Crystal Visions
Author's Note: I do not own Labyrinth. I do not own the lyrics below. This is a one-shot story that the muses screamed at me this evening. The sequel to A Prophecy Speaks is coming soon. Please read and review.
Dreams
Performed By: Fleetwood Mac
Written By: Stevie Nicks
Now here you go again
You say you want your freedom
Well who am I to keep you down
It's only right that you should
Play the way you feel it
But listen carefully to the sound
Of you loneliness
Like a heartbeat…drives you mad
In the stillness of remembering what you had
And what you lost
And what you had
And what you lost
Thunder only happens when it's raining
Players only love you when they're playing
Say women, they may come and they may go
When the rain washes you clean you'll know
You'll know
Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions
I keep my visions to myself
It's only me
Who wants to wrap around your dreams and…
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Dreams on loneliness
Like a heartbeat…drives you mad
In the stillness of remembering what you had
And what you lost
And what you had
And what you lost
Thunder only happens when it's raining
Players only love you when they're playing
Say women, they may come and they may go
When the rain washes you clean you'll know
You'll know
You will know
Oh whoa whoa you'll know…
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The strongest dreamers are always drawn together. For good or for ill, those that share the strongest dreams are always drawn to one another. No one knows why. Hehe, it's kind of like dreams themselves. No one knows why, when we close our eyes, images broadcast themselves on the insides of our minds. Most don't even remember their visions when they wake up. Some take medication to simply ignore them. I specialize in the others, those who dream the strongest, and those that dream the loudest. Those that want to revel in their visions. For good or for ill, these are the people I reach out to, those are the people I reward. They do not ignore the premonitions; they do not ignore the warnings. And some, when they awaken each morning, are bathed in the seductive glow of having a dream in which they attain their heart's desire. True love knows neither day nor night. True love knows neither dusk nor dawn. It only knows truth, the truth that lies beneath one's breast and within one's soul. In your dreams you cannot only remember what you had, you can remember what you lost.
There are two such dreamers I have been watching for years and years. They live across two realms, yet once managed to find each other. I can only hope they can find each other again somewhere outside the dreams they find themselves having every night. They are so different from one another, these two. They are like day and night. He is immortal, she is not; he has hair like pale moonlight, hers is dark as midnight. He lives in the Underground, and she lives on Earth. He has an incredible amount of magic, while she has none. Well, actually, that's a lie. She has her own magic, just not the magic that is made of crystals and spells. It is the magic that comes from seeing the magic in everything around you. It comes from believing in magic itself. That magic was the magic that had allowed her to defeat the man she loved to save her brother. She was powerful in her own way.
I started watching this mortal when she was young. She lived in a room filled with her own magic. Books, puzzles, and stuffed animals filled it to the rafters. She had dreams and fantasies. She was a strong dreamer, and a loud dreamer. Anyone could see she was lonely. The night her father remarried was the first night she dreamt about Him. Maybe it was the dresses, maybe it was the dancing; but when she went to bed that night her dreams turned into visions of a man with pale hair and mismatched colored eyes; a king who lived in a castle and would whisk her away from this mundane life. A gorgeous man who would show her real magic. Someone who would waltz across the floor with her and sing to her of the things he would do to make her happy. She wanted to see and do fascinating things. She wanted a man that wanted her for his queen, and no one else. She wanted someone who celebrated the magic in the world. Her dream was loud, and so strong. This girl knew her dreams meant more than indigestion or stress. She knew her dreams were like wishes, and prayers. She had to believe that there was so much more to them than that.
The Beautiful Young Girl knew the power of words; knew what strength they could wield. Her knowledge allowed her to stop, and captivate people with her words. So she practiced words, day in and day out, in a place where she found the magic around her to be strongest, a park with a little creek. It was there that she practiced her words, and it was there that He saw her.
Give me the child.
Through dangers untold,
And hardships unnumbered,
I have fought my way here to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City
To take back the child you have stolen.
For my will is as strong,
and my kingdom as great.
You have no power over me.
As she spoke, He could not help but watch. And as she came by, day after day, He fell in love with her. Her unspeakable beauty, her energetic youth, and her feminine charms. The way she moved, the way she spoke, and the way she carried herself. She was like a queen already, the queen of all she surveyed. She had weighed the world and found it wanting. She had examined it and found herself yearning for more. The park held magic for her; the whole mortal world did! But she hungered for more, needed more.
It was shortly after He started watching her in the park that He started having the dreams of her. She had been dreaming of him for years, and now he shared the dreams. Dreams of her waltzing with him through throngs of people while wearing a white gown fit for royalty. He had dreams of offering her everything he was, and she accepted. This king had dreams of happily ever after. And He had dreams of her calling him. He did not ignore these visions. He knew she would call him. And when she did call him, he would do whatever she asked.
I do not know how the Beautiful Young Girl got a hold of the means to call Him. I really have no clue. It must have been before I started watching her. She had been reciting the ending forever, but had never spoken the beginning aloud, until one night, when she had finally reached her wit's end. She was watching her baby brother, and he would not stop crying. She tried to calm him, and when it did not work she called for the only person she ever thought could help her. The Goblin King. The same man she had been dreaming of for years. And after all that time watching and waiting, the Goblin King answered his true love's call. He did as he said he would, and did as she asked. She expected him to be frightening, so he was. She asked him to take her brother away, and he did. She wanted to be whisked away, and he took her to his Labyrinth. He offered her the dreams she had, but she could not accept them. It would not have been right. Blood is thicker than water, after all, and she had done wrong by wishing him away. She gave up her dreams to save her brother.
Along the way the Beautiful Young Girl had her adventure, saw her magic. She went through the dangers untold and the hardships unnumbered. And the Goblin King even tried to force one of her dreams to come true. He used her hunger against her, and entranced her with a poisoned peach. Once she was suitably subdued, he used his crystal magic to transport her to a dream world where there was a masquerade. She wore the gown he had imagined in the dream. She searched for the Goblin King through the throngs of masked dancers. She kept glimpsing him here and then there. He was toying with her, playing cat and mouse. Finally he showed himself to her, and swept her up in an incredible dance, while he sang a sweet love song to her. The Beautiful Young Girl had wanted to lose herself in him. She had wanted to succumb to his charms and let him whisk her away. But she quickly realized that nothing was what it seemed, and that she needed to do the work she was set to do. She needed to save her baby brother. So, reluctantly she tore herself from the confused Goblin King and broke out of the dream world. She did what she had to do to finally reach the Castle Beyond the Goblin City. Her friends knew she must face Him alone, and so they left her side. And she did face him. She chased her baby brother through a room made of stairs that went no where, trying to ignore the Goblin King's song of how he had moved the stars for her, and only her. She wanted so badly to stop and listen to his words, but she had to do what was right, not what was wanted. When she finally reached her brother the world shifted, and she found herself face to face with Him. He was dressed as she would expect him to dress, as a king of fearsome power. He tried to get her to stay, offered her all that he had, but she knew that if she wanted to rescue her brother completely she would need to use her strong will to defeat him. So she looked her true love in the eye and said the right words. Then he was gone in a windfall of white fabrics. She had said no to her dreams, and now stood back in her own world, and stuck in the house that choked her so.
You may think that these two are star-crossed lovers, never meant to be happy with one another. No. They will find each other again. The strongest dreamers were always drawn together. And these two are the strongest of dreamers. I have watched over the years as they have dreamt about many things, but mainly I have watched as their hearts and souls dreamt of each other. Their hearts and souls are so identical in want and need that they unknowingly have the same dream every night, at the same time. Which means to me, that they are inside their own dream world together. Each thinks they are the only one having the dream, but that is not true.
The dream always happens the same way. Wait, I will show you…
Sarah and Jareth are atop their mounts, walking across a beautiful meadow in a valley. Wildflowers dot the landscape. Sarah always rides a white mare named Clover, and Jareth always rides a black stallion named Drago. They chat amiably while looking on the mountains around them in awe. They both wear riding habits and carry black leather crops. They smile at one another as they realize how alike they are in taste. Jareth arches an eyebrow at her.
"How about a wager?" he always asks.
And even though Sarah knows how it is going to end she always says the same thing.
"What kind of wager are we talking about here?" she counters.
"See that clump of trees over there? There is a small clearing about one hundred feet in. Whoever can make it there faster gets to claim a prize from the loser," Jareth wagers.
"What do you want if you win?" Sarah asks.
"A kiss from you," Jareth says. Sarah blushes.
"And if I win?" Sarah asks.
"What do you want?" Jareth questions.
"You have to sing for me again," Sarah states. Jareth groans a little.
"You ask for so little," Jareth tells her as they come to a stop.
"It may be a little to you, but it is a lot to me," Sarah smiles. Jareth would give anything to have her smile like that forever.
"Agreed. Now, on the count of three. One, two, three!" Jareth takes off like a bat out of hell, with Sarah close on his heels. He spurs Drago on, feeling the big animals muscles working beneath him. He sees Sarah out of the corner of his eye, and watches her riding cap fly off her head and her hair stream out behind her. She is leaning forward on Clover, but the mare does not have a real chance against his stallion. He saves his last burst of speed for the end, and chortles gleefully when he reaches the sun-dappled glade only a second or two before Sarah. He hops off his horse and reaches Sarah before she has a chance to dismount. He grabs her waist and swings her around. Before she has a chance to protest his lips are on hers, possessing her mouth. He lets her slide down the length of his body, and he slides his hands into her wealth of dark hair, tangling his fingers in it. She opens her mouth, and he slides his tongue in, to stroke her mouth from the inside. She moans a little as he picks her up and carries her to a blanket he has just made appear. It is a warm blanket made of red and white fleece. The air is warm around them, and the trees give a bit of shelter and shade. The trees rattle with the slight breeze. The joyful noise of a happy stream not far away makes a complimentary song with the birdsong that fills the air. The grass is tall and fragrant as he lays Sarah down and continues to kiss her passionately. He kisses her neck and nips it lightly with his teeth, before continuing down to the hollow of her throat. He momentarily pauses and looks into her soft eyes. By the Lord and the Lady how he loves her.
"Sarah, do you want this?" Jareth asks her.
"I'll die if you don't," she answers. He unbuttons and takes off his riding jacket. He then unbuttons and takes off the white silk shirt that was on underneath it. His chest is bare as he bends down to unbutton her riding jacket. She sits up slightly to allow him to take off the jacket, and once again to let him remove the identical white shirt she has on underneath it. He removes his boots, and then removes hers. He moves back to kiss her sweet and swollen mouth. She is hot with desire, and wants him so bad. She knows how to touch his skin to set him on fire, and knows how to entice him to kiss her in places no one else has ever kissed her, and taste every bit of her body. She does the same for him. When they have finally removed all their clothing and are lying in the glade nude, Sarah says the same thing she says every night.
"Jareth, I wanted you. But I needed to do what was right. I have always loved you. Ever since I first dreamt of you. I only wish this didn't have to be a dream. I wish I could really find the way back to you. I know that as soon as we both find release you will disappear, and I will wake up the same as I do every morning, panting and wanting you so badly I could die," Sarah always says.
"Sarah, my love, we will find the way back to one another. Depend on that. Every morning I wake up with you on my mind. And I ache for you. I will find you. Don't forget me," Jareth says as he rises above her.
"Never," Sarah gasps as he enters her. They both ride the storm of desire until their release is found.
And then, my friends, they both wake up at the same time.
Now, these dreams do not have the same consequences as real life. They have been having this dream for years now, and no physical repercussions have shown themselves. They may be strong dreams, but they are still dreams. But things have changed, and the time is right, for these two dreamers to finally be together.
It is strange that Sarah finally worked out a way. I always thought Jareth would be the one to do it. He's a clever chap. Sarah did not have many close friends. She kept it that way because her best friends were from another realm. She never got to see them anymore, but she knew that would change once she got back Underground. But there was always one person who believed her, and one person that she knew would understand what she was doing. The only other person she had ever met that knew the Underground existed. Her little brother, Toby. Toby was as obsessed with it as she was, but he did not want to leave his friends and family. Toby was Sarah's only family, seeing as she could still not stand her stepmother, and her father was not interested in most things concerning his oldest progeny.
"Toby, I want to go back Underground. There is nothing for me here anymore, except you. But you I can visit. I have always loved Jareth. And now I think it is time for me to go to him and see if he still feels the same way," she told Toby. He nodded in understanding. He knew how she felt about the Underground. It had been ten years, but he still remembered bits and pieces of the castle and its king. He looked around Sarah's old bedroom and sighed.
"Do you know your right words, Toby?" Sarah asked him.
"Yes Sarah. You will come see me sometimes right?" Toby asked her hopefully.
"Toby, I will try my hardest," Sarah said to him. Toby took a deep breath.
"I wish the goblins would come take you away, right now," Toby said quietly. The power went out in the room, and when the door blew open Toby knew who would appear in front of him. The owl flew in and melted into the imposing figure of Jareth, King of the Goblins. His guard dropped as he saw it was Toby who called him. Toby took advantage of his shock.
"Sarah figured it out. I wished her away. I do not want to run the Labyrinth, I only want you to take care of her. She loves you so much she made me send her back. Don't hurt her," Toby said, feeling protective of his only sister. Jareth only nodded as he flew off into the night.
Sarah found herself in the small pit in the middle of the audience room. It looked nothing like it had when she had been here before. All an act, to project what she thought it would look like. The stones were clean and polished, and the furniture was tasteful and elegant. It was well lit, and was very warm.
Sarah smiled as she watched a white owl fly into the room. It settled on the large chair in front of her, and flowed into the form of the only man she had ever loved. She drank in the sight of him. He was wearing the same thing he had worn in the ballroom the last time she had been here. She remembered her manners and curtsied, which was not easy in her favorite jeans.
"Your Majesty, I have come here by way of a wish, but it is I who wished to be taken. I just made my brother say the words. I have been having the same dream every night since I left the Underground. In this dream I am the happiest I have ever been, asleep or awake. In this dream I tell you the thing I am going to tell you now. Jareth, I wanted you, but I had to do what was right. I have loved you ever since the first time I dreamt of you. I told you I would find a way back to you, and I have done it. I never forgot you, just like I promised I wouldn't. Whether you decide to turn me into a goblin or not, I needed to tell you. So I will ask you, does your offer still stand?" Sarah asks defiantly.
Jareth stared at her for a good while, and she held his gaze, as strong as ever. Finally the bright boy spoke up.
"No"
Sarah looked as if her heart would break. Her skin paled, and she started to shake. Jareth took notice and stepped down into the pit with her.
"Sarah, I offered you all that I am. Are you willing to give me everything that you are?" Jareth asked her.
"Everything I was, everything I am, and everything I will be," Sarah responded. And with that, she got down on her knees.
"Your Majesty, I will die without you. I know what I had, and I know what I lost. But if your choice is to turn me away, then I must accept that. But I have pledged my life to you. It is yours to dispose of," Sarah said as tears slid down her cheeks.
"By the Lord and the Lady, your will is as strong and your kingdom as great. You found the way back to me. We shared a dream, and you found the way back. The strongest dreamers are always drawn together," Jareth stated. He then crouched so he was looking her straight in the eyes, "I have thought I might have to walk through the fires of hell to get you back. And yet, here you are, waiting for me to condemn you or save you," Jareth said.
"What will you do, Your Majesty?" Sarah asked him. Jareth picked her up and started to carry her down a long hallway.
"I promised a little boy that I would love you. I promised him I would not hurt you. I promised myself I would make you happy. And I wished and hoped that the Lord and the Lady would see fit to send you back to me. I have you now, Sarah, and I intend to never let you go," Jareth said as he kicked open the doors to his chambers and then kicked them closed.
No, star-crossed lovers they weren't. They were meant to be, no matter what was in the way. Their dream came true. They dreamt it loud, and dreamt it strong, and I heard it. I watched it for years. They did not ignore the premonitions; they did not ignore the visions. They knew a dream was more than it seemed. They found a way back to each other. The strongest of dreamers were always drawn together. And these two were the strongest of them all. I should know, for I am the dreamer of dreams.
a/n: I would like to thank Nugrey for pointing out that I accidentally changed tenses at one point in this story. That has now been corrected. This is my 1st one shot, and I hope all of you like it. Please keep reading and reviewing.