Quicknote: This chapter is dedicated to my husband, Ducky (it's an inside joke), for helping me out. lol I actually don't remember how she did it, but she planted this idea into my head. Hope you enjoy it ;)

Chapter 9: Taking the Joke a Little Too Far

Days went by and, at first, Sarah tried to pass Jareth's strange behavior off as a trick. She just knew that at some point everyone was just going to jump out at her and scream, "Surprise!"

…. But it never happened.

In fact, it almost seemed as though Jareth was avoiding her.

Ok, Sarah thought. This has got to be a joke of some sort. He's planning something.

And, although Jareth was their king, the goblins had grown fond of Sarah and were always more than happy to give her any clues as to what the Goblin King was up to, but this time, they had nothing.

When Sarah approached Gabjak, her most trusted informer, he had nothing whatsoever for her. All he knew was that Jareth had come home one night in a foul mood then woke up the next morning acting strangely.

"Sawah-King-Fwend," Gabjak started, "Please bwing him back. Me misses de old Gobwin King. Me no like this stwange king. He more scarier to me than angwy king."

Sarah gave the poor goblin a weak smile and said, "I'll do my best."

As soon as I figure out what's going on, she mentally added as an afterthought.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

On December 30th, the day before their annual New Year's Ball, Jareth and Sarah sat down to a simple dinner.

This was one of the first semi-normal occurrence that had happened since Sarah had come home.

Semi-normal was the significant word.

Normally, the pair dressed up … Sarah in a beautiful dress and Jareth in something quite dashing. They both looked their best, almost as if they were going to a fancy restaurant, only to enter the dining room illuminated in candlelight. It would be probably overly romantic which Sarah thought was the point of it all.

Normally, they would talk a bit before their "waiters" who were a bit pint-sized brought in their magnificent meal … cheeseburgers. The messy kind. The kind that you can't eat without making a mess.

They would talk, flirt a little, and spend an evening entirely to themselves. Jareth always insisted on a dance after dinner and, most times, he would softly sing "As the World Falls Down" as she laid her head on his shoulder and he held her close to him, swaying gently to his song.

This was Sarah's favorite part of the night. It was the time where she could forget about denying any feelings beyond friendship for Jareth. It was the time where she could feel his heartbeat and hear his warm, soft voice singing the song she knew he had written especially for her.

Afterwards, they would go out for a walk. A few times, Jareth had even dared to hold her hand … and a couple times, she let him. Jareth never mentioned it later on. He seemed to understand how she felt about that annual night.

Sarah felt terrible for hurting him like that, but she could just never bring herself to say those three little words that could either break her or make her the happiest woman in existence.

…….. And now, everything was different.

This time, dinner wasn't special. They dressed up, Sarah wearing a lovely blue dress that revealed just enough cleavage to coax the old, normal Jareth out, blue high heels, a silver chain with a sapphire on it that Jareth had given to her for her birthday a couple years ago, and a blue, wild, Underground flower in her hair.

Jareth wore a tuxedo. That was it. Just a plain, black tuxedo. The type that you see high school boys wearing for their junior prom or something.

The room also wasn't alight due to candles either. It was the usual lighting. Nothing romantic at all.

That, Sarah could deal with. However, dinner was something that blew her away completely.

Instead of the usual … burgers or something casual … Jareth had ordered the kitchen staff to prepare prime rib, baked potatoes, vegetables, and for dessert … frozen fruit.

A part of Sarah was hurt and injured and she felt like slapping him in the face and saying, "What the Hell is wrong with you?!" She could understand if his behavior was some sort of joke, but this was going too far. He was ruining their special night.

They ate in awkward silence.

Afterwards, Sarah moved to the spot where they usually danced, but Jareth surprisingly moved towards the door.

"I was hoping we could just move straight on to the walk," he said rather quietly. For a moment, Sarah though she saw something different in his eyes. Remorse, maybe.

Or maybe it was disappointment. She didn't know what he was playing at, but she figured that it was better that they skip the dancing (her favorite part) if he was only going to kill that too.

She followed him outside and they began their normal walk together.

Maybe he wants me to make this first move this time, Sarah thought. It would make sense. Maybe he was tired of being the one chasing. Maybe he wanted to be chased for once.

So, making a quick decision, Sarah moved closer to the man she had grown to …. never mind that thought. She just moved closer to him.

Jareth turned rigid, but continued to walk.

Nothing happened.

So Sarah tried one of his maneuvers. She grabbed a hold of his hand and wrapped her arm around his so that they were intertwined with each other.

Jareth released her hand and moved away. Now Sarah was not only hurt, but she was starting to get pissed.

She stopped walked and cried out in frustration, "Okay! I give up! What's the joke? What's going on?"

Jareth looked confused. "What are you talking about Sarah? There is no joke."

Sarah looked livid now. "What the Hell is wrong with you?! Huh?! What happened while I was gone to make you act like this?!"

Jareth hesitated, obviously thinking about how to word his answer. "I merely made a simple change in myself to better suit your needs. Nothing to be so worked up about. Why are you overreacting?"

Before was amazed with him! Worked up! Overreacting!! She was not overreacting. Something was obviously wrong with him! He wasn't acting like he was supposed to. How could he not see that she missed the old Jareth terribly?!

However, before she could say anything more, they heard a voice come from the direction they had came from.

"Jareth! Sarah! There you two are!" The pair looked in the direction where the voice had come from to find a beautiful young woman approaching them.

She had the same blond-colored hair that Jareth had and her eyes were the same mismatched eyes, except switched. She was wearing a burgundy coat/dress with black boots and a cloak that matched her dress. (A/N: It's kinda hard to explain it. Lol You should all know by now that descriptions are not my forte =] If you've ever seen Disney's Beauty and the Beast then just think of what Belle is wearing during "Something There". Something along those lines.)

"I know I'm early, but I figured that you wouldn't mind." She smiled at the two of them and then her smile began to fade when she saw that Jareth looked desperate and frustrated while Sarah looked livid and was staring so intensely at the Goblin King that the young woman winced.

Sarah looked at the woman, her features warming a bit, and said, "Hello Camiya. It's so good to see you." Sarah looked at Jareth again, shooting daggers at him with her eyes and added, "Especially now."

Speaking to Jareth again, Sarah said, "So sorry for my poor behavior, Goblin King. I was not aware that you had more important things to do than to spend an evening with a silly girl. I won't bother you again." She mock-bowed to him and stormed away in the direction of the castle.

Jareth looked helplessly at his younger sister as she asked, "Wow. What did you do this time?"

"It's hard to explain and I don't really want to talk about it." He walked over to her and gave her a hug which she gladly returned. "I'm so happy to see you, lil' sis."

"You too, bro." She glanced back in the direction where Sarah had stormed away and added, "I won't pester you now about what's going on but only because I think I should calm Sarah down first. But later, expect an ambush."

Jareth smiled at his little sister and replied, "I would be most grateful."

Camiya grinned and nodded her head as she made her way back to the castle.

Jareth continued to stand there as it began to lightly snow. As Camiya rushed after Sarah, she wondered what could have possibly made her brother and Sarah turn on each other like that.

Sarah was the only person Camiya knew (besides herself) who had been able to penetrate the walls Jareth had placed around his heart. Sarah couldn't have been closer to Jareth if she had been his sister.

Oh Jareth, I hope you didn't screw up too badly this time, Camiya thought as she briskly walked in the direction of Sarah's room.

A/N: OK I'm late! I know! So sorry. I got writer's block so bad and I just couldn't get this chapter out.

I hope you liked it anyway although it probably could have been better. Leave me a review and let me know what you think.

I think the next chapter will be a short Jareth one with his POV on Sarah's return and this chapter probably.

Ok so PLEASE let me know what you think! It would be much appreciated.