A/N: Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews! I have to agree that my chapters seem rushed, but that's probably because I wrote all three of those chapters in one day because I had so many ideas that I wanted to get down before I forgot them. I know: excuses, excuses. Regardless, I really appreciate all the great stuff everyone had to say, and once this fic is done, I'm going to go back and probably end up rewriting most of the beginning to flesh it out a bit more. So, on with the show!
P.S. Second semester is kinda kicking my ass right now, so I'm really, really, really sorry for the lack of updates! I'm currently on spring break (yeah, latest spring break ever…), so hopefully I can get my updating on. Also, I seem to have this habit of starting stories, not finishing them, then starting other ones, so I have about 7109829379689239 unfinished fics. So, to the people actually reading this, I'm sorry!
Note: Sarah's apartment building is on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. As you can probably tell, I'm from near Chicago, hence all the Chicago-y terms, locations, etc. If you're not familiar with them, my apologies! If you want to know more or understand something, you can find information at: Got No Suitcase
Sarah had been sitting on her bed for about two hours, pondering over her decision, still remaining undecided, when she decided to take a walk and get some fresh air to clear her mind a bit. Simply walking around Chicago usually cheered her, seeing the variety of people passing her, the comfort of the tall buildings enclosing the streets, the joy of the whipping wind off Lake Michigan twirling her hair about. She grabbed her coat off the back of a kitchen chair, which she did not remember putting there, and walked out the door, closing it behind her and sighing. 'So much is going on right now…I can hardly think straight,' she thought to herself as she pushed the call button for the elevator. She stepped in and leaned against the wall, her eyes fixed on the mirrored ceiling above her. Her reflection emulated her mood exactly: confused, exhausted, and just a bit frustrated.
Stepping out the front door of the apartment complex, Sarah took a deep breath of the crisp, wintry Chicago air in mid-afternoon, a slight breeze blowing off the lake that stirred up her hair as she walked. She took in the familiar sights around her: the bustle of Michigan Avenue, taxis darting through the streets completely disregarding the pedestrians and the pedestrians disregarding all of the traffic in general; the gleaming metal structures of Millennium Park, with sun dancing on the bean and reflecting off the twisting metal structures of the band shell, the faces of the tower pillars smiling and blinking at her as she passed by; the lions of the Art Institute, now currently adorned with Bears memorabilia; sparks shooting off the L tracks over Wabash as the train above the street rumbled by; the saxophone player outside Orchestra Hall playing the Simpsons Theme. She drank in these sights as if she were to never see them again.
"I'm going to miss this," she said quietly to herself, and then nearly jumped, realizing what she had just stated. She had made her way over towards the Buckingham Fountain
at this point, and sat down on a park bench. 'Apparently,' Sarah thought, 'I've already made up my mind. I don't know when, but I think that Jareth's right: I have nothing here. I really don't. There's no point in trying to stay here and make a life for myself, anyway.' She sighed. 'And he's right. I have friends there…and I have nothing here.' She got up, look one last long look at the beautiful fountain that was currently adorned with icicle lights and headed back towards her apartment.
()
Sarah tried to kill time waiting for Jareth by buying all of the food that she had ever liked and eating it while watching TV and cranking her favorite CDs. The neighbors above her had already started pounding on their floor with a broom to try and signal to Sarah to turn down her ruckus, but she merely ignored them; she was having too good of a time in her last hours in her own world to deal with people who didn't appreciate the screaming guitar solos of Jimmy Page and the thumping bass of rap and dance music. In fact, she was having such a good time that she did not notice a white owl hovering outside her window, flapping against the glass pane.
Getting frustrated from watching Sarah gyrate around her living room for nearly an hour, Jareth decided to make his appearance known by transforming into his human form and appearing less than half a foot in front of Sarah, who was currently in the middle of practicing her booty shake to some rap (as she figured she would not be hearing much Ying Yang Twins in the labyrinth's castle). However, his plans went slightly awry as she had turned at the last minute, and he had appeared directly behind her and ended up with her backing her "thang" up directly into his groin. He inwardly groaned in both frustration and pleasure, as this was not his idea of a good start to her departure…but was not exactly disagreeable, either.
Sarah snapped her head around, eyes wide, and saw that Jareth was wearing an equally bewildered expression. She then noticed her position: slightly bent at the waist, her hands on her thighs, her rear end sticking up in the air, and she was positioned directly in Jareth's, well…area. This was beyond awkward for both of them, as both of their deepest, most hidden fantasies had just started to come to fruition, and they both jumped to move apart. However, Sarah's foot had become tangled around Jareth's, and as she leapt forward and he leapt back, she fell and turned over, with him careening over on top of her.
She was now pinned to the ground by Jareth's body, their faces inches apart. Her eyes went wide with shock as she realized her predicament, and wider still when she felt something hard against her stomach. They stared at each other for a minute, the electricity between then undeniable. For one glorious moment, Sarah thought that Jareth was leaning in to kiss her, but alas, he instead seemed to change his mind and move his face slightly away from hers.
After what seemed like an eternity, he suddenly (and awkwardly) got off her and started rambling: "Well…umm…I came here to see what you wanted to do and if you wanted to go with me…I mean come to the labyrinth…or if you wanted to stay here and keep up with your life and you know that I'm not forcing you to do anything and it's your choice…"
Sarah started to tune out his rant, watching his lips move, wondering what had happened to the intense-yet-aloof Jareth that she had known ten years before. He had been so smooth then, cocky even, but now he seemed as if he had been reduced to a bumbling teenager in love. That was something that made Sarah wonder…what had changed in the period of time between their last meeting?
She halted him in the middle of his rant, holding up her hand, stating simply, "Yes."
He looked at her, confused. "Yes what?"
"Yes, I'll go with you back to the labyrinth."
For a moment he looked shocked, then within the blink of an eye, his entire attitude had changed back to what resided in her memories: debonair, with a tinge of evil cunning. He smiled at her, his sexy, bone-chilling smile that made her feel as if she was going to melt, and extended his hand to her. "Excellent – it would have been such a pity to leave you behind." He paused and flashed his trademark smirk. "Come, Sarah", he said. "The labyrinth awaits you."
Before Sarah could even stop and wonder what had caused the sudden change in his manner, she found herself standing in the entrance hall to Jareth's castle, though a bit had changed. The décor was much less drab – in fact, it looked nearly as opulent as Versailles. The walls were still shining like they were before, but they were now made of a translucent silver material that seemed to radiate light, as opposed to the cold stone of before. The floor was made of some sort of jewel akin to a diamond, but diamonds did not shine nearly as much as these. It appeared that they had been pressed into flat tiles, and they seemed to stretch for miles around her. The castle also seemed much emptier, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. However, Jareth's speaking interrupted her thoughts.
"Welcome to your new home, Sarah."
A/N: Okay, I fixed this chapter so that hopefully it's not all italicized and underlined. I have no idea how that happened, but I hope it's fixed now. Also, yes, I realize that it's now about four months after I last updated…I'm sorry! School happened, then summer happened, then two really major fics I had an idea for happened (coming soon: a Harry Potter fic!), and this one kinda got left in the dirt. However, I'll try to update this sometimes, because I enjoy it, and I hope you guys do, too!