Roses Sorrow
author: Lucinda
pairing: Willow/Jareth
Sequel to Roses Fade, and story #2 in Goblin Roses
rating: pg 13
disclaimer: I own nobody from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Labyrinth
distribution: Bite me please, WLS, nha, Quickie Challenge, yourmission anyone else please ask first
notes: AU season 7, based on rumors and spoilers mentioned
She was adjusting to the Goblin Kingdom with surprising ease. Willow might meander for hours in the Labyrinth, but when she decided that she wanted to go back, she never had problems retracing her path. Gradually, as she became more familiar with it, she was able to take shortcuts, traversing his Labyrinth almost with the ease of a native.
Willow didn't seem bothered by the goblins either. She didn't fear them, and seemed unafraid of even the largest and most hulking creatures, such as Ludo the Rock-Brother that had become so fond of Sarah. She would ask them questions about parts of the Labyrinth, having concluded that the easiest way to learn about a place was by talking to the ones who spent time there.
Jareth suspected that she was doing something else as well. Using her magics, or perhaps even more tedious methods, but there were small changes. Brightly colored flowers were blooming in his gardens, and along the walkways. The tangled briars that formed parts of the Labyrinth now carried lovely roses in reds, yellow golds, even white and pinks. Some of the windows in the castle had been altered, the panes clear and ornamented with beveled sections of leaded crystal or sparking stained glass insets. The walls now sported tapestries showing some of the more spectacular looking sections of the Labyrinth, the details amazing in their complexity.
He gave her regular lessons on magic, specializing in transfiguration and illusions, his own personal areas of expertise. Along the way, he also managed to slip in bits about the history of the Fae kingdoms, especially his own. She seemed interested in learning more, but Willow still wasn't ready to believe that he would want her to stay. She still seemed to think that she needed to enjoy while she was here, because she would need the memories later.
He found her with a bottle full of the buzzing insects that lived in the swamps, something that must have been brought to her by some of his goblins. Relaxing as he lurked in the background, he watched carefully to see what she was doing with the biting insects. She would whisper a weak sleep spell, and then pull out a now sleeping insect. Carefully, she would focus her power, practicing the lessons in transfiguration on the bugs, changing them from dark brown black bugs to something else. They were still bugs, and probably still bit, but instead of a dull dark color, they shimmered with deep blues and greens, their wings gleaming with rippling iridescence.
She was slowly bringing beauty to his kingdom. From her small changes inside the castle to the blooming flowers everywhere and now even to the very insects. She was marking her presence, making sure that there would be something to remember her, some sign that she had been here. As if she feared that she would be forgotten so easily.
Willow's power shimmered like sunlight on water, and sang like the wind through crystals. How could he forget her? Especially when her power was combined with striking features and a keen intellect that had her searching for answers. She wanted to learn, to understand why her magic would do things, why certain spells worked and others did not. She wanted to understand everything about his kingdom, and it was delightful to him.
She still didn't know how lovely she was, how attractive and desirable. She didn't understand how rare it was for someone from elsewhere to be able to work magic so easily in his kingdom. She had no idea that he'd decided that she would be the perfect queen to rule the Goblin Kingdom at his side.
She'd found it fascinating that he took away children who were unwanted, unsafe in their homes, and gave them a place. How it kept his kingdom thriving and gave the children new lives. She'd asked him how he knew what sort of lives they were leaving, and that had lead to a lesson in scrying, and practice on the various basic methods, like fire, water, or a looking glass. His own preferred method of looking into one of his crystal globes was little more than a more precise version of looking into a mirror or crystal.
Almost predictably, Willow had used her scrying spells to check on the people that she had left behind, to see if they were healing without her. Not only were they healing, but they hadn't shown any signs of missing her.
Willow had looked a bit pale, and sad, and had thanked him for the lesson, and gone away to 'think over the theories of scrying.' As it turned out, she'd gone and cried in the garden, weeping for the fact that her 'friends' had just forgotten her. She had done this for them to heal, not to be forgotten, even her memory cast away like yesterday's dishwater.
His heart cried out at the injustice done to her. She didn't deserve to be forgotten and cast aside. So he'd gone to her, easily finding her in the garden that she'd adopted as her favorite, one with an old willow tree and walls covered in red and gold blossomed ivy. She was crying into the ground, her tears marking the very soil with her memory.
He settled next to her, one hand gently on her back as he offered his insufficient words to her. "They aren't worth your tears, sweet Willow. You will never be forgotten here, the very land itself knows your name."
She'd sniffled, and moved just a little, weeping onto his shoulder instead of the ground. She clung to him, as if seeking some tangible sign that she was not alone, that someone was here to listen. Her breath had flowed right through his silken shirt, curling over his skin.
Jareth had held her for almost two hours, listening to her pain filled sobs. He'd felt that it was a victory of sorts. Not that she'd had such pain, but that she'd let him hold her while she cried, that she would let him into her emotions even a little bit. Maybe she wasn't ready for him to mention his plan, but she was seeing him more as a person and less as the Goblin King. That was a good thing, how would he convince her to be his queen if she didn't see him as a person?
"Do you feel any better after all those tears?" He wanted to sound gentle, to let her know that he cared, that he didn't want her grieving.
She gave a feeble smile, her eyes still murky with emotion, and wiped the tears from her cheek. "Sort of, inside. I think it was all bottling up inside, you know? But now my face feels all stiff and my eyes are scratchy from crying."
He gave a small smile, not wanting to reveal the depths of his feelings just yet. She might be starting to see him as a person, but she wasn't ready to see him as a potential suitor or lover. "I can do something about those scratchy eyes, if you'll let me."
Willow looked at him, her eyes peering at him, as if searching for truth in his eyes. This smile was more real, more than a trembling curve to her lips. "I think I'd like that. Maybe... maybe this is part of healing, to release the pain... So, what do I do to let you fix my salt scratchy eyes?"
He felt almost stunned by her easy acceptance. "Just like that? Not afraid that I'm trying to make you forget, or transfigure you into something else?"
"You promised not to make me forget." Her near solemness dissolved into a look that was almost mischievous. "And if you transfigured me, at least I wouldn't have scratchy eyes anymore. And I think I've learned enough to change myself back if you did change me. But I don't think you would."
He smiled, producing one of his magical peaches for her. "This should fix those eyes right up. As for changing you... we aren't in lessons right now. I think you could change yourself back, but now isn't the time. And someday, I do intend to change you, take that pesky mortality away from you. You'd make a lovely Fae, Willow. But I won't do that until you're ready."
She smiled at him as she bit into the peach, the juice dribbling over her chin. "You'd want to make me Fae? That sounds... like an honor."
Jareth smiled at her, one hand brushing her hair behind her ear. "I wouldn't make that offer to just anyone. Only someone truly special could become one of the Fae. Someone like you. When you're ready."
"When I'm ready... What if I'm never ready? What if I can't learn enough, be magical enough?" Her voice was soft as her eyelids drooped, the sleeping spell on the peach starting to take effect.
He held her as she drifted to sleep, the best and safest way to sooth her poor eyes. He stroked her hair, smiling at the sleeping beauty leaning in his lap. "You are already magical enough, my rose. You have the power, and far better control than half the Fae. But you still need to heal inside, to understand that you're whole, and strong, and worthy of whatever honors people give you. When you're ready to admit that this is where you belong, in a world as magical as you are... at my side."
end Roses Sorrow.
author: Lucinda
pairing: Willow/Jareth
Sequel to Roses Fade, and story #2 in Goblin Roses
rating: pg 13
disclaimer: I own nobody from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Labyrinth
distribution: Bite me please, WLS, nha, Quickie Challenge, yourmission anyone else please ask first
notes: AU season 7, based on rumors and spoilers mentioned
She was adjusting to the Goblin Kingdom with surprising ease. Willow might meander for hours in the Labyrinth, but when she decided that she wanted to go back, she never had problems retracing her path. Gradually, as she became more familiar with it, she was able to take shortcuts, traversing his Labyrinth almost with the ease of a native.
Willow didn't seem bothered by the goblins either. She didn't fear them, and seemed unafraid of even the largest and most hulking creatures, such as Ludo the Rock-Brother that had become so fond of Sarah. She would ask them questions about parts of the Labyrinth, having concluded that the easiest way to learn about a place was by talking to the ones who spent time there.
Jareth suspected that she was doing something else as well. Using her magics, or perhaps even more tedious methods, but there were small changes. Brightly colored flowers were blooming in his gardens, and along the walkways. The tangled briars that formed parts of the Labyrinth now carried lovely roses in reds, yellow golds, even white and pinks. Some of the windows in the castle had been altered, the panes clear and ornamented with beveled sections of leaded crystal or sparking stained glass insets. The walls now sported tapestries showing some of the more spectacular looking sections of the Labyrinth, the details amazing in their complexity.
He gave her regular lessons on magic, specializing in transfiguration and illusions, his own personal areas of expertise. Along the way, he also managed to slip in bits about the history of the Fae kingdoms, especially his own. She seemed interested in learning more, but Willow still wasn't ready to believe that he would want her to stay. She still seemed to think that she needed to enjoy while she was here, because she would need the memories later.
He found her with a bottle full of the buzzing insects that lived in the swamps, something that must have been brought to her by some of his goblins. Relaxing as he lurked in the background, he watched carefully to see what she was doing with the biting insects. She would whisper a weak sleep spell, and then pull out a now sleeping insect. Carefully, she would focus her power, practicing the lessons in transfiguration on the bugs, changing them from dark brown black bugs to something else. They were still bugs, and probably still bit, but instead of a dull dark color, they shimmered with deep blues and greens, their wings gleaming with rippling iridescence.
She was slowly bringing beauty to his kingdom. From her small changes inside the castle to the blooming flowers everywhere and now even to the very insects. She was marking her presence, making sure that there would be something to remember her, some sign that she had been here. As if she feared that she would be forgotten so easily.
Willow's power shimmered like sunlight on water, and sang like the wind through crystals. How could he forget her? Especially when her power was combined with striking features and a keen intellect that had her searching for answers. She wanted to learn, to understand why her magic would do things, why certain spells worked and others did not. She wanted to understand everything about his kingdom, and it was delightful to him.
She still didn't know how lovely she was, how attractive and desirable. She didn't understand how rare it was for someone from elsewhere to be able to work magic so easily in his kingdom. She had no idea that he'd decided that she would be the perfect queen to rule the Goblin Kingdom at his side.
She'd found it fascinating that he took away children who were unwanted, unsafe in their homes, and gave them a place. How it kept his kingdom thriving and gave the children new lives. She'd asked him how he knew what sort of lives they were leaving, and that had lead to a lesson in scrying, and practice on the various basic methods, like fire, water, or a looking glass. His own preferred method of looking into one of his crystal globes was little more than a more precise version of looking into a mirror or crystal.
Almost predictably, Willow had used her scrying spells to check on the people that she had left behind, to see if they were healing without her. Not only were they healing, but they hadn't shown any signs of missing her.
Willow had looked a bit pale, and sad, and had thanked him for the lesson, and gone away to 'think over the theories of scrying.' As it turned out, she'd gone and cried in the garden, weeping for the fact that her 'friends' had just forgotten her. She had done this for them to heal, not to be forgotten, even her memory cast away like yesterday's dishwater.
His heart cried out at the injustice done to her. She didn't deserve to be forgotten and cast aside. So he'd gone to her, easily finding her in the garden that she'd adopted as her favorite, one with an old willow tree and walls covered in red and gold blossomed ivy. She was crying into the ground, her tears marking the very soil with her memory.
He settled next to her, one hand gently on her back as he offered his insufficient words to her. "They aren't worth your tears, sweet Willow. You will never be forgotten here, the very land itself knows your name."
She'd sniffled, and moved just a little, weeping onto his shoulder instead of the ground. She clung to him, as if seeking some tangible sign that she was not alone, that someone was here to listen. Her breath had flowed right through his silken shirt, curling over his skin.
Jareth had held her for almost two hours, listening to her pain filled sobs. He'd felt that it was a victory of sorts. Not that she'd had such pain, but that she'd let him hold her while she cried, that she would let him into her emotions even a little bit. Maybe she wasn't ready for him to mention his plan, but she was seeing him more as a person and less as the Goblin King. That was a good thing, how would he convince her to be his queen if she didn't see him as a person?
"Do you feel any better after all those tears?" He wanted to sound gentle, to let her know that he cared, that he didn't want her grieving.
She gave a feeble smile, her eyes still murky with emotion, and wiped the tears from her cheek. "Sort of, inside. I think it was all bottling up inside, you know? But now my face feels all stiff and my eyes are scratchy from crying."
He gave a small smile, not wanting to reveal the depths of his feelings just yet. She might be starting to see him as a person, but she wasn't ready to see him as a potential suitor or lover. "I can do something about those scratchy eyes, if you'll let me."
Willow looked at him, her eyes peering at him, as if searching for truth in his eyes. This smile was more real, more than a trembling curve to her lips. "I think I'd like that. Maybe... maybe this is part of healing, to release the pain... So, what do I do to let you fix my salt scratchy eyes?"
He felt almost stunned by her easy acceptance. "Just like that? Not afraid that I'm trying to make you forget, or transfigure you into something else?"
"You promised not to make me forget." Her near solemness dissolved into a look that was almost mischievous. "And if you transfigured me, at least I wouldn't have scratchy eyes anymore. And I think I've learned enough to change myself back if you did change me. But I don't think you would."
He smiled, producing one of his magical peaches for her. "This should fix those eyes right up. As for changing you... we aren't in lessons right now. I think you could change yourself back, but now isn't the time. And someday, I do intend to change you, take that pesky mortality away from you. You'd make a lovely Fae, Willow. But I won't do that until you're ready."
She smiled at him as she bit into the peach, the juice dribbling over her chin. "You'd want to make me Fae? That sounds... like an honor."
Jareth smiled at her, one hand brushing her hair behind her ear. "I wouldn't make that offer to just anyone. Only someone truly special could become one of the Fae. Someone like you. When you're ready."
"When I'm ready... What if I'm never ready? What if I can't learn enough, be magical enough?" Her voice was soft as her eyelids drooped, the sleeping spell on the peach starting to take effect.
He held her as she drifted to sleep, the best and safest way to sooth her poor eyes. He stroked her hair, smiling at the sleeping beauty leaning in his lap. "You are already magical enough, my rose. You have the power, and far better control than half the Fae. But you still need to heal inside, to understand that you're whole, and strong, and worthy of whatever honors people give you. When you're ready to admit that this is where you belong, in a world as magical as you are... at my side."
end Roses Sorrow.