I made a mistake; I said Sarah hadn't been around for over a century (while this true) it's closer to a thousand years…so, yeah…

This chapter goes out to Lady of the Labyrinth, who kindly took to my suggestions coughthreatscough to update a new chapter. I decided that I should as well, to make things a little more even. Although I've been waiting a longer time than she has… (Glares threateningly and brandish a grass skirt and coconut bra) I would just like to say, I hope I don't have to wait too long for the next one…(quirks brow very Jareth like)

Oh! And it's me birthday! (5/27)

Disclaimer: To own this (wonderful) movie I would have to get a sex change, change my name, and grow many years older…and die…

…Poor Jim…

Jareth watched with disdain clear on his face the proceedings of the ball glaring at anyone who came too close. This, coupled with the fact that he and Sarah were oblivious to whatever had happened, made most stay away….stay far away…

But then, there would be a few who tried to talk to him. But, being the strong silent type Jareth barely uttered a word to these select few. Soon the number of people attempting to join him dwindled to even less. This was completely fine with Jareth, of course, and he continued to scowl as he leaned against the wall. There was really only one other person (not counting Sarah) that he would have taken pleasure in talking to, but she wasn't here. Or at least, that's what he thought…

"Well, someone looks anti-social," a voice spoke smoothly catching Jareth off guard.

Jerking up from his slouched position he stared slightly wide-eyed at the young woman before him. She had hair of a deep chestnut that seemed to glimmer red in certain light and eyes golden, except when she was severely pissed off…then they too flashed crimson that seemed black at times. When this happened…you were probably safer in the Aboveground being chased by insane mortals waving iron at you…you would also prefer this. The girl now had her extra long hair half piled atop her head and half trailing down her back. She wore a deep red, like dried blood, dress with no back and long sleeves that ended in points on the back of her hands. Her dress was elegant in its simplicity, and she wore no jewelry except a red stone that rested against her bosom supported by a fine gold chain. Also, she wore a simple tiara of gold to mark her place among the nobles and royalty. As Jareth's eyes landed on her they widened before a smirk played at his lips.

Sarah curtsied to her father as the last song ended signaling the end to one of their multiple dances. She smiled up at him as he led her off the floor. "Father, I believe you've gotten better."

"Well, I didn't have your enormous weight against my feet now, Sarah my dear," he smiled.

"Oh, Da!" she scolded. Smirking up at him she nodded as he told her he had to speak to others and left her to find her, I mean the Goblin King. Sarah quickly saw him…talking to another girl. She couldn't explain why, when she saw this, she felt something lurch in her stomach and her face grow hot. She almost felt…jealous.

Oh, it's probably because he's my best friend and he's chatting with this girl…smiling! I wonder who she is. One of the women he used to take to bed? An old friend of the family? Wait, of course she isn't! If she was I would recognize her! She looks beautiful, and exotic, but not like the Fae. She doesn't look like a Lycan either. Or an elf for that matter, though her ears do have that point most, residents of the Underground have. But she doesn't look completely Undergroundian…what the heck do we call the people who live Underground? Anyways… Who is she? And why is she talking to my Jareth! Wait…my Jareth? Since when is he mine? And why do I keep asking myself questions when I could go find out!

Making up her mind Sarah walked over to them a determined look on her face. She didn't know why she felt this way, but she was jealous of this beautiful woman that caused her best friend to laugh, if softly, and she wanted to know just who the hell she was. She saw Jareth spotting her and his smile lessened somewhat. She had half a mind to turn back around and forget she was walking to him, but he walked over to her grabbing her arm.

"Sarah, I'm glad your father finally let you return to my side. I want you to meet a…friend of mine."

Sarah's eyes widened. "Friend? I thought you had no friends," she replied shocked, and slightly hurt. She was his friend.

When they were back by the woman Jareth made the introductions. "Lady Sarah of the Labyrinth, I'd like to introduce to you to Queen Dracora of the Dragon Realms."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Lady Sarah," the Queen smiled, although she glared slightly at Jareth. "I must confess, it is a wonderful treat to meet the girl who was the leader in tormenting my grandfather when he stayed at the Goblin Kingdom over a thousand years ago. It apparently took him ages to get all the sewage out of his scales," she smirked.

Brows furrowing in confusion Sarah had to think for a moment before she remembered the catapult she and Jareth had built to torture the Dragon Lord ages ago. This girl was his granddaughter! She widened her eyes before she chuckled uneasily. "Er…whatever Jareth said about me was untrue…"

Dracora laughed. "I'm sure. Some of the things I'm sure are, but I'm not quite so sure about others. Tell me, is it true you once won a bet ending with Jareth having to ask his father about sex?"

Sarah couldn't help it; a peal of laughter escaped her mouth as she remembered that. Covering her mouth with her hand she tried to keep the laughter down but only ended up snorting. "Oh, I had forgotten about that! Yes, I did that! Do you know how awkward it is for the Goblin King to tell his only son about sexual intercourse? King Jairo was so…sad! Man, it was great!" Sarah exclaimed wiping away a tear from her laughing. It also might have been from the pain that attacked her as she remembered a little bit more about her past. Who knows? Hell, I'm writer and I don't! Er…anyways…

Dracora chuckled liking this girl immediately. She had almost grinned like a buffoon when she smelt the jealousy radiate off her body. When she saw Jareth's face at their laughter she cleared her throat. "Lady Sarah, like I said before, it is a pleasure to finally meet you."

Sarah quickly sobered. "Wait a minute…you mean big giant dragon was your grandfather? Funny, you don't look like a dragon…"

"Er, it is a long story. Actually, as I'm sure your keen Fae eyes have already told you…I'm part Mortal."

Sarah's chin dropped. Well, that would explain the not looking entirely 'Undergroundian'. "Wait…how do a dragon and a mortal…you know?" she asked with a quirked brow.

Dracora rolled her eyes in a very mortal fashion. "The Great Dragons, not your average kind you see today mind you, could morph into a humanoid form, remember? You really did forget a lot, didn't you?"

Taking time for the pain as a memory flashed by she nodded. "Oh yeah, I remember the Dragon Lord walking around the castle, although he looked as if he wasn't used to it."

"Well, the Dragons could only morph into humanoids for a period of two hours, maybe three depending on how powerful the Dragon was. Regular dragons can't change into humanoid form, and are much smaller. Also slightly stupider, but don't tell them that! Unless you're the Queen…then you can pretty much tell them whatever you want. Anyways, I digress. The King of the Dragons could usually stay in humanoid form longer, but my father was one of the strongest Dragons ever born, and he had the ability to stay in Dragon form as long as he wanted. The only problem was, every time you morph it hurts, and the longer you go without morphing the more it hurts."

"Oh," Sarah said confused. "Does that mean you usually have a tail and scales?" she asked using the Queen's words.

"No, not really," Dracora laughed. "As I said before, I'm part mortal. My mother was a mortal queen from years ago, and since my father was in humanoid form I was born in a human body. I didn't really know I as part Dragon until I was about, I believe, fifteen. That was when my uncle, on my mother's side, tried to take over the crown killing my mother and using ancient magick to turn my father back into a Dragon and sealing him into a magick stone; the one I'm wearing around my neck now."

Sarah's eyes widened once more. Jareth looked bored. He already heard this story, well, actually he saw some of the story play out. But whatever. "This…I'm so confused!" Sarah cried.

"Okay," Dracora took a deep breath, "my father fell in love with a mortal queen one day as he was in humanoid form Aboveground, and decided to stay with her forsaking his birthright as Dragon Lord. Unlike your mother who came Under, mine couldn't leave her people (let's face it, mortals tend to need leadership more than others) so my father left here and went Above. A few years later they had me. A few years after that the Duke-Lord-Guy-Person (my uncle) went power crazy or something and killed my mother. He then used the ancient magick to turn my father back into Dragon form (he kind of lost the ability to change back himself because he stayed humanoid for so long) and seal him in this stone around my neck. An old nursemaid was able to help me escape, getting the stone from my uncle and returning it to me. Sadly she sacrificed her own life for my own. With me so far?"

"I…I think so."

"I, with aid from my father (you see, we could communicate somehow because the Dragons of Old were slightly telepathic and I was part Dragon, and his daughter), was able to travel to the Underground. But I'm ahead of myself; that took two years for me to do, all the while I was traveling like a fugitive from my uncle. During this time my father was trying to teach me to use the powers that lie dormant within me, but I was only able to transform partially into Dragon form only spouting wings from my back and my skin growing slightly scaly. My teeth grew a little as well, as did my claws. I regret to say I used this to steal occasionally when the need arose. But again, I digress. Well, with my wings I could only glide, they were far too small, and inexperienced, to fly. But the more I practiced the better I became. Soon, when I was around seventeen, I was able to summon enough power to travel Underground. Unfortunately that simple task took all of my power and I was barely conscious when I arrived. Having no strength left I morphed back to my mortal form, seeing as how it was my primal form."

"What happened then?" Sarah asked completely absorbed into the story. She always loved a fantasy, and just because fantasy was now her reality didn't take away the excitement.

"Well," Dracora took another deep breath, "I went to the place I knew best, a place my father used to tell me bedtime stories of. A place of magick so wild only a certain family of the Sidhe could control it; a place where dreams were made. The Labyrinth." Dracora watched Sarah as she inhaled sharply. She thought it was the fact that she appeared at the Labyrinth. She would soon find out she was mistaken, and she quirked an eyebrow at Jareth who ran his hand over his face knowing what was coming.

"They can't control Laby!" Sarah exclaimed indignant. "They wished they could, but no one can control Labyrinth. It is its own master and it only allows others to use it because they work together. Your father was greatly mistaken! They have as much control over it as Karen had it over me!" Sarah paused her tirade to mutter darkly about Karen. "Furthermore," Sarah continued, "Laby is smarter than these blonde Fae could ever expect! I'll show you control! Laby would be outraged to know people think it is nothing but an object used by the Sidhe! Why, Jareth doesn't even know half the secrets it holds! Control! Pfffbt!" Sarah huffed crossing her arms. "I say not!"

Dracora's eyes, now quite large, blinked slowly. Jareth, who had previously been holding his hands over his ears, relaxed seeing his, er, seeing Sarah settling down. Sarah, meanwhile, was planning on going to yell at the Labyrinth when she got home and ask it why it never told her about the Dragon Queen. None of them realized the many looks they were receiving, or the few smirks (these from Gavrillian, Tiernan, Jairo, and Calillia).

"Anyways," Sarah said politely smiling, "please continue."

"Right, er, anyways… I appeared just before its gates, on this sandy hill. I staggered forward and stumbled down rolling much how I used to as a child down grassy slopes. Except, this time it wasn't fun…and it kinda hurt. Well, I passed out, and I suppose some creature found me because when I woke up I was at the Castle at the centre of the Labyrinth being attended to by some little goblin. Well, needless to say I didn't take this lightly. I screamed. And screamed. And I'm pretty sure I screamed some more."

"You're bloody right you did!" Jareth exclaimed.

"Anyways, the King here came and, thinking I was mortal, was very displeased. When he found out I was part Dragon he was even more displeased. I got the feeling he wasn't a very happy person. Well, long story short--"

"Too late," Jareth mumbled.

Dracora shot a glare at Jareth. "Long story shorter Jareth gave me a place to rest and gather strength and to practice magick. I had to travel many different places but if anything became too rough he let me hide out for a few days at his castle. I learned as much as I could from ancient texts at the abandoned Dragon Realm (did I mention most of the Great Dragons died, slaughtered, or went into hiding?) and I was finally able to face my uncle. I eventually killed him (releasing my father, or rather his soul-ish thing, from the stone), retaking my mother's kingdom. But, I also inherited my father's, and I had to make a choice. I chose the land of my father, and left my mother's kingdom in the hands of a family loyal to my mother. They had been one of the select few nobles who knew my father's secret of being Dragon and believed greatly in the realm of fantasy. Something about their past I believe. Well, I came Underground and those few Great Dragons that went into hiding slowly came out and my father's kingdom began to flourish once more. I keep the stone he was imprisoned in as a reminder, and as a symbol of hope. Hope of a future away from prosecution, and hope of a future not being constantly nagged by the essence of my father. Gods, he was annoying!"

Sarah blinked, her face expressionless. "How did the Courts react to this?"

"Well, they didn't really like it. I was part mortal after all. They didn't think I should lead a nation. But, I come from a long line of powerful kings, and even for being half mortal I too was a Dragon of great strength and power. And although for the first couple hundred years I despised being Queen, I quickly learn to accept my status. But call me 'Queen' and there will be hell to pay. My father and my father's father and so on and so on preferred to be called the 'Dragon Lord', feeling less like a superior being and more like one of the people (or Dragons), as I prefer to be called the 'Dragon Lady'." Dracora smirked. "Makes me sound like an old hag or something huh?"

Sarah snorted nodding. "Ah, I would hate to be queen. Being a noble, even a low one at that, was awful at times. You had to act a certain way, and say certain things, and look like you had just got a makeover all the time. I would have hated to be those poor nobles that took your mother's place as rulers of the land."

"Ah, they were wonderful people. I must confess though, over the hundreds of years I forgot their name. What was it? It started with a 'G' or a 'C' or something." Dracora tapped her slender finger against her chin thoughtfully. "Oh, it was Cage!" A beat. "No, wait; it was Gage…I think. Yeah! Their name was Gage!" she smiled triumphantly. "I wonder if any of their people are still alive."

Sarah winced as pain hit her. It wasn't anything drastic, but she really wanted some of that damned Roofie tea right now. Being at the ball was bringing back too many memories that she couldn't quite comprehend and they were beginning to make a non-magickal migraine grow alongside the magickal one. "Man, what I wouldn't give to be in class right now working on Mr. Mallory's case," she muttered thinking back to her college and the practice case her class had been working on. His 'case' was actually a kind of test for an internship she had been trying to get. Suddenly she felt a pair of eyes on her and she spun around trying to find them. On the other side of the room she saw Prince Volke staring at her over the rim of his punch mug. He smirked. And Sarah felt suddenly colder.

Jareth, sensing her discomfort, followed her line of vision. Upon seeing the Lycan Prince he growled and put a protective arm around his best friend. The prince glared at him before returning to a conversation he had been a part of. Jareth glowered after him for a few moments more before turning back to his own. "Sarah," he asked slightly confused, "how did you know Volke was a Lycan?"

"Huh?" she asked startled by the question. She looked at him and Dracora before shrugging. "I don't know. I just…knew. He wasn't Sidh, and he just seemed…I don't know. But I don't like him."

"You're not the only one," Dracora growled. "Perhaps someday you can visit my land, or I may visit the Labyrinth. It has been a while. Jareth, even after getting to know me some, still preferred to keep his, or the," she corrected wisely glancing warily at Sarah, "Labyrinth to his self. Being that I have only been here Underground for a few hundred years I'm still new to most of the history here, and only recently learned more about Jareth's past. This was how I knew the 'sex' thing," she added with a smirk.

"Please, do not offend when I tell you this, but at times you seem so much more human than Dragon, more…mortal." Sarah placed a cold palm to her heating forehead. She was beginning to feel feverish, and sick. She could really use some tea just then.

"No offence taken," Dracora smiled kindly. "I take pride in my small mortality. You should never be ashamed of who you are, or what you are. People of Aboveground are not inferior to those Under, no matter how much the Council bitches and complains about it," she added vehemently.

"Yes," Sarah agreed, "especially since we have sayings that utterly confuses others."

"Exactly!"

Jareth, although he loved Sarah (like a sister!), had stopped paying attention to what the two women were talking about. He and Volke were busy in a glaring match scowling at each other from across the ballroom. He despised that Lycan, a being unworthy to be called Immortal. He didn't know how long he knew him, but he knew he hated him. Something about him sent shivers up his spine begging him to throw him in an oubliette 'til the end of time. The way he looked at Sarah…

"Jareth, I'm not feeling so hot. Can we go home?"

Sarah's voice, the way her eyes were filled with innocence and pain, the childlike way she tilted her head to look up at him…it broke his heart. To think such a beautiful creature would die if they failed to find the answer to their past…it tore him up inside. He had at first reviled her for beating his game, but he came to realize that she was Sarah, she didn't know how not to win. It was who she was, who she always would be, and no amount of Faery glitter could change that. Sarah and all her holiness was his best friend, and he cared for her more than he ever cared for anything in his life. She beat the Labyrinth because of her innocence, her belief in friendship, family, and love. He winced mentally at that word. He loved her more than a usual friend, but how much more he was not yet able to admit.

"Sure Sarah," he spoke softly smiling lightly down at her, "let's go home." Saying goodbye to the Dragon Lady with his eyes a brief tilt of his head he led Sarah towards the staircase. On the way he passed Volke, whose sneer caused pain to lash through his mind but he quickly pushed it aside knowing Sarah felt the same pain. Right now he had to take care of his best friend, and that was why he granted her wish for more Anduilleaf tea before bed.

Well, it's June 2, really early in the morning. Sorry took so long to finish chapter. I'm going out of town and I'll be gone until the 11, so leave me kind reviews to read once I return. Oh, and how do you like Dracora? She's an OC (duh) from an original story I was working on, and decided to throw her in here, changing her story to a bit to fit into the Labyrinth. I'm thinking of making a story about her and her, well, story. The Labyrinth one, so Jareth would be in it a bit, but that's about it. I don't know though…I have so many other stories I have to do. Well, I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight everyone. Peaceful dreams to all.