OHMYGOD I'M BAAAACK!! (:
(Well, my pen name's changed, but it's still me – I promise.)
Hey, folks, I'm here to entertain what's left of you with the rest of this fic. I'd lost the original notes, and then found them again about a week ago under my bed, so now I can complete this in the original story arc that I'd planned from the beginning.
I know it's been forever, and some of you will doubtlessly have to re-read the previous chapters, but I hope you do and stick around for THE GRAND FINALE, which is to come soon enough. Probably a few more chapters, then a prologue. I would've liked to have ended at an even 20 chapters + prologue, but I don't think it'll work out that way.
Anyways, I'm armed with my David Bowie/Labyrinth Winamp Playlist and lots of time on my hands. Brace yourselves.
Also, I'll be re-vamping the previous chapters – deleting errors, probably some Author Notes, so if they look different next time you see them, that's why. You aren't going crazy. I'm just obsessive.
Sarah stood outside the house, several feet away and leaning against the tall, sheer rock wall of the gorge. It was night again, the others were inside sleeping, contented by a full meal made by Thilly, and Sarah was outside staring at the sky. She thought it was remarkable, breathtaking; everything a sky should be – but the large, luminous crystal moon constantly reminded her that she was supposed to be moving, not staring.
For such a coward as Sarah admittedly was, she wasn't doing a very good job at running from her troubles.
Despite Sarah's insistence that they keep moving earlier that day, Hoggle's reassurance and the presence of all her other friends in that safe-seeming stone hovel had made her want to put off moving until it was really necessary. Hopefully, that meant 'forever,' and she could just settle down and forget she ever started running in the first place. She wanted to stay here, with her friends, where Toby was happy and she was surrounded by people she cared about and who cared about her.
But she knew that couldn't be, and when a dark figure materialized beside her she knew that she'd stayed still just a little too long. Good things always come to an end, after all, and being in this village with her friends was just too much of a good thing.
Without looking at the Goblin King, Sarah continued to stare up at the sky.
"So, when are you sending me back home?" she asked quietly. She heard a rustle of fabric as Jareth turned to face her, and she finally turned to look at him as well.
As he was during their last nighttime meeting, this was a less abrasive Goblin King, and a soft, somewhat disbelieving smile graced his features.
"I'm not, Sarah," he said, and he said it like he was admitting something huge – like he was just as tired of chasing her as she was of running from him. "We both know there's no way you're leaving without Toby, and we both know that there's no leaving with him."
"Why do you keep insisting that? Once we're out of this labyrinth, we're free of you." Sarah was just so exhausted, her voice sounded hoarse and angry and spiteful, and a flare of triumph went through her for sounding so strong to her own ears.
"You'll never be out," he said. "You care too much."
"What's that even supposed to mean?" Sarah spat, "Care about you? Because I don't. When we're out of here, I won't even think about you, and neither will Toby."
In all honesty, they both knew it was a lie. Sarah knew it was a lie before it even exited her mouth, and Jareth knew it was a lie when Sarah gave it away by refusing to look him in the eyes. Instead, she stared down at her feet and kicked out at a small rock, her hands folding across her chest in a posture that just screamed defensive body language!
Jareth sighed, his hand moving to the side of Sarah's face and making her look up at him instinctively. His eyes were completely without malice and, in fact, he looked a little hurt at her words – not the sincerity behind them, because both of them knew she hadn't been sincere, but simply because she'd said them. Simply because she'd felt a need to say them.
Sarah hated this sincere Jareth. She might've hated him more than she hated Jareth being a cold-hearted, manipulative bastard, because at least then she knew what to expect. She knew how to defend herself against the things he said, the looks he gave her, the threats and the complete anger he seemed to radiate… But when he was sincere, like he'd been just before they'd kissed in the tower room, Sarah's guard went down and she opened herself up for a lot of pain.
She just couldn't help it.
"I am royally screwed up," she said sadly.
Jareth looked confused for a fraction of a second, and Sarah liked that look, liked to know she could throw him off a little still. The corner of her mouth quirked up as an idea formed in her head, and Sarah moved her head up a little further, lifted herself up on the tips of her toes just a bit, and raised her hand to the back of Jareth's head.
And she kissed him.
He was surprised – completely surprised, and Sarah was thrilled because that was what she'd been aiming for, but as their lips continued to touch the complete shock melted away, and a hand moved to secure Sarah's waist, and Sarah's other hand moved up to his shoulder, and there were no ulterior motives at work between them. They were just kissing, wholly enthralled with one another and Sarah realized soon enough that neither was pushing the other away in disgust, that maybe this was a real kiss unlike the one they'd shared before – yes, it'd started out as a ploy to throw Jareth off his game, to show him that she wasn't completely predictable and to wordlessly communicate that he couldn't really control everything she did – but it'd morphed into something different, and much better, the moment their lips actually met.
But then the warmth that Sarah had been leaning towards was gone, filled with cold air, and Sarah stumbled to the ground. Her knee struck a small rock and she yelped at the pain, disoriented for a moment. She looked around at empty air and white stone.
Jareth was gone.
"God dammit!" Sarah growled under her breath, as well as a few other choice words that she would never say in front of Toby.
Hell, a few choice words she'd never say in front of Hoggle… or a well-weathered old sailor.
Because Jareth had tricked her again. He'd chosen a moment of weakness in her and he'd humiliated her again. Tears were streaming down Sarah's face and she didn't know if they were tears of anger, embarrassment, or sadness at the loss of something she thought had been good for a change. They could've been all three.
At least he didn't laugh, Sarah said to herself, and the feeble girlishness of it made her want to kick herself in her other knee.
She swore a few more times, picked up a nearby rock, and threw it in a random direction with as much force as she could muster. It disappeared in the shadows, and after a few heartbeats she could hear a soft thunk and a sharp, "Woah!"
Thilly emerged from the general direction the rock had been thrown, holding said projectile in one of her long, fragile-seeming hands and looking around – apparently, for whatever culprit had thrown it, but as she saw Sarah her eyes just sort of glanced over her as if knowing Sarah could never do such a thing as throw stones at innocent Changelings. Moving quickly, Sarah wiped the tears from her face and hoped desperately that the dim moonlight didn't illuminate too much of her red, puffy eyes and blotchy cheeks.
"Did you see who threw this?" Thilly asked, still looking around.
"Can't say I did," Sarah said. And it was the truth, technically, because she couldn't actually see herself.
Thilly nodded and shrugged, "It must've just fallen then…"
Sarah was momentarily terrified. Had Thilly seen her completely making out with the enemy? How long had the girl been there? What did she know? Why wasn't she inside, safely hidden away where she couldn't see Sarah kissing the man they were all running from?
"Uh… Thilly, what brings you out here?" It sounded innocent enough, Sarah decided, and she was beyond thankful for her history as an actress, because her heart was pounding like it wanted to escape her chest and run for the hills.
Frowning, she let the rock fall back onto the ground and set the basket Sarah just noticed she was carrying down next to it. "I couldn't sleep," the Changling said. "I think I might've eaten too much at supper – I haven't been feeling well all night."
Sarah could believe it. Since they'd started on their little journey, Thilly had (surprisingly) gotten more full meals a day than she had during her life as a maid in the castle. Her metabolism was probably just adjusting to the new pattern, and Sarah told her as much.
Thilly nodded and smiled pleasantly, "To keep from waking up the others with my restlessness, I decided to go for a walk, and I ended up getting some things for Toby." She picked up the basket and pulled out a shiny red stone that, in the moonlight, shimmered purple-pink on all its facets. "I don't know what it is… Some sort of rock that probably broke off when this gorge was created… It's in all sorts of colors, and I thought Toby might like them for his collection of… Well, everything he finds."
Both women laughed at that, and Thilly set the basket back down by her feet. She looked at Sarah more closely, a worried expression marring her doe-like face.
"Are you… okay?" she asked, all concern and the usual self-doubt and politeness of a Changeling. "You look… upset. Is there anything I can do?"
"Uhm… No, Thilly, I'm fine… I just have a… I have a hunch we should really start moving again. I mean, this place is wonderful, but… it's just a matter of time before Jareth finds us if we stay still for much longer. We should keep heading out of the Labyrinth, then we can settle down again."
She nodded, troubled but smiling. "We'll let the others rest a little longer, and then we can wake them up and get a head start before morning… I'll get started on packing breakfast for the road."
Picking up her basket, Thilly patted Sarah on the back in a reassuring manner before heading back to the house. Sarah thought it was remarkable and wonderful how much Thilly had grown since they'd started – before, the girl would hardly breathe without asking permission first, and now she was taking walks on her own, making meals and taking on the role of 'mother hen' better than Sarah ever had. She was beyond glad that the Changeling was around, and she was glad above all else that she'd made a new friend in such a dismal situation.
Sarah sat down on the ground, back pressed against the wall of the gorge, and tried to think of the good changes in Thilly rather than the horrible thoughts of Jareth.
Manipulative, hateful, hurtful Jareth, who seemed so good and right when they kissed, when he looked at her with that weary hurt and hazy sadness that mingled strangely with hope and pride, and who had sounded so sincere when he spoke.
Jareth stood next to the window, on the platform in his Staircase room. The moon was bright and glowing and by all accounts he should feel empowered by its ethereal light, but all he felt was chilled, feverish weakness as he looked around the vertigo-inducing room. He didn't know why he'd ended up in this place when he'd disappeared from Sarah, but he found being in it oddly fitting.
This was, after all, the room where he realized something huge about his feelings for Sarah Williams. It was the room where he realized something terrible after she'd completely broken him, his kingdom, and destroyed everything he cared about in the world.
This was the room where he'd known he hated Sarah Williams.
So, finding himself here, in the midst of another epiphany, was fitting and he wanted to kick fate for being so ironic.
Because, he realized – this was now the room where he knew he loved Sarah Williams, too.