Times Change, and we with Time



Sorry for the delay, folks. I've gotten a new computer, and I'm still trying to figure out just how it works. I –think- I've finally figured it out…I hope. Anyhow, let's just hope this chapter comes through a-okay. Hope you enjoy this chapter, and remember to review!

Disclaimer: The Labyrinth is not mine. All original characters are. If you'd like to use one for a story, please ask first.

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Chapter 7: Sarah's near Vampire experience, and Finally, a kiss!

Sarah, while Mika was having her nightmare, was trying desperately to get some sleep. The closest she had come was dozing, thanks to the pain in her leg, which had intensified after she had gotten into bed.

And she didn't even want to think about everything that was going on. Being back in the Underground, having stay in Jareth's castle in case Vampires came after her…oh yeah, life was going just peachy keen for her.

A noise startled her out of her musings, and she glanced towards the window warily. A shadowy figure was coming through the window, and when the moonlight passed over the face when the figure turned slightly, she could see fangs glinting in the male-looking face.

Well, faced with the fact there was a Vampire in her room, she currently unable to walk well because of a sprained leg, and pretty darned sure he wasn't a good person like Mika, she did the only thing she could think of.

She screamed as loud as she could.

The Vampire let out a growl, apparently not happy with Sarah screaming. He leapt towards her, and probably would have landed too, if he hadn't been stopped mid-leap by Mika, who had leapt from a different direction, slamming into the Vampire, and throwing them both against a wall.

The lights in the room were suddenly turned on, apparently by Koko, having leapt up to turn on the switch (though Sarah didn't figure out how electricity could work in a castle) illuminating a tall, brown haired Vampire, who was currently glaring at Mika, who had changed into her own Vampire face.

"Traitor…" he hissed. "You do not deserve the name LaCroix!"

"Really?" said Mika, too sweetly. "And who are you to talk, Maxwell? You were always jealous because I was better than you. And if you don't leave now, I will show you just how much better I am."

The single-minded Maxwell did not listen to Mika, instead choosing to lunge for her. He barely had a chance to do anything, before a wooden stake ran him through the heart. He turned to dust, as Mika threw down the stake a turned away.

"Won't they ever learn to look before they leap?" she muttered. She turned to Sarah. "Hey Sarah belle, you okay?"

Sarah had to smile at Mika's use of her nickname, and nodded. "Yeah, thanks to you…but what was that all about?"

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE SEVEN HELLS IS GOING ON!" a voice bellowed, and both girls cringed as Jareth walked…okay, stomped is more the correct word, into the room, Kalani at his heels, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Mind keeping your voice down just a tad, Jareth?" Mika said. "Sheesh, poor Sarah just had a real fright, and you're not helping any!"

Sarah, with a few comments from Mika, told what had happened.

"By the Powers, that was a close call." Said Kalani. "But what I don't understand is how…what'd you say his name was, Maxwell? Get in here, anyhow? I though Vampires had to be invited into a house. Right Mikayla?"

"Yes, that is correct." Said Mika. "Except for public places…but a castle definitely wouldn't be considered a public place…wait, Jareth, are there guards posted at the gates to the castle?"

"Well of course." Said Jareth haughtily.

"Don't be smug." Mika said. "They're goblins, of course? Well, think about it."

"Oh…" said Sarah. "The goblins, having the limited brain capacity they do, invited that Vampire in without even realizing what they were doing.

"Exactly." Said Mika. "Jareth, do you have a library in this gigantic place? With books on Magic?"

"Yes, a very large one in fact." Said Jareth. "And a good percentage of them are books on Magic."

"Good…I know of a spell which will basically set off a sort of alarm system, if any Vampire tries to pass its gate. I'll go there tomorrow. Until then, I think it's best if I stay here with Sarah, in case any more 'guests' try to crash the party."

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Though it was hard for Sarah to get any sleep at all after that, she did manage to finally catch a few z's. When she awoke, she had to smile at Mika, who was sound asleep on a chair. 'Some protector you are!' she though. She quickly changed her mind, when after barely making a sound getting out of bed, Mika leapt up completely awake.

"How do you do that?" asked Sarah, a bit awed.

"Practice." Said Mika. "And a heightened sense of hearing. Get any sleep?"

"Enough." Said Sarah.

The two ate a breakfast brought by goblin maids, and Mika helped Sarah get dressed, as her leg was still hurting. There had been some lovely gowns in a wardrobe, but Mika pointed out it would be harder to walk with her hurt leg, in a gown like those. So she dressed in a pair of loose fitting tan cotton breeches, and one of her peasant's shirts.

Finally done, Mika apologized, and ran off, apparently to get dressed herself, and then spend most of the rest of her day engrossed in some Magic book or another, trying to find the spell she wanted.

Sarah grabbed the cane Mika had found for her in the back of the wardrobe, and went next door to Toby's room. He was doing fine, having lots of toys to play with, and a couple of young Elf children, whose parents apparently worked in the castle. An older Elf girl, who looked about Sarah's age, said very politely, that she was instructed by King Jareth to look after the little ones.

After spending some time with her brother, she told the Elfin girl to be careful, and left. She walked around the castle for a while, having no particular destination in mind. She finally found her way to the garden Jareth had sent them to yesterday, and sat down under a tree. She sighed, closing her eyes. When had her life become so damned complicated?

"Enjoying yourself?" asked a cultured voice. Sarah knew this voice quite well by now. Sara opened her eyes, to see, yep, you guessed it, Jareth standing over her.

"I was." She said pointedly.

"Must we get into a battle of wills yet again?" asked Jareth, sitting down next to Sarah.

"You tell me." She conceded. "What's your game this time, Jareth?"

"Game?" he asked. "I hadn't realized we were playing a game at all."

"Like Hell you don't." she replied. "Everything's a game with you."

"And how would you know, my dear?" he asked.

Sarah opened her mouth, and then shut it. He had a point, actually. They really didn't know each other that well. At all really, all things considered. But not like her pride would let her admit it. She rubbed her leg, it was getting sore again.

"Here, allow me." Jareth said, holding a hand above her leg. Sarah was about to say something, when a brief shock ran through her leg, before settling down to a dull tingling feeling. Her eyes opened wide, he had fixed her leg! She turned to him, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Why did you help me?" she asked. "Why protect me and those close to me? What's your motive, Jareth?"

"Is it so damnably hard to believe I care about you?" he said, his face much closer to hers than it had been before.

"Yes." Said Sarah, rather breathlessly. 'Oh damn, he's going to kiss me, isn't he? But why, he hates me!'

'Yeah, he hates you about as much as you hate him.' Came that annoying little voice of her subconscious.

'But I do hate him!'

'Uh huh, sure. Keep telling yourself that, honey.'

He couldn't kiss her…he wouldn't kiss her…right?

'Wrong.'

Before she knew what was happened, his lips were upon her, in a kiss that sent a shock, very much unlike the healing of her leg, through her body. She should push him away, she had to push him away.

Now if only her body would listen to her mind, as she actually leaned towards the kiss.

Finally, she was able to push him away, and actually slapped him.

"DAMN IT!" he yelled, rubbing his now reddened cheek. "What the hell did you do that for?!? Er…Sarah, wait…I…"

But Sarah wasn't sticking around to hear what he had to say. She bolted, as fast as her newly healed legs would carry her.

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Sarah found, with the help of directions from a few servants who weren't goblins, she found the library. She stormed into the room, slamming the door behind her with a resounding BANG!

Mika looked up from the pile of old looking books on the desk she was seated at, eyes blinking behind the silver-framed reading glasses she wore. One of the downsides of her humanity was her nearsightedness had returned, despite being able to see as well as an eagle, long distance.

"What's got your knickers in a bunch?" she asked good-humoredly.

"I can't believe he would do something like that!" Sarah yelled, not hearing her. "How DARE he!"

"Huh?" said Mika intelligently. "Uh…maybe you should start from the beginning. First off, how'd your leg heal so fast?"

"Jareth fixed it." She said.

"Well, that was nice of him." Mika said.

"I thought so too, until…"

"Until what?"

"He…he kissed me!"

Mika blinked again. "Yeah, so?"

"What do you mean, 'yeah, so'?!?!" Sarah yelled, pacing around the room like a caged tigress. "Didn't you hear me the first time, he kissed me!"

"Yes, I understood perfectly." Said Mika. "I'm actually surprised it didn't happen sooner."

"WHAT!" Sarah yelled.

"Oh come off your high horse, Sarah belle. The man's obviously head over heels in love with you, you idiot."

'I like her.' Came Sarah's annoying little subconscious. 'Why couldn't I be her subconscious, huh? At least she knows what's going on.'

Sarah stuttered out another "WHAT!" and stared at her friend as if she had grown a second head.

"And frankly, I'm jealous." Mika said, grinning. "He is gorgeous."

"Mika…you're gay…"

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy the beauty of the opposite sex. And by Father Sun, he is drop dead gorgeous, admit it! Come on girl, he said himself he'd paint you mornings of gold and all that romantic stuff. Weren't you even listening in the ballroom?"

"How do you know about the ballroom?"

Mika held up a book, entitled simply "Sarah". "Found it when I was looking for the spell. It's in a section where all the stories of people who've gone through the Labyrinth. How could you not have seen what he was trying to do for you? You're absolutely blind, mon ami.

Sarah just sat down in a chair, with her head in her hands. "When did my life become so weird?"

Mika sat on the edge of Sarah's chair, patting her friend's shoulder. "Well love, considering you have a gay 315-year-old part Vampire for a best friend; who has a talking cat, you have a guy in love with you who's a mystical creature from a fairy tale land, who rules over goblins…well, your life hasn't been normal in a long time. But cheer up, being normal is vastly over-rated, not to mention boring."

"Thanks, that cheers me up so much." Said Sarah sarcastically. "So…now what am I supposed to do?"

"Do I look like a fairy godmother to you?" said Mika. "On second thought, don't answer that. My point is, no one knows what's going to happen next in life, sweetheart. We just have to take it as it comes."

"That doesn't make me feel much better."

"Welcome to my world. Come on, you can help me with this spell. You know any languages besides English?"

"Only the French you've taught me, and some Spanish."

"Right…then I know exactly what you can do."

"Really, what?"

"Go get me a cup of tea, this is going to be a long day."

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Hey, what do ya know, for once I didn't write a cliffhanger! (Apollo) By the Powers, Emmy didn't write a cliffhanger? (All three muses) THE APOCOLYPSE IS COMING! (Emmy) Oh ha, ha, ha. You all are so funny. (Koko) *reads* HEY! I don't have any lines in this chapter! All I do is turn on the stupid lights! (Emmy) And we're going to keep it that way if you keep up this attitude, got it Koko? (Koko) Yes Emmy. Oh, can I say the catch line? (Emmy) Sure, why not? Knock yourself out. (Apollo) Yes, please do. Literally. (Koko) Shut up Tiger. *coughs* Anyhow, we hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and remember…

"Please leave a contribution in the little review box"

Emerald, The Lady Destiny a.k.a. Emmy-chan, Apollo, Safir, and Koko