Hey, here is the next chapter...things are hopefully starting to move again.

Let me know what you think. xxx

As Jareth's consciousness returned to his body he became acutely aware of the smell of fresh Underground grass, mixed with the sweet smell of roses. He lay for a few minutes, his eyes shut, the strange feeling that someone had their arms wrapped round him steadily growing. Eventually, he opened his eyes and as he did so, he was sure he felt the flutter of breath against his lips. But when he finally looked, there was no-one there.

Sighing, Jareth pushed himself into a sitting position, and looked down at his own naked chest on which the medallion hung. It was once more smooth and unblemished. He raised a finger and touched the place on his sternum where the sword tip had appeared.

Nothing.

He pressed a little harder. In his mind there was a flash, and then a sharp pain in his finger. He raised his hand to the light, the black blood oozing from the deep cut on his finger shiny in the sun. When he spoke, his voice did not sound like his own.

"And once the demands of the bloody sword met/ throw down your arms. In grief, never forget." Jareth looked around himself, at the beauty of the little thicket. The sadness that had been his constant companion since the day of Rath's death seemed to have lightened round his shoulders, no longer an all-encompassing cloak. Rath was at peace. He was loved. He was not a lost soul to be forgotten. Jareth smiled properly for what seemed like the first time in years. He pulled himself to his feet and pushed his way through the wall of rose bushes, uncaring once more of the thorns that took long scratches from his chest and arms.

Striding quickly into the open area of the secret garden, Jareth spun on the spot, stretching his wings and spiralling up into the air, letting out a loud shriek, telling the world that it was alright. That you could love and mourn and smile and laugh. Turning, he set off in the direction of the castle, streaking through the sunlit sky as the light danced off the walls of the Labyrinth.

Sarah stepped through the great front doors onto the stone steps of the castle. It truly was a beautiful day and yet she felt she could take no pleasure in it. It was the sort of day where Rath would have been running on the lawn, splashing in the lake and begging Jareth to take them on a trip into the Labyrinth. Instead of the shouts and laughs however, the air was filled with silence. A figure caught her attention on the other side of the smooth lawn and Sarah squinted into the sun before setting off across the expanse of grass.

"Naughty busheses, naughty, naughty. Scramblings round me and scratching my handsies."

"Hello Hoggle," Sarah said quietly as she approached the muttering little dwarf. Hoggle jumped and spun round, looking terrified at the sight of her.

"Sorrys Sarah, I'll just be getting out of your ways..." he turned and began to hurry away.

"Stop Hoggle, please come back," Sarah called after him. The old dwarf froze and turned slowly.

"I was thinkings you wouldn't be wanting peoples around you," he muttered to his feet.

"Hoggle, its ok. Please come back."

Hoggle shuffled his feet uncomfortably, staring off towards the lake.

"I's, I is sorry 'bout Master Rath," he whispered, as he looked determinedly anywhere other than at Sarah. Sarah nodded her head, finding herself unable to speak

"Umm," said Hoggle, trying to fill the awkward silence. "Look Sarah, here comes Jareth."

Sarah looked to where he was pointing. A small speck was just becoming visible, a bird in flight. There was a rustle behind her and Sarah spun round, only to see Hoggle vanishing through the bushes. She sighed in exasperation, turning back to the soaring owl silhouetted against the sky.

Jareth flew lower, spiralling down and landing on the smooth lawn in front of the castle. He looked round quickly, spying Sarah on the edge of the bush border and striding towards her.

"Jareth!" she exclaimed. "Jareth what happened to you. Were you attacked, are they back?" Sarah's voice was rising hysterically and for a moment Jareth could not understand why. Then he looked down at his own naked chest which was covered with cuts and scrapes received from the rose thorns.

"Wha...no I am fine. They are not back Precious. Calm yourself." He pulled her into his arms.

"I thought...I..." she mumbled against his chest.

"I know," he soothed, stroking her hair.

"Then what?"

"I saw him Sarah. Pan. And...Rath."

Sarah looked up at him sharply. "Don't see that. It's horrible."

"No," Jareth realised that she must have thought that he had been to the tomb. "I spoke to Pan. Rath...he's at peace. I saw it."

"How?" Sarah's hands were gripping his shoulders, desperate to hear what he had seen. Desperate for it to be true.

"I went to the meadow. With Pan. He explained it to me. It was all part of the prophecy, a missing verse. We banished him, but a...but blood was needed to seal his tomb. Lock him inside. Sarah...Rath was never meant to survive."

Sarah buried her head against Jareth's chest, tears running down her cheeks. But Jareth kept going, knowing Sarah needed to hear what he had seen.

"Pan took him to the meadow. They arrived holding hands. And then he was met by my father. He was welcomed as a hero." Jareth purposely missed out the part about Raemon, thinking that Sarah could not understand it after everything that had happened both to her and Phoenix, without having actually seen it. "Sarah...he's happy. It is alright."

Sarah drew back from his chest and looked deeply into his eyes. "Are you sure."

Jareth met her gaze. "Yes," he said.

Sarah's face broke into a smile. "Thank God," she paused, her face falling again. "I still miss him," she said.

"I know. I do to. We always will. We will always love him. But he is safe and happy. We don't have to worry."

Sarah looked up at him and her expression changed, hardening. She pushed her hands up round his neck and pulled him down into a fierce kiss. As their tongues duelled Jareth's hands slipped round her waist, running down to clasp her buttocks and pull the centre of her body against him, grinding her hips against his. She was panting as her lips slid from his, her eyes hot with desire.

"Jareth, uh..." her breath hitched as he nipped the sensitive skin just below her ear. She ran her hands up his naked chest to cup his face, holding his head still. His smouldering gaze met hers. "Jareth you need to stop. Jareth, you need to tell Nathaniel."

Jareth brought his lips back against hers gently, chastely. He drew back and nodded his head. "Yes, you are right. He needs to know immediately."

He released her and turned but Sarah called him back.

"Jareth, for goodness sake put on a shirt. You are covered in blood and I can't keep my hands off you."

Jareth grinned savagely at her. "Hold that thought," he said silkily and reached into the air, pulling a shirt towards him and down over his head. He strode off to find Nathaniel.

Toby and Phoenix wandered through the longer grass that bordered the wall to the Goblin City. Phoenix led the way, her form swaying as she navigated a route she had known since she was a very small girl. Toby followed behind watching the swing of her hair as fell to the curve of her hips. He could see, even from here that this was no longer a child, but a young woman. Suddenly, his mouth felt dry and he turned his head staring into the sun in an attempt to distract his imagination.

Phoenix stopped and Toby walked into her back, causing her to stagger forward, giggling. Instinctively, Toby threw out an arm, catching her round the waist and pulling her upright again. For a moment she stared into his eyes, his arm still round her waist before she spun away from him, laughing, and darted into a narrow gap between a gorse-bush and the thick stone wall. Toby stood for a moment, waiting for her to reappear. When she didn't, he crossed to the gap and stuck his head in. Phoenix was sitting in a small clear space covered in dead needles, made in the niche of the wall and beneath the branches of the bush. She gestured for him to join her. Toby had to flatten himself against the cold stone to avoid being prickled by the unforgiving thorns on his broad shoulders. He sat down next to Phoenix, leaning his back against the wall.

"I like this place," she told him, "I come here to think or to be alone sometimes."

She was watching him, Toby knew. He could feel her gaze on his face. He continued to look straight ahead.

"You must think I'm horrible person," she said, still watching him. "Laughing and joking so soon after Rath's death. It...it's not that I don't miss him..."

"I don't think you're a horrible person," Toby said truthfully. "I suppose people just deal with things in different ways."

"Yes," Phoenix said musingly. "I suppose they do. And I suppose part of me feels less involved. He was Nath's twin. Mummy and Daddy's son. I'm just his sister. And...and I don't want to think about that day."

Toby turned to face her, looking her in the eye. "You have as much right to grieve, to feel sad, as any of them. It is me who is the outsider." Toby looked back into the forest of gorse needles in front of him, purposefully ignoring are mention of what had happened to her.

"I'm glad you are here," Phoenix told him. She shifted closer to him, wrapping her arms round his arm and resting her head on his shoulder. "Don't go."

Toby's gaze could have set the bush on fire. He nodded his head once, curtly. The pair sat in silence for a while, Toby very aware of Phoenix nuzzling her cheek against his bicep. She was biting her lip, trying to decide whether to ask him something. In the end she took a deep breath .

"Toby, can I ask you something?"

"Mmm?"

"About that day...When...when Daddy brought me home, why were you there?"

Toby had known that at some point she would ask him about that night, but even so he was not sure what to say.

"I...I think your father brought me here to save your mother. She was suffocating for some reason."

"Oh," Phoenix looked deep in thought. "What did you do?"

"I," Toby shifted uncomfortably, "I gave her mouth to mouth."

"Oh. And...and on that night...did you see me?"

Toby nodded his head.

"Before I was dressed?"

Toby nodded his head again.

"When my gown was all torn and not covering me?" she persisted.

Toby swallowed uncomfortably and nodded a third time.

"Oh," said Phoenix and she shifted beside him so that she could see his face. "What did you think?"

Toby cleared his throat and pulled his knees up to his chest, staring determinedly ahead of him.

"I thought it was horrible what had been done to you," he said, a little harshly.

"Do you know that details?"

Toby shook his head. "And I'm not sure I want to."

"Toby..."

"And I thought you needed a good wash," he added hastily.

"Toby...that's not what I meant."

"I know."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Toby!" Phoenix shifted in frustration, sitting herself up a little more. "What. Did. You. Think?"

"Umm...look Phoenix," Toby ran his hand over his hair, "I'm not sure this is really appropriate..."

"Tell me what you thought," Phoenix' voice had a harder edge to it now, more determined. More demanding. Much more like her father.

"I...uh..." Toby turned his head away from Phoenix so that she couldn't see the battle going on on his face. "I thought you were very beautiful."

Toby cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks burning red.

"Very beautiful?" Phoenix' voice sounded thoughtful. Toby nodded his head, still not looking at her. "Toby, do you like me?"

"I think you're a very sweet, brave person."

Phoenix' hand strayed down his arm and Toby gritted his teeth, not sure what to do. Her finger traced the bump of his knuckles and he reflexively clenched his fist.

"Toby?" Phoenix' voice sounded less sure now. "Toby, will you kiss me?"

"Wha...why?"

"Because I want to know what it should be like. And I like you, and you like me."

The simplicity of what she said grated at Toby's resolve.

"Phoenix I...I can't. It would be wrong for me to take advantage of you when you're vulnerable..." he tailed off as her hand made its way to his cheek, turning his head towards her. He looked down into her eyes and licked his lips. "I can't," he said, almost pleadingly.

Phoenix smiled slightly, her eyes bright and Toby felt himself drawn towards her. When their lips met it was soft and gentle. Brushing. Light. Toby's hands rose up to cradle her head as he pressed his mouth more firmly over hers. She sighed gently, her lips parting a fraction and Toby gently pushed his tongue forward. She met it with hers and then they were massaging, dancing, exploring.

"No!" Toby tore himself away, his heart hammering. He leant forward over his knees, trying to hide how much he had enjoyed the kiss. That was not what Phoenix needed right now. "This is wrong," he said more firmly.

"Wrong?" Phoenix wrinkled her nose.

"I'm...I'm too old for you," he stammered.

"Only six years. Daddy is over four hundred years older than Mummy."

"Ok then..." Toby sought around for the next reason, trying to ignore the voice telling him that no good reason existed. "You're only fourteen."

"So was Mummy when Daddy first lured her here."

Toby groaned in frustration. "I'm your half uncle for God's sake!" He tried to move, to get away from her so that he could think clearly but she seized his arm and pulled him back, catching him off balance so that he sprawled back against the floor of gorse needles. She pressed her knee against his chest and looked down at him.

"Toby..." she began.

"Phoenix..." he pleaded as he squirmed beneath her, uncomfortably aware of how close she was to his hard cock. She ground her knee into his chest.

"Toby!" she said authoritatively and his eyes snapped back to hers. "Toby, what in the Underground is the problem with you being my uncle?"

Of all the things Toby had been expecting her to say it was not that. "Huh?" was all he managed. She looked down at him pointedly. "Well...umm..." he tried to concentrate. "Where I come from it's illegal for uncles to...do stuff...with their nieces."

"Oh..."Phoenix thought about this for a moment. "Why?" she asked.

"Well, umm. Three headed babies, forbidden degrees..." he was interrupted by Phoenix' laugh.

"Three headed babies? By Creation Toby. If faes didn't marry amongst themselves there'd be no power left! I wouldn't marry my father, or my brother," she shuddered a little, "but an uncle? Why not? It happens all the time in the Underground."

The shock must have shown in Toby's eyes for she laughed again. But then her eyes became serious. "Toby...the whole time I was in that room I didn't understand. I still don't. How can Mummy love Daddy if that's what he does to her? Am I just wrong?" her eyes were brimming with tears and she shifted her knee as she sat back. Toby sat up gratefully. "And then I thought that maybe he treated me like that to punish me. Because I can't be a nice person. He made me feel so dirty. And now I know I am. Because I'm not crying about Rath. And even you won't kiss me." She buried her head in arms, sobbing.

Toby watched helplessly. After a few moments he moved beside her, wrapping his arm round her shaking shoulders. "Phee, Phee," he soothed. "It's ok. You're not a horrible person. Look."

He tilted her head up towards him, his fingers under her chin, and kissed her softly on the mouth. "You are not dirty or wrong. You are a sweet, loving person. But I can't do this." He dropped his arm from round her and looked away. "If I did your father would tear me into little pieces and lock each bit in a separate oubliette." He paused and she gave him a watery smile. "I'm sorry Phoenix."

Carefully, Toby got to his feet and squeezed out from behind gorse bush, striding quickly away.

Jareth walked round the edge of the lake, towards the small figure he could see on the far side. Nathaniel was sitting on a rock, his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped round his knees. He was staring at nothing. Jareth paused a moment before climbing up and sitting down beside him.

"Hey," he said softly.

Nathaniel didn't react but continued to stare out across the lake.

"Do you mind me joining you?" Jareth asked, pulling his legs up to his chest too and wrapping his arms round his knees, mirroring Nathaniel.

The small boy glanced at Jareth and quickly looked away.

"It's a nice place this," Jareth said conversationally, "don't you think?"

Nathaniel shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you come here a lot?"

Shrug.

"It's a good place for thinking, I should think."

Shrug.

"Nathaniel," Jareth turned his head, looking at his son's pale face. "I want you to answer me something truthfully alright?"

No reaction.

"Do you think what happened to Rath was your fault?"

Nathaniel uncurled his legs and stood up. He took two steps and jumped off the edge of the rock. He began to walk away, his feet crunching on the gravelly shingle.

Jareth cursed and quickly followed him, catching his arm to turn him back towards him.

"Nathaniel don't...Nathaniel what happened to your hand?" Jareth was brought up short by the sight of his son's swollen and bleeding knuckles. Nathaniel stared at his hand too. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Does it hurt?" Jareth's voice was full of concern.

Nathaniel looked up at him and an eerie smile stole across his features. He flexed his fingers. And nodded his head.

"By Creation," Jareth moaned, grasping his son's wrist so that he could examine his hand more closely. "Did you do that?"

The weird smile was still on Nathaniel's face as he nodded his head once more.

"But, Nathaniel, why?"

Nathaniel made no move, just continued to smile up at his father. Jareth sighed and covered Nathaniel's hand with his own. Nathaniel jerked back sharply, shaking his head.

"It's alright Nathaniel," Jareth paused. "I won't heal it if you don't want me to."

Inside, he desperately wanted to take away all Nathaniel's pain. Turn him back into the cocky little boy he had been mere days before. But he knew it was impossible.

"The reason I came round here actually, was because I had something to tell you." Jareth looked down at Nathaniel, on whose face was the barest flicker of interest. "I met someone really important this morning," Jareth continued, "and he showed me something I thought you might like to know too." Jareth glanced down again. "Remember the other night when you showed me what happened. Well now I want to show you what happened...if you'll let me?"

Jareth waited for Nathaniel's small nod before stepping forward and placing his fingers to Nathaniel's temples. He waited until Nathaniel had closed his eyes before he closed his own, drawing on his power to project his memory of events into Nathaniel's mind, so that the boy could see for himself. He felt Nathaniel tense at the part where Rath first appeared and could feel him start to shake as the scene progressed. As Jareth removed his fingers and opened his eyes, there was complete silence, save for the lapping of the waves on the banks of the lake.

Nathaniel opened his eyes slowly and looked up at Jareth. He stared at him unmoving for a long moment.

"When are we going?" he asked, and his voice sounded thin and insubstantial, as though he was recovering from a cold. Jareth stared down at his son, trying not to over-react.

"When are we going where?" he asked, trying to keep is voice neutral.

"To tell him that we love him." Nathaniel said it as though explaining the obvious to an idiot. Jareth blinked. He had not thought about it.

"When would you like to go?"

Nathaniel seemed to pause and consider. "Not today. Tomorrow. There is something I want to do."

Jareth nodded his understanding, staring out across the lake to give Nathaniel some privacy as he shifted uncomfortably. Suddenly Nathaniel stared up at his father again.

"It feels like half of me is missing," he whispered. "I can feel him with me. Hear his voice, hold his hand. But when I turn to look he's not there. It's like I've been sawn in two."

Jareth crouched down so that Nathaniel's face was above his. He looked into his son's mismatched eyes and opened his mouth to speak, but Nathaniel cut across him.

"Don't you dare say it will get better," he snarled.

Jareth held his ground and smiled back. "I wasn't going to," he said gently. "How could I possibly know? But what I was going to say was that however it turns out, you will learn to live with it."

"I won't..."

"I know you won't forget," Jareth forestalled Nathaniel's retort. "Nor will I. Nor will any of us. You will always carry him with you. You will always miss him. I will not pretend otherwise. But in time you will carry him as a comfort rather than a burden. You will carry him, and maybe, one day, you will feel complete again."

Jareth kissed Nathaniel lightly on the forehead and turned, walking back towards the castle. Behind him, Nathaniel sat down on the shingle and looked at his own swollen hand. Tentatively, he reached out his undamaged hand and covered the damaged one with it. He closed his eyes and an expression of concentration passed across his face. When he opened his eyes and removed his hand, his knuckles were smooth and blemish free once more.

Turning, Nathaniel reached out his hand to the spot beside him.

"Hey," he said and his face broke into a smile. "You're not so bad really."