Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters
Authors note: not sure how much longer this is gonna be, my mind took this in a direction I really didn't expect! Or maybe the Jareth in my head got tired of waiting lol. Enjoy and please review.
Coming back to her home in the Aboveground was like being pushed into an icy lake in the middle of a blizzard. Sarah hated it and her heart ached at being away from Jareth but she just couldn't leave Toby just yet. He truly was the only thing keeping her there and he was only three.
Her family returned a few days after Sarah had and with a very brief 'hello' they left their suitcases in the hall for Sarah to sort out. Toby walked through the door with Lancelot in his hand and held his arms out for a hug, which Sarah gladly gave. Wrapped in the warmly of her arms, he rested his little head on her shoulder which signalled that he was tried from the journey. Scooping his little body with one arm, Sarah grabbed Toby's suitcase with her other hand and took them both up to his room.
After putting her little brother down for a nap and sorting out all three suitcases, Sarah came down stairs to find her father standing at the bottom with his arms crossed. Without him saying a word, she knew something was wrong and she was the cause.
"My study," he said, confirming Sarah's thoughts on his mood. "Now."
Knowing it was pointless to argue at this point, Sarah calmly followed her father into his study and shut the door behind her. The room that her father called a study was just bigger enough for two desks, both were neat and well organised. A window showed a tree on the side of the house, which held a half built tree house from when she was young and was framed by god-awful flower curtains.
"I got a call from your mother while I was on holiday with my family," his words hurt but Sarah wasn't that surprised that her mother had contacted him. "Do you know why Linda called, Sarah?"
It was a rhetorical question, so Sarah road out the silence and waited for her father to continue.
"WHAT IN THE FUCKING HELL WERE YOU DOING GOING OUT WITH HIM?" Robert yelled, his face going red with his anger.
Sarah was gobsmacked. She had never heard such language from him, not even when he was arguing with with her mother.
"You are forbidden from ever seeing him again," Robert said as if pointing out an obvious rule.
"Excuse me?" Sarah couldn't quite believe what was happening. She was and eighteen year old woman, not a child to be told who she could and couldn't see.
"You heard me," her father responded, seating himself in his chair not looking at his daughter.
"You have no right to tell me who I can and cannot see," Sarah pointed out, her tone of voice leaving no room for argument.
"If you are to continue living in my house you will obey my rules, young lady," anger creeping into his voice at his daughter's disobedience.
"So that's it then, obey you and your wife like some slave or piss off and never come back?" The fact that Sarah was now cursing spoke volumes about how angry she was becoming. "Have I got that right, Father?" She spoke the last work with such contempt that Robert actually looked his daughter in the eye.
"Yes, you have. Now, make your decision; a life with your family or become a whore for a ridiculous king!" Robert stood as he gave Sarah an ultimatum.
"I would rather be his whore than your daughter," she said quietly. "Good luck finding another slave and babysitter to take care of your house and son." And with that final blow, Sarah stormed out of her fathers study and up to her room.
With tears of anger and sadness in her eyes, Sarah pulled a suitcase from under her bed and started packing her most priced possessions; her birthday presents from her friends, the emerald gown from Jareth, a picture of Toby, all her art supplies and art work.
Suddenly hearing footfalls on the stairs, Sarah quickly locked her door and hoped it would be enough to keep her father out long enough for Sarah to quickly check her room for anything else before calling for help through her mirror. Hearing her door nob twist, Sarah held her breath as she prayed the lock would hold.
"Sarah, unlock this door right now!" The sound of her fathers voice came through the wood of her door and was so full of menace it actually her scared more than Jareth's presence ever had. "Sarah this is your final warning, open this goddamned door!"
Gripping her owl necklace, Sarah quaked in terror at the treat in his voice and spoke the one word needed to rescue her.
"Jareth, help me," she uttered quietly and before she had even finished her plea, he was there. Her knight, her love, her King.
Jareth quickly absorbed the scene in front of him; Sarah trembling in fear, her suitcase half packed and her father pounding on her bedroom door. Waving a hand at her door, he re-enforced the wood to hold and quieten Robert's threats, then wrapped his arms around his love in order to calm her down. Needless to say it worked and Sarah soon calmed down enough for her tell him of the 'conversation' between her and her father.
After Sarah's explanation, Jareth had to keep his anger under control for fear of upsetting her again but he was looking forward to putting Robert in his place.
"Have you got everything you need, my love?" He asked gently, wanting to get her back to the safety of his castle as quickly as possible.
"I think so," she replied, looking briefly around the room and double checking her wardrobe. "Shame I can't say good-bye to Toby."
"You can visit whenever you want, precious," Jareth informed her with a smile, hiding his mounting anger. "Time to go, I'm going to stay behind and have a chat with your father."
Smiling back at him, Sarah zipped up her suitcase and carried it over to her mirror. Saying softly where she wished to go, the image in the mirror shifted to her chambers in the Underground and she stepped through, safe at last.
Alone in the room, Jareth waved his arm to change his clothes into his goblin armour and then removed the spell from the door that Robert continued to pound against. The Goblin King was ready for a fight. How dare this man cause his love fear and heartache!
The lock finally gave in and Robert came striding into his daughters bedroom only to come face-to-face with the Goblin King, his features dark with fury.
"Good afternoon, Mr Williams," the pure menace in his voice caused Robert to go pale and his earlier anger drained completely out of him. "As you can see, Sarah has made her decision concerning your ultimatum and I couldn't be happier. However, I will not forgive you for causing her undue pain and fear. No daughter should ever have to fear her own father no matter the situation." He did not have to raise his voice in order to get the message across, he really was furious and he had the perfect punishment for him and his ex-wife.
Raising one arm, three crystals rotated in the Goblin King's palm with easy grace. Rolling one crystal into his other hand, Jareth held it up to Robert, knowing he had the other man's complete attention.
"In this crystal's depths lies your daughter's emotional pain, the pain you were too blind to see over the years, being consumed with a new and jealous wife," as he spoke, Jareth continually ran the crystal over his fingers. "This will be your punishment for having failed her and your ex-wife will be receiving something similar." And with that explanation, Jareth threw the crystal at Robert's heart.
Seeing the man fall to his knees as he experienced his daughter's pain, Jareth was suddenly very glad he'd enhanced it tenfold, just to get the message across. After a short time had past, the Goblin King reduced the effect of spell enough to get Roberts attention again.
"I offer you one final warning, Mr Williams," he said, looking down at the man with cold eyes. "If and when your daughter should ever visit this house again, you will treat her with the respect her deserves. If she should return to me and tell me otherwise, you are going to wish you'd never been born."
Seeing the understanding in Robert's eyes, Jareth disappeared from the room only to appear in Linda's apartment. The woman in question was relaxing on her sofa in the living room, quietly reading but when the Goblin King appeared, sat bolt up right and dropped her book.
Jareth then relaid what had happened back at her ex-husbands house and the decision Sarah had made. He was pleased to see that Linda was unhappy at how things had turned out but he still had a punishment to give out.
Once again he held out the crystals and explained that one contained her daughter's emotional pain from when Linda left and how she had made her daughter feel during and after very visit. After explaining the punishment she was about to receive, Linda surprised Jareth by standing and saying she deserved nothing less for hurting and failing her daughter. At this, he did not enhance the pain in the sphere but continued to throw it at the woman's heart.
Linda collapsed back onto the sofa and cried silently as she experienced her daughter's pain but she was also happy for her daughter as she'd found someone who would truly cherish her as her parents never had.
"Take care of my baby," Linda whispered to the Goblin King, looking at him in the eye.
"You don't even need to ask," and after nodding slightly to the woman, Jareth once again disappeared.
He appeared in Sarah's chambers to find his love on her knees with her head buried in her arms on the bed, sobbing her heart out. Taking a deep breath, Jareth scooped her into his arms princess style and carried her to a chair in front of the fire. Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and continued to sob into his neck and there the couple stayed till the young woman cried her last tear and they both fell asleep in each other's arms.
