AN: This is my first fanfic. I do not own any of the characters or material from Labyrinth © Jim Henson, 1986, or the songs/lyrics 'Magic Dance', 'Chilly Down', 'Underground', or 'Within You' © David Bowie. I wish I could own Didymus, though...too cute...

The looking glass that sat before Sarah reflected a dissatisfied and rather reluctant young woman, eager to cover the dark circles under her eyes, but since money was scare makeup was no longer a necessity (unless it was red lipstick). She considered her visage and was disappointed with her pasty skin, poker straight hair and small mouth and let out a sigh of exasperation; although she was only twenty-five, it felt as if she had grown twice as many years since she was the tender and crucial age of fifteen.

Sarah Williams was not an ordinary person. Well, she was ordinary in the sense that she had two legs, arms, eyes and ears, she had hair and a nose and mouth, and she got up for work and went to bed every day. She was unordinary in the sense that she was simply out of step with modern life. She rarely went out with friends, and other than work had little contact with other people. More than anything she enjoyed walking at night and trekking out to the nearest wood, in the preserved area of her city. She read, more than she could remember, many medieval books and fantasy novels, but never wrote her own. Somehow, when she tried, the same places and the same faces dominated the text and she gave up on originality.

Even now, as she gazed into the glass, she could still feel the cold air of the Labyrinth on her skin, she could smell the hedges, rocks and that interminable bog, and if she tried hard enough she could hear those fateful songs that were lodged in the back of her head like an intangible memory. Of course, when Sarah looked back on those days after her return her heart filled with sadness. On returning, she had promised Hoggle that she would call on him, but after she had danced the night away with her friends she had awoken in her bed to an empty room, and dismissed the whole thing as a childish dream. Rationally, to her it was most likely to have been a vivid dream. There was a part of her that wanted to believe she had found her way to the castle, beyond the Goblin City, but it was too difficult to explain or rationalise. She had been haunted by it ever since, but had been too afraid to call on Hoggle; it was easier to leave it as a possibility that one day he would come, rather than shattering her dreams too soon.

She still clung to the creatures she had met in this lucid dream. Hoggle, the brusque and yet kind-hearted goblin, with his ridiculous notions of monetary value of treasure, his bushy eyebrows and huge blue eyes…Ludo, with his warm orange fur and black and white view of reality…and Sir Didymus, with his quaint Renaissance attire and thirst for battle. All of these creatures had a presence on her wall; she was no artist, but had sketched out their appearances from memory and they had remained on her wall ever since. As Sarah gazed into the mirror, she forgot herself and whispered, "I need you Hoggle. All of you. Even him…" she cast her eyes across to her open note book, where Jareth, the Goblin King, sat in biro on the page. Even though the cruel monarch had stolen her baby brother and put her through a twisting and terrifying ordeal, she knew that he had no power over her. She both feared and respected him and longed to see him again, just to see what had become of him and his kingdom.

Sarah lived alone in her own private kingdom, the flat above the acting school where she taught adolescents. Her flat reflected her financial difficulties; it had one bedroom, a kitchen/living area, and a bathroom. Her only pride was the bay window that looked down onto the quiet suburban street below. Sarah's acting school was named 'oubliette' as it offered acting opportunities to children in care, or those who were simply forgotten. Their plays largely consisted of fairy tales and Shakespeare plays, and whilst was highly rewarding, Sarah felt like she was nurturing stars but would never make her mark on the cinematic world; and the pay was awful. When she had completed high school and left home she had taken numerous acing courses to be qualified to act in multiple modes, but after several failed auditions she withdrew into self-loathe and took over the acting school from its previous owner who landed a part in a long-running sitcom in New York.

Sarah sighed again at her reflection. The reason as to why Sarah was so concerned about her appearance was largely due to the fact that the four nights prior to her current state had been filled with haunting dreams of running through tunnels, dodging Goblin armies and flinging herself around stairs just to find nothing at the centre of the Labyrinth she so longed to visit again, if only it were real. The dreams had been so exhausting she had been more tired than if she had not slept at all, and her eyes suffered for it. She was supposed to be going out the following day with her friend Annie, and Sarah knew that if she looked this rough Annie was bound to make comments.

Sarah applied a slick of the red lipstick that she had bought instead of milk and bread, to draw the attention away from her eyes, then leant over to answer the ringing phone on her desk.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sarah, it's Annie, I just wondered if you were free tonight? I have some vintage movies and thought you'd be interested. You could stay over so we can go out together tomorrow instead of meeting in town."

Sarah groaned inwardly. She had been promising to spend time with Annie for weeks but had feigned business in order to stay in. It was not that she disliked Annie, it was just such an effort to pretend to be normal. Life bored her, and it made her feel pretentious, so she ironically remained bored by herself and did very little.

"Um, I would but I have plans tonight. Can we just meet tomorrow?"

Annie sighed.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?"

The dial tone indicated to Sarah that Annie was aggravated, but she was too distracted to notice.

In the corner of her eye she had sensed movement in the corner of her bedroom, but on further visual inspection there was nothing to be seen. And yet, when she glanced back at the mirror she was sure that she saw something again. "Who's there? What do you want?" Oh God, I'm going to be murdered and no one will find my body for days. She wrapped her arms about herself and took deep breaths. "Come out. Now."

In a glittery flash, a small creature manifested itself in the corner. A goblin, not four feet tall and wearing a bag of jewels around his waist.

"Hoggle?"

"Sarah!"

Sarah whirled round to face the corned, but saw nothing, and on returning to face the mirror found his form was still in the corner.

"What are you doing in my mirror, Hoggle? Are you real? Oh my, I really am losing it now, as if the dreams weren't bad enough! Shit, I knew I should have slept more!"

He looked exactly the same, but wearier, as if he had come a long way to find her.

"I ain't sure what you're goin' on about, but I cames here because you said you needed us'. I would have brought the others but it ain't easy, I can tell you. To be honest I'm surprised you never asked for us again after we came the first time."

Tears welled in Sarah's eyes.

"You're real? How are you here?"

She remembered his words. Should you need us, for anything at all…

"This ain't the first time I've done this, don't look so shocked. Since when did you stop takin' things for granted? Can't you just accept that I'm here?"

"Oh of course Hoggle, but why can't you come into my room?"

"My magic's ain't that strong anymore Sarah, and besides, this is just a flyin' visit. I came here to tell you that whilst you need us, then we could sure use your help too. Since you defeated the Labyrinth, Jareth has been reinforcin' it. It's a mess, I'll tell you. He believes it will only be complete if you can't complete it, and he's comin' for you tomorrow. I wanted to warn you Sarah, because I think we'll be seein' each other in there."

Sarah remembered to breathe as she realised what Hoggle was saying. Everything she had previously thought was childhood fantasy could be real, and her years spent diminishing her imagination may have been for nought. She inhaled morosely, afraid of the consequences of her journey.

"Hoggle, I'm not a child anymore. To me, this is a chance to do what I have wanted to do for ten years, but to others my age this is cause to be sectioned by the local asylum. How can I trust this is real?"

"I thought this would happen. You gotta looks in there…"

Hoggle pointed to her music box. Puzzled, she looked away from the mirror and opened the box. The music that seeped out was different somehow, like a memory loosened from her past. She could almost hear it being sung. There's such a sad love deep in your eyes…Inside the box was all her usual keepsakes and an imposter-item, a small plastic bracelet, the same bracelet she had entrusted to Hoggle in the oubliette. A tear fell down her cheek and landed in the box. As she shifted her gaze back to the mirror, she saw that Hoggle was gone. In a panicked voice she called out, "When will he come for me?"

Hoggle replied in a distant and foggy voice, "Tomorrow at midnight, Sarah, be ready!"

That night the dreams had changed. She was dancing alone in a ballroom filled with dancing masks and bubbles, and every time she approached a bubble it grew solid and fell to the floor. She was dancing with a spectre, a man's mask and nothing more, and it chilled her to the core. The floor fell out beneath her and she found herself deep in the heart of a hedge maze, but the trees began to wither and before she knew it, she was alone in a desolate wasteland, with a vast expansiveness engulfing her.

Most of the following day was spent worrying and preparing. Sarah had failed to remember her meeting with Annie, who did not call her again, but maybe it was for the best; Sarah had no idea if she would return to the Overground.

Of course, Sarah still could not believe the events of the previous night and was sure she was losing her mind, but the prospect of getting back to the Labyrinth was too fantastic to ignore.

At a quarter to midnight that night, Sarah Williams sat in her bed, poised and prepared. She had packed a bag of items to help her in the Labyrinth: her lipstick, some money, sandwiches and water, a pocket watch, a lighter, a ball of string, a hand held mirror, a first aid kit and a compass (even though the latter seemed pointless in a Labyrinth that kept changing). She had donned comfortable jeans, the plastic bracelet, a soft black sweater and a grey cardigan, brown shoes and had let her hair fall – she wanted him to recognise her. In her bag she also placed a photo of her mother and her book of the Labyrinth that sat faithfully on her desk. She looked longingly at the photo, then placed it between the pages of the small red book.

As the minutes passed, apprehension raged like a storm in her stomach. Fear overtook her as she surrendered to the negative thoughts. What happens if I have imagined all of this? What happens if he doesn't show up? Am I crazy? Should I go, and if I demand not to, will he make me?

The clock reached a minute to, and she feigned sleep, but a minute later she peeked at the clock. It read midnight. Where was he?

Suddenly, there was a quiet but urgent tapping at her bay window. Oh, how original she thought, her sarcasm masking her fear. The thought of Jareth still chilled her slightly. She got out of bed and crept to the window as the tapping intensified, and pulled the curtain back before opening the window. It was raining heavily outside and the wind blew in, making her cold and dampening her ankles. Without warning, an owl shot inside her bedroom, flapping at her terrified face before landing on the carpet. Sarah swung around and saw the owl transform into the man she feared – the Goblin King.

He stood with regal splendour in the centre of her room, brushing glitter from his shoulders before placing his hands on his hips and cocking his head to one side.

"Hello, Sarah."

Jareth was wearing a black and blue jacket covered in numerous sparkling jewels with a high collar that had a deep blue velvet cloak hanging from its neck. His black leggings ever present, Sarah noticed he still wore his high boots; in fact there was nothing remarkably new about his attire – it was his appearance that was most shocking. His mismatched eyes had grown more vivid in their individual colours, growing slightly red around the edges. His hair still stood in impossible spikes, but shone less than before. If it was possible, he looked paler.

"Jareth," she breathed in fear.

He smirked.

"When did you become so bold that you no longer refer to me as 'The Goblin King'? Have my efforts to be imposing worn off, Sarah?"

She shivered as he repeated her name, and swallowed.

"Did they ever really work? As I recall I was the one who imposed upon and defeated you."

Jareth flinched and glared at the woman before him. He surveyed her form; she had grown out of her pubescent body into the body of a woman. Her soft, childish features were replaced by harsher angles and stronger cheekbones, but there was still the same naïve extravagance in her eyes. His eyes narrowed and he frowned.

"You have gotten older."

Sarah scoffed and swallowed.

"Well, I have been Overground for ten years now. I had hoped you would remember the time that has passed."

"Years seem to go by much faster up here."

He seemed perplexed, like he was mentally trying to battle a contradiction.

"Why are you here, Jareth?" Sarah tried to be bold and fearless, but it translated into the childish arrogance that had angered him so many years ago.

"Do you remember when I said I could be cruel? Please do not tempt me. It is a great deal more satisfying to toy with a human than it is with goblins."

Sarah moved as to take a step back, but it felt as if she were in a dream and stuck to the ground. She scowled as he took a step forward.

"Your eyes can be so cruel. Do you dare to resist my power?"

"You have no power over me, Goblin King," she said, panicked.

"Ah, that old chestnut. You will find me a lot stronger than when we last met. Should I ask why you were lying in bed in your clothes, with luggage? I am sure it is not a human custom."

Sarah looked down at her apparel.

"Let's just say I had a tip off."

Jareth growled.

"That treacherous goblin! If I ever see Hogbreath again-

"Hoggle!"

"Yes. If I see him I will tip him straight into the bog!"

"The bog is still there?" Sarah sounded joyful, and so regained composure.

"It is my pride and joy."

Sarah examined the playful look on his face cautiously.

"Look, what do you want?"

He smiled his wide grin.

"And now to business. I want you to take on my Labyrinth again. There is no stolen child this time, just you and me. You will have the full thirteen hours to reach my castle at the centre, where I will be waiting. If you win, the Labyrinth and I are yours, and if you lose, you become mine. Forever."

Sarah shivered.

"What do you mean exactly when you say that I become yours?"

"Exactly what I said. You will fear me, love me, and do as I say. I will possess you. It is all I have wished for since you so distastefully rejected my offer. You will be my slave, and do my bidding."

A thousand thoughts sped through Sarah's head. If I win, could I rule a Labyrinth? What happens if I lose? Would it be such a bad thing to live in the Labyrinth? I could be ruled. Her youthful freedom called out to her. No, you could never be ruled! How could you even consider it? He stole your brother, ruined your perceptions of reality. He ruined you.

"I'll do it, on one condition."

"I am not sure you are really in a position to bargain, but go on, I will humour your condition."

"I need to know that you are real, because if you aren't then I need serious help."

Jareth smirked and held out his hand. A glass crystal formed in his fingers and he began to rhythmically toss it from side to side, before throwing it to Sarah. She flinched, hoping it would not turn into a snake, but caught it and gazed inside. She could see her fifteen year old self inside, dressed in a white gown and dancing with a masked man. The crystal then crumbed into glitter and blew from her hand. Tears rose to her eyes.

"That might have been in my imagination."

"I see that the Overground has made you insufferably critical."

Jareth sighed and stepped towards Sarah. She tried to back away again but could not. He reached out his hand as if to touch her, but held it in the air. She took it nervously and he shook her hand.

"I trust that you will honour our bargain now that we have shaken on it. Now, step to the window."

Sarah could move again, and she dashed to the window to see through the rain that the Labyrinth had replaced the street she usually saw. However, it looked different. It was darker, she could see larger expanses of forest and new areas of water. The largest change was to the castle, which had grown taller and more imposing.

"Everything's changed."

Jareth stood close to her and made her jump. Her bedroom had gone, and all she could see was wasteland behind him. Joy in its purest form enveloped her senses as she realised she was back in the Underground.

"Did you think I had done nothing in the time that has passed, Sarah?"

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as he breathed her name so near her skin.

"It still doesn't look that far."

He smiled.

"It's further than you think, and time is short."

She turned her head and glared at him, only to see his eyes closed in what appeared to be bliss. He was still taller than him, and she wished she were more impressive.

"See you at the centre, Goblin King. Throw whatever tricks you want at me; they didn't work last time."

With a pained expression, Jareth began to move away slowly, as if he was turning to fog. "You have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth before you become mine forever."

"It's only forever," muttered Sarah.

"Such a pity."