Many, many years later

"When would you like to hold court again, Your Majesty?" Samuel asked Queen Sarah, who slumped over her throne in an rather unsophisticated manner once everyone else was gone.

"Oh, lord," she groaned, massaging her temple. "Not for the rest of the day, that's for sure. I would like to do so another day. Perhaps tomorrow, as some citizens have traveled far to speak with me. Not sure why they're here today when Jareth and I told them that we will be at their village next week to hold court."

"Perhaps they wanted to be here to show you the extent of their plight?" Samuel offered with an understanding smile.

Sarah sighed, nodding in defeat. "Perhaps. In any case, I will not be overworked."

Standing, the queen dusted her dress.

"I will enjoy the rest of the day, as planned. After all, I have a date to catch."

The playful glint in her eyes did not fade, even after a few thousand years of marriage, four children, adventures all over the world, and the hardship of her role as queen.

It certainly helped that Jareth refused to let her feel alone and isolated like he had been when he first became king.

Samuel bowed. "You most certainly do. Enjoy your time together."

"Thank you, dear friend. If you see him, won't you let my husband know that I will be waiting for him at the grove of peaches?"

He delightfully watched her walk towards the door with a skip in her step.

"I most certainly will, My Lady."

Picnic basket in hand, Sarah practically frolicked to their usual meeting spot of two peach trees.

She and Jareth had planted two peach trees on their wedding day to commemorate their new marriage. Newlyweds around the kingdom followed suit, and it was now a tradition to plant something of the couple's choosing on their wedding day.

Setting the basket down, she reclined the soft grass, counting the butterflies as they fluttered by. The warm breeze caressed her face, filled with the scent of peaches with a hint of other flora. It was nice to enjoy the peaceful sounds and sights of nature in solitude at times.

She became so relaxed that she fell asleep. In her slumber, Sarah found her way to Lord Shaper's castle.

She spotted Lucien, who was on a stroll with a rather large umbrella. Strange, for there was no sign of rain at the moment. She waved, jogging over.

"Hello, Lucien!"

Lucien turned to her, relaxing into a smile.

"Queen Sarah, hello. What brings you here?"

"No particular reason; I fell asleep and wound up here. What's the umbrella for?"

Lucien made a show of looking around, eyes sweeping ahead and behind before answering.

"My Lord has been rather sour due to his latest failed courtship. He will often change the Dreaming to reflect his moods. That is why I have prepared for rain."

Sarah nodded, expertly hiding her apprehension behind a mask of propriety.

"I see."

She had not seen Lord Shaper in a long time, and only through essential meetings with Jareth. She understood now that it was best to not attract attention from any of the Endless, especially what had happened to her and Jareth in the other plane of existence.

"Well," she smiled a little to relieve the tension. "I do hope that he feels better soon."

"Indeed, My Lady," Lucien agreed. "Since you are here, would you like to explore the library? I know how much of a reader you are and you have not checked out any books from me for a while."

She instantly perked up.

"I would love that. Lead the way."

Sarah decided that she wanted to read novels that were written in dreams but never published by their dreamers.

Perhaps some would be spectacular. Perhaps some would be downright horrible.

Either way, she looked forward to picking books from her favorite authors and some that she had never heard of.

"Anything else, My Lady?" Lucien inquired, writing down the date and Sarah's name on the book cards. "Or would this be plenty?"

She slid her fingers along the spines of the books in front of her.

"Perhaps one more, a book about the history of peaches. Both as a food and symbolism of power. There's a lot I've learned through experience and from reading other books, but I'm sure that you have more information on the subject."

"I shall look for such a book. If you'll excuse me." Lucien bowed and walked off.

Settling down on a window ledge, Sarah started one of her many novels.

She hadn't a clue as to how long she was reading for, engrossed in her book when she was approached by someone.

"That took awhile, didn't it, Lucien?"

"I'm afraid Lucien is still gone."

Sarah immediately put her book down and stood. She curtsied to the formidable person in front of her. He was impossible to read.

"Lord Shaper. It is a pleasure to see you."

Morpheus did not change his expression as he gazed upon her. "Likewise. What brings you here?"

She gestured to the stack of books behind her.

"Checking out books to read, My Lord."

"For pleasure?"

"Yes. And also for learning's sake. Lucien is looking for one such tome about peaches."

The stars in Morpheus' eyes glinted in intrigue. "Is that so? So that you may learn about your powers, perhaps?"

"Perhaps. If nothing else, I would enjoy learning about peaches in general. In fact, Lucien is fetching me such a book for that very reason."

Once she married Jareth, Sarah could no longer take conversations outside of her friends and family at face value. It was imperative that she listened to the undercurrents to decipher the true meaning.

There was no one more difficult to decipher than Dream himself.

Morpheus hummed, taking a book from her stack. "I do hope that you will learn more about your powers and continue to grow in them. There is always room to expand your abilities."

Sarah nodded, picking up the same book to read when he did not say any more to her.

He turned from her.

"May you use your powers to serve your duties to the best of your abilities and fulfill your oaths as the Goblin Queen and Delegator of Dreams instead of succumbing to selfishness."

It would have been best for her to let such a comment slide, especially after Lucien told her that Morpheus was in a volatile mood. She had faced the worst of his wrath before and knew exactly what he was capable of.

The ever stubborn Sarah, equal to her husband, the Goblin King, was not about to let anyone talk to her this way. She would have burned the back of his head with her eyes if that were possible.

"Just what did you mean by that, Lord Shaper? How was I selfish?"

Morpheus stopped walking, hands clasped behind his back.

"Do not play games with me, Your Majesty," he snarled. "You know exactly what I am referring to. You know what happened."

Sarah snapped her book shut. "It never did."

He whipped around, his jaw set as stone.

"Pardon me?"

She stood up, not letting him stare her down. "The events you talk about did not happen."

"You know what I mean. You still have a memory of what transpired. Do not play pretend ignorance with me."

"How am I pretending to be ignorant? I merely said that the events never happened."

"Regardless of semantics, you know that your decision to use the power of a thousand dreamers could have led to utter destruction."

As his voice rose higher in volume, Sarah made a conscious effort to lower it to a calm fury.

"But it didn't, didn't it? Your concerns are unfounded, Lord Shaper."

He took a step closer, his voice boomed across the Dreaming so intensely that thunderstorms raged outside his castle.

"You are using my powers that I have loaned to you due to you being my Delegator of Dreams! You should know your place!"

Sarah took a deliberate pause, letting her silence rattle him more than his loudness ever could.

"You forget one important detail, Lord."

Just as she predicted, the very idea of him forgetting anything was unacceptable to Morpheus. His face contorted into a beastly growl.

"And what might that be?"

"That I am not just a Delegator of Dreams, but have been touched by none other than Destiny as well. Prior to my rearrangement of reality, it was your elder brother, who told me that it was my destiny to change reality itself."

She picked her books up, going to find Lucien. "Who are you to stand in the way of Destiny?"

Morpheus grew deathly quiet. Sarah held the books close to her chest, hoping that they would drown out the loudness of her heartbeat.

If he believed she was correct, it may spell an even worse consequence for her, for he often overreacted to being wrong.

A strong chill settled over the library.

"Hiding behind one of the Endless and using their name is inadvisable, My Lady."

Sarah placed her hand on the door but did not push it.

"I'm not hiding behind him. I stand front and center. I did not rearrange reality to spite you. I did it because-"

"Don't you dare say it was your destiny."

"I was not going to say that, for it would be redundant. What I was going to say was that I did it because of my great love for my now-husband and because I wanted to right my wrongs. The fact that it was my destiny was convenient. Just as my husband did not give me his powers to spite you."

Stopping, she turned a little to glance behind her shoulder, eyeing Lord Shaper as he was fuming.

"Do not forget that it was my husband who gave me those powers, and I was the one who remedied the situation. I make no apologies for how I rectified his mistake. And, for the record, I would take that chance all over again. I would give the world in exchange for my husband. At least I do not stay frozen to the past, angry and bitter unlike yourself. I have more productive things to do than that. Have a good day, Lord Shaper."

Morpheus glowered at the door where Sarah disappeared off to. There was no doubt in his mind that she was right, which made him all the more furious.

He waved a hand, rearranging the castle as he pleased. The hallway led him to a room with six frames. Next to the one with the book stood his elder brother.

"Destiny," Morpheus greeted. What was he doing here? He hardly left his garden...

"Dream," Destiny greeted in return. "How is everything?"

"As if you don't know," he spat.

It was bad enough that his latest lover scorned him. Seeing the radiant love Queen Sarah had for King Jareth made him all the more sour. Not to mention how right she was about everything they spoke about.

"I was trying to be pleasant," Destiny replied lightly, his all-seeing clouded eyes almost smiled, even if his lips didn't. "Your latest flame-"

"Is a personal affair, and quite frankly, none of your business." Morpheus turned, folding his arms. "If you think you can come into my realm and tell me what to do-"

"Relax, my brother," Destiny held his free hand up. "I'm not here to chastise you. I'm here with a reminder."

"Oh?" Morpheus's disdain was more evident than ever.

"Queen Sarah as an ally, not an enemy. She has had important roles to play in the Dreaming. Do not let your temporary frustrations cloud you from trusting her."

Morpheus turned around quickly. The words sounded too… personal to come from Destiny. Usually, he'd be here to give advice on the matters of duty and sensibility. Not whom to trust.

"You sound like Death."

"Perhaps it's because our sister would agree with me." Destiny sounded like he won already.

This only made Morpheus glower even more. "It's unusual for you."

"It's unusual for us to touch the same mortal girl with our powers. Even more unusual for her to become the Goblin Queen and fall in love with the Goblin King."

"Hmm." Morpheus leaned against the wall. "What are the chances of that happening?"

He meant it rhetorically, but of course, Destiny didn't see it as such.

"More than you'd think, actually." Destiny gestured to the image that held his sigil, waving it away to show his gardens.

In the center of the image was a very large path with little paths feeding in and out of it. The large path represented Queen Sarah's loving relationship with King Jareth. It seemed almost unavoidable that they would fall in love and stay that way.

Destiny turned back to his ornery brother, a warning in his eyes.

"The choices that she's made and would have made seem to all lead her to the Goblin King. And, of course, his path is similar. One could even say that their love is inevitable. Count yourself lucky, my brother, that you share her with me and not another one of our siblings."

Morpheus shuddered at the thought of Sarah being touched by Desire, Despair, or even Delirium instead of Destiny. He was not yet ready to swallow his pride in front of her, but he would take Destiny's words to heart and cease purposefully getting a rise out of her.

"Indeed."

Jareth ran a gloved hand through the field of untamed flowers. Stopping, he took off his glove and felt it with his bare hand.

"How beautiful."

There was a time when he would take the little things for granted. There was a time when he did not notice the beauty in front of him. Now, he saw it everywhere.

When he met his dear wife, he marveled at her sense of wonder and vowed to follow suit. When their children arrived, he paid more attention, so that they may enjoy the entirety of the richness that the world had to offer.

With that in mind, he plucked a few flowers without any real rhyme or reason to them. When he had a full bouquet, he conjured a shiny, silver ribbon and tied a neat bow on it, pleased with how pretty it looked. It would go well with the other gift he had prepared for her.

"Sarah will love these."

He spotted the grove of peach trees, each waving softly in the summer wind. Walking closer, Jareth saw a figure of a woman laying underneath the shade with a small butterfly resting on her finger.

He approached his wife, getting down to lay next to her. Once he settled, Jareth frowned at the uneasy expression on her face. Whatever she was dreaming about, it clearly wasn't relaxing.

Reaching over, he brushed her hair gently.

"Precious?"

No response, save for a little grunt.

Chuckling, Jareth leaned over and kissed her soft lips. When she did not wake, he kissed a little harder, grinning into the kiss.

With a jolt, Sarah woke, making a confused squeal. Jareth laughed, using his strength to move over so that he was above her, using his arms to brace his body so that he would not crush her.

The only warning he had was the slight narrowing of Sarah's eyes before she too flipped him over on his back. She pinned his hands above his head with a smirk.

"You should know better than to manhandle me when I'm asleep. There are consequences for startling the queen the way you did."

"What consequences?" He flashed his brilliantly sharp teeth in a leery smile. "Having my wife on top of me? If those are the consequences, I'll happily do it multiple times a day."

Sarah made a face but was unable to look irritated for long. His teasing was always so full of love and adoration that she couldn't be upset for long. She got off of him, reaching into the picnic basket.

"I'll let it slide this time."

"You're only saying that because you know I would win."

"No. It's because I'm hungry."

She handed him a sandwich.

He took the sandwich but did not take a bite.

"Are you certain that you don't want to participate in some… married couple activities?"

"Hey now, I never said that," she said with her mouth full of the sandwich. "I only said that I'm hungry. Besides, I need my energy to participate in those married couple activities."

She winked and scratched his head.

His lecherous grin grew. "I can get behind that thought." He took a bite. "Or over it. Or under it-"

"Hush, you," she teased, playfully touching his nose. Almost immediately, she turned to gaze into the colorful horizon.

Due to being married for so long, Jareth could see the unease in her eyes. He quietly but quickly ate his sandwich in order to give her time to think.

Reaching around, he wrapped his arms around her waist, knees pulled up on either side of her. He placed a kiss on her neck, satisfied as she leaned back into his chest. There was something on her mind that she wanted to tell him, but was not yet ready.

Eventually, once she finished eating, Sarah turned in his embrace to face him.

"I visited the Dreaming."

She told him of all that occurred, including the discomfort she felt around Morpheus. Jareth listened intently, tensing up a few times.

"I don't appreciate him lecturing me on remembering my duties when he himself has been wrathful without reason."

"Classic Lord Shaper," Jareth mumbled. "I wouldn't pay heed to his words. He's… difficult. Especially if he's been scorned by a lover. I'm sure you recall how difficult he could be. He takes things out on everyone."

"Oh, yes."

Indeed, he was difficult to deal with. Aside from the memories of an alternate life, Sarah thought of all their interactions from the past. Lord Shaper had always been cold and aloof. She never had to interact with him directly outside of her duties before.

"As I've told him, I make no apologies for what I did for you. For us. For the universe itself."

"And you shouldn't," Jareth agreed.

He kissed her with passion, both smiling contently as he did.

"You are a strong queen, my precious love. He will get used to it."

She scoffed. "We have been married for a few millenia now. Surely, he's used to it by now?"

"Remember, Love. He's barely younger than the universe itself. He's one of the Seven. He can hold grudges for a long, long time."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. Was he trying to ease her worries or not? "Are you sure there's nothing to worry about?"

He snorted. "I have been careful with him, but even I have my moments of defiance."

He curled a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"You, as a beautiful woman, will get away with it easier than I ever had, especially as you are much more diplomatic than I am with him. You will be fine. He is prideful and petulant but deep inside, he is glad that the reality was reset by you. Trust me on this."

She supposed there was nothing else to do about it and reliving the awkward encounter wouldn't do them any good. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

Jareth squeezed her hand, nuzzling into her neck. "Funny you should bring up Lord Shaper, because I've got a gift."

A present that clearly wasn't there before was now behind his back. His eyes shone like the excitement of a young child.

"A gift?" Sarah scooted towards him, intrigued by his playful tone. "What kind of gift?"

"A gift that is fitting for you and as a reminder of how we are able to be here today."

He held a beautiful box out to her.

"You are able to see the beauty in everything, even something that others would have considered hopeless or broken."

Sarah carefully tugged on the wide ribbon, lifting the lid to reveal a kaleidoscope. It was a small yet beautiful thing, with engravings on the gilded finish of constellations. Lifting it up to the sky, she spun the end, the beads giving a show of the most brilliant of colors in endless unique patterns.

"Perhaps the events of the other life never happened in our timeline, but you are still a kaleidoscope in a way. After all, life is made of shards of patterns that seemingly do not make sense. But if you turn them, you can see that the tapestry of the living is much more elegant and beautiful than we could ever dream of. This, Sarah, is what you give to me."

She lowered it, no longer smiling but not seeming upset either. Jareth recognized that thoughtful gaze, gently placing a hand behind her for whenever she was ready to speak.

Sarah, finally, turned to him, smiling. As a king, he could afford many things for her. For him to choose a thoughtful gift that presented a lot of significance for them was just another reason that she married him.

"Thank you, Jareth." She turned it around. "Any significance of the constellation?"

Jareth was clearly waiting for her to ask him.

"It's the sky on the day we… the day we woke up and found a second chance at love. And for me, a second chance at life."

Sarah took a sharp breath and placed the kaleidoscope in his hand while still holding it, suddenly filled with emotion.

"If we existed in another lifetime and no matter the infinite possibilities as great as that of the patterns of a kaleidoscope, I would find you, and I would love you. Our love was destined from the beginning of time to the end of it."

They sealed their vow with a kiss, never to let it be broken, for it was done by the promise of two fae.

I hope the end was satisfactory for everyone. A huge, HUGE thank you once more to my wonderful beta, RMBiehl. She has been a tremendous help in helping me to refine my words and helped me to figure out what to do when I wasn't sure of how to approach certain scenes.

Thank you all so much for reading this story! I can't tell you how much it all means to me. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts on the fic through your reviews. Thank you thank you!