Hello, readers! If you're new to this story, you don't need to worry about this. I've just edited this chapter and will be doing that with the next two as well. If you're new, please leave a review with what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own 'Labyrinth'

Prologue

Rain pelted the young woman's face has she bolted across the lawn. Lightning flashed across the sky and briefly tossed and twirled the world into a fury of white light. Thunder clashed overheard, drowning out any other possible sound. She clambered up the steps to the porch and paused to catch her breathe. She shrugged off her wet jacket and tossed it on the chair that sat—lonely—on the porch, knowing that her stepmother would give her no end of torment if she brought in wet clothes on top of being late. Thinking back, Sarah found it hard to remember a time that she wasn't late to watch her brother. Several years ago, it was because she was easily swept into the childish world of her imagination and lost all sense of time. Now, it was because her job and school kept her late almost every day, whether or not she had to watch her brother.

The brunette opened the front door and stepped into the house, closing the door on the fury of the storm. Running a hand through her sopping wet hair, she looked about her awaiting the welcome bark before she remembered that Merlin had passed on a few years ago. The young woman sighed. The house always had a cold feel to it since her stepmother had moved in, but without Merlin, one of the last remaining flames of warmth had been squelched.

"Toby!" the green-eyed woman yelled. "Toby, where are you?"

She looked up to see Toby bolt out from the living room. He ran down the large hall only to complete the journey by sliding in his socks with his arms outstretched. His fun-filled journey ended all too shortly with a collision into his sister. Toby's arms snaked around her waist and held onto her with a viper's death trap.

"Sarah!"

"It's nice to see you, too, Toby," Sarah said, returning the squeeze. "Have they left?"

"Yes." Toby mercifully ended his grip on his sister and backed away. He looked down at himself and then back at his sister. "You are soaking wet."

"Of course, Toby," she said, running a hand through his hair. "Didn't you hear the storm outside?"

"Yes, but didn't you wear a coat?"

The sister sighed playfully and rolled her eyes saying, "Of course I did, but the storm decide to rain inside my jacket."

Toby laughed and said in amazement, "You told a joke!"

"I still have some fun in me," she responded, slightly offended.

"Not as much as you use to," Toby said with a pouty lip.

Sarah took a deep breath and knelt down in front of Toby so that she had to look up him, instead of the other way. "Toby, you know I can't joke around and play all the time. I am your older sister. I've had to grow up and learn to be an adult, and that means getting rid of childishness. You will do the same someday; you can't be ten forever."

Toby stiffened his lip and glared at her. "I might not be able to stay ten, but that doesn't mean that I have to be a stick-in-the-mud with no dreams of getting out like you!" He turned on his heel and sprinted down the hall. He grasped the railing and swung himself up onto the stairs and continued his mad dash up.

Sarah stood frozen. The words of her brother were harsher than the storm that raged outside. She pushed herself up and took a step. Her foot slid in front of her and she landed on her butt with her leg stretched out to the front. "Ow," she said, cursing silently to herself as she cautiously stood up again. "I need to dry the floor after I talk to Toby," she whispered to herself.

Edging forward with cautious steps, the young woman reached the stairs and made her ascent. She made her way to Toby's shut door and gave it a gentle tap. "Toby?"

"Leave me alone. I don't want to talk!"

"Fine, I'll either be in the guest bedroom or downstairs when you're ready to talk." She turned and began to make her way to the guest bedroom across the hall when Toby yelled, "I see how much you wanted to talk! You nearly broke down the door!"

Sarah clenched her fists and walked into the guest bedroom. She let out a huff and mumbled under her breath, "He's such a child. He needs to learn to grow up and stop playing with toys and living in his own little world."

In the back of her mind, a voice from a distant dream laughed and said, "You were once the same, and you could have stayed that way, but you refused me. Foolish girl!"

Sarah shook her head and looked around the room. The walls had been stripped of their old wallpaper and pictures and had been given a new make-over, dressed up in a fine shade of tan with a dark green edging. The old bed was long gone, replaced by a dark wood framed bed with a red and green comforter. The animals, toys and other childhood things had long ago left this room, once their home. Sarah had either given them away herself over the years or they had been tossed out by her stepmother when she entered college. Only one thing had stayed in this room. Only one thing had stayed through the years. Only one thing had stayed through the changes.

The straight haired woman slowly walked over to the dresser, as if afraid of this thing from her past. As she approached the dresser, she clearly saw the music box. The small, delicate figure of a young girl enclosed in a white ball gown from a fairytale. A canopy covered and sheltered her from the world outside her dreams. Sarah carefully picked the music box and turned it over. She twirled the key as far as she could before placing it back on the dresser.

As she placed it on the dresser, its music began to play. It filled the air and embraced her. The emerald eyed woman closed her eyes and let the music entwine around her. She allowed it to enter her mind and resurface memories of her childhood when she was like Toby, maybe more of a child than him at an older age. She was glad that she had been able to grow out of the childishness. Toby would too one day, and then he would see that it is for the best. Childish play and dreams are fun for a time, but it doesn't last forever and the longer it lasts, the more you are held back from your potential, Sarah thought.

Sarah became aware of a change in the music. At first she hadn't been able to hear it, but as she listened closely, it grew and expanded: it engulfed her. It began to pull at and resurface memories that she didn't even know she had. A short, stumpy, and browned creature with large ears and nose, white hair sticking out from underneath a red, leather cap, small, blue eyes and dressed in shabby clothing that looked quite gruesome at first, but as she remembered, Sarah could see the kindness in his eyes. Next, the image of a smartly clad fox proudly astride a dog that reminded her of Merlin, yet that wasn't its name. Yet another picture came, a large, hairy creature several feet taller than her with matted brownish-red hair, long, floppy ears, small, sad eyes and a mouth that reminded her of a pug. He had a tooth protruding from his bottom jaw on either side of his mouth and a set of two feet long horns. His hands and feet were quite large. Then images came of a vast dance among masked strangers in a delicate bubbled dream and the feeling of a desperate search. Finally, there was an image of a man. From memory, he stood tall and arrogantly. His long, ragged, pale blonde hair fell down his shoulders and framed his face perfectly, and he had intense eyes with a sadness and yearning well hidden. He was smartly dressed in gray trousers, riding boots and a loose poet's shirt covered by a tight, black vest. In his black gloved hands he clasped a riding crop. Around his neck, a crescent shaped medallion was fastened.

The music seemed to grow in crescendo to a point so loud that she was sure her eardrums would burst. Sarah felt the music within every inch of her body. Searing pain split into her mind as a second image of the man came. He sat slumped in a once great throne: his frame dragged down by weariness and brokenness. As if sensing her presence, he glanced up. That which his eyes once hid now lay in the open: pain, sadness, hurt, complete defeat. The man seemed to look directly at her as a sad smile crept across his face. "Why?" he rasped. "Why did you do it? Foolish girl! You could have had it all, and you gave it away for him." His laugh shook his weak body. "Foolish girl!" he yelled, his eyes turned hard. As the image began to fade, his eyes softened and he said, "Foolish me."

Sarah took a step back as her eyes suddenly no longer saw the man, but the guest bedroom in her dad and stepmother's house. She stared at the music box and the small figurine twirling to the music. The music, itself, had gone back to its simple melody and had begun to slow. She listened as the delicate girl, in her delicate dream, stopped her dancing and the music came to an end. Sarah put a hand to her head and pushed, and then shook her head in attempt to dislodge the haze that had come over her mind. "I wish I could understand this," she said has she turned her back to the girl in her delicate dream.

She walked out into the hall and down to the bathroom. Turning the faucet on as cold as possible, the young woman cupped her hands underneath the flowing water. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she tossed the water on her face. Gasping from the sudden coldness, Sarah blindly grasped for a hand towel. When she found it, she brought it to her face, wiped the water away and then placed it back.

Taking a moment, she stared at her reflection. Her green eyes set in the smooth and gentle complexion, the light rosy cheeks that thankfully allowed her not to have to worry about blush. Her damp hair lay in a tangled, stringy mess. Sarah sighed and grabbed a hair tie, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.

Sarah reached out for a towel that lay on the rack and left the bedroom. She made her way down the hall and descended the stairs. She knelt down at the puddle of water on the wood floor and set the towel over it. Moving her arm in a monotonous circulatory motion, she began to soak the water up from the floor with the towel. Suddenly, Toby's panicked voice yelled, "Sarah!"

Sarah snapped her head up and yelled, "I'm coming," as she jumped to her feet. In her haste to reach her brother, Sarah's feet landed on the wet towel, and as she went to run down the hall, the towel dragged her down to the small table that stood against the wall. A sharp, acute pain entered her mind as she was thrown into sudden darkness.