So, We Meet Again...

The minute Sarah finished work she darted off to the park to meet up with Jareth. In a strange way, through all of her hatred and anger, she was somewhat excited about meeting up with the mysterious man. At first the shock of his abrupt presence was enough to make her stressed. But as the long work hours passed she became more and more eager to know what Jareth wanted. The sudden nostalgia of the Labyrinth had kicked in; the danger, the darkness, the mystery, but most of all the butterflies. Sarah thought back to how she felt whenever the Goblin King looked into her eyes. It was a strange feeling; half of it was terror and half of it was exhilaration. There must have been more than a thousand butterflies flying around inside her when she danced with him at the glorious masquerade ball. But back then she was just a child who was learning to grow. This time she was an adult learning to feel.

When she reached the park she saw Jareth straight away. He was a pretty easy man to spot. He was sat casually on a bench in a shady secluded area. There were other people around, some of them stared and laughed at the strange figure, but Jareth gave them the cold-shoulder in an arrogant superior way. When he caught Sarah's eye he gave her a smile. Sarah couldn't tell if the smile was friendly or deviant. Either way she did not respond. She slowed down her paced as Jareth watched her approach since she did not want to imply that she was keen to see him. When she arrived at the bench the Goblin King stood up courteously and put his arm forward signalling that they should start walking. As the strolled around they did look quite an odd couple. Jareth strode along self-importantly while Sarah was constantly looking around her to see if anyone was watching them, which they were!

"So…what do you want?" said Sarah breaking the two minute silence.

"Well hello to you too" said Jareth mockingly. "Not very polite for a such a gracious face are you Sarah. No how are you? No long time no see?"

"You took my brother! Do you really think that I'm going to be civil towards you! You should be apologising like crazy to me after what you did!"

"Really. Well let's not forget who wished him away in the first place."

"Don't…start that again" Sarah snapped, "you should never have…"

"Look Sarah I did not come here to argue with you" Jareth interrupted while Sarah let out a annoyed little sigh. "I told you that I needed a favour and that's all I've come to discuss with you."

"What makes you think that I will do anything for you!" she retorted.

"Because unlike you I am not one to selfishly ask for a favour and not give anything back in return!" He raised his voice a little signifying his impatience. "If you do this favour for me I will make sure that you benefit from it."

"Well what is it" she asked.

Jareth paused for a second, then stopped walking and turned to look at Sarah.

"I need you to come back in to the Labyrinth" he said.

Sarah looked at him curiously.

"Why?"

Jareth continued walking. Sarah knew his explanation was going o be long so she followed him listening intently.

"I thought I could remain there and it would soon recover, but it didn't and now I've had to choose my last resort…you!" He looked at her. The puzzled look on her face showed that she clearly didn't understand a word he was saying. "When you challenged me five years ago and uttered those repulsive words 'you have no power over me'" he said reluctantly trying to mimic her girlish voice. "You gained a sort of power over the Labyrinth which meant that it was slowly slipping out of my control and coming into yours."

"Wait a minute" said Sarah. "You mean to say that the Labyrinth is now mine."

"No I am not saying the Labyrinth is now yours!" he snapped. "I am saying that its is decreasingly

recognising me as its ruler and searching for a new one. Searching for you."

Sarah couldn't' believe what she was hearing.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing" she said.

"Come come now. Do not tell me that over the past few months you haven't thought about the Labyrinth. That it hasn't slipped into your dreams occasionally." Jareth looked into her eyes. "Do not tell me that you haven't dreamt about us" he said in a low and sultry voice.

Sarah thought back to one of her dreams a few days ago. One that she recorded in her diary:

Sarah's Diary - Keep Out!

Sat 05/05/1991

Diary - I had the strangest dream last night. I was in a garden overlooking the Goblin castle. It was beautiful. There were so many lights illuminating the midnight sky. Fireflies and fairies fluttered around everywhere. There were so many creatures; Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymous, the Fieries and the goblins. They all danced around me like they worshipped me. I wore a beautiful white dress and stood in the middle of them as they looked up at me like I was their ruler or something. It was amazing. But the most exciting thing about the dream was that while all these magical creatures were displaying their love for me, I knew I was being watched. Halfway through the dream I noticed the shadow of his face in a dark corner of the garden. His eyes were fixated on me like he was enamoured with me or something. And I know I shouldn't have, but I liked it. I loved him staring at me. From that moment I was very aware of how I displayed myself in front of him. I tried to make myself seem beautiful just by the way I moved…almost teasing him! I don't think he knew I knew he was there. But anyway it was just a dream. It doesn't mean anything.

"Sarah?" said Jareth, waking her up from her little daydream.

She shook her head bringing her back into consciousness.

"What, oh yes, I…I suppose I have been thinking about the Labyrinth lately."

"So will you come then?" asked Jareth.

"What…no!" she shouted. "You can't expect me to come to the Labyrinth just so you can get a stupid crown put on your head. Why would me going back make you become the ruler anyway."

"Because if you spend time in the Labyrinth…just a little time, then it will recognise you and it will begin to revive again. You wouldn't believe how unruly that place has become without a proper leader. It needs to be familiar with you so you can finally tell it that you are not it's ruler and formally give it back to me."

"I can't go back there I just can't" she demanded. "You'll have to find some other way to get I back."

"There's no other way. Do you really think that I enjoyed turning up in that girls' office and having her scream in my face trying to beat me to death!"

"Well why were you in Louise's office anyway. Why didn't you just come to my office, you would have caused a lot less trouble if you did."

"One thing I haven't told you is that besides losing the ownership of the Labyrinth, I am also losing my powers, including my sense of direction. I was able to locate the whereabouts of the building you worked in but I couldn't seem to find the correct office. Customarily I would have been able to transport straight into your office, but because of my loss of power I had to convert into my owl form and fly into the nearest window. It was just my luck that I landed in a room with a neurotic owl-hating female."

Sarah chuckled. She didn't realise Jareth was so temperamental. He was obviously suffering and desperate to get his Labyrinth back. She almost pitied this vulnerable side to him.

"Don't pity me!" he snapped. "Just come to the Labyrinth and put it right!"

"NO!" she shouted.

"YES!" he retorted.

"NO!" she said walking off leaving him stranded and angry in the middle of the park.

Author's Note - Y'know I wasn't sure about this story at first but I'm beginning to like it now.

P.S. Thank you aeenc - It is 'mortal hands' not 'immortal hands' in the second chapter. I have changed it now. Phew! This story could have gone in a whole new direction!