"The Breaking of the Dawn"
Author's Note: A post Labyrinth, Sarah/Jareth
Disclaimer: The characters, places and things of the Labyrinth universe do not belong to me.
As the pale moon hung low in the sky and a light breeze danced across the peaceful pond, a young woman sat deep in thought upon a lonely bench staring out across the late evening scene. She could hear a babbling brook in the distance as it fed into the still pond, the scurry of a small night creature in the near by trees of the park. A sigh escaped as her head fell back, now staring at the stars "How could so much time have passed" she asked aloud.
…..The Previous afternoon…….
"I mean really Sarah" an exasperated Karen muttered "Could you at least try to cooperate?" she dropped the hair pins "I give up" and walked away shaking her head "You haven't been this stubborn in years!"
Sarah watched her retreating form and tried to feel no guilt "I just don't like my hair that way" she grumbled as she roughly began to brush out the curls Karen had worked tediously to place in her hair "I like it just left down & straight".
Sarah placed the brush back down on her vanity and stared at her reflection. At 18 she had become a beauty to behold. Dark green eyes stared back from under long dark lashes. Her complexion had never suffered a blemish, and was lightly sun kissed with a golden tan. And her hair, her hair had been her treasure. She only had it trimmed every other month and now it lay well below her waist. It was dark as night, thick and soft; she never tired of brushing it. "She will never understand how I hate my hair messed with" again shaking her head, she pushed back from the vanity and went in pursuit of her Step-mother, to apologize.
Much had happened since the fateful night she innocently wished her brother to the underground to the care of the Goblin King. Upon arriving home and celebrating, she made a vow to improve her relationships with her family and to try to fit in better with her world. At first it had been an exhausting task, but as time wore on she, found it was easy to fake the mold she had been placed in, and her experience became more of a dream then reality. Her Step-mother was pleased with the transformation to an obedient child. Sarah found her Father much less stressed when she got along with Karen and of course Toby thrived in the peaceful home. She had not realized the destructiveness of her actions prior to her visit to the Underground, and now pondered "had the lessons she learned in the Labyrinth, from its king, been the driving force behind the change in tolerance". She no longer cried at the unfairness of things. She no longer danced about the park dressed as a princess reciting long dead poems. She grew up.
And now, it was the eve of her High school Graduation. A marking, a turning point in her life, from this moment forward she would be viewed as an adult, no longer a child. Dinner had been a quiet affair, she thinking of what was to happen after tomorrow, her parents contemplating the party plans to celebrate, and Toby, sweet sweet Toby, deep in thought of the chocolate cake residing in the kitchen.
Sarah apologized to Karen for the argument over her hair and promptly went back to her room. She leaned heavily against the door and gazed about her room. It was her room, yet it no longer was marked by her. Long ago, her childhood toys had either been passed to Toby or boxed away. Now a bookshelf, lined with volumes, stood where once a shelf of stuffed animals and dolls had. Her bedspread was no longer dancing fairies, no that had long been replaced with a simple criss-cross patterned comforter. The only remaining mark of her childhood was her vanity. She sat down again at the vanity and looked to her reflection. Her thoughts that day had been on a dream, on a vision, it couldn't have truly been real, but of a time some years ago when she found her way through an impossible maze to the center to save her baby brother. She thought of the friends she long ago quit calling for all the comments made by Karen of her run away imagination "I just wanted to fit in" she whispered as she lightly ran her finger across the mirror's surface "I miss you" she said as her hand fell.
That night, sleep was fitful. She tossed and turned, not finding a comfortable spot. Finally, around midnight she gave up and sat up in bed. She looked out her window; it was a clear warm spring night. She could just make out the lights of the park where she used to play and recite her lines. Whatever urged her that night, she wouldn't know, but she found herself venturing down the stairs, out the door and across the backyards to the park.
And this is where we find her, a girl not quite a woman, sitting alone in the night dressed in nothing more than her night gown and light wrapper, staring out at the moonlit pond. Her voice took flight across the still night "Why do I feel so lost?"
"You've denied your dreams and will soon lose them I fear" a silky deep voice filled her ears.
She jumped, turning around quickly to see no one was there "What the?" she questioned.
"Ah Sarah, how you have changed" the voice once again filled her ears "it pleases me much, but yet it saddens me".
"I know that voice" she said in a low tone "But this is impossible" she began, when the whipping of the wind to her left drew her attention, and there high in a tree sat an owl, a white owl, watching.
She crossed the small distance, never breaking eye contact with the creature "It's you?" she questioned "It is real isn't it" she continued "It truly did happen?"
The creature in question ruffled its feathers and took flight "NO WAIT" she yelled as she began chasing it across the park, her slippers soaking with the morning dew upon the grass.
The voice filled her head again "Sarah, Sarah, do you wish to reclaim your dreams?" he asked.
"Oh yes" she replied.
The bird slowed its flight, circled back to her and came to land just a few feet from her. She stared into its two-toned eyes "it's you isn't it?" she asked.
There was a flash of light and before her eyes the owl became the Goblin King "But of course my dear" he replied.
She was dumbfounded and stood speechless before him as he made small circles around her, looking her up and down in appraisal. She stared openly at him, and saw him for the beauty she missed before. He was powerful in build, yet gentle and graceful like a cat, a predatory cat. His hair was blonde almost white and wild with a sparkling appearance. He was dressed in black save his shirt, black leather boots, black tight pants with a white poet's shirt, open a few buttons down exposing a well built powerful chest. Black leather gloves covered his hand, as he reached out and stroked her shaking cheek "You have grown" was all he said.
Slowly she found her voice, swallowing hard "You're real, it all truly happened" she managed as he stopped in front of her, meeting her gaze. Those eyes, how could she have forgotten the mismatched eyes of the King, one brown one blue, she could get lost in those eyes.
"Could you" he asked, startling her.
"You're reading my thoughts" she asked.
"Yes I can and have been "he began, raising his hand to silence her "You stand on the brink of something wonderful yet frightening Sarah, you are about to become an adult by mortal standards, though you are an infant by that of the Fae." He reached out again and cupped her face "But I wonder why now of all times you chose to remember, to call me through your dreams."
She broke the grasp and stepped back "Called you, I didn't call you, I was trying to remember though" she was confused.
"Oh you called my dear, and I came, just as I always have for you" again he closed the gap between them "see what you can not remember" he removed the glove from his right hand and placed it upon her forehead "see all that I know."
Her mind was filled with images, images of her entire life, pain surged through her as they came faster and faster, more pain, until she collapsed in his arms.
Jareth looked down upon the creature that had turned his world upside down "It has been only but a few days in my land, but years upon the mortal realm" he traced her jaw line with his ungloved hand, sending more memories into her mind "My sweet sweet Sarah, again I will do all that you ask, to be your slave."
"SARAH" Karen yelled up the stairs for the third time "GET UP" shaking her head as she went back into the kitchen to finish breakfast.
Groggily Sarah began to wake, sitting up she promptly held her head with both hands, as pain swelled through it. Slowly she rose from bed, trying to make sense of the night before "damn nightmare" she muttered as she stumbled across the room, sleep still filling her eyes and her head pounding, she began digging through her dresser for cloths. She stopped mid action, her eyes bright and now fully awake as she stared down at the muddy hem of her nightgown. She turned quickly and took note of the equally wet and muddy slippers "it was real" she whispered and as she did images, memories she didn't know she had, some she was sure weren't hers, filled her mind. The pain had subsided as she stood there, in the middle of her room, remembering all she had forgotten and all she didn't know.
She remembered everything clearly, her trip through the labyrinth, her friends, oh her friends, she could call them again. She remembered her final confrontation with the King, Jareth, but saw it from a different perspective. She listened to his words, actually hearing them for the first time and crumpled to the floor at the sudden knowledge of what he was trying to say. She had not listened; she had been but a child, a child who did not understand what he offered. A single tear fell from her emerald eyes at what she had thrown away without realizing. But just as soon as that memory started and stopped another began, this time it had been events after she left. Hoggle trying to comfort the King? Jareth was heartbroken, he stared into a crystal, his heart breaking a little more each time he watched her. She couldn't take it anymore, she shook her head clear of thoughts, and she would think about it later, right now she couldn't. She quickly gathered her clothes and left to take a shower.
From her vanity mirror, she did not notice someone watching, watching her and hoping against all hope she would chose a different path this time. With a wave of his hand, Hoggle disappeared.
All I have done, I have done for you. I have reordered time, turned my world upside down, for you. I ask so little.
His words kept running through her mind as the day progressed, not matter how much she tried to push them away. He was real, it all was real, but where did that leave her? In mere hours she would be walking across a stage, graduating and moving on. Isn't that what she wanted? Or did she want something else? For years she had pushed herself to fit the mold that society and her family dictated. She had never quite fit. No matter how hard she tried at school, she still didn't do the right things, say the right things. Sure, for the most part she gave the outward appearance of fitting in, but internally it was a struggle to keep the appearance from slipping, it was a mask she wore each day. A mask that allowed her to live a quiet life.
She pondered what had happened to her rebellious stubborn girl who had defiantly stood before a King and said "looks like a piece of cake." She smiled to herself at that thought. Her memories were vivid, and if she closed her eyes she could almost imagine she was there again. A gift, he had given her yet another gift. He, he who colored her image of what a man should be, no wonder she never dated. In the back of her mind, subconsciously, she knew she was comparing all to him and they fell short of him each time. Could she, no she couldn't, but could she have feelings for him, even after all this time. Surely, looking back, it could be no more than a childish crush, but last night, when he touched her, she felt something she had no words for, something she had never experienced.
Tbc………………………………………………………………………………………….