DISCLAIMER: If it's a character, scene, setting, idea, etc, from Labyrinth, it's (c) Henson, Lucas, Froud, etc. OCs are mine, with vague ideas from a variety of traditional folk & fairy tales that are now melded and indistinguishable. My apologies to the good folk who live somewhere within a couple hours of Jareth-owl flight distance from the Montana-Canada border, for inflicting a probably not real fountain, pool, bench, and accompanying trees onto their landscape.

Do you remember what the LA is? If not, check out previous chapters

Stay tuned after the chapter for the A/N.

Threstia allowed her laugh to continue naturally, even as her eyes absorbed every detail visible to her, and her Awareness gathered information on everything else, from his scent to the additional fatigue in his face, to the layers of protection around him. She paused at the presence of the non-Being Magic that led him to that spot, and surrounded him, and would have made him undetectable to an enemy.

Knowing that his mother would use this time to study him, Jareth returned the favor. He did allow himself a moment of regret for the loss of home, where he could look at her directly; even so, he noted her continued youthfulness and joy, her connection to roots that he never understood, and her abiding love for himself and for his father.

By the time Threstia paused for a necessary breath, Jareth had placed his arm around his mother's shoulders, knowing that a peripheral view and this partial contact would be necessary in order to temper the ache he would have to stir.

She nodded. "Yes, my son. It is time for you to ask questions of me. I will answer truthfully all that I can, all that I may, but you CANNOT ask for what is not permitted." With that phrase, she bound them both in a contract in order to protect him from political backlash. For, knowing both the High Court and her own son as she did, the way to prevent him from pressing her for disallowed information was to make it impossible for her to give it, without putting her in danger of further punishments by the High Court.

Arm in arm, Jareth and Threstia had approached a convenient bench at the edge of the fountain, and sat together, allowing both to watch each other in the still pool.

"Mother, even now you seek to keep me from harm, when I would yet hazard it." Jareth shook his head, but knew not to press the matter. Any argument would have been fruitless, as the words had been spoken.

Ghervin stirred in his bed, trying to settle back into a dream of previous years, a dream of home, when the laughter of his wife and son was truly all the music he needed or desired. This was his accustomed dream, but tonight's was more vivid, and reflected what might have been, if only his heart and inclinations been consulted.

"You do still love Father?" This was very nearly a statement, yet Threstia knew that Jareth felt uncertain of it.

"Always. And I do mean that. Possibly not since the very beginning of existence, but since I knew him, and stretching onward until nothing." Her explanation reflected the closest that any Other ever came to describing eternity in a relationship. "Yes, our meeting was arranged, and it was politically-motivated. Despite that, Ghervin and I found a depth in each other. I think that we still draw on that for strength. It is fortunate, nearly even Lucky that we connected so quickly, else we would have been forced apart, for the situation around us changed."

Some of this, Jareth knew, although he was shocked at his mother's use of the word "luck." Threstia had always been careful of the words she spoke, as well as the ones left unsaid, and so he knew that that entity had had influence in bringing his parents together.

He nodded, and thanked her, and they sat for an unmeasured span of time in companionable silence.

Threstia disliked having to interrupt their joint musings, but knew that it was necessary. "You are here as part of a great undertaking. No, it's not a question. All with Awareness know of it, yet I have sensed no Opposition. Perhaps the fact of the stirring of the non-Being Magic is enough of a deterrent, or the characteristic of curiosity is as wide-spread as ever. Tell me, my son, what your role really is, and why this is happening."

Sighing, Jareth summarized his loneliness, his Hope, his realization of the actions of the LA, the book, and the various runners, a few of whom had come close.

Tasting the approach of Dawn and the shift in the air around them, Threstia knew that their time to speak together was waning quickly. "Be more active in your search, Jareth. Else such an Alliance will one day surprise you beyond even your tolerance." At the stunned look on his face, she smiled. Never quite willing to embrace that something could truly be beyond his control.

"Tell your father that I still say, 'Always.'" She touched his cheek, and then was no longer there.

With a sigh, Ghervin awoke, surprised to feel lingering warmth on his cheek, softness on his lips, and brightness in his gaze. "Always, my love."

A/N: So... what do you think? What kind of a creature is Jareth's mother? What sort of magical background allows / requires that kind of interaction, or are the limits because of the High Court's interference? Is there any hope for Ghervin and Threstia?

Please comment, review, provide feedback, and HELP ME FIND TYPOS!

And update me on the bets you have as to when / if Sarah will appear. (It was a slight possibility that there'd be foundation for it in this chapter, and a sighting next, but the story, or the LA, took it in a different direction.)