When No One Else Was Looking

Chapter 9: But

It had been two weeks since Jareth sent her away, back to school, to her crappy job, to her shitty life. Two long, torturous weeks. She no longer saw shadows moving in the corner of her eyes, small mischievous shadows that had followed her since her first run through the Labyrinth. Her friends no longer answered her calls; she doubted they could even hear them anymore. She couldn't even find the red leather book that had brought her so much comfort. She felt alone, completely and utterly alone.

"Toby?" Sarah asked standing in the doorway to the boys' room.

"Uh huh?"

"What are you looking for?"

"An owl." He answered looking away from the window to his older sister.

"Why?" she asked as she entered the room and sat down next to him, "You should be in bed."

"I know, but I realized last week that something was missing and I just realized what it was."

Sarah's eyes narrowed in confusion as her fingers played with her brothers' hair, "What would that be?"

"An owl used to sit outside my window, watching over me. But he hasn't shown up in a few weeks." He said turning his blue eyes towards his sister, "Do you think he's alright?"

Sarah looked down at Toby, her eyes laced with sorrow and concern, "I'm sure that wherever he is, he misses you as much as you miss him."

"But the thing is, Sarah, I don't think he was ever really looking for me."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I only started seeing him after I moved in here." He said motioning to Sarah's old room that now looked nothing like it had in the past.

"What are you saying Toby?" she asked cocking her head to the side a little.

"I think he was looking for you."

"Toby, I-"

"Sarah! It's almost 9, you should get going if you want to make it back before it gets too late." Her father called from downstairs.

"Okay, Dad!" she called before looking at Toby, "I'll talk to you later. Get in bed." She said as she stood up and walked towards the door.

"Hey Sarah?"

"Yes, Toby?" Sarah asked as she turned to look at the boy crawling underneath his sheets.

"Did you ever give him a name?"

"Who?"

"The Owl."

"Oh, No I didn't." she said shaking her head.

"Can I?"

"Of course you can." She said smiling.

Toby nodded as he laid his head against his pillow, "What was that Kings name? The one from your stories?"

Sarah inhaled, "His name was Jareth."

Toby nodded as his eyes drifted closed, "I think I'll call him Jareth."

Sarah nodded a little and shut the light switch off with a click, before closing his door and quickly walking downstairs.

"Hey Dad?"

"What is it, Sarah?"

"Do you still have my old Vanity?"

Her father looked at Karen, then back at his daughter, "I think so, in the Garage. Why?"

"I'd like to take it back with me, if that's alright."

"Why of course it is." He said with a smile, "I'll help you load it into your car."

"Thanks Daddy."

Upon her arrival home she had struggled to carry the vanity up the two flights of stairs to her apartment, after a few failed attempts she enlisted the help of her neighbor. The man was about her age, and they had some classes together. He gladly helped her carry the piece of furniture to her apartment and then to the corner of her bedroom.

Sarah stood at the opposite side of her room, glaring at the old piece of furniture. Her shoulder blades were pressed against the wall, her feet holding her weight in front of her making a smooth arch all the way up her body. She stared at her beloved piece of furniture and wondered about the owl that Toby had seen, her fingers gently playing with the almost empty liquor bottle.

Why on Earth would Jareth be looking for her at her old house? Didn't he know that she had grown up and moved out? Didn't that click at one point? And why did he even come back? To get a good laugh over the fact that she still read her little book? She still called her friends? To enjoy the fact that she never really said goodbye?

Angry tears had filled her eyes and she shook her head slightly to get them to go away, only making it worse. Didn't he understand? Why did he come back to mock her? Why did he have to make letting go even harder?

She laughed bitterly to herself, "Letting go." She scoffed, "I'll never be able to let go." She mumbled to herself as she angrily walked over to her vanity and sat down. "I'll never be free of them. No matter what I do, I'll never let go." Her voice became grief stricken, "They'll never set me free… He'll never set me free. Even if he wants to." She mumbled, shaking her head.

She looked up at her reflection and rolled her eyes, "Pull yourself together, Sarah. My God, you're pathetic. Sitting here crying like a child! Over someone who never cared for you, and never will. Stop moping, Get Over It." she said to her reflection, though it only made more tears fall, "He never loved you, if he did he wouldn't have sent you away." Her green eyes closed as the memory ran through her foggy mind.

"Anything?" Jareth turned, laughter in his eyes.

Sarah nodded, "Yes."

"You're such a foolish girl. If I told you, you could stay here if you jumped out the window would you do it? No, of course you wouldn't. You should never promise such a thing, and to a foe no less. Have you learned nothing?" he glared slightly, "Even If, and I stress the if part, I wanted you to stay I couldn't let you." Something changed in his eyes, "It's against the rules, and I am bound to the rules in ways you will never understand."

"Please Jareth."

"It's no use, Sarah, the Game is over. Leave Me." He said and waved his hand, and she vanished in a cloud of glitter.

"He never loved you." She said again, to herself, looking up at her mirror. A surge of anger, that couldn't have come from her, made her legs shoot to a standing position.

Her hand became a fist around the bottle, before she turned and tossed it into the wall behind her. She went on a rampage; she tore her sheets from her bed, ripped her curtains from the wall, and smashed the mirror of her vanity and of the dresser. She ripped her clothes from the closet, threw her bottle of perfume onto the carpet, and ripped the drawers from their places. When she had nothing left to throw, but still energy to destroy she began hitting her walls. When her knuckles bled, and her arms became numb but still the anger had not faded, she dropped to her knees. She tore her clothes to shreds until her tears over took her and she collapsed to the floor, curled in a ball and sobbing helplessly.

"But I Loved Him." She whispered as she closed her eyes and buried her face into the shredded clothes on the floor around her.

----

"What wrong with King?"

"Me no know."

"Maybe we should ty something."

"No! Fox tried something this morning, it no end well."

"What should we do?"

"Leave him alone." Came an older voice than the others, as he shooed them away from where they were huddled. His warning voice continued, "Or he'll toss the lot of you into the Bog of Eternal Stench."

"But Hog-"

"Go." He said waving them away.

They understood and scurried away, the clumsy creatures Goblins are it took them a few tries before they successfully got away. Hoggle sighed in an annoyed fashion and turned towards his King, who was sitting in his throne staring into space. His feet were placed firmly on the ground, uncharacteristically facing forward. His elbows rested on his knees, his hands laced together in front, and His head hung low.

"Your Majesty?"

The mismatched eyes looked up at him with a sadness Hoggle couldn't understand, "We've lost her, Hoggle. We've lost her, forever."

"Who, Your Majesty?"

"Sarah, surely you remember her."

"O'course I do! Did somethin' happen to her?"

He shook his head, his lips pursed like he had tasted something sour, "She ran the Labyrinth again."

"For what?"

"Herself."

"And she won."

Jareth nodded sadly, his head dropping again, "You know the rules as well as I."

"You cannot keep something a Runner has won."

"The penalty of which, is death."

"But, Your Majesty, It was Sarah. Don't you think the Labyrinth would have-"

"Rules are rules, Hoggle. No one is an exception. Not even her."

"So we can never speak to her again?"

Jareth shook his head as he sighed.

"Can she contact us?"

"I doubt it, No one has ever tried. I doubt she will."

"Why's that?"

"I tried to make her understand that she could never come back, I made her think I never wanted her to come back."

"But your Majesty!"

"It would make it easier on all parties involved if she thought I hated her. She will grow to hate the Labyrinth and then forget it all together."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because Hoggle!" The King stood to his feet, before he collapsed back down to his knees. His hand rushed to his heart and his eyes opened, "She's in pain."

"You're still connected to her!" Hoggle said hurrying to the Kings side, "But how?"

"Love..." he exhaled harshly, "Knows no bounds." His face became twisted in pain.

He yelled out in anger at the realization that she was hurting because of him, and he had no way of stopping it. He couldn't even look in on her to make sure she was okay. The agony coursed through him, but he forced himself to stand. He stumbled out of the throne room and tried to make his way to his quarters. He stumbled and tripped ungracefully through the halls, knocking over sculptures and tearing drapery from the walls. Finally he made it through the large, wooden doors to his quarters and he collapsed on the floor. His back against the door and his feet stretched out in front of him.

There was a brief pause, and for a moment Jareth though she might have severed the connection somehow. Maybe she had decided to let him go, to forget. His breathing was labored, but seemed to slow as everything around him did as well. It was an odd feeling and only the sound of his labored breathing reached his ears until sobs became clear in the background.

He concentrated and they became louder, and the voice became recognizable. Sarah, His Sarah, was crying. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, part of him overjoyed to hear her voice again.

"But I Loved Him."

The words passed through the air as time began to pass again. His heart clenched in his chest along with, what felt like, every other internal organ. For a moment he forgot to breath, then took a shaky and hard breath, before letting it out slowly. Two hot tears escaped and rolled down his cheeks, as the King of the Goblins joined his beloved in her tears.