disclaimer: I do not profit from anything Labyrinth-related. It does not belong to me.

Chapter One: In Which a Good Idea is Suddenly a Bad One

Announcing the graduation of
Sarah Marie Williams
From the
Rochester Institute of Technology
On June 13,1990
With a Bachelor of Science in Psychology

Jareth scowled. She had even sent a picture with the announcement; a beautiful, fair-skinned girl with leaf-green eyes and chocolate brown locks tumbling down her shoulders smiled serenely at him from the photo. Had he possessed a scrap of self-dignity, he would have burned it on the spot. Or given it to his goblins, who would have no doubt found something amusing to do with it. But he couldn't, naturally, and slid it into his vest for safekeeping, some place close to him.

Not attending was out of the question – this announcement was a direct taunt. He felt a smirk play about on his lips as he envisioned her reaction to seeing him in the crowd, maybe even sitting next to her parents and brother. Somehow, the phrase "It's not fair!" come to mind, complete with indignant foot-stomping and huffing.

Oh, yes. He would definitely be there.

It had been a rash decision, really.

But four years in college had unwound Sarah Williams into a rather easy-going girl, if not a little mischievous. And after a night of a little drinking and some prodding from her friends, she had given them an edited version of a man named Jareth whom she had met when she was sixteen and hadn't spoken to since. One of them had mentioned how it was a pity that she didn't know where he lived, or she could have sent him a graduation announcement to show that she still thought of him (though Sarah hadn't elaborated how she and the man had spent their time, her friends had filled in the blanks with their own assumptions) every night. And it had sounded like a good idea at the time.

Though that could be said for anything suggested under the influence of alcohol.

She had all been quite sure it was a vague dream until she woke up the next morning to Hoggle telling her through her mirror that he had delivered the announcement that she had given him the night before personally.

"And what did he do?" She had asked nervously, while massaging her throbbing head.

"Scowled a lot. Looked mad. But then he got that look on his face..."

"What look?"

"The look he gets when he's 'bout to poof a goblin into the bog."

Great.

"Oh my God, I feel like shit."

Maddie rolled over on her bed, and Sarah flapped her hands at Hoggle, who got the message and disappeared from the mirror. The blond-haired girl must have seen something, though, for she stared at the mirror for a few moments longer than usual, but then shrugged and dragged her feet over from the end of the bed and placed them on the floor.

"Maybe if you wouldn't drink so much," Sarah teased.

She snorted. "Yeah, maybe." She gave Sarah a sly look. "But some night, eh?"

Sarah flushed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, please. You seemed to be very fond of your mystery Brit last night."

I called Jareth British? A racking of her brains brought forth a memory of practically swooning about him to her friends, imitating his definitely-English accent. So she had.

She shrugged. "I was probably over-exaggerating. Drunk, you know."

Maddie smirked. "Well, I hope you weren't exaggerating when you were talking about his c-"

Their door was almost smashed down by a brown-haired woman with bright blue eyes – Mackenzie Elliot, who lived in a dorm two floors beneath them.

"Did I hear 'cock'?"

"Almost. And keep it down, will you, I have a headache."

Mackenzie grinned. "Lightweight."

"Just because I haven't been drinking since I was twelve-"

Sarah left them to it as she went about the room, pulling clothes out of her drawers to get dressed for the day. She certainly wasn't about to tell them that she had conveniently found out where her mysterious Brit lived after all and had indeed sent him an announcement – that would only lead to more admiring comments about what he had in his pants. Comments that Sarah would prefer not to hear, because then she wouldn't be caught lying when she disagreed with them. After wrestling a pair of shorts free from where they had been tangled around a pair of stockings, she straightened up.

And promptly gasped. Mackenzie and Maddie continued their light bickering, unaware of what had appeared on Sarah's dresser.

It was a brown and white feather, and it was sitting on top of something. She brushed it aside hesitantly to see what it was hiding, registering that it was still warm, as though it had just been flush against the body of a living animal. There was a simple scrap of parchment underneath, bearing one simple word penned in an elegant hand:

Attending.

She felt her face pale considerably – graduation was only three weeks away. Would that be enough to steel herself for another encounter with the Goblin King?

'Maybe he'll just come, watch, and then leave...'

But even as she was daring to hope that, more words melted out of the page before her eyes:

We have a lot of catching up to do, Sarah.

'…or maybe not.'

Will probably be completely light-hearted and soft. I received my graduation announcements today, and this thought just kind of crossed my mind. Needless to say, it entertained me enough to write this ;D

r&r, yes?