Title: One Thousand Broken Masks

Author: Sapphire Stardust

Summary: AU Sarah realizes that Jareth isn't the man that she thought he was, and she will never be the woman that he wants her to be. She can only wear a mask for so long before it destroys her and Jareth. Will she have the power to say no before it destroys them both or will she and Jareth be stuck in an endless labyrinth of broken hearts and masks.

Chapters: 1/1

Status: Completed

One Thousand Broken Masks

One-Shot

The look on his face and the tone of his words pushed Sarah over the edge. "No Jareth, I'm done. I am not going to play this silly game with you anymore." She was tired of standing in someone else's shadow. Everything he'd asked of her was trying to make her more like someone of his past and less like the person she was. She didn't care how much of her heart he had taken, she wasn't going to walk around the labyrinth of actions and emotions he had set up to get it back. "I think you should try finding someone like your lost love instead of going after me." With those parting words she left his house.

In the following weeks she spent a growing amount of time with Jareth's friend Hoggle. Apparently Sarah wasn't the only one that Jareth manipulated. The two spent an ample amount of time discussing how Jareth moved them around an emotional chessboard like pawns.

"He calls me his best friend and expects absolute loyalty, yet whenever I have something I need or someone I want to talk to, he vanishes like a wraith saying 'I am busy'." Hoggle stated glumly, as if it was an issue that he had been hurting about for some time. "All I want is for the dedication to be a two way street, you know what I mean?" The relief in Hoggle's voice was evident; he had found a new confident, one that Jareth had unwittingly pushed him towards. As the night went on Hoggle's tone got more and more angry, his rants grew more and more elaborate. "I shouldn't be telling all this to you. He is supposed to be my best friend, why is it that you're taking the time to listen to it when he can't make time for me at all!" Hoggle growled.

Sarah was starting to see that Jareth's world was not what he made it out to be. He wanted everyone to believe that he had manipulated everyone around him into a solid base that he could stand atop of, but he couldn't see that cracks that ran all the way through it. Sarah was starting to see them. Jareth fancied himself a king. He had his group of friends that he attempted to rule over as if they were a kingdom of misfits. Stepping back from the glamour he wove she could see the unrest starting to build. He was a king only in his head and but a few words would bring his world tumbling down around him. She wanted to feel rage, she wanted to re-captivate the anger that she was beholden with not more than a few hours ago, but it wasn't there. All she wanted to do was push Jareth away. She didn't care how she did it, just so long as she pushed hard enough to get this 'Goblin King' out of her life.

"We have such a strong connection; I've never been able to open myself to anyone like this before. Jareth doesn't deserve you, and he doesn't deserve my devotion as a friend. He's hurt me one too many times, this time I want to strike back." Hoggle said with a fierce look in his eyes. "And I know just how to do it. Maybe if I take his precious new toy away from him, he'll realize that he should have made time for his friends before they were gone."

"Sure" Sarah said, if she wanted this man to leave her alone it was going to have to be through his choice alone. "We'll go tell him tomorrow." As the duo drifted off to sleep her last thought was on the man who had named himself the Goblin King.

The look on Jareth's face was one of pure rage, "Ok" was all he said. The look in his eyes read so much more, he was hurt and he was furious. Sarah felt genuinely sorry for him, but the mask that he was trying to make her wear was slowly hurting them both. She tried so hard to be the person he wanted to see, but standing in another girl's shadow was just too much. She could lie to parents and she could lie to her friends, but lying to someone who was supposed to love her hurt too much. Jareth had been rambling continuously about getting married recently, but in the same breath he would ask her why she didn't have a certain characteristic of his beloved. She just couldn't stand the thought that he was just trying to tie her to him to fill a void, when Sarah knew in her heart that if the other girl had any wish, all she had to do was ask, and the Goblin King would do everything in his power to grant it.

The feelings in her heart intensified her need to do this, "Good bye." The word was but a whisper, a fragile dream that was brutally crushed moments later with a resounding "Bye." Whereas hers was an emotion carried on the wind, his was a dismissal planted firmly behind her as she turned to leave. Sarah assured herself that it was something that needed to be done. The two of them wanted different things; she wanted love, he wanted her. Sarah sighed, she had to let go of the dream of the two of them, it would break her in the end. But as she walked home she was forced to think about all of those moments the two spent in the field; sharing their dreams, making new ones. She thought about all of those moments when he told her he would move the stars for her if only he could. He was her Goblin King, even if it only lasted a moment. It was as if time refused to let her have this one moment, because now looking back she wondered just who he was making those promises to, her or the mask that she was forced to wear. She could almost hear the shattering with each step she took, a distant echo of what she knew should be hers, and then she could taste the freedom. She looked up and saw the clouds, and in that moment knew that she would never be able to put that mask on again.

"Get up, get up." Hoggle shook her impatiently, "Unless you feel like walking an hour to the bus." She opened her eyes to see Hoggle dressed and ready for their day. It had been a few months since she had said goodbye to Jareth, but he never seemed to truly leave. Jareth had made it clear over the last few months that she was perfectly welcome back at his side; he had left her role open for her, in case she felt like running back. He had made no promises to change; he had said not a word of apology. He expected her to come crawling back to him, he was the King and she was the girl in the mask beside him, filling whatever role he deemed necessary. He had stated that he had developed a reluctant fondness, based mostly off of the fact that she was one of the few in his kingdom to oppose him. His demeanor was much of the reason that she was drawn to him, that and the challenge his labyrinth provided her. She had hated it while she was there, but she found it had changed her. Many of the challenges he provided allowed her to test just how strong she really was. She missed that challenge and the spark, especially on days like today.

She had given up on dreams of love between her and Hoggle; she had simply traded one mask for another. Instead of being in the shadow of another woman, this time she simply found herself in the shadows. He demanded her presence when he wanted it, if he was busy then she had to make herself invisible, but she could never wander far, in case he was bored and required amusement. It was Hoggle that had made her realize that the different masks she was forced to wear, came with leashes too. Not only was she forced to play a role not her own, she was bound to the one making her play it. Without the draw of the labyrinth, and with no real attachment to be found, she felt herself slipping away from Hoggle. The end of their moment together was bitter. Hoggle was mad that his plan had backfired, now being friendless and without a partner. He ranted at Sarah, that everything was her fault. As she walked away to the sound of another mask shattering, she found herself walking in a direction that she had promised herself that she would never go. Looking at the walls of the Goblin King's palace, she cringed. He had proved again that his resolve was stronger than that of her strength.

Their next encounter was to be a brief one. Sarah had promised herself that if she felt her world slipping away again that she would run as fast as her feet could carry her. She knew that if she could last the first 13 hours without succumbing to the Goblin King's demands, she would be able to turn down that hideous mask. Unfortunately, it was not to be. When she got inside the Goblin King's castle, he sat mockingly upon his throne, holding yet another of those dreadful masks. However; this one looked different from the first, and that gave Sarah pause. Perhaps he had moved on from his previous self, perhaps this time it would be different.

"Why won't you just give in?" Jareth shouted. Sarah realized that he had not changed, and neither had she. She had wanted this man in her life so bad that she had given up all that she believed to make it work. This mask was no different from the first, she still found herself to be living a lie. With a tearful look in her eye she turned to him. "I left the first time, because I could not play the part you wanted me to play," and now it appears that she must leave again, for she could bear the weight of this mask no easier than the other. She heard the shatter of something breaking as more than just an echo this time, and her footsteps sounded louder to her ears.

Didymus was where she forced herself to run. As an enemy of the Goblin King he should have been able to keep her safe. He was also a knight Sarah figured that if there was anyplace that she may run away from masks, it would be to him. Unfortunately, she was wrong once more; the mask this time was that of a fool. It was as if it mocked her dream to just be held. The six months she spent playing the part of the fool, Sarah came to realize that she had never really left the labyrinth. Jareth was still very much in her life and until she had the strength to stand up to him, he was going to keep control of her. The mask of the fool shattered almost silently, and this time she strode toward Jareth's tower with purpose.

This time she brought all her strength, she wrapped it around her like an armor suit. She would face the Goblin King but this time only as his equal. No more masks, no more hiding. She lasted 13 hours without breaking her resolve, and she looked around her and realized that the labyrinth had started to fade away. Jareth no longer wore his confidence as a royal crown and she was not wearing the mask of someone else. Time seemed to stop for her; everything that she had wanted was now laid out before her feet. Jareth told her he was moving, and she decided to go with him. She had worked so hard for this; Sarah was not going to let anything get in the way. That is until Jareth took everything from her once more, "Just stop it." The words were spoken casually, as if he had said 'good day' and the tone shook Sarah from her reverie. She looked around her in wonder, for there sat Jareth, King of the Goblins, his castle high above the Labyrinth. She looked down at her armor and realized that she still had on a mask, only this time she had placed it on herself.

With more effort than it had taken the first time she tried to leave, she turned and walked away from the labyrinth and King Jareth. She could not change him, and she could not change herself, the information breaking her heart and giving her strength all at once. As she walked with no real destination and purpose a thought crossed her mind, after all the masks that she had worn, after all the time she had spent pretending to be someone else, was she even be aware of a mask sitting on her face still? She turned to see King Jareth looking out his castle window down at her, her eyes grew wide as she slowly raised her hand to her face, the Goblin King wickedly gleamed.