certificate of merit at school last month. Sarah had even snuck in a few momentos, the dwarf bookend was holding up some files, and her paperweight was a souvenir from the Labyrinth. She had found the crystal in Toby's crib the day after running the Labyrinth; he must have still been holding it when they were returned home. Sarah had wanted nothing to do with it at first, she had picked it up using one of Toby's sand buckets, intending to throw it out. But it was a tangible proof of her adventure, and she couldn't bring herself to throw it away, no matter how much it made her nervous. Finally she had settled on putting it away in a box in the attic for years. She had found it again when she was packing to move out. Since it didn't seem to do anything, she assumed that its magic was spent, and had decided to use it as a paperweight.

Still, she never let it be anywhere near where she might change her clothes or something, just in case.

Sarah tried to keep her mind on her work, but it stubbornly refused, far preferring to dwell on the possible reappearance of a certain fairytale monarch in her life rather than the print orders that she was supposed to have finished by the end of the day. Normally she loved her job; it was in a small printing business, specializing in small batch silk screen prints and t-shirts. Nothing fancy or prestigious, but it allowed her to do variety of tasks, from orders and accounting, to actually doing the printing. That was her favorite part - it appealed to her artistic side.

But today, her artistic side, her practical side and all other brain cells were mentally ogling a certain Goblin King who had a penchant for leather.

Too bad he wasn't wearing the outfit from the tunnels... she mused, and then mentally shook herself.

Stop it! He's the bad guy, remember?

He sure is! her inner voice sighed.

"Uhh!" Sarah huffed under her breath, putting her head in her hands, "How am I going to get anything done today?"

Carla appeared in her doorway, interrupting her reverie, "Sarah? We need to order more of the fluorescent fabric inks, we'll be making the t-shirts for the kids fundraiser again."

"Okay, I'm on it" Sarah added it to the supplies order immediately, before her muddled mind could forget.

Carla's tall lean frame hadn't moved from the doorway "Are you okay?"

"Uhh... yeah, I'm fine, I... just didn't sleep well enough last night."

"Party too hard?" Carla's smile was teasing; she knew that wasn't Sarah's thing.

"Pfft! No, just some weird dreams" And I don't want to talk about it.

"Did you eat anything heavy before bed?" Carla was a bit of a mother hen sometimes.

"No." It took some self-control not to roll her eyes.

"Maybe you could try some chamomile tea." She added helpfully.

"I'll try that, thanks." Sarah tried to turn her attention back to her paperwork.

"It's almost noon, Tina and I are going to Sakura Sushi for lunch, wanna join us?"

"Thanks, but I brought my lunch today, maybe next time." Payday wasn't for another four days, and Sarah had splurged on the weekend with Toby.

"Okay, see you later."

As Sarah once again tried to make sense of the pages in front of her, it occurred to her to wonder if she wasn't just losing her mind.

…

Another crystal shattered against the throne room wall.

"Blast it!"

After waking this morning with new hope, Jareth was now decidedly dejected.

"Why can I still not see her?" he muttered, glaring at the crystal shards littering the floor.

-True she had not finished speaking her wish, but... she had said she would like to see him again, and he had answered her with the words "As you wish". He had hoped that it would be enough to loosen the grip of those cursed words so long ago. Apparently not.

Pity, he smirked, I would have loved to see her reaction on awakening.

He returned to lounging on his throne, one hand at his chin, the other tapping a riding crop on his boot. He had much to think about. After the debacle of Sarah's last visit to the Underground, he had honesty thought he would never see her again. Her words had power, and he had been unable to see her, or even send her a message, by letter, or crystal, or goblin. She had been lost to him.

It was probably a good thing, at the time. His state of mind was not exactly stable in the days following his defeat. He had raged, and kicked, and shattered innumerable crystals. The goblins had avoided his throne room for a month. Finally, he had to admit to himself that he had forced her to make an impossible choice. She could not even begin to learn to care for him as long as she feared for her brother. He had not made it clear enough that Toby was no longer in the equation.

But now, her half-formed wish had given him hope. She had not forgotten him, and if their conversation was any indication, she did not hate him, only mistrusted him. He could work with that. It should have allowed him some leeway in his dealings with her. He had tested this new opportunity immediately and was quite put out to discover that he was still blocked from seeing her through his crystals. But he was never one to give up easily.

Forming another crystal, he spoke. "Higgle, Sarah mentioned wanting to see you..."

...

Authors note

Thanks again to Guest 2019, notwritten and JasperK for the lovely reviews, they really make my day :)

Yes there is a tiny reference to Pika-la-Cynique's GND :D (if you have not read her awesome web comic, get thee to deviantart and check it out!)

I still don't own the Labyrinth :(