It's My Job
Disclaimer: I dun own Labyrinth or any of the characters.
Background: Sarah and Jareth got together due to one reason or another and now they live together in the labyrinth as husband and wife, king and queen. Although they are happy.. How will Jareth, the Goblin Kings, job effect their happily ever after. What trials will come? Is there ever really a happily ever after?
The sun shines over a land filled with magic bringing it's warm glow across the Labyrinth and straight onto the Castle beyond the Goblin city. The sun raises into the sky signaling the start of a brand new day.
The castle begins to stir as the light from the sun filters through the majestic window of none other then the royal family.
As the sun hits the sleeping figure of the Goblin King, his eyes blink open to the invasion of the unwelcome light. He closes his eyes tightly trying to block it out but it's no use and he grudgingly sits up slowly, unconsciously trying not to wake his partner from her sleep.
He looks towards her a soft smile on his faces as the young women besides him snuggles into the blankets sensing the slight movement of her companion. He reaches a hand out to her to caress her face, a smile comes to her lips as she begins to stir into wakefulness.
Opening her eyes she gives him a bright smile, "G'morning, love." her voice soft but happy. He returns the smiles and bends over giving her a soft kiss on the lips, "Sarah" he murmurs when he pulls away and stands up, not caring for his nakedness.
Sarah blinks and watches him as he gets up, her eyes traveling over his backside as he walks away and grabs his robe. "Jareth.." she says, but it goes unheard by the one who she needed to hear. Her eyes brim with a single tear as Jareth enters the adjacent room, for his morning shower.
Sarah sighs and wipes the tears away, 'I should be used to this.' she thinks to herself, as she gets up herself, grabbing her robe quickly to cover up her own nakedness.
She walks to the bathroom noticing that Jareth for once has left the door open, she knocks lightly and asks "Jareth.. Can I come in?" Jareth turns to her his face cold and emotionless. "Sarah you know I like to be alone." Sarah looks down hurt, but a fire comes to her eyes and smirk to her lips, "I was hoping I could join you.." she says quickly and blushes before adding "for once." softly.
Taken aback, Jareth, mask cracks slightly, a bright michevious light in his eyes before he quickly extinguishes it. "You know we can't. Besides duty calls I need to hurry." He says quickly, looking away not wanting to see her hurt look and starting the shower.
Sarah just nods and exits the room. She takes a seat on his.. their bed and waits for her turn.
---
20 minutes later Jareth leaves the bathroom refreshed and Sarah is allowed her turn. Not saying anything to her he leaves their room and goes to his throne room for his ever present job of goblin sitting.
Jareth walked to his throne room and sat at his throne, while being surrounded by the hordes of goblins of all shapes and sizes, he produces a crystal with the flick of his wrist unconsciously and pears into it, him being lost in thought. The scene that comes to him is his beloved Sarah, and he snaps back into attention finally noticing what he is doing.
In the crystal Sarah has already showered and dressed for the day in a flowing but sensible gown of forest green. She is just sitting there on their bed seeming to be day dreaming with unnoticed tears falling down her face.
Jareth hand clenches in seeing his love cry, making the crystal disappear in the process. He blinks and looks up finally noticing that all his goblins are silent as well, looking off into space.
"Shit" he says loudly "someone is saying the words". His goblins look up at him waiting for his orders. Torn between going to his love or doing his job, Jareth sighs and waves his hands, signaling the goblins to do what they due best.
"Duty calls" and with that his disappears in a flurry of glitter.
---
Sarah finally composing herself head down to the throne room knowing that is where Jareth usually waits for her before they head for breakfast. She stops a couple feet away from the doorway not hearing the rowdy bunch of goblins making a mess. Cautiously she heads to the doorway and sees that it is empty. "What the..?" she says softly as she walks to the throne and sits down waiting for Jareth to return. 'I just hope this doesn't mean what I think it does.'
Just as that thought left her mind a burst of glitter and the appearance of the Goblin King is right in front of her eyes.
Her eyes being down cast she looks up slowly from black knee high boots to those so tight but look great on him tights, forcing herself to look higher she stops and gasps, not believing what she see's a infant child with soft golden brown hair, "Toby" leaves her lips in a soft whisper.
----
Jareth looks down at her, hearing her softly spoken words, "Now, now Sarah, you know as well as I that Toby is 10 and to old to be turned into a goblin." he smirks at her.
Sarah finally looks up at Jareth's face a spark of anger and embarrassment in her eyes. "I..I know that." she stutters before she regains control of her anger, "Who is he? What is he doing here?" she starts to ask a million questions while standing up from the throne and facing the Goblin King head on.
Unperturbed Jareth just gives her a level look "You know what he's doing here and as for who he is. His name seems to be Jesse, that's what his sister calls him." he says impatiently as he moves to sit on his throne with the child held tenderly in his arms.
Sarah looks to Jareth her anger melting away as she watches Jareth be so gentle with the child 'He really does love children, even if they do eventually become goblins.' Stopping her thought right there she says softly "Jareth.. What of the girl?"
Jareth looks up at Sarah, a predatory smile on his lips as he flicks his wrist and produces a crystal, he tosses it to Sarah. "She should be at the beginning of the Labyrinth." Sarah looks into the crystal and see's a girl with shoulder length blonde hair looking lost as to how to get into it. Sarah drops the crystal and lets it shatter on the ground.
Jareth looked up at the sound of the broken crystal, "What?" he asks as if he didn't know he did anything wrong.
"You.. Gimme that child." She reaches down and snatches up the child from the Goblin Kings hands and surprisingly the child starts to cry once he left the kings hands. Sarah tried to shush him but he would have nothing of it. Jareth just looked on a smirk on his lips.
"Hear let me." he stood up and gently took the child from Sarah where he immediately calmed down.
"How..?" flabbergasted Sarah. "I didn't know you had such a way with children." she said timidly.
Jareth just looked at her and he gestured with his hand at all the goblins who were gathered around him. "Sarah, even these goblin like me so why shouldn't a human child." he asked innocently.
Growling Sarah sits down next to the throne sulking.
Jareth grins and leans over her, setting the child in her lap, "Now be gentle, Jesse doesn't know you so of course he's gonna be skittish around you." he pats her head like a kid and sits back on the throne producing another crystal to watch the young girls progress.
Sarah meanwhile holds the child gently as he quiets down and begins to sleep. At just that moment her stomach begins to growl, waking the child in the process who gives a mighty cry.
Jareth calmly looks up from his crystal, "hungry" he says calmly as he transports them all to the dining room, the child still wailing but sitting in a baby seat.
Sarah blinks still, after 5 years, not used to the sudden shift from place to place. She practically drools at the great smelling food in front of her. She begins to dig in not caring if Jareth said she could or not.
Jareth just raises an eyebrow as his wife digs in and he sets a spell to feed the child who seems to have stopped crying, now fascinated by the flying utensils with food in them.
Grabbing some food for himself, Jareth begins his morning meal and they all eat in relative silence interrupted only but the babbling of a contently fed baby.
They fall into a comfortable silence as the baby is magically put to bed, but the silence is soon interrupted by Jareth, "I need to visit her now."
Sarah sighs "I know, don't scare her too much." She stands up and leaves the room to wander her home, while Jareth disappears once again in a flurry of glitter.
---
Several hours later Sarah returns to the throne room where jareth is sitting comfortable in his throne a crystal in one hand the other holding the baby safely in the other. "It is almost time" he says not looking up at Sarah but knowing she is there.
Sarah stops suddenly "Will.. She make it in time?" she asks hesitantly.
"No." he says simply, still not looking up at her his eyes intent on the crystal.
Growing angry at his simple answer she asks "Do you have to.." she leaves the question unfinished as he looks up at her in the eyes, his face cruel. "This is my job. I must." He looks away before she can see that this hurts him too.
This only infuriates her even more and she lunges at him, snatching the child from his arms, who immediately starts crying again. "No." she states firmly, "I won't let you." and she runs out of the throne room to the Esher room.
"Sarah!" yelled the angry voice of her husband.
She refused to stop and made her way to the room, she took staircase after staircase at random getting herself lost in the room 'damn I never could find my way through this damn room' she said angrily to herself.
Just then Jareth came through the entrance his angry and cruel eyes searching and finding Sarah and the wailing baby in her arms. "Sarah come back here." he said as he made his way towards her.
Sarah turned at his voice and after making eye contact with him and seeing his angry look she took off again, not knowing her way. 'Damn this is just like last time..'
As that thought left her, there he was in front of her, his hand held out for the child.
Sarah clings to the baby tightly not wanting to give him up but seeing that look on her husbands face she knows she is in deep shit. Beginning to cry she slowly faces to the floor. "Please Jareth.." the thirteen hour clock appears out of no where and begins to chime. They both look to the clock.
1 chime, Sarah cries harder the child wailing loudly, Jareth watches not doing anything.
2 chimes, The child begins to change Sarah sets it down gently unable to hold the changing baby anymore.
3-12 chimes, it's almost complete. A young girl with shoulder length blonde hair steps through the room, but it's to late.
The 13th and final chime, the child is no more, a blonde girl cries and disappears with a loss only she knows about, a queen of the goblins, distraught, crying on the floor, and a king of the goblins watching it all with a cruel smile.
The newly made goblin stands in its new stable feet and makes it way to the others in there play. Somehow he knows and approves of his new home.
Jareth lays a hand on his wife shoulder "This is my job." he states firmly and disappears in a flurry of glitter sending Sarah back to their room in the process with the passing words, "We will talk later."