Epilogue,
Jareth closed his eyes and let out a sigh, pausing before slowly tapping his finger against the wooden door. Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Sarah-" He started to say, trying ever so hard to hide the smirk on his face.
"What?" She yelled from the other side. Jareth paused again, restraining his silent snickering.
"Sarah, open the door." He asked as polite as can be.
"Fuck you!" She yelped, her voice muffled through the thick wood of the door. Jareth's brow drew slightly, he was never fond of Sarah's untamed tongue.
"Sarah, might I remind you of your manners?" He asked, a little warning lining his voice.
"Fuck my manners, I don't care." She snapped. Jareth could feel her eyes boring into him through the door. He merely shook his head and gave another sigh. Stubborn as ever... He thought.
"I will not have the Queen of my realm display herself in such an uncivilized manner. I strongly urge you hold your vile tongue and open this door." Jareth commanded, as if he were threatening a child. I might as well be. He chided. Really Sarah, is this any way for a Queen to behave? He lectured to himself.
"I most certainly will not open this door. So you can take my vile tongue and -" She huffed.
"Sarah." Jareth said, low and menacing. His forehead was pressed against the door by now, already tired with her childish behavior. He heard Sarah huff in frustration, sending a small smile of victory to his lips. At least she's learning...
"Don't think I don't know you're laughing, Jareth." Sarah snapped after a moments pause. Jareth's eyes looked up to the door, as if it was the wood grain that was speaking to him.
"I am doing no such thing." He said, with the biggest rascal of a smile on his face.
"Don't fucking lie to me." Sarah said.
"Sarah.." Jareth said again, letting the annoyance show in his voice.
"Instead of trying to lecture me like a child, maybe you should see to the Goblins who have offended your Queen so." Sarah said, her arms crossed and stance firm, glaring at the door.
"And why would I do that?" Jareth asked, a little honest. He could actually feel Sarah's rage bubbling through the door. "Sarah, I've explained to you numerous times..." He started to say, before feeling a hard pound against the door, sending him stumbling backwards. He brought his hand to his forehead, retraining his anger to simply snarl at the door.
Sarah knew what he was getting at, and she was not the one in need of lecturing. So, taking a step back, she hauled off and kicked the door as hard as she could.
"I don't care what explanation you give, they have no right!" Sarah screamed. "I am your Queen, what kind of husband and King does not stand for the respect of his wife?" She ridiculed. Jareth suppressed his scowl, not that it mattered.
"And what kind of Goblin Queen can not even stand up to a few of her subjects?" He asked, taking a step towards the door. He paused, resting the palms of his hands against the door. He waited for a clear sign she would not attack again before continuing. "As I have told you Sarah, there has never been a Goblin Queen. Goblins live off of mischief and foul play. A Queen must earn the respect of her subjects. They will stop once you give them a reason to. This is something you must do yourself." He tried to rationalize. Sarah stuck her tongue out at the barren wood.
"What kind of logic is that? I am their superior, your wife! They don't fuck with you!" She yelled.
"I'm just not as fun to instigate as you are, Sarah mine." He said, soft as casual.
"You're so amused by all this aren't you? Hell, you're just as bad!" She said, flailing her arms in a circle. Jareth continued to snicker.
"Sarah, you have every means to assert your dominance. Why you continue to let these things unsettle you so..." He said, before she interrupted him.
"And what exactly am I supposed to do, Jareth? I can't yell at them, I can't fight them. They just laugh at me and carry on!" She took a step towards the door.
"Use your magic." He said. Sarah gave another huff.
"You just started teaching me, Jareth. Not to mention the fact that I HAVE used my magic, and look where that got me." Her eyes were burning holes into the wood of the door. Jareth slumped himself against the door.
"Well Sarah, I find myself currently unable to look upon where that has gotten you. Perhaps if you would be so kind as to open the door..." His voice trailed off.
"No." She said. Jareth gave yet another sigh.
"Sarah, you realize I could just walk through the door correct? I am only obliging this barrier between us as a means of being polite." He said, waiting for her immanent retort. And preventing any bodily harm to myself... He thought.
"Walk through it then. I dare you, see what happens." She warned. Jareth's smirk turned to a scowl.
"I do not respond well to threats my dear." His voice lain thick with dark warning.
"Perhaps it is less of a threat than it is a precaution." Sarah said, after a long pause. Jareth's brow quirked up at that. What have you done to yourself Sarah dearest? He wondered.
"Sarah...I suggest refraining from any impulsive physical outbursts you are about to have." Came Jareth's voice from beyond the door. Sarah simply stared. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the knob on the door start to turn.
Sarah immediately flinched away, not wanting him to see what she had done to herself in her fury. Unbeknownst to her, Jareth had anticipated such a reaction and had materialized right behind her just as she turned her body away from the door.
Sarah sensed something. Her eyes were clenched tight, but she knew something wasn't right. She felt something, right next to her face. She opened her eyes and jumped back, seeing Jareth no more than a foot away from her. Her eyes went wide in embarrassment, and she immediately backed away to the door. She thought about trying to hide her magic malfunction from him, but it was impossible to conceal her entire body.
Jareth stood with both hands held in front of him in appeasement. He was able to hide his grin for all of ten seconds. With that most boyish smile he had, he tilted his head and fought the overwhelming urge to snicker. He failed.
"Sarah...my darling." He chuckled, taking a step towards her.
Sarah's back was firmly against the stone of the wall, there was no escape. Her initial embarrassment was quickly taken over by a puff of rage surging through her chest. Her heart practically pounded out of her chest, only adding to her amusing state. Jareth took another step.
"Don't you dare laugh at me." She warned, pointing a finger at him. Jareth actually had to turn his head away before speaking, clearing his throat of giggles.
"You look so...so -glowing." He said with a stutter, letting his smile show through. Sarah's brow drew tight, ready to lunge should he enter range.
"Screw you." She spat, balling her hands into fists.
"Now Sarah. Assaulting the King is punishable by death." He kidded with false warning.
"Who will punish me if I succeed?" She growled.
Sarah was as stiff as a plank, watching as her loving husband slowly inched his way to her. Sarah noticed the small crack in her armor grow. Why do you have to look so good? Gah I'm supposed to be angry at you Stop being attracted Sarah! She yelled to herself. Sarah took advantage of the piercing stare she was already giving him to give him a good once over on a completely different level. He wore his typical white poets shirt. The laces were undone however, revealing most of his perfectly carved chest. He had on those deliciously tight black pants and a luxurious black leather waist belt. She watched the way his feathery blonde hair flowed over the contours of his open neck and clavicles.
Jareth cautiously watched the way his dearly beloved was shooting lasers into him. He caught the quick gulp in her throat, but soon dismissed it. Although he was looking at her, he tried his best not to look at her. Whatever the Goblins had done to her, could not have compared to what she had mistakenly done to herself in response.
"Sarah, may I ask what it was you were trying to accomplish that has ended so..." He didn't finish, because he'd started laughing. Sarah actually stomped her foot.
"I was angry ok? I just kept thinking of fire and rage and how I wanted to shoot all of it out at them like a fucking volcano." She spat, flailing her arms around. "I wanted to rip their fucking heads off and throw them down the hall at them as they ran away." Jareth had paused in his step, finding great enjoyment in simply watching her vent.
"And constructing a fireball resulted in..." He started, pointing his finger and raising an implying eyebrow. Sarah's chest puffed up higher than humanly possible.
"In me turning into a member of the fucking Fire Gang? Yes! Yes Jareth, go a head and laugh!" Sarah's eyes were on fire, which coincidentally fit in with the rest of her.
Jareth found himself unable to move, he was laughing so hard. If his smile and the sound of his laughter weren't the most precious things in the world, Sarah would have knocked him all the way into the Aboveground.
The Goblin King watched his flustered Goblin Queen. He found it utterly hilarious that she had actually tried conceiving some sort of inferno, and that it had resulted in such a way. Sarah wasn't far off when she said she'd turned into a Fiery. Her skin had turned bright yellow and orange from head to toe. Her hair, a bright fiery red that shot out like flames made of hairspray. She actually started to sprout tuffs of orange fur on her arms. Jareth wondered if her head now had the ability to pop off at will. Taking offense in the way Jareth was examining her, Sarah's rage only furthered her coloring, she looked like a mango Oompa Loompa.
Sarah huffed and puffed, staring at the man laughing at her, not caring about the tears starting to swell in her eyes. Jareth noticed Sarah's distressing state and quickly closed the gap between them. Grabbing either side of her face, he pulled her in for a big fat kiss. She thought she felt a tingling in her cheeks, but let it go as nerves. After a moment, he pulled away and smiled down at her, leaving her wide eyed and quivering.
"Forgive me, my darling, but you are beautiful." He said, beaming down to her. Sarah quickly withdrew her gaze from him, utterly ashamed of her current state. Another smirk quirked Jareth's lips. Tilting his head, he brought a finger to her chin to bring her face back to his. "Sarah, please, no tears." He said, his voice full of warmth.
"Can you please just fix this already?" She asked, trying to make her voice seem strong.
"Sarah, I have no idea what you are talking about." He replied, resting his hands on her shoulders.
Sarah paused, glaring up at him out of the corner of her eye.
"You're fucking kidding me." She said, utterly unable to believe he couldn't see anything wrong with her current state.
"As I said, you are beautiful." He said.
She backed away from him and started flailing her arms again.
"I would appreciate it if you would stop fucking with me. I know you can see me. You don't think there's anything wrong with this?" She said, pulling at tendrils of hair. Jareth had started chuckling again.
Little did she know, the moment Jareth had pressed his lips to hers a soft wave of magic washed over her, removing any trace of her indiscretion. He thought of telling her then and there, but then again, he was having oh so much fun watching her rant and rave. How he loved her spirit. As much as he hated fighting with her, he hoped she would never lose it.
"Actually..." He said, his voice turning into a sultry purr. "I find your appearance quite entrancing." He said, wrapping his hands around her waist, pulling her to him. Sarah's eyes went wide again. Is he fucking serious? Is he really turned on by all this? Her mind was flabbergasted. "Sarah?" He said, pulling her from her daze. "You feel so hot, let me help you out of those confining clothes." He said, pulling at the shoulders of her dress. Sarah shivered away from him.
"Jareth, stop it. Please, I'm already more ashamed and embarrassed than you could imagine. Just stop." The fire in her voice had faded. She'd depleted her anger reserves, and was now running on distraught. Jareth's happy expression twitched, just for a second.
"And what reason could you possibly have to be ashamed and embarrassed of me touching you?" He asked, testing his will to continue their game.
"Maybe the fact that my skin is bright orange? Maybe the fact that I'm clearly genuinely upset and you continue to pick at me?" Her voice gained a spark. Jareth closed the space between them, pushing the hair away from her neck. She waited.
"As I said before, you are beautiful and I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about." The smile had left his face, and his voice was soft.
Without a word, Jareth sidestepped to stand behind her. His hands gripped her shoulders as he waited for her to look up. Sarah rolled her head to the side, knowing was to come once she opened her eyes.
Sarah's gaze rose from the floor to see a full length mirror staring back at her. A quiet smile came to her face, and she leaned back into Jareth.
"Thank you." She said, her voice relaxed. Jareth brought his head to give a gentle kiss on her temple.
"For what? I was not the one who created you so beautifully." He whispered into her ear, as his lips made their way down her neck. Sarah's smile broadened.
"And how long have you been patiently waiting to tell me I was back to normal?" She asked him.
"Not too long." He said with a smile. Sarah didn't notice his hands trail down her arms.
"Do you think you could teach me some tricks? Something simple so I can at least keep the Goblins at bay while I work on my final resolution?" She didn't notice Jareth's face dip into her neck.
"Mhmm." He hummed into her neck, giving it a soft kiss. Sarah was too focused on the impending doom of the Goblins to notice Jareth's fingers entwining around the collar of her dress.
"Can we start? Soon?" She asked, her mind suddenly full of hope.
"...Mhmmmmm." Jareth mumbled again, planting another few kisses along her neck. His arms gripped at the fabric of her dress.
"Great! When can we-" She started to blurt out something, when Jareth's teeth nipped hard at her neck.
"Sarah." He said, bringing his mouth from her flesh. He eyed her for her indifference. "I think you've had enough magic for one day." He said, waiting for her to bring her attentions back to him.
"Yea, you're probably right." She hadn't caught on to his hint. She tried laughing off her little incident, ignorant to the disgruntled huff from Jareth.
"While I admire your enthusiasm for education, I must say that your sudden obliviousness is baffling me. Perhaps I should make myself more clear and just be straightforward with you." He snapped, making it painfully obvious he was now annoyed. Sarah turned to face him, completely blown away by his statement.
"And what exactly is your problem?" She asked, her scowl meeting his.
"One that is soon to be irrelevant." He said, taking a firm grasp on the neck of Sarah's dress and somehow effortlessly (probably magically) ripping it from her body.
Sarah stood abashed. Her mouth opened as if to say something, she didn't even have enough time to try and cover herself up.
"Are you conscious to my intentions now?" He stated rather than asked, resting his hands around her hips. Sarah gave a pouting huff.
"Well that was rude." Sarah said, arms crossed standing completely naked and unaffected by the fearsome Goblin King. "I would try to do that to you, but I'm afraid I may simply melt your clothes to your body or something." She said, waving a hand in front of her face. Jareth cocked his head, trying to decipher if she was baiting him or not. "But then again, I like doing things the old fashion way." She said, bringing to hand to slowly tail down the open fabric of his shirt.
Her eyes darted up to his, watching him as she precariously planted a soft kiss on the center of his chest. Her lips lingered, tingling at the feel of his skin. Jareth's expression was one of minor annoyance and expectance. With nimble fingers, Sarah undid the clasp on Jareth's belt as if she'd done it a hundred times before. It fell to the floor with a thud.
With her lips continuing their sensual caress along Jareth's chest, Her hands proceeded to pull the fabric of his shirt from the waist of his pants. All the while, Jareth stood like a statue, simply watching. Once ridding his shirt from his trousers, Sarah's hands made their way under the thin material, touching their way up his body. He lifted his arms as she brought his shirt up and over his head.
She stood for a moment, smiling up at him with a mischievous grin. Jareth's expression softened. That look undid him every time. She was so innocent, and yet he new just how much of an absurdity such a claim was.
Jareth's eyes grew dark, and his demeanor shifted drastically. It was thick, and alluring -predatory even. Clad in nothing but the dark tresses of hair draping her body, Sarah took a step back. He took a step forward.
"Let's play a game." Sarah chirped, out of the blue. Jareth quirked an eyebrow, oh how he loved games.
"What did you have in mind, Sarah dear?" He asked, his voice a sensual caress. Sarah side stepped, and he side stepped in return. Her eyes darted eagerly towards the door.
"I'm going to run through this castle. You have thirteen minutes to find me or I'll make sure all the doors are magically barred from your entrance. Oh, and I'll steal your pants too" She said with that oh-so-innocent smile. Jareth raised the other brow this time.
"And what exactly makes this a challenge?" He asked, smirking as she inched her way closer to the door.
"Ask yourself this Goblin King. We're both running in the same direction, but will we end up in the same place? Think carefully Goblin King, things are not always what they seem." She tisked her finger at him. Jareth's stance grew firm.
"In that case, we mustn't take anything for granted." He said, giving Sarah's exposed body a more than obvious once over.
"Tick tock Goblin King, and time is short." Sarah said most ominously, before bolting out the door. Jareth shook his head, and darted right after her.
Sarah stood, bracing herself against a wall. Her chest puffing up and down as she tried to catch her breath. She had no idea where Jareth was, but refused to stop running. She was clutching to the door of one of the many common rooms throughout the castle. He'll never find me here. He probably went to our room, or his study. Sarah gave herself a small victory laugh, casually strolling into the room.
Once her heart settled back into her chest, she took a step into the center of the room, gazing around, hands on hips. It was quiet.
"Have I ever told you, you have a nice ass?" Came the highly amused and snarky voice of Jareth the Goblin King. Sarah whipped around to see the dark looming figure that was her husband leaning against a bookcase, staring at her with fiery intent.
"Wha- How? How the hell did you guess I wanted to come here of all places?" Sarah exclaimed, forgetting the fact that she was still completely naked. Jareth took a step towards her.
Sarah stood, arms crossed and brow furred, pouting at him. Jareth couldn't help the boyish grin lain across his face. Once standing in front of her, he ran his hands along her arms.
"I believe I win." He smirked down at her. "But you can steal my pants regardless." He teased, relishing all the fire pouring out of her eyes.
"How did you know?" She asked again. Jareth's smile softened, and his aura calmed.
"The castle takes you to where you most want to go. You wanted to go here, though I would have preferred someplace of more interest." He teased, his eyes burned blue flames into hers, but it wasn't the fiery hot passion from only minutes before. "I wanted to go to you." His mouth quirked up in a smirk. "You are the one place I will always wish to go. I will always be chasing after you, I will always come back to you, I will always find my way to you. You are my haven Sarah, and..." There was a pause, and the fire came back. "You will never outrun me, never escape me. I will always find you. You are mine Sarah. Forever." She continued to scowl. He paused, and gave a light chuckle. "What do you say to that?" He asked.
"Well, you know what they say." She shrugged, giving him a sly smile.
"And what is that?" Jareth asked, his fingers grazing along her ribcage.
"When life gives you lemons..." Her voice trailed off. Jareth quirked his head, tightening his grip around her.
"And what does happen when life gives you lemons, Sarah mine?" He asked, playfully intrigued.
"What indeed." She replied, capturing his lips with hers as if the same exact moment had played out a hundred times before, and would forever play out hundreds upon hundreds of times after.
A/N- Yayy another one done. Hope you all enjoyed my citrusy story. Hope you all read my next fanfic Of Dreams And Broken Things ! Thanks for reading =)