AN: Well, even though I only got one review for the last chapter, here's the next part. I hope you all didn't decide to desert me…. Maybe this chapter will appease you. It's a bit longer. I'm back into a nice flow of writing. Chapter 14 is almost done and I have a good idea for Chapter 15. Not to mention that if you all like D'Vinnian enough…well, not trying to give anything away, but Cherish might turn into a series of three stories, the last one revolving mainly around D'Vinnian. Let me know what you think. Please, enjoy and R & R! ~Saphire
Part twelve: The Walk to Camp
Sarah had given up trying to think of something to say to Jareth and instead watched as the sun set in a near-red sky. She was starting to learn that she preferred Jareth's mocking to his silence. And he still looked tired. Tired….he had better have the energy to send her back. Speaking of which, how long was she stuck here for anyway? Realizing she'd fallen a few paces behind the king, she jogged to catch up with him. Jareth gave her a sideways glance as she reappeared at his side.
"Well?" he asked impatiently.
Sarah looked up at him, confused, "Well what?"
Jareth stopped walking and turned to face her. "I know you're dying to ask me something, so go ahead and ask."
How did he - ? But, Sarah shook her head, it didn't matter.
"How long are you going to keep me here? Ben has no idea where I've gone and -"
"Don't worry about Ben," Jareth cut her off, as he seemed so fond of doing. "He won't be worried about you."
"How can you be so sure?"
Jareth gave an impatient little sigh, "Time here has no relation to the time Aboveground. It can move at the same pace, faster, or slower. How else would you explain arriving home by midnight, even though you had just spent thirteen hours in the Labyrinth?"
"And I suppose it moves on your command, too?" Sarah asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Anger flashed in the Goblin King's mismatched eyes, "Yes," he hissed, "Or at least it used to before you."
"That wasn't my fault!"
"Oh, no? I seem to recall you said those words all on your own. No one forced you to."
"And no one forced you to take Toby."
"You wished him away!" Jareth yelled, losing his control.
"You had no right -"
"I had every right, Sarah. You wished him to me! He was mine. I did you a favor by giving you a chance in the Labyrinth. I didn't have to do that."
"Then why did you?" Sarah shot back.
Jareth's voice fell to a venomous whisper, "Because I thought you were different. I realized too late that I was wrong."
Sarah stared at him, but no words came to her. Jareth saw that he had hit his mark and hurt her, but it wasn't as satisfying as he thought it would be. All of the pain, physical, mental, and emotional, that she had caused him and he still couldn't take joy in hurting her. Exasperated with himself and with her, he decided to return to the original topic.
"When you go back," he spoke quietly, "only a few minutes will have passed, even if it has been a few days here."
Sarah was still reeling from their last bout of verbal sparring and so said the first thing that came to her mind, "I'm not stuck here? You will send me back?"
Jareth snorted, "Gladly."
That, for Sarah, was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Before he knew what was happening, Jareth found himself watching Sarah's retreating form running in the direction thy just came from. After watching stunned for a moment after she disappeared behind the darkening horizon, he regained the power to think. His first thought was to go after her before she got herself into trouble. He laughed at that, "Trouble? Where? There's nothing out there, no Labyrinth." He stood for a few minutes, then spoke to himself again, "That girl could get herself in trouble even if she were locked in a rubber room." He changed into his owl form, a feat that, until now, he'd been afraid to try, and flew after Sarah, fuming about the waste in magic this was costing him.
Without the camouflage and hiding places of the Labyrinth, finding Sarah was easy. Before appearing, Jareth decided to circle over her quietly. She wasn't crying as he had expected her to be. She sat against the tree from her dream, toying with her engagement ring, lost in thought. Jareth looked closer at the diamond that adorned her left hand. The whole situation bothered him to no end. Sarah didn't fit in Aboveground and she deserved more than anybody there had to offer. Certainly more than Ben had. Jareth supposed that when he'd insulted her ring, Sarah thought it was because he thought it was too small. On the contrary, it was too big and gaudy for Jareth's taste. While he may have been a hedonist through and through, loving everything in excess, a gift that special should have meaning behind it. The biggest diamond would be worthless without any meaning behind it. Besides, a single gem of that size didn't look right on Sarah. If she were adorned with many small diamonds all over, that would fit…but not that ring. If Jareth had given her an engagement ring - but the king finally stopped himself here, realizing how far his thoughts had gone. Certainly he had been in love with her ten years ago, there was really no point in denying that, even to himself. But that was ten years ago…things had changed. It was perfectly clear, or so Jareth thought, where they stood. Besides, Sarah was here to help rebuild the kingdom. Love had no place in this. If Jareth had been smart, he would have kept love out of it ten years ago too; he'd expected too much of a child. He held no expectations of Sarah now.
He swooped down quietly, landing on a branch in the tree and changing back to his normal shape. As soon as he did, he realized how much energy his little stunt had cost him. He gave himself a moment before confronting Sarah. With the grace of a cat, he jumped from the branch behind Sarah and twisted so he landed facing her. Startled, Sarah's head jerked up. Her expression didn't move when she saw Jareth standing before her with his hands on his hips.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't run away. Just because there's no Labyrinth doesn't mean you can't get lost."
"Your concern is touching," Sarah spat at him.
Jareth sighed and dropped his hands to his sides, "Sarah, just come with me to the camp. Then you can go hide away and hate me."
Sarah looked back to the ring on her hand and began toying with it again. Heaving another sigh, Jareth moved and sat beside Sarah, leaning his back against the tree. With almost no magic, he was beginning to feel his age. He winced slightly as he felt how stiff his muscles were and moved slightly until he was comfortable. Finally, he found a good position.
"What is it, Sarah? Our little argument couldn't have affected you that much," Jareth pointed out, letting his eyes roam that area.
Sarah looked up at his profile, "Is it that hard to believe I have feelings?"
Jareth brought his gaze to hers, "That's not what I meant. I'm aware of your feelings. I'm surprised that you care enough about what I say to let it get to you."
"I don't."
A flash of emotion passed over the Goblin King's features too quick for Sarah to register.
"I see," he said slowly, no emotion in his voice, "So, what, then, is bothering you?"
Sarah looked down, "Nothing."
Jareth's jaw clenched.
"You wouldn't understand," Sarah amended quickly, her voice a whisper.
The two sat in silence, staring at the other and letting their thoughts run wild. Finally, Sarah took notice of how weary Jareth looked.
"We should probably get to the camp."
"In a moment," Jareth replied simply, not taking his eyes off Sarah.
She felt caught by his eyes and swallowed hard. Granted Jareth had been missing from her life for ten years, but, previous to that, when she had just returned from the Labyrinth, she had never imagined facing him again would be as difficult as it was turning out to be.
"Jareth -" she began but was cut short by his question.
"Why Ben?"
Sarah blinked at him in surprise, "What?"
Jareth stood up and faced Sarah, head cocked to the side in a curious gesture, "Why Ben?" he repeated.
Slowly, Sarah found her voice. She bit back the answer that first came to her lips, not ready to deal with it.
Instead, she answered, "Because everything you said about him is wrong."
Jareth seemed to mull this over as he stretched out his hand to help her up. After a split second of hesitation, Sarah took the proffered hand. Losing her balance as she stood, Sarah fell forward right into Jareth. He put his arms around her waist to catch her, her face against his shoulder. The moment stretched out before Sarah pulled back slightly to look at him, a blush creeping up her face. Still, Jareth kept his arms around her, though he couldn't say why.
His gaze searched hers, "Are you so sure I'm wrong?" he asked, his voice a mere whisper.
Sarah stuttered, "I - I don't know."
Seeming to be somehow pleased with this answer, Jareth let her go. The rest of the walk to the camp was spent in silence.
