"Did you have a good time with your sister last night?" Karen, Toby's mother, asked.
"Yes ma'am!" Toby said excitedly, his eyes full of glee. He looked back over to Sarah and ran over to her as fast as his legs allowed. He jumped up to give her one last hug and kiss on the cheek before running back over to his mother.
"I hope he didn't cause you any trouble, Sarah," Karen said, with a stern voice. Her expression was almost blank as she spoke to Sarah. Definitely not the same way that she looked at Toby, which was always with love and awe.
"Of course he didn't cause any trouble at all," Sarah replied with a smile. "He was perfect like always. We had a lot of fun."
Karen turned her blank gaze from Sarah down to Toby who had already climbed into his booster seat. She smiled at him and giggled, and looked back up to Sarah with the same hateful expression.
"Alright, Sarah," Karan began. "I guess we will be back next weekend."
"Sounds good," Sarah replied. "Bye Toby! You be a good boy for your mom!" She smiled and waved enthusiastically to the boy sitting in the booster seat.
"Bye Sarah!" Toby yelled, and Karen shut the door. She looked at Sarah and quickly glanced away, walking around to the driver's side. After getting in the car, she cranked up the rattling motor and quickly pulled away.
Sarah watched as Toby turned around in his seat and waved to Sarah in the rear window of the car. She waved back and smiled.
I guess that is all I will ever be to her, Sarah thought to herself. Just a baby-sitter. She sighed as she began walking back into the house. All she ever was to Karen and her father was the baby-sitter. Her weekends always consisted of watching Toby while her father and Karen had time for themselves.
She began up the stairs toward her bedroom. Her thoughts were still wrapped around the dream she had the night before. And more importantly, she wondered what it would have been like if she had taken Jareth's offer. Her heart raced at the idea of what could have been.
Maybe she wouldn't be so miserable.
As she walked into her room, she shut the door behind her and walked over to the vanity mirror. She looked at herself and watched as a tear slid down her face.
There is no place for me here, Sarah thought. She looked around her room and realized this was all she knew. She had no friends, and the only family she had treated her as nothing but a baby-sitter. The only person who cared for her was Toby, and he didn't seem like enough to keep her happy where she was. She was absolutely miserable.
Only one thing could make her happy, and that was to be in the arms of Jareth. But she knew he didn't want her. He never came after her once she turned down eternity with him. He never fought for her then. Why would he want her now?
There was really only one way to find out.
She stared into the mirror with tears rolling down her face and said the words she had said such a long time ago. The words that caused her heartache and suffering. The words that changed her life once upon a time.
She closed her eyes and said, "I wish the Goblin King would take me away."
She paused and opened her eyes to look at herself once more in the mirror.
"Right now."
But nothing happened. It was quiet, and she stood in her bedroom alone. The absence of Jareth broke her heart once more, and she sunk down to her bed. She knew then he didn't want her.
"Oh, it's not fair…" she said as she buried her face into her hands, trying to stop the tears.
"Now that's the Sarah I remember," a familiar voice said.
Startled, Sarah jumped up from her bed and looked at her window. Her heart began racing when she found a tall, slender man in all black standing before her. His shirt opened up at the chest, and his pants hugged his figure. His metallic blonde hair fell down past his shoulders.
"Hello, Sarah," Jareth said, his voice very soft.
A chill ran up Sarah's spine at the sound of his voice.
"Hello, Jareth," she replied. Sarah had rehearsed many things she would say to Jareth if ever they were to have met again, but at this moment in time she had forgotten them all. She stood before him and all she could do was stare. She couldn't believe he was right there, in her bedroom, after five years of wanting and wishing to be with him again.
"Why did you call me?" he asked, concerned. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," she replied. "Yes, I'm fine. I just…" She paused. Even though she wanted to say she missed him or she wanted to be with him, she couldn't. The fear of him rejecting her would hurt her, and she didn't think she could handle it.
"Just what, Sarah?" Jareth asked.
She let her mind regroup before continuing. "I'm just so miserable here. I don't have a place, and I miss my friends. Hoggle. Ludo. Sir Didymus. Maybe I'll have a place in the underground." With you… she wanted to say. But the words wouldn't escape her mouth.
"I see," Jareth said. "Well, Sarah. You do realize that once you call upon me, unless someone comes for you, that you may never return?"
Sarah took in a deep breath before replying. "I do realize this, and I am ready."
"Alright. If this is what you wish, than it shall be done." His voice was very serious and his facial expression was very stern. Sarah was concerned that she was making the wrong decision, but it was too late to turn back.
"This is what I wish to happen." Sarah looked at him, her heart open and her mind racing.
"As you wish, Sarah."
With those words, they were gone.
