"Keep the Magic Alive"
Chapter 17
By Aiijuin

Disclaimer: All things "Labyrinth" belong to Henson Companies as well as many other wonderful contributors. I own nothing!
This story is VERY dark, and therefore is markedM+ for Mature content

Sorry for the long delay in the new chapter submissions, but college life and work life conflicts have been bad this season. Thank you!

Chapter 17: All the World's a Stage

Sarah was exhausted as she hadn't slept well in days since her return home. Jaime's stubbornness had finally calmed after he had eaten some fruit that Jareth had given to his mother to give to him. The toddler promptly passed out several minutes later after mumbling something about being dizzy. Sarah disregarded it as sleepiness or a possible illness. She picked up her child, carried him upstairs to his bed, and then tucked him in. As she turned around to exit the child's room, Jareth blocked her path, which startled her and made her shutter at the same time. Sarah clutched at her chest, as she jumped back in fright.

Jareth smirked and asked, "Frightened, Love?"

She rapped him on the arm and replied, "Yes! Next time, make a sound or breathe or something… my god…Are you trying to kill me?"

She walked into her bedroom and he promptly followed behind her. Sarah stopped to glance out the window, and then she walked towards her bed in the corner. Upon her momentary look outside, she had mumbled, "It's so dark for noon. I suppose it's going to pour again."

At that, she turned and sat on her side of the bed. Without another word, she lay back unto her pillow and wrapped the comforter around herself. Jareth followed suit on the other side of the bed. Sarah snuggled up to him and whispered, "I'm so tired. I just can't keep my eyes open any longer."

"Pray tell, Dearest, did you happen to eat some of that fruit that I gave to Jaime?"

Sarah shook her head and replied softly, "No. I only cut the peach into slices so Jaime could handle it better…but I didn't even nibble it, not even a little bit. I hope it was okay…"

Jareth raised his eyebrows, "Not even a taste, Mmmm?"

Sarah finished as she closed her eyes, "Well… I did lick the juice that leaked onto my fingers…"

"Pity."

"Mmmm? What was that?"

"Oh, nothing," Jareth replied with a blink. "Do have pleasant dreams, Darling."

"Mmmm…"

Suddenly, as Jareth was closing his eyes in thought, he was snapped back into attention when Sarah shook him back into reality. She was standing over him on the floor by his side of the bed and looking down at him endearingly. He rubbed his eyes as he muttered, "Is this your dream?"

Sarah smiled and replied, "No, babe. It's not. You fell asleep on the bed next to me yesterday afternoon, but I woke up two hours later after a good nap and you didn't. In fact, you remained sleeping throughout dinner last night even after I tried to wake you, but you just didn't stir. It's morning now, and I figured I had better wake you up, before I have to classify you as a comatose corpse."

Jareth sat up groggily and looked about completely disoriented. Sarah tugged lightly at his arm until he was on his feet again.

She continued after a lengthy pause, "The doctors said it would take a while to work the tranquilizers out of your system. Come on… I have breakfast ready downstairs, and you still haven't eaten anything since before you were brought home from the hospital. You'll feel better if you eat something, and it will help dilute the meds out of your bloodstream."

Jareth was scratching his head as he followed her down the stairs. The television was off in the living room as the girls were sitting around the table squabbling within the kitchen.

They stopped immediately at their father's entrance and smiled heartily at him when he entered into the room. Jaime was playing with his food, as usual. Sarah touched her son on the shoulder and said, "It's oatmeal, Jaime. You like oatmeal, remember?"

Jaime was like any average toddler and had a finicky appetite sometimes. He moaned, "I don't like raisins, Mommy…Why did you put them in?"

Sarah threw her hands up in the air and exclaimed, "Jaime! Just pull the raisins out, for Pete's sake!"

"I am!" The child replied defiantly with a huff.

Sarah rolled her eyes at her son's tantrum, but smiled when she looked over at her daughter Sahara. The girl actually looked normal for once, in Sarah's opinion of course…
As Jareth took a seat across from the fifteen-year-old girl, her appearance didn't escape his notice, despite his confusion. He remarked, "Wow! You look quite undone, Darling… Not feeling well?"

Sahara balked, but didn't respond either way. Sarah leaned close to her husband's ear and whispered, "I'll tell you what happened after she leaves."

Sahara gulped down her breakfast, and then left the table without saying a word. Jenny and Julia giggled as their younger sister walked away. When she was out the front door, they broke down into hysterical laughter. As tears of extreme mockery began to stream down Jennifer's face, Sarah scolded, "Jenny, stop that!"

"But, Mom, it's friggin' hilarious!"

Julia nodded and added while hanging on her twin's shoulder, "Yeah, I mean the school nerd of all people… Who would have thought?"

Sarah raised her eyebrows, "You girls are going to miss your bus if you don't hurry… And leave your sister alone today! Okay?"

"Oh, HELL, no!" Jenny snickered as she grabbed Julia by the arm and they ran towards the front door that Sahara had just slammed behind her. "Hurry up, Jules! Let's get to the stop early so we can tease her about it longer!"

"Hey!" Sarah shouted as she tried to look threatening and angry, but was doing a terrible job, since she was stifling back giggles herself.

Neither of the twins hesitated as their mother called after them. They grabbed their books and ran out the door, slamming it behind them as they exited.

Sarah finally took her seat next to Jaime. The toddler was just wrangling the last raisin from his hot cereal with a tsk. Sarah ignored it and poured her soymilk into her bowl of breakfast grains.

She smirked as she raised the spoon to her mouth and said, "Sahara just won the role in the high school musical rendition of 'Romeo and Juliet'. Unfortunately, she has to star opposite of the …um… school genius. I guess that's what I was able to gather between her sobs yesterday anyway. She's pretty upset because apparently, the only reason this science-math wiz ever auditioned for the role of Romeo to begin with is because he has … ahem… a crush on Sahara. Anyway, Sahara refuses to dress in her normal attire, because she's hoping by looking plain and boring, that she'll make him lose interest in her and he'll quit the play."

Jareth, who had had worn a continuous look of utter perplexity since he had been awoken by Sarah, began to look unabashedly amused, especially around the corners of his mouth. They began to tug upwards in a devious grin. Sarah mirrored his expression, but nearly choked on her food when little Jaime asked loudly between a mouthful of oatmeal, "Is my sister going to marry nerd-boy, Mommy?"

After taking a minute to catch her breath and dislodge the food that had gone down her windpipe, Sarah finally answered weakly between coughs, "His…cough… name is…choke… Jarvis, Honey, and no… wheeze… it's just a school play."

Jareth wasted no time in prying, "Does she dream about this boy, Sarah?"

After a few more chokes and wheezes, Sarah replied, "No! I doubt it. They're a bit mismatched… to say the least. Actually, I think he dreams about her, but that's as far as it goes…until she procured the role of Juliet. I told her to be careful what she wished for… Of course, she never listens."

Jaime jumped back into the conversation by adding, "She has… she has to kiss him too! Mommy, does kissing make babies?"

Sarah laughed and answered, "No, Jaime, it doesn't."

"But what makes babies, Mommy?"

Sex, rang out in Sarah's mind, but outloud she answered, "Mommies and Daddies make babies together, Sweetie."

"Do they use tape to put them together or glue?" Jaime asked.

After giving Jaime another smirk, Sarah silenced her son by changing the subject, "Honey, is your oatmeal too cold?"

"No, Mommy."

"Okay, then you had better eat it before it gets cold and lumpy."

Jaime nodded as Sarah sighed and turned her attention back to Jareth. She whispered, "Tape and glue… if only it were that easy."

Jareth nodded airily, but didn't really acknowledge the conversation between mother and son. Disorientation was ringing loudly within his head, and he wasn't sure what was going on. He had been pretty sure that he had been fully awake when he lain down in the bed next to Sarah yesterday afternoon, however, as he kept replaying the moment inside of his mind something strange must have had occurred between that time frame, and now he was trying to sort it all out.

He drew his conclusions, in the end, that nothing was explainable, nor did anything make sense.

Jareth looked outside and saw the sun hovering brightly in the sky. It seemed to be mocking him as the rays began to creep through the windows of the kitchen.