Labyrinth One-shot.
Sorry to take a break from my Charmed fic featuring the story of Grams and the Necromancer ("The Necromaner and the Witch"). But, the new chapter i had finished accidentally got deleted, so I need to muster the energy to sit down and rewrite my ideas out on paper again. In the meantime, enjoy this story. A sequel to my story "Sarah's Shadow."
Jareth visits Sarah yet again. His pursuit grows stronger. How long until they will meet again?
In Dreams
Once there was a princess who dreamt of a far off land. But, once that "far off" land wasn't quite so far, she no longer wanted it; this angered the king of the land, for the princess was full of innocence and kindness and dreams and-most importantly-love. So, why could she not love him?! The king remembered: she was a spoiled child with entitled, erratic behavior. But, was that not why he loved her? He knew and often boasted of how he himself was cruel. Was she not also cruel? Her goodness and fierceness were two opposite forces living inside her, constantly warring with one another like ocean waves upon rocky shores. Who knew when one would rear its beautiful head? And he loved her for it. Still he pursued her. He pursued her with a ferocity that matched her own. He would never stop. She was just out of reach-but he was closing in, a hand reaching, getting closer, and closer...closer...closer...
Sarah woke with a start. Her breathing was ragged and her heart was racing.
"Bad dream," she said out loud in order to reassure herself. She blinked a few times, trying to get the image of a gloved hand reaching towards her from the darkness.
The darkness of her own room was not like the darkness of her dreams: endless and foreboding. And, neither of those darknesses were like the darknesses she had seen in the Underground. For now, the darkness in which she sat was illuminated with Christmas lights that cast a warm glow around the room. The shadows they cast were minuscule, unlike the shadows that danced and even came to life in the Underground.
The Underground.
Sarah smiled. She remembered it with fondness, regardless of the Goblin City's cruel leader. She shook her head, pushing the melancholy feeling that always arose when she thought of her place. As a human, surely she belonged in the Aboveground, though she did not fully believe that. She chose the Aboveground because of her family and the life she would've had to leave. Her heart had been left in the Underground. Only her dreams and memories allowed her to revisit the land she secretly considered her true home.
And her friends.
She wished she had it in her to beckon them at this hour. She chuckled when she thought of the reactions they would have when she called on them.
"You called us for a silly nightmare? Well what did you go doing something like that for?! Somes of us got to sleep!" Hoggle would say. Though, his eyes would be full of concern. He never could hide his kind side.
"Sawah, bad dweam? Hugs for Sawah," Ludo would say before encompassing her in a warm, furry hug. She particularly missed the mossy smell of his soft coat, and the way he could cradle her in his arms.
"My lady, if you should entreat me to stay with you all night so I may ward off these dark spirits, simply bid me remain and I shall remain with you faithfully until the break of dawn. A knight does not put sleep over his duty!" Sir Didymus would say, and Ambrosias would curl at her feet.
Perhaps she would call them in the morning.
She lay her head back down on her pillow and found sleep almost immediately. The bad dream was as distant as the stars twinkling over her bedroom that night.
However, Sarah did not remember that this was not the first time she had dreamt this dream. It came in many different forms, but there was always one reoccurring element: pursuit.
A white barn owl perched outside Sarah's bedroom window. If a barn owl could manage the gesture, his eyes would narrowed in deep thought and concentration, as well as disdain for the escape which had just been made. He could bare the separation no longer.
Two years since she had defeated the labyrinth. Two years since he had held her in his arms as they danced through a glittering and gilded ballroom. Two years since she had left him. He flapped his wings and headed straight for her window. In a flash of glitter, he was inside the room.
Jareth picked a loose feather out of his hair. He flexed his feet; the Goblin King once again returned to his humanoid state.
Perhaps he had been wrong to take the child. It was surely the best way to get Sarah to enter the Underground. But, it had proved to be the wrong way to get her to stay in the Underground.
His fingers twitched; how he longed to reach out and touch her. Could he? Was there magic rules against it? It had been so long. He remembered how her skin felt when he had gently brushed his fingers across her neck and shoulders: soft and smooth, making it more characteristic of the porcelain appearance it retained. Her grip was gentle but sure through her gloved hands. She smelled lightly of roses. Her raven hair was smooth when he had run his fingers through it. How he wished they could return to that dance floor. How he wished they could return to his castle together.
That was why he pursued her in dreams. For her will was as strong as his in waking.
But, everything is altered in a dream. He could not approach her in an altered state while she was conscious, no. That would be cheating. But, dreams were the place where one could simultaneously be oneself and not oneself. One could be anyone, go anywhere, do anything. It was a naturally altered state. It would not be cheating to seize her in her dreams. And in the Underground, dreams were as equally tangible as reality.
"Sleep, my Sarah," he whispered. He again could not help himself and knelt beside her. He pulled off a glove and slipped it into his jacket pocket. He reached out and grasped a tendril of her dark hair that shone in the soft light. He stroked it with his thumb. It was cool and smooth to the touch, contrasting against his skin which had grown warm in her presence. The ever-stoic monarch allowed a flush to arise in his cheeks. He leaned in closer, hesitating with every few inches. He stopped, barely half a foot from her face. His lips twitched. It was as if he could physically feel the distance between their mouths, it now seemed a tangible thing. He wanted to break through it and join his lips to hers. The light pink, doll-like borders of her mouth seemed to summon his own peach-colored skin. He longed for her kiss. He ran his fingers through more of her hair, relishing the touch if its silkiness. He felt his whole body begin to ache with longing. His breathing quickened.
But he could not. He would not. Kisses held meaning in the Underground. Humans seemed to throw them away without thought, but even Aboveground they had once held more weight-even magical properties-as they still did in the Underground. Which was why he had tried to claim one the night of their dance. But her will was as strong his, and she had broken away.
He ran his thumb against her bottom lip.
"My Sarah..." he whispered.
His eyes softened when he looked at her, but his mouth curled into that mischievous, wicked grin all Fay possessed.
"One day," he said, "one day..."
And with that, he flew away.
There was no glitter left on her floor the next morning. Still, Sarah didn't notice the few sparkles which adorned her bottom lip and the faint smell of peaches that hung in her hair.