Chapter 3: Saying Goodbye ... Sort of

After a few hours of lying on the floor crying her eyes out, Sarah finally pulled herself together.

Then, she heard a knock on her door.

Sarah didn't even try to fix herself up before answering the door. Instead, she just wiped a few tears from her face and pulled open the door.

There standing in front of her was a man who looked to be at least six feet tall. He had blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and a short beard and mustache. He was bulky and muscular, but not overweight at all. He had a silver earring in his right ear and he was wearing a white poet's shirt, black tights, and boots.

However, it was his eyes that gave him away. They were the same mismatched eyes that Jareth had. They were also watery and red, as if he had been recently crying.

Sarah couldn't hold back her gasp. The man sniffled and looked down at her.

"I'm sorry for just showing up like this, but …. " he paused "I apologize. My name is Tomorus. I'm .. I'm Jareth's older brother."

Sarah didn't know Jareth had an older brother. She didn't know he had any family at all. She nodded, and said quietly, "I'm so sorry for your loss."

Tomorus nodded back "Thank you. I came to provide you with a sort of .. invitation, so to speak. Jareth loved you very much and" he took a deep breath "he would have wanted you to be at his, umm, funeral."

"I don't think I deserve to." Sarah whispered.

Tomorus looked confused. "Why?"

Sarah shook her head and said, "Nevermind." Tomorus decided to not push the issue.

"Well, Jareth would want you to be there. If you decide to come, it's on Saturday … three days from now at one, Aboveground-time." He gave her a black crystal. "Just throw this up into the air and you'll find yourself in the Underground. I can provide you with a way back home."

Sarah tried to refuse again, but Tomorus silenced her. "Look, just think about it. Okay?"

Sarah nodded and Tomorus nodded back again. Then, within a couple seconds, he was gone and Sarah was left looking at the street in front of her house. Where it happened. she thought.

She couldn't bear to look so she shut the door and returned to the sanctity of her home.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Saturday came and Sarah found herself looking into the mirror in her bathroom, wearing a one-strap, black dress and ironically, looking as beautiful as ever.

Nice Sarah she thought. The one time you make yourself look beautiful for him and he's gone. You're going to his funeral and it's all your fault.

It's not your fault, Sarah, she heard his voice say. She'd been hearing Jareth's voice in her mind since she had met his brother. Guilt, she told herself.

She shook the thoughts out of her mind and gripped the crystal in her hands tighter.

Taking a deep breath, she threw it up into the air and found herself in the Underground once more.

The area she was in was exquisite … for a cemetery. There were beautiful marble gravestones sticking up out of the ground everywhere and the grass was a stunning shade of green that she'd never seen before.

The wind blew gently and the sun was shining brightly.

To her left, there was a plethora of different creatures … centaurs, fae, elves, vampires under umbrellas, humans, dwarves, large monster-looking-beasts like Ludo, foxes like Sir Didymus, the Fireys, faires, etc. They were all wearing black and were crowded around one area. Sarah could also see Tomorus and a blonde-haired woman standing in front of the crowd.

She made her way to the chairs where other people were sitting and sat in the very back. Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Sarah turned to find the blonde-woman who had been standing with Tomorus. Her curly blonde hair was put up into a sort of bun and her eyes were a deep green. Her no-strap, black dress reached her knees and she wore a small silver chain-necklace.

Clutching a handkerchief to her chest with her left hand, she reached out and touched Sarah's shoulder. "Hi. I'm Joanna, Jareth's younger sister. You must be Sarah." Sarah nodded and felt herself tear up when Joanna placed herself in front of her and gave her a tight hug.

Pulling away, Joanna smiled a small, sad smile and said, "Jareth loved you very much." She chuckled quietly to herself. "He used to drive the family nuts with stories of you and your adventure in the Labyrinth. I'm so happy you're here, but you're in the wrong seat."

Sarah felt panicked for a second. Maybe she wasn't supposed to be sitting down. Maybe she was supposed to sit in the human section.

Imagine her surprise when Joanna led her up to the very front and sat her down in between herself and Tomorus, right in front of the gravestone (Jareth had been buried the day before the service. Only his siblings had been present since they had also been the ones to dress Jareth, place him in the coffin, dig the hole, and bury him). Sarah tried to protest, but somebody else beat her to it.

"What?! What is she doing here? Sarah Williams is the reason Jareth is dead! And now, here she is acting like he actually meant something to her!!"

Everybody turned to see a beautiful woman in the fourth row. She had long black hair with eyes to match. She wore a long black dress that hugged her curves and she held herself up in an elegant manner. However, her beauty was somewhat covered up because it was obvious that she was an emotional mess and her face was wet from her tears.

Tomorus stood in front of Sarah, as if protecting her, and said, "Everyone! May I have your attention please?" He did have their attention. "This is indeed Sarah Williams." There was a loud murmur among the masses, but he continued anyway. "I know that all of you know how and where Jareth passed, but I want it to be known that this was not Ms. Williams' fault in anyway. My brother loved this woman with all his heart. All of you knew Jareth in some way or another and you all know that he would want her here … especially in this place of honor."

He didn't have to say anymore. Everybody instantly agreed and the woman also nodded sadly and sat down.

"Now," Tomorus continued, "if you would please find your seats. The service is about to begin."

As everyone sat down, Joanna leaned towards Sarah and said, "That's Naomi. She and Jareth were friends and when Father insisted that Jareth be engaged, he asked her to marry him. He wasn't in love with her even though she was in love with him, but he figured it was better to marry a friend than to marry a stranger. However, he ended the engagement after you ran the Labyrinth. He realized then that he was in love with you. Naomi wasn't happy that Jareth had left her for a fifteen year old, but she loved him enough to want for him to be happy. He really did love you, you know."

Sarah didn't have to answer because Tomorus had begun the service.

It was beautiful. The funeral consisted of different speakers, including Tomorus, Joanna, Naomi, some goblins, other friends, business and political allies, some of his subjects, even Hoggle said a couple words. Didymus gave an entire speech on the valor and cunning of his king.

However, Sarah couldn't bring herself to say anything. She knew that Naomi had been right. She was the reason Jareth was dead and these people had more reason to mourn than she did.

After the service, everyone moved to give Tomorus and Joanna their condolences, but Joanna had told Sarah that she could go to his gravestone so she could say goodbye in private.

Sarah kneeled next to the black, marble stone with the engraving that said

Jareth

Beloved Son, Brother, Friend, and King

How you turned our world you precious thing

Sarah started crying hysterically and she knew that if he hadn't caught her off-guard, she would have said yes. She loved him and would have become his queen.

But now it was too late.

Tomorus walked up to her and held her quietly as she cried. When she calmed down and thanked him, he produced a crystal from thin air which turned into Jareth's amulet, and said, "Jareth" Tomorus stopped, blinked back tears, cleared his throat and began again "Jareth cherished this. Never took it off. I want you to have it"

Sarah couldn't stop staring at it, but she managed to shake her head. "I can't take that."

Ignoring Sarah's objection, Tomorus placed it into her hands. "He would have wanted you to have it. Besides, neither I or Joanna can bear to look at it. It holds too many memories."

"But Naomi was right! I killed him! He came to me before he died and asked me to marry him and I … " She couldn't breath! She struggled to take a breath and when she finally could breathe again she said "I told him that thought of being with him made me sick. But it wasn't true! I know now that I loved him. I was just scared. And he never knew."

"He knows that Sarah. You just told him. His soul is at peace now. Now, you need to forgive yourself. Jareth has. He was never the type to hold grudges. He was more happy and care-free than cold and serious. He wouldn't want you to blame yourself."

Sarah wiped some tears away and nodded. Tomorus hugged her again and soon, Joanna joined them.

After a while of hugging in silence, Joanna stood up, caressed Jareth's gravestone, kissed the top of it, and walked away. Tomorus placed his hand on the top of it, took a deep breath, and after nodding goodbye to Sarah, walked away as well.

Sarah also caressed the gravestone and ran her fingers over his name. Tomorus is right. Jareth wouldn't want me to blame myself. So, after making peace with herself, Sarah kissed his name and whispered, "I love you Jareth. I will see you again and we'll be together."

Then, she looked at the ground next to her and found another crystal.

She took it in her hands and threw it up into the air after taking one last look at the grave.

She blinked and found herself home again. She took a shower and climbed into bed.

Sarah fell asleep immediately and found herself in a ballroom again. It was like when she was fifteen. Same dress, same hairstyle, same ballroom, same people. She knew Jareth was here somewhere and she looked diligently for him.

Finally, she felt a load lift off her chest and she turned to find the setting change.

Now, she was in an open area with rocks all around. She was a light green summer dress and green sandals with her hair down.

Sarah turned to find Jareth in his usual attire leaning against a rock in the shape of his face. He was looking at his hands then he looked up at her.

Their eyes met and Sarah felt her heart melt at the sight of his eyes.

He smiled at her and walked over to the love of his life.

"I thought I'd never see you again" she whispered. He chuckled and shook his head.

"Sarah, we weren't supposed to be together so quickly. Why did you let go?"

Sarah shrugged and smiled. "I just realized that I couldn't live my life without you. There wasn't any point in even trying."

"So, is that a yes?" Jareth asked.

"Yes, Jareth. We can be together forever now." Jareth smiled and leaned his head down towards her. Her lips met his and she knew now … she was in Heaven.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sarah hadn't known it at first, but in between the ballroom scene and the rocks, she had taken her last breath in her sleep.

When Karen and her father found her in bed a few days later, they found her smiling.

The cause of death was never found. She had not been murdered. She wasn't sick. She wasn't drugged or drunk.

Sarah Williams had been completely healthy.

However, she had been unhappy. But now, she finally knew the meaning of the word bliss.

A/N: So I hope that was satisfactory. I really wasn't sure how I wanted to end it then it just hit me.

Sorry if it's not entirely good. I just wanted to finish it and get the funeral over with.

I also found that it's very depressing to watch the Jareth parts of Labyrinth while writing/reading this chapter ... especially "As the World Falls Down" and "Dance Magic Dance". But I actually cried during "Within You" lol =]

So, let me know what you thought. This is the end of it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.