"Kiana?" Jareth cautiously poked his head through his daughter's doorway; knowing that, like him, she was likely to throw something at him rather than speak to him.

"What, Father?" Her voice was dull and lifeless. She would not even turn her face to look at him. "I don't really feel much like talking right now."

Sighing to himself, he moved to sit on the edge of her bed. "Bright one, I know how you feel. I am so sorry that it came down to this."

She spun to face him, a snarl turning her normally pretty face into something ugly. "How? How would you know, and how could you do this to me in the first place?"

With his customary smirk in place, Jareth waved slightly to encompass her room and the entire castle. "Do you think you sprang from a cabbage patch? Do you think I attained this kingdom without suffering some?" He sighed and got serious. "Kiana, you know the story of me and your mother. You've heard how she refused me, how she kept me waiting for six years before she called me back." He smiled softly and reached out to caress her hair. "Do you honestly believe that her brother would be any different? Bright one, love is worth the pain and the tears, and worth the wait."

Expecting her to rage against him, he braced himself for the impact, but she surprised him. Instead of flying at him, she crumpled. Looking up at him through overflowing eyes, she spoke softly. "I know Dad. But I'm afraid that he won't ever call me back."

Hating the words he had to speak, he took his daughter's hands in his and looked straight into her eyes. "He may not, Kiana. You have to live your life and wait for him. It's a hard thing you're asking him to do; giving up his identity, his life aboveground, and his belief structure all at once. You have to give him time."

He stood and raised her with him. Stepping back, he looked her over. "Now, this is no way for the princess and heir of the most powerful kingdom in the Underground to appear." He waved a gloved hand over her face, and the red puffiness from her bout of tears disappeared. He gave a small, pleased smile. "There, that is so much better."

Still looking bleak, but not like she'd been crying, she looked up at him; at the father who'd always been gentle with her, drying tears, kissing skinned knees. "What do I do now?"

He smiled at her. "Now, you do what you were born to do. You learn how to deal with the goblins and the other nobility. You train to take my place when I decide to retire." He peered at her for a moment and said, half-jokingly, "Unless, of course, you've decided you do not want the position and would rather remain aboveground."

Showing some of her usual sense of humor, she grimaced and stuck her tongue out at him. "As if."

Jareth laughed. Hearing himself, he reflected that he laughed a lot since his wife and daughter had entered into the picture.