Author: JediK1
Date: 7/6/01
Rating: ahhh, let's go with PG, even though the most intense thing they do is stare at each other =D
Author's Note: The POV switches every so often, so I hope I made it clear enough to keep you from being confused! Also, this is my first attempt at a Labyrinth fic, so please don't flame me too bad!!!
Author's Note 2: hangs head in shame Ok, I fixed Jareth's name…I can't BELIEVE I misspelled it…but it's all better now, I promise!!!
The Battle After
By JediK1
Sarah stood at the bottom of her stairway, listening as the final chime died away.
The silence that followed was deafening, and she paused, her body tensing.
And then it struck.
The beast let out a roar that shook her to the bone, yet made no noise at all. It was the sound that one with no hope makes; the mourning cry of a lover abandoned. Before she could move, it overtook her. She was overwhelmed by the monster's sheer power as its gaze tore through her, effortlessly ripping away the reason she had so desperately clung to. It forced its way past her defenses and into her soul, shattering her heart and stealing away with the broken pieces.
As she recovered the breath that had fled from her lungs, Sarah called the creature forth from the night, dragging it from the safety of the shadows. She wanted to avenge her tattered heart, and make him see the emptiness of his hate and cruelty. The only way to defeat him was to love him, and if that was what it took, then she had every intention of holding the Goblin King in her passionate embrace.
Unmoved by the rain and wind that tore at him, Jareth returned at her call. He could feel the power surging through him, and he knew that it was useless against the girl before him. He held no power over her…Instead, Sarah was the one in control now, and she held his soul within her small hands. But he refused to release his hold on her spirit. They were at a stalemate.
She could feel him weakening. Every step she took near him ebbed away at his power, and she knew that when she stood before him, there would be nothing left. The distance closed between girl and beast, but still he did not move. Sarah could see the conflict in his mismatched eyes; the fight between his longing for her and his need for control. The King of the goblins had offered her before to be her servant, but only if she first became his slave. Somehow, she had managed to reverse his words, and now he was obeying her.
Sarah stopped suddenly. She found herself close enough to feel the Goblin King's breath against her cheek, hot and ragged as he warred with himself and her. One more step, and the monster would die, the cruelty he had relied upon reduced to ashes by the flames of her heart.
Sarah took that final step, that leap of utter faith. And when she landed, it was not in the claws of a beast, but in the arms of a man. As she raised her eyes to meet his, something akin to understanding passed between them. Now, there were no slave and servant, only lover and lover, wrapped in their emotions. The rain tore through them, but they did not care, they simply tightened their embrace. Suddenly Jareth smiled down upon her, whispering a quiet word of gratitude, followed by the phrase she had been longing to hear.
The storm cleared, and as the moon dared show her face through the dispensing clouds, she smiled upon the two owls that flew by, leaving the sullen night behind and heading home.