A/N: Wish I had a brother like Toby.

The faint sound of chimes from the grandfather clock downstairs echoed through the Williams's house.

It was now 2 a.m.

Nine hours and twenty three minutes.

Sarah drew her legs up to her chest. She was sitting at her plain vanity, the same one she'd had since childhood.

The moon bathed her dark bedroom in silvery light.

Oh God, now I'm actually counting the minutes. How cliché.

It was so odd, the combination of opposing sensations and emotions she was feeling.

Physically, she felt as hollow as an insect husk. Yet, at the same time, she felt like she weighed a ton. Internally, she was overjoyed to be with her family again, but there was no denying the crushing despair that was slowly eating away at her sanity.

And that, of course, led to the guilt.

The guilt of feeling so distraught even though she had her family again. The guilt of secretly wanting to somehow go back.

To him.

She winced. It was the only recognizable sign of life in the empty stare of her reflection.

I shouldn't be acting this way. I'm with my family in the Aboveground where I belong. He brought me back. He didn't want me…

A stab of pain shot through her chest at that last thought. She bit her lip and clenched her eyes shut against the ache, but she didn't cry.

Amazingly, she hadn't shed a single tear since she'd returned.

He'd been true to his word.

Reality had been fixed to accommodate her existence.

She'd lacked the strength to move after he flew away. No matter how much Michael and Madeline pushed, pulled and tickled her, she just couldn't respond. Eventually, Toby and Samantha came running over to make sure she was alright.

Seeing her little brother managed to snap some sense into her, and Sarah had hugged him as if her life depended on it. She then did the same thing to every other family member and though the twins ate the attention up like cake, to say the adults and teens were baffled would be an understatement. Especially when she'd started questioning them about what she'd been doing for the past twelve days. According to them, she'd been going about her normal routine: work and baby-sitting.

At that point, her face had clouded with depression and she decided to go home alone, insisting that she was fine and that everyone else stay and enjoy their outing.

Is it that time of the month or something? She remembered her father mumbling to Irene as she left the park.

When she got home, she'd checked her room to find it exactly the way it was when she left it. Michael's stuffed rabbit was on the floor, the rocking chair was turned over, and even the balcony doors were open.

The only thing missing was The Labyrinth. She'd practically turned the house upside down looking for it, but it was nowhere to be found.

She opened her eyes slowly and glared childishly at the balcony doors.

Why would he take my book? I still remember everything! Why didn't he just wipe my memory if he wanted me to forget?!

Her family had arrived at the house around six thirty, but she couldn't face them. Claiming a migraine, she'd refused dinner, and hadn't made a sound nor moved from her current spot for hours.

I'm such a horrible person! Here I am with my family, my family that I thought I'd NEVER see again, and all I can think about is HIM! This is so wrong! It's…it's over…just…just let it go! …I don't want to… So you wanna leave again? You wanna leave Irene and Dad? Samantha and the twins? You wanna leave Toby? NO! But…I don't know…I can't, I…shouldn't…but I still…Jareth…

A timid knock at the bedroom door snapped her out of her warring thoughts.

"Uh," she cleared her throat, "come in."

The door creaked open and Toby stepped into the room.

"Thought you'd be up, night-owl." He winked at her as he sat on the foot of the bed.

"It's after midnight, Toby." She half-heartedly chided.

He shrugged.

"Samantha's snoring again." The sixteen year old crossed his arms. "What's your excuse?"

An inner spark of trepidation almost made her visibly flinch. She averted her gaze instead.

"Nothing. I'm just not tired." She replied shortly.

"Huh," he quirked a skeptical eyebrow at her, "usually when you have a migraine, the first thing you do is fall asleep."

His face abruptly appeared in her line of vision. Hanging onto the bedpost for balance, he'd leaned way over and twisted his body to meet her eyes.

"I know your ly-ing!" The boy teased in a sing-song voice.

"Shh!" She hissed, giving him a swat. "Don't hang off the bed like that!"

"Fine," he said, righting himself, "but drop the mom-act. Something's wrong. You've been acting weirder than usual since you fell on your butt today. So what's up?"

Sarah observed her half-brother, a tender expression on her face.

He'd really grown into a fine young man. His once blonde hair had darkened to a rich sandy brown, which covered his head in thick curls. He had a tall, muscular build with broad shoulders, thick arms, and a wide chest. Sparkling, innocent cobalt blue eyes, a wide forehead, clear skin, and strong jaw completed the teen's boyishly handsome looks.

Man, Michael's gonna be a heartbreaker.

"Hello? Hey! Earth to Sarah!" Toby called, waving his hand in front her face. "Don't go spacing out on me."

"Sorry." She muttered, blinking into focus.

"Are you gonna tell me what's bothering you?"

"Toby," Sarah groaned, rubbing her temple, "I really don't wanna talk about it."

"Ah ha!" He exclaimed triumphantly, giving her a playful poke in the ribs. "So you admit it! There is something bugging you!"

She swatted him again but was unable to keep from forming a small but brief smile at his antics.

"Shut up. I can't believe you're actually a parent."

"Oh, you're just jealous cuz you know your kids will never be as good looking as mine!" He chuckled.

"But seriously," he continued, ceasing his laughter, "what's your problem?"

The elder sibling stubbornly pursed her lips.

"This is really unfair, ya know." The young father said with a slight pout. "I always came to you first about my problems."

"All except for one big problem."

Toby paled.

"Shit, it's not that is it?!"

She glared at him.

"No, you ding-dong. I'm not pregnant."

"Oh, good." He sighed with relief before growing serious once more. "Well, what is it then? Why won't you tell me?"

Her face fell.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"You'll just think I'm crazy." She lowered her forehead to her knees.

There was an uncomfortable pause before Toby broke the silence.

"I already think you're crazy; have for a long time." He joked.

Sarah heard him rise from the bed and cross the room to her book shelf.

"But, now that you mention it…remember this?"

Raising her head slowly, she saw him holding up her old worn-out copy of The Gremlins.

She bit her lip.

"Yep. Nobody in this house could sleep unless I read that to you, every night."

"Yeah." He nodded as he thumbed the pages. "It's funny…I never told anyone this but, there was a reason why I wanted you to read it so much."

She cocked her head, curiously.

"As far back as I can remember, I've had these…reoccurring dreams. In the dreams, I'm always a baby and I'm in that stupid little orange and white striped outfit. You know, the one I'm wearing in that Christmas photo with grandma? Anyway, in some of the dreams, I'm in this big castle-"

Sarah's mouth fell open.

"-and I'm surrounded by these…these weird creatures. Like…like little monsters or goblins…and…and there's this guy. I guess he's their leader or something, but he's always dancing and singing about magic and stuff."

His voice grew quiet with wonder.

"And then in the other dreams, I'm this room full of stairs, like that Escher poster you used to have, and you're there, in the dream…and that guy's there…and he's singing to you.

He examined the book cover.

"I wanted you to read this book because the gremlins reminded me of those goblin-things. They were hilarious. When you moved out after college, I still read it to myself. Then one time, when I was nine and you came home to visit for the weekend, I remember getting out of bed one night, to go to the bathroom, and your door was cracked open. I saw you standing at the window."

His tone became somber.

"You were crying and holding this little red book I'd never seen before. I thought, maybe, it was your diary. So the next day, while you were out, I snooped through your stuff and found The Labyrinth. I read the whole thing."

He stopped and turned to face his sister.

Her expression was frozen in obvious shock.

"I guess those weren't dreams, after all." He stated lowly, gauging her reaction. "They're memories, aren't they?"

Sarah's entire body started to shake.

"Sarah," he asked, hesitantly, "did something…impossible happen to you in the last two weeks?"

She couldn't hold the tears back any longer.

"Oh, Toby!" She whimpered and finally came clean about everything.

"Wow." Toby breathed once Sarah had finished telling the whole story.

"Yeah," she sighed, "wow."

"So it was all real…a whole other world right out of that book…cool!" He grinned.

Sarah rolled her eyes, but twiddled her fingers nervously.

"Are you mad?"

The teen looked up at her.

"What? Oh! Well…I'm a little pissed that you read that book to my kids when you knew what it was capable of. I mean, seriously, what were you thinking? But, you did the right thing. Trading yourself in Madeline's place. I wouldn't have expected you to do anything less."

"Are you mad that I wished you away?"

The former 'goblin'-babe's eyes twinkled with understanding.

"No. Why should I be? It was a long time ago. Besides, I think it's kind of awesome that we both got to experience an adventure like that. I just wish you'd told me about it sooner."

"That reminds me," she peered at him, "why didn't you mention The Labyrinth when you found it? You never asked me about it or anything."

Toby scratched the back of his neck.

"I don't know, really. I suppose I just thought the whole thing was a mystery and that I should try to figure it out on my own. But, speaking of which," his voice grew hard, "I'll tell you what I am mad at you about."

She flinched.

"What the hell are you doing here, Sarah?"

She furrowed her brows. She was definitely caught off guard by that question.

"I told you, he…he brought me back."

"But you don't wanna be here."

"Toby, that's not true!" She cried, rising to her feet. "I'm happy to be home with you guys again! I missed you all so much!"

"So much that you've shut yourself up in your room all night and done nothing but mope?"

She opened her mouth to reply but no sound came. Her lower lip trembled.

"C'mon, Sarah." He coaxed, wrapping his arms around his big sister. "Stop telling me what you think I want to hear. Admit it, you're miserable. Sure you're glad to see us, but this isn't your home anymore and you know it."

Sarah choked out a sob.

"But that doesn't make you a bad person." He insisted, squeezing her frame comfortingly.

She shook her head in denial.

"Listen to me," Toby demanded, grabbing her upper arms and leaning back to look her dead in the eye, "You've always been there for me, Sarah. Whether I wanted you to be or not, I always knew I could count on you. You've spent your whole life trying to make up for this mistake you thought you made, you never got to live your own life. You never got to do anything for you. You were always too busy taking care of me, now you always take care of the twins, which in its own way, is still taking care of me. You're too afraid to admit that you want more. It's ok to be a little selfish, sometimes. Hell, after everything you've done for me, for the last fifteen years, I don't think anyone deserves to be selfish more than you."

"But-but," she protested, "you guys need me here."

"You said that when you're in the Underground, reality changes here so it's like you never existed, right?" He reminded her. "And when you saw us in the park, we were doing alright, weren't we? We'll be fine, Sarah. We'd have to be, because if you'd never existed, we'd have to learn to get along without you."

Sarah pulled away and sat in her rocking chair.

"You know something?" Toby asked, following her and kneeling down to her level. "Now that reality's been fixed, I have to tell you, in my mind you've been here for the past two weeks just doing your regular thing, but honestly, I barely remember you. When I really think about it, I don't remember anything specific, I don't remember you saying anything, I don't really even remember your face, you were just there, but not really there-there, ya know?"

Gently, he took her hands in his and stroked them with his thumbs.

"But you know what the sad part is? That's kind of how you've always been. Even when you weren't dealing with me, you just never had any real interest in going out with friends or dating or whatever. The only time you ever see Lucy is at work. You've always been a loner…in your own little world. And now I know why. Because you do have your own little world…and you belong there."

She gasped at his words.

"That's why you were crying that night." He went on. "That's why you used to talk to yourself so much. That's why you named your bookstore the Page Maze. That's why you in here, awake and depressed. That's why you said you'd marry him."

Sarah gaped at her brother, unable to utter a sound.

He's right. My God.

Toby smiled and patted her knee once before standing.

"This time, I want what's best for you. Take your dreams, Sarah. Go home."

Biting back fresh tears, she leapt up and hugged Toby as hard as she could.

"I love you." She said in a soft but firm voice.

"I love you too."

The two siblings stood holding each other tightly for several long minutes before the teenager stepped away.

"I don't know how to get back, Toby." Sarah admitted sadly.

He considered her for a second, then ruffled her hair with a smirk.

"You made it through a magic Labyrinth. You'll find a way. My sister never gives up."

"Good-bye, Toby." She whispered, her voice thick with emotion as he moved to leave the room.

Hearing her, he stopped in the open doorway and glanced at her.

"Thanks for everything, Sarah. See you later."

He then gave her one last knowing wink before he disappeared into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

Elation and clarity flooded Sarah's nerves and she began pacing the room, trying to formulate a plan.

I can do this. I have to. I can't wish myself there or I'll turn into a goblin, but there's got to be another way.

Suddenly halting her steps, she narrowed her eyes at her vanity mirror. Hurrying over, she hunched down, bracing her arms on the table so she could herself in the glass again.

She took a deep breath.

"Hoggle, I need you."

A/N: We're getting into the home stretch guys! Please leave a review and I'll try to have another chapter up before the end of the week.