Disclaimer – I do not own the Labyrinth
Thanks for the reviews. You may have noticed the first chapter disappeared and got a bit re-jigged. Hopefully it is easier to read now. I and also bowing to pressure that Jareth should be more arrogant. Your wish is my command although it jars a bit with the first chapter...but hey... Anyway enjoy and please send in your comments.
2. Please fall in love with me
SARAH did not know how she got through the next day at work. It was a Friday and busier than usual in the newsroom because it was late summer and so many of the staff were on holiday.
The storm had given way to a glorious fresh summer day with clear blue skies, creamy sunshine and a soft breeze which made New York seem unusually crisp for the time of year.
After Jareth vanished Sarah thought she would never get back to sleep but she dropped off as soon as her head touched the pillow.
A delicious scent woke up the next morning and she opened her eyes to find her bedroom full of crystal vases crammed with freesias and yellow tea roses.
Golden sunlight poured into her window giving the room a hazy romantic feel.
"I'll spin you mornings of gold," his words danced into her head as she got dressed.
Another bouquet was sitting on her desk when she got to work, this time with a card which read simply 'Until tonight.'
Sarah had a dreamy look on her face all day, a fact which had not gone unnoticed by the other members of staff at the paper.
"Ok...who is he?" Sarah looked up to see her friend May, the deputy features editor, looking questioningly at the flowers.
"Just someone from my past who flew in last night" Sarah said blushing,
"Well he must have been one of the last who got, I heard they shut the airport because of the bad weather." May picked up the card, "Until tonight" she read, "You have a hot date! He must be something special."
May had not known Sarah to go out with anyone since she had been at the paper despite the constant badgering from male members of staff.
"He's..." Sarah didn't know how to explain her feelings for Jareth, "He's...out of this world."
"Wow" said May, "And where has he been hiding all this time."
"Underground", Sarah muttered before realizing what she had said.
"Underground?? What is he some kind of hobbit?" said May confused
"Oh...I mean...London, he lives near the Underground in London." Sarah recovered quickly. Well it's possible she thought, he's got the accent.
May didn't seem convinced with explanation but let it go.
"So where is he taking you?" she asked,
"It's a surprise...things with him usually are." Sarah said laughing.
SARAH arrived back at her apartment to find a large blue box sitting outside her front door. It was embossed in gold with a picture of a peach and she instantly knew it was from him.
Carrying the box inside she lay it on her bed and opened it. Inside were sheets and sheets of purple tissue tied with a crimson satin ribbon.
Pulling aside the layers the box revealed a stunning silk dress, the colour of deep rose, long and flowing with tiny spaghetti straps and a plunging backline. She held it up to herself in the mirror and smiled.
"I take it you approve then," a voice broke into her thoughts. Standing behind her in the mirror was Jareth. She spun round but he was not there anymore. Instead where he had been standing lay another box, smaller the size of a pencil case. Carefully laying the dress on the bed she picked up the box and opened it.
Inside was the most exquisite necklace she had ever seen. It was strung in layers of tiny roses, each petal crafted from tiny sparkling rubies.
"Jareth," she breathed, "It's incredible."
"Aren't you ready yet.... she turned to see Jareth sitting on a chair in the corner of her room yawning and playing with a crystal. "We're going to be late."
She looked down at her crumpled work clothes, "You're going to have to give me time to have a shower and get changed..."
He tossed her the crystal and she caught it. When she looked down she was wearing the dress and the necklace, her hair and make-up immaculate.
"Jareth..." she shot him a look, "Half the fun is getting ready"
"Sorry...I couldn't wait." He moved over to stand behind her with his hands on her shoulder while she looked in the mirror. She shuddered at his touch but then suddenly, as if losing interest in her, he moved her to one side so he could admire his own outfit.
He was wearing similar clothes to how Sarah had remembered him in the ballroom but his coat was jet black and sparkling.
"Hmmm..." he mused fiddling with his shirt cuff, "I do wear black well don't I. It brings out my eyes...one of them at least. I rather think green works better with the left one."
Sarah was staring at him, gobsmacked, her mouth wide open.
"Sarah...it is rude to stare...although I suppose you're only human."
He chuckled to himself at the last words, straightened his jacket and held out his arm for her.
"Well...shall we?"
AS Sarah took his arm she felt a warm fuzzy sensation which made her close her eyes thinking she might faint. When she opened them again she was standing in a huge ballroom which was teeming with hundreds of people.
The room was incredible with huge vaulted ceilings in midnight blue with tiny glittering stars and cherubs gazing down at her. Pink and gold drapes adorned the huge windows. From the outfits it looked like a Venetian ball but Sarah was grateful to find nobody was wearing masks.
When the crowd caught sight of the couple they burst into rapturous applause. Many of the beautiful women curtsied while other whispered behind fans shooting coy glances in Jareth's direction.
Jareth gave a small regal wave, obviously thoroughly enjoying the attention of the moment.
"Where are we?," Sarah whispered to him.
"Why, my kingdom of course. You didn't think the Goblin City was all there was to the Underground did you? We're in the walled city of Murus. It only opens its gates to visitors for one month of the year. The city's artisans have been working all year for the exhibition."
"What exhibition?" Sarah asked. The crowds were so huge they were blocking the exhibits although it was clear they milling round pictures on the walls and sculptures.
"Why my exhibition of course!" Jareth clapped his hands and the crowd dispersed through doors at either side of the great hall revealing hundreds pieces of art.
To Sarah's amazement from every corner of the room images of Jareth stared back at her.
Portraits of the Goblin King playing with his crystal balls, a statue showed him in dipping a Goblin into the Bog of Eternal Stench while another sculpture depicted him in a romantic clinch with a wood nymph.
"It's wonderful isn't it!" said Jareth taking her by the hand. "Look there's even one of you up here."
Jareth took her hand and led Sarah to a huge painting hung on a nearby wall. It showed him, at least six inches taller than Sarah, glaring down pompously at her holding Toby while she groveled at his feet as the clock behind showed Thirteen o'clock.
"I had this one commissioned for the throne room..." said Jareth gazing up at the picture.
"Hey...that's not how it happened." Sarah snapped at him. "I beat you. By Thirteen o'clock me and Toby were safely back at home."
Jareth shrugged and turned away from the painting, "Call it artistic licence."
"It's a LIE," said Sarah starting to get annoyed.
"Come come Sarah, you know that not everything is as it seems in the Labyrinth." He winked at her.
"Ah I see you are admiring my painting," came a sickly sweet voice from over Sarah's shoulder. She turned to see a beautiful blonde haired woman approaching, a sparkling black ball gown clinging to her stunning figure.
The woman held out her hand to Jareth who, bowing deeply, took it and kissed it.
Sarah felt the first pangs of jealously as she looked at the pair of them and suddenly felt inadequate. They seemed to match perfectly with their black outfits, blonde hair and striking good looks.
"The painting is wonderful Moriana," said Jareth, "And I suppose I don't need to introduce you to Sarah, the likeness is quite realistic."
"It's about the only thing that is," shot back Sarah before she could stop herself, "How could you paint such rubbish. You might grovel before Jareth like that but I can categorically say I never have and I never will.
"And the only thing that is that big about Jareth is his ego!!!"
Sarah knew she had stepped over the line by the look on both Jareth and Moriana's faces.
"Sarah...you will keep a civil tongue in your head when you talk to my friends in my kingdom."
Jareth's tone was as cold as ice and it brought pinpricks of tears to her eyes.
She turned away so he wouldn't see and stood for a moment taking deep breaths and trying to regain her composure.
The awkward moment was suddenly broken by Jareth: "Would you like to dance?"
Sarah spun round expecting to see him holding out an affectionate hand but instead all she saw was him walking to the dance floor with Moriana on his arm.
As the music started up the room was swamped by dancing couples and Sarah was suddenly engulfed by swirling bodies as she desperately tried to find Jareth in the mob.
After what seemed like minutes of hunting she caught a glimpse of him, his arms around Moriana's waist with a dreamy look on his face and she felt her heart break.
JARETH was dancing with Moriana but his mind was elsewhere despite the stream of suggestive remarks she was making in her ear.
"Why can't she just accept I have to be this way in my own Kingdom," he thought to himself sulkily.
Deep down he knew she was right and felt bad. He should have told people the truth about what happened in the Labyrinth but he had been too embarrassed.
Instead he had concocted a story in which he had granted mercy on her at the last minute and allowed her to go home. None of his subjects knew the truth of what had happened in the Escher room and after. What would it do to his reputation if they knew what really happened?
Suddenly he caught sight of her moving through the crowd. She looked fragile and upset and was being pawed from all sides by leering men.
A strap of her dress had slipped from her shoulder and as he watched a woman bumped into her catching the beautiful necklace he had given to her and ripping it from her neck, scattering the tiny roses across the floor.
As she bent down to pick up the precious stones Jareth saw the tears in her eyes and a wave of love washed over him.
He whispered something in Moriana's ear and she looked at him surprised before glancing at Sarah, shrugging petulantly and moving off.
Jareth came up behind Sarah and put his arms round her waist pulling her to him.
"Look, I've told you I'm not dancing..." she said for the tenth time, instinctively pushing the grasping hands away. She glanced round and was shocked to see Jareth standing there.
"I want to go home. Send me home this instant." She glared at him.
"Sarah...I think I need to explain." He slipped an arm around her waist.
The noise of the room suddenly died away and she realized she was standing outside Jareth's castle in the moonlight.
Sarah tried to pull away from him but he held her steady. She looked at him defiantly.
"I'm sorry, tonight hasn't exactly gone to plan." Jareth admitted.
"Sarah. I'm used to getting anything I want." He said, gazing into her eyes.
"But I realized tonight the only thing I do actually want might be the very thing I can never have.
"You still see me as the wicked Goblin King from your dreams and I can't seem to help but live up to your expectations. And yet I get the feeling you don't want him anymore.
The sincerity in his words was causing Sarah's resolve to crumble. He looked defeated.
"When I am in your world I can be who you want me to be. But not here," he continued,
"Here I am expected to act in a certain manner and I thought you could live with that but I am not sure you can. The light doesn't exist without the dark Sarah.
"If you stay it will never be an easy life but I will love you until the stars burn out." He pulled out a crystal similar to the one he had offered her ten years ago and held it up to her face.
"I can still offer you your dreams but I can't promise you your fairytales."
They stood for a minute watching each other in the moonlight, both unsure what to do.
"You have no power over me," Sarah said at last. Jareth's face fell at her words.
"But you do have my heart. And I give that freely."
His head shot up as if scarcely believing what she had just said.
"You hurt me tonight," Sarah said at last looking into his hope filled eyes.
"Yes...." He said brushing a strand of hair away from her face.
Sarah took his hand in hers, "Don't do it again." she said simply, placing her head against his chest, then wrapping her arms around him.
He kissed the top of her head, breathing in her scent and he held her close beneath the light of the Underground's two moons.
Thanks for the reviews. You may have noticed the first chapter disappeared and got a bit re-jigged. Hopefully it is easier to read now. I and also bowing to pressure that Jareth should be more arrogant. Your wish is my command although it jars a bit with the first chapter...but hey... Anyway enjoy and please send in your comments.
2. Please fall in love with me
SARAH did not know how she got through the next day at work. It was a Friday and busier than usual in the newsroom because it was late summer and so many of the staff were on holiday.
The storm had given way to a glorious fresh summer day with clear blue skies, creamy sunshine and a soft breeze which made New York seem unusually crisp for the time of year.
After Jareth vanished Sarah thought she would never get back to sleep but she dropped off as soon as her head touched the pillow.
A delicious scent woke up the next morning and she opened her eyes to find her bedroom full of crystal vases crammed with freesias and yellow tea roses.
Golden sunlight poured into her window giving the room a hazy romantic feel.
"I'll spin you mornings of gold," his words danced into her head as she got dressed.
Another bouquet was sitting on her desk when she got to work, this time with a card which read simply 'Until tonight.'
Sarah had a dreamy look on her face all day, a fact which had not gone unnoticed by the other members of staff at the paper.
"Ok...who is he?" Sarah looked up to see her friend May, the deputy features editor, looking questioningly at the flowers.
"Just someone from my past who flew in last night" Sarah said blushing,
"Well he must have been one of the last who got, I heard they shut the airport because of the bad weather." May picked up the card, "Until tonight" she read, "You have a hot date! He must be something special."
May had not known Sarah to go out with anyone since she had been at the paper despite the constant badgering from male members of staff.
"He's..." Sarah didn't know how to explain her feelings for Jareth, "He's...out of this world."
"Wow" said May, "And where has he been hiding all this time."
"Underground", Sarah muttered before realizing what she had said.
"Underground?? What is he some kind of hobbit?" said May confused
"Oh...I mean...London, he lives near the Underground in London." Sarah recovered quickly. Well it's possible she thought, he's got the accent.
May didn't seem convinced with explanation but let it go.
"So where is he taking you?" she asked,
"It's a surprise...things with him usually are." Sarah said laughing.
SARAH arrived back at her apartment to find a large blue box sitting outside her front door. It was embossed in gold with a picture of a peach and she instantly knew it was from him.
Carrying the box inside she lay it on her bed and opened it. Inside were sheets and sheets of purple tissue tied with a crimson satin ribbon.
Pulling aside the layers the box revealed a stunning silk dress, the colour of deep rose, long and flowing with tiny spaghetti straps and a plunging backline. She held it up to herself in the mirror and smiled.
"I take it you approve then," a voice broke into her thoughts. Standing behind her in the mirror was Jareth. She spun round but he was not there anymore. Instead where he had been standing lay another box, smaller the size of a pencil case. Carefully laying the dress on the bed she picked up the box and opened it.
Inside was the most exquisite necklace she had ever seen. It was strung in layers of tiny roses, each petal crafted from tiny sparkling rubies.
"Jareth," she breathed, "It's incredible."
"Aren't you ready yet.... she turned to see Jareth sitting on a chair in the corner of her room yawning and playing with a crystal. "We're going to be late."
She looked down at her crumpled work clothes, "You're going to have to give me time to have a shower and get changed..."
He tossed her the crystal and she caught it. When she looked down she was wearing the dress and the necklace, her hair and make-up immaculate.
"Jareth..." she shot him a look, "Half the fun is getting ready"
"Sorry...I couldn't wait." He moved over to stand behind her with his hands on her shoulder while she looked in the mirror. She shuddered at his touch but then suddenly, as if losing interest in her, he moved her to one side so he could admire his own outfit.
He was wearing similar clothes to how Sarah had remembered him in the ballroom but his coat was jet black and sparkling.
"Hmmm..." he mused fiddling with his shirt cuff, "I do wear black well don't I. It brings out my eyes...one of them at least. I rather think green works better with the left one."
Sarah was staring at him, gobsmacked, her mouth wide open.
"Sarah...it is rude to stare...although I suppose you're only human."
He chuckled to himself at the last words, straightened his jacket and held out his arm for her.
"Well...shall we?"
AS Sarah took his arm she felt a warm fuzzy sensation which made her close her eyes thinking she might faint. When she opened them again she was standing in a huge ballroom which was teeming with hundreds of people.
The room was incredible with huge vaulted ceilings in midnight blue with tiny glittering stars and cherubs gazing down at her. Pink and gold drapes adorned the huge windows. From the outfits it looked like a Venetian ball but Sarah was grateful to find nobody was wearing masks.
When the crowd caught sight of the couple they burst into rapturous applause. Many of the beautiful women curtsied while other whispered behind fans shooting coy glances in Jareth's direction.
Jareth gave a small regal wave, obviously thoroughly enjoying the attention of the moment.
"Where are we?," Sarah whispered to him.
"Why, my kingdom of course. You didn't think the Goblin City was all there was to the Underground did you? We're in the walled city of Murus. It only opens its gates to visitors for one month of the year. The city's artisans have been working all year for the exhibition."
"What exhibition?" Sarah asked. The crowds were so huge they were blocking the exhibits although it was clear they milling round pictures on the walls and sculptures.
"Why my exhibition of course!" Jareth clapped his hands and the crowd dispersed through doors at either side of the great hall revealing hundreds pieces of art.
To Sarah's amazement from every corner of the room images of Jareth stared back at her.
Portraits of the Goblin King playing with his crystal balls, a statue showed him in dipping a Goblin into the Bog of Eternal Stench while another sculpture depicted him in a romantic clinch with a wood nymph.
"It's wonderful isn't it!" said Jareth taking her by the hand. "Look there's even one of you up here."
Jareth took her hand and led Sarah to a huge painting hung on a nearby wall. It showed him, at least six inches taller than Sarah, glaring down pompously at her holding Toby while she groveled at his feet as the clock behind showed Thirteen o'clock.
"I had this one commissioned for the throne room..." said Jareth gazing up at the picture.
"Hey...that's not how it happened." Sarah snapped at him. "I beat you. By Thirteen o'clock me and Toby were safely back at home."
Jareth shrugged and turned away from the painting, "Call it artistic licence."
"It's a LIE," said Sarah starting to get annoyed.
"Come come Sarah, you know that not everything is as it seems in the Labyrinth." He winked at her.
"Ah I see you are admiring my painting," came a sickly sweet voice from over Sarah's shoulder. She turned to see a beautiful blonde haired woman approaching, a sparkling black ball gown clinging to her stunning figure.
The woman held out her hand to Jareth who, bowing deeply, took it and kissed it.
Sarah felt the first pangs of jealously as she looked at the pair of them and suddenly felt inadequate. They seemed to match perfectly with their black outfits, blonde hair and striking good looks.
"The painting is wonderful Moriana," said Jareth, "And I suppose I don't need to introduce you to Sarah, the likeness is quite realistic."
"It's about the only thing that is," shot back Sarah before she could stop herself, "How could you paint such rubbish. You might grovel before Jareth like that but I can categorically say I never have and I never will.
"And the only thing that is that big about Jareth is his ego!!!"
Sarah knew she had stepped over the line by the look on both Jareth and Moriana's faces.
"Sarah...you will keep a civil tongue in your head when you talk to my friends in my kingdom."
Jareth's tone was as cold as ice and it brought pinpricks of tears to her eyes.
She turned away so he wouldn't see and stood for a moment taking deep breaths and trying to regain her composure.
The awkward moment was suddenly broken by Jareth: "Would you like to dance?"
Sarah spun round expecting to see him holding out an affectionate hand but instead all she saw was him walking to the dance floor with Moriana on his arm.
As the music started up the room was swamped by dancing couples and Sarah was suddenly engulfed by swirling bodies as she desperately tried to find Jareth in the mob.
After what seemed like minutes of hunting she caught a glimpse of him, his arms around Moriana's waist with a dreamy look on his face and she felt her heart break.
JARETH was dancing with Moriana but his mind was elsewhere despite the stream of suggestive remarks she was making in her ear.
"Why can't she just accept I have to be this way in my own Kingdom," he thought to himself sulkily.
Deep down he knew she was right and felt bad. He should have told people the truth about what happened in the Labyrinth but he had been too embarrassed.
Instead he had concocted a story in which he had granted mercy on her at the last minute and allowed her to go home. None of his subjects knew the truth of what had happened in the Escher room and after. What would it do to his reputation if they knew what really happened?
Suddenly he caught sight of her moving through the crowd. She looked fragile and upset and was being pawed from all sides by leering men.
A strap of her dress had slipped from her shoulder and as he watched a woman bumped into her catching the beautiful necklace he had given to her and ripping it from her neck, scattering the tiny roses across the floor.
As she bent down to pick up the precious stones Jareth saw the tears in her eyes and a wave of love washed over him.
He whispered something in Moriana's ear and she looked at him surprised before glancing at Sarah, shrugging petulantly and moving off.
Jareth came up behind Sarah and put his arms round her waist pulling her to him.
"Look, I've told you I'm not dancing..." she said for the tenth time, instinctively pushing the grasping hands away. She glanced round and was shocked to see Jareth standing there.
"I want to go home. Send me home this instant." She glared at him.
"Sarah...I think I need to explain." He slipped an arm around her waist.
The noise of the room suddenly died away and she realized she was standing outside Jareth's castle in the moonlight.
Sarah tried to pull away from him but he held her steady. She looked at him defiantly.
"I'm sorry, tonight hasn't exactly gone to plan." Jareth admitted.
"Sarah. I'm used to getting anything I want." He said, gazing into her eyes.
"But I realized tonight the only thing I do actually want might be the very thing I can never have.
"You still see me as the wicked Goblin King from your dreams and I can't seem to help but live up to your expectations. And yet I get the feeling you don't want him anymore.
The sincerity in his words was causing Sarah's resolve to crumble. He looked defeated.
"When I am in your world I can be who you want me to be. But not here," he continued,
"Here I am expected to act in a certain manner and I thought you could live with that but I am not sure you can. The light doesn't exist without the dark Sarah.
"If you stay it will never be an easy life but I will love you until the stars burn out." He pulled out a crystal similar to the one he had offered her ten years ago and held it up to her face.
"I can still offer you your dreams but I can't promise you your fairytales."
They stood for a minute watching each other in the moonlight, both unsure what to do.
"You have no power over me," Sarah said at last. Jareth's face fell at her words.
"But you do have my heart. And I give that freely."
His head shot up as if scarcely believing what she had just said.
"You hurt me tonight," Sarah said at last looking into his hope filled eyes.
"Yes...." He said brushing a strand of hair away from her face.
Sarah took his hand in hers, "Don't do it again." she said simply, placing her head against his chest, then wrapping her arms around him.
He kissed the top of her head, breathing in her scent and he held her close beneath the light of the Underground's two moons.