"I? How? I don't understand." Sarah put her face in her hands in exasperation.

"I can't tell you anymore than that," said River.

"Why not?"

"Spoilers," River answered flatly.

"This is absolute insanity," Sarah growled. She turned to her grandmother. "We're all nuts, right?" she asked.

Her grandmother smiled and shrugged. "Maybe," she said, "but it beats being normal and boring."

Sarah turned back to her aunt. "So Jareth wants to see me, does he?"

River nodded. "You should call on him Sarah. You know you want to."

"Why are you so interested in me contacting Jareth? Did he put you up to this? Who are you really?" Sarah asked suspiciously.

"I am your aunt, a Time Lord, and a former subject of His Majesty," River stated. She pulled out a silver compact and checked her reflection. "I have my own reasons to insist that you contact Jareth, the first of which being the fact that the two of you have some unresolved emotional issues to work out, the second being that I am a notorious meddler, and lastly is that unless you do I will likely die alone as a lost child because the Goblin Queen didn't intervene." River snapped the compact shut and smiled. "Clear enough?"

Sarah shook her head. "You're telling me that you are here from the future but will die in the past if I don't contact my old nemesis and tell him that I might be in love with him?"

"Now that's not so difficult is it?" asked River smugly. A little smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth and Sarah could see that she most likely had truthfully spent a good deal of time in the presence of that infuriating king of the goblins.

"My head hurts," Sarah groaned. It was all a bit too much for her to take in. Somehow a future version of herself had aided an aunt she didn't know she had but who was actually a time-traveler who was seeking sanctuary from mind-meddling aliens out to kill the man she loved but didn't yet know she loved.

"Wibbly wobbly timey wimey," River chuckled.

"Wait a minute," Sarah said suddenly. "You just said the Goblin Queen intervened for you, Aunt River."

"Yes," River replied.

"But earlier you said I came to you and helped you."

"Yes," River said again with a twinkle in her eye.

"But I'm not the—oh my god." Sarah froze in disbelief and River laughed.

"I told you Jareth wanted to see you very much," she giggled.

"I…I…I have to go…" stammered Sarah. She rose from the table on wobbly knees.

"Yes, you do," River said gently, standing up to steady her. She gave Sarah a warm hug. "I won't see you anymore, Sarah, but you'll see me again and I have a feeling it will be sooner rather than later."

Sarah attempted a weak smile. "I'm still very confused," she admitted.

"Well, don't let that concern you too much. I know it sounds rather cheesy, but follow your heart and things will turn out all well in the end."

"You're like my guardian angel or something, aren't you?" Sarah laughed.

"Yes, just like you were or will be mine depending on whose timeline you look at," answered River.

River turned to her mother and smiled. "Bye Mummy," she told the old woman. "I'll see you somewhere sometime, I suppose. I finally got permission to take my expedition team to The Library."

"Wonderful!" exclaimed her mother. "I know how much you've wanted to dig around there." She turned to Sarah. "I'm sure you can imagine how interesting it would be to explore an entire planet full of books."

Sarah nodded, but decided she would leave that adventure to her aunt. She had a wish to make.

Many years later (or earlier)

Sarah held Melody/River's hand in her own as the mists swirled around them and the Underground disappeared and the Aboveground came into focus.

"Why can't I stay with you and His Majesty?" the young girl asked.

"I can't tell you that, dear," Sarah answered. "I can only tell you that you have to fulfill your destiny and that means coming back here. The king and I have found you a good home with a very nice family. You'll make lots of friends and have wonderful adventures."

"But will I ever see you again?" asked the girl with tears in her eyes.

"Yes, but not for a very long time," said Sarah. "His Majesty and I will be watching over you from a distance."

Sarah squeezed the girl's hand and smiled. They walked in silence for several minutes before they came to a little park.

"We have few minutes before we're due to meet your new parents," Sarah told the girl. "Do you want to play for a bit?"

The little girl nodded and began walking toward the swings. Sarah watched as she sat down in the swing, but didn't push off. A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and Sarah smiled as a little girl with fiery red hair approached the lonely girl on the swing.

"Hey, you're new," said the red-haired girl. "I'm Amelia." She pointed to some monkey bars where a skinny boy with sandy hair was hanging upside-down. "That's Rory. Do you wanna play with us?"

River/Melody nodded and smiled back at Sarah before running off to play. Sarah sighed and shook her head, still disbelieving the turn of events that had brought her back to the Goblin Kingdom and to Jareth. It seemed like a lifetime since she had had that fateful conversation with River and her grandmother and now here were her grandparents and aunt all playing together as children though none of them really knew. Sarah knew it was only a matter of time before River would be contacted again by the Silence and Madame Kovarian, but she took some comfort in the fact that she had already seen what River would become. She knew better than to tell River too much about her future. River didn't even know then that the Goblin Queen was her niece.

Sarah smiled to herself. She had done what she could. It was up to River and her grandparents and the mysterious Doctor to make sure that events unfolded the way they should. And while River certainly wasn't one to play by the rules (she grew up in the Court of the Goblin King, after all,) Sarah had a feeling that the Doctor would be able to keep her in check and that River would do the same for him.

The shouts of children roused Sarah from her thoughts and she looked up to see her beloved little trio rambling along the banks of the little stream that ran through the park. Amelia's hat had blown off into the stream and Rory had jumped in to fetch it, but had gotten stuck in the mud. Amelia had slid down the muddy bank and pulled Rory up and out and they were both now soaked and covered in mud from head to toe.

Sarah laughed at them and at herself, at all of them continually rescuing and being rescued by one another. She was happy knowing the part she played would ensure that the pattern would continue. She had saved River from death and River would save Sarah from a life of loneliness and regret and together they would all have a part in saving the world again and again. River was right; all would be well.

The End

A/N:

That ends my first ever crossover fic! I had a lot of fun writing it, although some of the timeline issues gave me a headache. You like? Please review!