Ch 36

The hours flew by, and before Sarah knew it, it was time to leave. She was disappointed; she'd ended up truly liking Merelinda, and she was enjoying their visit. But Merelinda had other things she needed to do, and regretfully, she told them she had to end the visit.

"Thank you both so much for coming," Merelinda said to them as they stood up. To Sarah, she said, "I'm glad I had the chance to meet you, and I hope we continue to be friends."

"I'd like that," Sarah told her. "I had a good time today, thanks for having us." Merelinda gave Sarah another hug, then hugged Jareth. He gave her a small kiss on the cheek. "It was lovely seeing you, as always. You'll be attending Bayron's wedding tomorrow, won't you?""

"I wouldn't miss it," Merelinda smiled. "I'll call Mariella to lead you two back to the surface." Merelinda concentrated for a moment, then produced two silver seashells, just like Mariella had. With a quick toss, the shells transformed into the waterproof shields once more.

Mariella appeared at the doorway. "Are you two ready to go?" They nodded, and with a final good-bye to Merelinda, they headed back into the sea.

They swam quickly through the city, and as just as they were reaching the city limits, Sarah saw something out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh shit!" she cried as she realized what it was. What looked like a giant brown snake was quickly gliding through the water, straight towards them. "What the hell is that?"

She swam quickly to get closer to Jareth.

"It's a sea serpent," Mariella, eyeing the creature cautiously. It had slowed down, and was now lazily circling around them. "Don't worry, they're usually harmless."

"Usually?" Sarah asked worriedly. It was just her luck. She hated snakes with a passion, and now she was about to get eaten by a giant one. Couldn't anything here just go well?

Luckily, the sea serpent seemed to lose interest in them, and it drifted away, soon disappearing into the depths of the sea.

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the retreating creature. "Thank god," she said softly. Jareth heard her and smiled reassuringly.

"I told you they're harmless," Mariella said with a grin.

"Yeah, well, with my luck lately, I was sure it was going to have me for lunch," Sarah said, making Mariella laugh.

The rest of their trip to the surface was blessedly uneventful, and soon they emerged from the water, their bubbles popping. Mariella stayed in the water. "It was good to see you again, Jareth. And it was nice to meet you," she said to Sarah. With a quick wave, she dove under the water and quickly disappeared down below.

Sarah glanced around the shore, and saw their two horses calmly munching on some grass. Jareth looked at her. "I told you they'd be fine." She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed at the expression on his face. It felt good to be goofy; she'd been so tense before meeting Merelinda, and it felt good to let that tension go.

Jareth ran after her, and caught her up in his arms. Laughing, they fell to the ground, wrapped in each other's arms. They lay next to each other, staring up at the clouds, and just enjoying being with each other. After a few passionate kisses, Jareth regretfully pulled away. "It's time to be heading back, love."

She sighed, not wanting to get up; it was so peaceful out here, and she was enjoying herself. But Jareth grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet. He gave her one more kiss, then helped her mount her horse. Jareth climbed up onto his own horse, and then they were off, galloping through the countryside.

By the time they reached the castle, it was early evening. Sarah waited while Jareth settled the horses back in their stable, then they headed inside for dinner.

Once again, Julie and Bayron were seated at the table when they walked in.

"Perfect timing," Bayron said with a grin. He and Jareth fell into conversation, leaving Julie staring at Sarah expectantly.

"Well?" she asked impatiently.

"Well what?" Sarah replied innocently, knowing full well that Julie wanted all the details of her visit to Merelinda.

"Stop being an ass and tell me how it went!" Julie was definitely back to her old self.

"It was a lot better than I expected," Sarah told her. "I actually wound up liking Merelinda a lot. And guess what? Merelinda is going to become the new queen next week instead of next month, so Jareth and I can get married even sooner!"

"Hey, that's great, Sar!" Julie said, flashing her friend a smile. "Now, I'm not trying to steal your thunder or anything, but I am getting married tomorrow, and I'd like to talk to my best friend about it!"

Sarah felt guilty for not asking about Julie's wedding sooner, and she gladly turned her attention over to her friend. Throughout dinner, the two women discussed every last detail of the wedding. Although having attendants wasn't usually done in Underground weddings, Julie was adamant about having Sarah as her maid of honor, and Bayron had said it was okay.

"We were hoping Jareth would agree to marry us," Julie said, glancing at Jareth.

"I already asked him," Bayron said with a grin. "He said he'd gladly marry us, as long as I return the favor for him and Sarah."

Julie was glad Jareth had agreed, because she knew it meant a lot to Bayron. "Thanks, Jareth," she told him.

"You're most welcome," he replied with a grin, then he and Bayron continued their conversation.

Julie looked at Sarah. "So when are you going to plan everything about your wedding?"

"Well," Sarah mused, "I suppose we'd better get everything taken care of soon, we only have a week! We've already talked a lot about what we want, and I think we should have everything worked out. But for now, let's just concentrate on getting you married- I never in a million years thought I'd see you walk down the aisle! This is so exciting."

Julie's eyes were shining. "I know, I never thought I'd get married either. But there was just something about him…he completely swept me off my feet, and I love him with all my heart."

They continued discussing Julie's wedding until dinner was over. Then Julie and Bayron retired to their room, claiming to have a lot to talk about, but Sarah knew better. She laughed as they practically ran down the hall, their arms around each other. She was truly glad her friend had found someone to make her so happy.

Sarah and Jareth decided to turn in early; they were both exhausted after their trip underwater today, and Sarah wanted to get plenty of rest for Julie's big day tomorrow. Sarah and Jareth cuddled under the blankets, and they started to drift off to sleep quickly. Sarah's last thought before she fell asleep was that she couldn't wait until it was her big day, and she fell asleep with a smile on her face.