Title: A Faded Memory
Author: Devlyne (Originally published as BelleAngeli)
Published: 11/30/2015
Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth, Jareth or Sarah. Nor do I in any way resemble Jim Henson, The Jim Henson Company, Henson Creature Shop or Disney. Any recognizable quotes belong to the aforementioned.
A/N: Two for one. I have free time on my hands today, so you get more than one chapter.
Chapter 12: Ending the Beginning
In less than forty-eight hours, Sarah's entire world had turned up on its end. There was little about the last two days that did not border on the fantastic. It had begun at dinner with Christopher and now ended with Jareth sitting on her couch. He had not even given Sarah time to change out of her work clothes. They needed to talk and not while either waited for the other to gather their courage. It was a necessary conversation. Sarah couldn't help but feel like they'd spent the last two days doing nothing but talking. He wanted her to come to the Labyrinth. She wanted to go to the Labyrinth. Christopher wanted her to stay here and be his wife.
That was the basic summary of the last two days in Sarah's mind. There was fear that Jareth had now changed his mind after digging through her belongings. Maybe he had decided that she was far too gone for him to help. Sarah's heart sunk at that thought. If Jareth couldn't help her, then it was likely that no one could. His hands had not left hers since they'd come to sit on the couch. Did he think he would soften the blow by maintain physical contact?
"I am not a good person." Jareth began. His voice was soft and his eyes averted so that she could not see what he was thinking. "I have done bad things to people for the sake of fun. Nothing deadly but pranks mostly. I always stopped before it went too far." And it had been mere luck that he had been able to always stop in time without killing anyone.
He needed Sarah to understand fully what life she would be facing in Underground. Sarah needed to know that he was not always good person and at times had a temper. His mean streak had gone unchecked for countless centuries and it would take time to break the habit. It was time that Jareth was uncertain Sarah would be willing to give him. Mortal lives were so short. He did not know if he could be patient and understanding should she want to leave him and pursue a different life. For her, Jareth would try, but he did not know if he would succeed.
"When the land was given to me to rule, it was little more than a few scant houses and a decaying wreck of a castle. I was young, eager to build my own kingdom. The goblins that lived there were glad to have guidance and organization, I think." He didn't know though because Jareth had always looked down on the goblins as lesser beings. It was the way of the highborn no matter what world they were on. Kings thought themselves better than peasants. "I built the labyrinth as entertainment. I would force people into the labyrinth and when they couldn't complete it, I made them serve me. Some I turned in to goblins and some I let stay as servants."
What had happened to his decision not to tell her some of the stories? No, Sarah had a right to know what kind of selfish being she would be companion to. There was that part of Jareth that said if he could fix Sarah then perhaps she could fix him. He wanted to please her. While he never thought he would move beyond his tricks, at least he could learn to do them without the cruelty. She would be his guide in that and Jareth would look to her eagerly. He would find relief for his boredom and she would find her lost dreams.
"The point is, Sarah, I'm not a good person at times. I can think of a hundred stories to tell you where I have done something cruel or vicious for fun." Jareth let his eyes lift to his face so that she could see him. "And I can't promise you I can stop. I can get better, I will get better, but this is who I am. I steal dreams and twist reality to suit me. I will not always be patient; I will not always be kind. I can learn and I will try for you, but there will be a part of me that is forever a…trickster. Is that what you want?"
Jareth was certain that it would break him if Sarah said no now. She had already rejected him once and if she did again he was not sure how he would react. And yet, he was willing to walk away if she said no. The point was to build her trust and let her see that he did want to help her. To do so, Sarah needed to have the full and truth from him. He had not always been a good person but for her he would at least try. For her, Jareth would rearrange the entire world. He had already done so once and a second time would be no hardship. He gazed in to Sarah's eyes and waited.
Sarah had always known that Jareth was not a good person. He had been the subject of many fantasies long before her experience in the Labyrinth. The Goblin King was a cruel and evil ruler who sent his goblins out to capture children so they could eat them. Or turn the children in to Goblins, as it turned out. It was in his nature to play tricks and be king. The question was whether Sarah thought it was in his nature to be cruel and tyrannical or not. Everyone had some good inside them. Jareth had returned Toby when she'd won the game. He didn't have to.
"You didn't have to…" Sarah murmured in wonder. Her eyes were on Jareth's as she squeezed his hands. "You didn't have to, you see." The words repeated as though he had the faintest clue what she'd been thinking.
Jareth's brow furrowed in confusion at her words and his reply came out stuttered. "N-no, I don't see."
"You didn't have to return Toby, Jareth. You were the Goblin King." Sarah's hands left his as she left the couch to stand before him. Her arms opened wide. "You owned the entire Labyrinth and its kingdom. You had minions to do your bidding and the whole world at your fingertips. You didn't have to return Toby even though I'd won. You could have just sent me home. Oh, they'd have locked me up in a nut house and think I'd killed my brother, but you could have let them do it. No one in your kingdom would have questioned it. But you didn't. "
A chagrinned look passed over Jareth's face. "Yes, and I'd rather you not let that get around, if you please. I'd be a laughing stock at court. Besides, babies don't make good goblins because they're almost goblins already. They drool, they stink…sometimes they bite."
Sarah chuckled at both his words and the look on his face. He had scrunched his nose up in such a way that it made him look almost a goblin himself. So Jareth still had his pride as far as his work and kingdom went but he did have good in him. Everyone had good in them. Sarah could spend a lifetime with Jareth tempering his good and bad habits and he tempering hers. She could also walk away and find someone else to spend the same sort of lifetime with. Either ways he would spend a lifetime with both good and bad. It was a fact of life and Jareth just happened to fall in to that grey area.
"My point is…that yes, you can be cruel. You chose not to be and you're choosing not to be at the moment. At least, I hope you are." Sarah's voice lowered as she said the last bit. She settled on the couch beside him and folded her hands in her lap. "I knew all this when you first came, you know. I knew you were cruel and you had most likely done bad things. You turn children in to goblins, Jareth. That doesn't exactly win you father of the year award."
Though, now Sarah had some doubt about whether Jareth had ever actually done that . It could have been a ruse for the game they were playing. Where did Goblins come from? Jareth had spoken as though the goblins had always been a part of his kingdom, even before it was a kingdom. It did not matter at the moment as it had no bearing on the conversation at hand. No, they needed to talk because Sarah needed to tell Jareth the decision she'd come to. He needed to know what she'd decided.
"I put my notice in today. I kept trying to do schedules all day but I ended up, when I was alone this afternoon, writing my resignation. Even if I do decide not to come back, I don't want to just leave like that. It's not fair to the people who do care about me." She murmured this to him and did not make eye contact. "I want to go with you, Jareth. I am going with you. I have phone calls and arrangements to make before I do. It's going to take a few days. So if you need to go back to your castle then you should, because I have to put my life in order."
The apartment needed packing up and phone calls needed to be made. She would have to make excuses to Carin and her father about where she was going. There was so much to think of. It was a brash idea to think she could just pack her clothes and leave, but she couldn't. Sarah had a life that she had to wrap up and close the doors on.
"We've reached the end of what ifs and could bes, you see. I realized that no matter how fast this seems to be happening, it's right. I feel right about this." Sarah glanced up at him then and found him gazing at her in something like awe. Twice now she had surprised him. He hadn't thought she would go with him despite her saying so.
Jareth took her hands in his, squeezing lightly. "The items most important to you will go with you. It is no matter to bring items across. So pack what you want and I will see that it arrives."
And that, as they say, was that. Jareth would help her take what she wanted to take to his home and Sarah would close up the remaining parts of her life. It would not be the easy, of course, they both knew it. She would most likely spend the next few weeks plagued with doubts. A faint frown lined her lips at that thought which caused her to also squeeze his hands lightly with her own. Would she forget her promise to him once he was gone? For that matter, he hadn't said anything about going home at all. Was he going to stay?
"I'm afraid, Jareth." Sarah's voice was just above a whisper. "I'm afraid you'll leave and I'll forget that you were real. You are real, aren't you? This isn't a dream?" It didn't feel like a dream but then Sarah let the doubt begin to cloud her thoughts again.
He squeezed her hands in return. "I'm as real as you are and more so because I'm me. If I have to leave, it won't be for more than a day. I'll do it while you're at work so you'll hardly miss me."
One moment Sarah was so strong and beautiful, the next so broken and lost. Jareth was uncertain he could ever repair all the damage that this world had done. He would try and she would at least get better, but there would always be scars. He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed them both before letting go. She did a good job at pretending to be alright when there were others to see but not in front of him. He could see what Sarah didn't want him to.
"Is two weeks too long?" She asked, rising from the couch with the thought of dinner in mind.
"Not if you can manage your affairs in that time, no. I can come and go."
Jareth sounded distracted, his mind wandering elsewhere. At last, the object of his distraction became clear. The television was still on and muted from earlier. Why hadn't they turned it off? It was a commercial for a local restaurant that had caught his attention. If he took Sarah out for dinner and people saw them together, it might help her accept that he was real. And if he showed up to her job to have lunch with her, her co-workers would see him. Sarah would have to face the fact that he was real. Perhaps having that reality shown to her would settle her fears. He would do anything to ease the passage of the next two weeks for her.
"Jareth?"
He startled, realizing that she'd been trying to get his attention for several minutes. "Forgive me, a thought occurred." He tapped his lips with one finger before looking to Sarah. "Tomorrow, if you feel up for it, would you like to go out to dinner?"
It was Sarah's turn to be speechless now. Had Jareth just asked her out on a date? She turned his words over in her mind for a moment. He wanted to go out to dinner with her, tomorrow night. There was a catch, wasn't there? There was always a catch when it came to him. Except, a voice reminded her, she'd yet to find a catch so far. He was asking for nothing in return at the moment.
"Well…yes. Yes, I would like that but would you? There aren't castles and carriages here." Sarah reminded him, trying to be gentle with his feelings.
Jareth laughed outright at that. "Sarah, I've been in and out of the mortal world for a long time now. Since long before you were born. I will have to make an exchange of money, but it shouldn't be a problem. It's why returning you here would be no burden if you wished it." Though he hoped she didn't wish it; he wanted her to stay with him.
"You're not going to wine and dine me that easily, Jareth." Her finger shaken at him as though he were a child needing discipline. "I'm going with you as your friend, to your home."
"Of course not, my plan is to show you that I'm real. What better way to do it than for you to be seen with me? You will see me speak to the waiters and waitresses, talk to people outside of this apartment." Jareth had stood from his seat and now leaned close, his hand taking hers and lifting it to his lips. "Wining and dining will come later, when you're more settled. I might even get flowers."
The man was incorrigible. And yet, his words gave Sarah a surge of hope. He was willing to go in to public with her and be seen. He was willing to show her that he was a real person and set her fears aside. Not set them aside, but actually soothe them and show her that they were unfounded. Would Christopher have done that for her? She would never know.
"Alright, it's a date."
