AN: Tried to upload this yesterday, but I guess the site was having issues.
Chapter 5: Sharing and Caring
Sarah returned to consciousness with the abruptness a door being slammed. She kept her eyes shut and her breathing even, forcing herself to remain calm despite the torrent of thoughts and emotions rushing through her now wide-awake mind. What if he was still asleep, or worse? It was too terrible to think about, and seeing it would be even more terrible, so she kept her eyes shut tight, focusing on her other senses instead.
The air around her was unpleasantly silent, there was no crackling from the fireplace, no merry goblin cacophony from the city below. It was still and stifled, like a breath that has been held for too long. The smells that she breathed in were warm and sweet though, fragrances of sunshine and clean linens and recent rain, with just a hint of autumn decay mixed in. Sarah waited a minute, lying very still. Then another minute, and another. Finally, she could take it no longer.
She opened her eyes and her breath caught in her throat, somewhere between a gasp of surprise and a sigh of relief.
Jareth stared back at her, blue eyes intense and locked onto hers. They lay on their sides facing one another, an obstructive mass of soft furs and decadent fabrics bunched up between them. Sarah felt dizzy with relief. She resisted the sudden urge to jump over and hug him, or worse…
He reached over silently and brushed a bit of her hair out of her face, his eyes softening when she didn't move away. He smirked a bit, and her eyes darted to his lips then back up again. She leaned forward…
"I knew you'd get into bed with me sooner or later." He said smugly.
Sarah sat up abruptly and began beating him viciously with her pillow.
He laughed and rolled out of bed, dusting goose feathers off of himself and grinning at her mischieviously.
"Come now, there's no shame in denying it, although I would appreciate a memory refresher on how I ended up in here. I thought I was aiming for the garden…"
"You nearly died!" She said gravely, putting as much gravity into her words as possible; he was not going to brush this off, not this time.
"Nonsense-"
"You were gone for over two weeks! The goblins found you in the garbage city barely alive!" She exclaimed.
Jareth was unable to hide the flash of surprise that momentarily crossed his face at her words, or the grave look of understanding that followed as he remembered what he had been doing and the consequences he had endured.
Sarah noticed that he was paleing again, and jumped up and hurried over when she saw him sway a bit.
"You're still not recovered, lie back down." She commanded, pointing to the bed.
"Are you going to play my nurse, Sarah love?" He asked wickedly.
"And none of that! I mean it!" Sarah put her hands on her hips and glared at him like an angry nun. It really wasn't fair, whatever he was doing; it was like some kind of psychic siren song, drawing her to him almost irresistabley. Luckily for her, her will was a strong as his, and his foot seemed to have taken up permanent residence in his mouth, which effectively canceled out his more charming aspects.
Jareth put his hands up in surrender and lay back down as directed, still smirking. "As my queen commands."
"Uhg." Sarah walked over to the door, cracking it open and telling the group of goblins in the hall the news and ordering food and water to be brought up.
"You know, Sarah," the Goblin King called from behind her, speaking loudly to be heard over the rambunctious explosion of cheers from the goblins, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were worried about me." The smugness in his voice had reached near-villainous levels again, and Sarah had to fight back the urge to attack him with something harder than a pillow. She ignored him instead, busying herself with tidying up the mess in the room leftover from having the goblins in here the night before. Her anger and silence did not go unnoticed.
When he spoke again, his voice was much colder. "Ah. It is near time for you to leave, isn't it? I suppose it would make you upset to have to stay here any longer than necessary."
Sarah paused. Truth be told, she hadn't once thought of the Aboveground since it had become clear that Jareth was missing. But she had no intention of telling him that, so she changed the subject.
"You promised me answers."
"I promised you an answer, to a certain question." He returned, voice still cold.
"You also promised to tell me what I wanted to know that day, which was over two weeks ago. I demand interest."
He was starting to cheer up now. He loved to bargain.
"Very well, one additional question. But I can refuse up to thirteen of them." He said.
"I want three questions, and I want you to give straightforward, honest answers. And no refusing to answer." She answered.
He was sitting up now and watching her intently, and she turned to face him. He was already starting to look better, the glow had returned to his skin and his hair was gradually reinflating. All the coldness was gone from his voice now. "Absolutely not. I'll give you three honest answered questions, but I want unlimited refusals and I'll answer them when I feel like it."
She put her hands on her hips and held his gaze, forcing herself not to blink. "Final offer. Three questions, answered honestly before I go back Above this time, two refusals, and I'll owe you one small favor. Oh, and I'll also have two chances to refuse in regards to the favor." She said, immediately regretting the offer when she saw his eyes light up.
"Done." He said, grinning like the cat that got the canary.
It was then that Munk the penguin-shaped goblin burst anxiously into the room, carrying a tray of food and a pitcher of water. A smaller goblin carrying a tray of dishes and cutlery followed him, completely obscured by the burden he carried. Jareth and Sarah both turned to watch them.
Munk gazed in wide eyed wonder at his king, too overcome with awe to say anything to him. He set the tray down on the small table, never taking his eyes off of his sovereign, until the king quirked an irritated eyebrow at him, at which point he pulled a mug off the tray and turned and waddled over to Sarah, offering the mug with his customary greeting.
"Queen haz coffee. Now Queen hear day's bizniz?"
Sarah felt a rush of warmth for her faithful assistant. She took the coffee and smiled at him. "I'll be down in little bit. Why don't you head down to the throne room and wait for me?"
Munk nodded and started off, then paused and turned around. 'Queen should know now. All goblins heard about how Queen saved King with her witchy powers-"
-A poorly disguised snort came from the Goblin King-
"-and all goblins love Queen now, none want to light you on fire or drown you in ale anymore." He smiled grotesquely. At least that's what she thought he was doing, considering that he had a beak instead of a mouth.
"Oh. Well... that's nice." Sarah said politely, glad that the goblins apparently liked her now and hopeful that the poorly executed assassination attempts would stop.
The small goblin under the tray of dishes gave an excited squeak of agreement, making all the dishes clatter and rattle. Sarah bent and lifted the tray, revealing a football-sized blue goblin gazing up at her in adoration. She smiled widely as she recognized the look on its face. It was the same look of worship that the goblins gave their king.
"Off you go now," She said fondly.
They hurried off, closing the huge oak door behind them, and she carried the tray to the table, fixing plates for herself and her irascible patient.
The Goblin King started to sing. "You've put a spell on meeee-"
"Oh, be quiet and eat your muffins." Sarah said, still unable to stop smiling.
Later that day, The Goblin King, feeling well rested and almost back to his old self, decided that the had had enough of being nursed, considering that his nurse had all but abandoned him after breakfast. He had a long soak in the tub, pondering their new deal, and then dressed and set off.
He met her in the hallway outside of the throne room, and insisted on her joining him for lunch. The meal was mostly silent, both of them feeling the weight of the promised information between them. Tomorrow was her last day, and Jareth decided that it would be best to get the questions out of the way now rather than wait till the last minute. He wanted her to leave on somewhat good terms, and he had a few ideas on how to make that happen, but first they had to get this done and out of the way.
"Your first question was about your 'friends', as you called them, yes?" He said suddenly, breaking the silence and stealing Sarah from her thoughts. She put down her fork on the mostly empty plate quietly and nodded, eyes fixed on him.
"I have another little bargain to make with you. Let that be your last question rather than your first, and I'll give you a present tomorrow before you leave."
She seemed to usually be happy, for the most part, but he knew that she probably wouldn't be after he answered her questions. And knowing Sarah, she would have learned how to ask the right questions, which worried him. Strangely, he didn't want to upset her. Not really, anyway. True, he loved to provoke her, to make her furious or frustrated or frightened. These displays of passion from her were beautiful and exciting to him, and he relished them. But her tears, her heartache, that he did not want to see.
Sarah considered him carefully. "What kind of present?"
Jareth held back a smirk, seeing that she was too curious to refuse. "One that you will like, and that will cost you nothing except this. Agreed?"
Sarah shrugged. "Agreed."
"Well then, what is your first question?" He asked, leaning back in his chair and grinning slightly.
"What have you been doing when you leave?" Sarah asked immediately.
"Refused. I will not answer that." He said.
"What! You've got to be kidding me."
"We agreed on three refusals, precious. Try again." His grin was slowly evolving into a smirk.
"Where have you been going when you leave?" She tried.
"Refused." He said in an almost bored voice.
Sarah huffed, staring out over the Labyrinth while she thought.
"Would you really have turned Toby into a goblin?" She asked, looking back at him slowly.
"No." He said.
She looked at him in surprise, waiting for him to go on.
He did, after a moment's pause. "You have to understand, nothing here is mortal. Anything that becomes a part of the Underground is changed by matter of necessity. He, like other wished away children, would have slowly lost his mortality and turned into a goblin, or some other Labyrinthian creature, naturally. I, however, have no influence over the process."
"But, I'm a part of the Underground now, aren't I? I'm not changing into a goblin." Sarah said.
"You solved the Labyrinth and became its queen. There are certain privileges attached to that. You will not become a goblin, precious, but you are changed, and have been for years."
"I feel the same." Sarah objected.
"Then is your second question about how you are changed?" He asked slyly.
Sarah thought a while, before deciding that she could likely answer that question herself, in time.
"So what's your end goal, then?" She asked, all business.
He quirked a sculpted eyebrow.
"Why am I here, really? And don't tell me that the Labyrinth made you bring me here, you left me alone for four years and then just showed up out of the blue."
"What exactly is your question, precious?" Jareth asked.
"Why did you bring me here?" She asked, praying that he would answer the question.
Jareth regarded her carefully for a minute, then replied simply, "Because I wanted you here."
Sarah blinked. "Go on…"
"That's all."
"That's not an answer."
"It is both honest, and straightforward, which were the requirements you set down for answers." He gave her a cheeky grin, bouncing one foot on his knee and leaning back in his chair even more, so that it tipped back.
"Fine. Tell me about my friends then." Sarah shifted in her seat and started tapping her toe, suddenly apprehensive.
Jareth seemed reluctant, but continued on. "You wanted to know where they've gone. Well, the answer to that is- nowhere."
Sarah blinked. "That's not an answer either, you have to-" She said, her voice steadily growing louder and angrier.
"Will you let me finish?" Jareth snapped, and Sarah fell silent, watching him warily.
"The creatures that you befriended when you ran the Labyrinth, the red monster, the fox night and his dog, and the dwarf were created specifically for you." He paused and Sarah broke in again.
"I don't understand. Are you saying that you made them?"
"No. The Labyrinth loves to play with people's minds, twisting their fears and dreams into reality, often driving runners mad, even before I can get to them." He seemed a bit disappointed by this. "Contrarily, sometimes it will play on a person's imagination, creating things from their subconscious that are not necessarily a threat to them."
"But- but they were real! You talked to Hoggle, like you knew him!" Sarah exclaimed.
"They were very real, plucked from your mind and given life and breath, memories and personalities. The dwarf knew me because you imagined he would. And yes, I used them to my own advantage, and I'm not the least bit sorry for it. It is my responsibility to try and stop runners from succeeding, by whatever means necessary."
"You used Hoggle to give me that peach!"
"Yes, I did." He answered calmly, giving her a carefully crafted even look. "Are you going to get upset with me or do you want to hear more?"
Sarah glared at him, but said nothing. Jareth's face was set in a scowl, but when he spoke it was in a gentle, honeyed tone.
"Come now, precious thing, have I not been generous, and gone out of my way to make you happy? All I have asked is three months of the year, and I have given you everything you could want or need, and much more besides. I could have done much worse." There was a hint of darkness behind his words that left too much to the imagination. He watched her for a moment and shook his head. "Are you really so miserable?"
No, she wasn't, and she reluctantly softened at his words, though a small bit of flint, made primarily of pride and fear, stayed lodged stubbornly in her heart. She didn't answer him, but her voice had lost its sting when she spoke again.
"Where are they, then?"
Jareth gave her an almost pitying look. "They were created, and therefore sustained, by your imagination, Sarah. Had you stayed in the Labyrinth, they would have stayed as well. But you didn't, and so they simply faded away."
Sarah felt like she couldn't breath. They were gone, gone forever? And it was her fault. Though she hadn't known! She would have found a way if she had..
"They felt no pain, it was a gentle process." He said quietly.
"How long did it take?" Sarah asked, voice rough. Her friends had only visited a few times after her run from the Labyrinth. They had become increasingly quiet and still with each visit, taking longer and longer to come when she called, but her teenage self had dismissed it as them just being uncomfortable in her world. She had planned to find a safe way to visit them here.
"About six months."
She put her head in her hands to hide the tears that were threatening to fall.
Jareth watched her and wished that he could do something to make her feel better. He almost reached across the table to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but stopped himself.
"I am sorry, Sarah." And, as much to his surprise as to hers, he really was.
After a tense minute Sarah stood up abruptly and walked to the door. "I think I'm going to bed."
Jareth nodded and stood, but stayed where he was. "Sarah, if you should need anything…"
At those words, Sarah lost her composure completely and took off down the hall at a run. She crawled into the bed and buried herself in the furs, crying for hours, until she was finally exhausted and sleep took her. The Goblin King did not sleep on the roof that night, but perched on the bedroom's window sill in his owl form, keeping watch over her all through the night.
By morning, Sarah seemed to be doing better, and the Goblin King flew off for the throne room after seeing that she was up and eating.
He was not terribly familiar with most human feelings, he had never had a mother or a father around or much interaction with other peoples by which to learn. He had wandered here as a child and made it his own, for the most part it had just been him and the goblins, and the occasional terrified human in the Labyrinth. Sarah made him feel things, alien emotions that he was unfamiliar with. That was part of what had brought about his obsession in the first place. He felt compassion and desire for her, and stronger feelings that he didn't know what to name. A part of him, driven by fear and pride, wanted to throw her back Aboveground and burn her from his memory, go on as if she had never existed. Another part of him wanted to dance and sing with her and make her a crown of jewels and a train of flowers. He felt both excited and disgusted by these feelings, and he was unsure of how to respond to her. Because of this, more goblins than usual ended up in the bog that day before the Goblin King left the throne room, finally satisfied with his work.
He searched for a little while and found her in the gardens, sitting on the edge of the pier on the koi pond, letting her feet dangle in the water, lost in her thoughts. He paused, watching her from the cover of the trees.
"Are you going to go back to ignoring me so soon?" She called out, not taking her eyes off the water.
Jareth smirked and walked forward. He noticed, now that he wasn't so wrapped up in his thoughts, that she was no longer wearing his clothes, but she wasn't wearing her own, either. Seeing that he was approaching, Sarah stood and turned to face him, skirts wrapping around her in the strange and suspiciously convenient wind that suddenly came out of nowhere. She was wearing a red summer gown, sleeveless and corseted and embroidered all over with yellow roses. She was stunning.
"I see you've found your wardrobe." He started casually.
Sarah bit her lip to withhold a smirk. "I found an unfamiliar goblin sewing a pair of slippers today. She led me to a hidden room full of dresses, said they'd been there for months. Why didn't you tell me?"
"You didn't ask." He said simply.
"That's completely unreasonable."
"You expected me to be reasonable?"
Sarah laughed. "I guess not. So, what's my present?"
"Demanding girl. Close your eyes and come with me." He held out a gloved hand and flashed her a dangerous grin.
Demanding queen, you mean. And I will come with you, but I will most certainly not be closing my eyes." Sarah took his hand and allowed him to lead her out of the garden and back to the castle.
"Obstinate girl. You are determined to ruin all my fun."
"A thousand apologies, your Majesty." Sarah said, feigning dramatic dismay.
The corners of Jareth's lips quirked, but he continued on in a serious tone. "Very well. I shall let it go with a warning this time. Continue with this impertinence, however, and I will have no choice but to discipline you."
Sarah didn't know what to say to that double entendre, but luckily she was saved from coming up with a response, as they had stopped outside of the throne room.
Jareth let go of her hand and stepped to the side, gesturing solemnly for her to go in first. Sarah stepped forward through the archway and looked around curiously. The room was overflowing with goblins of all shapes and sizes, and they were all staring expectantly at her. She looked around at them all, wondering what was going on, and then she noticed the new addition to the room.
Next to the usual bone and rock throne was another, similar seat. It was also made of stone, but was more polished than the other, and the seat and back had large cushions of light blue edged with gold. The two thrones were set so that the armrests were about a foot away from each other, the steps running together. The goblins beamed up at her.
"You like it, Queen?" One of them asked.
"Very much," Sarah said.
"We made it for you!" Another said.
"You did?" Sarah asked, smiling down at him.
"They helped a little." The Goblin King said right in her ear, making her start and look back at him.
"I carved the steps!" A small orange goblin said, pointing to his teeth, which were worn down to nubs.
"I stole the flowerpots!" A tall green goblin said.
"Tasty flowerpots." The small orange one said apologetically.
"We made it like Kingy's!" One said.
"Only softer." Munk said.
"But not bigger…" Another said, as if reciting instructions.
"Thank you, thank you all so much, I love it!" Sarah said, making sure to catch Jareth's eye. He looked incredibly pleased with himself.
"Well then, are you going to keep us all waiting? Try it out." He demanded.
The goblins parted for their monarchs, watching as Sarah walked around the pit and climbed the steps to her throne, before turning around and sitting down regally, to raucous cheers from her subjects. Jareth too sat down on his throne, and made a show of reaching over and snatching Sarah's hand and raising it with his, which made the goblins cheer even louder. Sarah laughed and let him, enjoying the moment.
"Celebrate!" A goblin called out, and the rest of the goblins immediately agreed, but then froze and looked to their king and queen for approval. The sun was not to set for another hour or two, and the goblins weren't sure how to proceed without alcohol.
Sarah looked to Jareth, but he just shrugged in indifference.
"Go ahead, have a party." She said, magic words that guaranteed the never ending love and fealty of her subjects.
The Goblin King turned to her, giving her a guarded look. "Shame that you have to leave so soon. What with the party being in your honor, and all." He let go of her hand and turned away again, appearing to be very interested in a pile of goblins near the window wrestling with a keg of ale.
Sarah paused for a minute, then made a decision. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to stay for an extra day or two…"
Jareth looked back at her and gave a true, genuine smile at that, one that lit his face and gave her butterflies in her stomach. She couldn't help it, she smiled back.
AN: Yes, the title is still the same. Have you ever tried to catch an ornery chicken? Or a cat that knows that you mean to give it a bath? Well, the little part of my brain that is responsible for naming things is being like that, I want to kill it and have it be reborn as a more helpful version of itself, but I can't find the little s**t. Thank you for all the suggestions, there were quite a few good ones and I will still likely change the title later when I can decide on which one I like best.
Chapter four and five were written for the Labyfic LiveJournal challenge for this month, which was to include a pier and Sarah in a red dress. Please review!