Hello, people! This is my first Labyrinth story, so please, no flames. This is a one-shot, I just started writing, and it just took off from there.
Summary: Sarah tries to disconnect herself from the labyrinth, but you know love isn't rational, and it will always find a way, no matter what. (BTW, kudos to you if you can tell me the Harry Potter reference!)
Disclaimer: Labyrinth and the Harry Potter scene belongs to their respective producers and authors, not me. :(
Bubbles and Barn Owls
"She was brave. She was beautiful. She was perfect. And now she is gone." the Goblin King thought to himself.
Jareth balanced one of his bubbles between his fingers, gazing at the scene inside. The throne room was empty, save for Jareth with his bubbles floating around him.
The scene inside the bubble showed the ballroom, and Sarah gliding across the floor, dancing hand-in-hand with Jareth.
Jareth nodded and swayed in time with the music, and as the music played, the bubbles started to swirl in their own unconscious rhythm.
In all his time as the Goblin King, Jareth had never been so attached to anything. But, for some unseen reason, he had found himself unconsciously performing Sarah's every command. And whereas words had never had any effect on him, one simple phrase from her, such as "You have no power over me," cut him to ribbons.
Jareth loved her.
The mere mention of her name; those precious two syllables, uttered out loud; called his attentions like nothing had ever done before.
Sarah...
He remembered those precious moments in the ballroom, when she had willingly danced with him; the way they had moved and harmonized; but when she had pulled herself out of the enchanted stupor, Jareth wanted to pull her back, to keep her beside him.
But she would always evade him, taunting him with her beautiful voice, calling to him in his dreams, but always out of reach.
"Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave."
Sarah refused him, his devotion, his undeniable need for her. She had returned to her home above the land of labyrinths and goblins, she returned to her boring reality, leaving Jareth behind to live on without her.
Jareth frowned, staring into the depths of the bubble, watching Sarah and himself twirl and dance to the soft music, and cursed himself for his stupidity. He thought to himself, "How could anyone ever love a person who has never loved before? How could Sarah ever love someone like me?"
He felt a single tear trail down his face, falling down his cheek, leaving behind a small glistening line.
He turned the bubble in his hand, stopping the ballroom dance, and threw the resulting crystal at the wall, sending shards of crystal glistening through the air.
He held his face in his hands, and bit his lower lip, trying not to let a huge sob echo through the hall.
One of the many bubbles floated down from the air above his head, silently displaying Sarah's frozen smile. Jareth rose one of his hands to strike it away, but he paused, and held the bubble between his fingers.
Jareth solidified the bubble, turning it into a crystal permanently displaying Sarah's beautiful smile.
He turned the crystal in his hand, then pressed his lips against the cold surface of the sphere.
Sarah gazed out of her window, and saw a small trail of bubbles leading up into the sky.
She looked back, and saw a large barn owl flying between the individual bubbles. The wind from the owl's wings swept one of the bubbles in front of Sarah's window.
Sarah peered into the bubble, and saw an image of herself dancing in that beautiful dress with- wait, what?
She looked closer, and saw that the small image of herself was dancing with Jareth.
She opened her window, and carefully gathered the bubble in her hand, trying to mimic the way Jareth could easily handle those small orbs.
She remembered his words when he had first arrived in her parents room; "Just a simple crystal, but if you turn it this way, it shows you your dreams."
She turned the bubble in her hand, and the bubble solidified into a small crystal sphere.
"Just a simple crystal, but if you turn it this way, it shows you your dreams."
She turned the crystal in her hand, expecting the image inside to ripple and change, but instead the ballroom scene stayed the same.
Sarah tilted her head and gazed into the sphere, as if she expected the new perspective to change what she saw, but inside the crystal she kept dancing in the arms of the Goblin King.
She turned the crystal again, halting the continuous dance, and set the crystal on her dresser. She sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the crystal, until she yawned and lay back into the covers.
She slipped silently into her dreams, which were curiously filled with images of that beautiful dance. But instead of fighting the peach's illusion, the dream-Sarah smiled and allowed the dance to finish. Jareth spun Sarah slowly in time to the music, then lowered her into a dip.
The ballroom burst into applause, and Jareth raised Sarah from her position, his hand lingering on the small of her back.
Sarah felt her heart beat elevate, along with her cheeks turning a faint shade of red. The rest of the room started to dissolve, leaving the two of them staring into each other's eyes.
Sarah felt a warmth blossom from her chest, and she closed her eyes, moving closer to the Goblin King. Jareth did the same, and closed the distance between them.
Their lips touched each other's, and Sarah melted into Jareth's arms.
Sarah jolted awake, and saw the dim sunlight filtering through the windowpane. She was surprised to find herself almost disappointed that her dream was, in fact, a dream.
Her eyes wandered over to her dresser, where the crystal was still stationary. She picked it up, and turned it in her hand, watching the scene inside unfold. Now, it showed the scene from her dream the previous night, and Sarah sighed as the crystal-Sarah shared a beautiful kiss with the Goblin King.
Her stepmother's voice broke through Sarah's daydreams, however, causing her to drop the crystal onto her bed. "SARAH! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!"
Sarah rolled her eyes, and carefully tucked the crystal into the pocket of her hoodie. However, she kissed the cold surface of the sphere before hiding it away.
She grabbed her backpack from the chair next to the door, and glided down the stairs, pretending her hoodie and pants were a flowing ballgown.
The shrill giggle of her little brother, Toby, caused her to turn her head and glare at the little troll in his highchair. (Toby was now two years old, and learning to talk.) "Sawah's a looney!" he said accusingly. Sarah sat down slowly and said, low and threateningly, "Don't let the Goblin King hear you talking to his queen in such a manner!"
Her stepmother stepped into the kitchen, carrying at least four different containers of mashed-up vegetable and oatmeal (Toby was also a very picky eater, as Sarah's family was now learning.), and said, "There you go again, with all this talk of goblins and queens! Imagine, a sensible young lady like you, dreaming up fantasies of imaginary lands when your time would be much better spent committing to your studies! Sarah, the only thing close to all that ridiculous pratter is your play!"
Sarah mumbled a quiet "Yes ma'am." and stabbed her fork into her pancake.
A bus rolled up to the front of the school, and opened its doors. An enormous wave of teenagers flooded out of the multiple buses lined up along the sidewalk, and Sarah was trying to navigate through them to the front door.
She was looking down at something in her hands, and that small something caught the eye of one Drake Mallark.
"Hey!" The call broke Sarah's gaze from the crystal in her hands, and she looked up at the boy in front of her.
"What?" she snapped. Drake smirked, and swiftly grabbed the crystal from her hands.
Sarah automatically switched to defensive mode, and yelled, "Give that back!"
Drake casually tossed the crystal from one hand to the next, and drawled, "Or what?"
Sarah almost growled, until Drake called to one of his cronies, "HEY! CATCH!" and tossed the crystal over her head.
Sarah's heart almost flew out of her mouth, then she saw that Drake's crony, Victor, had easily caught the sphere. Her relief swiftly turned into blind rage, and she charged at Victor. "GIVE THAT BACK!" she yelled, leaping wildly, trying to catch her crystal as it sailed in-between the two boys.
Another boy joined into the game of Monkey-In-The-Middle, Douglas, making it almost impossible for poor Sarah, who was about six inches shorter than the boys, to catch her crystal.
Tears of frustration formed in her eyes, and squeezed their way past her eyelids, and the cruel boys just laughed harder.
Douglas tossed the crystal to Drake, his other hand clutching his side from laughter. Drake let out a huge guffaw, and turned to catch the crystal a split second too late.
Sarah saw her chance, but the sphere slipped through her fingers. A humongus crash rang through the bus lane.
The three boys heard the crash, and this made them laugh even harder. Sarah gingerly picked up the shattered pieces, holding back the raw fury that was gnawing it's way into her mind, and cradled them in the pocket of her hoodie.
Once she made sure the pieces were safely inside, she slowly stood up, and walked towards Drake, who was still holding his sides.
A line from her play appeared in her mind, and she said, "You vile, evil, loathsome little cochroach!"
Sarah's friend, Hannah, slowly walked up behind her, and said quietly, "Come on, Sarah, he's not worth it!"
Sarah slowly nodded, and started to walk away, but upon hearing Drake snicker again, she turned around and punched him in the nose.
Hannah clasped her hands to her mouth, and turned to Sarah to congratulate her, but Sarah just turned around, and walked into the school.
Drake's whimpers followed her far into the hallways.
The lunch bell rang, and Sarah sat alone again. The Drake Incident had quickly blown over, and the school gossips were sniffing around for a far more interesting happening.
As usual, Drake was trying to extend his five seconds of fame with the ditzy cheerleaders by acting as if he had survived some war, but they wouldn't have any of it. Because word had gotten around that he had gotten taken down by a girl. That was the end of him.
So, Sarah sat alone again. Occasionally Hannah would sit by her, and fiddle with her new flip-phone, but one of her girl-friends would summon her back to the lunch table of air-headedness. Leaving Sarah alone with her lunch.
Sarah stared up at the sky, (because the lunch room was outside, okay? Just leave it alone.) and saw the same barn owl she had seen outside her window. He swooped down into the courtyard, and landed in front of her.
The rest of the students eating lunch hadn't acknowledged him, so it was obvious that they couldn't see him, which meant that he was meant especially for her.
Sarah walked cautiously towards him, offering her hand, but the owl seemed to beckon her to follow him. She tilted her head, and the owl copied her. Sarah smiled, and the owl pushed off of the lunch table, flying towards the park.
Sarah threw out the remnants of her lunch, and ran to follow him off of the school property. She could hear the startled cries of the teacher that was susposed to be watching her, but she kept running.
The owl occasionally looked down as if to make sure she was still following it, then continued to fly. Sarah ran, struggling to keep up with the owl's pace, when he landed on the highest branch of a tree at the park.
Sarah slowed her pace, and collapsed on one of the park benches. The owl gazed down at her from his perch, then swooped down to the railing of the park bridge.
Sarah was a little puzzled at this, but nevertheless she walked onto the bridge.
The owl cocked his head towards the small creek below. Sarah frowned, and said, "The creek's only one foot deep, I can't dive into it." The owl cocked his head the other way, as if to say, "Do it anyway," then cocked his head again towards the creek.
Sarah took a deep breath, then leaned over the edge and looked into the creek. "This is crazy..." she said mostly to herself before she swung herself over the side of the bridge.
Jareth was sitting on the floor of his empty throne room, his bubbles gently swaying above him, when his beloved pet barn owl flew through the open window. He sat up a noticable fraction, and straightened his arm to make a perch for him.
The barn owl landed on his master's arm, and Jareth smoothed down most of his feathers before saying, "You have news?"
The barn owl blinked his enormous black eyes before his soft voice sounded from his chest, "I have found Sarah. She lives near the creek. I was able to bring her to it. She will arrive in time."
Jareth allowed a small smile, then called through the halls, "Sarah is returning to us! Clean up this place! I would like this palace to shine!" He then turned to the owl on his arm, and said, "Search the labyrinth in case she lands there! Go!"
The barn owl blinked his large eyes, then took off from his master's arm, flying over the expanses of the labyrinth.
Sarah fell. She fell through the icy sheet of water, then fell through a blue sky for what seemed like eternities. She punched through a cloud, then found herself falling past strange floating ships, suspended in the air.
This scene passed by quickly, though, and she found herself falling up through a never-ending forest of trees blooming small flames. Sarah let out a small yelp as one of the branches caught her by surprise, and shot a small fireball at her.
As the flame died, Sarah fell up through the top layer of the trees, and saw a beautiful night sky filled with millions of stars and galaxies.
Sarah shot up through the sky, and hovered in front of a small galaxy. Sarah gasped at the beautiful stars and nebulas within. She looked closer, and saw the strange formations inside were really parts of the Labyrinth.
Sarah looked closer, but she leaned too far forward, and she found herself falling (again) down towards the labyrinth below.
She saw the ground growing closer, and in pure desperation, she screamed.
The barn owl swooped into the now clean throne room, and hastily landed on the window ledge. His voice again came not from his mouth, but his chest, "My king, Sarah has landed in the Dark Woods!"
Jareth frowned, then said, "The Dark Woods?" then called to the dozens of goblins working earnestly on cleaning, "Hurry, hurry! Just keep cleaning!" He turned to the barn owl, and said, "Make sure they don't break anything, alright?"
The barn owl blinked once, and said, "Yes, sire."
Jareth gave a sharp nod, then disappeared with a flash of his cloak.
Sarah crashed through a sharp layer of tree branches, and landed (thank goodness) in an enormous pile of rotten leaves. She gingerly picked herself up, checking if she had broken anything, and thankfully found that she was surprisingly unharmed.
She stood up slowly, and looked around her at the dark trees that seemed to continue forever.
She groaned upon realizing that she was back inside the Labyrinth. A loud shriek rung through the trees, making Sarah jump slightly.
A small tittering noise filled her ears, and she tried to block them out, but the noise was everywhere. She clapped her hands over her ears, and stumbled towards a large tree trunk.
A deep terrifying voice sounded from its trunk, booming, "Get your filthy self off of my trunk!"
Sarah moaned as the collective noise of the old tree's voice and the tittering roared in her ears. She tried to muffle the sound by stuffing bits of her school uniform in her ears, but the piercing noise cut right through the fabric.
Sarah desperately yelled into the noise, "Please, stop!" but the thunderous noise drowned her out. The woods around her grew darker and more threatening, and Sarah knelt down besides the old tree, clutching her throbbing ears.
Suddenly, a large ball of light exploded into existence in front of her, and the voice of (could it be?) Jareth the Goblin King boomed out into the forest, "SILENCE!"
The noise automatically subsided, and the light slowly returned to the woods around her.
Jareth stepped in front of her, and offered her his hand. "Did they hurt you?" he said, his voice edged with something Sarah never expected to hear in his voice; concern.
Sarah excepted his hand, and allowed him to pull her up from the damp ground. She took the fabric out from her ears, and said, "I'm fine, really."
Jareth smiled, and said, "Well, if I'd waited any longer, they would have eaten you!"
Sarah could see the mischieviousness in his eyes, though, and she smiled. He feigned seriousness, and said, "I'm not joking. They would have eaten you."
Sarah laughed for a minute, then a question formed in her mind. "Why did your owl call me here?" she asked.
Jareth's smile faded a bit, and he said after a bit of thinking for the right words, "I need you. After you left, things just weren't the same without you, and I couldn't figure out what was bothering me, until it hit me. Sarah, I love you. I want you, I need you to stay."
Sarah sat in silent shock for a second or two, but then everything became clear as crystal. She stammered into the ground, "A-and I need to stay." As she said these last words, she looked up into his mismatched eyes.
Jareth who had been expecting rejection (again), smiled as a gentle smile spread across her face.
Sarah leaned in closer, and planted a small kiss on his lips. Jareth paused, then leaned into her, and returned her kiss with a longer one.
And the barn owl, who had seen the entire scene from the tree tops, flew back towards the castle in the center of the Labyrinth.
~fin~
A/N: It's finally finished! *panting* Sorry it ended up to be so stinkin' long! By the way, if any of you who read this story are cheerleaders, or were or whatever, and you were offended by my "ditzy cheerleaders" remark, then just know that some cheerleaders might actually be great people, but the ones at my school aren't! :)
P.S. Please review! Cyber candy to reviewers. Again, kudos to you if you found the Harry Potter reference. (I thought it was pretty straight forward, but that's just me.)