AN: Thank you reviewers! I am grateful to all of you!
Lady of the Labyrinth: I'm so glad you like my fic! It's nice to hear from people who truly enjoy what I write!
Anonymous: I'm very pleased that you like the way I dealt with the attempted suicide scene. I understand what you mean about "too much" drama, and I'm glad my writing didn't turn out that way.
Anonymous: Yes! He used that magic of his! Wouldn't you? I'm so happy you like my story so far!
AN: THANKS AGAIN TO MY REVIEWERS! It is wonderful to get such positive feedback from all of you! And I know Jareth is a little OOC, but he has his reasons!
Chapter 6: Reacquaintance
Watching his movements carefully, Sarah took the seat, drawing her knees up under her, eyes wide and frightened. The Goblin King glanced at her tense figure and sighed again. He then drew another chair from thing air, and leaned into the suede headrest. He watched the young woman for a moment, through half-slitted eyes. Suddenly, he leaned forward to begin speaking, and reached to put a comforting hand on Sarah's knee. The girl drew herself up and cowered against the seat, and he pulled his hand away. He rested his arms on his knees and let his head tilt towards the floor. To Sarah, he seemed weak and weary.
He began, "Sarah…do you think we could talk? I understand if you don't wish to, but I think it's important…" The young woman nodded her head dumbly. "First things first, Sarah. Do you remember who I am?" the Goblin King questioned, eyes anxious. Sarah's sharp tongue leapt to her rescue.
"Yeah!" she spat. "You're a friggin' figment of my imagination. Dreamt up years ago by a dramatic, overly-sensitive girl with some desperate, subconscious need for friendship and enemies and assholes!" Sarah was quickly turning red in the face, and the Goblin King looked at her with surprise. He then glanced to the rug, where a group of fireys paraded around the forest.
"I see…" the man replied, and glancing at Sarah, continued "We will come to that topic later. However, supposing I am real, what do you remember about me?"
"Let's see. You're the Goblin King, you stole my baby brother, tried to tip my friends and me into the Bog of Eternal Stench, threatened Hoggle's life, offered me my dreams," she bit off the last word, "And, you were an arrogant son-of-a-bitch who attempted to make thirteen hours in this place a living HELL!" Sarah was furious. She had leapt from the chair and was advancing on the Goblin King. Her green eyes sparked and her mouth was set into a thin line. She hadn't even realized that she had failed to make a point that she had made up the whole adventure in the first place…
The Goblin King was shocked by Sarah's verbal assault. However, anger and pride soon engulfed him, and he pushed himself from his chair to stare down at the thoroughly angry young woman. "Sarah, how dare you say such things! As I attempted to explain to you before—although you must have been far too stubborn and thick-headed to pay attention—I only did what you expected me to do. I was only what you expected me to be. You wished your brother away, so I took him. You expected me to make your task difficult, and I did. You expected me to be cruel and heartless, and Sarah, I think I managed that quite well, my dear." The Goblin King's face was set into a sneer.
He continued, now pacing around Sarah, making her turn and follow his movements. "Now dear Sarah, I have something to tell you. I was going to wait, and break it to you gently, but I'm not feeling so particularly 'generous' at this time." His face settled into a frozen mask at the word "generous" and Sarah didn't notice the flash of emotion that passed across his eyes right before.
He leaned towards her, breath teasing against her ear as he whispered, "You see Sarah, I am quite real…" he grasped her hand and pushed it against his chest, over his heart. "But my girl, nothing else was. Higgle, Ludo, that damned dog-like creature, the fireys…they're all figments of your imagination. The only things that aren't made up are the labyrinth and myself. I created everything else for your little adventure. You never had any friends here Sarah. Just an enemy…"
Sarah felt tears well up, as her mind raced. Why am I reacting to this…it's not real. It was never real, it was all made up, it was just my imagination. But another part of her replied with a sneaky tone, But you want to believe it don't you…you've always hoped, you just wouldn't let yourself see it. You want that adventure to be real, don't you, don't you? And you're starting to believe in it again. That's why it hurts. Your first friends were no better than the imaginary friends of five-year olds. You never had those first friends. You never had friends… Waves of self-pity swept over Sarah, and her anger intensified two-fold. She refused to acknowledge the fact that she neither denied nor accepted believing in her adventure. "YOU LYING BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT YOU ONLY DID WHAT I WANTED! YOU MADE MY JOURNEY HERE MISERABLE! YOU HATED ME!" Sarah panted from the effort of giving complete vent to her feelings. Her face became more and more strained as she yelled out, "YOU ARE CRUEL AND HEARTLESS! FOR GOD'S SAKE, JARETH! YOU KIDNAP CHILDREN!"
The Goblin King's eyes widened as he took in her words. The last sentence didn't register at all, as shock registered clearly on his pale face. He stared into her eyes, and he gasped out, "Sarah…you…remembered me. You remembered my name…you remembered…", and he dropped to his knees, head bowed before the young woman.