Chapter 5

You Deserve a Happy Dream

Hawk-

By the time they made it back to their private chambers in the Circus, Hawk Eye was starting to see stars before his eyes. He could hear Tiger Eye and Fish Eye talking about something, but, in all honestly, Hawk Eye couldn't bring himself to care. The pain was getting to be to much.

'But what else could I have done?' Hawk Eye thought as he pushed aside the curtain that surrounded their shared bed. He slowly sat on the bed and let the dark red curtain fall back into place, blocking him from view of his two friends. It also left him pretty much in darkness, despite the light of the rest of the room. Right now, Hawk Eye was just desperate to close his eyes and sleep. At least if he were asleep, it wouldn't hurt anymore. 'I couldn't let Tiger get hurt. He's to weak. Gotta protect them.' He let himself sink back down onto the soft blankets and put one arm across his eyes to block out the last of the dim light that managed to filter in through the curtains. 'I couldn't protect her. Oh...why? Why couldn't I? She trusted me.'



A hand landed on Hawk Eye's shoulder and he hissed with pain. "Don't touch me." He snapped without much strength behind it. "Tired."

"You're more than tired." Fish Eye's snapped back. "You didn't tell us you'd been injured!" A movement in the bed told Hawk Eye that Fish Eye was sitting next to him and his friend started pulling at Hawk Eye's shirt. "After all that work, you'd let yourself just lay here and bleed? You idiot."

Tiger Eye said nothing, but helped Fish Eye to remove the shirt. It wasn't hard to flip Hawk Eye onto his back, but it was hard to ignore his hiss of pain. "It was Zerconia, wasn't it?" Tiger Eye asked after a while. "He hurt you and you didn't tell us."

"You two sound like a couple of old women. Stop all the fussing, will ya?" Hawk Eye told them, trying to keep his eyes open. "It's just been a long night, that's all. I just need a bit of a rest." The three of them shared not only a room, but a large bed. It wasn't that they had to share a bed, it was just more comfortable than sleeping alone. Besides, spending their entire lives together, it would have been hard, to say the least, not to become close.

The bed was large enough for the three of them to stretch out on and not even touch each other, if they didn't want to, and piled high with thick blankets and pillows. If one lived in a world of magic and fantasy where wishes could be made real, why not have the best?

"Why do you chose today of all days to actually dress up?" Fish Eye muttered only half-heartedly as he pulled at the ties that held Hawk Eye's shirt closed. "Honestly, only you could get yourself into such..." Fish Eye was at a loss for words at what he saw under the shirt. "Oh, Hawk."

Hawk Eye's chest was red and raw, ugly to look at and most definitely painful. Hawk Eye took one look down at himself before he closed his eyes again. He'd had worse. "I just need some sleep."

"Hawk?" Tiger Eye asked, biting his lip. There was only one creature in the circus who could hurt Hawk Eye and that was Zirconia. "Was it my fault, Hawk? Did I make you get hurt because I was stupid again?" The guilt in his voice almost made Hawk Eye want to scream. As handsome and adult he looked, Tiger Eye was a child, emotionally. He had simply never grown up, but it was that fact that had endeared Tiger Eye to the Ringmaster, though. She'd adored his child-like naiveté and had called him her eternal child.

"No." Hawk Eye said, keeping his composure even now with the extreme pain he was in. "I said something I shouldn't have and Zirconia got angry." He spared Tiger Eye a tight smile. "It wasn't your fault."

"I'll get some of the stuff." Tiger Eye volunteered, jumping off the bed and rushing out of their private room.

Once he'd gone, Fish Eye finished stripping Hawk Eye of his clothes without a word. The silence went on for so long that it was Hawk Eye who spoke first. "Come on, Fish. Don't be mad at me."

Fish Eye threw the discarded clothes on a pile on the floor before turning back to Hawk Eye with a furious expression. "Mad? Why should I be mad? Just because you're trying to get yourself killed again?! Do you think I'm so stupid I don't know what you're doing?" He sat on his knees at Hawk Eye's side and looked closer at the still opened wounds that laced Hawk Eye's chest, from his left nipple down to his belly button. "This is deep, Hawk. How long were you going to wait before telling us you'd been punished?"

"Don't sound so surprised." Hawk Eye didn't bother to turn away from Fish Eye, knowing how persistent his friend could get. "You knew as well as I did what was going to happen. This isn't the first time one of us has been punished and better me than Tiger. He wouldn't have the strength to heal."

"He's stronger than you think, Hawk. I know you still think of him as the child he was, but he's changed since Ringmaster died. Like all children, he's had to grow up. Just like the rest of us." Fish Eye scowled more. "Besides, even if Tiger or I get hurt, we always let you take care of us. Don't you trust us to take care of you?"

Hawk Eye looked at his blue haired friend and reached up to touch his arm. "Of course I trust you, it's just..."

"It's just that she's reminded you!" Fish Eye snapped, wrenching his arm away from Hawk Eye's tender touch. "Seeing Ringmaster again has reminded you of all that pain." He leaned over Hawk Eye until they were nose to nose and Hawk Eye could see hurt in Fish Eye's pale eyes and felt guilty because he knew he'd been the one to cause that pain. "WE CAN'T LOSE YOU!" Fish Eye almost shouted, tears beginning to spill over his eyes and falling like raindrops onto Hawk Eye's face.

"Fish..."

"You can't kill yourself!" Fish Eye wailed. "If you leave us, what are Tiger and I going to do? We need you." He lowered his head enough that his forehead rested on Hawk Eye's shoulder and he froze there. It was pretty obvious that Fish Eye wanted to hug his friend, but he was afraid of hurting Hawk Eye even more than he already was.

"You said yourself," Hawk Eye said, not bothering to deny Fish Eye's words. "He's stronger than he looks and so are you. You don't need me anymore." Hawk Eye turned away from Fish. He didn't want Fish Eye to see how fresh the pain still was in his heart. "It...it still hurts, Fish. It hurts so badly."

"I know, it still hurts us all." Fish Eye, still weeping, lay down next to Hawk Eye. He lay quite close to Hawk Eye, right up against his side. "But you can't just give up. You should be happy we found her again." Fish Eye offered a hopeful smile. "It doesn't have to hurt anymore."

Hawk Eye went silent for a moment. "This is important, Fish. If this girl is Ringmaster,"

"She is!" Fish stubbornly insisted.

"If she is, then we have to get her back. We have to make sure she stays alive long enough to come back to the Circus." His eyes took on a far away look. "It was better back then, when she was alive and with us." He took Fish Eye's hand, stroking the back of it with his thumb, absently. "Do you remember? Do you remember how it was before Zirconia?"

Fish Eye sighed and put his head on Hawk Eye's shoulder. "Yes. I do. Maybe we'll be able to bring those days back, but only if we work together and you let us take care of you!" He said pointedly.

Hawk Eye wasn't listening to Fish Eye anymore though. 'Those lost days of innocence and play.' He thought sadly, staring up at the ceiling of painted stars. 'We were happy. We really were happy.' Strangely, he could barely feel the pain in his chest anymore and he really couldn't hear Fish Eye's voice. 'If only we could go back.'

Flashback-

A gentle laughter.

Soft hands.

"Come, little one. Open your eyes." Someone stroked the top of his head with those hands as soft as moonlight. "Don't be afraid."

But he was afraid. He felt...he thought...it was all new. His body was wrapped in something soft and warm, but his face felt cold, uncovered.

"I'm right here, I'll keep you safe. Open your eyes, baby. Mommy's here to take care of you."

He did as the new, laughing voice coerced and his vision was filled with the most beautiful face. Her skin was pale and her eyes were bright. She smiled kindly and put her hands on his face again. "There, that wasn't so hard, now was it? Oh, aren't you beautiful?" She kissed his forehead. "Now, what shall we call you? The newest addition to our circus should have a fitting name, I think." She ran a hand though his hair, seeming to admire it. "What lovely soft hair you have, like feathers. Yes, yes, you're thin, just like a bird. Hawk Eye. That will be your name, Hawk Eye."

He tried to move, tried to understand what was going on, but his body wouldn't work the way he wanted it to and strange noises came out of mouth.

"Don't fret." The girl soothed, was she really his mommy? "You'll get stronger in time. You're only a baby, after all. A new born, really. Just rest, I'll take care of you."

Tiger Eye-

From the chest that stood just on the left of the doorway, Tiger Eye grabbed a claw jar that held a healing ointment. He was more than worried for Hawk Eye, the wounds had been terrible and Tiger Eye knew if it had been him who had been injured so badly, he'd have been crying pitifully. 'Hawk's so strong!' He thought with admiration. The healing ointment had been made by Fish Eye, who was so clever when it came to healing. When they kept getting hurt or other members of the Circus family would come complaining of injuries from this or that, they'd discovered that Zerconia wasn't very sympathetic. So Fish Eye had taken it upon himself to create the healing ointment. It was a kind of universal thing, healing almost anything.

It was only about ten paces from the chest where the ointment jar was back to the curtained bed, but Tiger Eye didn't even make it that far. Only half way to the bed, he stopped suddenly and almost dropped the jar of healing ointment as a memory hit him very hard.

"No." Tiger Eye murmured as he watched a scene replay itself in his mind's eye. "It's not true." He dropped to one knee as he stared at the people reenacting history as if they were right before him. "How...?"

Ringmaster, dressed in her finest trousers and a short black jacket ran to the exit of the Circus. She waved happily at the tall, lean man who waited patiently for her, standing in the moonlight. He didn't enter the Circus, that was forbidden, but he waited for her to leave the tent. She flew into the waiting man's arms and it was only then that his face became visible.

'It's him!' Tiger Eye thought, shocked. From his narrow face to the wild, blonde hair, it was most definitely the man he'd seen in Sarah's dream mirror. 'I don't understand. Why didn't I remember seeing him before now? If Ringmaster knew him and he came to the Circus, I should have remembered him.'

Fish Eye-

Fish Eye watched as Hawk Eye drifted off to sleep, but he didn't try to wake the pink haired man. "You have to be strong, Hawk." Fish Eye whispered, brushing a lock of pink hair out of Hawk Eye's eye. "I...I don't think I can be strong enough without you."

He waited for quite some time, happy that at least Hawk Eye seemed to be resting peacefully. At one point, Hawk Eye started mumbling, but his voice was to soft Fish Eye couldn't tell what he was dreaming about.

"I hope it's a happy dream. You deserve a happy dream." Sliding off the bed with that last remark, Fish Eye pushed passed the curtains of the large canopy bed and set foot on the carpet-covered floor. "Tiger, where..." His voice trailed away when he saw Tiger Eye kneeling on the floor with the plain clay jar of healing ointment clutched protectively to his chest. His eyes were so wide, Fish Eye could see white all around his iris. "Tiger?" Fish Eye cautiously stepped closer, looking around the still empty room for hidden threats that might have hurt Tiger Eye. Nothing. "Tiger, what's wrong?"

Tiger Eye blinked and looked up, almost looking frightened. "I...I know."

"Know what?"

"Oh, Fish. I remember that man."

By now Fish Eye was getting irritated. "What man?"

"The man I saw in Sarah's dream mirror. I know who he was, we all forgot him!" the horror in Tiger Eye's voice frightened Fish Eye, though he wasn't about to admit it to Tiger Eye. It was if Tiger Eye had just been told the worst possible secret. "No wonder he was in Sarah's dream mirror." Tiger said, almost to himself, this time. "This proves it, even Hawk Eye can't doubt Sarah is Ringmaster, now."

Finally, Fish Eye put his hands on Tiger Eye's shoulders and gave him a shake. "What are you talking about?"

"Jareth!"

The name rung a bell, but Fish Eye couldn't connect the name with anything. It was like a half-forgotten dream from long ago. "Who? You saw him in Sarah's dream mirror? Who is he?" He must have been someone important to have been in the Ringmaster's dream.

Tiger Eye opened his mouth to say something, before he remembered the jar of ointment he was still holding. "We'd better see to Hawk, first. I'll tell you everything while we're doing it. I just don't know why we all forgot." Tiger Eye shakily stood and went to the bed, disappearing behind the beds curtains, leaving a very confused Fish Eye behind, staring after him.

"Jareth?"

Sarah-

"Sarah?"

The voice, soft as velvet, woke Sarah, but she didn't want to wake up. She didn't even want to open her eyes. It just hurt to much. It hurt to even breathe.

"Sarah, can you hear me?"

Sarah didn't reply to the concerned voice right away, there was to much to think about. It was hard to remember what had happened, after her step-mother had caught her. There had been pain and then darkness. She vaguely remembered Toby sleeping beside her and then, all of a sudden, someone was carrying her. It was someone strong, very strong, who held her and she felt the wind going by very quickly, as if the person carrying her was running. At first, she'd thought it was Jareth carrying her, but this chest was more muscular than she'd remembered Jareth being.

Sarah slowly opened her eyes and stared up at a ceiling fan as it lazily whirled, pushing down a soft current of cool air against her face. There was a smell of Sakura blossoms, which Sarah had gotten to enjoy at the local park during her recent stay in Japan. Was she near the park?

Feeling weak and full of aches, Sarah tried to sit up and wished right away that she hadn't. Instantly dizzy and feeling nauseous, Sarah saw lights dance before her eyes and a hand grabbed her arm and encouraged her to lay back down. Without much protesting, Sarah did as she was told, more because she couldn't see properly at the moment and the words sounded more like they were being said underwater.

"There, there, take it easy. You've had a rough time, it looks like." Soft hands brushed against Sarah's forehead and Sarah let her eyes close, reveling in the unaccustomed comfort that the simple touch brought.

The voice was familiar and Sarah took a moment to try and steady her vision. "Rei?" Sarah said.

"How are you feeling, Sarah? Are you all right? We were so worried when we brought you here last night." Indeed, it was the dark haired girl Sarah had run into before. Rei was sitting beside Sarah in what Sarah recognized as a miko's traditional outfit.

Sarah slowly, very slowly, sat up and looked around at the unfamiliar room. It was very plain and unadorned, with just a bed and a dresser. If it was Rei's room, Sarah had to admit she'd never seen a girl's room so undecorated. "What happened?" Her voice sounded odd, even to her. Like she'd been gargling with razor blades.

"We thought you could tell us that." Rei was looking at Sarah with something like pity in her eyes, but there was something else, a weariness that said she didn't quite trust Sarah. "Do you remember how you got here?"

"Not really." She didn't think twice about keeping the secret of her family's abuse. After all, though it hurt and Sarah often said she'd do anything to get out of her situation, they were her family. She couldn't go telling strangers family secrets. It just wasn't right. "I...I think someone carried me, someone strong." She looked at the way Rei was dressed, in a flowing robe of a Shinto shrine maiden, and then at Rei's hands. It was kind of odd. Most people would say that if you wanted to know if someone was strong, you look at their muscles. Sarah had found, to the contrary, that a person's hands told much about their strength. Rei's hands were callused and had dirt under the nails, proving that she worked hard at whatever she did. Sarah could also easy see the veins standing up prominently on the back of Rei's hands, again, proof that Rei was stronger than she outwardly looked. It could have easily been Rei who'd carried her away from her home. The only question was why would Rei have done it?

Rei reached out one of those powerful looking hands and brushed it against Sarah's cheek. "You've been hurt pretty badly, Sarah. We almost took you to the hospital. Are you sure you can't remember anything?" Her eyes locked on Sarah's, making it strangely hard for Sarah to lie. Still, she lied.

"Not a thing. Maybe I hit my head, or something." It was as weak as any lie could be and Sarah knew Rei didn't believe her.

"Yeah. Maybe that's it." After an awkward moment for Sarah, though Rei didn't look the least bit disturbed, Rei motioned to a first aid kit. "My friend took care of you as best as she could. I still think you should probably go to a hospital, though."

"No." Sarah said quickly. "There's no need. I really should go home." 'I have to find Toby.' The thought of Toby being home alone with his parents made Sarah more than a little nervous. They'd never hurt him before, but there was always a first time.

"Before you do,"

Sarah looked up at the new voice and found several girls about Rei's age standing in the open doorway.

"We have a few questions, if you feel up to it." The girl who spoke was a gentle looking girl, with a soft cloud of blue hair framing a smiling face. They were quite an assortment of girls, Sarah noted. One looked like an amazon, tall and muscular, with a pony-tail of chestnut hair. Two of them had very long blonde hair and could have been twins as far as Sarah could tell.

Rei warned them, "Take it easy on her, guys. She's still weak and needs rest."

But Sarah agreed, "Ummm, sure." Sarah was pretty sure what kind of questions they were going to ask and she all ready knew she'd lie to them. She couldn't remember. That was a good, useful one. Even if anyone doubted it, they really couldn't disprove it.

Looking around at the assembled girls as they came into the room and surrounded her, Sarah felt her breath quickening. Sarah had never liked feeling enclosed, trapped. Not since the ballroom in the Labyrinth had Sarah liked people being to close.

One of the girl's, this one with long blond ponytails, gave Sarah a friendly smile as she knelt on the floor next to Rei. "We brought you here because we don't know where you live. Some...people sort of gave you to us. If you tell us where you live then we can call your parents."

Sarah shook her head quickly, but stopped when he head started to spin. "No...no need. I can go on my own." She had to get back to Toby. 'People gave me to them? So, it wasn't Rei. I wonder who it was. I sort of remember a man's voice, but I can't remember much else. I think he said,' The memory came back slowly and Sarah's eyes widened in horror. 'He said Toby wasn't in the room with me!' Sarah paled and the younger girls must have noticed, because Rei put a hand on Sarah's shoulder.

"Sarah? What's wrong?" Rei, along with the other four girls, seemed genuinely concerned.

Sarah opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say anything, there was a screech and everyone looked up at the window.

The small brown owl dove in through an open window and toward Sarah. She had no time to move before it slammed into her chest, making her rock backwards. The little brown owl changed with a glow of soft light around him until Sarah suddenly found Toby sitting on her chest, giggling at her. "Sissy!" He cried happily, throwing his arms around her neck.

"Toby?!" Sarah didn't hesitate before hugging him back, holding him tightly to her. "God, Toby! I was so worried about you! How did you do that?"

"The nice man taught me how." Toby replied after Sarah had let go of him and let him sit up. "Who're your friends?" Toby asked, looking around at the girls who stared at him with shocked expressions.

"What nice man?"

Toby pointed to one of the windows. On the windowsill sat the large, snow-white owl, looking very dignified. Sarah held Toby a little tighter and stared at the owl with an open mouth. "Jareth?"

Before she could say another word the owl spread its wings and took flight, vanishing into the night. Sarah stared for a moment before hot tears started to make their way down her cheeks. She couldn't have stopped if she'd tried, but Sarah couldn't have told anyone why she was crying. It just felt like a terrible, terrible loss, like there was a hole inside her.

Sarah felt a small warm hand touch her face. "Don't cry, Sarah." Toby said, clearly upset by her crying. "He said he'll come back if you call him."

"Did he hurt you?" Sarah asked.

Toby laughed again. "No. He said he'll teach me new tricks if you call him. Please call him, Sarah. I want to go back."

To be continued...