Author's note: This is my first ever published fan fiction, so please be gentle with me! I've been kicking this idea around for a while now and finally got up the gumption to post it. I haven't decided yet whether I'll continue the story. Please let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"Bye you guys! Have a great time!" Sarah called after the minivan pulling out of the driveway. Toby waved enthusiastically at her out of the back window and she flung air kisses back at him as van drove off down the street. Once it disappeared from sight, Sarah turned and went back into the house, pulling the door shut behind her and turning the lock. Leaning back against the doorframe, She closed her eyes and reveled in the silence of the empty house. After living in a dorm for three years, silence truly felt golden to her. Sarah was looking forward to moving into her own apartment in a couple of months for her senior year of college, but for now she was fancy free and home alone for a whole two weeks!
Pushing off the doorframe and yipping with delight, Sarah unbuttoned her jeans and shimmied out of them, tossing them over a couch back. Freedom! Being home alone meant she didn't have to get dressed or clean or anything if she didn't want to, and she was going to take that for all it was worth. Skipping over to the stereo, Sarah selected the Queen album and cranked up the volume. Bobbing her hips to the beat, Sarah danced in circles around the living room, singing "Fat Bottom Girls" at the top of her lungs along with Freddie Mercury. Sarah threw back her head and laughed, thinking how much Karen would disapprove of her antics. Tension between the two of them had faded over the past six years, but Sarah still thought Karen was too tightly wound.
All afternoon, Sarah puttered around the house in her shirt and underwear. She sat down to read for a while but found she was too distracted by the empty house to concentrate on the pages. An old movie on TV and painting her toenails helped to pass the time as the sun slid low in the sky. As the credits began to roll, Sarah decided she should probably eat something. Padding into the dusky kitchen, Sarah opened the pantry and frowned at the assortment of school lunch type snacks that crowded the shelves. Well she sure as hell wasn't cooking on her first night alone, so they would have to do. Sarah grabbed a handful of fruit rollups and kicked the door closed. Pausing at the kitchen counter, Sarah considered the well-stocked wine rack over the kitchen island.
Deciding that she would buy her dad a new bottle if he noticed one missing, Sarah plucked a bottle from the rack. She dropped her fruit snacks on the countertop while she searched for a bottle opener and glass. Sarah gave herself a full pour and raised her glass to the empty kitchen. "To freedom and no expectations!" she toasted and took a drink. Gathering the open bottle, her makeshift dinner and the glass of wine, Sarah plopped herself back in front of the television. The opening credits for Gone With the Wind were coming on. "Ugh." Sarah sighed. I love this movie, but if I get sucked into watching this, it'll be 1 am before it's over, she thought as she glanced at the clock. I'll just watch through the barbecue scene while I eat my roll ups.
As the men ran off to war, Sarah clicked off the TV and dropped her head back on to the couch. Two hastily consumed glasses of wine on a practically empty stomach had left her feeling all warm and fuzzy. What to do now? It's too early to go to bed, but I can't spend all night in front of the TV. I've got it, a bath! A bath in Karen's new Jacuzzi tub. Yes!
Grabbing her glass and the half empty wine bottle, Sarah fairly skipped up the stairs. She crept into her dad and step-mom's room, not bothering to turn on the light. With the moon shining through the French doors, the room was filled with soft blue light. She very seldom had occasion to come into their room, let alone at night, but she was struck by how little they had changed the room in so many years. A dresser now stood where Toby's crib had once been, but the same sheer curtains hung over the windows and the same chintzy ruffles hung from the bed frame. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine it was 6 years ago and she was standing in front of the Goblin King who had come for Toby. During her time in the Labyrinth, he had seemed so threatening, but over the years Sarah couldn't help but remember . . . certain parts of him with a kind of wistfulness. And had he really meant all those things he'd said at the end? I wonder what I'd say to him now? 'Wait! Send Toby home and keep me. If it's babies you want, it's babies you'll get! Rrawrr!'Sarah snorted out loud with laughter and ambled into the bathroom.
Sarah shut the door behind her so the heat wouldn't get out, set the wine bottle and glass on the bathroom vanity, and turned on the taps. As the large tub began to fill, she squeezed in a generous amount of some bubble bath she'd known was under the sink. Humming to herself, Sarah wriggled out of her shirt and underclothes and stood in front of the vanity to pull her hair up, twisting it into a bun high on her head so it wouldn't get too wet. Looking over at the still nearly empty tub, Sarah frowned. This was going to take a while.
Taking a seat at Karen's make up counter, she looked herself over in the mirror and drifted into thought. She really ought to get in touch with Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo. For some reason, she could only call them from her childhood home, so it had been months since she'd spoken to any of them. Sometimes she felt bad about losing contact with them, but friends grow apart all the time, right? It just didn't feel right talking to them about boys and her social life at college, so they seldom did more than make small talk and play board games when she did see them. In fact, there were a lot of things she was afraid to discuss with them. As an unspoken rule, none of them ever spoke about the Goblin King. Both Hoggle and Didymus worked or him in some capacity, and Sarah wasn't really sure where their loyalties were. Probably things were complicated, like everything else in the Labyrinth. Maybe she would call them later on. Besides, she observed, coming out of reverie, she was naked and the tub was almost done filling.
Sarah slid into the hot bubbly water and heaved a sigh. Within moments, she could feel sweat beading along her brow and the little hairs on the back of her neck curling and clinging to her skin. The gentle ebb and flow of tipsiness still niggled at her brain. I thought I was so grown up when I went through the Labyrinth. Not that I'm a grown up now, per se, but I certainly have matured since then. I wonder if I would make friends like before if I had to go through now. But maybe I wouldn't need to make friends, what with the Goblin King being in love with me and all — if you can believe that book.Sarah smiled to herself and tucked her dripping hands behind her head. What was his name, anyway? Hoggle had said it once. It was something unusual. Like Jared, but different. Jarret? Jarren? Jareth? That was it, Jareth.
Just thinking about him gave her butterflies. She had often wondered if he was really anything like she remembered, or if her idea of him had evolved as she'd gotten older. Without meaning to, she would find herself wondering about him periodically. 'What would he think of this dress?' or 'I wonder what he wears to bed?' He was such an enigma it was fun to imagine different facets of him. Sarah rolled his name around in her head. Jareth, King of the Goblins. Goblin King Jareth. His Grace, King Jareth. Or was it always so formal? Hoggle had called him Your Majesty, but also by his first name. Hmmm. Sarah and Jareth. Jareth and Sarah.Sarah smiled at the thought of the two of them as a pair. She wanted to feel his name on her lips, hear it in her own voice, and taste it like a good line of poetry. Closing her eyes and settling down further into the tub, Sarah sighed, "Jareth."
"Well, well!" Sarah started, causing water to slosh in the tub. Her eyes widened when she saw it was the Goblin King who spoke, sitting casually on the sink with his back against the wall. "I had hoped that you would call for me someday, but I never imagined it would be quite like this. I must say, Sarah, I am impressed with your boldness." He smiled slightly, tilting his head as if humoring her.