Once she was certain that everything was taken care of and that all of her parents' affairs had been settled, the legalities taken care of, Sarah was more than ready to leave the Aboveground behind forever to make a new start in the Underground. She had no connections to the mortal realm anymore, and Jareth was more than happy to welcome her to his. "Welcome, Sarah, to your new home."
"Here in the castle?" Sarah asked.
"Well of course," Jareth responded. "You don't think that I'd let the Champion of the Labyrinth move here and then just leave her to fend for herself, do you?"
I am unwritten
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned
"And just how many Champions have moved down here before me?"
"You would be the first," Jareth admitted. "The Labyrinth has never had a Champion before."
They were walking down a hallway, and as they got to a door, Jareth threw it open. Hearing the low growl in his throat, Sarah turned her attention away from him and to the room. Dust was everywhere. "And it's certainly been a while since a woman was around the castle, hasn't it?" she quipped.
Jareth snorted, getting the joke but more inclined to bog the next goblin he saw rather than laugh. "The maids were supposed to clean this room and prepare it for you. I ordered them to do it as soon as you agreed to move to the Underground."
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Sarah just laughed and entered the room, throwing open the French doors that led to the balcony, along with the window shutters on either side, noting that the windows themselves were rather dirty. As the sunlight came in more fully, she saw just how much cleaning needed to be done. She also saw that everything was completely white. "It's alright, Jareth. If I could have some cleaning supplies, I could take care of it myself."
"I had hoped that it would be clean already so that you could focus on the decor. I was unsure of what would please you, and so I left it all in white so that you could choose the colors yourself."
"It shouldn't take too long," Sarah said, smiling. Jareth gave in and conjured up the supplies that Sarah asked for. The mortal woman immediately went to work, continuing to chatter. "I'm glad it's not painted yet. I love to paint. I suppose you've got some sort of magical paint down here that dries immediately and only needs one coat?"
"In a manner of speaking," Jareth said. "Actually, we use color crystals. As soon as you're ready, I'll take you to the market in town so that you can pick them out. They work as well for painting walls as they do for dying cloth."
"What about painting just part of the wall, like making the wall mainly one color while the borders are another?" Sarah asked.
"You'll see when we get there."
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
In the little shop that sold the color crystals, Sarah indeed saw what she needed. Larger crystals were available to coat entire rooms. Smaller crystals were specifically labeled to create borders of different widths. Some crystals had multiple colors swirling within them, and a picture of the pattern that they would create. Looking at all of the choices in awe, Sarah finally settled on a lavender color crystal for all of her walls, and a border crystal that would produce pink roses on a forest green background. For her bed, Sarah selected an amethyst color for the sheets and as a background for the coverlet, along with the same forest green with pink roses border as for the walls. In addition, she chose a color crystal that would give a rich cherry wood stain to all of the wooden furniture in the room.
Her selections carefully boxed and labeled, Sarah and Jareth chose to leave, only to find that it had started raining while they were in the shop. Jareth conjured an umbrella and started to hand it to her, but Sarah just grabbed his hand and started running in the rain, laughing again. "Come on, a little rain won't hurt you! Or is the big scary Goblin King afraid of getting wet?"
Jareth, for his part, only smiled at hearing his precious Sarah laugh again. She'd had so little occasion to do so over the past few weeks. "I most certainly am not afraid of being wet. But I will beat you back to the castle."
"Only if you use magic!" Sarah cried out, running towards the castle as fast as her legs would carry her.
Jareth just laughed and followed her.
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
By the time they were back in the front doors, both mortal and Fae were soaked to the bone. The goblins looked at them, amazed at the sight of their king and the lady as they passed through the noisy, messy, chicken-infested throne room and back down the hall.
"Precious, we really should get changed into drier clothing before we go to work adding color to your room."
"Agreed," Sarah replied, looking around. "Where are my clothes?"
"If the goblin maids know what's good for them, they should be in your closet."
Sarah opened it up to find all of her clothes from Aboveground, along with those from below ground. Grabbing a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt, she stepped behind a privacy screen to change. When she stepped out, she found that Jareth had simply magicked himself dry. "I wish I could do that," she said.
"You could," Jareth admitted. "It just takes some practice. After all, you're a citizen of the Underground, now. All humans have at least a little magic in them, even Aboveground, and it's enhanced when you enter the Underground and you're here long enough. There's a reason there's a thirteen-hour time limit on solving the Labyrinth. And yes, the time you were here before counts."
"I was technically only here for ten hours last time," Sarah replied.
"Yes, but you've already been here for three hours this time," Jareth said, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "Would you like to try making a crystal of your own?" he asked, taking her hands in his.
"We should probably finish decorating my room, first."
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
"Probably a good idea," Jareth admitted. "It is starting to get late in the afternoon."
"Could we do the magic lesson after dinner?" Sarah asked as she began throwing her chosen color crystals at the appropriate targets. To her satisfaction, each one did its job upon impact.
"Of course, although you're clearly already getting the hang of working with magical items. I only instructed you in what to use, not how to use them."
Sarah stopped, then, and looked at the fresh colors all around the room. Jareth was right. He had not told her that she only had to throw them. She had done that on instinct. She thought for a moment, and realized where she might have seen inspiration for the method. "I guess I just figured that if you could summon the Cleaners by throwing one of your crystals, then why shouldn't it be the same with these?"
"You do know that you were not in any real danger, right?"
"I do now, but you scared the hell out of me back then."
Jareth shrugged. "Well, I did have a role to play and a job to do."
Yeah
Oh, oh
I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
Are outside the lines
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live that way, oh
Sarah and Jareth continued their discussion over dinner. At the moment, they were talking about their actual relationships with their parents.
"It took me a long time to really learn to deal with Mom and Dad's divorce," Sarah admitted. "I mean, Mom just packed up and left in the middle of the night. She never said goodbye, even to me. I guess she just became an idealized figure in my head. I thought that maybe Dad had driven her away, and then when Karen came into the picture, I couldn't accept her. I still thought that Mom would come back."
"Certainly it was more than just that which caused you to wish young Toby to me," Jareth said.
Sarah nodded. "It started right after Toby was born. I was fine staying home by myself when Dad and Karen went out on their dates, but then I was expected to babysit Toby every single weekend. During the summer, I babysat him all day while Dad and Karen were at work. During the school year, I was the one to pick him up from the baby sitter on the way home from school. It wasn't easy doing homework with a screaming baby around all the time and me responsible for him until Karen got home at around 5:30. Dad worked late a lot, so then I was stuck with just Karen and Toby for a couple of hours, and she never thanked me for getting dinner started and watching my brother. She just told me to go on to my homework and that she'd call me when dinner was ready."
Jareth tilted his head, studying Sarah. "Obviously something changed, though, when you ran the Labyrinth."
"I grew up." It was a short, simple statement, but no elaboration was really needed. "When I realized how much I valued Toby, I realized that I wouldn't have him if Dad hadn't married Karen, so I started making an effort with her, y'know? But what about your parents?"
"There's not much to tell, really. My father was the Goblin King before me, and he tried to make me perfect. My mother was more fun-loving. Like I told you before, she's pestering me to give her grandchildren."
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
"Karen had just started the same kind of pestering," Sarah said thoughtfully. "Once we mended our relationship, I knew she'd be a great grandma, some day. I just wasn't ready to have kids, yet. She did keep setting me up on blind dates, though."
"At least that's the worst you fared," Jareth said, amusement in his voice. "My mother has presented every single of age single female in the Undergorund High Court to me, and every time a new young lady comes of age, she presents her, as well. I am certain that once she learns of your presence, we can expect a visit from her."
At this, one corner of Sarah's mouth moved upwards in a smirk. "Let me guess. The Goblin King having an unwed adult female who just happens to have defeated the Labyrinth will be a great source of Court gossip?"
"In a manner of speaking."
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
"Um, Jareth, I was wondering, could I see my friends this week?"
The Goblin King was caught off guard. Sir Didymus, in his opinion, was tolerable, if a little annoying. Ludo was dull, but friendly and exceedingly loyal. He couldn't help but remain jealous, though, where Hoggle was concerned. Still, anything for Sarah. "Of course. Would you like me to send them all an invitation up to the castle? I'm sure they'd be just as happy to see you."
"Thank you, Jareth."
"You're quite welcome."
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
A scroll with a dark blue ribbon tied around it showed up on the table, then. Jareth picked it up. He frowned as he read the words.
"What's wrong?" Sarah asked.
"Do you remember when I said it likely wouldn't be long before my mother pays a visit?"
Sarah's eyes bugged. "When is she coming?"
"Tomorrow, according to this note. I should prepare you."
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Throughout dinner, Jareth taught Sarah the proper etiquette that his mother would expect when she arrived for lunch the next day. After dinner, he taught her how to curtsy properly and helped her to pick out clothes for the next day. He talked to her about how to address his mother and when. By the end, Sarah's head was swimming.
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
"How am I going to remember this all tomorrow?" Sarah asked.
"Don't worry," Jareth said. "I'll go over it all again with you during and after breakfast, a bit of last-minute review if you will. You'll be fine."
"How do you think she'll react to me?"
"I think she'll love you. Honestly, I think you worry too much."
"Well you're the one making me learn all this stuff."
Jareth smiled. "Only because I want you to feel comfortable, whether she's in a formal or informal mood."
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Oh, oh
"I suppose it could be worse," Sarah said as she hung up the dress Jareth had picked out for her. She also carefully laid out all of her accessories. "I could have to learn how to dance."
"You just might," Jareth said. "But I think you dance divinely."
"That was in a dream." Sarah whirled around as she realized what he'd said. "And why might I?"
"You're a member of my court, now, Precious. It is highly likely that you'll be invited to balls."
"Oh, I suppose I hadn't thought about that."
"It's alright. Don't worry about it too much, especially since we don't know that an invitation will come in the near future."
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Sarah nodded. "You're right. I just need to calm down." She wrapped Jareth in a hug. "Thank you, for everything."
Jareth kissed Sarah on the top of her head. "You're more than welcome, Sarah. We should both get some rest, though."
Sarah looked up at him. "I guess you're right." Oh, how she wanted to kiss him, or him to kiss her. She couldn't decide which. She didn't have to.
Jareth kissed her.
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
The kiss was amazing. Sara knew that she had sworn to take this slow, but she already knew that she was ready for this. She whimpered slightly as Jareth pulled away.
"Sarah, I'm sorry...I don't know what came over me..."
"Don't apologize, Jareth. I wanted that. I'm ready to take this beyond friendship."
"So you're willing to let me court you properly?"
"Yes."
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten