For You
Part Five
When Sarah woke up the next day, she could hear birds chirping, welcoming the morning, and she could feel the warm sunlight shining down on her. The only problem was, when she went to open her eyes, she discovered they already were. Yet it was pitch black. Questioningly she felt her face and discovered that a soft cloth had been tenderly tied around her eyes. She tried to rip the blindfold off, but it remained obstinately in place.
"Good morning Sarah." Sarah jumped at the velvety voice that assaulted her ear. She grabbed around blindly, but the source of the voice eluded her. Sarah felt the hairs on the back of her neck creep up, what kind of game was Jareth playing now?
"Did you sleep well?" Suddenly he was on her other side.
"Jareth, take this thing off me." Sarah demanded, reaching persistently across the bed, still trying to find him. Two strong, gloved hands arrested her searching fingers, and carefully lead her up and out of bed.
"Now what would be the fun in that?" Jareth teased.
"I'm serious Jareth, this isn't funny." Sarah protested as he guided her carefully out of her room, after draping a robe around her shoulders.
"Don't worry Sarah." Jareth chuckled softly. "I have something to show you."
Heart pounding, Sarah was having problems thinking straight. Jareth's mood had certainly improved from last night, and instead of feeling afraid and overpowered, as she usually did in his presence, Sarah felt rather jittery, like when she first met Brian…Sarah jerked at the thought. Now was certainly not the time to think of that horrible fiasco, and Sarah instinctively leaned closer to Jareth, as he pulled her down this hall and that.
Besides, Sarah thought, Jareth's a lot different then Brian. He's arrogant, cruel, obnoxious, handsome, Sarah felt her cheeks burn, and wondered if Jareth noticed. Handsome? Sarah berated herself. How did handsome sneak in there? It was at that time that Sarah's mind decided to wonder what Jareth was wearing. For Christ's sake! She mentally slapped herself. I'm eighteen, and my hormones choose know to notice his pants! Sarah jumped when the sound of Jareth's cultured voice ended her mental dispute.
"Stairs," was all he murmured, and Sarah could feel his hot breath against her neck. Expecting to be carefully led down a flight or two, Sarah was more than surprised when she found Jareth sweeping her up in his arms, and carrying her down them.
"Jareth?"
"Hmm?" Sarah found herself hanging onto his neck rather tightly.
"Don't drop me." Jareth only laughed.
When he set her back down, Sarah felt soft grass underneath her feet and realized they were outside. She allowed Jareth to place his hands on her shoulders, and steer her toward a bench, where he helped her sit down.
"So what is it you want to show me so badly?" Sarah asked curiously.
"Only this." Jareth answered, removing her blindfold. Sarah gasped at the sight before her.
"Ludo! Didymus!" She exclaimed, rushing towards her friends. "Hoggle!" Didymus bowed with chivalry, and Ludo smiled comically, but Hoggle tentatively hung back. "I've missed you guys so much!" Sarah continued, hugging each of them in turn. She turned to thank Jareth, but he had disappeared. Why does he keep doing that? Sarah wondered for a moment, but then turned back to her companions.
Hoggle quickly warmed up and the four of them had quite a conversation, ambling aimlessly around the castle grounds. Sarah hadn't laughed so much for a long time. In fact, she doubted whether she had ever been this happy in her life. The only moments that came close were a few with…the Goblin King? Sarah asked herself. She hurriedly stopped that thought process in its tracks.
"Hoggle?" Sarah asked suddenly, during a lull of conversation. "Why didn't you answer my last call?"
"Call?" Hoggle repeated, refusing to meet Sarah's eyes. "I didn't get no call." He replied defensively.
"I know I called, the same way I did the night I got home from this place. It was almost a year ago, right after I…" Sarah trailed off. "Never mind." She was grateful when Sir Didymus changed the subject. Sarah decided she didn't want to get into the reason why she had needed their company.
***
"Sarah?" Hoggle started again, a while later.
"Hmm?" Sarah was quite comfortable, leaning against a large tree trunk and enjoying the blissful shade from the scorching summer sun.
"How'd Jareth manage to drag you here anyway?"
"He didn't drag me here. He sort of rescued me." Didymus' ears pricked up at the word rescue.
"How so, Milady?" He asked enthusiastically.
"It's not really that big of a deal." Sarah mumbled.
"It was the day Toby died, right?" Hoggle pressed. Sarah's cheeks went bright red, regretting her somewhat incoherent suicide attempt, and if she hadn't have been so desperate to change the subject, she would have thought it odd that Hoggle knew Toby was dead, considering she hadn't told a soul.
It was at that moment a large, snowy white owl chose to land before them. Glad to be saved from two awkward explanations in the same day, Sarah didn't need to be asked twice to go to dinner with the Goblin King. She stared at his proffered arm for a moment before taking it, and waved to her friends as she walked back to the castle with Jareth.
Still in her nightclothes and a bathrobe, Sarah was silent on the way back to the castle. Granted, she wasn't angry with him anymore, and Jareth decided he just had to be patient. The fact that he should have sent her home today kept nagging at him, but for right now, what Sarah didn't know wouldn't hurt her.
"Oh, I forgot." Sarah said when they had reached the dining room. She stuck her hand in her pocket, and pulled out Jareth's pendant. "You want it back?" A soft smile ebbed onto Jareth's face, and Sarah decided that he looked very nice that way, more like a person, than the imperious Goblin King.
Jareth took the necklace from her, holding her hand a little longer than necessary. He walked around behind her, and pulling back her hair, fastened the chain around her neck once more.
"Keep it." He breathed softly, his lips almost brushing her ear. Jareth was not big on restraining himself. In fact, it took all the self-control he could muster to keep from kissing her senseless right then and there. He was, after all, the Goblin King, and was used to having women fall all over him. But for Sarah, it would be different. It was clear she hated him as the Goblin King. Maybe she would love him as just Jareth.
"So," Jareth said in what he hoped was a calm, conversational manner, instead of the I-want-to-kiss-her-and-I-want-to-kiss-her-now manner that was threatening to take over, "what did you talk about with your, err, friends?" A twinge of jealousy was now combining with the kissing impulse, to make it twice as strong.
"Nothing really." Sarah answered simply, while arranging her food into a castle shape. "The Aboveground, and stuff." The castle shape was smashed, to be replaced by a flower shape. "Toby." She added as an afterthought.
"How is the lively little chap?" Jareth continued, with a rather fake smile on his face. What he really needed was a cold shower. "He has my eyes, you know."
"Had." Sarah replied automatically.
"What?" Jareth's eyes narrowed.
"Had your eyes." Sarah felt him staring at her, waiting for her to explain. Oh, how much she wished she had never said anything. "Toby, he's…" Slowly she raised her eyes to meet his. "Jareth, he's dead." Jareth's fork fell to the floor with a clatter.
"Dead?" He repeated incredulously. Sarah nodded, blinking back tears.
"A car accident. The night I took the pills." The tears spilled out, though Sarah tried furiously to prevent them. Jareth had her in his arms in an instant, smoothing her hair and murmuring in her ear.
"Shhh. It's okay." He whispered, the passion inside him forgotten for the moment. For the moment.
Sarah pulled away from Jareth's embrace, though later on she would admit it was comforting. Instead she hugged herself, squeezing her eyes tightly shut, trying to block out the world.
Jareth couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand her looking so alone and forlorn. He couldn't stand her pushing him away. Any previous ideas of concealing his love for her forgotten, he couldn't stand watching her hurt so much.
Cupping her chin in both his hands, he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. It was barely a kiss, just a tiny brush of his lips on hers. He didn't dare try anything else, fearing Sarah would slap him for it. But on the contrary, she leaned into him, trembling from the passion packed into such a tiny kiss.
But suddenly Sarah pulled away again, her eyes wide and her breath short and shaky. She locked eyes with Jareth, and was that a hint of pleading on his features? Whatever the look was, it disappeared as fast as Sarah did, running down the hall.
***
"I kissed her." Jareth muttered, pacing up and down his thankfully empty throne room. "Toby's dead." He reminded himself. "I kissed her!" He said again. "Toby's dead!" Clearly his thoughts wouldn't settle. "One problem at a time." He ordered himself.
"How can he be dead?" Jareth flopped down on his throne, one leg over the arm of the chair, one hand rubbing his throbbing temples. "That protection spell should have guarded them both from any Aboveground threats. One thing's for certain, that babe didn't die from an ordinary car crash. But who the bloody hell would've done such a thing?"
***
"He kissed me." Sarah spat, disgusted. "He was rather nice today, though." She threw herself onto her bed. "But he kissed me!" "But he did get all my friends for me this morning." "But he kissed me." She sighed finally, exhausted. Just before falling asleep, one thought flitted across her mind. He really was a good kisser.