"We enter the world alone and we leave it alone. And everything that happens in between...we owe it to ourselves to find a little company. We need help. We need support. Otherwise, we are in it by ourselves. Strangers. Cut off from each other. And we forget just how connected we all are. So instead, we choose love. We choose life. And for a moment we feel just a little bit less alone." – Sarah O'Rourke

Sitting up in bed together, Sarah was feeding the baby. Jareth felt a warmth in his heart just looking at his little family. He could never have supposed, years ago, that he would ever be this fulfilled or this happy. Still, he was unable to enjoy it as much because of the concern regarding the Formorian problem.

Fomorians seem to have been gods who represented the harmful or destructive powers of nature; personifications of chaos, darkness, death, blight and drought. The Tuath Dé, in contrast, represented the gods of growth and Formorians were an evil supernatural race. Whereas the Tuatha dé, Jareth's people, were known as a just and fair race. The Fomorians were defeated in the Battle of Mag Tuired.

They were often portrayed as hostile and monstrous beings who come from under the sea or the earth. Later, they were portrayed as giants and sea raiders. As enemies of Ireland's first settlers and opponents of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the relationship with the Tuath Dé is complex as some of their members intermarried and had children.

The second Battle of Mag Tuired was fought between the Fomorians under Balor, who had a single eye in the middle of his forehead. This eye would cause death for any unfortunate that Balor looked at. The Tuatha Dé were led by Lugh, Jareth's grandfather, and Balor's grandson. Lugh faced his evil grandfather, as he was opening his evil eye, and threw a spear that drove his eye out the back of his head, wreaking havoc on the Fomorian army behind. After Balor's death the Fomorians were defeated and driven into the sea.

This was thousands of years ago, when both the Formorians and the Tuatha Dé lived in Ireland. Now there had been sightings of possible Formorian incursions from different parts of the Otherworld. Jareth did not see how this could be, as it was believed that the Formorions were believed to be extinct. Still, there was no denying the accounts of sightings coming from believable sources.

While Sarah was pregnant, Jareth did not want to upset her by giving her this news. However, the baby had been born, and Jareth knew how strong Sarah was. It was time to let her know.

He slipped out of bed, and pulled two chairs closer to the fire. "Love," he said, "There is some news in the kingdom that I must tell you."

Sarah frowned, and gave Jareth Saoirse to hold so she could get out of bed. They both sat in front of the fire, and Jareth began.

"I know that both Eimile and I have told you some of the history of our people, and why we live in the Otherworld and no longer live in Ireland….."

~~~Ó~~~

Once Jareth told Sarah everything, he noticed that she was pale and that her knuckles were white around Saoirse's blanket. Still, there was also that fierce green fire in her eyes that he loved so much. He had no doubt that she would be a strong and courageous Queen. Because it was entirely likely that they would be going to war, Sarah was to be granted the title of Queen Regent forthwith. Taking a deep breath, and giving Jareth the bravest smile she could muster, she handed Saoirse back to him, to get ready for a shower.

Sitting in front of the fire, with a warm baby on his lap, Jareth was relaxed a bit now that Sarah knew of the possible coming battle. He leaned his head back against the upholstered chair and inadvertently fell asleep.

He woke to find something trying to take Saoirse away from him. In a split-second, he created a crystal of fire, and threw it at the offender. He jumped to his feet in the next instant, hearing a woman scream.

Eimile was in front of him, slapping out flames on her dress. If she had not been an Immortal, that ball of fire would have killed her. She glared at Jareth.

"WHAT the bloody hell is your problem?" She spat, furiously. "I could see that you were resting, and I just wanted to hold my niece for a few minutes."

Jareth tried to slow his breathing, as well as his heart rate. Those fight or flight responses that are always relevant to possible danger to oneself or one's loved ones can sometimes go awry. He was still glaring at his sister.

Sarah came tearing out of the bathroom, soaking wet, with a towel wrapped around her. She had no idea what was happening.

"Oh — Eimile. I didn't know that you were here yet. Are your parents with you?"

"They're downstairs. And Jumpy over here just about burned me to death."

Sarah looked down at the burn hole in the carpet around Eimile's feet, and her scorched dress. Then she looked at Jareth's face.

"She startled me," he said lowly. "I'm afraid my nerves are somewhat on edge." He handed the baby to Sarah and walked into the bathroom for a shower. Both women stared at one another, shocked and confused.

Once Sarah and Jareth were dressed and ready, they brought the baby down to Sarah's sitting room, where Spam had built a lovely fire. Spam was absolutely in love with the baby, and did everything she could to help out.

Cillian and Brielle were waiting there, their faces breaking into beaming smiles as soon as they saw their granddaughter.

"May I?" asked Brielle, her hands reaching for the baby. Sarah happily handed her over.

"I cannot get over how much she looks like the both of you," said Brielle. "Especially Jareth's eyes. When he was born, no one had ever seen eyes like that before. She is such a beautiful little princess!"

It finally hit Sarah that her daughter was a princess. It felt so strange. To her, Saoirse was her daughter, her own little baby, and Jareth's daughter. She never thought about how she might have to share her with the kingdom as a Royal.

Eimile saw the sudden concerned look on Sarah's face, and knew what she must be thinking. It was not easy being the parent of a Royal. Swiftly, she scooped some blue cheese quiche tarts onto a plate from the buffet and handed them to Sarah. "You must be starving! Can I get you coffee or tea?"

Sarah smiled weakly, and said, "Tea please. Irish breakfast."

She sat down on the sofa next to Jareth, who also seemed to understand her misgivings, and rubbed her shoulders with one hand as he put an arm around her.

Cillian had stepped up to Brielle, and was tickling the baby under her chin as Brielle held her. Then he said, "give me that leanbh beag."

Once she had handed Saoirse to her grandfather, Cillian looked into her eyes deeply and said:

"Dear Child,

Sometimes on your travels, you meet people that think they are in heaven because of their cleverness and ability to get away with things. Travel past them because they don't understand who they have become and never will. These type of people feel justified in revenge and will never learn mercy or forgiveness because they live by comparison. They are the people that don't care about anyone, other than who is making them feel confident. They don't understand that their deity is not rejoicing with them because of their actions, rather he is trying to free them from their insecurities, by softening their heart. They rather put out your light than find their own. They don't have the ability to see beyond the false sense of happiness they get from destroying others. You know what happiness is and it isn't this. Don't see their success as their deliverance. It is a mask of vindication which has no audience, other than their own kind. They have joined countless others that call themselves "survivors". They believe that they are entitled to win because life didn't go as planned for them. You are not like them. You were not meant to follow their belief system. You were bound for greatness. You were born to help them by leading. Rise up and be the light home. You were given the gift to see the truth. They will have an army of people that are like them and you are going to feel alone. However, your family stands beside you now. They are your strength and as countless as the stars.

Blessings,

Your Seanathair

When he had finished, he gently gave the baby back to Sarah. Both she and Jareth had tears in their eyes. "What was that?" she asked Jareth quietly.

"One of the Tuath blessings," whispered Jareth. "I believe that my grandfather said something similar to me when I was born."

Cillian, seeing how teary-eyed his son and daughter-in-law were, decided to lighten the mood. He rubbed his hands together, and said, "Look at this wonderful spread on the buffet! I don't know about anyone else, but I'm going to pin my ears back and dive in!"

~~~Ó~~~

leanbh beag = little baby

Seanathair = Grandfather

Ref: Gods and Goddesses of Ireland, Morgan Daimler

In Search of Ancient Ireland, Carmel McCaffrey and Leo Eaton

I also want to thank everyone so much for the reviews! I read them all, and I take them all seriously.

Thank you,

Maire