Sarah grasped her old notebook, thumbing through the well-worn pages. This is where she had frantically recorded all of her memories of the Labyrinth, hoping to keep them alive in her mind. She could see where she had pressed the pen so hard in some places that the ink had bled right through. It was only in the dark of the night that she took the book from its hiding place under her pillow and tried to breathe life into the memories. The longer time ticked away the harder it was for her to believe that all of it had actually happened. That beyond her mundane American life there was another world full of magic and wonder. Her fingertips traced over the crude image of Hoggle she had drawn. The ink of her pen would never be able to capture the earnest gaze he had often given her. It would never bring back the look of heartfelt redemption he had shown her when she forgave him. With a flick of the page she found Sir Didymus and Ludo. The proportions were completely wrong and she could never quite capture the warmth they had both exuded.

But her real challenge came at the very back of the book. There resided a blank page with only one word, written ever so small in the centre.

Jareth

She had refrained from naming him through all of her hastily scribbled thoughts, referring to the man only as him and he. Even as she wrote his name, the pen barely treading the page, she wondered just why the very thought of him filled her with such dread. And in her deepest part of her soul she knew it, he excited her.

But they were gone now. He was gone. And all that was left of her life was unbearably the same. She didn't see the world through fresh eyes, there was no dawn of magic on Earth. Of course she had come to realise how selfish she was and how very much she loved Toby. But that was all. The world seemed flatter than before. With the secrets she knew the universe held out of reach, she found herself unsure of what to do. Her friends never answered her calls after the first time, only a few short months ago, and some regretful pride kept her from repeating the disappointment of their absence all over again.

She shut the book, swallowing hard.

It didn't' matter. It was gone.

And so the cycle continued for a while. In the night she would clutch the notebook to her chest, reciting the words her friends had spoken and the places she had gone.

If you need us, they said.

She furrowed her brow, trying to ignore the burning welling up in her eyes.

"Well, I do need you." She whispered furiously, her resolve to move on and forget finally breaking. Sitting at her vanity she gazed into the mirror.

"Hoggle." She said tentatively. Nothing but the wind greeted her.

"Please, I need you. I need you." Her voice broke as one rebellious tear slid down her face.

"Didymus? Ludo?" Her hands gripped the old wood, knuckles shining white in the darkness.

"You promised. You said if I needed you, you would…" She stopped, closing her mouth and bowing her head.

"You promised." She said one last time.

A few years went by, and after that night she had steeled herself beyond reason. No more would she call on imaginary friends. No more would she thumb through a bedraggled notebook trying to relive an adventure that was nothing more than a dream. And soon the thoughts began to trickle from her mind, thread by thread and stitch by stitch, the memories of the Labyrinth unraveled until it was no more than a heavy ache in her heart.

But she should have known better than that.

He first came to her on a winter's night. She was trying to finish an essay, her teeth toying with her mouth mercilessly as she tried to find the words.

Say your right words a soft voice taunted her in the back of her mind.

She shook her head, clearing it of the long forgotten story.

And then she heard it. A faint tap at the window. Her body froze and a shiver caressed her back as she heard it again.

Tap, tap, tap

Her head turned slowly, eyes widening as she came face to face with a snowy white owl, peering at her through the window.

After what felt like a long while, Sarah rose from her seat, her clothes whispering in the silence.

She stopped a breath away from the window, her exhale misting the cold glass.

She jumped back as the owl pecked its beak against the window, almost as if it was asking for entry.

Sarah took another step back, not able to tear her eyes away from the creature.

Could it be? No. Of course it isn't…But what if...

"Stop it." She whispered to herself, raising her eyes to the creature.

"Shoo!" She whispered, motioning it to fly away.

"I said shoo!" She said again, her blood boiling as it merely cocked its head to the side.

"What kind of owl are you anyway?" She hissed, but as she opened her mouth to berate it once more the words died in her throat. At her condemnation the bird's feathers on its chest had ruffled, almost affronted. And if she looked closely she could almost swear its wide eyes had narrowed.

Sarah stared for a while; the roar of her thoughts drowning out the tap tap tapping the owl had taken to again. With a great deal of effort she walked towards it, fingers grasping the soft curtains that framed the window.

Just shut them, Sarah. Shut them now and it'll fly away.

But what if-

But it's not. Don't let yourself think about it again. Don't be weak.

But before she even knew it, she was speaking.

"It's not fair you know. To show someone something like that and take it away. "

The owl cocked its head to the side, and beyond her certainty that she was crazy she complied with an answer.

"I lost myself in fairytales…everyday, I just…And then you showed up and showed me that they were real. It was all real. And 13 hours later you sent me home and I've got to just forget. How can I forget that there's something more to life than going to school and getting a job and settling down, and I…."

She stopped, surprised to feel the wetness of tears cascading her cheeks. She closed her eyes with a heavy sigh. The owl stared at her, unblinking with large expressionless eyes.

"What do you know, you're just an owl." She whispered, averting her gaze from the bird silently watching her. As her fingers gripped the fabric she paused and met its unfeeling eyes.

"I don't hate you for taking Toby. But I hate you for that." With a quiet rustle she closed the curtains.

One day she would realize that he came to her when she needed him. She should have realised that he would never truly leave her. Not really.

The second time he came was a blessing and a curse. She had left home, practically running away to college, hoping to find a new lease of life and an escape from the memories she was desperately trying to repress.

And with college came things she had never been truly accustomed to. Parties and drinking and boys…her fairy tales had never allowed her to indulge in these things before. And so came the night when she threw herself into Pandora's Box with reckless abandon.

She drank with her friends and danced all night, her slurred mind allowing one boy with a mass of shocking blonde hair touch her body on the heady dance floor. But as she looked into his eyes they weren't quite right, and in her drunken state she could not understand why. Sarah had never been with a boy before, the extent of her knowledge came from a few stolen kisses and secret fondles that had never really progressed. But that night she took the boy back to her dorm.

They kissed for a while as she tried to battle the rushing dizziness storming through her mind and the rising nausea in her stomach. This was it, she thought. Little Sarah was growing up. She wasn't quite sure why it made her heart ache so much.

"Do you have anything?" She frowned, about to enquire what he meant until she met the boys meaningful gaze.

Oh.

She nodded, stumbling away from the bed to her dresser. Karen had pressed a few of the small silver squares into her hand as she bid her farewell to college with a small whisper

"Just in case."

She had thought she could die with embarrassment then and there. Scrambling for the long forgotten things at the bottom of a drawer, she found her fingers clutching the cold package. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Grow up." She whispered to herself fiercely.

Her bleary eyes lifted to the mirror, and with a gasp of surprise she dropped the packet clutched in her hand.

He was there.

He…Jareth stood before her in the mirror with an expression she had never seen him wear before. The planes of his face were still as sharp and inviting as they always had been, and in those few moments Sarah tried to drink in his image as much as she could. Memorise as much as her gaze could hold. But his face…it was soft and intense. A sadness lurked behind his eyes that, even in her drunken stupor, made the very bones of her ache. She followed his gaze to the boy in the rumpled sheets behind her. She felt a heavy shame she could not explain, and as her eyes caught his once more and he gave a very small shake of his head. He bowed his head and in the next moment he was gone.

"Sarah?" The boy called to her. She swallowed hard, blinking back her tears.

"I think you should leave."

The next time he came to her was New Years Eve. She danced with friends and anticipated the ring of the bells with laughter. But there was one person she could not help search for. Over the months before she had struck up a friendship with a boy in her English Literature class. Tommy. Without even realising somehow she had found her heart beat a little faster every time he smiled at her. It felt good, it terrified her, but it was good. She had never allowed a boy close to her since that night. In a logical state she assured herself she was scared, and only imagined him as some kind of twisted comfort. But she wouldn't allow him to ruin this for her, not again. The clock chimed midnight she turned to search for the boy, steeling herself with the courage to place herself in his arms and kiss him. But there he was, only a few steps away from her kissing a stunningly attractive blonde with full lips and smoky eyes. The pain shot through her in waves and she stumbled onto the balcony to hide her tears. As the chimes rang through the air she felt an arm wrap around her waist. Without turning she knew it was him.

"What do you want?" She whispered, refusing to turn her gaze to him. But she could feel the breeze carry his silken strands of blonde hair against her cheeks and the earthy smell of him surrounded her.

He said nothing; she only felt a soft kiss atop her head.

He was gone before the clock finished it's chimes.

And so it went on. When her tears threatened to surface and her heart was close to breaking, she'd feel a hand against the small of her back, a whisper of a kiss on her cheek. And every time she knew it was him. And every time he never spoke. Until one awful day.

She stared at her Mother's grave; the polished marble did nothing to convey the sparkle she had in life. The realisation that it should all come to this, that a deep dark hole in the ground would be the final resting place, her final sleep…She was ashamed to wonder how much closer she'd be to his world under the Earth.

"It's not fair." She whispered. And this time she meant it.

But he was there. Behind her once more, a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Say your right words." He whispered, and her body shivered. It was the first time she had heard his voice since that fateful night in the Labyrinth.

And for the first time she turned to look at him.

"I wish to return to the Underground."

A/N: Here it is, my first venture into Labyrinth fanfiction! Do review and tell me what you thought, hopefully I should be updating frequently if anyone is interested in it continuing.

Alexandria