Sarah returned to the Labyrinth just as the sun was beginning to set. Changing into a plain black dress she headed to the throne room to find Jareth and his parents, then went out to the front of the castle. The large open area where the army had gathered before was once again filled. Creatures of all races of the Underground had come to pay their respects to the dead. Sarah could see Goblin, Elementals, Fae and Animalanis mingled together. It was a sombre sight to behold, but heart warming at the same time. The subjects of the Underground were truly united in their grief. Sarah could see both young and old, those fit and those injured in the fighting, standing together in friendship. The royals stood watching their subjects interact for a while, gradually becoming aware that Jareth's brothers and their partners had joined them.

As the last rays of the sun disappeared beneath the horizon, the Royal family started to walk slowly down the stairs, creating lights to illuminate them and the crowd as they went. Sarah and Jareth stopped a few steps from the bottom, the rest of the family remained standing a few steps behind them. The crowd went silent immediately as Jareth began to speak.

"Goblins, Fae, Elementals, Animalanis. I stand here today not as your King, but as a fellow resident of the Underground. These times have been hard, our lands, our homes, our very lives have been threatened. I watched as countless of my subjects died, subjects that I care for, subjects that I called my friends. I came close to death myself, as did many of you that I see standing before me today. We were the lucky ones, we survived this war, we lived to see peace once again, to see the Underground rise victorious and the lands we loved kept safe. In three days I shall wed Lady Sarah, and the celebration shall not only be for our marriage, but for the victory that belongs to us all."

"Today however," Sarah continued, picking up flawlessly from where Jareth left off. "Is for those who cannot be here to celebrate our victory, to taste this freedom. Those who fell to give us this gift, made the ultimate sacrifice for those they loved and such a sacrifice must never be forgotten. Their noble deeds will be honoured forever in our hearts. I have asked Hoggle to carve a statue as a commemoration to those who fell in this war, an ever lasting monument to their bravery."

Sarah held out her hand and produced a rose sphere. Lowering her hand, the magic floated out to a space a few metres from the steps and Hoggle appeared standing next to a large object covered with a cloth.

"Noble Hoggle, you stood by your King through the war, protecting him with your sword. I ask that you do the honours of revealing your work."

Slowly, almost shyly, Hoggle reached out and pulled the cloth off his statue. It was magnificent. Carved out of frosted crystal, the sculpture stood almost six foot tall. In it were depicted members of the four races who had united to fight in the war. At the centre was a carving of a Fae dressed in full armour, proud and regal, fierce almost in its stance. Along its back were traced lines depicting wings, a nod to the Faery race and their role in the war. Standing proudly next to the Fae was a Goblin, dressed in its own combination of metal and leather armour, adorned with the pendant that the Goblin King wore around his neck, a symbol of all the creatures of the Goblin Kingdom united. Standing to the other side of the Fae was a wolf, curving gently around the front of the statue, and an owl sat upon the Fae's shoulder, representations of the fierce and calm sides of the Animalanis nature. Around the base of the statue, adorning a side each, were depictions of fire, water, wind swirls for air and mountains for earth, representations of the four Elementals. All four Kingdoms were portrayed, all subjects of the Underground honoured for their role in its victory.

Sarah allowed a minute of silence to follow the unveiling, letting everyone view the statue and remember their fallen heroes.

"This statue will stand as a reminder of those that fell, a monument to their courage and their sacrifice. It will also stand to remind us of the cost of our freedom, and as a vow that never will our lands be taken, never will our people bow down to invaders. We are all residents of the Underground, we are all strong and no one shall ever break or defeat us."

Her speech was met with deafening cries. For this moment, no matter the grudges of the past or the foes of the future, every single creature in the Underground was united in its pride of the lands they called home.

The next few days passed in a flurry of activity. Sarah could never have imagined how hard it would be to reorganise the wedding. This was no longer a necessary event, it was a true celebration, a royal union, and so the plans now all required extra care. To add to that there was also a runner in the Labyrinth. A teenage girl who had wished her younger sister away. Sarah felt slightly sorry for the girl, she'd done it after being made to stay home to look after her sister instead of going shopping with her friends. Normal childhood jealousy and under normal circumstances she would have won her sister back no problem. Of course these weren't normal circumstances. So excited were all the creatures of the Labyrinth at the prospect of a proper royal marriage after the turmoil of war, that they forgot their roles and kept enticing the girl into celebrating with them or getting her to join in helping with the preparations.

The goblins got her picking flowers for the wedding decorations. The worm had been off trying on new scarves to decide which would look best for the wedding, consequently the poor girl spent her entire first hour walking in a straight line before Sarah magically made her trip over a rock and fall into one of the secret openings. The Animalanis still resident roped her into helping them scour the Labyrinth for any song birds, or indeed any creatures at all, to provide music for the guests as they arrived at the wedding. Finally the Fierys almost had her eating their special brand of mushrooms. Sarah was reluctant to think of the consequences of sending a runner back Aboveground under the influence of psychedelic mushrooms. As it was Sarah puller her out of the Labyrinth and sent her back home with her sister, altering both their memories so they wouldn't remember a thing of their time Underground. The Labyrinth before a royal wedding was a confusing place to be for a mortal.

Sarah was asked to re-finalise the menu's, give advice on table settings, choose new flower arrangements. New roles in the wedding had to be created for Sarah's father. In reality Sarah pulled the roles from an Aboveground wedding. Giving away the bride didn't exist Underground, but everyone felt it was fitting Sarah's family be involved and the wedding represent a true blending of Aboveground and Underground traditions. The area for the wedding was extended to make room for all the extra subjects. As it was a celebration of war, everyone who wanted could attend, instead of just those noble or close to the royal couple, although mostly it was the goblins that made up the extra numbers. This caused more trouble with the seating arrangements and in the end it was simply decided to set apart a whole area of the reception room for the residents of the Underground to seat themselves wherever they wanted.

Sarah didn't see much of Toby over the next few days, she was constantly busy with the wedding preparations and he was far too interested in exploring the Labyrinth. However at the end of each day, the whole royal family, along with Toby, Carnice, Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus all sat down and ate dinner together. It was a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of life in the Labyrinth with all the preparations going on and a hyperactive seven year old running about. After dinner Sarah made sure she spent some quality time with Toby before he went to bed, and then some quiet time with Carnice and Mandana before she retired herself, exhausted and more than ready to sleep.

The final day before the wedding was even more hectic than the rest as people began to worry that things wouldn't be finished in time. By the time dinner arrived Sarah was exhausted and could barely stay awake to play with Toby. Her hour with the girls was given up instead to the traditional Underground evening with her husband to be. This was meant to be quality time, to discuss anything that might be on their minds before the wedding, clear the air if it was needed, and if not, enjoy their time together before the madness of the wedding.

For a while Sarah and Jareth merely lay on their bed in silence, relishing each other's company, they'd barely had any time together recently, and it was nice to just be alone for a while. Eventually though, Jareth decided it was time to use the evening for what it was allotted for, and address his main worry.

"Sarah, are you okay? So much has happened since we returned here that we haven't had any time to really talk. I know you've been keeping busy, distracting yourself from things, but I'm worried."

Sarah knew without him saying what he was worried about. Jareth hadn't shielded her from the pain of her attack since he sent her back Aboveground, he wanted to know how she was dealing with it. He was right though, she had been keeping herself busy, doing anything so as not to have time to dwell on memories, the think of what they did to her, but it wasn't just that…

"It hurts Jareth, I won't deny that, but it's not like it was Aboveground. There I was alone, but here I've got you. I love you, and I can't even put into words how much your love has helped me come to terms with my attack. I've got all my friends around me too, and your family, I love them like my own. I know I don't have your shield around me, blocking me from the pain anymore, but having people I care about around me is a shield in itself. And it's more than that, it's like this place is healing me, almost as though the Labyrinth itself doesn't want me to be in pain." Sarah laughed slightly at her own words. "I know it sounds a bit crazy, but the Labyrinth has its own magic, and I think it's helping me. I'm happy Jareth. It still hurts when I think of what they did to me, but I'm happy."

The reassurance was more than enough for Jareth, even as Sarah spoke the words Jareth knew what she was saying was true. Her attack had happened in another world, the barriers between the two worlds were strong, that magic was distancing Sarah from the pain, and she was right, the magic of the Labyrinth did have the power to heal. Many a time a wished away child had arrived broken, both physically and mentally. These children were kept here longer, to allow the power of the Labyrinth to heal their pain, let them grow into happy children. Jareth had no doubt that the Labyrinth was doing the same to Sarah. Contentedly he kissed Sarah gently, before suggesting it was time to go to bed. Separate beds. It seemed both Underground and Aboveground had traditions regarding the night before the wedding.

After one final unmarried kiss, Sarah went to her own rooms, dressed for bed and lay down. She knew she'd be awake for hours, worried that something would go wrong the next day. She was asleep within seconds.

A/N So, a little later than I anticipated, I only got 11 hours sleep in three days (the one problem with festivals) so last night was given up completely to festivals. So I've given you an extra long chapter to make up for it. Hope you like it!