A/N: This is my first song fic, so be nice. It's based on the Elvis Presley song "Softly As I leave You" I heard it today and realized it would make a really sad story. And I don't thing there are a lot of Elvis song fics out there. I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the song.
Jareth lay quietly, watching the sleeping girl in his arms. When had he fallen in love with her? When had he given himself over to her so completely? He didn't know precisely when it had happened, but it had, and completely against his will. This was never supposed to happen.
He had started coming to her shortly after she defeated the Labyrinth. He didn't know why, at first. He told himself he was intrigued by her strength, her determined vulnerability. It had taken time for her to trust him, but not as much as he had expected. Deep down, she was just as intrigued by him. They began a wary acquaintanceship that turned quickly into a honest friendship. They sat long hours into the night, trading stories of their past, although Jareth had many more stories than she. He told her things he had never been able to tell another living soul, and some things he had never truly admitted to himself.
She was a wonderful listener, a quality he hadn't even known was important to him until he discovered it in her. Sitting quietly, her head tilted slightly and resting on the window sill, she would listen as he spoke. He could always tell by the thoughtful way she looked at him that she was truly listening to every word. When he was done, she would ask him questions that spoke of an insightfulness beyond her years. He found himself divulging his deepest feelings to her, and was never for a second afraid that she would ridicule him, or worse, be bored by them, as a fae woman might. He had never held a conversation with any of his own kind that was as deep or as rich as the ones he had with Sarah.
Months passed, then years, but little changed. He would come to her at night, after the rest of her family was sleeping, and they would talk for hours, often until she fell asleep and he tucked her in. He never came during the day; he never intruded on her mortal life. She lived her life in the daylight as any mortal teenage girl, filled with classes and birthdays and movies with her friends. But there were never any dates, never any dances, never anything that kept her out too late. Her nights were reserved for him. He shouldn't have let her isolate herself, but he did. It was selfish, and he knew it, but he couldn't bear the thought of a single night without the time they spent with each other.
She grew into a beautiful young woman, and though he tried not to notice, more and more he was mesmerized by her pale pink lips, her shining emerald eyes that sparkled with light and intelligence. Eventually, a night came when he discovered he could no longer concentrate around her, could no longer give her words the full attention they deserved. Her speech became a dizzying buzz in his mind and he wanted to quiet her, and did so the only way he knew how. The taste of her lips on his was like water to a dying man. He feared she would pull away and be horrified, but she put her arms around him and met his kiss with one of her own.
If he was forced to pinpoint the moment he had fallen in love with her, that would probably be it. It was at that moment his best friend became his love, and soon his lover. That had been nearly a year ago, and he had slept by her side every night since. He had slept in many beds in the centuries he had lived, some made of the softest down, some enchanted to ensure comfort. Yet no sleep had ever been as peaceful as the nights he shared with Sarah in her small bed. He dreaded mornings, for they meant he must return to run his kingdom and leave her to her life. Still, he could have continued in this way forever, but forever has a way of ending sooner than we like.
Sarah would be graduating in less than a month. She had explained to him once that graduation was a kind of right of passage in her world. It was a gateway to adulthood. He could have told her she had passed through that gateway and waved goodbye to it months ago, but why spoil her fun?
The thing about any right of passage is that it always leads to more questions than answers. Where do I go know? What do I do next? Last night he had realized that Sarah was looking to him for answers. It was only fair, but he had been dreading it since the first night he held her in his arms. She wanted a life with him, and it was the one thing he would never be able to give her.
As much talking as they had done, there were still things he had never been able to tell her. He could never bring himself to admit that to most of his own kind humans were considered lower than animals. He could never find a way to explain to her that they could never be married, never even be lovers in his world because of the derision they would suffer. A union between a mortal and a fey would be an abomination in the eyes of his kinsmen. Even his friendship with Sarah would have been a reason to bring him before the Elders of the High Court, if anyone had known about it.
It was ridiculous, of course. The fear and prejudiced of small minded people always is, but it is also dangerous. There could be no fighting it without risking Sarah's life, and he could never do that.
The only other option would be to abandon his kingdom and live in the mortal world with Sarah. This too was out of the question. He could no more abandon his kingdom than a loving mother could abandon her infant to wolves.
If only she could be content to continue as they were, but he knew it wasn't fair to ask it of her. She deserved a real life, a chance to marry and to have children. She deserved better that what he could offer. Still, if he was as he had been before her love had changed him, he might have asked her anyway.
He felt her stir and sigh contentedly before snuggling deeper into the crook of his left arm. With his right hand he gently stroked her jaw with his thumb. Something wet dripped onto her cheek and he realized it was his own tear. He had made his decision, and not even realized it. He had to end this, he had no right to continue to give her false hopes. Yet he could not bear to see the pain in her eyes when he told her. He knew that she would beg him to stay. She would offer the very thing he wished for most, and damn him he would likely accept it.
That's why he had to leave her before she woke up. He closed his eyes and traced the lines of her face, committing each curve, each flaw, each tiny detail to memory. After tonight he would never see her again, not even in his crystals. Gently he eased himself out from under her and searched for something to write on. In the drawer of her nightstand he found a notebook and a pencil.
He hastily scribbled his explanation, trying to phrase it in a way that she would understand, in a way that wouldn't hurt too much. It was pointless, of course. There was nothing he could say that would ease the pain he knew she would feel. He cursed himself for being a coward, and for ever letting her fall in love with him in the first place. As an afterthought he scribbled a few lines of poetry that came to mind. She had always liked it when he wrote songs and poetry for her. Perhaps it would soften the blow a little if he wrote her one last song. Maybe, but probably not.
When he was done, he looked down at her once more. The moonlight spilled across her face, giving her an ethereal, ghostlike quality. She had a faint smile on her lips, and he wondered painfully if she would ever smile again. He kissed her softly and stood up. Tearing his letter from the notebook he bent to put it back in her nightstand when the cardboard backing or the notebook caught his eye. Written in glittery pink ink and surrounded by tiny little hearts was his name, over and over again. He actually felt his heart break. She may have done that two years ago, or maybe yesterday. He would never know, for he would never have the chance to ask her.
He knelt next to the bed and kissed her again, softly, but passionately. He knew he risked waking her, but he needed to feel her lips against his one last time. She continued to sleep and he was almost disappointed. He put the note gently on the pillow beside her and turned to leave. As an afterthought, he conjured a crystal which quickly transformed into a single yellow rose. He placed it on top of the note. "Yellow means goodbye." He whispered. He watched her sleep for another long moment, and then he was gone.
Sarah woke to the warmth of sunlight on her face. She sat up and yawned, stretching her arms high over her head. It was Saturday and she was slightly annoyed to have awakened alone, but not alarmed. Jareth often left while she was sleeping. She reached down for the pillow beside her that had recently supported the Goblin King's head. She liked to hold his pillow in the mornings after he had gone, as his scent seemed to linger on it for hours.
This time, the pillow bit her.
Frowning and nursing the thorn prick on her finger, she looked down to find a yellow rose and beneath it a note with her name on it in Jareth's sprawling handwriting. In her mind she heard a voice that sounded very far away. "Yellow means goodbye." The voice said. Fear clenched her stomach so suddenly that she almost mistook it for nausea. Her heart seemed to slow down and turn icy cold. Dread washed over her as she unfolded the note with trembling fingers.
Even as she read the note, her mind refused to accept the words. It couldn't be. He wouldn't leave her like that, not without giving her a chance to say goodbye. He wouldn't do that to her. Tears spilled from her eyes onto the note in her hands, mingling with those spilled by Jareth as he had written it. She shook her head, not wanting to believe the words, repeating the word 'no' until it was a silent scream.
Beneath the note that explained why he left, was a poem, the last song Jareth would ever write for her. They were no comfort to her then, as he had hoped, but in the years to come they would help to ease the pain of a broken heart that would never heal.
Softly I will leave you,
For my heart would break,
Should you awake and see me go,
So I will leave you
Softly, long before you'll miss me,
Long before your arms can beg me 'stay',
For one more hour, for one more day,
After all these years,
I couldn't bear your tears to fall,
So softly as I leave you there,
As I leave you there.