Upon returning to the mountain they both called home, Jack found himself feeling an overwhelming sense of confliction. He was happy to be home, he wanted to be home, absolutely; however, there were issues that needed to be sorted out before he felt he could settle down and relax into the comfortable palace once again.

At dinner, Jack ate silently and Chase glanced over at him every few seconds. He wanted to be sure he was eating and feeling okay. On the surface, everything seemed alright again, save for Jack's ever-present depression. Losing the baby had taken its toll on both of them, but Jack had been completely ripped apart. Although he had never asked for the baby, had never asked Chase to keep it a secret from him; he'd grown accustomed to it growing inside of him and the thoughts and ideas of raising a child with Chase. Jack still wanted a child, and even though the child would have been an unplanned birth in Jack's mind, it was still their baby. But Chase had lost his control and they'd lost that life forever. Jack wasn't sure he was strong enough to even consider having another with Chase. Of course there was still love between them, as Jack was a sort of twisted and dull individual. But to try for another was simply out of the question for Jack. There were other issues that needed to be addressed, and Jack wasn't sure he knew where to start.

Setting down his fork, he cleared his throat, drawing Chase's attention. "Chase…there are things we have to talk about. Nothing's going to get better if we continue on as if nothing had happened. As painful as it is to talk about it, we have to if we're ever going to move forward with our lives." Jack closed his mouth, terrified of the words that were now tumbling in Chase's mind. The dragon lord set down his spoon and wiped his lips. He sighed almost inaudibly, and Jack stared at his clenched hands in his lap.

After a while that seemed to stretch for eons had passed, "You're right, Jack. As much as we'd like to ignore these problems, they simply won't disappear. I want to work things out with you. I want us to find the happiness we had before all of this happened."

Jack thought on that statement a moment before he sighed, tilting his head to one side in exhaustion, "I don't think that level of happiness could be possible after all of that." Jack's voice was quiet and solemn. Chase's frown deepened and he stared through the tablecloth. "But," Jack continued, drawing Chase's gaze to his red eyes, "I do know that I can be happy with you and I want that more than anything in the world right now. I want you in my life, Chase." He smiled and Chase smiled back. Pushing back his chair, the dragon lord stood and made his way to the albino teen.

"I want nothing more than to be in yours, Jack Spicer."

Jack smiled and stood, embracing the ancient dragon lord. If there was anything still right in his world, his love for Chase was it. Chase was as imperfect as any mortal, and he had several flaws that caused some irrevocable damage. But if what Jack felt for him, even knowing all of his flaws, couldn't be called love, then love was just as much fiction as they themselves were.

Chase and Jack slept soundly that night, locked in one another's embrace. It was one of the soundest sleeps Jack could remember. After everything that had happened, Jack needed to be well rested for what lay ahead of him.

The next morning, Jack awoke to find himself alone in bed. Sitting up, he oriented himself from being in the Xiaolin temple to being home again. Once he was aware of his surroundings again, he got himself out of bed and went to take a shower. The warm water felt amazing on his skin. The monks were gracious enough to let him shower a few times during his eleven day stay, however, the water had always been cold and the soap was usually almost gone. Being home in his own shower was a wonderful feeling. Once he had relaxed, his stomach reminded him that he'd not eaten much at dinner the night before. Drying off and dressing, Jack looked at himself in the mirror. He had dark circles under his eyes, making him look as if he'd been in a fight. The dark contrasted so starkly with his already pale white skin that he took some concealer from the bathroom drawer and applied some to make the circles less noticeable. And while he was at it, he figured he'd apply some general makeup; eyeliner, a little mascara and some blush to give his face a bit more color. Chase wasn't overly fond of his makeup, but he tolerated it nonetheless. Perhaps after seeing him depressed and ghostly white, Chase would appreciate the change and compliment him on his makeup.

Jack found Chase in the kitchen, cooking with some of his cat servants. Smiling, he cleared his throat and wished him a good morning. Chase turned to look over his shoulder at him and smiled, "Good morning to you as well, my pet." He put down what he was doing and turned to embrace his albino lover. Jack hugged back. "Although," he pulled away, looking at Jack with a laugh in his eyes, "I would hardly call it morning anymore. It's almost 1 in the afternoon." Jack gasped and looked at the clock. He was right. Well, it shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise. After all, he had been exhausted and depressed and sleeping on the hard floor at the monk's temple. Jack shrugged and took the plate of food Chase offered him and went into the dining hall to sit. Chase soon joined him and they ate in quiet for a while. Chase was grateful Jack was in a lighter mood than last night and was eating. A lot was weighing on their minds, and Chase, although aware of how necessary this was, was reluctant to begin the long conversations they were about to have. Apparently, Jack was a bit wary himself. This gave Chase an idea.

"Jack?" He asked and the albino looked up at him expectantly. "What would you say to a light sparring match? Just to get the blood flowing and perhaps relieve some tension?" Jack sat back in his chair and thought about it. Chase hoped it would seem like a viable option to working out some of their issues. "It may help to clear you mind so you can better organize what you need to say."

Jack shook his head, "What I need to say isn't the issue. The issue is which issue is the most pressing." He sighed and strode towards the front entrance. "Come for a walk with me?" He asked, looking back to Chase. Chase jumped from his chair and followed the albino teen. Jack fell into step with Chase outside as they walked the perimeter of the mountain, overlooking the valley. Jack took a deep breath and Chase prepared himself. "I suppose the first issue we need to discuss is your decision to lie to me."

"Lie? When did I-?"

"Omitting the truth, running away, avoiding me, keeping your plan to impregnate me a secret. Why, Chase?"

Chase stopped walking and Jack turned to look up at him. His face was serious with a mixture of pain as well. Chase looked over the valley and slowly formulated his response. It wasn't that Chase thought Jack would reject the child. It wasn't that he didn't trust Jack with carrying the child to full term if he'd found out early on. So what was it? Chase had wanted to surprise Jack, but that seemed like a very shitty excuse for lying to someone about what was happening to their body so unexpectedly. Chase clenched his fists and remembered what Wuya had told him when making the potion, "The boy will be unaware of the changes, thus less likely to panic during the beginning stages of transformation. If you want this to be a success, then Jack must remain unaware until the end of the first trimester. We don't want him freaking out and trying to abort the child." Chase closed his eyes and then turned to Jack. "It was meant to be a surprise." It was the truth, and Jack deserved the truth right now, no matter how shitty. "I wanted to surprise you with a child. I asked Wuya and Hanibal to help me concoct a potion that would alter you and help you to conceive a child. Wuya thought it would be best to keep you from knowing until after the first trimester because the child would have had time to grow. Wuya was afraid you might try to about the child."

Jack was silent for a long time. Chase thought Wuya had been legitimate in trying to protect the baby from him. That pissed him off royally. "So Wuya thought I was a danger to the child, even though I was to be the carrier," he paused and looked angrily up at Chase, "and you believed her."

Chase's stomach sank. "I am an evil Heylin lord, Jack. I'm not good at making….good decisions."

"Being evil isn't an excuse for misjudging the person you love!" Jack suddenly shouted. They both froze. Was that an issue as well? Jack had never thought about it much until he'd blurted it out. Chase looked stunned and then looked to the valley. Jack sighed and looked down. "I suppose the biggest issue here is whether or not you really love me or not, Chase. I know love isn't something evil dragon lords are used to giving. But…there is something like love between us….isn't there?" Jack's voice grew smaller as he looked up and into Chase's dragon eyes. Chase was older than he was, much older and he knew things about humans that Jack had never come close to experiencing before. Chase looked down on Jack. He was human, young, vulnerable, naïve, gullible, and… Jack was everything Chase wasn't. That's what drew Chase to Jack in the first place. He wanted something opposing him in life. Not in the good versus evil sense, but just as an opposite to live his life with; someone with different ideas and different ways of looking at things. It was merely interest; selfish interest and inquisitiveness in the beginning. But now? Now, there was….there was something completely different here now.

"Jack Spicer." He said, letting the name fall softly. He took a step closer to him and wrapped his arms around the boy's shoulders. "Yes. I wouldn't say what we have is pure love, but I can say with one hundred percent honesty that there is something like love between us. I never wanted to hurt you. I never wanted to lose you or the baby. I wanted a family with you. I wanted something else to live for in my eternal years. I wanted to look after someone; a family. I wanted to make you happy, but I failed irreconcilably." He let his head hang as he drew away from Jack.

Jack sighed and stepped away from the embrace. "So we need to learn more about one another. We need to know each other, and not misjudge one another." He said softly. Chase nodded and turned to face the valley again, head high. He didn't want to show Jack his fear, his sadness, his tears. Jack pulled his arm and turned him around before he had a chance to wipe away the next tear. "Vulnerability; show it to me." Chase closed his eyes and nodded once more. "We can work through this. It's going to be a struggle. But I promise, if you can promise to be vulnerable and honest and open with me; we can make this work." Chase smiled and nodded once again, embracing Jack. Jack sighed and hugged him back. It would be a tall order, but they could do it.

So sorry for the long hiatus. I've gone back and done some revisions for the first few chapters. I'm hoping to clean this up and finish it in five chapters or so. I wanted this fic to be a cute mpreg story when I started it back in 2010. But now, I'm thinking its going to become a more dark and twisted romance once all the issues are resolved for our friends here. Sorry for turning it into a soap opera at the end there, but I'm just starting to pick it up and I promise, I'll get back to the smut and away from the OOCness. Thanks for reading and sticking with it after all these years. I look forward to reading your reviews if you feel so inclined. Thank you!