Sarah looked around the room as the lights flickered, music blared, and laughter bounced. Her green eyes searched the pressing crowd of adults hidden in masks and wondered what had brought her here? Why was she stuck in this place? Who was she looking for?
She circumvented the crowds on her slippered feet and reached for a stemmed glass with a fizzing beverage in it. She lifted it to her red-colored lips and sipped. She still searched the crowd. How did she end up here?
"Sarah!" She turned to look at a blue mask shaped to look like koi chasing each other. The approaching person wore a frilly dress that seemed to float like water.
"Brooklyn?" Sarah questioned, fairly certain that was who was approaching her.
"I love your costume!" Brooklyn gushed as she wrapped an arm around Sarah's bare shoulder. "Where did you get the wings?"
Sarah glanced down at her white gown, trimmed with black. The sweetheart neckline and off-the-shoulder sleeves left her shoulders and neck bare, but her skin had been dusted with body glitter. The bodice of her dress cinched to a 'V' at her waist while the skirt billowed in soft layers. The sleeves reached down to her hands, her fingers hidden beneath the layered frills that matched the layers of her skirt.
She shrugged a shoulder, feeling the aforementioned white and black fairy wings rise and fall with her movements. She had honestly forgotten they were there for a moment. "I made them, actually."
Brooklyn's blue eyes widened beneath her mask. "You what?! Sarah, this was just an employee masquerade holiday party! You didn't need to go and make something this fancy - don't tell me you made the dress too!"
Sarah felt her lips quirk in an indulgent smile. "No, I bought the dress and thought they needed - something else."
"Like the mask wasn't enough?"
Sarah lifted one hand self-consciously to the white mask. The mask itself was a soft material - satin almost. A white rose was fixed to a high point where the mask curled up her temple. Feathers - like owl and pheasant tail feathers gently tickled her fingers as she brushed them away from her cheek.
"If I'm going to have any fun at this party," Sarah retorted, "I'm going to do it my way."
"By drinking champagne, looking fabulous, and avoiding every guy who wants to dance with you?" Brooklyn accused teasingly.
Again, Sarah's eyes roved about the room. She had noticed the looks of her co-workers and those of some of her co-workers dates. Hungry looks that made her feel like crawling into an oubliette. No. She would much rather skirt the crowd and watch - and wait.
"I'm not interested in dancing," Sarah answered. "Besides, this dress doesn't exactly work with the style - and I'd probably hit people with my wings." Turning with a frown to the girl beside her, Sarah asked, "Who decided the music? It's too - high school promish. A masquerade ought to have a - a string quartet or something elegant. Waltzes - stuff like that."
Brooklyn laughed. "Sarah, do you seriously think our company could have afforded that? Or that anyone would want to dance slowly with - anyone?"
"I would," Sarah mumbled as she lifted her glass once more to her lips. Her eyes darted over to a window. Snow had started to fall. She watched the empty tree branches as they were dusted in white. Trapped inside a ballroom of leering, partying people she knew. What would be worse? A ballroom full of people she didn't know?
"Did you hear what I said?" Brooklyn's voice broke through Sarah's thoughts.
"Hmm?"
Brooklyn sighed and shook her head. Her hands went to her hips in a typical, no-nonsense pose for the short blond. "I said you need to enjoy yourself more! I also asked if you had a date? If not, I know that James would really like -"
"Did you see that?!" Sarah interrupted as she took a step away from her friend, her eyes ever watching the window.
"What?" Brooklyn asked, hoping Sarah was searching for a man. "See what?"
"Out there! On the tree! Was that an owl?" Sarah was about to walk across the room to the window, but a hand closing around her upper arm made her stop and tear her gaze away from the window.
"An owl? Seriously, Sarah?" Brooklyn huffed.
"No really I saw -" Sarah's voice trailed off as she looked back at the window. A tree. And falling snow. No owl. "Never mind," she sighed in defeat.
"Too much champagne," Brooklyn whispered to herself. "You need to take it easy, Sarah," the blond chided.
Sarah nodded and placed a hand to her forehead in mock-exhaustion. "Yeah - maybe. Too many nights babysitting my little brother." She smiled brightly at Brooklyn. "You're right. I should enjoy myself and relax. James was it? Looking for a dance? Sure. Just - give me a moment to get a glass of water and clear my head. Maybe touch up my makeup."
"That's the spirit!" Brooklyn cheered. "Want me to let him know?"
"No!" Sarah stopped her friend before she could disappear into the crowd. "No, I'll - I'll find him. I think I saw him earlier. Can't have strayed too far."
"Okay - don't take too long," Brooklyn warned. "I think I saw Jen closing in on him."
"Just a minute or two, promise." Sarah nodded and quickly left her friend's side. Sarah dodged and weaved through the crowds, allowing herself to be lost from her friend's well-meaning sight. Once she was certain she was away from Brooklyn's view, the brunette made her way over to the large window.
The ballroom was elegant - if not tackily decorated with a disco ball and some festive tulle. The only redeeming features would be the windows and woodwork. Floor-to-ceiling windows, framed with forest green velvet curtains, allowed the party-goers a view of a golf park beyond the immediate grounds. Trees near the hotel held strings of fairy lights that twinkled in the darkness and made the snowflakes sparkle as they fell.
Sarah edged closer to the windowpane and stared out at the tree she thought the owl had lighted on. Her eyes squinted to make out the tree and any small detail hidden by the lights of the party she was trapped in. Were those claw marks on the tree? A feather on the snow?
Searching around again, Sarah spied a French door a few feet away from where she stood. A porch with steps down into a small garden with a stone bench and fountain. She could get to the tree and inspect it - she wouldn't have to leave or make excuses.
Biting her fingernail with indecision, Sarah glanced once more over the party. What reason did she have for staying? To assure her stepmother and friends that she could enjoy herself? To say she had gone to a dance - even without a date - perhaps secure a dance partner to appease people into thinking she was still looking for a life mate after - 3 - 4? years of not dating? She was twenty-eight, they said. She should be married and have children now. Not working as an underappreciated, overworked, underpaid drama teacher at a large school that was fighting to stay open.
What did she care? Their opinions had no power over her.
Squaring her shoulders, Sarah walked purposefully toward the doors to the outside and slipped out the opening she made.
The snow crunched under her shoes. Sarah took a moment to look around at the undisturbed white - the light played off the snow like glitter had been flung across a white blanket. Slowly, she descended the steps of the patio and crossed the short distance to the tree. Her gaze, lifted to the branch, searched for the marks in the snow-covered branches. Had it been disturbed before she came?
Her neck protested at her strain so she lowered her head and looked down at the ground. Her heart beat faster at the sight of a white plume, resting on the snow and slowly being buried by it. Sarah bent - awkwardly due to the tightly cinched corset back of her dress - to retrieve the forgotten feather. She twirled the feather in her hand and stared at it for a long while.
"Was it him?" She breathed aloud, her words turning into puffs of vapor as they touched the cold air.
"Who?" Sarah turned toward the call of the owl. "Whowho?" Her eyes searched the surrounding trees and fell on the figure of a barn owl, staring calmly back at her. It was perched on the stone rim of the patio railing. Simply staring.
Dare she breath his name? Sarah felt her words lodge in her throat. Could it be? She hadn't called for him. It - no - maybe? She reached out a shaking hand and took a step closer, she didn't know if she wanted to touch it or - what.
The owl's head tilted for a moment then it launched itself into the air.
Sarah emitted a cry of dismay as she turned to watch where it flew. To her surprise, it merely landed on another tree, a short distance away. It shifted in a comical manner until it had turned to look at her. It tilted its head again and echoed its call. "Whowho?"
Follow? Or return to the nice, warm building where familiar, leering, well-meaning people waited? Sarah stared at the owl's face and debated in her head what to do. She had followed - an unfamiliar path toward a known goal. Now she had the choice to follow an unfamiliar path toward an unknown goal.
It was just a bird! It couldn't possibly lead her to anything!
Could it?
"You can't take anything for granted," Sarah whispered the lesson to herself. She had heard it so many times from an old friend who could not visit her as often as he once had. She had grown older. While she still needed the fantasy and wonder of her childhood, the reality of her adulthood continuously crowded in. Reality wanted her to forget. How could she? That moment in time, the friendships she had made, the lessons she had learned, the foe she had faced - the love she had lost -
In a louder voice she repeated, "I can't take anything for granted."
The owl merely blinked and said, "Who?" It spread its wings once more, lifted from the tree branch and circled so it was flying away from the hotel ballroom, away from the lights, laughter, music, and the familiar. And Sarah?
Sarah followed.
She ran after the fast moving bird. Her eyes remained riveted to the white owl; sure her feet would land on solid ground, sure that she would not run into a tree or trip over a fallen branch. Sarah had never been more sure of anything in her adult life. She was sure that the owl was leading her to something. Something she needed to get back. Something at the end of this winding path that would ensure her happiness. Like her little brother Toby - she had to get it back.
What it was - she did not know yet. But she wanted it badly.
The owl slowed down until it was flying almost lazily above her. Sarah slowed as well, wondering if their journey was over or if the bird had known that her lungs were burning and her breathing labored. She did not look down or around. Her gaze focused forward, now leaving the owl for the first time. Sarah stared ahead at the snow covered path. As far as she could tell, trees stood on either side, leaving a clear path, but obstructing view of anything beside it. She was sure that, if she looked up, all she would see would be snow covered branches. The snowfall was barely penetrating. Somehow she could see - perhaps candles or lanterns hung from the branches? She could not see too far ahead though - all was white and covered with snow.
The trees began to thin out beside her, but the trees that remained were thick and gray and old. The dark, snow-laden clouds hung overhead, showering the clearing Sarah found herself in with soft snow. The owl glided to a tree and landed. Sarah stopped in the center of the clearing and looked all around. She had no idea where she was. She only knew that here was where she needed to be.
Sarah turned in a slow circle and looked her fill. She smiled at the sight of snow falling like glitter - no - like the dust of a diamond. She did not feel cold - although her breath told her that it was very frigid. The cold wind sent by Jack Frost tousled her brunette waves, alerting Sarah to the shocking reality that her hair had grown. What used to be shoulder-length now trailed down to backside. She should be shocked - confused - angry - but - she wasn't.
Her eyes rose as a warm, burnt-orange color began to break through the clouds. Sarah felt the warmth of a winter sunrise begin. She heard the rustle of feathers and fabric behind her, but she did not turn. Frozen with wonder and longing, she waited and watched the sunrise.
Whoever was behind her did not move either. Did not attempt to break the spell of quietness and waiting.
Not until the orange had turned to a mixture of red, pink, and yellow did the person - who was not usually a patient person - begin to lose hope that Sarah would ever speak. She had been right when she said he had no power over her, but she most definitely had power over him. He had been unseen for years. Blocked from her sight by her own abilities. When she had seen him tonight, come to him, reached out to him - hope had taken hold in his heart. She had followed him - hope grew till he was sure to burst! If she did not speak soon - call for him as she did when she was but a child - he would be dashed to pieces like one of his many crystals.
His fear and impatience began to fester into anger and betrayal. No - she would not speak. She would turn and leave without a word. Back to the Aboveground. Back to those foul men who did not deserve her - were too filthy to lay a finger on her. With a jerk, he turned and would have fled before she could reject him again.
Sarah heard his cape snap as he turned and she in kind turned so quickly, she felt the feathers fixed to her mask slap her into wakefulness.
"Jareth!"
He stopped, his back to her. Unmoving.
Sarah gasped for air as if the one word - one name - had exerted great effort and will from her. Her wide, panicked eyes searched the man from the top of his wild, blond hair tipped with silver to the hem of his cape which rested on the top of the snow. His posture was tight and rigid. His hair quivered in the breeze.
"Yes? Sarah?" His voice felt like warmth yet bitterly cold. The two questions caressed and dashed her. Did he hate her so much? Did he love her still?
"Jareth," she began again, "please -"
"Why did you come?" He demanded, his voice a little louder than the first hushed questions.
Sarah felt her hand drop to her side. When had she reached it out? Like she had when he was an owl, merely staring at her back at the hotel? "I -"
"Did you come to gloat?" He sneered. "To remind me that you could live without me? Live without the Labyrinth? Live and be happy?"
"Jareth, I -"
"I will not be mocked!" Jareth bellowed. He was silent. The woods were silent. Even the sunrise seemed to stop moving as the snow had ceased to fall.
After a long time, he made to walk away again. "Leave."
"I don't know why!" Sarah hastened to say, hoping to make him stay.
Jareth stopped again.
"I - I don't know why," Sarah repeated slowly as she took slow steps toward him. She hoped the snow did not crunch. She hoped he did not hear her approaching, but if the quivering of his hair was not the wind - which she could not feel blowing - then he must be shaking because he was so tense at her presence and her approach, then he must know and hear. Yet he stayed.
"If you don't know, then why come?" Jareth questioned. His tone that of an accusation. Sarah felt a stab of pain - guilt.
"I think I lost something."
"Not another baby brother," Jareth sneered again. Sarah felt guilt once more for her childish wish. She felt incredible guilt every now and again when Toby did something to annoy her and she thought something about how she wished - but no. She would always stop herself from finishing the thought, but she knew - deep down - that in her hearts of hearts - she had finished the thought over and over again.
Sometimes she wished she had never saved her baby brother.
She would repent. She always repented. She loved her brother. More than life itself. She gave up much when she entered the Labyrinth. She gave up her selfish childhood, she gave up her hopes and dreams - unrealistic they may be, and she had given up the chance to marry and rule alongside the Goblin King.
She hadn't needed her selfishness, her hopes or dreams, or the Goblin King. She needed the unconditional love of Toby - her little brother. She grew to be selfless - although not perfect. She gained new hopes and dreams. She did not need to marry a king or rule a country.
"Not Toby," Sarah whispered as she stopped walking - frozen where she stood when he spoke and caused her so much pain. "I've lost something else."
"What?"
". . . love."
The quivering stopped and all was silent again. Sarah hoped - oh she hoped - that what she said next would break the silence.
"I think - I lost my ability to love."
"You love Toby." The quiet voice reminded her.
Sarah shook her head. "I can love family. I can love my job. I can't - I can't love someone that I want to love."
"I cannot help you," Jareth snarled. "I am not Cupid."
"You don't have to be!" Sarah retorted angrily, her old self returning. "You don't have to be Cupid, the Goblin King, Dan, Klint, Grant, Ryan, Mike, or Ben! You just have to be Jareth! Love me. Why do I have to fear you? That's so stupid! Just be yourself and stop trying to trick me and -"
"You knew?" Jareth had turned in shock at the list of names. "You knew all that time - and never said anything?"
Sarah stopped her tirade and looked at Jareth. His mismatched eyes showing wonder and confusion. "Of course I knew. You're terrible at acting. I never wanted a carbon copy - I just wanted you."
Jareth stepped closer until he was a breath away. He stared down at Sarah, searching her face. The pose was so reminiscent of a time long ago - a scared girl trying to be brave before a hardened man trying too hard to be loved.
"I thought you did not know what you were looking for."
Sarah smiled, her features softening to that of warmth and acceptance. "I didn't - until you started acting stupid."
Jareth huffed and inclined his head so that he was peering down his hooked nose at the woman before him. "I never act 'stupid.'"
She poked his chest, feeling the fine material and unable to decide what it was. "You do - and you're forgiven."
"I?"
"Yes. Imperious you," Sarah grinned up at him. She ducked her head slightly. "Do you forgive me?"
Jareth lowered his head in an attempt to catch her remorseful green gaze. "For what, love?"
She shivered at the term of endearment. Did he mean it? "For waiting so long?"
A white, gloved hand cupped her chin between a forefinger and thumb. She allowed him to tilt her head enough for the pair to meet gazes. "Would I have come if I had not?"
"I still need to hear you say it," Sarah whispered.
Jareth sighed and lowered his hand. Taking both her hands in his, he nodded. "Yes, Sarah. I forgive you. I did some time ago." His eyes searched her face once more. "I wish," he murmured more to himself than to her, "I wish I could kiss you."
A smile on her lips and in her voice, Sarah asked, "Then why don't you?"
An owlish blink later, he answered, "I do not know."
Deflated, Sarah said, "Well, if you want to wait - I understand and -"
His lips pressed against her's effectively shutting her up. Sarah blinked a moment in surprise, wondering where that had come from before her eyes slid shut and she reciprocated the kiss. She reveled in the firm warmth his lips offered. She felt his arms slide up her arms and over her back. She stepped into his embrace and coiled her arms up and around his neck. Her fingers dug into his hair and found the nape of his neck. Pressed so close to him, Sarah was sure that, if she were cold, she would be warmed up instantly.
They parted and looked at each other with wonder filled eyes, gauging the reaction of the other. Smiles spread from lips to eyes before the joined for another kiss - hungry and more passionate than the first.
Time seemed to stop for them both. When they parted again, Sarah felt dizzy and giddy. Resting her head against his chest, she sighed with contentment. Jareth's hands stroked her hair and pulled her close for occasional hugs - so uncharacteristic from the man she had thought him to be.
"Come," he murmured. "We have much to discuss."
Tucked into his side, they walked along the snowy path toward the sun that was rising to signal the morning. Sarah looked around, enjoying the winter wonderland. She giggled as the song came to her mind. She was sure there was a fire in a great big castle somewhere - waiting for the pair to sit beside. They would talk about the future - whatever it may hold.
Fin