Now that Michael brought that to our attention, I'd like to quote the last paragraph once again:
Something deep inside him, though, reviled the thought of touching another woman the way he'd touched Lois. Even if she'd never know, even if she lived the rest of her life thinking he'd died an honorable man, he would know. His love for her was the last good and pure thing about him. He couldn't let go of that. It was all he had left.
His love for Lois was the last pure and good thing about him. Or so Clark thought. He couldn't let go of that, so he didn't. And because he didn't, he has let go of the thoughts of the temptation he had. He may in fact have forgotten. He reacted innocently when Lois asked him about Talan, volunteering the information that Talan was the one who had saved his life, and Talan wasn't a man, she was a woman. Clark
knows that he never crossed any sort of line with Talan, and that he didn't let his weakness taint his love for Lois. That is why it will be hard for him to accept that Lois can suspect him of infidelity. Because when she doubts his fidelity to her, she doubts the last good and pure thing about him.
But Clark needs to understand that as long as he won't open up to Lois about what happened to him on New Krypton, the fact that Lois has now seen Talan means that she is going to think that Talan is the reason why he can't talk to her about his experiences there. And Clark needs to acknowledge that even if he never came close to being unfaithful to Lois, the thought of seeking comfort with Talan did occur to him.
And Lois needs to understand that Clark's love for her is the very foundation of his being. She needs to understand that when she doesn't trust that aspect of him, she is doubting the very essence of his being. She needs to understand that Clark hasn't worried deeply about what went on between him and Talan on New Krypton, because he didn't betray either Los or himself in his dealings with her. Lois needs to know that Clark killed a man on New Krypton, and she needs to understand that he feels that he utterly betrayed his own ideals, and, by extension, his own self, when he did so. She needs to understand that Clark feels that he has irrevocably soiled himself when he committed murder on New Krypton, and that is the reason why he is holding back from her - because he doesn't feel worthy of her anymore. But he didn't destroy the last good thing about himself by being unfaithful to Lois, and if Lois can't believe that, she is doubting what Clark thinks of as the last good thing about himself. Then she is utterly rejecting him. Indeed, she should understand that if Clark had really been unfaithful to her, he probably wouldn't have been able to return to her at all. And he certainly wouldn't have been able to make love to her.
Ann
