Author's Note:
All right, no more smut! I didn't really plan on it, but since Sarah just turned eightteen, I figured it would sort of be somewhat of the "extended" part of Jareth's birthday present...or something along those lines. Hey, if you were with the Goblin King you'd get kinky every now and then, admit it! I suppose that scene was supposed to be "symbolic" as Sarah took her first few steps into womanhood...but then again, I might just be stupid XD
Doing a major time skip to get the show on the road...it's Christmas time! I don't own the Moscow Ballet, by the way...
Dancing with Danger
Rating: PG 13
Disclaimer: Wouldn't it be easier for you to come up with your own disclaimer so I won't have to?
Three months later:
The performance was only three weeks away. Sarah was getting better at the lift, but it still wasn't quite perfect enough for the stage just yet. They had already rehersed a few times at the theatre, trying out the "stage" prop they would be using for the balcony scene, and that was going just perfect. They had recieved their stage costumes, the corps de ballet was stunning, and the show was really coming together.
In the last three month period, Jareth had gotten closer to Sarah's family. There would be times she would stand to the side and watch him play video games with Toby, and others where she would see him helping Karen clean the dishes after dinner. Little things. He had already joined the family for Thanksgiving dinner, and Sarah brought him along when she went trick or treating on Halloween with Toby and his friends. It was kind of funny, actually...never once, during or directly after her Labyrinth adventure would she imagine the Goblin King falling in love with her, staying up in her room, sleeping in her bed, partnering beside her in a major ballet production, and spending the holidays with her! Life was truly a funny thing...
Today was Christmas Eve. Sarah was out at the mall, looking around the shops to try and find Chirstmas presents for the family, she was almost finished with her shopping. Toby was with her, she promised to take him to see the mall Santa before they left so he knew for sure what get Toby for Christmas.
Taking a momentary break, she found a bench and sat down with her little blonde headed brother. Sarah browsed through the items she had already bought (and Toby helped pick out). At the moment, she had gotten Karen a few blouses and a cook book she had wanted, and bought her Father some really expensive fishing lures he'd been dying for. Both of them were easy to buy for. And she had gotten Toby a stuffed dragon, a few lego sets, and some fantasy books, all of which were already wrapped and under their Christmas tree. Toby had made them some homemade gifts, like a special drawing for her father, and a jewelry box made out of popcicle sticks and macaroni for Karen. Jareth...well, what do you get a Goblin King for Christmas?
Sarah stood up, "Ready to go see Santa, kiddo?"
Toby squealed for joy, and Sarah laughed, "Well, come on then!"
Walking to the very middle of the shopping center, they stood in a line, surrounded by candy cane poles holding up red garland to keep everyone in line. It was about a twenty minute wait, and finally it was Toby's turn. He practically leaped on the man's lap. Santa laughed his merry laugh and patted Toby on the head.
"Ho, ho, now what's your name, little one?"
"I'm not little!", Toby protested, "My name's Toby."
"Well, Toby, what do you want for Christmas?", he asked. Sarah stood a distance, much to her annoyance, so she couldn't hear what Toby was saying. Toby scratched his head, and whispered into Santa's ear for a few long moments. He smiled, "Well, what a wonderful Christmas wish! I'll see what I can do. Would you like a picture?" An instant later a man with a camera walked over and snapped Toby's picture on Santa's lap. Sarah paid the fee for the photo and they began to leave the mall. Just before leaving, Sarah stopped into a few shops and picked up a few things for Jareth. Nothing fancy,but she figured it was better than nothng.Sarah glanced down at Toby as they entered the parking lot.
"What did you wish for, Tobes?", Sarah asked, curious.
"I can't tell you. You'll see...", the little boy smiled to himself.
She smiled sideways at him and got over to her car. Putting her gifts in the trunk, she got into her car and started the drive back home. It was actually pretty hot that day, not very uncommon where she lived, so she turned up the air conditioner. Smiling, looking around at all the Christmas decorations, and just having that warm fuzzy feeling you get the day before Christmas, she began her usual ritual of "torturing" Toby with her David Bowie cd's all the way home.
Leaving her gifts in the trunk to wrap later that night, she helped Toby out and he ran inside the house. Sarah followed in shortly after, and walked back to the kitchen.
Karen was there, and so was Jareth. Karen was over washing some dishes, large bowls, big spoons, probably from baking something. Jareth was standing by the counter, "pinching" the edges of a round apple pie. Karen wiped up the last of the dishes and smiled warmly at Sarah, "Sarah, honey, you're home. Jareth and I just finished preparing my famous apple pie for desert later tonight." Jareth smiled up at her, there was a little bit of flour on his cheek. The oven beeped, and Jareth lifted the pie and set it carefully into the oven and shut the lid. Karen walked over and set the timer, "Thanks for the help, Jareth dear. I could use your help more often!"
He smiled in a very polite manner, "Mrs. Williams it was my pleasure." He took her hand and lightly kissed the knuckles. Karen giggled like a schoolgirl and blushed, "Sarah, I couldn't be happier with Jareth. You picked a fine man." Sarah smiled warmly at Jareth and walked over, kissing him lightly on the cheek, gazing into his gorgeous mismatched eyes, "You bet I did."
They got lost in eachother, before Karen rudely broke them from their silent bliss. They had apparently been standing there a while.
"Sarah, be a dear and go set the table, dinner will be ready in five minutes. You can help if you want, too, Jareth", Karen handed Sarah a stack of plates, silverware, cloth napkins, and placemats, and gave Jareth the glasses and napkin rings. Both of them reluctantly followed the directions, wanting nothing more than a few moments alone.
Five minutes later, Sarah took her place at the table, Toby and Jareth on either side of her. Karen set out a platter with a honey baked ham, and sat down. They said grace, and began to eat. Jareth filled his plate with everything; it felt so much like the feasts at the Goblin Castle when there were festivities. Jareth had to smile, Sarah had the best table manners. So dainty, so quaint. Much like a Queen...
Nobody talked much, except for Toby, who talked for ages about how his day went, what he hoped he'd get for Christmas, and any other topic he could think of. Sarah was grateful for Toby, he was such an icebreaker, she normally wasn't one to start a conversation at any dinner table. Soon enough, the food dissapeared, but everyone left enough room for the one thing that was hardest to make out of the whole meal; Karen's apple pie.
After swallowing a mouthful of pie, she grinned at Jareth, "So, how was your first day in the kitchen, love?"
"Quite eventful I must say. Flour, though...it can be a bloody pain when it wants to be...", he grimaced at the memory of tripping over a loose rug on the floor and spilling flour all over himself. Toby was eating in record time, and finished up his plate, "Mom, I'm done! Can I go watch the Christmas specials on tv now?"
"As soon as you go wash your glass, plate and fork, then yes, you may", replied the neat-freaky woman that was Karen.
Toby sulked slightly, but hurried up and ran to the kitchen with his plates. Sarah and Jareth had also finished eating, and cleaned their dishes and such. Bidding his goodbyes with everyone, Jareth promised to be there first thing the next morning. And, like he did every night, the instant he was out of sight, he'd transform into an owl and fly up to Sarah's room. Sarah finally got Toby to bed, insisting that Santa Clause wouldn't come visit or grant his wish if he was still awake. After getting Toby taken care of, she kissed her father and Karen goodnight, and went to greet Jareth in her room.
She giggled.
Jareth lounged on her bed with that catlike grace he always had about him, doning a red poets shirt, and green breeches. And of course, he wore a Santa hat. In his right hand was his signature riding crop. He rasied his eyebrow playfully, "Little girl, have you been good this year?"
Sarah played along, wrapping her finger around a lock of hair, biting her lip and batting her eyelashes, "Oh, no...I've been a bad, bad girl..."
Jareth clicked his tounge to the roof of his mouth a few times, "Have you? Well...isn't that a pity...", he leaped up and chased her around the room with the riding crop in hand, Sarah squealed and lept from him. Eventually, he had her pinned to the bed. He had set the riding crop down, and leaned down and nibbled her ear. Biting her lip to try and stop the giggles, she managed to wiggle from his grasp. "All right, you naughty Fae. It's late, and I think it's time for bed." She kissed his nose, sat up and changed into her red and green Christmas pajamas. He sulked, but changed into some more comfortable sleep attire.
Jumping onto the bed into Jareth's arms, she snuggled in and rested her head on his shoulder, and he kissed the top of her head. He snapped his fingers and all the lights in the room went out.
"Jareth?"
"Hmm?"
"Goodnight", Sarah closed her eyes.
"Goodnight, Sarah..."
"Jareth?"
"Yes?"
"Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Sarah...", he drifted to sleep.
"Jareth?"
"What!" His eye twitched.
"I love you...", she grinned up at him.
"I love you too, you little runt...", he found her face and kissed her in the pitch blackness, and soon after they both fell asleep.
Toby was the first one to wake up that morning, per usual. The young booy woke up and sprinted around the house, screaming at the top of his lungs.
"SARAH! MOM! DAD! EVERYONE! HURRY, WAKE UP, IT'S CHRISTMAS!" Everyone groaned. Sarah mumbled in her sleep when Toby stopped in front of her door, "Lord, Toby...it's 5:30. Go back to sleep, the presents will still be there in an hour or so..." Toby whined, "But I don't wanna wait that long..."
Rolling her eyes, she pushed a fast asleep Goblin King off of her and sat up, "Come on, Jareth, wake up..."
His response was throwing an arm out and pushing her back on the bed, cuddling close to her and letting out a fake snore.
Her response was a rough shove to his midsection causing him to fall off the bed, and laughing hysterically as he made a sqeaky yelp when he hit the floor. He sat up and glared at her, and she shrugged, "Hey, I warned you."
Soon enough, the whole Williams family was awake, and sitting in front of the Christmas tree, just about to open presents. It was all Sarah could do to keep Toby from leaping on the large pile of presents, "Woah, kiddo. Wait for Jareth to get here, all right? He should be here any minute." The boy pouted fiercly but waited until Jareth got there. About a minute later, Sarah was at the front door, anwsering it. "Hey, Jareth", he smiled and greeted her with a kiss. He was holding some wrapped presents in his hands.
He walked into the living room and set the gifts down, greeting Karen with a kiss on the hand (like usual), and a firm handshake with Richard. He sat in the little semi circle they had made, next to Sarah and Toby. Richard scooted over to the gifts (it was always tradition in the Williams family for the male to hand out the presents, for some reason).
Richard read the label. "Here you go, Toby." He handed him the gift, and Toby squealed with delight and ripped it open. It was the stuffed Dragon Sarah had gotten him.
"Karen...this is from Sarah", she opened her gift, it was the cook book.
Richard repeated this process for the next half hour until every present was gone. Jareth had gotten a comb and several shirts from the family, and from Sarah, a new pair of converse, the movies "Titanic" and "Dirty Dancing" on VHS (he loved her sense of humour), and a porcelien sculpture of a white owl. Sarah got a gorgeous ruby red evening gown, and a more delicate version of Jareth's pendant from Jareth, a fantasy book from a series she adored, a pair of pointe shoes autographed by famous dancers, and a ballerina ornament from her parents and Toby. Toby got the most, as usual.
About an hour or so later, Sarah had gotten the whole family dressed up (herself included, wearing her new evening gown) and took them to a special performance of the Nutcracker by the Great Moscow Ballet. Jareth thought it was remarkable. Moscow Ballet was one of the greatest companies in the entire world, it really, really showed. Even Toby had a good time, he loved the props and the costumes.
When the show was over, Jareth took Sarah's hand and walked over to a small area, and kissed her.
"You do know I love you, right?", he asked her.
In Sarah's mind she knew what was coming, but was still anxious to hear what he was about to say, "Of course, and I love you."
Kissing her hand, he knelt on one knee and pulled out a ring that was a clear stone, like a crystal, "Sarah Williams, will you marry me?"
She threw her arms around his neck, almost knocking him over. "Of course!", she smothered his face with dozens of kisses.
Karen saw Sarah fiercly kissing Jareth, and had to ask, "Sarah, honey, what's going on?" Richard followed her over, and called Toby.
Grinning wildly, she looked at her family, "I'm getting married."
Toby smiled and jumped up and down, "Yes!"
Sarah laughed down at the boy, "Why are you so happy?"
"This was my Christmas wish, Sarah. I wanted you to make the Goblin King part of the family."
Ok, I'm sorry this took so long. I haven't had much time to write, and I've had the worst writers block. I hope this chapter was long enough to satisfy, and y'all knew he'd pop the question eventually. Anyone who hoped for a Christmas scene, here you go! Hope you liked it, I want some reviews, people!
Stacy