Nothing More Chapter 1: Jareth's Decision, a labyrinth fanfic

Jareth's Decision

Disclaimer: Sarah, Jareth, Toby, Along with Sarah's dad and stepmother and any other characters obviously in the movie the Labyrinth, belong to Jim Henson. Any Character you have not heard of are mine.

Sleepless, mind consuming thoughts. The past, her dreams, her fantasy based truth. Where would reality begin and the fantasy end. Pain. Thats all Sarah Williams knew at that moment. Pain and Moonbeams. Lightning flashed through the small third floor apartment as Sarah curled deeper under her blankets. Every raindrop against the window was a throbbing nail being driven into her skull, every boom of thunder a bullet being sent through her temple. For the last few days similar storms had raged non-stop, ever since she had gotten sick. Sarah dared to lift her head from her pillow, only to place it back into the deep indent that had formed there. Her body was frail and in a matter of days she had dropped 12 pounds. Her skin, normally a creamy white was deathly pale. Sarah shook as another wave of mind shattering pain attacked her worn fragile body. She waited for the coughing to start, long ago had her pleas with her own body to spare her gone silent, the pain would shake her body, the coughing would make her feel like her lungs were about to shatter into a thousand pieces, and then a few rare moments of sleep would come for her until it all began again. She barely began to choke out a sob as the coughing began, covering her mouth as her body shook violently, she finally collapsed onto the bed. Sarah knew she was dying. She knew her hand was covered in blood, just as she knew a small line of crimson trickled down the corner of her mouth. She had tried so many things to keep her mind off of her pain, her visions of the labyrinth were the only thing that pushed her suffering from her mind. In the endless maze she could loose herself, in its puzzles and its mystery. In the few days she had laid in bed she had envisioned herself in so many different situations, adventures with the goblins she so feared, tromping around with her dear friends...the seductiveness of moonbeams and magic... She tried choking out a sob as another wave of pain hit her. This was it. She knew she only had a few more moments. She only wished…If he could only be there with her. "Jareth…My Goblin King..." she felt the darkness seeping over her as she prayed he could hear her, "I…Love you." And then her world ended.

Jareth, King of the Goblins, awoke with a start, a cold sweat drenched him as fear gripped his heart. The dream had been so real, he couldn't wait until tomorrow night, he had to see her now. He threw off his bed covers and walked quickly to one of his vast windows, As quickly as the thought had come a pure white barn owl raced from his castle bedroom, flying with all its heart to the Aboveground.

Timid ungloved fingers slowly traced Sarah's jawline. The young woman was sleeping peacefully in her bed. No pain racked her body, no blood was found anywhere, only messy sheets and a curious cat staring up at him lazily. Sarah shifted momentarily as a new weight settled on her bed and Jareth gave her a moment to settle before continuing to lazily trace her facial features, he stared at the sleeping form, relief flooding through his body.

"You gave me quite a fright," gazing at the peaceful form as she unknowingly cuddled her head against his leg, "My beautiful one."

As he watched her sleep Jareth wished he could stay with her all night, but he knew she would be in shock, and more then likely less happy to find, what she believed to be, a figment of her imagination in her bed. After a few more cherished moments he walked out of her bedroom eying her belongings, making notes to himself of new things that had been added since he last strolled through her house, unknown to any but Sarah's cat. Jereth slowly made his way toward the small balcony to begin his journey back to the underground, but stopped. Jareth glided over to a small desk where Sarah kept her new drawing hobbie, he thumbed through a few bills and other things of no interest to him before slowly skimming over the sketches of a magnificent white barn owl she had drawn in various scenery. One perched on the flimsy railing of her balcony, flying gracefully in the nearby park, shadowed against the moon. He even dared a rare smile as he found the new sketch she had drawn, it was a wonderful likeness, almost flawless. Although she had done very few of his Fae form, the ones she had done were brilliant. When she became queen he planned to have her experiment with painting, he could only imagine how stunning a painted portrait of him to hang in his castle would be. Jareth stifled a light chuckle at his inward vein streak and continued to look through Sarah's works of art. Finally noticing that the sun in the human world was beginning to rise he stepped onto the balcony, looking back briefly through Sarah's bedroom door at the slowly waking form on the bed behind him before becoming the white barn owl of Sarah's reality and swiftly returning to the underground.

Sarah stared at the spot next to her balcony disbelief laced in her sleep heavy eyes. I had sworn…but no, it couldn't have been.. She shook her head as she began the process of waking herself, prying herself from her tangled sheets, almost tripping over Fera as she slowly began making her way to her bathroom. "Good morning Fera, get out of my way please." "Merow" Sarah batted her cat out of her bathroom as Fera tried wrapping herself around Sarah's legs. Even veiled in sleep she was graceful, Sarah Williams had transformed in the past seven years. No longer the simple minded girl who tells everyone, "it's not fair," Sarah was now a woman of twenty-one. Graceful in everything she set out to accomplish, with beautiful long black hair flowing down to her lower back; her body, although fragile, was quite desirable, earning her stares wherever she went; her eyes had a certain spark to them, showing the mischievous girl still hidden underneath her womanly curves. Sarah gently folded her bedclothes and placed them onto the bathroom counter. Reaching into the shower she adjusted the temperature to her liking, stripping the last of her undergarments before letting the warm water engulf her body. Raising her face towards the direction of which the water came, she replayed the image she had seen when she had awoken.

Jareth.

Sarah smiled as that foreign feeling of warmth tingled through her body. Such an imagination. One of these days I should really learn to grow up and stop being so childish. It was only a dream.

After finishing her shower and clothing herself in a clean tank top and a worn pair of pants she finally settled at her desk. "What a cluttered mess, did i really leave it in this state last night." She eyedFera, who was swatting at a moth in the corner of the room, "This is your doing you little nucense." Sarah sighed as she rested her elbows against the clutter. Noticing her calendar on the wall near her she smiled noticing Toby's birthday was coming up.

Toby, I hope he's having a good time on vacation with Dad and Karen.

Her family had offered to take her with them to Ireland for the week, but she had gratefully declined.

"Too many built up bills." she had told Karen on the phone. "You could use a vacation, Sarah. Your father is worried about you. He knows how hard you've been working lately."

A vacation sounds dreamy...

Looking again at her calendar she also noticed what wonderful time of the month it was, tonight was the last day of the month, she would have the dream tonight. She smiled openly as she imagined herself clothed in a stunning ball gown, the object of all the kings subjects, being twirled around in dance with the ever ravishing Goblin King, to be held in his arms as she was swept around the ballroom, to be treated like a queen, if only for five minutes. She was broken out of her reverie at the soft flutter of wings, she looked out to her balcony to the beautiful brown owl who had been watching her.

"Good morning, Jareth." With a bright smile she walked out to where the owl was sitting and stroked his head affectionately. He made a few affectionate movements at her hand before taking flight into a nearby tree hollow. Sarah had decided to call him Jareth because this wonderful bird started coming to her soon after her adventure in the labyrinth.

The labyrinth…no, I wont start with that again. After all, it was only a dream.

Jareth sat in his office resisting the urge to spy upon Sarah's morning doings. He had things to attend too, papers to sign, his people to address,Araym to explain too, Sarah too...Jareth stopped his thought process, shaking his head and muffling a grone of annoyance. "I'm never going to get a single thing done at this rate!" He exclaimed slamming his fist down on his desk stopping a soft knock at the door in mid knock.

"You-your Majesty?" Another soft timid knock came to Jareth's ears, "Your Majesty? Your Majesty are you well?" Jareth growled slightly at the door, eying it with discontempt.

"Come in, Trista." Jareth said, annoyance clearly laced through his voice, as his chamber door slowly opened, "Well, hurry up, I haven't got all day."Jareth smiled in mild amusement, his anger calming as he watched the small elderly woman made her way tottering into Jareth's chambers. Trista had been with Jareth for years, she was the nursemaid to Jareths family and had spent many a day chasing after the misbehaved youth. Jareth though back fondly at all the days this poor creature had chased him through the Labyrinth itself, trying her best to keep up with his untamed Fae tricks.

"Your Majesty, I've brought your breakfast." Jareth's eyes followed the woman as she crossed the room to set his breakfast trey down on his desk, trying in futile attempts to find a clean spot.

"Trista." Jareth looked at the woman thoughtfully, "I would like you to prepare a room. I have a guest that will be staying here for quite some time. I would like it to be comfortable," Jareth stared at his hands before finally conjuring a crystal in his hand displaying Sarah with a cup of something, probably tea, in her pale hands, "perhaps the larger suite down the hall from my office would be suitable."

"Majesty." Trista nodded and bowed, moving back towards the door.

"Oh, and Trista, before you do that send one of the maids to find Araym." Jareth grew quiet, "I believe we need to have a chat."

A.N.--Ok guys. This is the first chapter rewritten after like...5 years. It's not much different i just added some more extra knowledge about the characters in and just generally added more detail. I hope you guys enjoy it, let me know what you think.