A/N This is a revamped version of an old story. I recently went through and decided I wanted to change some things. If you are a reader that was following this story, I am SO sorry! But I am starting over, and it appears that you are going to be re-reading some old material… I like the format that I currently have now, and there are things that didn't make much sense to the original timeline of the books… Chronologically, this version fits better. Thanks so much for all your support. Updates will be more scheduled than before, so no worries! We will get to back to the point we were at before you know it!

~AA

Disclaimer: I do not own the mortal instruments (*Sigh*). If I did, would I be here? No.

~o.O.o~

Clary was ready to go home. Back to New York. She was contemplating a hot pizza and a long bath, and then sleeping for a week. Though she knew that she would miss the city of Alicante, its gleaming towers of glass and the beautiful old houses, she was ready to start her new life. Really start it, the way she should have been raised. It couldn't help that the majority of her time in Idris was spent fighting, hallucinating from the waters of Lake Lyn, or crying over those she had lost. The funerals were over, negotiations in full swing. The streets had been cleaned of any evidence of the demon invasion, and the beauty and tranquility of the city had been returned. But it still was not home. Not to Clary. She would miss the grandiose of the place, but she couldn't wait to leave.

"You know, I'm going to miss this when I'm gone," said Jace, echoing her thoughts, "but I'll be glad to get back to a normal life." Clary suppressed a laugh. When had Jace's life ever been normal? But then he was raised a shadowhunter. And just as much as it was in his blood, she knew it was in hers too.

They continued to pack up their things. Clary's bag was light, only containing her new gear, of soft black leather, her stele, and a sketch pad. She was itching to draw something from the glass city before she left, but to draw something was to capture it forever and never let it change. Something about drawing Alicante while so many things were changing now seemed wrong. This was a time of revolution. All the Downworders had picked their senators for the seats at the Clave council. She thought of Luke, and how he turned down the opportunity to be a part of the Clave again. The opportunity to represent his pack, and all other Lycanthropes as a part of a new order. To be a part of the new world order that he so desperately envisioned as a younger man, and to back into the fold of the Conclave. But to everyone's surprise, he refused to walk back into the open arms of the counsel. Instead he had decided to go back to New York with them and resume his old life, though with some new changes of course. Everyone was delighted to hear that Jocelyn had finally agreed to take his hand in marriage. Clary, when thinking about all these changes, smiled to herself.

Jace came up behind her and wrapped his arms tightly around her. She turned her head to look up into his golden eyes. She automatically relaxed into him, already a reflex. Her eyes drooped ever so slightly as she heaved a content sigh. He stroked her cheek, and she thought vaguely that this was also a wonderful change. She could let herself feel what she had been trying to suppress since the day Valentine had lied about his parentage. She still felt a rush of relief every time she remembered that he was not her brother. That they could be together and not have her entire family disgusted with her.

"I love you," she whispered up to him. She turned in his arms so that she could see him better, and wrapped her arms around his neck, tracing the lines of his scars, and looking into his eyes.

"I know. How could you resist all this," He replied, glancing down his torso. Clary went to smack the back of his head, which he dodged, but smiled in earnest. He was still the pompous narcissist he always was, but he was hers. Standing on her tip toes she leaned in for a kiss. Their lips had barely brushed, when the door burst open with a bang, making Clary squeak. The pair sprung apart, a residual habit from months of trying to hide how they really felt. "God, Simon! Don't you ever knock before you enter a room!" Clary yelled throwing a pillow at him. From the corner of her eye she saw Jace tuck something into his back pocket, but let the thought go as Simon smiled with his incisors, making Clary think how alien Downworlders could seem at times, even Simon.

"I knew you hadn't done anything that would embarrass you too much," he said with a chuckle. "Vampire hearing, remember? I needed to get some things out of this room before it became too inappropriate to walk in here." Clary glared at Simon, thinking offhandedly that she out to have thrown something heavier at him, but he was in and out of the room before she could say so.

"He really should knock…" said Jace, shifting his weight unevenly. He looked sheepishly at Clary and reached behind him, into the back pocket. He pulled out a small dagger, made of curving steel with runes of true aim and swiftness engraved on it.

"Ha!" Clary laughed. "I was thinking I needed something heavier to throw at him." She giggled once more and abruptly stopped, seeing the look on Jace's face. "What's wrong?" she asked in worried tone. She was surprised at how much her voice had gone up in pitch, almost squeaking with worry.

Jace shifted his weight again looking slightly ashamed. "Don't laugh, ok?" he said looking at Clary with pleading eyes. "The thing is that I might have killed Simon-" He stopped at the incredulous look Clary gave him and put up his hands to tell her to calm down. "That came out wrong. I wouldn't have killed him on purpose. I'm just a little on edge…" He let his voice trail off, his mind going elsewhere. He thought vaguely how he had ruined a perfectly beautiful moment with his senseless worries. He looked back at Clary, whose look was that of sheer confusion.

"What's there to be worried about?" she asked, her voice cracking. Jace could practically see the tears threatening to leak from behind her eyes, as she concerned herself with his unhappiness.

"It's probably nothing…" he said, but when he looked at her, he could see the flush of her cheeks and the twitch of her lip, as her mind went through god knows what kind of scenarios. "It's just that they never found Sebas- Jonathon's body. I just have this feeling that he's not dead and that any minute he's going to exact his revenge or something." Jace felt his face furrow into a frown and thought that maybe he was just being paranoid.

It was a moment before Clary spoke, but to his relief she nodded her head as though she understood what he meant. "I wondered about that myself. There are a number of possible explanations. His body really could have drifted down the river-"

"No," Jace cut in. "His body was a good twenty feet from the water's edge when I stabbed him."

Clary looked at him knowingly and continued. "Or, being part demon, he may have folded in on himself and returned to the dimension of his blood donor or whatever you want to call that greater demon…" Clary paused. Jace looked at her face as she deliberated saying one last thing, and as soon as she said what she was thinking, he knew why she had debated opening her mouth… Because it wouldn't make him feel any better. "Or maybe," she said, "he wasn't human enough to die."

Jace sighed and bowed his head, rubbing his temple. He knew that it was a possibility, but hearing someone else say it made it seem somehow more definite. He kissed the top of her head, and pulled her into a tight hug. They had been through so much. He knew that he would do it all again if he had to, but in truth, he had hoped it was all over. The cleanup of the city had taken months. Rather than returning to New York straight away they had all elected to stay behind and help with the repairs of the city. They worked continuously though all that time, barely resting until life in Alicante seemed to be returning to business as usual. Though he missed his life in New York, Jace was secretly glad to stay behind with the others. He kept hoping that he would hear something, anything, about the disappearance of Jonathan's body. But as the months passed, nothing came up. And instead of making him feel reassured of his death, the uneasiness about the lack of body began to grow. Knowing in his heart that this battle wasn't over had put a kind of urgency into the back of his mind. He kept thinking about all the important things he hadn't yet done, like take Clary out on a demon free date, or buy her something special just because he saw it and thought of her, and, whispered the back of his mind, asked her to marry me. He then thought about his family and what he had to tell them- how talented he thought Isabelle was, and how much he appreciated Alec for being his best friend, and the gratitude of his parents. Yes, he thought. My parents. He had never known that he could love, and be loved as much as he had been. He knew that in that final moment, that last battle with Sebastian (he couldn't bring himself to think of him as Jonathan even now), he knew that he might lose. He would have to train. And while he trained he would have to make some effort to do all of those things, before it was too late.

"It's ok. It's all going to be ok," said Clary in his ear. She kissed his ear and then his cheek, and slowly moved to kiss his mouth. As if she were thinking his same thoughts, her kiss became as urgent as his own, and she clung to him, as if she was afraid he might disappear at any moment. As hard as Clary was clinging to him, he knew he was holding her so much tighter and clinging back. Fleetingly he wondered if she could breathe, but then decided that he would make it his goal to make every kiss take her breath away. Every moment counted, and he knew it. His new beginning might be doomed to end, before it had barely even started and he would do anything to make whatever time he had left as memorable as possible.

~o.O.o~

Clary was dressed in the same shirt and jeans she had come to Idris in. They were both beginning to look the worse for wear. There were dried blood stains on the shoulder from where valentine had cut her cheek and the blood had dripped. There was a small hole in the bottom hem that had gotten there when glass had caught her through the window Jace had dropped her out of at Wayland manner. Mud was smeared across the back where Jace had picked her up at Lake Lyn, trying to wake her. Residual grime was inlaid into the denim of her pants from the three months or rebuilding. Despite all of its tatteredness though, she thought that she couldn't get rid of the clothes anymore than she could get rid of the stains. It was full of reminders. Though most of them weren't in the least bit pleasant, they were important to remember. A part of her history. At least it smelled clean, even if it didn't look it. Amatis tried for hours to wash out the grime, but eventually gave up, and handed Clary her shirt, soft and worn, and smelling of lemon soap. She stood at the portal gate with Jace, Isabelle, Alec and the rest of the Lightwoods, as well as her own family, Luke and her mother. Amatis was talking with Luke and Jocelyn about wedding arrangements and whether they would come back to Alicante for the ceremony or do it in New York. Jace's thumb lightly stroked her palm and she turned to find him staring at her.

"I was thinking," he said, "That maybe when we get back to New York we should do some training and then go out for dinner and a movie." He raised an eyebrow as if asking if this sounded like a suitable plan, but Clary shook her head. "Why not?" he said taking a half step back and staring at her wide eyed as if he had never seen her before.

Clary smiled a little to herself as she beckoned him to lean in closer so she could tell him a secret. "Because, my plan is better," she said simply.

"And what makes it so much better?" asked Jace. Clary could see that he was getting annoyed as she pushed his buttons, but for once she had the upper hand. In a very Jace like way, she cocked her head to the side and smiled a dangerous grin.

"Because my plan involves staying inside for a week." Jace humphed and turned his head away and then turned back to her with a slightly angry expression with his mouth opened as if he was about to say something- and then stopped. Clary was still grinning and when he saw the mischievous wink she passed him, his expression turned from anger to "Ohhhh." He bent his head close to hers and began whispering things about washing those hard to reach spots for her, when the portal burst to life, showering everyone with a momentary spray of blue sparks.

"Lightwoods!" called Magnus and ushered the dark haired family forward with Jace. Instantly, Clary felt her face fall. Jace was going back to the institute and she, her mother, and Luke were going back to the book shop. Jace, without hesitation walked over to Maryse and said that he wanted to make sure Clary got home safely, and then walked straight back to her side. It still amazed Clary that Jace talked to his parents as if it were two adults talking, rather than mother and son. Alec Who had a similar look on his face turned to say good-bye to Magnus, only to be kissed full on the mouth before he could say a word. Robert lightwood cleared his throat, breaking the two apart and looked at his sons, both with the people they loved and looked to Jocelyn and Luke.

"Jocelyn," he said, "I think it may well be time that we sit down and talk about some new living arrangements for our children. They are almost adults now. Some of them already are." He turned to Alec and cupped his shoulder. He spoke as if he was talking to Alec, but the intent was there to ease the crease that had formed above Jocelyn's brow. "There comes a time when children become adults and we must no longer keep them to ourselves, despite what would make us happy. For now it is not about our happiness, but theirs." The eldest Lightwood was not a man of many words, but Clary had to give it to him- when he did speak, it was always full of emotion and meaning. She was just thinking about what it would mean for Alec when a thought dawned on her. It wasn't just Alec and Magnus he was referring to. She watched as the lines in her mother's face deepened into a scowl.

His words were meant with good intent, but this did nothing to erase the look of sheer horror developing on Jocelyn's face. "Robert!" she shrieked, "Clary and Jace aren't yet adults! She's not even seventeen! You expect her to move in with some boy just because it would make her happy!"

"Well that's not exactly true," chimed in Magnus, who was, until this point, deep in conversation with Simon and Isabelle.

"What part about that statement is untrue," Glowered Jocelyn.

"Jace has been eighteen for two days now." He stated simply. Jace felt himself freeze, calculating the time he had been in Alicante. Had it been that long? Amazing, he thought. I missed my own birthday. In all the rush to finish repairs on the city and his preoccupation with Sebastian's missing body he hadn't even thought about it. Which is a shame, he thought offhandedly. I could have had that whole day to do whatever I wanted…

"How come you never told anyone it was your birthday?" Isabelle pouted. She must have been disappointed at missing the chance to have a party. "Had I known, there was something I would have gotten you before we left. It's too late now though." She released a sigh and turned back to face the portal. "Are we going yet, or not?"

Jocelyn stood frozen. She seemed to be having conflicting emotions, Clary thought. Her face kept switching between sorrow, and anger. She opened her mouth and closed it several times, as if she wanted to say something, but decided against it. She finally seemed to decide what she wanted to say and she turned to Clary.

Looking sad and pinching the bridge of her nose she said, "I think we need to discuss some things before you go running off with some boy."

Clary felt herself flush. "Mom, I know about the birds and the bees and all that, one. And two he's not just some boy," said Clary with embarrassment. "I don't blame you for being concerned. It's been crazy with everything that's been going on, but I agree with Mr. Lightwood. To an extent." She added, seeing the look on her mother's face. "What I mean by that is that I'd like to move into the institute. There's really no way I can go back to school with everything that I've missed, and I would like to be trained."

Her mother continued to look angry for a second, and then sighed, resigned. "That may be negotiable. Maybe when you're eighteen-"

"No mom. I need to be trained now so that I can be a shadowhunter when I'm eighteen. I need to start right away." Clary didn't want to tell her mother her suspicions about Sebastian, knowing that if she freaked her out, she would never become a shadowhunter. She was determined to help Jace in any way she could, when the time came. She knew ultimately it would have to be him to finish it. She didn't know how she knew but she did. And she was going to do everything humanly possible to help him make it back to her alive, and that meant she had to be ready.

"She's right Lyn," said Luke. "And it will be an easy move. Clary only has a few worldly possessions to her name…" he trailed off seeing the look on his new fiancées face.

Clary had always hated seeing her mother cry. She was still so young, herself, and Clary could see how sad losing someone so close to you could be.

"I just got her back, Luke," She choked.

"Mom, you knew I'd grow up eventually, even if this isn't the life you wanted for me. And I'm not leaving you. I'm moving to the institute. It's less than an hour away. And I've been thinking. With Hodge gone, Luke could become our new tutor. You would see me all the time. And you two are going to get married, so I figured that you might want a little extra time to be together... To make plans and then have some privacy afterwards." Her voice trailed off, and her hopes of calming her mother began to slip away. Her mother still looked distraught, but suddenly, she rushed forward and hugged her with such force that Clary had a hard time gasping for air.

"I love you, honey. And you had better call me every day, even if I see you. If you don't, then the deal is off and you'll move back in with Luke and me."
For a moment, Clary was confused and silent. Then, very suddenly it dawned on her. Angel, I'm slow today, she thought.

"You're letting me go!" she cried in almost disbelief.

"You had better be safe," said Jocelyn to her daughter with a very stern, loaded look. For some reason, this made Clary blush several shades of crimson. Was she referring to hunting demons, or chasing Jace? Clary hoped it was the former.

"We'll have all your things over by dinner time," said Luke soberly.

With that she, the Lightwoods, Simon, and Magnus stepped through the portal back the institute. Her new home.

End Note: I will be updating soon. But in order to get it sooner you know what you must do. As fellow writers, you know we thrive on the feedback of others. This was a rather slow chapter, but I promise, things will be speeding up (for those of you who read the original version of this story- you know its true and I WILL get there soon!) Thanks again.

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