A Gift for Jareth

This story is for people like me (if such people exist...) who thought that Jareth ought to have had a decent pair of pants.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with the Labyrinth, yada yada yada and all that jazz. :) Now that we have that out of the way…

The washing and drying machines beat a rhythmic duet in the confines of the small room. At the small table on an adjacent wall sat Sarah, sorting the various clothing items into baskets. Into the white basket went her father's clothing. Into the blue basket went her stepmother's, and into the green one went Sarah's clothes. Besides glancing vaguely at a sock or shirt to see where it went, Sarah wasn't paying the laundry very much attention. She dropped a wrinkled pair of cargo pants belonging to her father onto the table, and folded her arms. Despite her every effort, the memory continued to plague her.

Jareth paced restlessly back and forth before her staring hungrily into her eyes. "Sarah, beware." he said, "I have been generous… up until now; but I can be cruel."

"Generous?" Sarah answered, slightly indignant. "What have you done that's generous?"

"Everything!" he snarled. His face took on a bit more patience. "Everything you wanted, I have done. You asked that the child be taken, and I took him. You cowered before me; I was frightening. I have reordered time," here, he pointed at the clock with thirteen markings. "I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you." He let out a small breath. "I'm exhausted from living up to your expectations. Isn't that generous?"

Sarah didn't answer, and instead took a bold step forward. "Through dangers untold," she said softly, "and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city to take back the child that you have stolen." She advanced a bit further, looking him, unwavering, in the eyes. Jareth listened in silence, looking more restless than ever. "For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is-"

"Stop." Jareth interrupted, holding up a hand. Sarah fell quiet. "Look what I'm offering you," he said, and in the hand he had raised, a crystal ball, as delicate as a bubble materialized. "Your dreams." His gaze was strange, nearly hypnotic. Sarah didn't bother to look away, but she didn't allow herself to be ensnared by his power. Not this time.

Sarah leaned forward slightly. There had been wonderful things in that crystal ball, things that now made her sigh with longing. But she was glad that she had resisted. She wasn't sure if, given the chance, she could do it a second time. But she had done it once. That was all that mattered.

"You have no power over me."

It had been a nice thing to say, but she wasn't really sure that it was true. In her heart of hearts, she knew she despised Jareth more than anything else in the world or beyond. But on the surface, she felt a strange attachment to him. An attachment that felt unusually powerful.

Dreamily, Sarah whispered, not really paying attention to what she was saying, "If only I could see you again, Jareth." Her mind added, but her tongue unfortunately did not, the sparks would fly. Her hand tightened slightly on the leg of her father's cargo pants.

Her lips curled as she imagined all the things she would say to Jareth if she saw him again. So caught up in this, Sarah didn't notice the change taking place around her. The chair became harder, and scratchier. The table melted away, and the walls, ceiling and floor gave way to sky, landscape, and dirt. Only when the pants she held fell from lack of table onto her lap did Sarah notice anything. She blinked, and stood quickly up. She had been sitting on a loop-shaped bend in a tree. The tree grew from the top of an immense, dusty hill adorned only by the occasional tuft of grass. Below her stretched, gleaming yet ominous, the Labyrinth.

Sarah's fists clenched, and she turned her head upward, and bawled at the sky, "JARETH!" A tall, cloaked figure failed to appear. Sarah glared furiously at the Jareth-free landscape.

"The rules haven't changed, Sarah." The voice from her nightmares said softly, seemingly behind her. Sarah turned, but Jareth wasn't there. It was simply Jareth's voice. "Thirteen hours, as before. This time, for my amusement."

Sarah gritted her teeth in annoyance. "What shall we play for this time?" she said sarcastically. "My soul?"

"I had something a bit more solid in mind." Jareth replied, his voice every bit as mocking as Sarah's. "You, perhaps?"

Sarah's eyes narrowed, and then widened, and a grin developed on her lips. "If I lose, I'll give you a gift." She said, struggling not to laugh. "And if I win, you'll get it anyway. Either way, I go home."

"What a pity you wish so badly to leave," Jareth said softly. "If you lose, you become my queen. If you win, you'll return to that dull little world you so adore."

"Deal." Sarah said.

"You'd better get a move on," Jareth murmured, "you've already lost four minutes."

Sarah's eyes narrowed. "Cheat." She said, as she trotted down the hillside.

"I never said I'd fight fair." Jareth's voice said, fading.

Sarah paused at the base of the hill, and looked for a while at a sparkling, square garden pool full to the brim with stagnant water. Sarah sighed. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised that Hoggle wouldn't be there. There were probably fairy infestations all around the wall surrounding the Labyrinth. He'd be running around somewhere with his little spray gun, shooting down the fairies.

Normally, Sarah would have balked at the idea of killing something so sweet and beautiful. But she remembered the sharp nip on her finger the first fairy she'd pitied had given her a bit too well.

All of this went through her head, and still she felt sad that Hoggle wasn't there. His absence just seemed odd to her.

Then, a frightening thought entered her mind. Would she be able to open the door without him? Would she even be able to find it? The section of wall where the door was had been blank before Hoggle had shown her where to get in. Fury flooded into her stomach. Jareth had known about this. He had probably figured things so that she would be stuck for the entire running time pacing the outside wall.

Sarah paused, and looked closely at the wall for a moment. It was tall, but the surface was quite rough, and even a rookie like her couldn't miss the foot and handholds. Sarah sighed, and stepped up to the wall. She grabbed a jagged crack in one of the bricks, and hoisted herself up. The climb was a bit harder than she expected, but even so, it was only a short while before she reached the top. With a triumphant grin, Sarah swung her leg over the wall.

An electric sizzle rent the air. Sarah felt herself being hurled off the wall, saw the ground rushing up…

…then all went black.