Author: Lucinda

Pairing: Willow/Jareth

Story #7 in Goblin Roses

Rating: 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 sighed as she put the small child in a room with a couple goblins. The goblins should be able to keep the little boy out of trouble, and he looked like he could really use something good to eat.

She shouldn't be annoyed that he was here. Really.

It shouldn't annoy her so much that she'd been this close to kissing Jareth. Because it was a fluke, right? He didn't... he wouldn't... Or maybe he would. Maybe he'd wanted to kiss her just as much as she'd wanted to kiss him.

It took barely a moment to request some food go to the room where she'd left the boy. That left her with more time for her thoughts. Leaving aside the very big question of had he wanted to kiss her, did she want Jareth to want to kiss her? Shaking her head at the confusion of her own thoughts, Willow returned to the garden. Did she want him like that?

Part of her kept trying to say that she shouldn't want him. That he should find a nice Fae woman to settle down with and have her for his queen. But the idea made her tense and frown, a stomach gnawing sensation that she was just certain was really jealousy filling her at the very idea. Yeah, that was pretty conclusive, she wanted Jareth.

But how could she blame herself for that? He was handsome, if in his own way, he was smart, and charming, and he kept her on her toes. He was helping her learn, and he didn't try to force her to be boring old dependable Willow, and he didn't think she was turning into evil Willow. He made her feel comfortable being herself, whatever that meant at the moment. That would really hurt when she had to leave...

Willow stopped, and took a deep breath as something occurred to her. Jareth wasn't making any indications that he wanted her to leave. The goblins didn't seem to want her to leave. Markess... had stopped objecting, and Queen Morrigan herself hadn't bothered to object, though that could simply be that she didn't feel one human was worth the concern. What if she stayed here?

Sitting down, she reached one finger out to brush against the amber roses. She'd sorted out the question of how she felt. It still didn't tell her how Jareth felt, but at least she knew what she wanted. Maybe she could try to learn about his feelings, if he saw her only as an amusing student, or if, maybe he wanted a little more?

"What did you do with the child?" Jareth sounded calm as he walked towards her.

Patting the grass beside her in invitation, Willow smiled. "He's in one of the little rooms, with a couple goblins to baby-sit and some food. He looked sort of hungry."

Chuckling, he settled on the grass beside her. "You manage things so well."

"Maybe I had a good teacher? For more than just the magic. You have a lot that you do here." Willow was looking at him, trying to read his face, the colors of his eyes for any hint about his feelings.

"I think you could be a splendid Fae." Jareth offered, his fingers just touching hers. "The opportunity is yours for the taking, if you'll just... say yes."

"What if I did become a Fae? And if I wanted to stay here... with you?" Willow asked, feeling a little short of breath.

Jareth leaned closer. "I'd like you to stay with me."

His lips touched hers, softly at first, then with more intensity, more passion.

As Willow's luck would have it, that was when a portal ripped open in the sky, and several screaming people plummeted into the fish pond. Willow jumped, startled by the event and a little afraid, and looked at the rip, edged with crackling gold energy, watching as it shrank, the tendrils of energy almost seeming to sew the rip closed. then, she looked at the pond, where there was a great deal of splashing and swearing, including two male voices that sounded rather English. "Who...?"

"Blast it all, what now?" Jareth muttered.

"Red? Are you in one piece?" The voice sounded impossibly familiar.

Willow blinked, looking at the figures who were now staggering out of the water. A woman that she didn't recognize, Faith, a very familiar looking man, and Spike. She didn't have the right words for her confusion. "What... how...?"

"Not by his lonesome." Faith teased. "Isn't it a bit sunny for you, blondie?"

"Bloody... wait a minute, I'm not burning." Spike glared at Faith before looking around. "Nice place, and here I am in the sunshine and everything."

"We're here to rescue you." The other man spoke. It was his voice that let Willow finally place him.

"Wesley, Faith, Spike and... You're here to what? Rescue... but I don't need rescued!" Willow blinked, trying to sort out this sudden twist.

"Guys... umm..." The other woman spoke. "We might have a problem."

"Who are these people?" Jareth demanded, glaring at the dripping new arrivals. " And how did they invade my kingdom? I certainly didn't bring them here."

"This is Winifred Burkle." Wesley offered, clearly remembering proper manners. "I am Wesley Wyndham-price, this is my Slayer Faith, and.. that's Spike."

"The portal just closed." Winifred spoke, sounding worried. "How do we get home now?"

"Someone actually cared enough to want to try to rescue me?" Willow whispered, feeling stunned and shaken by everything. First the kiss, which had been very nice, and then the interruption. Of course there had been an interruption just when things had been getting interesting.

That was when something that the other woman said caught up to her. "Winifred, right? Did you just say... You're not sure how to go back?"

"Call me Fred." The woman offered. "The portal wasn't supposed to close that fast. But now that it has... the equipment was on the other side. We might be stuck here for a while."

Jareth groaned, shaking his head. "Just... wonderful. Willow, could you find somewhere to put our... visitors?"

"Where are we anyhow?" Faith asked.

"You're in one of the gardens around the castle in the center of the Labyrinth. This is the Goblin Kingdom, and that was Jareth, the Goblin King." Willow explained.

"Doesn't look like any goblin picture that I ever saw." Spike muttered.

"No, this is the goblin kingdom, but Jareth's not a goblin. He's Fae." Willow chuckled.

"Fae? That... complicates things." Wesley muttered. "We might be rather stuck."

End Goblin Roses 7: Thorny Thoughts