Chapter 37: You Can't Go Home Again

The remainder of Sarah's visit to the Underground passed quickly, and then she was back at school beginning the countdown towards finals week. King Daxon's wedding was scheduled to take place a couple of weeks before finals, and Sarah suspected that after the fun and excitement of the festivities she probably wouldn't be in much of a frame of mind to study!

So now she poured herself into her studies, hoping to cram well enough before the wedding so that she could just coast a bit after her return. She spent whole days at the library, and ignored Paris' teasing about her being such a drudge.

She managed one more trip home, where her father grilled her about her new boyfriend. She was pleased that she was able to answer most of his questions about Jareth without giving too much away. Yes, he was fairly well-off. Yes, he was involved in politics, but more in a behind-the-scenes sort of way. And finally… yes, she liked him and lot, and things were pretty serious between them. She told her father the story of having met him twelve years ago (though she didn't go into details) and connecting back up with him again recently, and hitting it off with him this time.

Throughout all these questions, Toby sat alone at the computer in the corner, chortling to himself.

"I don't know what set that kid off this time," Robert said fondly. "Suddenly he's a lot happier, doing better in school, the whole shebang—but there's no external cause for the change. He still doesn't have any friends at school. He still…" and here Robert's voice hardened, thinking of his ex-wives, "…doesn't have a mother, and he still doesn't have any hobbies or anything fun to occupy his time. If he were a different sort of kid, I'd be thinking 'drugs,' but this? I can't figure it."

Sarah, realizing that Toby could probably hear their quiet conversation on the couch from where he sat, just smiled. "Maybe he's just starting to grow up," she suggested. "It took me a little longer… come to think of it, part of my own growing-up experience started when I met Jareth all those years ago. We didn't get along that well, so I felt like I had to prove myself to him all the time. Have you noticed how supercilious he can be sometimes?"

"I have, actually," her father commented. "It's like he's the king of some secret country or something. It didn't look like he was that way much with you, though."

Toby, sitting at the computer, choked on his soda. He grabbed a tissue and started cleaning it off his monitor screen. Sarah went into a coughing fit.

"Are you two okay?" Robert asked suspiciously. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you two were sharing a secret. But you two dear, sweet children wouldn't do that, would you? Keep a secret from your old man?" He teased.

"Sure we would, Dad!" Toby said cheerfully. "I mean, you haven't found out about my heroin habit yet, have you?"

"Toby," Sarah warned. Their father just rolled his eyes and shook his head at his only son's teasing.

Toby grinned and reached for something on the back of the desk. It was a crystal. He tossed it up in the air and caught it, then did it again.

Sarah gasped. "Where did you get that?"

"Where do you think?" No one could smirk like a teenager. Toby's smirk could have even rivaled Jareth's.

"What did he give you that for?"

"It was a present. That's all." Toby tossed the crystal again, and fumbled the catch. The crystal fell onto the carpet and rolled across the room.

Sarah grabbed for it, but her father got there first. He picked it up and looked into it. "That's weird," he said slowly.

"What's weird?" Sarah and Toby asked in unison. They exchanged concerned glances.

"It's dark inside. I can't even see my reflection in it. And yet…"

"What?" they both chorused again, in alarm.

"It looks almost like there's something moving in there."

"Oh, that," Toby said, coming over. He reached for the crystal and his father absently handed it over. "Yeah, Jareth told me about that when he gave it to me. Said it was kind of like a joke—a gag gift. If people look into it and pretend like they can see the future or something, he's got it rigged so that they really can see stuff moving in there. It's pretty advanced technology, but it's just a trick."

"I see," Robert said.

Sarah gave her little brother a grateful glance, completely missing the suspicious look their father sent their way. Soon after that, she made her goodbyes, with a whispered warning to Toby to "Keep that crystal away from Dad!"

He nodded. He whispered back, "So… Are you going to marry Jareth?"

"I don't know. He hasn't asked me yet!" Sarah told him, feeling a slight pang of guilt from not telling Toby the whole story.

"Well, keep me informed!"

"I will, don't worry."

Sarah turned to hug her father. "Bye, Dad. I guess next time I see you will be at graduation. You're coming to graduation, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Robert assured his daughter. "Now you be careful with that young man of yours. Don't let him move too fast for you, even if he is a King."

Sarah stared at him for a moment, and then remembered that she had introduced him as "Jareth King." She smiled, wondering what her father's reply would have been had she completed his title: Jareth, King…of the Goblins!

"I'll be all right, Dad," she assured him. "He's been a complete gentleman. He treats me like a queen," she ignored Toby's stifled burst of laughter and went on, "and I really like him."

"Well, just you be careful. Make sure he deserves you, little Sarahkins," Robert used the pet name he used to call her as a little girl.

Sarah blushed. "I will, Daddy. I promise."