Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the movie Labyrinth. You know the rest of the drill.
Your Eyes
Story by Jessica Arbuckle (Jessi, Princess of Impatience)
June to possibly August, 2005
Chapter Eight, A Truth Revealed…
"Dear child," Jareth laughed softly, "You did not defeat me."
"Yes, I did, I won fair and square," she said, feeling and sounding a bit childish as she yanked her hand from his grasp. "And don't call me a child!"
Jareth roared with laughter at the remark and the look that graced her face, a look reminiscent of the moment he had changed the rules by altering the clock's time in the tunnel outside the oubliette. Sarah raised her hand in an attempt to swat him for laughing, but he was quicker and captured her hand in his.
He laughed unrestrained as he had not since she had left his world. Bringing his mirth under control to continue, he gently stroked the back of her hand with a finger, gazing into her eyes as he continued. "Sweet Sarah, you did indeed defeat the Labyrinth. The Esher Room was the last of our game. I created it from your own mind as the final obstacle of your journey, but when you took that leap of faith to reach Toby, you won," Jareth said, amusement still in his voice.
Sarah looked at him with confusion in her eyes. "Then what were those last moments about if they weren't the end of my journey?"
"Us and only us," he whispered solemnly as understanding dawned in her eyes and she muttered a soft, "oh."
He pulled her against him and buried his face in her hair. "I was offering you myself, not as an alternative to winning, but in addition to winning. I was offering the crystal only in order to show you there was something inside you that could love me. I realized soon after that you were perhaps too young, and much too focused on your goal, to know your own heart. I accepted that you needed more time, but I was too arrogant at the time to take your words as anything but a rejection." He sighed heavily.
"Jareth, I really had no idea. I only uttered the words because I knew I had to save Toby. At the time I spoke them, I did mean the words when I said you had no power over me, but I only meant them as rivals in a game. I thought I had defeated you, and that pleased me, but later it just killed me inside when I thought I had defeated your feelings for me." She sighed against his chest, her breath making the opening of his shirt ruffle softly.
"My pride was defeated, certainly, but I was not defeated. My soul ached for you and my heart was broken, but eventually I came to realize you were right. I had no power over you because you had not come to feel the same for me," he said softly, rubbing his cheek gently against the top of her head.
"But now?" Sarah asked as she pulled back with a wicked smile.
"Ahh, wicked girl, now you are completely under my control," he said with a wolfish grin, the promise of all her desires fulfilled shining in his eyes, and tilted his mouth to capture hers in another kiss.
Downstairs, a pounding noise began and the doorbell rang out in the house, breaking apart the kiss before it had barely begun.
"Who could that be?" Sarah said to herself, then turned to Jareth and said, "it can't be my parents. I convinced them they needed some time just for them, so they left for a weekend stay at a resort and won't be back until the day after tomorrow. I should go answer it."
With that, she extracted herself from his arms, turned and flipped her legs over one of his to get off the bed. Jareth paused her with a strong grip on her arm.
"I should go, it might not be safe," he said in a commanding tone.
"Jareth, it is fine. Armed robbers," she continued, glancing to the alarm clock by her bed where the black hands pointed to 11:35, "do not usually rob well-lit, occupied houses before midnight and they certainly do not ring doorbells."
"I suppose not," he sighed, releasing her arm. He watched her get off the bed and walk towards the door. He desperately did not want her out of his sight so he stood up from the bed as she reached for the robe resting on the handle.
She turned to him with a smile as she opened the door, her robe in hand. "More than likely, it really is someone with the wrong house number, so I should be back in a second. I have no intention of losing any more time together now that you are here."
She reached for him, her hand outstretched and he walked quickly to her side. He gathered her close, not wanting to release her. She returned his embrace gladly, reluctant to leave.
"Would you please stay here and listen for Toby in case he wakes up," she asked. "Just put him back to sleep – you can tell him you are a friend of mine from school."
"Perhaps I'll tell him who I really am," he said with a grin, then claimed her mouth in a kiss to replace the one the person downstairs had interrupted, muffling the sound of her protest against his lips as his mouth played gently over hers. Her protests stopped and she kissed him back with a sweet seductiveness.
As they kissed in her open doorway, a small boy watched them intently from the hallway.
a/n: As always, please R/R, I would just adore it!