Jareth paced the foot of her bed, the sunlight falling in waves over her. She should've been awake by now. No doubt the memories coming back had flooded her mind, but a day of sleep was ridiculous. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself, remind himself that she hadn't exactly had the best week. But it was hard to restrain himself when there she was, lying in bed, not five feet from his own chambers. The breath came out in an angry sigh as Toby began to wail in his crib. He didn't remember the baby crying that much.
Turning his back on Sarah, he leaned over the crib and reached in to pick up Toby, whose arms wrapped themselves around his neck. Jareth gritted his teeth as his hair was uncomfortably pulled, but he forgot it when he saw the happy smile on Toby's face.
"Are you hungry?" he asked, looking into the small child's face. "Yes, you do have my eyes, don't you?"
With a glace over his shoulder at her sleeping form, he strode out of the room.
Sarah twisted in the unfamiliar sheets. Heat poured over her until she realized it was the sun's fault and not the blankets. Where were her blinds? Her eyes cracked open and found the source of the sun after a few painful moments of pupilar adjustment. A window, set deep in thick, stone walls, was throwing sunlight across her sheets, which were not the familiar sheets of her bed, but a thick red color that matched the dark wood of her four poster bed.
Her mind, still numb, forced itself to remember what was going on. So many images flooded her brain that it was hard to think let alone focus on one. Slowly she picked through the pictures until she found one that seemed recent. Yes, the man in her room, he would take care of her and Toby. Then, heat, and blackness.
Something crucial about that heat was missing, but she was getting a headache, and her stomach growled angrily at her. Whoever this Jareth person is, he certainly is rich, she thought to herself as she marveled the room around her. A high ceiling, covered in intricate carvings, and a marble fireplace, thick wooden furniture, and what appeared to be the beginnings of a large bathroom could all be seen in her room.
Swinging her legs out, she slid off the silken sheets and padded over to the window. Leaning on the large stone surface, she felt a panic seize her. Miles upon miles of twisting walls were exposed to her, and beneath her, a city, filled with tiny people.
Not people, she told herself as she watched them. They weren't the right color or shape; she couldn't name them, but this place seemed so horrifyingly similar. Panic surged through her body, and a voice screamed at her to run, run away.
Her door creaked open, and she gave a yelp of surprise, falling from the stone ledge she had been balancing herself on. She was waiting for the thud of the cold stones on her back, but it never came. A strong, warm, muscular body cushioned her. Shivers ran all over her as she felt the breath on her neck, strong hands on her waist. This person set her upright and turned her around, looking over her carefully.
"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly, and she recognized him as Jareth. It felt so terribly wrong to have his hands on her, at least in her mind, but oh how the rest of her felt pulled to him, loved his hands on her. Where his hands were, her feeling returned. Fighting to keep her composure, she backed away, arms going over her body as if to protect the warmth he had created there.
"Yes…thank you," she replied, staring up at him worriedly. A heat had descended into his eyes, and his breath was heavy in his chest. He turned from her and scooped into his arms a familiar bundle. "Toby!" Sarah cried and ran to them both, fingers tracing the smooth outlines of his tiny features.
"He's been waiting for you to wake up," Jareth intoned, voice strong and making her shiver again.
"How long was I asleep?" she asked and her stomach screamed angrily again. Nausea swept her and she sank onto the bed, suddenly feeling pale, surprised as she realized how long it'd been since she actually felt nausea.
"A day. Come, you must eat." Again that hand was extended to her, but this time she didn't take it. She rose to her feet and, wobbling, started for the door. Something was nagging at her, something that was important for her to remember, but as she stepped out into the hallway with this man and he led her into a tall stone room piled high with steaming breakfast foods, she forgot her worries.
"What do you remember of me?" Jareth asked after a bit, his words careful, his voice suspicious. His eyes looked up at her from his plate, worry etched on his features. But Sarah hadn't noticed that. Instead she was staring intently down at her half-empty plate, trying hard to remember. There, there was something! A voice, an image of him in the window of her father's room. And then she remembered who he was, but she still couldn't explain the fear that swelled up in her chest, or why she shouldn't let him near Toby.
"You're the Goblin King," she said slowly, a red leather book coming into her mind's eye. "There's something else about you…" Jareth stared at her expectantly, but all that came out was a frustrated sigh. "That's it. But I do remember who you are," she said cheerfully, though she couldn't think of why she should be so happy to have dredged up a memory from her childhood. It wasn't like she just met him or anything.
The tension melted in Jareth's stance and he smiled at her, then chuckled, and finally he was laughing. Sarah was a little scared by this, so she just smiled nervously and finished up her breakfast. His eyes were on her during their meal, and she could feel the flames that would flicker in his eyes every now and then repeat themselves somewhere inside her.
"Well, Sarah, what do you think of your new home?" he asked as he sat back. A wave of his hand and everything on the table disappeared.
It's a good thing I was finished, she thought darkly, but she chided herself for somehow wanting to be mean to him.
"I think I'll like it," she replied. At least now she could be like a magical princess in some enchanted land. Even if the land was filled with strange goblins. "Thank you for taking us in," she smiled at him, and the smile that he returned to her was bright and happy.
Giggling in the corner of the goblin nursery, Sarah watched on as a group of goblins played with Toby. One would make gurgling noises while two fought over which would tickle him. They had come a long way since Sarah arrived in terms of sharing and being kind, but they still had a way to go. A largely blissful three months had passed by, and while she heard quite a few tantrums from Jareth, he had become the closest friend she'd ever had. Still, there was a blackness in her mind surrounding him, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.
Despite that, she was beginning to realize that without him, she quite possibly would've spiraled into depression. A thought of that nature was coming to her then as she thought about all the time she'd spent laughing Underground compared to how much laughter she had enjoyed her last week on Earth. She chillingly recognized that for hours during that week, there was nothing. No memory of what she was doing, but she had to have been doing something. She shivered then at the thought, and a gloved hand gently caressed her cheek.
"What's the matter?" he asked smoothly behind her, his breath on her cheek tickling her senses and sending a shiver through her.
"I was just thinking how much better this place is to Earth," she replied, pushing from her mind the images of Jareth that were coming into her mind. The past few nights, probably for about a week, she had been thinking about Jareth in ways that made her blush when she was around him, but she couldn't help it. Quite a large crush was developing in her for this man—she couldn't deny anymore that what she was feeling might've gone deeper than a crush—that she knew she had to see as her father, but his aura was so strong, the sexual vibes that rolled off him too much for a teenager to take.
Not that he ever really tried to make himself seem fatherly, at least not with her. Around Toby, he was the perfect picture of fatherhood. Sarah even grudgingly admitted that he seemed better than her own father at caring for Toby. It had been hard getting over her father, especially when she had to watch Toby and Jareth growing closer. Toby's first word was "Jare," an obvious attempt at Jareth's name. It had hurt her, but Jareth was always there it seemed whenever a sad thought crossed her mind.
Indeed, it was that which made him seem the least fatherly toward her. The tenderness with which he catered to her whims, the way she'd catch him looking at her, the feelings he drew forth in her, none of them held the fatherly feeling. She hoped against hope that he might love her in some other way, but she always had a nagging doubt in her mind. That and every now and then her mind would scream something unrecognizable at her, but after a while, she grew to ignore that.
He smirked and stood next to her, watching with amused eyes at Toby and the goblins. "I just hope you remember moments like these," he said. He often said things like that, cryptic messages that confused Sarah. She was about to ask what he meant when he slipped his arm around her waist and held her to him. A blush quickly settled through her whole body, and she tingled in areas that made her want to moan. Teeth bit her lip and she tried to restrain herself.
He's just being affectionate, she earnestly tried to convince herself, but her body refused to listen. Leaning into him, she found her head on his shoulder before she even remembered putting it there. His arm hugged her closer to him as her arms snaked around him of their own accord. They had been getting closer at stuff like that these past months, touches here, hugs there, fingertips brushing together. Often when he bid her good night, he lightly kissed her cheek.
"Sarah?" Jareth's voice was hoarse.
Her heart beat in her chest, eyes searching his face. "Yes?"
Jareth started to say something, then glanced down at her and stopped. The candles in the room glowed brightly, and Sarah had realized long before that they were magical, for the sun had set outside and the moon was beginning to rise. "It's time for bed," he said, gesturing toward Toby.
Disappointed for some reason, Sarah scooped Toby into her arms, goblins pouting and waving bye to the baby as they left. She set Toby down in his crib in the nursery, pressing her lips to his and moving aside as Jareth did the same. She stepped out of the room, Jareth holding the door for her. His hand gently landed on the small of her back, as if leading her out the door, and then fell away as they reached the hall. Walking silently, there was a heavy tension in the air. Not an angry one, but an anticipatory one, as if something big was about to happen but it wasn't there yet.
They paused there in the hallway, staring at each other and past each other at the bedroom doors behind them. Sarah felt her face flushing again so she turned away from Jareth, mumbling as she went.
"Good night," she said, sheepishly and scared, heart beating wildly in her chest. She turned to go to her door, leaving his company in the middle of the wide space, but before she got very far, his hand caught hers and he reached out, gently pushing her hair out of her face. A soft smile came over his immaculate face, and he leaned in to do what Sarah expected him to do, what he had often done lately, kiss her cheek. But she was surprised when his lips didn't turn as they usually did but brushed her own, ever so lightly, the effect sending shivers of electricity through her at the touch, and she beamed back at him, not wanting to let go of his hand.
Jareth, however, did let go, turning slowly back to his door. Sarah trembled as she turned to her own, hearing the finality of his shutting behind her. Sighing in frustration, she pulled open her door and shut it behind her, pulling her clothes off. The cool air flowed over her hot skin, and for a moment she closed her eyes to let the coolness calm her raging nerves, blood pounding at all the right and wrong places. With another sigh, this one wistful, she put on her nightgown and climbed into bed, wishing for Toby so she could curl up next to him. Though as she pulled the covers up and put her head against the pillow, she knew who she really wanted to curl up against, and she closed her eyes to dreams of the warm skin of the Goblin King.
Jareth threw the crystal across the room, turning his eyes away from the image of her standing in her room, her body aroused and him not able to do anything. Sure, he could've knocked on her door and taken her then, but she wasn't ready yet. He wasn't ready yet for what would happen to her afterwards. For a while he had been holding out the hope that she had completely forgotten her previous experience with the Labyrinth, but he was tired of lying to himself. He could see her wake up every time he touched her.
Gritting his teeth, he too shed his clothes and slid beneath the black silk sheets of his bed, staring at the empty pillow beside him. That moment was it for him. He decided then that she would fill that blank spot on his bed. And soon.