Though We're Strangers Till Now…:
Sequel to The Way Forward Is Sometimes The Way Back
Author's Note: Mwah ha ha haaaaa! I'm back to do a sequel to my fanfic The Way Forward Is Sometimes The Way Back… I decided to do a sequel after getting so many good reviews and I couple requests for a sequel… It's been taking me a while to come up with a really good storyline, and I think I've finally thought up enough of one to run with it… So I'm really just writing this off the top of my head as it comes to me…
Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form own Labyrinth, its characters, its scenes, or quotes. They all belong to the geniuses Jim Henson, George Lucas, David Bowie, Brian Froud, Dennis Lee, Terry Jones, & Trevor Jones. I only own this fanfic storyline, the fanfic it is based off of, and the characters I made up (if I make up any).
Chapter One: Don't Tell Me Truth Hurts, Little Girl… Cause It Hurts Like Hell…
Sarah tossed and turned as she slept within Jareth's arms. She eventually moved herself out of Jareth's reach as she continued to stir restlessly, lost with in her dream. She could see a man… A man that had familiar blue eyes and silky blonde hair with an adorable round face… He was with a pretty woman with fiery red hair and bright green eyes… They both looked unhappy for some reason…
Sarah rolled around as she saw a young girl that couldn't be more than 13 or 14 years old… The image of the girl was very vague; Sarah made out what she believed was red hair and a round face, just like the man's… The girl was obviously fighting with the man and woman, yelling at them with tears streaming down her face… The man and woman were yelling at her too, but Sarah could see, as their images were more distinct than the young girl's, a sadness in their eyes…
The man and woman suddenly disappeared and Sarah watched the girl fall to the ground and sob, her face in her hands… She saw the man and woman hurrying to a car in a downpour of rain and as they began driving, Sarah gasped as a car swerved accidentally in the rain and crashed into the man and woman's car.
Sarah screamed as she bolted upright in bed. She gasped for breath as she suddenly felt sharp and intense pain as if she was the one in the car. Jareth woke at Sarah's scream and was by her side, trying to calm her.
"Sarah… Sarah… It's alright… I'm here…" He said soothingly, holding Sarah firmly but gently, stroking her shoulder. Sarah grabbed onto Jareth, burying her face into his chest.
"Oh, Jareth… It was awful…" Sarah sobbed into his chest.
"Was it about the man and woman again?" He asked, genuinely concerned, trying to help Sarah sort through her emotion.
Sarah nodded into Jareth's chest and cried, "They were fighting with the young girl again… but this time, after they fought, the man and woman left in a car in a downpour and they were in a car crash… They're dying…"
Jareth rubbed Sarah's back comfortingly and tried to reason with Sarah's nightmare, "Sarah we don't even know if these people are real… Even if they were real, how are you so certain they're dying? You woke up before you could see the outcome, didn't you? How can you know for sure they aren't just injured or wounded?"
Sarah looked up into Jareth's face, her own face reddened from sobbing and tear-streaked, and said with a serious tone, "I know they're dying from the feeling I got… It was as if I was in car crash, Jareth…"
Jareth sighed, contemplating what Sarah had told him about her latest nightmare. Sarah had been having these kinds of nightmares about a man and woman for a couple months and the young girl had only just appeared in the nightmares recently. Gryphön suggested that it may be Sarah's mind trying to manifest her fears of what may happen later on in Sarah and Jareth's relationship. The man and woman seemed distant from each other, which seemed to be caused by a feud they had between themselves and the young girl, who was their apparent child. Gryphön figured Sarah fears that a child that she and Jareth may have might bring them apart, so she fears having a child.
Sarah knew, however, that the man and woman were not depicting her and Jareth in the future; neither was the young girl depicting their possible child. The man, woman and young girl were real, they were real people that existed. And Sarah was more then positive that the man and woman were becoming closer and closer to becoming nonexistent. She was still confused at why she was having such premonitions of this particular couple and family.
"Jareth… They're real… This man and woman are real people… I know in the core of my soul that they are dying and that little girl is all alone now… I must know who they are… I have a feeling a know who the man is… He seems so familiar somehow… I must find out who he is…" Sarah urged Jareth.
Jareth sighed as slipped away from Sarah and quickly put on a long and flowing robe and handed Sarah her own robe. Sarah got out of bed as well and slipped on her robe and faced Jareth.
"Alright… If this man and woman really do exist, just focus on the clearest image of them that you can remember…" Jareth said, conjuring a crystal then taking both of Sarah's hands and placing them around the crystal and his hands around hers.
"What are we doing?" Sarah asked, confused.
"When you think about this man and woman, I'll focus my magic on taking us to where this couple is, if they truly exist…" He said simply, "…Wherever we appear, though, we will be invisible and undetectable to anyone…"
Sarah nodded, understanding the A Christmas Carol-like concept, and said, "Alright…"
Jareth looked into Sarah's eyes, ready for the madness to come to an end, "Are you ready?"
Sarah took a deep breath, "Yes…" She closed her eyes as she pictured the man and woman clearly in her mind. Jareth closed his eyes as well as he focused his energy and magic on the people Sarah was focusing on. He opened his eyes, expecting to still be in their bedroom but was shocked as he looked around, seeing they were in a hospital.
Sarah opened her eyes and was baffled as she saw where they were. Before she could open her mouth to question it, a team of paramedics briskly rushed past her, pushing the man and woman she had seen in her dream on wheeled stretchers. Sarah quickly followed after them, recognizing the man and woman, with Jareth following behind her.
"That's them…" Sarah called over her shoulder to Jareth. The paramedics were talking furiously, giving each other orders and hurrying to help the couple. Sarah and Jareth watched silently as the paramedics moved the couple to beds and began doing various things in what was an obviously vain attempt to save the man and woman. A woman with dirty blonde hair tied in a bun that was obviously a doctor (Jareth could see Dr. Jefferson on her hospital I.D. badge) approached asked one of the paramedics, "What have we got?"
"Male and female, auto accident… Car swerved into them in the rain… The male has already lost an excessive amount of blood while the female has suffered injuries to her spinal column and has excessive internal bleeding…"
Dr. Jefferson noticed the wedding rings on their fingers and asked, "Are they married?"
The paramedic nodded as he continued, "We were able to recover the man's wallet and the woman's purse from the wreckage…" He took two licenses out of his pocket and read aloud, "One Delilah Macayle-Williams and one Toby Williams…"
Sarah gasped and Jareth held her as she began to stagger backwards upon hearing Toby's name.
"There's nothing we can do for them… We're losing both of them pretty fast…" the paramedic sadly. All the specialists looked to the woman's heart monitor as they heard a long, shrill beep and Sarah and Jareth looked and saw Delilah's heart beat turn to a flatline. Toby took a deep stuttering breath as if sensing his wife's passing. Sarah felt herself sobbing as she broke away from Jareth and rushed to Toby's side, not caring he couldn't see her or hear her.
"Toby… Toby! It's me, Sarah! Hold on, Toby… You can't leave Toby! No, you're a fighter, Toby… Fight, Toby! Don't give in!" Sarah sobbed.
Toby suddenly turned his head ever so slightly towards Sarah as if he could sense her, and whispered faintly, "…..Sarah…..Sarah……Sarah….."
Sarah's eyes widened as she heard Toby utter her name. She heard Jareth, "No… It's not possible… No one can hear us or see us…"
Sarah leaned closer to Toby, not caring about what Jareth said was supposed to happen. "I'm here, Toby… I'm right here… I'm right here with you… I'm not going to leave you…"
Toby's breathing became more and more shallow as Sarah heard him whispering, "……Sarah…..take……Rory…."
"Rory…? Who's Rory, Toby? I don't know any Rory…" Sarah shook her head, confused.
Toby's breathing lessened and lessened as Sarah strained to hear, "….Your……niece…..Rory…….my……..daughter……"
Sarah's eyes widened as she came upon the realization of the young girl's identity. "My niece… She's my niece, Toby? You want me to take Rory?"
Toby nodded ever so slightly as he breathed, "…….Love……her……Sarah…..Tell…..her……we……love…..her……"
Sarah felt the tears streaming down her face as she leaned closer and closer to Toby, wanting to be able to hold onto him as he left, but knowing she was unable to touch him. "I will, Toby. I'll tell her… I'll tell her how much you and Delilah love her…"
Sarah couldn't be certain, but she thought she saw a smile on the corners of Toby's lips as he breathed, "……I…….love……you……" Toby let out one last breath and Sarah could hear the haunting beep of the flatline on his monitor. As Sarah looked into his face, began to sob uncontrollably as she began to hyperventilate. Jareth came to her and held onto her as the technician said sadly, "We've lost them…"
Sarah gripped onto Jareth but kept her face close to Toby's as she cried, "I love you too, Toby… I love you so much… I love you, Toby… I love you…." She eventually sank down into Jareth arms as she cried beside her brother and sister-in-law's bodies, unnoticed by the doctors and paramedics that bustled and hurried around them.
Author's Note: So how's that for an introduction? I wanted Sarah and Toby's reunion to be bittersweet: he admits how he still loves Sarah, but dies upon her finally hearing it. And in this, the truth really does "hurt like hell"…Plus I had to lay the stage for the urgent conflict over Rory's custody… She is after all an orphan now… And now Sarah and Jareth know that Toby's dying wish was for Rory to be with Sarah, and Sarah's never even met her before… Alright, I'll go before I blow the entire story right now… Got to go get some sleep… I can't keep up such a good story if I stay up until 5 in the morning all the time! More to come…