Jareth found himself sitting under one of his peach trees sometime near dawn. Four peach pits were on the grass beside him. He had skipped dinner. He really should get back to his rooms and get ready for the day. He had noticed that Sarah had been quite careful around him. He wished she would just relax and stop worrying about him tossing her into the bog of eternal stench.
He sighed, he hadn't slept. He was too busy thinking of how to get through to Sarah. Nothing had come up. He would give his efforts two more days, then he would take her back. He would create a puppet of himself to stay in that world and be David Bowie so he could remain here. He hoped he didn't he to do that...but as things were going...it looked as if he had little choice in the matter.
He went back to his room and closed his eyes. He used his magic to make his vision spell real then dressed in a white tee-shirt, black jeans with a belt and his black boots. He grabbed his leather jacket and went to see if Sarah was awake.
He knocked on her door and when there was no answer he stuck his head in. Sarah was curled up under the covers, still sleeping. He smiled and soon found himself sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her. He reached out and brushed a piece of hair from her face and stopped. On their own accord, his fingers traveled down her face and traced her lips.
He sighed as memories of the ballroom floated back into his mind.
Sarah smiled and sighed softly, still sleeping.
Without thinking he began to sing softly and run his fingers through her hair. Waiting for her to wake up.
Sarah knew she was dreaming when she found herself back in the bubble ballroom, dancing with Jareth as he sang "As the World Falls Down." With difficulty she woke and frowned, still hearing the song. Opening her eyes she found Jareth sitting beside her. She pulled the covers farther over her and looked up at him, waiting for an explanation.
His eyes came back into focus and he shook his head. He pulled his hand back and stood.
"Good morning Sarah. Did you sleep well?" He asked numbly.
She nodded slowly, watching him. "What are you doing in here?"
He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets.
"I came to see if you were awake and found you sleeping. I thought I would wait till you woke up so I could say good morning."
He nodded and quickly left the room.
Outside her door he slumped against the wall and slid down it till his head rested on his knees. What had he been doing? Was he nuts? What did he think she would do when she woke up and found a cruel villain beside her? He must have scared her to death. He sat there, cursing himself.
Sarah slid out of bed, slipping a pair of pants on and changing into a light blue shirt. She walked out of the bedroom and knelt beside Jareth, who didn't respond.
"Are you all right?" she asked, lightly touching his arm.
He jerked up and smacked his head into the wall. He hadn't heard her. After cursing in his native fae tongue he looked at her and nodded.
"Are you sure?" Sarah asked, looking at him worriedly.
He stood, still rubbing his aching head. "Just a bump."
"What happened to your hair?" Sarah asked, standing and looking at his short, neatly cut hair.
He continued to examine the lump on his head with the tips of his fingers. "I got rid of it."
"Do you mean a spell or something?"
He shook his head slowly. "No. No spell."
"Why?" she asked softly.
He glanced at her face before looking at the floor and beginning to walk.
"I think I remember you saying that I looked something like a startled dandelion? I don't like looking like scared flowers."
Sarah hid a smile behind her hand. "Sorry if I offended you."
He shrugged. "Sorry if my style of dress scared you to death."
Sarah smiled and shrugged. "I survived."
He nodded. "I noticed. You also grew up. Is this place too fanciful for you now Sarah?"
"I don't know, not really. It's different from what I'm used to, but I don't hate it."
He chuckled. "You were used to it before?"
"I pretty much lived in the fantasy novels that I read, so yeah, I guess I was used to it," Sarah said with a shrug.
He waved his arms around. "This will soon be a fantasy novel too...if you write it."
"I don't know if I can, I thought all of it was a dream that I had made up because I was reading one too many fantasy novels."
He walked down the stair case with Sarah to his side. Her arm brush against his and all the hairs on his neck stood up. Did she even realize what she was doing to him? It was getting harder and harder to play the host.
"Did you bring your camera?"
"No, why, where are we going?" Sarah asked, shaking her head clear of her musings.
He smiled. "I was to show you something. Do you know the secret of my labyrinth?"
Sarah paled at the mention of the maze and shook her head.
He rested a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "You will know it by tonight. I think you'll be surprised."
"Will I?" she asked quietly.
He stopped halfway down the staircase and turned to her, his mismatched eyes staring hard into her brown ones.
"Yes. And afterwards I hope you will see me differently than you do now. Right now I am a villain to you. Correct? Perhaps by tonight you will see me as a hero?"
Sarah looked back at him, wondering what could change her view of him so drastically. "Maybe," she whispered.
He nodded and started off again. "Some breakfast before we go? Or would you like to have a picnic?"
"I never eat breakfast, so maybe a picnic would be better," Sarah said, slowly walking down the stairs after him.
He nodded and formed a crystal and with a flip of his hand, turned it into her camera.
He held it out her. "Ta da."
"Thank you," Sarah replied, taking the camera and checking automatically to make sure there was film.
He looked at her. "Please Sarah. Only use those pictures for your book?"
Sarah looked at him for a moment. "All right, but why?"
He cleared his throat. "I'm not big on advertisement."
Sarah laughed softly. "No one would believe me, they'd think I was a total basket case if I showed them the pictures and tried to convince them that it was of another world. They'd lock me up and throw away the key."
He seemed to sag with relief. He smiled and held out his hand.
"Are you going to warp us somewhere with the crystal?" Sarah asked, resting her hand on his.
He nodded as he gripped her hand.
"It makes me dizzy," Sarah muttered softly, stepping closer to him.
He thought for a moment. "Then here," he said putting his arm around her waist, pulling her up against him. "I'll hold you up."
He spun a crystal out of air and studied her face. "Ready?"
Sarah slowly nodded, barely breathing.
The world swam again and they stood on a hill, overlooking the labyrinth. Jareth didn't pull away but he stared at his creation.
"Sarah? What is the purpose of a labyrinth?"
"To keep people away from the castle, to create a game for you to watch as people struggle through and find themselves lost, I don't know," Sarah murmured, moving a step back.
Jareth let his arm drop as he looked over his labyrinth. "So you would say it's to keep people out? To keep them away correct?"
"Yes, or to keep something in maybe," she said, remember the legend of the minotaur, trapped in a labyrinth.
He grinned, still not looking away. "Very good Sarah. To keep something in is the reason this maze was built."
"Please tell me you don't have people wander through it to reclaim children with a minotaur or some other monster running about in there?"
He began to chuckled and then to laugh. When he finally stopped he looked at her, tears in his eyes from laughing.
"Oh Sarah no! Of course not. I told you already. I'm not that cruel. You just see me that way."
"That's how you portrayed yourself last time," Sarah said simply.
He stood straight and looked at her, a smile still tugging at his lips. "I played a part for you Sarah. And I played it well. I'm sorry that it had such an impact on you."
He was quiet for a time. "Do you know that we are in the center of the fae kingdom?"
Sarah shook her head. "I didn't even know there was a fae kingdom."
He grinned at her. "And what did you think I was? Human?"
"The hair, the eye makeup, and the glitter proved that you weren't human. I just didn't know there was a kingdom."
Jareth's lips twitched some more. "Ok. We've figured out my style of dress was bad. I fixed it. But that doesn't matter. We are in the middle of the fae kingdom...and it is my job to protect it from a spell that was cast thousands of years ago. Would you like to guess what the spell was?"
"I know I'll never be able to guess it, so I won't even try," Sarah replied.
He grinned at her. "The goblins."
"Okay, you lost me, the goblins were a spell?"
He nodded they were created by the bad guy, an insane orc, and placed in the center of the fae kingdom. They are like a virus. They destroy everything that gets in front of them...but they don't mean to. So I contained them with a spell of my own and build the labyrinth around them. They're not the smartest bunch of creatures. They haven't made it out since. My father was very proud. I was the youngest child of the family and wouldn't inherit any part of the kingdom so, whoop tee do, I get to rule over goblins. That is my job. Not to steal children."
Sarah sat down and thought about what he said. "So then, why do you steal children? Hobby?"
"I didn't steal children. I took away a child...upon command. I was watching you Sarah. You were such a dreamer. A fantastic person. I wanted to meet you so I put a spell on your mother to give you that book. And, as I thought, you loved it. You loved it so much that you re-lived it yourself. Don't you remember that book?"
"Of course I remember that book. I memorized it because it was the last thing my real mother had given me before she left," Sarah murmured, looking at the Labyrinth.
He nodded. "I thought you would wish yourself away...then I could see you. Then I could meet this dreamer named Sarah...but instead you followed the book. You wished your brother away and I was forced to play the villain. I new you would win. The only thing that I could do was to be cruel."
"Why didn't you immediately tell me it was a hoax, instead of making me go by the book?"
He looked down at his hands and picked at his thumbnail. "I wanted to give you something you loved. I thought you would like that. I guess I was wrong wasn't I Sarah?"
Sarah looked up at him, slightly confused. "What did you want to give me?"
He shrugged. "Your book. The fantasy you loved to perform. I thought that you would want to do it for real."
"I would have loved it if my brother's life hadn't been at stake."
He threw up his hands. "It never was! It was the story! I wouldn't take your brother! My goodness if time had run out I would have appeared to you with your brother and gave him back! It was a play! A game! A story!"
He seemed angry and frustrated as he raked his fingers through his short fluffy blond hair.
"I didn't know that!" she shouted back at him.
He took a calming breath. "Now you do. So please...no more comments on stealing children. No more comments on me being a cruel heartless king. I truly did everything for you and got the cold shoulder for doing it."
Sarah looked at him for a long while. "I'm sorry," she murmured.
He flopped down on the hill and rubbed at his eyes. "No. I shouldn't have yelled. The lack of sleep is getting to me. Would you like to see the rest of the fae kingdom?"
"I guess so. I'm just curious, but are you sidhe?"
He shook his head. "I'm not so lucky. I am one fourth sidhe. But the rest of me is a kind of mix from other types. There are too many to list so please don't ask me to."
"You look like how the sidhe are always described, that's why I asked," Sarah murmured.
He shrugged. "Do you like unicorns Sarah?"
"A little yes. Why?"
"Would you like to see them?"
Sarah smiled and nodded. "That would be great."
He nodded, stood and held out his hand to her again, holding a crystal in the other.
She frowned at the crystal before taking his hand and standing.
He smiled at her. "It's either this or a four day walk."
Sighing she nodded. "Beam me up, or down, or wherever," she muttered.
He looked confused but did as he was told and transported them into a field of green grass dotted with thick leafed trees. All around them were beautiful horses, each with a horn on their heads. He pulled Sarah down onto the grass and leaned up against the tree.
"They don't like to be disturbed," he whispered to her.
Sarah smiled, entranced as she watched them. "They're beautiful."
A black stallion trotted up to them and began snuffling loudly. Jareth stood and held out his hand to the unicorn. After sniffing him, the horse turned and trotted away. Jareth sat back down.
"That is the packs leader. He is the strongest right now. He needed to know I was no threat."
"I thought all unicorns were white," Sarah said quietly.
He shook his head. "Only the ones in movies. All humans aren't white. Neither are all faes."
"Good point," she murmured, watching the unicorns.
After a while Jareth brought out a crystal and sat it down on the grass. It turned into a pizza and two sodas. He smiled and began to eat.
"This really is bad for your health," Sarah murmured as she took a slice.
He shrugged. "I'm immortal. I don't have much of a health to worry about."
Sarah thought about it, then nodded and grabbed another slice.
After their lunch Jareth closed his eyes to think and fell asleep. He smiled remembering the ballroom. Such a small distraction it had been. He just wanted to show her who he really was. That part was nowhere in the book. So he had added a chapter...so what?
Sarah looked down at him and smiled softly. It had all been an act. Or, if this was all an act, he was playing the charming hero rather well.
Jareth's eyes fluttered open and found Sarah smiling at him. He smiled back.
"Sorry I fell asleep. I was tired," he mumbled stretching.
"Not a problem," Sarah murmured, watching him.
He stood and looked down at her. "Ready to go back?"
"I guess so," she said, giving a last look at the unicorns before standing.
He swallowed hard. This was it.
"To your home or mine?"
"Yours," Sarah murmured, slightly confused. All her stuff was there, and so were her friends.
He smiled a little and held out his hand to her again. "Will you be asking anymore questions about Jareth?"
"Yes, why are you referring to yourself in third person?"
He grinned as he formed a crystal in his hand.
"Well, since the Jareth you will be writing about acts differently than the Jareth I am right now...isn't it only right to speak of the character as a different person?"
She thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Whatever."
He reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder then transported them both back to the castle.
He sighed, he hadn't slept. He was too busy thinking of how to get through to Sarah. Nothing had come up. He would give his efforts two more days, then he would take her back. He would create a puppet of himself to stay in that world and be David Bowie so he could remain here. He hoped he didn't he to do that...but as things were going...it looked as if he had little choice in the matter.
He went back to his room and closed his eyes. He used his magic to make his vision spell real then dressed in a white tee-shirt, black jeans with a belt and his black boots. He grabbed his leather jacket and went to see if Sarah was awake.
He knocked on her door and when there was no answer he stuck his head in. Sarah was curled up under the covers, still sleeping. He smiled and soon found himself sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her. He reached out and brushed a piece of hair from her face and stopped. On their own accord, his fingers traveled down her face and traced her lips.
He sighed as memories of the ballroom floated back into his mind.
Sarah smiled and sighed softly, still sleeping.
Without thinking he began to sing softly and run his fingers through her hair. Waiting for her to wake up.
Sarah knew she was dreaming when she found herself back in the bubble ballroom, dancing with Jareth as he sang "As the World Falls Down." With difficulty she woke and frowned, still hearing the song. Opening her eyes she found Jareth sitting beside her. She pulled the covers farther over her and looked up at him, waiting for an explanation.
His eyes came back into focus and he shook his head. He pulled his hand back and stood.
"Good morning Sarah. Did you sleep well?" He asked numbly.
She nodded slowly, watching him. "What are you doing in here?"
He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets.
"I came to see if you were awake and found you sleeping. I thought I would wait till you woke up so I could say good morning."
He nodded and quickly left the room.
Outside her door he slumped against the wall and slid down it till his head rested on his knees. What had he been doing? Was he nuts? What did he think she would do when she woke up and found a cruel villain beside her? He must have scared her to death. He sat there, cursing himself.
Sarah slid out of bed, slipping a pair of pants on and changing into a light blue shirt. She walked out of the bedroom and knelt beside Jareth, who didn't respond.
"Are you all right?" she asked, lightly touching his arm.
He jerked up and smacked his head into the wall. He hadn't heard her. After cursing in his native fae tongue he looked at her and nodded.
"Are you sure?" Sarah asked, looking at him worriedly.
He stood, still rubbing his aching head. "Just a bump."
"What happened to your hair?" Sarah asked, standing and looking at his short, neatly cut hair.
He continued to examine the lump on his head with the tips of his fingers. "I got rid of it."
"Do you mean a spell or something?"
He shook his head slowly. "No. No spell."
"Why?" she asked softly.
He glanced at her face before looking at the floor and beginning to walk.
"I think I remember you saying that I looked something like a startled dandelion? I don't like looking like scared flowers."
Sarah hid a smile behind her hand. "Sorry if I offended you."
He shrugged. "Sorry if my style of dress scared you to death."
Sarah smiled and shrugged. "I survived."
He nodded. "I noticed. You also grew up. Is this place too fanciful for you now Sarah?"
"I don't know, not really. It's different from what I'm used to, but I don't hate it."
He chuckled. "You were used to it before?"
"I pretty much lived in the fantasy novels that I read, so yeah, I guess I was used to it," Sarah said with a shrug.
He waved his arms around. "This will soon be a fantasy novel too...if you write it."
"I don't know if I can, I thought all of it was a dream that I had made up because I was reading one too many fantasy novels."
He walked down the stair case with Sarah to his side. Her arm brush against his and all the hairs on his neck stood up. Did she even realize what she was doing to him? It was getting harder and harder to play the host.
"Did you bring your camera?"
"No, why, where are we going?" Sarah asked, shaking her head clear of her musings.
He smiled. "I was to show you something. Do you know the secret of my labyrinth?"
Sarah paled at the mention of the maze and shook her head.
He rested a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "You will know it by tonight. I think you'll be surprised."
"Will I?" she asked quietly.
He stopped halfway down the staircase and turned to her, his mismatched eyes staring hard into her brown ones.
"Yes. And afterwards I hope you will see me differently than you do now. Right now I am a villain to you. Correct? Perhaps by tonight you will see me as a hero?"
Sarah looked back at him, wondering what could change her view of him so drastically. "Maybe," she whispered.
He nodded and started off again. "Some breakfast before we go? Or would you like to have a picnic?"
"I never eat breakfast, so maybe a picnic would be better," Sarah said, slowly walking down the stairs after him.
He nodded and formed a crystal and with a flip of his hand, turned it into her camera.
He held it out her. "Ta da."
"Thank you," Sarah replied, taking the camera and checking automatically to make sure there was film.
He looked at her. "Please Sarah. Only use those pictures for your book?"
Sarah looked at him for a moment. "All right, but why?"
He cleared his throat. "I'm not big on advertisement."
Sarah laughed softly. "No one would believe me, they'd think I was a total basket case if I showed them the pictures and tried to convince them that it was of another world. They'd lock me up and throw away the key."
He seemed to sag with relief. He smiled and held out his hand.
"Are you going to warp us somewhere with the crystal?" Sarah asked, resting her hand on his.
He nodded as he gripped her hand.
"It makes me dizzy," Sarah muttered softly, stepping closer to him.
He thought for a moment. "Then here," he said putting his arm around her waist, pulling her up against him. "I'll hold you up."
He spun a crystal out of air and studied her face. "Ready?"
Sarah slowly nodded, barely breathing.
The world swam again and they stood on a hill, overlooking the labyrinth. Jareth didn't pull away but he stared at his creation.
"Sarah? What is the purpose of a labyrinth?"
"To keep people away from the castle, to create a game for you to watch as people struggle through and find themselves lost, I don't know," Sarah murmured, moving a step back.
Jareth let his arm drop as he looked over his labyrinth. "So you would say it's to keep people out? To keep them away correct?"
"Yes, or to keep something in maybe," she said, remember the legend of the minotaur, trapped in a labyrinth.
He grinned, still not looking away. "Very good Sarah. To keep something in is the reason this maze was built."
"Please tell me you don't have people wander through it to reclaim children with a minotaur or some other monster running about in there?"
He began to chuckled and then to laugh. When he finally stopped he looked at her, tears in his eyes from laughing.
"Oh Sarah no! Of course not. I told you already. I'm not that cruel. You just see me that way."
"That's how you portrayed yourself last time," Sarah said simply.
He stood straight and looked at her, a smile still tugging at his lips. "I played a part for you Sarah. And I played it well. I'm sorry that it had such an impact on you."
He was quiet for a time. "Do you know that we are in the center of the fae kingdom?"
Sarah shook her head. "I didn't even know there was a fae kingdom."
He grinned at her. "And what did you think I was? Human?"
"The hair, the eye makeup, and the glitter proved that you weren't human. I just didn't know there was a kingdom."
Jareth's lips twitched some more. "Ok. We've figured out my style of dress was bad. I fixed it. But that doesn't matter. We are in the middle of the fae kingdom...and it is my job to protect it from a spell that was cast thousands of years ago. Would you like to guess what the spell was?"
"I know I'll never be able to guess it, so I won't even try," Sarah replied.
He grinned at her. "The goblins."
"Okay, you lost me, the goblins were a spell?"
He nodded they were created by the bad guy, an insane orc, and placed in the center of the fae kingdom. They are like a virus. They destroy everything that gets in front of them...but they don't mean to. So I contained them with a spell of my own and build the labyrinth around them. They're not the smartest bunch of creatures. They haven't made it out since. My father was very proud. I was the youngest child of the family and wouldn't inherit any part of the kingdom so, whoop tee do, I get to rule over goblins. That is my job. Not to steal children."
Sarah sat down and thought about what he said. "So then, why do you steal children? Hobby?"
"I didn't steal children. I took away a child...upon command. I was watching you Sarah. You were such a dreamer. A fantastic person. I wanted to meet you so I put a spell on your mother to give you that book. And, as I thought, you loved it. You loved it so much that you re-lived it yourself. Don't you remember that book?"
"Of course I remember that book. I memorized it because it was the last thing my real mother had given me before she left," Sarah murmured, looking at the Labyrinth.
He nodded. "I thought you would wish yourself away...then I could see you. Then I could meet this dreamer named Sarah...but instead you followed the book. You wished your brother away and I was forced to play the villain. I new you would win. The only thing that I could do was to be cruel."
"Why didn't you immediately tell me it was a hoax, instead of making me go by the book?"
He looked down at his hands and picked at his thumbnail. "I wanted to give you something you loved. I thought you would like that. I guess I was wrong wasn't I Sarah?"
Sarah looked up at him, slightly confused. "What did you want to give me?"
He shrugged. "Your book. The fantasy you loved to perform. I thought that you would want to do it for real."
"I would have loved it if my brother's life hadn't been at stake."
He threw up his hands. "It never was! It was the story! I wouldn't take your brother! My goodness if time had run out I would have appeared to you with your brother and gave him back! It was a play! A game! A story!"
He seemed angry and frustrated as he raked his fingers through his short fluffy blond hair.
"I didn't know that!" she shouted back at him.
He took a calming breath. "Now you do. So please...no more comments on stealing children. No more comments on me being a cruel heartless king. I truly did everything for you and got the cold shoulder for doing it."
Sarah looked at him for a long while. "I'm sorry," she murmured.
He flopped down on the hill and rubbed at his eyes. "No. I shouldn't have yelled. The lack of sleep is getting to me. Would you like to see the rest of the fae kingdom?"
"I guess so. I'm just curious, but are you sidhe?"
He shook his head. "I'm not so lucky. I am one fourth sidhe. But the rest of me is a kind of mix from other types. There are too many to list so please don't ask me to."
"You look like how the sidhe are always described, that's why I asked," Sarah murmured.
He shrugged. "Do you like unicorns Sarah?"
"A little yes. Why?"
"Would you like to see them?"
Sarah smiled and nodded. "That would be great."
He nodded, stood and held out his hand to her again, holding a crystal in the other.
She frowned at the crystal before taking his hand and standing.
He smiled at her. "It's either this or a four day walk."
Sighing she nodded. "Beam me up, or down, or wherever," she muttered.
He looked confused but did as he was told and transported them into a field of green grass dotted with thick leafed trees. All around them were beautiful horses, each with a horn on their heads. He pulled Sarah down onto the grass and leaned up against the tree.
"They don't like to be disturbed," he whispered to her.
Sarah smiled, entranced as she watched them. "They're beautiful."
A black stallion trotted up to them and began snuffling loudly. Jareth stood and held out his hand to the unicorn. After sniffing him, the horse turned and trotted away. Jareth sat back down.
"That is the packs leader. He is the strongest right now. He needed to know I was no threat."
"I thought all unicorns were white," Sarah said quietly.
He shook his head. "Only the ones in movies. All humans aren't white. Neither are all faes."
"Good point," she murmured, watching the unicorns.
After a while Jareth brought out a crystal and sat it down on the grass. It turned into a pizza and two sodas. He smiled and began to eat.
"This really is bad for your health," Sarah murmured as she took a slice.
He shrugged. "I'm immortal. I don't have much of a health to worry about."
Sarah thought about it, then nodded and grabbed another slice.
After their lunch Jareth closed his eyes to think and fell asleep. He smiled remembering the ballroom. Such a small distraction it had been. He just wanted to show her who he really was. That part was nowhere in the book. So he had added a chapter...so what?
Sarah looked down at him and smiled softly. It had all been an act. Or, if this was all an act, he was playing the charming hero rather well.
Jareth's eyes fluttered open and found Sarah smiling at him. He smiled back.
"Sorry I fell asleep. I was tired," he mumbled stretching.
"Not a problem," Sarah murmured, watching him.
He stood and looked down at her. "Ready to go back?"
"I guess so," she said, giving a last look at the unicorns before standing.
He swallowed hard. This was it.
"To your home or mine?"
"Yours," Sarah murmured, slightly confused. All her stuff was there, and so were her friends.
He smiled a little and held out his hand to her again. "Will you be asking anymore questions about Jareth?"
"Yes, why are you referring to yourself in third person?"
He grinned as he formed a crystal in his hand.
"Well, since the Jareth you will be writing about acts differently than the Jareth I am right now...isn't it only right to speak of the character as a different person?"
She thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Whatever."
He reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder then transported them both back to the castle.