It's Only Forever

The Magic Behind It All

 Sarah slowly opened her eyes, the muscles in her body aching slightly as she looked around. She lay on her back with the covers resting on top of her, staring at the beautifully detailed ceiling full of swirls and diamonds. 'Did it work? Did I save Serboa?'

"Oh good, Sleeping Beauty, you're awake. I almost called Jareth to give you true love's kiss so you could finally wake up, but it's okay — you did it on your own."

Her head snapped to the side to see Serboa in a chair next to the bed, then she bolted upright to give him a hug. She didn't even care that doing so was painfully unbearable. She was just happy to see that he was healed. "Serboa! You're okay....! How long have I been out?"

"Four and a half days.... Why do you even want to know? You're awake now, and that's what matters."

"It's just you've been fully healed for that long and I wasn't awake to see it. The only time I saw you without any injuries was for a short time after Bjorg healed your leg, and before Jocelyn messed you up all over again."

"Oh, shut up," he snapped as she pulled away to lay back down, though he was grinning despite his grouchiness. She giggled lightly.

Autumn came bounding in and hopped on top of her, thankfully placing her weight on either side of Sarah to lick her face gleefully. To think that she was such a creature who would kill somebody with ease — somebody who had an evil heart, that is — and Sarah felt relieved not to have let her kill Jocelyn. Even with all that she'd put them through, Sarah wouldn't stoop to her level... though Autumn had seemed rather disappointed with that.

Jareth seemed to read her mind as he walked in the door. "Autumn could have taken care of her, and we would have nothing more to worry about."

"We already have nothing more to worry about. Though it was by accident, I have her magic. I won't be stooping to her level for any reason."

Autumn hopped off of her to give Jareth some room. He lay down next to her, surprising her slightly until she remembered that not only would this be her room, but it was his as well.

There had to be some sort of ceremony for this besides the ring, right? "So..." she ventured, "when is the coronation?"

"Whenever you'd like," he said, lacing his fingers with hers.

"I want to do it as soon as I'm healed."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Are you in a rush?"

"I don't want to go too long without doing it... then it'll be set in stone," she glanced over at Jareth — at her husband — determination gleaming in her green eyes. "I'll be a major part of your world here, and I can help with everything. It'll feel real the sooner I get to it."

"Will it really?" he asked, squeezing her hand softly. "It took me a while to realize that I was no longer king of the Labyrinth. And that was only when I got chained up."

She giggled, "The chains were the moot point. You don't think a coronation will do that for me?"

"Depends," he replied with a small smile.

Two goblins walked in, one with a plate full of food and the other with a small table Sarah could prop up in front of her on the bed. Jareth sat up and turned to her.

"You'll have to sit up to eat."

"I wanted to sit up anyways —"

"Ah, she can do it herself, Jareth!" Serboa said with a wave of his hand. "She sat up with ease just to hug me."

"I was happy to bear the pain in order to hug your frail little body," she replied.

"Hey!" he said indignantly. "I'm not frail!"