He could feel the moment when all of the pieces came into place perfectly and the world shifted. For him, there was an immediate change; his body stretched and it felt like the ache of a yawn on the jaw, so when it ceased he was another three feet taller and his eyes grew wet with the relief. His white hair colored to what it had been in his youth, a charmingly soft yellow. His skin was still rough and tanned, and worn by living, as it had always been, but his body was stately, wide and robust. He had not been this way in thousands of years, not since he was young and alive living in the western mountains.

The mountain air had kept him strong, though of a shorter build then his companions, he was resilient and well capable with tools, different than his tribe members. The mountain side village smelled of leather and baked bread, his world was gentle and young. Around him the Labyrinth sighed, waking him from his memories with a bittersweet cry of delight. He was himself again. He was… Sort of a man again.

"Hog-man." A bright eyed boy of maybe eight came bounding around the corner, smiling brightly.

"Is that… Ludo?"

The orange hair on the boy's head was proof enough that the young yeti that had been companion to Hoggle and the others was indeed this child. It was easy to forget over the many years as a cowering dwarf that the Labyrinth changed any and all who entered it. Sometimes to match what was on the inside.

"Hoggle!" Ludo leaped into the man's arms. He was light but still weighty enough for Hog to almost drop him upon impact. "We've changed! I'm me again and I'm alive!"

Hog laughed happily and hugged the boy. "I did not know you were so young my friend."

"No?" The boy leaned back in his grip to look at him with handsome dark eyes. Hog finally noticed the way he was dressed, surprisingly rich, in a clean purple tunic and black pants. He wore no shoes on his small feet, but as a child he was sure not to care. "I am almost nine."

"I see that. Quite a handsome fellow ye' are too, my lad."

Sounds of delight were all around them as the people and creatures of the Labyrinth were being restored.

"The curse is lifted." Hog whispered. The child-once-a-yeti on his hip clapped little hands. Hoggle too cheered with his, and others followed their way and a roar of applause shook the Labyrinth and made the stars rain down bright cold star-water. It rained over the great maze and every feathered, clawed, fingered creature within it danced in its bright wetness.

Somewhere in the tallest most shadowed tower of the king's castle an owl and his mate had made love and were awakened by a great sound.

"It has happened…" Cerah of the darkest wings gathered her feathered limbs around her naked body and shuffled on quivering legs to the window. Showers of brilliant light lit the sky like fireworks and spilled past her and Cerah stretched her limbs, reaching tired arms toward the dark ceiling, legs elongated and she arched on tiptoe. Her wings flattened and lengthened, spread wide and open, quivering in the ache of the stretch.

"Lovely." Jareth said. He was reclining on the bed, wings curled beneath his body, his left leg was up and his knee made a small mountain. His disheveled hair was still short, but still just on the edge of wild, and glinting with gold. Cerah peered over her wing at him. He was ogling her happily. She smiled content with herself and looked back out the dark window at the star storm. Deep in the lit halls of the Labyrinth she knew were her long lost companions, rejoicing.

"I wonder how it will happen." She mused aloud.

"What? All the mess about natural love and equality?" He grunted. "You believe that gibberish?"

"You did," She turned to face him. "You still do. You know it's true. You could feel it..."

"Maybe you were fooled by how wonderful a bed-mate I am."

"I wouldn't call that a bed."

He looked hurt and ran a caring hand over the rumpled mess of feathers and mattress. "She may be old but she has been through so much with me."

Cerah could imagine him saying something like that about many things; it seemed her husband was a sentimental man for all he may have disagreed.

"I shall ignore that last comment," She stretched again, this time with a devious intent of teasing him. When she peeked out the corner of her eye she saw how easily it had worked.

"Precious," He said. "The world may not be so 'fulfilled' just yet. We may want to make love again, just to be certain."

"You horny old king." Cerah wrinkled her nose.

But she stepped away from the window into the shadow of their chamber.

Hog witnessed her figure vanishing from the frame and smiled, a little sadly, and turned to the crowd of dancing goblin-men and women and other creatures in the frolic and delight. It was not until Cerah and Jareth had finally made a public appearance in the Labyrinth that Hog saw her again. It had been a terribly long celebration, but the trouble was that many of the inhabitants had been spirits of the maze for so long that their homes were no longer even in existence. This was true for Hog and Ludo, Sir Dydimus they could not find, and assumed that he like many others had a home and had returned to it. A good fourth of the inhabitants were gone and away, but it still left a number of homeless, curious newly restored people mulling about the maze. At first, when the eminent partying was finished they had assembled in the Goblin City, made feast of the food that was there and waited in little huddles of friends.

Hog was the first to step up and recognize that even though they had changed they were helpless beyond their ability to fix.

He left Ludo in the care of a strange looking elf-man with blue hair and a red scarf, whose wife had taken a liking to the red-haired child. From their place in the old hovel that had been his own home he marched to the castle. The building too had faced a great change, one which was very physically obvious. Its stones were still sand-colored, but the castle was much stronger looking, with straighter bones and angles like a revived god from the underworld. It towered handsomely over Hog as he approached, but the halls echoed with loneliness and the sound of his feet. There were feathers everywhere. Black and gold, the black glinting blue, the gold glowing radiantly, the feathers were beautiful. Hog reached to pick one up, a dark one and it was light and soft. When he reached for a gold one though he found it was sharp and heavy, and dropped it promptly. He carried the black one with him though as he searched the empty halls. On one side of a hallway there was a row of windows that reached from ground to ceiling, clothed by lavender curtains so soft that when he touched them he could not feel them. Along the other side of the hallway were large dark wood doors, leading to chambers he assumed for royals. He knew that the couple would not be in any of them.

He was about to call out to them, exasperated with his search when Jareth appeared, naked save for a loose pair of breeches.

"Hogbrain?" He was trying to sound a little miffed but there was an uneasy smile fighting to dominate the Goblin King's face.

"Hello... Sir... We- the folk of the Labyrinth... We haven't got a place to stay, our homes are gone and... We were wondering..."

"You're asking me to end my honeymoon early?" Jareth smirked. "I'll try to convince Cerah."

Hog stared awkwardly as he laughed.

Jareth paused in his merriment and stared at him. "Well, laugh."

"Ha." Hog crossed his arms over his chest.

"I see you have a feather." Jareth's voice sounded like low thunder. There was a hint of danger in his voice.

Hog dropped the feather and watched it fall slowly downward in the corner of his eye.

"You should know," Jareth said. "That she is my wife now."

"I know, sir."

"You may be alive and human again," Jareth looked toward the light of the window. "But she is mine."

Hog nodded.

"I know you care for her."

"Yes."

"And you worry I may cause her harm."

"Yes."

"If I ever do..."

Hog waited.

"Will you care for her?"

"Yes." He did not hesitate.

"Jareth!"

Cerah's voice startled them both. It rang like a bell from somewhere upstairs.

"Go to her." Hog said.

"We shall arrive to care for the Labyrinth shortly."

"I'll give you an hour."

"Bless you, Hoghead."

Hog turned and left, following the way out and sat on the steps of the castle quietly. He felt the eyes of an onlooker and searched from the steps of the castle to find the source of the gaze. For a moment near one of the many doorways leading into the great maze he thought he spotted a pair of eyes, eyes he knew quite well. He stood and took a breath that made his lungs ache in the swiftness.

"Who is there?" He shouted. The eyes vanished, but their color was burned into his memory and his heart raced. He sat shakily back down onto the stone step, visions of violet eyes overtaking his eyes. They watered in memories and pain and he sat there crying until the hour had passed and he could hear the approach of the Goblin King and his bride. Together the three descended into the Labyrinth, with Hog trailing behind, searching the crevices and shadows for a ghost he had lost many years before.