Chapter 8: All for the Best

`Well, this hasn't happened in a while,' Hoggle thought to himself,
having suddenly found himself encased in darkness. Sometimes Jareth
told him to already be waiting in some place or another when he
foresaw that the wisher would find themselves in a fix, but this time
the Goblin King didn't tell him anything, he was just there. He
wasn't worried though; he knew how to get out of every oubliette in
the Labyrinth. That's why he was the one chosen to get the wishers
out when they found themselves trapped in one. And with this
Williams lady, he expected her to have gotten stuck sooner than she
actually did. He could see her, despite the lack of illumination.
Her reaction to her surroundings didn't surprise him; she was just
sitting there, as if she didn't even want to attempt to get out.
Either she had endured so much that she was too exhausted to go on,
or maybe she just didn't care to try any more. He doubted it was the
former option: from what he had gathered, the Labyrinth didn't seem
to have put up any obstacles against her and it seemed like the
Goblin King was leaving her alone too. Hoggle shook his head to
himself; none of it made sense, the way she had been allowed to get
even this far so easily.

Linda stared into the darkness, no longer trying to think of a way to
reach the opening far above her. It was so high up that the little
light that there was in the forest above had no chance to contact the
pit's floor. The Fireys had been fun at first, throwing their furry
red limbs about, trying to get her to join in their game, but she had
broken their rules--and now she was stuck. There was no way to reach
Sarah from this hole; but maybe it was for the best. She couldn't
seem to find her way at all, wasn't given any hints on how to reach
the castle; maybe the book was right after all—she wasn't meant reach
Sarah. If she didn't win, her daughter would still be alive, live in
this fantastical land, though in the form of a goblin. Without Sarah
to take care of, she could leave Robert freely and return to the
stage, maybe even one-day reach the silver screen. She just didn't
know if anyone other than her husband would miss the child if their
memories weren't automatically erased like Milly said happened.

Linda drifted back to reality from her thoughts when her eyes glided
to a flickering candle that had suddenly lit up, behind which the
ancient dwarf who had shown her the entrance of the Labyrinth stared
at her with unblinking blue eyes.

Linda stood up and began to search the walls for an opening with the
new light; there was nothing but solid stone, "Where did you come
from?"

"You think too much. If you didn't, you would have heard me here the
whole time."

Linda looked at him curiously, "Are you stuck too, Hobble?"

"It's Hoggle, and I ain't stuck. I'm to take you back to the
beginning."

"Why? Haven't I already lost? We can't get out of here."

Hoggle looked disgusted and flopped his hands down, "I was sent to
get you out of this mess. Why do you always take things for granted?"

Linda looked around, still not certain how they could even
leave, "What is this place anyway?"

"An oubliette."

"Huh." Linda still looked around, not really sure of what the word
meant.

"Do you want out or not?" Hoggle asked gruffly, "You still have five
hours left."

"What use will it do? I'll just get stuck somewhere else or get lost
again. It's just too far." Linda whined.

"Don't you care for your girl?"

Linda should have jumped and said `yes'-but she knew she felt Sarah
more of a burden than anything; always needing her attention, always
needing her to play with. She could do without Sarah; she could do
without Robert; she could do without anyone who didn't take her
seriously as an actress. A part of her knew she had no right letting
Sarah be turned into a goblin and that she had to at least try until
her 13 hours were finished, even if the story said Sarah belonged
here. "I love Sarah with all that beats in me."

"Your heart must be close to a stone then. No one takes that long to
answer if they care."

Linda disregarded him, "Well, if I have to start all over again, so
be it. You said you could get me out, so show me."

The dwarf growled lowly as he walked to the other side of the
oubliette, "I'll do it, but YOU are going straight to the beginning."

Linda huffed, crossing her arms, "What ever."

She watched as Hoggle reached to the floor below him and pulled up a
plank of wood much taller than his small body. He heaved it to the
stonewall with a grunt, as if placing it as a door. And it was a
door, for a second later he pulled one side of it from the wall and
it opened up to show a passageway beyond.

"Follow me."

*

Jareth watched from a crystal, unnerved that this woman had no love
for her beautiful little one. She only wanted to start over again to
prove herself--nothing more. He dreaded the choice he had made; what
would become of little Sarah in her world?

"No, No," He heard Sarah's tiny voice disciplining a goblin for
retrieving a teddy bear she had taken from him. He rolled his eyes;
an hour ago the child had lost herself in a room with no ups or downs
and stairs that led to nowhere and been frightened to death. However
once she was returned to safety and she found the bear, the item
ignored by the goblins earlier for having tripped their king, her
spirits lightened and she hadn't cried again.

Yet, now that bear had been taken from her and a new emotion emerged
from her small form. She did not lash out against the goblin like
any other child her age would have immediately done; instead her
infant mind tried to find some means with which she could enact
revenge. Jareth watched where her little eyes focused-a cloth that
lay under a heavy looking goblet, which so happened to be angled just
above the goblin's foot.

`How could such a little thing know such cruelty,' he wondered as he
watched her tiny hand reach for the cloth.

"Sarah." He bellowed out her name with discipline evident.

She knew she was caught and looked at him with hurt eyes, as if it
was his fault she was in trouble.

"Sarah, come here."

He bent down to her eye level as she toddled to him. Her eyes
refused to look at his, so he gently took her face in his gloved hand
and made her look at him.

"We do not hurt others."

Her eyes began to well with tears; a sight he had seen in may
children when he prevented them from harming his subjects--but her
sad eyes affected him. Children that young imitate their parents;
perhaps she was only portraying what she had seen her mother doing.
Linda had told her she'd become a goblin; how many other threats had
the woman given her--and had words been the woman's only lashes?
There was no indication that the child had been physically harmed,
but he had no way of knowing how far the Williams woman had gone
before she had made the wish. Jareth frowned at this thought, but he
could tell the child mistook the reaction to be towards her, for her
face began to turn red and she began to whimper.

Her big grey green eyes pleaded with him to forgive her, to make it
all better. `Don't give in. She is not yours, you do not have to
comfort her,' part of him said, while another told him, `Does she get
affection at home? Is cruelty all she knows? How can I give her back
if that's all she'll receive of life?'

At the first outburst of her strangely loud voice, Jareth gathered
her in his arms and carried her to his throne. She still cried as
she sat upon his lap, and it began to annoy him.

"Sarah." He didn't mean to snap her name so harshly, but she stopped
making noise, though her body shook, clearly still upset.

He looked into her eyes wondering what she wanted of him. What could
he possibly give her? She at least needed to hear the words from him
that would make her calm down. It felt sort of strange; he had never
let himself bend for anyone before. He never would have guessed the
occasion would be given to a three-year-old child.

He looked back to the object that had caused this problem in the
first place; a teddy bear. A warn out tan bear with a red bow tie--
why would she have wanted it in the first place? What had he seen the
goblin she took it from use it for? Comfort. Children had stuffed
animals because they gave a since of comfort.

He looked for the toy again, taking note that he would have a nice
talk with its goblin owner on where to keep personal belongings in
his throne room. He saw that the goblin, who had brought the stuffed
animal with him when he was wished away, no longer paid attention to
the bear that again lay in the middle of the room. Jareth summoned
it to him and handed it to Sarah. But she didn't touch it.

The child looked at him confusedly; she knew she had gotten in
trouble for trying to take it before. Was he trying to punish her?

He handed it to her again, "Here, it's yours now."

Sarah's tiny hand questionably reached for it and she only stared at
it as she held it.

Jareth was confused as to why this didn't make her happy. "What's
wrong now?"

She took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes, "Are you mad at
me?"

Why would she care about what he thought? He smiled
reassuringly, "No, I'm not."

Her eyes immediately brightened and she hugged the teddy, then she
stood on his lap and hugged Jareth's neck, "Thank you."

Jareth didn't expect this, didn't know how to react. Few had shown
him affection before. No, that is not true. Many women had tried to
charm their way out of traversing the Labyrinth--including Linda
Williams--but it was false attention. Sarah hugged him out of the
goodness of her heart with the affection only a joyful, unblemished
soul could give.

"Can we play?" Sarah asked into his ear.

Jareth grinned yet placed her on the stone floor, "Unfortunately,
little one, I have to meet with your mother."

Sarah's eyes lit up with love for her mother, "Mommy is here? Can I
see her?"

Jareth saw a bit of desperation in the child's desire. "Sarah, how
long has it been since you have seen her?"

"Looong."

Long to a child could be a few hours, but he had the feeling it could
actually have been days. Jareth closed his eyes as a heart wrenching
thought entered his mind. Would her mother still abandon her Above?
Would it just be better to keep her in his own care, become a
goblin? He tried to envision this child as such a creature--perhaps
an intelligent one, but revolting nonetheless. The more he thought on
it, the more he felt he could not let it happen; she had to return to
her world. It was for the best.

Jareth crouched to her eye level again, "You will see your mother
soon. But first I must see her."

"Where is she?"

He picked the girl up, teddy bear in hand, and took her to the window
that overlooked a large portion of his kingdom. Holding her in one
arm, he produced a crystal ball in his free hand.

"Look into this."

Sarah saw her mother following a strange short person down a gray
path enclosed by brick walls. She said triumphantly, as if she found
her mother herself, "Mommy…and a funny man."

Jareth grinned, then pointed into the distance, "She is there, at the
farthest edge of my kingdom."

The child looked a moment out across the vastness of the maze, her
eyes stretching to find her mother, "I don't see mommy."

"She's right here in the crystal." Jareth raised it again to her.

Sarah grabbed a hold of the ball, pressing her nose against it to
see, believing her mother was actually inside, "Mommy?"

When Jareth saw the woman's figure inside abruptly stop and search
the air around her for the voice she heard, he snatched the orb from
the child's hands and looked at her almost wildly. But she didn't
know she had done something wrong, for she hardly noticed his gaze as
she focused on the bear in her arms. He quickly but carefully placed
her back on the ground and she wandered off, talking nonsense to the
teddy bear.

Jareth didn't know how the child was able to speak through the
crystal. Perhaps it was a side effect of the way his magic had
invaded her before; he had no way of telling. Another reason to send
her away; the sooner the better.

Jareth left the goblins with strict instructions to watch Sarah and
make sure she didn't leave that room. She the bear to play with, so
he hoped that would be enough to keep her stationary while he went to
meet Linda as she returned to the beginning.

*

Linda looked around distraughtly as she followed the dwarf out the
door with which she had entered the Labyrinth. He led her across the
sandy ground to stand at the top of the hill that overlooked the maze
and faced it. It sort of amazed her how calm the Labyrinth looked
from here, but she knew better than to believe her eyes. Its walls
had changed so much while she had traveled inside that she never got
her bearings, didn't even know if she'd ever been heading in the
direction of the castle. After just standing there for a minute in
the bright sunlight, she was going to ask Hoggle what she needed to
do now, but he had lowered his eyes, folding his hands in front of
him as if waiting. She spotted the cause of his suddenly meek
disposition for the Goblin King was standing before her, staring at
her coldly with his mismatched eyes. Her demeanor changed to
boldness and she placed her hands to her hips, showing him she
couldn't be intimidated.

Jareth sneered at her attitude. "Do you still want to reach your
daughter, Mrs. Williams?"

"It's Linda."

"Oh, is it? As I recall, you are married, are you not?"

"I still am," She said with regret.

"Ah, then I must address you accordingly…Mrs. Williams."

Linda was insulted by this, "Fine. Where do I start now?"

"In a hurry are we? Care for your Sarah that much?" He scoffed in an
intimidating manner, walking around her. But then he stopped in
front of her. "No, it is merely an inconvenience to you to be here,
isn't it? The sooner you're done the sooner you can get back to your
career."

Linda could not look at him, "I did not say that."

"You didn't have to," Jareth said matter-of-factly. With a little
more passion, he hissed, "That child waits for you now as she has for
days. Did you banish her love when you banished her to me?"

This did hit Linda's heart; she didn't ever think of Sarah's feelings
before, "No, I just…the book said she would be happy here, loved
here. I know I couldn't give her that--maybe you could."

Jareth felt that might be true; he found he did have feelings for
this child--but little Sarah as a goblin, that he could not allow.
He closed his eyes as he said, "I will not keep her."

Linda suddenly saw her daughter in the king's arms. The child
immediately smiled and extended her arm, the one not holding a
tattered teddy bear, to reach for her. Linda remained frozen.

"I don't understand, I haven't finished…" She stuttered.

"Take her." Jareth demanded. He noticed Sarah look at him with
trepidation at his forceful remark and he softened his expression for
her sake.

Linda took the few steps forward with her head bowed. She took Sarah
from the king, holding her lightly on her hip. She could look
neither of them in the eye.

"Linda," the king said with authority yet also regret, "Sarah was
given to you to be loved in your world, not mine. Care for her well."

Linda only nodded her head, noticing she was no longer outside the
Labyrinth but in the nursery, where she had made the wish for the
goblins to take Sarah away. She looked around her; there was no
Goblin King or dwarf, only Sarah playing with the bear in her arms.
In the distance she could hear her husband typing on the typewriter,
just as she had left him. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

*

Hoggle stood on the hill, bewildered by the lost expression on his
king's face. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. The
Goblin King had never given back a child to someone unworthy
before. "Cor, you didn't have to give her the girl. She don't
care `bout her."

Jareth thought to himself, `But I do.' Yet he snapped to
Hoggle, "Are you questioning my judgment?"

The dwarf stood up straight and in self defense, took a step
back, "Well, I…uh..No, your majesty. I just thought…the little one
would have a better life here than with her."

Jareth nodded, "Perhaps. The child is still mine…."

"Then why did ya let `er go?" Hoggle interrupted.

The dwarf's worry amused the King, "Why the concern? Is it your
business whether I choose to forgo adding a goblin to my minions or
not?"

Though trembling, Hoggle still voiced his opinion, "The goblins are
happy where they are, and she would have been too. Linda ain't gotta
mind for no one but herself, and you were supposed to change that."

"Was I?" Jareth challenged, but he knew the dwarf was right. Linda
had learned nothing from her experience there, and had it not been
for the damnable maze, he could have done something more about that.

"All I knows is that its been done before, and you've never been THAT
generous. You didn't even let her rot in the oubliette, just sent me
straight to her…"

"I did not send you." To himself, he said, "It must have been the
Labyrinth." Then back to Hoggle, he retorted, "No matter, what's
done is done. I will watch the child's progress on Earth. If I find
she is abused, be assured, she'll be here faster than you can blink."