Chapter 10: Sarah's Day Out

The next morning Sarah awoke to the most god awful noise she'd heard in her life, "Meep Meep MEEP MEEEEP MEEEEEEEP!".

Covering her ears she turned her squinting sleep eyes to Jareth, who didn't seem even slightly phased by the noise.

"What is that?", she demanded shaking his royal form. Jareth simply rolled over, his blonde mane a flat morning mess, and covered his head with a pillow.

"JARETH! Wake up!" she screamed.

Peering with one mismatched eye from beneath the pillow he grumbled, "bloody hell, what is it?"

"What is that horrible noise?"

Stretching his back and rubbing an eye Jareth yawned,

"No worries luv, that's just Meep", he pointed to the bed stand where a little round goblin sat screaming his head off.

"Meep? "

"Yes, Meep. . . ", Jareth hit the goblin unceremoniously on the head, stemming the noise and continuing, "his name used to be Ring before he went digital"

"Ring?"

"that's what I said luv", and with that the king made his way sleepily towards the bathroom panel, tights loosely hanging from his bottom, just making it behind the privacy curtain before Sarah heard the tell tale moan of morning urination. . .

"And they say romance is dead. . . ", she huffed before rolling herself towards the wardrobe and picking out an outfit for the day.

She donned a black satin gown with glimmering bell sleeves and a layer of lace that trailed down her back creating the appearance of an airy cape behind her. She was just affixing an ornate headpiece that bowed out in Elizabethan style when the king returned from his excursion to the bathroom. Wrapping his arms around her, he looked loving at her from within the mirror she'd been dressing by.

"My. . .", he said, "don't you look. . . "

"What?"

"Wicked. . . ", he grinned as the word sizzled off his tongue.

"Wicked do I?", she grinned, reaching for a tube of black lipstick, "let's just see how wicked I can be. . . and before he knew what was happening Jareth was covered in black greasy lines. . .

A few minutes later, a similarly smeared Sarah stared up at the ceiling from the royal bed, "Well that was fun".

"Indeed", he quirked his eyebrow, "but now we must get you ready for your adventure, and I have to see to the kingdom"

"Mmmhmm. . .", she sighed into his shoulder before throwing herself out of bed, "Okay", she threw out her disheveled arms. . . "I'm ready!"

Propped up on the bed he pulled a crystal out of the air, did a little of his reflexive I'm going to absent mindedly drive you crazy with this glass ball I'm so easily twirling in my fingers thing, and then tossed it as her. It popped like a bubble somewhere near her hip, reaffixing her entire outfit and doing the makeup she had just about been ready to apply when he'd come into the room. "Thank you fairy godmother", she curtsied as he rolled his eyes and himself out of bed. Tossing another crystal so it went up and then fell directly back onto him, he attired himself in that stunningly white owl number she remembered so well. "Oh. . ." she gasped.

"Yes?", he mused knowingly

"nothing. . . "

"I'm sure", he beamed before crossing the room and placing a tender kiss on each of her eyelids.

Dressed as they were, Sarah felt like an evil queen as Jareth helped her into the carriage he'd ordered to take them into the Labyrinth. In all white, he looked every bit the good knight. How was this her life? No, seriously, how had all of this happened in the course of ten days? A little over a week ago she'd been sitting with Toby eating a burrito, now she sad in royal garb, in love with the man she'd spent her entire life trying to hate and repress. What the hell. . . she nestled against him as the carriage began to rumble away. . . what the hell indeed.

They moved like quicksilver through the Labyrinth, turns and corners seeming to straighten out before them to let them pass. Sarah became dizzy from looking out the window so decided instead, to use her time more effectively, initiating a slow make out seen with his highness that made her wish he had no duties at all. They pulled away just as the horses stopped in a thick entanglement of brush.

"Ah. . .",he whispered, "we're here. . . "

Sarah looked around, "Where?"

"Your surprise".

"You plan to feed me to a wild boar? How sweet of you. . . "

"Nope", he smiled, "Look down"

"We've played this game before Jareth, I'm the naughty schoolgirl and you're the Goblin King with the tight pants, I look down and. . . "

"Sarah," he sighed exasperatedly, "will you just look out the window for Oberon's sake!"

"Okay. . . ", and there, standing so she had to crane her neck to see the top of his leather capped head, stood Sarah's best friend in the entire universe. "Hoggle!", she beamed.

"Sarah?"

"Hoggle!"

"My Sarah! I thoughts I would never see you again!"

"Oh Hoggle! I'm sorry, I should have never stopped believing!", she threw herself from the carriage and into his little arms, "Can you ever forgive me?"

"Forgive yeh? Of course I forgive yeh, that's what friends do, they forgive each other!"

"Hello Headwart", Jareth smiled down.

"It's Hoggle", Sarah corrected,

"I know", Jareth grinned, "I need you to keep Sarah occupied for the next few days"

"A few days? I though I was just spending the evening out?"

"I'm afraid Things have piled up more than I expected, you'll be staying here until I return from the Badlands on Tuesday". Somehow with Hoggle there, the sweet man Sarah had found over the last few days had regressed into that mask of royal disdain he wore so well, his back straighter, tone smugger, and if possible, tights tighter than she had become used to, "I do hope that's not an inconvenience", he nodded towards the dwarf.

"Not at all", Hoggle smiled, still lost in the dreamy shock of regaining his first and best friend, "we'd be happy to have Sarah stays with us".

"Good, it's settled, now please get Sarah's bags from behind the carriage", the little dwarf scurried around the corner to start untying her things.

"You're leaving me for an entire three days?", Sarah sulked up at him. With that his demeanor melted and he jumped down beside her, pulling her to him burying his face in her neck,

"I know love, but I have to", there was that sweet man again, "the goblins are restless. Word that the girl who defeated the labyrinth has returned is spreading widely, and I have to calm their fears before there's complete upheaval in the kingdom"

She pressed herself closer to him, nuzzling her way into his thick blonde mane, "Have I really created such a problem for you?"

"You'll never know", he sighed before capturing her mouth in a deep soul searching kiss.

"Eh-hem. . . ", cleared a dwarven voice behind them, "what should I do with the lady's things?". Jareth pulled away and kicked a nice helping of sand towards the dwarf,

"I don't know! It's your blasted house!", he bellowed before jumping into the carriage and storming away.