Aryanna's Dreams...

The next morning turned out to be a disaster. After getting Aryanna on the bus Linda had come marching over.

"Just what the hell are you harboring in your house? Some kind of freak?" She demanded an answer, putting her hands on her chubby sides.

Sarah blinked, unsure of what she was referring to. "I..I beg your pardon?"

"You know what I'm talking about! That man! The one who goes out with you every morning to put your daughter on the bus. Tall, long blonde hair. I saw you, you know! I saw what happened last night."

Sarah held back a gasp that tried to escape he lips. She'd completely forgotten about Linda seeing Jareth come staggering into her house.

"What the hell is he? He isn't a normal man. He's some kind of freak. I saw an owl land in your backyard and then suddenly it wasn't an owl but a man. The same man that you've been keeping in your house."

Sarah made herself breathe. She would handle this calmly. She wouldn't let Linda get the better of her. She gave a chuckle and Linda regarded her coldly. "Oh my goodness!" she started laughing out loud now. "Jareth...an owl???" She grabbed her sides as laughter took over.

"I saw the owl turn into him!! I saw it!!"

Sarah laughed a little more and then turned to the obnoxious woman. "You must have been dreaming."

"I wasn't dreaming! I saw it with my own two eyes!"

Sarah turned back toward her house. "Well maybe you need to have your eyes checked out." She started walking back to the house.

"I'll tell everyone in the neighborhood that you're keeping a freak in your house!"

Sarah turned back to Linda and gave her a cold hard stare. "You do that Linda. Go and tell the whole world if you want to. Do you really think that anyone is going to believe you?" She turned and was gone, leaving the plump blond haired woman fuming at the end of her driveway.

The first three days without Jareth were slow and agonizing days to Sarah. She couldn't concentrate at work, couldn't focus on anything but him. She missed him so much that it hurt. She missed the yellow rose that was usually on her desk every morning along with a small phrase written in his elegant hand to make her day more bearable. She missed his company at dinner and around the house. She missed the sound of his voice, deep, gentle and accented. She missed his touch, his wild blond hair and those strange clothes he wore that she had grown so fond of. She missed everything about him...

Aryanna made her days bearable and without her daughter Sarah knew she would have slipped into the depression she faced before Jareth had come into their lives.

She and Ary spent a lot of time going shopping, watching movies. They did anything to busy their time, to make it go by faster. Sarah enjoyed this time spent with her daughter and realized how selfish she had been in not doing more with her in the past. She felt incredibly guilty for allowing her depression in the past to interfere with her relationship and time spent with her daughter. She knew that Ary was a special girl. She was intelligent, happy and she wanted to help others because it made her feel better.

So in those first few days Sarah spent as much time with her daughter as she could. It helped her to keep Jareth out of her mind at times, but at night her anguish assaulted her viciously and sleep was hard to come by. She wanted to see him again. She needed to see him again.

She began to panic when 5 days had passed and still he had not returned. She sometimes waited by mirrors or stood by the doors that opened out to the deck in her own bedroom. She knew that he was immortal and that he would live, but she was still worried and very frightened. She showed her feelings to no one and bottled them up inside herself. She didn't wish for Ary to worry about her. The little girl had handled Jareth's absence very well and she was smart enough to not ask her mother when he was coming back. They both didn't know the answer. Jareth had only promised to be gone for a few days.

A few days turned into a week and Sarah's panic was beginning to show. She'd been a nervous wreck at work and had botched up 2 reports for Jake on Friday alone. She knew if she didn't pull herself together that she would be demoted or maybe even fired.

It was Sunday and Jareth had been gone exactly a week. Today was Toby's birthday and Sarah had made plans with her brother to have a small party. He and Cheryl were going to come to her house and they would sit and talk, have dinner and birthday cake. Sarah and Ary worked hard, cleaning the house and running the errands. They picked up a birthday cake from the local bakery as well as a chicken from the market. They spent the afternoon setting out the good china and silverware and cooking the chicken. Toby loved chicken dinners and that's exactly what he would get. A chicken dinner with the works.

"Mommy, Uncle Toby and Cheryl are here!!" Aryanna cried rushing from the bay window.

"Ok ok!" Sarah called from the kitchen. "Let them in."

"Happy Birthday Uncle Toby!!" Ary cried as she opened the door.

Toby scooped her up into his arms and walked into the house. He kissed her on the cheek and put her down. "Thanks Ary. Ooh something smells good."

Sarah stepped out of the kitchen doorway with a smile on her face. "Hi Tobe." She reached for him, hugging him tightly. "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks sis. Do I smell what I think I smell coming from the kitchen?"

Ary giggled. "What do you think it is Uncle Toby?"

"Chicken dinner."

Sarah smiled. "Nose like a bloodhound." She joked releasing her brother.

"Thanks Sarah." He told her kissing her cheek. "You shouldn't have gone through all of this trouble."

"It wasn't any trouble. And even if it was, my baby brother is worth it." She smiled. "Hey Cheryl." She reached for Toby's girlfriend and the two women hugged.

"Hi Sarah. It really does smell wonderful."

"Well let's put your coats in the closet here and then eat." Sarah suggested.

"Hey where is Jareth?" Cheryl asked suddenly. Sarah felt her heart constrict at the name. Toby didn't miss the look that briefly flitted across her features.

"He.um.. He had to go home for a little while. He should be back in a few days." Sarah told her, busying herself with hanging up her brother and girlfriend's coats. Sarah flashed Ary a look and the little girl knew not to say anything about Jareth. She's already been warned a head of time.

Toby stepped forward giving Sarah another kiss on the cheek. "Let's eat this chicken dinner that you two prepared for us, hmm?" Sarah smiled and nodded.

The night went by fairly quickly. Dinner was full of laughter and reminiscing like it had been at Eddy's the weekend before. Sarah gave Toby some money for his birthday and Aryanna had made him a card. It was growing late and Cheryl offered to tuck Ary in and tell her a bedtime story. Toby and Sarah used the time to talk downstairs in the living room.

"So Jareth left." He started off.

"He didn't leave." She told him. They were sitting on the couch together.

"Well he isn't here." Toby told her gesturing around him.

"Toby..."

"Sarah. I thought he was so devoted to you. I saw you two on the dance floor at Eddy's. Where the hell is he now?"

"He had to go home."

"For a week and no word from him?"

"How did you...? Ary." Sarah said angrily.

"Don't yell at her. I begged the info out of her while you were wrapping up the leftovers. I knew something was going on when Cheryl mentioned his name. Where the hell did he go?"

"Home, ok? Something happened to him and he got hurt, injured and he went home."

"You mean he went back to the Labyrinth?"

"Yes!" tears stung Sarah's eyes.

"You miss him, don't you?" She nodded, feeling miserable. Toby pulled her to him and Sarah rested her head on her brother's shoulder.

"I miss him terribly, Toby." She admitted truthfully. Her brother was one of the few people she would ever share her feelings with.

"When did he say he was coming back?"

"He told me he would return in a few days and it's been a week Toby. A whole miserable week without him." Tears streamed down her face and Toby put his arms around her.

"Sssh it's ok." He rocked her gently. "You really care about him, don't you?"

Sarah took a deep breath. "I love him Toby..." she whispered against the soft cotton of his shirt.

Toby froze, "You...you love him?" She nodded against him. "Does he know that?"

"No. I haven't had a chance to tell him yet. I just want him to come back so I can tell him."

Toby pulled back from her slightly. "Sarah, maybe you shouldn't tell him."

"What? Why not?"

Toby looked her in the eyes. "I don't trust him Sarah. There is something about him that rubs me the wrong way. Maybe you should just forget about him. Just move on with your life. When he comes back tell him that you and Ary will be fine on your own."

Sarah pulled away from her brother violently. "Toby I can't do that. I've already fallen so far for him and Ary adores him. I couldn't send him away."

Toby took his sister's hand into his own. "What if he doesn't come back Sarah?"

"He will, he promised me that he would."

"But what if he doesn't?"

Sarah turned her face from him. "Don't say such things Toby."

Toby moved so that he could see her face. "Sarah have you even thought about that? Or are you so in love with him that you think he will do everything that he says he will. Hell I love Cheryl but there are times when I say things that really hurt her and she does the same thing to me. It happens. And as much as we love each other we can't always keep every promise made. He's weird Sarah, with his strange clothes and his 80's harido, and he wears make up around his eyes for god sakes! Hell I don't even know if he's human. Even if he did come back what would happen? Would you fall in love and live happily ever after like the fairy tales we tell Ary?"

"No I don't expect that." She said softly.

"Sarah he's not even from our world, our society. He's a Goblin King from some messed up world out of a science fiction novel. Do you honestly believe that he's just going to throw away his kingdom and abandon it for you?" Sarah pulled further away, a shuddering breath escaping her lips. "I'm not trying to be mean Sarah, but realistic. I love you and I want you to see the big picture."

"I see it Toby, ok I see it. But I love him. Seeing the big picture doesn't make my feelings go away. I love him, even though there are so many unknowns and even though he is from a different world. I can't change that. I know he's the Goblin King. I know he can be cruel and arrogant but he hasn't been that way with me and Ary. He's changed and he loves me Toby. I've seen it in his eyes and I know he cares about Ary. What if I did tell him to leave? Ary would miss him terribly."

"She's a child. Children can adapt to things better then we can."

"My mother left me when I was a child Toby and that scarred me for life. I changed after she left me. I was bitter and selfish and spoiled. I will not let my daughter believe that Jareth just left us. And I sure as hell won't tell her that I made him go away."

"Ary's finally asleep." Cheryl called as she walked down the stairs. "Everything all right down here?" She asked seeing Sarah's tear stained face and Toby's angry expression.

"Yeah. Things are fine Cher. It's getting late, sis. Thank you so much for dinner and the money and please thank Ary again for my card." He stood and whispering added. "Sarah I love you, and I just want what's best for you. Please don't let yourself get hurt."

Sarah stood and hugged her brother tightly. "I love you too Tobe." Their prior conversation was nearly forgotten. She knew he was protective and she believed that Toby would never be satisfied with any man who entered her life, least of all the Goblin King.

Sarah bid her brother and girlfriend goodnight and went to check on her daughter. She opened the door quietly and slowly and was surprised to see that Lancelot was on the floor. She reached for her old bear, who had also been Toby's favorite toy at one time and now was her daughters. She went to put the bear under the covers with Ary when she saw something that made her take a double look. Nestled in Aryanna's small hand was a crystal. The same crystal that Jareth had given her weeks ago to bring into school for show and tell.

Ary loved it and it had been a success at school. But Sarah had not seen the crystal again and had assumed that it was like a forgotten toy. Ary went through stages where one toy was a favorite over another. It appeared that the crystal still meant something to her.

Sarah reached for it, with the intention of putting it on Ary's night stand so it wouldn't get broken and so Ary wouldn't roll on it in her sleep but something stopped her. There were images moving around in the crystal. Almost as if there were little people trapped in the crystal sphere. Sarah leaned closer, focusing her eyes on the images. She suddenly realized that these were her daughter's dreams that swirled within the glass ball. She reached for the sphere blindly, not wanting to know what her daughter dreamed of. Dreams were private after all. But as she reached for the crystal she saw something that made her gasp and pull away from the bed.

There within the sphere was an image of herself and Jareth getting married and Aryanna was the flower girl....