Author's Notes 1: Happy one year anniversary Humans! I can't believe it's been exactly one year today since I posted the first chapter of this story. I hope you enjoy!
For the first time in a very long time, Sarah felt at peace.
It wasn't the magic that was coursing through her body, or the knowledge that she and Toby would be together forever, or even that her friends had shown up fifteen minutes into her last hour and refused to leave her side. Sarah was at peace because for the very first time in her life, she knew that she was meant for something bigger. She could still smell the musty pages of the book hidden away in the author's tower. She could just imagine the window that Jareth had promised he would magically procure for her. It was not hard for her to imagine her days sprawled over the aging pages saving the life of magic and mortality alike.
She had spent a decent amount of her last hour worrying over her transition. Doubting herself at every turn and wondering if she would even make a good Faye. While Farnig had done a wonderful job making sure that she was immersed in as much magic as possible and given all of her choices before the thirteen hours were up, she had met only three of the Faye. What if she didn't fit in? What if the other Faye didn't like her? It was like entering into high school all over again.
And what about Toby?
It was that last question that brought her here now. With only moments remaining in her final hour as a Wished Away, she stood before Jareth's throne with her arms crossed over her chest. The Goblin King was draped lazily over the elaborate throne with Toby balanced perfectly in his lap. The boy played with a glowing crystal and reminded him so much of the last time Toby had been in this room. How differently their dynamic had been then.
"What happens to Toby specifically if I chose to be your author?" Sarah asked, her face calm and peaceful.
He wondered when she would quit swaying between emotions. One moment she seemed grateful or even pleased to be in his presence, the next she was cold and calculated and even a little cruel. "What exactly are you asking, Sarah? You really must be clearer with your snarling demands."
Huffing, she dropped a little of her harsh exterior. She knew very well she was being unfair to the Goblin King. For a little while there, she had been comfortable around him, she had even felt a tug to him she couldn't quite name. Why had she reverted back to her calloused and guarded ways? "If I become a Faye, what does Toby become?"
Jareth gave a slight chuckle. "Whatever he desires. While you may have stolen the choice from him the last time you were in the Labyrinth, the choice will be his again. He will be given time with Farnig, as you were, and allowed to see the different magic available to him. Had he still been an infant, incapable of choice, he would have become a goblin. Now that he is a toddler and can speak for himself, he will be gifted a choice. Do you know what he will choose?"
Sarah thought long and hard. She contemplated the different magic she had seen during her hours with Farnig. She imagined Toby as so many of the different creatures, but she could see him most predominantly by her side. Or moreover, by Farnigs. She could see him grow into one of the beautiful and majestic creatures and she could see him serving in the Faye Militia. That was where she felt in her heart he belonged. But Toby would choose his own path. "I don't know." She answered honestly, nibbling on the inside of her cheek in worry. "Will he stay close?"
"Is that what you wish?" Jareth asked, shifting Toby on his lap so he could sit more regally, more professionally for this deep conversation.
"I want to be able to see him every day. To watch him grow and to play with him when I am not too busy with my responsibilities as the Author. I want to be able to take him to the aboveground with me when I travel to research." She answered honestly, her eyes locked into his.
"Then so be it. We as a people are not in much of a position to deny our savior her desires." He smirked, the glint in his eye suggesting there would be more to her responsibility than she realized.
"So no matter his magic?" She asked tentatively.
"No matter his magic." Jareth confirmed with a nod. "Toby stays by your side until he deems it is time to venture out on his own. I can promise you'll have a couple hundred years to raise the boy as your own."
As your own. The words felt heavy and concrete and right. Toby had never really belonged to her father or her stepmother, he had always been her child. He had been hers since the moment they escaped the Labyrinth together.
Something sparked within her, causing a sharp but not unpleasant radiation from her chest outward. She released a startled cry in response and wild eyes flashed up to those of the Goblin King.
It was as if he had felt the pain as well, bounding from his throne and passing Toby into one of the little goblin's arms as he went. "It's time." He spoke gently, his hands braced against her elbows to support her if she fell.
"Time?" She repeated as another wave radiated outwards. This time she did not cry out.
"Your stepmother is too far away. The Labyrinth is preparing you for the inevitable. Your choice has been made and as soon as the bell strikes the final tolling, your transition will begin." He explained, his voice soft as if explaining to a frightened child.
She was once again reminded that was exactly what she was… a frightened child. "A Faye…" She confirmed, nibbling down on her bottom lip as with every passing second another wave radiated outwards from her.
Jareth nodded, a moment of silence passing between them. "And my stepmother?"
"Magic is simple." He explained. "The minds of everyone who ever heard whisper of you or Toby will be cleaned, erased of any memory that either of you existed. At the most you will be a pleasant dream or a frightening nightmare. But they will continue as if you were never born of the mortal world.
"Oh." She breathed, a hand flying to her chest as the radiations became more continuous, more extreme, and yet they never hurt her.
"You're scared." A statement, not a question.
She nodded her head, amazed at how the room had emptied, leaving only her and the Goblin King to this moment of transition. But this was common place for the Underground. No doubt they were all trained to disappear when this moment began so that Jareth could coach their newest member through the change. It was absolutely terrifying. Though there was no pain, she felt like she was drowning, like taking a breath was impossible, like the very person she had once been was being stripped away.
"It's not a pleasant feeling." He gritted his teeth, still stabilizing her as if afraid she would teeter and fall. "All I can say to soothe you is that it will pass soon. We have but a moment left before your time in the Labyrinth as a Wished Away is over. Your own magic will transition through you and then you will be Faye."
"Faye…" The word sounded like a prayer off her lips. But with yet another radiation she was crippled by pain again. "Will it hurt? When the magic takes over?" She wasn't sure when she had reached out to grasp onto his strong forearms, but she was now clinging to him for dear life.
"Maybe a little." He answered honestly. "But it will pass."
Sarah bit harder down upon her lip, holding back a whimper that threatened to break free. "You said before… You aren't in a position to deny my requests. Can I ask something of you?"
Jareth nodded, "Anything you desire."
"Hold me." She did not wait for a response, the tears immediately cascading down her face as she launched herself across the distance between herself and the Goblin King. She clutched onto his arms, pressing her face against his broad chest as the radiating reached its peak.
"For as long as you need," he breathed, wrapping his arms around her small body and pressing his chin to the top of your head. "Breathe, Sarah. Your moment has come."
The bells rang out, loud and clear as Sarah's stepmother was sent spiraling back into the perfect life she had always desired; a life where she had Sarah's father, but no children to bog her down. Her friends would forget her, her family would forget her. It would be as if Sarah had never existed. Everything about her was about to change… and it did.
She felt her body morph, her hair becoming fuller with a greater shine. Her eyes turned from their darker brown to a lighter honey hazel. Her chest filled out, her muscles slimming, but it was her ears that hurt the most. With a heavy tug and an exceptional amount of pain, her ears elongated into the fine point of the Fayes. She let out a loud cry of pain to which Jareth protectively tightened his grip.
And then it was done.
"Did it work?" She breathed, afraid to step back from his warm and protective embrace. The pain had vanished as if it had never been there at all. She felt at peace.
"It's over." He reassured, releasing his grasp upon her so that she could examine herself in the glass of a crystal. And it was. Sarah's hell on Earth was finally finished.
Xxx A Few Years Later xxX
She hadn't heard him enter the chamber of the Author. She had been so busy pouring over the book, scribbling her story into its pages, that she had completely missed Jareth teleporting into the corner.
When she did finally look up and meet his calculated gaze, she let out a startled scream. "We have to set boundaries!" She hissed, clutching her chest, the tips of her ears burning against the adrenaline. "You can't just teleport in and out of here whenever you want." Her smile, however, said otherwise.
"I'm King," Jareth stated, puffing his chest out proudly. "I can do as I please."
Sarah rolled her eyes, closing the book and rising to her feet. She stretched her back like a cat, hearing the bones in her spine click into a more comfortable position. "Whatever you say, your highness. What are you doing here, anyway?"
Jareth shrugged. "I came to see how you are adjusting." He didn't want to admit he was worried about her, more worried than he had been about any other Wished Away before her. He had spent as much time by her side over the last few weeks as he possibly could without making himself suspicious. Which, of course, had made him suspicious in the eyes of both Farnig and his mother.
"I'm doing well. This was nowhere near as scary as I had thought it would be. I love it here… and Toby loves it, too." She grinned.
"I knew he would love it. I also knew he would choose Faye." Jareth said, again his chest puffed out in pride.
"Did you now?" She smirked in disbelief. "I can't imagine how." After a brief pause, she relaxed back against the wall and looked him over. Their time spent together over the last few years had been blissful and the longer she spent by the King's side the more she grew to need him, the more she grew to want him, around. But years in the Underground felt like months on earth and while she knew her infatuation with him was sincere, she couldn't help but wonder if he saw her as nothing more than an oddity, a cheap and fleeting crush, something to play with when he was bored.
"I missed you." He breathed, crossing the distance between them until he towered over her, her back pressed against the wall.
"I missed you." She returned, her head tilted, her breath shallow, her heart pounding in her chest. Their magic sparked between them, igniting a feeling in Sarah she could only compare to the butterflies she had gotten during her human life. But this was so much more than butterflies.
"I told you, I cannot refuse your wishes. When you miss me, I shall appear." He grinned confidently, hoping that would ease her previous ire at his random and unexpected teleportation into her sacred space.
"How could I have ever refused you?" She chuckled, a pit in her stomach still aching at the thought of her time as a runner and all the time with Jareth she had lost.
"You were only human, after all." He breathed, closing the distance between them and capturing her lips with his.
The End
Author's Notes 2: Well there you have it. The end of an era! I had to give you guys something! So many of you were asking for SarahXJareth fluff and I figured I would give you a little peak into their future. It also seemed like a perfect way to tie the story title into the ending as, if you've read my other stories, you can see I like to do. I hope you all enjoyed this. Leave me love and send me reviews to tell me what you think! The more love I get the more likely I'll be to post the sequel soon. When the sequel goes up I'll post an extra chapter here to let you know where to find it.
As always, all my love; Kaas