Chapter 23, A Casual Coronation
Sarah felt her eyes twitch, and then clench tight, blocking out the light beaming through the balcony. Is it morning already? God, I'm so comfortable. She thought, snuggling back into the firm warmth she'd been clinging to. And then she remembered something. Wait, I'm in the underground! Which means... Her eyes slowly opened, revealing the pale skin of the Goblin King to which her arms were firmly wrapped around.
She took a deep breath, savoring the smell of his skin, and the way it tingled under her fingertips. Her head rested securely on his ribcage. An arm draped over his waist, as one of his was wrapped around her back, stroking her shouder. Her eyes trailed from the blanket draping just barely above his hips, up the length of his torso, to his perfectly chiseled face. The morning light gleamed off of him, and made his brilliant blonde hair glow.
She was surprised to see Jareth was already well awake, hiding her confused expression under heavy eyelids, planting a kiss upon one of his ribs and giving him a slight squeeze.
"Good morning." She said, as sated as could be.
"A good morning it is." He responded, squeezing her to him, and giving her a firm kiss on the top of her head. Although his comment was sincere, Sarah sensed some kind of dis-attachment in his voice, as if he were preoccupied with something.
She shifted slightly, turning her gaze up to him. He was staring at something, and paid her no mind. Her eyes followed his gaze, and saw that he was busy rolling something between his fingers. A crystal? She thought. Growing a little concerned at her lover's seemingly odd behavior, she tried sitting up a bit, but Jareth held her in place.
"What is that?" She asked, trying to sound innocent. Jareth's attention snapped from the crystal only for a moment.
"It's a crystal, or rather it's your crystal." He said, stopping the rolling orb to rest on a single fingertip. Sarah rolled on her side.
"Ah, I see. May I ask why you are staring so intently at it this early in the morning? It is early isn't it? Or even still morning for that matter?" She kidded, almost losing her focus to the immense sense of comfort and satisfaction she was feeling.
"Yes, it is morning. Sarah-" He began to say, shifting himself into a more upright position. Sarah was growing more and more confused, he seemed so serious. Was there any reason for it? She looked up at him.
"Yes, Jareth?" She interrupted, letting him know she knew something was up.
"If you had a way to return to Aboveground, even now. Would you?" He asked, never taking his eyes from the crystal. Sarah's brow drew together, completely thrown off by his question. I thought we already went over this? She wondered.
"I thought I made my decision pretty clear last night. Or have you forgotten?" She tried to remain casual, masking the concern in her voice with that of carefree.
"I will never forget a single night spent with you." He quickly stated, completely honest. Sarah tilted her head, not understanding what was up with him.
"Jareth..." She said, not knowing what to say after. He rolled the crystal over his hand once more.
"I said there would be no tricks..." He started to say, his voice trailing off.
"I don't think there have been..." Sarah said in response, suspicion growing in her voice.
"And I would prefer there not to ever be." He retorted, clutching the ball in his hand. "Sarah...I gave this as a gift to you. I gave you a part of me, a part of raw magic to do with what you desired." He started to explain.
"And I desired to come back to the Underground." She affirmed.
"Yes you did." He said with a smile. Sarah was growing more and more uncomfortable with the ominous tone of the conversation, and sat up beside him, pulling the covers with her. Jareth turned his head to face her. "I do not have to reveal what I am about to say, but it is not my place to keep it from you." He said, with a soft twinkling in his eye. Sarah's stare became more intent. This certainly wasn't the morning after she was expecting. "While it is true you desired to return here, and so you have, that is not its purpose in its entirety." His mismatched eyes locked onto hers.
"What do you mean?" She asked, unsure if she wanted him to continue or not.
"This crystal, does not simply bring you to the Underground...Your desire was not so...one-sided." He said, glancing off to the side.
"So?" Sarah said, urging him to continue.
"This crystal was made by my magic, not the Labyrinths. As you recall, it was the Labyrinth that kept you here..." His eyes left hers, not wanting to see her expression at what he said next.
"This crystal will allow you to travel between the worlds, at your will. I could have destroyed it, with a flick of the wrist, but..." He paused.
"It is not my wish to keep you trapped here forever. I want you to be here of your own accord. After this past night, I thought that perhaps I could take the risk of telling you. That perhaps you were sincere in your pledge to stay with me forever, but perhaps that was a proclamation made on the concept that this time you truly were not going home." Sarah watched the torment play across his face, and actually felt a little hurt by his skepticism.
"If you chose to ever return to the Aboveground...I can not maintain my hold over you should you breach the realm yet again. I can not bind you to me, I can not make you immortal, I can not grant you powers. You will age, fall to illness. I can not bare the thought. I want you to be young, happy and healthy for all of time. I want you by my side Sarah; but this magic, for its purposes, will only hold in this world, as you were not born to magic." He'd started rambling, clearly distraught by all that. After a moment, he finally looked up at her, worry lain thick in his eyes.
"Forgive me, I am rambling. I know that is a lot of information that perhaps I should have explained earlier, and I shall explain further; but this is a matter that I wish not to keep from you. Giving you this crystal was a decision I may come to regret, as I now realize." He said, watching his hand fall into his lap.
Sarah stared at the empty frown dawning her lovely King's face, glancing down to the clear orb resting in his palm. She thought a moment before responding. I can go back? When ever I want, with his consent or not? Of course he didn't want to tell me. He probably thinks I'll just high-tail it out of here for good doesn't he? It's the power thing...Ugh, men...He can make me immortal? Of course, why did I not think that? It figures it wouldn't hold if I ever left. But...I thought I was here for good anyway, and this time I agreed to it... Sitting up on her knees, she took the orb in her hands.
"Ya know, for someone who just had, what I would consider to be some of the best sex ever in this world, you seem rather down." She said, gazing into the crystal. An image of the Halloween party came into view. She saw Kara, and her man Tim. And then she saw something else.
The crystal started to glow, something which drew Jareth's attention. Sarah stared at Jareth from over the crystal with cynical charm, a look that should have brightened Jareth's mood.
"You said this is what ever I want it to be?" She asked, still peering into the glowing ball.
"And what do you want it to be?" Jareth asked, curious as to what she was looking at.
As Sarah stared into the ball, she saw Kara, and her man Tim. Then, she saw herself, alongside who she assumed was Tyler. She watched as the four chatted and danced. She then watched as "Sarah" left the bar with Tyler.
"Gone." She said. And the crystal popped like a bubble. Jareth's brow narrowed.
"What did you do?" He asked, somewhat confused.
"I was so worried about what my friends and family would do in my absence. And, you're right, thinking that I was truly stuck here did make my decision a bit easier. Although, I would have decided the same either way. What if I made it so Sarah Williams never left? What if Sarah WIlliams got in a fight with an old flame at a party, and was comforted by some guy she met at the bar. What if the world just kept turning?" She said, more to herself than to him. "The Aboveground has a Sarah Williams, a ghost to go through the motions of suburban life. It has no need for a Goblin Queen." She said, glancing up to Jareth with an innocent smile.
Jareth cocked his head slightly. For some reason, he half expected Sarah to relish the fact that she wasn't stuck with him forever after all. She cocked an eyebrow when he didn't respond.
"I am Queen right? Or am I just one of your many midnight floozies?" She asked, her smile beaming up at him.
"As long as you stand beside me every day and lay beside me every night, you can be whatever you wish. But of the two, I've never had a Queen before. Perhaps we could give that a try." He said, taking her hand in his.
"Oh, do we have to? God knows I've always wanted to be a castle harlot." Sarah said sarcastically, giving him joyous smile. She found it funny how Jareth had just declared her Queen in such a laid back manner, with seemingly no real consideration. Jareth leaned back, playing into her sarcasm. You really think I haven't thought this through Sarah mine? He thought to himself.
"Well, if you insist. I believe I still maintain good relation with -a few fair maidens. If you truly so desire, I could fit you in to one of my many masses." He said, giving her a dismissive glance off to the side, running his hand through his messy hair. His eyes darted back to see her expression, which was soon followed by a cheeky smile. She was glaring at him.
"You're lucky you're a sexy bed head, Goblin King." Sarah warned, letting the same playful smile show through.
"You know what makes you lucky, oh Queen of mine?" Jareth asked, shifting his position in the sheets.
"What, oh King of mine?" Sarah asked with amused suspicion.
"We're both naked." He said, tackling her into a sea of love and pillows.
Yayyy, this is the end to When Life Gives You Lemons. I hope you all enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the epilogue, and my next Labyrinth Fanfic! 'TIll next time! 3