"Okay-Love-you-too-Have-fun-Byyeee!"

The words flew out in one fluid breath, and Sarah collapsed against the front door, leaving her father and stepmother outside. She giggled and took a moment to regain her breath, then locked the door behind them and made her way upstairs with a spring in her step. "Date night" had transformed overnight from the bane of her existence to the highlight of her week. Six months had passed since her adventure in the Labyrinth, and she'd discovered that babysitting wasn't so bad when you had friends to keep you company.

"C'mon, Toby," she said, picking her brother up out of his crib and carrying him to her room, "The party's about to start."

She never knew exactly who to expect. Hoggle and Ludo were regulars, and Didymus came whenever he could, though he took his duties Underground too seriously to skip them, even for a friend. Tonight, it was just Hoggle, a fairy who wanted to sample the flower growing on Sarah's windowsill, and a few goblins for ambiance. Sarah enjoyed the sedate change of pace, teaching Hoggle poker while she kept a slant eye on the goblins trying to play some demented version of duck-duck-goose with Toby, who kept wandering out of the circle, such as it was. All that crawling tired the kid out early, and Sarah put him to bed while her friends disappeared back through the mirror. As always, the room seemed oddly empty just after they left, but the teenager didn't have long to be lonely. When her dad and step-mom got back home, Toby was snoring soundly, and Sarah had just gotten comfortable in her own pajamas.

"Hey, how was date night?"

"It was good," Karen said diplomatically. Her voice was just a bit too bright, and Sarah frowned at her dad in silent inquiry.

"You know how it was a sort of double-date with one of my associates?"

Sarah nodded, and her father continued his explanation, wincing a bit at the memory.

"He got a little carried away talking about business."

"Oh. Hey, better you guys than me," she joked, keeping the mood light.

"Still," Karen said, ever the optimist, "Dinner was lovely. Anyway, how did things go here?"

"Great! Toby's asleep upstairs. He tired himself out with some sibling tag – honestly, he's getting too fast for me!"

"Oh, Sarah, thank you so much. I know you've had to make a lot of adjustments, but you've been such a good sister to my little boy."

Sarah blushed, surprised by the hug in which her step-mother suddenly enveloped her, and only just remembered to return the embrace before it ended. She had to clear her suddenly constricting throat before she mumbled, "Yeah, well, you know it took me a while to get used to him, but…" She shrugged, then said, "He's my brother."

The statement was simple, unobtrusive, but filled with conviction. It was, perhaps, the most valuable thing she'd learned all those months ago: Family sticks together. The three chatted for a moment longer until Sarah could no longer procrastinate going to bed. She looked out the window, letting the full moon soothe her into sleep as the shadows shifted behind her closing eyelids, and the familiar outline of the Labyrinth took shape.

She dreamed of the Labyrinth most nights, nowadays, or sometimes settings that were completely unfamiliar but felt somehow the same. She wandered down a subterranean corridor now, keeping a hand on the porous stone wall to find her way in the darkness. She stopped at a crossroads – left or right? – then, on instinct, continued straight thought the intersection. Suddenly, a light flared into existence before her eyes, a pulsing, glowing sphere as large as both her outstretched arms in diameter. It was as bright as the sun but not as harsh. She didn't even need to squint to see it clearly, though its curved outline was blurred around the edges. A soft warmth wafted from it and washed over Sarah, engulfing her in a feeling of comfort, familiarity, and satisfaction.

"You again," she said.

The ball of light had become a common fixture of her dreams, a focal point of sorts – the essence of the Labyrinth and all it represented. Slowly, as if by a magnetic pull rather than conscious thought, her arm drifted up to touch the brilliant sphere. A jolt of electricity shot through her body, and Sarah gasped, lurching awake in bed. Her left hand was balled into a fist, but something hard sat in her right palm. It glinted in the moonlight, and for a moment, Sarah thought she was still dreaming. Her hand grasped a crystal. It was lumpy and misshapen, and its cloudy, white surface was nothing like the transparent crystals she had seen before, but it was real.

A wolf howled outside, and Sarah jumped. As the sound cut off abruptly, she shook her head and laughed nervously.

"I mean, yeah, we've seen a lot of crazy things, but I don't think we have to worry about werewolves…Right?"

Slowly, she got out of bed and walked toward her window, preparing to peek out and study the night outside. Before she reached it, it burst open, and a violent wind filled the room. Sarah threw her hands in front of her face and braced herself against the onslaught, squeezing her eyes shut as the crystal rolled under her bed, forgotten.

Something big, not in size but in presence, suddenly filled the room. The wind died down, but oppressive waves of icy magic washed over Sarah. The feeling of something other standing over her was vaguely reminiscent of the Goblin King, but he wouldn't have stayed quiet for so long. Taking a deep breath, Sarah opened her eyes and saw a woman staring down at her. Her pale skin gleamed in the moonlight, and her emerald eyes glinted. Her tall figure was draped in hunter green brocade, silver embroidery raising scenes of animals in flight across her gown, while an ermine ruff protected her from the chill seeping into the air. Her smooth face, framed by white-gold hair and delicately arched brows, struck Sarah as both foreign and familiar. She'd seen it before, but never with such sharp clarity.

"Mom?"

The woman smiled, mingling familiar tenderness with a mordant humor.

"Well, then it's true. You've found some magic of your own. Hello, Sarah."

The voice was richer than the girl remembered, and she took a step back, shaking her head.

"Things aren't always what they seem," she reminded herself aloud. "How do I know you're really her?"

"I'm not," the woman said, approval flashing in her eyes. "At least, not as you remember me. My name is Queen Medb. And, there's a reason I couldn't raise you."

"You're not human. You live there, in the Underground. That's why you left when I was born, why I only saw you a couple of times."

"Very good. You always were such a quick little girl."

Sarah was still wary, but the story taking shape before her eyes made too much sense to ignore.

"Why are you here now?"

"Well, I'm the queen of the Winter Court. I could hardly keep a mortal child, but now that you've found some magic of your own…You could come away with me."

Sarah's heart soared.

"You mean, you want me?"

"Oh, darling, I've always wanted you. The difference is, now you can come with me. With magic of your own, you can live forever in the Underground, be the princess you were always meant to be."

Sarah shook her head as her heart pounded in her chest. Her emotions were wildly out of check and threatened to overcome her reason, and she reached for reasons to delay, to think things through.

"Last I checked," she said bluntly, "Bastards don't really count as princesses. And, I thought the Winter Court hated humans. Seelie and unseelie lore, and all that…"

She trailed off as her mother's musical laughter bounced off her bedroom walls.

"Hate is a strong word, darling. We like to keep our distance, while our warmer cousins can't resist causing chaos Aboveground every chance they get. So, we tend to surface only when tensions are high, and things are likely to get nasty, while they're known for their constant mischief; it's honestly a difference more of timing than of temperament. And, you hardly need to worry about legitimacy. You may not be first in line to inherit anything, but when you live as long as we do, the occasional dalliance isn't so surprising or offensive."

Despite the chill in the air, a warm bubble expanded to fill Sarah's chest. Her mother was offering her every teenager's dream – a place where she belonged. Over the last few months, she'd learned to get along with her father and step-mother by thinking less self-centeredly, and her parties with her friends had helped stave off the loneliness, but she'd been balancing precariously with a foot in each world. And, soon, the one she'd grown up in had begun to feel more foreign than the one on the other side of her mirror.

"When would we leave? Would it really be forever? But, what about my family here?"

"Oh, that's the best part," Medb said, baring her teeth in a crafty grin, "We'll just tell Robert the truth – You're going to be living with your mother now. I can do it tomorrow morning, if you'd like. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this, my darling."

Sarah nodded, reeling. What she'd meant, of course, was how she'd feel leaving her family in the lurch. But, if Medb spoke with her father, at least no one would be left worrying about her. And, Dad, Toby, and Karen made their own little family, right? They'd be happy together, with or without her. Of course, she'd miss the little boy she'd only just learned to love, but would she miss him more than her mother? More than the version of herself she could grow up to be in the Underground?

Sarah had been offered all her dreams before. This time, even if she were reckless, she wouldn't hurt anyone else by taking them. She smiled brightly, while tears pricked her bright eyes, and launched herself into her mother's arms.

"Thank you," Sarah said, still in the tight embrace, "Thank you so much!"

The queen placed a cold kiss on Sarah's forehead before stepping back toward the window.

"Goodnight, my darling Sarah. Sleep well, for tomorrow your new life begins."

The wind was back, and then Queen Medb was gone.