Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth or Superman.
Sarah put the last stretch of clear tape around the cardboard box. "Well, that's that," she murmured. She lifted the small box, put it aside and out of her way as she took one last look around her room. "And I think that's everything."
Her room which was once full of toys and costumes and everything imaginable from her happy childhood had disappeared and she was left standing in an empty room. Everything she had had that reminded her of her adolescence was packed up neatly and put up in the attic; she just didn't have the heart to give them away. Everything she had kept in her room was now packed in cardboard boxes ready to be shipped away. "But not too far…" she thought.
She couldn't bear to be too far away from her family, from her memories. They were happy memories and at times were bittersweet. Of course, every teenager had their up and downs; and Sarah certainly was a special case. She had grown up almost overnight; and emotionally, she had paid deeply for it. Everything that was expected of a normal teenager was suddenly put upon her. She threw away her childish notions and behaviors in a matter of hours and had suddenly matured into an adult. Dating, shopping, and having friends… it was terrifying at first but she slowly managed to cope. After surviving the Labyrinth she felt she could face the world head on. This meant she would be taking an opportunity of a lifetime this fall through her University. At least half of her graduating class had applied for the few positions that were available at the prestigious Metropolis Academy of Theater.
She had become quite the actress over the past seven years. Every damn thespian in her major had seen her perform or had at least heard of her and her brilliant renditions of Emily Webb, Blanche DuBois, Laura Wingfold, and of course Juliet Capulet. Every performance always felt real, like she really felt the energy and passion of each of her tragic characters. She enjoyed tragedy and drama the best. It was the best outlet for her frustrations of adolescence and early adulthood. Everything in her life felt so rushed and complicated, just like those few precious hours onstage when she could be someone else entirely. When she could cry and scream and laugh within a matter of minutes and no one would think her crazy.
It was perfect. The timing and the location for the theatrical study was perfect. She would finally stay in an apartment away from her family. Not that she didn't love her family. She did with all of her heart. She could tolerate Karen at times, and she did hear from her mother every now and again, when she felt she had the time to call her daughter. She always stuck close by her father ever since she was a child. And then there was Toby. Toby was her pride and joy and was the perfect little brother. Sarah told secrets and stories to her little brother she would not even tell her best friend. Toby would always be her little baby boy. The one she fiercely protected and even acted as a second mother to at times. She would shower him with gifts and affection but always made sure not to overdo it. She would hate to leave him for so long, but she had to keep reminding herself that he would be fine and she would see him soon.
"Sarah!" Her father was calling her from downstairs.
"Yes dad?" she called back.
"Are you ready?"
Sarah hurriedly lifted the last two boxes that were sitting on her floor. "Yes, I'm coming!" She was about to hurry out the door when she noticed a flash out of the corner of her eye. She turned back to her room, eyeing it carefully. Nothing. Nothing was in her now bare room. But then she saw it again, this time outside of her window. The branches moved ever so slightly, but strangely there was no wind outside. Sarah put her boxes down slowly and walked over to her window. She peered out cautiously at first, but wanting to get a better look pushed open her window frame. The branches of the tree outside her window were still moving but Sarah felt no traces of a breeze. She craned her neck up hoping to find a squirrel or a bird on the top branches. Still she saw nothing. "Maybe it was a small bird," she thought. "I hope." Karen didn't like squirrels around her fruit trees.
Just when she ducked her head back in again she saw it. A white feather. She knew who it belonged to immediately. Without thinking, she leaned out the window and picked it off the teetering branch. She hauled herself back in safely and leaned against the window frame. Sighing heavily she twirled the snowy white feather in her fingertips. "And then there was you."
Something clenched at her heart. Every date she had ever been on, every boy she had kissed, the one or two she had followed to a bed… she never felt it again. That one night had been so… magical. What other words were there? She made the best and the most loyal friends that night, and they still continued to visit. But she felt something that night that she had never experienced again after that. It was lust, longing, perhaps love… all coming from one person. But he wasn't really a person, was he? Did Goblin Kings love young, naïve girls that selfishly wish their baby brothers away? No, perhaps not. He had awoken something within her though, something she wasn't ready for when she was fifteen. Did she feel ready now? No, of course not, it was impossible. The whole thing was silly really. A Goblin King and a stupid, mortal girl? Completely laughable. "I'm surprised he hasn't forgotten me."
How could he? She won… the light won over the dark. That was how the story was supposed to go and that was how it ended. But sometimes she felt a tightening at her chest, like she did now. She was lonely… for someone like him.
Sarah heard her father call for her again, though it sounded so far away now. She choked back a sob. "Stupid, stupid Sarah. You don't cry over a figment of your imagination!" Then why was the feather still in her hand? Leaning back out the window, she felt a wind pick up this time. Reaching her arm out, she opened her hand and let the feather drift out into the soft breeze. The gentle wind stroked her face like a caress... she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. There it was again. The longing in her heart…
"Sarah!" Her father was really impatient now.
"I'm coming," she whispered. She flew back into her room, shut the window with a bang, lugged the two boxes up and ran out the bedroom door to her new life in Metropolis.
AN: Short chapter I know, but stay with me. If you take the events from the first few days of Clark being in Metropolis from the first Superman movie and apply it to the Labyrinth five years later, then we're on the same page. You can like it or hate it but reviews are welcome!