AN: Well....where do I start? I know I haven't updated in a long time. The honest truth was that I was considering abondoning this story...and ffn all together. I thought, among other things, that I had lost my readers. I also thought that it was time for me to give up on writing and focus more on the dreaded "real world". However, I couldn't stay away, no matter how hard I tried. Fantasy, stories...they're like magnets to me, and I can't pull away. So, I'm back, and I'm writing chapter ten to this story even now. So, please please please forgive me...and, please please please review to tell me you haven't forgotten about me. Enjoy, read, and review! ~ Saphire

Chapter eight: Midnight Rendezvous

Madison sighed as she walked down the sidewalk of Sarah's childhood street. The brisk night air was something that she wouldn't miss when she and Sarah eventually returned to California, but, she had to admit, she did enjoy the atmosphere the East Coast had to offer. It was a nice switch for Madison, whom had lived her entire life on the opposite side of the country. After the events of the day, it was nice to just walk along and try to relax. However, Madison found that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't rid herself of the thoughts placed there by that…well, whatever he was. 'D'Vinnian…what an odd name,' she thought as she turned the corner onto the main street. Sarah had insisted on heading home two weeks early and had given Madison a tour of the entire town, a fact which Madison now used to her advantage as she tried to rationalize what she had seen at the church. "Men just don't disappear," she mumbled, "And how is he supposed to hear me if I just call his name? Magic?" Certainly, Madison acknowledged that the only plausible explanation was that D'Vinnian had simply magicked himself away. She shook her head, "Sarah is rubbing off on me." A bit of white at the corner of Madison's eye stopped her musings and she looked into the shop window. A cheap plastic mannequin wore an intricately beaded white chiffon and lace concoction that would have made any fairy princess proud. Indeed, Madison and Sarah had seen the dress in the window, and it was what prompted Sarah to go inside. Madison was more than a little shocked when her friend, with her heads constantly in the clouds, opted instead for a beautiful, but by comparison plain, white satin gown. More than shocked, Madison was actually disappointed. It seemed that the gown in the window had been made for Sarah. Looking at it now, bathed partially in the orange glow of a nearby lampost, Madison shook her head. "It's probably better that she didn't buy it anyway. That dress should be saved for someone special," she mused aloud before continuing her walk. "Someone special" evidently hadn't been Ben. Madison couldn't say she was surprised. She had seen something change in Sarah over the past two months, and had almost expected Sarah to call of the wedding a few weeks ago. "Better late than never," she muttered sardonically. But, there was still the question of why….why had Sarah changed over the past two months? Why did she run out of her own wedding? Why did that man think it had something to do with his cousin? It was overload and Madison shook her head, her pace picking up to a power walk, twisting through the deserted streets back to the residential area and Sarah's beloved park. If she was going to indulge in this fantastic delusion, she would do it where she was damn sure no one would see her.

Ten minutes later, Madison stood hidden by the veil of leaves provided by a weeping willow. Her teeth chattered a little now, though the days were still quite balmy. Taking a couple of deep breaths, Madison prepared herself to jump off the deep end. "Besides, my shrink is only a cell phone call away." Trying to keep that comforting thought in her mind, Madison took a dive off the deep end.

"D'Vinnian?" she whispered uncertainly. "D'Vinnian?" she ventured louder when nothing spectacular happened immediately.

"Behind you," came an amused voice, suddenly.

Gasping, Madison spun around to face the man from the church. D'Vinnian smiled at her in a good-natured manner, determined to win over her trust.

"I told you that I would hear you when you called," he said, as if explaining to a child.

Madison shook her head, attempting to find her voice,

"How?"

"Magic, my dear," he said, before making some gesture with her hand and offering her a white carnation that Madison knew hadn't been there before.

Seeing Madison's skeptical expression, D'Vinnian sighed,

"I see that I have much explaining to do."

For now, all Madison could do was nod.

Twenty minutes later, D'Vinnian had relayed a short history of himself and the Underground to Madison, as well as relating the tale of Sarah's first visit to his cousin's kingdom. All told, he thought that she was handling the information considerably well; though he wasn't sure how much more unblinking silence he could take. Things were so much easier to explain when the human was a dreamer like Sarah. He was a little surprised to find that Madison wasn't one herself, being as close as she had explained herself to be to Sarah. Still, she hadn't done anything remotely rude or worrisome, so he waited for her to make the next move.

Madison sat perfectly still as everything she had been told sunk in. Her first instinct was to laugh…to deny what she had been told. But, in the face of the evidence she had been given in the form of D'Vinnian's mannerisms and parlour tricks, Madison found the truth inevitable.

"So, everything Sarah said was true," she finally whispered.

D'Vinnian arched an eyebrow, "She has spoken of the Underground to you?"

Madison snapped her attention to the man beside her and began walking, the Goblin Lord following in stride.

"Yes, when we first met years ago…I can't quite remember how we got on the topic. She told me the story, but called it a dream…but, she told it with such emotion…I just never thought it to be more than another of her flights of fancy."

"Why is that? Is magic so hard to believe in?" the lord asked softly.

Madison nodded, "In today's world, yes, it is. I stopped believing in fairy tales ages ago; I always thought it strange that Sarah hadn't."

"And now?"

"Now, it appears that I don't have much choice," Madison said, gesturing to the flower she still held.

D'Vinnian put his hand over hers, stopping and turning to face her,

"It is a rare gift that Sarah has, to maintain her imagination in…this," he said, struggling for a word for the world around him, "It is also a rare gift that you have, Madison, to be able to accept the truth so easily."

Madison smiled at his words, finding comfort in his steady gaze.

"It's odd," she admitted, "I feel as if I should be up in arms over this. I feel as if I ought not to believe you, I ought to argue with you…I just don't want to."

"Why is that?" D'Vinnian asked gently.

Madison shrugged and began walking again,

"I suppose the same reason that Sarah was still a dreamer. The Underground seems like such a wonderful place…who wouldn't at least want to believe in a place like that?"

For a while, the two walked in a companionable silence. Madison twirled the flower in her fingers in a thoughtful manner while D'Vinnian walked beside her, hands behind his back and watching the scenery around him. It wasn't often that he ventured Aboveground, but, so far, he found it to be a pleasurable experience. He smirked, maybe it was due to the company he was keeping. He watched the woman beside him, trying to decipher what thoughts were behind those dark blue eyes cast towards his small gift. Finally, rounding a nest of trees and seeing a stone bench, D'Vinnian felt it was time to continue his tale. Placing his hand on her arm, he gently steered Madison to the seat, dropping beside her gracefully. She turned her curious gaze to his, and he caught his breath a moment as the moon reflected in the blue orbs. Shaking his head, D'Vinnian tried to regain his thoughts.

"Well?" Madison finally prompted, knowing that he had more to tell her.

"So far," the Goblin Lord finally began, "I've told you of Sarah's first journey Underground. However, it was not her only one."

"Really?"

"Yes, she went back two months ago. I'm not sure exactly what drew her back, though my cousin tells me it was her own dreams that did so. When Sarah had left ten years prior, she left the Labyrinth in ruins, and the Goblin King near death -"

"I thought he was immortal."

"We are. He was as near death as a fae could ever be. It took him ten years to gain back just enough power to come back to his kingdom. I'm not sure of any of the details, but, by the time I had heard of the king's return, Sarah had already come back and agreed to stay and help rebuild the kingdom...."