It's Only Forever

Promises and Healing

 The goblins certainly enjoyed prisoner duty as they chained up Jocelyn and all her cronies — including the lumbering trolls. Battle had been ensuing for a short time after Sarah accidentally took Jocelyn's magic, mainly because Sir Didymus and the goblins kept biting the soldiers. Autumn gladly followed the goblins taking the prisoners out of the Labyrinth to keep a close eye on Jocelyn. Jareth fixed up the Labyrinth so that they could go through and come back with ease.

"Don't touch it! What if it takes your magic, too?!" Sarah panicked as Jareth's hand touched hers holding the sword. She'd jumped back away from him, attempting to hold the sword out of his reach by holding it close against her chest.

"It's not going to do that," he said calmly, grabbing her arm and pulling her close. The sword dangled in between them until he took it out of her hands and smirked. "See? No harm comes to me." He gently leaned it against the nearby wall and pulled Sarah ever closer to look fondly into her brown eyes, stroking her cheek. "Besides, my dear Sarah, it is not the sword that holds the power. That is all you."

"What do you mean?"

"That power... it was yours all along, even before I gave you the ring. It merely amplified your abilities to where magic was stolen that much faster."

He'd said it so matter-of-factly, Sarah almost wasn't sure she'd heard him correctly. "It... but... does that mean I'm not just a mortal girl, then?"

"I think not. Matter of fact, your ability even matches that of a certain family of fae I know. However, I doubt you have any direct relation to them."

With all the questions swirling around in her head, making her dizzy, Sarah decided it would be best not to worry about any of them at that time. "So, what, the sword was basically just an extension of my abilities?" she asked, to his nod. "And what else? You knew not to worry about me accidentally taking your powers because of the ring you gave me?... Does that make us fiancés now?"

"Yes, but," he said softly, "not just fiancés...."

"Oh," she gasped softly in realization. If not just fiancés, then that meant... they were already married. "So that's how the ring works?"

With a nod, he replied, "But we could have a mortal wedding like I've studied in your world. And I can bring your family to live here like I promised —"

Sarah mulled it over as Jareth continued speaking. What would her parents understand of any of this? Would either of her parents even be happy without their careers, or would they have to help them travel back and forth between the two different worlds? What would she be subjecting Toby to if someone like Jocelyn was so willing to take control of the throne?... She suddenly felt she could not afford to take any chances concerning his safety.

"This is perfect enough," she said with a small smile. "You whisked me away to trap me... but I'll stay here of my own accord. We can always go visit them, right? — Well, actually I could just visit my brother. My dad and stepmother won't even notice my absence, and mom and Jeremy don't really visit anyway."

"They will —" Jareth started to say.

"Trust me," she interjected. "I just want to stay here with you now. I'm not going anywhere."

His hand slowly and softly moved from her cheek to the back of her neck. "Really?" he whispered almost disbelievingly.

"Yes," she whispered back. "Just promise me something?"

"Anything."

"Don't you dare leave me like that again," she snapped, showing him how cross she was by smacking his arm. "Whatever we do, we do together."