Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"Gookie, are you sure about this?" Sarah asked, peeking her head out of the hallway and staring into the expansive Escher room.
"Course I'm sure, Miss Sarah!" The goblin said trying to nudge her mistress forward. "I've lived in the castle all my life. I know how it works."
"Can't you just lead me through it like yesterday?"
Gookie shook her head.
"I told ya, I have ta fetch groceries in the market and do the laundry today. Besides, ya have ta learn how ta found yer own way around some time."
Sarah eyed the numerous stairways with trepidation.
"It ain't as bad as it looks, miss." Her friend insisted with a grin. "Just remember, the castle, itself, is a lot like the Labyrinth: it's always changin'. The only difference is that if ya concentrate hard enough on where ya want ta go, or what ya wish ta find, the castle will take ya there. I can't promise it'll do it right away, it can take seconds or even hours, but eventually, ya'll get where ya need ta be. Yer never really lost in this place."
"Now run along, Miss Sarah!" She encouraged, giving the back of the human's legs a firm push before vanishing back down the hall.
Stumbling forward onto the first landing, Sarah collected herself and slowly started down the first flight of stairs to her left.
She'd gotten a late start this morning.
After letting her sleep in an extra hour, Gookie had served breakfast in bed before explaining that she would have to leave her on her own until the afternoon. Apparently, it was her turn to take on a few castle chores.
When Sarah had expressed her desire to see Jareth, the goblin had smiled knowingly, but informed her that since the morning training hour was over, there was really no way of telling where the king was at this time of day. However, if Jareth was in the castle, she would find him if she looked hard enough.
Up…down…right…left.
Sarah honestly felt like an idiot, wandering around with no clue as to where she was or where was going. She couldn't even remember the way back to her room.
Relax. Her mind chided. Just do what Gookie said and concentrate. Jareth. Jareth. I want to find Jareth. I have to find Jareth.
She turned left again, and took the steps at the end of the ledge two at a time.
Please, take me to Jareth. Where is Jareth? I need Jareth.
Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks.
An archway she could have sworn hadn't been there a second ago, was on her immediate right.
Something tugged her subconscious toward the stone opening like a magnet. Hesitantly, she entered the passage, which turned sharply left, revealing a gothic-style door sitting between two lit torches. An iron barn owl was carved into the wood surface.
There!
Without bothering to knock, she burst through the door, finding the Goblin King standing innocently, with a small brown book in his hand.
His look of surprise quickly melted into a kind smile.
"Good morning, precious."
"Uh…" was all she could manage to croak. Her attention was completely captivated by the room.
The ceiling was at least one hundred feet above her head. Various windows on the front and left wall illuminated thousands of massive, packed shelves.
To her right were CDs, cassette tapes, LPs, 45s and stacks of sheet music.
To her left were VHS tapes and DVDs.
Along the front wall as well as the back, countless decorative books lined the shelves. A small handful of goblins scaled the walls like moneys, silently batting at cobwebs with feather dusters.
A roaring fire burned in the hearth of a polished fireplace directly across the room from her. A large, beautiful stain glass window, depicting the Labyrinth, hung above the mantle. A peach-colored cushion, the size of a full couch, sat on the left side of the room and to the right, was another music armoire next to white grand piano with gold trim. Turquoise stones were randomly embedded in the floor.
"I take it you like my library?" Jareth's voice asked.
The amusement in his tone shook Sarah back to her senses.
Looking in his direction, she observed the Goblin King wearing a navy blue poet's shirt with grey breeches, and his regular black boots and gloves.
How does he always manage to look like a model? She thought begrudgingly, suddenly feeling self-conscious in her knee-length khaki skirt and simple red fitted tee.
"Has anyone ever told you how alluring you look in a skirt?"
Sarah's cheeks burned.
"N-no, not r-recently." She mentally cursed herself for stuttering. "Y-yes, I do like your library. It's amazing."
Nice save.
Jareth smirked, but allowed the change in subject.
"It's one of my favorite places in the castle. You're welcome to come here whenever you like."
"Thanks. She said gratefully.
"Can I ask a question, though? I'm pretty sure I can guess how you listen to the music," she nodded to the armoire, "but how do you watch the movies?"
Jareth snapped the fingers of his left hand, and the stain-glass window instantly turned into a flat screen TV.
"Oh."
The TV became a window again and Sarah's eyes raked over Jareth's collection.
"Where did you get all this stuff?"
He shrugged.
"When you've lived as long as I have, you pick up a few things." He said nonchalantly. "I said I was interested in human culture, remember?"
That's right. He did say that, didn't he?
"Of course, the books aren't allfrom the Aboveground. There's quite a few Underground texts in here, but most of them are in my office."
"Do you have a children's section?" She challenged.
A cat-like grin spread across his face before he conjured a crystal and hurled it about sixty feet above Sarah's head. It popped against a huge section of books, sprinkling glitter all over the spines.
The books shuddered, then leapt off the shelf, one at a time, and soared down through the air in single file.
A noise caught Sarah's attention and she turned to see the books on a ground-level shelf to the right of the fireplace, suddenly come to life too, and swirl up to the now empty section of shelf above where they settled. What she guessed was the children's section, took its place in the shelf beside the fire.
"Quite impressive, isn't it?" Jareth asked, admiring her flabbergasted expression. "Was there something in particular you were looking for?"
As soon as he said the words, and image of a book appeared in Sarah's mind and she gasped as one thin, red-orange leather book floated away from the shelf and into her hands.
She recognized the little characters etched on the cover and her eyes filled with tears at the nostalgic feeling inside her.
"Sarah? What's wrong?" Jareth's voice was anxious.
"This was Toby's favorite book." She whispered sadly. "I used to read it to him every night after…after…you know."
"I see." The fey monarch gazed at her sympathetically, before curiously glancing at the book. "The Gremlins by Roald Dahl. A classic."
"Yeah." She chuckled. "He wouldn't let me read anything but this. Heck, he wouldn't even let anyone else read to him but me. I didn't mind though."
"I'm glad to see your relationship with him improved after you solved the Labyrinth."
"Maybe a little too well." She muttered, turning away from the Goblin King and clutching the book to her chest. "I mothered him so much after I saved him. I hardly let him out of my sight. I played with him constantly and baby-sat him every time my parents went out. They must've thought I was crazy, cuz I used to get mad when they'd try to give me some free time and hire a baby-sitter. I didn't go out with school friends or to parties on the weekends. I was around him so much, his first word was my name."
She sighed heavily before continuing.
"When he got a little older, at first it was alright. I went to a local college so I could be near him. We were real close. He would tell me everything about his day and any problems he was going through. It wasn't until a few years ago that it all changed."
Her shoulders trembled and she felt Jareth step close to her side.
"He started avoiding me. He'd either hang out with his best friend, Samantha, or participate in a bunch of after-school activities. He wouldn't talk to me anymore. When I talked to Dad and Irene about it, they said it was perfectly normal. They were just glad he wasn't getting in trouble or failing any of his classes. One night, he called me to cancel a visit, again. He said he was going to the movies with Samantha instead. When I got onto him about it, he said I was always smothering him and to stay the hell out of his life. Two months later, we found out Samantha was pregnant. I moved back into my parents' house to help out in any way I could."
Jareth placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"That was a very selfless thing to do."
She turned into his arms, burying her face in his chest as a few tears escaped.
"I was just so afraid of losing him again, I wanted to make it up to him by being there to help raise the twins. But I can't help blaming myself for what happened. Maybe if I hadn't hovered so much, he wouldn't have felt the need to push everyone away and make such an irresponsible decision. I love Michael and Madeline! They're more precious to me than anything else in the world! But I'm just so angry that Toby's entire life is on hold now, and it's all my fault because I wouldn't just back off!"
Her body shook with sobs and Jareth held her tightly, rubbing soothing circles on her back.
"Shh, don't cry, Sarah. It's not your fault. It's not anybody's fault. Anything can happen in life, precious. Just because Toby isn't turning out the way you hoped, doesn't mean you failed him in any way. Shh, shh. You're a wonderful older sister and aunt and I'm sure he always knew that."
Sarah leaned away, letting Jareth brush away her tears with his thumbs.
"I miss them all so much," she whimpered, "I can't imagine what they must think happened to me."
"You don't have to worry about that, Sarah." He consoled her. "They don't remember you."
She blanched.
"Wh-what?"
"I removed you from all memory in the Aboveground," he explained, "you don't exist there anymore."
Sarah stepped back, her face frozen in shock.
"You did what? H-how could you? Is that supposed to make me feel better?!"
Jareth's brow furrowed in confusion.
"I had to do it, Sarah. I did it to protect-"
"HOW THE FUCK IS ERASING MY LIFE PROTECTING ME?!"
"Not you, Sarah. Your family."
That made her pause. "Huh? M-my family? You did it to protect them?"
"Of course, precious." He persisted. "Would you prefer they know of your disappearance? That their minds be filled with horrific supposititious as to your fate? Or worse, that they torture themselves with grief at the thought that you possibly left voluntarily? Would you want them to scour the world searching for you, only to sink further and further into depression as each and every attempt proved futile?"
Sarah couldn't speak.
He was right again.
She didn't want her family to be miserable. She wanted them to be happy…even without her.
"I'm sorry, Sarah." He murmured.
She looked up to see the Goblin King's head bowed in shame.
"I should have told you sooner, and with much more tact. I can't say I understand exactly how you feel, but I don't ever want to hurt you." His voice rang with remorse.
Sarah's heart thumped hard in her chest, but her mind was filled with chagrin.
He doesn't understand how I feel? Doesn't he have a family?
She shook her head. She didn't want to think about family anymore.
Stepping forward, she wrapped her arms around him again.
"It's okay. I'm sorry I yelled at you. As long as they're all happy and healthy, that's all that matters to me."
The couple stood together in the middle of the library silently holding each other for a long while. High above, the dusting goblins peered at them inquisitively.
Finally pulling away, Sarah flipped open the book in her hands to find a foreign language on the pages.
"What's this?"
"It's fey script." Jareth clarified. "It's my native tongue. I can change it to English if you want."
"No, wait. Will you…read it to me?"
He stared at her with such compassion she shivered.
"As you wish, Sarah-mine."
Taking the book from her, he led her by the hand to the cushion.
A/N: Oh I love developing their relationship! What do you guys think?