Chapter Three: Consequences of Bad Past Actions

"The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour." ~ Japanese Proverb

Sarah woke slowly, allowing the feeling to return to all her sore muscles. It had been so long since she had woken up naturally instead of to meet another beating or stop something from happening to her child. It almost felt good, but then she saw someone who she hadn't expected to see ever again, sitting on the edge of her bed, watching her with the same curious gaze she was sure was reflected in her own eyes.

"How is Krystal?" she blurted out, not thinking of anything but the ensured safety of her daughter. She would kill him with her own two hands if he had dared harm her in any way.

"She's fine," Jareth held up a gloved hand. "She's with toddlers of her own age in the nursery."

"Nursery?" Sarah asked. "I didn't know you had a nursery."

"Well, of course your last visit didn't give you a great amount of time to sight see. I trust that this one will allow you more time to venture where you feel free to explore," he grinned, from where he was lounging.

She felt a bit uncomfortable sitting in this bed with him so near. It wasn't a normal thing to be stuck in a bedroom with another man. Then again, this was Jareth. He probably would much rather see her dead than take advantage of any other ideas. Blush rose to her cheeks. She was such a child. How could she think of him like that? Though the Goblin King, he wasn't evil, persay. He just had a job to do. It was written in the story and everyone knew that what was written was always the way it was done.

"I hope you are feeling better," he inclined his head toward her shoulder. Glancing down at it, she noticed the great mess of bandages that were wrapped all over her skin. "Allow me," he said, standing up. She watched him walk over, then start to carefully remove all the white wrappings. Sarah let out a tight hiss of pain as one of the prime bandages came off, opening a small cut. "Sorry," he whispered, running one of his fingers over the wound. "It was my fault."

Though this entire scene was quite unbelievable, she had to admit that hearing him apologize to her was the most out-of-this-world experience. Who would have thought the Goblin King would ever apologize to her. He had said sorry. He had aided in drawing her blood, but he had had the decency to say he was sorry. She was surprised.

As he continued to work, she looked at him, really looked at him. Her eyes took in every motion, every strand of blonde hair as it fell across his face, and the pair of mismatched eyes that were so hauntingly attractive. The way he moved made the material of his clothing cling and ripple against his broad muscles. She found herself sighing as she imagined what it would be like to be cuddled in arms like those.

Jareth caught her staring and smiled. She turned away, berating herself for gazing so long at him. He probably was enjoying her uneasiness. To him, she was still just a little girl, no more than a brat who had somehow managed to beat his Labyrinth. She wanted to shake her head. Here he was, taking care of her and she was thinking horrid thoughts about him. What kind of person was she?

"Sarah." His voice startled her. She jumped at bit, as she looked at him again. His face was so alluring. She felt her insides melt. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," she said, finding a smile.

His fingers trailed up to her shoulder, running over the smooth skin there. She gasped, surprised that it was totally repaired. A mortal doctor in the Aboveground would have needed to take her for plastic surgery for it to have stayed this natural. Seeing her obvious joy, he touched her lower arm, where bruises had once been. They too were gone. Sarah looked at all portions of her body where she had been violated (A/N: Not any that wouldn't be proper to show in public! You pervs!) and found that they all were as they had been prior to her daily beatings.

"How?" she managed to ask.

"Magic," he grinned.

"What did you want to ask me?"

He ran a hand through his hair, seemingly innocent in his simple action. "Why did you marry him?"

By "him" he meant Jason. The question was bound to come up sooner or later, though she would have preferred if it had come up a later time. She wasn't sure she was prepared to tell him everything that had been happening to her over the course of the past ten years. Telling him would mean opening some wounds that would never fully heal. No amount of magic could ever make them smooth and whole again. They would always stick out as painful reminders of the past.

"I was a child," she shrugged, not looking at him. "When I went away to college and met Jason I saw him as the Prince Charming from all the fairy tales I had read. My mentality was still as unnurtured as a nine-year-old was. I couldn't see what really lie under his skin. I was just too pleased to finally be receiving the attention no one had given me when I was at home. Besides Toby, I don't think my father or Karen ever cared. They wouldn't have lifted a finger to help me, but Jason was different."

"We started seeing each other more and more. Then toward the end of my final year, he took me out to dinner. I should have noticed that this wasn't our normal thing, but I figured that since we both had gotten part time jobs recently he was just celebrating that fact. I never once questioned why we were seated in such an expensive restaurant. Then he proposed and everything changed."

"Eventually, once the shock had worn off, I said yes. I was too blind to see that my head and my heart were in two different places. Like the planets, they should be aligned when you make a life altering decision like that. We got married about a year later. Things were going well. We both got jobs, earned some money, and bought a house. I thought everything was grand. Life was wonderful and I was in love. But once Krystal was born, things went downhill."

It was at this point that Sarah started to cry. "Some people just aren't meant to be parents, you know? I should have realized that before I got married. I was just so caught up in the moment I said yes. I never stepped back, looked at the situation, and realized that I wasn't really in love with Jason. Maybe it's my fault that Krystal and I are in this mess. After all, she never would have been born if it wasn't for me. Now look at what I've done to her."

Tears poured forth from her eyes, causing her face to become soaked. Sobs racked her body, making her shake roughly. The pain of years gone by came all back to her, ripping her heart at the seams. Wounds, once healed, were reopened and the blood came out as tear drops from her red, puffy eyes.

"Sarah," Jareth's comforting voice came from her side. She felt his arm wrap around her shoulders. "It wasn't your fault. No one can be perfect." He pulled her into his chest, gently running a hand down her back. "I know you want to be invincible, darling," he whispered, "but you can't always win."

"Why does it all have to be so hard?" she asked, not hearing his last statement above her weeping.

"You make it that way," he chuckled. "When you beat the Labyrinth you could have won within the hour, had you taken the right route from where you met the blue worm."

She brought her head up from his chest, one hand wiping tears away as she did so. "What are you talking about?" she sniffled.

He took a white handkerchief from his vest pocket, handing it over to her. "When the worm told you not to go the way you originally decided to head off to, it was because he didn't want you to end up in the castle. Had you asked why he didn't want you running down that road, you would have discovered a much easier way to beat me. Like I said before, you make things hard on yourself, but that doesn't mean it's your fault. That is who you are, Sarah. Never punish yourself for being true to you."

She was silent then. She had been listening to him this whole time, only butting in once or twice to ask a question. Now as she sat here with him, only inches away, she was struck by the truth behind his words. Since he had taken her away he had only been kind. It was so unlike him she was scared, but at the same time, she didn't want him to stop. She liked this side of him, it made him seem human.

"What is it?" he asked. "What troubles you?"

"You were never like this before," she pointed out. "You always hated me. Why the change of heart?"

"I never hated you, Sarah. It was how you wanted me that made me be what I was. There doesn't have to be a change of heart. On the other side of the coin, who said I wasn't going to change your daughter into a goblin? Or you, for that matter?" He smirked.

"You wouldn't!" she cried, scrambling back from him. "You can't touch her! I'll run the Labyrinth, I'll go back with Jason, I'll do whatever you want, but please don't do anything to her," she begged.

"Sarah, Sarah," he tried to calm her down. "I don't intend to transform you lovely daughter or you into a goblin." She raised an eyebrow at him. "You are far too old to become a goblin, and as for Krystal, she's too pure at heart. Besides, I have enough minions to keep under control. I don't need another pair to get in my way."

"Then, what are you going to do with us?" squeaked Sarah.

"I was fantasying about throwing you into the Bog of Eternal Stench while keeping Krystal here as a form of amusement, since she seems to take so well after her mother," he said, still smirking as evil as ever.

She didn't seem to find it as funny. Instead her face dropped horribly. "As long as my girl is safe and happy," she sighed, giving up too easily.

"Sarah," Jareth took one of her hands in his own, drawing her eyes to his. "I am not going to hurt either of you," he promised. "For someone to wish themselves away for a reason like you did requires a different set of rules. You did what you did simply because you had no alternative. I am not going to harm you because you were brave enough to take a chance at getting out. I'd rather honor your actions than punish them."

For a moment, she was quiet. She dropped her head, breathing heavily. Then, raising her face to meet his, she managed to say, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Jareth smiled, getting up, while still holding onto her hand. "Come. I'm sure you wish to see your daughter."

"Yes," Sarah agreed. "I would appreciate it if I could see her."

"Then allow me to escort you down to the Goblin Nursery," he hooked his arm through hers, and the two left, heading down the hall, arm in arm.

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"This place is bullshit!" Jason yelled. He couldn't believe his misfortune. He had been running for hours, or at least, that was what it seemed. The path had no end. It kept going on and on. He wondered if it ever ended. When he had been standing on the hill with the Goblin King, that cocky bastard who had stolen his wife, there had been edges on the maze. Now that he was inside, he couldn't find one turn. "Bullshit!"

Grumbling to himself, he sunk to the ground. How had Sarah beaten this thing? There weren't any doors or openings. It just went on and on forever. Even if he had the stamina to keep running it would take him all of the thirteen hours just to get to the end of the lane. It was pointless. He might as well sit here until the damn king came back to throw his failure in his face.

"What's a thing like you doing in a place like this?" something said.

Jason turned his head, glancing down at the ground where he saw something that reminded him of a fairy. This creature was a small human girl but without the fairy wings. "Who are you supposed to be?" he asked. "Thumbelina?"

"Cute, boy-o," she grumbled, jumping up onto his kneecap. "What kind of mortal trash have you been reading lately?"

"None, I don't read, "he told her. "My wife is the one who indulges in all that literature crap."

"Ah ha!" the tiny person squeaked. "And does your wife have a name?"

"Yeah, Sarah."

"Eeeck!" the girl leapt off of him, scurrying away.

"What's wrong with that name?" he demanded, pounding his fist into the wall that was behind him.

"It's not the name, boy-o. Sarah is the woman who has beaten the Labyrinth before. She's the only person who has ever done it. When she won, it made King Jareth really mad. He was never the same after she turned down his offer."

"Offer?" Jason sounded interested. "What offer?"

"He loved her. He offered her his heart, but she saved her baby brother instead," the pixie-like girl informed him.

"I see," he rubbed his chin. "No wonder the guy is so pissed. Any girl who chooses her brother over a full-grown man is plainly telling him off." He glanced around, not seeing any other intelligent creature besides the miniature girl. "What's your name?"

"Jamilya," she introduced herself. "What are you doing here….er….?"

"Jason," he returned. "I'm trying to solve this Labyrinth."

"Ha," she laughed. "Good luck. Only she ever solved it and no one else. I hate to break it to you, boy-o, but one chance in a million says you'll even make it to the Goblin City, let alone find whoever you wished away."

"I didn't wish anyone away," he growled.

"Then there's no reason for you being here, unless his majesty found it amusing."

"I came here to beat that son-of-a-bitch at his own game. He stole my wife and daughter from me and I'm here to get them back," Jason pledged.

"Hmmm," Jamilya mumbled. "Right, whatever. I gotta fly."

"Oh no you don't," Jason caught her in his hands, dropping her in his pocket. "You're coming with me. You know the way through this thing and you're going to help me."

A/N: Bad Jason! You need to get a life, man! Picking on little girls! Tsk, tsk. *Jamilya walks in and decks author with her mighty fist* Ouch! Sorry! I didn't mean it like that. *Jamilya –yeah, sure- she walks out* I didn't! Fine, whatever you want! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. More to follow shortly! ~ Nev