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 , 2005
Chapter Sixteen, Confessions of a Troubled Heart …
Soft candles illuminated the room as three figures appeared from nowhere. Jareth had a listless Sarah clutched tightly to his side and a slumbering Toby in his other arm. Gently he placed Toby on the end of a huge bed as he guided Sarah to sit on the edge. Covering Toby with a corner of the coverlet, he turned and sat down next to Sarah.
She sat there, hands folded into her lap, staring dazedly at the floor. She felt completely numb and cold, as though she would never be warm again. She shivered and something soft settled on her. Looking down, she observed the soft black fabric of a robe wrapped around her, smelling faintly of Jareth. She felt his breath on her cheek and turned into his embrace, still shivering as she tightly clutched the fabric of his shirtfront.
Jareth held her as she clung securely to him. He thought she might cry and he was preparing himself for it. Who wouldn't cry when they lost their parents? 'Everyone except me,' he thought bitterly. But this was different. Sarah was warm and compassionate and able to openly share her feelings when she was comfortable doing so. He was never comfortable doing that before she had come into his life and he had appeared cold and hardhearted to everyone who knew him. To some degree, he was still that person, except with Sarah and Toby.
He suddenly realized she was not crying and he held her slightly away from his body to look into her eyes. He saw the tears there, glittering unshed. He pulled her back into his arms, lightly rubbing her back in slow, comforting circles.
"Let it go," he said gently.
"No," came the firm, bitter reply, the force of it surprising Jareth. "I'm sick of crying. All I've done since you came is cry like a big baby," she said, the disgust in her voice evident.
"Sarah, look at me," he ordered and she looked up, her gaze meeting his. "You and your brother have gone through more, in the less than a day, than any person should have to endure in a lifetime. That has been made even worse for you because I waited so long to come to you. Every tear you have shed has been completely justified."
A few tears fell from her eyes as she blinked rapidly, the numbness easing off for a moment as her heart warmed to his words. "You are the single most amazing person I have ever known or could ever dreamed of knowing," Sarah said, gazing at him in wonder as the tears continued to fall. "You've been so patient and kind and protective and loving. You took care of Toby without a second thought and he just adores you already, even though he barely knows you. I feel so grateful and guilty at the same time."
"Guilty? Why," Jareth asked, surprise evident on his face.
"Because I had no idea until yesterday that you could be this wonderful," she said, green eyes a murkier color with her inner pain. "I fell in love with your Goblin King façade and with my ideas of how you might be. I find myself loving you more than I could have ever imagined as I discover all these new aspects of you. I feel guilty I didn't see all this before and I feel guilty for loving you so much when I should be grieving."
Jareth regarded her seriously. "Sarah, never feel guilty over what you did and did not know about me. Many of the emotions you have seen or sensed recently are very new to me as well. They still take me by surprise, so there is no way you could have known." He took her chin in his hand. "And never feel guilty for loving while grieving. Your parents would not want you to be lonely and unhappy the rest of your life. Your father certainly didn't want that."
"My dad?" Sarah exclaimed softly. "How do you know?"
"Before I woke you, he spoke to me. He wanted to know who I was and I said a friend, but he saw there was much more, so I told him we loved each other. I could sense this pleased him and he asked me to take care of you and Toby. Then I woke you up." He hesitated. He felt compelled to tell her what he had been unable to do for her father. While he knew what had happened was beyond his powers and control, he wasn't sure how she would react. He just could not keep it from her.
Sarah began to cry softly and he almost decided not to say anything, but he finally opened his mouth to speak. "Sarah," he said, bringing her face up to his again. "I have to tell you something that is very hard for me to tell you. I only wish to be honest with you, but I'm afraid this will hurt you. Just know that I love you."
Blinking, Sarah looked back at Jareth, for she did not like the sound of this. It did not sound good and she began to feel afraid.
"Sarah, when I'm in your world, I still have my magic, but it is very limited," he explained quietly. "Your father was in a lot of pain, even with your world's medicines, and I tried to help relieve him of it as much as possible. I believe he understood to some degree what I did, but what I could not do was save his life. Had he been in the Underground, I might have been able to save him, but in your world I could not. If I had tried to transport him here in his greatly weakened condition, he would have died instantly. Either way, there was no way I could stop what happened, although I wanted to with every fiber of my being."
He stopped, staring into her eyes before continuing. His eyes held all the pain, regret and guilt in his heart and he hoped she could see it. "I let you down and I will understand if you cannot forgive me."
She read all the emotions swimming in his eyes and almost felt relief. She had been so afraid he was about to tell her he didn't love her. This admission Sarah could handle, even though she felt her heart crack further at what might have been if her world's magic was not all but nonexistent.
"Jareth, I can't forgive you because there is nothing to forgive. It isn't your fault you couldn't save my dad and I would never blame you for it." Tears began to fall as she whispered, "I'm eternally grateful that you could make his pain less, if only for a little while."
He hadn't realized he had been holding his breath until he released it in a whoosh. Relieved, he kissed her softly on the lips and then pulled her into his arms.
"I want to stay here forever in your arms," she whispered against his chest after several moments had past.
"Then do so. Sarah, stay with me," Jareth coaxed softly, "You and Toby will have everything you need or desire."
"The one and only thing we both want you can't give us," Sarah said sadly. "Besides, I can't stay now. I have to go back and… finish all the arrangements," she continued, her voice soft and sorrowful. "Jareth, there is still things that have to be done, things that will need taken care of, like the funeral and my parent's will." Then she paused and her eyes met his, full of panic. "Oh, dear God."
"What is it? You do not need to decide now about staying," he said worriedly, searching her panicked face.
"Toby," she breathed.
"Sarah, he is fine," he said, glancing to the end of the bed. "See, he is still sleeping."
"That's not what I meant. No one has told him," she said, her voice full of anxiety. "How am I going to tell him? Oh god, what am I going to do? How am I going to take care of him now? What will I do if they won't let me keep him? I can't lose him!" Her voice continued to rise through this tirade until Jareth crushed her to him, making soft shushing sounds as his hand settled warmly on her head, his fingers gentle as they caressed her hair.
"Easy Sarah, easy. For now, forget everything and sleep." As he spoke the words, a warm feeling came over Sarah and she began to feel sleepy.
Jareth held her as her body slackened. Fleetingly he thought about the repercussions of making her forget everything that had happened, but he pushed the thoughts from him. He would deal with the aftermath in the morning and hoped that she would understand.
Holding her close, he drew back the bed covers and laid Sarah on the bed. He waved his hand and the white shirt and jeans shifted into one of his shirts, this one with buttons instead of an open neck. He moved Toby from the end of the bed to the middle next to Sarah and then tucked the bed covers around them both. He walked to the other side of the bed and laid down next to them, a blanket disappearing from a stack on a chair and reappearing over him. Wearily, he turned on his side to face Sarah and Toby, reaching his arm out to encompass them both. Soon, all three were asleep.
As always, please R/R, I would just adore it!