Author: Lucinda

Pairing: Willow/Jareth

Story #6 in Goblin Roses

Rating: pg/pg13

Disclaimer: I own nobody from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Labyrinth.

Distribution: Bite Me please?, WLS, nha, Twisting, Mental Wanderings anyone else please ask first

Notes: AU season 7, based on rumors and spoilers mentioned

.................

Willow had felt a bit tired after the party, even after a long night's sleep. She wasn't certain if it had been the duration, the experience of meeting Queen Morrigan, or if it was all of the magic that she'd used. Maybe it didn't matter that much?

"Just a quiet day." She promised herself. Pulling on some simple clothing, just a pair of jeans and a loose shirt, Willow started to comb out her hair as she padded towards the kitchens. Maybe there would be some left-overs from the party that would do for breakfast.

The castle was still in the more elaborate party arrangement. She walked through vast marbled halls that glittered with imitation stars, and over complex mosaic floors. Kitchen, kitchen... where did he put the kitchen? She found herself glad that he hadn't rearranged the section with her rooms. What if she'd gotten lost on her way to bed?

Eventually, she found the kitchen, currently three times larger than normal. It wasn't that hard to convince the cooks to just let her have a plate with some leftovers, and then she made her way out into the garden. Fresh air and bread... Maybe she could watch the sunrise as she ate? Time worked oddly here, after all, apparently at some independent whim.

The sunrise took its own time, underway when she sat down, and not deigning to finish until after she'd eaten every morsel, even the last crumbs. Butterflies fluttered around the flowers, and Willow just relaxed for a few moments. When was the last time she'd had absolutely nothing that she had to be doing? How would she have dealt with unexpected free time before?

Blinking, Willow realized that she'd never had a big block of free time in Sunnydale. There had always been something - homework, demons, movies, arguing over television shows with Xander and Jesse...

It didn't hurt to think of Sunnydale, not as much. Just a sort of dull ache, and a faint curiosity - what were they doing now? Was some demon menacing them? Was Dawn doing her homework? Did her parents realize that she was gone? Were Buffy and Spike still... well, maybe she didn't want to know that one.

With a small smile, Willow realized that she could check if she wanted. Jareth had taught her how to scry, and there was the fishpond right over there. She walked over, the soft grass tickling her bare feet, and knelt beside the water. She could see glimpses of the fish, dark shadows and shimmering silver-blue scales almost blending with the water.

Feeding a tiny thread of power onto the water's surface, Willow focused her mind on Dawn. It felt as if the image formed slowly, sun glints and shadows moving until they formed a picture, reflections blurring, colors sliding into new shapes.

Dawn sat in a library, scowling at a book. There was a small picture of a row of men in red jackets in one corner, and lots of text. A history book, but was it American history or world history with a chapter on the British Empire? Dawn scrawled a few lines on a sheet of paper, and frowned again.

Another girl sat down beside her, her lips moving as she said something. Dawn glanced up, smiling as she pushed the book away. Reaching into her pocket, Dawn showed the other girl a pair of gold hoop earrings, leaning forward as if to prevent anybody else from catching sight of them.

Idly, Willow wondered if she would ever be able to manage a scrying spell that carried sound as well as images. Things must be going better if Dawn's allowance could cover gold earrings. Willow let the image of Dawn fade, still holding the scrying spell ready. She focused on a memory of Xander, from back before, and tugged that towards the pool. "Show me Xander."

Xander was measuring a board, marking a little line with a pencil. He laid it next to a second board, marking off the same distance before waving another man in a hardhat over. Xander picked up his measuring tape, moving across the construction site, shaking his head at something. Sweat had dampened the back of his shirt, and was beading on his forehead.

She'd never really realized just how much work went into Xander's job before. In the abstract, it had sounded hard, but as she found herself watching him work... Yes, there were power tools, but most of them didn't look light, and some seemed to take some strength to control. But the other construction workers seemed to think well of him, and it actually looked as if he had some authority.

Good for Xander. He'd always said that he wanted to make something of his life. And all of those muscles, and the stamina that working all day, every day like that would have to give him... Well, it made his tenancy to doze off during research sessions make a lot more sense.

"See? You're doing just fine without me." Her voice was sad, and a teardrop fell into the water, causing the image to ripple. She let the image ripple away, wondering if he'd dealt with whatever issues had caused him to break up with Anya before. It had been before her summer away... Was that still last year?

It had been daytime in Sunnydale. Maybe... should she check on Buffy? Would she regret it if she did?

"Only one way to find out..." Nervously, Willow formed an image of Buffy as she'd last seen her, looking tired after a long day of slaying, uncertain if she really liked Willow being back in Sunnydale.

Buffy was sitting in a small, beige colored office, tucking some papers into a manila folder. It had the sort of striped letters on the side like at a doctor's office, and there was a little nameplate on her desk, identifying her as 'Miss Summers, Assistant Counselor'. There was a pair of soft chairs on the other side of the desk.

"Looks like a better job than the Doublemeat Palace." Willow murmured.

The door opened, and a man leaned in. He looked a few years older, a black man with troubled, serious eyes. Willow didn't recognize him, and wondered just who he was. He stepped inside, and Buffy smiled at him.

Leaning over, he said something into her ear, making Buffy blush a little. It almost looked like he was flirting with her.

"But what about Spike?" The question was too strong to ignore, and the scrying spell rippled, the colors flaring and blurring, reforming into a completely different image.

Spike was slumped in a chair, a table filled with books in front of him. It looked as if he'd fallen asleep while reading, something that didn't match her memories of Spike at all. How much had he changed? Where was this?

Motion caught her eyes, and she looked to the other side of the table. A lean man with dark hair was picking up some of the books, most likely to take them back to wherever they were kept. He seemed vaguely familiar... Suddenly, he stopped, and glanced around, as if looking for something. Was there an insect buzzing near him?

As he turned, looking for whatever he was hunting for, Willow got a good look at him. Wesley Wyndham-Price. But he looked so much more serious, and when did he get a scar across his throat? It almost looked like he'd had his throat slit.

"Looking in on the ones who pushed you away?" Jareth's voice sounded almost teasing, like a playful cat.

Letting the scrying go, she smiled, knowing that he wouldn't see it. "I was curious."

"What did you see?" He settled on the grass beside her, tossing a handful of breadcrumbs onto the water.

"They seem... happy. They're moving on with their lives, and it seems... I guess they don't need me there after all." Willow sighed, slightly surprised to discover that even those words didn't bring back the clawing pain that had filled her when she' d first seen her friends enjoying life without her.

Reaching out, he touched her cheek, tracing along the path of her earlier tear. "And?"

"And it doesn't hurt like it used to." Willow leaned into his touch a little, her hand coming up to rest over his. "I just don't know why Spike's in Los Angeles... or else he and Wesley are both somewhere else together."

Jareth gave a small shrug, as if to express that nothing Spike or Wesley could possibly be doing would be a concern for him. "Does it really matter?"

For a moment, Willow had the oddest feeling, as if something was waiting. With a shrug of her own, she asked "How could it? I'm here, in the Goblin Kingdom, and they're most likely still in LA, back on Earth. And neither of them showed much worry about me before."

"Yes, you're here, and they are there." He smiled, leaning forward.

He was so close that their lips were almost touching, almost pressing together. She could smell peaches and spice on his breath, and closed her eyes in anticipation.

The air shimmered as somebody wished away a child. There was a half whimper as a small, dirty child with long reddish hair landed on her lap.

"Oh!" Willow blinked, jolted from the near kiss.

"A child, wished away." He closed his eyes, summoning a crystal sphere with an almost painful looking rotation of his wrist. "Let's see who did this..."

A tiny image appeared, a figure in a cluttered room. Jareth sighed, and released the globe, which floated up like a soap bubble, sparkling in the light before fading away. "It seems that duty calls."

Willow managed a weak smile. "The price of power and all that stuff. I'll just take this little one inside."

As she walked away, her thoughts returned to the almost kiss. There would be another opportunity, if he'd really wanted to kiss her. If it hadn't just been a trick of the moment. And her mind tried to imagine how it would have been if not for the arrival of the small child.

End Rose Visions.