Love in the Spring
Author's Disclaimer: No, I do not own Labyrinth, or Frozen. All rights go to their respective owners. I just play with the characters and songs to make cute and fluffy moments. This one-shot is dedicated to a friend on dA, a fellow J/S fluff lover who had a birthday recently. She is also fond of Frozen, just like me, so I took my favorite love song from it, Love Is an Open Door, and gave it a Labyrinth twist. If you squint, you should be able to see the gist of the song. I hope you enjoy the large amounts of fluff!
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The spring breezes had finally blown away the winter storms.
Yellow daffodils and white tulips were starting to bloom, and the grass was just tall enough to feel fuzzy for sitting in after a recent rain storm. Butterflies and bees buzzed away, doing what they did best. Squirrels once gaunt now roamed about freely, looking for new food. The ground that had once been frozen and dead was now alive, with a vengeance.
And off in a small corner of the park, under a large maple tree in full view of the fountain and small bridge located nearby, sat Sarah. She was dressed casually, as was befitting the first warm day of spring in March.
While Sarah was enjoying the sunny weather, she was concentrating too much on the notebook in front of her to notice that a barn owl had appeared not far from her. As it so happened, Jareth was supposed to be gone for the rest of the day on kingly duties and whatnot, and Sarah had decided to do her wedding planning outdoors instead of being cooped up inside.
In less than a month, she would be married to Jareth. The thought made her feel very content with life, as they had decided to have a year-long engagement so that they had enough time to plan. Both had jobs of their own between Jareth being Goblin King and Sarah being a teacher; though she was happy to change her role in life, as she would still be taking care of adorable, immature little ones.
Everything was planned, except for the seating arrangements for the bridal banquet. She and Jareth had been having many long discussions about rank and family connections in the last couple months, but Sarah still refused to do as Jareth suggested, as there were some who did not deserve the recognition in her eyes. Jareth did not disagree with her about who was deserving of recognition, but he still went by Court expectations.
After a few hours of sitting hunched over the notebook of ideas, Sarah was ready to stretch. She was also thirsty, but there was no drinking fountain nearby, so she was better off going home. She looked longingly at the water spewing out of the fountain, and suddenly, she felt something wet against her leg. She was surprised to see a cold glass of water appear next to her.
The cup felt good against her, especially the water droplets as the rest of the water condensed from the surrounding heat. Soon, Sarah was feeling the heat, too, as she compared the rest of her body to that one small part of her body touching the glass.
But, as fate would have it, a large gust of wind came, refreshing her. She was grateful for several moments until she realized that she suddenly had become covered in glitter, which could only mean one thing: Jareth was done early.
Once Sarah started looking around, she quickly found her favorite barn owl and beckoned for him to come join her on the ground. He was only too happy to fly down and remain in his owl form, as he knew how fond Sarah was of that very cute and cuddly side of him. It gave him all the reasons he needed to waddle onto her shoulder so that he could nestle between Sarah's neck and shoulder, both quite bare since her hair was put back and she was wearing a forest green halter top.
For some time, Jareth was happy to stay there, spoiled by Sarah's petting and the peach-scented perfume she wore that he loved. Eventually, though, his playful side got the better of him, and he sought out a new roosting place, choosing to sit on her knees as she wrote in her notebook. Finally, he started to strut (as much as owls can) closer to Sarah's notebook until his feathers were resting against it, and Sarah found it hard to write with the feathers in the way.
Sarah tried to shoo him away, but that only encouraged him to get closer, and eventually, start pecking at the notebook. Sarah tried to push him off of her, but that didn't work, so she just put the notebook behind her back, staring him down, daring him to come and get it.
No doubt, the staring match would have continued for some time, were it not for Jareth getting warm under so many layers of feathers. He knew that he would have won, given how little owls blinked. However, he was too warm from all the exertion, so he transformed into a much cooler version of himself.
That Jareth happened to appear without a shirt did not trouble Sarah in the least. Once upon a time, she had been shy around him. That, however, had changed the longer she knew him. He enjoyed showing off a lot, and thankfully, he was very easy on the eyes. Sarah just rolled her eyes and brought out her notebook again in an attempt to not be distracted by Jareth.
Sadly, Jareth was determined to be a distraction that day.
"So who are you placing next to the Summer Court official?" Jareth's eyes danced with glee as he tried to peek over the page.
"The Winter Court one, of course." Sarah jerked away the page from Jareth's prying eyes.
"You're crazy."
Sarah put her hands on her hips. The look Sarah gave Jareth then looked as though she was saying "You aren't helping".
Jareth pouted slightly before smiling widely at Sarah and stealing a kiss on her cheek.
"You didn't let me finish, Precious. While you may be spouting some rather odd ideas, I like the crazy things you say."
"Like them?"
"Love them. It's everything I've always wanted to do to mess with the rules of Court, but haven't been allowed to."
Considering that he was related to the High King and Queen Underground, it was not altogether surprising. Sarah did not look forward to being deeply involved with Court politics, but if she had Jareth and the goblins around, she figured she could handle it. If she could deal with backstabbing teachers and all the politics of public school, along with countless hordes of six-year-olds, she could handle the Fae court.
"But now that I have met you, Sarah, after that most auspicious start we had in my Labyrinth, with your courage, kindness, and defiance of all my rules to do the right thing, I feel as though things are going to change for the better. All my doors to having fun and doing the right thing were closed with my family around, and you have knocked them all open."
"Why will I be allowed to do this?"
"Because you will be my wife, but still a mortal not compelled to follow all the rules. We have an excuse. Even after that, though, we will still try to get away with as much as possible."
"And that's what I have to look forward to? Dealing with the politics of Court by teaming up with you to undermine everything because we can?"
"Don't forget the goblins. They will help, too, and provide much entertainment, imbeciles that they are."
Jareth sat up from Sarah's lap and grinned at the thought of all that the officials would ask of the goblins, only to have the goblins attempt to help and fail miserably, creating even more chaos. Ah, the hours of entertainment.
"How could I, Jareth? They're adorable, just like the children that I used to teach. If this is what I have to look forward to, I'll take it. I can't think of a better place I'd rather be than by your side."
Sarah smiled up at Jareth as she placed a hand on his chest, setting aside the frustrating plans and giving in to the distraction that which was Jareth.
Jareth responded back by pulling Sarah into his lap and using his crystals to create more of a breeze so that they would not become too sweaty. As he did that, Sarah kept talking.
"After leaving the Labyrinth, I felt so out of place. After tasting the magic of the Underground and meeting my friends, I wanted more. Being able to talk to you after and finally get to explore the Underground made me realize that I felt most at home there."
"Amidst the goblin chaos and noisy chickens?"
"Especially there. Just wait until I introduce all those goblins to chocolate fondue fountains at our wedding."
Jareth shuddered slightly at the thought of chocolate everywhere. Perhaps then they would not all go into shock at the large amounts of sugar they would most likely ingest.
"Our wedding will be so much fun, Jareth. I can't wait for it. All this planning makes me so excited to be able to make my permanent home with you."
"You are a natural, Sarah. All of my subjects love you, though not as much as I love you. With you by my side, we shall rule as we were always meant to."
"I have found my place in life at last, Jareth, and I know it is with you, the man I love. Discovering the Labyrinth was a door to another world that I have always longed for, where I feel that I truly belong, though it took me some time to figure that out. How you could have loved me so soon I shall never understand."
"The moment I saw your defiant face as you told me that my Labyrinth was a 'piece of cake', I knew it then. You exceeded my expectations at every turn, and in time, I learned to love you. I had searched for love in the past, but nothing could compare to you."
"I feel the same way, Jareth. I never felt alive and truly able to love until I met you, and later got to know you. You opened so many doors for me that I did not even realize were closed. I realized all that I was missing the longer I stayed Underground."
"You gave me another chance, Sarah, and that was all I could hope for at that time. We didn't end it well, and when you opened that door to me, I gladly came in. Spending time with you made me see what else was possible in life as King. What more I wanted from life, I saw that only you could provide."
Jareth was about to kiss Sarah when Sarah's stomach growled slightly, making Sarah turn pink and Jareth tsk at Sarah.
"You and your single-minded determination, Precious. I worry about your sanity sometimes. Luckily for you, I brought a picnic basket and sandwiches so that we could enjoy more time outdoors. Now, open wide."
Occasionally, when Sarah and Jareth had gone on picnics in the past, they would take turns feeding one another. Sarah's hands had been full one day holding something, so Jareth had taken advantage of the situation to grab her grapes and forced Sarah to allow him to feed them to her. After that, they did it more frequently.
"Oh, I love this sandwich, Jareth! You've gotten much better at thinking of better ideas for options besides BLT's."
"What can I say? I'm very good at listening to my almost wife when she whispers it softly in my ear. However, I think you got the better sandwich again, so I'm just going to-"
"Oh, no, you don't! That's my sandwich. Eat your own."
Sarah tried to snatch her almost-finished sandwich from Jareth' outstretched hand, but she was not fast enough. It was gone before she could blink.
"Too late. Yes, you definitely got the better one. You can finish mine if you'd like."
Jareth gave his most angelic face as he offered the rest of his sandwich to Sarah, who tried to look angry before falling into laughter at the look Jareth was giving her. Soon, Jareth was laughing, too, as Sarah's laugh was an infectious one, for him and the rest of the Underground.
"Do you know what I was thinking, Jareth?"
"That I look so adorable when I make that face?"
"Yes. And I see why I'm the only one who ever gets to see it."
"Exactly. If the goblins ever saw it…"
"You'd be ruined, your reputation as the fearsome Goblin King gone."
"Indeed. Which is why I shall have to bribe you more to make sure that you never mention it to anyone else, or make me use said face around others. You're very good at bringing out that side of me, Precious."
"I understand more now, dear. With the proper inducement, I think I can be most generous. We both have had more time of late to talk and get to know one another better. While we can't read one another's minds yet, we can at least read one another's faces."
"And such fun it is. It makes me look forward to seeing you handle complaints with me in the future," he said with his most wicked grin.
"I'll learn from you. Where you lack mercy, I will provide."
Sarah patted Jareth's chest in the vicinity of his heart until Jareth placed his hand on top of hers, holding her there.
"I have no doubt of that, Sarah. And if you don't understand how to discipline them yet, then you will see quickly how it is done, besides just kicking them."
Jareth then took Sarah's hand and brought it under his chin, drawing her closer.
"We complement each other so well. We belong together, as well as we work together."
"We are and will be together, for the rest of our lives."
Jareth kissed Sarah then. It started out sweet and tender with the moment, but, with time together and more experience kissing, much better kisses developed. For several moments, there were no more wedding plans, no more court officials, or goblins trying to chase chickens. There was only the love shared between a man and a woman, the true kind of love. The deep, abiding love that comes with knowing your other half so well, and loving them more for that. The kind of passionate love that develops between two people who care about one another so much that it shows in every aspect, especially in kisses. If either one felt warm, it wasn't because of the outdoors anymore.
When the two finally broke apart for air, it was only for a brief time before both were lost, Jareth in Sarah's hair, and Sarah in Jareth's neck. They were in their own little world with one another, and they needed nothing else to be truly happy than to be close to their beloved.
"Everything feels right and whole when you are here, Sarah."
"I never felt so sure of anything else in my life before, Jareth, than I am of this. Of us. Whatever pain or lack of joy I may have felt in the past is gone now that I have you."
"I will never let you go, Sarah. I love you."
It was a smaller kiss that Jareth gave Sarah on the forehead, followed by one on each cheek. Keeping his hands off of her had become much more difficult for him as he kept wanting to play with Sarah's hair.
"I love you, too, Jareth. So much."
Sarah kissed him gently before pulling back and placing herself deeper into Jareth's embrace. She could have sworn that she heard Jareth purr quietly.
"Are you sure we can't get married tomorrow, Precious? I could reorder time if you'd like."
"Hush, you. Let's just enjoy the moment. We have found love with one another, a wonderful door that we shall be exploring for a long time to come. We can wait a little longer."
"Life will be so much better with you in it at last. Different and fuller. I will live for someone beside myself."
"With you as my husband, life will be complete, more than I could ever hope for."
"I'm glad you let me in Sarah, and that you agreed to marry me."
"Some people may think I'm crazy for wanting this, but I can imagine myself happiest with you. I would gladly say yes again, a thousand times more if necessary."
"Good. Now, are you ready to go home and prepare for dinner?"
"I am. We can discuss the seating arrangements at dinner again."
"Of course. We won't be distracted by one another's closeness then."
"Who said I was distracted?"
"I'm a very distracting man, Sarah. Don't try to deny it."
"As soon as you admit that you love the goblins, despite their silliness. Deep down, you know you care for them and love them."
"All I do know is that I love you."
With that, the two went back Underground, in search of their chicken-less dinner. In time, they figured out all of the arrangements for their special day, April 16. It was such a beautiful day to see two people in love. It was the happy couple's opinion that, hands down, that day was quite possibly the best day of both Jareth's and Sarah's lives.
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Author's Notes: Yep, there was a little bit of Olaf at the beginning and end, too. He has some adorable lines, just saying. So yeah, that was really fluffy, and it felt so good to write that! I've always loved Love Is An Open Door, but having it be sung by Hans and Anna was not sitting well with me, so now I kind of imagine Jareth and Sarah singing it together, much better in my opinion. This is a gift for a friend who has been doing crossovers with Labyrinth and Frozen that are just awesome, and who also made something for me a little while ago. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter (if you celebrated it), and thanks so much for reading and reviewing!