Explanations

It was nearly 3 in the afternoon when the phone rang. Sarah lifted her head, hearing the distant ringing as she awakened. She felt weight on her and glanced down to see Jareth sleeping against her, his head resting against her stomach. She slowly eased out from under him, laying his head down on the couch and rushed to the kitchen phone.

"Hello?"

"Sarah, it's Cheryl. The doctors are finally done poking and prodding Toby and he wants to see you." Sarah noticed a coldness in her voice.

"Ok. Tell him that I'll be there in a little while."

Cheryl didn't even bother saying goodbye as Sarah heard the phone click down. She held the receiver in her hand and pulled it away slowly from her ear to put it back on its holder on the wall. She let out a sigh. She should have expected this. She couldn't blame Cheryl for being angry with her. Not only had she but Toby had also kept Jareth's secret from her.

She looked back to the couch. Jareth had rolled over onto his side, the front of him facing the couch cushions. She decided that she wouldn't wake him. He needed his rest after what he had gone through earlier that day. She hurriedly grabbed her purse and keys and went to the garage.

Sarah opened the door to Toby's room slowly. She didn't know what to expect when she opened it. She was pleasantly surprised to see Toby sitting up, propped against pillows. Cheryl was sitting beside him, holding his hand in hers.

"Sarah!" She smiled shyly as she closed the door behind her and then she walked to her brother giving him a kiss on the cheek.

She pulled back, glancing him over. "Is this the same young man who just got admitted into the hospital yesterday morning?" She chided. The magic treatment had done remarkable work. Toby looked alive and well. He was still bandaged, battered and bruised but even the color of his bruises looked less in intensity. He looked like he was doing very well on the road to recovery.

Toby chuckled softly. "The doctors don't know what to say. I'm healing quickly, much quicker then they expected. They've dubbed me the 'Miracle Man'." Toby glanced around Sarah, as if looking for someone. "Where's Jareth? Is he feeling alright? Cher said he didn't look so well."

Sarah sat in the empty chair to the left of Toby and glanced at Cheryl who gave her a hard stare. "He..he's ok. He's very weak and he needed to rest. He fell asleep on the couch, so I figured that I would let him sleep."

"I don't know what the hell he did to me, but whatever it was, it worked. I feel pretty damn good, much better then my poor bird."

"I haven't seen it yet. I'm sure I'll see the pictures." She told him referring to his precious car. It had been a 18th birthday present from Dad and Karen.

"So are two just going to ignore me and not fill me in?" Cheryl shot out bitterly. "I mean what should I be thinking right now? You two have obviously been keeping me in the dark about whoever the hell that freaky man is."

"Cher, that was uncalled for. That freaky man saved my life." Toby told her. "And I acted like such an ass to him at Eddy's."

Sarah placed a hand on Toby's arm. "He forgives you Toby. He knows that you were just looking out for my best interests." Sarah gazed at Cheryl. "Cheryl, we didn't mean to keep you in the dark for so long. It's just...we had no idea how you would react."

"What the hell is he? Or who is he? An actor? A..a weird rock star? A drag queen?"

Sarah shook her head. "I don't think you're going to believe who he is."

"Try me."

Sarah glanced at Toby who sent her a goofy smile. "Jareth...Jareth...well...he's the Goblin King."

"The what huh?"

"The Goblin King...you know, lord of the Labyrinth, King of the Goblins?"

"No I don't know. This is some kind of joke right? He's got to be an actor right? Some big actor and you're trying to hide his identity from me."

Sarah shook her head again. "He's not an actor. What you saw this morning, that's who he really is."

"But he didn't look like that all the other times that I've seen him."

"That's because he had placed an illusion over himself so he would look....normal." Cheryl looked thoroughly confused.

"Maybe we should tell her the story Sarah. Maybe you should tell her about how you met Jareth 20 years ago." Toby suggested.

"Wait a minute. You already knew him?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes. I met him when I was 15. I'll tell you the story."

Sarah proceeded to tell Cheryl everything that had happened. Being forced to babysit Toby, wishing for the goblins to take him away, her first meeting with the Goblin King, her friends, her journey, her defeat of Jareth and his Labyrinth and his undying love for her."

"I just don't believe this." Cheryl told her.

"It's true, every last word of it."

"So then he used magic to heal Toby?"

Sarah simply nodded. She didn't feel like going into a conversation about how Jareth couldn't heal and had used someone else's magic to get the job done.

"This is all a little hard to swallow. I mean Goblin Kings, goblins, labyrinths, magic." She sighed brushing back her long red hair. "So why did you guys keep me in the dark for so long?" Sarah didn't miss the hurt in her voice. "I mean Ary must know about this right?"

Sarah nodded sadly. "Ary was the one who summoned him and brought him back into my life. She knows exactly who he is."

"So why keep this from me? Don't you guys trust me?" Cheryl turned to Toby. "Don't you trust me?"

"It wasn't Toby's call to judge whether you were trust worthy or not. I asked him not to tell you and I asked Ary the same." Sarah sighed. "Cheryl you don't believe in fairy tales and I didn't want Jareth to be ridiculed, even if it was unintentional on your part. I can see that being here in this world is torture for him. Sometimes he will say the wrong thing in public and the looks people give him, I know they are hurting him and that's without them even knowing that he really looks like. My neighbor starting calling him a freak the other day and I know he was upset. He even asked me if I thought he was a freak."

"Linda called him a freak to his face?" Toby asked, his eyes widening.

"Yes. I put Ary on the bus and she saw him on the porch and started pointing and calling him a freak and that was before she even saw what he really looks like. He took his revenge on her, but I know she hurt him with her words."

"What did Jareth do to her?"

Sarah grinned. "He dubbed her the Trash Queen. Made her garbage bags explode and all the trash went all over her beautiful green lawn. He even put a butter container on her head like a crown."

Toby and Cheryl started laughing. "No way? He did that to Linda?" Toby asked. Sarah nodded, laughing herself. "Man I would have paid to see that!"

Sarah chuckled before she became serious. "But can you see where I was standing, Cheryl? He came back into my life and before I even realized that I loved him, I wanted to protect him. He's been protecting me, making sure I eat, that I laugh, that I'm happy. I felt like it was my job to keep the cruel harsh words of others away from him. He's not from this world and I was so afraid that by you not enjoying fantasy and fairy tales that you would ridicule him." There it was finally said. It felt like hours later that Cheryl finally responded.

"I understand and maybe what you did was right. I mean I hate to admit it but I was the girl who made fun of the freaks in high school and believe me when I say that I'm not proud of that fact. My mom and dad raised me better then that." She lowered her head shamefully.

"If you can respect Jareth for who he is and what he does...then I think you can be forgiven."

"He's really sweet and...if you and Toby and Ary like him...then I'm sure my original opinion of him won't change." Sarah smiled, feeling as if more weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

The three sat and talked for a while longer before Sarah glanced at the clock realizing that it was nearly 8 o clock. Time and flown by and she wanted to check on Jareth and make sure that he was all right. She kissed Toby goodnight and told him that she would visit him tomorrow. She also told Cheryl to tell her mom that she would pick Ary up from school the following afternoon. She grabbed a quick burger and fries from the hospital cafeteria and started for home.

The house was quiet when Sarah entered it. The lights were off except for the kitchen light over the sink. She noticed that the mess she had made with the coffee pot the night before was gone and when she thought of it she realized that it had been gone that morning too. Jareth must have cleaned it up.

She walked into the living room expecting Jareth to be sleeping there and she was a little worried when she the empty couch. She grew more alarmed when she peeked into his room and saw that he wasn't lying in his bed either. For an instant she panicked, thought that maybe he had gone home, had left her again. She forced the thought from her mind.

She flipped the light switch in her room, putting on the overhead light and she went to her bureau to find her nightgown. She turned to put the nightgown down on the bed and a smile appeared on her face. There was Jareth, lying in her bed. He was lying on the right side of the bed. The side he had laid on the past two nights. He was laying on his back, his blond hair cascading all around him, on the white pillowcase. He was sleeping soundly, one hand resting on his stomach, the other buried beneath the covers that had fallen to his waist. His chest rose and fell slightly with each breath that he took. He looked so incredibly vulnerable and so beautiful. Sarah stood frozen, letting her eyes run all over him. He was dressed in that loose white shirt again, the pale flesh of his chest exposed for her to stare at. He truly was beautiful, so very unique...and that was what she loved about him.

She smiled before heading to the bathroom to change, wash her face and brush her teeth. She really needed a shower but it could wait until the morning. Although it was still early, only just after nine she was tired and she decided to crawl into bed. She knelt on the bed, the soft mattress sinking under the weight of her knees. She leaned over placing a gentle kiss on Jareth's brow. He stirred very slightly, but did not awaken.

"We'll talk soon, love. Very soon." She kissed him one more time and then she laid down, pulling the covers up over her. She rolled onto her side and felt Jareth roll onto his. His warm breath was suddenly on her neck as he buried his face into her hair. His arms locked around her waist, pulling her against him, her back colliding with his chest. She could feel the warmth of him through the silk of her nightgown and she closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of him against her.

It saddened her to think that this would be the last night they could sleep together like this for a while. She was just getting used to it, but there would be no way that the two of them could do this with Ary being home. The little girl sometimes awakened from nightmares and went to visit her mother. Ary had no idea that her mother was in love with the Goblin King again. And Sarah didn't want her to know until she and Jareth had straightened everything out.

Neither Sarah nor Jareth said a word as they snuggled together. They both drifted off to sleep in each others arms content with the knowledge that at this very moment...everything was all right.