AN: I'm exploring with a mix of narrative styles here. I'm not too displeased with the result. *shrugs* And uh…this WAS supposed to be a bit of a back story to Creatures of Habit, but it evolved and changed and ended up being different. Stupid words never obeying me; plotlines getting lives of their own…*grumbles*

Disclaimer: Ha. All I own is The Labyrinth DVD. If you really feel like suing, you can have that. Otherwise, these characters aren't mine. I'm just playing around with them for a bit…

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Once Upon a Time in a Goblin City

She had lost. And so she stayed.

For the first several months she held her head high. As she worked side by side the dirty, stinky, grimy goblins rebuilding the city that she'd destroyed, her head was held high.

There was always a distinctly defiant tilt to her chin and a challenging light in her eyes. Oh, how very young she was, full of the pride of youth. Full of the self-righteous anger because the world was supposed to be fair. And she still foolishly believed it worked like that.

Naiveté had never really been (that much of) a turn on for the Goblin King.

When she'd lived in the city for several years as just an anonymous human girl among countless goblins, and when he had nearly forgotten the teenager who had almost beaten his Labyrinth, he saw her again.
           

He had forgotten the exceptions he had made for her, forgotten that in a fit of sentimentality he had let her stay human.

Though she had been selfish and spoiled and whiny and naïve, she had, wonder of all wonders, made it further than anyone in his Labyrinth.

And in all fairness, she did not deserve to be turned into a goblin for making so far.  He wondered what she'd think of that when he happened to see her again.

He saw her from a distance first, shrouded in dark corner of the twisting and turning nooks and crannies of the Goblin City. Her slender figure had come slipping out from a small door, her dark hair immediately highlighting her against the light coloured stonewalls of the city buildings.

The years had wrought several changes.

Her head was not held so high now.

Jareth, King of the Goblins, was surprised when the door opened and instead of the goblin he expected to come scurrying forth, the slender figure of a woman slipped out – a paragon of grace among the bumbling trotting goblins.
            His eyes widened comically, for just a fraction of a moment, in surprise before he remembered that the girl he'd condemned to life here wouldn't be a girl any longer.

He shrunk further into his shadowy corner, shrunken and disguised much as he had been when he had met Sarah and…that dwarf, whatever his name was, in the tunnel after they'd escaped the Oubliette.

His lips curled in glee. She was no doubt a broken shadow of herself now. He shuffled himself forward, disguised as another inhabitant of the city, and began to follow her from a distance.

Curious beyond measure, and glad that something had happened that caught his interest, Jareth began to spy on the mortal.

Sarah Williams. Graduate of her tenth year of schooling, previously a sister and daughter, once known for her passion for all things fantastical, was now a jack-of-all trades in the goblin city.
            Needless to say, the four years she'd been living here had altered her.

The first months had been frightening. So many times she had been so close to throwing herself back into the Labyrinth that loomed outside the city's gate, as she huddled in corners and cringed away from the goblins that jeered and laughed at her.

Those biting creatures on sticks had not been pleasant either.

She worked alongside the smelly creatures with revulsion for the first bit, putting back together what she'd thoughtlessly torn down, and wishing, wishing so hard, that she was back at home, that she'd been a better step-daughter, that she could have remembered the words, that she knew where Toby was, that she'd never wished him away, that she could kill the goblin king, that she could see a friendly face, that she'd never heard of the little story called The Labyrinth.

By the time the Goblin City was back to its former state of haphazard construction, her clothes were destroyed, her hands were callused and rough, her arms were strong, and her overwhelmingly anger had burned out to be replaced by a deep-rooted sorrow and a resigned attitude. She strove to make the most of it, and she strove to be happy. It wasn't always easy.
            And she had nothing to do. Nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Hoggle, Ludo, Didymus…the goblins had never answered when she had dared to ask. Eyes lowered and away they ran. They never even whispered the traitor's names.

It was all her fault. Everything.

And she had hated herself.

The Goblin King had never shown a renewed interest in the girl, and goblins, at best as smart as an intelligent ten year old, at worst as smart as a two-year old, had forgotten the wrath of their king, had forgotten that the girl hadn't always been there.  They'd lost the fear of incurring the King's wrath

Sarah had been wary of accepting the help and the innocent friendship the goblins had begun to extend.

It was better to do things on one's own, she decided, then you couldn't hurt others with your actions. Then the consequences were your own only.

And besides, the goblins had poor hygiene at best, and Sarah had never realized that fantasy worlds could be so smelly.

Who knew what the Goblin King would do if he thought she was turning his little beasts against him. But gradually, when he had failed to appear and his presence seemed like a lurking nightmare, a distant threat (only slightly) forgotten, she'd begun to live again.

________________________________________________________________________

"Wills! Wills! Wills!!" a goblin came running to the girl.

Her nickname had been coined quickly as she became a reluctant member of the goblin community. The goblins had enjoyed the sound of her full and complete last name, but unfortunately found the disyllabic name too long to yell effectively. Thus, it was shortened it to their taste. 'Wills'.

The city never slept, Sarah mused idly, but it was a far cry from New York. Rather, the goblins here just had no sense of time passing, they slept whenever they felt like it and opened shop whenever they felt like it and did pretty much anything whenever they felt like it.

Which is why in the middle of the night Sarah had been having tea (surreptitiously dumped onto the muddy floor of the goblin's hut, as she had developed the motto 'never trust food from strangers or goblins') with a goblin and was now being hailed very loudly by another on her way back to her own little room.

Crouching she waited for the goblin. "Hello Pags." She murmured with a gentle smile and waited for the short little goblin to catch his breath.

"We need you!" He gasped, large eyes bulging outrageously, and pulled at her hand quickly.

"But I want to sleep now!" She protested laughingly, green eyes sparkling at his earnest face.

"No!" Pags tugged insistently.

Sarah yawned and looked longingly to the right where several buildings down her clean little hut amidst the dust of the goblin city, awaited her tired body.

Her eyes narrowed as she saw a goblin that she was surprisingly unfamiliar with and yet who struck a chord of recognition within her, sitting drunk against one wall of a nearby dysfunctional fountain. Curious though she was, she turned and followed Pags. Goblins, when they got an idea in their head, were like bulldogs once they'd got they're jaws around something.

Two hours later Sarah finally collapsed onto her pallet that lay along one side of her small little room. Pags had drawn her to a gathering where the goblins were apparently acting out some non-sensical story as a form of entertainment. The play had been routinely interrupted by…Well, a goblin's behaviour was erratic at best and provided for very impromptu additions to such attempts of plays.

And it had apparently been absolutely imperative that she join in the audience. The logic of goblins was never meant to be comprehended.

Tired though she was, sleep still eluded her.

It was rare when she got a chance to be herself, to be still and calm and human. Vainly she tried to remember what her father looked like, how Toby sounded when he laughed, and she wished Karen was there to comfort her. She'd been the best sick-nurse a girl could've had. Evil step-mom or not. 

Particularly morose this evening, she was quickly overwhelmed by regrets and pointless wishes. Tears slipped across her cheeks and she slowly cried herself to sleep.

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She was grown up. Her head was not held as foolishly high, it was true. She'd been taught some lessons it seemed.

And she was no longer the fifteen-year-old girl, dressed in baggy clothes with a face still slightly rounded with baby fat. Hair that had been long was now coiled on the back of her head, out of the way, sensible.

Baggy Aboveground clothes had been replaced with drab cloth sewn together into a simple dress that couldn't disguise the slender woman's figure underneath.

Pride in herself had been replaced with humility and caring towards the goblins that obviously adored her.

But as he shuffled past her house in the night, he could hear the sobs that she muffled with her thin pillow.

And somehow his once-upon-a-time victory didn't seem so sweet.

She helped the goblins make a stage for their plays, so thrilled they were that she'd attended one of their plays that they'd immediately wanted to make it into a big production with a real stage. She barely sighed when it got demolished ten minutes after completion to build a chicken catapult.

Jareth watched of course and saw her bite her tongue to hold back sharp words and then she smiled a little wistfully as a goblin child scrambled up her leg.

He watched her laugh with them. A jubilant smile was on her face the majority of the time. The goblins always liked to see her smile.

They were like little children aiming to please a favourite teacher. And they nearly always did.

He watched her for two months. He'd almost picked apart every change that had made the once defiant and selfish child into this odd mix of happiness and sombreness.

She should have been broken. She should have been reduced to a mere shadow of what she had been. She should have been broken. This was not how it should have turned out. He frowned.

But he couldn't find it in him to be angered that she'd matured instead broken. He was almost pleased.

He had seen her. He had watched her.

He would make contact.

________________________________________________________________________

Sarah swung a basket and almost hit a goblin.

"Watch where you're swingin' that thing!!" The creature mumbled belligerently from underneath his floppy hat in a surprisingly clear voice.

Sarah was in an unseasonably good mood, and only giggled before apologizing. "Sorry! Sorry! I didn't see you there." She made to continue on, then stopped. She crouched down in front of him. He was sitting against a wall, bottle of some brew in one hand. "Actually, I don't think I've seen you around here much before a lot anyways. What's your name?"

"None 'o your bizness." the little goblin sneered at her.

Unruffled she continued, "Well, I'm Wills. Resident handy-woman and jack-of-all-trades for the Goblin City. If you ever need anything, just ask me and I might be able to help. Especially if your problem is lack of a ladder." She smiled openly.

Sarah was curious. He'd been around for the last couple of months, showing up in random spots in various tottering stages of inebriation, this goblin had.

She had asked several others if they knew him, the most common answer was "Oh him…he's justa always poppin' ups wheres ya don't expect him. Hey Wills!!!!!…" Nothing definitive by any means.

The goblin didn't respond except for a gruff grunt and Sarah furrowed her brows a bit before shrugging and making to stand up.

"Ares ya happy here?"

Sarah blinked owlishly. "Did…" she bit her lip and thought of a worm. "Did you just ask if I was happy here?"

"Girl can hear!! A round o' claps pleeeease." The goblin took a swig from his bottle, but his eyes were suspiciously bright from underneath the shadow of the hat.

Sarah was shocked. This was the first goblin in four years that had ever asked her anything about herself (except for her name really).

Most of them just didn't care. They were just happy she was there; they never really cared why she was there. And if they had known at one point, most of them seemed to have forgotten.

Her grubby toes were peeking out from underneath the hem of her brown skirt as she squatted in front of the goblin. Wisps of dark hair flew into her eyes as she glanced down to the dusty flagstones in thought.

"I could be as happy here as anywhere else." She said finally.

The goblin grunted and wobbly saluted her with his bottle.

Sarah smiled a little sadly, stood and left – her good mood a dim memory.

Turning a corner she looked back quickly at the goblin, only to find him gone. His spot vacated. Her eyes narrowed a little bit and she cocked her head curiously. Her head tilted towards the castle looming in the sky above her; she thought she'd seen…something. But as she heard her name yelled out, and a small shaking underfoot indicated many goblins coming racing pell-mell towards her, thoughts and concerns of the strange goblin fled.

Two weeks later Sarah's carefully constructed life came crumbling down.

It was sitting on her pallet innocently. A thin piece of parchment paper, folded gently. It was obviously a letter or note of some kind. In itself, not something to cause a great deal of concern.

Only…only…none of the goblins could read or write.

She nibbled a fingernail and paced her small room. It was from him. She knew it.

The way she saw it, she had two options. First, she could ignore the folded piece of paper. She liked that idea. It made sense to her.

Then she could continue on living in the goblin city…and there her mind balked. She'd always retained some small hope that eventually, somehow, somewhere, she'd find a way out of the city, back home. Perhaps this letter was it.

Which led her to her second option. Reading it.

Her hand stretched towards the parchment. And paused. She didn't have to read it. But…if it was from him then he would be angered. Her hand descended.

Her face went pale, then red.

Your answer was evasive. I want a better one.

            There was no signature. But she hadn't really expected there to be. And with a flash of remembrance, she suddenly knew why that lurking drunken goblin had seemed so familiar. She'd seen him before in the dark of a tunnel beyond the False Alarms briefly, before he'd turned into the Goblin King.

Red suffused her face; she was angry. How dare he?! Four years he'd stayed out of her life, left her alone, and then…what? Some random question on the street and he's suddenly interested?

She 'humphed', frustrated. Angrily she pushed out of her house and stalked to the gates of the Goblin City.

She nodded tersely to the little goblin controlling the large robot guarding the gates and then slipped out carefully.

She went here to think.

Blindly she walked ahead, aiming for her favourite spot, a small cliff that overlooked the junkyard, and then the labyrinth beyond. In the distance she could make out the hill she'd arrived on.

An angry tear streaked its way down her face and she swiped at it hastily before looking up.

She started.

The Goblin King stood imposingly in front of her; legs wide and arms behind his back. And he was smirking.

Sarah couldn't decide whether to run away hurriedly and pretend she hadn't seen him, or to stay and yell at him. About what, well, she'd think of something.

But then her eyes met his.

"Hello Sarah."

She scowled and at the same time found herself unable to say anything. He was a stranger to her. The man who'd trapped her in a realm not her own after making her run a labyrinth. And not playing fair while he was at it, she added mentally.

He came closer and she shifted nervously. "Or should I say Wills?" He began to circle her. "A very nice home you've made yourself in my city Sarah."

"What do you want?" She asked quickly.

Jareth stopped in front of her. "Ah, ah, ah!" he chided. "It's not your turn to ask questions yet, Sarah."

She glared.

"I'll tell you a little secret." He leaned close and his breath tickled her ear, wisps of his blond hair brushed her face. "I had almost forgotten about you."

Sarah felt a pang of…something. Gladness? Sadness? Another word that rhymed with them? Perhaps madness?

"And then I saw you. A very human girl among the goblins. Only this time, you weren't the spoiled little child who wished her brother away to the goblins. You weren't the Sarah I remembered."

One gloved hand grasped her chin lightly and intense eyes looked into hers. "And I want to know why you are the exception to the rules. Why you live, and seemingly live happily, among the goblins. And I want you to explain what you meant by 'I could be as happy here as anywhere else.'" He pinned her with his sharp gaze.

Sarah pulled her chin away quickly and took a (large) step back. "Why do you care?" she demanded, fists clenching at her sides.

"Curiosity." Came the arrogant reply.

"I never answer things for the sake of curiosity." She muttered defiantly.

His jaw moved in irritation. "Then say it's for the sake of posterity."

Words of a long ago movie she'd seen flew through her head and Sarah's mouth twitched involuntarily. Now, this is for posterity, so, be honest.

 "I…"she sighed. "I meant exactly what I said. I could be happy here. And I could be happy other places too." She shrugged helplessly, unable to explain further.

He was still, just watching her, his chin resting on his hand, his winged brows slightly furrowed. "Sarah Williams. You are indeed a puzzle."

She shifted nervously beneath his stare.

"Well then, I shall enjoy figuring you out." He winked out. One minute he was there, making her all uncomfortable and flustered because she hadn't seen him in four years and she'd been happy in her forgetfulness of his overwhelmingly presence. And the next he was gone.

She scowled as his words echoed softly in her ears.

"I'm not your bloody jigsaw." She muttered angrily, in control once more. But she spoke to the wind.

The only thing was, the wind in magical realms isn't always just a breeze blowing through, and she swore she could hear a whisper of a smooth voice, Is that a challenge Sarah? And then soft laughter.

"Bloody Goblin King." She stalked back into the city.

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She had lost. And so she stayed.

For the first several months she held her head high. As she worked side by side the dirty, stinky, grimy goblins rebuilding the city that she'd destroyed, her head was held high.

            People grow up; it is a natural process that besets them all. It may not always be shown physically, but people will grow up just the same.

            When The Goblin King had first banished her to the city, she'd been a selfish little girl, torn apart by life and taped precariously together by pettiness and greediness. He'd only seen the spoiled child who whined about fairness and preached about generosity.

            After first contact, after four years, he invited her to (demanded her presence at) the castle. But not for a permanent stay (yet). He had no desire to scare this new creature, this different Sarah, off. She came, grimy with dirt from the goblin city, and bringing three of the scabby little creatures with her.

            The first time was awkward, what did you say to the girl who nearly killed you, when you realized she was different? What did you say to the odd girl who could live comfortably with goblins?

            Well, they fought.

            But they only squabbled the next time.

            And the next time if was only a tiff, and a poorly hidden smile.

            After that it was small talk and witticisms.

            Then the puzzle that was the girl began to be completed in Jareth's mind.

            She told him about growing up in the Goblin City, he was sorry he'd missed seeing it, though he never told her so.

            It wasn't so odd really, their burgeoning friendship. Sarah rationalized it in her mind. They were the only two really sentient beings in the realm. At least, that she knew of. It was (almost) inevitable that they were drawn towards each other.

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            "But what did you do?" His tone was blandly curious.

            Sarah shrugged and yawned as she leaned tiredly against the railing of the balcony they were on. Jareth was sitting elegantly (was he ever anything but??) where the railing met the castle wall. Sarah felt frumpy and dirty (showers were a product of the weather and nothing more to goblins) in comparison.

            "I…well. I just did whatever they couldn't. Whatever they asked. If I could."

            "Why?"

            She hesitated and bit her lip. This was dangerous territory to wander in. "I wanted to forget."    

            He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes, and she sighed. "You never let me get away with half answers."

            The Goblin King smiled wolfishly. "Of course I don't. Besides, I'm your King, you have to answer me."

            Sarah shot a half-hearted glare. "I'm a denizen of the Aboveground first and foremost. Just because I…"She trailed off when she noticed him deliberately ignoring her an spinning crystals in a complicated pattern in one hand. "Jerk." She muttered and hid her smile.

"I'm a very…open person Sarah," he began.

She snorted.

"I know you have issues with sharing and talking about…feelings" he smirked at her and she stuck her tongue out pettily. "but the least you could do is answer questions in the spirit they are intended, not by the letter."

            She stared thoughtfully at nothing for a moment, phrasing her answer. "I did whatever I could because I wanted to forget that I'd lost, that I'd let Toby down, that it was my fault that…" her voice caught in her throat.

They'd never mentioned Toby, Hoggle, Ludo or Didymus. Never mentioned anything really. Just bits from their respective pasts and stuff about their families. Perspectives on certain issues. The sorts of things two people share when they are just getting to know each other. Happy anecdotes. Skeletons from the closets weren't appropriate.

            Where their pasts intersected was untouched territory. They'd steered clear; warily sidestepping any issues that would bring up memories of Sarah's fateful trip through Jareth's Labyrinth.

She'd never asked about her friends. Or her brother.

Sarah bit her lip and turned her head to stare at the Labyrinth spread out before her. She pulled in a shuddering breath. "I hated you for a long time."

Jareth, wisely, did not say anything.

"But I hated myself even more. I was a horrible daughter, a worse sister, and a bad friend. I got myself into a horrible situation, and dragged people I loved with me.

"And then when it came down to it, I couldn't even fix it. It was my fault."

Jareth's face was impassive. "You made it further than anyone ever had before Sarah." His tone was cool and disinterested, every inch the ruler and commander of a powerful Labyrinth.

Her face was shocked. "If people have run and failed before, where are they? I thought I was the only one to fail and that's why I was alone!"

Jareth hid his own shock well. She thought she was a failure?! "There are no other humans here because they are all goblins."

She thought about this for a moment. "You should have told me." Her tone was vaguely accusatory.

"I forgot about you." He snapped. "You came this close to destroying my world Sarah," he stood and his voice was silkily smooth with repressed rage. "Why would I bother myself with you? I certainly did not think that you'd survive in the goblin city; they can be a very bloodthirsty bunch in the right mood." There was a glimpse of the Goblin King everyone loved to fear.

Sarah sagged. "I don't want to fight." She said quietly. "I was stupid, I wished my little brother away, and I've had to live with the consequences." She slid towards the doorway of the balcony, eager for the darkness of her room and the incessant chatter of goblins. At the doorway she paused and turned. Jareth was standing stiffly, eyes straight ahead. "I am sorry for being such a…" she grinned wryly "selfish idiot when I ran your Labyrinth. I was cruel."

She left. She never saw Jareth's brows lift in surprise, she didn't see him wheel around to speak to her. Sarah had already stolen away in that silent manner she'd developed.

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AN:  Am I allowed to leave it there? *shrugs*  I think it's okay. This was never supposed to be this long. It's more of a friendship fic I guess. But um, use your imagination, they could have sprung upon each other and had a hot session of love-making before talking…..*snickers*

Yeah, this is a one-shot. But it's very open ended. I don't really want to get involved in another Labyrinth fic right now, but this one almost begs for more. *sighs* Why do I do this myself? No really, Why? And then, if I do decide to add more on, it won't be a ton more, but if I'm going to make it more than a one-shot I'll need a beta. *sighs again* I think it's fine as a one shot, if a little open ended.  I kind of like it.