The alarm went off, and she opened her eyes. 6:20 AM.

It had been ten years. Ten.

Sarah Williams had not graduated from a school of the arts. She hadn't even pursued a career in acting. She went to some quiet community college, its name so unimportant and unknown that she had to actually rack her brains to remember it, even though she attended for four years. She had graduated with a Bachelor's degree in business, which she had no idea what to do with. But it had still felt good to toss off her graduation cap with her diploma in hand.

She worked two jobs; her day job was a shopkeeper at popular pet store, who's owner was old and generous and paid her much more than he should even though she protested. Her second evening job was a bartender at a small, quiet pub. The only people who ever went in there were older men and women who never bothered her except to tell her of their woes as they drowned themselves in their whiskey, and she never minded listening. Occasionally, some swaggering hot shot would strut in and drink too much and lean in so close to her that the alcohol on his breath made her gag, but the older men liked her and protected her, and would take care of any potential problems before anything could get out of hand.

And she was happy. One might think that a person would feel unfulfilled working menial jobs in small-town places, but Sarah didn't mind it too much. She enjoyed playing with the animals and entertaining the small children who came to the pet store, and she never minded lending a sympathetic ear to her bar customer's tales, occasionally even giving them a word of advice or two. If she didn't listen to them, no one would.

But even though she wasn't exactly unhappy, sometimes when she watched t.v. shows or read fantasy novels where the main character gets into all sorts of adventures, she felt a longing stir within her. She had had an adventure once, through a mythical land of changing stones with three strange friends at her side. That day felt so far away now.

Sarah Williams stepped into the shower and turned on the water. She hissed when it hit her skin; she always managed to turn it on too hot, and had to toggle with the HOT and COLD knobs before getting it just right.

She supposed her tolerance had come from her thirteen hour stint in the labyrinth.

The water ran into her face and clouded her eyes as she rinsed out her hair. Reaching down, she shut off the water and drew back the curtain, blinking rapidly to clear her sight. She glanced at the tiny clock that hung in her bathroom. 6:32 AM.

It was strange how easy the thought came to her now. She had never really been afraid or emotionally scarred after that night, but thinking about the Underground didn't come easy at first. It had just been too…bizarre. In fact, if she didn't have the occasional chats with Hoggle and Sir Didymus (Ludo usually just grunted and smiled toothily), she would have been sure that it had all been just a crazy dream, induced by her irritation that she was stuck babysitting.

After the run, life had gained a new perspective for her. Though she remained quiet and a bit introverted, she left her world of pretend. Her dresses and plays held no more for her than that crystal sphere that the Goblin King had stuck her in to waste her time. A waste of time…that's all they were. She had swept them away, out of sight and out of mind, to gather dust in Karen's attic. What her stepmother did with them after she left for college, Sarah didn't know, nor did she care.

Looking after Toby on the frequent nights when her parents went out was still a pain, though Sarah took it in stride, and no matter how much Toby cried, she kept her mouth firmly shut, except for when she would shush him or babble meaningless things about crystals and brave dog warriors and masquerades. Fairy tales, when told often enough, lost their meaning and became just a jumble a words. The more she spoke about that night as she carried him through the house, rocking him, the less she cared about it. The less she was intimidated by villains who looked like rock stars, by the shadows in the corners, and by the birds who flocked by her windows at night. It wasn't long until the only thing left in her mind about the labyrinth were her conversations with her three friends in the mirror.

She ran her fingers through her dark, now-dry hair, walking out of the bathroom and snatching the clothes off her bed. Her cat, Kobold, cracked open a wary eye before closing it again and turning his back to her. With a smile, Sarah stroked his fur and pulled on her jeans, followed by a simple black t-shirt. It was spring; such liberties could be taken with short sleeves. Even so, she threw on a plain gray sweatshirt, just in case. She strolled out into the kitchen and looked at the wall clock. 6:45 AM. Damn, her hair always took forever to dry. She threw a piece of bread in the toaster and leaned against the counter, watching the morning sky get brighter and brighter.

It wasn't as if she had forgotten Jareth. How could someone forget a man-who-wasn't-quite-a-man who stole her brother and made her sprint through some damn maze to get him back? No, she had just managed to push him to the back of her mind. But he frequently floated through her head, with all his taunting smiles and flashy crystals. Every time she cleaned out the bird cages at the pet store, the stray feathers that stuck to her brush would remind her of barn owls with mismatched eyes. But life had been so quiet these past years, it was easy for Sarah to accept that he had forgotten her.

.theblueuniverse-

As she pulled into the parking lot at the pet store, the digital clock in her car read 7:03 AM. She was late again. Damn toast. It had burned anyways, and wasn't even worth it. She grabbed her bag out of the back seat and swung open her door. Luckily for her, no one looked at pets this early in the morning, so she never really got into trouble for being a few minutes late.

She fumbled with her key ring for a moment before finding the silver one labeled "THE WILD EMPORIUM", and slid it into the lock. The door opened easily and noiselessly, and she stepped in, flipping on the lights as she went.

The early morning is probably the only quiet time in the pet store. All the dogs asleep behind their glass displays, curled on top of each other. The front window display was empty; she would have to move a couple dogs up there before people started coming by. All the rabbits and mice and gerbils were in storage in the back of the store, so she would have to move them up as well.

The moment they sensed her moving about, the puppies roused themselves and waddled up to her when she touched the glass, their tiny tongues lapping at the surface that separated her fingers from their fur. They whimpered and cried and squirmed and clambered on top of each other. Sarah just laughed and tapped the glass a few times before walking past to bring the other animals to the front.

By the time that job was finished, it was almost eight o'clock. It would still be a few hours more before the real rush started coming in, so Sarah lifted herself up onto the counter, crossed her legs, and pulled a book out of her bag to read while she waited. The pups played, the kittens mewed, and the rats squeaked. Every once in a while, she would glance nervously at the snakes, the only animals in the store that really intimidated her. A ball python flicked its tongue out at her, and she stuck hers out back.

The little bell that chimed every time someone walked in rang, and Sarah glanced up, surprised. It was still early.

A young man about her age with tawny hair and green eyes walked in, carrying a large box in front of him. She eyed him warily. He seemed like a normal boy, with a simple college sweatshirt and baggy jeans with sneakers, and there was an innocent expression on his face. He walked with a jaunty sort of step as he came inside, not at all like a swagger or a strut. She relaxed a hair; it seemed there was nothing to worry about.

"Excuse me, are you open?" The pitch of his voice was…off, somehow. Too high for someone his age. Something about it made the hair on the back of Sarah's neck stand up, and she was immediately tense again.

You got in here, didn't you? She wanted to spit snidely, but she forced herself to be polite. "Yes, the shop is open." He smiled, revealing rather sharp teeth. Sarah's eyes narrowed and she wished that she had been cruel, wished she had been mean and driven him off. Something wasn't right here.

He offered her the box. "Can you take this?"

She eyed it with some trepidation. "What exactly…is it?"

His smile faded and he looked appropriately somber. "An owl, I think. Found it on the street. Wasn't moving much."

An owl? Sarah's stomach dropped. "May I see?"

That creepy leer again. "Yeah, here." He opened the top flap, which had been loosely folded. At her questioning expression, he cast his eyes down. "I didn't want people giving me looks on the street for carrying a sick bird around. But the box has holes in the side!" he defended himself as the flap came undone. Sarah nodded, took a deep breath, and peered in, steeling herself for whatever was inside.

A snowy owl. A snowy owl, not a barn owl. Her breath, which she had been holding, came out in a whoosh. She looked closer. The pure white bird didn't seem hurt; she was sure she would notice any blood and the pristine feathers, and nothing seemed to be bent out of shape or twisted in awkward positions. At first she wondered if it was dead, but then she saw the light rise and fall of its chest. Hmm. What could be wrong with it?

There was a sudden fluttering of wings that caused them both to look up. The birds in their cages had all pressed themselves as close as they could to the box, cramming close together and staring without a single sound. In fact the entire shop had gone quiet; the normally rowdy pups were silent now, their games abandoned in favor of this new animal in their midst. The rabbits' noses were twitching like mad, the mice and rats were still. In fact, the only animal that wasn't watching the owl was the ball python in his cage. Instead, he was glaring at the tawny-haired man, weaving his head in odd patterns, tongue flickering with a soft hiss. The powerful muscles under the scales contorted, like it was preparing to strike.

The guy cleared his throat, and the sound made Sarah jump. "So, will you take it?" She watched him carefully; his face looked shiny, and his eyes kept flickering back and forth from her face to the snake in the cage behind her. What in the world? She decided not to dwell on it…not now at the moment, anyways.

Sarah sighed. It had probably been a mistake to even touch the box. "I'm not a veterinarian, I'm a shop keeper. I wish I could help, but-"

"Oh, please!" That reedy voice was beginning to grate on her nerves, but his large green eyes, set against the round, boyish face, were wide and watery, and Sarah felt her resolve falter a bit. "I would take him, but I haven't got much money!"

And what do I look like? A millionaire? Sarah put her hands on her hips, fully prepared to put her foot down, but the man thrust the box into her hands, and it was all Sarah could do to keep from dropping it. Before she could look up, the door bell had already rang, and the hood of his university sweatshirt was disappearing around the corner. She looked down at the comatose bird in her hands, and then at the animal-themed clock hanging on the wall. 9:35 AM. She had half-an-hour to figure out what to do with this things before all the families started pouring in.

Well, damn it all to hell, she thought irritably, carrying the box into the back.

There were a few extra cages lying scattered about, and she sorted through them, looking for one big enough to accommodate an owl. The largest one she found wasn't nearly big enough, but it would have to do. Before placing the owl in there, she took off her sweatshirt and laid it on the bottom of the cage. As much as she loved it, she herself would hate sleeping on an iron floor.

She looked into the box once again to take the bird out. Before she touched it, she took a minute to marvel at its beauty. She had heard that sometimes snowy owls were spotted, or blemished with black, and that it was rare to just come across one without such markings. This owl was pure white, with not even the slightest tinge of gray or black. Not even around the face, where one would expect some kind of faded…bloodstains to build up. It was immaculate.

She pulled on gloves and reached down into the box. Her hands touched the feathers, and even through her gloves, they felt cold. But it was still breathing…how could it still be alive? And what was wrong with it, anyways? She placed it in the cage carefully before shutting the door and locking it. Suddenly, the front bell rang again, and she glanced down at her watch. 10:07 AM. She sighed and gave the owl a gentle poke.

"Hang in there, beautiful," she said softly. "I don't know exactly what I can do to help you, but at least I can take you to a vet later today. Just don't die on me."

Of course, she got no response. With a sigh, she left the back room.

If she ever saw that guy again, she would throttle him.

She had meant to check up on the owl as frequently as she could, but that day, being a Saturday, was one of the busier days of the week, and she could hardly catch a minute to go to the bathroom, let alone make a dash to the back. So when Isaac finally came in to relieve her and take his shift, she gave him a grateful hug. He laughed and hugged her back, patting her hair. To anyone else, their actions could have seemed flirtatious, but Isaac had a girlfriend, and was too similar to Sarah for her to ever get along with him in a relationship. He was simply a close friend.

"Good luck with this crowd," Sarah muttered. To shadow her words, one of the younger kids started trying to stick his hand in the ball python's cage. The snake watched with beady eyes, flicking his tongue.

"I'm sure I'll manage somehow," Isaac laughed, and quickly went over to reprimand the boy and bring him to his mother.

Sarah weaved in through the families, pausing only to apologize for stepping on someone's foot, and ducked into the backroom. To her disappointment, the snowy owl was still lying motionless on her sweatshirt. She prodded at it gently, and it shifted slightly before falling still again.

"Oh, very well then," she muttered to no one in particular. In all honesty, if the thing had been awake and moving around, she probably would have just released it outside the shop…it wasn't as if she didn't want to help, but she didn't have heaps of money at her disposal to get it treated when there didn't seem to be anything wrong in the first place. But now she couldn't just leave it.

Of course, just because I can't see anything wrong doesn't mean that there isn't, Sarah reasoned with herself as she struggled with the cage, which was half her size. Kicking the back door open with her foot (she felt as if dragging a half-dead owl through the shop wouldn't be the best of ideas), she managed to get to her car without much incident. She reached into her bag to pull out her car keys and unlocked the door.

With the cage successfully crammed into the back seat of her car, Sarah swung herself into the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition. As the car started, the digital clock in the dashboard automatically lit up. 4:55 PM.

It had been a long day. Thank God she had tonight off.

.theblueuniverse-

Kobold was apprehensive at first when he came face-to-face with a bird of prey twice his size, but after he got over that initial wariness, he watched the owl with the same reverence as the other animals in the pet shop with wide, unblinking orange eyes. It was quiet unnerving, to be honest. Kobold hardly ever even paid attention to his mistress, the only time being whenever she opened a can of cat food for him. And even that didn't work tonight; she had dumped his stinky dinner in his bowl and had set it on the floor for him, but it had remained untouched. The black cat still perched on the sofa, and could have passed for a statue if it hadn't been for the occasional twitching of his tail.

Sarah leaned on the doorway to the living room, staring at the cage on the floor. She hadn't had the heart to take her sweatshirt back, so it still was serving as a temporary bed to the sick bird. If she could even call it sick.

She had searched on various search engines on the internet in hopes of finding something to do about sickness in birds, but had come up blank every time. The searches that had anything to do with "snowy owl", "cold to the touch", and "unresponsive" had produced no results. Well, unresponsive was kind of a stretch. Every now in then, the owl would give a slight twitch, and whenever that happened, Kobold would give a start and half-rise from his sitting position before settling down again.

With a sigh, Sarah cast a glance at the kitchen clock. 9:31 PM. She didn't have to go in to the pet store tomorrow, but she was working late at the bar (some important football game would be on tomorrow night, which would draw everyone to the bars until late into the night), so she should probably go to bed early.

She filled up a plastic bowl with water and set it inside the cage before she went to bed. She felt bad that she didn't have any food to offer, though she didn't even know what owls ate anyways, so water would have to suffice for tonight. If the owl even woke up to drink any, that is. Did owls even drink? She knew smaller birds would drink out of the little water feeders in the store, but parakeets and song birds weren't exactly the same as huge birds of prey.

"Are you coming to bed, Kobold?" Sarah asked, reaching out to stroke the dark fur. The tomcat let out a strangled sound that may have been a purr, but made no move to get up and follow her into the next room. With a sigh, Sarah continued into her room. Kobold never refused an opportunity to sleep in her bed; more often than not, he would sit himself down on one of her pillows and dig his claws in and refuse to be budged.

It was all very strange indeed.

.theblueuniverse-

Sarah didn't wake up to the usual shrill beeping of her alarm clock. No, the thing that woke her that night was completely different, though after the events of that day, not entirely unexpected.

There was a tapping at her window.

With some effort, the dark-haired woman managed to open a heavy eyelid, bringing her hand up to rub the sleep away from her face. Tap tap tap. It was coming from the tiny window in her living room. She briefly wondered if the owl had somehow gotten out of its cage and wanted out, before glancing at her clock.

13:00 AM.

She sat upright and took it in her hands. For minute, she ignored the insistent tapping and stared at the clock, wondering if this was just a simple malfunction, though the reasonable part of her brain, the part that still dwelled on the Labyrinth (funny how she put "reasonable" and "Labyrinth" in the same sentence) told her otherwise.

13:01 AM.

Huh. Would have never imagined he could do it with digital clocks.

For there was only one person who could possibly be responsible for this one. And it only took him ten years to come back and screw around with her. She stepped out of bed and automatically began to look for her sweatshirt before she remembered she had given it to the owl to use. Instead, she just threw on a robe. Sarah didn't quite want to go sauntering out in a tank top and short-shorts, lest she give people…the wrong idea.

Before opening her bedroom door, she paused. It had been ten years. She had been so certain that he had forgotten her, so sure that there were other things more important than she that would draw his attention away. But it seemed that the appearance of the mysterious stranger with the dying owl had set some kind of proverbial ball rolling, something that was snowballing down a hill set on a crash course with her life.

She reached for the doorknob, but acted too late. There was the sound of shattering glass from the other room, followed by a brief silence. She waited with baited breath before she heard it; heavy footsteps on her carpeted floor in the place of fluttering wings. They strode purposefully across the room and paused. Then came the creak of a cage door being swung open, and Sarah blinked.

The bird?

Sarah opened the door and peered out. The positioning of her small apartment gave her a perfect view of the Goblin King's back as he knelt down before the cage and reached in to remove the bird with a great, almost tender, care. Sarah's eyes, of their own accord, flickered over to where Kobold was; in general, he wasn't a very friendly cat at all, but around strangers, he became downright vicious. That was not the case tonight, just like everything else. Instead, the black cat rose and stretched, walking over to where the King was kneeling to rub his head against his knee.

In spite of herself, Sarah snorted. That damn cat hardly ever even shows any affection to me, but a Goblin King swoops in and suddenly they're the closest of best mates?

Jareth whirled about on his heel at her soft noise, the snowy owl cradled protectively in his gloved hands. Sarah froze. Though she had been half-expecting him to show up after every other weird thing that had happened today in her normally uneventful life, that didn't make coming face to face with him any less shocking.

And judging by the look on his face, she wasn't the only one who was surprised.

Hmm, rather chunky and choppy and strange, wouldn't you agree? I was reading the twentieth story about Sarah finding Jareth as a barn owl on the street somewhere (not that there's anything wrong with that...I mean, my other Labyrinth story starts off with and Owl!Jareth stalking Sarah in the trees) and just wondered if there was any story where Sarah finds an owl that ISN'T Jareth...give me a few hours lazing around on spring break and I'm bound to make a story out of a plot bunny XD

This chapter is incredibly...rough, though somehow I am rather pleased with how it came out. It was a weird way of interpreting Sarah for me, out of college and not pursuing her dreams, but I wanted to foray into a new avenue of fanfiction instead of just playing it safe. Brownie points for anyone who knows what "Kobold" means WITHOUT googling it, you cheaters -wink-

For those of you who read "I Was Only Dreaming"...I had written out an entire plot outline for it and was following it to a fault, but as I was reading it through after publishing the last chapter, I discovered several plot holes and became frustrated. Bleh. So I may have some revising on my hands to do before I can update again, which I am far too lazy to actually do at the moment.

Feedback is loved :)

-T.B.U.