All I ask of you, is that when I cannot, would you . . .

Dream

"So," Sidonie said, "what are you doing for the Aboveground Valentine's day?"

Sarah and Sidonie sat drawing on their clothing, she on a pair of jeans, and Sidonie on a skirt. Each completed image Sidonie animated with a touch of fae magic. The little roses Sarah drew onto the ankle cuffs swayed as if in a light breeze every time she moved the trouser leg. Sidonie had just perfected the complicated little charm and used it on everything. Her room looked like a breezy forest.

Sarah laughed tiredly.

"I have to meet the people doing the planning for the comic they're making of my books that week, and the fourteenth is slap bang in the middle of it. Maybe I'll organise a 'make your own Valentines cup cake' gig at my house for the goblins when I get back on the Saturday."

"You already sound tired, are you getting enough sleep? I could ask Jareth for a peach draught for you."

"No!" Sarah said a touch too vehemently and Sidonie sniggered, knowing exactly what a sore topic that was. "No," she said more gently, "don't bother him, he's been out of sorts lately."

"He won't even talk to me, and he always talks to me." Sidonie huffed, "I'll try to discover what's eating him."

"Thanks," she said. "I'll be sure to send you several blank Valentines cards in the letter drop so you can send them to those interested young men back in Anwath."

Sidonie went pink.

"Wrap them in brown paper, and don't you dare tell Jareth!"

"Not a word," Sarah promised, amused.


She had quite forgotten the conversation by the time Saturday the seventeeth of Feburary came around. She arrived home exhausted. She dumped her formal clothes over the back of her chair and changed into her most comfortable shirt and jeans. As a writer she was used to being independent and the chore of handling the meetings and group work required to get through the planning stages was awful, but what she hated most was the small period just after. The work was gone for the moment, but she was too tired to celebrate. She trooped across to the Labyrinth. She didn't bother Jareth in his throne room, but went to find her calmest friend. Ludo took one look at her and put a gentle hand on her head.

"Sawah, sleep."

"That's right, Sarah sleep." She smiled; a nap was a brilliant idea.

They walked out into the Enchanted Forest; there were warmed glades within, and one near the road perfect for napping in and pretending that icy mid February was a balmy summer evening.

She was just relaxing in the hummock when a lantern swung over her face.

"Mortal, you cannot sleep here!"

Sarah tensed with fright, but Sidonie spoiled her act by sniggering at the end. She was dressed to the nines in a very fetching dress made of glittering veils, and she wore a mask over her face with hearts all over it.

"No wonder the goblins couldn't find you, I had to scry!" she scolded. "No time for napping, I've planned something way better than boring cupcakes!"

Sarah tiredly swung herself out of the hummock.

"Just tell me you have my dress planned."

"Oh! Yes!" Sidonie danced about and the girl's enthusiasm was infectious. Sarah followed her through the short cuts in the Labyrinth back to the central keep of the castle. She wondered if any of her elder sisters had ever indulged her, probably not by her enthusiasm.

Sarah allowed herself to be dressed in a beautifully beaded white dress; it was as though Sidonie had taken her own artistry to the dress she had worn in the peach dream, with a dash of daring romance. The neckline was low, and the sleeves puffed, and the skirts were full but not the hooped dress she had worn before.

"Are we going to a ball?" she asked.

"Yes!" Sidonie presented her with a mask that was almost feline, though done up with pearlescent glitter. "A small one, just some people I know."

"And Jareth?" Sarah asked.

Sidonie sniffed.

"He's not invited. He wouldn't tell me what's eating him, so he can spend the weekend repairing the magic on the warm glades in the Enchanted forest and only hear about the ball later. That should stir him up enough to talk."

Sarah had to laugh at the sibling pique, and mentally adjusted her mind from 'elegant ball' to 'teenage rave'.

.

The party was in full swing by the time they arrived. It was in a wing of the castle she hadn't seen before, and it was humming. Sarah followed Sidonie through the crowd, relieved at what a mixed one it was. There were many people Sidonie's age, but along with them those that looked in their twenties and thirties, and a few in their late forties, though what that amounted to in true age, Sarah could not guess. The two dance floors were packed and the rest of the party spread out onto the sloping lawn beyond. It was here Sidonie dragged her to meet one of the beaus she had sent a card to, he had very cute antlers on his head, half a foot high and Sarah had to restrain herself from stroking the apparently velvety appendages as he greeted her with a courtly bow. He took Sarah's hand for that dance, and so it went. After each dance, her partner introduced her to someone new, declaring she should meet this or that acquaintance of theirs, and she slowly discovered that many of these people were close friends of the family. It was only when she took the hand of her next partner, a tall man wearing a dragon mask, and Chinese silks, introduced as simply 'my grandfather' that she realised she had seen many of them before at the Yule ball.

"Emperor Shu?" she gasped as she recognised his violet eyes.

"Hush now Sarah, we would not want to draw attention, now would we?" He drew her into his hold for the foxtrot that was about to begin.

"What are you doing here? Did Sidonie invite you?" Sarah peeked around but could not see the hostess.

"I doubt she knows we are acquainted," he chuckled, "but she invited several of my grandchildren, so I came to see what the occasion was. They know to keep quiet; it's an old game of ours."

"So you're not here to get the scoop of the week on the Goblin Kingdom without the bother of dealing with Jareth's histrionics?"

"I'd not put it so harshly," he chuckled at that and they were too swept up in their foxtrot to talk much after that. Though Shu lead with flair, Sarah silently thanked Karen for insisting on ballroom dancing lessons before her prom. The Emperor drew her off the dance floor as the foxtrot ended and effortlessly snagged a plate of eats and drinks for them.

"I've remembered a few more stories, if you wish to retire to a bench outside to take in the stars?"

Sarah sipped her very fruity cocktail and nodded enthusiastically. Shu, for all he was Emperor, knew some excellently mortifying tales of Jareth's past. In the quarter of an hour they sat outside, Sarah gained three sumptuous tales of Jareth's misspent youth.

"How different are the stars Aboveground?" Emperor Shu asked with idle curiosity as he stretched his legs out before him and peered up at the night skies. They sat within the warm bubble that kept the cold night at bay from the grassy lawn and the stars twinkled overhead.

"Quite different," Sarah had brought a star map once, and nowhere on the northern or southern hemisphere could she find the stars of the Labyrinth, "if I didn't know better I'd say that the Underground is a completely different planet in half way across the universe and just linked to earth by what portals we can construct. But the doors don't feel that far, what I think is closer to the truth is that Above and Underground are close but out of sync in time, which is why time drifts for me if I spend too much time here and don't go back within thirteen hours. It's not time travel though, say back a thousand years to before medieval times, but rather at the time the plains were divided the Underground was slowed. While the sun cycles are the same for both, the synchronizing is not, so as a day passes Above, anything from a day and a half to a hundred years can pass in the Underground. I think Jareth can read such things and knows how to link the Labyrinth up to the right time."

She glanced up to see the Emperor inspecting her with frank astonishment.

"To think a mortal, through observation alone, is able to deduce that which has eluded everyone save the Veil Mages. You are indeed the Champion of the Labyrinth. Though be cautious with whom you share such an observation, it is one of Jareth's secrets."

"Is that why you sneaked out to meet me?" Sarah asked, curiously, "to see that I kept his secrets? I get the impression that Jareth's dangerous and powerful in a way you can't approach, though your power is different, and Jareth has no desire to rule an Empire."

"I did not sneak out," he sounded a little put out, "I travel incognito to many places, it helps keep a smoothly running Empire. Yet you're one of the few I revealed myself to because you're from the Aboveground through your own whim and power and quite frankly, Jareth doesn't shut up about you when he's had a few pints."

Sarah felt her cheeks go red and wished her mask covered more than her eyes.

"He gets very amorous when drunk, ignore him."

"Oh we do," Emperor Shu chuckled "but it does make for some spectacular blackmail. Ah, I think you have an admirer," he nodded towards the door where some distance away a goblin was watching them to see if it was safe to approach.

"I think he recognised you, they usually just run over."

"Then I should take my leave," Emperor Shu stood and helped her up. He handed her off to Spriggy as the goblin eagerly begged a dance from her. Sarah turned as she recalled one last thing.

"We cleaned and wrapped your cloak for you, find Sidonie and she'll return it," she called to the Emperor as Spriggy dragged her away.

.

The ball became dreamlike, the music drove her feet, and some of the time she did not touch the ground. By now several other people floated around the ceiling, as if they danced on the floor. Her feet ached. Somewhere at the back of her mind, Sarah remembered she had to walk until she could not hear the sound in order to stop dancing. She was so tired that when she could still hear the music in the throne room, she hurried out of the castle. She skipped, almost floated and danced to the faint tugging sounds. It was as she returned to the enchanted forest, searching for the restful clearing that her body finally relaxed, though it still twitched to the music that echoed in her head.

She thought she had found the right warmed glade when she encountered a hummock and tried it. It came to her as she drifted off that Ludo did not rest nearby. Puzzled, she danced up into the skies and came down in the next clearing, startling herself that the magic had actually worked so strongly. Ah, but no, this was a dream. The clearing she landed in was also empty. The wind brought the sound of music on it and she danced again, but this time moving away from the castle, knowing she had to be free of it. The stars glittered overhead and she half thought the cold February air should have woken her, but the enchantment, though weakening still held. Glitter trailed from her fingers and she smiled as her feet settled lightly on the grass of another glade. Though this one was occupied by a handsome man, she darted across to where he lay wrapped in a dull grey cloak and scarf and napped in the pleasantly warm glade.

His eyes flickered open as she crouched down beside him.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, my lady?"

"It's you!" she was delighted, she hadn't danced with him this evening and had so badly wanted to.

The Goblin King stood; and she was most disappointed that he did not wear trousers. He was dressed in a simple pale grey ankle length robe so plain she was unsure it was him for a moment.

"I float and dance," she laughed it off. "You are all dull and orderly, we have changed our parts."

"In our dreams we are often not what we are, yet perhaps more truly who we are?"

"If that is true, then I am going to steal you away and kiss you until you cannot breathe."

He took her in his arms as if to step off in a waltz and they were twisted away to land on fluffy clouds of pillows. It was wonderful, lying in his arms, kissing his lips, only he was more wiggly than kissable. He teased and tickled and made her laugh so she could not breathe. In revenge, she trailed her fingers across his bare skin and made him half sob for her. The ultimate satisfaction of their union was slow to build yet exquisite in its finish. They curled into each other, and she wasn't sure if he wanted the dream to be more real, or she.

.

"Sawah?"

She opened her eyes groggily, and found Ludo yawning. It was cool now that the early hint at dawn touched the horizon.

"Is eawly. Sawah still need bed?"

"Oh, I only meant to nap for the evening!" Sarah sat up and then almost fell out of the hummock. Her whole body ached, her feet and head the worst. She groaned as she hazily remembered some fae party. By the throbbing of her head there had been strong wine and possibly things mortals should not eat. She tugged the shawl from around herself, and recognised it as Sidonie's, the girl must have found her and tucked it in for warmth. She dropped out of the hummock and wove across to Ludo, still drunk, she realised. She came to an abrupt halt as Ludo ambled out of the clearing and was very glad for the darkness that hid her flaming blush. Of all places to have a such a dream. And with him of all people. She trooped after Ludo back to the exit, and was exceedingly thankful that Jareth had not decided to nap on his throne that night. She did not think she could look him in the eye without blushing scarlet.

.

She hopped into the shower and stood running the warm water all over her skin. She scrunched her face up and let the water run down her back.

"I can't believe I'm in love with the Goblin King. Again!" She shut off the water and scrubbed her hair dry. Her subconscious was having a fine time of it, miserable base dreams and desires. She inspected herself in the mirror, almost expecting to see a hicky on the side of her neck. Goodness knows she had left enough on his dream self for him to look like a spotted leopard for the next week. She flushed with mortification. No. She simply wouldn't visit the Labyrinth until this imprudent obsession was over. She would get a hold on it. It was quite foolish for a young woman of her age to chase whimsical fae kings. She sourly considered her dating prospects were becoming slimmer as she grew older. Why couldn't she, like Toby, have met someone in the first month of working at her first job? No, she was forever torn between the shimmering beauty of the Labyrinth and the earthy reality of the mortal world.

She sighed. She was able to keep herself comfortably with her writing. The goblins were wonderful literary critiques and Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus were all good friends. Jareth was a problem, but in that, nothing had changed. He liked to share around irritation and keep his misery and love close. She knew that much now, after the three years since he had reappeared in her life. Only, this last dastardly dream, had twisted their careful balance into something more for her. Something he didn't want, and something she could never have. She shivered. That did not change how much she desired it with her whole being. She pulled on her pyjamas and crawled into bed. When she woke, she was going to write some dreadfully smutty fan fiction for Garrik and pray Jareth never discovered the internet.