The Way Forward Is Sometimes The Way Back:

Sequel to Labyrinth

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form own Labyrinth, its characters, its scenes, or quotes. They all belong to the geniuses Jim Henson, George Lucas, David Bowie, Brian Froud, Dennis Lee, Terry Jones, & Trevor Jones. I only own this fanfic storyline and the characters I made up (if I make up any).

Note: Just a reminder, Sarah and Jareth are going to have flashbacks to Labyrinth throughout this fanfic, so their flashbacks, which will be a flashback of images, sounds, or both, with be written in Bold and Italics like this…

Note: There will be some graphic, vivid descriptions of illness (epilepsy), so for those that are excessively sensitive or faint of heart, read at your own risk…

Chapter Eight: But I'll Be There for You… As the World Falls Down…

As time went on, Jareth and Sarah's almost passion episode was forgotten. Jareth and Sarah continued to spend more and more time together. It was becoming obvious to Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, Sagira, and Midori that Sarah and Jareth were slowly but surely falling in love. True love. Almost a year had gone by and eventually, everyone, every goblin and every creature in the Underground knew about Sarah and Jareth's love.

Sarah and Jareth were doing everything together, eating together, going horseback riding together… Jareth had actually begun a theater at Sarah's request and Sarah would put on plays and shows for Jareth and the goblins, with some to the other goblins assisting her and acting with her in the plays.

A few days after weeks of performances, Sarah postponed the following shows to take a break. Jareth ordered a fabulous dinner be made after Sarah's announcement.

Jareth pushed Sarah's chair in for her and took his seat across from her. "So, be honest, how glad are you to be postponing the shows?" Jareth said, raising an eyebrow.

As some goblins brought the main courses, Sarah let out a relieved sigh and couldn't hide a smile from Jareth, "Probably more glad than I should be…"

"Of course not! Sarah, the goblins are not exactly qualified to be actors…" Jareth laughed.

"I guess you're right…" Sarah shrugged, taking a bite of food, then continued, "…I mean, I really loved helping them and teaching them, but after a while… I guess enough is enough!" Sarah wrinkled her nose at the thought of the goblins clumsily scampering all over the stage.

As is reading Sarah's mind, Jareth laughed, then continued to gaze at Sarah's face tenderly. Sarah looked up at Jareth, saw the look on his face and asked, "What?" then she added jokingly, "Do I have food on my face?"

Jareth laughed again, shook his head and said, "No… I just love the way you did that… The way you wrinkle your nose…"

Sarah laughed, feeling herself reddening, but hated herself for it. She quickly looked down at her plate, embarrassed at her flushing, then quickly took a bite of food. Jareth just watched her with captivation and added, "I love everything about you… I love being with you, I love talking to you, I love the way you laugh, the way you smile… the way you wrinkle your nose…"

Sarah finally brought her gaze up to meet the gaze of the mismatched eyes that studied her with such adoration. She considered what he said for a moment, then said, "I love being with you, too… I really love talking to you, too…" She smiled at him, unsure of what else she could say, feeling her stomach tie in knots. Jareth smiled back at her, then suddenly got up out of his seat, then moved closer to Sarah.

Sarah felt her heart beating faster and faster the closer Jareth got to her. Why did she suddenly feel this way. She'd never felt this way before… But wait… She had, at the masquerade ball in her fantasy…

Jareth suddenly kneeled beside Sarah's chair, looking into her eyes, and cleared his throat. "Sarah… It's been almost a year now since you've come to the Underground. I've enjoyed every moment we've spent together, as friends, and now…" Jareth took a deep breath, feeling anxious and wanting to conjure up some crystals to soothe his anxiety, then said, "I was hoping we could take our friendship to the next level…"

Sarah felt like she was in an alternate reality, her stomach doing flip-flops, as she choked out, "…The next level…"

Jareth tenderly took Sarah's hand in his gloved one and said gently, "A romantic level…"

Sarah gulped as Jareth explained, "We decided to take our relationship one step at a time, so we became friends… Now I believe we should take the next step… If you are ready…"

Sarah looked away from Jareth a moment, as if trying to consider what he was proposing, then looked back at him and said, "So… You think we should… court? Or something along the lines of that?" Jareth laughed and Sarah laughed, realizing how nonsensical her wording sounded.

Sarah looked into Jareth's eyes for a moment, then finally said, "I'd like that…" then added intriguingly, "I'd like that very much…" She leaned closer to Jareth and placed a simple, gentle kiss on his lips. Jareth responded happily by wrapping his arms around Sarah, returning the kiss shamelessly.

The next week was heaven for Sarah and Jareth. They spent even more time together (when they doubted that was even possible) and the time they spent together was enjoyed even more. Rumors started to fly through the castle and the Underground that the Goblin King was going to propose to Sarah, but other rumors also jabbered that Sarah had told the Goblin King that just like their friendship, their romantic relationship had to be paced.

In reality, and ironically, both rumors were true. Sagira had been keeping Sarah up to date on the gossip and rumors she heard, and Sarah would address everything she heard indirectly to Jareth. The day she heard about the possibility that Jareth would propose to her, she went to the stable, her plan already worked out.

Magie was all ready and tacked up for Sarah and Jareth was in the process of tacking up Cheval. A little goblin was holding all of the gear as Jareth was calling out to him what he needed, the little goblin would hand over whatever item he called out, and Jareth would fasten it in its place. Sarah motioned silently to the goblin that he could leave and the goblin, knowing who Sarah was and knowing his place, bowed to Sarah, and left. As he left, Sarah took the remaining gear and awaited Jareth's order.

"Bridle…" Jareth grunted without looking up from the saddle he was adjusting. Sarah took the bridle and without making a sound, stretched out so it was within hand's reach for Jareth. Jareth felt through the air for the bridle and finally found it. He pulled expecting his assistant to let go of it, but Sarah held onto it, smirking. He tugged for a moment, then agitated, turned, saying, "What is the matter with yo—" He stopped as he saw Sarah holding onto the bridle, smirking at him.

"I don't know… I guess I'll never learn… They say 'Old habits die hard'… Seems I just can't get on your good side…" Sarah said mockingly.

Jareth smirked back, "Cute…", then pulled Sarah close to him and kissed her.

Sarah let go of the bridle, kissed Jareth back, then pulled back a little and said, "Wow… do you do this with all of your assistants?"

Jareth laughed, then pulled Sarah to him again, and growled playfully, "Well with this assistant I will…" He kissed Sarah again, more forcefully, the pulling away occasionally, teasingly, the he would kiss her forcefully again. Sarah would laugh when he pulled away, knowing he would come back for more, then would meet his kisses, matching his energy. Finally Sarah pulled away, then placed a soft kiss on his lips, and then rested her head on Jareth's chest, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Jareth placed a tender kiss on the top of Sarah's head, then rested his chin on her head, wrapping his arms around her waist. They stood like that for a moment, then Sarah expertly sighed, "I love doing this…"

"Hmm?" Jareth murmured, "Doing what?"

Sarah sighed happily again and eloquently clarified, "This… we can sit in the library for hours, debating our favorite authors, but we can come horseback riding and do this… just stay here like this… I love being at this point in our relationship…"

Jareth raised an eyebrow, then wanting to learn what Sarah's exact feelings were without letting on to his intention of proposing, said, "Really? I like where we are too…" wrapping his arms around her, just as expertly as Sarah, he said, "Tell me why you enjoy it so much…"

Sarah, pretending as if she didn't realize Jareth was trying to find out how she felt, shrugged and said, "I like the pace we're going… I like how our relationship is taking time to mature and develop…" She skillfully let out another happy sigh and snuggled close to Jareth.

Jareth sighed, happy he didn't screw up their happiness but a little disappointed she wasn't ready for an engagement yet, and said, "Me too… I like the pace…" Not wanting to probe more, he straightened up, looked into Sarah's eyes, and said engagingly, "So, ready to go…?"

Knowing she'd handled the situation masterfully, Sarah smiled and replied, "Of course!" Jareth took hold of Cheval's bridle with one hand and Sarah's hand with the other, and they left the stall. They mounted their horses and were off.

Weeks later, however, without their knowledge, Jareth and Sarah's relationship would be put to the test, enduring some very trying and incompatible tribulation. As they were rested in their little clove of trees out in the forest one afternoon, Sarah suddenly clutched her head as she felt an acute pain afflict her brain. Jareth, concerned, held onto Sarah, saying, "Sarah, what is it? What's wrong?"

Sarah held one hand to her head as the piercing pain continued in her head and held her other hand to her neck and groaned, "My head… It's so awful… It feels like I'm having a lobotomy done this very second… And now my neck feels really stiff…"

Extremely troubled, Jareth got up and carefully helped Sarah up and said, "We have to get you back… You'll ride with me on Cheval, it's not safe for you to ride on your own…"

Sarah waved at Jareth and said, "No… No… It'll pass, let's just wait a moment…"

Jareth, not letting go of Sarah, looked at her solemnly and said, "Sarah, a week ago, you were having muscle pains and had an upset stomach…"

Sarah shook her head and said, "My muscles just hurt from the horseback riding… And I was kind of iffy about that cheese at lunch…"

Jareth continued, "…and now you're having a sharp headache and your neck is stiff? I've let you delay a physician too long, now you are seeing a doctor…" He helped Sarah onto Cheval carefully, the mounted himself behind her. Sarah, sharp pains still splitting through her head, gripped Jareth's arms and moaned, "But what about Magie… We can't just leave her here…" Jareth rubbed Sarah's arms soothingly and said softly, "I'll send someone out to retrieve her, don't worry… We have to take care of you first…"

Not wanting to fight Jareth or the sharp pains anymore, Sarah relaxed into Jareth's arms, and closed her eyes, wanting to fall asleep. Jareth immediately took off, heading back for the castle.

Jareth immediately summoned the castle's physician upon their arrival and settled Sarah into her bed, making her comfortable. Sarah was extremely sensitive to the light that flooded her room, so Jareth quickly drew the curtains and dimmed the lights. Fearful of her breathing that was steadily becoming more and more rapid, Jareth sat by her side, gently stroking her face. He felt her face was extremely warm and after feeling her blistering hot forehead, he became even more anxious at the awareness of her fever. Sarah, wanting to ease Jareth's anxiety, chuckled and said, drowsily, "So you have a house doctor, do you? Get sick much, Jareth?"

Jareth, wanting her to save what little energy she had, shushed her gently and answered, "I may be immortal, Sarah, but I'm not immune to disease… I fall ill, but even so, not very much… I mostly just have a doctor for my servants and some of the goblins… Lord knows what diseases those goblins riddle themselves with… And the goblins are not exactly qualified to be doctors or actors…"

There was suddenly a knock on the door, Jareth hurried to answer it, and he said in a relieved tone, "Gryphön, thank God you're here…"

A man that looked a little older (physically) than Jareth made his way into the room and briskly said, "Of course Jareth… Why wouldn't I come? I knew the urgency of the situation…" He made his way to Sarah and he looked down on her and asked, ignoring formalities of introducing himself, "Where did the piercing pain begin?"

Sarah tried to remember, the pain numbing her memory, then said, drowsily, "…In the center, I think… then it seemed to shoot down my neck, and… my neck got stiff… very stiff…" Sarah faded off, as she started to slip in and out of consciousness.

Gryphön mumbled to himself as he held Sarah's wrist, taking her pulse, then listened to Sarah's heartbeat with a stethoscope, then put the stethoscope away, and began looking through things in his bag. Without looking at Jareth, he continued to root through his bag, he said, "What have her other symptoms been?"

Jareth, who was on the other side of Sarah's bed holding Sarah's hand, remembered, "She had the splitting headache, the stiff neck, like she said… Sensitivity to light… Rapid breathing… I think she has a fever now… She's drowsy now… Last week she had muscle pains and an upset stomach… She didn't think they were connected, but I'm not so sure…"

Gryphön continued to mumble to himself as he took a syringe from his bag, sterilized it, and took a cotton swab with some rubbing alcohol and rubbed the patch of skin on Sarah's arm in between her upper arm and forearm.

"Any chills?" Gryphön muttered, busying himself with the syringe.

Jareth shook his head, but then said, "But I did have the chills, a day or two after Sarah's muscle pains and upset stomach…" He looked at Gryphön and asked, "You don't think they're connected do you?"

"Hard to tell," Gryphön muttered, as he inserted the syringe into Sarah's arm, taking a blood sample. Sarah whimpered and squeezed Jareth's hand. Jareth stroked Sarah's hand lovingly, and said, "Will you take a blood test on me just to be sure?"

"Of course…" Gryphön said, wrapping up the syringe to be tested. He took one of Jareth, then had Jareth accompany him out the door.

"Now, tell me Jareth, has she had anything strange in her diet? Like an unwashed fruit or vegetable, maybe? A strange cheese, possibly?"

Jareth's eyes flickered to Gryphön as he remembered what Sarah'd said:

And I was kind of iffy about that cheese at lunch…

"She mentioned being skeptical of a cheese she ate…" he replied.

Gryphön murmured, acknowledging what Jareth confirmed, and seeing the look on his face, Jareth immediately asked, "What? What is it?"

Gryphön shook his head, "I can't be sure, I'll have to see from the blood tests, but if this is what I think it might be, and this has happened over a series of weeks, it is not good…"

A few hours later, after consulting with Gryphön, Jareth returned to Sarah's room. She'd been sleeping after her headache had subsided slightly and she woke as Jareth entered the room.

"Hey…" Sarah murmured, drowsily, "…what is it?"

Jareth sighed, obviously unsettled, and stroked Sarah's hair. "Sarah, I don't want to worry you, but you are in some danger…"

Sarah concentrated to focus on Jareth, her vision blurring slightly, and said weakly, "
Why…? What's going on…?"

Jareth continued to stroke Sarah's hair, then took hold of her hand.

"The blood tests show that you have Meningitis… Gryphön believes it was brought on by Listeriosis…"

"Listey-what-sis…" Sarah said, groggily.

"Listeriosis… he believes you contracted it from that cheese you ate… Remember? That cheese you said you were iffy about?"

Sarah murmured, remembering vaguely, then suddenly became serious as she cried, "Listeriosis, is it contagious? Did I give it to you? I'm so sorry Jareth, if I'd known…"

Jareth shushed Sarah gently and said, "I'm alright, Sarah, you did infect me, but my body overpowered it, apparently…"

Confused, Sarah mumbled, "How… How is it I'm like this and you weren't?"

"I told you, Sarah, 'I fall ill, but even so, not very much'… I'm a magical entity, so I experience slight symptoms of sickness, but I overpower them and they cannot kill me… Kind of like Gryphön, but he is a Fae… I did, however, have one symptom of the Listeriosis… After you had the muscle pains and the upset stomach, I had the chills…"

Feeling guilty, Jareth took hold of both Sarah's hands, his eyes serious, "But if there was anyway for me to take all this illness off of you and carry it to myself, I'd do it, just so you wouldn't have to feel one hint of ailment…"

Sarah smiled at what Jareth had said, and replied, "I know, Jareth, and I'm all the more lucky to have you…" She sighed, sleepily, and finished, "So what do we do now?"

"Gryphön is going to give you antibiotics, but aside from that, there's not much else we can do but wait it out…"

Sarah murmured, slipping closer and closer to slumber, "And you're not going to leave me…"

Jareth gripped Sarah's hands and said in the most serious tone Sarah had ever heard, "Never…"

Sarah sighed, then said, "Hold me, Jareth… I'm… I'm going, but I just want you to hold me, till I fall asleep…"

Jareth placed a kiss to her abnormally colored skin, then climbed in next to her, holding her closely, as Sarah dozed off.

Things didn't get much better after Sarah's diagnosis. She would have to be injected with antibiotics daily, as the Listeriosis had gone undiagnosed for weeks and had led to the Meningitis, which was much more lethal. Sarah would suffer double vision or partial loss of complete vision, she would experience speech disturbances, and would suffer through epileptic fits.

Jareth had not left her side the moment she was diagnosed. As Sarah and Jareth suffered, the entire kingdom and Underground suffered.

Sarah was mercifully granted a few normal days, with the exception of losing her vision now and again. But slowly those merciful days became fewer and fewer, and Sarah's outlook was grim. Being immortal, she could not die, but Jareth had premonitions of the worst.

One day, Jareth was sitting up in Sarah's bed, Sarah leaning on him, her head resting on his chest, after enduring through an especially severe epileptic fit. Jareth took comfort in watching Sarah's chest rise up and down, knowing she was still with him.

Sarah took in what she was able to sense, not being able to see much of anything. She took comfort in the warmth of Jareth's body, she took in his unique smell that warmed her all over, and she felt her skin tingle as she felt his glove-less fingertips ran over her back exposed from her nightgown.

"Jareth…?" Sarah murmured quietly.

"Hmm?" Jareth acknowledged.

"I've been thinking…"

"What about?"

"Love…"

"Love…?"

"Yes… love… It seems like such a sought-after thing doesn't it?"

Thinking of how he had fought, and technically was still fighting, for Sarah's love, Jareth murmured, "It does…"

"…Sought-after even more in the Aboveground… in the Realm of Mortals…" Sarah continued, "…And, then I thought, there must be some sort of reason that people want it so much… Of course everyone wants someone, to be there for them and when they find that person it's really and truly beautiful, but more often people want the idea of love… Why do they want it so much…?"

Jareth didn't answer, knowing that Sarah had an answer.

Sarah, unable to really see Jareth, but able to sense him, looked up at him and with a smile said, "…Because it's the closest thing they have to magic…"

Jareth smiled down at Sarah and Sarah could sense the smile.

Sarah's face suddenly became distorted as she began to breathe rapidly. Jareth held on to her, not expecting another fit so closely following another. Something has to be wrong, this shouldn't be happening, Jareth thought frantically.

Sarah kept trying to gasp something out as she experienced her last and final fit. Jareth hushed her gently, taking all the measures that were supposed to be administered during an epileptic fit.

Sarah's inaudible gasps finally became clear, as she gasped, "Jareth… I l-l-love y-y-you…I've always-s-s l-l-l-loved y-y-you…"

Jareth held her comfortingly and replied with anguish, "I love you too, Sarah… I've loved you with every fiber of my being…", feeling tears well up in his eyes.

"I n-n-needed you t-t-to know t-t-that…" Sarah gasped, "No matter w-w-what happens…" A small, pained smiled appeared on Sarah's trembling face as she said, "Our m-m-m-magic… I l-l-loved it… And I'll a-a-always l-l-love y-y-you…"

"I won't lose you, Sarah… I won't!" Jareth said. I… I can't… he thought.

Jareth could feel the tears falling on his face, but he did not wipe them away. He did not move from where he was, he did not move away or look away from Sarah. He stayed where he was, holding her, holding onto her.

Sarah soon began to lose her already fragile grip on reality, and then suddenly memories began flooding back to Sarah. She resisted at first, afraid it was her life flashing before her eyes, but then when she realized it was the memory of Jareth singing to her, she surrendered to the memory that overwhelmed her.

As the pain sweeps through,

Makes no sense for you,

Every thrill has gone,

Wasn't too much fun at all

But I'll be there for you

As the world falls down!

He hadn't lied to her. Sarah had become accustomed to people lying to her. He was not lying. As the pain swept through, as the world fell down around her, Sarah smiled at Jareth. He was there for her…as the world fell down. It made no sense to Sarah, her suffering, him suffering as long as she was suffering. All Sarah knew was, their magic would lead her back to him. No matter how long it took, their magic would lead her back to Jareth.

After a while, she stopped trembling and lie motionless on the bed. Jareth stroked her hair gently, expecting her to wake or stir at his touch. But Sarah did not wake or stir or make a single movement. Realizing she was unconscious, Jareth felt the emotion and sorrow bursting out of him as he began to sob. He held onto Sarah, crying into her long, raven locks, his tears trailing down her ashen skin.

Author's Note: I'm sorry if I upset anyone with the vivid description of Sarah's sickness and epileptic fit. I do understand how serious it is, my father's cousin experiences epileptic seizures everyday and takes medication for it, so I'm not just writing it on the whim of just writing a story. And for the people who haven't already caught it for the bazillionth time, no, Sarah is NOT dead… She can't die, she's immortal, and I know that there are people who will disagree that immortals can be destroyed in some form or another, but for argument's sake, I'm saying she can't die… She's in a coma, however, an indefinite one, at that… Hope everyone is enjoying the story, and don't worry, I don't write morbid, depressed stories ending in death, so don't get in a tizzy… Hint hint hint

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form own Aquamarine, its quotes, notions, or themes. Sarah's speech about love being magic is not fully my own, it is a variation of a quote from the movie Aquamarine. (And for those who are sitting there going "WTH?", I'm not entirely sure how I ended up seeing Aquamarine myself, but I did like the overall message of Aquamarine and that specific quote).