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 Eighteen, The Fight…
The minute the door closed behind Jareth, Sarah turned all her anger on him.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" she stormed, pacing back and forth in front of him. "I know you did this, what I don't know is how. And why? No, first I want to know how," she yelled, placing her hands on her hips as she glared violently up at him.
He was not used to anyone yelling at him this way and for a moment he felt anger rise, but he swiftly beat it down. He would not allow himself to become cold and superior with her because she had every right to be angry with him. He realized belatedly he had not asked her what she wanted and had made the grieving process much worse for her by making her relive all of that when she remembered. If he were in her place, he would be angry as well. He just needed to get her to understand why he did it.
"Sarah," he began softly, gently placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Don't. You. Touch. Me," she bit out softly, menacingly. She could not let him touch and kiss his way to an apology, she had to make him realize the pain and guilt he had caused her when she realized she had forgotten her parents. She needed him to understand he could not just do what he wanted, especially with magic, as she was powerless to stop him.
The tone surprised Jareth, as he had never seen her this angry with her whole body emanating fury. 'She's intimidating,' he thought wildly, choking back a laugh of surprise that he actually felt ever so slightly intimidated by her. Now was certainly not the time for a laugh, or for admiring the fire practically consuming her eyes, turned a bright green with the force of her emotions.
"Sarah, I'm sorry," he began softly, "I placed a dreamless sleep on you last night, which was to help you forget. I… I tried to tell you earlier, but we were interrupted and I put it off."
"Why?" she whispered bitterly. "Why would you do that to me? How could you do that to me?"
"Because I love you, Sarah. You were exhausted, physically and emotionally, and I thought it was the only way to help you." He looked down at her, so full of such a rare thing in him – apology – that, for a moment, she felt her anger crack. But that did not change the fact that he had not asked her and he had just done as he wished without any thought to how she would feel.
He was sure his heart was going to shatter at the look on her face. She looked so angry and hurt and on the verge of tears that it was terrifying to him. He was actually afraid she might tell him to leave her sight forever and his second chance would be lost.
Sarah couldn't quell her anger, with him or herself, and she lashed out. "By forgetting them? I never thought you were capable of such idiocy." As soon as she had said it, she wished she could take it back.
At the insult, Jareth's temper flared. He was not use to controlling it and before he could stop them, the words fell from his mouth. "You forget who you are speaking to," he thundered, his voice like ice as one hand clamped like a vise around her upper arm. It did not hurt her, but it did fan the flames of her anger. "You would do well not to speak to me like that again."
With her free hand, she attempted to slap him across the face, but he was quick enough to catch her wrist.
"You brutal bastard," she spat. "If you ever touch me or talk to me again like that, you'll regret it." Even though she was angry and hurt, she had not meant what she said, so she had been ready to apologize for her remark. That was, until he had grabbed her and spoke to her that way. The tone and touch had been enough to stoke her anger even more and make her lash out.
He released her and they both stood staring at one another, eyes ablaze with angry fire. Their breathing labored, they continued to stare for what seemed to be ages, two hotly tempered individuals in a battle of wills before their anger began to cool and they attempted to speak at the same time.
"Sarah, I'm sorry I…"
"Jareth, I'm sorry I…"
"No, Sarah, let me go first," he said as he hesitantly reached for her. She stepped into his embrace, resting her face against his chest as he spoke. He buried his face in her hair, breathing deeply in relief. He had come very close to losing her for the second time and he never wanted it to happen again.
"My sweet Sarah," he murmured, "I am sorry I grabbed you and spoke to you like that. It was out of line and I would never hurt you intentionally."
"But apparently I would," she whispered in a lost-sounding voice. She felt truly awful because her anger had been as much at herself as him. "I'm so sorry I almost hit you. I'm a terrible person."
"No, you are not and never say that again," he ordered softly, his breath displacing strands of hair upon her head. "I provoked you and the fault is entirely mine," he said firmly.
"We're certainly quite the pair, aren't we?" she said, the words muffled against his shirt.
"What do you mean?" he asked, pulling her chin up gently with his hand, somewhat surprised at the small smile of her face.
"We both let our awful tempers have free rein and then we fall over each other apologizing." Her smile widened a bit as he laughed softly. "At least our lives will never be boring. And now," he continued, his thumb gently tracing the underside of her bottom lip, "is there anyway you will ever forgive me for making you forget?" He tried not to look anxious for her answer but she could see it in his eyes.
"Jareth, I think I understand why you did it, but I'm still upset. You didn't ask me if I wanted to forget, you just did it. I feel like you betrayed me, like you were trying to keep me from something, just like the last time you pulled this magic sleep business. Do you know how helpless I feel when faced with the fact you could do any damn thing you want with your magic and I can't stop you?" The tears began to fall as she continued. "Do you know how much it hurts to know I forgot about them?"
He felt loathing for himself for causing the sight before him. His magic was so much a part of him that he usually did not think twice about using it. He had never stopped to think how Sarah might feel about the fact he had so much power at his disposal when she had nothing. 'But I would never used it to harm her,' he thought, but then realized, however unintentionally, he had done that by making her to have to go through the loss all over again. He had to be more careful with his magic use or he would scare her away.
"Oh Sarah," he said with a sigh. "I had no idea I had made you feel that way. Please know I would never do anything with my magic to hurt you. I did not intend to hurt you this time, I just wanted to help you. You were so exhausted and overwhelmed by all you had to do, and you were panicking over Toby. I just wanted you to get enough rest to be able to deal with all of it. I am sorry I caused you more pain instead of lessening it." He kissed her forehead and looked deeply into her eyes. "If you can not forgive me, I truly understand. Just know that I love you and I did it because of that."
'Oh, to hell with avoiding kiss and touch apologies,' she thought wildly and suddenly kissed him, almost throwing him off balance with the force. He returned her kiss, finding her lips salty from her tears. He savored her taste greedily before she drew back.
"I forgive you. I find I can't stay mad at you, even when I want to," she said with a small smile. "Now please forgive me. I was just as mad at myself for forgetting as I was at you for doing the spell, but I took it all out on you when you have been nothing but wonderful to Toby and I. I love you so much, Jareth."
"Sarah, you could not help forgetting," he said, shaking his head gently. "I won't forgive you because there is nothing to forgive."
"Please?" she asked urgently.
He relented, knowing she had done nothing wrong but also knowing she would not let this rest. "I forgive you," he said with a sigh against her temple.
She felt relief at his words and was able to relax against him. They stood silently for several minutes until a small hand touched Sarah, startling her. She looked down and found Toby looking up at her.
"Sarah? Are you ok?" he asked, his small features etched with worry.
"Yep, I'm fine," she said, holding his hand in her own.
"Did Jareth say he was sorry?" he asked her before turning to look at Jareth.
"Yes, I did," Jareth said, dropping to his knee when Toby tugged on his hand to draw him down.
"Good," he said, then added in a whisper, "told you she was scary when she was mad."
"Hey," Sarah said, tugging on his ear. "I heard that." She swung Toby up into her arms as he giggled.
Toby twined his hands in her long hair. "Sarah, I miss Mommy and Daddy. Can we bring them here?"
She kissed his cheek as her heart sank into her gut. She could not put this off any longer. "Toby, we're going to go back in the room. I have something to tell you."
Please R/R, I would just adore it!