A/N: Bonnie, my new pal, chill out -- here are some more chapters for you, specially for your birthday. Hope you had a good one. Afrieal, please do me a favor and don't fall off the futon again! I can't afford to get sued. DearLady, I didn't steal the line about "between the two kingdoms of darkness and light..." from anywhere, so it's no wonder you didn't recognize it -- it'sa product of my deranged imagination. For everyone else: here, finally, is the long-awaited backstory, or "what Sarah did for the last twelve years." Enjoy.
When we last saw them, Our Hero had just sent Toby off to the Bog for being annoying, and Sarah was in the middle of her appalled protest.
Chapter 29: Backstory and Explanations
Jareth laughed. "Relax, Sarah. I sent him to bed. But you can't deny that he deserved a bit of a scare!"
Sarah laughed in relief. "No, I can't deny that!" She tossed her napkin down onto the table and said, "Well, shall we get those last two questions out of the way?"
Jareth's face lit. "Absolutely! We might be more comfortable in my study, though," and he took her hand and led the way. When they arrived, Sarah noticed a couch had been pulled up in front of one of the tall windows, so they could sit and look out over the labyrinth. Jareth sprawled out on it with one leg up, and pulled Sarah down to lean against his chest. His arms went around her from behind and she sighed with pleasure.
It was a beautiful night, with the large yellow moon shining down and illuminating the Labyrinth almost as if it were day. Parts of the Labyrinth cast their own light as well, and out of the corners of her eyes Sarah could see some movement. The walls that she looked at stayed still, but her peripheral vision kept catching them moving around just out of her line of sight. "It's so beautiful," she murmured.
"Glad your opinion of it has improved," Jareth said comfortably. "Now, then, you first."
Sarah had her question ready. "What is involved with the royal wedding that you aren't telling me? Specifically as regards the two of us, I mean."
Jareth chuckled, running gloved fingers through her glossy hair. "You already know the format for a royal wedding in the Underground -- I know, because I put it into your lesson book." Sarah turned her head to give him a blank stare. "Thirteen days of celebration," he reminded her. "Followed by the wedding itself."
"And during the thirteen days," Sarah said slowly, starting to remember, "The other unmarried monarchs are encouraged to find and court their own mates."
"Exactly," Jareth said. He pressed his lips to her hair and said matter-of-factly, "On the twelfth day of celebrations, Sarah, I plan to ask you to marry me. If you refuse, then I shall have to declare a formal betrothal to Arien. If you accept, then we shall declare formal betrothal vows on the thirteenth day, and you'll make me the happiest man in two worlds."
Sarah's jaw dropped. "I--I--you--I mean..." she chuckled softly. "You seem to keep leaving me at a loss for words!"
Jareth grinned. "I do so dislike predictable people, don't you? I believe it is my turn now. I could ask at this point whether you think you might tell me yes or no, but I prefer to give you time to think it over. I shan't just be sitting around waiting for you to make up your mind, though--oh, no! I shall be actively trying to convince you of what a good idea it would be to accept!"
"Oh, good," Sarah said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "No pressure, though, right?"
He grinned. "No pressure? What part of 'actively trying to convince you' didn't you understand?"
"I'd expect nothing less from you," Sarah assured him, laughing.
"And a good thing, too," he laughed. Then he turned serious. "Now, as for my question -- tell me, how have you occupied yourself since you ran my Labyrinth? Tell me of your family, your friends. How would you describe your life?"
"Lonely," Sarah blurted. At his raised eyebrow, she elaborated. "When Dad found out Karen was having an affair, he kicked her out. She and I had never been close, but when I spoke at the trial on behalf of my father, she couldn't forgive me. Then, when Dad got custody of Toby, she couldn't forgive him either. Toby was only four, and his mother disappeared. That was something I could certainly understand, since the same thing happened to me when I was ten.
"I've never been very outgoing, and after the Labyrinth, it was even harder for me to make friends. When I did, they never lasted long because they always said I was 'too secretive,' and 'too much of a dreamer.'" Sarah gave a cynical laugh. "They should have seen me before the Labyrinth! At least here, I learned that dreaming isn't always a good thing, and I learned how to compartmentalize it better."
"How so?" Jareth wanted to know.
"Well, when you're working full time to save for college and support your little brother, it leads to twelve-hour days and very little time to mope about the park in a white dress," Sarah said with a rueful smile. "And then when I finally did start college, I was too busy studying and working part time to have much time for anything else."
"What of your old dream, to be an actress?"
Sarah snorted. "The only reason I had wanted to do that was because of my mother. When I finally grew up and understood she was never going to come back for me--not to mention that I was very bad at it!--I realized that my skills lie in very different areas. That's why I went into business management: I found out I was good at it. I'm very organized and usually pretty good with people-- and all my imagination became more of an asset than a liability, because I can use it to understand people, to envision the completed job, that sort of thing."
"You certainly are good at commanding people's loyalty," Jareth told her. He had to hide his pleasure as Sarah listed all of her personal qualifications that would make her a good queen!
"Thank you. Now, my turn. And, um, it's kind of personal..." Sarah trailed off uncomfortably.
"I wish no more secrets from you," Jareth encouraged. "Ask."
"Um, if you do end up marrying Arien, how... that is to say, what about an heir? Would you actually…uh…consummate it? And if you did, wouldn't she have to stay away from you afterwards? And are your species even genetically compatible?" Sarah blushed furiously.
A/N: Don't tell me no one else was wondering about this! Figured I'd toss in an explanation for those puerile and curious minds out there who wanted to know. --grin--