Disclaimer: Hasn't changed. Still don't own anything. I have no money.
The Incentive
by Fou Fou
Chapter 13: The Season of ChristmasIt was late at night in the Labyrinth, and Jareth, the Goblin King, was pacing.
Back and forth he went, left, right, in front of the huge fireplace in his bedroom, thinking. The light steps of his feet were resounding like tiny drums and echoing in the otherwise silent room. Step, step, step, step, turn around, step, step, step, step, turn around, the pattern went on, as he desperately tried to figure out what to do about her.
And whom, one might wonder (or then again, maybe not), was this Goblin King brooding over, that caused him to go for a midnight experiment to see if pacing back and forth in the same area could cause the floor to collapse? It was her . . . Sarah, who had come to the Labyrinth not 3 days ago, and was quite rudely (in his opinion) refusing to talk to him. Which of course, ruined the whole plan to make her his friend, for how can you become a friend to someone who refuses to talk to you if she can possibly help it? I mean, to become friends, you do tend to need willingness from both sides; it can be quite difficult if there isn't any.
It all started the day before, when they had gotten into that argument over the dwarf friend of hers,: Hoggle. Yes, Hoggle, that annoying dwarf who she seemed to believe was more worthy of spending time with than him, the King of the Goblinsno less! And Hoggle, he wasn't even King of a Measly Pile of Dirt, let alone in the highly exalted position of being King of the Goblins! (He conveniently forgot how much he often despised the job). And yet, Miss Sarah Williams preferred to spend time with him!
A low growl escaped his throat with annoyance. And then! Oh yes, and then, she spent the ENTIRE day yesterday, ignoring him! She only asked him if he would show her to the library, and then she promptly started to read as if he wasn't there! When he had tried to talk to her, she had muttered somewhat loudly to herself about how it was awfully noisy and she wondered wherever the noise could be coming from. Somewhat childish, Jareth knew, but it nevertheless succeeded in royally pissing him off. And so, to prevent another catastrophe such as the one the occurred with Hoggle the day before, Jareth left so he wouldn't say something that he knew he would probably regret later.
Which left the questions: What was he going to do now? How was he going to get on that infuriating siren's good side?
And thus, the pacing.
Which would have really started to get annoying if someone was in the room next to him.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
In fact, it was starting to annoy Jareth, but that didn't stop him from continuing to pace, much to the displeasure of the floor.
What to do. What to do.
Tick Tock Tick Tock, The clock chimed 10 o'clock.
And still the king continued his pacing.
Hours passed, and still he continued to try and bore a hole in the floor with his relentless pacing, and the floor groaned in agony, loudly, to try to hint to the Goblin King to find another way to occupy his time.
The clock chimed 13, the magic hour, and the pacing stopped. He stood frozen, staring out towards the window that overshadowed the Goblin City.
His thoughts strayed to Mara, and he wondered idly what she would be doing right about now. Most likely sleeping in some nice chamber, having gone to bed early so that Christmas would come sooner. He and always been amazed with her child-like love for Christmas, the season of joy. It was then that she always seemed more exuberant then usual, if that was even possible.
Christmas! Tomorrow (or actually today, if you think about it) was Christmas! I had forgotten all about it, what with all the other things that have been going on. But Christmas IS the season of forgiveness . . . so maybe I could . . .
And thus, the pacing resumed, but with a lighter step, as the mind of the Goblin King began to weave a tapestry of ideas for how he was going to surprise Miss Sarah Williams when she awoke.
Meanwhile, in the Aboveground, Christmas morning dawned, creating a winter wonderland of dazzling ice and snow that reflected the sun's light in an array of colors. Laughter seemed to dance in the air like the snowflakes, creating a contagious syndrome of good cheer. Everyone, when they awoke, couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the breathtaking beauty of the world outside.
Everyone, that is, besides Mara. She awoke with one of the worst headaches of her entire life that was immediately followed by grabbing a trashcan since she also felt incredible nauseous. After several coughs that proved she was not going to regurgitate her pizza from the night before, she moaned and rolled back over in her bed. Then promptly pulled a pillow over her eyes to block out the sunlight streaming into the room, determined to have a few more hours of sleep.
Fate, however, had a different idea.
"IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!!!" cried the high pitched voice of Toby, as he started running down the hallway outside her room. Opening the door, he came into her sanctuary of peacefulness, the embodiment of everything else, and proceeded to jump up and down on the bed. "Get up, Elf!" he yelled, as the jarring of her bed bounced the pillow off her face, and caused her to stare at this extremely hyper child. At least I showed respect others towards others when it was Christmas, not wake them up at unholy hours of the morning, she thought grumpily, having conveniently forgotten that she had done something similar last year. Instead, she had gotten the goblins to play drums outside of Jareth's bedroom, all the while shouting, "GET UP SLEEPYHEAD!" at 6:30 in the morning. It is always amazing how people conveniently forget things to prove their points.
"Gah!" she moaned, turning over trying, against all reason, which told her it was quite impossible, to go back to the wonderful sleep that had departed from her mere minutes before.
"Toby? Where are you?" came Karen's tired voice from just outside the room. "Are you bugging Mara?"
"GET UP! PRESENT TIME!" was the rather loud reply, causing Mara's headache to go from a light training practice of the army, to full out campaign against the sides of her head.
"Toby Williams!" cried Karen, walking in the room. "Whatever do you think you are doing? Mara is trying to sleep, and I highly doubt she enjoys being waken up in such a barbaric manner!"
Toby's face took on that of a sad puppy. "I'm sorry, Mara," he whimpered, ending his jumping, looking despondently down at Mara.
As much as Mara wanted to snap back, the sheer ashamed cute-ness of Toby stilled her tongue, and she found herself saying, quite against what the little annoyed voice in her head wanted to say, "It's all right, Karen. I was already waking up anyway."
"Are you sure?" asked Karen, concerned.
Mara waved off the concern with a hand. "It is perfectly all right," she lied smoothly.
"What is all that noise?" came Sarah's sleepy voice as she walked into the room.
"PRESENTS!!!" cried Toby, resuming his jumping up and down on the bed, causing Mara to wince, as once again her headache army decided to increase in the ferocity of it's battle.
"All right, all right," sighed Karen, picking up Toby to prevent him from accidentally jumping on top of Mara, who she was sure would not particularly enjoy that experience, having dealt with it herself. "Just let Mara get up first, all right Tiger?" she asked. "See you girls in a bit," she added, and left, with her bundle of wild six-year-old in hand.
After they had left, Mara groaned, lying her head back on the pillows, while massaging her temples in an attempt to divert the army.
"Are you all right, Mara?" asked Sarah worriedly. "I understand that Toby can be quite exuberant at times. I hope it didn't take too much out of you."
Mara smiled cheerfully and said, "No worse then being woken up by the Goblins during their weekly Choir Rehearsal. I just have a slight headache, that's all."
"I hope it is nothing that a little Advil won't fix," said Sarah, concerned.
"Oh, I'm sure Advil will do the trick," lied Mara glibly. That is, I hope it can. Because if this headache means what I think it means, I know what I'll be stocking up on for the next few months until the barrier is open.
An excited shout of, "Are you guys ready yet? Get moving!" came from outside the hallway, interrupting Mara's train of thought.
"Ah well, guess we should get a move on then. Shall we?" asked Mara, stretching. "I'm not sure I would like to keep your brother waiting. From past experience, your brother does not seem to be an individual with a lot of patience. His last battle against Evil Baron Vudoo (who we still had yet to meet . . . but seemed to be responsible for most of the messes that spontaneously appear around the house, where Toby had to fight him off to help save the world) because we failed to have the macaroni ready in time before he got bored was a case in point. Putting the playroom back into recognizable order was definitely not on the list of my favorite activities. I would hate to see the battle that would ensue if Vudoo attempted to destroy Christmas."
Sarah shivered visibly at the picture. "I agree," she said hastily. "Get up soon, and perhaps we shall avoid that catastrophe."
Sighing, not for the last time, Mara got up and joined Sarah, as they left the room to open presents.
I could almost get used to this, thought Sarah idly as she once more found herself feeling oddly rejuvenated after just falling asleep (or so it seemed for her), and waking up in that comfy, canopy bed that she had grown to adore more than she was willing to admit. Maybe there is some way to bring this back with me to the Aboveground. Though I'm not sure if it would fit in my room at home, let alone the dorm. Still, I shall miss this bed when this barrier thing that Mara keeps on talking about goes down and I get to go back home for good. His Gobliness' attitude is starting to get on my nerves.
She sighed, keeping her eyes closed in an attempt to ward off getting up for a few moments longer as she thought about Christmas back at home. After Toby's rather energetic awakening of the household, the entire family had piled around the Christmas tree to open presents. There had been a lot of laughing and joking, especially when Merlin decided he wanted to join in the festivities and started burrowing under all of the wrapping paper and ribbons to jump out, scattering paper everywhere. Sarah had received gifts from her family, as well as small gifts from friends at school that they had given her before she and Mara left to go home. Most were books, since many knew of her love of reading that had become quite famous throughout the Sirarah Valley College, right after Mara's love for being mischievous.
Speaking of Mara . . .
She has seemed awfully strange lately She sleeps a lot. I remember back at school she wouldn't go to sleep until three o'clock a.m., then get up at six or seven in the morning. Now it has become like her favorite past time. And she didn't look too well this morning when Toby woke her up, being paler then she normally is.
Of course, she was enough of herself to get extremely mad when she found that Garith had given her a present. Didn't it say something about being a guide to having a successful relationship for newlyweds? As soon as she saw it she hid it, then ranted about it to me later. It is kinda cute how those two seem to constantly bicker. If only Mara wasn't getting married to Jareth . . .
Sarah bit her lip as a slight tang went through her. Filing it away as her stomach telling her that she was hungry, she regretfully got out of bed to get ready to find something to eat.
After performing her customary morning routine involving a bath, getting changed, and putting up make-up (she still felt a desire to look nice . . . no need looking like a vagabond next to Jareth . . . it would only inflate his already stratosphere level ego – or so she kept on telling herself. She did have some dignity after all!), she opened up the door to her room and was surprised to find the hallway devoid of the usual noises of Goblins and whatnot.
Come to think of it, Jareth hasn't even made his customary "Let my bless you with my overwhelming presence," noticed Sarah, burrowing her eyebrows with confusion, and feeling somewhat hurt for a reason she put down as some sort of chemical balance from this whole switching worlds thing every day. I wonder where everyone is?
Cautiously, she closed the door behind her and began to walk down the hallway in search of life forms, even if they were only those weird eye-ball thingies.
After nearly an hour (or was in longer?) of searching, during which she found herself lost more than once and wishing almost fondly that Jareth was there with her, if only because he could do the whole Star Trek beaming thing around the Labyrinth, she found herself near the doorway to what looked like one of the large ballrooms that she had visited her first day here. Thinking she heard scuffling behind the huge double doors, she cautiously pressed her hand against one of the doors to peek inside.
As soon as her hand touched the door, both flung open as if by magic, and her senses were accosted by colors, carols, the smell of food, and the sight of all her old friends from the Labyrinth, even more than had been in the room that night after the whole events, standing around a giant Christmas tree surrounded by presents who all greeted "Merry Christmas, Sarah!" with more or less a semblance of togetherness. In one corner there was a group of Fireies who were playing catch with the Wiseman's bird hat (who was looking very disgruntled, the hat that is, the Wiseman had fallen asleep after saying 'Merry Christmas, Sarah!') The Goblins were playing tag with a bunch of the chickens, which seemed to also be turning into a game of catch with the Fireies. The fairy from yesterday, Lady Isolde, was there, with a bunch of other fairies flying around the tree making it sparkle (as well as avoiding Hoggle, who was glaring up at them dangerously, before moving to go greet Sarah). And that was not even the peak of the iceberg or creatures there. The worm was there with whom Sarah supposed was the "missus" she heard about, as well as several younger worms who were jumping up and down, asking in there high voices when would it be time to open presents? The packrat lady was there, piling presents on top of the mound she carried on her back. And then, right there in front of her . . .
"Ah! Milady, Sarah! Such a pleasure it is to see your fair face again," came the courtly voice of Sir Didymus, with his noble steed Ambrosius, and brother of the sword, Sir Ludo. "Yon Sir Hoggle informedeth us of your presence here and we felt that we must act like we should and visit."
"Ludo! Sir Didymus!" she cried, hugging them both fervently (though gently with Didymus, since he was small). "I've missed you guys."
"Ludo miss Sarah," sighed the giant monster, hugging Sarah back.
"Nice to see you again Miss Sarah," said Hoggle, joining them.
"But, I don't understand. Why are you guys here?"
Hoggle gave a nervous glace around before saying, "Well, we weren't suppose to say . . ."
"His Majesty invited us, as he well should," declared Sir Didymus, completely disregarding what Hoggle said. "How canst he not invite knights of the realm to a party? Though, I must admit, this is the first time he remembered . . ."
"Jareth did what?" asked Sarah, almost inaudibly.
"King made party for Sarah. King felt bad. Hopes to make things good," said Ludo in perhaps one of his longest speeches ever.
Hoggle kicked Ludo in the ankle. "You idiot! He said not to tell! Now we're in for it. It'll be straight to the Bog of Eternal Stench!"
"Smell Bad!" said Ludo enthusiastically.
"Wait, are you saying that Jareth hosted a Christmas party in hopes I'd forgive him?" asked Sarah, almost in awe.
Casting a glare at the Two-Brothers-of-the-Sword-Who-Did-Not-Know-How-To-Be-Discreet, Hoggle said grudgingly, "Yes, he came to us late last night and said he felt bad. Even called me by my own name." Looking Sarah in the eye he added, "He really did feel bad. He looked just like how I felt when I gave you that peach."
Before Sarah could respond to this, she was interrupted by a high voice. "Ta Ta, you can't catch me!" cried Lady Isolde as she began to fly just out of Hoggle's reach.
"Why you . . ." glared Hoggle angrily, reaching for he spray can he normally had, but found nothing since he left it at home for the Christmas festivities.
With Round Two: Fairy vs. Dwarf beginning, commentary being run by Sir Didymus who couldn't decide what side he was rooting for, since on one hand, Hoggle was his brother, but on the other hand, Lady Isolde was a fair maiden and Ludo just cheering in general, Sarah quietly sneaked away in search of one Goblin King.
After much searching (and ducking to avoid flying chickens being chucked around as well as the screaming hat) Sarah found the elusive Goblin King, standing to one side of the Christmas tree watching the festivities. Suddenly, she found herself strangely nervous as she stepped up behind him.
Just as she was about to tap him on the back to gain his attention, he spun around, causing her breath to catch strangely. Firmly commanding her lungs to breathe normally, she gave him a shy smile, saying "Hey," quietly.
Jareth pursed his lips together (was it her imagination, or was it almost nervously?), nodding acknowledgement to her before saying with a slight bow, "Good morning Lady Sarah. I trust you slept well?"
"Indeed, I have, thank you for asking," said Sarah, thankful for the small talk so she could gain her composure before asking, "And you?"
"I was up most of the night for business," he said coolly.
"I heard," Sarah said.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Didymus and Ludo spilled the beans."
"Oh," was all that the Goblin King said. Then he almost nervously asked, "How much did they tell you?"
"Enough," said Sarah with a smug smile. Then, leaning over, she whispered in his ear, "Thank you," before kissing him on the cheek.
The expression on his face was the closest she had ever to seen shock on his nearly expressionless features. Soon however, he regained control and gave her a smile. "I trust that it worked then?"
"Most definitely," said Sarah, smiling.
"Well then, Milady, shall we cause a pause in the chaos and open presents?" he asked, taking her hand and kissing it in a courtly gesture.
"Why not?""Why not indeed," Jareth repeated to himself so quietly that she almost didn't hear as he offered her his arm, and the two went to settle the crowd and begin opening presents.
The rest of the day was filled with games, laughter, many presents, and general spending time with friends. Jareth and Sarah sat next to each other on a couch during the opening of presents, and at times, she would look towards him to find him looking at her with an odd look in his eyes that would make her heart flutter.
That night, he walked her to her rooms, they paused at the door so the two could continue their conversation. A goblin, running after a chicken down the hallway, paused smiling gleefully at its king and the Sarah. "Mistletoe!" it cried joyfully, pointing up, before running off down the hallway. Looking up, they saw that someone had indeed placed a sprig of that plant above their heads. Sarah blushed while the king raised an eyebrow at her suggestively.
"You don't have to if you don't want," said Jareth softly.
Sarah smiled, still blushing. "I don't mind," she whispered as she leaned her face up towards his.
And it was then, that Sarah got her first REAL kiss. The kind of kiss that seemed to make her heart soar and the world spin around on its own. The kind they only talk about in books that she was sure would never going to happen in real life. The kind that was the Oh-My-God-I-Can't-Believe-This-Is-Happening-To-Me-This-Is-The-Best-Thing-That-Ever-Happened-To-Me-kiss. There was, much to her delight, even some tongue action as well. (Which, having never really been interested in anyone in high school and never gone out with anyone besides Eric, she hadn't gotten much off) Unfortunately, like all good things, it ended with Jareth whispering a "Goodnight" and sending her to bed.
As for the rest of vacation she continued to be on that high spirited feeling from that one kiss, much to Mara's delight (well, sometimes, when Sarah wouldn't start talking about it she tried to chuck the bottle of Aspirin at her head, which she had started taking daily).
Later, as they got out of Sarah's car at the dorms of the Sirarah Valley College (for, as mentioned before, all things must come to an end such as vacation), grabbing their suitcases to lug up the five stories to their dorm room, they were greeted by Thom and Andrew who had arrived the day before. The four of them dragged everything upstairs (which included many not-so-polite oaths being muttered about how heavy the bags were and the injustice of building a dorm without a elevator for situations like this) the four headed off towards the Food Court in the center of the College campus. There they met the one and only vampire, Garith sans Barbarian Horde of Whores. As he came over the group, all smiles and laughs (as well much of his usual teasing towards Mara, who looked like she was ready to bonk him over the side of his head with her tray, macaroni and cheese included) Sarah smiled, an idea coming to mind to help keep the semester interesting in between classes.
It was time for Mara to find out what it was like to be on the other side of a matchmaking scheme.
Little did she know how interesting the semester was going to get.
Author's Note: ok, maybe I didn't get that up as fast as I planned. But there we are. Fluffness, development of relationship, as well as I AM FINALLY DONE THE CHRISTMAS SECTION!!!!!!!!! (This was only supposed to be 2 chapters long – about 10 pages each! And it has lasted almost 7 chapters!)
Well, if you have any suggestions, please, don't hesitate to give them. I pretty much know what is going to be happening from here on out, but if you have any ideas, don't hesitate to give them. (It was a friend of mine's idea that spawned the bathroom scene).
As always Megs, I love you. You are the best. Thank you for editing this. It is kinda sad we haven't really seen much this summer, but thank you for taking time to edit anyway. I don't know what I would do without you!
And I shall try to update sooner this time, considering Meg's warning when she sent this chapter back to me:
"So, here is the usual Death Threat of Impending Doom! spoken in a very deep and booming voice YOU WILL FINISH THE NEXT CHAPTER SOON, OR YOU SHALL DIE A MOST PAINFUL AND TERRIBLE DEATH!"
Needless to say, it has frightened me, so I shall try to update sooner this time.
On the bright side . . . at least Sarah and Jareth have finally kissed! Hopefully that will save me from getting killed. . .
And now, thank you reviewers, these are quick, since it is right now 12:43 in the morning and I'm working as fast as I can to post this:
Battousai'sMuse21: I'll try. Thank you!
Celebwen Telcontar: Yes, I've read Mercedes Lackey, and love her writing immensely. Her Diana Tregard series is quite good. A type of occult mystery person. Highly recommended. Especially her "Children of the Night." I'm glad you like the story!
c'est moi: (i know who you are!!!) I sent you this chapter just after I got your message.
Mermaide99: I hope you liked this chapter.
kattgray: no, I've never heard of it actually. Sounds interesting however.
Becca!: I've been hiding under a rock. But I'm back! Hope you liked this chapter.
if-666: thankfully, biology is done. I don't have to take it again. This chapter was not exactly made for amusement purposes. . . more needed fluffiness to move the story forward. HOWEVER: I hope next chapter shall be amusing since it will involve Sarah playing undercover matchmaker.
Cereberus: I'm glad you like it. I try for it to be original, though I honestly actually thought that someone would have done this before me.
kalinda: Hope you like this one.
Zero-no-uta: Thanks! I can't believe I pulled it off. Hope you liked this chapter.
Green Maiden Moitan: No, I haven't. They sound interesting. Yeah, I've been trying to get to this part for months. It was only suppose to take a few chapters into the story! Well, now I can aim for the next interesting point! (which shall remain a secret)
Nimbus Fabella: Of course I mentioned you. I mean, look, you actually took your time to press that little button and review. I am VERY glad for that. Makes me feel special. I'm glad you like Garith. Yes, he is hot, and he knows it too.
Acantha Mardivey: I'm glad you think this is getting interesting. Hope you liked this chapter.
LabyLvrPhx: Well, we got some Sarah and Jareth action this chapter. And Sarah . . well, she is beginning to feel that Mara needs a taste of her own medicine, so . .
Danalas the Lady Chaos: I'm glad you liked the Dumbledore/Voldemort thing. Weird ideas pop out of my brother and mine conversations. Especially Jareth singing "I'm too sexy for my tights . .too sexy for my tights" I guess little boys as young as 13 have already been perverted by society.
draegon-fire: yeah . .well, maybe the whole friendship thing turned quickly to a kissing thing . . . but well, I also will plead to argue that Sarah also kisses Hoggle as thank you for saving her from the firey head tossing party. I hope you liked this chapter though.
janine: Ok, maybe i'm not updating as fast as I would like, but I've been learning the fine art of diving on a field hockey field in full goalie uniform and getting bruises, but I'll try to update faster. Glad you like it.
Dreaming One: ok . .maybe this one wasn't that long either . . but I tried to have it be plot related. There are some things mentioned in the whole "Let's Wake Up Mara" scene that will prove to be important. But I like how you mentioned that to me. I mean, the only way I can improve as a writer is if I get some constructive criticism, so THANK YOU VERY MUCH! On the other hand, I'm glad you liked the Hoggle, fairy, Jareth and Sarah scene. I love writing scenes with fighting in it, and if it weren't for the fact that I do have to have to have certain characters make up with certain other characters I would keep on having them fight. I'm just that way.
MysticalStar1: Quite amazing . . however. . he shall still continue to be annoying as hell towards Miss Elvin Princess, who will start taking lots of Advil. Love the invisibility cloak . . . shall use them when I have to take those stupid tests again. GAH!
goblingirllovespirates: YAY! I'm glad you love it.
b00kperson: I hope you liked this chapter. I'm trying to make Jareth be sweet, yet still have his very cocky full-of-himself attitude. Glad you like it.
Mab, Queen of Faerie: Thanks for the welcome back. I shall try harder to update. Glad I'm on your Author Alert list.
CatsWhiskers: Yes, Jareth does seem to have a hard time saying Hoggle's name correctly. Part of is superiority complex. Ah well. As for acknowledging the reviewers, I actually got the idea first from K.L. Morgan, who wrote "What Dreams Must Come," one of my favorite Labyrinth fanfics. I noticed that she would always acknowledge her reviewers and I felt, "Hey! If a person actually takes their time to review, especially if their computer is being stupid, and tell me what they think of my story, then I should answer them. It is the least I can do. I mean, its the reviewers that encourage me to keep writing. If I didn't have any I might just give up!" So thanks.