A Promise of Truth...

As she drifted from her dreams and into reality she could hear a familiar voice singing a song her mother had sung to her when she was just a child. She opened her eyes slowly allowing them to adjust to the light in the strange room before she turned to face the owner of the voice.

Jareth was propped up on one elbow, his face resting against his hand as he sang very softly.

You Are My Sunshine My only sunshine. You make me happy When skies are gray. You'll never know, dear, How much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away

She smiled sweetly and he grinned in return, stopping his little song. "Good morning." He greeted cheerfully. And why shouldn't he be cheerful? He thought as he gazed down at her. Last night had been the most incredible night of his entire life. He had connected with Sarah in a way that had never been achieved with anyone else. Last night he had given himself to her completely and had shown her that his love for her was real and larger then life itself.

She reached up to tuck a stray blond hair behind his ear. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Better then I have ever slept before." He told her honestly.

She gazed at him with love in her eyes and as her eyes trailed along his body, she realized that they were both still naked and the only thing that protected them from the outside world was a single black silk sheet.

She smiled when her thoughts drifted to the previous night. Never before had anyone been so careful with her, never before had she felt such love for another and never had she received such love in return. Jareth loved her completely, that much was certain to her. She said nothing to his reply of her question and instead reached out to touch his bare chest. The edge of the sheet settled just up over his waist so his pale chest was visible for her to touch and gaze at.

A few touches of his skin caused a reaction in him that she knew about before she had even pealed the sheet back and away from his perfect form. He reached for her in return, desperate to feel her soft skin on his fingertips, his palm, his lips. Innocent touches and glances turned into more and before they knew it, they made love again. And it was just as powerful as it had been the previous night.

He had protected her again as he had before and it made the experience all the more enjoyable without the fear of an ill timed or unwanted pregnancy to complicate or even ruin things. She wanted to carry his baby, that much Sarah was certain. If she ever had another child, she would only carry his, or none at all. But she had to be careful. They both had to be careful. She had been in the Labyrinth for a day and already she didn't want to leave. Jareth had drawn her to him not by magic but by his powerful love. There was still a week or even two before Ary made a decision. Sarah feared she would not survive without Jareth by her side and she was certain he felt the same way. She didn't want to leave and she prayed that Ary didn't want to leave either.

They lay in the bed, a tangled mess of sheets and legs and arms. Sarah was toying with his long blond locks, a far off look in her eyes. Jareth watched her for a short while, a slight feeling of worry growing within him. She was so quiet, too quiet.

"Sarah?" He questioned. He tilted his head gazing into her eyes as they focused on his. "Is....something wrong?"

She continued to play with his hair, her eyes leaving his momentarily. "I should go see how Ary is doing." She said softly. He opened his mouth to speak but she buried her face into his neck. "God Jareth, I don't want to leave.... I can't hope and pray enough that I Ary will wish to stay too."

He brushed back a few locks of hair from her forehead and brushed a kiss against the skin still moist with sweat from their lovemaking. "Sarah, I want nothing more in the universe for you to stay with me forever. For you both to stay, but we know it's Ary's decision and if she doesn't want to stay....." His voice trailed off. He didn't wish to think of the consequences of that alternative never mind voice them aloud.

"I know I know. I've been here for a day and already I don't want to leave, don't want to think about a life without you being in it. You've made everything seem so right again in my life, even when bad things have happened. I don't want to leave you...I don't know if I can leave you now...."

Jareth swallowed. He had been so foolish, they both had been. To offer and then give themselves completely to each other before the big decision had been made. "Sarah..." he started his voice shaky. "Maybe we have done the wrong thing."

She pulled back from him, letting her head fall onto the pillow as she gazed into his eyes, her hazel eyes wide, alarmed. "What do you mean? You don't regret...?"

He pulled her to him tightly, hugging her fiercely. "Of course not. I could never regret you or anything we have done together. We came full circle last night. We've gone from enemies to lovers. But what we have done...we've created more pain for each other, especially if fate has decided to pull us apart." He lifted his head back and away from her so that he could gaze into her eyes. "I gave myself to you completely last night as you gave yourself completely to me. I was so ignorant, so stupid not to think of the consequences of us doing such before Ary made her decision."

Sarah frowned realizing what he was saying. By bonding physically as they had last night and this morning, it would be all the more difficult if they had to pull away from each other if Ary chose to return home, to the mortal world. Sarah sobbed as she realized how true this was. She didn't want to let him out of her life before she arrived, now things were ten times worse. She couldn't live with never feeling his touch on her again, couldn't live without hearing the sound of his voice, she couldn't live without him.

"I won't let you bribe her to stay either Sarah. I couldn't live with myself if either of us tricked her into staying here just so that we could be together. We must try to show her the Labyrinth as it really is, just as I must show her who I really am. I will not always be kind and considerate in your presence. Some part of me is still arrogant, and cold. Ary has only seen that side of me once, when we met."

"And she wasn't afraid." Sarah reminded him, hastily wiping tears from her eyes.

"She was also in the safety and comfort of her own house. She's not in her environment anymore. One day I am going to lose my temper and she may see it. I would never direct my full fury at her, no matter how badly she upsets me, the same goes for you, but she will see it. And what will she think of me? She might hate me, might be frightened of me and I couldn't live with that."

"I don't think she would ever hate you Jareth." She sighed. "Let's just...let's just not talk about this right now. Let's get Ary and have breakfast or something. We'll achieve nothing but heartache by sitting here and worrying ourselves. We'll show her the truth about this place. We'll also show her the truth about our feelings for each other. She should know that we are very serious about our feelings for one another. But we can't make her feel guilty if she does want to return. It's going to be so incredibly hard to lose you, but if that's the way things are meant to be...."

Jareth pulled her to him roughly, wrapping her naked form in his own and hugging her tightly before he stepped forth from the bed to stand and he snapped his fingers. A moment later he was dressed completely. He offered her a gloved hand, which she took shyly, suddenly feeling odd at being the only one not dressed. The moment her hand touched his, she was dressed in a simple blue gown.

"Let us get Ary, eat breakfast and enjoy the day. If we wallow in our pity, our fears, we will destroy ourselves." She nodded slowly and followed him out of his chambers and into the hall. As he took her hand into his and they began to walk toward Ary's room, she pushed the fear of leaving and losing Jareth out of her mind. They had a week or even two to spend together, the three of them. She would enjoy every second of that time as if it was their last.