Disclaimer: I own nothing Labyrinth related. Pinky swear. ;)

However, I do owe my lovely lovely lovely fans some recognition!

Extra big shout out to: Little Sweetness, F. 78, Dunk234, Fanfiction Addict Princess, ilovemuffins, Vampyres 'R Me, and Aisling66!

And for everyone who took the time out of their busy day to read my story...BROWNIES! :D

Chapter 3: Through the looking glass

Sarah bolted upright, all thought of sleep forgotten, and whipped her head around so that she faced Toby. Her heart was pounding as adrenaline coursed through her body.

"What did you say?" she asked in a soft whisper. Never had she heard his name outside of her dreams and frankly, it both thrilled and frightened her.

Toby flipped over on his side so that he faced her. "Who's Jareth? You were screaming his name in your nightmare..." he said sleepily.

Sarah looked at her little brother's face and could see that he was fighting to stay awake. As she composed herself, she answered shakily, "Someone I met a long time ago Toby...a long time ago. You were just a baby..."

"Oh..Sarah?" he murmured.

"Yeah bud?" she answered apprehensively.

"I love you."

She sighed in relief as she answered, "I love you too Toby. Now go back to sleep, it's..." she glanced at her glowing alarm clock, "3:30 in the morning. "

Toby fell asleep in the next five minutes, and all that Sarah could do was stare at the wall and listen to the rain pound against her window panes.

Lost in thought as she relieved her dream from a few hours ago, Sarah wondered what the Goblin King meant when he said that he would be waiting...because there was no way that she was going to let herself have those types of dreams again. She'd rather die of sleep deprivation.

Absentmindedly humming the song from the ballroom, she eventually noticed her room slowly becoming lighter as the sun crept up over the horizon. Had it already been four hours? How the time flies when you're scared to death...

Blinking and shaking her head to clear her mind of swirling gowns, haunting melodies, and disconcerting eyes, Sarah flipped her legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

Toby stirred and cracked one eye open before he groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes with his small fists.

Sarah aimed a fleeting smile at her brother. "Good morning sunshine, the earth says hello."

"Sarah, is mom up?"

"Probably not." She said smiling. In fact Sarah seriously doubted anyone she knew would be up at this hour. Yeah it was only 7:30, but during the summer, it might as well have been the freakin' crack of dawn.

"Will you make me breakfast? Please?" Toby asked pleadingly. As if on cue, his stomach rumbled loudly.

Laughing for the first time all morning, Sarah grabbed her brother's hand and led him down to the kitchen.

All that day, Sarah was jumpy and on edge. After trying to read some of her favorite plays, she realized that nothing she did could sufficiently distract her. As if her day couldn't get any worse, Toby was having an all day playdate with one of his friends and that meant that Sarah was stuck at home all day with her stepmother.

Six o'clock finally came around and after a day of petty bickering and general uneasiness due to her dream the night before, Sarah pleaded exhaustion and excused herself to her room. She had been trying to find a time when she could contact her friends, but sharing the same space with her stepmother had proven counterproductive to that idea. Now, finally, she could talk to Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo without the fear of being interrupted.

Sitting down in front of the mirror that was peppered with old photos and more recent pictures of her and Laura, Sarah closed her eyes. Why did she feel so nervous? They were her friends! Would they be happy to see her? Were they ever curious as to how here life had been going this past year? Had they missed her?

Her eyes became watery as she fought down the urge to cry. Keeping her eyes glued shut, she managed to say the three words before her glistening tears spilt onto her cheeks.

"I need you."

Hearing no response to her request, Sarah began to cry in earnest. She had just laid her head down onto her vanity when a small tug could be felt at her pants leg.

"My lady, art thou in need of a hug?"

Flipping her head up in an arc that sent her long, brown hair flying wildly, Sarah looked down at her foxy friend.

"Sir Didymus!" she exclaimed as she swooped down to hold her favorite knight. "You have no idea how good it is to see you!"

Pausing her tight hug with her old friend, Sarah glanced around the room expecting to see Ludo and Hoggle, but there was no sight of them.

"Sir Didymus...where are Hoggle and Ludo?" Sarah asked looking into the fox's eyes.

"Oh, but my lady, hast thou not heard the news? The kingdom art in turmoil ever since the wild gang made their way into the rest of the Labyrinth! Hoggle and Ludo hast been captured by those villains and no one hast seen them for three days...I Had just sent Ambrosius in search of my rock-calling brother and Hoggle, when I hearkened and heard the sweet sound of thine own voice calling for aid. "

Sarah's heart plummeted and she found it hard to breathe. She had only been away from the Labyrinth for four years and already everything was slowly crumbling. She couldn't believe the Goblin King would willingly let this happen! Wait...why WAS he letting this happen? As much as Sarah didn't want to admit this, what if something had happened to the Goblin King? No! The thought wasn't worth bearing. Even though he angered her and frightened her, she had begun to feel something for him. And if she ever found out that he had been sitting on his arrogant butt while her friends were put in danger, he had better hope he had a nice hideaway deep in the Underground, because so help her she would personally tear his Labyrinth down brick by sparkly brick looking for him.

"Sir Didymus that's horrible! Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked in a rush, terrified for her friends.

"My lady, anything short of your coming with me through your looking glass, I'm afraid that there art nothing thou can do to help. " he said looking very downcast.

Making up her mind, Sarah stated simply, "Then I guess I'll be coming with you. "

AHhhh! I am SOO excited for this story! As always please please please feel free to review!