"Hello, Sarah." The same voice, cultured, rich, with a crisp British accent.
"I... I..." Her chest was heaving, trying to draw air that suddenly felt heavy and thick into lungs weak with shock. Her lips were tinglingly numb and cold, and her body felt like lead.
"Oh, come come," Jareth said, uncrossing his arms and taking a step toward her, a gust of wind accompanying him, riffling his golden hair, blowing her own dark hair back from her face. "There's no need to look at me like that."
"No need?" This came out an incredulous squeak, and Sarah felt the numbing shock leaving her, anger taking its place. "No need?"
"Uhhhn!" Toby whimpered, cringing away from her shout. She rubbed his back automatically, glaring at Jareth.
"You stole my baby brother last night! I think there's plenty of 'need' right now."
"I did not 'steal' him. I took what was willingly offered. Or do you deny now that you wished him onto me?" Jareth smirked as he said this, his thin lips drawing back from his teeth.
"I don't deny anything! But I didn't know you were really going to take him!"
"Don't play dumb, Sarah; you knew perfectly well what I would do when offered a child by a willing young woman. You've read all the stories--"
"Yes, stories," she interrupted, pulling Toby closer to her chest, holding him possessively against herself. "I didn't think they were real."
"Well, of course you did," Jareth said, tilting his head back a fraction, his eyes narrowing, "or you wouldn't have said the words at all. If you hadn't expected some action to result from your speaking, you would certainly not have spoken."
Sarah frowned, opening her mouth to reply and finding that she had nothing to say. She snapped her mouth shut, steely eyes shooting sparks at him.
"Get out."
"I don't think I should," Jareth replied with maddening calm. "In fact, I'd like to come in, and get out of the rain." He moved forward, brushing past her before she could reply. The carpet before the window was thoroughly soaked now.
"I haven't wished Toby away again. You have no right to be here! Get out!"
"I have no right, do I? What was it you said?" He paused, bringing one darkly-gloved hand up to his face, one long, aristocratic finger resting on his chin, his eyes focused far away. "I think it was, 'I don't know why, but, every now and again in my life--for no reason at all--I need you.'" Jareth paused, allowing his eyes to rest on Sarah. "'All of you.'"
Sarah's mouth had gone dry and her stomach heaved, turning over in her belly. As Jareth had said the words, she had heard them in her own mind, her own soft voice speaking them through the pain of loss the night before. She knew those words--she'd said those words.
"You did say that, didn't you?" Jareth's voice was dry and sardonic, the corners of his mouth turning up faintly.
"Yes, but..."
"But?"
"I didn't mean you!" She gasped the words out, backing up a few steps toward the shattered window at her back.
"Oh, you didn't?" Jareth's tone was amused, and he allowed himself a flashing, brilliant smile at her expense. "You didn't leave me out, by any means. Or did you mean to say, 'All of you except Jareth?'"
"You stole my baby brother!" Sarah cried, moving back another step, the rain fairly soaking the back hem of her white Renaissance dress. "You forced me to run your Labyrinth! I was chased by monsters, I was thrown into an oubliette, and I was hounded every step of the way by you! And now you expect me to welcome you?"
"Well, of course not," Jareth responded, walking toward the door of her parents' bedroom, long legs eating up the distance. "I didn't expect any welcome at all. But I was invited."
"Where do you think you're going?" Sarah growled, dashing after him, Toby still in her arms. "Jareth, get back here!"
He ignored her, heading across the hall into her room. A flush traveled up her neck and into her face. He was in her room, the most private part of her life!
"Get out!" she snapped, standing in the doorway, her head raised in an imperious tilt very much like her step-mother's had been that morning.
Jareth glanced up at her from his inspection of a small doll on her vanity table. "Not a very good likeness, you know," he murmured, giving the plastic doll a little jiggle in his hand. Sarah flushed again angrily, and stormed up to him, snatching the statue from his hand and plunking it back onto the cluttered vanity table.
"Get out of my room!"
"Tsk, tsk," Jareth scolded, his tongue clicking as he settled himself regally into her desk chair. "I am your guest, Sarah. People don't just order their guests around--at least we don't Underground. I'm not quite sure of the customs Above."
Sarah had been angry before, but his scolding her like she was a small child was what pushed her over the edge. She was in a blind fury as she reached down with one hand, the other still hugging Toby to her chest, and snagged Jareth's white poet shirt. She jerked hard, and Jareth was forced to rise from the chair or risk losing a hunk of his white shirt.
"What do you think--" Jareth began angrily, but Sarah cut him off, rising onto her toes to thrust her face close to his.
"You. Are. Not. Invited." She snapped each word out like a thrust from a rapier, her gray eyes flashing at him. "You. Are. Not. Welcome. I do not want you here!"
Jareth's dually colored eyed flashed back at her, and he opened his mouth, almost snarling the words at her. "How dare--"
"I am not finished!" Sarah tone was harsh, and she gave his shirt another jerk to let him know she was serious. "You have done nothing but hurt both me and Toby since I stupidly called on you last night."
"I never hurt him or you! If you'd just think--"
"Shut up!" She snapped the words out, and Jareth's eyes widened slightly. She was not behaving at all like the confused and frightened girl he'd watched wind and wander through his Labyrinth. Of course, she had shown more emotion than just fear at times--determination, even some anger. But Jareth had never seen her furious like this.
Of course, Jareth thought to himself, she wasn't on her own ground before. Now I've come into her home... she's much more comfortable here. She probably feels it's safe enough to show her temper.
"Are you listening to me?" Sarah growled, giving his shirt another jerk to get his attention. His eyes refocused on her face, and a frown marred his handsome features. "You have done nothing but trouble both Toby and me. I have no reason to want you here, Jareth!"
"Sarah," he began, trying to sound calm, but she cut him off again, wrapping her fist more firmly around the chunk of shirt she held.
"You practically tortured me! You distracted me to keep me from saving my baby brother. My baby brother," she repeated, emphasizing the words. "My innocent baby brother, Jareth! You set traps for me, you tricked me, you cheated me..." Her eyes were growing hazy with tears, and she blinked hard, giving his shirt another abusive pull to get her anger back. "You did nothing but hurt me, and now you think I'll welcome you into my home?"
Jareth was frowning openly now. He wasn't used to being lectured. And he definitely wasn't used to being manhandled by angry young girls.
"You disgust me, Jareth! You get your thrills from stealing babies and setting impossible odds against the people who want to get them back! You really are a rat! A stinking, squeaking, slinking, cowardly--"
"Enough!" The single word came out a roar very similar to the thunder that had announced his entrance earlier. He'd listened to her argument without losing his temper, but now she was getting insulting.
"I am not through!" Sarah snarled.
"Oh, yes, you are, Sarah!" Jareth snagged her hand in his, untwisting his shirt from her fingers. She snatched her hand back with an offended gasp, and Jareth's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Don't you touch me!"
"You invited me here," Jareth said, his thin lips drawn back over his teeth again in a snarl. "Whether you meant it for me or not, you did. By the magick that rules life, that means I am invited. You cannot take it back, and you cannot banish an invitation spoken so willingly and with such longing. The magick will not permit it!" His voice was rising, along with his temper, and he saw the fire slowly going out of Sarah's eyes. Her arms were wrapping around the child, who was watching the exchange with open curiosity. "You may not understand the magick that rules over life both Above and Underground, but I DO, and an invitation given cannot be taken away. You have invited me, Sarah--you invited me and all of the creatures you encountered Underground. While they may be willing to wait for a second invitation before showing up again, I am not."
"Of course you aren't," Sarah snapped, getting in her own low blow before Jareth over-ruled her.
"No, Sarah, of course I'm not." He glared coolly at her, his sardonic brows lowering over his dually colored eyes threateningly. "I am not a patient man, Sarah. I am also not the type of man who will let someone beat him at his own game."
"You aren't going to take Toby again, are you?" There was the barest tremble in her voice as she spoke, and she turned from him slightly, shielding the baby with her own body.
"Of course not. I have no use for a child, Sarah." His voice was growing less angry now, the words coming out gently.
"But you said you didn't let people beat you at your own game. Aren't you going to take him?"
Jareth sighed, seating himself in her desk chair again. "I don't 'let' people beat me, Sarah. But, I didn't 'let' you beat me, did I? I wasn't soft on you, was I?"
Sarah gave a little snort. "No, you sure weren't."
"No," Jareth agreed, his voice getting slowly warmer as he stood from the chair, moving over to stand a few feet in front of her, raising his hands in an "I-mean-no-harm" gesture. "You are my equal, Sarah. Of all the people to challenge the Labyrinth, only a handful ever made it to my castle beyond the Goblin City. They, however, could get at best a draw--their lives in return for letting me keep their children. You, however, solved my Labyrinth, fought your way through my castle, and won both your life and the child back. Out of all the people I've encountered, you are the only one who has ever been successful, Sarah." His voice was growing gentler, softer, taking on almost a crooning note. "You are much stronger than I thought you were when I first saw you. I should have known not to offer you pale imitations of your dreams. The crystal wasn't what you wanted. You deserved to have your dreams as reality, something you can touch." His voice was literally crooning now, soft, persuasive, nullifying, almost like a lull-a-bye. "You are so much more than other girls, Sarah, and you know it. You deserve to be a princess, Sarah. You deserve to have your every whim granted."
How odd I feel, Sarah thought dumbly, her mind muddled.
"You deserve to have subjects worshipping you," Jareth continued to croon, his eyes locking with Sarah's, drawing her in. "You deserve to live the life you always wanted, drifting in leisure and comfort."
So odd... almost like I could go to sleep standing right here by my dresser, with Toby in my arms.
"You should have a castle full of servants bowing to your wishes."
My legs feel... well, not like legs. They feel like flower stems, bending before a strong breeze.
"You would like that, wouldn't you, Sarah? To have a castle of your own? Servants at your beck and call?"
"Oh, yes," Sarah murmured between numbed lips, her eyelids growing heavy. In her arms, Toby yawned, blinking slowly.
"You would like to be a princess, wouldn't you? Living away from this world, all of your dreams becoming reality?"
"Yes, I would," Sarah whispered, meaning it whole-heartedly. To escape the monotony of her life--of a nagging step-mother, of the boredom of school--and live her dream would be wonderful.
"Really?" Jareth's crooning voice changed with the word, becoming the same sarcastic, mocking voice he'd used through the Labyrinth to taunt her. The numbness faded away like frost in the sun, leaving behind a ringing emptiness.
"What did you do?" Sarah gasped, backing up until her shoulder blades touched the wall.
"I didn't do anything, Sarah. I offered you your dreams... and you accepted the invitation whole-heartedly." His lips lifted in a wicked smile, his sarcastic eyebrows rising. "You have been invited Underground, Sarah... and you've accepted."
"No... no!" Sarah cringed back into the wall, and Toby gave a small whimper.
"Come now, Sarah. It's time we left."
"You can't make us go, Jareth! Toby and I are not leaving!"
"Toby?" Jareth's smile grew wider, his teeth shining. "Who said anything about Toby?"
A chill ran through Sarah's body then as she suddenly realized to what she'd condemned herself. She was going to have to go back Underground... to the Labyrinth... without even a quest for Toby to distract her from the nightmare.
"No!" Sarah choked, her eyes filling with stinging tears. "I can't... please, I can't..."
"Shh, you can." Jareth's hand on her shoulder was gentle, the warmth of his skin creeping through the thin sleeve of her Renaissance gown and through the thick leather of his glove. "It will be all right, Sarah. Come along now." A wind was beginning to blow, ruffling the skirt of her dress, making the sleeves of Jareth's poet shirt flutter. "Just hold on tight."
Tears coursed down her cheeks, blowing away in the quickening breeze before they could get to her chin, and Sarah realized she could hold on to Jareth--Toby wasn't in her arms anymore.
"Toby?" she gasped, trying to spin and leave, but Jareth's arms were around her then, enveloping her like the wings of a predatory bird, and she couldn't see the door to her room, and the wind was chasing away all sounds but its own rushing. She raised her voice, nearly shrieking. "Jareth, no! Jareth!"
"Just hold on," Jareth replied, his voice cool in her ear, muffled by the strong wind. Sarah struggled briefly in his arms, and the wind become a hurricane around her, dark and roaring, buffeting her, threatening to knock her down. Instinctively, she clutched at the only solid thing left, wrapping her hands in Jareth's shirt. She felt like she was screaming--her throat was burning as if she were--but she couldn't hear anything over the wind. Jareth's arms tightened around her, and she felt the violent whirlwind sweep the ground from beneath her, and then everything faded to darkness for Sarah.