I wasn't surprised to see her. She stood their looking at me so defiantly, just as she used to. You see, this wasn't the first time I'd met Sarah Williams. In fact, I probably know her better than anyone else in the world.

The first time Sarah was wished away it was by her Mother, she was a burden.

"Eat your dinner, Sarah!" Linda Williams held the wriggling child to her chair, her normally flawlessly made-up face wild. "Eat it or there's no dessert!"

"Dun wghn t!" Sarah struggled, mouth full of sausage, she spat it into Linda's perfect hair. Linda shrieked.

"You brat! I gave up everything for you! My acting career, my freedom… You ungrateful little brat! Well fine! Do you know what?" Linda picked Sarah up and shook her a little. "Some days I hardly think you're worth it! I wish… I wish the Goblins would come and take you away! Right now!"

The lights in the house went out and I appeared in the window, lightening flashing dramatically. My Goblins had already carried little Sarah back to the castle. As I explained the rules to the Labyrinth and the consequences to her wish, Linda kept looking greedily at the crystal in my hand- I knew she wouldn't win the game, still, I had to give her a chance. After depositing Linda at the start I flew back to the castle and found Sarah in the Throne Room. On my throne.

She was wearing a battered little hat that the Goblins must have found for her and was holding my riding crop, her short legs swung nowhere near the floor. When I appeared in front of her and glared she looked at me with her chin raised and her eyes flashing and said-

"Go 'way, can't see." And flapped a hand at me. I fought the urge to laugh.

"No, you get down. I'm the King and that's my seat."

"No," She answered slowly like I was being particularly stupid. "I'm the Queen. Got a crown, see?" She pointed at her hat, "And is my seat." She nodded decisively. I couldn't help a twitch of my lips.

"Why don't we share? I'm sure the throne is big enough for the both of us. You can be Queen and I'll be King." She mulled that over for a second and nodded.

"Guess that's OK." I sat down beside her.

"I'm Jareth. What's your name?" I already knew of course but still, it was polite to ask. Not that I suppose she'd notice whether I was polite or not, she seemed to like the Goblins and they belched so loudly the walls shook having a competition to see who could get her to giggle the longest.

"Queen Sarah!" She answered grandly, fiddling with her 'crown'. "You King Jareth!"

"Do I need a hat too?" I asked her quietly with a grin.

"Crown! No, only Queen's get crowns and you not Queen." She explained exasperatedly. The little mortal was quite fun.

"Oh!" I nodded gravely. Then she asked about her Mummy.

"Jareth? Where's My Mummy?" Oh God, I had absolutely no idea how to explain this, most of the wished away were either asleep, too young to talk, disabled, abused or clueless as to what was going on so I'd only had to explain this a few times.

I decided to be selfish and tell the truth. It'd make her hate her Mummy but I was sick of people thinking I was the bad guy, plus she'd be a Goblin before long anyway, so I said.

"Your Mummy's very mean and selfish. She doesn't want to look after you so she gave you to me, it's not your fault Sarah, you're the very best little girl in the world and you get to live with me here, won't that be fun?"

I regret I told her that now but oh well. She cried a bit and I consoled her some more and eventually, with help from the Goblins cheered her back up, she had us wrapped around her adorable little finger. I hated Linda more than ever.

The Thirteen hours went too quickly and I regretfully gave Linda her dreams- becoming an actress- wiped her memory and prepared to turn Sarah into a Goblin, then the Labyrinth stopped me.

Don't.

That was all it said. I obeyed readily, I was just about to send a Goblin to prepare a room for her when it spoke again.

Don't. This time I was a lot less eager.

"What do you mean Don't?! She's a wished away! What else can I do?" There was something I could do but I hated even the thought of it. Put her back? Never! The Labyrinth pushed at my mind, I could feel a portion of the land start to sink and dissolve. It was very serious, so I gave Sarah back to her Father. I didn't wipe her memories, though, and told her to call me if she needed to. She called me almost every day and I played with her in her bedroom, I looked forwards to the daily visit as much as she did and perhaps more.

The second time Sarah was wished away it was by her Father, she was a memory.

Robert flinched as Sarah demanded a different ice-cream, her expression so much like her Mother's.

"No, Sarah! You've got one, stick with it!"

"The Goblins want this one." She told him.

"Goblins!" Robert hit the kitchen table. "Goblins don't exist! Stop making excuses, grow up Sarah!" She was six.

"I wish the Goblins would take you away, right now!" Something vanished from Sarah's little face then, just before she was whisked away. I burst in through the window and looked at Robert. He had no imagination. He would not best the Labyrinth, would probably not even get as far as his selfish ex-wife.

When I got back to the castle Sarah's eyes were still stony but she was smiling and playing so I ignored it until she wanted to talk about it. She got round to it very abruptly.

"Does Daddy not want me?" She asked, throwing a crystal into a crowd of Goblins. She looked at me for a moment and nodded, though I had not said a word. She didn't cry but I still knelt beside her and said.

"I want you." She hugged me sniffing a bit.

When the thirteen hours were up I was resolved. I gave Robert his dreams- a high-paying job in a bank, dull mortal- and sent him back with his memory gone. I told a Goblin to ready a room for Sarah and ignored the Labyrinth's

Don't.

I felt land start to crumble and I ignored it, then the Labyrinth made the walls shake, I ignored it. Then I felt it send plants to wrap around Sarah's neck and choke her. I paid attention then. I sent her home and kept a careful watch on Robert. I still visited, more and more frequently. I gave her a small read book that one of the runners had written. She laughed as I read it to her.

The third time Sarah was wished away, it was by her Father's Girlfriend, she was a nuisance.

"Not even your Mother wanted you, brat!" Lucy snarled. "You're a baby. What kind of rubbish is this?" She picked up Labyrinth with two manicured fingers.

"Goblins?! Hah! They're not real!"

"They are!" Sarah screamed, snatching the book back.

"I wish they would come and take you away! Right now. Otherwise someone else will when I marry Robert."

Something died in Sarah's eyes then, she was seven. I made that woman suffer for it. I could see from her face she didn't care enough to make the journey, I'd be surprised if she got past the gate.

Sarah was crying in the Escher Room when I got to the castle. I wasn't sure what I should say so I just pulled her into my lap and held her for a while. When the thirteen hours were up, I dropped the woman in an Oubliette and argued with the Labyrinth for an hour.

This time I burnt the vines to ashes but unless I took on the Labyrinth itself and killed it or me, I couldn't stop it reaching her heart and stopping it. I sent her home.

Sarah started to hurt herself. She'd cry in her bedroom and cut her hands, pull her hair, scratch her face, hit her head. I wanted her to stop it so much I took her memories and stopped myself from visiting. I left the book but I justified it to myself that it wasn't that accurate. I left a few toys as well, just small things. I hoped that if she forgot she'd be happy again but something was still dead. Even though she no longer hurt herself she tried to escape in other ways. At first I was pleased. She'd always had such an active imagination but soon I saw it was to escape her life, retreating into her mind. Her Father married and I couldn't comfort her as she sat and stared out of the window, her face white.

I was almost glad when she wished her brother away, she was so withdrawn… Then she sneered my title and I was so… wounded. She won, my little Sarah. She won and the Labyrinth and I were both thinking the same.

Stay.

She didn't. My heart shattered, the Labyrinth howled. Then I saw something that made it almost worthwhile. As she danced with her friends I saw the thing I thought was dead light up her beautiful eyes.

Something that just popped into my mind. I haven't been able to update my fics for a while 'cause my computer was being weird so sorry about that. Like it? Hate it? Think I should barbeque my brain? (As opposed to the Tibetan method of boiling it) I'm not sure whether to leave it or continue so please review and tell me what you think.