Author's Note: Sorry about the wait again. Life just keeps doing the busy thing, ya know? Anyway, I had a little trouble with the ending of this chapter, since it had to be done rather delicately. And don't let the title fool you. I'm not done yet. :P I'm just trying to decide if I want to continue on this story or break off and start another sequel, but we'll see. So, read, comment, and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!!!
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Chapter Twenty-Five: The End
"Stupid Goblin King," Kelly muttered to herself as she stomped up the stairs of the castle, and came to the top of the final stair, "stupid – Sam!" She leaped across the small space and smashed her forehead into something hard and cold. "Ow! What...?" Her fingertips reached out and grazed the face of a mirror. "Oh, no." Sam's reflection smiled at her, gurgled, and crawled away. "No! Sam!"
Jareth's laughter echoed throughout the room. "You don't have much time left." His grinning image stepped into view on five mirrors surrounding Kelly. "You'd better hurry."
Kelly growled and started forward in a different direction from before, arms held out in front of her. "Sam!" She called as she stumbled through the maze of mirrors. "Sam! Where are you? Sam!"
The Goblin King leaned against a wall in a corner, watching Sam crawl around in circles a few feet away from him. His eyelids felt heavier than ever, his body weighted and so tied to the physical space around him he doubted he'd be able to vanish anywhere anytime soon. Kelly's progress would have been more amusing if he'd been more awake or had more energy. As it was, the whole thing just tired him.
The sound of shattering glass broke through Jareth's half-asleep trance. He stood up straight, no longer leaning against the wall and watched as Kelly broke through one of the mirrors to get at her baby brother, who was sitting near Jareth's feet, safely away from the shards of glass.
"That was awfully reckless of you," the Goblin King commented.
"Sam!" Kelly breathed a sigh of relief as she scooped the baby up into her arms.
Jareth allowed himself the smallest of smiles as he sent the two of them home. Then he turned wearily to the entrance around the corner and shuffled down the stairs to the throne room, half-leaning on the wall as he went.
Just as he reached his golden throne, Sarah and Linda trudge up into the room with Hoggle close behind.
"Sarah!"
"Jareth!"
Linda watched the newlyweds embrace and sighed.
"You look so tired!" Sarah whispered to her husband, running a finger over the dark rings under his eyes.
"I feel tired." Jareth answered, taking her hands and kissing each palm. "I'm so glad you're safe."
The Goblin Queen smiled. "And old friend helped us find our way." She glanced down at Hoggle, who waved at the Goblin King.
"Then he should have a place of honor at the dinner table tonight, but first," he pulled away from his wife and looked over at Linda, "we must see about sending your mother home."
"Wait," Linda took a step forward, "um, Jareth, I wanted to apologize. I overreacted earlier. You clearly do love Sarah, and she loves you, and I wish you all the best." She smiled and shrugged.
Sarah crossed the distance between them in two large steps and embraced her mother. "Thank you," she whispered.
"I love you, sweetheart." Linda whispered back.
"I love you, too, mom."
"You'll keep calling me, won't you?" Linda asked when Sarah started to back up toward Jareth.
"Every chance I get." Sarah promised, releasing her mother's hands and taking hold of one of Jareth's hands instead.
"Well," Linda took a deep breath. "I guess that's it then."
Jareth nodded. "Visualize your home, and the exact room you want to end up in."
Linda closed her eyes and Jareth and Sarah concentrated, yanking the magic up out of their bones. It was just barely enough. When Linda was gone and Hoggle had quietly removed himself from the room, Jareth took his wife's chin between his finger and thumb, tilting her face up toward his. He kissed her gently, but thoroughly.
"I'm sorry." He said when the kiss was done.
"What for?" Sarah stared up at him dazedly, fighting dizziness.
"Today was supposed to be perfect." He frowned. "I'm afraid everything seems to have gone completely wrong."
Sarah smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her cheek against his chest, hearing and feeling the beat of his heart. "Not everything." Her anger and frustration melted completely away, leaving behind them only a deep sense of peace.
Jareth's brow wrinkled. "You must be more tired than I thought."
"Probably." Sarah nodded into his shirt.
"Aren't you going to yell at me or throw something?"
She giggled the way women do when they are exhausted. "I did that already."
"Oh." He paused. "When?"
Sarah sighed. "When I found my mother. We had a fight. Hoggle helped us make up. I told her about Toby and how we met."
"Ah." A question formed at the tip of Jareth's mouth, but some odd fear kept him from voicing it.
"Did you really hold me when I was a baby?" Sarah asked sleepily.
Jareth winced. "Well..."
"Because that would explain why you always looked so familiar," she went on, swaying gently side to side, "and why I feel so safe with you all the time. Even when I was mad at you and hated you, I always felt safe."
Jareth smiled and let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "My Sarah..."
"Mmm?"
"I think we should take a nap before dinner."
"Mmhmm."
They stumbled up the stairs to their separate rooms, and of course dinner came much too soon. Sarah rushed to put on the dress she'd picked out for dinner and the ball to come afterward, nearly stabbing herself in the eye with her make up as she hurried to make herself ready. She yanked her hair back into a pony tail high on the back of her head and still managed to look like it had taken hours to make it look so perfect. Smiling to herself and her reflection, clad in a long blue fluffy ball gown with blue studded flats, she yanked the door to her bedroom open and found herself staring up at the Goblin King, he hand poised to knock. His dinner jacket matched her dress perfectly, and his bright smile sent her heart flying.
Dinner passed in a blurred flurry of conversation, joking, laughter, and celebration. The goblins were happy, Jareth was happy, Sarah was happy, and as far as anyone could tell, even the Labyrinth itself was happy.
The ball was more of a blur in Sarah's memory than dinner. The only thing that stood out to her was the smile that never left Jareth's face, and how much more alive he seemed to her than he had ever been before. She was surprised at the electricity that seemed to be flowing through her own limbs as well. All of the activity of the day should have left her completely exhausted, but somehow her body had found an extra store of energy just for that evening.
They danced together until their feet carried them out to the peach trees, where they kissed and held each other under the stars until everyone else had left. Then they returned into the castle and shared their first night together.
