He held her with his arms around her waste, and spoke so softly that she could only just hear him over the mild nighttime wind.
"I only want to protect you."
Sarah sighed. "I know"
Her anger faded as she leant back into his arms.
She whispered more to herself than to him. "But you can't."
Jareth leant his head down to rest on hers. Black and silver mingled together in the moonlight, casting contrasting shadows on their faces.
"Why not?" He whispered,
"Come back with me, I can protect you."
She shook her head regretfully. "Not from everything."
"What is there that makes you so reluctant? I know you care for me, as I for you." He kissed her hair.
"I've seen your dreams Sarah. Let me make them reality. Let me love you. Let me protect you. "
She sighed, her eyes closed.
"You can't protect me from the hurt... The pain of leaving everything I know and care for here- or the pain of not seeing you...Noone can protect me from that."
"I can try."
Sarah shook her head.
"You can't leave your kingdom and I can't leave my family. Let's just enjoy these moments-please Jareth. Let's just be happy together"
"They're not enough Sarah. For either of us. Each night you lye a little longer in bed pretending our fantasy is real. And I do so too. We can have more than a fantasy love, come back with me- come home."
"If only..." She pulled herself out of his arms, staring out at the black lake, watching the moon cast the colour on the ripples.
Without turning she spoke to him. "You know my dreams Jareth. But I don't know yours."
He stepped forward and wrapped himself around her again.
"You are in all my dreams. You are all my dreams- or you could be if you returned with me." Sarah tilted her head to smile at him.
"Sundays."
Jareth looked puzzled. "What of them?"
He brushed her hair out of her face, becoming distracted in the process.
"How well do I know you-really?
How much time have we actually spent together?
Not as well as I should. And not as much as I'd like to. "
He nodded.
"There is an easy way around that, love."
Sarah shook her head. "No, not that Jareth. Sundays."
When he didn't look any more enlightened she went on.
"You're goblins can last a day on their own- or at least an afternoon. On Sundays, the day of rest- no one will interrupt me aboveground. And we can see each other regularly."
Jareth scowled.
"One day a week? Sarah you're being ridiculous- that doesn't fix the problem at all. It just gives more fuel to day-dreams of what-ifs."
She looked down.
"I know it's not ideal, I just thought it might help. Don't worry, if you don't want to spend time with me I can hardly make you."
She smiled up at him, a smile that belied her words and reminded him of how brave she was. It tugged at his heart and filled his stomach with guilt at having spoken so sharply to her.
"No love, I'm sorry. That's not what I meant- of course I want more time. It's just that that's nowhere near enough."
She looked so helplessly hopeful.
"Could we... could we try it?"
He smiled. "Sunday."
I'm in two minds about where or not I should turn this into something longer... I've got the vague idea of a story and was thinking of using this as an introduction but I've never been great at long fics. If you have any opinions please express them (preferably in a nice way)
Thanks for reading!