A month later, Sarah turned the silver knob of the bedroom door and entered. Jareth was inside, lounging in on the of the two oversized chairs in the room. She wasn't surprised to find him there.
"It's almost time," he said distastefully. Sarah smiled slightly at his remark. He wasn't looking forward to a trip Aboveground.

"I know," she replied. "I only have to change and then we can be on our way. I assume you've already decided my costume for me."

"That I have," he said, rising to his feet. He pulled the heavy, blue curtains hanging around the bed back. There was a white gown lying on the bed, a gown much simpler in design than many he had created for her before.

At least this one isn't so puffy. She thought. "White? Shouldn't that be for a younger girl?" Sarah asked with no bitterness since she was still a beauty at thirty years of age. She came closer, noting his ironic smile. "How did you know about this? That was ten years ago." She could see now that it was a replica of the gown she had worn as Jenny Blake in The Rocketeer.

He merely looked at her. "Sarah, I know everything there is to know. I probably know you better then you know yourself. Do I get to –"

"No." she said firmly, pointing to the door. "Besides you need to get ready too. That is not as time consuming for you as it is for me. Out."

Jareth walked to her door, turning to look at her. "Be quick. There are finishing details still come." Then he left.

She shook her head, running a finger down the white silk of the gown. It was beautiful, just as she remembered it. Compared to earlier gowns, it was simple. There were wide strap sleeves and a skirt which reached to the floor. Jareth probably liked it because it had been designed to display her cleavage during the movie. There were many tucks and darts which made it formfitting. White high heels lay at the foot of the bed and a pair of drop pearl earrings lay on top of the gown.

A few moments later, she returned to the throne room, heels in one hand. Jareth was already waiting, perched in a similar position on his throne as he had in the oversized chair. He, too, had changed into a mixture of his ballroom outfit and his black outfit. He wore black pants and tall black boots. Though he wore the embroidered blue ball jacket, he didn't wear the ruffles under it. Instead he left it open to display a high-necked black shirt. A black cloak hung from his shoulders. It seemed that the black cloak was a necessity when he went Aboveground.

"My hair has gotten too long for this outfit. It was a lot shorter when I was in that movie. What I want to know is, why this gown? Why not one of your creations?" she asked, dropping her heels to hard stone floor.



"Well," Jareth rose from his throne and began to run his fingers through her soft brown hair. "It was your first and last movie. Besides, from the tales my goblins return with, many dress according to a movie. I thought you looked beautiful, Lady Luck."

Sarah looked up at him. "No matter how many times you compliment, nothing's happening until a wedding. Get used to it."

"Oh, that reminds me," Jareth returned to his throne.

Sarah pulled on her heels, noticing that no long hair fell into her face when she bent over. She ran a hand through it only to find that it was short and curled like it had been when she was twenty years old and in The Rocketeer. "Jareth, this better not be permanent. It took me a while to grow my hair that long."

He shook his head as he walked back over to her. "The moment Halloween is over, your hair will return to its normal, long brown tresses. Here," he thrust a small box into her hands.

She looked up at him again, this time in surprise. "What's this?"

"It's a brand of ownership. A warning so no other may try to claim you. You are mine. The Goblin King doesn't relinquish what is his easily. Toby told me about this ring custom you Abovegrounders have."

Sarah lifted the lid of the black ring box. Inside, nestled on deep red plush, was a silver band with an oval crystal. "Jareth, it's beautiful." She slipped it onto her left ring finger and then kissed him. "But it doesn't really mean ownership, o wise Goblin King. It just means I'm taken. Trust me; it's a sign from both parties not a sign that one has a hold over the other."

"We should have a wedding soon," he said, mind elsewhere, not really hearing what she had just told him. "But you insist on seeing your parents first. Why you are even bothering with them, I'll never know. Let's get on with it, shall we?"

She linked her arm through his. "Home Jeeves," she joked at the two of them began walking off, fading from view.

Earlier that day Toby was wandering around the house, mindlessly doing any chore his mother fobbed off on him. He was used to this and as a result could send his mind somewhere else. He was curious about what Sarah's costume would be. Halloween had always been their favorite holiday when they were kids. Her costumes were constantly amazing from the time she was Wonder Woman to the medieval costume she had made herself.

Robert found Halloween enjoyable as well. He was currently mixing the multiple bags of candy together in a huge bowl. They weren't expecting many neighborhood kids since there weren't many around. However, they continually got huge amounts of candy to satisfy his and Toby's sweet tooth. Now that Toby was fifteen, Robert had given up his spot at the door to his son, but he still lurked in the background with a mask in hopes of scaring someone and grabbing candy from the bowl. Irene, on the other hand, could take it or leave it. She found the whole thing to be a waste of time, fostering imaginative ideas which she disapproved of.

"Mom!" Toby called down the stairs. "The vacuum's back in the closet. I'm going be in my room." He rushed in and locked the door before she could think of anything else for him to do. That was the only problem with having Halloween on a Saturday. Irene would just find him chores to do so his head didn't get filled with 'silly ideas'. He flopped down into his desk chair, staring at his computer screen.

"Hey, young Master Toby!" a voice cried from near his floor. He spun around in his chair, looking around wildly.

"Who said that? Sarah? If this is your idea of a joke…"

"No joke. Not yet anyway. I look nothing like our future Queen anyway. I'm down here, by your bed."

Toby looked down as the voice directed. Squatting by his bed was a short, kind of plumb goblin. He was on the older side of the goblin spectrum, from what Toby had seen anyway. He wore more sophisticated clothing then the goblins Toby had met earlier as well consisting of breeches, a skirt, and a waistcoat. "I'm Lais. His Majesty sent me to keep you company from time to time. He thought you'd need someone to help tutor you in the ways of the magic of Labyrinth. By the way, there's a package on your bed."

Toby simply looked at him, incredulous for a moment. "Alrighty then. I didn't think Jareth would care about me once I left them Underground. But how hard can being tutored in magic be?" he said as he rose from his chair. He came over to the bed and picked the package up. He turned it over in his hands, trying to find a postmark. "This also wouldn't happen to be from His Majesty, would it?"

Lais shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Magic is my only concern. I do believe you will find that magic is harder then you think it is. But we can start on that later. Halloween happens to be 

going on and there is a bottle of gin with my name on it in the next house over. It's just begging to be split. Unless the young Master has anything else?"

Toby shook his head. "Nah. Go have fun. I guess I'll just see you when you pop up randomly again."

Lais saluted him. "Yes, young Master. Fare thy well until then." The Goblin tutor disappeared in a soft puff of smoke.

Toby coughed and waved a hand in front of his face. "I think that's what they mean when they talk about brimstone." He turned the package over in his hands again. There was nothing to show who it was from, no matter which way he looked at it. "It can't be anything bad," he reasoned, sliding a finger under the taped down edge. He dumped a bundle of cloth out onto his bed.

It was a Halloween costume, one much more creative then the one he had been thinking about wearing. That had been a hastily thrown together costume of cardboard to create a robot costume. This was much more creative and well-made. It was also vaguely familiar, but Toby couldn't place where it had come from.

"Toby!" Robert called up the stairs. "Time for dinner. Then we can feast on leftover candy! Come on, son. This is the only holiday where I don't have to worry about buying presents and I plan on enjoying it."

"I'll be down in a minute!" Toby called back. He spread the costume out on the bed. After gazing at it for a moment, he shook his head and then clattered down the stairs.