A/N: Here it is, as promised! I know I said "oneshot", but once I started planning it out, I realized it had to be a bit bigger than one chapter...more accurately, eleven pages. So call it a sequel, an epilogue, whatever you want, just tell me what you think!
Without further ado, please enjoy Test of Love...
He always tried to look his best. Even on the days that he never left the castle, he wore nice jackets and pressed pants. Even though some days it was only the disgusting, warty, and occasionally smiley goblins that saw him, he always wore eye makeup and polished boots. But on this day, he didn't have to look his best.
He had to look better than his best.
For about the thousandth time, Jareth ran a brush through his long, wild blonde hair, but it wouldn't cooperate. He slammed it down on the dresser and looked back into the mirror in front of him. He was wearing his normal white eyeshadow, a silk black shirt that showed a bit of his chest- Is this too much? I don't want her feeling uncomfortable. - a soft, red leather jacket, light gray pants that weren't nearly as tight as some other pairs he owned, and a pair of black boots that went up to the middle of his calves. He must've shined them at least twenty times. Under those boots were what Jareth had deemed his lucky socks. They were dark purple and there was a small hole in the right one. He forgot exactly what made them lucky, but for some reason they were. And today he was going to need all the luck in the universe to be on his side.
He was about to pick up the hairbrush again, though by this point it was sure to be a pointless battle, when a clock in the hall chimed loudly. "Damn!" Jareth exclaimed. "I'm going to be late!" In the blink of an eye, he magicked himself into the Gardens and grabbed a handful of flowers. These were the ones she liked best. Another flash and he got a wave of dizziness. Too much teleporting, too quick. He brought a hand up to his head as his eyes scanned his surroundings. He was standing in front of the gates of the Goblin City. In front of him were the twists and turns of the Labyrinth. But it was what wasn't in front of him made his stomach knot up. Didn't I tell them to be here early? I must've said it at least twice.
He started to shuffle a foot, nervously. Time seemed to slow to a standstill. His mind started to wander. "...What am I even going to say?" Jareth began to pace, unconsciously. "It all seemed so simple when I thought this all up: go to the show, bring her here, and then just say it. Just say 'Sarah, I am...I'm…' I am doomed.
"Maybe...Maybe I shouldn't go. Just tell her that something came up and I couldn't...No. No, no, no, I've gone to every one of her plays for ten years. I can't back out and I can't put this off. One more day of this I'm going to start tearing my hair out. I have to do this. I've got to just stop overthinking and tell her-"
"Yer Majesty?"
He spun around on his heels with shock. Four creatures were in front of him: A large, brown behemoth that towered over even him, a fox dressed in a somewhat pirate-like outfit complete with an eyepatch and feathered hat, a black and gray dog that acted as the fox's transportation, and a wrinkle-faced dwarf with a few jewels attached to his belt.
"Were you...talkin' to yerself?" Hoggle continued.
He could feel the color drain from his face a bit. "I was...how long have you been...Nevermind! Where have you been? I'm late as it is. I was about to leave."
"Our sincerest apologies, my liege," Sir Didymus said with a slight bow. "I am afraid we lost our way. The walls change so often, it's rather hard to get to where one is going."
As much as Jareth wanted to say more, he couldn't argue that fact and time was not on his side. He formed a crystal in his hand almost effortlessly and tossed it to Hoggle. The dwarf juggled it clumsily before finally getting a grip. "Don't let anything catch on fire while I am away."
"Of course, your Highness," Sir Didymus told him.
With that, Jareth left his world behind and materialized in the theater. Thankfully, the lights were already out. He found an end seat towards the back and sat down with the flowers in his lap. After making sure that the woman next to him was too distracted by her...What are these moronic things called again? Cell phones?, he waved his hand to clean up the bouquet and tie a silver ribbon around it. As soon as he did, the curtain opened and the stage light up like a star. Sarah Williams stepped out a minute later, as beautiful as ever.
That didn't do his nerves any favors.
Sarah was still catching her breath as her castmates ran out on stage to take a final bow, group by group. Holy cow, I can't believe I gotta do all this again tomorrow. Twice. She finally walked out with a grin and took a bow. The crowd was up on their feet in thunderous applause. She joined hands with the others and they took a bow together as the curtain closed. She took another sigh of relief. It was always a good feeling when a performance went off without a hitch.
Sarah walked through the cast backstage in heels that she still really never got used to until she reached her dressing room. After shutting the door, she took a seat at the white dresser and large mirror. A twenty-five-year-old woman was staring back at her. Her cheekbones had a little blush to them, her eyebrows had been painfully waxed, and her lips were shining with gloss. She also had on light purple eyeshadow and mascara, but most of the eyeshadow had faded with time. She was dressed in a maroon gown with black heels.
Sarah grabbed a makeup wipe and closed her eyes to get off the remaining eyeshadow. But before the wipe could touch her skin, a pair of somewhat bony hands covered her eyes. "Guess who," whispered a British voice in her ear. She couldn't help but smile.
"Grandma, what soft hands you have." Sarah joked.
"All the better to hold you with, my dear."
The hands came off and she saw a long-haired blonde man resting his head on her shoulder. "You know, you really should consider knocking," Sarah told him. "I could've been changing."
"Sarah, the fact that you could be changing is the very reason I don't knock." He smirked. Just looking at the devilish look made her grin a bit. Why is it that whenever I should be mad at him, I can't be?
"Besides," Jareth began. "You've only been in here no more than five minutes. You didn't even get the stage makeup off." He waved his hand and suddenly, she was dressed in a simpler dark blue dress with only mascara, base, and just a bit of blush on her cheekbones.
"Are we...going somewhere?" she asked. Over the years, it had become the norm for her and Jareth to go somewhere after her performances. It started as trips to the Labyrinth, but eventually evolved into a nice dinner or sometimes a movie. To be honest, Sarah liked showing Jareth her world just as much as he seemed to enjoy taking her to his.
"Have you made plans?" he asked. Sarah couldn't help but noticed that he looked a little nervous about that possibility.
"No, no. I just didn't know that you did. What did you have in mind?"
The devious smirk came back quickly. "Well, I thought it would be a nice idea to take you to-"
The door thundered open and both she and Jareth noticeably jumped.
"Sarah, we have to leave right now or we'll be crushed!" shouted the young woman. Her auburn brown hair went to her mid back and had a white streak in it. Her face was decorated with a few freckles she never grew out of, but what really stood out was her bright green eyes.
Sarah jumped to her feet. "What, why, what's going on?"
"Because you just brought the house down, girl!" She started to laugh and clap her hands happily. "Wow, I can't believe you took that seriously."
Sarah mentally whacked herself in the head and sat back down. "Very funny, Fran. You're a real comedian."
"Oh, come on." Fran smiled. "I bet Jareth thought it was - Jareth!"
The Goblin King didn't even have a second to react before he was tackled in a hug fueled by pure insanity. That Sarah found funny.
"Hi!" Fran exclaimed, crushing his ribcage. "It's been forever since I saw you. How's the Labyrinth? How are Hoggle and the gang? Oh, you smell nice. Do you have cologne on?"
"You know he'd probably be more open to a game of Twenty Questions if you let him breathe a little more," Sarah suggested.
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, Jare. Got a little excited."
"I can see that," Jareth told her. "It's nice to see you as well. As for the Labyrinth, it is doing fine as are its inhabitants...assuming nothing catastrophic has happened since I left. And no, the only thing I did was bathe."
"Well whatever soap you use, I need some in my life." Fran finally looked back at Sarah. "But really, you were phenomenal. That was one of the best you've been in. I'm like kicking myself for not bringing some flowers."
"Speaking of which."
Sarah looked back at Jareth and her eyes widened to see him holding out a group of purple flowers with curly-straw like stems. "Aww, that's so sweet." Stop blushing, stop blushing, stop blushing… She took them gently and smelled them. "Oooh, they're the lavender smelling ones I like. What are they called again?"
"Spindles."
"Spindles," she parroted. Sarah drank in the smell before speaking again. "They're beautiful. Thank you."
"Ooohh," Fran cooed with a goofy look on her face. "Did I see Cupid fly by?"
Jareth started to shuffle a foot- Since when has he done that? - and Sarah glanced at Fran. After a second, she seemed to catch on.
"Well, I should probably go," she began. "I have a thing to...I gotta...floss. Dentist says so. Nice seeing you again, Jareth. Don't be a stranger. Sar, how bout you call me tomorrow and we'll see about getting lunch sometime?"
"Will do. Glad you could make it."
Fran walked out the door but Sarah could've sworn she winked at her before she left. ...My friends are weird. But I guess that's why I like them. "What were you saying, Jareth?"
"Hmm?" Apparently, he'd been in another world for a moment. "Oh yes. I thought I could, perhaps, take you to see-"
Sarah's phone started singing in her purse. She recognized the ringtone quickly. "I'm sorry, that's my dad. Do you mind?"
"No, go ahead."
"Thanks." She got up and dug into her purse that was hanging up on the coat rack. Man, I gotta clean this out. Here it is! "Hi, Dad. I thought you were here, why don't you just come back and see...what was that?"
"I said Toby and I were there, but he got sick about halfway through. I think he caught the flu from Karen."
"Oh no. That sucks. No school Monday, then?"
"Well, we'll see how he holds up tomorrow. From what we saw though, you were really good, honey. Sorry we couldn't stay."
"Oh, don't worry about it. You just got to take care of Karen and Toby, okay? I love you guys. Tell them both to feel better."
"We love you, too, Sarah."
She quickly hung up and tossed it back into her abyss of a purse. "Apparently Toby's got the flu from Karen."
"Oh, poor lad, hope he gets better."
"Probably just a twenty-four-hour bug. So," She clapped her hands a little and gave Jareth an amused smirk., "third time's the charm. What are we doing tonight?"
Jareth gave her a grin that read, Well, before anything else happens, and gestured to the mirror on her dresser. "Perhaps it would be easier if I simply made it a surprise."
"In the Labyrinth?"
"Has a mirror even taken you somewhere else?"
"Alright, so it was kinda a dumb question." She walked back over and did her best to get on the dresser in heels. Jareth gave her a hand up. "This better not lead to the Bog of Stench."
"Now, Sarah, would I do that to you?"
"Yes. You have. Six times...no, seven."
"Really? Seven times? I'm getting predictable."
"Jareth."
"Well this is not one of those times. Especially not in this dress."
She held his gaze just to make sure he wasn't going to try anything. Over the years, Sarah had gotten fairly good at reading his face. Shrugging a little, she stuck her left foot into the now liquid-like glass and walked through the portal.
