In which JJ gets to have a good cry, which always makes us girls feel a little better.


Wishes and Reunions

The moon had begun its downward arc across the sky; JJ knew that the horizon would soon be glowing with the dawn, and that her time would be up just as quickly, so she ran, doing her best to ignore every twinge and pang that her ankle gave, praying that the tortured joint would hold up long enough to get her home.

After a while, her run slowed to a jog, and then to a brisk walk, until finally she had to stop, gasping for breath and gritting her teeth against the burning in her muscles. She had made it to a circular patch of lawn, at the center of which was a fountain, the gurgling of which made her suddenly aware that she was incredibly parched. It was by this fountain that she half-collapsed, yanking the now-tattered silk gloves off, cupping her hands into the clear water and drinking deeply. Briefly, she wondered if drinking anything in the Labyrinth was a good idea, but she was thirsty enough not to particularly care.

When that thirst was finally quenched, she rested her head against the cool marble lip of the fountain and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to steady herself. After a moment, she achingly came to her feet and turned, only to nearly collapse again, this time in shock, as a figure appeared in front of her. Taking shape from moonlight and shadow, it took a second for the apparition to form completely, but when it did, JJ sat down abruptly on the edge of the fountain, her heart pounding painfully.

"Mom?" she whispered. The woman now standing in front of her smiled lovingly, and approached her, bending forward and placing a kiss on her forehead. Her red hair, lighter than JJ's in color, seemed to glitter ever so slightly, and her eyes glowed silver moonlight, but there was no mistaking her mother.

Tears stung JJ's eyes and she flung herself into her mother's arms, sobbing quietly.

Her mother held her, stroking her hair and murmuring soft words of comfort in her ear.

After a long moment, her mother coaxed her into kneeling on the grass beside the fountain and resting her head on her lap.

"I'm so proud of you, Jules," mother whispered, gently combing her fingers through her daughter's curls. At the use of her childhood nickname, JJ's sobs quieted, and a smile found its way to her face, and she managed a choked, "I've missed you, mom."
"I've missed you too, Jules. But we're together now, and you don't have to fight anymore. We can be together here, forever."

Reality threatened to come crashing in on JJ, but she resisted it, closing her eyes and focusing on her mother's nonsense words.

"I'm sorry, mom," she sniffled, "I'm sorry for being such a disappointment, for not being a good daughter--"
"Hush now, sweetheart," her mother chided, "I couldn't be more proud of you. You've never been a disappointment to me."

For a long time, JJ stayed there, allowing herself to cry silently, and take comfort from her mother's assurances. Even after the gentle hand had stopped stroking her hair, and her head was resting against the marble rim of the fountain instead of her mother's lap, she stayed.

A smooth, familiar voice beside her intoned, "It's called An Tobair du Mhian: The fountain of desire. One taste of its waters will give you a glimpse of your heart's desire."

JJ turned her head to look up at the Goblin King, seated on the rim beside her, looking up at the moon, his hands folded on his lap.

"How long has it been?" he asked, softly.

JJ sighed, "Seven years. We'd gotten into a fight that morning, before I left for school. I don't even remember what about. And it… it happened so suddenly, I never got the chance to apologize."

He looked down at her, and held her gaze for a long moment, before saying, "Many runners have wasted their time here, lost in the illusion of the Mhian. Another taste will buy you more time with her, but it will be hollow, an empty echo of what you lost so long ago."

"I know. I won't spend my life in an illusion. I'll always grieve for her… but I know she wouldn't want me to give up now."

Jareth smiled, and gracefully stood, bowing slightly at the waist and holding his hand out to her. She took it, allowing him to pull her to her feet, and he caught her by the shoulders when she staggered a bit.

"You've torn your dress," he scolded, gathering her discarded gloves off of the ground and running his hands over them. The silk became clean and white once again, and when he handed them to her, he touched the sleeve of her dress, and it also became clean, the gashes from the sphinx's claws mending. "And your face his a mess," he added, brushing one finger against her cheek. Immediately, her tears dried, and the burning in her eyes and stuffy nose brought on by crying dissipated, all traces of her breakdown gone in a blink.

"Thank you," she said, managing a smile. He nodded, and she turned away, choosing a new path to take and starting towards it.

After a few steps, he was at her side again, "Mind if I walk with you?" he asked.

JJ shrugged, "It's your Labyrinth."
"True, but I wouldn't want harassment to be added to the list of charges against me," he retorted with a wink.

"Too late for that," JJ answered with a snort.

Jareth chuckled, "I was attempting politeness."

"I thought Goblins weren't supposed to be polite?"
"Ah, yes. As you might have noticed, I'm not a Goblin. Merely their King, and as such, manners are occasionally required."

"You rule a race of insane, notoriously rude and mischievous beings, and they still expect you to know the difference between a salad fork and a fish fork? Doesn't sound very fair."

"No it doesn't, but that's not the half of it. So tell me: How are you enjoying my Labyrinth?"

"Apart from all the things that have tried to eat me so far? It's okay."

He paused and raised an eyebrow indignantly, "It's… Okay?"

JJ threw a smirk at him over her shoulder, "The disappearing/reappearing Library is a nice touch, I'll admit."

He caught up to her again, "Wonderful save on your part, my dear, but I will not allow the 'okay' remark to slip."

Grinning wolfishly, he summoned a crystal, and threw it down the corridor. It bounced a few times, and then shattered a dozen or so yards away, the pieces bursting into flames.

JJ stared, curious, as the flames formed into five figures. They were about seven feet tall, with bright orange fur and huge glowing red eyes. They were somewhat ape-like, but sported beak-like snouts, and, to JJ's fascination, they began removing their body parts and tossing them around to each other, particularly their heads, switching them around as if they were all dolls, laughing maniacally and singing.

"What are they?" JJ asked.

The Goblin King's tone was darkly amused, "Fireys. They love to play, and they love it even more when Runners join their game."

"Their game?"

The Fireys unanimously seemed to notice JJ, and began shouting excitedly about a 'New Player."
JJ could hear the smirk in Jareth's voice as he explained, "Exchanging body parts and throwing them as far as they can. Particularly heads. It's such a shame that human heads are not as easily removed, or reattached."

JJ growled as the Fireys began bounding towards her, "You're a jerk."
His lips brushed against her ear as he chuckled, "I know."

And with that, he was gone, traces of glitter disappearing on the ground.

***

By the time JJ lost the Fireys, she was sporting bruises on her arms and neck from where the creatures had managed to get close enough to tug on her, insisting that they remove a body part, otherwise she'd be disqualified from the game.

Fortunately, she'd escaped them before any damage could be done. Unfortunately, it was managed by her falling into another oubliette.

She spent a good ten minutes in the black hole, feeling around for any kind of escape. Twice, she'd tripped over a large wooden plank of sorts, which at first she'd hoped was a trap door, but closer inspection revealed it to be just a plank, and now, she was sitting on the floor, glaring up at the patch of starlit sky she could see through the grate covering the oubliette's entrance.

Suddenly, something furry brushed against her arm, and she leapt away from it with a startled shriek, which brought an irritable response from the intruder.

"You'll face down a kelpie without making a peep, but one little goblin touches your arm and you squeal like a tea kettle?"

JJ sat up straighter, panic becoming disbelieving hope, "Nobbiggo?"

A match was lit, and then a lantern blossomed to life, revealing the feline features of the King's Advisor. He grinned, and combed his whiskers, "Naturellement. Come on then, poppet, let's get you out of here."

He went over to the plank, propped it up against the wall, and then, to JJ's surprise, opened it like a door. It led out into a tunnel, and JJ wasted no time in following the cat-goblin out of the oubliette.

"How did you find me?" she asked.

Nobbiggo grinned at her, "Goblins have their ways. Now hurry, you haven't got much--"

A sudden chorus of booming voices startled JJ, "Turn back!"

"This is not the way!"
"Take heed, and go no further!"

JJ looked, and found the source of the voices to be a bunch of faces carved into the stone wall.

Nobbiggo was less than impressed, "You stone-brained twits, she's already going back."
"You mean," one of the faces questioned, sounding disappointed, "You're not going to the Castle beyond the Goblin City?"
JJ shook her head, and the face sighed, "Oh all right then, go on and spoil our fun. No one listens to us anymore."
Nobbiggo rolled his eyes and took JJ's hand, tugging her after him, "Pay them no mind, JJ, they're just false alarms. They're *supposed* to frighten people off of the right track, but…"
"But?"

"Let's just say a few thousand years and they still don't do their job right."
JJ glanced over her shoulder and gave the stone faces a sympathetic smile, "Sorry about this."
"Oh it's all right," one of them answered, resignedly, "We're used to it."

Not long after, Nobbiggo led her up a ladder, and they came out of a well and into a hedge maze. JJ noted with some delight that the castle was farther away than it had ever been, and that the horizon was still dark with night.

"Nobb, it looks like we're making progress!" She exclaimed, grinning down at the Goblin.

"Nothing as it seems," he cautioned, tiredly.

JJ cocked her head, and offered her hand to him, "What's wrong? You sound unhappy."

He shook his head, not taking her hand, "Just sad. Your journey will be over soon."

JJ frowned slightly, but didn't answer. She turned, and started down a promising-looking path. When it turned into a dead end after a few yards, she came back out and picked the next one.

After a few moments, Nobbiggo caught up to her, linking his paw between her fingers. JJ squeezed the paw gently, saying, "Thanks for finding me, Nobb."

He didn't answer, but squeezed her fingers in return, and they fell into a companionable silence.

Every so often, a shadow would flutter, and JJ would see the Owl from the corner of her eye, following at a distance.

Nobbiggo glared at it, but otherwise did not acknowledge its presence. After an hour, they were out of the hedge, and into a sandstone maze once more, and the castle kept growing further and further away.

JJ was about to comment on their progress when her stomach tightened painfully and gave a growl, reminding her exactly how long it had been since she'd eaten.

She bit her lip, trying to think of something to focus on besides her hungry, when Nobbiggo let go of her hand and pulled something from the pocket of his vest. He pressed it into JJ's hand, and when she looked, it was a perfectly ripened peach.

She looked questioningly at Nobbiggo, and he sighed, "You have to eat something. I know it's not much but--"
"It's wonderful, Nobb," JJ interjected, kneeling beside him and hugging him, "You've been the best to me ever since my cousin wished me away, and I appreciate it so much."

She didn't see the Owl land on the wall behind her, nor did she see the guilty look Nobbiggo gave it. He quickly turned the look into a smile when JJ stood.

"Go on then," he urged, "Before someone mistakes your stomach growling for a disgruntled dragon."
JJ smirked, thanked him again, and raised the peach to her lips.

-le gasp- Cliffhanger!