A/N Own Nothing
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I had a nice dinner ready when Jareth got home. I heard the limo pull up but I didn't hear Jareth come in the door. After a few minutes I went out and checked on him. I opened up the limo door to find him just sitting there.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you coming in?"
Jareth looked up at me for a second, "For some reason getting Hoggle and Didymus aboveground and then returning them has taken a lot more out of me than usual. I am not sure I will be able to do it for awhile."
I felt so guilty. I am the one who arranged the Friday night outings. It's my fault that Didymus met Valerie and the two of them were hitting it off so well that Jareth had to keep bringing him up. Then, on top of that, I put Jareth in a situation where he is forced to bring them up again. I put an arm out to help Jareth up and into the house. At least he had enough energy to eat.
I was planning on telling him that night. I was hoping he would be in a good mood and enjoying dinner and I would tell him, but I ended up chickening out. He actually suggested we watch one of my movies. I put in the Princess Bride and he was asleep halfway through. I tried waking him at the end but he wouldn't budge. In the end I just got one of his blankets to cover him up.
I went straight to bed so that I could go into the labyrinth. I called for Hoggle and Didymus and they appeared. They also knew of Jareth's trouble with transporting them. We talked about for a long time and they didn't know why he didn't realize how much power he had before bringing them up. They assumed that if he didn't have sufficient magic stored up that he would have never brought them aboveground.
I wanted to stay longer and figure it out but I didn't want to be tired the next day and have Jareth worry about me on top of everything else. I was restless the whole rest of the night. It didn't seem to matter that I had left the labyrinth; I wasn't getting any rest anyway.
The next couple of weeks were bad for both me and Jareth. The morning sickness was really getting to me. I was actually losing some weight. I couldn't keep much down. Jareth was sleeping a lot more and he was losing his temper a lot more.
One night I was sitting in the living room reading and Jareth came down from the office for a drink. I heard the glass fall and smash on the ground. I got up and went to make sure he was alright. It was not a big deal; it was just a glass. I got a dustpan and brush and started to clean it up when he told me to get out.
"What? Why?" I was so confused and worried. What had I done wrong?
"Please…" Jareth could barely speak, "Go…"
I went out to the pond hoping that was far enough. I was glad I had left once I heard the sound of more glass breaking. But a few things came through the window and almost hit me. I ended up running into the woods behind his house and hid behind a tree. I saw him throw something big out into the backyard. He didn't know I had been sitting there and he didn't know I was watching. I tried to see what he had thrown. It was the new microwave. I got to see that night what I assumed he had done when Carla and Jason were watching. He pointed at it and lightning struck it. I was scared but I had to think that it was pretty cool to see. Then I saw him fall to the ground.
"Jareth? What's wrong? Are you ok?"
Jareth was on his hands and knees shaking. "I thought I told you to get out. You are not well; I didn't want you to have to clean up when I was done."
"You threw a temper tantrum over dropping a glass? What has been wrong with you lately Jareth? Your short fuse is really starting to scare me." I was really worried about him. He could barely move if you don't count the shaking.
He sat back against the bench and closed his eyes, "I'm losing my magic. I thought I would have had more warning if being aboveground so long would hinder it." He looked at me very sadly, "I don't have enough to get myself back to the underground."
"What? What could cause that? There has to be a way to get you there if that's what you need. I could go and call you."
Jareth smiled at me and motioned for me to sit next to him. He leaned on me saying, "You calling me won't work. You can only stay there while you are asleep. Once you wake up I will come right back up with you and it's not long enough to do any good." He looked like he was starting to have a hard time breathing. "I don't know what could cause it to stop so quickly."
"Well what if you spent a few days in bed? Would you be able to regain your magic?"
Jareth thought about that and nodded, "Most likely. It will take some time. I just hope the magic doesn't stop coming to me completely."
"What happens if it does stop? Would you just become human forever or something?"
Jareth gave me a light kiss, "If I had you always I think I could deal with that, but no. If the magic stops coming to me I will die." I gasped and was absolutely horrified. "I am a magical creature and cannot live without it.
I started to cry, "This is entirely my fault. I made you start bringing Hoggle and Didymus up and then I told Valerie to cause that distraction so you lost more of your magic bringing them up again. I knew you were tired so I should have been right there to get you a drink so you wouldn't have dropped the glass and lost your temper."
Jareth spent a few minutes looking at me. Well at least he was still himself. "I think I was just looking for an excuse to lose my temper." He actually chuckled a bit to himself. "You didn't cause this. Normally I know my power limits and wouldn't have done anything to over exert them. The last time it took more energy than it used to. I expected the magic to return faster than it did. Now please tell me why you made Valerie cry on me to distract me."
I was confused for a second. Did I say that? "I went to the doctor for my stomach and I didn't want to worry you." Not completely a lie, just omitting a minor detail.
Jareth looked at me and put his head in his hands. "You didn't want me to be worried about you going to a doctor to fix your problem that I have been worrying about anyway. Where is the sense in that? I have been worried for the past two weeks or so when you started not being able to hold down your dinner and you're telling me you already are taking care of it."
"I guess I should have said something. Sometimes I am worried about your reaction to certain things."
"Well no more secrets. I hope I can get to the labyrinth soon."
"How long will you need to be there? I'll miss you."
Jareth looked at me very sadly. "If this gets much worse I may have to stay down there for a few years before I can come back."
