"It's Not Over"
A Labyrinth Fanfic
Disclaimer: Sadly still, I do not own Jareth or his Labyrinth, nor do I own the song "It's Not Over" by Daughtry, only my own characters.
Summary:Jareth, having found a new love of "mortal music", hears a song that inspires him to go to Sarah to beg for another chance to win her love, a chance that may cost him the throne and his immortality...
((Author's Note 3-31-11 : Yes, I'm finally back...and for real this time. I got a computer and will actually be able to write way more often. I'm just gonna tweak these chapters and then hopefully have the fourth chapter up soon. Thanks for sticking with me!))
Chapter 2
The smell of bacon frying and brewed coffee woke Jareth from his slumber on the couch...that and the inquisitive blue-green eyes of a 5 year old two inches from his face. Gaia started poking him in the cheek.
"Mommy, he isn't waking up...Can I pour water on him now...?" she called to Sarah.
"Jareth?" Sarah called from the kitchen.
"I'm awake, I'm awake," he said, pulling the blankets off him and sitting up. Gaia plopped into the space beside him.
"Hiya, Mister Jareth. You sleep okay?" she asked, swinging her legs back and forth.
"Yes, I did...and yourself?"
"Me and mommy slept okay, too. She kept talking in her sleep though..." she trailed off. This piqued Jareth's curiosity and he asked the little girl what Sarah said.
"She was talking about peaches and dancing and stuff..." Gaia said, trailing off. Jareth grinned.
"Okay. Let's go see if your mommy needs help cooking," he said, standing up.
"Okay!" Gaia said, jumping off the couch and skipping into the kitchen. Jareth magicked his clothes into something simpler and followed the mop of bouncing curls into the kitchen.
Sarah pulled out three plates and started putting the grits, eggs, bacon, and toast on each one. She heard Gaia skip into the kitchen and the soft footsteps of the Goblin King right behind her.
"Who's hungry?" she said, turning around to see the familiar sight of her daughter and the unfamiliar sight of Jareth at the table. He took Sarah's breath away for a moment as he helped Gaia into her booster seat, Sarah's eyes tracing the smoothness of his chest to the point where it disappeared into the white poet's shirt he wore. She shook her head to clear away the naughty thoughts that were trying to invade her mind as she set the silverware at the table.
"I am!" Gaia said, grinning, bouncing in her seat.
"Gaia...remember your table manners..." Sarah said in a gentle, but firm, voice.
"Yes, Mommy," she said, politely putting her hands in her lap and waiting.
"Same for you, Jareth," Sarah said to the Goblin King, who had his elbows on the table while watching her, "You may be King of the Goblins in the Underground, but here you are just Jareth, and you will have some table manners. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," Jareth replied, copying Gaia and putting his hands in his lap, sitting up straight. Sarah rolled her eyes as she gathered the plates from the counter and setting them on the table.
"I must day that your balance is excellent," Jareth commented, watching Sarah place the three plates on one arm while holding a pitcher of orange juice and bring it all to the table.
"You pick things up being a waitress for two years," she said, "Luckily, my Grandma Morgana needed help in her flower shop and I was able to quit working at the diner."
"A flower shop?" Jareth asked, passing Gaia her plate.
"Yeah, it called 'Faerie's Den'. She sells fresh cut flowers, as well as seeds, minor gardening supplies, and a few other things..."
Right then, the phone rang, half-scaring Jareth who was not used to hearing such things from the Aboveground. Sarah held back a snicker as she picked up the receiver.
"Sarah Williams speaking...Oh, hi Granny Morgana...I'm fine...yes, we're eating now...today at noon?...Okay, I'll bring Gaia with...okay, i will...love you, too...bye-bye..." Sarah hung up the phone.
"Looks like I have to go to the flower shop today. One of the other girls, Lilian, called in sick and I'm gonna go cover her shift," Sarah said, sitting back down at the table, "If you like, you can come with, Jareth..."
"I would be honored, Sarah," he said, smiling at her. He noticed the slight blush on her cheeks as she looked down at her food. Gaia didn't seemed to notice.
"You coming with us to see Granny, Mister Jareth?" she asked, mouth full of eggs and toast.
"Gaia, what did I say about talking with your mouth full...?" Sarah said.
"Sorry, Mommy," Gaia said, quickly swallowing the food, "Mister Jareth coming with us to see Granny?"
"Yes, Jareth is coming with us. Now, finish eating and be good, and I'll let you show him the shop around while Mommy is working," Sarah bargained with Gaia.
"Okay!" Gaia agreed quickly.
"Speaking of which, you may need to change clothes, Jareth..." Sarah said, looking him over and trying not to linger too much on his nicely muscular chest.
"I've already thought of that, my dear. I'll change up stairs," he said, nodding over towards Gaia, who was quickly devouring the last of her food. Sarah nodded, knowing that he could have just magicked his clothes right there. That he thought of this ahead of time made Sarah start wondering what the real reason for his visit was...
A few hours later they were piled into Sarah's older model Ford van as they made their way across town to the flower shop. Jareth, who had never ridden in any sort of mortal transportation, did his best not to touch too many of the buttons. Sarah had to repeatedly explain what each one did, and was relieved when he got to the radio.
"And what does this one do?" Jareth asked.
"That is the radio. You can listen to different kinds of music by turning that knob there, and raise the volume up and down there," she explained, pointing out the knobs at a red light.
She watched and listened as Jareth experimented with different stations, Sarah having to explain a couple of times that the dj's on the radio couldn't hear him when he tried to respond back to him.
"It's like having another child in the car..."she muttered to herself.
They finally made it to the flower shop, and Gaia was nearly bouncing off the seat in excitement of getting to see Granny Morgana. Once unbuckled, Gaia was out of the van and half way up the sidewalk by the time Sarah locked and closed the van door. She and Jareth watched as Gaia ran into the arms of an elderly woman standing at the shop's entrance.
"Granny Morgana!" Gaia squealed.
"My, my, little one, have you grown. By the end of the week, you'll be taller than me!" the older woman exclaimed, spinning Gaia around in a circle, proving false Jareth's initial thought that she was frail. Morgana gently placed Gaia on the ground to give Sarah a hug.
"What would I do without you, Sarah?" she said.
"I could ask you the same, Grandma," Sarah replied.
"Granny, Granny! Meet Mister Jareth! C'mon, Mister Jareth!" Gaia said, grabbing Jareth by the index finger and practically dragging him to where the other two women stood. Sarah smiled, tying to holding back a laugh, while Jareth only shrugged and smiled as he was pulled over to where Sarah and her grandmother stood.
"Now, Sarah, who is this handsome young man you've brought today?" Morgana asked. Before Sarah could answer, Jareth bowed deeply to her Grandmother.
"My name is Jareth King. Pleased to make your aquaitence, my lady," he said, taking Morgana's hand and kissing it. Sarah blushed, but her grandmother only laughed.
"Oh my, aren't you quite the charmer? If I was 40 years younger, I'd be keeping you for myself," she joked around, much to Sarah's embarrassment. Jareth only laughed.
"Now, now, behave you two," Sarah said, entering the Flower shop red-faced, Gaia skipping ahead.
Jareth looked around as he entered the shop, which almost felt like walking into an enchanted garden. There were flowers of all kinds, hanging in pots and creeping along the wall in vines. The scents of freesia, lavender, rose, and many other flowers floated through the air. Jareth almost felt like he was back in his private garden in the Labyrinth.
"Come on, Mister Jareth! Let me show you my favorite place!" Gaia said excitedly, once again grabbing Jareth by the index finger and dragging him helplessly along.
"Wow, isn't he a looker..." one of Sarah's co-worker's, Maria, commented,"So, you two dating or what?"
"No, no...he's just an old friend," Sarah replied, pulling the gardening apron over her head.
"Uh-uh, Sarah, not with the way he was looking at you," Maria said, watering some of the gardenias on the counter.
"Whatever," Sarah said.
"Seriously...you should see the way he looks at you, chica. He's been in here two minutes and I can tell he got the hots for you. I don't see how you don't see it," Maria said, pushing a few strands of her mahogany hair out of her face.
"We're just old friends, it's not like that," Sarah said, blushing at the comment, which wasn't missed by Maria.
"Oh, I see...You like him, too, but you're just too scared to admit it," Maria said, while Sarah shook her head.
"Look, I just don't want to be in a relationship right now," Sarah said, trying to end the conversation.
"Chica, it's been almost six years...you eventually gotta come out of your shell, and with the looks he's been giving you, he wouldn't mind helping you...if you know what I mean," Maria added suggestively. She had to duck as a bit of fertilizer flew over her head.
"Maria!"
"Well, if you don't get that gorgeous hunk in bed, I will damn sure try," she said, turning around and going to the back room before Sarah could comment. Sarah took some deep breaths in attempt to control the redness creeping onto her face, and went back to tending the plants.
Meanwhile, Jareth was listening to Gaia rattle off the names of the flowers as they passed them, or at least her name for them. She skipped along the cobblestone path to the outside garden, picking flowers for Sarah. As they turned the corner, they saw Morgana kneeling in the dirt, packing the dirt around a bed of roses. She looked up and smiled as she saw Gaia and Jareth coming along the path.
"Granny, Granny, look at the flowers I got for Mommy!" Gaia said, showing Morgana the wild bouquet.
"Good job, sweetheart. Why don't you go bring those to mommy right now? I bet she'd love them.'
"Okay!" Gaia skipped back along the path.
"Here, young man, while she's gone you can help me with these roses," she said, handing a pair of gloves and a spade to Jareth. Jareth couldn't help but take the gloves and put them on, kneeling next to Morgana to help her. He thought of how Hoggle would get a kick out of seeing him gardening.
After a few minutes, Morgana spoke.
"So, Jareth, when do you plan to ask my granddaughter on a date?" she asked. Jareth dropped the tool he had in his hand, about to protest what Morgana was suggesting.
"Now, don't try denying that you have feelings for her, young man. I wasn't born yesterday, you know. The way you look at her makes it plain to see that you care for Sarah deeply," she said.
"It's not that simple..."He started.
"You don't have to explain anything to me, Jareth. I know what happened to her with that rotten Gabriel boy...if I would've got ahold of him...well, you can guess my reaction when I found out. Irene shut her out of the picture, that stupid son of mine following along with it. If Toby didn't come here whenever he had the chance, Sarah would've never see him," Morgana said.,"The point is that you should go talk to Sarah, tell her how you feel. Take things slow, but still give it a try. My granddaughter has been alone for a long time, and Gaia hasn't had any sort of father figure. I'm not saying go up and propose to her, just talk to her, tell her how you feel. I'm sure she'd appreciate it."
"I'll...consider it,"Jareth said after a long pause.
"That's all I ask."
By the end of the day, Gaia was passed out and had to be carried to the car by Jareth. While he was fastening her in, Morgana pulled Sarah aside.
"He's such a good worker, I might just hire him on. we could use the extra muscles around here, not to mention that Maria and Lilian would never call off on a shift ever again," Morgana chuckled.
"Yeah, Maria told me about her opinions of him...said if I didn't get him in bed, she would," Sarah said.
"Well, if that is the case, maybe you should beat her to the punch," Morgana said.
"Grandma!"
"I'm just kidding! But I would suggest that if he were to ask you out, to make good on his offer. He really cares for you, my dear. You don't really find a man like him very often," Morgana said.
"I don't know, Grandma. It's just a lot that I'd have to think about..."
"Then take your time, but if he asks you, don't be afraid to say yes," she said, giving Sarah a hug.
"Alright, Grandma," Sarah said, her mind wandering somewhere else.
After Sarah put Gaia to bed, she and Jareth were in the front room with the T.V. turned on to some game show that neither of them was watching. After several minutes, Sarah asked the question that had been on her mind since Jareth had spending time Aboveground.
"Jareth, tell me the truth. why are you here?" she asked.
"I...well, I was...You see..." he stumbled with the words, sighing, "The truth is, Sarah, that I wanted another chance."
Sarah was lost for words, and Jareth continued his explanation.
"You see, I was wrong for the way i went about things 11 years ago, and I apologize for my actions then. I should have waited until you were older, and then came straight-forward about how I felt. You mean everything to me, and I was foolish to think that I could charm my way into your heart. You are strong, beautiful, independent, and more. I came back here to ask...no, to beg, that you give me a chance to do things the right way this time. Whatever you want, whatever it takes, I am willing to do it to prove that my feelings for you are genuine and true. Please, will you give me that chance?"
Jareth was no his knees in front of Sarah, who was trying to process all of this. She could hear the truth and sincerity in his words, but...
"How do I know that this isn't a trick? How do I know that you won't..." she started, but Jareth put a slender finger on her lips.
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to prove this, no matter how long it takes to show you that I truly and deeply love you," he said.
"I don't know if I am ready for this, Jareth," she replied, "You'll have to give me sometime to think about it."
"That's all I ask, Sarah," he said, the disappointment barely hidden in his voice. Sarah felt sorry for the way she was making him feel, and tentatively she took one of his hands, making her decision then.
"Jareth, I will give you another chance, but we have to take things slow. I need time to sort out my own feelings, and...well, right now isn't a good time to talk about this. When my Grandmother picks up Gaia in the morning, we will go out to eat so that we can talk things over. Okay, Jareth?" she said.
Jareth felt elated, but kept his emotions under control as he agreed. He stood up, Sarah's hand in his, and kissed her lightly on the cheek.
"Thank you, Sarah. You don't know how much this means to me."
"You're welcome, Jareth," Sarah replied, a slight blush on her cheeks.
AS she walked to her room, Jareth called to her.
"Sarah?"
"Yes?' she said, turning around.
"Do you mind if I sleep on the sofa again?" Jareth asked.
'Sure," she smiled, "Good Night, Jareth."
"Sweet dreams, Sarah," he said, unable to wait til morning. Sarah gave him another chance, and he vowed to himself that he wouldn't mess it up this time...
Laihi: Yay! All finished! Sorry about the long wait...I didn't think working on three stories at a time would be so much work...Please rate and review!
