"Jareth!" she shrieked and the word echoed in the empty forest. Just when she thought he wasn't going to show up he appeared in front of her. "What?" he asked annoyed. She gestured toward the tree. "Oh," he said assessing the situation as the boy stared at him. "Let me guess," said Jareth with his back to Sarah. "You got mad." Sarah was fuming and forced herself to calm down, lest she let loose another spell. "Yes," she said tightly. "And I don't know how to undo it." "Let this be a lesson to you. You must learn not to loose control or something worse than this could happen." The boy interrupted him. "Worse? Worse?! What could be worse than throwing me against a tree? When I get down I'm going to kill you, Witch." Witch wasn't exactly what he said, but it was close enough. "Although it occurs to me," began Jareth glaring at the boy, "that your actions might have been justified." Sarah, meanwhile, was using all of her energy to keep from letting loose a more devastating spell. "Of all the," she began through gritted teeth, fully intending to say something that was NOT appropriate. Before she could finish, however, there was a blinding flash of light and the jerk disappeared. "What did you do?" asked Sarah. "I thought he'd like a visit to the Bog of Eternal Stench. After all," he said mockingly, "I couldn't let his big mouth tarnish your reputation." "Some reputation," muttered Sarah bitterly, voicing her hurt at always being left out for the first time. Jareth frowned in sympathy and reached out a hand as if to comfort her, but pulled back at the last instant. Sarah didn't notice because she was trying hard to keep her tears from spilling over. She quickly got back under control. "Well. Thanks for your help," she said in false cheer and turned to leave. "Sarah, wait." She stopped with her back to him. "I'm sure it'll get better," said Jareth, surprising them both with his gentle tone. "What will get better? I'm perfectly happy," stated Sarah hollowly. She knew she wasn't fooling him. "Oh really? I wonder what your basis for comparison is." Sarah turned quickly to face him, overestimated the distance between them, and ran into him. She froze in surprise and for once so did Jareth. "I-I have to go home," Sarah stuttered and ran away from him. What's wrong with you? she thought. Why are you freezing up like this? Don't show him any weakness.
Jareth transported himself back to his castle and began thinking the very same things. He knew he loved her, but he had never known that he would show it so blatantly. No matter how hard he tried to hide it from her, it always showed. Why? There was just something about that girl. Jareth conjured a crystal and watched Sarah in it. She had just reached her home and had begun to do her homework. He could tell that she was trying to forget what had happened. With a sigh a closed his hand into a fist and the crystal disappeared. Then he conjured the boy from the Bog of Eternal Stench to his house after making him forget about what had happened with Sarah. He would have some explaining to do about the smell and Jareth had intended to watch him try to explain it to his mother. Now he just didn't feel interested. Life just wasn't fair.
"Oh really? I wonder what your basis for comparison is."
Startled, Jareth looked around. He could have sworn he heard Garette's voice. Then he shook his head. Now he was hearing voices. He really should learn how to control his emotions better. He was letting them slip. Then there was a blinding flash of light and Jareth cursed. You forgot to look up again! He should have known better than to think his brother had been defeated, no matter how powerful the magic was. Gathering his remaining energy he transported himself to somewhere he knew his brother wouldn't go without more investigating. "Curse you!" he heard Garette shout before he transported himself away.
"Jareth!" gasped Sarah as he appeared on her bed. "What happened?" Without answering he slumped over and fainted. His magic was weaker than it had ever been.