Disclaimer: Labyrinth does not belong to me. It is the property of Jim Henson, Brian Froud, George Lucas, David Bowie, etc.
Author's Note: I want to take the time to thank iknowyou2, Honoria Granger, comical freaka, JazminaPashmina, godhatesusall, Kaytori, Zayide, and a Guest for the reviews and to apologize for the long wait between updates on this story.
"Epilogue: Belonging"
Not two minutes after defeating the changelings, the goblins 'most secret, secret weapon' was set off in the city square. Homemade fire bombs that had been planted with the utmost care the night before the battle by Hoggle and his band of goblins, left unused, exploded with loud cracks, taking off roofs and launching debris at the castle as the goblins cheered and ran through the streets, detonating each one in succession.
Jareth had been livid at the goblins for the explosion just after victory but Sarah laughed and earned a reluctant smile from the Goblin King's lips. Somehow, her happiness made him less inclined to punish them harshly, although the tiny cackling culprits had been tossed into the bog personally by the king, laughing wildly as they flew and returning with shouts of, "Again! Again!"
From her window ledge, Sarah could see the goblins already hard at work in the early hour, a bumbling construction squad rebuilding homes and businesses in the Goblin City that had been the most damaged. They were singing a new composition today, all about Brave Sarah and how she had made the changers go 'kablooey', in screechy tones. It was almost sweet.
Sarah giggled once more as she heard it drift by and chewed on the end of her fancy new pen—Something I will stop doing by the way, she thought, scolding herself—before she wrote her last sentence with a tiny flourish. There, finished, Sarah thought, raising her chin to look out at the landscape beyond the castle. The Labyrinth spread out beneath her, from the Goblin City, to the entwined passages of the crystal strewn caves, all the way out past the wastelands and into the brightly green forests of foreign territory. It was still early, the sun barely rising, and there was a nip in the sweet-scented air, but Sarah felt warm beneath her silken crimson dressing gown. She let one leg dangle from the ledge above the swift drop and closed the book in her lap with a happy smile. Sarah turned completely so that she sat on the precipice, her bare feet hanging down and the soft morning light warming her face.
Today she would be getting visitors, Toby, Karen, and her father, all coming by to see Sarah's new home, and the home of her new boyfriend. Jareth had taken her back to her childhood home in New York just a day after the battle on her insistence that she needed to see her family.
They stood outside of the house in the chill morning air and knocked twice on the door. Sarah knew she must be a sight, dressed in a long pale blue dress that Jareth assured her was the most normal-looking of any that he had in the castle, and standing beside Jareth himself in a shirt and sinfully tight breeches, his hair wild and his eyes lit with that aura of power that seemed to come from within him. Sarah knew that he could have concealed them better. Jareth had that kind of power. Somehow, she knew that he didn't want to hide. He wanted her family to know what he was. A corner of Sarah's heart melted at the implications of the thought. Well, if he wanted to be noticed, Jareth got his wish all right. They looked like they belonged at the Renaissance Fair and Sarah could practically feel her neighbors' eyes on them as they fetched their morning papers or walked their dogs. Mrs. Harris tripped over one of her lawn gnomes at the sight of them.
"Sarah!" her father gasped when she opened the door. For a moment he just stared at her, eyes wide and welling, mouth slightly agape.
Robert grasped her in an uncharacteristically tight hug, his shocked expression stirring confusion in her chest.
"Nice to see you too, dad," Sarah rasped out. She pulled back and caught that mocking glint in Jareth's eye, elbowing him as discretely as she could. She turned back to her father. "What's going on?"
Before he could answer, Toby ran down the stairs, his eyes streaming, and threw himself into Sarah's arms. Immediately, he began crying great wracking sobs, tiny fingers digging into her skin where he clutched her. Sarah heard something shatter in the kitchen as if dropped by shaking hands. Karen must have gotten the memo too, she thought, her confusion still high.
"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Sarah asked, squeezing her brother and tenderly patting his back. Her father caught her eye, his mouth falling open in surprise. "Wait, what is wrong? You guys are acting like—"
Her next words were smothered as Karen ran forth from within the house and hugged her next. "Sarah, thank God you're all right." Her eyes caught Jareth standing behind her and she did a double take. "You, you were at the party! Why are you dressed that way? Who are you? Did you have anything to do with—?"
"Why don't you both come inside," Robert said, cutting off Karen's hysterical questioning and wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders. Karen nodded and wiped at the tears in her eyes, but remained silent. Sarah frowned, a sick feeling in her stomach.
Toby refused to release Sarah's hand as they walked to the living room. He kept throwing glances back at Jareth, his eyes wide and awed. Jareth smiled at him. With his sharp teeth and otherworldly features, Sarah would have figured that he scared children. Instead, Toby gave him a bright smile back, showing the gaps where he had lost baby teeth.
Sarah settled down on the couch between Toby and Jareth as Karen and Robert took chairs, facing them. It was strange, sitting where she used to watch TV and eat popcorn and do a hundred normal things while her parents wore such grave expressions, looking tired and frantic and worn.
"Dad, what's the matter?" Sarah finally asked. Her father still looked upset, on the verge of tears. His hands shook where he clasped them in his lap.
"Sarah, honey, where have you been? Where's Derrick?" Robert asked in a scratchy voice.
"What—?"
"The police found his car at a motel," Karen said. "The manager gave them a call, said there'd been some sort of fight."
Sarah felt her own eyes well as her father struggled to keep from crying. Jareth caught her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"They searched the room you two were staying in," Robert said. "They found blood on the floor…"
"Oh, dad…" Sarah said.
"They didn't find you or Derrick and I thought…" Robert said. He stared at the floor with haunted eyes as he continued. "I never liked that boy, I just knew that he was no good, and I didn't do anything to stop you from leaving with him. I thought you were…"
Robert stopped himself, his voice gruff, fists clenched. Karen reached for his hand, soothing him.
"Dad, I'm okay," Sarah said softly.
"You were missing for over a week. What happened, Sarah?" Karen asked.
Sarah glanced at Jareth and back to her parents with a shaky sigh.
"Well…for the Cliffs Notes version," Sarah paused and cleared her throat before continuing, "Derrick and I had an argument, he got violent. I was able to get him off me, but I got hurt."
Her father was clutching Karen's hand so tightly that his knuckles were white.
"Jareth had been in the neighborhood, there was this traffic jam…" Sarah continued, wrinkling her brow. I am such a crappy liar. "And well, he stopped in to the motel and he found me and he took me home with him."
"First things first. Where is that bastard Derrick?" her father asked.
"Derrick's gone," Sarah said softly. "He's never coming back here again."
The weight behind her words did not go unnoticed. There was a beat of silence, of considering any and all implications. For a moment, Sarah thought they would question her on the point, but they pressed on.
"Why didn't you call us?" Karen asked in a hurt whisper. "We were worried out of our minds."
"That would be my fault, I'm afraid," Jareth said, speaking up. "I don't have a telephone."
"Jareth's not from around here," Sarah said apologetically.
"English," Robert said with a shrug, as if that explained it.
"I'm terribly sorry for making you believe your daughter was in any danger," Jareth said. "Trust me when I say, she was safe with me."
"You took care of her?" Robert asked, staring him down with the face he'd used on every high school date or college boyfriend that Sarah had ever brought home.
Jareth didn't flinch. There was no hesitancy as he said, "With everything I have."
The intensity of his answer seemed to surprise Robert. Sarah suppressed an inappropriate laugh as it dawned on her father, his eyes widening a fraction and flickering between the two of them. Sarah knew he was having trouble deciding how he felt.
"How exactly do you two know each other again?" Karen asked. She looked over Jareth and tilted her head. "You look…different than I remember you."
Sarah and Jareth exchanged glances, hers unsure, his entirely confident.
"Why don't the two of you come by for a visit at my home, whenever Sarah feels is right, of course," Jareth proposed. Sarah stared at him, a smile blooming on her lips.
"Is she staying with you?" Karen asked, taken aback.
"Why, yes," Jareth answered. "She is."
That was what led to it. They set a date and it was settled. Jareth would arrive to pick them up and take them to his home.
"I'd rather drive," Robert had said, still a bit distrustful. Great, he has to go all Super Dad on me, Sarah thought, but was touched by his concern.
Jareth laughed lightly. "I mean no disrespect but my home...it's not the kind that you can drive to. I'm afraid I'll have to," Jareth smirked knowingly, "give you a lift."
"English," Robert had said once again, although this explained nothing of what Jareth had said, but his relief outweighed his exasperation.
They hadn't told them anything about the Labyrinth yet, or the magic that surrounded it. Sarah knew that they wouldn't believe until they saw it. As she prepared to leave, Sarah knew that Karen and Robert wanted her to stay the night, but she couldn't pry herself away from Jareth for even a moment. She was going crazy not touching him, pretending that he was just a doting friend, although she knew her parents saw right through that guise.
Karen pulled her aside into the kitchen before they left and spoke up.
"Sarah, you and that very…oddly dressed man…" Karen began, unsure of how to continue, eliciting a smirk from Sarah, "Are you, what I mean is…are you two involved?"
Sarah was surprised by her stepmother's insight and almost amused at her embarrassment. Karen had never tried, not really, to play the part of the mother. They didn't have much experience discussing things like this. Sarah gave her stepmother a smile, trying to break through the awkwardness.
"Yes," Sarah admitted and added, "I love him."
"And, does he feel the same way?" Karen asked.
You don't even know the half of it, Sarah thought.
"He does," she replied.
"In that case, congratulations," Karen said. She gave Sarah a hug, awkwardly patting her back. She sniffed and blinked back tears, giving Sarah a proud smile. "I like him, Sarah."
Sarah smiled, touched. "So do I."
Toby was the one who had concerned Sarah the most when she had arrived with Jareth on the doorstep. She didn't know what he would remember, what he might know after speaking to Jareth once more. Of course, it had been years and Toby had been so young. Those thoughts did nothing to quell her worries. Sarah had emerged from the kitchen after speaking to Karen to see Toby speaking animatedly to Jareth, who was juggling three crystals in his hand and smiling at the ten year old.
"Tobes," Sarah called. "Jareth and I are leaving now."
Toby bounded over for his hug.
"Do you like him?" Sarah asked her younger brother while Jareth was out of earshot.
"Yeah, he's cool," Toby said, enthused. "He knows magic!"
Sarah smiled at Toby's reaction to the juggling.
"So it's okay with you if I have a new boyfriend?" Sarah asked. "I get the Toby stamp of approval?"
Toby nodded with a bright grin.
"Cause you think he's cool?" Sarah said with a smile.
"He's more than that," Toby insisted. He looked side to side dramatically, making Sarah grin and stifle a laugh. Toby leaned in close, cupping his hands over his mouth, and whispered in Sarah's ear, "He's the Goblin King."
Sarah froze at those words and tilted her head to stare at her younger brother in shock.
"Toby, how do you know—?"
Toby shrugged. "I just do."
Sarah smiled at the memory, her intelligent younger brother, remembering the things that he should have technically forgotten years ago. Perhaps it was just something all children knew when they saw Jareth, that ethereal spark that he carried within, but Sarah doubted it. Toby was special.
The sound of Jareth stirring in bed had Sarah sliding off the windowsill, stirring the filmy curtains in her wake. The stone floor was cool beneath her feet at the early hour. She slipped back into his bedroom, their bedroom. It still felt strange how quickly Sarah had been able to call it that, to call this place her home. More importantly it felt right, it felt true.
I've always been waiting to come home, she realized with a shiver.
Jareth was asleep and wonderfully naked in a world of red satin comforters and dark canopy curtains. Sarah slid in beside him, setting the book aside, and feathered soft kisses across his chest. She glanced at his face for reaction.
Jareth smiled, his eyes still shut.
"Good morning, precious," he said, one hand rising to caress her hair.
"Morning," Sarah whispered. Her lips ghosted further down, pausing to gently kiss the scar marring his ribs. Her hands came into play, caressing his sides and tracing his navel. She smiled when he let out a moan of longing from something so simple and small. Jareth caught her beneath her arms, dragging her up his body to kiss her soundly.
"Sarah," Jareth murmured and kissed her again.
She allowed him to push her to her back and crawl slowly up her body to rain kisses along her throat. He was pulling at the ties of her garment to expose her skin to his hungry eyes. Sarah let her head loll back, giving him better access as her fingers threaded through his hair.
Something caught Jareth's eye. He reached out for the book she had abandoned on the sheets beside him. It was a plain one, the cover simple and undecorated, and the spine was thin. Jareth raised an eyebrow at Sarah and lay back with the book in hand.
"I finished it," Sarah whispered, resting her cheek against his shoulder and nuzzling him there. She giggled and kissed that soft hollow beneath his ear, earning a purr in his throat. "Writer's block no more…"
Jareth chuckled, pressing his cheek to the top of her head. "And what have you written, my love?"
"Why don't you see for yourself?" Sarah said with a grin, relaxing against him.
Jareth flipped through the pages at such a remarkable rate that they blurred, his brow furrowed in concentration. Sarah gasped and knew somehow that he was absorbing it all with some strange magic that any literary student would give their right eye for. If she looked closely enough, she could see the fine print of her writing passing over his irises at a rapid speed. Sarah waited as he read, reaching up to caress his chest and snuggle against his shoulder. When he was finished, he gently set the book to the side and caught her around the waist once more. Sarah laughed as he pulled her into his lap. Jareth was grinning widely, happily.
"It's about the Labyrinth," he said, pleased.
"Do you like it?" Sarah asked, unable to help but smile in return. I guess I never did write any fantasy, I wrote about something better. Something real, she thought.
Jareth leaned in and feathered soft kisses along the expanse of her neck, his tongue darting out to taste her pounding pulse point. His passion surprised her at first, but Sarah quickly adjusted. She ran her fingers through his wild hair as he caught her mouth for a kiss.
"Is that a yes?" Sarah asked breathlessly when he pulled back.
Jareth gave her a wicked grin in response. It sent her pulse pounding in response.
"Oh, precious Sarah," Jareth replied, running a hand along her cheek. "Beautiful queen…what else would it be?"
Sarah smiled and pushed him back down into the mattress, murmuring her love into the silky hollow of his throat, the sharp curves of his hipbones, the irresistible sweetness of his mouth. Anywhere and everywhere she could. I have a lifetime and more here to prove how much I love him, she thought, might as well get started now. The Goblins were singing, the sun was rising, and Jareth was here. He was here and he was loved and he was hers and she was his. Finally, at long last, Sarah was where she belonged.
Author's Note: We're finally at the end. I'm definitely not done with writing Labyrinth stories yet and I really hope you enjoyed this one. Thanks for reading!