Blossoming
Author's Notes: After the new sorting methods went up in 2013 on FFNet, specifically the option of excluding a character, I searched for Labyrinth Romances with Jareth and without Sarah just out of idle curiosity. Unsurprisingly, I got over 200 hits, many of which appeared to be written by teenage girls, mostly Jareth/OFC. When I did the same thing with Sarah, I got about 10 hits, all but one of which were all Jareth/Sarah anyway – and the one was written from Jareth's point of view. I was amazed at the extent of the disparity, and found it a good illustration of fanfiction being dominated by women. However, it got me thinking that I should maybe even things out a bit and write an honest-to-goodness romance featuring Sarah, an original male character, and hopefully some clichés. Last week, I finally wrote it for an ABDCE (action, background, development, climax, ending) prompt at my creative writing class. Despite being very inexperienced with writing romance, it was a lot of fun, and I appreciated the opportunity to write Sarah with someone else because I truly don't think she and Jareth could be a genuine married couple; to put it simply, he scared her too much.
Much thanks to my mom for checking this over.
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Disclaimer: I do not own The Labyrinth.
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Chapter 1 – Action, Jitters
Standing alone in a small room near the chapel, Sarah desperately tried to fight off her jitters without mussing her white dress or immaculate French twist. Intellectually, she knew she had nothing to worry about.
She and Brenden were in love, knew that the other had exasperating flaws, and had done their absolute best to iron out sticking points beforehand, like kids (several), housing (a down payment on a little place near their jobs), and the minor accidents that followed Sarah wherever she went (sadly, not all of which could be blamed on the goblins, but luckily, her fiancé had resigned himself to this reality of sharing her life).
Because she adored the old stories and traditions, she was wearing something old (her grandmother's amazing antique wedding dress with short lace sleeves, a square neckline, and a full skirt covered in lace that completely hid her legs) something new (her matching silver pendent, earrings, and bracelet, each showcasing a lab-created pink sapphire), something borrowed (the veil and simple silver tiara holding it in place – it could be nice having a dramatic actress who liked to collect props and shiny things for a mother), something blue (the amazingly comfortable heels that were buried beneath her skirt), and a sixpence in her shoe (also thanks to her mother).
In addition, her maid of honor was having the time of her life making sure that things went off without a hitch.
"So why am I still nervous?" she irritably asked the world at large.
"Because it's a rite of passage," Linda answered as she breezed through the door and placed something on the table. "Don't worry, dear; a bit of nerves just means the performance will go well."
Fixing her mother with an unimpressed look, Sarah watched as the older woman scanned her from head to toe and seemed to soften. "You look beautiful, honey."
Softening in turn, Sarah smiled and opened her arms for the hug she wanted. "Thanks, Mom." After both women broke from the careful embrace, she asked, "So, was there any other reason you popped in other than moral support?"
Linda laughed. "Well, I did want to make sure you're not as big of a wreck as Brenden is – you're not, by the way. I'm also supposed to remind you that the ceremony is in fifteen minutes, so your father should be in here with you in ten. Oh, yes," she gestured at the table, "someone left this darling bouquet for you. I'm not sure who, but there's a note. Now, do you need someone to stay until your father gets here?"
Sarah had frozen the instant she saw the crystal peaches that emerged gracefully from the flowers, but nonetheless, she managed to reassure her mother, "No, I'll be fine, but thanks. See you soon?"
"That you will, baby girl. I love you, and I'm so proud of you." With that, Linda and her formidable presence left the room.
As soon as her footsteps faded, Sarah warily turned to face the bouquet. In addition to the crystal peaches, there were small bunches of purple flowers, delicate pink blossoms, plenty of green leaves punctuated with white flowers, some large orange blooms, and the promised note tucked into the envelope embossed with a stylized barn owl.
After carefully examining the whole thing for the tell-tale shimmer of magic and finding nothing, she tentatively reached for the envelope, flicked it open, and began to read.
My dear Sarah…
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Author's Notes A: Thanks to Google, I know that the flowers were "purple hyacinth" (I'm sorry/please forgive me), peach blossoms (the Chinese say that peach blossoms mean "luck" and peach petals mean "state of intense trance of love"), ivy (wedded love/affection) with white blossoms (anxious to please/affection), and Chinese hibiscus (delicate beauty).
Links to some helpful visuals and the flower guide I used will be available in the AN of this chapter on my Archive of Our Own account soon and my LiveJournal account eventually (I hope).