Sorrow, rage and pity; these are all that is left after a human woman left the King of the Goblins to return to her world with her young brother Toby. He was not the only one left with scars from his love for her though. In her world she had discarded all things that would remind her of him. First with the book which had first told her his existence and his world, then her toys which had she cherished so much. Next she rid herself of her stories which she told often to her brother at bedtime when she soothed him to sleep before turning on the very creatures she had once befriended in the land of Labyrinth. Last and with difficult effort and time that took years to manage, she eventually made decent effort in erasing his memory from her mind, but still that was not enough. She did away with her dreams of the theater to smother her fantasies which ended crushing her hopes and aspirations.

She had parted from her house and family and kept a distant, but always constant, relationship with the brother she had once risked so much for. He was the only thing of Jareth she could never erase.

.

"Sarah? You home?" The phone had rung so long that the answering machine had picked up and Sarah stared blankly at the blinking numerals in shining indigo. She picked up the phone after a moment and answered.

"Yes? Toby? What are you doing calling so late?" Where she now lived there was a four hour time difference which meant that although it was only 1 AM here, it was 5 AM where he was.

"I was bored. It's the holidays you know… I can stay up as long as I'd like Sarah." She forgot he was not a baby anymore and was 17. "I was thinking I might come and visit. I saved up the money mother's been sending and figured I'd make a surprise show up, but you never know if you might have a boyfriend or something…" She knew he was lying… the only relationships she'd had since she was his age were short and not so sweat. "You are free right?"

She almost didn't want to answer. She had not seen him in a year and she wondered why he wouldn't wish to go somewhere nice or maybe with friends instead of coming to see her. She wouldn't lie to herself and say the thought didn't please her though and sighed into the phone receiver.

"I suppose you could stay for a while… I don't have much to do right now at this time of year other than work… make sure to tell your mother that you'll be coming. She'll be angry if she can't call you… father would like to know too." Another thing she regretted when erasing things from her life was the way she had treated her step-mother, but she was never able to get passed the fact the somehow she had felt she had been trying to take the place of someone she just couldn't replace. So many regrets…

"Great, then would you mind opening your door, it's flipping cold out here…" Sarah looked out her front window and sure enough at her door her red haired brother stood shivering in the rain.

"You're an idiot." She hung up the phone and tossed it onto the table. When it landed it smacked into a small jewelry box that flicked open and began playing the song inside. It hadn't played more than a few notes and she slammed the box shut.

"Just a minute Toby!" She yelled at the door as she shoved the box away on the top shelf of her book case. It would remain there for a long time or until she managed probably months later to return it to its proper place.

"Ah, jeeze… it's freaking freezing out there. Why do you live here?" She closed the door behind him and moved his suitcase into the hall. She was unsure if she should hug him, but ended up embraced him lovingly never the less. Their relationship was an odd one. She had ended up loving him more than she would have thought considering how much he had driven her insane in his youth. It was amazing how much saving another's life can change that way you think and feel.

"Man, this place is pretty nice… You must work your ass off for all of this…" She watched him eye her living room before he ran to the bathroom.

"Oh yeah…" He stuck his head out from the door and smiled. "You got an awesome bathroom compared to the dorms…" He had been easy to please in most ways and too easy at accepting things that shouldn't have been easy. That had been one of the reasons she had stopped reading him her stories when he was young.

"Well, I have two spare rooms upstairs. Pick anyone you want and I'll pull out some sheets and blankets for your bed. Un, have you eating yet?" She over looked the curtain hanging wide open and unable to stand it she walked over and closed it tightly. She cursed herself for being so weak and often feared gazing outside her window if on such an occasion a white owl might perch found in the nearby tree…

You are insane Sarah… get a grip… it's been years…

"Hey Sarah? You still got those books you used to read to me when I was young? I was telling a girl in my biology class about them and she didn't believe that'd I'd listen to such stories." She locked the front door and paused a moment before turning around.

"No, I got rid of all that stuff when I moved out. Remember?" He seemed to ignore her as he walked into her kitchen and ransacked her fridge. She sighed and walked in after him. "You know I didn't allow you to come here to raid my fridge… Cretin." She cuffed him in the back of the head and he swiped back at her playfully.

"You've always been a bully Sarah." He ran out of the room as the doorbell rang. "Booty-call perhaps?" Sarah slapped him in the back of the head again and walked towards the door, for the first time in years she was calm and without paranoia. She peeked out the small window in the door, but she couldn't see anyone. She checked the lock and it was still snapped shut.

"Stupid kids… I thought that had been burned out of the new generation…" Toby sat down on the couch and opened a can of Pepsi he had taken from the fridge.

As she eyed outside through the small window, Toby began to hum and outside a shadow passed over one of the furthest street lights. She gripped the door handle tightly before unlocking the door and stepping outside while Toby still hummed.

The weather outside was cold as the rain fell down in sheets. In the sky below the rain clouds she searched for birds of any kind. None flew in the late night and a gust of wind ruffled her clothes and whipped her hair into a tangled mess. In her head she heard not only Toby's humming, but instruments. Bells, flutes, sounds that chimed and she began to also hum.

"Sarah." Startled she stopped and the song in her mind faltered. "Sarah." She could almost mistake the voice for being deeper, cooler…

"Sarah?" A hand gripped her shoulder. "Stop dazing woman and close the door. It's freezing outside." She closed the door and realized how much cold air she had let in and cranked the thermostat to 75.

"I have to get up early in the morning so I won't be here when you wake up. I'll leave the spare keys out so if you leave you can lock the door behind you." She grabbed her pajamas, a towel from the linen closet before closing and locking the bathroom door.