Hey, now what kind of Labyrinth fanatic could I be if I killed Jareth? Do you really think that little of me? Anyway, I'll forgive you this time, here's the second (and most likely last) chapter of Traveling soldier. Using "All I want for Christmas" By Mariah Carey. I hope you like it.

I don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

I don't care about the presents

underneath the Christmas tree

The snow fell in thick, huge clumps as she walked through the busy outdoor plaza. There were huge bags in her arms and all she really wanted to do was go home. Last year this was her favorite part of the holidays, the shopping. She loved giving people presents and watching their faces just light up. But lately, she just couldn't get herself to put her heart in it.

Her wool cap fit snug over her hair, keeping her head warm as she looked for the perfect gift for Toby. He was into, ha ha, dragons and other mythical creatures. Karen had, at one time, blamed her for the influence. However, his interest in fantasy had morphed into mythology and the mystic rather than just the purely fantastic. That was fine by her, anything that would inspire imagination was, in her mind, perfect. And that was when she spotted it, it was huge, but it was perfect. It could fit in the corner of his room, a stuffed animal in the shape of a dark blue dragon, and it went up to her waist. As she paid the clerk and had a teenage boy help her take it to her car, her hands being full of other bags and packages, she was surprised, if not bewildered, when she felt absolutely nothing.

She loved Christmas, didn't she? So why did every Christmas tree seem like it was taunting her? Every candy cane bitter and every snow flake more cold than the last. As she paid the teenager the two bucks she promised him, she could feel his gaze slide down to her hand. He was searching for a ring, she realized. Oh yes, that was it. She was alone, so terribly and painfully alone.

"Bye." She waved him off, watched his face morph into fake cheer. Too happy, he wished her a merry Christmas and was off. Idly, she got in the car and glanced at the clock radio, in three hours she was expected to be at the house for the night. And she wouldn't be alone.

I just want you for my own

More than you can ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas

Is You

It'd been months since she'd traveled through the mirror and if anything, it got worse. Hoggle had come with her and stayed without argument. In fact, he'd settled into life. Obviously he couldn't go out in public but her father had given a job and he could work from home. He was also a stud in almost every virtual chat room in existence. And it did do her heart a little good to see him adjust so well. Toby loved him, never questioning the fact that he couldn't talk about him with anyone but family. He'd be going with her to spend Christmas with her, practically their, family.

She was worrying him, she knew, he seemed to always be watching her. And lately her book had gone missing.

She'd read and reread the little orange book more times in the last couple of months than she had in her lifetime, or so it felt. She put the funny little statue of him on her mantle, remembering the day she found it. She'd been twelve, having just read Labyrinth for the first time, and she'd been naive enough to believe that she'd do things differently than the young heroine if she was given the chance.

And Karen had dragged her to an antique shop, thinking she could get her interested in old and boring instead of the fantastic and unbelievable. It'd been there, hidden in the back and covered in dust. Obviously looked at as the white elephant of the collection. And she knew in an instant it was the goblin king. She'd needed no illustration to know, and she'd begged and begged until Karen agreed to buy it for her.

If only she'd known what she knew now. The personality behind the elegant yet scary face. She still would have bought it, no doubt. Now though, a statue seemed like a small thing. No, she wanted the real thing and though she wished for it, she knew it could never be. Still it didn't help that all she wanted for Christmas was Jareth. And Jareth was dead.

I don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

And I don't care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree

I don't need to hang my stocking

There upon the fire place

Santa Clause won't make me happy

With a toy on Christmas day

She pulled up to the apartment, grimaced as she worked her way up the stairs with her loads of unwrapped presents. When she couldn't open the door, she rapped lightly on the red painted surface. It didn't take Hoggle more that a couple of seconds to get the door open. The second he saw her, he burst into laughter. She looked so funny, almost dragging a dragon by the head while trying desperately not to drop anything. "Well, get in here." He took a few items from her and stepped out of her way.

Together they wrapped what items hadn't been wrapped by the clerks, it took up a good majority of the time they had left. Then they both packed and left early just in case the roads were bad.

Toby was already waiting for them, his excitement bubbling over as he threw the door open when the car pulled up. "Hoggle," He threw his arms around his new friend, in some ways, he was just like Sarah. That had been the thought that both Hoggle and Sarah had shared in one look. Only Toby wasn't going to kiss him, "You're sleeping in my room. You get the bed and I'm sleeping on the floor."

And Toby talked all the way inside, stopped when he saw what Karen had in her hands. Quickly he grabbed them and held them up, two knitted stockings, both green and both brand new. "Mom made them." He handed one to Sarah and one to Hoggle.

They looked down at them and, after a quick chuckle, switched. Her fingers ran lightly over the white wording. It was so delicate, so pretty, and still she had to work for a smile. "Thanks." She just held hers as Toby showed Hoggle how to put his on a hook on the mantle of the fireplace.

Toby looked at her with a confused frown. "Aren't you going to put your's up, Sarah?"

"Oh, right." She fumbled with putting it on the hook, not quite having the heart to tell him she didn't think Santa could put anything in it that would make her happy.

Karen handed her a piece of paper, smiled at her just a little bit. Out of anyone there, she was probably the one person who could understand the sick feeling that had been plaguing her for the last year. "We had a family tradition in my house as a child, and now that Toby's old enough to understand, I'd like try to keep it going."

"Alright." Sarah was willing to go along as Karen gave Toby a piece of paper as well. "What do we do?"

"Write down what you want most for Christmas, fold up the paper, and put it in the tip of the stocking, and if he can, Santa will grant the wish." Karen wrote something down herself and placed it in a stocking with her name on it. Rather than argue, Sarah wrote down the only thing she could possibly want for Christmas.

Hoggle was done in no time, stuck his in his stocking. It was Toby that took forever. When he finally put it in his stocking, Hoggle nudged him. "So, what'd ya write?"

"This really cool book full of sketches of dragons. Some of them are really sweet." Toby grinned at Sarah, knowing that Sarah had a similar book somewhere in one of her boxes. Only those were ones she'd worked hours on, of all her friends from the labyrinth. "What did you ask for, Sarah?"

"A new car." Sarah lied easily, picking him up and hanging him upside down for a few seconds. "A really, really nice one." What else could she tell him? Oh yes, Toby, I thought I'd waste my wish on a dead man. Yeah, that would go over nicely with a little kid. No, just because a toy from Santa wasn't enough to bring her joy wasn't a reason to spoil it for Toby.

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas

Is you

Oh, I won't ask for much this Christmas

I won't even wish for snow

I'm just gonna keep on waiting

Underneath the mistletoe

It wasn't until dinner that Karen spoke up about her surprise for Sarah. "So, Sarah, meet anyone interesting lately?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "We are not about to talk guys, not on Christmas eve."

"I just want to make sure your happy." Karen ignored her dirty look, it was easy enough, she'd been receiving them off and on for the last few years. "In fact, I know a nice young man. About your age, has an open mind, isn't afraid to butt heads once and a while. So I was thinking..."

"No." Sarah grimaced at her plate. "I mean, I really appreciate that you care about me, but I just don't feel like starting anything with anyone." She hated when Karen decided to meddle. In fact, she hated it a lot. Every time she got too comfortable with a man, bad things happened. In fact, she wasn't sure why, but she was sure if she even begged for loads and loads of snow, they'd never see another flake.

No, though it was futile, she was saving her wishes. Because she desperately wanted one thing, and maybe if she saved up enough wishes she'd eventually have one big enough to grant her unusually strange request. The logic may not have made much sense now that she thought about it, but the little tiny bit of hope it gave her was worth it.

So she couldn't complicate it with men that she'd have long fantasies about just to have that hope crushed little by little. No, she wasn't going to be caught under the mistletoe with anybody, not for a long, long time.

I won't make a list and send it

To the North Pole for Saint Nick

I won't even stay awake

Just to hear the magic reindeer click

"What's this?" Sarah asked as she held up the strange paper that she'd found on the mantle. She knew perfectly well what it was, she'd received one every year until she was nine. A red trim, and at the very top in big scrawly letters, it said, "The North pole." But she wanted Toby to tell her. Otherwise he was going to drop to sleep laying there on the couch, and they hadn't even had cocoa or watched Santa Clause is Coming to Town yet.

"I wrote to Santa again, Mom even helped me type it." He smiled widely. "This is the second time he wrote back." His voice dropped and she knew he was trying to tell her something he thought was major. "He knows."

"About what?"

"Hoggle." He said as if it was complete proof that Santa Clause had to be real. Suddenly he looked up at her, his big blue eyes sparkling with curiosity. "What'd you ask Santa for when you wrote him?"

"I didn't." She played with his hair as she frowned out the window. She could remember a time when she wouldn't have missed a year of sending letters, where she'd refuse to go to sleep until her eyes shut on her own. A time when she waited anxiously and reindeer and Santa. A happy time, when she was full of innocence. But that time was over.

Cause I just want you here tonight

Holding onto me so tight

What more can I do

Baby, all I want for Christmas

Is you

She fell asleep halfway through the movie. And in her dream she was sitting on the floor of the large throne room. She'd only seen it once before, but it was unmistakable. In the middle of pit was a humongous Christmas tree. There were all silver and blue ornaments with gold trim. It sparked on it's own, without the help of lights. Around it were piles of crudely wrapped presents. They were for those who worked at the castle, and they'd get them in the morning.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, looked up to smile at Jareth. "Happy Christmas." He told her as he helped her to her feet.

"Merry Christmas." She wrapped her arms around him, rested her head on his shoulder. And as he embraced her she knew this couldn't be real. It was too perfect, too much like all of her fantasies to be real.

And she jerked awake, stretched as much as she could with Toby in her lap. It had been cruel that she would have to revisit the disappointment and grief time and time again. Because that wish was never coming true.

All the lights are shining

So brightly everywhere

And the sound of children's

Laughter fills the air

He woke up the moment she moved just a little, and she didn't know how he did it, but he was already up and running. Karen sat down at the piano and started picking out the tune to a Christmas carol. Both her and their father started singing almost too loudly. Caught up in laughter, Toby tried to, though he didn't really know the words. So Sarah knelt down to his level and whispered the words in his ear before he sung them. They were wrong half the time, but it was fun. She kept her eyes on the Christmas tree, it's pretty lights flashing in many colors. They were so bright, so happy. And for the rest of the night, she was determined to be happy. After all, only an hour before Toby was forced to go to bed, ten o'clock on Christmas evening (Though his normal bed time was eight-thirty). She could keep a smile until then, for him.

And everyone is singing

I hear those sleigh bells ringing

Santa won't bring me

The one I really need

I don't want a lot for Christmas

This is all I'm asking for

I just wanna see my baby

Standing right outside my door

There was only one tradition left, putting the star on the tree. It was from her father's side of the family, no one put the star on the tree until Christmas tree. Now that she thought about it, it seemed their Christmas had more traditions than any other. So as she was elected to put the star up, she got out the step stool. They kept right on singing as loud as possible, moving onto The Christmas Song. Her dad took over playing the tune, and it desperately improved.

Then there was a knock on the door. It startled her that she had to grip the ladder as Karen laughed and made her way to the door. On the other side was a man she'd never seen before, tall, blonde, and without a jacket. It was also snowing quite heavily. "Can I help you?"

"Do you know where I can find Sarah?" He asked politely, though he was shivering like crazy.

Sarah froze, the star slipped from her hand and landed in the branches. It felt like a millennium in which she just stood there. She was hearing things, she knew that voice. Toby ran up to him, was on an energy buzz from the consumption of cocoa. "Do you know my sister?"

"Toby." She took her time stepping down from the ladder, turned to look at the man she knew and loved. "Let him come in before you start pestering him."

"Hi." Jareth smiled a little as he stepped in. The door was shut and they just continued to stare at each other. Toby said nothing.

She threw herself into his arms, laughed when he twirled her once, a huge grin on his face. When she was on the ground again, she reached up touch his cheek. "Hi."

"Why are you crying?" He wiped a tear from her eye before it could fall. "I thought you'd be happy to see me."

"I am happy to see you." She smiled, her eyes filled with confusion for a brief second. "But I don't understand, I thought you were dead."

"I had to make my brother believe that." He explained, never once taking his eyes off of her. "I wanted so much to contact you, to tell you that I was alive. But I couldn't risk it. Can you forgive me?"

She cupped her hand behind his neck, pulled his face down to hers. Her lips brushed his almost chastely, just long enough to get the message across. "You were forgiven before you even walked through the door."

His arms tightened around her as his lips caught hers. She couldn't breathe, but for the first time in a long time she felt like there wasn't something missing. Hoggle came back from the other room, stopped dead at the sight. "Well, I'll be damned."

She stepped out of Jareth's arms, embarrassed at her behavior. "Dad, Karen, this is my friend Jareth. The, um, Goblin King Hoggle and I told you about."

"Yeah, we got that." Her dad smiled, looked at the clock with a wink at Toby. "We've got five minutes, Kiddo. What're we missing?"

Toby looked around the room, scrutinized everything. "The star's not on the tree yet." He looked some more. "I can't think of anything else."

"Right." She grinned, looked at the tree. "The star. Give me a hand?"

"Sure," He let her lead him to the tree. "What do you need?"

"You seemed fine to lift me two minutes ago. And I certainly trust you more than any rickety old ladder, so give me a lift?"

"Certainly, Milady." He wrapped his hands securely around her waist.

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

Baby, all I want for Christmas

Is you

And as her parents, Toby, and Hoggle went to bed, Sarah moved to the closet and unlocked it. "What's going on?" Jareth asked with curious eyes.

"Have a cookie." She suggested as she dragged two large bags from out of the closet and snagged a cookie of her own. "Time to make some Christmas magic."

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night." He murmered as he helped her set the presents that were in the bag artfully around the tree. She looked at him with an almost dropped jaw. "I read it somewhere."

"Uh huh." She nodded, a bright smile on her face now.

All I want for Christmas is you, Baby.