A/N: Had to cut the climax in half, so two chapters more to go.

Hope you enjoy!

The whole city was crammed inside the auditorium, taking up the seats, crowding off to the sides and in the back, talking so loud they could hardly hear the underpaid ushers desperately trying to keep bodies out of the aisles. The show hadn't even begun yet, but people were already clamoring for the curtains to rise. Children jumped up and down in their seats. Parents readied their video cameras.

Every single person in this department had worked their asses off to make today happen, despite so many people telling them it was hopeless, and it was finally paying off.

Truly, the theater majors should be proud of themselves. Sarah had caught maybe a dozen people waiting for the mythology and folklore presentation.

She weaved through a group in the doorway, struggling to see over each other. No strange shadows were lurking among them, just a large man who glared at Sarah when she almost ran into him and a little girl who was drawing with crayons on the floor while her mother was deep in conversation with a friend.

"I don't see her," Sarah said, dashing to the corner like this was a game of hide and seek. "You see anything?"

Loki, who had returned to his unassuming Professor Prince garb, narrowed his eyes. "This area appears to be clear, but I wouldn't trust that. She is a cunning creature, though not as smart as she thinks she is."

"Well, she's only human," Sarah said, sardonically.

Loki closed his eyes and muttered. Sarah was about to ask, but then his hands started glowing and the wall behind him shimmered. The floor shook, though that might've been Sarah's racing heart. Either way, when Loki opened his eyes, he was frowning. "I can't sense her anymore. She may no longer be on this plane."

"You mean she went back to the Underground?"

"If she did," Loki said, "then following her will be a difficult task."

He started walking down the hall away from the auditorium and other people. Sarah gaped for a moment before rushing after him. "Wait a minute, aren't you the god of mischief? You must have a way to get there."

"To the Underground, yes," Loki said. "The Labyrinth, well, she's rather particular about those who enter her grounds through secret doors. Trust me, I've tried many times."

"We can't leave," Sarah muttered, eyes darting back and forth. "She's probably left some of her guard dogs behind."

"Most certainly," Loki said. "And that's not even getting into what else will be hunting you. I will do everything I can to protect you for now, but when you reach the Labyrinth, I will have to stay behind."

"Wait…" Sarah didn't know which part to address first. "I mean, I thought we couldn't get there."

"I can't get there," Loki said. "You, on the other hand, are her Champion. She is with you always, and so you are the one she will welcome."

"But I'm not magic," Sarah said. "I don't have any powers. I only won because I was lucky!"

"You were tenacious," Loki said. "You always have been."

"Tenacity doesn't get you into magic kingdoms!"

The shaking was back, vibrating in Sarah's chest so hard that she almost screamed at Loki to stop. Except he wasn't glowing anymore or moving at all. He had tensed up and brought a finger to his lips to shush her. Then he lowered himself into a fighting stance, a dagger appearing out of nowhere in his hand.

"Well, you'd better make it get you there," he said, "because our enemy has expanded her forces."

It was marching, Sarah realized with a sick feeling just as the long black shapes slid over the wall. Dozens of them, three by three, approached with stiff, quick movements. They had no faces and no discernable clothing, but Sarah pictured a row of tin soldiers in Nutcracker garb. It helped that they are all carrying swords.

"Long live the Queen," they rumbled. Their voices were like millions of tiny insect legs skittering over her face. Soft clicking made her shiver. She spun around, but she already knew that wouldn't work. They were surrounded. "Long live the Queen. Long live the Queen."

"Seems she tired of her mongrels," Loki said.

"What do we do now?" Sarah asked.

Loki hummed, running a dagger over his pale skin. "Well, I've always prided myself in being an excellent strategist, but as we're short on time, we must take a page out of my brother's book."

"Your brother?"

The entire front line of the Shadow Soldiers exploded as magic and a thousand more daggers burst from Loki's hands. He grabbed her and the hallway vanished. They were outside in one of the empty courtyards. With no one around, Sarah seized the moment to catch her breath and force her heart back into her chest. They didn't have long. The marching was already heading their way.

"They won't find us," Loki said, almost certainly reading her mind. "At least not yet. I have made sure of that."

A flash of movement in the side of her vision made Sarah jump. She was ready to run but instead watched herself and Loki run into one of the art studios, a band of shadow soldiers on their tail. Two floors above them, another Sarah and Loki were being cornered in a classroom.

"I hope you have a lot of those," she said.

"Plenty," Loki said. "I have provided the distraction. Now you must provide the transport."

The tiny droplets of relief daring to drip into her heart dried up. "I told you, I don't know how."

"You must know. You did it before."

"I was a stupid kid! I made a stupid wish that I didn't even mean. That's not magic!"

"Well your stupid wish unlocked a world beyond your own," Loki said, folding his arms. "I shouldn't have to tell you how impossible that is."

"I…" Sarah fought for a retort, but it was hard to find the right words when her thoughts were running in a dozen directions, following the fake Sarahs and Lokis room to room. "I just made a wish."

"So make another," Loki said like it was just that easy.

Sarah wanted to tell him it wasn't. Wishes meant nothing if you didn't believe in them. They were just words. Years of convincing herself that magic wasn't real couldn't be erased in just a few weeks, even if they had been the most exciting weeks of her life.

So now what? Look in the mirror like Alice and wish herself to Wonderland? If it was that simple, she never would've forgotten how to do it.

A shadow soldier floated into the room, stopping short like he didn't expect to find them. Loki pounced, slicing it to pieces. It had already let out some kind of shriek, like one of the body snatchers. All the walls seemed to dip inward, sending Sarah stumbling back. Loki caught her easily, pushing her into a corner.

"This is it," he said. "Do you want to save him?"

"More than anything."

Loki smiled. "Then do it."

Something bright and shimmery appeared over her eyes. At first, Sarah thought she'd been hit. When she registered no pain, she realized it was some kind of reflective barrier. She stared at her reflection, wondering about the weird smirk she knew she wasn't wearing until her other self backed away.

"While I keep them busy," her double said with Loki's voice, "you do what you must."

Then Loki ran down the hall, screaming in Sarah's voice for the shadows to come and get him. Over a dozen caught his trail, stumbling over each other to reach him. Not a single one of them noticed the real Sarah in plain sight just a few feet away. Almost like they couldn't see her at all.

She waited for the last one to vanish and the shrieking to stop. Then gave it another minute to make sure no one else followed. Footfalls over her head could've been the art kids rushing around preparing their exhibit or shadow soldiers sniffing her out. This would've been a good time to run, but run where?

Into the closet? They'd find her like they found Gobble.

Outside? That would just put more people in danger.

Loki could very well be sacrificing himself for her right now. What could she do for him and for Jareth other than exactly what she knew deep down in her heart she had to do?

"I can't do this," she whispered. Then she gritted her teeth, forcing it all back. "I can do this. I can."

'Yes, you can,' said a new voice, one that didn't sound anything like her, but wrapped around her like a warm blanket.

Sarah closed her eyes. Pictured a hilltop and a glowing sunset, trees all around her, and the door to a maze at her feet. "I wish I was in the Labyrinth."

All was still. She couldn't hear the shrieking anymore. Loki must have lured them to the other end of the building. That meant she was all alone. There wasn't even an owl to watch her.

"I wish I was in the Labyrinth. I wish I was in the Labyrinth."

Heady excitement had hit so hard it made her dizzy, and as it faded, fear leaked through. It wasn't working. She was wishing harder than she ever had in her life. Harder than when she was a teenager and all she had to worry about was spending an evening with the baby. Now she had something real to fear. A desperate need deep in her heart, reaching for the doors to the goblin city. No matter how hard she tried, they wouldn't budge.

"Dammit," she said, falling to her knees and punching the ground. "Come on. Come on! Take me there. I wish I was there!"

Tears pooled and her skin felt like fire. She wanted to scream, but she laughed instead. It felt like chewing tin foil. Dull pain coursed through her, forcing her to the ground as her nerve finally broke.

How useless was she? Couldn't even get one little wish to feel sincere. The magic she had loved as a child had never felt thinner. Just a dream she had clung to when the world was too dark. What was she supposed to do if she couldn't feel it anymore?

Sarah's sobs fell into rhythm with the pounding above. More running. More fighting. How long before they caught on to all the decoys? They might just decide not to bother with discretion anymore. So many lives hanging over her shoulders. These two worlds she loved so much…

All of it fell from her ears. Her thundering heartbeat sucked away the hum of chatter from the unaware crowd outside. It went with the pain in her legs and her chest. Everything was numb. All the worlds had stopped and she was the only one left. Her body grew light and the words were like a sigh.

"I wish the goblins would come and take me away. Right now."

There was no clap of thunder. No dramatics like last time. Sarah might have heard a bird's screech or it might've been another wish. She didn't move. The floor didn't shake as it shifted from tile to dirt. Like a doctor offering false promises to a frightened child, it didn't hurt a bit. Sarah took a breath of fresh, autumny air that hadn't been processed through a ventilation system. She got to her feet on top of a hill and looked out at a burnt orange sky and the castle in the center of the maze.

It was bigger than she remembered, all of it. She'd never really looked at anything last time she was here. Never saw what was in front of her eyes. If she squinted, she could almost see buildings at the edge of the earth, so far away they could've been a mirage. What kind of pouncy, well-dressed nobles existed in whatever magical paradise lay beyond these fields? Could their storybook kingdoms ever be as special as this?

There was chattering at her back. At first, she thought it was the wind, but it was getting closer and spreading out. Dozens of shadows flying didn't scare her like they used to. Not when the goblins appeared, chortling and carrying surprisingly docile chickens on their backs. They crowded around her, not quite as terrifying with happy grins plastered all over their faces.

"You here!" they cheered. "Lady here! Lady here to save us!"

They chanted like cheerleaders at a pep rally, dancing with each other and their chickens. The sheer joy in the air overcame the lingering fear in Sarah's gut. She fell to her knees and hugged the nearest goblin. He smelled like mud and was heavier than she expected, but he hugged her back like a child clinging to their mother.

"Lady here! Lady here!"

"Yeah," Sarah said, wiping her eyes. "I'm here."

They cheered until a shriek silenced them. It came from within the Labyrinth. The walls vibrated with a wealth of shadows blooming out of the ground like a pie rising. They shrieked louder, like a warning, or a challenge. Some of the goblins quivered. Most drew their weapons and bared their teeth at the enemy.

"You no touch Lady," a goblin in a horned helmet shouted. "Lady here to beat you!"

"Lady will save us," another goblin poked his cartoonishly large sword at the shadows.

"They have Jareth, don't they?" Sarah said.

"Bad lady took him," the goblin she hugged said, clinging to her leg. "Took him to the castle. In there now."

"Can you get inside?"

"Shadows everywhere! They keep us out."

"They sting," the goblin with the horned helmet showed Sarah his hand, and her stomach turned at the sight of coagulated blood.

Steeling her nerves, she focused on the task at hand. That she was at the start of the Labyrinth had only just hit her. The thought of having to run that maze and deal with all those obstacles again was not an attractive one. This time, she couldn't count on anyone holding back.

'You couldn't count on that last time either,' she told herself.

True, but there was still a little matter of time.

"How do we get through?" Sarah asked. She couldn't tell if the shadows were listening. Just how far could they hear? "Is there a shortcut?"

"No way," a goblin said as the whole group formed a protective circle around her. "Bad lady closed them. Only main way."

Sarah grimaced. "Well, that's great. Guess I'll have to be quicker this time."

"Lady go," another goblin said. "We hold shadows back."

"Are you sure?"

"Lady go." The goblin on her leg finally let go and pushed her forward. He had a look on his face she'd never seen on a goblin before. "Gobble was my friend. He loved you. Want to protect you. No regrets."

He joined the rest of his battalion, leaving Sarah to nod and smile through the wad of emotion in her throat. "Thank you."

The shadows reared back, ready to strike. The goblins howled and charged at them, their numbers suddenly greater as dozens more appeared as if sprouting from the dirt. They tackled the shadows. She took that as her cue and dashed for the entrance.

It was a straight path into the maze. The shadows were busy with the goblins who had been galvanized by Sarah's return and vengeance for their fallen brother. In the face of that, a dozen shadows soon dissipated into nothing. The few that noticed Sarah were ripped to pieces before they could do anything. One extended a tendril to trip her, but Sarah jumped over it, those two gymnastics sessions when she was twelve finally coming in handy.

There was no Hoggle to guide her to the door like last time, but she didn't need it. The doors were wide open and beckoning her forward. Fairies flew around the vines, but Sarah didn't fear their bites. Some things hurt far worse than teeth. As she ran through the doors, she heard them buzzing, and while it may have been wishful thinking, she could've sworn they were cheering her on.

The inside was almost pitch black. Shadows painted every stone. They reached for her, but Sarah dodged every time. Adrenaline and a few helpful assists from some acrobatic goblins kept her on track with no interruptions. She got good at jumping over obstacles quickly. Hell, maybe she shouldn't have quit gymnastics after all. It was so she'd have more time for soccer and she'd gotten bored of that by the end of the school year.

She turned a few corners that seemed familiar, running on the hope that the Labyrinth hadn't changed too much since last time. A part of her had expected it to immediately create a straight path for her to the castle. Or that some ethereal voice would appear in her head and tell her where to go.

Nothing like that happened, although she did hear a group of goblins chanting 'Tear it in half!' back the way she came.

"Come on, come on," she felt around the wall. This was where that optical illusion was. She was sure of it. An opening was here, she just had to find it. "Where are you?"

"Hello!"

As sudden as the voice was, it didn't make Sarah jump. If anything, she was relieved. It came from a hole in the wall that she probably should've noticed before. The sweet face of the little worm poked out at her. He still had the same scarf.

"Hey," Sarah said, kneeling. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"You haven't changed a bit," the worm said. Another face popped out from around the wall. This worm had long eyelashes and a pink bonnet. "Finally get to meet the Missus, you do."

"Hello," said the worm's wife. "Would you care for a spot of tea?"

"I'd love to, but I have something to do at the castle today. Can you tell me how to get there?"

The worm gestured across from them. "Don't tell me you forgot where the path is."

"Sorry," Sarah said.

"Well, no matter. It's right there. In front of your face."

Sarah walked forward. Once he said that it was like casting a spell. The opening was obvious. How had she ever missed it the first time? She looked both ways. She'd gone right last time on the worm's advice and had the adventure of a lifetime. A feeling nagged at her and she turned back to the worm. "What's this way? The way you didn't want me to go."

"Why, it takes you right to the castle!"

Of course, it did. Sarah laughed and shook her head. "It was meant to be."

If the worm or his wife wanted to know what that meant, they had no time to ask. Something slammed into the wall from the other side, sending the bricks inward. The worms yelped and huddled together as their home shook like an earthquake. Sarah scooped them out of the hole and went left.

Despite being a direct path, it was a long one. Sarah couldn't see the end of the road and as she ran, nothing seemed to get any closer. She held the worms carefully between her cupped hands, apologizing over and over again for jostling them. They didn't complain, but Sarah could feel the fear radiating from them, and she fought to keep it from seeping into her skin.

Shadows followed her, dragons and soldiers and monsters she couldn't name. She dodged all of their swipes. One of them leaped in front of her and she had barely any time to slow down to avoid slamming into it. A pair of orange monsters jumped over the wall after it and smashed it to the ground. They screeched like wild frat boys as they burnt the shadow to a crisp. Sarah never thought she'd be so happy to see the Fireys, but they might as well have been her guardian angels right now.

"Go Sarah!" they shouted, pumping their fists as she ran past. "Go Sarah, go! Go, Sarah, go! We'll take your head off later!"

More chanting followed them, screaming her name to the heavens, though mostly without the friendly threats of violence. Goblins appeared from over the walls, behind her, and at her sides. The junk lady threw one of her pans in the air and hit a passing shadow in the face. The guardsman had left their post to spear shadows through their heads.

Every character she ever thought of as a figment of her imagination was here, forming a barrier around her, ushering her to the castle. It was finally starting to appear through a fog. Three figures waited at the end of the maze.

"Through 'ere," Hoggle said, pointing to the doors as a dozen goblins ripped them open.

Shadows melted out of the bushes, howling in rage. They were immediately beset upon by the goblins and the fireys. Ambrosius grabbed one by the throat and shook him around. Sir Didymus jumped on his back and led a group of goblins to charge.

The denizens of the Labyrinth fought with all they had to protect their home. And now Sarah was going to finish what they started.

"Go on," Hoggle said, taking the Worm couple from her.

"Are you sure?"

"We'll be fine out here. You go save that rat."

The pair shared a smile and then Sarah rushed up the stairs through the doors. They must have been heavier than they looked because the goblins instantly let go once she was inside and the last thing she heard before they slammed shut was a dozen exhausted moans which quickly turned to battle cries.

Inside the castle was not what Sarah expected. Which was to say it was exactly what she expected. An open, spacious chamber, a throne on a pedestal lacking an owner. The floor was covered in rocks and feathers like the goblins had been there only moments ago. The ceilings went up higher than Sarah could see in the dark, and it was so very dark. A place where shadows couldn't touch because everything around her was just one big shadow all alone.

Sarah's feet tapped on the empty floors, bouncing off the walls and back at her. The echoes hit like slaps to the face. Sarah pushed forward against the growing thickness of the air. It was getting colder. She had not dressed warmly enough for this. This kind of biting cold was not something that stayed in her memory. If it was here last time at all.

"Jareth?" Sarah called out.

Twelve voices repeated her. Most of them sounded more or less like her.

"I'm here," Sarah shouted. "I'm not leaving without him. Tell me where he is or… or there will be consequences!"

As weak a threat as that was, Sarah made it sound as strong as she could. Looking around, she couldn't see anything resembling a weapon. Not that she'd know what to do with one if she found it. There were few doorways and even fewer hallways. It couldn't have always been like this, but that slamming door from just a few moments ago couldn't have been more final.

She was in the belly of the beast.

"Jareth?" she shouted even louder. "Jareth, where are you? If you can hear me, please-"

The floor rattled and she flew into the wall. A light fixture snapped out of its hilt and nearly smacked her on its way down. The meager flame was extinguished. It hadn't been doing much anyway.

Inky black spread across the walls, seeming to erase them from existence. Sarah backed into the middle of the room like she could avoid it touching her. The blackness took the ceiling and started on the floor. The whole time, Sarah could vaguely hear the voices of her friends outside. They were screaming. She wanted to believe in victory but the chill closing in around her heart wouldn't let her.

"Jareth!" She started to run, then stopped. There was nowhere to go except to the throne. "Jareth! Where are you? I'm here!"

The stones under her feet began to crumble. Sarah made a break for the throne. She climbed on top of it, like a desperate sailor clinging to a sinking ship. There was nothing around her now except the void. Echoes cut off her final access to the outside world. All she could hear was her own terrified voice.

"Jareth!" She thought she heard something else. It was calling out to her. Probably just her imagination. It had to be because it was coming from what used to be the floor.

Sarah stared into the nothing, struggling to hear. There was nothing she could do as the darkness started up the legs of the throne and picked up speed.

Nothing except… what she did last time.

"No way," she muttered, reaching out and finding only air. Maybe when she said nothing was here, it really was true. No way. No way…

But was there another choice?

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Sarah dove off the chair into the void.

She fell for hours. At least it felt like hours before the darkness made way for a dim orange light and her feet hit solid ground. She didn't crumble as she should've. Realistically a fall from that height should have had her painting the walls red. Instead, she landed on her feet, almost cat-like, at the top of a stairway in a room she knew all too well.

"Escher," she whispered as a staircase appeared over her head.

The more she looked, the more staircases appeared. They twisted and shifted, propelled by magic. Not the same magic as last time. Something darker that made the air stale. It didn't keep her from running, so that's what she did.

"Jareth? Are you here?" The irony of searching for him in this room wasn't lost on her. Nor was the fact that it should've been so much easier to track down a fully grown man than a baby, and yet he didn't seem to be anywhere. "Jareth?"

Another thought almost brought her to her knees. What if he wasn't here at all? What if this was just The Demoness giving her a personalized hell to waste away the rest of eternity? She could be stuck running in circles forever, never getting any further than this spot. No matter how high she climbed, there would always be another step.

'Don't think like that. You can make it.'

The disembodied voice did what her fear couldn't and made her stop. It had come from her, but it didn't sound like her. The inner monologue she'd always known had been more or less without sound. This was more like Jessie's voice whenever she dropped the jokes and let Sarah cry on her shoulder.

'You can do it,' it said again. Except it didn't. This voice was deeper and more masculine.

'He is here. You'll find him.'

'The labyrinth will never die as long as you are together.'

'We are with you. You are safe.'

The voices came in pairs, then in threes and fives. At least a dozen of them swarming around her. Not suffocating like The Demoness's shadows, but raising her on a cloud. All these children, who may have stood in this very room when they took their prize, carried her forward. They led her around a corner and down another passageway. Their words were no longer discernable. They were just a sensation wrapped around her gut telling her where to go.

She had reached the top of another stairway when she saw it. A tuft of blonde hair sticking out over the side. It was so small, she almost missed it, and in the time it took her to zero in on it, the staircase had already moved five feet.

"No!" Sarah jumped and just managed to get her fingers into the grooves of the ledge. It carried her off to another staircase as she struggled to pull herself up. It was impossible even with her wired blood.

She let go and dropped onto another set of stairs, nearly losing her balance at the edge of the top two steps. With a painful twist of her ankle, she was able to reach the wall and keep herself upright. Jareth had vanished, but the despair was washed away when she caught a hand hanging over another moving staircase. It was limp but covered in a familiar black leather glove.

Sarah ran for it, but the staircase disappeared. It reappeared behind her, only to vanish again before she'd taken a step. It was over her head now, not just hair or hand but an entire body sprawled out on the steps, clean of blood but devoid of life.

"Dammit," Sarah muttered. This place made so much more sense last time. She could use another ghost voice telling her what to do.

She waited a few seconds, but the spirits missed their cue. Jareth was below her now, looking smaller and paler than ever. Sarah prepared to jump, bent her knees, and took a breath.

She didn't move. Her feet wouldn't leave the ground. That feeling was back and kept her in place like dozens of tiny hands on her shoulders. Don't jump, it said. That would take her in deeper and he wouldn't be there if she made it. Turn around. Walk forward. Keep walking forward. Don't stop for anything.

That didn't make any sense at all. There was nothing ahead of her except stairs and stone. Sarah checked again and Jareth hadn't moved. Almost like the stairs were waiting for her. They beckoned and Sarah backed away, letting the feeling wash away her doubts.

She descended the stairs until they flattened out halfway down. None of them had any kind of bottom. If they did, it would just lead to another set of stairs. She imagined a straight line, continuing eternally in one direction. If she just stayed on the line, she'd be safe, no matter where it took her. Up, down, upside down. Sarah nearly screamed when her vision spun and she realized the stairs had rolled under her feet.

"Don't question it," she said. Don't worry about falling. Keep going.

"Jareth!" She called his name again and again. He couldn't be dead. She wouldn't let herself think that. "Jareth! I'm here! Jareth!"

Laughter rumbled through the walls, not the booming cackle of an evil witch in a Disney movie, just a buzzing chuckle worming into Sarah's ears and shutting out the Labyrinth's soothing presence. "Even if you find him, there's no hope for you now."

"Yeah?" Sarah huffed, breaking into a run. "We'll see."

The straight line took her down another mile. She started to track the distance in the back of her mind. Stairs, flat, stairs, stairs, flat. Up, down, up, up, up, down, down, up. Until her lungs had thoroughly shredded themselves and she could barely feel anything from the waist down.

That was when she saw him.

He was still so far away. It could've been a trick. They were just about level. No more stairs separated them, at least none that Sarah could see. She didn't quite trust that. So far, nothing had fallen out from under her. She dared to check once or twice even though she couldn't bear the idea of taking her eyes off him. What if he disappeared again?

Much as she wanted to, she didn't call his name. She bit down on her tongue to stop herself. All it would do was waste her already rapidly dwindling energy. She was getting closer, though not as fast as she should have been. Every few feet seemed to put another mile between them.

Sarah didn't let it get to her. She didn't think about it at all. She just kept going until he was within her reach, and she could see every barely healed scratch and bruise on his face.

"Jareth," she collapsed next to him, drawing him into a shaky embrace. "I'm here. I'm here. Jareth, can you hear me?"

She checked his pulse. Hopefully, Fae anatomy wasn't too much different from a human's. It took a bit of maneuvering to find the right spot on his neck, but she caught a faint tapping that reinflated her heart.

"Jareth, it's Sarah," she patted his face a couple of times, wishing she had some water.

She checked his breathing. His chest was moving, if shallowly. There was no blood under his shirt or around him. No signs of whatever had put him in this state. For all she knew, it wasn't anything physical. Maybe he was under a magic spell. The only way to save him would be to break the curse, and the way to break the curse was…

The thought popped into her head like someone had taken a picture. Completely neutral, without any positive or negative feelings attached. It was simply what needed to be done.

Sarah lifted Jareth's head and licked her lips. His were cracked with a hint of purple. She leaned in, waiting to feel another weak puff of air from his lungs before closing the space between them. As gently as she could, but with all her hope and fear welling up behind this gentle touch, and a singular mantra rolling endlessly through her thoughts. 'Please, please let this work.'

It always did in the stories.

Jareth lurched forward, his teeth coming down on Sarah's lip and making her yelp. He pushed her out of the way so he could dry heave on the ground and cough up a lungful of bile and blood.

That… was not like the stories.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked, practically draping herself over him in her haste to make sure he wasn't dying.

Jareth coughed some more and then glanced up. His eyes were wild. "If you are an illusion I am going to throw you over."

Sarah laughed, sucking back tears. "It's me. I'm here."

She took his hand and held it tight as if she could push the truth of her presence through his skin. If only he'd take those damn gloves off once in a while.

His fierce expression crumpled into itself as he gave up all pretenses of strength and went slack. "The goblins…"

"They're fine," Sarah told him. "Outside fighting the shadows. I think they're having the time of their lives."

"Then the Labyrinth hasn't fallen."

"No, she hasn't. And she won't. Not as long as we're here."

It took time for him to come back to himself, time they really didn't have. Though Sarah didn't rush him, her feet wouldn't stop tapping That they were together at all might not last if The Demoness decided they were being too sappy for her liking.

Finally, the light returned to his eyes. He sat up and pressed his forehead to hers. "You're really here," he said in wonderment.

"I am," Sarah said. "I'm not going anywhere. Not without you."

He grinned, that same impish grin she remembered from so long ago, and God, she wanted to kiss him again so badly.

"Then let's go," he said, and the whole room erupted in light.