Chapter Nine:

And suddenly she felt everything.

It had been a long day already and, while time had been flying rather quickly, sitting still for the first time since her abduction into the Labyrinth allowed every feeling to settle up on. She felt exhausted and stressed and homesick. She felt like the weight of the world had suddenly been added to her shoulders and for all she knew, it had. As she sat upon the edge of the bed, drooping beneath the weight of her exhaustion, she began to wonder about the finer details of the Underground.

Was its namesake because it was literally located Underground? Or was it more of a description, like calling a rebellion an Underground Resistance? She was so lost in her own thoughts that she took no notice to the light knocking upon her chamber doors or the squeaking as it opened inward. She gazed down at the ornate carpet and pondered life, the Underground, and the life she would be giving up by agreeing to stay in this magical world.

Jareth was silent as he entered, gazing at her with an understanding that accompanied hundreds of years of caring for the Wished Aways. He could see the slump to her shoulders and the way her fingers clenched together that she was holding back an agony and he couldn't be sure if she had even registered it was there. Sarah was internalizing and there was only so long she would be able to pretend that she was happy with the choices she had been faced with. All because her step-mother could not rise to the challenge of raising another woman's child.

Still, Sarah remained oblivious. She counted the colors in the rug and silently counted off the things she would not miss about her home. Certainly not the lack of understanding in her stepmother and her father. They had never really been able to wrap their heads around how special she really was or why she behaved the way she did. She definitely would not miss college and all of the stress that had come with trying to choose the perfect school for her at the end of the year. She would not miss the nasty comments her peers at the local High School threw in her direction. She would not miss being called weird or strange or sitting alone at lunch. She would not miss the humid summer months or the frigid cold winters. She would not miss the busy streets or the way the lights of her hometown blurred out all of the stars.

She would, however, miss the small group of friends she had made over the years. They had understood her on a level that no one else had ever been able to. They had accepted her for who she was and all of her strange quirks and for a moment, she wondered what they would think when she just disappeared. Would they miss her? Would they try to find her? But most of all she wondered about Toby. She worried that the boy, still so young, would forget about her completely. Would he even remember he had ever had a sister? Would he remember the story she had told him time and time again about facing the Labyrinth to save him and return him to their home? Who would he be when he grew up?

She would never see him go to school on his first day. She would never see him fall in love or play baseball or graduate from High School. She wouldn't be there to watch him get married or have children of his own. She would miss out on all of the big moments in his life...

Suddenly she was crying.

The tears had started off gradually, slowly trickling down her cheeks one at a time. It wasn't long, however, before she had caved in upon herself, her arms wrapping around her chest as she choked out mangled sobs. Her entire body shook beneath the weight of her grief. She could handle the loss of her parents and the loss of her friends. She could handle never being able to step foot in the Aboveground again, but she would miss Toby. Since running the Labyrinth for the right to reclaim him, she had felt a strong attachment to her baby brother. She had cared for him as if he were her own child and she had never imagined a world without him in it. A life in the Underground would span for hundreds of human lifetimes... and she doubted she would ever get over the loss of the blonde haired child who had stolen her heart.

Jareth watched the small girl with wounded eyes. He knew immediately where her grief stemmed from and that she didn't need to feel the sorrow she was harboring. Hadn't she understood his message before? Toby would not be lost to her.

"Sarah..."

A sigh fell from her lips but the small girl didn't move. It was almost as if Sarah had stopped breathing all together. It was almost as if she had known he would be there all along. For a moment, he allowed himself to imagine that the breath that had escaped her was one of relief but Farnig's warning echoed in the back of his mind.

You may have had the last few years to figure out who Sarah really is but when she makes her choice to stay, she will be seeing you as her King for the first time.

"Why are you crying?" He asked, swallowing down his pride. He had promised Farnig he would not push her and he was well aware that admitting he knew her well enough to know why she was upset was probably not the best start to their friendship.

She was silent for a long moment before breathing out a larger sigh. Her gaze remained firmly planted upon the rug and she released a shuddering breath. "I miss my brother already." She laughed hollowly. "Is that terrible? My stepmother's time isn't even close to being up and I already miss Toby so much it hurts." She paused, nibbling at her bottom lip as she debated how open she could really be with the Goblin King. Did he honestly care how she was feeling or was he just being polite?

"You love him." A statement, not a question.

"With all of my heart." She breathed. "I don't know how I can survive an eternity without him. It just seems wrong. None of my choices allow me to keep my brother... how can I leave him behind?"

Jareth fell into silence, his heart aching for the girl before him. "Would you like to go and see him?"

Her head snapped up, her eyes widening in surprise as she caught herself examining his softer features. The last time she had been in the Underground, she remembered he had looked so cruel and so unkind. He had looked as if she were a bug meant to be squashed beneath his shoe. But something in him had changed, or maybe it was Sarah who had changed. Now, when he looked upon her he almost seemed to worry. Like she was a china doll that would shatter with the simplest word. "We can do that?"

Jareth nodded lightly. "If you'd like."

"But won't the Aboveground kill me?" She asked nervously. As desperately as she knew she would miss Toby, she was still not ready to let go of life. There was so much more she wanted to do.

"You haven't been exposed to enough magic yet, Sarah." Jareth's smile turned into a smirk. "Continued exposure could be deadly, but the occasional trip to the Aboveground will not end your life."

The small girl hiccupped, a side effect of the sobbing she had been doing moments before. "Yes." She breathed. "Yes. I want to see him."

And before she could rise to her feet, she was sitting on a chair in the corner of Toby's bedroom. She could tell immediately that no time had passed since her stepmother had wished her away. It was as if time itself stood still while in the Labyrinth. Toby was still pressed against the bed where she had pushed him before she had been whisked away, and he almost seemed to stumble across the room and into her legs when the teleportation ended.

"Sarah!" Toby giggled, the sound aching in the deeper recesses of her heart as he climbed into her lap. "Goblins!"

She followed his gaze to where a couple of little goblins were scurrying in and out of view near his bed frame. "Toby..." She wrapped her arms around her baby brother, clutching him tightly to his chest. For all she knew this would be the last time she would ever see the little boy, the last time she would ever hold onto him. Desperately she placed hundreds of little kisses upon the crown of his head, breathing in his scent and committing it to memory. She would never forget the little boy who had brought her so much happiness in the last few years.

"Stop, stop, stop!" He demanded, squirming in her arms as toddlers tend to do. All he wanted was to chase the little goblins around his room and play his games. He had no clue that Sarah would soon be gone from his life forever.

"Listen, Toby, and then I'll put you down." She explained, watching as his face scrunched up in determination. She knew she would not keep his attention for long. "You know I love you, don't you?"

"I love you!" He stated enthusiastically, his head bobbling as he attempted to nod his understanding.

"Always remember that, won't you? You'll never forget all the fun we've had and all the stories I've told you. Promise me you won't forget." She knew full well that even making her a promise, time would erase his childhood memories and Sarah would become a phantom that sometimes would visit him in his dreams. But his childish promises would make saying goodbye that much easier.

"I pwomise." He grinned his trademark grin. She saved that one in the back of her mind as well, the look of her baby brother missing teeth and grinning like she had made him the happiest kid on the planet.

"How much time do I have?" She asked, finally turning her attention to where the Goblin King stood silently watching their exchange.

"We do need to head back in a few moments. I need to keep an eye on your stepmother and my magic is not as strong in the Aboveground." He explained, frowning sadly.

"No! Stay and play!" Toby whined, hopping down from Sarah's lap and pouting up at the Goblin King. The toddler showed no sign of fear as he shuffled forward, grabbing on to one of the loose pieces of fabric that hung from Jareth's tunic. "Play with us!"

For a moment the Goblin King was stoic, he stood tall and proud, gazing down upon the child with a brow raised. And then, as if it were the most natural movement, Jareth lowered himself to his knee to Toby's eye level. "You and I are going to have plenty of time to play in the coming years, little one."

Toby turned from the Goblin King, smiling widely up at his elder sister. "You'll play, too, Sarah?"

Sarah choked back the sobs she felt raising in her chest. She refused to be weak in front of her brother. She refused to allow his last memory of her to be sad or tainted by her own sorrow. But before she could speak, Jareth had risen back to his full height, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Sarah will play, too."

Her gaze snapped to Jareth, her eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Pwomise?" Toby asked, his brow furrowed as he tugged gently upon one of Jareth's long locks of hair.

Sarah starred on with wide eyes, incredulously waiting for the Goblin King to act more like the man she had once imagined him to be and less like the kind hearted ruler she was seeing him as now.

"I promise. You'll play lots of games with Sarah and her Goblins through your years." She opened her mouth to question but Jareth held up a hand to silence her. "Say your goodbyes, Sarah." He instructed.

She blinked back her confusion, dropping to her knees before her baby brother. "I love you, Toby." She whispered, pulling the small boy into her arms and holding him tightly against his chest.

"I love you, Sarah!" He spoke, his voice like music to her ears.

"Goodbye." She breathed and then she was kneeling upon the ground in her chambers in the Goblin city... and Toby was gone.

It took quite a few moments before Sarah moved. For a while, Jareth feared something inside of her had snapped. She simply knelt upon the cold floor, staring down into her arms where her baby brother had stood just moments before.

"Why did you lie to him?" She finally whispered, her voice barely audible. From where he stood it looked as if she was trembling but he couldn't be sure if it was because of the sorrow or a new found rage. "Why did you lie to him?" She asked again, her voice slightly louder this time.

"I didn't lie, Sarah." Jareth spoke, his voice even in a desperate attempt to keep the girl before him calm. He could see her spiraling out of control, losing grip on the reality she had been settled with. Grief could drive a person mad.

"You lied to him!" She spat, more venom in her voice then he had expected. When she finally moved, she rose to her feet, her gaze still glued to the rug before her. "You lied to him and that's going to be his last memory of me."

He was sure now that the trembling was from her rage and he almost swore he could feel his heart physically sink into his stomach. "Sarah, listen to me-"

But she did not want to listen. Instead, she lifted ravenously angry eyes to his, her glare sending shivers down even his spine. "You told him I would play with him. You made him believe that I would see him again. Now every time he remembers me, if he even remembers me, he's going to remember how we lied to him. How he was promised I would see him again and I never returned!"

He wasn't sure she even understood her actions, but before he could respond, Sarah had thrown herself at him. She raised her small fists, slamming them down against his broad chest over and over again. Tears streamed down her face, agonized cries ripping from her as she struck him again and again and again.

And Jareth made no move to stop her.

"I hate you!" She wailed, her blows decreasing in strength each time they landed upon his broad chest. "I hate you! I hate you!"

He weathered every cry, every strike, and every wail with unwavering understanding. Sarah still did not understand. She was so enshrouded in her own grief that she could not, would not, allow her mind to expand enough to accept all the information that had been presented to her.

It seemed like hours had passed in the moments she unraveled, before the small girl began to sag. Jareth reached out gently, cradling her body as she began to fall to her knees once more. Slowly he lowered her until they both knelt upon the cold ground in silence. Sarah didn't move and she didn't speak. She merely sobbed into the oblivion she was drowning in.

"I did not lie to your brother, Sarah." Jareth began after enough time had passed for her to collect herself slightly. "You will play games with your brother and he will make friends with the Goblins."

"I don't understand." There was still too much venom in her voice; she still was not allowing herself to accept all of the possibilities.

"Sarah, you ran the Labyrinth for Toby. You were the child thief and his life was tied to yours." He stared down at her, unable to meet her gaze as she tried to understand what he was saying.

"I know, I know." She was growing exasperated. "I stole away the perfect life he could have had here. I sent him back to a family that won't care for him as deeply. I get it now, I understand."

"No, Sarah. You don't." Jareth took a deep breath, gently lifting her chin so that she would be forced to look him in the eye. "You are still a child, Sarah, regardless of your acceptance of that. Your stepmother wishing you away ties your fate back in with Toby's. A Wished Away can not claim another Wished Away."

"What does that mean?"

Jareth smiled lightly, ignoring the tolling of the bell as it rang out around them. "If your stepmother fails, your victory is rescinded and Toby will return to the Labyrinth where he rightfully belongs."