Chapter One

2 a.m., The Morning After Sarah's Run

How?

That was the question Jareth ceaselessly asked himself.

How was this even possible? How could this have happened? His mind kept repeating itself in its confusion. How did I lose her? I had only just found her…

After centuries of waiting and what felt like eons of disappointment, to finally find the love of his life, his future queen… only to watch her walk away from him. Not only did she walk away from him, but she invoked the very words that kept him barred from her side. As if her refusal wasn't enough of a slap in the face, she'd even had a party afterwards. With his own subjects, no less. He would have laughed if it hadn't made him feel like howling in agony.

He stalked into his solar, shedding his Goblin King persona with every step. Thank the Fates, at least I don't have to deal with that glitter anymore, he thought. And those pants. What was she thinking with those pants?

Barefoot, and now dressed in a simple pair of breeches and a soft shirt, his skin free of makeup and glitter and the static disaster that was his hair smoothed back to normal, he threw himself into a chair in front of the hearth. Thankfully, there was a bottle of dwarven brandy to hand, and he poured himself a large quantity of it. It was late, the castle was mostly asleep by now, so at least he would have some peace until the morrow. He drained the brandy in two long swallows and poured himself some more, staring into the fire but seeing nothing. Nothing but fierce green eyes. Outwardly, he looked pensive. Inwardly, his soul was screaming.

To be fair to her, she was much too young. He knew this. But it wasn't as if he'd even planned to pursue her immediately. He'd had every intention of courting her properly when she came of age and giving her plenty of time to grow up and get to know him and his world before seeking any kind of relationship with her. Apparently, this did not fit in with her own plans. But how?

Jareth had finished another tall glass of brandy and was working on his third. The blessed numbness that he'd been seeking was so far eluding him.

How can a heart-bonded mate leave their fated partner? What kind of cosmic joke was it that the Fates would dangle her in front of me only to snatch her away? What did I do wrong?

Then he chased that thought with… You know what you did wrong. You assumed that she was just like every other female of your acquaintance. You thought she would be flattered by your attention and fall in with your plans. And when that didn't work, you thought you would get her to say the magic words and it would still end up as it was supposed to.

He gulped down another measure of brandy. Idiot. You watched her while she did her Run. With everything you've seen of her, how are you so surprised that she had a will of her own?

For hours, his mind circled around these questions, interrupted by the draining of yet another glass of brandy.

She's gone, his heart cried. Gone.

He didn't even feel it when he'd rolled off the chair into a heap on the floor.

"What the hell, Jareth?"

Jareth cracked his eyes open, wincing at the bright light. There was a cacophony of hammering in his skull and a definite odor about the room… as if someone had voided their stomach. He had a suspicion that it had been himself.

Strong hands came to help him get into a seated position. His eyes briefly focused on Garthan, his High Councilor and one of his three best friends in the world. To Garthan's right was Randel, his Lord Martial and commander of his Army, also one of his best friends. Rounding out the trio and standing behind Garthan was Lily, wife to his High Councilor and Chatelaine of his castle. Between the two other men, he was somehow wrangled back into the chair, and although the room still had a spin to it, he didn't think his stomach was going to turn inside out again any time soon.

Lily looked at him with an air of mild distaste, "Garthan, you should get His Majesty to the bathing chamber. I'll take care of this… mess." Jareth knew he was in trouble. Lily only called him 'Majesty' in private if she was annoyed with him. Considering he'd vomited on the castle floor sometime in the night, he had to admit he'd earned her annoyance. Thus, he didn't complain when Garthan pulled him to his feet, slinging one of Jareth's arms around his neck and bodily walking him to his chamber. He didn't trust himself not to drown in the bath in his condition, so he had to be content with a brisk shower. It did little to quiet the hammering in his head, but he at least felt a little less like he'd been run over by the Cleaners.

Having overheard Garthan say that he was going to clear Jareth's schedule for the day, there was no need for him to dress very formally. He shuffled into the dressing room, pulling on a pair of sleeping pants and throwing a robe over his shoulders. As he was leaving the room, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He'd seen corpses that looked better.

By the time he'd returned to the solar, Lily had erased all traces of Jareth's rendezvous with the dwarven brandy. Even the miasma was gone, which was a godsend. There was breakfast sitting on the small dining table, which his stomach protested viciously at, and a pot of tea, which he needed badly. He poured himself a cup and sat back, eyes squinting in the bright light. He felt gentle fingertips touch his temple and a tingling sensation. Lily had taken pity on him. He sat quietly with his eyes closed, absorbing the Healing magic that reduced the grinding noise in his skull to at least manageable proportions. When she pulled her fingers away, he'd actually felt as if he could take a little bit of breakfast without it coming back up again.

"Well?" came a low voice from his left. Jareth looked blearily over at his High Councilor, who was seated next to his wife.

Garthan rolled his eyes, "You know, we're just going to keep asking you until you break down and tell us. Best we save time, and you tell us now."

He glanced at all three of them, "I thought it was obvious. She's gone."

Randel looked confused, "What do you mean, gone? How can she be gone?"

Jareth laughed mirthlessly, "She won. She beat the Labyrinth."

The other three exchanged wide-eyed looks. There was a good two minutes of silence before Randel said, "Well, it was bound to happen eventually. What I don't understand is how she left us. A heart-bonded doesn't just leave her mate."

"This one did," said Jareth, flatly. "Not only that, but she revoked my power over her. I can't even visit her if I tried to."

The silence was almost deafening, before Lily spoke up. "Jareth, tell us what happened. Tell us everything and leave nothing out."

So, he did. He didn't spare himself in the least, fully admitting his arrogance in thinking she was going to fail. Admitting that he'd prematurely invoked courting words to her in his desperation to get her to stay. Admitting his failure… his humiliation.

"Oh, Jareth… where was your mind?" Lily said, softly.

"I'll be damned if I know," he replied, raggedly. Garthan looked at Jareth in sympathy. Randel's eyes were bleak.

Lily, on the other hand, appeared pensive. "I don't think this is the disaster that you all assume it to be," she said slowly. "True, you cannot go near her, and neither can any of us, yet. But clearly, her friends can. As can the Ughlánas. This tells me that not only does she have a strong belief in our world, but she also has great affection for it." Lily poured herself a cup of tea and sipped at it delicately. "From what you've told us, she does not fit in with her kind Above, thus these are likely the only friends she has access to. Further, we are going to want to keep her protected, especially once it becomes common knowledge that she is the first and only Champion of the Labyrinth." Lily looked at Jareth solemnly, "What pains and confuses you is that she willingly parted from you. I would agree that this would be most unusual but remember… not only is she too young but she is also a human. She wasn't raised with an understanding of this bond, as we were; she doesn't even know what it is. She feels it, I am certain of that, but she will not feel its full strength until she reaches adulthood. That is when her heart will call out to you as yours does to her. It's inevitable."

"So, what do you suggest we do in the meantime?" asked Jareth.

"The way I see it, our task will be to watch over her until she comes of age," said Lily, clearly working out the details as she spoke. "Make the portal in her mirror a permanent one so that her friends may keep her company at will. The Ughlánas already can do that, and they love her. Assign some to her in rotation, both as companions and as guards. This has the benefit of not only protecting her, but also keeping her in contact with creatures of our world, lest she forget. Who was it that befriended her during her run?"

Jareth thought about it for a moment, "Hogsbrain, the rockcaller and Sir Didymus."

"It's Hoggle, not Hogsbrain. That's a complication," said Lily. "He's always had a grudge against you. Any idea why?"

"No. At least… not before now. I think he was just grumpy by nature. And I admit, it amused me to always misname him. Unfortunately, during Sarah's run, I ordered him to give her an enchanted peach. Now, he really has a grudge against me." Jareth pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That's not good," said Garthan. "He'll be poisoning her mind against you, just watch."

"The rockcaller isn't a problem at least. He's gentle and docile, just not very bright," said Randel.

Lily smiled slowly, "But… we do have Sir Didymus. He may have some rather charming notions of chivalry, but he is also quite devoted to you, Jareth. His influence will certainly be enough to cancel out whatever rancor Hoggle has for you."

Jareth's expression brightened considerably, "More than that. I'm going to tell him that as Sarah is now Champion of the Labyrinth, she deserves an honor guard, which is quite true. He will be happy to participate."

"That's not all," Lily said, gleefully. "Sir Didymus is a hopeless romantic. It will not have escaped his notice that you have become enamored with his 'lady fair' and eventually that she has with you. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find him working heavily in your favor. He's as much a sucker for a happy ending as the rest of us are."

"So, we establish a protection detail of Ughlánas, supervised by Sir Didymus," said Garthan, slowly. "We allow the creatures that Sarah befriended to come to her at will and continue to develop their friendships with her. We have patience and know that as she gets closer to her majority, her heart-bond will get stronger." He looked at Lily skeptically. "This is the plan?"

"That is the plan," Lily said, confidently. "Do not despair, Jareth. The pain you are feeling from being separated from her is something that in time she will feel as well if she isn't already. She will not entertain any other suitors from here on out, not with the heart-bond in place. In time, her own heart will lead her back here. It will lead her back to you. It is unavoidable. It is Fate."

Image Links:

I have been playing around with AI portrait generation and made renderings for all of the chapters in my story. Jareth as I envision him is based on an image I made from the Midjourney AI program. He is recognizably based on David Bowie, but younger than in the movie, to better match Sarah in her early 20s.I found it very helpful to refer to the images while writing, in order to really feel like these characters were living. I thought I'd share them for all to enjoy.

To view the links to the images I generated for this story, please go to my profile.

Author's Notes:

I do not own the movie characters, nor the Labyrinth story. All of the original characters are based on people I actually know in real life.

First time author here.

I saw this movie when it first came out and fell in love with it back in the 80's. I recently had the pleasure of showing it to my (at the time)17-year-old twin daughters. They loved it. The story that follows is what I imagine happened after the movie was over. It is based solely on the movie, not any other official material (I think there was a Manga or something out there but I've never seen it). My daughters dared me to write it down and submit it to the AO3 fanfiction site (they are also avid fanfiction readers, something we didn't realize about each other until very recently). So here it is. But I wanted to throw a few things out there, first.

For the last 35+ years, I've often wished there was continuation of the Labyrinth story that led to a happy ending. I eventually discovered the joys of fan fiction and spent years reading stories by other authors. One in particular stood out; "A Riddle in Flowers" by WildIsGood. While this story isn't finished, I still heartily recommend giving it a look.

I had always felt that Jareth was a Goblin and not a Fae. Wild's explanation and descriptions of the Greater and Lesser Goblins has now completely dominated my head-canon and I take it for fact, at least in my own brain. The Othánas and Ughlánas as they appear in my story were directly inspired by Wild and I give all credit to that author for coming up with them. If the author ever reads my story, I hope they take my inspiration by their concept as the compliment it is meant to be.

In my over 5 decades of reading, I occasionally came upon a concept like Wild's or perhaps a scene that stuck in my mind, and they made their way into my story. Where applicable, I will cite the author or source that inspired me and their story so you can check it out for yourself.

This story covers at least 6 years (plus an epilogue and future side stories) and a LOT of things had to happen before Jareth and Sarah could get together. But I am a sucker for happy endings, so you can be sure that there is a happy ending here too. I also love world-building, character studies and exposition, so be prepared for a lot of it. A LOT. I wanted to really flesh out the world of the Goblin Kingdom and the people in it, so there's going to be quite a bit of it.

This story takes place in modern day, as opposed to the late 80's. While I was a teenager in the mid-80's, and could certainly have written it to match that time frame, it was just easier to set the whole thing in the present as opposed to explaining to my daughters (my original audience) why there was no internet, no cell phones, no streaming. Long time fans of the Labyrinth movie might find it a bit jarring to see modern references (like Game of Thrones) if they're not aware that it's set in the present.

A word about smut… there are a few encounters towards the early end of this story and some in the side stories. But I am old-school, raised on the bodice-ripping historical romances of the 70's and 80's, and I vastly prefer that style to the more modern smut that gives graphic details of body parts and bodily fluids. I have nothing against it, I just happen to like the more old-fashioned, flowery romantic stuff, so that's how I wrote it. It's relatively tame compared to some I've read. I had no issue with my 17-year-olds reading it, but your mileage may vary.

While there is only one instance of actual violence in the main story (and the only one with any real gore), there is mention of past violence and abuse in one of the chapters and mention of the effects of war in a couple of others. I don't get very graphic with the descriptions, but they are still pretty disturbing.

Also… please be kind. I am not a professional writer, and this is not meant to be the next Lord of the Rings. This is just how the story plays out in my mind. I'm doing this because my daughters dared me to and because they enjoyed the story and thought it should be shared.