A/N: Old fic that I'm finishing uploading until I can figure out the other one's I've written.
Chapter 5
A Little Help From An Old Friend
Sarah and Mark sat together on a couch in one of the many guest rooms in the castle. They sat there in silence while watching the fire in the fireplace crackle. "How many hours does she have left?" Sarah said after a while. Mark squinted at the clock on the mantle. "About ten hours and twenty minutes." he said. Sarah rested her head on Mark's shoulder.
"She'll make it." she thought. "After all, if I can make it then my daughter should have an easy time getting here." Sarah sighed. "But what if she didn't make it? Would Mark and I become goblins? Would Jareth really do that to us? To me?" She closed her eyes. "Or worse, like if Maggie doesn't make it in time because she….she's….she's….no. Maggie will make it. She has ten hours left and I'm sure she's half way by now."
A soft knock at the door made Sarah forget her thoughts and open her eyes. "Come in." Mark said as a dwarf walked in. "Sarah?" the dwarf said in a soft voice. Sarah immediately got up and rushed over. "Hoggle!" she said as she embraced him. "Sarah! You're actually back!" Hoggle said as he returned the hug. "I'm so glad to see you! And I'm really sorry, so sorry, that I haven't called you in all these years. It's just that I…." Sarah said as she pulled away to face him. "Ain't nuthin' to be worried about." Hoggle said and Sarah gave him a smile.
"This is Hoggle?" Mark said as he stood and went up to the dwarf. He reached out a hand to Hoggle. "It's nice to put a face to the name that Sarah keeps talking about", Mark said, "I'm her husband, Mark. It's nice to meet you." Hoggle looked at the hand for a moment and then reached out his hand to shake Mark's. "Yeah….And you, ah, got married Sarah?" Hoggle said. Sarah smiled and went to stand next to Mark. "Yeah. A little over twenty years ago now." "Of course I would have never met her if my buddies didn't keep pushing me to buy her a drink." Mark said as he put his arm around Sarah's waist. "Oh, well, I'm happy fer ya Sarah." Hoggle said.
Sarah couldn't help but smile at the memory of when she first met Mark in that bar many years ago. "Yeah, a lot has changed since I was last here. I mean, I finished school, got a job, met my prince charming, started a family…." Sarah said as her mind suddenly thought about Maggie again. She looked at the dwarf. "You know that my daughter is the one that wished us away?" Hoggle's mouth fell open. Oh the irony of Sarah being wished away after Sarah had wished away her brother…..
"Well, how much time does she have left?" he asked. "About ten hours now", Mark said, "I'm just so worried about her, about my little girl." "The labyrinth can be a tricky." Hoggle said as he remembered his run with Sarah. The three stood there in silence. "You know", Sarah said, "Do you think you could, you know…." Hoggle looked at Sarah and knew exactly what she was going to ask. "Help 'er?" Hoggle finished. "Yeah", Sarah said, "Just to make sure she's alright. Its driving us crazy that we can't leave the castle and we're just really worried…" "I gots ya." Hoggle said interrupting. "You can count on me."
"So, how is the runner?" Avalyn asked as she poured a cup of juice in her glass. Hunter took a bite out of his bread. "She's doing okay I guess…." he said with little interest. "Oh?" Avalyn said. "Yeah, she challenged me though. So I rearranged the stone walls a bit." Hunter said. "But you made it easier for her to get out." Jareth said as he took a sip from his glass. "What? No I didn't." Hunter said as he stared at his bread. Avalyn smiled. "It's okay to have a crush dear…" "It's not a crush! Man, why does everyone think that? I don't like her. Period. End of discussion." Hunter said as he took another bite. "You're right. It's not a crush." Jareth said. "Thank you! Finally someone understands!" Hunter exclaimed. "It's love." Jareth continued and both he and Avalyn smiled.
"Dad, come on! I don't like or love her! She's just a runner who wished away her parents." "But she's no ordinary runner." Avalyn said as she took a sip. Hunter threw down his bread. "Ugh! Alright, I may have helped her get into the labyrinth and I may have rearranged some things to make it easier…." "And you healed her foot." Jareth interrupted. Hunter rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and that too, but that's only because I'm bored." "Then get going on your studies." Jareth said. "You need to get better at your geography skills dear." Avalyn said.
Hunter crossed his arms. "I don't wanna learn where the different realms are again…" "Your mother is right. It's for your own good." Jareth said. "Now, come on, get going before I decide to monitor Maggie's run myself." Hunter looked at his father and then his mother. "Damn it!" he thought as he got up and walked out of the dining room.
Avalyn chuckled. "How cute. Our little boy is growing up." Jareth smiled. "He's following in my footsteps", he thought, "I just hope he can take the rejection if our runner doesn't feel the same way."