"Jareth? Are you there, love?" A voice whispered to him, coming from behind him though he did not turn. He was standing still in the rather large ballroom, a few scatterings of revelers still dancing though most had retired for the night. He was in the center of the room, blue and brown eyes staring at the floor in front of his feet. Many knew of his unwillingness to dance, though none but a few knew why. "Jareth, please turn. I'm here. I promised you a dance, did I not?"
He whipped around at the sound of the voice, staring at the floor a few paces away from where he stood. A woman stood there, her Aboveground fashion obvious. With his breath catching in his throat, he surveyed her. The skin tight ruby gown clung to her curves, a well known mask gazing back at him, and dark tresses curling about it and falling down her back in gentle waves. He strode forward, the dancers stopping to watch, and grabbed the woman by the throat gently.
"I do not appreciate games, woman. How you know this disguise, I know not. But what you seek, you shall not have." He growled lowly, trying to see her eyes through the holes in the mask but, alas, the eyes were closed. He could feel the woman smiling.
"Tell me, how is my little girl?" The woman asked instead, eyes remaining closed. He wanted to scream at her to open them, for Sarah's eyes held their own color and could not be copied. "How is the man I left her with all those years ago? And why does he no longer dance?" She asked him softly, her hands grabbing his and moving them to a dancing pose. The pose they were in the last time they danced together.
"Open your eyes." He commanded softly, moving his hand from where she had placed it at her waist and grabbing at her mask. He pulled it away slowly, waiting for her to yell. She didn't. A sob caught in his throat when he saw the familiar claw marks marring her skin. "Sarah." He whispered, cupping her face in his hands. Her eyes opened slowly, staring up at him with their familiar warmth.
What happened next made a few of the dancers to gasp in surprise. Jareth let out a loud cry, picking up the woman before him and twirling her around as she laughed, clinging to him and begging to be let down. The guests watched in wonder as the King kissed the woman he held in his arms like he would never see her again.
One of the guests broke away from the others, her long white hair pulled up into a series of ringlets and her violet eyes staring at the couple in the center of the dancer floor. Something niggled in the back of her mind as she stared at the brunette woman in her fathers arms. She stopped next to Jareth, hand falling onto his arm.
Sarah froze at the sight of the woman placing a hand on Jareth, her insides freezing with what she would deny as jealousy. The picture of another woman, a beautiful woman at that, made her insides curl in on themselves. Of course. Of course he would have moved on by now. Her mind whispered to her.
"Papa?" The woman asked and Sarah felt herself start to warm all over again. "Who is this?" Sarah found herself shocked the next moment to see familiar violet eyes staring back at her.
"Cali, do you not remember your own mother?" Jareth asked quietly so none of the other guests could hear. They did hear, though, his laughter as it boomed around the ballroom rushed forward to hug Sarah, their own tinkling laughter filling the air as the small family was reunited.