A LONG LAYOVER: A Seasonal Labyrinth Fic
Summary: After Sarah finds herself stuck at the airport due to a blizzard, she follows a white feather and finds herself back in the Underground during Christmastime. When Jareth says that he can convince Sarah to stay, she scoffs; not even the best Christmas ever will make her stay with him! The two make a bet; Sarah stays through Christmas and Jareth will convince her to stay forever. Once again, the Champion is pitted against the Goblin King, only this time he's not only mysterious and mischievous, he's also oddly tempting, strangely kind, and...full of holiday cheer? Sarah may have resisted a villainous Goblin King, but can she resist this new side to Jareth, as well? Will she see her family in time for Christmas?
Chapter One: Never Follow the Feather
"Are you sure there are no flights?"
"Yes Karen, I'm very sure," Sarah said, her knuckles whitening on the payphone's receiver in an attempt to keep her tongue in check. What did Karen expect her to do? Change the weather? "I asked and begged everyone I could find at the counters of different airlines, and I got the same answer at all of them. Every flight is grounded due to the blizzard."
"Well, when do they think the blizzard will end?" Karen asked, impatiently. "Or, at least, when will flights be leaving again?"
Sarah sighed, although it was half a groan of pain. "Sometime tomorrow…maybe…if not airplanes, then I can get a bus ride to Chicago and take a plane from O'Hare."
"Sweetie, a bus ride from Des Moines—"
"I know, but it'll be better than sitting here twiddling my thumbs. Look, Karen, I'm going to make it back for the holidays," Sarah said, firmly, "I'm just going to be a little late, that's all."
"I know, sweetie." Karen sighed. "It's just…what rotten luck! I mean, Christmas Eve just won't be the same without you. And Toby's looking forward to your visit…"
"I know."
"And we haven't seen you in months…"
"I know." Sarah gritted her teeth. The way Karen was talking, it was almost like Sarah was purposefully doing this. Sarah reminded herself that it wasn't Karen's fault she was sometimes abrasive, it was just her personality. Sarah just had to let it roll off her back. Karen did care for her, and despite their difficulties and Sarah's own conflicted emotions when it came to her mother and her step-mother, she cared for Karen, too.
"Just be careful and get back to us safe," Karen said, and Sarah smiled despite herself.
"I will."
"Do you have money for food and a hotel? If you need anything—"
"I'll be fine. Thanks."
"Call me as soon as you learn something new. In fact, call me in the morning so I know you're okay."
"I will."
"Love you, Sarah. Wait, here's your father…"
"Honey," her father came onto the phone without fanfare or even a hello, "do you have money for a hotel?"
"Dad! Karen just asked me that!" Sarah grinned. "I'm twenty-five, you know. I can't claim hand-outs from my parents at my age!"
"I consider this an extraneous circumstance."
"I'm fine," Sarah said. "I'll call first thing in the morning. I have to go or there won't be any hotels. Is Toby still up?"
"No, he went to bed an hour ago."
"Really? Stupid time zones, I always get mixed up. Well, give him a kiss for me, okay? I promise I'll make it in time for Christmas."
"Don't make promises like that, honey. Just promise me you'll be safe."
"Of course, Dad." Sarah smiled, clutching the receiver as a wave of emotion swept over her. She may be twenty-five, but Sarah still felt—and longed for—the warmth familial love brought to her. Ever since a certain encounter in her youth, she had never taken for granted the love of her family. Well, except for Karen; sometimes she found it really difficult to love her step-mother. Regardless, right now she sorely wished she was on a plane watching the New England coastline rise up to meet her, like she was supposed to be. She licked her dry lips and murmured, "I love you, Dad."
"I love you too, sweetie." He paused, then repeated, "Be safe."
"I promise."
Sarah hung up the payphone, then glanced around at the airport with a sigh. The truth of the situation—and one she hadn't told her father or Karen—was that there would be no hotel for her. The blizzard made it impossible to venture outside. She was going to spend the twenty-third of December stuck in an airport, uncomfortably trying to sleep in one of those affixed airport chairs, while clutching desperately at her luggage in case anyone tried to grab it.
Wonderful, Sarah thought.
And just to make matters worse, her stomach growled, reminding her that she was hungry on top of everything else. Well, she hadn't expected to be stuck in Iowa, so she'd only snacked on a bag of airline peanuts, and now that choice was seriously coming back to bite her in the butt.
Sarah glanced around the terminal lobby. All of the shops were closed. She'd purposefully chosen a red-eye flight for the cheaper ticket. She wondered if there was some cafeteria or something like that outside the terminal. Grabbing her duffle bag, she walked toward the terminal exit. There were few people—probably more than usual because of the holiday season—but still, the airport was far from crowded. While there was a soft buzz of conversation from a few of the passengers, more were asleep or staring morosely outside or reading books. There was an eerie, otherworldly feel to the place, as if they had all stepped outside of time. The blizzard cocooned the airport in a curtain of white, and the wind and snow pelting the building caused a steady background noise.
Sarah reached the terminal entrance and hesitated, wondering if it was worth it to search for food or just find a vending machine and snack on something while reading her book. At this rate, she was going to finish the book she'd brought.
A soft wind ghosted over her skin, causing a shiver to run down her spine. Great, there was a draft somewhere. She wished she hadn't packed her huge, marshmallow-like coat in her check-in luggage. All she had on was a sweater, and stuffed into her duffle bag was a windbreaker.
Sarah stared at the signs above her head. She was at the entrance of Concourse C. Ahead of her was the upper level lobby, which was mostly deserted except for a few bored passengers taking the opportunity to walk around. She passed by a few closed shops—a floral shop, a bookstore, a café. Everything she passed was closed. She went downstairs into the ticket counter area. There were more people here, arguing for different flights, trying to find ways out of Des Moines. People stood, glowering, their baggage huddled around them like lost children. Sarah avoided eye contact and hunted for one open place. She'd take a cold cheese sandwich at this point. Anything!
Even the bar was closed.
She sighed, heading back to the upper lobby. The tension and frustration in the ticket area was nearly palatable; she'd rather be surrounded by sleepy, gloomy people upstairs.
On the second walkthrough, she spotted a vending machine. A dinner of Cheetos, a Snickers bar, and a water bottle—all ridiculously over-priced, Sarah thought with another sigh as she dug around for change in her purse. The dinner of champions.
Pushing the coins through the slot, she selected D-23 from the numeric pad, then watched as the metal coil slowly unwound from her Cheetos—and noticed a shadow next to hers. The plastic of the machine wasn't very reflective, but she made out her silhouette…and there, by her right ankle, was a smaller shadow, like that of a child. A rotund child. It was reaching for her.
Sarah gasped, whirling around, her gaze darting to where the child should be.
Nothing.
The soft plop of the bag brought her attention back to the machine. "Okay…creepy much?" she muttered. She bent and retrieved the Cheetos, then pushed some more money in and pressed H-01. The dull beeps seemed to echo. Actually, now that she glanced around, the lobby had become suddenly deserted; even the random people that had been aimlessly walking about seemed to have disappeared.
Don't think about it, Sarah commanded. Don't think about how this is just like a horror movie and all you need is for Freddy Krueger to pop up around a corner and say, "Surprise!"
Why was the vending machine taking so long?
Another draft wafted over her, only this time she swore she could feel something brush her cheek, like a soft caress. Jumping and gasping, her hand flew to her face, her fingers moving over the skin. Nothing there. She pulled back, staring at her hand.
It glittered in the dull, fluorescent lights.
She brought her hand closer to her face and her eyes widened. It wasn't just glittering; there was glitter on her hand.
Before her mind could process this information, the Snickers fell out, and with quick, jerky movements, she pushed the partition back and grabbed it.
Ignore the glitter, just get back to Concourse C. She whirled around, the water forgotten. Something moved just in front of her; something that was whiter than the off-white airport tiles. Sarah's eyebrows rose as she watched a feather float across her field of vision. She had no idea where it had come from, but it lazily drifted across the tile as if it was teasing her. Here I am! Look at me! You know what this means, Sarah!
Oh, and how. Of course she knew what that feather was. Long, white, perfect. There had been quite a few of them after she'd come back from the Labyrinth. After the party had broken up and the Labyrinth creatures and gone back—after she'd tearfully said goodbye to Ludo, Hoggle, and Sir Didymus—she'd turned to find scattered amongst the mess of her room, white feathers. She knew the Goblin King hadn't been there; if he'd been in her tiny room, she would have noticed, he tended to take up all the room around him. In a way, she had resented those feathers. They were like snippy reminders from Jareth, himself. She'd taken special pleasure in crushing them into a garbage bag.
Now that this lone feather—the first she'd seen since that day—was in front of her, Sarah couldn't tear her gaze away from it. She watched as it aimlessly blew to the right, heading toward the abandoned shops. She glanced over her shoulder, momentarily staring at the sign that pointed toward Concourse C, but she knew she was going to follow the feather. Why fight it? She couldn't help herself, something—some impulse—made it impossible to ignore the owl feather. Was it because this was the first indication of the Labyrinth she'd had in seven years, when she'd stopped talking to her friends?
Sarah didn't want to analyze, didn't want to over think, and didn't want to do anything but act…so, she kept following the feather. It was like a penny that had rolled out of her hand and was always just out of reach, no matter how quickly she scrambled after it. The feather managed to remain ahead of her; she never could catch up to it and she wasn't willing to gallop after it.
The feather drifted to a little door cut out of the wall. It probably was a staff entrance of some kind, but it looked strange camouflaged into an otherwise dull, white wall. The small, golden doorknob protruded, shining in the fluorescent lights.
Sarah licked dry lips, watching as the feather drifted to just in front of the door, and finally came to a stand still. She shifted from foot to foot, unsure of what to do next. Finally, she bent and touched the feather tentatively, as if it would suddenly turn into a snake and bite her.
It was surprisingly soft. She gently picked it up and held the white plumage in front of her, twirling it around her fingers and watched as it became a blur.
It was just a feather. A barn owl's feather, yes, but harmless. Inconsequential. She needed to take a few deep breaths and chill. She didn't need to freak out at the littlest thing that reminded her of him.
Sarah stared at the feather until she was certain it was just a thing. She hesitated, then gently ran the tip of it across her cheek. It was so soft and slightly ticklish that she shivered. She ran the feather along her lips and gasped as a tingling spread through her whole body.
Okay, maybe she needed to go back to her earlier thoughts of not freaking out.
Sarah pulled the feather away just as she heard a soft click and looked up in time to see the white door push out slightly. Had someone unlocked it? She waited, tensely, but no one emerged.
Okay, the door just unlocked itself. That's not creepy at all, she thought, gripping the feather tighter. I should go.
Her free hand reached out toward the doorknob.
I really should go back to my gate…
Her fingertips grazed the cold, metallic surface.
I definitely shouldn't be snooping around here. I'll get in trouble, or worse, I'll find trouble. I should just back up and—
The door popped open with just a light tug. Cold air struck Sarah's face, causing her to instinctually close her eyes. It fanned over her like an icy breath.
Okay, weird, there definitely shouldn't be an exit around here…
Slowly, Sarah opened her eyes and pulled the door more fully open. Her eyes widened as she saw what was on the other side.
A forest of evergreens shrouded in soft, white snow. The place was obviously not Des Moines. First of all, it was daytime there, instead of early morning. Secondly, there wasn't a blizzard raging; instead, soft snowflakes fell. The entire scene looked like something out of a Christmas card, all it needed was a sled filled with cute children.
Close the door, just close the door and walk away! The rational part of her mind was screaming.
Yeah right. There hadn't been a day in her life when Sarah could just walk away, not from something like this. When she had been fifteen, she had embraced the magic in the world. She hadn't walked away then, even when it led to wishing her brother away. And then, she hadn't walked away from magic even when it meant dangers untold and hardships unnumbered. And when a certain Goblin King had bid her to give her brother up, to obey him, she had not walked away from that challenge, either.
So, even though forty percent of her was screaming this was a bad idea and to just get the hell out of there, the majority was egging her on. Magic, it whispered, real, true magic. It's been so long…
Sarah took a step forward, passing through the heating of the airport and into the frigid winter cold of the forest. She gasped as snowflakes brushed her cheeks like little kisses and shuddered when her feet sunk into the snow, her shoes and socks immediately dampening.
Crap, she'd left behind her luggage, and her jacket, which she'd stuffed into her duffle. She turned around to drag them through with her.
The door was gone; all she saw was more forest. Trees surrounded her on all sides. She was trapped here. Sarah's heart picked up pace, pounding through her until it was an echo in her head. What had she done? She stumbled back a step, her gaze darting around, just in case the doorway had moved. She took a hesitant step forward and reached out, waving her hands comically around. Maybe the doorway was invisible.
But no, she really was stuck.
"Oh hell no," Sarah muttered, turning and turning, looking for some way out to magically appear in front of her.
Don't panic, think, she instructed herself, crossing her arms over her stomach as if she was suffering from a stomach ache. She took three deep breaths, and when she could still feel panic threatening to overcome her, she took three more. Finally, she listened.
The forest was quiet except for nature sounds. Birds chirped, the wind caused leaves to rustle, but there was a stillness that only winter could bring. Yet, under that…
She tilted her head, frowning.
Wait, she could hear something very faintly coming from her right. She walked toward the sound, ignoring her now soaked shoes and socks, or how the cold wetness was spreading to her jeans. She had to find an exit, or shelter, or someone quickly; she wasn't prepared for being outside in ankle-deep snow.
She moved out of the clearing and into the thick trees, her hands brushing against their cold bark. The sounds were getting louder. She identified many different voices, all of them chattering. Was there a crowd in the forest or something?
They weren't very far; it took her only a few minutes of walking until the volume was loud enough that she was sure they were just past a dense growth of trees that lined what looked like another clearing. She was about to push the tree branches away and step out when a familiar voice said, above the din of the other voices, "I'm telling you, you imbeciles, that this tree is perfectly symmetrical!"
Sarah froze, her eyes widening, her hands tightening their grasp on the branches. Some snow shook off the tree, falling to the ground with a soft plop and making her wince, but it seemed no one on the other side noticed.
"Ya sure, Boss man?" a voice said. "Tree looks a little crooked to me."
"That's because you're a little crooked, Weezle!"
Sarah didn't know what to do. If Jareth was here, then this whole experience was some sort of trap. It had to be. Why else bring her here? But did she want to see him?
It was the shivers starting in her body from standing in the snow and soaking her clothes that finally decided things for her. Whether Jareth had some trick up his sleeve or not wasn't important; she couldn't stand here forever. Licking her dry lips, Sarah thrust her shoulders back, took a deep breath, and pushed through the branches. Some seemed to grab for her hair, but she batted them away. Unfortunately, she slipped, and as a result instead of the confident, striding walk she wanted to present the Goblin King with, she stumbled into the clearing while trying to make sure there wasn't snow in her hair.
She looked up just in time to see everyone's gaze fix on her—about a half dozen goblins and their King. For a moment, they just started at each other, then Jareth grinned and said, "Ah, here you are Sarah."
Sarah said, "What—?"
"Let's let Sarah decide," Jareth said, glancing for a moment at the goblins, who nodded their heads in agreement. He made a sweeping motion toward the pine trees around him. "Which Christmas tree do you think is the best, Sarah?"
Author's Notes: Yup, it's that time of year again. How could I resist a seasonal Labby fic? I mean really! :) So, in the spirit of "State of Mind," I bring you another romantic tale of Sarah and the Goblin King. I'm starting this one a bit late, though...Christmas snuck up on me this year! I had to do my holiday shopping yesterday (really late for me). Aggravatingly long lines abound at the mall, and I made it back late at night, but I think I'm [mostly] ready for the holiday season. Anyway, as a result, this holiday fic will no doubt take longer than just December. It will most likely bleed into January as well. But that just means more Jareth to love, right? XD
Please leave feedback! All thoughts/comments/suggestions welcome. I'm trying to write as many chapters beforehand, so I get a real grasp on the story, and I probably should have waited to post this chapter, but I wanted to get the ball rolling. Plus, Sarah gets stuck at the airport on the 23rd of December, which is today in my neck of the woods! Seems too good to pass up. :)
Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing when it comes to the Labyrinth. Not even Jareth. *sniff* This is a work of fanfiction created entirely for non-profit amusement. Please ask before re-posting it anywhere. Do not alter, change, or copy my stories, please. Thank you!