Title: Whispers of Magic
Author: Kathea
Pairing: Jareth/Sarah
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Time will tarnish your memory but some things will never go away even if they are only whispers.
AN: Set at least 10 years after the movie with a very grown up Sarah and a Jareth that hasn't changed one bit.
Disclaimer: This story was written for my entertainment, if by some miracle you were also entertained then I am honored. I obviously make no money from this artistic venture.
Reviews: DavidBowieRules: Yea for you! Probably not a sequel though. Janine: What a positively wonderful review! Thank you so much. Lady of the Labyrinth: I'm sure you look fantastic in lime green. Me, not so much. Best of luck in high school. Demonicsymphony: Well thank you very much for the reviews and congrats.
Previously on Whispers of Magic
Jareth pulled back, out of breath, watching Sarah with careful eyes. Her lips were pink and full, her pupils dilated. She was not the timid woman from earlier in the evening.
"Sarah I don't think…"
"Jareth, shut up." Sarah interrupted him before pulling his mouth back to hers.
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Chapter 11: Beyond Belief
Sarah very seriously thought that her body was on fire. Every nerve tingled and she was positive she could feel her synapses firing. No man had ever made her feel this way or even come close to feeling this way.
Because you were never with the right man, a quiet voice in her mind said.
When Sarah opened her eyes they were no longer standing in the candle-lit ballroom but in the moonlit quiet of her bedroom. She pulled back, startled by the sudden change of locations. Turning her questioning gaze on Jareth, she waited for accustomed smirk and leering glance but instead found only amused interest.
Still locked in his embrace Sarah spoke softly. "I assume that you are going to tell me that you had nothing to do with this."
"Indeed I did not. This was all your doing, my dear." Jareth smiled widely at Sarah's surprise.
"How, pray tell, did I do this? I'm not magical."
"You really think so? What a pity." Jareth replied his eyes clouding over.
"Look, I'm not a little girl anymore that you can take that tone with me."
"Don't you see Sarah?" Jareth said imploringly as he raised his hands up to cup her face. "Magic is not something you are just born with. Magic is in your heart, being in the Underground just unlocked it. It was a gift freely given, not something usually done in the Underground. As you know, everything has a price."
"You mean," Sarah responded tightly. "I could have been in the Underground this whole time? I could have been with you this whole time?"
"Yes, but had you known, it wouldn't have made a difference. You were too young to understand." Sarah watched him skeptically. He was right; had she known at 15 or even 18 that she could have been in the Underground she would have turned it down. But now, given the opportunity, given the choice, what would she do?
"What do you want from me, Jareth?" Sarah asked resignedly.
"The same thing I wanted from you the first time we met." Jareth responded in kind.
"Fear me, love me, do as I say?" Sarah scoffed. "I certainly don't fear you and I definitely don't need a slave."
"You silly girl!" Jareth thundered. "After all this time, you still don't understand. I don't need your fear. But you should be wary of the power of the Labyrinth. I don't want you to be an obedient kitten. I want you to trust me." Jareth raked his hands through his hair and suddenly grabbed Sarah by the shoulders and gave her a little shake. "I've waited for you and loved you as I waited. I love you! What is so hard for you to understand about that?" Jareth punctuated his declaration with a final shake before releasing her.
"Leave me." Sarah said tightly. "Just leave me be."
"As you wish." Jareth said hotly and vanished in a puff of smoke and glitter.
Sarah dropped gracelessly to her bed and curled around the pillows. Her throat was tight with tears and her body tense with unreleased emotions. Despite her best efforts to remain awake and think about the most recent turn of events Sarah's eyes shut of their own accord sending her into her dreams.
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She was back in the Underground, where she first met the Labyrinth. Instead of an old man in robes, a small girl with brown hair and mismatched eyes was seated next to her.
"Who are you?" Sarah stuttered in the silence of the garden.
"You know who I am Sarah." The girl said in a voice rich with meaning.
"But…" Sarah spluttered. "I thought you couldn't send me any more dreams."
"Yes, well you left a rather large loop hole for me. You should really be more careful in what you wish for." Sarah sat shocked. How could this be happening again? "You really hurt his feelings you know."
"Whose feelings?"
"Jareth's."
"Oh." Sarah said abashed. She hadn't meant to hurt him; it was just that she had been overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by what she was feeling, what her heart was telling her, and what he was saying.
"I suppose you want to know why you are here, now?" Sarah mutely nodded her head. "First you must understand. I love Jareth, as much as a magical entity can anyways." The girl plucked at a curl as she chose her next words. "He is as much my master as he is my protector. Without him I would cease to be. On a daily basis I grant wishes but there is only one wish that I have yet to grant."
"Jareth's?"
"Exactly."
"What does he wish for?"
"I can't tell you that!" The girl said with an impish smile. "You are smart though. You could probably figure it out."
"What's the point of this?" Sarah asked tiredly, mentally adding one more strange experience to her life.
"Jareth loves you Sarah." The child said earnestly.
"I know. But what am I supposed to do about it?" Sarah cried. "I don't understand why he loves me! How can I love him back if I don't understand?" Sarah let the tears roll down her face. Little hands reached up to brush them away and held her face tenderly.
"Sarah, if you want the answer to that question then you have to ask Jareth. If you can't love him then tell him so but don't send him away without a reason. You've already broken his heart twice." Sarah looked up into the mismatched eyes, at the face that was suddenly becoming so familiar.
"Wait." Sarah called as the edges of the dream started to deteriorate around her. "What are you? You look familiar."
"Sarah." The little girl said with twinkling eyes. But behind the twinkle, behind the illusion of youth there was ageless knowledge and power. Sarah recoiled then understanding truly what was standing before her. "I am a wish yet to be fulfilled."
The dream collapsed then sending Sarah back to the dark expanse of sleep.
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When Sarah woke the sun was just breaking over the horizon flooding her room with soft amber light. Only a streak of perfectionism had her rising from bed long enough to remove her dress and drape it carefully across a chair. Crawling back into bed Sarah snuggled under her covers until she drifted back to sleep. The harsh light of reality could wait for just a while longer.
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Kara and Kevan were more than elated when Sarah showed up at their house. While their current babysitter was fun, they had sorely missed Sarah. After being thoroughly smothered with kisses, Sarah was able to get inside and into their playroom with both children chattering madly.
"Guys, guys!" Sarah finally broke through their one-sided conversation. Two blonde heads turned to stare at her intently. "I need to talk to you about something…"
When Sarah had realized that she was going back to the Underground, she couldn't say. There wasn't a time that she could pinpoint, a moment that had galvanized her emotions but still she sat there telling the children of her intentions to leave and live in the Underground. They cried, of course, and clung to her. Kevan protested as articulately as a five-year-old could. Kara, during her brother's tirade, watched Sarah carefully.
"Sarah?" Kara asked carefully. "Will this make your heart happy?" How in the world could a five-year-old be so perceptive?
"I think so."
"We want Sarah to be happy, right brother?" Kara asked pinning Kevan with a steely stare. Kevan's eyes flickered back and forth between Sarah and his sister. Finally, bowing to Kara's intimidating will he nodded mutely.
"Guys, remember, I'll still love you not matter where I am." Sarah comforted.
"And you'll send us good dreams?" Kevan asked in a quivering voice.
"Yes, I will. Every night." Sarah replied holding them close. It still took the better part of an hour to calm the children down enough to leave and explain to their parents why she couldn't be a nanny anymore. The moving to Europe story was only a bit specious but they accepted it anyway. Now, all she had to do was contact Jareth, if it were only so simple.
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Sarah paced the length of her couch as she pondered the best way to approach Jareth. He would surely be in the surliest of moods. So, an apology would be the best course of action. That's right, an apology to set things right before asking to move to the Underground. That resounding thought had Sarah pacing even more quickly. Why she was leaving everything to live in a land of magic and myth she still wasn't quite sure of? Except the quiet voice in her head kept reminding her that the Underground was where she was supposed to be. Surely Jareth could understand destiny and fate. Determined to make a decision, make a move before she wore a hole in the carpet Sarah stood her ground and called for him.
"I wish to speak with Jareth." Sarah said in a voice that did not quaver. For just a second nothing happened then suddenly it was as if her living room was in the middle of a maelstrom. Her hair flew about her face and the lights dimmed around her until the room was pitch black. When the storm, for lack of a better word, stopped Jareth was seated before her, watching her from his throne. Throne, Sarah's mind wondered but her eyes confirmed that he had come, throne and all to see her.
"What do you want." Jareth said in a monotone voice.
"I want to apologize." Sarah said in a rush of breath. Jareth only raised one carefully sculpted eyebrow. "I was overwhelmed by…everything. I was wrong to send you away when you were only telling the truth."
"Is that all?" Jareth asked curtly as the magic began to swirl around him. For a second Sarah hesitated. Her mouth just wouldn't work. It wouldn't produce any sound to forestall his leaving. When Jareth was all but a glimmer of glitter the words finally emerged. Sarah lunged towards where he had been sitting.
"Jareth, wait!"
"I do not have time for this, mortal." Jareth's voice thundered and his eyes flashed with anger as he shimmered back into view.
"I want…I want to live in the Underground." Sarah said in a hushed voice.
"You what?" Jareth asked sincerely confused.
"I want to live in the Underground." Sarah repeated in a firm voice and looked straight into Jareth's eyes.
"Why?" Jareth asked in a supercilious tone.
"Because, I don't know, it's just seems like that's where I'm supposed to be. Something inside of me keeps saying that it's a part of my future. Like I'd be incomplete if I wasn't there. And you are there." Sarah finished quietly. Sarah looked carefully away as the silence stretched between them. He was going to say no, she just knew it. Sarah startled and looked up when the toes of polished black boots appeared in her field of vision.
"Sarah, I can not grant you passage to the underground. You know I can only take those wished away."
"But I…"
"You don't need me to get there. You know that. You have all the power you need to take you to the Underground." Jareth's soft gloved hand brushed across her pale cheek.
"I didn't think you'd want me…there."
"You do remember last night, don't you?" Jareth asked with a glint in his eyes.
"Yes." Sarah answered slowly.
"I didn't change my mind in the mean time." Jareth said smugly. Sarah stepped out of his reach and began to shake her head.
"Why on earth do you love me? It doesn't make any sense at all." Gloved hands stilled her wildly waving arms.
"I love you because you believe, Sarah." Jareth's quite voice filtered into her chaotic mind. "I love you because you refuse to be anybody but you. Even at 15 you knew who you were. You have an inner strength that astounds me."
"I…I don't know what to say."
"You could return the sentiment." Jareth replied.
"I just didn't understand why you could love me. Why you would want to love me. I understand now." Sarah looked up at Jareth with luminous eyes. "I love you Jareth. I've loved you since I was fifteen. None of that has changed." Jareth swept her into his arms when she finished speaking. There was no room for thought as Sarah melted into him and their tongues swirled together. The feeling returned; it felt like her soul was on fire.
When the need for oxygen finally overwhelmed her, Sarah pulled back to gaze at Jareth with clouded eyes.
"Jareth, how do I get to the Underground? Oh my, where will I live?" Sarah said realizing what her decision meant.
"It is quite simple. A piece of cake actually." Jareth said smartly, throwing old words back at her. "Just think of where you want to be. It's all you ever needed to do. And I would be honored if you would stay with me."
"Forever?" Sarah questioned with a smile.
"It's not that long at all." Jareth finished.
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Sarah shot straight up in bed. Silver sheets puddle around her waist and the cool air prickled her bare skin.
"I figured it out." Sarah said suddenly. Jareth turned over and reached to brush fingertips across her bare breast.
"What's that my love?" He said in a husky voice. Sarah swatted his hand away and scooted towards him.
"I figured out what your wish is. It was really quite easy. The Labyrinth was right. I don't know why I didn't think of it before." At the mention of the Labyrinth Jareth propped himself up on one elbow.
"And how exactly did you reach this revelation." Jareth asked narrowing his eyes.
"Well, the Labyrinth came to me in a dream and told me that I hurt you and that you loved me, blah blah. And I thought she…"
"She?"
"Yes, a little brown haired girl with mismatched eyes. Anyway, she said that she was a wish yet to be fulfilled. I asked whose and she said yours. It didn't make sense at the time but now it does."
"I'm gonna wring her little…" Jareth snarled.
"I don't know about that. I'm not opposed to helping fulfill a wish, especially this one." Sarah said and slid her body over Jareth's and they both forgot about the Labyrinth.
THE END
AN: Whew. I wasn't sure this story was ever gonna finish itself. It took four rewrites to get this chapter done and I appreciate all the patience. I know I didn't mention her conversations with her family but let's all assume that she explained something to them. Also, this is my standard disclaimer about sex, I do not condone casual or unprotected sex. If you aren't mature enough to face the possible consequences then don't mess around. If you are mature enough, then rock on. I'm taking a break from writing for a bit while I'm in classes. You might see a one-shot every now and then but I'm waiting for a bit on another big story.