AN: Okay so this is my second attempt at a Laby fanfic, so please be gentle with me. The main theme comes from the song Blinded by Florence and the Machine.

This is set in modern times since I am a 90s baby and I don't know much about the 80s.

Please, read and enjoy my humble little vision. Chapter titles are key lines from Phantom songs and during this first chapter especially, even though Sarah is singing she is also thinking about certain lines within that song. They match the story in certain aspects.

Also, super short chapter to start out but it will grow. This story is already completed and written out I'm just fine tuning the chapters before I post. I also apologize for the obscenely long AN.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The Labyrinth is a song I can't get out of my head. Also, anything in this fanfic that seems similar in any way to any other author out there I apologize. I am only one person. As much as I love to read Laby fics I have not read them all, so anything similar in that way is unintentional.

There was a hush from the audience and everything was silent. Even the soft instrumentals had mellowed out into more mournful tones of music as a voice sang out in the theatre.

Lone upon the stage stood Sarah Williams, her pure soprano voice echoing around the expanse of the theatre. You were once my one companion, you were all that mattered.

She poured every ounce of emotion she could muster into the song. Tears slid down her face as she made her way through the set of the graveyard. It never failed that when she arrived at that song her emotions took control. At that point she wasn't even acting. Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed, somehow you would be here.

There was always a stunned silence from the audience as she poured her heart out into the song. She could not explain why it affected her so.

When she was in high school she knew she wanted to act. When she was in drama club they did a musical. Only then did Sarah discover that she could sing and not only sing: her voice was a lovely soprano.

Wishing I could hear your voice again, knowing that I never would.

Sarah could still remember fleeing up the stairs upon returning home, excitement flooding through her being. She called to her friends before she even sat down. They had appeared whenever she called back then. The labyrinth had been real and her friends had stayed by her side.

The last time she had spoken to them was eight years ago. Now there was only silence. Dreaming of you won't help me to do all that you dreamed I could.

After she discovered that she could sing as well as act Sarah contacted her mother who immediately sent money for Sarah to begin voice lessons as well as acting lessons. She landed a role in her first musical before she graduated. Too many years fighting back tears, why can't the past just die?

Then there came a time when her memories became muddled. It was the last time she had spoken with her friends those eight years ago. She remembered sitting in her room talking with Hoggle and Sir Didymus, gushing over how it felt to sing on stage and how it set her veins on fire.

They never came back after that night, and Sarah had flown to London to join her mother's theatre. The time after that was always hard for her to focus on, like trying to put a lens in focus when stretched beyond its limits. Try to forgive, teach me to live. Give me the strength to try.

She had arrived back in the states a year ago, joining a theatre company. She auditioned for The Phantom of the Opera and won the sought after role of Christine. It was the role of a lifetime.

Sarah felt as if the musical spoke to her. The part suited her perfectly and she had never felt more alive. No more memories, no more silent tears. No more gazing across the wasted years.

Somewhere out in the audience her father Robert, his wife Karen, and even eleven year old Toby sat watching her. It was the first time they had seen her perform since her high school days. Help me say goodbye. Help me say goodbye.

The song ended, flowing into another part of the act. Sarah seamlessly melded into her role as Christine, drawn in by the Phantom's gentle song.

The rest of the musical went on without a hitch. Sarah came back upon the stage to bow with the rest of her fellow actors to outstanding applause from the audience. She still had a hard time believing they were cheering for her.

Afterwards she was backstage headed to her dressing room. Robert, Karen, and Toby were already there. When she opened the door her father pulled her into a tight hug. Tears were running down his face.

"Oh Sarah you were wonderful up there. You were a dream. I couldn't believe that was my little girl."

Sarah beamed at her father and wiped away a lone tear that had broken free from her own eyes. "Sometimes it feels like a dream Dad, like I'm not really awake."

"You look like a queen." Toby spoke then, grinning from ear to ear, motioning to Sarah's brilliant white dress, the wedding dress from the final scene.

"I feel like one when I'm in this dress Tobes." Sarah admitted then noticed something on her vanity.

"Did you bring that to me Dad?" Sarah asked.

On her vanity was a single flower unlike any she had ever seen before. It was midnight blue and almost sparkled in the light. She didn't know why but it made her breath hitch.

"No honey, it was here when we got here. Do you have an admirer?" Robert playfully hinted at Sarah.

Sarah laughed, "None that I've kept around Dad."

Walking over to the vanity she picked up the flower, bringing the petals to her nose. It smelled wonderful and reminded her of the stars. "It's lovely."

Karen walked over to Sarah and took it, inspecting it. "Well there's no note. It could have come from anyone. Let's put it in some water so it won't wilt. I've never seen a flower like this before. It'd be a shame for it to die before you got a chance to enjoy it."

"Actually I need to get out of this dress before Andre comes in here and has a fit. I can't risk anything happening to it before the next show."

Robert beamed, "Let's wait outside for Sarah, Karen. Are you still going to join us for dinner?"

Sarah nodded and her family left the room. As soon as she was alone she sighed and sank into her chair. Her hands went to her forehead, supporting her as she sobbed. Finally she was alone and the mask could fall. Masquerade, hide your face so the world will never find you.

She was an excellent actress. Only when she was alone could she let her guard down. She hadn't lied to her dad when she told him she felt like it was a dream, as if she wasn't really awake. Her whole life had that effect, like it was blurry around the edges.

Once again Sarah looked to her mirror and tried as hard as she could to summon her friends.

She had spent so many days with them in her old room. She would tell them all about her voice lessons and they would tell her all about That Rat Jareth and his never-ending attempts to find a reason to tip Hoggle into the Bog of Eternal Stench.

Sarah had always laughed. She got the feeling the Goblin King liked to tease Hoggle, because he had never actually gone through with it.

Where were her friends now? Why didn't they come to her? Masquerade, you can fool any friend who ever knew you.

Sarah sighed, her chest hurting as she gripped the flower in her delicately manicured fingers. She then placed it in a glass of water she procured and put it beside her mirror. Okay Sarah, change your clothes and put your mask back on. Pretend you're not numb.

Dinner with her family passed by and finally Sarah was left to hail a cab back to her small apartment. It was sparsely decorated. Sarah hadn't had time to adorn the walls yet. Between rehearsals and the actual show she hadn't had time for much of anything.

Her thoughts kept returning to her friends though, that night more than before. She felt strange, like she had been floating through a dream and had begun to become lucid, taking back control.

"Hoggle I need you." Sarah called out into the silent room. There was no reply, no rustling of the wind to signify his arrival.

With a frown Sarah realized she even missed the mischievous goblins that used to hang around her. Once upon a time ago they had even made mischief backstage at her first musical in high school.

A pang of loneliness swept through her and she shook it off, heading for her small bathroom to shower and go to bed. Rinse and repeat. That was the routine of her life.