For You

A/N:  Okay, so I've been trying to get out a new part every Monday.  Yeah, I know it's Tuesday.  So sue me.  Also shorter than I would have liked, but informative and fluffy.  Enjoy.

Disclaimer:  I walked into the US patenet office the other day, hoping to copyright this idea of mine about a haughtly Goblin King and the chick that goes through his Labyrinth.  Pretty original, right?  Well, once I got there, they told me that someone ELSE already had the copyright.  How in the world did that happen?  And who is this Jim Henson guy anyway????

For You

Part Fourteen

          "No.  Please…"  Sarah was dreaming again.  It wasn't surprising, as she was nothing but nerves what with the ball the next night, Kira's intense glares, Jareth's frequent attempts at, well, getting her alone, and a certain rebellion that no one seemed very interested in.  Honestly, Sarah had thought, these fae would rather eavesdrop onto soap opera stories than protect their people.  If I had any say in this – but Sarah had stopped that train of thought, realizing that if she did, infact, marry Jareth, than she would have quite a lot of say in the matter.  But the thought of marriage made her feel a little squelchy.  It wasn't that she didn't love Jareth, she did.  And throughout the day, she felt no fear.  But at night, her mind was taken over by her dreams, and her doubts.

          Sarah sprang bolt upright in bed, trembling and in a cold sweat.  Her nightmares faded quickly, leaving her with a feeling of dizzy uneasiness.  Unable to fall back to sleep, Sarah decided to partake in her favorite relaxing past-time – walking.

          Ignoring the fact that she would most likely be hopelessly lost in a matter of minutes, Sarah silently sliped out of her room and into one of many hallways that ran throughout the Elysian Palace.  Shadows lurked along the walls, and Sarah could hear the wind whipping the elegant silver and gold trees much more violently than she would have expected from this perfect world.

          Gods, now she understood why Jareth hated the Labyrinth so much.  To have lived in this beautiful place, and then be thrown in that barren wasteland, and by his own father's word, no less.  Not that Sarah blamed Dantriven for what he had done, he was just trying to be a good parent.  The thought of being Queen of the Goblins had been daunting enough, but to queen of all this as well…

          A sudden chill ran Sarah's spine.  She had been shivering from the wind, in her skimpy nightgown, but this was different.  Glancing around anxiously, Sarah saw nothing.  What am I, four?  Sarah chided herself.  Am I seriously afraid of the dark?  Confidence returned, Sarah continued exploring the palace.  Once she stopped, sure she had heard footsteps.  But there was no one there, and Sarah laughed at her childishness. 

          Feeling much more relaxed, Sarah was beginning to wonder if she would ever make it back to her room, when she spotted something familiar.  The broom closet she had pulled Jareth into for their "discussion."  Glitter of every color was scattered on the floor, evidence of the quick disapearance of certain eavesdropping fae.  They had obviously been too caught up in gossiping about what they had heard to send someone to clean it up.  Sarah stooped down and scooped up a handfull of glitter, it felt velvety and shimmered in the moonlight.  Indulging on another childish impulse, she wrote "Queen Sarah" in the glitter with her fingertip, before getting up to walk away.

          She had only taken a few steps before she whirled around, sure she had heard footsteps that time.  "Hello?"  She asked cautiously, walking back towards the closet.  No answer.  Sighing, Sarah was about to decide that she really needed to go back to sleep, because she was acting delusional, when the sparkling glitter caught her eye.  She had left it perfectly smooth, with her name scrawled in the middle.  Now it was smeared with a set of footprints.

***

          "Brother, what dost thou think of Sir Hoggle's behaviour of late?"  Didymus asked Ludo, late that night.  They lay sprawled in Jareth's throne room, fighting off sleep during their self-appointed vigil.  No one would attack the castle while His Majesty and Lady Sarah were away.  This was, at least, Didymus' intent, though he failed to notice a few black hooded creatures scurrying in and out with clocks and books.

          "Hoggle...sad."  Ludo said thoughtfully, thoughtfully for him at any rate.

          "Quite correct, brother.  He dost seem a trite preocupied.  Perhaps he is having difficulty setting his alliegances?"

          "Toby."  

          "Aha!  I believe you have hit the nail on the head again, old friend.  His involvment with the lad may be precisely the problem."  Didymus said slowly, his eyelids slipping to half-mast.

          "Hoggle friend."  Ludo said mournfully, stiffleing a yawn.

          "That he is, chap.  We must aide him in doing what is right…help him fight…good night…."

          "Hehehe."  Snickered one demon to another in a dark corner of the room.  "That sleeping potion works every time."

          "Shut up."  Scowled the other.  "You don't want to wake them.  Come on.  We've got a lot to do before Abien returns from the Elysian Palace."

***

          Sarah stared at the fresh set of prints before taking the most reasonable course of action she could think of.  Run away as fast as you can, screaming for your protector.

          "Jareth!"  Sarah shrieked, not caring that she would probably wake the entire Palace at this rate.  Actually, that would probably be a good thing.  Sarah thought wildly as she raced down random passageways.

          She was about to call his name again, when she ran straight into something.  Or someone, rather.  Someone tall, blonde, and shirtless.

          "Sarah?"  Jareth asked, somewhat sleepy and again, shirtless.  "What's wrong, lamb?"

          "He's here."  Sarah said breathlessly.

          "Who's here?"  Jareth demanded.  Sarah's two thoughts were something along the lines of, help, I need help, and, wow, he has a sexy chest.

          "I don't know, Brian, Abien, both of them, they're both here!"  She cried anxiously, her eyes darting around, searching for something.  Seeing she was in no mood to talk in their present atmosphere, Jareth transported them both to the safest place he could think of.  His chambers.

          There was no doubt in Sarah's mind that this room was much better suited to the old, "Prince" Jareth, than the newer, more cynical man that was holding her protectively to his chest.  This room had a comfier, more homey feel than the one at the castle beyond the goblin city.  Sheets and curtains of an inviting red wine-color sharply contrasted the swarthy and opposing, nearly black ones in Jareth's castle.  A slight fire was dying down in the embers, giving the room a warm, ruddy glow.

          "Sarah?"  Jareth asked slowly, gently pulling away.  "What happened?"

          "I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk and I got lost and I heard footsteps behind me but no one was there but then I saw his footprints in the glitter and he was following me and I didn't know what to do!"  Sarah said this all very fast.

          Jareth, however, managed to get the gist of things, and conjouring a crystal, he passed the message onto Dantriven, who immeadiately roused a search for Abien throughout the palace. 

          "It's all right, love."  Jareth murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind Sarah's ear.  "They'll find him.  Problem solved."  But the apprehensive look on Sarah's face told Jareth that the problem was most certainly not solved.

          Sarah knew he was dying to ask her one question.  He'd probably been wanting to ask her for days.  But Jareth was too kind, too gentle to probe, to force her to talk about anything she didn't want to talk about.  Damn.  She'd have to bring it up herself. 

          Jareth had drawn her up close to him again, and they settled in a large, poufy armchair, when Sarah, setting on Jareth's lap and leaning her head against his chest, took a deep breath and began.

          "I keep having these dreams."  She said softly.  "About a guy I used to date.  His name was Brian."

Brian was her chemistry partner her junior year.  He was relatively smart, but chemistry just wasn't clicking for him.  Sarah, seeming to have a natural knack at the subject, and finding Brian rather cute, offered to tutor him.

Karen liked him immeadiately.  Then again, Karen had never been a very good judge of character.

Her father liked him too.  That gave Sarah a little confidence.  As much as Karen had pressured her to date, her father had always been a little against it.  Sarah supposed he didn't want her to grow up.

Brian liked Sarah.  A lot.  A little too much.  But it didn't really bother Sarah.  He was a nice guy, after all.  That is what she was supposed to be looking for, right? 

They had been dating for a year when it happened,  Sarah had come home from her part-time job at a nearby bookstore, and found Brian cooking dinner for her at her house.  Granted, Brian couldn't cook, but it was a nice gesture.  It was a Friday.  Sarah's parents were gone for the weekend, visiting Karen's parents.

"You wanna go to a club or something babe?"  Sarah sighed and flopped down on her bed.

"Not tonight, Brian.  I've been on my feet all day."  Brian smiled, then sat on the edge of her bed.  He pulled off first her shoes, then her socks, and started massaging her feet.

"Better?"  He asked. 

Sarah closed her eyes, almost melting in relaxation.  His fingers went around her toes, the arch of her right foot, her heel, around her right ankle.  Then his hands crept upward.

Sarah's eyes flashed open instantly, and she quickly pulled back, so that Brian's hands rested on her foot again.

"Down boy."  She half-smiled.  Brian returned to his attention to her feet.  At first.  Then his hands rose again, faster this time.  Sarah tried to kick him away, but he latched onto her ankle with one hand, the other trailing up her leg.

"Brain, get off me."  Sarah demanded, tryint to wrench her leg away.  He held her fast, hand creeping up her inner thigh, sending shivers down her spine..

"I said get off!"  Sarah practically screamed it, and almost got away.  But he leapt onto her, pinning her down on the bed.  One hand held her down roughly by the shoulder, the other slid up her leg.  Firery hunger glinted in his eyes.

"BRIAN, NO!"  He stopped.

"Come on, Sarah.  I thought you liked me."

"I do, but not that much."

"There are a lot of other girls that would do this for me."  He was still holding her down.

"Yeah, they're called prostitutes."  She kicked up and hit him in the chest, pushing him off her.

          Sarah paused.  Jareth's heart was thumping quickly, and there was a slightly homicidal glint in his eyes.  "Jareth?"  She asked hesitantly.  She was very near tears herself, but she couldn't stand seeing him look this way.  His features looked frozen, frozen with fiery rage.  "Jareth, please calm down."  She pleaded.  "I can't go on if you keep staring like that."

          Jareth blinked.  "There's more?"  He demanded.  Sarah hung her head, blinking back tears, and continued.

Brian sat on the floor, looking up at her like a wounded animal.

"Sarah."  He beckoned.  "Shit, Sarah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."  He repeated this at least a dozen times, standing slowly.  Sarah was hunched up on her bed, shaking slightly.  Brian edged cautiously onto the bed.  "I'm so sorry."

Then Sarah said two words that she regreted for the rest of her life, two words that gave her nightmares everynight.  "It's okay."

She was only seventeen, she didn't know what she was doing.  She didn't know what love was supposed to be like.  She had a guess, but when your prefrences on boyfriend material lead toward Goblin Kings, you don't trust them very well.  She trusted Brian.  Before that night, he had never given her a reason not to.

He was kissing her before she knew it, a demanding sort of kiss, but it didn't bother Sarah for some reason.  She felt calm, sort of tired.  Drained, almost.  That was why it took her a minute to realize Brian's hand was up her shirt.

She opened her mouth to protest, but Brian took over her mouth with his tounge, smothering her attempts.  Sarah vaguely recognized that he was pulling her skirt off her legs, and as his lips moved from her mouth to her chest, she mumbled, "Did you do something to my food, Brian?"

She had heard of date-rape drugs, but never thought her year-long boyfriend would do such a thing.

When Sarah awoke, alone, she did something she hadn't done in years.  She tried to call her friends from the Labyrinth.  There was no answer.

          When Sarah finally looked up again, she saw silvery tears rolling down Jareth's cheeks.  Silently he wrapped her up in his arms, resting his cheek to hers, rocking her gently back and forth.  Sarah's arms slid around his neck and tangled in his hair, and she started to cry too, wishing Jareth would say something, anything.

          "I'm so sorry Sarah."  He whispered into her hair.

          "Then you aren't mad at me?"  Sarah ventured to ask.

          "Mad?"  He gasped.  "Sweet, how could I be?  What happened wasn't your fault."

          "I know, I just…."  Bringing back the old memories meant bringing back the old feelings, anxiety, untrusting, shame.

          "Sarah."  Jareth entreated softly, cupping her face in his hands.  "I love you.  I will always love you.  And," he added as an afterthought, "I would wait an eternity for you."

          Sarah smiled slightly, kissing the palm of his hand as it trailed across her chin.  Snuggling back into him, Sarah laid her head against the crook of his shoulder, softly nuzzleing him.

          "I love you too."  She said, before drifting off to a peaceful sleep.