OH MY GOD IT LIIIIIVVVEEESSS.

Yeah, I lost my original notes so, although I still have the basic story line imprinted into my head, I probably lost a few nuances along with them. No worries - nuances are highly overrated.

It's a short chapter, but it's been such a long hiatus that I figure anyone who's reading this would probably have to go back and re-read the other chapters so I'll just make this easier on you overall.

Chapter 18

The sun was too bright.

This strange realization filtered through Sarah's mind as she teetered between sleep and wakefulness. She knew the sun was too bright but she just didn't know why she knew this. Then it hit her.

Mission journey adventure save Toby get away get away from Jareth and…

And her eyes opened wide as she sat upright, scrambling away from her bed and blankets to stand, fully rested, fully awake, and fully afraid because they should've been long gone by now (When was now? Noon? God, they were running late, so very late.)

Sarah took a moment to run a hand through her hair and made a face as her fingers encountered knots then flinched back as a silver comb flashed into her line of vision, glinting in the too-bright, too-late sunlight. She followed the comb up and arm, and a shoulder, and finally stopped at a smiling, effervescent Thilly.

Sarah took the comb and ran it through her hair in quick strokes, moving around to assess the situation better.

Their things were packed in one corner of the cabin, but as far as Sarah could see, she and Thilly were the only ones home. There were dishes in the sink – mugs and plates and utensils – and a lonely little plate on the table that Sarah could assume was meant for her.

"Where is everyone?" Sarah asked and flinched again at the bitter-metallic taste in her mouth.

"Sirs Ludo and Didymus are giving… Toby… a 'tour', they say, and Hoggle said he was 'scouting out the surrounding area'… although he said it much more gruffly and with a sort of patronizing tone."

Sarah blinked and stopped mid-combing.

"Uh… Thilly… did you just make a… joke?"

The Changeling girl thought about it for a second then giggled, nodding, "I thought a joke was in order. You seemed upset."

Suddenly Sarah snapped back into her frenzy, "I am upset, Thilly – we're behind schedule by at least four hours and we have no idea where we're going and –"

"Calm down, Sarah," and Thilly was displaying her unusual strength again by keeping Sarah pinned in place by the shoulders. Sarah took a moment to observe hold bold the girl was being lately and decided that, if nothing else, this venture out into the world of the Underground helped at least one person.

"We're all packed and ready to go, Hoggle is looking for a suitable trail for us to follow, and you have a meal to eat before we can do anything, alright? Now, sit down," Thilly guided her into a chair and pulled the plate closer, "and eat. We'll be ready to go before you know it."

As it turns out, Thilly was right.

Hoggle had returned about five minutes after Sarah finished shoveling down her food with news that they would continue East.

"I don' see why we gotta continue at all," Hoggle grumbled. "We got shelter here, an' food too, and Jareth ain't bothered us yet."

"Yet," Sarah agreed. They were still waiting for the rest of the party to arrive before they could head out again.

Thilly had gone out to look for them, in the hopes of speeding things along, but Hoggle had complained of his feet hurting and slumped down on a chair with a mug of some sort of drink that, judging by its potent smell, Sarah figured could probably act as a quick-working varnish remover.

"Right, and he ain't the type t' just sit an' wai t' strike fear in the hearts of all, is he?" Hoggle offered, sipping his drink. A steaming drop of the liquid escaped from the rim of the mug and, though Sarah couldn't be positively certain, looked as if it ate a hole through the wood of the chair Hoggle was sitting on.

"He waited five years to get back to me, didn't he?" Sarah shook her head, "No, we've gotta keep going. Beyond his reach."

"We ain't got a clue what his reach is!" Hoggle shouted. He put his mug on the floor by the chair and stood up, moving closer to Sarah for emphasis. "Where do we stop, huh?"

Sarah frowned, looking at her hands clasped on her knee as she sat once again in the rickety little twig-chair from the previous night. Hoggle's words made sense, but Sarah just didn't have the heart to acknowledge that – not consciously or out loud, anyways.

"We can start with getting out of the Labyrinth – we're still in it, you know, even if it doesn't look like any part of it you remember – and then we can keep going from there. We can do this Hoggle, you have to believe me."

Then there was a rather uncomfortable silence as Sarah thought over the plan. Walk, and walk, and walk and maybe, just maybe they'd be out of Jareth's reach of power and they could… what? Sarah knew there wasn't really a way back, deep down she knew this. Her plan was sketchy, outlined and clumsy and overall, it was weak plan, she knew this as well, but she also knew that she couldn't… She couldn't stop, she couldn't just give up and...

"Sarah," started Hoggle quietly, slowly, and carefully, "Sarah… you know… you know there ain't any known way t'… get back. Jareth's tha only one who… I'm just sayin', without his permission it ain't likely that…"

Sarah sighed and nodded, sniffling slightly. "I know Hoggle. I thought about that a little bit but… I suppose it's not so bad. Back there wasn't… the greatest, and I'll miss it but…"

Sarah smiled at a tentative hand covering her own and looked up at the usually-angry little dwarf. There was a clumsy sincerity in his eyes and Sarah could tell she was only seeing this side of him because there was no one else to witness it. She also could tell that Hoggle was just itching to run away from this terribly emotional moment by the way his eyes kept flicking towards the direction of the door.

"You got friends here, Sarah," he said. "A family, too, with yer brother. We can take care of you."

She nodded, noting the emphasis on the final sentence – the precise pronunciation and what Sarah perceived as a promise without as many words. Despite the fact that she'd been thinking of how it'd be, leaving her life behind and living in a completely different world, Sarah was comforted by the knowledge that she had people here who still cared about her – that she probably had more loved ones here than back in her world, which was a sobering thought to say the least.

But it isn't as if I tried, Sarah's irritating conscience cut in. It was right – she'd been relatively introverted back home, despite her aspirations to be an actress and the center of attention at all times, in the limelight and spotlight and all other lights possible. She'd still closed herself off, committed to the shadows and the background like she just didn't… fit.

She didn't have that feeling when she was here, though, with her friends and on another adventure. Deep down, Sarah knew - despite the fear and stress, the constant worrying and running, Sarah knew…

She was having fun.