"I say, does anyone want to play a game of Scrabble?"

Seven games of Scrabble, two competitions of Chicken Toss, a round of Goblin Ale that was not drunk by any humans in the room (there being only one), and an explosion of chicken feathers later, Sarah William's victory party for defeating the Labyrinth drew to a close. She waved a jovial goodbye to all her friends as they returned back to their homes. Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus were the last ones to leave. She received a wave, a furry hug, and a deep bow from each of them respectively.

"Should you need us…"

Sarah sat down on the edge of her bed and surveyed the catastrophe that was her bedroom. Goblins, she realized, were worse than the frat boys in movies when it came to trashing a party.

With a sigh, she wiped a clump of orange fur off her comforter. She was too tired to attempt any sort of cleaning, which aggravated her. Ever since she was about five years old she had always kept her room clean and tidy.

"What a pity."

"What a mess," said a smooth voice.

Sarah's head snapped up and her eyes grew wide. Appearing before her, seemingly out of thin air, stood the Goblin King wearing a smirk. Donned in his midnight-encrusted armour, he stuck a tall and imposing figure with his hands placed upon his hips. His eyes shone with an indecipherable twinkle.

"I don't know why you look so cocky," quipped Sarah. "After all, I did just beat you."

The Goblin King held up his hands in mock-defense. "No need to be so abrasive, Sarah. You won fair and square. Truly, I expected no less from you."

Sarah eyed him suspiciously. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh yeah? Then why are you here?"

"I've come to give you your prize," he told her. His tone suggested it was the most obvious thing in the world. He flicked his wrist and a crystal appeared in his hand.

"I have my prize," said Sarah. She eyed the crystal warily. "I got my baby brother back."

"Your brother was your goal. He was not your prize. This-" Jareth held up the crystal in offering. "This is your prize."

"It's a crystal, nothing more..."

"You already offered me my dreams," said Sarah. Her eyes tracked the crystal as he twirled and toyed with it.

Jareth grinned toothily. "Indeed I did, Sarah. You defeated my labyrinth spectacularly. Although, near the end there I had worried for a moment you'd forgotten your lines."

Sarah's brows were knitted together. "Wait, you wanted me to win?"

"I wanted you to pass."

"But why?"

"Because every teacher wishes for his student to pass her test."

"Test?"

"Just take the crystal, Sarah." Walking forward, Jareth took Sarah's hand in his own and placed the crystal in her palm. It was smooth and somehow warm to the touch; almost comfortingly so. Jareth's eyes bore into hers and in their depths she saw something akin to pleading. "It is your reward."

Her voice was barely more than a whisper when she asked, "What is it?"

An intense emotion made Jareth's voice even richer when he responded, "Your memories."

Unable to help herself any longer, and feeling as if an invisible force was tugging her head down, the Champion of the Labyrinth peered into the crystal.

The Champion remembered everything.

The elation had been expected. The tears, however, had not.

"My kingdom is as great."

Looking up at Jareth with wide, suddenly watery eyes, Sarah placed a shaking hand over her mouth.

"Hello, my brave heroine," he greeted her warmly. His smile seemed to bring light to the whole room, without any sort of edge or condensation to it. Emotions that had been invisible to her before were now present in his eyes. Pride, joy, respect…

Love.

"Jareth," Sarah croaked.

The Goblin King threw his head back and laughed. Looking back to her, his smile became even more radiant and he opened his arms in invitation.

Without hesitation, Sarah threw herself into his embrace. He hugged her fiercely, but not before he had magically replaced his armor with soft breeches and a flowy poet's shirt. Sarah buried her face into his shoulder and they desperately held on to each other.

Finally reunited.

"Why did you take them away?" Sarah asked as Jareth ran a soothing hand through her hair. As happy as she was, there was an edge of hurt on her voice. "My memories?"

"Because, Sarah mine, I had one last test for you," Jareth replied, squeezing her gently so she wouldn't pull away.

"The Labyrinth," she murmured, the realization dawning.

"Yes, my labyrinth." Jareth placed a tender kiss on her temple. "You learned many lessons there, did you not?"

"Things are not always as they seem."

"I did," Sarah confirmed. "But I still don't know why."

Jareth gently took her chin between his thumb and index finger and lifted her head so she would meet his eyes. His tone was entirely serious when he told her, "So you may come to the Underground with me."

Sarah expelled a short breath. Her eyes searched his desperately. "To be your princess?"

"Yes," he told her. "Then, perhaps in time, my Queen."

Sarah's eyes lit with understanding, but she looked surprised.

"But what no one knew is that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl…"

"Sarah," Jareth began. His expression was intense in its severity. "Do you want to be mine?"

"Forever?"

"Yes."

Sarah smiled. "Not long at all."

"There's such a sad love

Deep in your eyes, a kind of pale jewel

Open and closed within your eyes

I'll place the sky within your eyes…"

fin

Author's Note 2020: Thank you for reading! This particular story will always have a special place in my heart. I hope you enjoyed the editing and additions I've made. :)

Author's Note 2016: I cannot say thank you enough to everyone out there who commented, favorited, followed, and enjoyed this journey with me. I am amazed that something that started out as a small little blurb in one of my notebooks turned into this. It has truly been a pleasure to write and I hope it has been an enjoyable read. Young Sarah and Caretaker Jareth will always be in my heart. I want to give some shoutouts to those who always left a kind review and/or shot me a PM that encouraged and motivated me:

Zatara1324

RicherWorldBuilding

FireShifter

Aurora Kemanche

babyvfan

Cassodembreankia (Cass) (jfc one of your reviews was so long and hilarious and I still bust out laughing when I read it)

Again, thank you to all who took the time out of their lives to read, favorite, and comment on my frankly ridiculous story. I love you all.