One last Wish

'Jareth.' A soft voice woke him from his slumber. His eyelids fluttered and then opened all the way.

Bright light blinded his eyes again and he groaned, 'Not again. If I am to die, just let it happen already.'

(Already giving in, Goblin King? How very unlike you.)

He groaned louder, pushing himself up sitting, and replied, "Why do you refuse to let my life come to an end? I deserve no more than that now!"

The light faded to a dim glow and the graceful figure of a woman could be seen clearly. She was beautiful. Her skin was the color of pale pink pearls and her golden white hair fell in gentle curls past her hips. Pale eyebrows arched delicately above piercing green eyes that looked upon him with such intense sorrow, he found it hard to catch his breath. She strode toward him with a grace that seemed otherworldly until she stopped but a few inches from him.

He did not know his cheeks were wet with tears until delicate, slim fingers brushed them away.

She laid a hand on each cheek and spoke softly, "Why do you continue to give up when you are so close to being happy? Do you so deeply believe that one such as you does not deserve it? I disagree as did Anna, and as does one other. You know of whom I speak. The young woman who holds your heart. I approve of this Sarah. She is headstrong, but also kind and gentle; a perfect balance for you." Her eyes were filled with a deep sadness, silvery tears staining her own pale cheeks.

'Who does this woman think she is?' Jareth was infuriated by her words, ripping himself from her grasp, spitting his words at her like venom.

"I have failed to keep my kingdom safe! I do not deserve to be king, I am not worthy of the title!"

He fell to his knees before her, pain lacing his voice, "I'm not worthy of her. I made her life hell when she wished the boy away, then I had tried to trick her with the peach, and then the Escher room. And at the very end, I didn't understand what was happening until the little chit jumped off the ledge, what you were trying to tell me. I am a hard headed and even harder hearted being. I should've listened, instead of being so damned arrogant!" He looked up at her, fire flashing in his eyes at the spirit before him, and watched as she turned away from him, gliding to the withered tree behind her. He furiously pushed himself up standing, and strode after her, his balance still offset by the loss of his right arm. Strangely it did not pain him and it was no longer bleeding, but he felt bereft nonetheless. Loss of arm or not, he had questions and she was going to answer them.

Whether she wanted to or not.

"Why? Why did you let this happen? Why did you let her win? Why did you let her go?" He bombarded her with his questions, anger fueling his words.

She stood still and quiet before him and his fury increased threefold. How dare she!



"Why did you let seven long, lonely and torturous years pass by just to find her again, to finally touch her again, just for Cianan to be let loose and rip us apart again! Look at what he did to me!"

the woman still said nothing in reply.

Finally he had had enough, gipping where his right arm should have been and screaming at her, "LOOK AT ME! He ripped my right arm off, an arm I only had due to an idiotic mistake my own MORTAL mother made. All I am and all I will ever be is a lie. A mere puppet that cannot do a thing without someone first tugging on the strings! IT'S NOT FAIR!" Those words shocked him. He never thought that in all his years of living, that he would utter those three words. It shocked him, making his lips tingle and his tongue felt like sandpaper in his mouth.

She turned sharply to him, tears falling from her eyes and sadness in her voice. "Dear child, I am sorry for all you have endured and for what is still to come. The Labyrinth told me that you would need help through the difficult trials ahead and sent me to you."

Shock rooted him to the spot. If this woman before me is not the... "If you are not the Labyrinth, then who are you?"

"I had hoped for this day for a long time, dear child, a very long time. I had to make sure you were ready, that you knew the story before we met. I was a fool for leaving you unattended in the gardens, but your father had just returned from a long war campaign badly wounded and he was not to last the night."

"My father?" He questioned her. What little color was left drained from Jareth's face. This..this is my mother?

She nodded her head in reply. "You have grown to be a fine man, my son. I do not intend to let you go down the same path I have walked. I made a mistake when I made that wish, yes, but I did it out of Love. Love for the only reminder of my husband I had left, for when I found you unconscious and missing an arm, your father was already hours dead. I did not want to lose my son that day as well."

His anger faded into a deep sorrow, what he thought were lies was all truth, truth that was standing right before him, not alive but very much real.

If he had once been mortal, he was mortal no longer. The Labyrinth saw to that when he was made Goblin King, but that thought had not brought him comfort, but more pain, and a startling reality came to light.

Sarah.

Sarah was mortal.

Even if he made her his Queen, would the Labyrinth bestow the same gift that it had to him? Or would Sarah age, then pass away, leaving him alone once again, but for the rest of his unending existence this time. He did not want that.

He had not known that he was speaking aloud until her voice broke his thoughts.

"There is naught to fear. Sarah will have a place beside you as your Queen, but you must first overcome this trial that has been placed before you. You must defeat Cianan once and for all."

Jareth snorted at her words, looking at her in disbelief. "Me? You expect me to defeat Cianan. Well, incase you have forgotten, mother," he saw her flinch at his condescending tone, but paid no heed and continued, "I am missing an arm and because of that, I no longer have my magic as well! What do expect me to do, juggle my crystals for him!"

She shook her head, a slight smile on her lips. "There is a way to defeat Cianan, but it will take some time to acquire it. The Labyrinth will try to hold him off as long as it can. You and Sarah will have to leave as soon as possible if you want to minimize the havoc he will undoubtably wreak."

To say Jareth was suprised was an understatement, but if it will keep Sarah and his Labyrinth safe, he would try it. He wanted Cianan's head for even daring to touch HIS Sarah. What's the worst that can happen? I have already lost an arm.

Putting his remaining hand on his hip, he strode towards her, smirking, "Well, what is this secret weapon and how do we find it?"

His mother's smirk mirrored his own and she started, "We must make haste, you will only have a fortnight..."

---

She was floating. Floating in what seemed to be a dark void, unable to move, unable to even think., but when she opened her eyes, there was nothing but darkness. Nothing but silence.

"Sarah, wake up." A gravelly voice cut through the darkness and light flooded her closed eyes like a switch being flipped on.

"Sawah hurt?"

"Wake up fair maiden."

It was strange to her, the voices sounded so familiar, but she just couldn't place them. More voices could be heard and the sound was almost deafening. Sarah struggled to open her eyes, groaning in pain.

"Sarah, are you alright?" The gruff voice asked her again. It was at that moment, memory filled her and she gasped at the swiftness of it return. She shot up straight and leaned against the wall behind her. Standing there before her were her companions, the reluctant, but brave Hoggle, Ludo, the huggable, friendly rock-caller, and the ever vigilant Sir Didymus. The very same companions that she had come to see as her friends during her trip through the Labyrinth, and somehow she knew they would help in this journey as well. Even if the stakes were higher this time. They were that loyal.

"What happened, Sarah?" Hoggle asked her, clear concern written in his features.

"Yes, milady, what knave has yonder cast such evil upon this place. Show me and verily I will go forth and vanquish such an evil-"

Ludo interrupted with a simple, yet heart-wrenching question, "Where king?"

Strains of an terrifying scream echoed through her mind, and she looked up at her friends with tears blurring her eyes, and shook her head, dropping it to look at her lap.

"Cianan has him." Her tears dried as anger replaced her grief. 'It was because of me, all because of me! Well, I am not going to let him die because of me. Cianan be damned.'

'I would willingly do this again and again, if only to keep you safe.' She could still feel the rasp of his lips as they brushed against her ear and her lips still tingled where his teeth nipped at them.

She looked up at the three standing in front of her, then at the hospital ceiling. 'Well, Anna, you had always loved adventures, well this one is for you."

She pushed off the floor, using the wall as a support, and stood up, "Come on, Hoggle. We have to save him. Ludo, be ready to call your rocks. Sir Didymus, you may want to call some reinforcements."

Didymus bowed low, "I beg your forgiveness, milady, but I have already done so."

Sarah's eyes widened, as she looked down each hallway. "Well, Sir Didymus, where are they?"

the fox knight smiled a toothy grin at her, and pointed down the hallway to her left.

"Down there, around the corner. I had them set up a lookout, although I doubt they need that many for the job, but milady doth knows goblins."

Sarah scrambled to her feet and stumbled down the way he had pointed and when she turned the corner she stopped in her tracks. 'Oh my...'

The whole hallway was filled and they all looked ready to fight. Some hung down from the ceiling itself and doors that were still left intact, were about broken from the froce of all the creatures pressing against them. The first ones she saw were the fireys and they looked especially mischievious tonight, their claws nice and sharpened. Next, there were the guards, and the calvary goblins as she liked to call them, their spears at the ready. Even the fairies had come, flitting here and there, weilding little needle-sized swords. A stray chicken could be seen here and there amidst the throng of goblins and other such creatures. A makeshift army, but she knew that every little bit of help is needed against Cianan. She only hoped they wouldn't be too late.

Sarah nodded her head to all of them them and crouched down, "Alright, now everyone listen closely, I have a plan. If we can get into the room again, we can get Jareth out of there. But only if Cianan is not there. If he is there, it is going to be dangerous. Some of you might not make it out alive. Are you all sure you are up for it?"

A firey spoke up first, "Yah man, we witcha. We gotta save boss man from the nasty one. We not like him not one bit. He don't come apart right. Ain't that right, Nackle?"

"Yah, you be right, Wickel."

And with that, more voices raised in assent. They were going to help rescue their King.

Sarah smiled and turned to her friends.

Hoggle looked as if he might run at the drop of a hat, but he didn't move. He only replied, "All the way, Sarah. I ain't no coward."

Ludo just stood there, not swayed one bit by her words. "Sawah, fwend. Ludo fight."

Sir Didymus took off his hat and bowed low as he replied, "For thee, fair maiden, I would give my life in service."

He turned as Ambrosious fled for safety far from them, "Ambrosious, get back here, you coward. Oh, you...fine, I will not feed you ever again if you do not get over here right this minute."

Somehow, those seemed to be the right words to say as the dog turned and trotted slowly up to his rider and sat down.

For the first time, as the small army made its way down the hallway towards where Cianan and Jareth were, a smile found it's way onto her face and she knew things were going to be better.

Hold on Jareth. We're on our way. Just hold on.