Love Songs
Lovesongs, they kill me
They kill me... Now
Love songs are killing me
Are killing me... Right now
Trained to attack
Bull eye shot in black
I never thought they'd get me
These pictures in my head...
Lying in my bed...
These whips make me bleed
This place is a mess
My one has gone
Lovesongs (They Kill me) - Cinema Bizarre
It always started off the same.
Jareth was a curious creature, and when it came to his champion, he was all the more curious. As soon as Sarah had banished him from her physical life, Jareth decided he would watch her dreams. He was the King of Dreams, and if he had had it his way, Sarah could have been the Queen. Though he doubted she would ever give in. He assumed she'd always act like a headstrong fifteen year old girl.
For a few months, her dreams had contained her bright and vivid memory of his labyrinth. Her friends spent the nights with her, and she had wonderful adventures within his Labyrinth. Her Labyrinth.
Then, the nightmares started. They had started out as any of her other dreams, only this time, Jareth saw a version of himself. He expected Sarah to paint him as a villain once more, which would have been much better for Jareth if she had. He watched her fall in love with his dream self, and his heart ached.
He watched Sarah's dream version of himself slip into sickness, and then into death. The entire time Sarah sobbed that it was her fault. She had left him to continue his life of loneliness, and in turn, she had doomed him to die alone. "I should have taken your offer," Her voice full of sadness and fear, "I needed to take your offer." The now sixteen year old girl slipped from her dreams, and she awoke with a scream.
Jareth watched the most heart wrenching thing he had ever seen in the dark of his champion's room. She was sobbing, and she did so quietly with her eyes showing grief and regret. All he wanted to do was crawl onto her small bed and sing to her. Singing calmed her like nothing else, but she had barred him from seeking her in his physical form.
At that moment, Jareth decided on something. He decided he would never let her dream of his death, or anything else she would find unpleasant. Not until she banished him from doing this, or until she completely forgot about her time the underground.
Whichever came first.
.
.
.
At first, Jareth soothed away her nightmares with songs of love, vivid images of the underground and her friends, and images of himself content with his life. Soon, he dared to venture into her dreams himself, and with that, he began dancing with her, and singing songs of love and happiness to the young woman himself.
Her dreams no longer scared her, and they no longer left the whole in his heart bleeding.
She no longer woke from her dreams with screaming, but the sobbing always followed her wake. Jareth was unsure why, but he would eventually find the reason. If he didn't, he was sure he'd die trying. His precious was in pain, and even though she had rejected him, he still loved her.
His visit of her dreams continued for years in the mortal world. Sarah never forgot, and she never forgave herself. It became habit for The King of the Goblins to cry after a visit from his love's dreams. Her waking eyes were sad, she kept a smile on her face, and they reflected how she truly felt. He could not save her from this unless she spoke the right words.
She would sob anywhere from half an hour to a few. It depending on when she awoke, and how long she had until she had to drag herself from her sleeping chambers.
Jareth would watch the same scene repeat itself every morning for years.
.
.
.
It was coming up on the tenth year since her defeat of his labyrinth. He now visited her every night.
Tonight, she was clinging to him as they danced around a clearing in a forest. It was Sarah's favourite dream, and the one that caused her the most pain in her waking hours. He was unsure why. Women were confusing things. Especially mortal women.
"Jareth…" Her small voice just a whisper, but he heard her clearly.
"Yes my precious?" She pulled away from him slightly, and looked into his mismatched eyes."I know none of this is real, and that you're not really here." She touched his face gently,"I've been so lonely these last ten years. I think I know what you felt when I rejected you." She kissed his chest lightly. "I don't think you'll ever know I said this, and I apologize. I don't know if the news will make its way back to you, and I apologize for when it does. I'm not sure the real you will care very much." Her eyes were now rimmed with tears, and Jareth was confused. "I've fallen through the cracks. My life has gone nowhere, and I'm so alone. The only joy in my life is coming here to you when I sleep, and none of this is real." She leaned her head against his shoulder as they swayed.
He touched her jaw lightly with his hand, his heart aching for the young woman in his arms. He silently had realized what her words meant. She had plans to end her life. She longed for him, but she still believed her dreams to be just that, dreams.
"I just wanted to dream of us one last time."
"My love, call for me once you have awoken. You'll see just how very real I am." He pulled her face lightly so he could see into her sad eyes. They were full of doubt, but she still nodded to him. He leaned his head down slightly, and brushed her lips with his own. It was a chaste kiss, but it was full of sadness and hurt.
Love songs and dancing were no longer enough to keep her alive in the mundane world.
.
.
.
He watched Sarah wake through one of his crystals, only this time, she did not sob.
She crawled out of bed, and stood in the center of her small bedroom, and he felt the summoning before it had even happened.
"I wish the Goblin King would come to me." He could hear the fear and doubt in her voice, "Right now."
"It took you long enough, precious." She heard his purr from behind her. Her eyes filled with tears as she slowly turned around to look at the man she had longed to see in the physical world for the last ten years.
"Jareth-" His name. It was really him. He watched her fall to her knees and start crying.
Why had he never told her before this? Why had they never met in person before this? Had he been doing this all of these years as revenge? Making her fall for him, yearn for him, and think of death while thinking she could never see him again?
He could hear her thoughts.
He looked at her sadly, shook his head, and pulled her up and off of the ground and into his arms. "My lovely, and beautiful Sarah Ann Williams. I've come to offer you something." He caressed her face, and kissed between her brows lightly.
"What is it?" he hears her murmur. "Your dreams, only this times," She could feel his breathe on her ear, "They won't just be dreams."
He could feel her go weak against him, "I accept your offer."