Rites of Passage by Betty Bokor
Jareth/Sarah. When Sarah is called to save the King, her life takes a whole new course, again.
Spoilers: The movie, the book, and some of the Return series.
Disclaimer: The Labyrinth original characters belong to The Jim Henson Company and Lucasfilms Ltd. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.
A.N. Sarah is sharing her bed...
Rites of Passage
Chapter 10
Sarah woke up feeling better than ever. She usually awoke with the urgency of duty; she had to study, she had to go to work, she had to clean the house; she had to… But today there was no hurry; she had requested Tuesday and Wednesday off ‒to be able to take care of the King‒ and, as she rarely asked for anything, they had been granted.
And then there was the fact that she was still holding on to him… He seemed to not have moved during the night, still facing up, with his left arm holding her against him, but she had definitely moved; she was far closer to him and her left leg was draped over his right.
Oops… How was she going to get up without waking him up? It was a little embarrassing, but, at least, there was no hurry.
She sighed with content.
"Had a good dream, precious thing?"
Sarah felt she blushed from head to toe. She tried to disentangle herself from him, but his arm kept her firmly in place.
"No need to rush, Sarah," he said suggestively and she thought she could hear the smirk in his voice. "There's still no power."
"Have you been awake long?" she asked, trying to look up at him.
"For a while…"
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I hardly ever get to enjoy lounging in bed, least of all in such good company," he replied cheerfully.
"I'd say you rarely wake up alone, according to Hoggle, at least" she countered.
"That ingrate dwarf! I should grant him a prolonged vacation in the Bog of Eternal Stench."
"Don't take it on him! …Or was he lying?" she sounded hopeful.
"What I'm obliged to do as part of my duties as King of the Goblins isn't always a pleasurable experience. Choosing a mate ‒or having it chosen for you‒ just for the chance that she would grant you an heir, does not include love in the equation and I don't believe any pleasure gained in such a manner to be soul touching. It's merely a physical experience, sometimes pleasurable, other times, not. And, after a while, I've found myself often resentful toward those I'm obliged to have sharing my bed."
She heard the sincerity in his voice and it hurt to think about what he was forced to do. It would be unbearable if she had to do it.
"Did you ever get to choose your soul mate?" she wanted to know, because he had not been clear about that matter the day before.
As soon as she asked, she noticed a subtle change in his breathing, the kind she often saw in her patients when she touched a painful spot.
"No."
The brevity of the answer confirmed her suspicions. "That song, last night… It sounded like you were talking to someone… You were talking to her, weren't you? You wrote it because of what happened with her." She was not really asking. She was sure now.
He sighed. "Yes."
"So, if the war was over, would you try contacting her, seeing if she's ‒I don't know‒ more open to the idea? or… I really don't know what happened the first time, but you understand, right?"
"That's a big if. The war isn't over and I don't know what my fate will be once it is, but I have a pretty good idea," he finished in a very low voice.
"You have dangerous plans for the next weeks, don't you?" she asked after hearing the somber tones of his voice.
"For years the Unseelie have attacked our kingdoms and gained territory along the borders simply because our people are inclined to good, to peaceful lives, and they don't understand that you can't always hold on to your principles when you're at war. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire and that has been my mission. Since I took charge of the army we have recovered many lands, but we have also lost many lives, in both sides. Many in the High Court frown upon this, so I have to finish my task as soon as possible, before they strip me of my command."
"And how do you plan to end it?"
"That is something only my Field Marshal and I know, and I can't discuss. After the last attack in the castle, I can't be too careful."
"You don't think they have spies aboveground, do you?"
"I can't be sure, so I'd better be cautious."
"Okay, I understand," she agreed with sadness, not daring to ask anymore.
All the while during their conversation, she had been distracted, but now that they were both silent, she felt very self-conscious about their positions in bed. She was about to find an excuse to get up, when loud knocking on the front door startled them both.
"Oh! There's no power, no bell," she said as she got out of bed, carefully avoiding touching him too much.
She got a robe from her closet and ran to the living-room. When she opened the door, she was almost knocked out of the way by her mother and her friend Elisa. They both seemed to be in a very bad mood.
"Where is he? We know you have him in here. Your father said your friend was staying here. Call him right now," her mother demanded in a loud voice.
"You can't hide him from us!" Elisa added looking intently at her.
Sarah opened her mouth to say something, but she was too perplexed to do so. She was trying to decide what to do, when the King walked into the room, dressed in full black armor, cape and all. She could see the effects of a light breeze on his vestments and wondered if it was simply the power of his magic.
He looked at the amazed women in her living-room while she closed the door. He played with his crystal-topped swagger stick as he approached them and circled them as a wild animal would do with his prey.
"Well, well, well… What do we have here? If it isn't little Elisa and her histrionic friend, Linda… Right?"
"I knew it was you," Linda said as she recovered from the shock. "As soon as I saw you, I knew it; you can't fool me with that glamour. Did you think a little short hair would trick me? We know you too well. Thirteen hours-"
"You'd have preferred them to be thirteen thousand, wouldn't you?" he asked with an air of superiority.
"So what?" Elisa replied. "We wanted to stay. Why couldn't you let us?" she tried with the same anger as Linda's.
"You were already too old when you wished your friend to me. Both of you were. There was nothing I could do for you."
"We didn't need you to do anything. We just wanted to stay there, with you, even with the filthy goblins... But, no, you sent us back and refused to listen to us again. And now, what? You want my daughter instead?"
Sarah sat in the nearest armchair, dumbfounded.
"Leave Sarah out of this. She has nothing to do with what happened then," he said in a warning tone that would have scared any of his subjects, but not Linda. She was too furious.
"Well, you're here with her, in her apartment… You were her date last night and she-" Linda looked at Sarah, sitting there in her robe. "She's not even dressed! Are you sleeping with her? Are you sleeping with my daughter?" she asked getting closer to him, frantic.
"Enough!" he said in an imperious voice and something invisible seemed to gently push Linda and Elisa away from him. "I've had enough of the both of you, for years listening to your pleas and your whining. You're not allowed to go back to the underground and that's my final word. And, as for what Sarah and I do, that's nothing I need to explain to either of you."
"She's my baby!"
"That you should have remembered before you left her to run after that hypocrite you call your boyfriend!"
Sarah was more shocked than before. She stood up and slowly approached them. "Mom," she tried in a calming voice, "I'm not a baby; I'm twenty five years old, for goodness sake."
Linda and Elisa turned to her. Linda grabbed her hands as if she felt pity for her.
Elisa looked into her eyes. "What did he tell you? How did he get into your life? You can't trust him. He'll break your heart and then leave you on your own. You can't love him," she said, before turning to Jareth. "And what's with that name? Is that your real name? You refused to tell us your name… Jareth isn't a real word, I looked it up."
The King looked at her with contempt and did not answer. He flicked his wrist and a crystal appeared on his hand. He started playing with it, juggling it over his gloves and sleeves.
Linda and Elisa watched it mesmerized.
"I should've never granted your request;" he told them softly, "I thought you'd be more mature about it, but I was wrong. I should've done this a long time ago…" He twisted his wrist and threw the crystal at the two women.
They both covered their faces with their arms as a thin rain of sparkles hit them. A second later, they both lowered their hands and looked around.
"Sarah," Linda said with surprise in her voice. She looked at Jareth Quinn, standing by her friend. "I think… I think I wanted Elisa to meet your boyfriend…" she said with hesitation.
Sarah looked at the King and saw that he was again under the glamour that showed Quinn. What was going on? Her mother and Elisa seemed not to be able to remember what had happened. Sarah tried to recover. "Great, I'm glad you came. Why don't we go to the kitchen and have some tea? We have no power, but the gas stove ought to work," she tried as she guided them toward her kitchen. "Are you coming?" she asked him.
He looked at her with something that seemed like relief. "Certainly; I'd be most delighted to have a conversation with your mother and her friend."
Soon, the four were sitting at the kitchen table, chatting. For the first time in her life, Sarah had what seemed like a normal conversation with her mother. She seemed more subdued, really concerned about her daughter and her life, interested in the prospect of a boyfriend, worried about her heavy load of work, but still the same fiery woman who gained acclaim as an actress. Sarah felt this was the mother she had always wanted to have.
When Linda and Elisa left, she sat in the living-room, pensive. Jareth approached, back to being the King. He kneeled in front of her.
"Are you alright, precious?"
She nodded slowly. "That was… surprising. I don't think I understood exactly what happened here today, but I'm definitely surprised."
"Do you want me to explain it to you or do you prefer to forget about it?"
She was stunned by the fact that he was willing to explain anything at all. "Do you mind telling me?"
"Alright. It's very simple. Elisa and your mother got ahold of a copy of the Labyrinth book when they were in college and, to prove that it was real, Elisa wished your mother away to me, as a joke, not understanding the power it had. She had to run through the Labyrinth and rescue Linda, who stayed with me in the Goblin Throne Room. They were both very intense about it and when Linda reached the room, they both refused to be sent back."
"Did you help them reach the center?"
"Of course; there was no need for them to stay. They were both healthy young adults who needed nothing from my kingdom."
"Did you dance with them?" she asked timidly.
He was taken aback by the question. "No; there was no dance."
"Oh… So, you just sent them back?"
"They requested to keep their memories of the event and I foolishly agreed. They've been pestering me since then, wishing all kinds of things…"
"And you're not obliged to fulfill those wishes?"
"Not when they're so blatantly insincere and with such a distinct purpose."
"You can tell when a wish is insincere?"
"Absolutely."
"And you didn't think that I wasn't sincere when I wished Toby away?" Her tone was even, not betraying her emotions.
"Sarah," he warned. "You know fully well that, at that time –if I may use aboveground terms– you really wanted Toby out of your hair."
She sighed. "I did. I just didn't think it'd work." She had a headache; this was a little bit too much. "Did- Did she ever wish me away?"
"No." He waited for her. He was worried.
"Okay." She sighed again. "What did you do to them?"
"I just made them forget everything related to me and my world."
"They seemed a little changed," she tried.
"Sometimes, that knowledge affects people profoundly. Losing it is like feeling a burden has been lifted…" He looked intensely at her. "Do you feel burdened, Sarah? Would you like to forget?" he asked, hiding his fear.
She felt alarmed. "No, no. I'm fine. It's no burden; I'm fine."
"Alright; as you wish." He was about to stand up, when she put her hand on his arm.
"Wait! One more thing. Why didn't you erase my memory?"
He could not tell her the whole truth. He had to handle it carefully. "You'd made friends. They wanted to keep in touch with you and I could see no harm in that. Sometimes it happens; not often, but-"
"Thank you. They've been great friends over the years, always there to support me. They brought me happiness and fun whenever I needed them."
He nodded.
The phone rang and they both stood up. Sarah answered the phone.
"Toby? How are you doing, kiddo?" She listened carefully as he talked on the other side. Something he said made her look up and search for the King. She found him about to walk out of the room and signaled for him to approach her. "Toby would like to know if you ever made a video-clip of a song about voodoo…" she frowned, "or magic and a baby dance?" She waited for him to answer.
Jareth laughed cheerfully. "Sure."
"He says he's certain he watched it on MTV when he was younger;" she rolled her eyes, "younger…"
"Tell him I'm glad he remembers me," he said with a broad smile.
Sarah passed the message along and soon hung up. "What was all that about?"
"Not a little chap anymore," he smirked.
"Oh, my goodness! He remembers! He remembers you! Did you sing that to him when he was at the castle?"
"Don't worry. He wasn't old enough to form a full memory of his stay with us. Just little fragments hanging around in his brain. Magic is something powerful."
"Are you sure? What if he remembers I wished him away?"
"Don't worry, Sarah. As I said, he won't."
She sighed. It did not get any easier.
"Sarah, Shawn would like permission to come in," he suddenly said while he seemed concentrated on something she could not see.
"Of course, whenever he needs to come in, he's welcome-"
She had not finished saying it, when the young man appeared by their side. He inclined his head at her briefly, "Sarah," before turning to the King. "Jareth, lots of news; we need to talk."
Jareth ushered him to the kitchen and invited Sarah to join them with a gesture of his head. She followed them, resigned that today everybody would see her in her robe, and offered them some tea. It was looking like it would be a long day.
"We've finished the sweep of the castle and the Labyrinth," Shawn started, seeing as Jareth had allowed Sarah to remain with them. "There was nothing else to worry about. We think the traitor was working for the Unseelie on his own, for pay."
"Alright; that's plausible."
"Ruy is back and needs to talk about the next steps to take; as you know, he was successful on what you commanded him to do. He completed the campaign."
"Excellent," Jareth said, satisfied.
"Keene wants to check how you're doing and your parents need you back for the ball," he finished fast, as if waiting to be reprimanded.
"What ball?" Jareth asked and Sarah heard his displeasure.
Shawn grimaced. "Your father thinks it would be a good political move to show the High Court that you survived another attack and that you're ready to go on with your plans, whatever they are."
"Political?" the King asked with contempt.
"Come on, you have to give it to him; he's good at those things. He said to everyone it's a ball to thank Keene for his outstanding services and celebrate the victories Ruy and you have achieved, but we both know-"
"We do," he interrupted him.
"Your mother wondered if Sarah would like to attend, since she worked with Keene to save you…" he looked at Sarah.
She was taken by surprise. "A ball? Formal ball? I wouldn't have anything to wear," she tried as an excuse.
"We'd take care of all the details, dear, if you accept the invitation," Jareth said and he could not help but smirk. He knew she was torn.
She wanted to go; a formal ball in the Underground was probably something memorable, better even that what she had dreamt that time, but she was afraid. She was very afraid of all the memories that would come back and she was afraid that, if he did not know by now, Jareth would figure out all the feelings he provoked in her. One dance with him, one long stare like the one in her dream, and she would be at his feet. Melted puddle on the floor. "I don't know…" she looked at him and she thought she saw he was afraid too, afraid that she would say no. "Okay, okay; sounds like fun," she gave in.
