I do not own Labyrinth, Jareth, or Tuna. Tuna is an OC owned by Fayne, not me. This fan fiction was written for our enjoyment.
Memories
She was late again, and Jareth was not in the best mood. Infact, he'd been in a strange mood for a few days. It had started out as the usual snapping and irritation he always seemed to have, but then it had become a mix of anger and some sort of sorrow he couldn't quite explain.
"You're late again," The Goblin King, dressed in his dark and glittery attire, studied Tuna with a dark expression from his position on the sofa. The blonde-haired woman didn't look at him as she replied flatly, "Yep" before continuing to take her jacket off. "You're constantly late, constantly gone. I tire of it, Tuna."
"Mhm." There was still no feeling in her presence. Jareth glowered at the back of her head, frustrated by the lack of emotion. Then she started to head into the hallway - he wasn't having that at all.
"Don't walk away from me," His voice was a low hiss, like white-hot iron placed in water. Tuna stopped, then turned around with a dead look on her face, clearly waiting for him to speak.
He didn't.
She started towards the doorway again.
Behind her in an instant, the long-haired figure grabbed her shoulder and whirled her around forcibly. "I told you not to walk away, Tuna. I don't like being ignored," He growled, face close to hers. Tuna's blue eyes flashed.
"Was your last girlfriend this easy to push around?" She retorted spitefully, pulling her arm out of his grip. Jareth's hands twitched, his unusual eyes burning with sheer fury.
"Don't you dare mention her," He said in a low, deadly voice. "Ever. Again." Tuna's mouth twitched upwards.
"Or what, you'll dance at me?" She started to grin, but stopped immediately as Jareth's gloved hand suddenly shot out to grip tightly at her throat. With a glare, she shoved him away from her, looking up at him.
"Idiotic girl," Jareth snarled, feeling rage boil in his chest. If she had been anyone else in the world, she would currently be drowning in the bog.
"I'm idiotic?" Tuna raised her eyebrows, then laughed. "Look at you! I go out and try and enjoy myself, and you complain. What would we be doing if I stayed home all day, huh? Arguing just like now. God, you…" She stepped away from him, pacing a little, running one hand through her hair while half-laughing humourlessly. "You expect me to just sit home with you instead of actually having fun for once in my life. Like I want to listen to your bragging about how great and powerful you are." Now she was looking straight at the seething man. "Considering you were monologued into defeat, no, I don't wanna hear it."
"You--" But Tuna interrupted him.
"Truth is, Goblin King, you're pathetic. Running back here all the time once you've gotten over yourself, expecting me to be able to take it all, to just welcome you back like nothing happened. I'm not a 15 year old girl stuck in her own imagination."He was lost for words, staring at her with a disbelieving and furious expression.
"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" She finished her speech, folding her arms.
Then the Goblin King had stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him before heading to the bottom of the stairs. His pace was quick as he walked to nowhere in particular, ignoring the few people out at this time of night. Most of them were drunk anyway. Eventually, he was certain that there was noone nearby, and vanished in a puff of smoke and glitter.
Sitting alone on a park bench far from the apartment, the Goblin King stared into space, his expression…well, he wasn't sure how he would have explained it. His thoughts were written all over his face, and yet noone but himself would have been able to read them.
Memories.
Flashing through his mind, unwanted as he silently made an effort to push them away. But Tuna's voice was as clear as the air.
"You expect me to just sit home with you instead of actually having fun for once in my life. Like I want to listen to your bragging about how great and powerful you are."
Her entire speech resounded constantly inside his head, over and over until the words merged together, no longer making any sense. Jareth's hands were curled into fists as he closed his eyes in…pain.
But then a warmer, laughing voice was present.
"I'm disappointed, babe. What happened to your alleged rock skills?"
He and Tuna, standing in front of the TV, playing Guitar Hero together. Laughing.
Smiling.
Jareth opened his eyes.
His eyes…
"Hey, your eyes are weird." She was close to him, leaning over to stare him in the eyes curiously. "Are they?" Jareth blinked at her in bewilderment as she nodded, moving her face ever-closer.
"Yeah. One pupil is bigger than the other.""And that's unusual?""Here, yeah." Tuna's brow was furrowed as she brushed his hair away from his face, to see his eyes more clearly. She was practically sitting on his lap. "There's flecks of gold in there too…"
He was staring into space once more, all expression gone from his face aside from a stunned look. He remembered when she'd been injured…
"Where does it hurt?" His voice was quiet, almost soft. Tuna pointed to her arm, blinking in surprise as he healed it with a touch. "Where else?" To her hand, her shoulder, both of which were healed. Jareth looked at her questioningly instead of repeating the question.
She pointed to her mouth.
"What?" He eyed her uncertainly, clearly suspecting some sort of joke.
"Ow," Tuna said for emphasis, still pointing.
He took her face in his hands, gazing at her, head tilted slightly as though waiting for her to speak. She didn't, and so he continued.
"Better?" This time, his voice was soft. Caring.
"Better."
Much to Jareth's surprise, he found that he was smiling. Not smirking as he usually did, but…genuinely, truly, smiling. Regret washed over him as he thought of the argument back at the apartment, only to have it replaced in his mind with another memory.
"Quit being such a baby and eat it," Tuna said sternly, looking at the blonde man sitting up in his bed. His arms were folded as he glared at the bowl of soup on his lap.
"You've probably poisoned it."
"No poison, just date-rape drugs."
He stared at her, which made the woman laugh in amusement. "Jareth, seriously. It's just soup."
He knew that he'd eventually given in and eaten the soup -- which had tasted delicious, not that he'd admit it -- and then he and Tuna had talked for an hour or so. Which was a rare event, so they'd made the most of it. Noone had ever made him laugh like that. Noone. The memory of when he had tried to cook rather than simply conjur food from thin air…Despite his irritation at Tuna for laughing at him then actually showing him how to do it, it was not an unpleasant experience.
His smile returned again when he closed his eyes, and the view from the apartment window showed itself inside his mind.
Jareth was humming softly to himself, simply out of habit and boredom. He barely noticed Tuna walk into the room, and made no attempt to greet her. Her footsteps stopped then restarted, an unintelligible murmer coming from her as she approached the figure by the window.
She had practically buried her face in his hair, which had made him look at her in amusement before asking what she was doing. Then Tuna had asked him to continue humming…At first, just to perhaps irritate her, Jareth had declined. But then she'd looked quite sad about it, and he'd given in to her again, humming louder than before…
He brushed her hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear. A pause, before Tuna decided to speak.
"Funny. Key used to run his fingers through my hair. You brush it away so I can see." She mused. He didn't look at her.
"Better to see, than to close your eyes and lose yourself…" He'd replied, being only vaguely aware of what he'd meant by that.
He still didn't fully understand.
With a sigh, the Goblin King stood up.
He knew what he had to do…
The door clicked shut behind Jareth after he entered the apartment, his mismatched eyes darting around to search quickly for Tuna.
He found her. Sprawled on the sofa on her side, one arm hanging loosely towards the floor, eyes lidded. Her hair was wild around her face, which held a tired and ill look. Jareth felt his stomach churn.
Tuna was ill.
Why hadn't he seen it coming? The stomach aches, the headaches…The emotionlessness…
Guilt swept over him -- damn it, he shouldn't have cared so much -- as he rushed to kneel by her, brow furrowed.
"Tuna…" His hands were suddenly free from their usual black gloves, and he felt her forehead. It was burning hot. Tuna flinched away, then rolled over so that her back was facing him. A saddened expression was clear on Jareth's face. "Tuna, please. Look at me."
"No." Her voice was strained.
"Look at me," Jareth repeated, his tone uncharacteristically gentle. After a long pause, in which Jareth was considering just leaving her be, the ill woman rolled back over to look at him. Her usually-bright blue eyes were dull, their spark lost.
"What?"
There was a long silence in which Jareth fought against himself mentally before sighing and taking her hand in his.
"I'm sorry."
She stared at him in disbelief before a spiteful look came on her face.
"No, you're not."
"Tuna," He sighed as she withdrew her hand, then looked her in the eyes. "I…should not have overreacted as I did."
"Mhm."
"And you were…" Jareth's eyes closed as he struggled to swallow his pride. "…right. I was wrong."
After opening his eyes, he could see the hint of a smile forming on her face.
"So I'm sorry."
"I forgive you," Tuna's expression was sincere, her smile more visible. She meant it.
"Thankyou," Jareth's voice was quiet, almost a whisper. He stroked her messed hair back from her face, just as he always did, and Tuna's reaction was similar to the usual. She closed her eyes, relaxing, but there was discomfort on her face.
The least he could do was help her.
"…Now Tuna…"
She looked up.
"Where does it hurt?"
The corners of his mouth twitched.
Tuna chewed her lip for a long moment, now looking at him in amusement.
She pointed to her mouth.
"Ow."
--FIN--
Author's Note: Reviews would be appreciated c:
