Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth. Nor do I own any of the characters. This story is written purely for my own amusement, and I'm not getting paid for it. Sadly.
Sarah sighed as she stared up at the sky through her bedroom window. The clouds were a uniform steel gray that seemed to promise snow but had yet to follow through and deliver. Turning away from the window, she caught sight of her reflection in the vanity mirror, the same one through which she had so often spoken to her friends when she was younger, but which now only showed what was on this side of it.
It had been seven years since she had run the Labyrinth to rescue Toby from the Goblin King's clutches, but she had kept in touch with the friends she had made along the way until she had gone away to college. Another heavy sigh escaped Sarah's lips as she tucked her hair behind her ear and moved towards the boxes stacked by the bed. In another few days she would be moving into her own apartment, starting a new life on her own, and that meant that right now she had to finish packing up the pieces of her old life that she wanted to take with her.
As she carefully packed books together so they wouldn't crease, and wrapped figurines and other assorted baubles in bubble wrap to keep them from breaking in transit, she forced her thoughts to remain the present, knowing that if she let herself consider the past, that there was only one inevitable place they would go. Or rather, one person they would go to, and that was the last thing she wanted. But of course, as was always the case when she was trying to avoid thinking about him, their final encounter began to replay itself in her mind.
He had asked her to stay. Begged her, really. And she had rejected him in the most absolute way she had known. Just six simple words, strung together into a single damning phrase. "You have no power over me." A self-deprecating smirk flickered across Sarah's lips as she remembered the expression on his face as she said the words and the world began to fall apart around them.
It was odd. As she had run the Labyrinth, she had had twinges of nostalgia and of deep regret whenever the king had shown his face. Twinges which had grown ever stronger as she progressed towards the center of the maze, but which had never revealed anything.
Once she had won, however, even in her memories of him, there were none of those feelings, except for when she remembered that final expression. Then she felt not only the familiarity, but also a pervasive guilt that refused to go away no matter how much she rationalized to herself that she had, in fact, made the right choice.
Giving herself a good hard shake, Sarah closed the last of the boxes and glanced toward the window one last time. Just for a moment she thought she saw a flash of white against the bare tree branches outside, but when she stepped closer to look, there was nothing there.
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Hours later, Sarah bid her family good night, and climbed the stairs to her bedroom wearily. It had been a long day, and more than anything, she was ready for bed. So ready, it seemed, that she was almost asleep even as her head hit the pillow.
The next thing she knew, she was standing in a snowy field bordered by a forest, lit only by a full moon, the light sharp and clear as it can only be when the temperatures are well below freezing. Turning her face skyward, Sarah absently noticed that, in spite of the fact that she was wearing only what she had gone to bed in – a pair of old sweatpants, and a long-sleeved shirt with her college's name written in solid block letters across the front – she wasn't cold at all. At least, she wasn't until a winged shadow flitted across her face, vanishing into the woods at her right.
Moments later she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps coming across the snow. Taking a deep breath, Sarah didn't turn, instead keeping her face turned upwards to the moon so that she wouldn't have to look at the person whom she knew was there.
"The moon is so pretty when it's full like this." she said, relieved when her voice came out evenly rather than betraying the nerves she felt. "I've always loved moonlight on snow. There's something so... peaceful about it."
The person behind her shifted their weight slightly, and Sarah heard the ice crystals crunch as they compacted under his feet before he responded. "Yes, it's quite beautiful."
The answer was quiet and terse, yet managed to convey so many things in its brevity. Anger. Hurt. Fear. Hope. And so much more.
Taking another deep breath to steady herself, Sarah slowly lowered her gaze from the heavens, and turned to face the Goblin King for the first time in nearly ten years. "Hello, Jareth." she said softly, much the same way one would speak to a skittish animal they were trying to coax to their hand.
In all the time since they had last seen one another, he hadn't changed. Or at least, he hadn't changed much. His hair was still akin to a dandelion puff, strands of pale gold springing out in all directions as though attempting to escape. His skin was still pale, although his expression seemed flat as he gazed almost dispassionately at her, but his eyes gave the lie to that as they sparkled with... something Sarah couldn't, or at least wasn't willing to, identify.
Time seemed to slow as they regarded each other. Or perhaps it did slow. Manipulating time was one of the Goblin King's skills, after all. Finally, however, after interminable minutes or hours, he moved. Slowly, gently, he stepped forward and raised one hand to touch Sarah's cheek.
"Hello Sarah." he said, his voice as soft and gentle and coaxing as her own had been. "It's been quite some time since you last called to me."
She blinked. "I called you here?" she asked.
A sad smile flashed across his face for a moment. "Of course you did, precious." he told her. "I have no power over you, remember?"
As usual, a sharp pang of guilt flooded through her at the thought of those words, spoken at the end of their last encounter. The pain must have shown in her expression, because Jareth moved to kneel before her, his hand moving from her face to grasp both of her hands. "Sarah?"
She shook her head viciously, although she made no attempt to pull away from him. "It's nothing. It's just..." she trailed off.
"What, precious?"
"Did I really make the right choice?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Back then, I mean." Sarah forced herself to look up into the king's eyes as she spoke.
His hand fell away from her face to drift down her arm and entwine his fingers with hers. "Perhaps I am not the best one to ask that question." he replied, his voice rough with old sadness. "But for yourself, at that moment in time, yes, I suppose you did."
Sarah looked down at their intertwined fingers for a moment. "For myself. I see." she murmured. "And what of you? Did you truly mean what you said there, at the very end?" It was a question that she felt she knew the answer to, after all, hindsight is 20/20, and with so many years to look back and regret, there really was no other way to see it, but she needed to hear it from him.
She felt Jareth try to pull his hand away, but she held him fast. He wouldn't be able to avoid answering her tonight. She wouldn't let him avoid it. "Please Jareth." she said, allowing a pleading note to enter her tone. "I need to know."
They stood like that for what seemed like an eternity, he facing halfway away from her, but their fingers knit together as the moon continued to shine down. At last, he turned back to face her fully.
"I meant every word." he admitted.
This time it was Sarah who pulled away, and Jareth let her. She walked a short distance from him, wrapping her arms around her torso as if she would fly apart otherwise as she lifted her face to the moon once more.
Jareth let her stand there for a moment, willing to let her absorb the information without his interference. But then he saw something sparkle on her cheek, a tear. With a few quick steps he was at her side once more, his arms wrapping around her, turning her to face him. "Sarah, precious, don't blame yourself, please." he begged.
Her expression was heartbreaking as she raised her eyes to his once more. "But -"
He shook his head. "No. It was not your fault. Never think that." he told her. "You thought it was part of the game. You had no way of knowing that the game had already ended."
She buried her face in his shoulder, her tears soaking through his shirt. "I should have known." she said, her words muffled. "I should have guessed. But I was so sure that the only way to win was to follow the script from that stupid book!"
He had no answer for her but to continue to hold her, his fingers stroking down her hair. It had taken him some time, but he had long forgiven her the rejection. There had been a time, a very short one, when he had wanted her to suffer, but some part of him had understood why she had done as she had, and that part was what had made him allow her friends to continue seeing her, even when he himself could not.
After a time, Sarah pulled back from his embrace. Her eyes and nose were still red from crying, but her expression was resolved. "I suppose this is a one-off visit?" she asked, her voice cracking a bit.
Jareth blinked. "A one-off? Why would it be that, precious?" he asked curiously.
"Well, because, you know..." Sarah stumbled over the words, trying to find the right ones.
Jareth smirked slightly. "You have only to wish it, and I will be at your side, Sarah. Never doubt that." he told her, his gentle tone at odds with his playful expression.
Sarah made a face, and was clearly about to respond when she felt a strange tingling in her fingers and toes, and at the top of her head. Looking at Jareth, she saw only an expression of saddened resignation in his eyes as he stepped back from her. "Jareth?"
He shook his head slowly. "It seems you're waking up, precious. Don't forget me."
Those were the last words she heard before the world faded into blackness.
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Sarah awoke with a start. Her eyes felt stiff, and when she touched her face, it was wet as though she had been crying. Why had she been crying? A whisper in the back of her mind told her that she had seen someone that she had thought she'd lost long ago, and that they hadn't been so lost after all, but who?
Frowning she looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. The glowing numbers read 9:26. Toby would probably come rushing in any minute to see if she was awake and wanted to play, so with a sigh she got out of bed. She could think on it later. It had just been a dream anyways.
But it bothered her. All throughout the day as she played with Toby and chatted with her father and stepmother. Something at the back of her mind kept trying to come to the front, to tell her that whatever dream she'd had the previous night was important. Finally, she gave up trying to ignore it. Excusing herself to go lie down, she went to her room and lay down on the bed. Closing her eyes she let her mind drift, lighting on the scraps of the dream that she couldn't quite recall. A full moon. A wintery landscape. And a person. Someone dear to her, but separated by time and distance.
She tried everything to make that person's face materialize, but nothing she did seemed to make it better. If anything, the other person from the dream seemed to become less distinct. Finally, overcome with frustration, she flipped onto her stomach and vented her annoyance into the pillow.
"Arrrrgghhhh! I wish I could just remember that stupid dream!"
And there it was. As clear in her mind as if she were watching a movie. The Goblin King. Jareth. And watching the dream in her mind from a remove, as she now did, she realized what she hadn't when she had first dreamt it. He wasn't angry with her. He didn't want revenge. He still cared.
Shoving herself up into a sitting position, Sarah ran her hands through her hair. He had said she had only to wish and he would be at her side, but could it really be that simple? What would be the harm in trying?
After checking herself in the vanity mirror, Sarah turned to face the center of the room, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I wish-" she paused, for the room had gone oddly silent, as though everything in the world had stopped moving or even breathing to hear her wish. "I wish that the king of the goblins was here. Right. Now."
She expected something dramatic, like when he had entered through the french doors in her parents' bedroom all those year ago, but what she got instead was far more understated. One minute she was alone in her room, and the next he was there, standing in front of her, as large as life.
They stood in silence, just looking at each other for a moment, before Sarah launched herself at him, his arms wrapping around her reflexively. "You came. I didn't think it would work, but it did and you're here!" she half whispered.
"Of course I came." he responded, his embrace tightening. "I promised you I would. All you ever had to do was call for me."
A/N: Ugh. Never has a story given me so much trouble. The characters just really didn't want to cooperate with me on this one. That's the last time I try and write on a deadline. References to my earlier story Imaginary Friend are completely intentional. Virtual cookies to those who find them. Reviews are welcome, including constructive criticism. I hope you enjoyed it. Happy Holidays all!