DISCLAIMER: If it's a scene, character, setting, idea, etc, from Labyrinth, it's (c) Henson, Lucas, Froud, etc, and NOT MINE.
Credit to: Taria Robotnik on ff-dot-net for the idea of frosting; the character of "Catherine" belongs to ithaswhatitisnt on deviantart, as does thanks for some great beta-advice; Credit / blame for the plot-bunny that started this idea (Sarah as a kid interacting w/ Jareth) is due to selena-lenoir on deviantart.
Sarah was spending that day at a friend's house. Catherine and her mom were baking cupcakes and then frosting and decorating them. Sarah tried not to be jealous, because her mom didn't like to have her in the kitchen and making a mess. So this was a special treat for the six-year old.
Catherine's mom carefully supervised the mixing and baking, the removing from the oven, and allowing the cupcakes awhile to cool. During the cooling, Sarah and Catherine went outside to run around and play. They laughed and had a wonderful time. They actually seemed to have even more laughter and joy than usual. Catherine's mom smiled as she kept an eye on them, completely unworried.
In fact, Sarah and Catherine had a playmate there with them. He had a quick smile and an infectious laugh. He was taller than they, by about a half a head, like an eight-year-old. He could run so fast that they never even saw him move. His hair was kind of messy, and longer than any boy that they knew.
Still he was a good companion, and presented absolutely no danger to these girls. His presence actually guaranteed their complete safety and protection in all areas… even from bug bites, skinned knees, sunburn, and grass stains!
The laughter and jokes and conversation and games of chase and catch and tag and hide-and-seek and spinning in circles were such fun that the girls begged their playmate to come inside and frost cupcakes with them. He agreed, but only if they all pretended that he was invisible. The girls readily agreed. After all, Catherine's mom was used to various invisible and imaginary friends, and was a good sport about playing along.
In due time, they were call inside to wash up; it was time for the frosting!
It was Catherine's job to tell her mom about their friend, so they would need an extra frosting "knife" – really a spoon turned around. There was an extra place set, and extra bowl of frosting, the sprinkles were divided in thirds, and a third water cup was poured.
Sarah and Catherine sat next to each other, and their friend seemed to move around. His place was set next to Catherine, but the girls' conversation indicated that he was all over the kitchen.
It did not surprise the lone adult that somehow the friend's water level went down, the icing "knife" used, and the sprinkles moved around. She figured that Catherine and Sarah took turns as part of their play.
Eventually, the cupcakes were frosted, and the children were cleaned up. Everyone walked Sarah home, as she lived just down the street. The playmates ran ahead, laughing and giggling and whispering. On reaching Sarah's home, they kids ran up the front steps and rang the doorbell, still giggling.
Sarah's dad opened the door, and waved to and thanked Catherine and her mom. He started to close the door when Catherine darted back.
"Wait! Sarah…"
"What, Catherine?"
Sarah came back on to the porch. The girls drew aside to whisper more while the adults smiled at each other at this typical behavior. Catherine half-pointed at their playmate, who stayed at Sarah's side.
"Why is he going with you? What's his name again?"
He shrugged, and answered for himself.
"Sarah's my best friend, and my name is Jareth."
A/N: You know the drill... read & review, and please help me spot typos and any canon issues.