Chapter 7

Jareth reveals himself

Jareth walked slowly over to the bed and looked at the man lying in it, hooked up to tubes and a breathing machine. He was unconscious. Jareth was juggling one of his crystal balls in his hand as he sat down by the bed.

"Mr. Williams", he called gently.

Slowly the man opened his eyes and looked up at Jareth. He managed a weak groan, but his eyes told Jareth that he had recognized his visitor. They almost had a faint sparkle in them. Jareth smiled and kept juggling his crystal ball.

"I see you are awake now." Jareth continued.

"I wish there would be anything I could do for you, but unfortunately my magic is not that strong. There are certain things even us magical folks can't do." Jareth's voice was soft with a sad undertone.

Mr. Williams blinked his eyes as to say, "I understand". He again tried to speak and managed to say: "Sarah, help her...she needs...you...now." Jareth looked concerned and he quit the juggling.

He placed the crystal ball into Mr. Williams' hands.

"Look deeply into it, hold it, and it will show you Sarah's future. I want you to know that Sarah will be very well taken care off. She won't be alone and she won't be in any pain. I will fulfill my promise to you."

Jareth touched Mr. Williams on the shoulders and tightened his grip.

"I can give you just enough life-force of mine for you to also leave a message to Sarah. Anything you want to tell her, it will be in the crystal forever. Any thoughts, any memories, it will all be there for her to see."

Mr. Williams looked up at Jareth with thankful eyes, and the life-force from Jareth seemed to flow through him.

"Thank you, my dear friend", Mr. Williams whispered with renewed strength, "I am grateful to you and I shall miss our nightly chats."

Jareth sighed deeply. "I shall too, as you have become a dear friend to me".

Mr. Williams managed to hold the crystal up to where he could look into it. For a long time he stared into the orb, and then he faintly smiled as a tear ran down his cheek. He kept staring at it and whispering, but Jareth could not make out the words.

Finally his arm gave out holding the crystal ball. With the last energy he could muster he whispered very quietly: "Thank you...I am...at...peace...now."

Jareth released his grip. Mr. Williams' eyes closed and his hand released the crystal ball which almost fell to the floor, but floated back up into the air just before it hit. The machines began to beep loudly.

Jareth took the crystal ball and put it back in his jacket.

"Be well my friend. I wish you could've visited the Labyrinth Kingdom. You would have loved it." With those words Jareth disappeared as the nurses rushed into the room.

Jareth had teleported right outside the hospital window and turned back into the owl. He sat there for a while watching everything that was going on before he started taking flight.

He knew where he needed to go, straight to Sarah's house. He was concerned Sarah might do something foolish. She had been through so much hardship over the past four years. His magic memory erasing spell he had cast on Sarah hadn't worked as good as he had hoped. She kept having flashbacks and he had to re-cast it over and over to keep it from dissipating.

Over the past year, he had shown up at her house as the owl, to watch over her as he could no longer cast any more memory erasing spells or it could have done permanent damage to her. She only needed to hang in there a little while longer.

In only a few minutes Jareth arrived at Sarah's house. He turned back into his fae form and watched Sarah in her father's study reading her dad's letter to her. She wept and Jareth felt awful. More than anything he wished he could just barge in there, swoop her up in his arms, and take her back to the Labyrinth where he would proclaim his love for her. It pained him to see her cry.

"It won't be too much longer my love", Jareth whispered outside the window. "Hang in there just a little while longer, Sarah."

Jareth heard a noise behind him and he melted into the bushes around the house. It was Elizabeth, Sarah's step-mother, and Toby. They returned back from the hospital. Toby was slung over his mother's shoulder and he looked straight towards where Jareth was.

"Hello Toby", Jareth whispered to the toddler.

Toby lifted his head and grinned.

"Goblin king is here", he shouted and reached his little arms towards Jareth. Jareth blew a crystal ball towards Toby which he snatched up expertly and tucked into his chest with a laugh.

"Goblin king" he squealed again.

"Oh shut up already", growled Elizabeth as she opened the door.

Jareth transformed back into the owl and flew up to the little balcony outside Sarah's bedroom. He remembered it oh so well. It was here that he had first talked to Sarah and revealed himself to her. It seemed so long ago, but it had only been four and a half years.

Jareth watched Sarah from outside the window. She looked so incredibly sad, he couldn't help but call to her.

"Sarah", he gently whispered. She must have heard him as she came to the door, opened it and walked right up to him.

Jareth' heart was pounding. It was the first time in four years he was that close to his love and had seen her lovely face. Her eyes were red and swollen from all the crying, but they were still beautiful.

The way she looked at him in his owl form made his heart beat faster and louder. And when she touched him and told him she wanted to return to the Labyrinth with him, it made Jareth lose control.

It had been his fault Sarah fainted. She wasn't supposed to look at him when he was changing forms as it is too much for human eyes. Jareth stood over Sarah as she lay on the balcony.

"I'm so sorry my love", he whispered as he scooped her up and carried her to her bedroom.

He laid her on the bed and then closed the door to keep the cold wind out. She was ice cold and her cloth were damp from the snow she had fallen in. Jareth contemplated for a few seconds on what to do. He could not just leave her there like this in those damp clothes. He did not want her to become ill.

He carefully removed her damp shirt, socks, and wet pants and placed them next to the bed. He was not going to go any further in removing any more clothing. At least her underwear and bra were dry. He tucked her in gently and stroked her hair. Before he left he placed a crystal ball on Sarah's little make-up desk with a one word note. "Soon".

The funeral was long and depressing. Sarah's dad had had a lot of friends and business partners who attended to pay their last tribute. It was cold and snowy and Sarah was miserable, but she put up a smiling face and greeted everyone warmly.

On the other hand, her step-mother reminded her of Gruella De Ville. She was as fake as she could be. Maybe others would buy it, but not Sarah. She turned away with a look of disgust when she bumped into a tall blond man who stood there with a glass of wine.

"Oh I'm so sorry", she said, "I hope I didn't get any wine spilled on you."

She was so busy trying to wipe a few drops of wine off his jacket collar that she hadn't even looked up to see his face.

"That's quite all right. No harm done", the man replied in a low soft voice. Sarah looked up and almost bumped into another person behind her causing them to spill their wine.

The blond man smiled at her, winked one eye, and walked off. Before Sarah could restore her composure he had disappeared into the crowd. Where did he go?

"Oh my god, he looked like Jareth", she whispered to herself. "He sounded like Jareth", she continued to talk to herself.

Again she looked everywhere, but could not find him anywhere in the crowd. She even ran outside to see if he may be in the yard but nobody was there. Sarah went back inside looking stunned.

Marjorie came walking up to her: "Girl you look like you've just seen a ghost, pardon my expression considering we're at a funeral."

Marjorie took a sip of her wine. Sarah pulled Marjorie to the side.

"I think I've just seen him."

"Seen whom?" Marjorie asked as she looked around pretending to look for whomever Sarah was talking about.

"Jareth", Sarah hissed.

"Jareth who?" Marjorie took another sip of her wine. Gosh sometimes Marjorie could be so dense, Sarah wanted to punch her, and she did.

"Ouch, what did you do that for?" Marjorie whined, rubbing her arm.

"I think I just saw Jareth", Sarah held her hands out and looked straight at Marjorie with wide open eyes.

"Ooooooooh Jaaaaaaareth", Marjorie repeated, and then it finally seemed to sink in.

"Jareth? You mean that Jareth, Dreamy Eyes Guy?" Marjorie got all excited.

She started to squeal a little too loud and too high. People turned their heads and looked at both of them with scolding looks.

"Shut up", Sarah hissed, "and yes, that Jareth."

"Oh my god, where is he? Marjorie burst with excitement, "I wanna see him, I got to see him", she pleaded. Her head moved around as if she were following a superfast tennis match close up.

"He's gone, I can't find him anywhere", Sarah replied with a sadness.

"Damn it", Marjorie added her disappointment and took another sip of her wine.

Sarah was glad the funeral was behind them and things were slowly going back to normal; or as normal as they possibly could be, considering everything that had happened over the past few weeks.

She was back at work and contemplated moving out of the house. Elizabeth sure wanted her gone. Her dad had left her a nice sum of money, much to the dismay of Elizabeth, so she was in a good financial position to rent or even buy a small apartment if she wanted to.

"I just got to find the right place", Sarah told herself as she scanned the "For Rent" ads.

She picked up the stack of books on the desk that needed to be returned to their shelves. Meticulously she walked through the aisles to return them to their correct spots. Just as she rounded the corner, once again, she bumped into a man standing there reading a book.

"Ah gosh I'm so sor..." she stopped mid-sentence as she looked up into his face. He was the same blond man whom she had spilled wine all over at the funeral.

"It's you", she said as she stared at him with her eyes wide open. The blond man smiled and said: "Hello Sarah, so we meet again".

"Do I know you? You look so familiar", Sarah asked.

"More than you realize", he said in his low soft voice. Before Sarah could add anything to their conversation, he looked at his watch and apologized for having to leave. Sarah tried to call after him, but he had disappeared.

When Sarah told Marjorie about the meeting Marjorie was about to blow her top.

"Well, if that doesn't take the cake. You run into him again, and again you let him get away. We finally got you interested in what appears to be Mister Right and you keep letting him get away. What's your problem chica?" Marjorie put her hands on her hips.

Sarah rolled her eyes. It wasn't her fault he kept running away.

"You think it was Jareth?" Sarah asked in a hopeful voice.

"Why would Jareth run away from you? I thought he's the one who wants you." Marjorie shrugged her shoulders.

"Girl you're getting complicated on me and I looove it".

Marjorie wanted to high five Sarah, but she had already turned around heading out of the boutique shaking her head.

Jareth had left the library as fast as he could. Sarah was on to him and it was still too soon. His human disguise just wasn't quite working right. He still looked too much like the real thing.

Jareth flew back to the Labyrinth to discuss things with Hoggle.

"Well", Hoggle suggested, "maybe it's time you reveal yourself to her? It's been almost five years."

"It's still too soon", Jareth replied frustrated. "Not until her 21st birthday, and that is still another six months away."

Jareth paced the floor in agony, once again tapping his goblin stick against his leg.

"Go back to the owl form", Hoggle suggested. "It seemed to work great."

"No, she knows that disguise too now", Jareth grew increasingly frustrated. He paced up and down his study for hours. Finally he stopped and looked at Hoggle with a look of defeat.

"I have to tell her, like you said, I have to reveal myself to her ahead of schedule. That's all there's to that."

And with that proclamation Jareth turned into owl form and flew off.

Hoggle watched him disappear and heaved a big sigh.

"I just hope it's all going to work out. This is getting exhausting."

Sarah finally was done for the day and locked up the library. The entire day she had been haunted by the images of this blond man standing in the aisle.

"Oh get it together girl", she scolded herself.

The evening was nice. It was the first really warm day of the season and the trees were butting out and blooming everywhere. The scent in the air was overwhelming at times but Sarah loved it.

She had even decided to walk home instead of drive. It was only a thirty minute walk for her and it was still light outside. The sun wasn't going to set for another two hours, so Sarah decided to make a detour over to her favorite spot in the park. She sat down on her little stone wall and enjoyed the warm still air and sunshine.

After a while she pulled out an envelope and began to read. It was the letter from her dad. She often read it as it gave her comfort. It was, after all, the last things her dad wanted to tell her.

Sarah treasured the letter and carried it with her at all times. She didn't dare bringing the crystal ball along as she was worried she may drop and break it. There was also a note attached to the letter on a yellowish weathered looking piece of paper with only one word on it: "Soon".

Every time Sarah read it she felt hopeful. It renewed her confidence in the future. It had now been three months since the incident on the balcony and she began to wonder how soon "Soon" was.

Sarah looked around to see if she could find Jareth in owl form, but no owl was in sight. Sarah sighed.

"I hope he hasn't changed his mind", she muttered quietly. After a few more minutes she put her letter back in her pocket, took one more look around and headed for home.

Jareth was nervous. This was the evening he wanted to visit Sarah in his true fae form and proclaim his love for her. Every time he started to go, he stopped and ran the scenario through his head just one more time. He didn't like the feeling of being nervous.

Being nervous could spell doom in the Labyrinth. Goblins were always out to find an advantage to weakness and being nervous was definitely considered a weakness. It wasn't anything he had ever experienced before. Sarah had brought out a lot of feelings he never knew existed, and he definitely didn't like this one.

Finally Jareth had enough.

"You are the king of all goblins, the ruler of the Labyrinth Kingdom, for crying out loud, go tell the girl you love her."

After this self-given pep talk Jareth flew off to Sarah's house. It only took a few minutes to get there and he settled in on a branch outside her window and waited.

Sarah had stopped to grab some dinner with Marjorie before heading home. She avoided being home as much as possible the last few months. Nothing held her in that house anymore.

Elizabeth had gotten rid of all the nice books in the study, had removed the book shelves and the desk, and turned the entire room into some hot yoga studio for her rich winy party friends. All of her dad's personal possessions were now stored in the basement.

Sarah was disgusted by it all. Marjorie offered for Sarah to move in with her until she could find a place of her own.

"I know it's kind of small and crammed, but we could wing it. If you don't mind crashing on a sofa for a few weeks or whatever."

Sarah graciously declined. Her dad had always told her that one should never move in with friends, or that would be the end of their friendship. Sarah intended to follow her dad's advice.

After her dinner with Marjorie she walked home and went straight up to her room. She didn't even bother to say hello to Elizabeth who had some rich wanna be hotsy totsy women over for wine and gossip in her new 'hot yoga studio'.

Sarah felt nauseous just thinking about it and ran upstairs as fast as she could. She threw her bag on the bed and sat down in front of her little make-up desk.

After looking into the mirror for a few minutes she opened her top drawer and pulled out her little drawing book. She opened it to the page with Jareth' picture. She sighed a few times and got lost in her day dreams.

She was abruptly jolted out of her dreams when she heard a noise by her balcony glass door. Before she could get up, the door swung wide open and let the wind blow in. Sarah jumped as an owl came fluttering in and she instinctively put her arms in front of her face.

When the wind had laid down and things had gone quiet again she lowered her arms and looked up. Before her stood Jareth, king of the goblins, in the same attire he wore when he first came to her nearly five years ago.

Sarah looked at him mesmerized and in awe, and then she smiled. Jareth' eyes were warm, and his smile was incredibly charming. He gave her his best smirk, the one she secretly was crazy about, and approached her holding out his hand on which he juggled a crystal ball.

"What are your deepest desires, Sarah? Tell me!" he asked, his eyes glinting with the anticipation of the answer.

"Don't you know by now?" Sarah replied cheekily and lowered her eyes.

Jareth tilted his head and smirked again. He squinted his eyes and moved his face very close to hers.

"Tell me", he softly whispered, "what are your deepest desires, Sarah?" He repeated the question looking straight into her eyes.

Sarah lifted her lids and looked straight into those eyes of his which reached deep down into her soul. She held his gaze for a few seconds before replying "You are."

Without warning she kissed him and placed her hand on the side of his face as she gently pressed her lips against his.

She could tell he was completely taken off guard by her; but when she started to break off the kiss, Jareth held her tightly and prevented her from pulling away. Their first kiss was gentle, yet passionate, long and drawn out, yet too short.

"Let me get to know you again", Sarah whispered as they kissed once more, and this time Jareth was prepared.