Okay, so, um...I'm not abandoning my Laby AU, I promise, I just have kind of lost the inspiration on it, and while I try to get it back, I decided to start on a canon-world Laby fic to help hold you guys over in the meantime, so yeah, here you go. Many thanks to my wonderful friend Billy Jay for helping me brainstorm stuff for this, and...um...yeah, that's about all right now. Enjoy, and please remember to review unless you want to get bogged or stuck in an oubliette. :)

I DISCLAIM!

Sarah stared at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a dress of burgundy silk with a Victorian style corset bodice and a full, A-line skirt that was split in the middle to show a panel of the underskirt, which was burgundy satin. The gown was adorned with pale gold embroidered scrolls and stylized ivy leaves that went around the edges of the split skirt and all around the hemline, as well as at the elbows of the sleeves and in two vertical lines down the front of the bodice. The neckline and the upper part of the sleeves were adorned with garnet crystals and studded with ivory pearls. The detachable sleeves laced up on the inside, and the lower part was in charmeuse silk the same pale gold as the embroidery. An oval-shaped faceted ruby set in gold hung around her neck, and her hair was curled and held away from her face by an antique gold hair comb studded with small rubies.

Jareth appeared behind her in the reflection and smiled.

"You look beautiful," he said, gently placing his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm nervous," she replied. "What if I do something wrong, or...or..."
"You'll be fine, precious. You defeated the Labyrinth. This will be easy in comparison."

"But what if it's not?"
"There's nothing to worry about."

She drew in a ragged breath and let it out slowly.

"Jareth, I...I love you, but I can't help but wonder...what if it was a mistake for us to get married? I mean, I'm not from this world, so I have no idea how anything works here, and I wasn't born into nobility, so I don't have the first clue how to be a queen, and I just...What if choosing me was...was wrong?"

He turned her around so that they were facing each other and gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Sarah," he murmured, slowly shaking his head. "My sweet, precious Sarah...It doesn't matter that you aren't from the Underground, or that you weren't born into nobility. What matters is that after thirteen hundred years of ruling alone, thinking that I would be doing so for my entire reign...along you came, and oh, how my world began to turn in a way that was entirely fresh and new and unexpected. You were unlike anything I had ever encountered before, and you still are. You are going to be an incredible queen. I know this simply because I know you, and you, my dear, can do anything you put your mind to. You have absolutely nothing to fear, because you're going to learn as you go, and I will help you along the way, and everything. Will. Be. Fine. I promise."

Sarah stared at him, searching his eyes, though for what, she wasn't sure.

Her life had been a bit of a whirlwind recently.

Four years after the Labyrinth, Sarah, now nineteen, had been sitting in her college dorm room working on statistics homework while her roommate, Mia, went out with friends. As soon as the door had closed behind the other girl, a male voice had spoken, scaring Sarah out of her wits, and when she'd turned around in her seat, Jareth had been lounging on her bed toying idly with a crystal. When she'd demanded to know what he was doing there, the crystal had vanished as he'd stood up, telling her that he had been keeping tabs on her over the last four years even though he knew he shouldn't, and that he had only fallen more in love with her as the years wore on. He'd tried to stay away, to resist, but he couldn't any longer, and therefore had come to see her. He offered once again, just as he had four years ago, to make her his queen, and Sarah, who, by age seventeen, had realized she'd fallen in love with the Goblin King, had leapt out of her chair and cut him off with a kiss, then confessed that she returned his feelings and accepted the offer. Going by the traditions of the Underground, they had then married on the spot, Sarah becoming immortal upon saying her vows, according to Jareth, and he had returned to the Goblin Kingdom alone to make the announcement while Sarah stayed behind to put a few things in order. Six days later, he had returned and taken her back to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City, where they then consummated their marriage, and now, about a week later, here they were, preparing for Sarah's coronation ceremony, which would officially grant her the title of Goblin Queen.

"Everything will be alright, precious," he said softly, "trust me."
"...I trust you," she replied quietly in what was almost a murmur.

"And besides," he added, "think of this—you'll get to meet my siblings today."

"I didn't realize you had any."

"One brother and one sister, both younger. Calum and Kaylein. He's an insufferable fopdoodle whose name means 'dove,' and yet he turns into a Pergrine hawk, and she's a sweet girl who's not as magically inclined as her brothers, but makes up for it with plenty of natural charm. I gave Calum a duchy to run so that he would stay out of my hair, and Kay has one, as well, though they both pop up here at the Castle every so often for various reasons."

"Does she turn into a bird, too?"
"A meadowlark. It fits her perfectly."

There was a knock on the door.

"We're ready for you, Majesties," a voice said from the other side.
"Thank you, Jac, we'll be there momentarily," Jareth called in response.

He turned back towards Sarah.

"Are you ready, precious?" he asked gently.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"As much as I ever will be, I suppose," she said.

He offered his arm to her, and she accepted it, letting him lead her out of the room. Jareth's head advisor, a young man named Jac who was half-elf and half-fae, was waiting for them in the hallway. He bowed as they exited the room, and after he had straightened back up, Jareth gave a nod, and Jac turned, heading down the hall with Sarah and Jareth following.

Jareth, of course, had gone all-out for the occasion, choosing to wear the same outfit he'd worn the first time he offered to make Sarah his queen, the one with the feathered cape that trailed slightly on the ground behind him. Sarah tried not to let the anxiety overwhelm her, instead attempting to focus on the soft rustling sounds that the feathers of Jareth's cape made with his movements and letting it take over her mind so she would be calmer.

They went down a staircase and through another corridor, then stopped outside a pair of double doors, and on the other side of those doors, Sarah could hear the chattering of the crowd of the Goblin Kingdom's denizens who had come to witness the crowning of their new Queen. Jac turned to face them, and when Jareth gave another nod, he bowed again, then slipped through the doors.

"It's alright, precious," Jareth murmured to her. "Deep breaths, and remember, I'm going to be right there in the room the entire time."

Sarah swallowed nervously and nodded, and then Jac's voice became audible from the other side of the doors as the crowd's noises died down.

"Presenting," Jac said, "His Royal Majesty the Goblin King Jareth!"

They could hear applause break out, and the doors opened. Jareth stepped through, and they closed again, leaving Sarah by herself for the time being. They had practiced this. Jareth was going to make a short speech, then introduce Sarah, and the doors would open for her, at which point she would walk down the open aisle in the middle of the room, the same one that Jareth had just walked to reach his throne, and when she reached the front of the room, that was when the actual ceremony would begin and she would be crowned Queen.

She could hear Jareth's voice, muffled by the doors, making his speech, but she tuned it out, focusing instead on clearing her mind and calming her nerves, though a small part of her stayed alert and was listening for her cue.

"...And now," Jareth said, and Sarah knew it was about to happen, "the time has come for you all to meet your soon-to-be Queen. Therefore, it is my great pleasure to present to you, in her full elegance, my beautiful bride, Princess Sarah!"

The doors opened to the applause of everyone in attendance, and Sarah steeled herself as she stepped into the room. She could feel hundreds of eyes on her, but she didn't pay attention to anyone or anything in the room except Jareth, who was standing at the front of it on a dais with his throne behind him smiling at her. She put her full focus solely on him, and in that way, she was able to make it to the front of the room without completely losing it or breaking down into a panic attack. When she got there, she did exactly as they had practiced, stopping in front of the steps of the dais and letting him kiss the back of her hand before turning to face the crowd. Jareth positioned himself behind her, keeping himself on the dais as he did so, turning when Jac approached him with a polished wooden box.

Jac opened the box to reveal a golden scrollwork tiara with a firestone in its center. Jareth carefully removed it from where it was nestled in the velvet lining and held it aloft over Sarah's head for everyone to see.

"This tiara," he said, "has been worn by the queens of this kingdom for generations. It was worn by my mother, and my grandmother before her, and so on. It is a symbol of authority, and the woman who wears it commands the respect and loyalty of the entire Goblin Kingdom, as well as respect from the other kingdoms of the Underground. I myself have personally chosen the young woman you see before you to rule by my side, and therefore by disrespecting or defying her, you also do so to me, your King. Her word, like my own, is, from this day forward, absolute law within the borders of this kingdom. I now call upon each and every one of you to bear witness to this historic moment."

Hearing this cue, Sarah turned to face her husband and bent at the waist, keeping her head positioned so that the tiara wouldn't fall off once it was in place. Jareth continued speaking, placing the tiara atop Sarah's head as he did so.

"Sarah Evangeline, I hereby bestow upon you this Royal Tiara and all that it represents. From this moment forward, you are no longer a simple human girl from the world above. You are, now and forever, the Queen of the Goblin Kingdom, immortal, everlasting, and absolute. You may rise and face your subjects."

She slowly straightened back up and turned so she was facing the crowd again.

"Citizens of the Goblin Kingdom," Jareth said, "I give to you Her Royal Majesty, Sarah the Goblin Queen!"

The crowd broke into applause, and Sarah let out the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding as Jareth's hand appeared beside her. She looked over her shoulder at him and found him standing there with his hand extended and a smile on his face. Another throne, this one a bit smaller than Jareth's, had appeared beside his, and Sarah couldn't contain a smile of her own as she turned and took the offered hand, lifting her skirts as she stepped onto the dais and let him lead her over to the thrones. He gave her hand another kiss as she sat down, then went over to his and sort of fell backwards into it, but managed to do it in a very graceful way, immediately taking up his customary lounging position and arranging his cape artfully around himself. He smirked, looking around the room, then training his gaze on Sarah.

"You did it, precious," he said. "I knew you could. Didn't I tell you everything would be fine?"

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you," she replied half-teasingly.

Jareth grinned at her, then turned his head as something in his peripheral vision caught his attention. He stood up as two people approached the dais, one of them a man with a tangled mess of blond hair down to his shoulders and blue eyes, and the other a brown-eyed woman with blonde hair down to nearly her waist that she was wearing in complicated braids.

"Hello there, Kay," Jareth said, nodding to the woman. He then looked at the man and smirked. "And Dove, of course," he added.

"My name. Is not. Dove," the man said through clenched teeth.

"Keep telling yourself that, Dove," Jareth replied.

He then turned and held his hand out to Sarah, who stood up and took it.

"Sarah, precious," Jareth said, "this is my younger brother Calum, and our baby sister Kaylein, the Grand Duke of Aldbridge and the Archduchess of Aluva, respectively."

"It's nice to meet you, Sarah," Kaylein said. "Anyone who can calm Jareth enough for marriage must truly be something special indeed."

"Just a warning, Jareth," Calum interjected, "I saw Anara lurking about earlier. She didn't look very pleased."

"Anara can sulk all she wants, it won't change anything," Jareth remarked.

"Who's Anara?" Sarah asked.

"The Queen of the Nymphs," Jareth replied. "She's fancied herself in love with me for many centuries now, but she's a bit off her head, if you catch my meaning."
"My advice, Sarah," Calum said, "watch your back around her. There's no telling what's going on in that head of hers concerning the fact that Jareth chose to marry someone else."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Kaylein glanced over her shoulder.

"Calum," she said, "I think it's time you and I took our leave. I'm sure there are those here who wish to come and greet their new Queen, and I believe it's only right that we let them."
"Of course," Calum agreed. "Oh, but before we go, Jareth, there's something I need to discuss with you in private, so after all this is over, when you have the time, let me know, will you?"

"Oh, fine, if I must," Jareth sighed. "Now go and pester someone else for once, will you, Dove?"

Calum's eyes flashed, and he looked about to tear into his older brother, but before he could get any sound out, Kaylein grabbed his arm and dragged him off into the crowd. Jareth smirked triumphantly, obviously proud of himself for being able to get away with using the nickname and not get any backlash for it.

The next hour or so passed much more quickly than Sarah anticipated. It turned out that the citizens of the Goblin Kingdom weren't the only ones in attendance; there were also leaders and nobles from other kingdoms of the Underground, and she found herself meeting quite a lot of them. King Varen and Queen Kala of the Dwarf Kingdom were there, and so was Amphelice, the Seelie Queen, who made several jibes at Jareth that were somewhere between mean teasing and good-natured, and Sarah learned that this was because the Seelie Queen and the Goblin King had a long-standing frienemies relationship with one another, that they were allied with each other, but also had frequent arguments due to different stances on many topics. King Rolim of the Elves was also there, and Sarah found herself absolutely fascinated by the tattoos adorning his face.

One thing that really surprised Sarah was when a somewhat heavyset woman who looked maybe in her early-to-mid-fifties and, to Sarah, anyway, appeared entirely human approached them, only for Jareth to smile warmly at her and give her a hug. He then introduced the woman as Estara, explaining that she had been governess to him and his siblings when they were growing up, but now lived at one of Jareth's estates out in the countryside and acted as its caretaker in his absence. And, Sarah soon learned, as it turned out, she was right about Estara being human, at least to a certain degree; she was a changeling, exchanged for a Seelie child when she was very young, centuries ago. Most of her life had been lived in the Underground, and she couldn't even remember the human world anymore because she had been away from it for so long. When Jareth expressed surprise at her being there, Estara merely rolled her eyes and said, "What, and miss out on getting to meet the girl who finally tamed the wilder of my two wild child boys? Of course not, Jareth, don't be absurd."

And when the whole thing was finally over, Sarah was able to say that she felt much more confident about everything than she had when she'd woken up that morning.