Spider and the Fly

A/N: We all know the drill. I don't own the original Labyrinth characters. I do, however, own the Seers, the Sun, and the Moon. So back off, mmkays?

Sorry, I'm not really that claws-and-fangs. I'm just hyper from too much sugar


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An empty hill with a tree with gnarled branches...

A velvety voice purring in her ear...

A small dwarf peeing in a pond...

Running down a stone corridor, covered in spiderwebs and glitter and the skeletal remains of plants...

A small blue worm...

Lipstick on the flagstones...

Twin guards with shields...

Falling down a hole filled with molding hands...

Oubliettes and liars...

Vicious metal blades and tunnels, breaking ladders and old men with hats, roaring beasts throwing stones talking knockers fieriesrippingoffheadsHogglebogofstenchtinyknightbattletheclockworkbattlethecityLudocallingtherocksgettingtothecastlerunningupthestairsrunningthroughtheEscherroomfindingTobyjumping-

Falling…

There. Ground. There. HIM.

Velvet voice, bewitching eyes.

Promises. Dreams.

Disappearing crystals and broken clocks and ringing bells-

Slashing wrists.

Karen. Toby. Dad.

Asylums and doctors all in white.

Little pills and no more crystal dreams.

Disease.

Deathdeathdeathdeathdeathdeath.

HIM. Again.

Magic.

Thunderstormsvelvetvoiceeyessexlovingeyeslovingtouch-

Love.

Him.

Jareth.

Wake up. Wake up. Wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup-


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Sarah slowly raised her head and blinked. She was lying on her back on a lush hill covered in grass and wildflowers. It didn't appear to be part of the Underground, at least one she recognized. She tried to sit up slowly, her entire body aching- and found she couldn't move. She looked down at Jareth, his head on her chest. He was heavy and warm, like a satiated cat. She blinked and looked closer. She was in the shirt she wore the day she ran the Labyrinth and a pair of panties, like she had gone to bed in her old apartment. Jareth was in his white shirt and grey pants, sprawled over her like he did their bed.

She smiled at herself. It had stopped being his bed and was theirs now. She wasn't quite sure when that change occurred, but she was quite happy with it. Gazing down at their bodies twined together, Sarah felt... happy. At peace. Sighing, she laid back down and wrapped her arms around Jareth. He sighed in his sleep and moved closer to her.

"Jareth, wake up." Sarah whispered, feeling a bit guilty for waking him. "Where are we?"

No response.

"Jareth?"

He didn't wake up.

"He won't wake, my lady."


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Sarah's head whipped around to stare at the being before her. It had no definite shape or sex or appearance, constantly shifting and changing. It was... glittering in the sunlight, like fragments of crystals, like dust, like...

"You're the Labyrinth." Sarah stated.

The being laughed, it's voice a combination of men and women and children, all blending together and changing. "Yes, I am. The Spirit of the Labyrinth, the lifeblood of the land."

"Where are we?" She cocked her head sideways at the being. "Why won't Jareth wake up?" Sarah asked plaintively.

"The King is sleeping to restore his strength, my lady. He will not wake until there is a dream strong enough to wake him."

"Why not?! We saved the Labyrinth! We saved everything! Why won't he wake up?!"

"Peace, my Queen." The being ordered softly. "The King is still Fae. His powers come from the belief and dreams of mortals, brought to the Underground through... certain portals, doorways between worlds, if you will. When you both sacrificed your magic to restore me, you reopened the portals. The magic escaped to the Aboveground, where it created dreams in the minds of children. Those dreams then returned to the Underground, rebirthing the land. The Labyrinth and the surrounding lands are indeed restored, and soon all of the Underground will be as it once was... thanks to the Sun and Moon Child."

"But that still doesn't-"

"The Sun is the strength. The Moon merely reflects and watches over the world and her love as they sleep. Once he is ready, he will wake." The being turned and began to fade, the voice still ringing in Sarah's ears. "The Moon sleeps as well, my Queen. The children of the land are without light during the darkest nights, but eventually the Sun, and the Moon, return to them and light the way."

Sarah sat with Jareth for hours until the sun began to set. Looking up at the sky, she noticed the moon wasn't there. "It must be waning." Sarah said to the sleeping Jareth. "I wonder, Jareth... will the morning come again?"

Jareth didn't answer her, and she sighed, stroking his hair and watching him.

"Wait! If the Moon sleeps... then she dreams. And a dream is needed to wake the Sun!" Sarah said out loud. She smiled down at her sleeping lover and lay down on the hillside again, closing her eyes. "Time to wake up, Goblin King."


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Sarah sat on a bench, idly embroidering a small square of linen while watching a little girl with wild dark brown hair. The girl was kneeling on the ground, playing with the flowers and a small doll. Both Sarah and the girl were wearing white, Sarah in a long dress with billowing sleeves, the little girl in what appeared to be a sundress. Casting her eyes up to the sky, Sarah stood and stretched before calling out to the little girl.

"Come, Mishka! Your father's waiting for us!" Sarah called out to her.

Giggling, Miska came running over to Sarah, a crown of wildflowers in her hair. She held up her arms to Sarah, her mismatched eyes staring up at her. Laughing, Sarah picked her up and began walking, Miska on her hip.

"Mama... will you sing?" Miska's little voice was tiny and delicate, like silvery bells.

"Sing? Miska, you know I can't sing!" Sarah said laughingly.

"You can too!" the little girl pouted. "You used to sing to the goblins!"

"Only because the goblins think I have a lovely voice. They also think the chicken chorus was a good idea."

"Please Mama!"

"Ask your father when we get home."

"Papa's not here. You are." Miska said insistently. "Please, Mama, sing!"

Sarah sighed and looked at Miska. "Miska..."

"Are you bothering your mother again, my girl?" a smooth dark voice cut through.

"Papa!" Miska cried, turning to face the voice, her little arms going out to him. "Mama won't sing to me!"

"Well, can you blame her? She sounds like a strangled cat." The voice was amused.

Sarah laughed and turned to face Jareth. "I do not sound like a strangled cat!"

"Well, not according to the goblins, but then again, there's no accounting for their tastes, now is there?" he said silkily, teasing her neck with his fingertips. Miska giggled and tugged on her mother's hair.

"I brought her to the gardens so she could play, and this is how she repays me? Take the little imp already!" Sarah said, pretending to be exasperated.

Laughing, Jareth took Miska and held her with one arm as he took Sarah's hand with the other. "Well, Miska, what do you want me to sing?"

"The song you sang to Mama!" she pleaded. Laughing, Jareth looked at Sarah and pulled her to his side, his arm wrapping around her waist.

"Should I? It is our song, my love."

"Go ahead, darling. She is our daughter."

"You know, Miska, suddenly I have a desire to hear a strangled cat." Jareth told his daughter.

Sarah laughed. "See if you get any sleep tonight, Goblin King."

Jareth slowly set Miska on the ground- before chasing after his laughing wife.

That night, Sarah sat watching Jareth reclining on the floor of their bedchamber, playing checkers on the rug with Miska. She smiled at the two of them before idly humming a song.

Miska looked up at her mother and beemed. "Sing Mama, please?!"

"Very well, Miska." Sarah laughed, and then looked at Jareth. He smirked at her as she joined them on the floor. Leaning against Jareth's legs, Sarah began to sing.

"Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
To cast me off discourteously.
For I have loved you well and long,
Delighting in your company.

Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady greensleeves..."

Sarah stopped singing halfway through the song. She loved Greensleeves, it brought back memories of her own mother singing to her. But Miska was asleep on the rug. Smiling, Jareth stood. He picked their daughter up and carried her to her own bed, laying her down gently and tucking her in.

He returned and sat in the window, gazing out at the Labyrinth. He smirked slightly as he formed a crystal in his palm. He reached out to Sarah with his open hand. Smiling, she joined him, nestling her back against his chest. She reached out and touched the crystal in his hand.

"This is our legacy, Sarah. Our kingdom."

"No, Jareth. Our legacy is sleeping in her room." Sarah leaned her head back in the crook of his neck.

They stayed that way for the rest of the night, until the sun came peeking over the mountains and painted the entire room gold.

"I promised you mornings of gold." Jareth whispered in Sarah's ear.

"Well then, does this mean I'll get my Valentine evenings later tonight?" Sarah's eyes flashed with amusement- and her love.

"No, my love." Jareth wrapped her in his arms- and they were transported to the ballroom in which they waltzed so many years ago. "You get them now."


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Jareth woke up to find himself laying on Sarah, his head resting on her gently moving chest. "What in hell?!" he muttered, glaring at Sarah. She still slept on, her lips slightly open. She dreamed of our CHILD! his mind shouted at him. He was in shock. He had seen her dream vividly. A child with her hair and his eyes, a child born out of love- their love. His hands were shaking, his throat was dry.

He sat up and shook her awake. "Sarah! Wake up!"

She opened her eyes and blinked. "Good morning." She said sleepily.

"Why in hell did you dream that, Sarah?!" he demanded.

"Dream what?" She asked, sitting up.

"You dreamed of our child!"

"Because, Goblin King, she carried your child."


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Sarah smiled at the Spirit of the Labyrinth as Jareth bristled. "What are you doing here?" he snarled, standing up.

"I came to explain, Goblin King. Sarah carried your child when you gave the Labyrinth your magics."

"Wait... I was pregnant?!" Sarah's face lost all color.

"Yes, my Queen. But the sacrifice was much too great for your body, and the child was destroyed."

Sarah crumpled into a small ball. Jareth was there, immediately, holding her, stroking her hair, murmuring reassurances in her ear. She didn't hear any of his words, only a low buzz, and her mind barely registered his actions. I killed my child. She thought.

"However, all hope is not lost. True, your bodies did die, but the Queen was correct. Dreams live forever, and the dream you both shared, an unspoken dream of a life and future together, took form. You were reborn as you are now, whole, healthy... and capable of having another child." The Spirit continued. "A child of night and of day, of dreams and of magic. The Queen's dream was not merely a dream, but a vision of what is to come."

"What are you saying?!" Jareth roared.

"Within a year, you will have your child."


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Lamath stood at her parents' door, patient. Elithyl opened the door and gazed wearily at his daughter, his Seer grey replaced with mourning black. "What is it, Lamath?" he asked tiredly. "Why have you come this late at night?"

"The Children have returned to the Underground."