Love in the Spring
Author's Disclaimer: No, I do not own Labyrinth or Frozen. All rights go to their respective owners. I just play with the characters and songs. This one-shot sequel/prequel is dedicated to KC, a friend on dA, a fellow J/S and Frozen lover who has a birthday today. After a suggestion from LadyBookworm80 to try a prequel, my mind ran with it and used Fixer-Upper. I'm taking the opposite of the song for comic effect, because goblins are wonderful like that. If you squint, you should be able to see it. I hope you enjoy it!
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Chapter 2: Fixing Them Up
At last, April 16 had come!
Jareth and Sarah were married, and it was another beautiful spring day for it. Three multi-layer cakes were made to accommodate all the guests, and the Winter and Summer Court officials ended up sitting next to one another, much to everyone's surprise.
Sarah just smiled about the arrangements, while Jareth had the goblins provide entertainment (at least by his standards) by playing tag under the tables, making everyone keep an eye on their shoes instead of the odd placements. One could never be too careful once goblins started drinking ale, and never had there been more ale.
The goblins had much to celebrate, as their King was finally wed. It helped that they considered themselves directly responsible for the couple coming together in the first place, so they felt justified in drinking more than usual.
Once the goblins went off to the city to finish the celebrations (no doubt with illegal fireworks), Jareth and Sarah continued to dance and talk to those still in attendance. Sarah's family had left some time ago, but Jareth's family was still there. It was Jareth's sister who finally started asking the questions that most were curious about.
"We all know how you two met originally, and that Sarah later came back to the Labyrinth by choice, but how and why did Jareth start courting?"
Sarah laughed while Jareth looked around for signs of goblins or Sir Didymus. Seeing neither, he hung his head before continuing.
"As I'm sure you all know, Sarah had been visiting for more than a year when I noticed that the goblins were trying to stall Sarah's exit from the castle on more than one occasion. I asked them why, but for some reason, they all ran away."
After the crowd chuckled and Sarah rolled her eyes, Jareth said, "So I decided to talk to the most talkative subject I know, Sir Didymus. As you know, he's Captain of the Royal Goblin Guard. He talks to everyone, and he loves being useful to me."
"The fact that he would guard the bridge to the Bog says much about him," added Sarah.
"As I was saying, I brought Sir Didymus to me and asked him if he knew why the goblins were trying to prevent Sarah from leaving. That was when he told me that they wanted a new queen and were getting tired of waiting since I had 'brought the girl back'. Shortly after that revelation, some chickens ran into the throne room, and with them came some goblins. I figured that since the goblins ignored Sir Didymus when he talked to me, we could continue our conversation in peace."
"Perhaps there was too much peace," said Sarah.
"Too much indeed. I asked Sir Didymus if everyone felt this way about me waiting to court Sarah. I thought that she was not quite ready, but I needed to know how much I needed to say to convince everyone else to stop such nonsense from happening."
"As if threatening would not do the job," added Sarah, "which it would have."
"But the goblins need to be distracted, and I could have easily given them something else to do for you instead."
"But that didn't matter in the end."
"No, it didn't. For Sir Didymus told me then that he thought that Sarah was ready, and that I ought to do something before some other man tried to come and steal her away. He was concerned that I was not showing off all of my good points, only focusing on her."
"Was he, Sarah?"
"Oh no. He did a fine job of selling himself and the Labyrinth to me, make no mistake."
"Thank you, my wife. Make sure you tell that to Sir Didymus one of these days."
"I will."
"But anyways, Sir Didymus left after giving suggestions on what kinds of things I should do to attract her since Sarah was supposed to come the next day. I left the throne room where there were more goblins present than there had been before. I thought nothing of it and went to bed. The next day proved me wrong. I had intended to talk to the goblins after Sarah left, but I was too late."
Sarah laughed at Jareth's soon-to-be-embarrassment before taking over.
"I came over the next day at the appointed time, all ready to go exploring a forest with Jareth, when a goblin came over and tugged on my pants. Goblins had done that before to give me gifts, so I thought nothing of it and turned to face him. I saw that he had many of his cohorts behind him, all of them looking at me with scared looks. I was confused."
"I didn't know what had gotten into the goblins. Normally they were louder when Sarah came, but today they were quiet, as though I had taken away all their chickens."
"Since Jareth looked concerned about the goblins' behavior, I decided to try to help by offering to give the goblin who approached me a hug. He liked that, and then more questions came."
~~~Begin Flashback~~~
"Lady, are you our friend?"
"Of course I'm your friend! I never stopped being one. Come here, and I'll show you."
"Are you friends with King?"
"Well," Sarah said, looking at a stormy-faced Jareth, "yes, I would consider him a friend. We've become good friends since I started coming here."
"So you like him?"
Sarah eyed Jareth, who looked mystified and tried to show that he was innocent.
"Yes, I like him."
"And King likes you too! Likes you a lot! Wants to marry you. Said so yesterday!"
"Really," said Sarah turning her back on a white-faced Jareth, "just yesterday?"
"Yep! So why aren't you with him?"
"I-ah," said Sarah, fumbling to figure out how to explain dating to goblins, while Jareth put a gloved hand over his face. A crystal formed in his other hand, ready to reorder time should it become necessary.
"What's wrong with King? Why you holding back from him?"
"Well, to tell you the truth-"
"He doesn't have a clumpy walk like trolls. He walks nice. And dances. Good dancer, very romantic."
Jareth smiled while Sarah agreed with all of the nodding and smiling goblins. Another goblin soon chimed in.
"King not grumpy around you either! Never is. Always sings. We like it when he sings, not kicks."
Sarah turned to Jareth, crossing her arms in expectation. Jareth looked unrepentant while the goblins continued to give angelic faces (or their best attempt at it).
"Is there anything else I should know about him?"
"Yep! He has good feet, not shaped funny."
"But he always is wearing boots."
"Boots nice and shiny, not hiding large feet like Ludo."
Sarah could not argue with that. Sarah adjusted her leg position, as she could see that the forest walk was going to have to be delayed.
"King smell good too! Not smelly like chickens. Or bog."
"I hope not," added Jareth, "I wash well because of the likes of you."
"Jareth, that's not nice to say to your subjects."
"Sarah, I'll never be sweet to them. To you, perhaps, but never them."
Sarah could see that Jareth was telling the truth. That was an interesting little fact about her, one that she would hold onto for later.
"Then you can at least be a little more sensitive."
"Sarah, no. I'm their King. They need order, and I provide that. Tough love is required."
The goblins did not like the way Sarah was staring at Jareth with her hands on her hips, so they tugged on her pants again.
"He good to us. He perfect King!"
The goblins tried to nod and convince the skeptical look on Sarah's face away, raising their voices over time as they tried more. Jareth preened.
"I doubt that he's perfect in any respect, especially ruling. There are some aspects that could use some fixing up."
"I'm not flawed," said Jareth in a huff.
"Sure, just like I'm perfect, too."
Jareth would have responded back had the goblins not been afraid of more bickering. So far, their plan was not working. Perhaps they should have gotten Jareth away, first.
"He's a good planner! Great parties! And ale!"
The goblins were almost distracted by thoughts of drinking ale, but one goblin thankfully remembered where to go next.
"Yeah, has good head on his neck!"
Sarah tried not to giggle while Jareth tilted his head down, ready to cover his face with his glove again. The goblins were encouraged by Sarah smiling, so they said more traits that they liked about him.
"King like chickens! Very important. Chickens good."
Sarah gave her best 'O Really' look to Jareth, who shook his head as though wanting nothing to do with the foul-tempered, feathered beasts.
"I barely tolerate those chickens, and have strict laws about how many can be here at any point of time. Let me make that clear."
"Tolerating chickens doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me. There are other things I'm more worried about."
"As Queen, you fix those things! King listen to you."
"They're right, Sarah. Now are your concerns about me in general, or related to dating me?" said Jareth, who had sidled next to Sarah and had taken to whispering in her ear.
Sarah opened and closed her mouth, not sure how to respond. Jareth plowed on, seeing his opening.
"Because if you're concerned about ruling techniques, I'm open to…. compromise."
"See? King like you! And will fix for you!"
"Within reason," Jareth added.
Sarah hmphed before saying, "But you'll still never be perfect."
"But I'm perfect for you."
The goblins started to get excited by what they were witnessing as Jareth made progress by draping an arm around Sarah, who did not push him away. The goblins became shriller as they kept talking.
"King not scared of anything or one! Braver than Sir Didymus!"
Sarah tried to ignore the grin on Jareth's face, or the way he tried pulling her closer to him. Sarah just wanted the goblins to stop screaming.
"He's good talker! Smooth like crystals. Not socially impaired. Good with ladies."
"And that's supposed to encourage me? That he's good at getting his way, and then yells the rest of the time?"
Wide eyes blinked in the goblins' faces as they realized that another tactic could fail if they did not try to stop it.
"King may yell, but least he don't do it from the bathroom!"
"Yeah, very quiet in there," said another goblin as others nodded encouragingly.
Sarah enjoyed watching Jareth turn pink at such statements.
"I'm not sure I needed to know that about Jareth-"
"King very attractive, yes? Very nice hair. Manly and sparkly."
Sarah grinned as she said, "Well, it wouldn't be the first things I'd say about Jareth's hair, but he does pull it off."
"Come now, Sarah. Is that really all you have to say? I've got the goods. I've seen you admire it before," said Jareth, whispering again in Sarah's ear
"That's all I'll admit to, at present. It's going to take a lot more to get me to say anything else," hissed Sarah back in his ear.
"We'll talk after this. Don't you worry, Sarah."
"I never doubted that for a moment, Jareth. You have some explaining of your own to do, if you intend to fix-up what's happening."
"It's just a couple of minor bugs that need to be discussed with the goblins. I assure you I didn't put them up to it. You'll understand soon once we're alone."
"I suppose that's something you're rather used to around here?"
"Well, the conversation isn't the most stimulating, and most fae don't show their faces around here, so yes. But it means that I get to do what I want."
"But King don't want our hugs," groused a goblin.
"Certainly not your idea of warm hugs. Though I'll never say no to you, Sarah."
"Thanks, Jareth," she said, trying to remove the arm that was slinking lower around her waist.
"See, Lady? You fix! He like your hugs, then maybe ours!"
Jareth laughed before saying, "Fixing me up with Sarah is not going to solve all those problems. She's welcome to try, though."
"Lady can. You not dating anyone else right? Or engaged?"
"Uh, no, I am not. No fiancé to worry about."
"Good! No ring, no problem. All fixed!"
Sarah glared at a scrunched-up face from Jareth before saying, "I suppose they hear that from you?"
"Perhaps."
"We'll talk about that later."
"Of course, Precious."
"So, fixy-fixy time?" asked a goblin.
"Soon," said Sarah, "but don't expect me to change him. I have no illusions there."
"But love can! It powerful."
"Who said anything about love?"
"King loves you. Not hard to see."
"I think it's time we had that talk, Sarah," said Jareth, trying to pull Sarah out of the room and failing.
"Wait a second, Jareth. I want to hear what else the goblins have to say about love," said Sarah leaning down to face the goblins.
"Love good! Love is strange, too. Is strange magic."
"Love is magical, you mean?" said Sarah, smiling.
"Yeah, that! It makes people do bad and strange things."
"And brings out the best in others, right?"
"Sure! So love is good, and magical, and makes people want to fix things. You do that to King!"
"That's good to know. I hope that when it came to that point in our relationship, that he would make me feel similarly, and that I would do that, and more."
Jareth was quick to help Sarah up, squeezing her hand once she was standing up fully.
"I have no doubt, Sarah. You smooth me out and keep me in line, better than anyone else has done."
"Take off those sharp edges of yours? Round them off a little? Yes, I'd like that."
"There's a way to make that happen, Sarah. Come with me."
~~~End of Flashback~~~
"And so Sarah agreed to talk to me out in the garden for a bit. After I explained once again that I had nothing to do with the goblins playing matchmaker and fixing us up, Sarah stopped teasing me about the odd ways in which to ask a girl out. After that, the rest is history."
"So the goblins didn't need to help you propose then?"
Jareth tipped his head in the air, almost as though he were ruffling out his feathers.
"Certainly not. I'm quite capable, and Sarah was much more talkative about her desires at that point."
"Aww, it's alright, Jareth. I think they were teasing about that, too."
Jareth turned a sly grin to Sarah.
"I think you'll have to kiss me to convince me fully."
"We're married now. Why not?"
The newlyweds exchanged another kiss to many noises of encouragement.
"I could get used to this," said Jareth, leaning back with a grin of triumph.
"Go Queen! More warm hugs! Fixy-fixy!"
All the goblins stood a little off in the distance, watching their royals kiss, hearts proud of their work.
"Go back to your cities and celebrate. Now!"
The goblin watchers made themselves scarce, and no sooner had they left than fireworks started to shoot into the air.
"I'm going to-"
"You're going to sit right here and enjoy the view. If you're not so grumpy, I'll let you kiss me as well."
"Just this once, because I'm fond of your kisses. I'm not going to stop any burning houses though."
"They have Sir Didymus. They'll be fine. Thank you, Jareth."
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Author's Notes: So, that happened. It's very silly and fluffy, and was so much fun to write. The bit of the song about tinkling in the woods puzzled me for a while, but I think this works. This will be the last of the attempts to use Frozen songs, as the others are not love songs. Happy birthday, KC! I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter (if you celebrated it), and thanks so much for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed!
LadyBookworm80: Many thanks for catching that! I promise it is complete now and has been fixed. I like the prequel idea very much, so thanks for that! And thanks for reading!
SVJohnson8721: Thanks! I'm glad we can share in the mutual loving of fluff, Olaf, and Sven. They all make me very happy. I'm sure Olaf would hug the goblins since Jareth will not. Thanks for reading!
Bravo: Thank you so much! If I made you giggle, then I'm happy. Frozen is awesome, so it's good to have more company. I'm sure your brothers need to be confused more often, or so I've always thought with siblings in general. Thanks so much for reading!
comical freaka: Thanks! Yes, if it can be fluffy, it will. I'm glad you caught them all! *sends Pokeball* There is never enough Frozen references. Hee hee yes, those sandwiches, too. Thank you for reading!