Selfish Good-bye
"I wish-" Sarah breathed out silently, her back to the one she was talking to. Her fingers wrapped themselves around the opposite arm, they were cold, and the hands brought a bit of relief. Howling through the trees, the cold midnight winter's wind wrapped its airy body around her frame and seemed quite content to remain snuggled up to her.
"Don't." Jareth stopped her, placing a leather-gloved hand on her shoulder. He didn't want this to happen anymore than she, but it was complicated for a mortal to live in an immortal world. She would wither and age and he would not. Maybe a bit on the greedy side, the King of Goblins did not want to feel the pain of watching his most beloved one slowly die.
No, this was the only way for them to be.
"But why?" Sarah questioned. Her voice barely audible to his regal ears, her heart skipped in irregular patterns as she felt his hand slip off her jacket covered shoulder.
"Sarah, neither you nor I want to hear the answer to that question." The King replied tenderly, his accented voice sinking into a deeper tone.
Williams shivered. He sounded so cold, unfeeling to her now, but they had-he had promised his love, and she hers. What had changed? Why couldn't he answer her questions? They WERE reasonable.
"Will this just become a fairy tale in time, too? Like the Labyrinth?" Sarah shot back, her wounded feelings taking purchase in her words.
Jareth's eyebrows rose slightly at the question. What on this Earth could he say that would make her understand that what he said, and what was now being said was all for the best interest of both of them.
"No." He finally replied, waiting patiently for her return. When Sarah's lips didn't move, she peered over her shoulder at the man who loved her. Realizing that the stubborn beauty was not going to utter a word, the King sighed lightly and continued his practiced speech.
"I-love you Sarah. You are the first in a long while that I have even thought of saying THOSE words to-"
"And THAT'S suppose to make me feel privileged?"
"I was hoping it would make you feel loved." Sarah's shoulders went rigid. "I won't lie and say that you were the first, but you will be the one I remember everyday of my life. The one that I dream of when I sleep."
A tear slipped down the woman's pale face. Angrily, she used the edge of her coat to smear it away. The young actress would NOT give the man the triumph of breaking her heart. And the words he was saying sounded like a learned script read by a very talented performer.
"How could it happen?"
"I don't know." Jareth lied. It was only his fear holding him back from their seemingly 'match made in Heaven' love. Could he tell her that? No, to tell Sarah that he was breaking off all contact with her due to the pain that he might or might not receive by her death that was only a minor possibility would sound selfish. "Perhaps, you were meant for another. Someone that can fulfill the sacred vows of 'till death do we part'."
"Is this what your leaving me for?" Sarah demanded; turning around on the wet grass, her hands firmly planted on her hips. Her dark eyes locked with the mismatched ones of the man that seemed to whiten under the accusation. "You coward!" She shouted at him.
"Sarah." Jareth said coldly. "What ever you are referring to has absolutely nothing to do with us, with now. Understand that."
The woman backed up slightly, tears once again falling from her eyes. Turning once again from her lover, Sarah walked a few steps further from the man before stopping and waiting for him to proceed with his pathetic good-bye speech.
Silence.
"Why won't you stay with me? Or let me go with you?"
"Because I will not give up my kingdom for you, or any other mortal. And you would not so unselfishly through everything in this world away just to be with someone that has fascinated you."
A sharp pain pricked Sarah's heart. Fascinated? Didn't she constantly tell him that he was her entire world? What was with the fascinated?
"How can you say that?"
"Easily." His voice once again dropping in tone, and becoming increasingly tender. "There's no 'gray' area for us Sarah. It's either yours or mine, but not both. I can love you from afar, like it should have always been. Like it will always be."
The moon glow scattered about the park, shone on the confused couple. Jareth's hair took its light color, as the light got caught up in the deep brown eyes of Sarah. For a moment, peace settled over her heart, and his mind was greedily thinking that it was not selfish to do this to them.
"Then go." Sarah muttered, the breeze brushing its invisible fingers through her hair, and carried the softly spoken words to Jareth's ears.
Bowing low, the King was somewhat down hearted to oblige his lover's request. Whispering the spell in his mind, not wanting to stay one more second that necessary, in case either he or she had a change of heart.
"But." Sarah began, before he started to completely disappear, rotating on her heels to confront his, now transparent face. "I wish, I never learned what was like to be in love and have that love returned."
The King of Goblins mouth opened slightly, as Sarah managed to fake a sad smile as he vanished into nothingness. As the King returned to his home in the center of the Underground, into his empty bedroom, Jareth hit his knees.
"What have I done?" he whispered.