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 Seventeen, A Time of Forgetting…
"Sarah… Saarrraaahhh… Come on, wake up."
Someone was shaking Sarah and calling to her. She opened her eyes sleepily to find a set of bright blue eyes directly in front of her. Groggily, she looked down at the black sheets and coverlet on her, then around at the huge bed with the black canopy and curtains. Looking beside her, she found the sleeping form of the blonde man at her side and smiled, remembered hazily where she was. She didn't really recall how she had gotten there.
Drawing her eyes from Jareth, who continued to sleep on his side with one hand resting on her, she looked down and was shocked to find herself wearing one of Jareth's shirts instead of her own shirt and jeans. She relaxed a bit when she pulled out the neckline to see she still had her bra and underwear on and thankfully, this shirt had buttons that covered everything important instead of the deep open neck that would reveal everything. She was kept from worrying further over her clothes by Toby's voice.
"Sarah," he said softly and insistently, in an attempt to not wake Jareth. He bounced slightly as his straddled her knees.
"What?" she whispered back at him, taking her eyes from Jareth to look at Toby.
"I have to go the bathroom and I don't know where it is," he said.
"Oh, ok. Well, let's try that door over there," she said, sliding out of bed and pointing to a single door across the room. She grabbed Toby's hand and crossed the room to the ebony door and pushed it open gently. Beyond, she discovered a giant black marble tub with no faucets. 'No plumbing,' she thought, coming further into the room. She located what looked like a toilet next to a black marble pedestal sink and walked closer. On further inspection, she found it to be similar to one she was used to – it even held water although there was no tank - and breathed a sigh of relief. She had been afraid it would resemble a campground toilet.
"Go ahead, Toby, I'll wait outside," she said.
She walked to the door and went outside, closing it behind her. She looked around the room while she waited. The room was dark in theme and she knew it instinctively belonged to Jareth. There was a set of tall ebony double doors on the wall to her left and along the same wall, angled into the corner, was the ebony canopied bed. In the far right corner there was a huge, wide ebony fireplace from which embers glowed, bringing a slight warmth to the morning chill of the room. An overstuffed sofa, two chairs in a muted black fabric and a low ebony table surrounded it on a carpet of black with golden threads woven in it. On the wall to her right were high arched windows, covered with a sheer black fabric that fluttered softly in the morning breeze. Beneath them sat a large ebony writing desk and chair. To the right of the bathroom door she stood in front of, there was a long, enormously sized ebony wardrobe that she assumed contained Jareth's clothes. A thirteen-hour clock, also in ebony, said it was eight-thirty and she assumed by the light that it was early morning. Glancing at the watch on her wrist, she noticed the digital readout said two thirty in the afternoon. She had almost forgotten about the different times between here and home.
"Sarah," Toby called out.
She opened the door a crack and whispered in, "What?"
"There's no flusher in here!" he said loudly in shock.
A soft chuckle close to her ear made her turn around. Jareth stood before her, his normally wild hair even more pronounced from sleeping as he yawned widely before smiling at her. 'If anything, it makes him look even more gorgeous,' she found herself thinking with an anticipatory shiver.
He paused to give her a quick kiss and whisper, "Good morning, my love," before he entered the bathroom. She watched him lean down to Toby and whisper in his ear. She saw Toby scrunched his face up, eyes tightly closed before his disappeared beyond her view. She heard a squeal of amusement as the sound of running water reached her.
"That was neat," the little boy cried as he came barreling back out the door and wrapped his arms around Sarah's waist. "Sarah, you should have seen it! I thought about it flushing and it did! Then, I thought about the water in the sink and it appeared!" He then became distracted by the rest of the bedroom, looking around with wide eyes. "A fireplace!" he yelled excitedly, scampering off across the room.
Jareth came to stand next to Sarah, wrapping one arm around her waist. "He is certainly easily amused," he said, laughing.
"Yes, he is," she said, turning her head to smile at him. She felt relaxed and comfortable standing with him this way, as though they did this everyday. Except… they had never done this before, that she could remember. She was finding it difficult to recall things right now, such as where her new clothing had come from. Her thoughts drawn back to her clothing, or more accurately, lack of clothing, she looked down at herself and frowned slightly.
"I feel fuzzy, like I have cotton brain. I'm having a hard time remembering things. How exactly did this," she said, gesturing to the shirt that covered her to her knees, "happen, Jareth? Did we…?" The question trailed of unfinished. Toby was with them, they couldn't have done what she was thinking.
His tone was reassuring. "I promise it was completely innocent, Sarah. A simple switch to sleep in, nothing revealed and nothing happened. I thought you would be more comfortable that way. Did you sleep well?"
"Amazingly, yes. What did you do, feed me a drugged peach last night?" she said, her relief allowing her to tease him with a wicked grin.
"Unfortunately not," he said, returning her wicked smile with a wolfish one of his own. "I am pleased you enjoyed the sleep and perhaps I will consider the peach next time," he finished with a faint wink, clearly enjoying the easy banter about something that had once been not amusing in the slightest.
"Incorrigible flirt," she murmured with a smile. "So what did you do? I haven't slept like that in years."
"I cast a dreamless version of the sleep spell for you so you could rest." He frowned slightly. "Sarah, I do need to talk to you about the 'fuzzy' feeling you were having, it is because…"
Sarah's stomach growled loudly, interrupting him, and she flushed pink. Jareth laughed and produced a crystal from the air, what he was about to say momentarily forgotten. Speaking into it he said sternly, "Bring up food and drink for a breakfast for three. The guest food, is that clear?" Then he tossed the crystal into the air and it exploded into a shower of glitter.
"Do it again," Toby demanded as he caught the sight of the glitter and ran back over to them.
Jareth laughed at the order. "Why don't you try it?" he asked as he produced another crystal and placed it gently into Toby's palm. Toby grinned up at Jareth, turning the crystal in his hand slowly, seeing faint misty images. He finally tossed it high into the air, watching with delight as the shower of glitter came back down.
"That was cool," Toby said. "Were people inside it when I did that?" he asked, looking suddenly worried.
"No, the crystals only show things, such as people." he reassured Toby. "They do not contain them. Besides, if they did, they would not be stuck inside if one was dissolved or broken."
Sarah snorted, raising her eyebrows at him. From past experience, Sarah knew quite clearly he was mixing truth with statements that weren't entirely true. After all, she had been inside one that she had broken, after all. She caught Jareth's gaze as he looked up at the sound she had made and he looked very much like Toby did when he was caught telling a fib. She laughed and he gave her a wry smile as someone knocked on the door. He went to the double doors and opened one, going outside. He returned, carrying a tray laden with bowls, jugs and covered platters. Placing it on the low table in front of the fireplace, he began removing covers to reveal bacon and eggs and fluffy items that looked like pancakes. There was a myriad of fruit in the bowls, as well as tall jugs of what looked to be milk, juice and water next to empty crystal goblets and a stack of bare plates.
"Oh, wow!" Toby cried, running over to the table to look at the food. "Come look at this. All of my favorites!" Sarah joined them in front of the fireplace, looking over the food as another loud rumble erupted from her stomach. Toby giggled, placing his head up against Sarah's belly to listen to the noises her stomach was making.
"Sarah, you should hear this!" Toby exclaimed, giggling even more. "It sounds like something is alive in there!" Sarah playfully shoved the little boy away and he grabbed some bacon from one of the plates. She grabbed a piece of bacon as well as she sat down, taking a small bite as she instantly closed her eyes.
"Yum," she muttered as a look of pleasure washed over her features. "This is excellent," she said to Jareth before eating the rest of it and grabbing another.
"I am glad you approve," he said, coming to stand next to her. He then leaned down, his mouth close to her ear. "Sarah," he said softly. "After breakfast we do need to talk."
"Ok. Right now I want to eat, so hand me a plate," she ordered playfully and he laughed down at her as he straightened and turned to the stack of plates. She grabbed the proffered plate and began to load it with food. She hadn't been so ravenous in such a long time.
"Wow, Sarah," Toby said, looking at her plate as she filled it. "You never eat that much!"
Sarah flushed slightly. "Oh, this was supposed to be yours, Toby. I'm hungrier than I thought, I guess," she laughed, regarding the shocked child and highly amused man staring back at her.
She put the filled plate down, but before she could reach for another plate for Toby, he had already handed a plate to Jareth and began instructing him on how to fill it. She watched the exchange with amusement as she settled back against the couch with her plate set on her lap.
She watched Jareth fill three goblets, two with juice and one with milk, handing the milk to Toby. He then settled back against the couch with a large apple in one hand and a fork in the other. He handed the fork to her and then lazily draped his arm across her shoulders. She shifted so her shoulder was resting against his chest, thanked him sweetly and began to eat.
She was content and happy, two feelings she had not had in a long time. She watched Toby blissfully consume his breakfast, chattering around mouthfuls of food about his stay with Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo. She could feel the motion of Jareth's breathing against her shoulder and the vibrations of his chuckles as he listened to Toby. She closed her eyes momentarily, hardly believing this moment was occurring. This time yesterday she was sure she would never see the blonde again and now the three of them sat eating breakfast. She was everlastingly grateful that he was now with her and the past three years would become just a distant memory.
She leaned forward, picking up her goblet of fruit juice and putting it to her lips to drink.
"Sarah, can Mommy and Daddy come here? I want to show them the magic bathroom," Toby said.
'Mom and Dad?' she thought and the fuzzy feeling that had been with her all morning suddenly cleared from her head as last night's events came rushing back. She dropped the crystal goblet, the contents spilling onto the black and gold carpet as the glass shattered.
Jareth cursed violently to himself. This was definitely not how he wanted her to remember. He was worried earlier she would be very upset and he had wanted to take her from Toby's sight to remind her and explain why he chose to make her forget for a short time. Then they would be able to face Toby together and tell him everything. He could see that plan was now completely ruined.
Sarah fought back the sob that welled up as Toby looked at her and she felt her anger start to slowly boil. She was certain this was Jareth's doing, even though she could not believe he would hurt her in this way by making her forget her parents like this. She was angry with herself for forgetting, but she was even angrier with him for doing it. She felt betrayed that he had done it without even considering her feelings, for he had to have known how much pain this moment would cause.
"What's wrong?" Toby asked her worriedly.
"Nothing kiddo," she said, her tone deceptively light. "I just remembered something I forgot," she said, shooting Jareth a withering glare, hurt etched on her face. "Finish up your breakfast, I need to speak to Jareth for a minute."
She rose, glaring down at the man looking worriedly up at her. Her grief at the remembrance of her parents' loss fought with her anger at being made to forget. The anger won. "Can I speak with you for a second, your highness," she said, angrily grating out the last two words.
He nodded as she turned on her heel and walked away from the sitting area. He waved his hand, making the glass shards and juice disappear and rose from the couch. Before he could turn, a resounding boom filled the room. He knew without glancing that it came from the double doors.
"You did something bad, didn't you," Toby said solemnly as he looked from the now closed door to Jareth.
'Bad does not even begin to encompass this,' he thought worriedly, but said, "Yes, Toby."
"I knew it. She isn't mad a lot, but when she is..." Toby shivered dramatically, "she's really scary. You should say sorry."
"I intend to," he said softly, turning toward the door. He only hoped she would hear him out before yelling at him - or worse.
As always, thank you to my reviewers, I will be making use of that nifty reply feature FFN provides from now on, instead of listing them here, so please R/R, I would just adore it!