Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth. Nor do I own Edward Cullen (damn!) but he owns my soul. Bite me, Edward Cullen. BITE ME! (sorry… my obsession with Breaking Dawn and consequently Twilight have seemed to seep into my work… how ever did I manage that?)

Author Note: I decided to post this next chapter now for a few reasons. Long story. The gist is that I have recently moved and now have some unexpected homework for my new school. So I may be away for a while but I wanted to get this one posted. I'm currently writing the next chapter. I'm looking at 3 or 4 more chapters depending on if I want to combine a few events into one chapter or if I want to divide them into two separate chapters. I guess we'll see. Without further ado, here is Chapter 10. Enjoy.

Chapter 10 Mornings of Gold

The clouds hovering above the Underground began to lighten. Night's spell was fading and dawn was on the verge of breaking. On the horizon the stars' glimmer began to bow before the mighty sun's glow.

Tatiana sighed. On the one hand, there was nothing like an Underground sunrise. You could live there a hundred thousand years and it would still take your breath away. But the symbolism of such a dawn never failed to make her feel inferior. The dawn was mocking her.

Her hand lightly touched the pendant hanging from her neck. It looked so odd there. The delicate, silver chain and the crystal were at odds with the harsh lines of her leather coat, satin corset, skin-tight pants and thigh-high boots.

The Northern Star. That's what she was. The least of the ruling celestial bodies. In her parents' eyes Maximus was the Sun, Jareth was the Moon, and she, Tatiana, was the Northern Star. Doomed to be third rate. Doomed to, in essence, bow before the Sun and Moon's will.

She loved her brothers. But deep down she resented them. No, it's not them. It's the fact that they can be more than they were born to be. They hold that power. You don't, she reminded herself.

Even before Jareth was born she was always referred to as her father's Northern Star. She was never first or second. Always third. Third after someone who didn't even exist yet. Talk about pathetic.

Tatiana turned her eyes once again to the glowing sky. More and more stars faded from the horizon. She was sad to see even her star was winking away into the background.

"Do you succumb to another's will too?" she asked the unresponsive sky.

She hung her head, leaning against the terrace rail, only to look up again moments later. This time, however, she did not gaze at the fading stars. Off in the distance she could see an owl heading in the direction of the castle. It was Jareth of course. But something was very off. His normally graceful glide was choppy and his elevation was inconsistent.

"Oh, great," she muttered. "What's wrong now?"

She watched Jareth's owl form fly through his window. She sighed. Well, better go check on him, she thought.

Tatiana materialized moments later in Jareth's bed chamber. There on the cold stone floor, lay her younger brother, still in his pajamas. She rolled her eyes and waved her hand. A bucket of water appeared from thin air, levitated over his head, and then finally dumped its contents over the Goblin King's face. He groaned. She knew it probably wasn't the most tactful way to wake him, but she was in no mood for etiquette today.

"What did you do that for?" he demanded, sitting upright to glare at his sister.

"Why were you out flying all night?" she retorted. Her hands were on her hips and she gazed sternly at her brother.

"What are you? My mother?" he replied. His tone was harsh but the twinkle in his eyes broke through his cold façade. She grinned. They were both past evasions now.

Sunlight poured like honey into Sarah's bed chamber. She sighed, stretching her limbs and smiling. She hadn't slept that well in over a year. It felt like ages since she'd actually felt rested in the morning.

There was no clock in her chamber for which to tell the hour with. Sarah shrugged at this trivial matter. Even if there was one, she wouldn't have understood it. Underground time, while fairly straight forward, still confused her with the addition of a thirteenth hour.

She crawled out of bed and padded over to her window. The cool stone felt marvelous on her bare feet. It jilted the last traces of sleep from her being and alerted her senses. Not once had Sarah ever woken up to a morning and felt so… alive.

Sarah took her seat on the window's ledge and gazed out across the expanse of the labyrinth. Everything—the twisting walls, the emerald treetops, even the muck and grime, littering the Goblin City—was painted in the golden sun's rays. The last time Sarah had truly looked at the labyrinth, it was dreary, foreboding. But as she sat there, watching the golden beams trickle through gaps in the stone walls, it took on new life. True, the light couldn't reach every corner, every nook and cranny. But that's what made it so interesting. No longer did it seem so one-dimensional to her. There was dread, fear, despair. But there was also hope, mystery and wonder.

A smile played at the corner of her mouth as she mused silently to herself. I wonder if this is what he meant by 'mornings of gold'. Unconsciously, she combed her fingers through her hair, humming a soft tune from a distant dream…

"Well, you seem to be in a pleasant mood this morning."

The voice startled Sarah.

She turned around to find Nicholas, leaning against the frame of her door. His mismatched eyes were warm and liquid. A smile graced his lips.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, very much aware of her heart's uneven thumping.

"Tatiana sent me to see if you were awake. She also says that uncle sends his apologies. We all have to fend for ourselves for breakfast this morning." He slinked closer to her, fluidly sitting opposite of her on the ledge.

"Why?" she asked. Her voice was breathless; it might have been because of his close proximity or it might have been the sweet scent rolling from his skin—like cedar and musk. She wasn't sure which.

"Apparently, Jareth had a rough night's sleep and Tatiana is insisting he rest this morning," he replied, absently juggling a crystal in his hands. "So how hungry are you?" he asked, admiring the way the sunlight made her emerald eyes sparkle.

Sarah shook her head. "Not very," she answered.

He smiled. "Then, will this do?" He tossed the crystal in the air and caught it a moment later. Only, it was no longer a crystal. In his palm was a round, juicy green apple.

She looked from Nicholas to the apple and back again. "It's not drugged is it?"

He grinned. "Naw. I only drug peaches." Despite herself, she grinned too.

"So you heard about that, huh?" she asked, taking the apple from his hand and taking a small bite. Nothing happened.

"Yes, I did hear about that," he said, smiling. "But I wonder…" his voice trailed off as he looked out the window.

"About?"

"What was it like?" His eyes didn't leave the labyrinth. "What was it like going through all this? I mean, I've heard the stories. But as gossip gets passed along, the truth tends to get a bit misconstrued."

"I'm sure whatever gossip you've heard is far more interesting than the truth is."

"Perhaps," he shrugged. "But I do like having my facts straight. And what better way to do that than to get a first hand account?" His eyes were probing, smoldering underneath his surprisingly dark lashes. Sarah felt like she had to look away.

"What do you wanna know?" she replied before taking another bite.

"Well, let's start at the beginning. How did you end up in that mess to begin with?"

Sarah laughed without humor. "I was pissed off at my stepmother." In hindsight she could see it had nothing to do with Toby and had everything to do with Irene. "She always assumed I had no life. She was right most of the time," she admitted grudgingly, "but it was still insulting."

She paused to make sure he was still listening. Their eyes met. His intent gaze made her flush momentarily before she continued. "Once again I was stuck at home watching Toby. I suppose I wasn't fair to him," she mused. "I was already angry with Irene… but he wouldn't stop crying. It was madness!

"I finally lost it. I had no idea that in wishing him away, he would actually disappear! How was I to know?

"And then your uncle showed up. He tried to make me forget about Toby. He even offered me one of his damned crystals saying 'if you turn it this way, it'll show you your dreams'. Who needs dreams when you're stuck in a nightmare? When I refused, he gave me thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth and save my brother." Sarah's eyes stared across the labyrinth again. But she did not see the ever-changing walls. Instead, her mind was in a different time, different place, and slightly different Sarah.

"So, what happened next?" Nicholas asked, pulling Sarah back to the present.

She smiled. "The Goblin King wasn't kind enough to even show me the entrance to his labyrinth. Luckily for me, Hoggle was. Though, he certainly was reluctant about it."

"Was Hoggle the dwarf you supposedly became friends with?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Just wondering. Go on. What then?" He grinned at her, causing her heart to stutter. It took her a second to calm down before she went on with her tale.

"The first obstacle I faced was in the outermost layer of the labyrinth. It was this endless corridor that just went on and on. Or so it seemed. If it weren't for a fuzzy, blue worm, I wouldn't have ever found an opening."

"I'm sure you would have found an opening eventually," Nicholas replied soothingly.

"I doubt it. At the time I was too blind with anger to really see anything. It only added to my frustration."

"I see. So you found your way out of the endless corridor. Then what?" Sarah was surprised by how Nicholas seemed to hang on her every word. She couldn't have possibly been that interesting. Regardless, she continued.

"It finally started to look like a real maze. I used my tube of lipstick to mark where I had been and which way I had gone so I wouldn't get lost. But I found out that someone had been changing my marks. Not only that but the walls, themselves were changing!

"That's how I came across the guards that spoke in riddles. They said that one guard always tells the truth and the other always lied but I could only ask one of them one question. I thought I had the riddle figured out but when I walked through the door, I fell into a pit full of hands. 'Helping Hands' they called themselves. They gave me the choice of going up of down. I was a fool and chose down. It landed me in an oubliette.

"It was pitch black all around me aside from the narrow beam of light from the tube I had just fallen through. I was surprised to hear Hoggle in there too. He offered to take me back to the entrance of the labyrinth but I bribed him to take me as far as he could go into it instead.

"He led me through semi-dark tunnels. Along the way we came across false alarms. They looked like Easter Island heads telling us we were going the wrong way. According to Hoggle, that meant we were headed the right way. Further in we came across what looked like a beggar-goblin of some sort. It turned out to be none other than your uncle in disguise."

Nicholas leaned forward, eager to hear more. "Really? What did he do? Was he angry?"

"Very," Sarah answered. "He even threatened to throw Hoggle into the Bog of Eternal Stench."

Nicholas wrinkled his nose. "I can imagine how awful that would be."

"Trust me. Whatever you imagine… it's ten times worse."

"I'll take your word for it. So what happened nest? Jareth didn't throw this Hoggle fellow into the Bog but he must have done something." His voice had an expectant edge to it. It made Sarah smile smugly.

"Of course he did something. He took away three of my hours and sent the cleaners after me and Hoggle."

He winced. Nicholas had heard the infamous stories about his uncle's cleaners. If one was stupid enough to be in the cleaners' path, you would either be crushed or tore apart, limb from limb. Preferably the first.

"Why on earth would he do that?" he wondered incredulously.

"Well," Sarah said sheepishly, "I sort of insulted his labyrinth."

"No! What did you say?"

"I kind of said it was a piece of cake. It probably wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done."

"Probably," Nicholas agreed, shaking his head. "So how'd you escape that?"

"Hoggle and I ran like hell. Soon there was no where left to go. Hoggle was so certain that it was the end but I really wasn't ready to die yet. There had to be another way out. There always is in this place. I tried pushing on the wall, hoping it would give way to some secret passage or something. At the last possible second, it did. Thank goodness for that."

And so Sarah continued, detailing her adventure through the labyrinth. She described how she found Ludo, winced at the memory of nearly being dismembered by the Fierys, and wrinkled her nose in disgust when she recalled the Bog. When she told of Hoggle's betrayal and the peach-induced ballroom dream, she blushed furiously. That particularly spiked Nicholas' curiosity.

"What is it?" he asked, smirking at her expression.

"Nothing," she replied lamely.

"I'm not buying that. There's something up and you're going to tell me what." He crossed his arms across his chest and waited expectantly.

Sarah huffed. "Okay, okay. I just had a similar dream like that last night. No big deal." Though, it was a pity I couldn't have slept long enough to conclude it, she thought unhappily.

Nicholas didn't press her for more information regarding that. He remembered the name that she had murmured in her sleep and he wasn't happy about it. A frown remained on his mouth as she described the junk ladies, the battle in the Goblin City and her struggle through the Escher room. But as she reached the climax of her story, he became much more eager.

"Fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave." Sarah held her half-eaten apple out in front of Nicholas just like the Goblin King had done the previous year and in all of her dreams since then. Her voice took on a posh, British accent but her face was overdramatic, mocking,

Nicholas roared with laughter. "And what did you do then?"

"At first I couldn't remember what to do. The whole end was playing out just like my book but I could never remember the heroine's last line. And then all of a sudden the words just sort of tumbled out of my mouth. I looked at him dead in the eye and said 'You have no power over me!'"

Nicholas' interested face fell slowly.

"What?" Sarah asked.

He frowned. "How anticlimactic."

She flushed and looked away. She had never really thought about it like that before. Of course, now that it was painted out to her, it was rather boring in comparison to everything else she had been through. But at the time it seemed so big to her. She stood up to the one thing that truly frightened her in the labyrinth. It all seemed so silly now.

"Don't get me wrong," Nicholas added hastily, reading the embarrassment and despair on Sarah's face. "Your part… was great. Very dramatic choice of words. Um… it's just my uncle's part was very weak. I mean, to let words defeat him… I'm sure you had even more detrimental attacks ready. He just couldn't handle your weakest one…" he trailed off lamely.

She smiled weakly at his attempt at consolation but said, "No, you're right. It really was anticlimactic. But what were you told? How did the gossip end my story?"

He grinned. "I was told that you pierced Jareth's heart… yet he some how miraculously lived. Much to the disappointment of my father, I might add."

Sarah's jaw dropped at this statement.

"What?" Nicholas asked. "It's not like it's a secret that they hate each other. The last time they saw each other was at my christening. I'm pretty sure there were some broken noses and black eyes to say the least when that whole affair was over.

"Speaking of…" he said looking at Sarah appraisingly, "why are you here? You don't come across as on 'friendly terms' with my uncle."

"Oh I'm not. Believe me. It takes almost all my energy not to smack him every time I see him."

"Then why are you staying at his castle as his guest?"

She smiled ruefully. "I wouldn't say I'm a guest. More like a prisoner… well… substitute prisoner anyways."

He gave her a questioning look. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she tried to find the words to explain. Then she said, "You remember Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus from my story, right?" He nodded. "Apparently the Goblin King was angry with them for helping me through his labyrinth. He said it was treasonous. As punishment, he dangled them over the Bog of Eternal Stench by their ankles! It's been a year and I had no idea how long their sentence was but I couldn't leave them like that. Especially since it was my fault to begin with."

Despite himself, Nicholas was in awe. "Wow. That was very selfless, Sarah. To subject yourself to company that you hate so your friends wouldn't have to suffer... that takes heart."

"I guess. But I miss my family! I miss my dad and Toby and my dog, Merlin. Heck, I might even miss Irene a little bit."

"I'm sorry," he said, placing his hand on hers. "Things will get better. Who knows? Maybe you'll get lucky and get to go home soon." Though, I really hope not, he thought to himself.

"Maybe," she replied softly. She secretly loved how her fingers tingled at the touch of his. Neither spoke for a long time. Instead, they sat silently, lost in their own thoughts, staring out at the blazing, gold sky.

Tatiana heaved herself into a chair. She downed a glass of cabernet without tasting it. It had been a long day. She ordered another drink and the goblins scurried about, afraid she might bog them like her brother if she didn't get her way.

She gulped her second glass more slowly, letting the wine stain her lips. But she still drank it too fast to really enjoy the taste. She had no food in her stomach and a hell of a lot on her mind.

"Poor Jareth," she slurred. She never had a high tolerance for alcohol of any kind and drinking her third glass of wine on an empty stomach sure wasn't helping.

"He sure was distraught about that dream he had last night," she murmured to the little goblin sitting at the bar beside her. It had drank three full, foaming tankards of goblin ale and yet it seemed unfazed. The little goblin nodded sympathetically at the pathetically drunk Fae.

It had been difficult getting Jareth to go to sleep. First he went on and on about his disturbing dream of Sarah. Then when Tatiana had talked some sense into him regarding that, he insisted he had duties to fulfill that he had no time to neglect. With the ball only weeks away, she couldn't honestly deny him that, even if he reordered time. Even still, she somehow managed to convince him to take one day off and rest.

Matters seemed to get worse when Nicholas barged in and demanded to know when Jareth planned on releasing Sarah. It surprised Tatiana when the Goblin King weakly answered 'she may go home whenever she wishes.' She was under the impression that he had little to no intention of letting her go anytime soon. Without explanation for his first inquiry, Nicholas then demanded the date of the masquerade be moved up to the earliest possible date. When Tatiana was about to object, Jareth said the earliest date possible was in four days. Without another word, the Goblin King drifted off to sleep. This left Tatiana to deal with the—most likely—angry guests who would have to rearrange their schedules because they planned their year around this just as Nicholas said. On top of all that, they had four days to prepare. Four days!

"What the bloody 'ell are they playing at? Moving the preparation time up from weeks to days! It's beyond insane. They both are," she said, gulping down another glass of wine. Somewhere in the back of her drunken mind, Tatiana knew she would regret this in the morning when she felt the hangover. But at the moment, she was perfectly content drinking her problems away next to the now two goblins; both inexplicably seemed to be wearing pink fairy wings.

Author Note: Thank you all (as always) for your support. We are nearing the end of our story. It's because of readers like you that make it all worth while. Man that sounds corny. Oh well.

Moi: Whatcha got there Jareth?

Jareth: (flips page of book) I was… curious what all these girls were obsessing over. I don't get what the big deal is about this Edward Cullen fellow…

Moi: (gapes) Edward Cullen?! I LOVE Edward Cullen!!

Jareth: What's the big deal? He's just a vampire that kills animals instead of humans.

Moi: But he's sooooooooo dreamy!

Jareth: And why do people think it's so remarkable that he's gone one hundred and eight years without sex? I've gone nearly two thousand years and have NEVER gotten a piece of action!

Moi: Oh wow. Ever considered online dating?

Jareth: (grumbles)

Moi: Maybe you have readers who would love to fix that for you. (to readers) If you want a piece of Jareth action, send me your reviews.