A/N: In this chapter, we learn a little more about the last time Sarah and Jareth met. I've also made a couple of changes to the timeline in the first chapter (mainly because I made an age mistake relating to American colleges) Hope you enjoy!
Sarah called in to a clothing shop on her way to the tube station. The money her mother had left out for her was burning a hole in her pocket, and Sarah decided that she may as well buy herself a birthday present if nobody else was going to. Flicking through the racks, she wondered what the dress code would be. There were lots of pretty dresses, and Sarah chose a knee length black dress with long sleeves. It had some kind of sparkly overlay, and Sarah thought it looked as though someone had made a dress out of the night sky. She hadn't really brought any formal clothes with her to London, and she wanted to look nice for her date.
No. Not a date, she told herself. A birthday meal with a friend. Could you call someone you'd only met twice a friend, she wondered, particularly when one of those times was spent trying to stop him stealing your baby brother? She wasn't sure.
Sarah took her starry dress into the changing room, stripping down to her underwear and trying it on. It was high necked and loose fitting, apart from the tight sleeves. Despite it's slouchy fit, Sarah felt more beautiful wearing this dress than she had in a long time. She got changed back into her baggy jeans and felt a little deflated after wearing such a beautiful piece of clothing. She took the dress to the cashier, and chose a matching pair of strappy sandals to go with the dress. It may have been October, but Sarah was determined that she should feel special on her birthday. Handing over a considerable amount of the money her mother had given her, Sarah left the store and headed home.
Seeing him again had unsettled her. Being around him was just as intoxicating as it had always been, his rich voice and playful arrogance attracting her to him like a - no. I am not a moth, and he is certainly no flame. Over the years, she had dismissed her thoughts about him as a stupid crush. She really didn't know him, as he had pointed out. That night they had spent in her room had mainly been about her, but she remembered the tender way he had looked at her, and even wiped away a tear when she had started to cry.
He loves you.
No, he doesn't.
You said "I wish someone loved me enough to be here right now" and two seconds later he was by your side.
Coincidence. If he loves me so much, where has he been for the last three years, huh?
Her inner voice had nothing to say to that. As she made the journey back to her mother's flat, Sarah let herself remember the last time she had seen him.
It was late January 1989. She was in London, having cocoa with Hoggle and a few goblins in her dingy student flat. It was leaky, cold and in a terrible area but it was all she had been able to afford. Having the company of her Underground friends made it a little more bearable, but she was struggling to adjust to living in a strange company and didn't have many human friends. She was sitting cross legged on her bed, wearing a baggy tshirt and pyjama shorts, watching as the goblins hit each other with pillows. Suddenly, there was a loud crack of thunder and Sarah jumped, spilling her cocoa and screaming as the hot liquid hit her bare legs. She stared in disbelief as the Goblin King appeared in her bedroom, standing with his hand on his hips just as he had before, but without the sparkly cape. Sarah tried to clean up the mess on her lap, ignoring him.
"I'm sorry to have startled you Sarah." Jareth didn't sound sorry at all, and Sarah looked up from dabbing at her legs with her quilt to see him standing by her mirror. "I merely came to retrieve my subjects, as there is much work to be done." His voice was hard, and Sarah tried not to giggle at the sounds of panic that surrounded her. The creatures visiting her hurried and said their goodbyes and all darted through the mirror quickly.
"You certainly terrify them." She told him, her voice a little shaky. She hadn't seem him for three years, and had heard very little about what he had been doing since she'd left the Labyrinth. She wondered if he hated her for defeating him and rejecting his offer to stay with him. She didn't feel afraid of him, and his presence there didn't really intimidate her - if anything, it intrigued her. She had often wondered about the Goblin King, and had even found herself wishing that he would pay her a visit. Here he was, looking exactly the same as he had done three years ago.
"Hardly. They have all been so lazy lately I'm worried that I've lost my touch." He said, smirking. "I believe they have been preoccupied Above."
"I'm sorry, that's my fault. They've been visiting me a lot more often than they used to. I guess I've been feeling a little homesick." Sarah admitted, and the King nodded, leaning against her desk. Sarah couldn't help but look at his lithe legs, still encased in those ridiculously tight trousers he seemed so partial to.
"Yes, I was a little surprised to find you in London. A marvelous city, one I'm rather fond of." He said, walking around the small room and picking things up, turning them over a few times then putting them back in their place. Sarah watched as he did this, a little bemused that he was being so casual with her.
"You sound like you're from London." Sarah said, amazed that she was actually having a normal conversation with the Goblin King. "Is that the accent among..your kind?" She had been told several times that Jareth was a Fae, but she thought it might seem like she knew a little too much about him if she said that.
"I suppose I do. It is rather the norm, my parents certainly speak as I do." He looked down at her legs, now a rather vibrant shade of red. "You've burnt yourself, precious." He told her, pointing to her legs, and she rolled her eyes.
"Gee, have I? I suppose spilling boiling milk on my legs will do that. Maybe if you hadn't startled me with the thunder and just come in like a normal person.." She stood up and walked into her bathroom, wetting a towel with cold water and holding it against her thighs. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and found herself adjusting her hair and making sure she didn't look too indecent in her pjs.
"I could heal that for you." He called out to her casually. Sarah walked out of her bathroom and found him flicking through a copy of Hello! magazine whilst sitting on her desk. This whole situation was absurd, and she laughed out loud. "What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her, looking a little hurt.
"You're very different from last time." She told him curiously. "No snakes, no trickery?" She asked him, and the Goblin King smiled, exposing his crooked teeth and cat like fangs.
"I can be a little kinder than I was in the Labyrinth, Sarah. You summoned me, and I had a duty to perform. I can be cruel when I want to, you know very well." Sarah tried not to shudder as she remembered the games he had played with her. "However," he added rather playfully, folding the magazine and placing it back on the desk. "Now I am here in a social capacity, I see no need to taunt you. It would be most impolite. I'm not a monster you know, I do have some social skills. I am a King after all, not a beast." He told her pointedly, arms folded.
"I'm sorry. I guess that was a little rude of me. If you could..um, heal me, that would be great. It stings a little." Sarah felt majorly under dressed in her shorts, especially in the presence of a man. This man.
"Of course. I'm no physician, but I can heal basic burns and scrapes with little effort. You should feel privileged Sarah, it is not every day you get healed by a King." He was teasing her, and she felt herself get hot with embarrassment.
"Well considering you're the one who made me spill my drink everywhere, I think it's the least you could do, your Majesty." She shot back at him, and he chuckled.
"I see you haven't changed, precious. As fiery as ever. Lie on the bed then." Sarah did as she was told, moving back to the bed and lying in a perfectly straight line, a little nervous. The Goblin King sat on the edge of the bed near her feet, and separated her legs gently so he could get clear access to the burnt area. Sarah felt like she was going to pass out.
He removed a glove, and Sarah realised she'd never seen his bare hands. Of course, she'd been too preoccupied trying to stop her little brother being turned into a goblin to pay attention to her captor's hands. His fingers were long and slender, his nails short and trimmed. He only removed a single glove, and moved to touch her thigh. Sarah blushed a little - it felt rather intimate to have the Goblin King touch her thigh. She watched as he closed his eyes, unable to take her eyes off of his face. His lips moved in some silent incantation. She felt a strange kind of buzzing on her leg, and warmth spread through her thigh. She looked down and could see the redness of the burn rapidly moving inwards towards the Goblin King's hand until it had all vanished. He removed his hand and smiled, pleased with his handiwork.
"There, good as new." He said proudly, like a little boy who had just done a macaroni picture. "Lovely." Sarah wondered if he was talking about his work or her thighs, and she stared at him. He looked as though he had realised what he said, and dragged his eyes to hers. They stared at each other for a moment, until the Goblin King spoke again, clearing his throat and breaking the spell between them. "Now, I must return Underground. I have taken enough of your time and I have much to do." Sarah watched him start to put his glove back on with precision, just as he did everything.
"No." Sarah found herself saying, sitting up and reaching out to grab his arm. He looked at her strangely, the glove still hanging halfway off his hand, and Sarah knew she must seem a little desperate. "I mean, would you mind staying? Just for five minutes more? I haven't had much company lately and it might be nice to talk to someone other than Hoggle."
Jareth said nothing, merely returning to putting his glove on, and Sarah knew she'd misinterpreted the situation; he had no desire to be her friend, to stay and indulge her in idle conversation. She dropped her grip on his arm and sat up on the bed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. Of course you need to get back, I'm sorry for keeping you, your Majesty." She swung her legs down to the floor and moved towards the bathroom. She called out behind her "It was good to see you Goblin King." She went in to the bathroom and shut the door, leaning against it and trying to ignore the painful lump in her throat.
She jumped at the gentle knock on the bathroom door.
"I was a little surprised that you asked me to stay." His voice was as clear as if he was in the room, and Sarah wondered if he was using magic to make it so. "I thought I would be the last person you would turn to for company."
"Maybe I'm just that desperate." She mumbled thickly, hoping it sounded like a joke. She was rewarded with a rich, throaty chuckle from the other side of the door.
"Come out of the bathroom, Sarah. I believe it is customary in England to make your guest a cup of tea." Sarah turned and opened the bathroom door, and saw Jareth standing waiting for her, an amused smile playing on his lips. He leaned against the wall, still as cocky as ever. Sarah walked past him and gestured for him to follow her to the kitchen.
"Fine," she told him begrudgingly, "just as long as you don't spill it on me."
Trying to shake off the memory of Jareth drinking tea in her kitchen, Sarah opened the door to her mother's flat, calling out "I'm home!" to the empty room. Sarah checked her watch, and saw that it was 5:30. Her mother had probably already left for the theatre by now. Sighing, she placed her shopping bags on the kitchen table, and looked to see if there was a note anywhere. Sure enough, Sarah saw a scrappy bit of paper stuck to the fridge with a "I Heart NY" magnet. Going over to it, she took the paper off the fridge and read it carefully.
"Sarah. I'm so sorry I forgot your birthday. I've had to go to work now, I thought you'd be home earlier. Your father called a little while ago. We'll do something to celebrate tomorrow, I promise. Mom."
Sarah crumpled the paper up and tossed it in the garbage can. She was used to her mother's empty promises by now and wouldn't hold her breath. The answer machine was blinking furiously, and Sarah pressed play. There were a couple of begging messages from Jeremy, which Sarah wanted to delete but chose to keep for her mother. Then there was a message featuring Toby singing Happy Birthday with Irene singing along in the background. The final message was from her dad, wishing her a happy birthday and asking her to call him when she got the message. She was in no mood to speak to any of them. Selfish as it was, Sarah was consumed with thoughts of what had happened on Westminster Bridge that afternoon.
Sarah's thoughts were drawn back to Jareth yet again. He had been different on the bridge to the last time she had seen him. In her bedroom he was more playful, but today he seemed much more intense, brooding even. He had wanted her for his wife, something she hadn't known before now. She assumed that when he had asked her to love him, he meant to her to be his plaything rather than his partner. The last time they had met, there had been no talk of the Labyrinth really, it had all been rather jolly and matey. Sarah wondered if her loneliness had made her kinder - she certainly hadn't accused him of trying to kill her back then. Today she had felt angry; angry that he had never come back to her, angry that she felt as though she had been struck by lightning just at the sight of him. Today he had answered some questions she had been thinking of for years, and all in such a short period of time.
Glancing again at her watch, Sarah ran to the bathroom and turned the taps of the bath on. She felt grimy from traveling on the tube, and she wanted to look presentable for her birthday meal. Waiting for the tub to fill up, she sat down on the closed toilet and thought about why she wanted to look nice. It was always nice to dress up, she reasoned.
You want him to think you're beautiful.
No, I don't.
You want him to want you.
No, I don't.
As Sarah lay in the hot water, she tried to relax and ignore the voices swirling around in her head. She had hung up her new dress in the steamy bathroom to smooth out any wrinkles that may have occurred in transit, and she gazed at the twinkling material to calm her down. It really was beautiful, she thought to herself. A dress made of stars. She washed her hair and shaved her legs (the dress needed bare legs, she told herself) and lazed underneath the water trying to will her heart rate to return to normal.
After she'd finished bathing, Sarah meticulously dried her long hair until it shone like chestnuts. She tied a little of it up, leaving the majority tumbling down her back. Squinting critically into the mirror, she decided to wear make up, though she normally didn't bother. Her mother had plenty of the stuff lying around and Sarah was sure she wouldn't mind if her daughter borrowed a little. Hell, she'd probably be thrilled. Applying a little foundation, blush, mascara and a rather shocking red lipstick, Sarah stared at herself in the mirror and wondered if it was a bit much. She tried dabbing at the lipstick to make it look a little less..obvious, and sighed as the red stained the skin around her mouth.
She looked at the clock and realised with a start that it was already 7:15. If she didn't leave soon, she'd never make it to the bridge in time. She hastily wiped the excess lipstick from her skin and grabbed the bullet to put in her purse. She ran to the bathroom, pulled the dress off it's hanger and shoved it over her head. Running to the shopping bag on the kitchen table, she grabbed the shoes out of their box and struggled to strap them on to her feet. Checking her reflection in the long mirror near the front door, she felt quietly pleased. This was definitely an improvement on any outfit Jareth had ever seen her in. Not that she was doing this for him. She shoved on her jacket, London nights were cold and usually wet. With one final check in the mirror, she was ready.
She darted out the door, hoping that she'd be able to find a cab on the street. Mercifully, she found one after a couple of minutes and sat in the back watching London flash past. It really was beautiful at night, and Sarah found the sensation of the lights flying past finally calmed her. She kept checking her watch to make sure she wasn't late, and at 7:55, the cab pulled over on the bridge. She gave the driver a generous tip and walked to the spot where she had been standing earlier. Leaning against the rails, she stared out into the darkness, watching the boats go up and down the river. Letting out a deep breath she hadn't realised she was holding, she waited for Jareth.