EPILOGUE

Humans Say

"What is the meaning

of this old song

that tells of the times

when my heart was on fire?

Angels call it joy.

Devils call it pain.

Humans say: it must be love.

I don't know how it happened

When it doesn't exist within,

But it's true:

I loved her."

-Translation of "Prolog Tod" ("Death's Prologue") from "Elisabeth das Musical" by Sylvester Levay and Michael Kunze

The irony of the situation was not lost on Jareth. His words, his very own words had backfired against him, betrayed his heart in the cruelest of ways. Fate was not always on the Goblin King's side as it once was.

'I shall spare the second-born child in favor for the first-born daughter. I shall test her, and if I deem her worthy of my affection, my heart, and kingdom, I will take her to be my queen, and it shall cause her more heartbreak and woe than it would have ever caused you had you chosen to accept my most generous offer.'

Jareth growled and shoved the memory aside, the wounds still too fresh and deep.

He clutched at his heart, trying to abate the deep ache that had settled in his chest like disease, eating away at him, body and soul, until there was nothing left to feast on.

By letting Sarah go, Jareth had unintentionally brought upon himself the heartbreak and woe that he had foretold in his curse of the Guillemin family. The fates were cruel in the dispensation of their gifts and their punishments. He had not intended to fall in love. It had not been part of his brilliant scheme to further annoy the Guillemin family. Sarah had changed him in some way, had inflamed his mind, and awoken his senses.

He had to. He could not have kept her in good conscience, though goodness knows he wanted to, so desperately! It would have destroyed Sarah, ruined her so utterly and completely.

If you truly love someone, you will let them go.

He still watched her from afar, watched her try to re-accustom herself to her old life. She was not fit for the human world; she had seen and done too much. He had tried to warn her about the differences between the two worlds, but she had not heeded his warnings. Perhaps it was for the best that she find out for herself. Sarah was not one for listening to his words.

Jareth smiled gently to himself as he thought of Sarah's impulsive desire to defy him, even if it meant doing herself a disservice. They were so alike in so many ways.

Perhaps that was their downfall.

And their saving grace.

And so, he could wait, hoping that his and Sarah's paths would cross once again, and that he would have a second chance to prove himself, where he could win her heart of his own accord, and not by force of circumstance.

In any case, the Goblin King was quite fond of second chances.

Sarah always seemed to know when he was watching her, after it all. She would be walking in the orchard or alone in the library when she would suddenly become aware of a white owl perched high in the branches of the nearby wood, or balanced on the windowsill, watching her intently. In some ways, she felt pity for the Goblin King, who did not know what it was to love, and yet desired it so fiercely.

Perhaps one day, the Goblin King and she would meet again, and who knew, perhaps this time, Sarah would choose not to defy the Goblin King.

After all, it is said that sometimes, the way forward was also the way back.

AN: And with that, Ladies and Gentlemen, "The Labyrinth" is finished. I just wanted to say thank you so much for reading my story and for putting up with whatever plot holes or grammatical mistakes you may have found along the way! (And my inability to post a chapter on the day I said I would)

I have no doubt that I will return to the world of Labyrinth in the form of fanfic, but it will most likely be the chapter-a-month-or-so kind of story. I had so much fun writing this story for NaNoWriMo 2012, and I'd like to do NaNoWriMo 2013 too! For any writers out there, it is a lot of fun, and also a lot of work, but the end result is fantastic! You may not have a perfectly polished story at the end of NaNo, but you wrote 50,000 words in a month, and that is just incredible!

I had always wondered what story Sarah was reading in that little red book at the beginning of the movie, and whether or not it was just the story we saw later on in the movie or if it was another story that was at once similar and different than her own. I also thought that it would be a welcome change from some of the fanfic plot tropes that we Labyrinth writers seem to fall into when writing Laby fanfics. (Not to say that these stories are bad-far from it-but variety is the spice of life!) I love it when fanfic writers push the boundaries of the canon and create their own story and world that is just as rich and multi-faceted as the source material. It is hard work to create something from scratch, and fanfic allows us to test the waters and build upon an existing world while still being our own writer. (As Neil Gaiman would say, we are using our writing training wheels) Sometimes you fail, and sometimes you create something that will inspire others to be creative too (for many of us, Labyrinth is that creative spark). As Ms. Frizzle always says: "Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!"

That being said, I'm thinking that I need to pick up a certain story that I set aside (*checks date of last post on "But In Dreams"*) 2 years ago. (Wow, sorry guys! Real life really got in the way there for a bit!) I'll have to take a while to re-read the currently-posted chapters and to edit and repost them to fit the direction of the story. I'll have to dig up my notes for the story and see what I can do! Updates will most likely be few and far between, but I don't like leaving that story dangling! I do hate an unfinished fic!

Once again, thank you everyone for reading my story and for taking the time to write such lovely reviews and for giving me feedback!

Until next time! -Gabrielle

Disclaimer: Labyrinth and its characters do not belong to me. Quotes from the movie belong to Henson, Froud, and Lucas. Quotes from the book belong to A.C.H. Smith.