Hello everybody. So it's Christmas Eve in Australia, and I'm uploading this now because I will hardly be home for Xmas day, Boxing day and the day after that. This little one-shot of mine was written for the Labyfic Winterfest a LJ. This is my first holiday fic of any kind.

This story did not get beta-ed, so if you see any mistakes please do not be afraid to tell me. ALSO, I will probably have another story for you guys either before New Year or sometime after (not a sequel of this).

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth

'Twas the night before Christmas when she looked curiously into her wardrobe, and glanced at each piece of clothing that was hung and folded. She bit her lip and sighed. It was hard choosing to wear something for a party, especially if you have a wardrobe full of many wonderful clothes.

She eyed a nice black and white dress, and pursed her lips. With a soft sigh, she finally made a decision, reached in and grabbed the dress. It's better than nothing, she thought.

The party she was attending tonight was an ordinary Christmas Eve party, however, that would be an understatement. This party was anything but ordinary for two reasons: One; the party is going to be held in a castle… in the Goblin City. Two; the king of the city has no clue she was even attending the party.

After dressing and applying make-up and jewellery, she waited patiently for something.

As she waited, it dawned on her that she would have to avoid been seen from the king at all costs. The night will be disastrous if he knew that she was there.

Not sure of how much time went by as she waited, she looked up to the clock at noticed it was time for her to leave. She didn't how to travel to the Goblin City, so her friend, Hoggle, was going to get her himself. Which, he should arrive in three, two, and one…

Then suddenly there was a knock on the door. Feeling confused, she went to the door and opened it. From behind the door it revealed Hoggle. She had to hold in a giggle because Hoggle was wearing a little suit with a black bow-tie. It looked funny and ridiculous. She just smiled instead.

"Hey Hoggle. You look nice tonight," she said politely.

Hoggle had a slight blush to his cheeks. "You don't look bad yourself. Are you ready?"

She nodded, Hoggle took her hand, and she felt herself move in the air, it was weird.

The last thing she saw before leaving was her front door of her apartment. The next thing she saw was the doors of the castle. Feeling dizzy, she raised her hand to her forehead.

"You ok there, Sarah?" Hoggle asked, concerned.

She nodded. "Just a little dizzy, that's all."

"We besta' hurry now," Hoggle said, motioning towards the doors.

Sarah nodded and followed Hoggle. She could already feel a headache coming on. She had a feeling tonight will not go as planned.

They walked down several hallways before walking into a beautiful room. It looked oddly familiar but Sarah pushed that aside… for now.

The attendees of the party were not what she had expected, but instead of seeing a party of goblins she saw many humans (or whatever their race is here, she thought), goblins and other creatures. Sarah was amazed.

She noticed that every woman's dress was beautiful. She frowned as she glanced down at her own dress …and here I am in a fifty dollar frock… she thought.

She felt eyes on her back, and she knew that people were staring at her. She felt like an outsider. She closed her eyes for a brief second; she squared her shoulders a little and walked forward towards a table with food and drink on it.

As she reached for a cup with some sort of drink it, she heard a sweet melody drift through the room. She raised the cup to her lips, just before she was about to take a sip, someone came up beside her.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you. It's very strong," a manly voice said. His voice was familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

She placed the cup on the table. "Well, thank you. Don't want to get drunk from the first sip," she joked, but grimaced as she realised it wasn't funny. It was good that he couldn't see her face.

To her surprise, he chuckled. "Are you going to thank your saviour face-to-face or am I going to talk to her back all night?"

She blushed, and giggled like a school girl. She took a quiet deep breath, and she turned around.

Who she saw absolutely horrified her. Her smile instantly disappeared and was replaced with a wide opened mouth.

The man who stood in front of her also was shocked. His smile too disappeared, however, he wasn't shocked as she was, he was furious.

She was so shocked, she could not speak. She opened her mouth several times, but could not get a word out.

"What are you doing here, Sarah?" he asked, quietly but harshly.

"I… Hoggle invited me here," she replied, softly. The Goblin King had flirted with her, and she responded! The night was definitely turning out to be disastrous.

Jareth didn't say anything, he just stared at her. Finally he said something. "Follow me."

Her eyes followed him for a moment before her feet followed. Where were they going? He didn't take her far, only under a door way not too away from the party.

"Where in his mind does that little scab get to invite people to my party?" he asked. She didn't know if he was asking her.

"Well… he was just being nice, and he is my friend," she said.

He was quiet for a minute. "Well, in the spirit of Christmas, you can stay," he sighed.

She smiled. "Thank you."

They stood there for a few moments, acknowledging each other, when they heard someone shout something.

"Look, mistletoe! Kiss! Kiss!" the person chanted.

"What?" Sarah looked up and found mistletoe above their heads.

Jareth also looked up, and then back at Sarah, who also looked at him.

Sarah shook her head, but nearly everyone in the room chanted them to kiss.

"Just a little peck, Sarah. I won't bite," Jareth said, and smirked.

She tried to avoid his eye, but couldn't. The chanting was beginning to get louder and louder as time moved on.

She saw Jareth lean forward, and on instinct she closed her eyes. She waited for the contact of his lips on hers. When his lips touched hers, she unknowingly sunk into the kiss. His lips were softly grazing hers as her hands made their way up to his torso. Feeling confident, she moved forward and gave into the kiss completely.

And then what seemed to be a life time she felt cold air to her lips. She opened her eyes to see Jareth breathing heavily. She looked away from him to see that everyone in the room had gone back to drinking and dancing. She looked back at Jareth and said nothing.

Time slowed down as they stood there awkwardly… well, at least for Sarah, but that was until someone called the king's name. He moved away without any glance at Sarah, and once he left, she let out a breath with relieve. She raised a hand to her cheek and felt that she was warm. She needed a drink.

Sarah made her way up to the food and drink table and asked someone near if there was any wine. A few moments later, she was sipping on red wine. She looked over to couples dancing to the sweet melody that circled the room. Her hips swayed to the music.

"Would you like to dance?" came the whisper in her ear, his hair tickled her cheek, and his hand stretched out in front of her. Her face had become hot again. Turning ever so slightly, her body brushed against his, she placed her half-empty glass on the table. She placed her hand in his, and was pulled into the dance floor with him.

Sarah didn't know how long they danced for, but it seemed like forever. She did not want to stop.

"I will be holding another party on New Years Eve, you know?" his voice broke the silence between them.

"Oh really?" she glanced at him.

"Invitation only, though, it's very exclusive," he said. "No goblins," he said firmly.

She smiled, and laughed. "No goblins? Invitation only? That seems… fair."

He looked at her with a small smirk. "I'm still working on the list. It's very hard, especially for a king."

Sarah nodded.

They danced for two more songs before the party was coming to an end.

Sarah didn't realise how tired she was when she started to yawn. She quickly covered her mouth.

She decided she would say goodbye to her friends before she left. She found them sitting at a table. She was tightly and warmly hugged by Ludo and Sir Didymus wished her a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

As she went to search for Hoggle, she saw the Goblin King standing alone sipping a drink. She didn't know if she should say goodbye or not. She finally let her body talk for once and not her brain. Her feet started walk in the direction to where he was standing.

Sarah smiled as she stopped in front of him. She didn't say anything for a moment.

"Well, it's getting late. It was a great party," she said.

"Thank you," he replied, softly, and he cocked his head faintly. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

A pause.

"Merry Christmas, Jareth."

A small smile appeared on his face. "Merry Christmas to you too, Sarah."

She smiled in reply, gave a small wave, and then set off to search for Hoggle.

Sarah found Hoggle standing near the back of the room up against the wall.

"Hoggle, I'm ready to leave now," she addressed him.

He nodded, held out a hand, which she took, and then they disappeared.

This time Sarah did not get a headache once they reached their destination.

"Thank you for inviting me, Hoggle. It was a great party," she said to him as she walked him to her door.

"Uh… Sarah, I saws that kiss…" Hoggle said as he played with his hands.

Sarah's smiled dropped slightly. "Oh," she paused. "That was caused by mistletoe, Hoggle, you know that?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I knows that, but Sarah, he's a rat."

She giggled. "Yes, I know, Hoggle."

Hoggle smiled and made his way through her front door. "Merry Christmas, Sarah."

"Merry Christmas, Hoggle. Goodnight," she replied, and waved goodbye as he disappeared from her sight.

Sarah closed the door and headed to her bedroom.

Ten minutes later, Sarah was in bed, getting comfortable under the blankets when she saw something fly across the room and onto the end of her bed.

It was an envelope addressed to her. Her name was written in a beautiful cursive writing. Feeling really confused, she opened the envelope.

It was an invitation. To a party. That however was another story.

After reading the invitation, Sarah placed it in her bedside table drawer, and smiled.

That smile stayed on her face all night.

Fin.

Like it? Hate it?

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!