Some Dreams Change
Author's Notes: No, I do not own Labyrinth. All rights go to their respective owners. I just create fluffy moments between the characters. About a month ago, I attended a wedding, and because of that, I've had this fluffy wedding plot bunny running about. You have been warned of the fluff. I hope you enjoy it!
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Even as a little girl, Sarah Williams had dreamed of getting married.
At the age of five, Sarah had played make believe with her mother, putting on a white dress and walking down the aisle. As she got older, she pretended that she was a princess, waiting for her prince to come and save her from whatever evils her mind created.
Every time she dreamed or played, there was a large, white gown, a handsome boy, and all of her family around her. There were flowers everywhere, music from her favorite music box, and all the chocolate cake she could find (naturally in white frosting).
Over time, those dreams changed. Her mother's departure from her life made that part of her dream impossible, to have her mom as part of the bridal party. Then, there was her step-mother and Toby. For a time, the idea of having either in her wedding, especially after making her life more unfair, was distasteful.
School brought changes as well, mostly with regard to what kind of boy she would marry. Sarah quickly discovered that she wanted a tall, dark, and handsome boy, one that was older and more mature. All the boys in her class were short and immature, so she always looked at the boys in older classes.
And then, Sarah visited the Labyrinth.
At first, Sarah had considered the Labyrinth as more of a bad nightmare. But, with a few days of rest, she could see that she learned a few things from it, and good ones at that.
For the first time, she appreciated Toby. She also changed her attitude about her step-mother, and she decided that both Toby and her step-mother could be in her wedding after all.
Suddenly, Sarah had friends. Sarah had been a loner after her mother disappeared from her life, so having friends in the Labyrinth was great. She was determined to keep these friends, and keep them she did.
That she soon became a regular visitor to the Labyrinth was something that she was very proud of. Part of her secretly wished to have her wedding Underground, if only to be among her friends and all the great things she had found there. Now, no matter whom she married, Ludo, Sir Didymus, and Hoggle would be in the bridal party.
Perhaps what changed the least after her run through the Labyrinth was her opinion of men. Or, so she thought. She liked a guy with dark brown hair, preferably not too long. Someone who would appreciate her and treat her like a princess, a true gentleman. She was not expecting royalty, as the boys in school cured her of that.
What Jareth the Goblin King stood for in Sarah's mind changed dramatically with time. At first, he was the villain, someone to stay away from. He was too fair, hair too long, and just a little too feminine for her liking. He also had been unfair, but that was part of his job. As she learned more of him, he was no longer the villain, just a very confusing, attractive man.
After Sarah dated in college, she discovered that she actually preferred blondes. And, after a series of really nice men, she discovered that she did not like any of them. This was a problem, as she did not want to turn into one of those girls who chased the bad boys, hoping to change them.
In Sarah's dream wedding, she imagined herself dancing the night away, being swept off her feet by her husband. To help achieve that, she took ballroom dancing lessons in college. One night, she needed to bring someone, and none of her friends were available, so she went Underground.
After her friends could not help her, she decided to take Sir Didymus's advice, and she asked Jareth. He agreed, under the condition that he attend every dance lesson she went to for the rest of the year. Sarah thought it odd, but she agreed. She was probably going to need a partner again, so this could help her, and allow her to understand him a little better.
After one night dancing with him, she discovered two things: that she was a terrible dancer compared to him, and that he was amazing. He knew his stuff, strutting about and not afraid to tell her when she was doing something wrong, and teasing her even when she was doing it right. He simply would not let up. After a while, it became standard operating procedure for them to tease one another as they danced.
Sarah's wedding dreams soon found herself hoping to find a man who could dance like Jareth, whether in a fun, carefree way as they danced to jazz, or up close and personal as they danced the Charleston, arms linked and twirling. Most of all, she wanted a man who made her feel special and wanted as Jareth had, from the way he stared and held her while they tangoed, or from the way that she was sought after every night by all the other men.
It was during the last night of ballroom dancing that Sarah realized that she was about to lose Jareth. She still had a year of college left, but a part of her really did not want their dynamic to stop, especially when the teasing became flirting (which it of course did).
Right before Jareth left, Sarah asked Jareth if they could see each other more.
"Jareth, I don't know why you asked to attend all these ballroom dancing lessons with me, but I'm glad you did. I've enjoyed it so much more because of you. Thank you."
Sarah had meant every word. The earnest look in her eyes told stories.
"It's my pleasure, Sarah," he replied, bowing to her slightly.
"Will we be able to do this some other time in the future?"
"If you wish to. I'm happy to come by any time you feel the itch to dance the night away, assuming I'm not busy with duties."
"I'd like that."
"Is there anything more you'd like as well?" he said in a lower voice.
Sarah blushed in the full moonlight as she looked into Jareth's eyes. His face may have looked expressionless, but his eyes said otherwise. She found herself nodding before she could change her mind.
"Good, because I have as well. I'll pick you up on Friday, and we'll have a night on the town, dinner and dancing. Be ready at six."
Sarah blinked rapidly, now realizing what he wanted. However, before she could protest, Jareth leaned in and kissed her. He did not hold back.
There had always been energy between Sarah and Jareth as they danced together that she did not have with anyone else. When they did the tango, she could feel it more so, the tension, the push-pull fight for power. She allowed him to lead, but if she did not like where he was going or doing, Jareth knew. She was not afraid to fight back and resist.
Dancing the tango was just different for them. They stared into one another's eyes, instead of their usual banter or talk of how the other's life was doing. For those moments when Jareth's hand was at the small of Sarah's back, she understood why mere touch alone could communicate more than empty words. It was the way he held her, hands firmly pressing against her, while his fingers were more gentle, warm and caressing. No one else existed.
That kiss had all of that energy, and more. Finally Sarah could let go of all the tension that had been building from their nights together, as Jareth had already committed, lips, tongue, and hands all doing their part to tell her exactly how close he wanted to be to her. Sarah jumped in enthusiastically, but he ended it far too soon after that.
"Good night, Sarah. I look forward to Friday very much."
With another bow and smug grin, Jareth disappeared from her sight. That was the first night that Sarah dreamed of marrying Jareth.
A year later, Sarah's dreams became a decision for her. One day, she was going to marry Jareth.
Months later, after many encouraging smiles and moments on the dance floor, they were engaged. It helped that Jareth proposed while they were out dancing with others from the ballroom dancing club, and the two had been allowed to lead, eventually getting the floor to themselves. When Jareth asked her to be his dance partner, for tonight and every night after, Sarah flung herself at him, making the crowd quite rowdy between squealing girls and catcalls from men.
After that, Sarah was allowed to bring her dream wedding to life. She did not get a complete gentleman, but she had found someone who respected and cared deeply for her. It was an added bonus that he was a king.
All of her family would come, even her mother and new boyfriend. Toby would be the ring-bearer, and her three friends were groomsmen. Jareth had family and close friends from childhood who made up the rest of the group, along with a sister who was a bridesmaid.
There would be flowers and chocolate cake aplenty, all within the color scheme Jareth preferred, to go along with his family's tradition. All of the details were planned out.
As Sarah stood at her wedding reception, she realized that her wedding was quite different than what she had planned for. So many things were unexpected.
Having both her mother and step-mother together was awkward, but her mother was willing to stay in the crowd because it was Sarah's big day, and her step-mother was much closer to Sarah now. Toby was getting lost because he kept wandering off with goblins, excited to explore the Underground.
Her father was getting nervous about her marrying someone so much older than her, even if he knew that Jareth cared for her, and Sarah preferred older men. He had already made all of the required "If you ever hurt my daughter, then know that I have a shotgun and shovel, and I'm not afraid to use them" speeches, and Jareth just smiled and told the nervous father how much he cared about Sarah.
There was too much cake, as the goblins had found it.
Not only were the goblins hopped up on sugar, but they were singing and dancing, trying to make everyone more cheerful and get them to dance along. The goblins did not know how to maintain pitch, or carry a tune, so they were being hushed by Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo, much to everyone's happy amusement.
The goblins' extra energy made them create more mess and chaos faster than normal. The careful planning and hours of set-up were demolished in minutes of goblin excitement. Tables and chairs were strewn aside, and streamers appeared in trees and other unexpected places.
When Sarah had finally walked down the aisle, it was to hoots and loud noises from goblins, with some taking the extra cake and throwing it around Sarah, the vanilla cream cheese frosting flying above and in front of her head. Sarah narrowly missed it twice, besides the chocolate cake that threatened to ruin her dress as it crumbled.
Next in Sarah's obstacle course were the flowers, petals and stems being bitten and flung haphazardly by goblins who already had a little too much goblin ale. Once the music started, the flowers came in regular intervals, keeping in time with the song, so she had a better chance of dodging them.
By the time Sarah finally arrived next to Jareth, she was ready for a nap. Her hair was falling out of the bun made especially for her, her dress was going to get dirty any second, and she had a feeling she had developed stress lines on her face from all the worry she had experienced in the last twenty-four hours.
But, when Sarah looked at Jareth, all worries flew away on owl's wings. Jareth was there, and he was what mattered most. He smiled his special smile for her as they held hands and said their vows.
Once they were pronounced man and wife, they shared their first kiss as a married couple. It was far more loving than anything she had ever dreamed of, and those were all based on previous kisses from Jareth.
As Sarah stood with Jareth in front of their only cake (after starting with three, two locked away, or so she thought), she reflected back on all that had just occurred. She thought that she would be a little sad about not having it go exactly according to her dreams, but in reality, she was happy.
"Sarah, are you alright?"
"I'm better than alright; I'm content. I'm happier than I've ever been in my whole life, even if it wasn't the dream wedding I had planned."
To emphasize the point, the cake chose then to droop slightly, letting some of the extra frosting fall onto Sarah's gown. The off-white frosting clashed with Sarah's all-white confection of a Regency wedding dress, close to the edge of dress.
"Still happy now, Precious?"
Jareth's eyes gleamed, even as he saw the answering smile on Sarah's face.
"Very much so, Jareth. This has surpassed my dreams. It takes more than a piece of cake to keep me down."
"That's my girl. Now, let me help you with that bit of frosting," he said, easily sliding his index finger against the dress and frosting until all the frosting was on his finger.
"And since it's on my finger, I guess I'm just going to have to lick all this frosting off, too. Such a pity."
"Not while I'm around, Jareth," Sarah butted in with, quickly grabbing his fingers and sucking off the frosting. She looked up triumphantly at Jareth, a smidge of frosting still on the corner of her lips.
"You missed a spot, Love."
Jareth helped himself to the frosting before kissing Sarah again. Sarah tasted like her frosting choice, and so delicious she was.
"Thank you for the help, dear husband."
"My pleasure, Precious. Now, shall we dance?"
The first dance of the evening then began, the two dancing to a waltz that they had shared many years before, Jareth singing softly in her ear as he held her close.
"Even then, Precious. I was yours, even then."
"I didn't understand."
"Not then. You were too young."
"But now I do understand, Jareth. And I appreciate you all the more for it. You didn't have to wait."
"Oh yes, I did. It was worth it to dance with you twice a week for those nine months."
"How did you know I would ask?"
"I may have sent a goblin to visit one of your friends, who conveniently got sick around the same time. It also helped that Sir Didymus is a romantic and wanted us to get together for quite some time."
"I knew it!"
Sarah had always wondered why Sir Didymus had insisted so much upon her asking Jareth, even though he insisted that he had not been pushed to do so. Apparently, he just wanted to see them together, making his king happy.
"Do you forgive me, Sarah?"
"Of course. Now, let's kiss and make-up."
"I like the way you think, my wife."
"Good thing, seeing as you're stuck with me for a long time to come."
"Forever isn't that long when you truly love someone."
"The way I love you, Jareth."
The two eventually finished their dance, and Jareth allowed others to dance with his wife. When the reception finally ended, with even more goblin singing, drinking, and tomfoolery (two fires already put out), the two left together, ready for a night alone together.
"I've got a special dance prepared for you tonight, Sarah."
Sarah raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"Oh? What kind of dance?"
Jareth walked out from the bathroom, now in skintight pants, far more comfortable than a tuxedo. And far more suitable. He leaned against the wall lazily, a feral grin on his face as he started to remove his boots, ever so slowly.
"My specialty. A Magic Dance."
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Author's Notes: I'm a silly romantic, I know. Weddings make me cry and squeal for joy so much. The most recent wedding I attended was beautiful because it was between two people who truly care about and love another. They are each other's best friend, just as I imagine Sarah and Jareth (most wonderful pair ever!). Anyways, I just wanted to write this in honor of Labyrinth's 28th anniversary (coming to theaters), and I hope you all watch Labyrinth soon to celebrate. I hope you enjoyed!
Buggus264: Yes! Embrace the cuteness! Thank you!
SVJohnson8721: Awesome! So glad to hear it! Haha yes, frosting is awesome like that.
Luna: Thanks for the catch! Fixed!
Lylabeth1: Yay! I'm glad you were giggling. I've done my job. What I meant by coming to theaters was that it was the 28th anniversary of the movie coming to theaters. Sorry about the misunderstanding.
