Okay, I figured out how to write on here. :) Thanks to all reviewers, readers, anyone... especially Herz von Silber, who is my biggest fan (Ha. Kidding.) and gave me the idea for the story.
Disclaimer: I am not worthy to own anything, all love to Miss Cassie Clare!
I want to tell the world,
Lift up my voice to say:
You're the moon, the sun, the stars,
The only thing in my world today.
This was the third day in a row Tessa had received a poem like this, signed only "The London Institute." That didn't mean she didn't know whom it was from, however. She sighed. Jem. She thought longingly of him, missing him, wishing he were there with her.
Just three days Tessa had left the Institute in a fit of rage, furious with- who else- Will. He had insulted her for the last time, she argued, and ran to the only other Downworlder she knew (not counting de Quincey and the Dark Sisters, of course). This was, of course, Magnus Bane, warlock, who had graciously allowed her to stay for a week or two to work things out.
With a sigh and a shake of the head, Tessa pulled her long brown hair back with a few pins and got to work. She always wrote back to Jem, everyday, in the same poetic format.
After a few minutes Tessa stood up and rolled her small piece of paper into a roll, tying it to the leg of the white pigeon that carried messages back and forth between her and Jem. She stood up, opened the window and let the bird out. Only someone on the street with a very keen eye would have seen the tears that leaked from Tessa's eyes as she watched the bird fly away.
Jem was in his bedroom, playing the violin, when he became aware of a soft tap tap at his window. Looking out, he saw the white pigeon he had dubbed Celeste sitting outside, head cocked and letter strapped to her leg. He smiled, placed his violin gently on his bed, and hastened to let the bird in. She fluttered to his dresser and perched on a book, holding her leg out so as to let Jem remove the letter. When he did, he saw the title of the book Celeste was on and smiled- it was A Tale of Two Cities. Without further ado, he sat down and read Tessa's note.
Three days since I saw you,
Still more time left to go,
Though I cannot be with you,
I still want you to know:
When you see a lovely sunset,
Just know I see it too.
And when I see the silver moon,
You know I think of you.
When you hear a robin singing,
Remember that it's me.
And know that no matter what,
Where you are, I will be.
I ask you this: pick up your violin,
Play me a pretty song,
And someday when you wake up
I'll be back where I belong.
Jem smiled sadly. Tessa and he had just started to fall in love, and now it was taken away from him, if only temporarily. Ironically, the only thing that had kept him sane for the last three days was Will. He should be mad at Will, he thought, yet he wasn't. Why is that? He wondered. Is it that I don't want to be angry with my closest friend, really the only friend I have left? Or do I just not blame him for what happened?
Will was just being himself, after all. He, Jem, didn't even know what Will had said to Tessa to make her leave- Will had said plenty of horrible things to Tessa before, and she had never gotten so upset. Tessa refused to tell him what had transpired between the two of them, so it must have been bad.
I do hope she is home in time for Christmas, Jem thought. I want to be with her on the day that is all about being together with family, after all. It was two weeks until Christmas. He looked out the window at the sun, which was just starting to set. He remembered the line about a sunset in the poem Tessa had sent him and smiled, a lone tear sliding down his pale cheek.
Oh, Tessa, please come home.