The Magic Dance
Summary: Sarah knew going to her Senior Prom alone would be miserable, but with a silent wish and an unexpected dance partner, she may find herself in an even more frightening situation. For nothing is more frightening than love.
"Crap," Sarah sighed wiping the eyeliner away with her finger. A faint black line still remained, running into her eye shadow. "Now I've got to start all over," She grumbled under her breath, reaching for a baby wipe. Sarah had only a month left of High School, one more month of goofing off and ditching because you're a "Senior" and "You can do that now". For Sarah the end of schooling could not have come more quickly. She only had a few friends, meshing rather well with a few of the drama kid rejects. They were always nice to her, but she never felt truly connected to any of them, she hadn't made any real friends since--.
Don't even think about that Sarah!
She told herself as the thought crossed her mind. The thing that occurred when she was 15 was only holding her back now. Only children believed in those sorts of things and she had often wished and wondered if the whole thing had been a dream. In the past year she had tried her best to forget about it, try to move on, and try to grow up. Yet in her heart she knew it was real and that was the scariest thing. Ever since then she had always expected him to show up at her door or find herself trapped in the Labyrinth's walls again, desperately trying to find a way out…or in.
Her thoughts were interrupted as her step-mother burst into her room.
"Sarah you've got 10 minutes or I'm leaving without you!" She barked. Her hands were placed firmly on her hips and she sported an unfriendly look on her face.
"Go ahead! I don't want to go to this stupid Prom anyways!" Said Sarah pouting dramatically.
"Oh God, not this again! I told you every girl your age has to go to Prom! If you had been a better sport about it then maybe you could have gotten yourself a date, but no, you had to--"
"I wouldn't want a date anyways! All the boys at my school are…"
"What? Not good enough? Better get used to girlie because boys aren't like the princes you read about in your fairy tale books. If you keep waiting for one to come riding up on a noble steed, you're going to end up old and alone!" Her Step-mother fumed. Sarah and her step-mother never got along. Sarah believed in romance, and her step-mother believed in 'love'. The kind of love that you have to convince yourself of.
"That's not the reason!" Sarah retaliated. "I just wished they were more…generous…." The adjective came out of her mouth before she could even think it, leaving her wondering where that came from.
"I don't want to hear this anymore, this conversation is over and I expect you to be in that car in," She glanced at her watch, "six minutes". She rushed out of the room just as quickly as she had entered it.
Sarah stared at her reflection in the mirror. She began applying the eye makeup again until it looked adequate, knowing that there would be no one there who she would care to impress. She could hear the car door opening in the driveway outside and she knew she had about three minutes before she would be stranded at home alone like always. It was only due to the fact that her Step-Mother had to pick up Toby from a friend's house that she was willing to give her a ride.
Yes, even Toby, age four, had better friends than Sarah. What a pity.
Sarah got up from her seat in front of the mirror and did a full body check of how she looked. Her dark hair, always long, was nicely curled with a flower hair pin gracefully tucked into it. Her dress seemed a little too fancy even for the Prom. It was a white dress with ruffled short sleeves and a slanted cut skirt. It had light blue trim around the edges but from far away it just looked white. She looked beautiful, like the princess she had always wished she was. She looked over to her window to see if her step-mother had left yet, but just as she did the tree outside her room wobbled slightly and she could distinctly hear the sound of wings beating.
Strange.
---------Later At the Prom---------
Sarah waited patiently in line, her invitation/ticket gripped tightly between her fingers. Her stomach was full of butterflies and she wondered if she was going to get sick, or sweat too much, or---
"Sarah, hi! You look so pretty," A voice called from in front of the line. It was Patti Glenn, one of the more friendly popular girls and also leader of the prom committee. She was sitting at the front table taking the invitations from the students and making sure they weren't violating the dress code. "Where's your date?" she asked.
"I uh…I don't have one," She said embarrassed.
"Oh, well, that's fine too," Patti flashed a sympathetic smile, but her eyes showed a flicker of pity.
Sarah entered the courtyard where a gazebo sheltered a few tables and an array of appetizers. Kids from her school littered the area; some circled in their little cliques, others hogging the appetizers, and of course several couples making out in various corners. She could faintly hear music playing and followed it to a dance floor covered with teenagers.
"Let's Dance!—Put On Your Red Shoes and Dance the Blues….Let's Dance! To The Song They're Playing on The Radio….."
At least the DJ's got taste.
Sarah stood on the edge of the dance floor alone, looking for a friendly face. She didn't particularly like dancing but they were playing her favorite song, and it did look like fun.
"Sarah over here!" A voice called from across the dance floor, barely audible over the booming music. It was Sherri, one of her drama friends. She beckoned Sarah over.
"Hey, you're here, I thought you wouldn't show!" Sherri smiled. She was with a boy Sarah didn't know, but by the looks of it he was an underclassman complete with acne and glasses. Sarah's other friend Nancy was with them too, she also was with a boy. Nancy's date was a boy Sarah knew too well, his name was George, and he used to throw rocks at Sarah when she was in Middle School.
"Come on Sarah, Let's Dance," Nancy giggled pulling her on to the dance floor, Sherri and the boys followed. They started with just goofing off and dancing in a group, everyone taking turns at pulling some hilariously old school dance moves. Just when her spirits were starting to rise and a smile finally made its way to her face, the song ended. The new song was much, much slower and everyone started pairing off. Sarah looked to her friends for help, but both of them were locked onto their dates. Suddenly Sarah was reminded of why she didn't want to come to Prom.
Feeling like she didn't belong—knowing that she didn't belong on the dance floor, Sarah left the now even more crowded dance floor. The courtyard was practically empty, all except for the random couples heavily making out, too 'in love' to even dance. Sarah ran to a tree that seemed vacant of any hormonal teenagers. The air was cold and for some reason Sarah was much more upset than even she thought reasonable.
I wish I wasn't here alone.
A gust of strong cold wind whipped by her causing the tree to shake. Sarah, trying to keep warm, thought it might be better to stay close to the dance floor in case her friends had finally tore themselves away from their dates long enough to notice she was upset. Yet when she reached the dance floor again, she lingered at the edge, unable to enter the actual ballroom. Her eyes searched the crowd for Sherri or Nancy, but she couldn't find them. Across the dance floor though, something else caught her eye. A bolt of fear and shock ran through her body and rendered her unable to move or speak.
There, at the opposite end of the room, was a familiar face that she only visited in her memories and her dreams. It was him the Goblin King, Jareth. His wild mane-like hair was unmistakable and even from across the room, the smirk on his face was apparent. He moved towards her effortlessly, gliding across the dance floor undisturbed by the hoards of teenagers moving about. His eyes locked on to her. He stopped only a foot or two away from her and bowed.
"Would you honor me with a dance?" He said dreamily. Still bent from bowing, he raised his head to meet her shocked gaze. His eyes, frightening, crazy, and utterly beautiful had her hypnotized. A clever smirk spread across his face, leaving Sarah unsure whether to scream or swoon. Jareth got up from his bow and took her hand in his, kissing it lightly before letting it rest again at her side. She remained speechless.
"Come now Sarah, you may have grown up quite a bit since we first met, but I know you still remember the dream," he practically purred.
A rush of memories flew through Sarah's mind. A ballroom, full of people she didn't know, a frightening new experience, apprehension spreading through her body until…she saw him. But how did Jareth know of that, she was certain it was only a dream. Could he have possibly been there with her, holding her affectionately and safely in his arms as they twirled together across the dance floor? She blushed defensively as the thought crossed her mind.
"And I know you haven't stopped thinking about it since," He added.
"What are you doing here?" She finally murmured, nearly inaudible. Fear apparent in her voice.
"You wished it and I appeared. You're the only one with the power to summon me into your world," He cocked his head slightly. "At least in this form," He whispered.
Sarah thought back to the beating of wings outside of her window. How many times had she spotted an owl watching her from a lamppost while she walking home? Or just outside her classroom's window? And all the times she had spotted one on the tree right outside her own window? She knew he was lurking close, but she never thought he was that close.
"I respect your privacy of course, but I always stayed near in case you ever wished to return to the Underground, which you didn't, but I never gave up hope."
"I've never been free of you…I've never been free from the Labyrinth," She breathed, her voice trembling.
"You've never been free of it because it's where you belong, look around you, you don't belong with these people. You belong in a world of fantasy like you've always dreamed. You belong in a Kingdom that will heed your every word. And you should belong to a man who will treat you as a Queen," Sarah expected him to smirk at the remark but instead he remained very serious, catching her a little off guard.
"What do you want from me?" She finally whimpered.
"A dance," said Jareth. And with that he took her hand in his and led her out to the center of the dance floor, her heart beating loudly in her chest.
-------------End Chapter One---------------
Author's Note: To anyone who reads this, thank you! It's my first Labyrinth Fan fiction and I'm rather proud of the result. I watched Labyrinth only a few months ago due to a huge David Bowie obsession (I literally watched every movie he was in) and fell in love with it. I don't want to give away too much about the plot just yet, but it will basically become apparent at the end of chapter 2. Please review, and once again, thanks!