Lost Amongst the Memories
By: Avitargirl
Summary: Sarah has Toby for the day and takes him to the Renaissance festival.
Disclamer: I don't own Labyrinth…well yeah I own a copy of the movie and the soundtrack…and the manga…but that's it. I own nothing more than that. I'm just having fun with the characters.
A/N: just a fun little story that I came up with the other day. It's taken me about a week to get it written though. Nothing to do with my other fanfiction 'Just Hold On' though. I did need a break from it however so here's the result of me having a break. I hope you like it.

It was going to be one of those days, Sarah mused as she wandered through the kitchen of her tiny apartment. Karen was dropping Toby off for the afternoon while she went in for a much needed doctor's appointment. At least she had the entire day planned out. She was going to take the twelve year old boy to see any movie of his choice. Well almost any movie. Karen had given Sarah permission to take him to a PG-13 movie as long as Sarah chose one that wasn't too gory or violent.

Just as Sarah started to poor herself a cup of warm tea, there was a knock on her apartment door. She wandered over to the door to find Karen smiling at her with Toby by her side.

"Hi Sarah" Karen said giving her step-daughter a gentle hug.

Sarah hugged her step-mother. She no longer called her Karen as she had done as a child. Her real mother never wrote, never called, and most definitely never came to visit her. Despite the arguments Sarah had had with Karen as a teen, the two had grown incredibly close. She was the only real mother Sarah had ever known.

"Hi Mom" she said letting the two into the room.

"Sarah!" Toby rushed up and hugged his older sister. It was strange for a boy to be that close to his sister. Most boys his age were busy trying to find ways to torment their sisters.

"Hey Tobes" Sarah said pulling away enough to look down at him. "Did you decide on the movie you want to go see?"

"Not yet, I was hoping we could do that when we get to the theatre?" he asked.

Sarah smiled, knowing that Toby didn't want his mother to disprove of the movie that Sarah had known he had already chosen.

"Whatever you want it's up to you." Sarah said ruffling his sandy hair. She turned her attention back to Karen. "What time is your physical?"

Karen glanced at the clock that was hanging next to the door. "In about an hour, and I have to leave, or else I'll be late." She leaned down and planted a quick kiss on her son's cheek then one on Sarah's.

"Alright well have fun" Sarah called to her as she ran out the door.

"I'll be back around four thirty to pick him up." Karen said pulling the door closed.

Once Karen had left Sarah turned to Toby. "So what do you want to do?" she asked.

Toby walked into the kitchen and sat down at the little table in the corner of the room. Sarah moved back to the counter and poured her tea letting her brother think for a moment.

"I actually don't want to go see a movie" he told her.

"Oh?" Sarah glanced over her shoulder at her brother while she put the milk back in the refrigerator.

Toby looked down, fidgeting with his hands. "Well actually the Renaissance Festival is in town…."

Sarah smiled at that. Her brother did like things that most boys liked, but he also shared Sarah's enthusiasm for fantasy and adventure.

Sarah turned to her brother, took a sip of her tea then stirred it gently. "Sounds like a great idea Tobes."

The boy smiled at this. "I'll go grab my costume." In a flash he was gone.

Sarah shook her head and smiled. Toby kept things that he didn't want his mother to touch in Sarah's apartment. His costume, among other things, was something he had bought with Sarah at Ren-fest from a year ago, with his own money. Sarah glanced in the direction her brother had disappeared to. Well technically it hadn't been his money. He had saved his lunch money up the entire year and bought the pirate costume, with Sarah's help. Sarah herself stayed true to the costume that she had owned all her life. It was the same little white dress and the crown of flowers she had worn as a teen.

And my Kingdom as great...The words came to her mind quickly. Memories of that day washed over her mind, clear as a bell. It surprised her how much that day had impacted her. It had chanced her entire outlook on her life as a teenager. She had matured more in that single day than she had over those fifteen years of her life.

"Earth to Sarah"

Pulled from her reverie, she turned to her brother, who was already dressed in his pirate costume. He had wanted to change it more to make himself look more like Jack Sparrow but Sarah had insisted that he make his costume unique to himself.

"Aren't you going to change into your costume?" Toby asked. A hint of concern came into the boy's eyes.

"Yes I will" Sarah said putting her mug on the table. "Give me a few minutes to find it and pull it out."

"Okay"

Sarah turned and walked back through the hallway to her room. She bent down to pull out an old tan box from under her bed. Inside she kept her most precious possessions. Inside, among other things, were her costume, the crown of flowers, and a few pictures. Her music box was wrapped up in bubble paper in the far corner of the box. Sarah lifted the music box gently and unwrapped it. She smiled at the many memories it brought to her, but did not dare to wind it up. She had not played it in years and had no intention of doing so. It was too risky. She stared at the musical box a moment longer before wrapping it back up.

Sarah removed the rest of the things from the box that were on top of her dress, the crown of flowers now sitting atop her bed, waiting to be worn. She stood up and held the dress in front of her. She turned to look at herself in her full length mirror, and then pulled the dress on over top her tank top and jeans. She could hardly believe that it still fit her. She turned picked up her crown of flowers and placed them on her head.

Satisfied with her appearance she turned to put the rest of her things back in the box. She knelt down in front of it only freeze. There worn and torn was a little red almost pocket size book with gold lettering: The Labyrinth.

Sarah picked up the book gently. Her fingers ran slowly over the gold letters. It still puzzled her as to how a fairytale story could be real. It couldn't have been a dream, she had proof that it hadn't been. Inside the back cover of the little book was a stand of sliver with a silver flower attached to it. It was one of the ones that had been in her hair while she had been in the ballroom. How she had gotten it she was still unsure; but she was sure of the fact that it had come from that place. She had never seen anything like it before and could almost guarantee that she would never find another like it.

"Sarah are you okay in there?" Toby called through the door.

Once again pulled from her reverie, Sarah quickly but gently placed the rest of her treasures back into the old box. "I'm fine, Tobes." She pushed the box back under her bed then stood up leaving her room without looking back.

When she entered the room, Toby looked at her expectantly.

"It took me a while to find it" she lied quickly.

"No it didn't." Toby said knowingly. "You were lost down your childhood memory lane."

Thankfully, Toby had no memory of being in the Labyrinth. Sarah had been relieved when she had read him the old story years ago. He hadn't been phased at all. Yet Sarah knew that somehow, her brother knew of her connection to the magical story.

Sarah shrugged at her brother's comment. "Yeah I guess I did. Sorry." She grabbed her purse and her car keys then turned to her brother. "We'll come on captain, let's get on outta here."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"That was so cool" Toby said as he and Sarah stood to leave the jousting stadium.

Sarah made a face. "I still wish that the red knight had won"

"Oh that's only because you thought he was cute." Toby taunted his sister.

Sarah sighed. No matter how close they were, Toby was still her little brother. "You know what? You're a real brat." She ruffled his hair, messing up his pirate scarf.

"Hey!" Toby complained.

Sarah laughed. "That's what you get little brother"

Toby fixed his scarf then looked at his sister with a big grin. "It's your turn to decide on what to do next."

Sarah paused and looked around her. There were a number of shows set up, as well as games, and places to eat. Shops were lined up everywhere, selling everything from costumes to jewelry to household decorations.

"Let's go over and look in a few of these shops for a little while" Sarah suggested.

Toby groaned. "You're going to take forever in there."

It's only forever, not long at all...Sarah could hear the words and bit her lip closing her eyes. It feels like a long time, she thought.

Sarah turned back to Toby. "I'll be quick I promise."

Toby looked at her confused, but shrugged. "Okay, whatever."

Sarah turned and walked along looking into various shops. Her mind wandered. She had wanted to spend the day with Toby without any thoughts or reminders of that day so many years ago. Now it seemed that she was surrounded by reminders. She wandered into one of the Jewelry shops and looked around. There were many different types of bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and charms. There were other accessories that were throughout the store too. Hats, gloves, scarves shared a wall all to themselves.

As Sarah wandered through the store, she heard a gentle song playing. She wandered over until she got close enough to the tiny radio to make out the words.

"But somewhere along the way

I got caught up in all there was to offer…

And the cost was so much more than I could bear."

Sarah bit back a sob that had suddenly come to her. Why? Why did everything have to remind her of her silent pain?

"I have sunk so low

I've messed up

Better I should know

So don't come round here

And tell me I've told you so…"

Once again, Sarah bit her lip, fighting against the pain. She had lost so much that day…yet she had also gained some things too. She had become wiser, kinder, and much more patient than she had been before. Despite that, it was still hard. A part of her childhood had left her that night, not gone, but simply hushed.

Putting the depressing thoughts from her mind, Sarah went to find Toby. She searched through the store till she found him at the jewelry counter in the back of the store..

"Oh Sarah look at this!"

Sarah turned to look at what her brother was pointing at…and gasped. It was a silver chain, and dangling from the chain was a single clear crystal.

It's a crystal, nothing more; but if you turn it this way and look into it…it will show you your dreams.

Sarah stared at it. Why were all of these things suddenly reminding her of the one thing that she had wanted to forget?

"Find something that you like?" Came the voice of the shopkeeper.

Sarah glanced up at the short bald man for a moment then returned her attention to the crystal. It was beautiful, but nothing like the one that she had been offered all those years ago.

Toby glanced at his sister than turned to the shopkeeper. "How much is that necklace?"

The shopkeeper looked at the tag that was on the chain. "25 dollars, son"

"I'll take it." Toby pulled out his wallet.

Sarah turned to stare at her brother in surprise. "Oh that's too much, Toby, really. I don't need it."

"You like it and you deserve it." The boy insisted.

The shopkeeper handed him the necklace as he handed him the money. They bid the shopkeeper goodbye and stepped off to the side, letting other people pass them.

"Bend down a little, Sarah so I can put this on you."

Sarah did as she was told and bent down. Toby undid the clasp on the back of the necklace and then fastened it so it was secure around Sarah's neck.

"It's beautiful, Toby" Sarah said glancing down at the crystal around her neck. She looked back at her brother then pulled him into a tight hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Toby pulled of his sister's embrace and looked around. "So what do you want to do now?"

"How about we get some ice cream and think about it?" Sarah asked.

"Cool" Toby grabbed his sister by the hand and tugged her over to the ice cream stand. It would be a long wait.

It turned out that it wasn't as long a wait for ice cream as Sarah had thought. In fact the line moved quite swiftly and in no time at all, Sarah and Toby were enjoying their vanilla ice cream. As they talked they began to look around trying to decide what they wanted to do next. They had already seen three shows, including the jousting, gone through a number of shops, and played the games. Toby had even told Sarah to get her hair done into loose braids that were wrapped up in a bun. Her crown of flowers was atop her head making her feel like a teen again.

She could remember the walk in the park that she had taken that day as if it were yesterday. Her hair was done the same, her costume the same, everything was the same…yet it wasn't.

"Sarah look!"

Toby yanked on her arm to get her attention and pointed to the far side of the festival. There hanging over an entrance was a sign: Enter the Labyrinth.

"Can we try the maze? Please Sarah?" the boy begged.

Sarah glanced down at her brother then back at the sign, her mouth still agape. Why? Why today? It made no sense. Was he here? If so, why was he tormenting her? Couldn't she just simply live out her life?

No, it's just your imagination, she told herself. Pure, coincidence, nothing more than that. It had to be. It wasn't the real thing, it was just a maze.

Without a word to Toby, Sarah started towards the maze with Toby racing to keep up with her.

"Two tickets please" she asked the woman at the booth.

"Are you sure that you can handle the Labyrinth?" the woman asked, clearly in character.

Sarah smiled. It's a piece of cake.

"I think so" she responded to the woman, handing Toby his ticket. With that, she grabbed her brother's hand and entered the 'labyrinth'.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Of course it was nothing like the real thing, but Sarah found herself wandering, through the twists and turns. It was surprisingly large. The colored sheets that were the walls fluttered as she and Toby passed by.

This is becoming one of the most painful, yet exciting days I've had in a long time, Sarah mused. Her thoughts once again returned to that magic day all those years ago. Oh how she missed it. She missed them all; her friends, the Labyrinth, all the strange and wonderful creatures that she had encountered in her journey…even him. Once again she wondered if she were being pulled into a trap.

"Why today?" she whispered into the air, not even loud enough for Toby to hear her. "Why now?"

Why not now, a voice in her mind asked her. You miss it, you want it and you know only he can bring you back.

"I do want to go back" she responded to the voice, low and in a whisper. Oh, if only….

As Sarah and Toby ended the 'labyrinth', a young girl handed them each a colored ribbon on a string, congratulating them. Sarah thanked the girl then looked down at her wrist watch. Time to go, it was an hour drive back to Sarah's apartment, and she didn't want to worry Karen by being late.

"Come on, Tobes" Sarah took his hand and gave him a small smile. "Time to go home."

"Aw do we have to?" he asked pleadingly.

Sarah was about to answer him when she saw it. A snow white owl perched by the entrance to the labyrinth! No! It's a coincidence, she told herself over and over. She gripped her brother's hand harder then glanced around as they headed to the exit.

"Are you okay?" Toby asked quietly, noticing his sister's distress.

Sarah managed a fake smile. "Yeah, I'm fine Tobes. We just don't want to be late for when Mom get's to my apartment."

"Oh" came his response. He didn't look convinced, but left it be.

As they came to the car, Sarah unlocked it quickly. They climbed in, buckled up, and started the car. It was good that the fair went on for hours more, Sarah thought, or they would have never gotten out of the parking lot.

The drive back home was quiet. Toby had fallen asleep in the back, holding his treasures close to him. Sarah smiled. How could she have wanted to get rid of him? Her precious, precious brother. He was the best little brother anyone could ask for…and she had almost lost him ten years before. That was the only thing that stopped you wasn't it, she heard her voice in her head taunting her yet again. Now she was going crazy!

Sarah ignored the thoughts that raced through her mind as she parked her car. She quietly woke Toby, telling him he could sleep once inside the apartment. They walked into the building and went to the elevator. Sarah pushed the button for the third floor and stood with her brother in silence as they made there way up. Once out of the elevator, Sarah walked the hall until she came to her room. She opened the door and strolled in, throwing her keys on the side table along with her purse.

Toby went to the bathroom to change then hid all his things in his room and collapsed onto his bed. Sarah walked to his room seeing him fast asleep, smiled and turned out the light careful not to disturb the little sleeping angel.

Quietly Sarah made her way to her room. The box was right where she had left it. Sarah pulled off the crown of flowers, then her costume and carefully replaced them into the box. For a moment she debated on putting the crystal necklace into the box, but decided against it. She stared at her precious treasures one last time before closing the box and replacing it back under the bed. It had definitely been an interesting day.

Walking back into the living room, Sarah flipped on her television and collapsed on the couch. She was so tired, and yet for some reason she feared sleeping. Yes she'd seen a white owl today but that didn't mean it was him. He wouldn't dare harm her brother again. Ah ah ha, her voice told her again, you called to him. He only did what you asked of him.

I'm exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. It was true; he had only done what she had asked of him. I never asked for him to offer me my dreams, she shot back at the voice.

No you didn't, it said again, agreeing with her for once.

A knock on the door momentarily pulled Sarah from her mental argument with herself. She stood and answered the door. It was Karen.

"Hey sweetie" Karen said as she entered.

"How was your appointment?" Sarah asked.

"It went pretty well. At least they didn't find anything wrong." Karen told her with a smile. "How was your day with Toby?"

Sarah thought for a moment. How could she describe today? Crazy? Fun? Miserable? No, she couldn't say any of those exactly.

"It was interesting." She said finally.

Karen gave her a skeptical look.

Sarah fled from the room and went to wake Toby before her step-mother could say another word.

Toby woke up easily, climbing out of bed and following Sarah to the living room.

"Hey kiddo!" Karen said hugging her son.

"Hi mom!" Toby hugged his mother tightly then pulled away from her. "Sarah and I had the most exciting day today!"

Karen glanced up at Sarah then back down at Toby. "Really? Well I can't wait to hear all about it in the car."

"Aw do we have to go home?" Toby asked.

"Yes, your father is taking us out to dinner." Karen told him as he got his coat on.

Toby made a face when Karen turned her back. Sarah chuckled. No matter how much of a 'leave it to beaver' good boy Toby was, he was still a boy.

"Say goodbye to your sister" Karen told him.

Sarah turned to Toby and gave him a tight hug. "See you next week little brother" she said gently.

"I love you, Sarah" Toby said hugging her tightly, then letting her go.

Sarah stood back up and walked with her brother to the door where Karen stood waiting. She gave her stepmother a quick hug and kiss then bid both her and her brother goodbye.

After they had gone, she went to the kitchen and poured herself a cup of hot chocolate. No reason to fear sleep any longer, she told herself, still not quite believing it.

Sitting back onto the couch, mug in hand Sarah began to rethink the events of the day. The festival, the costume, the necklace, the maze, the owl; it was quite a list.

"Why today?" she muttered aloud, repeating her earlier thoughts. "What is so special about today?"

Grabbing the little calendar off the coffee table in front of her, Sarah looked at the date. Ten years to the day!

Did he really care that much to remind her or was it another trick? Had he placed all those things before her or was it mere coincidence? Standing back up she walked to the window. It was raining; not storming like it had been that night, simply raining. Ten years, she couldn't believe it.

Sarah sighed and took a sip of her hot chocolate. If only I could see it just once more, she told herself. See him once more. Tell him that he had been generous and tell him that she should have been wiser with her decisions. That had been the real test was it not? He had tempted her with her dreams. In the end she had made the right decision…yet her very first wish had the most consequences. He had loved her; it was how the story was supposed to go. Had she not made the wish, neither he nor she would have suffered. Now because of her wish, they both suffered.

"I'm sorry" she whispered.

With yet another sigh, Sarah moved from the window and headed back towards the kitchen. Perhaps she would just have to live with it.

Just as Sarah was about to pour herself another cup of hot chocolate, she heard the sound the window opening. Surprised, she went back to the living room and looked around. She saw nothing. Shrugging she managed to close the heavy window, just barely managing to not smash her hand in the process. She turned around to go back to the kitchen…and froze.

Tall, wild blonde hair, and blue mismatched eyes stared back at her; the ever present smirk on his thin lips. "Hello, Sarah…"

fin

A/N: Okay so this is my first non crossover labyrinth fanfiction, so please R&R! I love hearing back from you guys!
(fyi - there are probably little mistakes in the story that are grammer related and i'm well aware of them. I am going to have one of my friends look it over and when she's done i'll probably replace the story with the corrections.)