33Soul Mate: Sequel to Of Gypsies and Crystals
A Labyrinth Fanfiction by Bionca Femme
Sarah crept along the dark tunnel. Her fingers sliding along the brick walls, trying to find a passageway. Soon, she found herself twiddling with a lock of her dark brown hair, a habit she had developed in her early childhood, not unlike thumb sucking. Unfortunately, it had always been a habit that adults found charming, so no one had stopped her from doing it. She frowned as she looked around. It all seemed so familiar and yet, she had never been there before. "Where am I?" She whispered.
Suddenly, she heard a clinking noise coming from behind her. Looking down she saw a crystal orb roll past her, she took off after it only to be brought up short, as she was led into another tunnel. The crystal flew up into a cup that was held by an odd looking hand, she followed the hand holding the cup with her eyes upwards to find the obscured face, of a small beggar.
He seemed to look up at her and regard her quizzically, "Well, what have we here?" He asked in a mischievous voice.
Sarah felt a stab of fear pierce her chest and she took an involuntary step backwards, colliding with the wall behind her. "Uh, nothing," She squeaked.
"Nothing?" The figure lurched to its feet, it seemed to grow out of the disguise of the beggar, revealing a man with wild blond hair and mismatched eyes. He held up the body of the costume in one hand and the hat and fake nose in the other. He shook the body at her mockingly. "Nothing, tra, la,la,la!?" He smirked at her, "Hello Sarah," He purred and threw the costume aside viciously.
Sarah swallowed hard. "Jareth," She eyed him warily.
He slowly approached her, his gaze intent on her face. "Jareth?" His elegant brows shot up in surprise. "Eighteen long years, Sarah. That's all you have to say to me?" He finally stopped in front of her and leaned his arm on the brick wall above her head. His face lowered dangerously to the hollow of her throat and he breathed in her scent.
Sarah squeezed her eyes shut. "What do you want?" She growled.
Jareth chuckled menacingly, "You know very well what I want," He moved away from her slightly to look into her eyes. "I've brought you, a gift," He said.
Sarah's eyes snapped open at the familiarity of those words and how they caused a defiant anger to grow from her stomach. "What is it?" She asked.
He grinned and held up his hand, in it was a pendant. A heart pendant, made out of gold. "This was yours." He said.
Sarah took it in her hand, being careful not to touch his gloved fingers as she did so. "Thank you," she said simply.
She heard Jareth sigh sadly and she looked up into his eyes, "I'm sorry." She said sincerely. She didn't want to hurt him. Though she always seemed to, whenever she dreamed of him. She always resolved that the next time she had this dream, should would behave differently. That she would wipe the sadness from his eyes. But always it came to this moment, and then it would end. She waited for the dream to end. Instead he smiled.
"Jareth?" She asked, "I'm supposed to wake up now." She said.
He chuckled, "Do you want to?" He asked, half teasing, half serious.
Her brows knitted together in confusion. "No?"
He raised an elegantly sculpted eyebrow. "You don't seem altogether sure of yourself, Precious," He leaned down and kissed her gently.
It was then that Sarah woke up. She looked around and found herself back on her cot, the blankets wound around her bare legs. "Damn it!" She cried out in frustration. She smelled a spicy and exotic scent, not unlike that which she smelled in her dreams. Even when she was awake she couldn't get away from him. Normally, she would start crying right about now.
But not this time, this time she felt only anger. "Damn you! I will not wait around for you to decide whether or not you want me!" She sat up and let her head fall into her hands, she rubbed sleep from her eyes and face. Months had passed since her eighteenth birthday, and still he had yet to show his pretty face at the Gypsy camp. They needed to be moving on, the Gypsies were nomadic people, they needed to trade, entertain and keep moving. This was not just a matter of having the travel bug, they did this to survive. It was their way of life. The High King had no right to make them wait like this and Sarah was growing ever more furious with him, with each passing day.
Well, enough was enough and she wasn't going to make them pay just because the King fancied himself a good game. "Arrogant prick!" She swore and shoved herself out of bed roughly. Gathering her clothes together and stuffing them into a pack, she got on a pair of leather breeches and her riding boots. Throwing on a peasant shirt and bodice she looked herself over, satisfied she grabbed her bow and quiver and headed out of her tent to find her adoptive Grandmother.
The old woman was not hard to find. It was early morning and the old Gypsy woman was sitting by the fire cooking the morning meal. The old rheumy eyes glanced up from the flames and lit up with love at the sight of her. Sarah was struck with a sudden guilt, but she pushed it down to be dealt with later.
"Bengchai, you are up early." Mareeshka smiled. "Have trouble sleeping, eh?" She elbowed her granddaughter and gave her a knowing wink when Sarah sat next to her.
Sarah rested her elbows on her knees and she covered her face with her hands. Trying to think of something to say that would make this less painful, "He's taking too long," she said simply in a grave tone.
Mareeshka realizing that this was a serious talk Sarah was trying to have, schooled her face into one of concern and patted the young woman on the back, "Perhaps it is just nerves. He has waited for you for eighteen years after all."
Sarah snorted, "He plays games, he sends me dreams to taunt me. He is always on my mind and yet I fear, it is only at night that I am on his."
Mareeshka looked taken aback by Sarah's declaration, "Yer being an idiot girl! You can't seriously think that now can ya?" She looked into Sarah's eyes, "I can see ya do," She changed her approach quickly, "You never saw him when he'd thought you were lost to him, and when he brought ya to me as but a babe. His heart was torn in two!"
Sarah shook her head, "Then his motivations are lost on me. The fact remains, Grandmother. He cannot keep the family here any longer or you will all starve, and I will not have you do that. Not for me, and not for some foolish man who sits on a throne far away from anything remotely dangerous!" Sarah hissed in resentment. All her life she was raised as a fiery consort for the High King, and then when it comes time for him to claim her, he neglects to show up. She wasn't going to be rejected. It was time she made her own way.
"What do ye suggest then my girl?" Her Grandmother was no fool and she could see the wheels turning in Sarah's head.
Sarah stood, "I leave, and I find my own destiny. If his infernal pompousness can lower himself from high up on his pedestal to come and fetch me then, well...I'll think about it. Until then, I'll not be a burden on you any longer!" She growled.
Mareeshka flinched and then stood and embraced Sarah. There was no stopping the girl when she was so determined. And truth be told, as much as she hated to see her granddaughter leave, the girl was right. They were in dire need of supplies and they could not wait more than another week. She just had not the heart to give up on the King. Her heart went out to Sarah, for the rejection she must feel.
"I love ya, like you were my own."
Sarah felt her eyes sting as she hugged Mareeshka tighter, "I love you too Grandmother. Don't worry," she pulled back and smiled deviously at the old woman, "I won't cause too much trouble. Perhaps I can find another band of Gypsies to travel with, or something. You know I'll be ok."
Mareeshka sniffled and nodded, "Better get going before the menfolk wake up, you know they won't let you run off." She said solemnly.
Sarah nodded sadly, gave her grandmother one last embrace and left quietly in the direction of her tent. She grabbed her pack that she'd left there and trotted off into the woods. There was no particular direction in mind, just the overwhelming need to start over.
Jareth lay away in his large bed, the black silk sheets drawn up over his waist. He stared up at the ceiling, absorbed in his thoughts of, "Sarah." He whispered her name into the early morning light invading his room. Her name when uttered, came always from his lips like a prayer. Eighteen years, he had dreamt of her, and he had dragged her into those dreams with him ever since she turned sixteen. His every move, his every thought had been for her since she'd been taken from him. He snorted in derision, he couldn't even bring himself to go to her. What kind of man had he become? To be so afraid of losing someone that he couldn't even bring himself to try to possess her in the first place? Eighteen years, he hadn't even looked at another woman. He'd pined for her so. His own Mother was threatening to disown him if he didn't go and retrieve her soon.
He sighed, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. It might mean that she was real, and if she was real she could be taken away from him again. He couldn't go through that, not a third time. The day was rapidly growing brighter and soon Hoggle would come bursting into his room to tell him what an arse he was being.
He got out of bed and got cleaned up. He was just finishing slipping on his boots when Hoggle flung the door open, he looked up sadly into the irate dwarfs face and then quickly away.
Hoggle had stormed in and stopped just short of Jareth. He tapped his foot impatiently, "Now you've done it," He said accusingly.
Jareth raised his head and arched an elegant eyebrow at Hoggle, "Done what Hogbreath?"
Hoggle shoved a rolled up parchment into Jareths face which Jareth quickly snatched from him with a sneer. "You made her pissed off, that's what!" Hoggle shouted.
Jareth gave Hoggle a warning look about shouting at the High King and was mildly surprised with Hoggle's distinct lack of flinching. Intrigued he unrolled the parchment and started reading, his face turning redder by the second. "She can't do that!" He shouted, noting with some satisfaction that this time, Hogpen did flinch.
He soon recovered though and stuffed his hands on his hips, he was tired of Jareth screwing things up and he was going to have his say, whether or not Jareth wanted to hear it. "You waited too long. She left because she thought you didn't want her!" He stabbed Jareth in the chest with his stubby finger.
Jareth gave the Dwarf an incredulous look, "I do want her!"
Hoggle threw his hands up in the air, "You sure have an odd way of showing it! You need ta fix this." He stated finally and turned on his heel. He started to stomp off when Jareth try and stop him.
"Wait! Where do you think you're going? You're going to help me get her back." Jareth said vehemently.
"No, I ain't. I've spent a good twenty years of my life trying to help you get that girl, and you still manage to screw up! You may be the high King but I got better things to do than go around cleaning up after your sorry ass!" He turned to head off again and then turned back as he remembered that he had one other thing to say. He smiled in satisfaction as he caught the look of utter shock on Jareth's face, "You might make me afraid Jareth, and you might be King but I'm still Sarah's friend and you won't bog me. If you know what's good for ya!" With that he did walk out.
Jareth stared at the open door which Hoggle had just stormed out of and then scowled. He didn't know what disturbed him more. The fact that Sarah was now missing, or that Hoggle was no longer afraid of being sent to the bog.
He threw the parchment down on the floor and grabbed his riding crop. Once he had it in hand he quickly made his way down the grand staircase. He had to find his mother and discuss this mess with her. She might know what to do.
It wasn't long until Sarah found herself on the Great Highway. She looked down the road one way and back to the other. Spying the Mountains on one end and nothing but distant waves of heat on the other she decided she would head to the mountains. Something about them called to her. Perhaps some need to get a to a higher vantage point and survey the land. Maybe it would help her gain some direction.
The day was warm and pleasant, the breeze gently shuffled through her hair like a lovers caress, and somehow all she could think about was him. The way he'd looked at her in her dreams. His eyes were often loving and worshipful, which scared her. How could he worship her, and if he did, why didn't he come for her. Couldn't he see what it had been doing to her? She was young, but she knew she was in love with him, from the moment she first dreamt of him. He was all she ever wanted out of life. It was saddest damn thing too. To want your whole existence to be entirely about someone. Well, to hades with that! She swore to herself.
Her whole life had been a lie, one big huge laughable lie. All she was, was a shadow of someone he used to love. Sure she still had some memories, mostly those memories were of her last moments. She shuddered as she remembered being taken into the eyes of the monster, the beast, the Prince of darkness. She often dreamt of him too, though she was quite sure that he was not a party to those dreams and they were only nightmares. She also remembered having wings and startlingly over the last few weeks her back had begun to itch in two places. Yesterday, she had felt two lumps and feathers. It seems that she was meant to become, that which she was, whether or not she wanted it.
It may be just as well that she left when she did. As sweet as her family was, they would not hesitate in using her as some sort of side show freak. It was her duty to help support her family, using whatever talents she possessed.
"Where are you going, Sarah?" A voice asked her. She yelped and nearly fell into a puddle.
The voice came from a creature clothed in a long white robe, wings protruded from its back but were folded, almost dragging in the dirt and dust at the beings feet. The Angel, wore Sarah's face. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief, she had seen this man/angel/thing before.
"Grandfather." She grunted out the greeting and resumed walking. She became perturbed when he fell in step next to her, "The white robes are a bit much, don't you think?"
"You can't escape your destiny, you know." He pointed out ignoring her barb.
"My destiny? Haven't I already died once for my destiny? Wouldn't that make my destiny fulfilled? Haven't I done enough for God or shall I nail myself to a cross next just to prove myself further?" She spat bitterly.
Ahiel sighed, "Glad to see you're still the same." He smiled then, "You're allowed happiness you know, its why you were brought back."
"Really? Well then, why doesn't the one person I've ever loved, want me?" She said quietly.
Ahiel laid a hand on her shoulder and stopped her from walking. Turning her towards him, he planted a kiss on her forehead. "He loves you. He's just a bit of an idiot and he's afraid that if he makes you his wife, something will take you from him."
Sarah rolled her eyes, "Lovely." She caught the look on his face, "Will it?"
There was no answer from the Angel and Sarah let her head fall back and she closed her eyes, "God, sometimes I know not why you insist on fucking with me." She took a deep breath and lowered her head again until she was eye level with Ahiel. He was grinning, "Though I know he doesn't appreciate swearing, I'm sure he found that amusing."
Sarah snorted and started walking again, Ahiel once again fell into step beside her. "So, I'm assuming my choice to not wait on Jareth, has called attention to the fact that I can be useful elsewhere, am I right?" She cast a sideways glance at Ahiel and he nodded slowly.
"Wonderful." She said. "So I've already given my life to save the whole of the underground, what does the almighty want from me now?" She asked bitterly.
Ahiel chuckled. "Well, you should ask yourself Sarah. What would Jesus do?"
Sarah stopped in her tracks yet again she turned her now ashen face to regard him warily, "You've got to be joking!"
Ahiel burst out laughing, "Yes I am, as a matter of fact. Relax, love. You're an angel, not the second coming. He's picked someone else for that already." He laughed further when Sarah seemed to relax visibly.
Sarah scowled, "I am not an angel, I'm an abomination. Not my bloody fault you couldn't keep your angelic hands off great great great grandma."
Ahiel sighed. "She was a wonderful woman." Shaking his head sadly, "Those mountains you are heading to, is where you will find the answer to your questions child. Climb the highest peak, wait there for three days and your path will be revealed to you, as will your quest."
"Beautiful." Sarah muttered and trudged off.
"Jareth, you need to sit down before you wear holes in your boots," Selene scolded him. He flung himself into a chair a cross from her and she sighed heavily. "Tea, dear?" Without waiting for him to answer she poured him a cup and put two lumps of sugar into it. She handed it to him and the ordered them some breakfast.
"Now, tell me what has you in such a snit so early in the morning?" She asked calmly.
"She's gone," He set his tea cup down before he broke the handle off the cup. He was squeezing the life out of it.
"Who's gone?" Selene asked nonchalantly.
"Sarah!" Jareth growled.
Selene's eyebrows shot up, "Oh, really? Good for her."
"Mother!" Jareth glared at her.
"Jareth, you were being a twit. Its about time she decided not to put up with your cowardice any longer." Selene glared right back at him, "You'll need to go after her."
"That much is certain. What I need is advice on what to say, once I find her." Jareth pinched the bridge of his nose. Talking with his mother had gotten more difficult as she got older. Or was it the other way around? He didn't know.
Selene smiled, "Well, 'I'm sorry for being such a twit.' might be a good way to start." She pointed out.
"I doubt its that simple," Jareth scoffed.
Selene shrugged, "You need to apologize, that much you owe her. After that, you might have to keep apologizing. You abandoned her, and you need to show her that you really need her. I've no other advice for you, other than to stop being a twit."
"Mother, please stop calling me a twit! I am your son and I need a little sympathy," Jareth grumbled. A plate of bacon and eggs was set before him and he started eating.
Selene smiled, "I may be your mother, but as a woman I have no sympathy for you. I don't know what you were thinking, not going to her birthday celebration and leaving her to rot with the Gypsies! After all she did for you, for the whole of the underground!" Selene waived her teaspoon around in wild gestures.
"Alright, I'm going!" He got up and stormed off, his face a bright angry red.
"Twit." Selene said sadly and took a sip of her tea.
Author's note: I know, I'm painting Jareth as being a bit of an ass so far. I promise he'll get better. Hope you've enjoyed this so far. If you haven't read the first story to this sequel, you may want to turn around and go read "Of Gypsies and Crystals". Keep in mind that this hasn't been beta'd yet. Hopefully it will be in the future. REVIEW! Please?
