The golden luster of his world was fading, everything started to look dull and fragmented. The world of the Underground was slowly darkening and his world was starting to show his inner turmoil and its inhabitants were getting frightened. When the days got shorter with each passing week they ventured to the King for answers, but he gave none. Soon he wasn't seen at all, leaving everything in pandemonium. The Labyrinth, once the center of their home, was starting to crack and they knew if it were to crumble so would their world.

It had been five years since King Jareth was defeated by Sarah Williams and he had fallen helplessly in love with her. He had hoped she would call for him when she got older but in this last year he had grown more depressed with each passing day that she didn't call.

She had rejected his gifts so his chest ached as it broke. He wanted to tell her before but he was forbidden to do so. She had to have figured it out on her own. He was in love with her but in her youth she could not understand what it meant.

The days in the Underground continued on, but he could not. Soon the despair in his heart had started to affect his kingdom and power, but he no longer cared. Closing his eyes he summoned the crystal and he glanced at the world above ground. There she was sitting among her friends on the grassy lawn. Sarah didn't look much older but she now carried the confidence of young adulthood. But he could still see in her eyes that spark of life that only a child's imagination could have and he longed for her.

Sarah could still remember her journey clearly for a long time after it happened and often called her friends back to her room but as the years had passed, her memories begun to fade as the demands of life required more of her attention.

It had now been five years and she no longer called upon her friends from the Underground to visit her in times of need but she could still feel their presence in her heart. She knew as long as she held them fondly to her heart they wouldn't be far. Her life had changed after that fateful day in the labyrinth, the lessons she learned had stuck with her and she was thankful for that. She understood things better than she did as a teen, Life is sometimes not fair but you have to learn to roll with it, She no longer took things for granted like her little brother Toby, She knew that there were magical things that aren't often seen by mortals, and she has even come to understand her old foe and came to appreciate what he has done for her.

She smiled at the thought of him now, the tights and jeweled cloaks, his long shaggy blonde hair, his lyrical accented voice, and those strange blue eyes that were different shades. He made her journey possible with his magic. Though he was menacing and seemed to thwart her every move, he gave her exactly what she needed. He made her realize her fear of growing up and deal with the troubles of adulthood like job pressures and relationships that would take her to places that she didn't want to acknowledge.

She understood his important role, all his obstacles he gave her that had made her stronger. But it was only after her first serious relationship had ended that she also came to know what Jareth had wanted in return for his services and it wasn't to rule over her. It was to have his love for her returned and she regretted her decision to reject his offers, "You have no power over me," repeated in her head. It was true, he didn't have power over her, she could see through his illusions. She had the power within her and was this power of imagination that made his world become reality and as long as she believed in it, it always would.

Her memory of her journey was blurry and she could barely see their faces in her mind. She tried to hold onto the values of her experience as she got older but these days she couldn't see anything and it made her sad.

Now at her third year of college at the NY Film Academy, the twenty year old Sarah was a drama major and had many friends in her class. Today they were studying lines out on the quad.

"When my days are filled with sorrow, it is time to take a step back and find the meaning in thy life."

Bellowed and young man, posing dramatically. Sarah was memorizing her own line as she listened to her group. Some were dressed in costume but Sarah was dressed in jeans and blue t-shirt because she had her next class soon. The day was shinning and Sarah felt herself drift into a daze, this new play reminded her of the old book she loved to read and vague memories of that strange dream she once had. When it happened she swore it was real but given her talented imagination she found herself doubting that it ever really happened at all. Not even quite believing it when her friends showed up in her room. They too must have been dreams and Sarah could never recall lost dreams.

All these thoughts danced around her head as stared into the sky. A dark cloud passed above her and she felt a shiver down her spine. She heard whispers in the wind. You've lost someone... Need your help... Need your help... Hurry. She looked around in a panic and her classmate sitting next asked if she was alright.

"Um, yeah. I'm fine." She replied. Sarah could feel that something was wrong and that she suddenly needed to be home. Fearing that something was terribly wrong, she excused herself from her study group and rushed for her car. It would take her a couple of hours to get home, because she lived in the dorms of her school, but she felt this urgency to be in her old childhood room and among her things. The drive was long in the silence so she decided to turn on the radio, the static was loud at first and she quickly turned it down. Among the static she heard something faint but recognized it immediately. "Hoggle!" She shouted and turned up the volume.

"Sarah... We... need your hel..." and the static went silent. She tried to switch channels but it was useless. Hoggle was calling to her and it sounded serious, she tried to picture him and came up blank. She stepped on the gas.