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. Just in case someone is still reading... We are getting close to the end, so I will try to figure out if there are still followers interested in the story. Let me know if you like how it's going. Thank you for reading!
Rites of Passage
Chapter 26
Sarah felt mortified. Obviously, Jareth had not shared any details of their time together with anyone; it was something private and too much of it was coming to light, in spite of her twisting of the facts. She would have to be more careful, though she could not have avoided what had already been told. The sphere and the herbs were necessary to save Jareth and she was willing to do anything to get him back.
She took a deep breath. She was fooling herself. He had never been hers; if she helped saving him, a common future was uncertain. They would share only their baby, but she could not get distracted thinking of that. She needed to concentrate on him.
"Are you alright?" Lady Anwen asked. "You look pale."
"I'm fine," she responded quickly, afraid of being taken away from him. "Perhaps it's because it's been a while since we last ate, but that applies to all of us," she finished with a smile.
"You're right, child," the Queen agreed. "We all need to take care of ourselves in order to help him. We must have some nourishment. I'll see to it immediately."
Hours and hours passed and, though they could see improvement in Jareth's condition, they were not certain he would survive. Sarah traveled aboveground and reviewed all the cases she could find of severe hypothermia survival, but, in the end, she could not apply most of that knowledge to the King's situation. He had been already severely injured ‒and probably dying‒ by the time he hypothermia took over.
After another day of work, Hagan finally declared his part was over.
"There's nothing else I can do. Magic cannot heal all wounds; I believe we've taken him half way; the rest will be up to him."
Sarah knew he was right. Keene had done everything in his power to save his friend and so had she.
"We've had him sedated and we've been managing his pain all this time, but now we need to know if he's capable of regaining consciousness," Keene said.
"We should take shifts keeping vigil by his side," Sarah suggested. "That way, the others would be rested in case we need to find other solutions."
"Sarah and I will take the first shifts," Lady Anwen said. "You, Hagan, and Keene, Shawn, and Ruy… You should rest before us. You'd already had a long journey before we started this. Go now and we'll see you in the morning, unless there's news during the night."
It did not take much prodding to convince the tired group to leave the room.
"Alright," Sarah began. "I can do the first one and then, you'll take my place."
"I agree," the Queen said. "Because I think you can still help him… or rather your child."
"How?"
"I'd suggest you lie beside him and allow him proximity to his child. Perhaps his gift would be beneficial to his father."
"Wouldn't it hurt the baby?"
"That kind of magic doesn't ever hurt."
Sarah was not certain it could be useful, but it was worth trying. Besides, the prospect of getting close to Jareth was too appealing to ignore. She was feeling an overwhelming need of hugging, caressing, or comforting him in any way possible, to let him know he was not alone and they were waiting for him to come back.
Once the Queen left the room, she climbed onto the bed and lay beside him. At the beginning, she spent the time observing the rhythmic movements of his chest as he breathed. Then, she grabbed his wrist so that she could check his pulse. Bit by bit she got closer to him until her head was resting on his shoulder and her arm crossed over his chest. Truly exhausted and comforted by the fact that he was still alive, she soon fell asleep.
The first sensation he felt as he began regaining consciousness was warmth. He was not cold any longer.
In an instant countless memories of the events of the days before assaulted him without mercy. For a minute, he felt unable to breathe, but, then, slowly, he took back control of his body and calmed the pace of his heart. He had to figure out what was happening and where he was.
He tried to open his eyes, but they refused. His eyelids felt heavy and unwilling to move. He decided to use his other senses.
He was not on the cold floor of the tunnels anymore. He was lying on a relatively soft surface and he was warm. He took a deep breath and recognized many familiar scents. It felt like he was home.
The realization brought a wave of relief. His father had understood his message and he had come to get him. He had not perished in the tunnels like he thought he would.
Now, he needed to figure out in what condition he had come back. He slowly moved his fingers to check for pain. His hands, which had been gravely injured during the battle, seemed to be fine. He could feel the texture of his gloves under his fingers and that somehow comforted him. They were taking care of him.
He checked his feet and legs with very soft movements. He did not want to cause any unnecessary pain or alert anyone possibly in the room about his wakefulness. He needed time on his own.
He knew his body too well to understand that not all was in pristine condition. He was aware that there were consequences to what he had been through and that it would take more time to assess those.
For now, he was concentrating on the light pressure he felt over his left shoulder. He did not want to move that arm yet. He took another deep breath to prepare himself for the possible pain and he was amazed by what he discovered. Sarah. That mix of scents could only be her. He could recognize the aroma of her shampoo among a hundred fragrances.
What was she doing there? Why was she lying by his side? Perhaps he was not at the castle…
A myriad of ideas started swirling in his head. He had to try and open his eyes. He had to talk to her, he had to…
A new sensation stopped all other thoughts. There was someone else in the room. He could feel it. It was a faint presence, but it was clear and different that Sarah's.
Could the other person be further away? He tried focusing on the presence and slowly realized it was a child. An unborn child.
He felt like he should smile. Perhaps he had in fact inherited something from his mother. He had never felt the presence of an infant before. It was amazing, especially because there was something about the child that seemed to call him.
They shared the same magic; they shared the same blood.
It was his child.
And then the logical conclusion hit him. It was Sarah's child.
The shock gave him strength enough to open his eyes and try sitting up. Sarah jolted awake and sat, confused, not far from him, on the bed.
Jareth was back lying down in an instant.
"You're awake! Great! I need to check your vitals and-" she started sliding off the bed when he grabbed her hand.
"Sarah."
His voice was strong, commanding her to stay. She resumed her position close to him and listened.
"Why are you here?"
The question made her smile. He had asked something very similar the last time she had aided Keene after the poisoning.
"I came to help. All of you were gone and your mother needed assistance with the wished away," she explained with a smile. "Then, they brought you and we've all been trying to help you. You had severe hypothermia and-"
He did not really care about that right then. He stopped her with a gesture. "You're pregnant," he asserted without a pause.
'Wow; no keeping secrets around there', was her first thought. She managed to nod.
"You carry our child," he added.
She nodded again, at a loss for words. She expected him to show emotion about it; happiness or anger or anything at all. But he did not.
"Do you have plans?" he calmly asked.
Plans? No, she did not have any plans. She, who so carefully had planned every step of her life, she had no plans beyond getting pregnant. It was hard to admit it. "No… Not really. I still have many months left on my residency… Then, I'll have to find a job and…"
"Are you keeping the baby?" he carefully inquired, hiding any feelings he could have about the answer.
She was surprised that he could have thought she would not, or that she could have even thought about it. She hurried to answer. "Yes, of course, yes."
"But you're not asking…" he said, trying to be certain.
She did not understand the meaning of his words. She was not asking for anything. She could do this on her own, if that was what he meant.
Then, as in a blast, his words from the night he had spent in her apartment came back to her, 'Once a princess is pregnant, she earns the right to ask the king to marry her.'
She slid of the bed without looking at him. She walked around the canopy toward his right to be able to look at him eye to eye when she answered. But, what was she going to answer? Could she really be his wife? What did that entail? She would have to abandon her family forever, leave all his friend behind, throw away all the years she had put into her career, set aside any technological progress humanity had accomplished… It was so much to decide in a minute.
She stood by his side and he slowly sat up against his pillows and looked at her.
"I'm not a princess," she stated shyly.
"The right is yours," he declared without any passion.
She blamed the hormones and made her best effort not to cry. She took a deep breath and said it. "I'm asking."
He did not move. Perhaps those were not the right words. Possibly, he did not want her to ask. What would she say next?
He interrupted her thoughts. "Then, it's done. You're my Queen, my wife."
She was stunned. "What do you mean? I'm already your wife? We don't need a ceremony or permission from your family or someone…?"
"Do you really want it?" he asked with badly hidden exasperation.
"Yes," she hurried to clarify.
"Then, you're to be considered my wife since the day the child was conceived. We should let everybody know. Let's call-"
"Wait!" She was too bewildered to act professionally, but a little voice in her head was shouting. "First, I need to make sure you're okay. I need to check your pulse and your blood pressure. Verify that you don't have a fever or any pain… You've been through some major trauma. Perhaps you ought to talk to your family before you make giant decisions."
"Are you unhappy with my decision?"
"No. No; that's not it. I don't want anyone to blame it on your poor health state. You need to be competent-"
"I am competent and my decision is made. There's not going back."
While she rushed to check him, he made a gesture with his hand and a group of goblins appeared by the door. Seconds later they were gone with precise instructions.
Now, she would have to face the world.
