Enjoy!

Jerome's eyes fluttered open. He reached up and held his head with a groan as he sat up. Once he was fully awake, he stood up, crouching so he wouldn't hit his head on the ceiling. "Why is this ceiling so low?" he grumbled to himself. He blinked at the walls. "I'm inside a tree." He stated in a monotone. He found his way out of the room with the bed and stepped into a room a little larger.

Small wooden figurines sat on the shelves that hung on the walls. There were tables and chairs and bowls and plates. Carving tools were spread out on one of the tables. Standing in front of the fireplace, was a woman with thick, white hair. She was short and pale and she was hunched over a black cauldron that hung over a fire. She was humming under her breath as she stirred the liquid that the cauldron held.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

The old lady jumped and spun around, holding a wooden spoon in her hand as if she was to use it as a weapon of self-defense. "Oh, don't scare me like that," she scolded with a chuckle and turned back to her the fireplace. She had wide green eyes and she was missing many of her teeth.

"I'm sorry, but what am I doing here?"

"Oh, you passed out." She said simply, shaking her hips as she continued to hum.

Jerome arched an eyebrow at her back. "Why?"

"I don't know; what's the last thing you remember?" she wondered, turning to him again.

"I, um, kissed this girl—" his eyes grew wide when the girl he had kissed in the forest was suddenly standing right in front of him. And then, she was gone, replaced with the old woman. He shook his head violently.

"That's Joy," she laughed. "She's one of my aliases, I guess you could say."

"You mean…you are that girl." He said slowly, taking a wary step away from her.

"Yep," she confirmed shamelessly, almost proudly.

Jerome swallowed and gagged, turning away from her for a minute, wiping his mouth his sleeve. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he faced her again. "I have to go."

"Oh but don't you want something?" she stopped him, motioning to the room of hand-carved objects.

Jerome picked up a small, statue of a trout and he made a face. "It's not really my thing."

"A butterfly for a girlfriend maybe," she suggested and Jerome froze in the doorway.

He turned to her sharply. "You're a witch."

"A witch; oh no, I prefer Harnesser of the Magical Arts…"

"Really," he asked skeptically.

"No, witch is fine," she shook her head. "What about it?"

"Can you do something for me?" he asked hesitantly, closing the door behind him.

"Would you like it wrapped?" she questioned.

"What?"

"Your present—do you want it wrapped?"

"No, I don't want a present. I want her."

"This little girl here?" she held up the figurine of a little girl.

"No. Listen to me. I want the girl that I'm in love with. I want her back."

"Well, payment might be a little large for that kind of delivery." She shrugged.

"I'd give anything to have her again—everything." He said desperately.

She looked up at him and pursed her lips. "You really love this girl, don't you?"

"More than anything," he admitted.

She turned around to her cauldron again. She grabbed a bottle of blue liquid off the mantel above the fireplace and dropped the contents into the pot and stirred it around. Jerome watched her silently. He couldn't tell if she was helping him or she was just ignoring him. Before he could speak, she pulled on his hair, bringing him closer to the cauldron. Jerome wrinkled his nose. She smelt of rotting vegetables. The witch dropped an oak leaf into the yellow-green mixture and a puff of purple smoke leaked into the air. She dipped a ladle into the now cream colored liquid. She took a sip from the ladle and nodded in satisfaction. She took a wooden bowl off the table next to her and spooned two scoops into the bowl.

"What's that?" Jerome asked.

"My lunch," she answered, taking a few bites from the soupy substance.

"What about—"

"Oh right, your girlfriend." she waved him off, suddenly reminded of the request he had made. She cleared her throat and pushed him away from her. She rubbed her hands together and cracked her knuckles. "Now—" she snapped her fingers. "Go to the fallen tree that lays a mile away from your castle, and she will be there."

"Really?" he doubted, shock lacing his voice.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Thank you," he nodded respectfully and before he left, he looked over his shoulder. "How would you like to be paid?"

"Oh, don't worry about it; knowing that I helped true love prevail is enough of a payment." She promised with a toothy grin.

"Okay, then, thanks again." Jerome smiled and hurried out of the house.

"No, thank you," she whispered to herself with an evil smirk.

Jerome jogged down the hill and strained his neck, peering through the trees to see the clearing that the witch spoke of. And there she was; even more gorgeous than he remembered. He pushed through the brush and when she noticed him, she let her bright, beautiful smile slip onto her flawless face. She ran up to him and he lifted her off the ground, spinning in glee.

"My father told me that I'm no longer betrothed," she laughed happily once he put her down.

"I was told the same thing." He said and cupped her face, bringing her lips to his.

She giggled, pulling away from him, but he pulled her back, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in her neck. She threaded his blonde hair between her fingers and he hugged her tighter.

He didn't want to let her go.

"Jerome—"

"Oh right, let's go tell everyone!" he remembered and took her hand in his, starting down the path that led to his family's palace.

They both halted in shock when they reached the bridge that led to the gate. Mara reached out to touch his arm gently, but Jerome bolted out of her grasp. He skidded to a stop in the middle of the palace's courtyard and swallowed thickly.

Review?

Sarah: Yes, it was quite difficult... :(

Hannah: Yeah, hopefully... :)

DumDum40: Your review didn't show a word or was it like a heart or something, 'cause you can't make hearts... So, you either love or hate the story; thank you, or...aw, why? :/

H20xSpelboundfanx: Poppy won't be in the story right now, okay?

FNRutterHoa: Thank you! Um...I have a plan for Fabina and Amfie. They're not here just yet but...soon. ;)

PSdancer54: I'm glad you liked it! I hope you liked this chapter :)

Guest: There'll be more Peddie soon; I'm just focusing more on Jara at the moment...but more surprises are sure to come! :D

Guest: Well, you found out in this chapter :/ Well, everyone's been wondering about Peddie...only two people know the big secret about Peddie, but don't worry; we'll get to the soon enough. :)

Jasmine: Yeah, the kiss was really hard for me... :) I'm glad you liked that part. Haha, my brother actually hovered over me the whole time I wrote that chapter, waiting for me to write 500 words so I could play a game with him. He kept me motivated. ;) Ew...oozing...that's such a weird word...

Thanks for all the reviews guys! I love you all! Mwah! xx

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. -Romans 8:18

-Rachel