AN: All loose ends are tied up in this chapter so there is a lot to digest.  /It's important to note that it takes place 25 years after Sarah has been gone. It'll explain what happened after her passing in a flashback.

Disclaimer: I don't own Jim Henson's Labyrinth or any of his characters. I lay claim to only my original creations. 

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Chapter Ten

All is Fair in Love and War

25 years after Queen Sarah's laid to rest…

            Raindrops fell upon the window pain as his strained tears trickled from their cold source. The bleak sky dimmed its lights to a dismal and depressing gray. It was all shadowed well by the crashing Atlantic Waters beating their wrath against the jagged cliffs. How he yearned to be free again so like those waves. Those rolling hills of water he watched countless nights and days. How they rumbled yet with a grace like that of a birds swooping wing. The storm's flurry sent them crashing into their endless fit. His sorrow apparent in his tears skittering down his porcelain face engraved it's self in worried lines and dark circles. However fervent, the storm was kept a far with the radiant glow in the hearth that beckoned Jareth's attention.

Moving his aching joints from the well lived in spot to that of a seat next to the comforting heat he couldn't help but melt. The flame's dance was reflected in his mismatched eyes as he focused in on its flare. Trying so very hard to push the pain away he just starred. Such turmoil his royal heart had felt. The agony was in the questions though, the infernal question of,  "what if?"

What if I had heeded Darien's warning against transforming her mortality? Then maybe just maybe she would not have been ripped away from both worlds. It was not her fault, how could it be? Sarah never knew the consequences of breaking her vows. What it meant to sever her self from her titles.

 He still heard the cries, still felt the touch, and in those glorious flames he saw her eyes starring back at him as though they were real. How distant those happy days seemed to be now lost in the dark obis of painful reminiscences as he was forced to grow old with only empty memories.

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Flashback to the labyrinth after Queen Sarah's death is announced…

With no crowned prince before the queen's passing, war had broken out among the neighboring realms to control the goblin kingdom:

The hills were scorched black and the air was thick with the smell of death as the labyrinth went under siege. Among his troops stood their fearless leader shoulder to shoulder fighting in the trenches. The sun had not shown through the artilleries cloud in countless days sending night and day into a pointless cycle only bringing higher death tolls. The once mighty force dwindled in numbers as the neighboring kingdoms sent in waves of attacking troops.

"We can't hold them off for much longer your highness!" His generals' continual plea was all that filled his mind as he braved the blood soaked battlefield with his troops.

Sword in hand he slashed his way through his foe screaming onward, "Fight to the death! We are the last force standing for what is just. We are what protects are land, our hope, and or dreams. Do not stop now!"

His steely eyes surveyed his surroundings as he fought fiercely. Around his feet lay the scattered remains of the young and old alike who all lost their lives. Everywhere he stepped his feet landed on skulls of this endless uphill battle.

And then there were just three; Tehran, Hoggle, and himself. He had lost what little remained worth living for. He no longer could protect his people. They would soon be forced out of their homes to either live under the rule of some foreign tyrant or banishment to another cruel dictator's realm. His own fate meant little to him in comparison of the ones he ruled over everyday for centuries.

Suddenly the enemy seized fire and parted as a figure rode in Jareth's direction through the fog of gunpowder. "Your efforts were gallant if not fearless Jareth but enough is enough. Take the Tribunal's judgment and spare further destruction of your people." Quickly seeing the Goblin King's raging pride the cloaked figure dismounted his steed to stand level with the warrior. It was only now that the king's mismatched eyes could see his foe's face uncloaked that he realized who exactly stood in front of him. Jareth had once before stood on this battlefield, much as he was now, starring into this man's black eyes. However, he was just a boy then fighting a man's battle.

His smug smile was cracked with a snarl in his realization, "It has been a longtime Ayden. I can't say that I've missed you however."

"Always the quivering loser Jareth. You really should learn to lose with some grace but you are you father's son after all. As much as I'd like to have you meet the same fate as him today my orders are strict. You are to report to the Tribunal, IMMEDIETLY."

The soil fell from beneath his feet as he was transported to the tall white walls of his future. Almost like the principles office the Tribunal carried an adolescent fear with it. "They've been expecting you for quite some time now." An aged voice drew his attention back to his currant predicament. The silver haired fae observed the figure that stood before the wooden doors.

"They'll see you know." With that the receptionist flicked her wrist and parted the ancient oak doors to reveal 5 aged figures scrutinizing the Goblin King's sudden presence.

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His deep concentration on the radiant orange was snapped at the storm's fit. With a sudden gust of wind the doors leading to the balcony flung open letting the rain and cold cascade into the room. Somehow bewitched by the storm brewing outside he seemed to float out the doors clanging against the wall.

Glass pains rattled and shook in their frames as the wind beat down on them and drew him out of the enveloping warmth. Transfixed, Jareth stepped out unto the balcony steadily starring ahead at the storming waters. He longed to join them and become one. It was that desire that gave him the boost onto the rail. His hair was loose and flowed around him wild as the storm's rage in its insolent strands. It danced freely and wildly towards the waters as though tugging him closer.

He felt that the last 25 years had been all just a long path to this very moment, this very second. He could still hear their judgment with their condescending beady stare, "you have dared to defy the tribunal. You mock the very court that placed a crown upon your royal head with your mortal whore. You'd think the girl could have at least bared a male with how many beds she lied in. Be it of no consequence you are condemned with or with out an heir." His anger still sizzled at the very thought of that day. Sarah's very memory was forever tarnished in the court. His own was of no consequence after they handed down his punishment, "You have wed a mortal and as so you shall live a mortal life in their world. You are here by stripped of all titles and citizenship to this realm." As his muscles flexed to throw himself to the clenches of death a voiced snapped his head around.

"Stop! Don't Jareth!" The desperate plea couldn't tear his stubbornness away and with one of his smug smiles he calmly replied, "I might not have been her other half but she was most definitely my other half. In the end I no longer have my queen nor kingdom to reign over. Goodbye my friend." With that said, he leapt into the cold Atlantic waters that would become his eternal grave.

            Devastated, a tired and empty shell still stood on the balcony with hands out stretched as though to pull his friend from the waters. There was nothing that could be done and the catatonic figure collapsed under the weight of the helplessness and gut wrenching pain that ripped at Tehran's very being. "How has it come to all this Sarah? When will it all be over?"

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Thanks for taking the time to read the latest chapter of my story and if you have a few seconds please leave your review.

~Clover