XXXXXXX

Even though it the night is moving close to dawn, somehow it has grown darker. Though, it may just be my vision, fading with the rest of me. Jareth cannot see it, but the wound on my head is costing me a lot of blood, which my hair and jacket soak up just as quickly as it comes out. It is rather morbid to think about, so I occupy my thoughts with other things. Like being saved. By Jareth.

I am considering it very seriously. Life with him could not be so bad. He is being so kind, not taking advantage of me. So noble.

And it isn't a bad thought, really, spending forever with the Goblin King. He isn't too bad on the eyes. He is kind, and gentle. Though prickly and smug and witty when needed. A complete pain in the ass, sometimes, but altogether not terrible. A bearable life. We would be happy, honestly, fighting every step of the way. He has wit. Humor. It could be a good life.

A caged life, nonetheless.

Could I stand not seeing my family again? My crappy apartment, the bookshop, the 1960s weave-wallpapered classrooms of my college campus? My roommates? Clara? Laurel? Karen? Dad? Toby? Would I be able to live on, after all of them passed?

Yes, I decide. I could. And I will. So, maybe I don't quite love Jareth. But I can. One day. We would have forever, right? Seeing this new, softer, side of him without the menacing outfits, really changed my outlook on his offer. We're both adults now. It is a near-even playing field. We can come to an understanding.

I open my mouth, ready to announce my decision. "Yes. Yes, I'll come with you. A thousand times yes, just please—"

"Jareth, I know what I said—"

"I'll stay. Forever."

"I wish the King of the Goblins would save me, right now…"

"Please-"

"Jareth—"

"I wish…"

My world fades to black.

XXXXXXX

My attention is stirred at her soft voice. I watch as Sarah slips into unconsciousness. Her head falls back, revealing streaks of blood upon her neck. It is far too much. I cannot just sit by to watch her die. Before I know what I am doing I find my hands encased in gloves once more, and I am beside her too-still body. Then we're back in the clearing and I am chanting before her. This is the only way I know how to heal what has been broken without trespassing upon her expressed wishes. She is glowing a pure white and wind creeps up, pulling at our hair and clothes.

Spell after spell, charm and charm again, nothing seems to heal the worst of her wounds: a punctured lung and fractured skull. Her ankle is slowly mending, the ribs are fusing at a rapid pace, the skin broken on the back of her skull has knitted back, yet it seems as though nothing can save her from suffocation and the bone at the back of her head. I try again and again to pull her back, but blood loss combined with a lack of oxygen is something on a true master healer could pull off.

Unless…

Bound partners have virtually no limits when it comes to healing each other. They pull energy from one another, which allows the body to accept its own familiar magic with ease. It would be simple, really, to repair Sarah's broken body if we were bound to one another.

But she might never forgive me.

Casting my beloved girl a glance, I realize that her eternal anger is nothing in comparison to the despaired I will surely feel if she is lost to me. I have no choice. It is now or never. And I would prefer it to be now.

Resigned, I slide off my gloves. This is not what I wanted. But this is what it had come down to. Somehow, even in her unconscious state, Sarah had managed to spite me. I take a breath, then with the very tips of my fingers, caress Sarah's marred cheek softly.

It is as though the forest exploded. My mind is ripped from my body to collide with great force into hers. We are together. We, once apart, are once as feelings fuse, thoughts meld, and connections form. It is powerful magic, so old and deep it is no longer magic but nature, taking its course. I feel, for a brief moment, every inch of her pain. I see every heartache, dream and secret. I feel an overwhelming love for her family. Warmth toward friends. Loathing. Lust. Hatred and fondness, then—

Confusion. And passion. And joy.

For me.

It is a quick ceremony, yet each second feels like a decade. In my thousands of years, I had never felt something as electrifying as this. Every emotion either of us has ever felt, condensed down into a second's worth of feeling. Our minds cross and bow, joining like two puzzle pieces lost across time. We were bound.

And my beautiful champion isn't going to be a nip pleased about it when she wakes.

XXXXXX

Sorry that took awhile.

I hope you've enjoyed this so far! I reposted to A) shorten the fict to sections easier to read, and B) get some actual reviews, because a lot of people just added this to faves or alerts. So, if you're not too busy, could you write me one?