Well, here it is, the Labyrinth/Big crossover that no one's been waiting for!
I hadn't seen Big for a while, and recently re-watched it. I must confess I've always found the Susan/Josh relationship rather troubling. And the idea of an old arcade machine granting random wishes could be a scary thing if it fell into the wrong hands - Imagine if Donald Trump stumbled across it! Anyway, I love Tom Hanks and I'm a sucker for happy endings, so I wrote this one-shot.
It is set in August 1993, 5 years after the events in Big and 7 years after Labyrinth.
I do not own anything from Big or Labyrinth *Puts 25 cents in the slot and makes wish* ;-). I'm not sure this crossover even works. Please let me know what you think. - Mrs. P.
Second Chances
"Can I have a hot dog and candy floss and popcorn?"
Toby jabbered with excitement as the sights, sounds and smells of the boardwalk filled his senses. The annual trip to Coney Island with his big sister had become a treasured ritual. It was a wonderfully warm August day with a refreshing briny breeze. Perfect for an itinerary of summer fun and frolics.
Sarah watched with delight as her brother galloped ahead, checking out all the refreshment kiosks.
He paused at one, practically drooling over all the flavours of ice cream on offer.
"I'm gonna need at least six different scoops of that." The boy hungrily licked his lips.
"Slow down, squirt," she chuckled. "And you can have ice cream or candy floss or popcorn. Your mom would kill me if she found out I let you have all of them."
"I won't tell if you don't," Toby grinned as he used his finger to trace a mark on his chest, "Cross my heart and hope to die."
Her expression turning suddenly serious, Sarah brought them to a halt.
"Don't ever hope for anything like that," she cautioned.
Her brother rolled his eyes. Right at that moment, a woman in her mid-thirties with long, curly, mousey blonde hair collided into them.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," the stranger spluttered, "I thought I saw - - I mean, I guess I wasn't looking where I was going."
Sarah smiled to reassure her, noting the worried look on her face.
"It's fine, there's no harm done," she said.
The woman offered a weak smile in return. Behind them, a row of arcade machines flashed and beeped, the curly-haired blonde anxiously scanned down the row as if looking for something or someone in particular.
"Is everything okay?" Sarah inquired, ready to aid in the search for any missing persons.
Nodding firmly, the woman thanked her for her concern.
"I'm fine, really," she said before scurrying away.
Toby found a hot dog stand and Sarah followed him, watching with concern as the curly-haired stranger continued to fruitlessly scour the boardwalk. After a while, the woman disappeared among the crowds.
"Please, can we go on the rides next?" Her brother excitedly asked, in between taking bites from his hot dog and dripping mustard down his shirt.
"Sure," she smiled, "But remember, you can only go on the ones you're big enough for."
Her brother straightened his posture, preening as he did so.
"I'm way taller than I was last year," he crowed.
Sarah affectionately ruffled his already unruly blond hair.
"So you are," she smirked.
It was hard for her to think back to the time when she hated the very sight of him. Although, she never really hated him, resented him was more like it. From the moment her dad remarried, she felt she'd been relegated in his affections. It was bad enough when she had to share his attentions with her stepmother, but when Toby came along, she felt she might as well not exist at all. Except for when they needed a babysitter, of course. Wishing him to the goblins was an extreme measure, it was true. However, Sarah learned a lot of valuable lessons that day, seven years ago. The most important of which was how much she actually loved her baby brother. In fact, her only regret was the way she parted from the Goblin King. It was necessary at the time, and the only way she could have ended things. But still, she thought about Jareth often and hoped he was happy. Why his happiness should be of any concern to her, she wasn't sure. And yet, all the same, it was. The rest of the Labyrinth denizens became her friends, even the Firey Gang, but he remained elusive. Occasionally, she would catch a glimpse of white and gold feathers, or hear the hoot of an owl. Sarah secretly wished that one day he would return as a friend and not a foe.
Once or twice, from their swinging car on the Wonder Wheel, Sarah thought she caught sight of the woman who'd bumped into them earlier that day. It appeared she was still frantically searching for something. Later, when Toby asked to go to the beach, she saw her again, sitting alone on a bench near the end of the boardwalk with her head in her hands.
"Why don't you go get some ice cream while I go talk to that lady?" She handed her brother a ten dollar bill.
He wasn't about to argue, even though he'd already eaten a week's worth of his mom's idea of a healthy candy allowance.
Sarah took a seat on the bench and offered the woman a Kleenex.
"I know it's none of my business, and you don't know me from a hole in the wall, but if you need help or just a shoulder to cry on, I'm here, okay?"
The breeze coming off the ocean was tossing the woman's curly hair around, and she reached to brush it from her eyes.
"That's very kind of you," she said, taking the Kleenex and dabbing away her tears, "But I - - I wouldn't know where to start," she sighed with hopelessness.
"How about at the beginning?" Sarah coaxed her with a smile. "Let's see if we can't work out a happy ending together, huh, what do you say?"
The woman didn't reply and instead she stared out at all the young people enjoying themselves on the beach.
"You'll think I'm crazy," she eventually said, turning back to face the young brunette, "You see, it's kinda unbelievable. I mean, I certainly didn't believe that wishes really could come true until I saw it with my own eyes."
The woman's words took her by surprise, and Sarah couldn't help being spooked by the turn of events. It was coincidental, to say the least.
"Oh, I think you'll find I'm very open-minded on the subject," she said, sidling up closer to her companion. "You see, I once made a wish myself," she confessed, making sure Toby was out of earshot, "And the Goblin King answered."
"Goblin King?" The woman frowned with confusion, "I was talking about that." She pointed across the boardwalk to an old fortune teller arcade machine.
"Zoltar Speaks," Sarah read the lit up sign on the front "Nope, never heard of it," she shrugged.
Grabbing her purse, the woman began rummaging around inside. After a few seconds, she plucked out a photograph of a young man with dark curly hair, green eyes and a warm friendly smile.
"My name's Susan, Susan Lawrence," she introduced herself and held the picture up, "And this was my boyfriend, Josh Baskin. Boy being the operative word, as it turned out." The hollow laugh she gave preceded her bursting into tears again.
Sarah introduced herself and offered what comfort she could without knowing the cause of her companion's distress. Deciding to take the plunge and tell her story first, she was sure her new acquaintance wouldn't consider her own tale quite so unbelievable afterwards. Toby returned with his ice cream and she got him some change for the arcade. Promising her brother they would go on the beach later, she sent him off with a tub full of change. He was under strict instructions to stay within her line of sight. Although, she was counting on the noise from the game and slot machines to prevent him discovering how she once wished for the goblins to take him away.
"Wow," Susan gasped, after the brunette finished talking, "But I still think my story's got that beat."
Sarah was similarly dumbstruck upon hearing how a thirteen-year-old boy could grow into an adult overnight, simply by making a wish via an old arcade fortune telling machine. Both sat in contemplation for a moment, listening to the nearby roller coaster clattering over the tracks as it whizzed past. Toby was happily playing on some sports game or other, oblivious to everything around him.
"So, I guess Josh would be eighteen now," Sarah observed, uneasily.
He might technically be an adult, but Susan was also technically old enough to be his mother. Relationships with such a large age gap were likely doomed to fail. But then, some people made them work, and it wasn't as if she was an expert on such matters. Besides, she didn't know how old Jareth was, and she had imagined all kinds of scenarios involving the two of them becoming a lot more than friends.
"Maybe you could get in touch with him somehow?" Sarah suggested, "Let him know you still think about him and that you hope he's happy."
The other woman's face took on a guilty expression.
"I already did," she confessed. "A few weeks ago, I went to his neighbourhood in disguise, and I watched from across the street while he hung out with his friends. I didn't talk to him or make myself known in any way, I just wanted to see him again. He seemed happy, flirting with girls, talking about going to college in the fall and clowning around. I thought about going over, but what was I supposed to say? - Hi, remember me? I'm the woman who seduced you when you were thirteen, even though I didn't know it at the time. Oh, and by the way, I was wondering if you wanted to pick up from where we left off. - I couldn't do it, I couldn't do that to him. I'm in my mid-thirties, at a time in my life where my biological clock is ticking louder with each passing year, and he's just about to begin an exciting new chapter in his life. The really messed up thing is I really loved him, and I still do. That man-child was the sweetest nicest guy I ever dated, and I don't think I'll ever find anyone else who makes me feel the way he did. Believe me, I've looked. I've been around the track more times than an old racehorse, and I'm not getting any younger - but I could," she said, enigmatically, with a glance in the direction of the Zoltar Speaks machine.
Sarah pieced together her intentions, her eyes widening in shock.
"You mean you'd wish to be a teenager again?"
Even at the tender age of twenty-two, she still couldn't imagine reliving all that angst.
Susan groaned and put her head in her hands.
"I don't know," she whimpered. "I've made preparations with regards to money and my apartment. There's no one important I'll be leaving behind. I thought all I had to do was find that damn machine and make my wish. Being eighteen again wouldn't be so bad, would it? Nothing sagging, bagging or turning grey, and I was pretty hot back then if I do say so myself." Her smile was uncertain. "But things with Josh might not work out, even if we're the same age. I don't know, maybe I should try harder to move on."
Sarah contemplated her own dilemma with regards to Jareth. She presumed the reason he was forced to keep his distance from her was because he had no power over her. But what if she wished to see him again? Would he accept her invitation to be friends or would he want more? Perhaps he would be angry and vengeful because she defeated and refused him. It was a risk, and for her own safety and for those she loved, it probably wasn't one worth taking. But then, she would have to spend her whole life wondering. Hell, she beat him once, and she could do it again if that's the way things shook out.
Susan wiped away a tear.
"My mom passed away a few months ago, and it was her that got me thinking seriously about doing this," she explained.
Sarah offered her condolences, knowing something about what it was like to lose a mother. Except, her's wasn't dead, only disinterested in her and her life.
"It was cancer, and it happened so fast. That last night, as she lay dying, I held her hand and she told me she didn't regret a thing she'd done in her life. The only things she regretted were the roads not taken and the chances she let pass her by." Susan let out a heavy sigh as she placed the photograph of Josh back into her purse. "If things don't work out, I could always come back here and make another wish, right?" She hopefully inquired, seeking approval for something she'd more or less decided to go ahead and do, regardless.
Was it that simple? Sarah's past experience taught her that wishes have consequences, and the stakes were high. Was missing out on something that could be wonderful really worth risking everything for?
"I don't know," she replied, honestly.
Who doesn't love a happy ending? She mused. Right at that moment, Toby came running over from the arcade.
"I've got a present for you," he grinned at his sister as he concealed something behind his back.
"Oh?" Sarah questioned with surprise.
"I got it on the claw machine because you said you liked them," he explained as he presented her with a cute, little, stuffed owl toy.
Wondering if it was the sign she'd been waiting for, she burst out laughing and hugged her brother tight.
"Thanks, Toby, it's the best present ever."
It was time for them to go and enjoy the beach before it got too late.
Sarah glanced over to the Zoltar machine and then back at Susan.
"I think you should go for it."
The other woman beamed and nodded in agreement. Dreamlover by Mariah Carey started playing on the arcade sound system, and it seemed like the final push they both needed. With a quick hug, they said their goodbyes.
"Good luck," Sarah said, clutching the stuffed owl to her chest, "to both of us."
Susan watched as the young brunette and her brother made their way to the warm sands of the beach. Fishing around for her twenty-five cent piece, she slowly walked over to the Zoltar Speaks machine. The thing wasn't even plugged in when Josh made his wish, somehow she remembered that. Pulling the plug, she took a deep breath and pushed her coin in the slot.
As her brother splashed around at the ocean's edge, Sarah glanced back to the boardwalk. Craning her neck, she tried to get a clear line of sight to the spot where the fortune teller stood, but there were too many people blocking her view. Realising she was stalling on making her own wish, she looked over at Toby. The Goblin King wouldn't take him from her again. Whatever happened next, she wouldn't allow it.
"I wish Jareth, the King of the Goblins, would come say hi, and maybe we could be friends." Her words came out in a rush. "But that's all," she added, hoping she was being clear enough.
Checking to make sure her brother was safe, she almost jumped out of her skin when a smooth, rich voice drawled directly into her right ear.
"Does this mean we're bosom companions?"
Spinning on her heel, she found herself face to face with the smirking Goblin King. He was impeccably dressed in tailored black pants with a black silk shirt open at the neck. It was perhaps a little too formal for beachwear, but he looked gorgeous in mortal guise. His blond hair was short and quiffed back, revealing his pointed eyebrows, which were make up free.
Sarah's mouth went dry and she realised it was because she was gawking at him like a fool. His expression was mischievous, but not malevolent as he held out a black-leather-gloved hand to her.
"Friends?" He hopefully inquired.
She tentatively reached out, wary at first, until his fingers gently wrapped around hers. Even through the material of his glove, the first real physical contact between them was magic.
"Friends," she agreed as they shook hands.
Smiling at the king, Sarah called over to her brother.
"Hey, Toby, come meet a friend of mine."
Later, as the sun was setting, the three of them strolled back to the boardwalk. Up ahead, Sarah caught sight of a pretty teenage girl with curly blonde hair. She seemed to be waiting for someone. Recognising who she was, the two of them exchanged a secret smile. Susan surreptitiously held up her 'Your wish is granted' card as Sarah furtively nodded towards Jareth, whose hand she was holding. The young women both went their separate ways, thankful for second chances.
THE END.