Looking at maybe 3 more chapters! Enjoy!
Jareth set Sarah down once they reached the door that led out to the garden. She was still in her pajamas, but apparently Jareth didn't mind. They stepped outside and it was a beautiful day in the Goblin Kingdom. The sun was out, the temperature felt perfect, and there were flowers blooming in every direction. Sarah looked around in wonder.
"Jareth, it is so beautiful out here. None of these flowers will attack me, right?"
Jareth shook his head and laughed. "No, I will make sure to put a ward on anything that might want to act out. But yes, I thought you might like it at this time of year. Spring has always been my favorite season. Come, let's go eat. Your surprise is around the corner."
Sarah smiled and took Jareth's hand. When they reached the other side of the garden, Sarah radiated happiness when she saw her friends and ran over to hug them.
"Hoggle! Ludo! Sir Didymus! Aw, it's so good to see you guys!"
"And it is so good to see thee as well my lady," Sir Didymus replied.
"Sarah, friend."
Sarah chuckled at Ludo and turned to Hoggle who looked pissy as always, but was genuinely happy to see Sarah.
"Hi, Sarah. I missed ya. Happy Valentine's Day."
"Thanks guys," Sarah told her friends. "Are you three joining me and Jareth for breakfast?"
Jareth stepped in to inform Sarah of his plans. "Actually Precious, I thought I would leave you four alone for now. I have a quick errand I need to run and I should be back within the hour. Is that alright?"
"Oh, okay," Sarah said sheepishly. "I thought it would be nice if you stayed too, but if you really have to go…"
Jareth hated that Sarah looked disappointed, but he had no choice. Not unless he didn't want to end the day right. He took Sarah's hands and kissed her knuckles. "I shan't be gone long, I promise. Enjoy your friends, Sarah. They hardly ever see you. And Valentine's Day is supposed to be about everyone you care for, yes?"
Sarah couldn't help but agree with Jareth. "Fine, you're right. I'll see you soon then." They kissed each other goodbye and Sarah turned to her friends.
"Alright guys, should we stuff our faces? I'm starved!"
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Jareth had left an entire feast for the four of them to eat; anything one could imagine at a breakfast buffet, it was available- pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, frittata, fruit- the works. Sarah and her friends ate while catching up with each other during their smorgasbord.
"So Sarah," began Hoggle. "How's everything been with you? I still can't believe ya've been with Jareth for almost a whole year now. Still don't seem real..."
Sarah always got the feeling that Hoggle wasn't exactly happy about the fact she and Jareth were together. She knew Jareth picked on Hoggle to some extent, but he was going to have to accept the fact that nothing was going to change and explained this to Hoggle.
"I know, it's crazy to think about. But I'm so happy with him and I really do love him, Hoggle."
"Well…I guess if yur happy with him then that's all that matters," Hoggle retorted.
"Here, here!" Sir Didymus happily agreed.
"We have present for Sarah," an unintelligible Ludo mumbled.
Ludo got up to get a couple of packages and handed them to Sarah, who was surprised yet thankful her friends had thought of her.
"Aw, you guys. You didn't have to get me anything."
"It is but our pleasure, my Lady," Sir Didymus assured. "This is a day for gifts, is it not?"
Sarah wasn't going to argue with Sir Didymus or anyone else; she did love gifts. She reminded herself to bring theirs to them later in the day. She opened up one of the presents and found a small bracelet inside. It had a variety of green stones around a silver chain consisting of jade, peridot, emerald, and a couple others Sarah couldn't identify.
"You guys, this is…beautiful. You made this yourselves?"
"Ludo found the stones. Didymus got the chain from the Goblin City, and I put them stones on. It was a group effort," Hoggle said bashfully.
Sarah continued to look at the bracelet in appreciation. "Thank you guys so much. I love it."
She started putting it on when Sir Didymus mentioned to open the other gift. Ludo handed the second present to her and what she saw nearly had her drooling. There in the box lay a giant chocolate cake with writing on it that said 'Happy Valentine's Day, Sarah!'
Sarah stared at the cake with wide eyes. Nothing like chocolate cake on Valentine's Day! "Ohhhh my hell, this looks delicious. You guys made this too?"
"Jareth gave us the recipe. He said you liked cake an' all, so we wanted to make it for ya. We baked it last night," Hoggle explained.
"I can't wait to try it," a gleeful Sarah said. "Do you guys want some?"
All three of them declined. Apparently not many in the Underground had a sweet tooth, which left her wondering how Jareth did because that man ate anything with sugar in it. Oh well, she thought; more for her.
Sarah took a bit of the cake and closed her eyes, savoring the moistness and sweetness of the cake. "Guys, this is seriously the most amazing cake I've ever eaten. You said it's Jareth's recipe? I didn't even know he liked to bake."
"I don't Precious, but I concocted the recipe myself as a lad and had the maids bake it throughout my many years. It is the most scrumptious thing you'll ever have. Besides me, of course."
Sarah looked up from her cake to find Jareth standing a few feet away, while Sarah's friends all looked around pretending they didn't just hear their King say that.
"Dis is seersly derishious," came a muffled proclamation from Sarah.
Jareth put his hand up to his ear, not quite understanding what Sarah had said. "What was that? I couldn't quite hear you with that cake stuffed in your mouth."
Sarah swallowed and laughed. "I said, this cake is delicious. Whatever ingredients you put together are out of this world."
Jareth beamed from Sarah's appreciation. "I'm glad you think so. Ludo, Hoggle, Sir Didymus- I appreciate you keeping Sarah company while I saw to my errand. If you three do not mind, I am going to whisk her away for the remainder of the afternoon."
"Of course, sire, of course," came the tactful response from Sir Didymus. "I hope thou two hast a splendid day!"
Hoggle followed Sir Didymus and Ludo from the table, but not before saying goodbye to Sarah for the day. "See ya, Sarah. Don't forget to say goodbye when ya leave tomorrow."
Sarah said goodbye to her friends and told them she'd definitely see them before she left, since she still had to give them their presents.
As Sarah and Jareth began their walk back to his chambers so Sarah could change her clothes, she began to realize it was eerily quiet within the castle and wondered where all the goblins were at. She was also becoming quite itchy all of a sudden and started scratching her neck and arms.
"Where are all your subjects at?" Sarah asked. "I haven't seen one goblin here since we arrived."
Sarah started walking a little slower as Jareth resumed his pace, who was now a couple of inches ahead of Sarah as she continued to scratch herself.
"I requested that they spend the day in the city," Jareth explained. "I did not want them hassling us today. They're notorious for getting themselves into trouble, and I wanted to avoid a lost eye or ligament. Though I'm sure at some point they'll show up, they can only be obedient for so long."
Sarah kept scratching and fell a few feet behind Jareth at this point. "I guess that makes sense. So what are we doing for the rest of the day?"
"Hmm? Why do you sound so far away?" Jareth turned to Sarah to see why she was lagging and gasped.
She stopped scratching for a second and looked at Jareth wide eyed. "What? What's wrong? Is there a flower behind me?"
"Um. Sarah…? How…how are you feeling right now," Jareth inquired.
"What do you mean? I feel fine." Sarah continued to scratch herself without even noticing she had really been doing it.
Jareth sighed in what seemed like in apologetic way. "Take my hand, I think it's best if we sift to the room rather than walk."
Sarah gave him an inquisitive look and knew something was up. "Okay…"
She took Jareth's hand skeptically and no more than a few seconds later were they in his room. Jareth went straight to his bookshelf and took out a piece of paper to examine it, leaving Sarah feeling a little worried.
"Babe? Is everything alright?" The scratching didn't cease.
Jareth closed his eyes and let out a frustrated moan as he walked towards his bathroom. "Fuck. Sarah come here."
Sarah did as she was told, her eyes never leaving Jareth. When she reached him, he gave her a remorseful look and turned her body so she was facing the mirror. There, staring back at her was a frightening sight of a bumpy, bright red girl. Her eyes enlarged seeing the hives broken out all over her body and face.
"Oh my god, what the shit?!" Sarah frantically ran closer to the mirror and began to examine her body, lifting up her top and lowering her shorts to see how much the hives had spread. "I'm not allergic to anything, how is this possible!"
Jareth remained quiet and Sarah rotated her body to face him.
"Hello! Jareth?! I'm having a reaction here!" Sarah was uncontrollably itchy now and became relentless with the scratching.
"Sarah, I…I believe it's the cake you are reacting to," Jareth said in a quiet tone.
"No shit, Sherlock!" Sarah yelled. "What the hell was in that thing!"
"Sarah, please listen without getting worked up. I gave that recipe to Hoggle yesterday afternoon with the best intentions. I didn't think anything in the recipe would be deemed as toxic for humans, but apparently I was wrong. I often forget your immune systems are weaker than that of Fae's."
"Oh for crying out loud. We're back to this again? Where you just go and do something without making sure it won't kill me? I'm about to scratch my skin off!"
"Well for starters, it wasn't my gift to you. Your friends…"
"…got the recipe from you! Don't blame them for your lack of attention to detail! Uggghhh."
Sarah left the bathroom and hopped into the bed, throwing the covers over her.
"I look like an infected STD monster," a defeated Sarah whined. "Leave me alone."
Damn it all to Hades, Jareth thought. First he gives her vengeful flowers, then unintentionally feeds her cake that caused an allergic reaction. Well, her friends fed her the cake. But she was right, he had given them the recipe and overlooked the possibility of her getting ill somehow. He walked over to the bed and sat down next to Sarah.
"Sarah…I'm sorry. I was stupid to disregard the likelihood that you would get sick in some fashion. You are still the world's most beautiful monster for what it's worth."
Sarah threw the covers down and gave Jareth a death glare and flipped him off before cowering under the sheets once more.
"Okay you're right, that wasn't funny. Sarah, look, I can get rid of the hives to a certain extent and then we can put ointment on you for whatever remains. Can you please come out from under there?"
Sarah didn't move, causing Jareth to feel exasperated from this day and it was hardly over. He rolled his head back to stare at the ceiling and left the bed a few seconds later. Just as he was about to exit the room, Sarah retracted from the covers. She felt bad – once again – for making a scene and causing Jareth to feel guilty. She couldn't help it though, this was par for course. She wanted to look sexy for Jareth later tonight but so far her body had been taking a beating today.
"Fine," Sarah said sighing, "you can heal me."
Jareth took Sarah back into the bathroom and was able to heal most of her body. Only a couple of red patches remained, and he recommended putting some calming ointment on to reduce whatever was left, but Sarah wasn't having it.
"No way, if we use anything it'll be from Aboveground. Can you go into my bathroom and get the Benadryl in my cabinet? It's a little yellow tube with 'Benadryl' written on it. You can't miss it."
Jareth rolled his eyes in annoyance but he wasn't about to argue. He just wanted to get past this hiccup in their day and move on, so he did whatever he could to make her happy. He found the ointment with no problem and they rubbed it wherever the reaction hadn't let up.
As Sarah was looking over her body to make sure she got everything, Jareth spoke up.
"Sarah I'm so sincerely sorry for the flowers and the cake. I have a wonderful surprise for you in the forest though, and it is something I know you will love. Then we can have supper later this evening. It is sure to make up for these setbacks."
Sarah looked at Jareth misty eyed and gave him a hug.
"It's okay. I love you. I'm having a great time here regardless of my skin being condemned," she promised with a laugh. "I'm gonna go change real quick."
With that, Sarah gave Jareth a quick kiss and he desperately hoped nothing else would go wrong at this point. It wasn't even noon yet and he still had several things to show Sarah.
"Please let the remainder of this day go well," Jareth prayed.
Sarah came out of the bathroom about fifteen minutes later and she and Jareth were off to the forest to enjoy their afternoon.
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AN: Poor Sarah! And poor Jareth! Who has ever had a Valentine's Day where nothing can go right? haha
