It wasn't long before all the goblins knew about about Sarah. Goblin children whispered about the human girl who had captured the heart of the King. Jareth spent a lot of time Aboveground watching her. He learned quite of lot about her - that her birthday was in the middle of spring (which he quickly made an official holiday in the Underground), that her favorite poet was William Butler Yeats, and that she loved the color gold. She had many friends at school, but when she got home, most of her time was spent by herself, or with her dog Merlin. Some days she would spend hours and hours in the park, reciting plays and reading books.

"She's going to be the Queen one day!" the little goblins sighed. When Jareth wasn't looking, goblins would travel Aboveground to get a glimpse of this Sarah Williams. They would hide just around the corner in rooms in her home, looking at this girl who would one day be their queen. The goblins, however, may not have been the best at hiding, and every so often Sarah would have to tell herself she was just imagining things. Surely there wasn't someone around the corner giggling, right? And if things of hers went missing sometimes, well, she must have just misplaced them…

What goblin wouldn't something that belonged to future royalty? Even if it was something as silly as a hair clip or a pencil.

It was the morning of Sarah's fifteenth birthday. The fog still hung in the early morning air - the sun had not been up long enough to dispel it yet. No one was up yet to see the lone figure as it walked down the street except for Merlin. He lifted his head from where he was sitting on the Williams' porch. Sensing a familiar presence, he deemed it safe to lay his head back down on his paws. No need to bark at this one - he came and went often and Merlin was quite used to him. It had always irked him, though, that this person had never thought to pat him on the head or scratch his ear. Why was that? Melin blinked his eyes and sighed. He watched as the figure opened the mailbox and placed a small package wrapped in golden paper inside. The person paused a second and looked over at Merlin. Merlin's ears perked up. Maybe now he would get that pat on the head? Nope, no such luck. The person turned again and disappeared into the fog. Merlin whined. It would still be several hours before someone would wake up and pay attention to him. Oh well. A pill bug crawled across the porch and Merlin licked it up and ate it.

That afternoon Sarah's father got he mail out of the mailbox and sorted through it. Most of the day's mail were letters for Sarah from friends and family. There was also a small package that he assumed must be for her too. He didn't even notice it didn't have a return address - all it said on front was "Sarah". Her father handed her the mail. "Looks like someone sent you something." he told her.

Sarah took the mail form him and looked through it. She put the cards aside and looked at the small package with great interest. She didn't know who it was from, but she did have various aunts and uncles, and she assumed it must have been from one of them. The paper wrapping it was thin and delicate, a bright gold color. She opened it carefully, intending to save the paper. Inside was a book. A beautiful, red leather-bound book that fit in her hands perfectly. She flipped through the pages and took a deep breath. The pages smelled of jasmine and roses and cinnamon. There was no description of the book, no year listed that it was published, and not even an author was listed. On the front were two simple words for a title.

The Labyrinth.

The book had quickly become Sarah's favorite, and it was later that year that she had her adventure. It had changed her in so many ways. It was now a little over 13 years since that had happened.

"Are you sure it will be okay?" Sarah asked.

The old goblin woman and the Wiseman nodded.

"Thirty minutes only, though. You have to be back by then." he told her.

The old woman pressed something small into her hands. "Good luck, dear." she smiled.

Sarah took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Thirty minutes. She only had thirty minutes. It wasn't a lot of time, but she was going to make the most out of it. Her magic was still developing, and traveling between dimensions would take up a lot of it. She would only be able to open the portal once, and she would have to get through it again before it closed. When she opened her eyes she was in the alleyway behind her apartment. She gasped. It had worked. Quickly she ran up to her door and went inside. Had it always been this small? She frowned. Her time in the castle had spoiled her. Everything was just the way she had left it. She glanced at her phone and noticed the flashing light. Someone had left a message. She pressed the play button. It was from Toby.

"Hey Sarah, just wanted to see how you were doing."

That was it. At first she thought there was something wrong with the machine. She tapped it a few times. But no, there was only one message. No one had called her. No one had checked up on her. As far as she could tell, no one had even cared she was gone. She pushed down the bitter hurt feeling and went outside. Surely, she had more friends than just Toby? He hadn't even called a second time to see why didn't respond. As she walked briskly to the park she fought back the tears that started to fill her eyes. Had it always been this way? Had she just never noticed? Those thoughts left her mind, however, when she entered the park. She hadn't been back here since that fateful afternoon. This was where she stood as she recited parts of the play, while unbeknownst to her a certain someone had watched from the shadows. A smile crept to her face as she approached the obelisk. She sat down on the grass and leaned her bad against it. Her smile stayed on her face as she looked out at the trees surrounding her.

"You can come out now." she said softly. It was starting to get dark, and there was no one else around.

"You're out there, aren't you?" For a second she thought she heard the slightest rustling form the treetops.

"The labyrinth fell apart without you… But I put it back together."

Silence.

"You could have come to visit me, you know. When I was growing up, I mean. I would have liked that…" she looked down at her hands. "I missed you." The words hung in the air.

She glanced back up at the branches. "I thought about you… a lot, over the years. I know you thought about me, too." she blushed. "I read your journal. I hope you don't mind." she chuckled. "You certainly have a way with words." her blush deepened.

"I'm the queen of the labyrinth, now. It's hard being the only ruler. I'm sure you know that, though."

It was silent for a few minutes. She bit her lip.

"Jareth, please come out. I only have a short time here before I have to leave. I - I need you…"

Surely she wasn't wrong about this, was she? He had to be here. She recalled Hoggle's words about Jareth. She smiled wryly. The man was nothing if not proud.

"You know, all those years ago, you offered me something. I was too young back then to make that choice. But I'm all grown up now. I think," she paused. "I'm ready to make those choices. I think, if you asked me that question again, you might find I have a different answer now."

The light was quickly fading and Sarah knew she would have to leave soon.

"If I'm right, you're up there right now. As an owl." she chuckled. "Stuck as an owl all those years. You lost your pendant, didn't you? You had no way of getting back." she pulled out from her pocket the gift the old woman had given her before she left. It was another pendant. She stood up and placed it at the foot of the obelisk. "I'll leave this here for you." she turned around and got ready to leave. "I really want to see you again, Jareth. You won't let me down, will you?" she asked softly.

She was worried now about the time, so she ran back to the alleyway as fast as she could. Oh, how she hoped she wasn't wrong about this.

When she arrived back in the Underground, the Wiseman and goblin woman were waiting for her. They didn't seem too surprised that she came back alone. "He'll come back on his own terms, dear, when he wants to." the goblin woman patted Sarah's arm. "You've done the best you can."

Sarah bit her lip and nodded. She hoped that she was right about that.

Sarah felt jumpy the rest of that day. She expected Jareth to appear at any time, and the longer it took him to show up, the more nervous she felt. She knew that every minute he wasn't there was another minute closer to when he actually was there. That is, if her guess was right. What if it wasn't? She pushed those thoughts down stubbornly. He would show up, she knew he would. The day seemed to drag on until evening. She sat up in the library reading far past midnight. Finally, she could barely keep eyes open and she had to retire to bed. He hadn't come, after all. She felt her stomach twist at that thought. She wasn't sure which idea was worse - that Jareth wasn't out there when she was talking in the park, or the thought that maybe, just maybe he was out there, but he didn't care about her anymore. Maybe he was happier away from the goblins, away from the labyrinth, and away from Sarah… She tossed and turned on the bed, unable to fall asleep despite how tired she was. Her mind wouldn't let her find peace. Jareth will never come back no matter how you beg him, her mind told her, he doesn't care what happens to you and you'll be stuck here forever. Sarah scowled and punched her pillow. She flopped back down with a sigh. There was always tomorrow, she tried to tell herself. But deep down she knew that the longer it took him to come back, the less likely he was to show up. At some point during the night she fell into a dreamless sleep. When she slowly awoke the next morning, her consciousness lingered in the realm of sleep for a while. Her mind played back all the happening of the past few days. Thoughts floated through her head with ease and clarity. She recalled the past day, and how she had felt so sure that Jareth would be back by now. But he wasn't. Somehow at this moment the thought didn't seem so terrible as it had the night before. Maybe things would be ok… She made the mistake of blinking, and it brought her to a fully alert state. Now that she was no longer half asleep, the full weight of what had happened came crashing down on her. Jareth was either still missing, or didn't want to come back. Sadness coiled around her whole being. She felt cold, despite the blankets and the ever-burning fire in the room. Really, though, what had she expected? That he would just show up because she wanted him to? That she would just magically know where he was and be able to find him? She frowned softly and felt the prickle of ears behind her eyes. Life so seldom worked out that way.

Sometimes there is no happy ending.

Sometimes there is no prince on a white horse, no true love's kiss.

More often than not, Cinderella doesn't find her prince, and stays a scullery maid for the rest of her days.

For ordinary people, there is no burst of magic that happened and everything is all right again.

Ordinary people are not so lucky.

But Sarah Williams was no ordinary person.

She closed her eyes and rolled over, turning away from the wall. When she opened her eyes again, she almost thought she was still dreaming. For there, just a few mere feet away from the bed she currently occupied, sat Jareth on a chair that certainly wasn't there last night. Her heart began to beat so fast she feared it would explode. Her ears heard a faint rushing noise, which somewhere in the back of her mind she knew to be caused by her blood pressure. Her throat suddenly felt as though there was a hand around it. He was back. Sarah couldn't quite form any sentences yet, and she had the peculiar feeling that her head was going to explode. Jareth just sat there, quiet and calm, his arms crossed as he watched her. How long had he been there, she wondered. Just sitting there, watching her sleep…

"Enjoying my bed, Sarah?" he finally spoke.

She sat up and pulled the blanket up past her chest. Her pajamas, while not at all immodest, suddenly didn't seem like enough clothing to be wearing at the moment.

"I was right." she whispered, mostly to herself. "Are you okay?"

Jareth shrugged. "I'll be fine, I'm sure. I may have stuck as an owl for a year, but at least I didn't have to deal with goblins."

He looked tired. "Did you really read my personal writings?" he asked, choosing to look at the wall instead of Sarah.

She nodded. "Yes, I did…"

"Those were personal, Sarah." he chided. "You shouldn't have done that."

For a brief moment Sarah felt nervous, but then she remembered who was. She was the Queen of the Labyrinth now, and he still had no power over her.

"If you didn't want someone reading them, then you shouldn't have written your feelings down like a girl." she teased lightly.

He glared briefly at her, but there was no real malice behind it. "Did you mean what you said in the park?"

She bit her lip. "Yes."

"Hmm."

His gaze was unreadable. This was going to be tougher than she thought.

There was no getting around it - Sarah had to get out of the bed at some point, and Jareth didn't look like he was going to budge any time soon. She sighed and threw back the blanket. He watched her as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. His eyes roved over her, taking in her long legs, her pajamas which consisted of a pair of black shorts and a hot pink t-shirt (which Sarah now felt the shorts were a little too sort, and the shirt was a little too tight), and finally stopped at her face. He stared, a small smile forming as he looked at her eyes. Sarah tried to ignore the fact that he was staring at her and walked to the closet to get her clothes for the day. After a moment he got up and followed her. Sarah didn't realize this, and as she turned after picking her clothes, she gasped when she came face to face with him. He reached up and put a hand on the side of her face.

"The labyrinth has marked you." he said, looking at her two different colored eyes. "You're one of us now." he told her fondly.

She smiled. "Are you glad?"

"I am. However, I now seem to be out of a job. The labyrinth has it's Queen now, and the old king is no longer needed." he said softly.

His hand still cradled her face, and she put her hand on top of it.

"I don't care if the labyrinth needs you. I need you."

He leaned in a little closer. "Do you truly?"

"Truly." she thought for sure he was going to kiss her, but he pulled away. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He turned away form her.

"And what would keep a former king here for anyway? To gloat that I not only have no power over you, but that you have taken the rest of my power, too? I may as well leave right now." Sarah detected the slightest hint of bitterness in his words. She looked down at her feet.

"Surely you can think of reason you'd like to stay?" she knew what he wanted - he wanted her to beg him to stay here with her. She kept her head lowered so he wouldn't see the smirk on her face. He always had to be the one in control, didn't he? Well, two could play at that game.

"I certainly can't think of anything." he glanced back at her.

"That's too bad. Do you have any plans of where to live now that *I* own the castle?"

"Sarah!" he admonished. "You would really throw me out of my home? Come now, that's not fair of you."

She grinned wickedly. "Whoever said I was fair, Goblin King?"

Jareth frowned. "I thought you said you meant your earlier words." he said stiffly.

Sarah bit her lip. He didn't want to come right out and ask to stay because he was afraid she would reject him again.

"Maybe," she cleared her throat. "maybe, seeing as how I'm the *Queen*, maybe there could be someone… Else… You know, to help me around here." she tilted her head and hoped he would understand.

"What do you mean exactly?" a gleam entered his eyes. He wanted to make this difficult for her.

"Well, I'm just saying… It wouldn't really be too bad if this Queen also had a King… Who lived in the castle with her, you know?"

Jareth, who was on the other side of the room, now moved closer to her and grinned. "Sarah, are you asking for my help? Help ruling the kingdom?"

She gathered all of her courage. "No, I'm asking for a pretty face to come home to at night when I get back from a long day of work as the Queen."

For a moment she thought he was going to get mad, but instead he threw back his head and laughed.

"Oh Sarah, you still posses such wit." he pulled her into an embrace. "Do you really want me to stay?" he whispered against her hair.

"I do. Stay here and rule with me." she pulled back to look at him. "We can both rule the kingdom, as equals. I want that very much."

He kissed her. It was a small kiss, barely lasting more that a few seconds, but to Sarah it was best moment she'd ever had. She wanted it to last forever.

"Do you you know why I was in that park, Sarah?" he asked softly, as though he was revealing a great secret. "It wasn't just because it held good memories for me. It was because deep down I hoped that somehow, you would find me. When I realized I'd lost my amulet and couldn't transform, I knew you were the only one who could help me. I even went to your house, but you didn't live there anymore. I had no idea where you had gone, so I went to the park, hoping that one day you would be back."

"Hmm." Sarah didn't know what to say to that. What if she hadn't found him? What if she never left that house that fateful day and found the labyrinth? Would Jareth have spent the rest of his life as an owl? She didn't want to think about those things. She only wanted to think about how nice it felt to be here in his arms. She was just glad that she found him.

They walked down to the kitchen holding hands. Upon seeing Jareth, several small goblins ran off screaming. The old goblin lady and the Wisman were in the kitchen, though, and they smiled happily when they saw the two walk in. They sat down to breakfast and had pleasant conversation, as though it were a normal occurrence that the king should go missing for quite a while, the kingdom acquire a new queen, and then have the king back suddenly one day out of the blue.

The rest of the goblins took it in stride. The King was back? Better make sure to stay out of his way. No one wanted to get bogged again.

Sarah, however, made it clear that there would be no boggings. She would remain as the Queen, the one in charge of the goblins and the affairs of the labyrinth. Jareth would be the King, the one in charge of collecting the wished away children. They would both have say over the runners and diplomatic events.

That very day he returned, they began planning their wedding. The Wiseman and the old lady had helped them plan it, and when it finally came around, it turned out beautifully. Sarah couldn't have asked for a more magical day. Jareth was ecstatic. Being able to call Sarah his wife by far made up for being stuck as owl for so long with only mice to eat.

Now that Jareth was there to help rule the labyrinth, Sarah was able to return to the Aboveground without any problems. She asked to have just a part-time shift at the restaurant, and she was able to split her time between here and there. She began wearing colored contact lenses Aboveground so no one would question her about her strange eyes. She spent more time with Toby and got involved with her family. Everyone at the restaurant noted a difference with her. No one could quite put their finger on it, but she seemed… Happier. She always seemed to have a smile on her face, even when no one was looking. She ended up getting a smaller apartment as she was there only half the time, and by doing this she was able to save quite a bit of money. She never told anyone about the Underground. No, that was her little secret. She could smile on even the hardest days at work because she knew that no matter how many children threw grape juice at her, or flung pasta everywhere, she could leave at the end of the day. Not just leave and go back to a little apartment - but leave and go back to her Goblin King husband and loyal subjects. And anytime having to deal with threats of trolls on the borders of her lands and meetings with important fae got to be too much, she was able to go to a pace where the worst thing that could happen was a sandwich that was missing a side of mayonnaise.

She had never been happier, and she truly thought she could never be happier. (She was wrong about that, though it would take some time)

If you were to walk by Sarah Williams' apartment or workplace on just the right night, you might see something you don't see everyday. You would see a large black cat and a barn owl, perhaps sitting on the window ledges, or prowling through the alleyways. The way the owl and the cat would look at each other, with bright gleams in their eyes, would almost make you think they could speak. Many people had seen them, but no one really gave it much thought. They would tell stories about it sometimes. There's an owl and a cat, they'd say. You can see them running around all over town. Maybe they're off on some sort of adventure or something, they'd say.

Little did those people know just how true that was.

Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who read this far! This was the last chapter, and that officially makes this the first story I've ever finished writing! :D I have plans for a few one-shots based off of this story, but I really don't know when I'll have them up.

Thank you again for every review, follow, favorite and everything. 3 It really meant a lot to me! *hug*