Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Memory Lane

Chapter 4

In the next instant Sarah was above ground, in a very familiar area of the Labyrinth. She got up and dusted herself off, noticing that her dress was now dirty from having fallen down.

"What was the point of that?" She asked.

Jareth appeared from behind her and stepped around to take a seat on a bench.

"I don't know why I didn't realize it before, but I had you petrified, didn't I?" Jareth asked.

Sarah stared at him for a long moment. She wondered whether she should lie or just admit the truth. Jareth cocked his head up and stared at the sky.

"Yes, I had you scared. At the time I didn't realize it, and then I upped the stakes." He brought his head back down, placed a gloved hand over his mouth and tapped lightly.

"You never had me scared," Sarah said with a scoff. Jareth chuckled at her.

"Of course I did. Seeing your face again just proves it. All the subtleties in your expression that I had long forgotten are clear as day in your memory. Because it was how you felt. You can remember it but I can not, because my memory is clouded by my bias and how I felt then."

Sarah crossed her arms and clenched her teeth in anger.

"So what? You had me scared! Is that such a revelation to you? Big, powerful Goblin King had a little fifteen year old scared." She said.

"Yes, it is Sarah. Because when I thought you weren't scared I upped the stakes. I never let you feel as though you were winning." Jareth said and then stood.

He began to walk slowly toward the pot that she once crawled out of with Hoggle.

"And?" Sarah asked.

"You were desperate. Maybe if I had lulled you into a false sense of security, then you would have slowed down, or possibly made a careless mistake. After all, necessity is the mother of invention." He said, letting his fingers lazily brush against the pot as he circled it.

"Well, I'm glad you figured everything out. Can we get out of my head now?" She said, her gaze following him where ever he went. "I'm anxious to see what I'll look like as a goblin."

"Oh no, there is more to learn." Jareth said and then sauntered over to her.

"By the way, what was going on in that foot note we encountered?" He asked cheekily with a smile on his lips.

Just then the pot lid fell down, and Sarah could hear Hoggle and her younger self as they emerged.

"Oh look, lesson number two!" Sarah said, happy for the distraction.

Jareth turned around and looked on as younger Sarah and Hoggle climbed out of the pot.

Older Sarah turned away, since she already knew what was about to happen. Jareth watched in silence as Hoggle and younger Sarah fought.

"Them's my rightful property!" Hoggle cried as younger Sarah dangled his jewels in front of him. "It's not fair!"

"No, it's not fair," Younger Sarah said, and then, as if a light bulb suddenly appeared over her head she added, "But that's the way it is…"

"So that's why you stopped whining that every time something didn't go your way." Jareth said to her from across the pot. "And here I thought I'd taught you that with my cleaners."

"Sorry, turns out I didn't learn anything from your cleaners. Oh, except that you're a sadistic freak." Sarah said with a pleasant smile.

"And so much more," Jareth replied coolly. Sarah just shook her head at him.

"I'm not getting anywhere at the moment," Younger Sarah said to the Wiseman.

"Ha! Join the club!" The Hat spoke up as the Wiseman below him fell asleep. "I, uh, I think that's your lot. Please leave a contribution in the little box!" He said and jiggled it in younger Sarah's direction.

Younger Sarah begun to reach for the jewels strapped to her side.

"Don't you dare! Them's mine!" Hoggle cried.

Younger Sarah immediately stopped, and then looked at her hand. She begun to take off her ring.

"I guess I can spare this," She said and then gently dropped the ring in the box.

"Did that hold any real value?" Jareth asked Older Sarah.

"Not really," Older Sarah said with a shrug. "It was just a toy ring, but my mother did get it for me."

"So it did hold some value for you," Jareth said.

Younger Sarah and Hoggle began walking away then, and the Hat said something about her having been a sucker.

"Maybe a little," Sarah said. "Sentimental value anyway."

"So then why give it to him?" Jareth asked. He was sitting next to the wise man, with his arms crossed, looking at her like he was studying her.

Sarah just shrugged.

"Because of the false alarms I had already assumed I was going in the right direction, even though they kept telling me I wasn't getting anywhere." Sarah said.

"That's exactly what the wise man told you," Jareth said with a nod.

"Right. But he didn't know I knew that. He had still given me helpful advice, and I felt like I should pay him for that." Sarah said.

Jareth stared at her with a curious expression on his face. Under his gaze she began to fidget nervously.

"What?" She asked.

"Oh precious and generous Sarah… How did my Labyrinth not eat you up?" Jareth asked with a quizzical brow.

"Just because I'm not a stone-cold hard-ass doesn't mean I'm weak!" Sarah cried.

Jareth continued to study her from his seat beside the Wise Man and his Hat.

"Next," He said and then snapped his fingers.

Sarah suddenly found herself caught inside a cacophony of branches. The smell was unpleasantly strong and piney. Twigs scratched her skin and got caught in her hair whenever she moved.

"What?" She cried as she struggled to free herself. When she finally did break through, she caught sight of Ludo hanging upside down as armored goblins prodded him with vicious little stick creatures.

"So this is when you met up with the red bushy one – is it?" Jareth, who was casually leaning on an arch-way asked.

"Next time you fling us to a new memory, could you do me a favor and make sure my entrance is as elegant as yours?" Older Sarah asked through clenched teeth.

"Perhaps," Jareth said as Older Sarah tried to straighten herself. She noticed that in addition to her dress being dirty, there were now little holes and tears all over it courtesy of the bush.

"And how do you not know when I met Ludo? Weren't you watching me in your crystals the whole time?" Sarah asked.

"Not the whole time, no," He said.

"Well, yes. This is how I met Ludo." Older Sarah said, and from her position in things was able to see as the rocks slowly rolled to meet her younger self.

"So that's how they got there," Older Sarah said in wonderment.

They both watched as younger Sarah chucked the rocks at armored goblins.

"Pretty good throw, huh?" Older Sarah said with a grin. "I should've gone pro."

Jareth rolled his eyes at her.

"So, you saved the fuzzy rock goblin, and that's how you won his oh-so-helpful aid." Jareth said.

"You make it sound like I did it just to get something." Sarah said as she approached Ludo and her younger self. She smiled as she watched the two have their first little bit of interaction.

Jareth circled the group, his eyes focused on Older Sarah's face.

"Sometimes you just have to do something because you know it's right. You know?" Older Sarah asked and turned to Jareth. "Haven't you ever wanted to help someone?"

"Yes, I have, and I did." Jareth said, getting closer to Older Sarah. She stared into his gorgeous eyes, knowing full well that he meant he had helped her. Would he ever understand that what he did for her wasn't truly help?

Jareth raised a gloved hand, and snapped his fingers again, sending them to a new memory.