Chapter Text
She stood in silence holding the dress before her, reflecting in the full-length mirror. Tears slowly rolled down her face. Karen said it was just cold feet. Sarah wasn’t so sure any more, Mike was a great guy, and she loved him… right? They had a comfortable relationship; they were best friends. They did everything together, except sleep together. He had said that he wanted to wait, to do things in the right order, marriage first and all that, and she had easily agreed. They were so comfortable, that there was no need for fireworks or bells when they kissed. However, in less than a week, she was to become Mrs. Michael Bologowski… Sarah Bologowski, What the heck was she doing? She felt like she was half past the point of no return. In a moment of panic she threw the dress on her stepmother’s bed, grabbed her purse and with a quick lie about needing to do some things at her apartment, she fled her family’s house. She climbed into her jeep and drove to her apartment.
Sarah had done everything expected of her since that night thirteen years earlier. She grew closer to Toby, babysitting whenever she was asked. She stopped fighting with Karen, and put away her toys and her costumes. Her grades improved once she found her academic subjects more important than Drama Club. She had graduated with honors, and gone on to get a degree in teaching. She enjoyed educating her kindergarteners. She had met Mike in her last of college. They were friends for a few years before they starting dating and they dated for almost five years before he asked her to marry him. He had taken her to the Botanical Gardens, and he sat across from her clutching her hands as she held her coffee, and he called her sugar. She said yes… It was flat, it was normal. He was great, but there was something missing.
She walked in to her silent apartment; it was dark as she dropped her keys on the table beside the door. She didn’t even bother to turn on the lights as she laid her purse on the kitchen table, walked into her room, and crawled into bed. Alone, she finally let the sobs out. Her dad had pulled her aside that morning just to let her know, no matter how much they had spent, or what Karen might say, or how Mike might feel, if she wasn’t sure, it was okay to call it off. She had told him that she couldn’t call it off, and he asked her the same questions yet again. ‘Are you happy with this? Is it love? Can you close your eyes and trust it, just trust it?’
She’d responded with the same answer as always, ‘He’s a great guy, and he cares for me.’
He sighed heavily. ‘That’s not love Sarah! He should be the thunder before the lightening, the sun before the burn,’ he implored her. She knew that he was just looking out for his baby girl. But she couldn’t call it off. No matter how hollow she felt, she just couldn’t hurt Mike like that. The world seemed to be grinding on, dragging her forward with it. Fearing that she would forever be alone in a crowd, she cried herself into a fitful sleep.
A few hours later, she awoke gasping and fighting the covers that tangled around her body. Looking at the clock, she realized it was just after midnight, a new day. A new day that was exactly thirteen years from the last time, she had felt like she was in control of her life. It was the last night she truly fought. She had fought because of her own selfish whims and immature concepts of fairness. She had won but she had also lost. She saw the pain and anguish on his face as she had said those final words. They had to be said, she had to save her brother, but at what cost? As she jumped from the stairs his world had broken apart around her, and she could recall the strain in his features as he had again, played out his role as villain in their final moments. She had returned, checked on Toby, had her little victory party, and gone to sleep that night with the misbelief that she had conquered a great foe. After the troubling dreams she had that night, and every night hence, she slowly stopped fighting back. The look on his face haunted her. She became a people pleaser, a peacemaker, always doing what she was told and going out of her way to keep from hurting anyone else. She never wanted to hurt another person the way she had unintentionally hurt him.
She climbed out of bed, went to the bathroom, and washed her face. Most of her things were packed up to be moved into Mike’s house next week. She shook her head; there was someone she could talk to. She sat down in front of childhood vanity. Mike had asked her to get rid of it many times; he said something about it made him uneasy. She kept it, despite the arguments it had caused. It was the only thing she couldn’t give up, her last link to something truly magical. “Hoggle?” she called softly.
It had been a long time since they had spoken. The last time had ended poorly; he too thought that she was marrying Mike for the wrong reasons, though he refused to tell her what his reasons were.
“Hoggle?” she called again. “I need you…,” she pleaded.
“Sarah, did ya call me?” Hoggle pulled himself up on the reflection of her bed.
“Yeah, sorry if I woke you, I spoke with my dad again this morning…”
“He’s a good man, yer Dad. I likes the way he thinks.” Hoggle grunted.
“Yeah, about that, will you please tell me why you think I shouldn’t marry Mike? I know you said you didn’t think I’d like the reasons but I really need to know. I’m having serious doubts and I need to know if I’m doing the right thing.”
“Sarah, I don’t…”
“Please, Hoggle, I’m losing it, here. Mike is everything I’m supposed to want in a guy and yet there’s something missing. Please tell me what I’m missing… please…” The tears began again as she hunched over the table.
“Oh Sarah, I can’t… now don’t cry… I can’t tells ya, it ain’t mine to say… Sarah…” flustered and more than a little unnerved, Hoggle did he best to reassure her. He waited till she had calmed some. “Alright I can’t promise ya nothing but I can tells you these two things; One, I think the thing missin’ is magic, and Two, You needs to talk to the rat.”
Sarah sat up abruptly; they never spoke of him. It was like rule numero uno for them, laid down the day after her visit to the Labyrinth. She had asked how the King was fairing after his defeat, Hoggle had paled, said he had to go, and she wasn’t able to contact him for almost a week. When he did finally did answer her summons, he promptly told her never to bring up ‘His Majesty’ again, for her safety’s sake and his as well. Concerned for Hoggle’s welfare she had done as he had requested. She took a deep breath, “What did you say?”
“Tween you’n Mike I think the thing’s missin; is magic, ya know, passion, there ain’t no spark.”
“Hoggle, you know that’s not what I meant. Why do you think that I need to speak with Ja…?”
“Don’t say his name!” Hoggle groaned. “Look, I shouldn’t told ya his name, and I’m in enough trouble already. I can’t say no more. If’n you wants answers about that ya need to call on him, I thinks the two of you needs to have a long talk, but wait till I’m long gone. Please Sarah?”
“Alright, thank you Hoggle.” They talked for a few more minutes before she finally began to get sleepy. Before he left, he made her promise to talk with The Goblin King the next day. She agreed she would, after a good night’s sleep and some time to consider what she would say to him. When she finally lay down for the night, she couldn’t stop thinking about him, the Goblin King. She was careful even in her conscious thoughts to never refer to him by name, as though speaking his name may somehow summon him. It was a testament to how worked up she was that she nearly called him by name earlier.
So it was with a certain blonde fae King on her thoughts that she fell asleep and began to have very different dreams than usual, dreams of a far more risqué nature.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She rolled over, pushed her long dark hair out of the way, and glared at the blaring alarm clock, her vibrant green eyes full of malice. Karen and a few of her bridesmaids were due over in less than an hour. She had taken the week off to finish off preparations for the wedding. Today they were going to finish off the corsages, boutonnieres, and other flower arrangements. Trying to shake off the lingering effects of her dreams, she quickly showered, dressed, and set up the coffee pot. After pulling out the fruit tray and the bagel pack she had gotten from the bakery down the street, she was ready in record time. She poured herself a cup of coffee, grabbed a bagel, she sat in her favorite chair in the living room, and waited, allowing her mind to wonder.
She was standing alone in the middle of a beautiful meadow of wildflowers, admiring the tranquility of it. Closing her eyes, she allowed the familiar fragrance of the flowers to wrap around her like a blanket, the soft sounds of birds, and of a nearby babbling creek, and the warmth of the late spring sunshine to seep into her anxious heart, soothing her. From somewhere far away she heard the soft melodious strain of a song half remembered. A soft gasp fell from her lips as strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist, gently pulling her back against a tall, lean, very male body. She did not fight or struggle; this was the man she’d always known would come to her, the man of her dreams, her love, her soulmate.
A rapid knocking startled her from her daydreams; she nearly dropped coffee in her surprise. She placed the half-empty cup of cold coffee in the kitchen and hurried answer the door. In quick succession Karen, Brittany, Madison, and Tina all arrived. Soon the coffee and food were consumed and all the fake flowers, ribbons, glitter, glue guns, and other accoutrements for decorating were pulled out and all the ladies set to work. Karen turned out to be a great help in the process, she had a natural flare for decorating. She chatted amiably with all of the ladies and none of them seemed to notice Sarah becoming more and more withdrawn. In the process of creating the decorations, Sarah had been dubbed the glitter girl. As each arrangement was finished, Madison, Brittany and Tina were taking them over to Sarah who placed them in a large box, used some spray adhesive, and lightly sprinkled the flowers with glitter. Karen had over-prepared in her typical manner and had bought far too much glitter in many different colors. As Sarah worked on the flowers, an odd little thought began to play in her mind. Glitter, so much glitter, it reminded her of…
As Brittany brought over the next corsage to be glitterized, Sarah got a mischievous little glint in her eyes. She took a pinch of silver glitter and sprinkled it in Brittany’s auburn hair as she walked away. She did the same to Madison and Tina as they in turn brought their item to be glitterized. Into Madison’s blonde hair went some blue, and into Tina’s brown went some gold. Her little game was discovered through, as Madison turned back to say something to Sarah and saw the gold in Tina’s hair. As Madison laughed, Tina saw the silver in Brittany’s hair and pointed it out with a surprised laugh. As they giggled, they turned on Sarah to get her back, Sarah but she had already thrown a fist full of glitter in the air covering all of them. They all began laughing and throwing glitter everywhere as Karen yelled from her hiding spot under the table about them ruining the flowers. For quite some time this went on, with the girls all grabbing a bucket, hiding behind furniture, and lobbing fistfuls at each other. After a while, Madison stoically stood, taking the random hits of glitter, walked over to the buckets, grabbed the silver, and upended it over Sarah’s head with a maniacal laugh. Madison’s coup de grace effectively ended the Great Glitter War of ’99.
Finally, the girls all fell to the floor laughing uncontrollably. Karen chose to leave in a huff, complaining all the while about Sarah’s immaturity and about how much work they had ruined. The girls had stayed for a while chatting with Sarah, and catching up with each other. After a while, though the glitter in their hair and on their skin grew to be an irritant. So with any work they could have done covered in glitter, Sarah’s bridesmaids all opted to go home and shower away the itchy glitter.
As Sarah sat on her glitter-covered carpet, her thoughts drifted back to her conversation with Hoggle. She was going to call on the King later that evening. There were so many what-if’s in her mind. What if he didn’t even respond to her call? What if he was angry about what happened in The Escher Room? What if seeing him brought to life her long suppressed infatuation? What if she couldn’t hide her feelings? What if she did tell him how she felt, and the biggest scariest what if, what if he didn’t return her feelings? But… what if, whispered a soft voice in the back of her mind, he does return your feelings?
Before she could speak to him though, she had a mess to clean up and an early dinner with her fiancé. Three hours, two vacuum bags, half a bottle of shampoo, and a full bottle of Drano down her shower drain later, her apartment finally felt mostly clean. She doubted the glitter could be fully removed from the carpet; she’d likely be still vacuuming it up for months to come. Or not actually, she was getting married Saturday, and moving out on Monday. ‘Hmm…’ she thought, ‘That’s not something that should be so easily forgettable. Wonder what Freud’s opinion on that would be?’
With a deep breath, she pushed all her other thoughts aside, Mike would be here any minute to pick her up. In the past 24 hours, she found herself questioning everything. She loved Mike, but was it the right kind of love to try and build a marriage on? There was no spark, no chemistry between them. She didn’t mind and he didn’t seem to either but still if there nothing but friendship between them was it enough? Was there someone out there who could provide that spark that could reignite that fire in her? Was she really just a cold frigid woman like one of her old high school ex-boyfriends had said? If she left Mike, would she be doomed to live alone, waiting for something that might never happen? ‘Could the Goblin King be the one she was waiting for?’ that traitorous little voice was forcing her to question everything again.
As the clock chimed four, a soft knock startled Sarah from her ruminations. She opened the door to revel her fiancé. He was slightly pudgy and only a few in inches shorter than her but all the product in his light brown hair caused it to stand up in its faux messy perfection, lending him a few more inches. He was, as always, impeccably dressed. That evening he wore a light gray V-neck sweater vest over a white dress shirt, and crisply pressed black slacks. He embraced her gently and kissed her cheek as always, but something seemed off. He gave her his usual smile, though it didn’t seem to reach his soft brown eyes. He seemed uncomfortable, like he was excited but scared, worried, irritated, and a whole host of other things all at once. Sarah took him by the hand to get his attention. He seemed startled by her action. “Mike, what’s wrong?” she asked gently.
“Sarah, would you mind if we just stayed here this evening, and ordered delivery?” he pleaded.
“Sure that’s fine. Come on, why don’t you sit here in the couch, I’ll call and order our usual from Toni’s.” He nodded, solemnly, and sat without another word. Sarah walked into the kitchen, pulled out the menu, grabbed the cordless, and ordered quickly from the local sub and pizza joint. Mike’s odd behavior had set off all her internal alarms and she was having a hard time regaining control of her racing thoughts. With a heavy sigh, she shook off her confusion and quietly walked in to see him perched on the edge of her couch as if any sudden movement might cause him to flee.
“Mike, what’s wrong? You look like someone just told you that the world’s going to end tomorrow.” She sat beside him and took his hand gently.
Mike’s normal sarcasm and witticisms had fled as he tried several times to speak and failed.
“Ok, you’re really starting to worry me. What’s going on Mike, you don’t have to hold back, just tell me, I can handle it.”
Mike gave a weak little laugh, and took a deep breath, looking for all the world like he was about to jump off a cliff. “I went out to the bar with the guys last night, you know to have one last big hurrah before the wedding…” he faltered and Sarah nodded encouragingly. “ Umm, Chad went with us… “
Sarah began to giggle, “Oh Mike, is all this because Chad kissed you?”
“Well kind of…”
“Mike, I love Chad, but he’s the biggest slag I know. He’s kissed me too, I just didn’t tell you because it’s completely meaningless. He’s done it with practically everything on two legs and sometimes I wonder about four legged…”
“No Sarah, it’s more than that.” He stood and began to pace, unable to make eye contact with her. “It’s not just that he kissed me, it’s how it made me feel. You and I have kissed plenty of times, but there was never that thing that made my heart race. When I kissed him, there were fireworks, bells, the freaking Hallelujah Chorus.”
Sarah stood, “Ok, so where does that lea… Wait, I thought you said he kissed you, you just said that you kissed him…”
“Uh, well he kissed me the first time. After that…”
“Mike!!! The first time? How many times did you two ki…” A sudden realization popped into her mind. “You two did more than kiss didn’t you?” Mike turned bright red and looked away refusing to make eye contact. Sarah sat heavily on the edge of the couch. “So, what does all this mean for us?” she asked softly.
He turned to look at her, his face pale, and upon seeing the distress on her face, knelt in front of her. “I don’t know sweetie, I know that it wouldn’t be fair to you if we got married. I know now why there was never any spark for me. Was there for you?” he asked softly.
She shook her head, “No, not really, but you know my history with guys. I’ve never really felt anything with any of them. I just figured whatever was broken in me meant there would never be that fire with anyone. I was just happy that we just cared so much about each other. I figured that eventually we might get that spark.” With a little laugh, she smiled. “I guess I know now why there wasn’t ever that spark. Are you happy?” He nodded. “Right now, that’s all that really matters, whatever you choose to do, we’re best friends, and I love you, you know that right?”
“Oh Sarah, I’m so sorry.”
“Mike, don’t worry about it please, really. I think somewhere deep down I already knew it too.” She gasped softly, “Oh crap, Karen’s going to kill us.”
“I don’t suppose you’d tell her for me, would you?” he asked with a look of mock fear on his face.
“No way buddy, we got into this mess together. You’re going to come with me and we’re going to face her together.” There was a knock on the door. “After we eat though, one last meal before the gallows right?” she laughed.
Mike paid for the food and they sat together on her glittery carpet as they ate. He looked thoughtfully at Sarah as she picked at her salad. He figured she was stewing again, about how she thought she was broken somehow. She had never felt truly attracted to any guy, she’d even tried kissing a few girls to see if that was it, but there was never a feeling of chemistry with any of them. It had been a frequent topic of conversation when they had been friends before they had begun dating. She seemed to have too high of a standard for guys. He nudged her with an elbow. “I wonder what your basis for comparison is.”
She paled and dropped her fork. “What?” she asked in a choked whisper.
Seeing her distress, he rushed to explain, “I was just thinking about how no guy ever seemed to meet your requirements. So I was wondering what your…”
“Please, don’t say it again.” She said quickly.
“Sorry, but have you ever felt a spark with anyone?” She got a far off look in her eyes. “Uh huh, that’s what I thought. He was unattainable somehow right? Maybe he was married, lived too far away, was too old for you, or something like that?”
“Something like that,” she agreed. “There was this one guy, when I was fifteen almost sixteen. He was tall, blonde, sarcastic, challenging, and sexy as hell, and his accent, his voice I mean, wow. We bantered back and forth, we danced and he sang to me…,” she whispered. He could see the longing in her eyes as she remembered that night so long ago. “But in the end, he was older and offered me something I wasn’t old enough to accept. I can see now as an adult how much my denial hurt him but there’s really just no going back. It would be a long distance relationship at best and I think our cultures are just too different…” she trailed off.
“Oh girl, you’ve got it bad. No wonder no guy ever measured up. You’ve been pining after this guy for thirteen years? Do you have his number or some way to contact him, like tonight?” She nodded. “Well, okay” he said with a nod. He balled up his trash and stood up. “So here’s how I see it, you need to call him and get this straightened out, either he still likes you and you guys hook up, or he doesn’t and maybe then you can get over him and move on.” He took Sarah by the hands and pulled her up. “Okay, so I’m going to go brave the wrath of Karen and you’re going to call tall, blonde, and sexy. If everything goes well, you call me in the morning, if it doesn’t, call me tonight, I’ll bring over the Ben and Jerry’s, and we’ll talk.”
“Mike, you don’t have to face Karen alone, I’ll go with you. I can always call him another time.”
“No Sarah, you call him tonight. I know you, if you don’t do it tonight, you’ll always find some excuse, and it’ll never happen. Personally, I’m hoping that I won’t hear from you till tomorrow. I think everything will be fine with Karen. If nothing else, I know your Dad will understand.” Mike kissed her on the cheek and gave her an encouraging hug. “Now you call him after I leave ok? Don’t wait or you’ll end up talking yourself out of it.”
Fifteen minutes later she was still sitting, staring at her vanity mirror, trying to summon the courage to call him. The what-if’s were taunting her. Finally, with a deep breathe, carefully choosing her right words, she whispered, “I wish the Goblin King would come here so we can talk… right now.” She stood expecting thunder and lightning, but there was nothing. She turned slowly, the lights still worked; there were no odd noises or goblins hiding in corners. She waited on edge for a few minutes. He still hadn’t responded; perhaps he hadn’t heard her… with a little more strength in her voice she said, “I wish the Goblin King would come here so we can talk… right now.” Several minutes later… still nothing. Nearly yelling, “I Wish The Goblin King Would Come Here So We Can Talk… RIGHT NOW!”