Disclaimer: I have a friend studying to be a lawyer. She finds it highly unlikely that the rights would magically switch to me without my knowledge. They're still the Intellectual Property of Henson & Co, by her counsel. I merely enjoy playing with these pre-established characters because it is delightful practice for when I set out to see my own stuff in print, once I get my rear in gear.
...And that was possibly too much for the disclaimer bit, but, meh, so it goes.
It has warmed up a little bit here to a balmy right-around-freezing. This I can deal with. (As long as I remain the only one of my roommates not to get bronchitis.)
So many more thank yous to all of you who have read this piece and for those who take the time to review! Your encouragement and thoughts are invaluable, let me assure you. I cannot thank you enough.
Humbly, I present another update. It's a similar vein to the last, in that it is a necessary bit of housekeeping that deserves some addressing. Enjoy!
The sky was dark when she mustered the energy to sit up. However, as it was mid-November, it was hard to say if that meant she slept long enough at all. But there were still two things to take care of…plus the ever-important necessity of finding food.
"Mom? Dad?" she croaked, voice groggy from sleep.
She pulled herself off of the couch and wandered into the kitchen. The rest of the family appeared to be cleaning up the dinner settings as Sarah blinked in the light casting through the doorway.
"Sarah!" Toby cheered, barreling around the table.
"Be gentle," Karen warned.
Toby threw his arms around his sister, considerably more nicely than he would have. Apparently, he'd already been filled in to the day's events. Sarah hugged him back with a light squeeze.
"It's good to see you, too, Toby."
"Are you okay, I mean really okay?"
Sarah hesitated. "I'm not sure, Toby. Everything feels a little…off, right now." She gave a half-hearted chuckle. "I think I'm going through magic withdrawal which apparently isn't good for me or LT."
"LT?"
"LT is the temporary name for your future niece or nephew."
Toby pulled away to get a better look with a wary eye at his sister. "I don't think I'm old enough to be 'Uncle Toby,' Sarah."
"Oh, come on, I started babysitting you when I wasn't much older."
"Well, we all know how that turned out."
"Oh, that was low, Toby Williams," she reprimanded though both Sarah and her brother were laughing too hard to really mean it. After the Williams family could calm themselves and breath normally once more, Sarah's stomach put in a complaint.
"I don't suppose there's anything left from dinner?" she asked hopefully.
"Are you up to eating?"
"I wouldn't care if you gave me a plate of catfood at this point."
Karen smiled by means of reply as she walked over to the microwave and pulled out a rather heaping plate of spaghetti. "I was keeping it warm for you."
Sarah thanked her profusely before taking a twirling forkful. Aside from Karen's comment to stop inhaling her meal, the family watched her in silence. Once the hunger pangs had begun to subside, Sarah met her family's eyes with a quick glance toward each of them before she sighed.
"I take it you guys are curious as to how I ended up here?"
Unabashed, Toby nodded with an expression that read, "Well, duh."
"It's a bit of a story. Mind if I start telling you on the way?"
"Where are we going?"
"The sooner I clear up the missing persons report, the better."
Her father's brows knitted together. "Sarah, you've spent all of today on the couch or at the hospital. This is not a good idea."
"Tree conclusion or not, looking a little sickly might get me out of there faster, especially when I'm going to run out of obtuse ways to phrase everything."
Her father crossed his arms. "And what are you going to tell them?"
"This is going to be one of those whole it's completely true but entirely misleading type of things, I think. It's something you pick up when dealing with Underground politics."
"Sarah…"
"Do you have a better idea? I can tell you guys the truth, but if when Jareth comes to pick me up I'm in the psych ward because no one else believes me, I will never hear the end of it."
"That's an important question," Karen acknowledged. "When is he coming for you?"
Sarah dropped her gaze. "You've started with a question I can't answer."
Toby's face shifted to bemusement. "Is this another one of those state secret things?"
"No, Toby. I honestly don't know. And no offense to you all, God knows I missed you and it's good to see you, but being stuck on this side when he has no idea what's happened to me and LT and I have no idea what's going on over there, it goes beyond anxiety. I don't know if the Labyrinth made it through the shockwave. I don't know what kinds of casualties we ended up with. I don't know how Jareth's dealing with all that while starting up search efforts, because I do know that he's doing something if he can." Sarah took a deep breath, smiling slightly as Karen rested her hand on Sarah's arm. "And I just miss my husband." Sarah wiped her eyes. She was officially too weepy recently.
"So," she declared, trying to sound reassuring to herself, "I don't know when he's coming to get me, but it will be as soon as he can. The sooner the better, really, since Alain knows better how to deal with Fae pregnancies and I'm not sure what sort of health insurance I can get. I don't even think it's worth getting a job if I'm going to eventually disappear at a moment's notice."
"We kept paying your health insurance, just in case," her father assured her.
"What?"
"Your health insurance. Given all the mess, we were wondering if you would take a sojourn home, and we wanted you to be covered in that time."
"We were only going to keep it for the rest of the year, given that it didn't seem likely you would visit any time soon," Karen explained. "That and there was a penalty for canceling before then."
"Well, that's one less thing to worry about," Sarah announced, unsure of what to say. "I'm hoping that I won't have to use it." Sarah sighed again. "The thing is, though, I'm afraid that it could be a little longer than I would like before I can go back home. I—I think I screwed something up with the veil or there's another rule about it, because the boundary between the worlds, for all evidence I can gather, has been more or less sealed." She closed her eyes. "Jareth and I will figure something out. I'll be looking for obscure loopholes on this side as much as I can and then some. He'll be searching potential solutions on the other. In the meanwhile, I think it would be better for the police not to be asking questions on some idle Tuesday when I won't know what to say and I'd rather not go into hiding as an alternative, so it's probably best I just take care of it now. Can we go?"
Karen and Toby were still trying to process the information, but her father let out a long breath and took the car keys off of the key rack. "I suppose I can't convince you to wait until morning."
"I'd rather just get it done."
Karen caught up with her thoughts: "The veil. I'm thinking that if you can explain whatever that is, everything else of what you said should make sense."
"Honey," Robert admonished, "I don't think anything's going to make sense until after she gets started on the whole story anyway." He turned to his daughter. "And I think we should probably not just get the abridged version."
Sarah nodded. "It'll take a while, but I definitely think I'll be home long enough to tend to that."
The car trip was relatively short, given that Sarah began the war (with asides back to her venture in the dark lands) and had only gotten through to the buildup of the tree conclusion by the time they arrived at the station.
"I don't suppose either of you know the procedure for this sort of thing, do you?" Sarah asked her parents hopefully.
"I would just go up the first desk you see and go where they send you."
"Yeah, that's kind of all I had in mind." She gave a short chuckle. "Flying by the seat of my pants again."
There was a bit of a queue, even at seven thirty in the evening, but Sarah stood in front of the window (bullet-proof glass, Sarah assumed) and spoke to the small speaker. "I'm here to resolve a missing persons report."
"Name, please?"
"Sarah Williams. I've been gone for about a year in a half."
"Do you have some ID?" he asked, typing her name into the system. Karen reached over Sarah shoulder and produced Sarah's passport and drivers license. Sarah flashed Karen a grateful smile and slid them through the small gap beneath the window.
He took a look at the proffered documentation and spoke to the radio on his shoulder.
"Miss Williams, if you could take the door on your right and go through security, Officer Mackie will take care of you."
Sarah nodded, taking her passport and license back from the gap. "Thanks."
This, Sarah got the feeling, was not a typical closing to this sort of scenario. They passed the necessary security and split from there, her family resting in the chairs along the wall while Sarah sat down in front of the desk she was led to.
Officer Mackie was a courteous gentleman with sandy brown hair. The desk he shared with his partner was understandably messy from the day's (bleeding into the night's) paperwork, aside for an inviting dish of M&M's. As Sarah began to muse that she hadn't had chocolate since the last time Jareth had specifically conjured it for her, Officer Mackie returned with the promised Styrofoam cup of hot water and a Lipton tea bag.
"Now, Ms. Williams, your report had suspected foul play. Is there anything you would like to report?"
"I'm fine. I went of my own volition."
He glanced over the paper and Sarah read her description and details upside-down as he flipped. "Someone named Jareth was involved? Your fiancé?"
"My husband, now, yes."
"Your friends were very concerned," he stated neutrally.
Sarah gave a weak smile, wondering what sort expression was appropriate in this sort of scenario anyway. "Yes, well, the circumstances of my leaving were a little stressful. I made the decision on my own. I could have found help if I had wanted it." She moved one gesticulating hand (the other with her tea seeping in growing tendrils) in small circles as she tried to find the words. "We left sooner than I had expected. I didn't even have enough time to announce the engagement properly."
Officer Mackie paused in his writing and asked. "How did you know your fiancé?"
"I had met him years ago. It was a surprise to see him again. That whole period of time was a jumble, actually." That was certainly true.
"What was the reason for leaving so abruptly, cutting off your friends and family?"
Sarah had to admit the situation sounded highly suspicious when he put it that way. "My husband's position was what made this all difficult." That was true enough. "He's a foreign diplomat." Also true. "There was a situation that needed attending." "Situation" was vague enough to cover a good many interpretations.
Officer Mackie's gaze, however, was unreadable as to which interpretation he would take. "Where is your husband from?"
Sarah gave a tiny, rueful grin, taking a small sip of tea. "Unfortunately, I don't think I should give much of that information up. It's all pretty delicate. My husband, the politics, the ensuing war, it's all Underground." Very true and entirely misleading.
"Are you saying this could be a threat to national security?"
"No, no nothing like that. It's all contained. But any interference would just make matters worse at this point." Especially considering that the skirmish should be mostly finished.
Officer Mackie gave her a careful look.
Sarah set her hands, both wrapped around the cup, on the edge of the desk, looking directly into his eyes. "It sounds fantastical, I know, and in a lot of ways it is. Given that, I'm not expecting you to believe me, except to record that I'm alive, not missing, and there was no foul play. My family can back up whatever you need them to, and I'll be staying with them if you need anything else."
Officer Mackie seemed to be considering this statement. Legally, there was little he could do, despite how fishy the whole thing may have sounded.
"Have you been checked out?" he asked after a few moments.
Sarah held up her wrist, the hospital bracelet still attached. "I went there first. Things were becoming really heated and my husband didn't like me in the thick of it." Again, very true. "It wasn't easy." Well, falling down had been easy, per say, but scuffling with Orion and whathaveyou hadn't been necessarily easy.
"Well, then, welcome back, Ms. Williams, or what should we call you now?"
Sarah's brain raced furiously. How had she still not asked Jareth about last names? "Ms. Williams is fine."
He extended his hand. "Good luck, Ms. Williams. I imagine there are a couple of your friends who will require more of an explanation."
Good lord, Jen must have gone on some kind of rampage to leave that sort of impression. "Yes, I think so. Have a good evening, Officer."
"Take care."
The Williams family filed out of the police station and into the car before Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. "That wasn't so bad."
"How did it go? Anything else needed to followed up on?" her father inquired.
"I think that's it."
Karen had a thoughtful frown. "What did you tell him?"
"My husband is a foreign diplomat and there is a war Underground?"
Toby snorted.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "It's true and vague and utterly suspicious, I'm sure, but it got the job done." Sarah sighed. "I think that's enough adventure for one day."
"That," her father declared, "is an understatement."
"So are you going to tell us more?" Toby inquired, poking Sarah's arm.
"How about over some hot chocolate at home?"
"That can be arranged," Karen assured her.
After arriving home and the mugs were clinking together as Karen pulled them from the cupboard, Sarah sank into the couch, hoping to stay awake long enough to tell the story as promised.
On impulse, Sarah reached over to take the phone, listening for the dial tone. There was one more thing she needed to cover. Sarah called Jen's work number, which then directed her to voicemail. Getting the message at work was perhaps not the nicest way for Jen to find out, but Sarah didn't feel she could take the assault of questions that would naturally follow if Jen had picked up. Jen's voice rattled off the typical instructions and Sarah readied herself for the tone: "Hey, Jen. It's me, Sarah. Yes, it's actually me, and don't make me spout off a certain embarrassing story to prove it, because we both know that I'm capable of reciting all of it, puppets optional. The important thing is I'm okay. Hope you are, too. I'll be staying with my parents for a little while. Just thought you'd want to know." Sarah turned off the phone then, shaking her head at the lame ending but unable to think of anything better at the moment.
Karen entered with two mugs, the men filing behind with a sizable dollop of whipped cream threatening to spill out of their own mugs.
"Who did you call, sweetie?" Karen asked as Sarah hung up the phone.
"Just left a message with Jen, telling her I'm alive. I imagine she'll be calling back tomorrow."
"I'm sure of it," Karen acknowledged, handing Sarah the warm ceramic.
Taking a sip, Sarah grinned. Her stepmother made some of the best hot chocolate, family recipe passed down involving cinnamon and a few other things Sarah had asked her to write down once and had been unable to reproduce regardless. The warmth was incredibly soothing, too, in a filling way that a Styrofoam cup of tea hadn't been. Pulling the blanket over her legs, Sarah yawned and took another sip. A long day, indeed.
"Where did I leave off?"
Trying to explain Underground politics even fully alert was a task, but Sarah finally managed to break things down and detail the scale of the war if not all of its grotesque nature. There were some parts still that her family didn't need to know. Given that she'd glossed over most of the war in their previous conversations, preferring not to think of it for a while when given the opportunity, there were many gaps to choose to fill. She was arriving at waking up inside the tree when Karen interrupted with a frown.
"Going back a ways now, you were in a tree for six and a half months?"
"My hair and fingernails were significantly longer than how I'd last seen them, yes. Believe me, I was not happy with Jareth for a long while, but we've since come to an understanding. Now, every time someone does something stupid for perhaps the right motivations, it's a tree conclusion."
"No, that I understood, but how did he do it?"
"Slipped me something in the potions I was taking from Alain, or maybe had Alain do it."
"The potions to keep the baby healthy?"
"Yep."
Karen was flabbergasted. "Sarah, I don't want to bring up anything that could be upsetting, but what happened to the first baby?"
Eyes widening with the realization, Sarah immediately assured her, "Mom, this is my first baby." Sarah shook her head and started to giggle. "It seems I've left out an important detail." Exhausted after a long day of landing home and running errands, Sarah couldn't stop her laughter. Her family watched, unsure of what to do, as she composed herself.
"Fae pregnancies last about three and a half years, not nine months," Sarah explained.
Toby made a face. Her father looked uncomfortable but mumbled that the timeline made more sense. Karen was officially shocked.
"But you're not Fae?"
"No, but today's sonogram is what I have to show for about sixteen months. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a one or other situation and I'd really rather not have to deal with prematurity on top of everything else. I mean, trying to explain this to the doctor, let alone the insurance company, is going to be hell. Today I was told to take some iron supplements and I'm not sure that's a good idea at all, with what iron does to Fae and all. But it should also be buffered by me, which could mean that it's fine. Baby can't develop if mom's not healthy, anyway. It's all going to be pretty touch and go, which is definitely not the attitude I want toward my baby." Sarah rubbed her temples aware that she was starting to ramble. "Unless you guys can think of something better. I don't even think the situation should be biologically possible, except for that whole magic thing."
"I'm sorry, sweetie. Things will be okay."
"I don't know if I'll ever recover from the varicose veins and stretch marks…"
Grimacing, Karen nodded. "Yes, this does change a few things, but we'll adjust."
Sarah sighed: "His genes are complicating everything even if he's not here."
Karen wrapped her arm around her stepdaughter. "I think that's probably enough for tonight. You're starting to slur, dear."
Truly, Sarah did not need to be told twice. In short order, she was changed and tucked in to her old bed. After the door was closed, sleep was surprisingly slow in coming. She was cold and alone. In the quiet of her room, the day fell and fell hard onto Sarah's heart and mind. She was trapped.
Her husband wouldn't come for at least a week or two, given the magical drain. That was the most optimistic option, that he would have enough magic to overcome the barrier. If she had managed to close the veil in a manner that couldn't be immediately magicked over, that in turn would take a new tactic and further time to sort that out. In order to get the Labyrinth set to rights, more attention would be required which would slow any rescue mission down, no matter how much Jareth delegated. Sarah took a few deep breaths to stave off the weight of her despair. It was so much easier to dwell on it in the solitude of her room.
Still, she had cried enough today. It hadn't helped much then, but it had been necessary all the same. Resting one hand on her stomach and finding reassurance in small bump there, Sarah realized that she was spent, as far as worrying went for today. Tomorrow, she could try to wish herself away again. Tomorrow, she would answer to her friends and family, knowing they would support her. Tomorrow, they would start plotting possibilities.
But tonight there was one more avenue of communication Sarah had not explored. Wrapping her fingers around the necklace Jareth had given her, she whispered his name and went to look for her husband in her dreams.
Authoress Babbling: We all know how that turned out, indeed, Toby. ;) So concludes Sarah's first day Aboveground.
sigh. Gosh, I miss Jareth. Pity. I dare say I'm not the only one... I'm thinking at this point we'll have a short check up on him in the next chapter, depending on a couple of things, I'm trying to figure out.
Oh, and by the by, agonizing over the logistics of a Fae/human pregnancy is not good for one's stress levels. ;) Just trust me on this one.
As per usual, Love it or hate it, please let me know! Take care, all.