Chapter VI

Very much drained, Jareth lifted his head with the realization that she was, once again, dreaming.

It was sheer insanity on his part to go so far as to touch her the last time, but there was nothing he could do to stop himself.

Having her come so near to his dream self, come on her own volition, and not be able to recognize him, brainwashed by her minds own images of time running out, which it apparently associated with him, was horribly painful.

Not hearing the words, the meaning behind his song was an even deeper cut.

In near despair, he tried to touch her. Surprisingly, even for himself, he realized he could. It meant that there was a slight chance that she had not locked the door to her mind, but merely closed it.

But Jareth was too weak to think of that now, their last meeting having stolen most of the little strength still left in him. Her violent reaction, though normal for her, threw him off balance completely, and he could not get up now.

Seeing her was a lot more painful than he had though it would be – and her inability to remember anything nearly lost him all hope of getting through.

Yet, she had loosened her tight hold on her mind once more, and Jareth could not hold out, as he knew he should. He needed to wait at least another two days in aboveground time before attempting to enter her dreaming again, but he could not stop himself a second time.

He focused on her, catching some of her last positive thoughts.

Almost without realizing, he started his song, and this time, he could no longer consciously control the stream of images that Sarah's thoughts had spawned. They came from within him and took their own course, weaving the human and the fae into their web, linking them with myriads of the most fragile connections imaginable, nearly imperceptible, yet pulsing with enough magic to pull both into the abyss of dream…

I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand…
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand…

I dream of fire…
Those dreams that tie two hearts that will never die…
And near the flames
The shadows play in the shape of the man's desire…

As he sang, Sarah could see the images careening through his mind, uninhibited by anything logical or calculated – a pure fire that was burning him just as much as it was burning her.

She watched her own images emerge in his dream and could not control them, either.

It frightened her.

This desert rose
Whose shadow bears the secret promise
This desert flower
No sweet perfume would torture me more than this

And now she turns
This way she moves in the logic of all my dreams
This fire burns
I realize that nothing's as it seems

That last phrase caused an unpleasant jolt of memory somewhere in her mind, and something rebellious came to the surface of her emotions.

I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand

She reached her hand out to the fleeting images, but could not stop them from spinning.


I dream of rain
I lift my gaze to empty skies above
I close my eyes
The rare perfume is the sweet intoxication of love

She was breathing heavily now, gasping for air, as the power of his song inundated her, intoxicated, even. She could not even concentrate on what he was saying, caught in mid-faint by the impossibility of their united dreamscape.


I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand

Sweet desert rose
whose shadow bears the secret promise
This desert flower
No sweet perfume would torture me more than this

Jareth was no less affected. What he sang was what he saw and felt in his dream, and his lack of control over himself allowed pent-up and locked-away emotions to break through and overwhelm him, filling his mind and heart.

He was living out his fantasies, as others had so often lived out theirs through him.

But it was all entirely too much for him, and he was slipping out of consciousness, not strong enough to even realize it.

It was at that moment, that Sarah recognized her dream visitor as Jareth, waking suddenly and in a panic to the last words of his song.

Sweet desert rose
This memory of hidden hearts and souls
This desert flower
This rare perfume is the sweet intoxication of love…