Chapter 1.

Sarah's room is a wild epicenter of joyous celebration. Confetti flutters in the air like so many fairy wings and Sarah thought there must have been some magic at work to keep the rest of the house (and the neighborhood) from hearing the raucous whoops and laughter emanating from every creature dancing, shouting, and singing with abandon. In the corner, Hoggle and Sir Didymus were arguing over a game of Scrabble (Sarah thought that it was because Hoggle kept trying to play words in his native language, which Sir Didymus objected to strongly since it contains so many V's, Q's, and other high value letters) while three of the littlest goblins were jumping on Sarah's bed, using her pajama pants as a jump rope. Ludo, the great orange beast, was seated awkwardly on the floor in front of Sarah's vanity while tiny pixies in sparkling rainbow colors wound intricate braids in his fur.

Sarah spun around, laughing and hugging all of her new friends, hardly able to believe it was real after all. The girl was euphoric, flush with her unlikely victory and the triumph of living out her fantasy, as well as a new upwelling of love and fierce protectiveness for little Toby, sleeping peacefully in his crib down the hallway. When she thought about Toby now, she felt a little twist in her heart at her carelessness with him before tonight – not just in wishing him away, but in failing to embrace her role as his older sister and his protector, no matter what other complicated feelings she might still have about her family and her place in it. She felt a wave of gratitude wash over her for her new perspective.

Sarah twirled gleefully like a little girl in a favorite dress, collapsing down on the bed surrounded by giggling Fireys as the little goblins scampered over to her dresser. It was strange, Sarah thought, how even the most frightening denizens of the Labyrinth had no longer held any fear for her when they suddenly appeared in her bedroom after she called Hoggle. It was as though her victory had freed them from playing their frightening roles, leaving only their true selves -playful, mischievous beings - behind. Besides, Sarah was so thrilled to see confirmation that her adventure had been real and to realize that she could still contact her friends that fear was the last thing on her mind at that point. Sarah even had to admit to herself that the goblins were actually kind of cute in their own way, especially the tiny one that was currently curled up asleep in her sock drawer.

And this was definitely the best party she had ever been to. Even though Sarah had a rich inner life, full of imagination, she was a sensitive child and did not make friends easily. The turmoil in her family over the past few years had only led her to isolate herself even more, withdrawing into a fantasy as she struggled with her hurt and disappointment. Truthfully, though Sarah liked being alone sometimes, it had been a somewhat lonely life.

In the shadows, an elegant white owl watched the festivities from a dark branch of the stately old oak tree outside of Sarah's window. It was not the first time the majestic bird had perched upon the branch, nor the first time he had peered into her window. In the deepness of the night the owl's eyes were dark and showed no expression. Despite the happy chaos inside the room, the only noise to be heard outside was the quiet ruffle of the wind through the owl's snowy feathers. Noiselessly the owl launched himself skyward, circling higher and higher until he was out of sight, seeming to suddenly vanish as he spiraled up to the silvery moon. No one had noticed the owl.

Despite the warm and happy atmosphere inside her room, Sarah suddenly felt a little shiver and whirled around to peer out the window, her long hair fanning out behind her. Her green eyes searched the night sky, and her heart began to race.

There was nothing there.

Sarah turned back around slowly, slumping against the windowpane as her heartbeat returned to normal. For a moment she was confused, feeling strongly as though there was something very important she was trying to remember. Though her room was crowded nearly to bursting there was an undeniable feeling that someone was missing. Sarah felt a growing sense of panicked urgency as her eyes flitted around the room, searching, searching…but for what?

Suddenly her reverie was broken. "My Lady!" howled Sir Didymus. "Will you please tell Sir Hoggle that QUANTZ is most certainly NOT a real word?!"

"Yes it IS!" yelled Hoggle. "Not my fault you ain't knowin' any proper languages of the Underground 'cept the one you were born with!"

"Why I NEVER!" cried Didymus, aghast at Hoggle's unknightly decorum.

"Hoggle, Didymus, I –" Sarah began, when suddenly her eyes widened and she quickly ducked.

"YEAAAAAHY!" yelled a purple goblin with long ears as he sailed over Sarah's head. Belatedly, Sarah realized that they had tied all of her socks and tights into a makeshift zipline and were careening from one end of the room to the other before letting go, flying every which way through the air.

"Almost as good as being kicked!" one of the stouter green goblins proclaimed, squeezing his pet chicken joyfully.

"Hey, wait, not those! Those are my favorite socks!" Sarah protested loudly as she jumped on the bed, grabbing at the striped knee-high pair just as a goblin was about to use them to soar down the zipline, when suddenly she was distracted once again.

"SAWAH!" bellowed Ludo, as dozens of the tiny pixies flitted through the air around him, each one tugging a long orange braid.

"Oh, Ludo!" Sarah cried, rushing over to him. "Play nice or go home!" she commanded the grinning pixies, waving her arms and shooing them away. They only fluttered their wings at her and laughed their silvery little laughs, but they obligingly zoomed back through the mirror.

"Thanks, Sawah!" Ludo crooned. She smiled brightly at the kind beast, patting him on the shoulder.

Meanwhile, Sir Didymus and Hoggle were still arguing in the corner when the makeshift zipline finally snapped.

"AIYEEEEE!" yelled the unfortunate goblin, a stubby little brown creature with two protruding bottom teeth. The goblin flew like a cannonball straight at the arguing pair, crashing into the Scrabble board and sending the alphabetical tiles flying all over the room. Sir Didymus and Hoggle and jumped out of the way just in time, but the game was clearly over. The little brown goblin shook himself all over and dizzily stood to his feet. The other goblins peered at him expectantly.

"YEAAAAHY!" he cried spinning in happy circles.

"YEAAAAHY!" they yelled back, resuming their festivities once again.

Sarah shook her head and smiled as she perched on the bed next to Hoggle and Sir Didymus. "Hmm…shall we just call it a draw, then?" Hoggle queried, peering down at the wreckage of the Scrabble board. Sarah stifled a giggle as she waited for Didymus to answer. She half expected him to insist that the Scrabble match must be played to the death! For a moment, Didymus regarded the dwarf with half lidded eyes, teeth showing a little, but in the end, he drew himself up proudly and said "It appears that under the circumstances I have been fought to a standstill. I see no reason why we should not fairly proclaim this meeting a draw, Sir Hoggle. Lady Sarah, do you agree?"

"I do, noble sir," Sarah said seriously, knowing that it would not do to mock the little fox's dignity.

"In that case, well met, Sir Hoggle!" exclaimed Didymus happily. "I should now go check on my valiant steed," he added, noting Ambrosius curled up dozing by the dresser, oblivious to the chaos surrounding him.

"Easy enough to get him to agree to call it a draw since he was losing anyway," grumbled Hoggle under his breath. Sarah chuckled and gave him a quick hug, catching him off guard.

"Oh, what'd you do that for," Hoggle complained halfheartedly, but his little blush gave him away. Sarah beamed at him.

"Hoggle, I'm glad you are all here," she said simply, truly meaning it.

"Well, so are we, Sarah," Hoggle admitted. "Ain't never gotten to go to a Champion's party before."

"Really?" Sarah asked in wonder. She hadn't thought about that yet. "Why is that?" she asked, suddenly apprehensive."

"Well, there ain't ever been a Champion before, not s'long as I've been livin' in the Labyrinth anyway," Hoggle explained.

"NEVER!?" Sarah blurted out. "How can that be?" She was shocked. Her victory was quite a triumph, but it was hard for her to comprehend that she could be the only Champion of the Labyrinth.

"Well, I don't know about NEVER, Sarah. I ain't as old as some in the Labyrinth," Hoggle snorted. "Maybe there's been some others, but I ain't never seen one. And it's not like we get all that many runners anymore. Not too many folks knows about us now, and them that do don't usually believe in us enough to wish anything away to us."

"Oh," Sarah said quietly, feeling a sudden pang of guilt about Toby. Hearing that there had been so few other victors made her feel how close she had been to losing him from her life even more keenly. "I'm so glad I was able to rescue Toby. Even if I sort of like the goblins now, I can't bear to think of him as one!" she cried.

Hoggle barked with laughter, causing Sarah to jump in surprise. "Toby a goblin! Ha!" he crowed. "Where'd ya get that idea?"

Dazed, Sarah said "well, in the beginning, he…I mean….the Goblin King…he told me that if I didn't solve the Labyrinth in thirteen hours, that Toby would become one of you forever."

"Well, I ain't a goblin, am I?" Hoggle said plainly. "I'm a dwarf, as it's clear to see. And Jareth maybe the Goblin King, but he ain't no goblin neither. There's lots of us in the Labyrinth as you can see, all sorts. Doesn't mean ya get turned into a goblin just to live there, even though it's true we ain't got any humans livin' with us now." Hoggle shrugged his shoulders. "I may think Jareth's a rat, but he doesn't turn the wished-aways into goblins. He just plays his part."

"What do you mean, 'his part'?" Sarah asked in confusion, overwhelmed with this new information. "And if he – if Jareth – isn't a goblin, then what is he?" Even talking about the Goblin King had sent those strange shivers over her again, but she was dying to learn more about the magical world she had discovered.

Hoggle gave her a shrewd look. "Now don't you go misunderstandin' me, missy. It ain't really my place to be discussin' these things. All I'll say now is that Jareth is no friend of mine but he is bound to the rules of the Labyrinth just the same as the rest of us are. It's our home and we have to do as it says. It has its own magic, you know."

"Oh," said Sarah thoughtfully. Suddenly she asked "Hoggle, how long have you lived in the Labyrinth?"

The little dwarf hesitated a moment, and Sarah noticed that his shoulders slumped a little. "Well, a long time, Sarah…a very long time. As a matter of fact, I don't s'pose I can remember any other home."

"Oh," Sarah said again. She didn't really know what to say next, but she awkwardly patted Hoggle's arm. Looking around she realized that other than Sir Didymus, Ambrosius, and the little goblin sleeping in her sock drawer, the rest of the Labyrinth denizens had headed back home through the mirror as she and the dwarf had talked.

Eagerly Sarah asked, "Hoggle, Sir Didymus, will you be able to come back and see me again? After tonight, I mean?"

"Of course, my lady," replied Sir Didymus, with his courtly manner. "When you need us, you must only call, and we will come."

"Unless Jareth stops us," Hoggle grumbled.

"Oh no, he wouldn't do that, would he?" Sarah exclaimed in dismay. As soon as the words left her lips she realized she actually had no idea what the Goblin King would do.

Sir Didymus was giving Hoggle a look. "Milady, I assure thee, His Majesty will not stop us from seeing you if you wish it. You are a Champion of the Labyrinth and he will respect that."

Sarah was relieved at the little knights' instant reassurance, but worries for her new friends still nagged at her. "You two won't get into any trouble for helping me, will you? Or Ludo? I couldn't bear it if you got in trouble because of me," she said with sincerity.

Hoggle looked nervous, but Sir Didymus only laughed. He admired Sarah's new concern for others above herself. He had seen it before in other Labyrinth Champions and he was happy to see the change in her. "Truly," he thought to himself, "she will become a most gracious and lovely Lady as she grows in both age and beauty. She has refused her dreams out of sacrifice for another, and that is a powerful gift."

"His Majesty will not harm us for aiding a runner whose purpose was true," Sir Didymus replied. "Fear not, my lady."

A question that had been circling around the back of Sarah's head finally rushed out of her mouth all at once. "Is the Goblin King...okay?" Sarah blurted out to her friends.

Hoggle gave her a strange look. "What do you mean 'okay'?" he asked. "Why wouldn't he be?"

Sarah hesitated. She wasn't really sure how to tell her friends what had actually happened during her final confrontation with the Goblin King. She wasn't really sure she understood it herself. Before she could say anything, again Sir Didymus answered confidently, "His Majesty will be fine. He has a…flair for the dramatic."

Sarah was surprised at the relief she felt at his words. It was almost like she had been holding her breath without realizing it and could now breathe in deeply again.

"If I will be seeing you again….will I…um, will I see him again too?" she asked softly.

Sir Didymus looked at her with a serious expression on his little face. "It is hard sometimes to predict what His Majesty will do. However, Milady, should you need us…any of us…all you must do is call."

He extended his little paw and bowed to her. "Now it is late, and I think I and Sir Hoggle should take our leave of you so you may rest. Goodnight, my fair maiden, and may your dreams be sweet!"

"Goodnight, Sir Didymus! Goodnight, Hoggle! Thank you for everything you did for me!" Sarah cried. Impulsively she pulled them both (and Ambrosius) into a tight hug and kissed each of their heads. Blushing with pleasure, the dwarf and the knight waved goodbye as they stepped through the mirror and into another world.

Sarah breathed in deeply, alone in her room once again. It was so quiet. She changed into pajamas and brushed out her long dark hair, then quietly crept out of her room and across the dark hallway to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. She looked at her own face in the mirror and realized she didn't look any different. She was almost surprised – she felt so different that she had almost expected to see an older, wiser Sarah reflected back.

"I have come a long way, but I guess I still have a lot to learn," she murmured to herself before switching out the light and quietly crossing the hallway back to her room, where she gratefully slipped under the covers. In the still and quiet darkness she suddenly felt overcome by weariness and couldn't keep from yawning as she burrowed into the soft pillow.

"I won't forget you," Sarah said to herself. "I won't forget any of you."