It can be, especially when you're younger, so easy to believe that you're just fine on your own, that people may be nice to have in your life, but that you can really take care of your own needs. Whether or not you want to admit it, though, humans are social animals. We all need friends and family in our lives.

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. – Sarah O'Rourke

It had been several weeks since Saoirse's first disappearance. Since that time, it had happened three more times, the last time she appeared in the garden. While it continued to be terribly frightening for Jareth and Sarah, they weren't quite as alarmed lately because she always came back. It was a mystery though, that they desperately wanted to solve.

Jareth was rarely home these days. He was either visiting with other rulers, or meeting with his own councils. Formorian sightings were becoming more frequent. That afternoon, however, he was relaxing at home in the sitting room with Sarah and Saoirse. Saoirse was in her little bassinet next to Sarah on the sofa. Jareth was in one of the wingback chairs, and they were both reading; Jareth reading 1984 and Sarah reading Ulysses, the first edition copy that had been actually given to her by James Joyce himself.

There was a stack of books next to Jareth that almost reached the arm of his chair. It amazed Sarah, but he was a voracious reader who often read an entire book in at least one day. She found herself gazing at him as the sunlight came through the window, highlighting the planes of his face, his high cheekbones, the look of complete absorption in his eyes. God, he was gorgeous. There were times when she could not believe how her life had turned out.

He must have felt her looking at him, because he looked up at her and smiled. "Penny for your thoughts, love?" He asked.

"Just admiring you," she smiled. "I am a very lucky woman."

He bit his lower lip and smiled, the look that she could never resist.

"You know," she said, "I could go for a little afternoon delight. Saoirse is sleeping and I'm not nearly as tired as I am at night. What do you think?" She tried to put on her most seductive look.

"Don't do this to me," he said in a low voice. "You know we have at least two more weeks to wait. And it's killing me."

"But the books said 4 to 6 weeks. It's been a month," she argued. "I'm anxious to try it out, because Ixonia said that sex be even better after kids, because certain parts of your body have shifted."

He shook his head. "That's a hard no," he replied. "I'm not taking any chances on hurting you. Not open for discussion, love."

Maybe manipulation would work. "You just don't want to make love to me because I'm fat now," she pouted.

"Nice try." He'd gone back to his book and didn't look up. "With nursing, and the yoga you're doing, you're losing weight rather quickly. And you know that I would find you desirable no matter what you looked like. So. Still no."

She made a disgusted sound and threw herself back against the sofa, arms crossed. Jareth looked at her and laughed. "I see 16-year-old Sarah is back. Care to run the Labyrinth since you have so much energy? Tell me how unfair I am being?" He smiled.

Suddenly, a pillow from the sofa flew at him. His reflexes were so good that he easily batted it down. Another one flew out him. "So. That's how it's going to be, is it?"

With his Fae speed, he leapt to the sofa and began tickling her in all of the places he knew she couldn't handle. She was laughing so hard she was out of breath.

"What's that word they use Above that indicates surrender?" He grinned, continuing his merciless tickle attack.

"Uncle," she said between gritted teeth.

"Such a strange term," he mused. "Still, you're going to have to do better than that. I could barely hear you."

While being tickled was making her laugh, she was also becoming incredibly turned on, feeling his weight on top of her. She looked up and kissed him, hard.

He froze in surprise. She gently ran the tip of her tongue along his bottom lip. Just as he was about to return the kiss, someone politely cleared their throat just to the right of the sofa.

They looked up and saw a teenaged Saoirse. "Sorry. Believe me, I never would have intentionally come into this scene. Please get off her, Da."

Jareth never blushed, but something about the disgust in his teenaged daughter's voice was too disarming. He disentangled himself from Sarah and sat back in his chair.

Sarah was laughing. "Saoirse! We haven't seen you in a while!" She patted the sofa cushion next to her.

Saoirse sat down and smiled at her parents. "I wanted to come back to explain my sudden disappearances to you."

Jareth steepled his fingers and looked at her. "I have a theory. Care to share?"

"I'm time traveling." When she saw Sarah about to say something, she raised her hand to stop her.

"First of all, I can't help it. It just happens sometimes, almost like epilepsy. The good news is that while I am this little," and here she indicated the baby with a nod, "I seem to stay right around the castle. Once I get older, I learn to control it better, and can even do it deliberately."

"The idea of my one month old baby daughter suddenly whisking herself backwards or forwards in time and space is not a comforting one, Saoirse," Jareth said sternly.

"Exactly," she replied. "Like I said, I can't help it at this age. But granddad Cillian has a way to help with this. You need to go talk to him, Da."

She leaned over and kissed Sarah on the cheek. Then she walked over to Jareth and gave him a hug. "I have to go, guys. I'm not strong enough yet to travel for very long. Love you!" This time, when she disappeared, it was in a cloud of purple glitter.

Jareth stared at Sarah, chagrined. "That sassy little beour! Throwing shapes like that! That's my signature move!"

Sarah just laughed. With all the glitter being thrown about this castle, she was so glad that she didn't have to clean it.

~~~Ó~~~

Jareth paid a visit to his father right away. He was gone longer than Sarah thought he might be, and that was probably because he had to explain his own time traveling. She could just imagine what Cillian would say about that.

When he returned, he had a tiny bracelet of reflective black stones that he slipped around the baby's wrist. Then he gave a larger one to Sarah, and she noticed that he was already wearing one himself.

"Enchanted hematite," he said. "It will act almost like a tracking device, allowing either of us to find her when she does travel."

His face turned grim. "But when she gets to the age that she can control it, we're going to need to set some serious rules, for her own safety and our mental health." He glanced at Sarah. "But if she's anything like her mother — stubborn, we are going to have our work cut out for us."

Sarah sighed and flopped back against the sofa. "We're becoming adults," she said. "When did that happen? And how can we make it stop?"

~~~Ó~~~

The book Jareth was reading, 1984 by George Orwell, was one of David Bowie's favorites. Apparently, he sometimes read one entire book a day. You can find a list of his top 100 favorites online.

Beour = BURR - pretty girl

Throwing shapes - showing off