Labyrinth 2: The Return Of The Goblin King

Chapter 23: Home At Last

Chapter 23: Home At Last

It all felt the same, but somehow, it was different. My room was just as I's left it that night, and it was in a state that suggested I had only let it be for a few mere hours. But that seemed impossible. How long had it really been since I had been captured from this very same room?

Everything around me was hazy and confusing and strange, even, like I'd entered a whole other dimension from what I was normally used to. Be it as it may that that was, in fact, the situation, it still didn't seem like the right reaction, or the one I ideally SHOULD have had upon returning home. But no matter where I was, I knew that everything would be sad. I spun around slowly, looking around the room at the large stack of unpacked boxes piled up in the corner and the knickknacks lining the furniture. There were a LOT of owls, and all they did were remind me of him. I began to take every owl-related object down and pack them back in some of the boxes with a heavy heart, but not another tear escaped from my eyes. I was done with tears; there was no use crying over something that was already gone.

Once it was all put away, the place felt a bit more empty than it had before. I never knew I owned so many owl-related things. The light outside my bedroom window was dim, and the clock beside my bed read 5:09 a.m. Father would be waking up at about five thirty to get ready for work. I decided without hesitation to go to them, even if it was as early as it was. So I took a quick shower and changed into some of my own clothes, grabbed my keys and left at about 5:20.

The drive there even seemed to be strange. My mind was spinning around and around with sad memories connected to my time in the Goblin Kingdom and anticipation to finally see my family again after so long. My heart ached for them, because the last thing I needed was time away from anyone else I held dear to my heart. I even had to leave my friends behind to get home, and judging by the work they have in store for getting the Slakks settled in and everything, it could be a very, very long time before I could call on them to visit again. But it was for the good of the kingdom, and everything is worth doing when done for the greater good.

Pulling into their driveway, a lighted window on the far right of the top floor caught my attention. That was my parents' bedroom light; that meant that both of them were up and probably only beginning their day. I parked the car and stopped to take a deep breath before almost running eagerly up to the front door and ringing the bell. I heard the familiar sound of muffled footsteps pounding down the wooden stairs and two different creaks from the old floorboards just before the door, and when the handle turned, it was Father who opened the door with a look of sheer astonishment.

"Sarah?" he asked, baffled. He was still in his pajamas and the hair on top of his head was matted down messily as if he had only just woken up before I came up to the door. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Dad!" I cried, throwing my arms around his shoulders. I squeezed my eyes tightly together and smiled happily. It was so good to see him again. "I've missed you so much!"

"'Missed me?'" he asked, confused. "But Sarah, I only saw you just last night, when we were moving you in! Don't you remember?" I was shocked. Amazing! It hadn't even been a full day since I'd left! But it wouldn't surprise me, since the land of the Labyrinth had no specific form or concept of time. But how wonderful that was!

"Christopher?" a woman's stern voice called down the steps. I opened my eyes to see my stepmother coming halfway down the steps in her nightgown and leaning slightly over the white wooden railing. "Christopher, Dear, who's at the door?"

"Mother!" I called happily, letting go of Father and squeezing past him to run straight to her. She, too, was astonished. Mostly, as it were, for my referring to her as "Mother" when all I had ever referred to her by in the past was "Shelly," her first name. I grasped her hands in mine and looked longingly into her eyes, searching for some understanding. "Mother, I am SO sorry for how horrible I've been treating you all these years! Will you ever forgive me?"

She was speechless. "I-I...?" she looked over to Father as if he could explain to her why I was acting this way, but even he was clueless. When he shrugged his shoulders, she looked back at me with a confused half-smile. "O-of course I will, Darling!" She invited me into her arms in a warm, forgiving hug. "Of course I will!" It felt like a giant weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I finally felt like I could have a good relationship with my new mother, and everything was going to work out for the better. As I said before, I've realized that there was no use crying over something that had already been lost. If I'd learned one valuable lesson in the past year of my life, it would be exactly that.

"Sarah," Father interrupted, closing the front door behind him. He walked up to the end of the staircase and looked up at my stepmother and I with a relaxed kindness in his eyes now. Stepmother released me from her grip and I looked down at him. "Where on Earth is all of this coming from?" I smiled.

"Nowhere, Dad," I assured him. I glanced back at my stepmother briefly before looking back at him and continuing, "I've just had some time to think last night, and...well, I didn't want to move out on a sour note."

"You should go in and check on Toby before you leave, Dear," Mother suggested. "I know you might be making yourself a bit late as it is, but he kept us all night with a dreadful nightmare about you being captured by some 'evil wizard' or something." Toby! Oh no, I almost forgot! My smile faded as I remembered that look of sheer terror in his eyes from behind those thick, iron bars in Jareth's dungeon. He must be worried SICK! Wait a moment, I thought. She said I'd be late...

"Late for what?" I asked. The two exchanged another confused glance.

"...Well...Sarah, isn't today the first day at your new job?" Father asked. Excitement filled me to the brim.

"Oh!" I said perkily. "I almost forgot! I'll go and do that right now!"

And so I dashed up to his bedroom (which used to have been mine before I moved out) and knelt beside his bed, where he tossed and turned in his sleep. Hesitating, I set a cautious, caring hand on his little 3-year-old shoulder and gently rocked him back and forth a bit.

"Toby..." I called in a soft, singsong voice. His thrashing became weaker and weaker as I repeated myself about three or four times before finally, he opened his eyes, gasped, and shot bolt upright. His covers were tangled in a bit of a knot from the struggle and barely covered him anymore. His chest heaved up and down heavily in sync with his breathing and his eyes were wild, but as soon as he caught a glimpse of my worried expression, he stopped and stared at me in bewilderment.

"...SARAH!" he cried, tears crowding the corners of his eyes. He leaped forward and threw his arms around my neck, sobbing. Mother and Father appeared in the doorway, Mother curled up in Father's arms lovingly as they both watched the happy, relieving scene before them. I smiled and held Toby close. "You got free!"

"Oh, I didn't just get free, Toby," I said sweetly. He backed away and looked at me with confusion as if to ask, "What do you mean?" though he wasn't one for too many words just yet. My smile expanded and immediately, I reached behind his back (and notably out of my parents' sight) and brought out a crystal for him to see. His eyes widened at the sight of it. "He gave me some of his powers and let me go."

I watched him marvel at the crystal's beauty and chuckled softly, reaching forward with my free hand to tuck a tuft of his dirty blonde hair behind his ear. "He wasn't evil at all, Toby," I reassured him. "...Just a little lonely."