Jacen led Madeline into the garden, savoring the look of wonder on her face as she beheld it in the fairy lights. It really was an enchanting sight, but he found himself keeping his admiring gaze upon her, rather than the scenery around him.

There were several moments during the night that he'd almost told her the truth. He'd part his lips, a confession on the tip of his tongue, but a wave of fear would overtake him, and he'd choke back the words.

Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice his awkwardness. They'd enjoyed their dinner, this time a rare steak with a baked potato and a heavenly pea puree. For dessert, they'd had a sumptuous crème brûlée.

As Madeline sipped her wine, she smiled slyly at him. "Do I have Gorden to thank for this lovely meal?"

Jacen laughed, "Both of us, actually. I helped."

They'd moved over to a section of the garden that had a couple of chaise lounges. Jacen brought the bottle of wine and refilled Madeline's glass as he settled beside her.

"When do you have to leave for Vienna?" she asked.

He'd told her that he had to go to Corporate Headquarters in Vienna for three weeks… it was Spring Equinox down Below and there was no way that he could miss the festivities without a lot of questions being asked. It was blind luck that Madeline was covering for a coworker at the pub who was going on holiday and would be frightfully busy during that time as well. He knew she would get off work at around 3 a.m. and had promised to call her each night they were apart.

"I leave the day after tomorrow. I'll call you when my plane lands."

"Yes," she said with a shy smile. "I'd like that." She looked at him almost pensively, before taking an audible breath. "Jacen, can I ask you something?"

"Of course," he said, a touch of dread pooling within him.

"Where do you live? I mean, I've never heard you talk about home."

He shrugged, "I suppose because I don't really have one. I mean, I travel for a living, so I haven't really set down roots."

"Then… where was home? Where are you from?"

"A quaint little place near Castletown, in County Meath," he replied. "But I haven't been there in a very long time, so… I have no idea how much it's changed." What she didn't know was that he'd taken his fictitious birthplace from that of Scarlett O'Hara's father in Gone with the Wind. He prayed that she wouldn't ask him anything about the place, as he'd never actually been there.

"And… your parents? Are they still living there?"

"Oh, no… they moved to the States, about ten years ago."

"When your Dad got out of the Army?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered slowly. "I spent a couple of years there, then went to university."

"Oh?" she asked with another smile. "Where did you go?"

"Columbia," he answered, using the name of his mother's alma mater. He was scrambling at this point, not having thought out what story he was going to tell her. At least if she asked for a description, he could oblige, having heard enough stories of his mother's college years to have a fair idea of the place.

"Have you thought about moving back to the States? To be with your family, I mean?"

"Not really. I see them pretty regularly, but… to be honest, I'm considering staying here in Solace."

For some reason, a shadow crossed her face. "And… why would you be doing that?"

He chuckled, laying his hand on her cheek and giving her a soft kiss. "Hmmm… I can't imagine…"

The shadows in her expression seemed to deepen, and her aura was showing some kind of sadness. "Madeline… what is it? Does the thought of me staying here permanently distress you in some way?"

"No… oh, no… not at all. I guess I just don't know why you would want to. I mean… like you said, your career is travel. You wouldn't want to be tied to one place…"

"Well, that's part of the reason that I'm going to Vienna. I have a meeting with the VP of marketing. I was looking to join their remote team, writing ad copy and… other corporate literature. It pays better, and… I could finally stop wandering."

"Are you sure you would want that?" she asked quietly. "I mean… your job is pretty glamorous. You get to see new sights, meet new people…"

"It gets old after a while," he replied. "I find that I would like to have a place to… belong. And writing can be done anywhere, really."

My own mother is proof of that, he thought to himself.

His gaze narrowed, "Madeline… I thought you'd be happier… that I would be staying, I mean…"

"I am, Jacen… I… I guess I just don't understand. You imply that you're staying because of me. I can't imagine that I'd be worth giving up this wondrous lifestyle you have."

He frowned at her, his eyes searching hers. "Now, just why would you think that? That you're not worth it?"

She looked at him with a lopsided grin, "Because girls like me… we don't get to keep guys like you."

He traced her cheek with his finger, "And if I wanted to be kept by you?"

She turned away slightly, her eyes down. "Look… I…" She sighed. "I just don't want to get hurt again."

"Again?" he asked. "What do you mean, again? Who hurt you?"

Madeline shrugged, "It's not important."

"If it hurt you, then it's important to me."

She met his gaze for a few moments. "The last time I felt this way… well let's just say that it ended badly."

"Tell me."

Sinking back into the cushions of the chaise lounge, she closed her eyes. "I met someone a couple of years ago. Someone like you. Handsome, charming…" She shook her head, "He was the whole package. Just like you are. And I fell for him. Hard. And he always knew what to say… what to do. Before long, we were talking about getting married." At this she snorted, "He'd even told me what names he wanted for our firstborn child."

"What happened?" he asked, quietly.

"His wife."

Jacen looked at her, startled. "Wife? He had a wife?"

Madeline nodded. "She apparently discovered his relationship with me. Found me. Walked right into my workplace, screaming at me, calling me a homewrecker. I didn't believe her at first. After Security removed her, I looked her up on Sharenet. There they were, tons of photos of her… of him… of their children. They had two. One of them was born right before he'd met me."

Jacen looked at her in shock, murmuring "I knew that humans could be fickle, but…" at her puzzled look, he shook his head. "Never mind. So… what, was he going to leave his family to be with you?"

"No. Apparently I wasn't the first woman he played his game with." She sighed again. "I don't know which was worse… finding out that the man I loved, the man I'd been planning a future with, had been lying to me all along. Looking me in the face and lying to me. Or the fact that he'd made me an adulterer without me even knowing. To think that I was participating in the betrayal of his wedding vows… it made me sick. Needless to say, I broke things off."

The pain in her face made him recall his father's words; 'It's a terrible feeling to know that your woman is hurting and there's not a thing you can do to ease that pain'.

She looked him in the eyes, "So, yeah. When I see a guy as gorgeous as you… as charming as you… who says all the right things… I can't help but wonder if I'm just being stupid again."

"Madeline, loving someone isn't stupid. If there was any stupidity here, it was his own. Stupid for hurting his family as he did. Stupid for hurting a wonderful woman like you. He was the one who was unworthy, not you." He pulled her in and kissed her gently, then touched his forehead to hers. "And though you probably won't believe me… I love you, Madeline. And if it takes me the rest of my life to prove it to you… then that's just what I'll do."

Two nights later, after he'd returned to his rooms Below, he stood in his bathing chamber, leaning forward against the wash basin. He stared at himself in the mirror, a growing sense of self-loathing washing over him in waves.

You're no better than that adulterous asshole. You think because your intentions are 'honorable' that you can still lie to her?

He had to tell her the truth. Somehow.

Author's Notes:

And here we can see that although Jacen (personality-wise) is a lot like Sarah, there's some of Jareth in him too. He's doing something that's very morally questionable, although he has the best of intentions. He loves her, wants to marry her, but he's lying to her. It didn't really hit home to him until he heard her story, then realized that he was doing the same thing.

Note to the guest who left a review on the last chapter (I haven't figured out how to reply to reviews… ugh). You mentioned that there was a distinct lack of older/elderly Othánas in the Goblin Kingdom… you are correct. After the Great War, there were very, very few older Othánas who survived to see the Kingdom founded. Think of it like a group of junior high/high schoolers trying to establish a new nation. One good thing… they can start from scratch as far as building their traditions and customs. The downside is that they have no idea how Goblins used to do things, and some things might get lost in the transition (this will come up in a future story).

Also… I absolutely agree with you that the Othánas are way hotter than the Fae. I don't know if you guys are able to access my drive with the pictures I generated for these stories (look in my profile for the links). If someone can take a peek and drop me a DM to let me know if the links work, I'd be obliged.

If they do work, and you've looked in the folders before… you might want to look again. I was playing around with making Pixar style pictures of these characters and I added them to the folders.