This is my first fanfic, so please be kind:) Constructive criticism is welcome, and please review!

It was midnight when something startled Sarah awake. Sitting up quickly she looked around the room, lit only by a small night light beside her bed, watching for something to move. When nothing did she climbed out from under the warm covers and hurried across the room to turn on the lights, hurried as if something might jump out and grab her.

But the bright lights on revealed no one in her room. Her heart, which had been pounding in her chest like a hammer, slowly calmed down and she was able to breathe again.

It was not the first time she had been startled awake, it had happened many times before. It almost felt like someone or something was in her room, sometimes just standing nearby and looking at her, sometimes like someone was stroking her hair softly and whispering things she couldn't quite hear in her ear. She always woke up at those times, terrified at who it might be in her room, but there was never anyone there.

Sitting back down on her bed, Sarah looked across to the vanity, and at the cloth that covered the mirror. She had no desire to see the girl in the mirror, she knew what she would see, so she didn't bother to take the cover off.

She knew she still looked the same as she did ten years ago. Her hair was just as long and dark, her features were the same as they had always been, her height and weight and form were still the same. But there would be a few extra mar Kings that she didn't want to see. They would be fading now, but she knew they were there.

Sarah knew what she should have been by the age of twenty five. She should have gone through college, maybe met someone, had a career. Above all else she should have been happy. That was all she ever wanted to be, just happy and contented.

But she was not happy, hadn't been happy in so long that she almost couldn't remember what it felt like.

It had started after Karen had left her father and taken Toby with her. She had been 18 at the time, old enough to be called an adult, but still young enough that those childish weaknesses could be preyed on. And that was just what her father did. He was heartbroken when Karen left, and Sarah knew that his life had been turned upside down by it, knowing how much he loved his second wife and their child.

But she hadn't realized just what kind of love he had for Karen, how controlling he was over her life, and how much he took from her in such a short time. As time went on he started to take control of the little things that didn't seem to matter so much, things like how often she went to town on her own. After a while he started saying how often she could go to see her family and friends and how often they could come to the house, and he shaved it away until there was nothing left.

Karen resented it, but she made the best of it that she could. But it was only a matter of time before things got worse, and soon she wasn't allowed to even talk to anyone on the phone, letters were read by him before she could read them, and then she wasn't allowed to answer them.

Toby wasn't let out of the house and they became as isolated as anyone could possibly be. But Sarah didn't see it because she was not put under her father's orders. She went to school everyday, got good grades, and even won a scholarship for college, but never saw how her step mother and brother were suffering. How she could have been so blind was now beyond her.

At last Karen had had enough and walked out one night when her father was asleep, leaving only a note on the kitchen table saying goodbye and a picture of Toby for Sarah to remember him by.

Sarah looked on the picture that sat on her vanity, the smiling face of the boy she had wished away, the boy that she had battled the Labyrinth to get back. She had grown so fond of him after that 13 hour ordeal, he had become such a large part of her life that when she lost him it tore her apart, perhaps even more so than it had her father.

She found the note in the morning before he did, and when she showed it to him he broke down. He collapsed into a chair and buried his face in his hands. Sarah couldn't seem to make herself move, so just stood silently by his side, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Sarah, please don't leave me now!" he had begged, grasping her hand tightly in his.

"I'm not going anywhere, dad." she had sat down when he pulled her into the chair beside his.

"If you left here I would die." he whispered. "Please don't go away."

"I won't. College is just a few hundred miles off, and I can always come back on weekends."

"You can't be so far away from me right now, I can't bear it!" he looked at her with wet eyes, and she felt another tear run from her own eyes. "Please don't go, it is too soon. Even if it means not using the scholarship, you must stay for a while longer. I will even pay for your tuition if you will just remain here till I get myself put back together."

She was not able to refuse him, and gave up the scholarship, firmly believing that he would do as he promised.

But time went on. When she brought it up he grew angry and refused to even admit that he had promised to pay for her college, and when she tried to remind him he slapped her across the face.

Still she stayed with him, thinking it was just taking longer than either of them had thought for him to get his life back together. It was not long until she found out he was drinking heavily. He would come home at nights and be raving drunk, started throwing things and finding offense at anything and everything around him. She hated being around him, but hadn't the heart to run away. He was her father, how could she abandon him?

Her thinking that she might be able to pull him out of his drinking was soon proved hopeless. He got worse and worse, as did his fear that she would leave him, and soon she was just as trapped as Karen had been. She was locked up for weeks at a time, a prisoner in her own home, and all her friends quickly gave up on her. College never came, and the time went slowly by. Yes, he had used her childish weaknesses against her, and she became totally trapped by it.

For a while she had her Labyrinth friends, who she would sit and talk to for hours and hours when times were harder to bear than usual. But she couldn't bring herself to tell them what had happened to her life, the thought alone felt like she was betraying her father, who she still loved though he treated her like the lowest form of life on the planet.

But one night she must have talked too loud, for her father came bursting into the room, rage on his face. Sarah was sure he didn't see Hoggle in the mirror, for he never said anything about it, but what he did see was enough to make things infinitely worse for her.

"Staring at yourself in the mirror, eh?" he shouted, grabbing her by the hair and yanking her head back. "So vain, just like your stupid mother, not able to see beyond anything but what you see in yourself!"

His hand lashed out and caught her hard on the face. She cried out in pain and fell to the floor. A quick glance at the mirror showed that Hoggle was not watching, and for that she was thankful. She couldn't stand the thought of anyone seeing what was happening to her by her own father, she just couldn't.

"Get up!" he shouted, kicking her hard in the thigh. She stood as quickly as she could, but it wasn't quick enough for him and he hit her again. "Let this be a warning to you! If I ever catch you ogling over yourself again, I will take your face and smash it though that mirror so you won't have anything to be vain about!"

Since that time she had only called on Hoggle once, and that was to say she wouldn't be able to call as much as she used too.

"Why, Sarah?" he had asked, his strangely ugly yet cute face covered in a look of confusion.

"Well, things have been getting very busy around here, and I need to spend more time on certain things than I have been." she smiled sadly. "It is what we call Growing Up in the Aboveground, and it happens to the best of us. But I will never forget you, I will always love you, and I will try to see you at times."

"If that is what ya's have to do, then that's what ya's must do." he looked sad, but understanding. "Do ya want me to give any message to anyone?"

"Please tell Ludo and Sir Didymus that I miss them, and they are always in my thoughts."

"Of course." he looked at her a long moment, both of them silent. "Ya look like there is something else floating around in that pretty head of yours."

"Um, there is." she felt shy about saying what she did next, but why she did she didn't know. "Jareth, is he doing well?"

"I guess ya could say that." he rubbed his chin. "He still enjoys being the King and tormenting."

"And turning children into goblins?"

"That is so untrue! If a baby is born a human he can't change it! A human is human, a goblin is a goblin, there ain't no changing from one to another by his hands. He may be a mighty King, but he ain't no god."

She didn't know if she relieved to hear that or not, but didn't press the matter. "But, he is well?"

"Oh, yeah. He seems a bit moody at times, like he was missing somethin'. And sometimes he goes out and runs the Labyrinth himself, almost like he was runnin' after somethin' he can't quite catch. But, otherwise, he is doin' fine."

"I'm glad to hear it. He is being good to you?"

"Always was good to me, good to all of us really. He is a pain in the hind quarters lots of the time, but that is just what he is. He can be cruel, but thinkin' on it he is never cruel without bloody good reason." Hoggle chuckled. "The worst thing he ever did was make me Prince of the Land of Stench, but he never actually made me live there, so I guess it ain't that bad after all!"

Sarah laughed, the last laugh she was to have in a very long time, and said a tearful goodbye to her beloved friend. After that she normally kept the mirror covered, only taking it off once in a while to use for things like brushing her hair and the like. She had never dared try and talk to Hoggle again, her face was always too covered in bruises.

But now, as she sat looking at the covered mirror she realized she didn't care if Hoggle saw them or not. If he asked questions then she could dodge them easily. Besides, the bruises were almost gone, surely he wouldn't notice.

Standing up she reached out and ripped the cover off. She decided she would call on Hoggle, not knowing when the next chance might come. It was past midnight right then, and who knew what time it was in the Underground, but she didn't care. She had to see him again.

When he came into Sarah was glad to see she hadn't disturbed his sleep. He was in the gardens, spraying for little fairies just like the first time they had met.

"Sarah! Ya finally called on old Hoggle!" he looked like he wanted to jump through the mirror and into her world.

"Oh, Hoggle! It is good to see you!" her eyes brimmed with tears.

They talked without stopping till it was dawn.