Hello! It's Magnus's birthday and since he's my favorite character of all time, I couldn't not post a new fic today to commemorate his special day, so here I am!

A few months ago, my friend Maria Jose ( MariaJose3108 on twitter, go give her some love), asked me if I could write some sort of continuation to last year's Magnus's b-day fic (The Best Birthday Ever) to take you all, along with Malec, to their trip to Indonesia. And since I didn't have anything planned for this year, I said yes and this is the result.

The fic is relatively short and you don't need to read the first one to understand it (though if you do and mark it as favorite I'll love you forever). I tried not to go into a lot of details because I was already making it longer than the one-shot I had planned for this story, so it's just a three-chapters fic—one chapter for each day that Magnus and Alec are in Magnus's hometown. Also I assumed (based on spoilers) that some shit is gonna happen between them with the whole magic thing, so I threw in there a line about that. I apologize in advance for that lol

Anyway, I was going to post all 3 chapters at once, but then I decided it was better if I posted one per day starting today, so enjoy this 3 day celebration!

PS: If you're from Indonesia and I messed something up, please let me know. I did A LOT of research for this short fic, but I know that Google isn't always the best place to find accurate information.

Chapter 1

The portal closed behind them and together, with their bags in hand, Magnus and Alec stepped into a well-known place for Magnus: his private villa in the Gili Islands, at the tip of Lombok, Indonesia. He had bought the place almost a century ago when, on one of his many visits, he had discovered it and fallen in love with it. Since then, his not-so-modest place and the island—Gili Trawangan, the largest of the three Gili islands—had undergone major changes in style and other things mainly due to modernization, but there was one thing that had remained untouched: the beautiful view it had. Especially when the sun was about to come out, which, incidentally, was the exact time that Magnus had planned for them to arrive.

When Alec had suggested having a private celebration for his birthday and traveling to Indonesia for the whole weekend, Magnus had immediately started making plans for them. He had listed in his mind all the places he wanted to show Alec and all the activities he wanted them to do together. Coming to his hometown always meant a struggle to Magnus. He loved his country and appreciated its culture. He never forgot his roots, where he came from, but, on the other hand, the memories he had of this place weren't all good. His childhood had been very difficult, filled with a lot of pain and loss, so visiting this place had always been a bit bittersweet for him. The feeling had improved over the years, of course, but he had never been able to associate his hometown with happy memories. Now, however, he had the opportunity to change that, to finally be able to associate this place with only good things—the best things—because being here with Alec changed absolutely everything.

"Wow." Alec said, dropping their bags on the floor and taking two steps to the huge balcony to properly admire the view. "This place is…" He said, but didn't finish his sentence. Alec was completely under the spell of the spectacular view in front of him.

Magnus understood the feeling. The first time he had decided to come back to Indonesia and see the place where he came from, he had had a similar reaction. He had gone straight to Jakarta, where he had been born, not here, but the feeling had been the same. It was hard not to go anywhere in the country and not fall in love with it. It was a land as diverse and surprising as the people who lived in it.

"How much are we going to pay per night for this place?" Alec asked after a while, finally detaching his eyes from the view and looking around Magnus's place.

With the sunrise in the background making his boyfriend look like the most beautiful of the postcards, Magnus had to take a deep breath to control himself before replying. "Not a penny, Alexander." He said. "The place is mine."

"You're kidding, right?" Alec asked, looking around in amazement. His smile was like that of a small child—innocent, mischievous, and ecstatic. It was obvious for Magnus that Alec was clearly struggling to control his excitement and not run around to explore the place. "How much did it cost you?"

"Not much when I originally bought it. Now, however, it's valued at a few million dollars." Magnus said modestly. "It's not that big, though, you should see the other places around the neighborhood."

"Well, not that big or not, I think it's perfect." Alec said. He had started walking around, exploring the place, learning its corners and special places, just as he had once done in Magnus's Penthouse back in New York.

Magnus smiled. If someone had told him that in his long live there would be a time where he was going to find someone with whom he would want to share the rest of his life and every little part of himself—including the parts he hadn't shared with anyone else—he would have laughed in their faces. He would have said that such person didn't exist, that there couldn't be someone, mortal or immortal, who loved him heart and soul, but God, if he had been wrong. For some unbelievable reason, he had found Alec and in him, all those things that he had always longed for, but had never really thought he would or even deserved to have.

"Are you okay?" Alec asked him, grabbing his hands and lacing their fingers together. "It's your birthday, you should be smiling, not looking so pensive and lost."

"I'm not lost," Magnus immediately said, "but I was, indeed, thinking."

"Can I ask about what?"

"You, of course." Magnus smiled. "Sometimes, when we're together, I can't help but think about my life before you, about all the things I didn't know I wanted until you walked into it. It's hard for me to picture a life in which you're not in it—and I've had a very long life."

Alec smiled and leaned in to give him a quick peck on the lips. "I had no life before you." He said.

Magnus chuckled. "Yes you had, darling, you just weren't living it at your best, at your happiest—just like me."

"Always so wise...but yeah, you're right. Maybe I did have a life, but it wasn't complete...now it is. And that's why I'm glad we found each other." Alec said in that blunt way he had of saying things.

"Me too." Magnus smiled and kissed Alec again just because he could.

"Should we..." Alec said, breaking the kiss, "...start unpacking?"

Magnus snapped his fingers and sent all their bags to the master bedroom, making sure their clothes and other belongings were neatly folded in the drawers and hung in the closet. Sometimes magic came in very handy. "Or…" he said, "we could make the most of our time here and start that very private weekend celebration that you planned."

Alec smiled. "I like that."

Magnus pulled Alec closer—if that was even possible—and kissed him again. "Thank you again for this."

"For what?"

"For everything, Alexander. For the delicious cake and breakfast you prepared for me back home, for thinking about this trip, for taking the weekend off to be with me, for caring…"

"I'll always care." Alec said.

"I know…" Magnus smiled. "Anyway, it's barely 7:00 a.m., we could go grab some breakfast at one of the many restaurants, or go to the beach for a swim, or just take a boat and visit Bali. That nap we took before portaling here actually helped with the jet lag, so I don't know about you, but I'm not tired."

"I'm not tired either."

"Good, then we should probably change and-" Magnus started to say, but stopped when Alec began to, unceremoniously, unbutton Magnus's shirt, leaving a trail of kisses on his now bare neck.

"I…" Magnus said already a bit breathless, "that wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but I can't say that I don't like this-this sudden change of plans." He smiled, grabbing Alec's face and kissing him hard. "We have plenty of time to explore later."

"Three whole days." Alec winked, pushing him toward the nearest couch.

o-o-o-o-o

"Okay, are you ready?" Magnus asked Alec, who was just walking out of the house, freshly bathed and ready to go. Magnus had already told him the plan for the day during breakfast. They were going to take a boat to go to Bali, explore the city, and have fun there. Magnus really hoped that they had more days together, he wanted Alec to see every corner of his country—the more than 17,000 islands in the Indonesian Archipelago—but he knew it was impossible. So he had chosen special places so that Alec could get a good experience out of this weekend that they were going to spend together.

"Yes, but how are we going to get to the boat? I checked and there's no motorized transport on the islands. Our options are horse-drawn carts-"

"Cidomos." Magnus pointed out the name of the horse-drawn carts.

"Well, those, walking, or bikes. You don't happen to have bikes, do you?"

Magnus smiled in response. He didn't, but he had summoned two for them to use while Alec was taking a shower.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just portal there?" Alec suggested.

"And miss all the fun?" Magnus questioned. "No, Alexander, we're gonna do this as tourists do. Well, kinda, I'm going to speed up our boat with my magic so that we get to Bali in relatively no time and completely dry, but even so, we're gonna try to be as normal as possible."

Alec chuckled. "We're not normal, but okay, it's your birthday weekend, so we'll do whatever you want."

Magnus smiled, taking the bikes from a small store room hidden in the garden.

"Those are really nice bikes." Alec said. "And they look pretty new."

"They are new, and they're also enchanted now," Magnus said, snapping his fingers and sending a wave of magic towards the bikes, "if someone tries to steal them while we're gone, they're gonna regret it."

"What did you do?"

"Make them bite whoever tries to even touch them." Magnus said with a satisfied smile.

Alec laughed. "Should we glamour then? I mean, not to draw any unnecessary attention."

Magnus shook his head. "Indonesia has a very significant amount of Downworlders, there's really no point, they're going to see us anyway."

"I didn't know that." Alec frowned.

"That's how this place keeps its magic, Alexander, it's truly an enchanted land. Full of magical creatures, you'll see. So...shall we?"

Alec nodded, climbing on the first bike and smiling enthusiastically. "The last one to arrive at the dock pays for dinner." He said with a wink, laughing and riding away at full speed.

Magnus laughed too and did the same, quickly catching up with Alec. It was nice to just enjoy his time with his boyfriend, they always had a great time together, but they had never done something like this before—have a short vacation. It was new and exciting and what Magnus would define as the best experience of his life.

They arrived at the docks in a relatively short time, Magnus's Villa wasn't so far from them, so the ride there was short, but very pleasant. Magnus quickly secured their bikes and after talking to someone at the docks—an old acquaintance, another warlock—he got them a boat. A fast boat.

"Did you know that woman?" Alec asked.

Magnus nodded. "I know many people here. Now come..." he said, grabbing Alec's hand and helping him to get into the boat. It wasn't as if Alec really needed help with that, Magnus knew that the man was very capable of getting on the boat without help and that the sea was very calm in the morning, but it was part of that normality they were trying to have.

"Look at the color of the sea." Alec said. "I wish we could bottle it to keep that blue forever."

"I can." Magnus said. "The blue would be an enchantment, of course, since you know that the sea isn't really blue, it only looks blue, but I can do it if you want. Get us a little natural souvenir."

Alec nodded.

Magnus snapped his fingers and a vial materialized in Alec's hands. "Get your water, Shadowhunter." He winked at his boyfriend.

Alec wasted no time and leaned over the boat to get the water. Magnus snapped his fingers again and sealed the vial, making sure that the enchantment to keep the color of the water stayed trapped inside.

"We should do this in every corner of the ocean," Alec said, admiring the vial, "make a collection of sea water. Just imagine all the different shades of blue we could get!"

"I like that idea." Magnus smiled. "We could label them and put them on a shelf. Anyway...hold on tight, we're about to speed our way to Bali. And by speed, I mean literally speed, we'll be there in just some minutes."

Alec didn't say anything, but Magnus saw him activating some of his runes.

Magnus started the engine of the boat, and just as he had promised, in less than five minutes they were in the Benoa Harbour in Bali.

"Well, that was really fast." Alec said, climbing down the boat with a jump.

"We have to explore as much as we can of this place in one day." Magnus explained. "I want us to go to the main cities, Denpasar, Candidas, Kuta, Jimbaran, Legian, Lovina, Padang Bai, Sanur, Seminyak and Ubud."

"All those places in one day?"

"Yes, we won't be able to see everything, of course, but at least I want you to have the whole Bali tour."

"You're going to kill me in the process."

"Don't be so dramatic, Alexander, you have that stamina rune that I've seen work wonders on you," Magnus said, winking suggestively, "besides, I have magic, we'll be fine."

"Okay, then where to first?"

"We're going to be jumping all over the place because some places are more beautiful at night and some others when there's light," Magnus said, paying a local man at the Harbour to take care of their boat for the day, "so we'll be portaling around. First, I think we'll visit the capital, Dempasar. It's not a common tourist destination, but it has some good places to visit. The Bajra Sandhi monument in Puputan Park, the Bali museum, the art center, not to mention that the Bali Institute is there. We could visit it if you want, you could even meet the Head of the Institute there and-"

"I'm here to spend time with my boyfriend on his birthday and learn about his culture and the place where he was born, not to work. I know who the Head of Bali Institute is, I have access to the database back home, so there's no need to pay him a visit. We have all these other amazing places to visit."

Magnus smiled, clearly touched by what Alec had said, but quickly looked away. He was more vulnerable in this place and Alec had a way to disarm him with just one word, so he didn't want to ruin the mood by getting all emotional.

"You okay?" Alec asked, barely touching his hand. They both were aware that while people were very tolerant and welcoming to visitors, they were also very modest and polite, so public displays of affection—and nudity for that matter—were frowned upon in pretty much the entire country.

Magnus nodded. "It's just that...well, it's just that no one had ever wanted to know me—all of me. It's unsettling, I'm not used to this or-"

"Well, start to get used to it because I do." Alec said, and Magnus smiled. "I will always want to know everything about you, no matter what. And although sometimes I screw up, I'll always have your best interests at heart because I love you."

Magnus knew. Sometimes he forgot and doubts clouded his judgment, like that time when Alec hadn't told him about the soul sword or when he had tried to help him get his magic back after Asmodeus had taken it and things had gotten a bit messy, but he knew. Deep down, he always knew. "I love you too."

"So, our first stop is Dempasar, right?" Alec asked with a smile. "Where can you open the portal? Is it safe to do it here?"

Magnus smiled, opening the portal. "Pretty safe." He said.

"Then let's go!"

o-o-o-o-o

They were in Lovina, visiting a Buddhist monastery called Brahmavihara-Arama located near the Village of Dencarik, where they would later return to have dinner and watch a traditional Bali Dance. Magnus was really trying to show Alec as much as he could of his country. They had been walking all day, exploring, and devouring every inch of one of Indonesia's most famous islands, while at the same time making the most of their time together. After all, there weren't many opportunities for them to do that so often.

They went places all the time, on dates or just for fun, especially on Alec's days off or when Magnus was having a craving, but it wasn't the same. They went only for a little while, a few hours at most, this was a whole weekend they had to be together and without any worries.

"You're going away...again." Alec said.

Magnus knew that he had been doing that a lot, getting lost in his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking how hard it is for us to have so many days just for us." He confessed. "We go places all the time, but only for a few hours. I like this, to have time to be with you alone and without having to worry about anything."

"I know, that's why I asked, no, I begged Izzy, Simon, Jace, and Clary—especially Jace and Clary—not to bother us unless it was a life or death kind of situation and even so, I put them some conditions for it."

"I called Catarina as well." Magnus chuckled.

"You did? But she never bothers us, well, you. Quite the opposite, actually."

"I know, but I needed someone to fill in for me while we were away. I may no longer be the High Warlock of Brooklyn, but someone always needs my help, Alexander. So I called her to ask her to provide help if necessary. I didn't want to leave everyone unprotected back home. Those siblings and friends of yours have the ability to get themselves in trouble all the time. I didn't want us to worry about them while we were here." He confessed.

Alec smiled. "I really want to kiss you right now." He said.

Magnus looked around. There was no one in sight, just a few pixies near the gates of the place, talking to the flowers and clearly not paying attention to them. Magnus knew there must be some monks inside the monastery as well and maybe more pixies—pixies loved temples—but right now, no one who could be offended if they kissed could see them. "Then kiss me." He said, pulling Alec closer and kissing him.

"You taste like coconut." Alec said.

"You too."

They laughed. They had made a stop before getting there to have a drink and quench their thirst. They had tried the 'es kelapa muda,' one of the country's favorite drinks—loved by tourists and locals alike. It was a drink made of cold or iced coconut water, young coconut meat, and syrup. Magnus always liked to spike his and add a little vodka to enhance the flavors, but this time he hadn't.

"Anyway…" Alec said, crossing the doors and entering the site, "what do you know about this place?" He asked.

Magnus had been serving as tour guide most of the time, sharing whatever information he knew about each sight they visited, and Alec had been listening attentively, asking questions and trying to learn as much as he could about them.

"Not much really." He admitted. "I had never been here before…" He said because it was true. They had ended up visiting this place because Alec had asked him to ask the people at Dencarik if there was anything nearby that they could visit and they all had suggested this place.

"Really?"

Magnus nodded. "I've visited as much as I can on my many travels, but I haven't seen it all, there's still a lot to be discovered. But maybe with you that could change," he said with a smile, "you certainly know how to keep my pace."

"I like that." Alec smiled. "So...what do we know about it?" He asked, looking around to see if there was a sign nearby where they could read about this place, but there was none.

"It's a Buddhist monastery." Magnus said.

"Clearly." Alec laughed.

"It's not that clear, there are some mixed signals here and there." Magnus said. "You can see the Buddhist influence all around." He pointed out. "The orange roofs, the golden Buddhas that we've seen so far, and the stupas recalling those at Borobudur."

"Borobudur?"

"It's a Buddhist temple complex in Central Java, we're gonna visit it too. The stupas are those dome-shaped structures you see over there." Magnus pointed to the dome shaped structures of the building. It only had a few compared to those at Borobudur, but they were very visible. "But look at the cravings and the ornamentation around us." He added. "Those are Balinese, so this place is a combination of both. It's unusual, but it kinda works, I like it."

"I like it too." Alec said, walking a little and sitting by the fountain that was there to enjoy the view. "How many hidden treasures like this one do you think there are in all the islands?"

"Millions. When people visit, they usually only go to the popular places, the ones advertised for tourist, but there are places that only locals know about. Hidden treasures as you called them."

"I want us to discover them all." Alec said.

"That's going to take us some time."

"Or maybe not," Alec suggested, "look at how many places we visited today and the day isn't even over. I couldn't list them even if I wanted to." He said.

"Well, that's because we cheated, we used magic and your angelic blood to help us accomplish that feat."

"I know, that's why I'm sure we could do it in half the time, discover all those other places if we wanted to."

"I want to, the problem will be finding time to do it. Our lives in New York aren't exactly uneventful, we're busy all the time."

"Oh, I'll make sure to find the time." Alec said, looking at him. "I want us to do this more often, to have time for ourselves, not just once in a while. I want us to travel. You once said that the world was my oyster. I want to discover it with you. I want us to go back to Paris and stay there for a week, not only for a few hours because you were craving real croissants and didn't want to eat those things we have in New York. I want us to go back to Tokyo and recreate our first date, but this time stay for some days to properly explore the city. I want us to go to every corner of this world and discover places like this one, that neither of us have ever seen before and make them ours."

Magnus smiled. "I want that too."

"Good, because we're gonna need your magic to portal us everywhere."

"Deal."

"Do you think we can climb up there?" Alec asked, pointing to the roof of the monastery. "I know that technically speaking we shouldn't, but maybe we could glamour ourselves and watch the sunset from there?"

Magnus smiled. "I like the way you think."

They walked, trying not to look suspicious, and after glamouring themselves, climbed to the top of the monastery and leaned against the tallest stupa to watch the sunset. It was the best view they could get. The sun was sinking below the horizon and casting golden shadows all around them. They could see Dencarik and the Buluh Bay in the distance. It was breathtaking.

"So beautiful…" Alec whispered.

"The most beautiful." Magnus agreed, but he was no longer looking at the view, but at his boyfriend's beautiful face.

CH2 will be up tomorrow :D