Author's Note: This is a series of short scenes, detailing stages that I wanted to depict. I hope someone, at least, enjoys. Thanks for reading – let me know what you think. I don't own Sarah, Jareth, Karen, Robert OR Toby, of course.
You Miss me?
Sarah stared at herself in the mirror, hating her reflection. She touched her dark hair, looked into her own dark eyes, and felt like crying.
She was a high school junior now – it was only one year until graduation. She had finally managed to get her head out of the clouds and back into reality. She had
friends. She had boyfriends.
Sarah Williams was not happy.
"What's wrong with me?" She asked herself, laying her head on the cool wood of her bureau. "Why can't I be happy?"
She didn't want to admit it, but she knew why. She wasn't home anymore. She wasn't where she wanted to be.
She missed the Labyrinth.
She missed Hoggle, and Ludo, and Sir Didymus. She missed magic, and wonder, and danger around every turn. She missed the Bog of Stench. She missed the thrill of Jareth appearing behind rocks and scaring her.
That was the hardest for her to admit.
She thumped her head on the wood. Once. Twice.
"Is everything all right in there?" Karen called from outside the door, laughter and concern in her voice.
"I'm fine," Sarah called back, still facing the desk.
"What would it hurt?" She tried to reason with herself. She called Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus on a regular basis… could she just call Jareth the same way? Would he allow her to go back to the Labyrinth?
She thought of those last few moments, those moments when he offered her himself. Yes, she would have to obey him, bow before him, but… maybe, just maybe… it was worth it? Sarah groaned, squinching her eyes shut. "You're crazy, Sarah," she moaned. She wanted to call him. To tell him she accepted him.
She wanted to be his subject. His… his what?
His woman? His girl? She was only seventeen. She wasn't ready for marriage… if that was what he had been predicting.
What if she totally embarrassed herself and he laughed?
Would it be worse than sitting in her room being depressed?
Being at school being depressed? Sitting with Kyle, Blake, or Vito and being
depressed?
She lifted her head, cleared her throat, and stared into the mirror.
"Jareth," she said. Her voice squeaked. She felt herself blush, and cleared her throat again. "Jareth. I need you." The last came out a mere whisper.
His face appeared in her mirror, one brow arched, lips tightly compressed. "What do you want, Sarah?"
Was he that mad at her? Still? "I… I wanted to apologize, I guess." She dropped her gaze, unable to look at him.
Silence. She glanced up. He was still watching her.
"Apologize?" He asked.
"I guess I could have been a little friendlier. Thanked you for the trip and all, at least." Great, she told herself. Now I sound like a greeting card.
"Are you all right, Sarah?" He cocked his head.
She laughed. "Are you worried?" She couldn't hide her sadness.
"You miss the Labyrinth, don't you?" He said it gently. She almost lashed out, blasting him insultingly, but she realized he was serious.
Once more dropping her head, she nodded. "I miss everything," she confessed.
"Even me?"
She squeezed her eyes so tightly that a tear ran out. "Even you," she said raggedly.
"Well then, we'll just have to do something about that," he said from behind her. His hands settled on her shoulder, turning her around.
Her eyes widened. "Wha… what?"
"Come, my dear," he held out his hand. "The Labyrinth awaits!" His eyebrow was lifted again, but this time his manner was challenging, not condescending.
With a grin, she accepted his offer.
I've Come to Ask…
"I'm worried about Sarah," Karen confided to her husband.
Robert frowned over at his wife, momentarily pausing in his channel surfing. "What do you mean?"
Karen sighed, looking up at the ceiling above her. It was late and Sarah was, no doubt, already asleep. "She's been acting weird. She's all… bouncy. Happy. I
don't know."
"You're worried about that?"
"Robert!" She glared at her husband. "This is serious! You know Sarah. I've never seen her like this before. I… I wonder what's going on."
Robert set down the remote. "What do you expect me to do about it?" He asked, a bit belligerently.
"I don't know… talk to her?" Karen wiped a hand over her face, finding herself shaking. She wasn't ready for Sarah to grow up, and it looked like she was
growing up faster and faster every day. "Robert… I think she's in love," she said softly.
Robert's head twisted around. "In… love?" His voice was high and squeaky.
Karen managed not to laugh.
"Does this mean…?" He couldn't even say the word!!
The lights flickered. Karen looked up. "Is it storming outside?"
Robert shook his head. "I don't think so…"
"You must be the stepmother," a cool, accented voice purred.
He stood in the middle of their living room, a tall, commanding presence with huge spikes of white-blond hair, streaked with blue. He wore tight-fitting pants, a frilly shirt, and a long-tailed coat.
"Who are you?" Robert asked.
The man stood. He had been bowing, kissing Karen's hand. He turned to look at Robert, and the man was startled by his eyes. One hazel, one blue.
"I am Jareth." The man nodded his head.
"How did you get in my house?" Robert demanded. "What are you doing here."
The man backed up, lounging against the high television set. "I came to do my duty." He frowned at their confused expressions. "Isn't it still expected that a prospective bridegroom announces his intentions to the girl's parents?" He shrugged. "Ah well, it doesn't matter."
"Bridegroom?" Karen held out her hand. Robert clasped it.
Jareth frowned. "Yes. She hasn't mentioned it?"
Both parents shook their head. "We're talking about Sarah," Karen ventured.
"Of course!" His eyebrows flew up, then together. "Silly girl." He shook his head.
"You want to… marry… Sarah?" Robert stammered out.
Jareth nodded. "She's agreed already, of course, this is a mere formality, but an important one, if I may say so."
They nodded dumbly.
"Well," he looked around. "If you don't mind, I'll leave. I have some pressing business to attend to in my realm. Goodnight."
He bowed, then disappeared.
Robert and Karen looked at each other.
Let Me Help You Pack
"Sarah, please!" Karen begged.
Sarah bit her lip, keeping back the words she wanted to shout at the older woman. She knew that Karen was doing her best to be a good stepmother, and that she
hadn't always made it easy for her.
"You can't leave," the woman continued. "Think of your father! Your mother! What about your friends?"
"They don't care about me!" Sarah bit out, almost, but not quite, shouting. "My mother has not called or visited me in six months! Father is always at work, and
you know as well as I do that I don't have any friends!"
Karen looked at her sadly. Sarah felt her heart sink. "Don't pity me," she whispered, tears gathering in her eyes. "Don't." She shifted the heavy pack higher on her shoulder.
"Oh honey…" Karen's eyes shone with bright tears.
Sarah refused to reconsider her decision. She was eighteen now, and had graduated from high school. The world was, as they said, her oyster. She wanted out of the gooey mess. "I know you can't understand this," she said, trying to explain, "but I know what I'm doing. I'm going to be happy where I'm going."
"Do you?" Karen's voice sounded almost wistful.
"I have to get out of here," Sarah said grimly. "I've waited so long to be with him…" Her eyes widened as she realized that she had said it aloud.
"Him?" Karen's eyes narrowed. "You're going to live with a guy?"
Sarah was surprised. Karen wasn't screaming, wasn't going into the rafters. She wasn't even being nasty about it – her voice had been merely questioning.
The young girl nodded shyly.
Karen pulled up a chair, sitting at the table. "Have you known this boy for long?"
Sarah hesitantly pulled off her backpack, setting it on the polished wooden surface of the kitchen table. She sat down across from Karen. "For a few years," she answered cautiously.
"Have we ever met him?"
Sarah shook her head violently.
Karen nodded. "Are you sure about this?"
"I'm sure."
"Okay, then. Let me help you pack." Karen stood and headed up the stairs to Sarah's room.
Sarah followed, stunned. "What? You mean… you're going to let me go?"
"Let you? My dear, I'll even give you some money to help you on your way!" Karen laughed, and began to pull drawers out.
"Are you kicking me out?" Sarah was amazed at the hurt she felt. She had already decided to leave, hadn't she?
Karen turned, her eyes bright. "Oh, Sarah, no!" She grabbed the girl in her arms, hugging her tight. "I wouldn't do that for the world. For one thing, your father
would kill me!" Here she grimaced jokingly. "No way, honey. I just want you to be happy. Now, while we pack, tell me about this young man of yours."
Sarah watched as her stepmother began to dig out old suitcases from the back of Sarah's closet, stuffing clothes into them, then her favorite books and most treasured possessions.
"Well, first of all, he's not that young," Sarah began. "I met him three years ago, and we.. well.. fought. I called him, sort of, a year ago, and we started to talk.
He's wanted me to go and live with him for a long time now."
Karen had paused. "How old are we talking here? Twenty-five? Thirty?"
Sarah found herself blushing. "I really don't know."
Karen's brow arched. "Now, I understand love, and needing to get out on your own, but… are you sure about this? Do you really love him? Do you really want to be with him?"
Sarah's furious red face told its own story. "Yes." She looked at the older blonde woman, seeing the worry in her face. "Do you… do you want to meet him?"
Karen's eyes widened. "Yes," she said softly.
Sarah smiled, gathering her bags. She knew she would have to explain before she called Jareth to her. "Karen," she began, "first, his name is Jareth. He's… he's from another world," she spit out in a rush.
Karen just blinked. "Oh…" She nodded, as if in understanding. A bright smile spread across her face. "All right."
They went downstairs, Sarah leading the way into the backyard. The moon shone brightly overhead, and crickets chattered in the grass. "Are you ready?" She asked Karen.
Karen nodded.
Sarah pulled a bright crystal from her pocket. It shone in the night with some kind of glow. It wasn't glass, the older woman knew that with one glance.
"Jareth." Sarah's whisper caught on the wind, was whipped away. Sarah smiled at Karen's awestruck expression.
First came a light dusting of glitter, whipping in the air, then a cloud of it, and then he appeared. Karen smiled benignly as Sarah threw herself into the man's arms.
"Jareth!" She sobbed, burying her face in the scratchy coat the King wore.
Jareth shone with happiness. "Finally, my darling? You are coming home?" He crooned gently to her, kissing the top of her head and hugging her tightly to him.
Sarah nodded, reluctantly releasing him. She stepped back,
smiling hugely. "This is Jareth, Karen. Karen, Jareth."
Karen stepped forward, an odd little smile on her own face. "We've already met," she said.
Jareth took Karen's hands in his own. "Thank you for taking care of her," he said, voice grave.
Karen nodded. "Make sure you keep her happy!"
Jareth grinned, nodding.
"Karen, you'll explain to Robert and Toby, right?" Sarah asked suddenly.
Karen laughed. "Of course! We expect to come and visit you sometimes, young lady!"
Sarah nodded, feeling her nose stuff up with tears and sadness. "I love you, Karen," she called.
"I love you too," Karen called back.
Jareth smiled, wrapping an arm around Sarah's shoulders. "Is this everything?" He asked, voice gentle.
Sarah nodded.
Jareth gestured, and the sparkling mist began to cover them both. Sarah spoke just as they faded away. "When did you meet…"
Then they were gone.
I will add to this…. At least one more scene