Rose was crying.
She couldn't help it.
She was alone. Truly, truly alone. What else could she do but cry?
Mother left her. No, saying mother made it all too real. Sarah left her. Abandoned her.
Tears, blood and pain. Sure, maybe that was all he life had ever been, but who the hell else cared? No one, that's who. No one but mom.
Sarah.
Black satin pillows were soaked with tears and Roses sobs had just quieted a bit when a knock came at the door.
"You'll be coming down to dinner soon." Informed a hansom looking man who had poked his head into her room.
Rose gave him a death glare. "No!"
"Jareth's orders miss." He said calmly.
"Jareth can go to hell" Rose shouted, dredging up the wrost words she remembered her mom shouting at Bobby and guessed no one said that around here cause the guy nearly wet himself.
"Y-yes. I'll leave you to get dressed." He muttered and left as fast as he could.
Rose lay back onto the bed and thought of her father.
She didn't really have any good memories of him. He had gotten Sarah pregnant too early, just a year out of the Labyrinth. But at least he didn't leave. The only things she remembered form him were beatings and alcohol.
But mama. Mama was good. Mama was kind. Mama always knew when to talk and when to hold. Mama.
But it was mama who betrayed her! It was mama, loving mama, who left her with the one person that she told her never to trust.
Without really seeing, Rose threw open the doors to the large wooden wardrobe, filled with dresses.
She looked through them all. One, hidden in the back of the wardrobe, matched the room.
Black. Sheer black.
This was the dress.
She slid it on. Velvet fabric molded to her form perfectly. It had no shoulders and sweep along the ground. It had nothing frilly or stupid. It was a deep dress, a dark dress, which depicted her thoughts ever so clearly.
She brushed her hair until it looked like a shimmering sheet of silk.
She bit her lip. Some thing was missing. What?
She looked into the mirror. A little bit of blood stained the corner of her lip red. She quickly covered her lips in the bright red color.
The contrast of the black dress on her pale skin and her red lips with her green eyes made her look so much older.
Oh yes. This was the dress.
With a grim smile, she left for dinner.
"I loved you." Sarah said bluntly. "I was in love even before I won the Labyrinth."
Jareth choked. "You loved me." He murmured softly to himself.
"You were the only on I could think about. It was always you in my dreams. It was always your voice in my head, offering my dreams." She looked at him. "Did you know that you were the only dream I had when you offered?"
"Sarah," Jareth whispered and stroked her cheek with a leather-clad hand
Sarah pulled away. "I said I loved you. Not that I love you now."
Her words hit like an invisible wall and crushed the breath out of him.
"You hurt me too badly, Jareth. How can I welcome you back into my life? How can you expect me to?"
Tears were on her face but she continued. "Then suddenly I was pregnant. It was just a year after I left you. I snapped myself out of my depression. But I called on you every night, hoping you could hear me."
"What did you ask?" Jareth asked, his voice full of grief.
"I told you that I wanted to marry you. I wanted to have a loving husband. Bt more then that I wanted my child to have a father. I wanted you to be that father."
Jareth's eyes were shining with unshed tears.
"I had nothing in the world here. I wanted to live in the underground with you. I knew that we would be safe there. Safe from the bastard that gutted me. But you didn't hear me. Or maybe you just didn't listen." She smiled grimly
"I couldn't hear you. I couldn't!" Jareth said, raging at himself.
Sarah paid no heed to him.
"But I kept asking every night until Rose was five. Then one day she walked in on me. I had been crying.
**Flash back**
Sarah scrubbed her tear-stained face and turned to see her daughter in the doorway.
"Mama?!" exclaimed the young girl. "Why are you crying?!"
Sarah, at a loss, had no time to find a lie. "I was asking a friend for help."
Roses eyes took on a puzzled look. "If it's your friend why are you crying?"
With a little sniffle, Sarah managed to reply, "Because he forgot that I need him."
"What help did you need?" Mrs. Williams looked at her young daughter. The girl who called her mom but called Bobby Bobby and never dad.
"He was going to be your daddy. A real daddy."
Rose did the most inexplicable thing. She knelt down next to her mother, looked out the open window into the night and said, "Please, Mommy's friend, listen to mommy. I need a daddy and she needs a friend. I don't like it when mommy cries and you shouldn't too. I need you as a daddy."
**End Flash back**
"But you never came. We both turned to each other. We both used rage to heal pain. And our trust never healed. " Sarah finished.
Jareth was beside himself with anger. How could he have been so stupid as to cut himself off so he wouldn't be hurt more? He did the worst thing he could have. He lost Sarah, Rose and his hope in one stupid mistake.
"I'll take you to Rose." He whispered. He took her hand into his and they left the hospital in each other's arms.
Rose followed the music.
She hadn't set out to. On the contrary, she had set out for her dinner, but hearing the music echoing around the marble hallways was to intriguing to just let be.
It was soft music. The kind of music played in a ballroom. The kind Rose had always imagined the prince charming and his true love waltzing to.
She came to a large wooden door, deeply engraved with unicorn and dragons, which bared her path.
She pushed it open and forgot to breath. Her eyes were round as saucers and her mouth was hanging open.
A deep voice whispered into her ear softly, "Do you like it?"
Rose didn't even turn around. She knew the voice didn't belong to the vicious Goblin King, nor did it hold any thing frightening. It was a question from some one deeply amused and nothing more.
"It-I-Ball Room-" Rose stammered. She took a breath and recomposed herself. "It's amazing." She turned around.
The man was chuckling to himself as he watched her. He had unruly blond hair that came to his ears, like Jareth's, but his eyes were both sky blue. He wore black pants and a navy blue satin shirt that was cut in a billowing V from his shoulders to waistline, revealing quite a bit of smooth, alabaster skin.
"Well now." The man said, "Who do we have here?"
She smiled, "I'm Rose. Who are you?"
He smiled. "Aaron."
"Oh." Rose considered the name for a moment then stated thoughtfully, "This place is amazing."
Aaron smiled. If only she knew this was the same ballroom her mother danced in so long ago.
"Do you dance?" He asked, offering her his hand.
Rose shook her head lightly and took it. "I was never taught."
"Here." Aaron said with a smile. "Stand on my toes."
Rose laughed. "I don't want to scuff your pretty boots."
"Screw the boots, your learning how to dance." He twirled her around then waited. As she stood up on his feet he said, "This hand goes on my hip. And this one on my shoulder." She put her hands in the proper form then he took a step back. Rose lurched up against his stomach.
"Easy." He laughed. "Go with the music. Don't fight for your balance." He took a step forward. She stayed up. He took another. Then two more. A twirl. Step back. To the side. Side. Forward. Spin. Other side. Side. Backward. Spin.
Music from a small brass colored globe filled the air.
"Fae magic!" Rose thought as she stared at the music box.
"Try it on your own feet now." Aaron told her.
And so they danced.
"She should be here by now!" Jareth growled under his breath.
They had gone to her rooms only to find them deserted. The dining hall was just as barren when it came to the little girl. The only person worth anything was Aaron, residing in the ballroom, alone. Jareth told Sarah to wait while he went and prowled the rooms and corridors of his palace.
When he returned to Sarah he had still no luck.
"W-where is she?" Sarah asked. Her skin had paled greatly just with shock of the underground and fear of Jareth.
"She wandered off." He said, aiming for a dismissive tone that came out far more strained then intended.
Sarah's face lost what little color remained. Her voice sharpened with anger. "You lost her?"
Jareth threw his hands up in frustration. "I didn't lose her!"
"Then where is she?" Sarah added a bit more edge to her voice, adding a furious tang at the end of her sentence. "Oh great ruler of your domain. Where is she?"
With a flash the mask dropped and Jareth was once more the Goblin King. He raised his hand, as though about to slap her. "I suggest being a bit more respectful." He growled.
Sarah opened her mouth and closed it again soundlessly. On reflex she began cowering before him as soon as he raised his hand, and hated herself for it.
She thought, hoped, that for a moment he would let her love him again. Love her again. Now she saw how foolish she was. He was and always will be the Goblin King. And until he can change that, there will be no love.
Sarah Williams straitened herself and looked him in the mismatched eyes. She laughed.
The Goblin King lowered his hand in curiosity.
"Why are you laughing?" His voice was hard with a seductive edge on it.
Sarah continued to laugh. "I was so stupid!" She exclaimed between fits. "I thought you loved me!" She laughed until tears came down her cheeks. "I thought." She choked on a sob. "I thought for a." Tears continued rolling down her face. "For a stupid, stupid moment that you were Jareth!"
"I am Jareth." The Goblin King said solemnly
"No!" Sarah sobbed. "No. I fell in love with Jareth. I hoped Jareth would let me let him back into my life. But you're not Jareth. You're the Goblin King. You're a monster."
The Goblin King stared. At Sarah. At his fist.
Jareth turned and strode away from the room, mortified with himself.
She couldn't help it.
She was alone. Truly, truly alone. What else could she do but cry?
Mother left her. No, saying mother made it all too real. Sarah left her. Abandoned her.
Tears, blood and pain. Sure, maybe that was all he life had ever been, but who the hell else cared? No one, that's who. No one but mom.
Sarah.
Black satin pillows were soaked with tears and Roses sobs had just quieted a bit when a knock came at the door.
"You'll be coming down to dinner soon." Informed a hansom looking man who had poked his head into her room.
Rose gave him a death glare. "No!"
"Jareth's orders miss." He said calmly.
"Jareth can go to hell" Rose shouted, dredging up the wrost words she remembered her mom shouting at Bobby and guessed no one said that around here cause the guy nearly wet himself.
"Y-yes. I'll leave you to get dressed." He muttered and left as fast as he could.
Rose lay back onto the bed and thought of her father.
She didn't really have any good memories of him. He had gotten Sarah pregnant too early, just a year out of the Labyrinth. But at least he didn't leave. The only things she remembered form him were beatings and alcohol.
But mama. Mama was good. Mama was kind. Mama always knew when to talk and when to hold. Mama.
But it was mama who betrayed her! It was mama, loving mama, who left her with the one person that she told her never to trust.
Without really seeing, Rose threw open the doors to the large wooden wardrobe, filled with dresses.
She looked through them all. One, hidden in the back of the wardrobe, matched the room.
Black. Sheer black.
This was the dress.
She slid it on. Velvet fabric molded to her form perfectly. It had no shoulders and sweep along the ground. It had nothing frilly or stupid. It was a deep dress, a dark dress, which depicted her thoughts ever so clearly.
She brushed her hair until it looked like a shimmering sheet of silk.
She bit her lip. Some thing was missing. What?
She looked into the mirror. A little bit of blood stained the corner of her lip red. She quickly covered her lips in the bright red color.
The contrast of the black dress on her pale skin and her red lips with her green eyes made her look so much older.
Oh yes. This was the dress.
With a grim smile, she left for dinner.
"I loved you." Sarah said bluntly. "I was in love even before I won the Labyrinth."
Jareth choked. "You loved me." He murmured softly to himself.
"You were the only on I could think about. It was always you in my dreams. It was always your voice in my head, offering my dreams." She looked at him. "Did you know that you were the only dream I had when you offered?"
"Sarah," Jareth whispered and stroked her cheek with a leather-clad hand
Sarah pulled away. "I said I loved you. Not that I love you now."
Her words hit like an invisible wall and crushed the breath out of him.
"You hurt me too badly, Jareth. How can I welcome you back into my life? How can you expect me to?"
Tears were on her face but she continued. "Then suddenly I was pregnant. It was just a year after I left you. I snapped myself out of my depression. But I called on you every night, hoping you could hear me."
"What did you ask?" Jareth asked, his voice full of grief.
"I told you that I wanted to marry you. I wanted to have a loving husband. Bt more then that I wanted my child to have a father. I wanted you to be that father."
Jareth's eyes were shining with unshed tears.
"I had nothing in the world here. I wanted to live in the underground with you. I knew that we would be safe there. Safe from the bastard that gutted me. But you didn't hear me. Or maybe you just didn't listen." She smiled grimly
"I couldn't hear you. I couldn't!" Jareth said, raging at himself.
Sarah paid no heed to him.
"But I kept asking every night until Rose was five. Then one day she walked in on me. I had been crying.
**Flash back**
Sarah scrubbed her tear-stained face and turned to see her daughter in the doorway.
"Mama?!" exclaimed the young girl. "Why are you crying?!"
Sarah, at a loss, had no time to find a lie. "I was asking a friend for help."
Roses eyes took on a puzzled look. "If it's your friend why are you crying?"
With a little sniffle, Sarah managed to reply, "Because he forgot that I need him."
"What help did you need?" Mrs. Williams looked at her young daughter. The girl who called her mom but called Bobby Bobby and never dad.
"He was going to be your daddy. A real daddy."
Rose did the most inexplicable thing. She knelt down next to her mother, looked out the open window into the night and said, "Please, Mommy's friend, listen to mommy. I need a daddy and she needs a friend. I don't like it when mommy cries and you shouldn't too. I need you as a daddy."
**End Flash back**
"But you never came. We both turned to each other. We both used rage to heal pain. And our trust never healed. " Sarah finished.
Jareth was beside himself with anger. How could he have been so stupid as to cut himself off so he wouldn't be hurt more? He did the worst thing he could have. He lost Sarah, Rose and his hope in one stupid mistake.
"I'll take you to Rose." He whispered. He took her hand into his and they left the hospital in each other's arms.
Rose followed the music.
She hadn't set out to. On the contrary, she had set out for her dinner, but hearing the music echoing around the marble hallways was to intriguing to just let be.
It was soft music. The kind of music played in a ballroom. The kind Rose had always imagined the prince charming and his true love waltzing to.
She came to a large wooden door, deeply engraved with unicorn and dragons, which bared her path.
She pushed it open and forgot to breath. Her eyes were round as saucers and her mouth was hanging open.
A deep voice whispered into her ear softly, "Do you like it?"
Rose didn't even turn around. She knew the voice didn't belong to the vicious Goblin King, nor did it hold any thing frightening. It was a question from some one deeply amused and nothing more.
"It-I-Ball Room-" Rose stammered. She took a breath and recomposed herself. "It's amazing." She turned around.
The man was chuckling to himself as he watched her. He had unruly blond hair that came to his ears, like Jareth's, but his eyes were both sky blue. He wore black pants and a navy blue satin shirt that was cut in a billowing V from his shoulders to waistline, revealing quite a bit of smooth, alabaster skin.
"Well now." The man said, "Who do we have here?"
She smiled, "I'm Rose. Who are you?"
He smiled. "Aaron."
"Oh." Rose considered the name for a moment then stated thoughtfully, "This place is amazing."
Aaron smiled. If only she knew this was the same ballroom her mother danced in so long ago.
"Do you dance?" He asked, offering her his hand.
Rose shook her head lightly and took it. "I was never taught."
"Here." Aaron said with a smile. "Stand on my toes."
Rose laughed. "I don't want to scuff your pretty boots."
"Screw the boots, your learning how to dance." He twirled her around then waited. As she stood up on his feet he said, "This hand goes on my hip. And this one on my shoulder." She put her hands in the proper form then he took a step back. Rose lurched up against his stomach.
"Easy." He laughed. "Go with the music. Don't fight for your balance." He took a step forward. She stayed up. He took another. Then two more. A twirl. Step back. To the side. Side. Forward. Spin. Other side. Side. Backward. Spin.
Music from a small brass colored globe filled the air.
"Fae magic!" Rose thought as she stared at the music box.
"Try it on your own feet now." Aaron told her.
And so they danced.
"She should be here by now!" Jareth growled under his breath.
They had gone to her rooms only to find them deserted. The dining hall was just as barren when it came to the little girl. The only person worth anything was Aaron, residing in the ballroom, alone. Jareth told Sarah to wait while he went and prowled the rooms and corridors of his palace.
When he returned to Sarah he had still no luck.
"W-where is she?" Sarah asked. Her skin had paled greatly just with shock of the underground and fear of Jareth.
"She wandered off." He said, aiming for a dismissive tone that came out far more strained then intended.
Sarah's face lost what little color remained. Her voice sharpened with anger. "You lost her?"
Jareth threw his hands up in frustration. "I didn't lose her!"
"Then where is she?" Sarah added a bit more edge to her voice, adding a furious tang at the end of her sentence. "Oh great ruler of your domain. Where is she?"
With a flash the mask dropped and Jareth was once more the Goblin King. He raised his hand, as though about to slap her. "I suggest being a bit more respectful." He growled.
Sarah opened her mouth and closed it again soundlessly. On reflex she began cowering before him as soon as he raised his hand, and hated herself for it.
She thought, hoped, that for a moment he would let her love him again. Love her again. Now she saw how foolish she was. He was and always will be the Goblin King. And until he can change that, there will be no love.
Sarah Williams straitened herself and looked him in the mismatched eyes. She laughed.
The Goblin King lowered his hand in curiosity.
"Why are you laughing?" His voice was hard with a seductive edge on it.
Sarah continued to laugh. "I was so stupid!" She exclaimed between fits. "I thought you loved me!" She laughed until tears came down her cheeks. "I thought." She choked on a sob. "I thought for a." Tears continued rolling down her face. "For a stupid, stupid moment that you were Jareth!"
"I am Jareth." The Goblin King said solemnly
"No!" Sarah sobbed. "No. I fell in love with Jareth. I hoped Jareth would let me let him back into my life. But you're not Jareth. You're the Goblin King. You're a monster."
The Goblin King stared. At Sarah. At his fist.
Jareth turned and strode away from the room, mortified with himself.
