Sunrise Sunset

Harsh florescent lighting brought everything out. There was no little detail that could be overlooked when the sharp lines of light made contrast unnatural.

Dee was propped up in a metal bed, her gentle face turned waxen by her ordeals and the unforgiving light, she had her eyes closed and Sarah was struck by how frail her friend looked.
The nurse knocked at the door to alert Dee to their presence and then nodded Sarah and Jareth into the room
“Don’t wear her out too much” the nurse said as she left.

Sarah eased her way into the room unsure and wary. Seeing Dee this fragile made Sarah realise that Dee was in fact very old. The paper gown she was wearing and the bareness of the room seemed like an insult to her dignity, and that bothered Sarah a lot. Sarah didn’t like to have her illusion of Dee to be shattered so completely, but Dee needed her by her side so she made her way to the bedside.
Sarah gave a sideways glance to see Jareth’s expression. How would he react, Sarah wondered, to the sight of his wife so frail when he looked so healthy?

His eyes were flat and his lips were in a firm line, but otherwise he didn’t seem very different. So Sarah turned her focus back to who was important.

“Dee” she whispered, hopefully quiet enough that if Dee was asleep it wouldn’t wake her. Dee’s grey eyes fluttered open and she looked around herself. When she focused on Jareth and Sarah she gave a weak smile.

Sarah rushed forward and hugged the older woman. “I was so worried about you! She said when she finally pulled back. “They want to keep you in overnight to make sure you are ok. And when you get home you’re going to get one of those call button things, and I will be taking you to the shop each morning and home each night.”

“You are scolding her as if she were a child Sarah.” Jareth walked to the bedside closest to the window.

Sarah ignored him and kept her face turned to Dee. “I know you value your walks but I am sure that they are the reason you are here. You’ve been taxing yourself too much.”

Dee patted the young woman’s hand and looked between the two of them. “Sweetie," she didn’t look at anyone in particular. “I am not that young; you know it as well as I do. So let’s not dwell too much on what we can’t change all right? I am here and that is what matters. You two are here and I think it is time for some answers.”

“Delphina, you are weak. We can talk about this another time.” Jareth said.
The older woman turned her face slightly to look him in the eye. “No, I think this is the best time. I am here, and it seems I am not leaving anytime soon. You are here, and so is Sarah. I am awake now, and I am not sure about how much time I have left on this earth, but what I do know is that I have now. I am not going put anything off till tomorrow because I don’t know if I will see it.”

“Dee, don’t talk like that!” Sarah squeaked.

“No, Sarah it is true. Time is for the young. I am not young anymore. It is time for you my dear.” She cupped Sarah’s face in her hands. “I love you like a daughter, and it seems that you know part of my secret.” Dee dropped her hands and leaned back against the pillows.

“When I pushed him away I thought it would be thst tst time I saw him. Sarah, he is yours now, and I know that. But when I met you I had no idea you knew him.” She sighed and closed her eyes.

“Dee?” Sarah was confused and concerned; Dee looked so drawn and tired.
“Sarah, you know what he is. You know how he works. How he changes for you. You also know that he will never really change.” Dee kept her eyes closed and spoke as if Jareth wasn’t there.
“He will always be what he is. I aged and watched him remain young. I loved him and lived out my dreams. But I realised that my dream wasn’t enough. I needed to walk on my own. I needed to learn how to live.”

“So you walked away.” Sarah whispered remembering her dream from the previous night.

“I walked away, yes. There hasn’t been a day that goes by that I don’t think what life had been or could have been.” Dee opened her eyes and looked directly at Sarah. “But I do not regret anything.”
Dee then looked at Jareth. “Not a single thing.”

Jareth, who had been sitting on the windowsill looking outside, now held Dee’s stare with his own gaze. A cool mask of arrogance was hiding any emotions that he might be feeling.

“But Dee,” Sarah broke the moment of silence.

“Sarah, you must know that I gave up everything to be with him, everything and I don’t regret a minute of it. He showed me my dreams and my heart’s desire. I was in heaven but even he has limits. Jareth can re-arrange time but he can’t stop it. Nor can he make it affect him. I aged, he didn’t. That made me realise all I had given up.”
The drip beside her bed started to beep and broke the conversation as a nurse came and changed the bag and checked everything was all right.
As the nurse left she eyed Jareth and Sarah and pointed to her watch. Sarah nodded understanding the message.

“Dee, we need to go, and you need your rest.”
“Sarah, my child, no matter the past, know this. He is yours now. I gave up on him before you were born. Don’t hold his and my association against him.” The elderly lady raised her hand and touched Sarah’s cheek. “He could make you so happy, if you want him to.”

“Dee rest and I will talk to you later. I’ll go pick up a night gown and your toothbrush ok?” Sarah squeezed her hand and walked away.

Sarah left the room with Jareth following closely behind her. Her mind turned over everything Dee had said.
“He could make you so happy.”
“He showed me my dreams.”
“I gave up everything and I don’t regret a minute of it.”
“I aged, he didn’t.”
“All I had given up.”
“Everything... I gave up everything.”
Sarah’s eyes started to fill with tears but she stayed silent.
The doors outside were just a few steps ahead of her. If she could only get outside in the fresh air, she would be free of the smells of the hospital, the cold lights and unnatural smiles of the staff.

She needed to get outside where everything was real and special. If she could make it out there she could handle this. She could be strong. Sarah started moving quickly to the door trying to stop the tears from falling.
Jareth kept his pace slow and steady, watching her sprint to the exit.
Sarah broke out in the weak sunshine and rushed to a bend. Jareth followed her at his leisurely pace.

She sat down and looked up at the tower, up to the clouds and sky. The chaos in her mind was slowly filtering into some semblance of order.
Dee loved Jareth, but had walked away. Dee had given up everything she knew to be with him. Then she walked away. Dee had changed, But Jareth hadn’t.

Those were all the facts Sarah knew, but it wasn’t enough. Why had Jareth chosen Dee? Why did he choose Sarah? What did he want?

Sarah lowered her head and watched him walk behind the bench. He trailed his fingers along the back of it before jumping over it and landing gracefully beside her.

She was very surprised at his casual behaviour. No she she knew would be so flippant when their spouse was lying in hospital.
“He doesn’t change…”
“He is yours now.”

Jareth titled his head slightly and the corner of his mouth lifted, His eyes were so cruel.
“Sarah?”
“No, don’t talk to me yet.” She shook her head, he was there, so real so tangible and perfect. He was arrogant yes, but perfectas well. No other man she met could compare to his beauty. Yes his face mimicked Jeremy’s, but there w lar large difference between them.
Jeremy was shallow and over dramatic to the point that it was pitifully funny.
Jareth didn’t need to put on a show, he just was. He had the presence that Jeremy tried to achieve on stage and failed. Sarah never wondered why he had not gotten very far. Sarah's mother had outshone him in matter of months.
Sarah could never imagine anyone outshining Jareth. When he walked into a room no one missed him.

No, Jareth and Jeremy were not alike at all; Jeremy was a pallid shadow, a child’s dream.
Jareth was very different. He was HER dream, and something else.
What that something was Sarah didn’t know, and part of her was very wary of it.

She swallowed and looked up to the sky again. “Dee once told Toby he could shape the clouds with his mind. For weeks afterward I would find him, lying on the grass staring at the clouds. He would get so excited over the simplest changes, he believe it was magic.” Sarah said to the enigma beside her.

“What you say, think, or feel shapes the world around you. That is magic Sarah; that is creation.”
“What about you? How were you shaped by Dee? What changed for me?” she lowered her gaze and looked at him. Jareth shrugged nonplussed.
“I don’t know, my hair colour changed, maybe my height. It has bee lon long since I saw that face, I don’t remember.”
“Does Dee remember?” Sarah asked, knowing full well that the elderly woman did.
“Yes she does.”
“Then use her memories, show me.”
“I won’t.” Jareth was suddenly fierce and Sarah was reminded of the first time she saw him.
“Why?”
“They are her dreams; not yours Sarah. I will not do that I will not expose her that way.”
“She has seen you as you are now, you would expose me but protect her!”
“You wanted me to come and sweep you off your feet. You wanted this.” Jareth’s voice was cold, accusatory and commanding. He continued as he got to his feet. “I would not be here if you didn’t will it. I have only walked in this world a handful of times and never for this long Sarah. I have done this all for you. I am weary of your expectations of me.”

Jareth lectured his voice taking on the haughty tone Sarah remembered so well. “You have run the Labyrinth, passed from childhood fancies to the adult life, but you are still behaving like a spoilt little girl. I am giving you everything your heart desires and you still hold me up as the villain. I am no villain Sarah.”

“I don’t understand this at all.” Sarah admitted.

“This is about you Sarah; this is about your dreams. It has always been about your dreams.”

“Toby,”
“was your dream.”
“The dance,”
“you” He said his face very close to hers.
“The rose,”
“All you.”

Sarah closed her eyes and turned her face away from him. He was speaking in riddles again and she was tired of it. Tired of being confused, tired of looking in between the lines to find the answers.
“Tell me! Tell me it all. I am sick of the games.” She swung around to look at him, her long hair whipping him in the face and he didn’t even flinch. “Tell me every fucking thing.” She snarled. “I didn’t wish for this” she thrust her fist towards the hospital. “I didn’t ask to be scared; terrified for the ones I love. I didn’t dream of this pain and fear.”
Sarah’s face turned bright red and her voice started to get shrill. “So you are going to tell me what the fuck is going on and you are going to start now.” She pulled her fist close to her body and took a shuddering breath. “Tell me, or get out of my site.”

“Not here Sarah, not in this cold place,” Jareth said softly. “Let us go get Delphina’s things. I will start on while we are on our way.” He put a hand on her shoulder.

With his touch all the feelings she had been fighting since she saw him came to the surface. She hiccupped, giggled and then sobbed leaning forward into his embrace. The shock anspaispair overwhelmed her and the fear of loosing Dee brought large tears to her eyes.
Jareth held her and let Sarah release her tension. She took strength from his arms around her and slowly calmed herself. Soon she stopped hiccupping and sobbing and just clung to him, not fighting, not resisting, and just stg thg there like a lost child.

“The little girl isn’t completely gone is she?” Jareth said into her hair. Sarah shook her head. “Goode lae laughed softly, “No one should abandon their past. It would have been a shame to loose such a delightful child.”

“I am scared for her.”
“She is her own woman Sarah.” He said quietly. “You heard what she said, I can’t stop time. I can’t make her young again and nor can you.” He pulled away from her.
“Let us go and pick up her things. I believe you want some answers.”