Woop woop. Another chapter. Aren't you guys lucky. I'm so tired lol. I hope you guys like it. Can you PLEASE let me know what you think via reviews! It helps so much! Anyway, here we go. Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes or generally no-senseness. Again I haven't had a change to proof read it properly. Anyway, enjoy!!

R and R :)

Much Love

xxxxxxxx

Disclaimer: Nothing Labyrinth related is mine. All I have is my dreams...


Sarah gave a heavy sigh as her tired feet pounded the dusty ground of the Goblin City. The sun, which had only been beaming down a few hours ago, was struggling to be seen from behind a large black rain cloud that was engulfing the blue sky and threatening to break at any moment.

The sudden weather change baffled Sarah as she continued to wind her way through the quiet streets. Turning a corner, Sarah spied a group of filthy looking goblins all stood huddled together speaking in hushed urgent voices. The young goblin she recognised as Gwaff from their earlier encounter stood at the head of the group talking rapidly. Curious as to what all the commotion was about Sarah edged closer into to ear shot, carful not to let them spot her.

"Is it really true?" a tiny goblin wearing what appeared to be a dish cloth on his head squeaked urgently.

"Gwaff saw it with his own eyes." Gwaff proclaimed proudly while placing his hand on his hips and puffing out his chest importantly.

The goblins broke out into a panic of hushed whispering. Whatever was happening in the goblin society, it certainly had all their tails twitching.

"But why did Kingy bring her back?"

'Kingy?' Sarah stifled a laugh; it was bizarre to hear Jareth referred to as Kingy from his subjects while he wasn't around. Sarah humorously found herself wondering if Jareth actually knew that this was his nickname and what he would do if he found out.

"Kingy was so hurt after the lady left. Spud doesn't think he can do that again, not for a third time." The tiny goblin squeaked sadly. Sarah's ears perked up as she realised the goblins were taking about her return to the Underground.

"Wow, news does travel fast" She thought to herself. It appeared that the Kings subjects were just as confused as to what Sarah was doing here as she was. Sarah felt a dull ache as she listened to the goblins talk quietly about Jareth. They seemed to almost care about him. Maybe he wasn't as cruel to them as he made out to be. Maybe they were genuinely happy with him as King.

Listening to the tiny creature she assumed was Spud, she began to wonder what he had meant by not being able to do it for a third time. Hoggle had said to Sarah that she had been the only person ever to defeat the Labyrinth so what could have possibly caused Jareth's temper the second time? Sarah felt the bitter sting of disappointment as she thought about the possibility that another runner had defeated the Labyrinth since she had left. But even so, she reasoned with herself, Jareth had only been so fierce because he had claimed to love her. Something that Sarah realised she had been far too young at the time to understand properly and probably wouldn't be so quick to say no now she was older.

The bitter sting that disappointment had left her with was replaced with something much more violent that caught Sarah off guard, knocking the breath from her. Vengeful jealously clawed its way through Sarah's stomach leaving an intense ache. Had he loved this runner as well? Had she really meant nothing to him?

Sarah shook her head harshly causing it to spin as he dark hair fell carelessly around her dusty face. Why should she even care if he did, she began to reason with herself. He was a cruel king from her childhood nightmare. The villain.

"And it wasn't exactly like you ever gave him anything to hope on hope for was it" Sarah grumbled bitterly to herself as she tired of the goblins gossip and continued to wander towards the outskirts of the city. Sarah willed her thoughts away from the blonde king, deciding that her time was better spent trying to find her old friends. And with that Sarah strode purposefully to seek out the dwarf named Hoggle.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jareth watched Sarah through a crystal he held tightly in his gloved fingertips. Regret etched its way into his well defined features as he watched her make her way aimlessly through the gobbling city. Having her here in the Underground was going to be much more difficult than he had first envisioned. Vanishing the crystal, he ran his long fingers down his tired face.

It had taken him four years to try and put Sarah behind him, to get to a point where he thought he would be able to stand seeing her without the accompanying feeling for having his still beating heart torn out and burnt in front of him. But alas, all the hard work, all the effort spent forgetting her, none of that mattered. As soon as he saw Sarah walk into her bedroom with her breathtaking smile, all the walls he had worked so hard to build came tumbling down. He had never her genuine smile before, it was not something she tended to do around him, but there were no words to describe the feeling it gave him. Sarah Williams owned his heart and always would.

Jareth cast a weary glance at the grand father clock that ticked by with every passing moment, echoing through the silence that surrounded the exhausted King.

Noting that he still had a while before his visitor made their appearance; he decided that he would ease his tension with an early evening flight. The sun was beginning to set on the hazy horizon, casting a golden glow to the whole kingdom.

Smiling slightly at the thought of the release that flying would bring, Jareth gracefully shifted himself to perch elegantly on the large window ledge looking out over the castle's gardens below. Letting out a quiet laugh, Jareth launched himself out of the open window. Air rushed passed him as he plummeted to the ground, a grin broke out across his face as the adrenaline kicked in. Just meters from the ground Jareth changed into his owl form and swooped up among the towering spirals of the castle and off into the sunset.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It had been several hours since Sarah had left the goblin city and her feet were beginning to scream in protest as she continued on her mission to find Hoggle. Sarah found herself on what she could only assume was the outskirts of the Labyrinth; she appeared to have taken the short cut. Typical, she thought to herself. Moving onwards, she found herself on the outside of the Labyrinth wall, right by the entrance where she had started so many years ago. Walking over to the grand doors Sarah ran her hand over the worn wood letting the memories of her time spent in the Labyrinth wash over her. Admitting defeat to her feet Sarah pulled herself over to a nearby pond and sat on the ledge, glad to be resting her tired legs.

Sarah sat like this for a few minutes, taking in the early evening views. The sky had turned to a burnt gold colour and was sparkling with the promise of dazzling stars. A smile crept upon Sarah's lips as she lay back to admire the view further. Sarah yawned as she watched the colours change before her yes. Orange, yellow, gold, red. A snowy barn owl caught Sarah's attention from her place where she lay as it flew above her head weaving in and out of the clouds carelessly. Sarah smiled at the creature as it soared higher and higher and then proceeded to drop meters at a time before pulling up right at the last second, it reminded her of the owl she used to see a lot when she was younger. Always there, watching over her. Envy reared it head as she watched with tired eyes. How care free it must be, to be able to just fly amongst the stars and not have a care in the world. To not have a Goblin King trying to make your life a difficult as possible for you.

Sarah sighed as she continued to watch the bird fly closer to her, diving playfully just meters away. Sarah let out an amused laugh as the owl carelessly carried out a miscalculated dive and ended up falling into the near by tree. Staring at Sarah quizzically, the owls piercing eyes met her own. Sarah gasped as she glazed into a pair of mismatched eyes that were sparkling with mischief. The owl gleefully gave a soft hoot before stretching its wing's a taking flight off towards the castle.

"Sarah?" a rough voice from behind her called making her jumped slightly.

Sarah pulled herself to a seated position and spun round to face the speaker. Joy soared through her system as she recognised Hoggle standing before her with a shocked look on his face. Grinning from ear to ear, Sarah rushed over and embraced Hoggle in a large hug.

"Sarah… Sarah… can't breath." Hoggle coughed from underneath her fierce embrace.

Sarah jumped backwards quickly. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she gushed still grinning. "It's just so good to see you!"

Hoggle smiled surprised at Sarah, happy to see her. "Wha' are ya' doin' 'ere?" He asked curiously unable to keep the smile from his face.

Sarah made a point of dramatically sighing before launching into the whole story of what had happened between her and Jareth and how she had ended up back in the Labyrinth. Hoggle also apologized a lot about not visiting Sarah over the past few years, although he did not say why.

Hoggle was a very good listener, he 'ooooh'd and 'ahhh'd at all the right points and didn't hold back on what he thought about Jareth. A lot of which wasn't repeatable, even to the most mature ears. Sarah was glad to have a friend back in the underground. They talked for hours, until the stars were out in fall force and darkness had settled in.

Sarah wriggled against the tree she was now sat under trying to get comfy. Glancing up at the stairs, Sarah smiled. It was beautiful, she had never seen stars this bright back in the Aboveground, there had never been a chance. As if on cue, shooting stars lit up the sky with dazzling sparkles that made Sarah gasp quietly. Hoggle watched the stars with Sarah but was rather unimpressed by them.

"Bloody show off." He muttered under his breath while rolling his eyes.

Hoggle's comment confused Sarah slightly, but she didn't mind. The stars continued to dance gracefully for her, as if someone was throwing them into heaven themselves just for her amusement.

Sarah eventually tore her eyes away from the light display to gaze up Hoggle who was sprawled out underneath the tree with her. A frown formed itself on Sarah's brow as she began thinking of things that had been bothering her.

"Hoggle…" She began slowly capturing the dwarf's attention. "How bad was it?" She asked softly. "After I left I mean."

Hoggle grumbled low in his throat before pulling himself up to face Sarah. Sighing, he ran one of his grubby fists over his shirt and proceeded to ball it up in his fist nervously.

"Not good Sarah." Hoggle began quietly. "Jareth 'as a bad temper at the best o' times, but I 'ad never seen him like it. And I'm almos' as ol' as 'im."

Sarah grimaced. "I'm sorry Hoggle. I didn't mean to hurt anybody. It's just all so messed up." She sighed.

"It's ok Sarah. We know it's not your fault. Heck, we even know it's not really Jareth's fault either. It's just the way things are."

Sarah stayed silent as her minded processed the information. Something she had heard earlier during the day was weighing on her mind.

"Hoggle, has anybody else ran the Labyrinth and won since I was gone?" She asked nervously.

Hoggle let out a loud laugh startling Sarah slightly. "Won? HA! No one has been clever enough like you to win." Hoggle paused, still chuckling slightly. "why ya' wanna know?" He question.

Sarah blushed. "Well it's just I overheard some goblins earlier and they mentioned about how they didn't think Jareth would be able to survive being hurt for a third time." Sarah blurted out in a rush of words making it hard for Hoggle to understand. "So I was just wondering what happened to him since I left."

Hoggle groaned loudly. "Goblin's need ta' learn ta' keep their mouths shout."

Sarah's eyes met Hoggle's and pleased him to continue on with the story. Desperate to know what had happened.

"Alrigh' but ya' didn' 'ear it from me!" Hoggle shifted uncomfortably where he was sat before continuing. "And it didn't 'appen after ya' left. It 'appened before ya' came. Two years before."

Sarah stared at Hoggle confused. It had happened before she had run the Labyrinth? Why hadn't she heard about it before now?

"The King doesn't like ta' talk abou' it." Hoggle paused. "It 'appened six years ago. There was a power struggle in the undergroun' ya' see, much like you 'ave in your land. Jareth's family 'ave been the rightful rulers since before anyone can remember, but that don't mean people respect it. Two years before ya' came, a huge battle broke out over who should rule the kingdom. Jareth's cousin Ebony, nasty piece o' work he is, thought that 'e should be the one to rule the kingdom and brought an army upon the kingdom. The fight went on for days but eventually it seemed to be that we were winnin'."

Hoggle paused for a moment to catch his breath. Sarah listened intently eager to learn everything that she could about the history of the Underground.

"Anyway, we had defeated their army and won the battle, but Ebony wasn't 'appy. No he wasn't. He went mad, raging over 'ow Jareth should never 'ave been King, that it wasn't his right. Anyway, Ebony attacked Jareth, nearly killin' 'im."

Sarah felt herself take a sharp intake of breath as she listened to Hoggle's story. Sarah shook her head, no it wasn't a story, it was Jareth's history. It was real.

"What happened then?" She pressed the dwarf further.

Hoggle looked at her hesitantly before continuing. "Ebony 'ad the upper hand, Jareth was helpless. Tired and injured." Hoggle growled with distaste. Clearly the story was about to get worse. "Ebony went to strike 'is final killin' blow, but Jasper stopped 'im. Sacrificed himself to save Jareth." Hoggle finished solemnly.

Sarah's head buzzed. "Who's Jasper?" She questioned quietly, scared as to what Hoggle would reveal.

Hoggle sighed. "Jasper was Jareth's older brother." He paused running is hand across his face once again. "Seein' the death of his brother drove Jareth other the edge. I've never seen such pure rage and fury. The entire kingdom could feel it. Ebony made a run for it and is still running."

Sarah gasped. "They didn't catch him?!"

"No, they didn't. He's still out there somewhere the bastard." Hoggle growled. "I'm really sorry Sarah but I need to go, I was meant to be at the bog an hour ago to go sort out the goblins down there." Hoggle cast a wary eye over Sarah's shocked appearance. "Ya' gonna be alright?" He asked.

Sarah forced a smile to her face before answering. "I'm fine. Go." She said never letting the smile leave her face.

And with that Hoggle wandered off into the distance leaving Sarah sitting alone under their tree.

Silence echoed through the land as Sarah processed with she had just been told. Jareth's brother had been murdered. Murdered saving him. Sarah had never even thought about Jareth's family. It had never even crossed her mind. But now it seemed like such an important thing to know. Did he have any other siblings or was Jasper the only one.

A sudden wash of sorrow washed over her as she thought of the King. So many things about him were beginning to make sense to her. The way he acted, the walls he built up. He couldn't afford to let anyone close to him. He didn't want to get hurt again.

Sarah choked back a sob as she thought about how she had broken his heart. After everything that had happened she had to go and rub salt in the wound.

Screwing up her face she pulled her knees up to her chest and rest her head on them.

"Why is everything so hard?" She thought bitterly to herself. Silence pounded against her ears as the day ran through her head. Everything was just all too much, why could things never be simple?

"Didn't anyone ever tell you your face will stay like that if the wind changes?" A rough velvety voice Sarah didn't recognise called to her.

Sarah looked up and was greeted by the sight of a rather dark, yet familiar stranger. The stranger stared at her smile for a minute before offering a hand to pull her up from her seated position.

"Allow me to introduce myself." He smiled dazzling her with his white teeth. "My name's Onyx."

OOOOOOOOOH background info :P More Jareth next chapter. He gets to play hero. *swoon* Anywho, can you let me know what you think of my story so far :) this is the furthest I've ever gotten with a story! Lol. Anyway, off to bed now!! Night night!!

xxxx