So this is my first Labyrinth fan fiction and I'm excited about it. :] I warn you, it was not been beta-ed. o.O It was just an idea that sprung from day dreaming, so no flames please. ._. This might be a one shot, depending on the feedback I receive and whether or not I get more muse for it. ^-^
Jareth: . Give her good reviews, I want to see more of my sexy, devious little self.
Jess: -drop kicks him in the forehead- Ignore the man behind the curtain. o.o
"I'm dying, Jareth."
Simple. Bitter. Straight to the point.
Had the Goblin King had a human heart, it might have stopped altogether at that very moment. Rather, the intricately dressed gentleman's exterior produced little more than a twitch of his pale, thin lips; whilst on the inside, he felt his goblin heartbeat – a rhythm several times swifter than that of a human – lurch sorrowfully before picking up at a doubled pace. The steady hum of a hummingbird heart magnified.
He stood awkwardly once more, awfully out of place amongst the home of a now thirty-seven year old Sarah Williams – rather, Sarah Creed now.
Yes. Julien Creed had been her husband's name, hadn't it? His name before he'd left Sarah a widow due to heart attack three years prior.
It was rather important that Jareth keep up with menial things such as his greatest rival's life even twenty-two years after his defeat.
Should she wish to return to the Underground for whatever reason, he felt it was necessary to watch for any weakness. Better preparation. Sarah had, after all, solved the Labyrinth once before – he would not underestimate her again.
Though, when she declared his lack of power over her over two decades prior, she hadn't stripped him of any of his powers. Rather, she made herself slightly more powerful than when she began.
Power of authority as Toby's champion. When she entered Jareth's castle that day, she had put the Goblin King in check – a place he'd never been before. With that accomplishment – such a thing that no one had ever done – she was granted authority. Authority that gave her the choice of taking an initiative against the king.
By unknowingly tapping into that power, she had put Jareth in checkmate and stolen Toby back.
And now, her victory unrivaled, she remained in power over Jareth. Thus, her wishes met his ears before the wishes of anyone else. Had he the ability to change such a thing, he surely would have.
Such a wretched brat she'd been to him.
But all of that brought him to her now. A wish uttered from her lips:
"I wish for an audience with the Goblin King…right now."
And there he'd been just moments later. An owl swooping across the night sky and into a readily opened window. He'd fluttered about the room in which she stood for no more than a few moments than, in a burst of silent fog, he rose – standing, all six feet, six inches of himself. Sarah was below him by one foot.
When the smoke cleared, his face was little more than mildly surprised at whom it was that had summoned him. He gave her very little acknowledgement, but rather turned about to peer at the fine home that Sarah Wil- rather, Sarah Creed, - had made for herself.
It was too dim by the dying light of the fire place to be able to see much; but Jareth had gone about, studying photographs of an adult Sarah and her husband – a gentleman that had been slightly graying in the temples by the looks of some of the photographs. Julien Creed – a lawyer. How…bizarre. Such a grown-up career for Sarah's mate to have. Jareth would have assumed a teacher, or author.
The rest of the room contained antique lamp and coffee tables, couches, and a grandfather clock. A television sat against a wall on the other side of the room.
When he finally made a thorough investigation of Sarah's living room, and had finally turned to look at her, he'd straightened himself up. It was then that she spoke aloud the dreadful words.
"I'm dying."
Remaining with a calm exterior, he inhaled quietly and attempted to be as nonchalant as possible.
"I am sorry to hear this." He spoke. He didn't sound it.
But he was.
Sarah proceeded on, unsurely. If she detected false sympathy in his voice, she hadn't acknowledged it.
"I…" she hesitated. "I don't really know the purpose of summoning you here to tell you of this. Well!" she frowned. "I do have a purpose, but…that is…"
Jareth was growing impatient. Whether it was because he felt his infinite amount of time was precious, or because he could no longer bare to look at this slowly deteriorating woman, he didn't make it clear.
"On with it, you stupid girl!" He hissed.
It was beginning to thoroughly agitated the Goblin King that she would summon him for such a tragic bit of news. She hadn't eased into the truth at all – just a head-first dive into such a thing. It angered him.
He'd loved her. Of course he'd loved her.
Loved her all through her teenage years and high school crushes and boyfriends. Through her loss of maid-hood in college, and her marriage to the same man after graduating at twenty-four.
And she had not ever loved him back.
Rejection was not something Jareth was used to, but it was something he was forced to bear when she'd done so at just fifteen years old.
Yet, he'd loved her. Expected her to call him back one day.
And she had.
To let him know that she would be wiped from the earth for good.
Sarah's voice pierced him as she spoke.
"I have a favor to-"
"When?" he snapped, interrupting her thought. She had a favor; he'd gathered that. And he would grant her anything – but first, the details had to be addressed.
Sarah frowned.
"I am…not quite sure." She spoke, softly. Her eyes searched his mismatched ones. "There's a tumor. It's located very close to vital organs."
She paused. Her voice trembled. She carried on.
"It's unthreatening right now. However…so close to these organs, it's not something that can be risked with an operation. Rather, my doctors would like to run some more tests…attempt chemotherapy…but…"
Jareth peered down at her over his nose. His hands tightened beneath black silk gloves, and he wore black riding boots, black trousers, and an open-front white shirt. The skin of his chest gleamed from the firelight as he turned toward it. He was unable to look at her any longer.
"But?" he spoke softly. She sighed from behind him.
"Things don't look good." She answered. "That's why…I must take precautions now."
"Precautions?" his brow furrowed. He turned to look at her, his face a mask of impatience. "What on earth are you talking about?" Jareth demanded.
Sarah sighed.
"Will you come with me?"
Silence was his reply.
Surely, he would. He would follow her anywhere. What choice did he have?
So rather than speak, he simply flicked a wrist to signal for her to lead.
Sarah took initiative by turning away from him. It was then that he finally studied her with long, unwavering looks. She had noticeably changed.
Thirty-seven was kind to her. She was a couple of inches taller than their first meeting – her green eyes had, though losing their childlike innocence, become soft and warm. Her skin was tighter with a lack of youthful pudginess. Her body looked firmer, more filled out. Her ebony hair hung just a little shorter than when he'd last seen her close, coming into a layered do that reached her shoulders. She wore a pair of office slacks, a magenta blouse, and stood barefoot.
Striding after her seemed so unnecessary – so human – but for her sake, he would do such a thing. He followed with confident steps as she led him from the living room, toward a hall, and up a flight of stairs.
His nose wrinkled in distaste for acting like a mortal, but as he drew on after Sarah, he felt that the necessity of his cooperation was steadily becoming more vital.
She led him down a hall, past an open door – upon a short look, revealed to be an office of sorts, with a computer, desk, chair, and paintings hanging on the walls.
Finally, he halted as Sarah came to a stop outside of a door at the end of the hall.
Slowly, her eyes traveled to Jareth's face and she studied it for a moment, before whispering for some ungodly reason,
"Here we are."
Before Jareth could open his mouth to utter a sarcastic and witty reply, Sarah had taken the doorknob in her hand, twisted it, and pushing it open softly.
Stepping inside, she gestured for Jareth to follow.
He did so, his eyes scanning the room's contents.
Upon the walls hung dozens upon dozens of childish crayon and marker drawings. Teddy bears, dolls, and toys sat about various areas of the room. A little, soft pink dresser with a vanity mirror held a few picture frames atop it of photographs that Jareth could not see. Against one wall was a small, matching wardrobe in the same powdery pink that had a few Raggedy Anne-esque dolls atop it with plaid dresses, yarn hair, and stitched smiles. A dim light at one side of the room cast a faint, but generous glow toward a non-matching, baby blue canopy bed.
A small one.
Jareth felt his breath hitch in his throat as Sarah smiled softly and stepped further into the room. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked on in unwavering adoration at the small thing on the center of the bed.
Jareth didn't speak as he approached Sarah's side in relatively confident strides once more. His eyes fell upon the thing which she had been gazing at with such devotion.
The little girl couldn't be more than nine or ten years old. Small, with long, tousled chocolate-colored locks of hair. Her skin was a tad darker – but there was no mistaking her mother.
Sarah smiled at him ruefully.
"Isn't she beautiful?"
"Exquisite." Jareth spoke before he could stop himself. Her mother had been the first standing champion of his labyrinth and the object of his desire for so long – of course her daughter would be perfect.
He turned toward her.
"Sarah." His face was firm with annoyance. She knew his soft spot for children. "What is it that you're asking of me? Kidnap your child? A final run of my labyrinth before your time on this world ends?"
Sarah hissed sharply at him and took a defensive position between her child and Jareth.
"Never. I would not wish her away for anything."
Jareth was convinced by the look in her eyes. A fierce, predatory instinct.
Instinct to protect her life and the life of her offspring.
"Then what do you ask of me, Sarah?" he sneered, his voice maintaining its evenness. Do not wake the sleeping child.
Sarah pursed her lips as she stared at the Goblin King. Jareth's mouth twitched in annoyance at her silence – but slowly, he came to a realization.
He was not being asked to kidnap this child.
"Sarah." He growled softly. "No- surely not. I care for children when they are wished away, and turn them to goblins if they aren't collected by their champions…but I don't keep them in my castle for indefinite amounts of time."
Sarah looked down at her hands. She fiddled with the hem of her blouse. Her twitchy habit was steadily aggravating Jareth.
"For all I know, there could be no need for this, Jareth." She spoke, firmly. "But... in the event…I…I need to know she's in the place of someone that will look after her."
That reply had set Jareth's glare slightly deeper. His eyes followed an adult Sarah Williams as she swept toward her child and slowly took a seat at the edge of her bed. The babe stirred, but only to swing her fragile arm across her chest and roll on the side that faced him.
Her delicate little eyelashes fluttered, but she remained asleep. A soft grunt escaped her as she settled into her dreams once more.
A perfect clone. Her mother in almost every way.
"What, pray tell, convinces you that I am the one to care for her in the event…" Jareth could not finish his sentence. Instead, he proceeded to another thought. "We are certain enemies, are we not? You despise me."
Sarah studied his expression for a moment, before she turned toward the little flower and placed a hand atop her dark curls. Stroking absentmindedly, Sarah's voice was quiet.
"Because, Jareth…" she sighed. Her lips were trembling – fighting away tears. "I don't hate you. I never hated you. You gave me only what I'd wished for, and I'd had to fight to get it back. It was my doing that stole Toby away when he was a baby. But you cared for him…"
Her emerald eyes turned onto him and became fierce once more. Childish and lovely – full of energy and life. Jareth almost smiled wickedly at the sight – this was the rival he knew.
"Your heart is less cold that you're pretending it is."
Jareth shoulders were back, his posture that of defiant confidence. He did not speak as Sarah studied him, as if truly seeing him for the first time since his defeat. From his extravagant clothing, his wild blonde hair, and his mismatched eyes, made bolder by powdery colors.
He knew he had not changed. Not aged a day physically.
And here she was, looking physically older than he.
Thirty-seven treated her well, but it would never match the body of twenty-six that he possessed.
"Suppose I should take her…why would you desire such a thing?" he questioned her.
Sarah smiled ruefully.
"When we first met, I didn't have a thought at all about how cruel life can be. People die, you lose the ones you love, and we're left alone…" she trailed off as she looked toward the sleeping child once more. "When I was victorious and got Toby back, I gave up my childhood for good and moved onto adulthood. I packed away everything-"
"Presumably after your celebratory party with members of my kingdom." Jareth sniffed, recalling the night of Sarah's victory. He'd been watching as a white owl from outside of her window – watching her celebrate and have a party with Hoggle and her other friends from his labyrinth.
Sarah frowned.
"I let them go after that." She said, softly. Her hand moved from the child and back to her lap. "I never did call for them again."
Jareth's frown remained unwavering. He knew this, of course. However, for her sake, he said nothing.
"I thought leaving them behind would make the transition to adulthood a much simpler one. I realize now that I had needed them for many of my trials. But…" Sarah's eyes returned to the sleeping girl. "I don't want Holly to stay in this world her entire life."
Holly.
The name stirred something inside of Jareth. Affection he couldn't explain.
A smiled worked its way upon his face.
"Then wish for her to be left with me should you die." He spoke softly. "But on a single condition."
Sarah turned away from Holly and gazed at Jareth, unsure.
"Your condition being?" she spoke, carefully. Jareth sneered as he approached Sarah. The woman did little more than follow him with her eyes, despite the stiffening in her back.
Once beside her, Jareth turned away and let his gaze set upon young Holly. Her heartbeat, her scent…it all pointed to her age – nine years and seven months old. He placed a gloved hand atop her head and gently stroked her hair. Beside him, Sarah trembled at the innocent gesture.
"You desire a safe place for your daughter…and I desire…a queen."
Sarah gasped.
"You bastard." She glared as she stood and shoved her way between Jareth and Holly's sleeping form. "You perverted bastard. She's nine years old!"
Jareth's eyes rolled beneath his wispy blonde bangs.
"Not yet, of course. God, Sarah, what do you take me for? I kidnap children wished away, I don't marry them. Many preparations must be carried out."
"Preparations?" she glowered at him. "Like?"
Jareth smiled.
"A spare chamber cleared, a wedding planned, news over Goblin City, not to mention the several cases a week I receive of abandoned children and people championing them." He spoke as if all of those things were absolutely normal. In Jareth's case, they were.
Sarah gritted her teeth.
"What the hell makes you think I'll let you marry my daughter at any point in time?"
It was now that she witnessed a dramatic change in the Goblin King. His eyes softened to an extremity she'd never seen before.
"Because, Sarah…" his voice remained firm, with a lilt of gentleness lacing it. "You know as well as I do that there will be no safer place for her. No one will care for her like I will – she will have everything."
The change in Sarah's expression was only barely noticeable, but it was enough for Jareth.
Her jaw relaxed slightly.
"It's only that I don't want her to face all of these extremities in this world…that I agree to your terms upon this condition – you're to wait for her twentieth birthday before you marry her."
Jareth gave a sweeping, yet mocking bow.
"I give you my word."
Sarah nodded as her gaze turned back to her child. Was she truly bargaining to give Holly as a bride in exchange for her safety? What would any other parent do? Fight harder?
She had little choice.
It was that, or let Holly face this world with no one. No mother or father to instruct her and guide her. To hold her through tragedy.
"Make the wish, Sarah." Jareth's voice was soft in her ear. "You know the right words."
Sarah's eyes didn't meet his as she lovingly placed a hand atop Holly's head once more.
"I wish…I wish…"
Jareth placed a hand on her shoulder. Tears had begun to roll down her cheeks.
"What you wish shall be yours. You have my word as king of the goblins."
The corner of Sarah's mouth turned up slightly at the corner.
His word was his life.
"I wish…for Holly to be in Jareth's care in the event of my death…and I wish for her to become his bride at twenty."
Jareth's smile became wide.
Letting go of her shoulder, the Goblin King backed away from the child and mother. His back eased against the window ledge of the nursery as Sarah wiped her eyes with her hands.
"Should you die, leave Holly to her uncle, Toby, until she turns twenty. I'll return for her on the hour of her birthday."
Sarah nodded, solemnly.
"And if I do not die?"
Jareth sneered slightly.
"Then by all means," he sighed, as if bored. "Do come to our wedding."
Silence filled the room. Sarah was spinning around with a horrified look upon her face as she took in Jareth's shaking form.
He laughed.
"What? That wasn't what we agreed on!"
Jareth's smile was treacherously wide.
"It was what you wished."
"It was not!" Sarah hissed as she stepped toward him. "I wished for her to be in your care if I should die!"
"Precisely." Jareth smiled. "For her to be in my care in the event of your death. But you divided your wish- you made two seperate wishes, Sarah."
Sarah's eyes were bewildered.
"What are you talking about, Jareth?"
The Goblin King was growing weary. He could feel magic beginning to work – someone was preparing to wish away a child.
"You wished that she should be cared for by me should you die – however, you also wished for her to marry me at twenty. If you should not die, the second wish is still fulfilled."
Sarah's face was horrified. She approached Jareth again.
Before she could react, he had disappeared into the shadows. Swinging in the place which he'd last stood; she spun around and found him kneeling at the side of Holly's bed. With utter care, he leaned forward and placed a small kiss upon the sleeping babe's forehead.
Sarah felt ill.
Leaning upward, the Goblin King approached her and caressed her hair with a light flick of his hand down her cheek.
"My kind is very particular about our words. We take them seriously." He muttered, smugly. "I'll return for my bride on the hour of her twentieth birthday. No later."
With that, he was an owl. A white, winged beast that fluttered about Sarah's head for only a moment before flapping its great wings and soaring out of the open window of the nursery.
Like a black smudge of ink, the owl became a spot against the massive, white moon. But Sarah hadn't seen it – for her eyes remained with terror on the child that slept as her fate was sealed.