The night was dark, with only a few stars shining here and there. The air was warm, and the wind was blowing gently. "What a perfect night.", Sophie thought.
Sophie was outside of the Institute, sitting on a stone bench in the garden. Nearby was a little pond. Sophie watched the lily pads float around in little, odd-shaped circles.
Sophie would've never had the chance to come out like this when she was a maid. But of course, that was before. Now, she was a shadowhunter, and she was soon to be wed to Gideon Lightwood, her fiance. Her life.
Sophie was about to leave before she heard a noise. It was the sound of a twig snapping in half.
"Who's there?", Sophie shouted. She stood up and pulled out her seraph blade.
A laugh came from the direction of the entrance of the garden. Then a shadow appeared. It came closer, and closer until its face was visible from the glow of the witchlight stone Sophie had with her.
As it's face became visible, relief washed over Sophie. "Gabriel.", she breathed.
"I'm guessing Gideon made you take your seraph blade?", Gabriel said. If anything, it was more of a question. He looked at Sophie for clarification.
Sophie let out a breathy laugh. "Yes, that's correct. He instisted I take it for protection", Sophie said, sliding her blade back into her pocket.
"What in the Angel's name do you need protection from here? The frogs?", he joked.
Sophie laughed as she sat back down on the cold, stone bench. "You know how he is", said Sophie. "He's protective."
"That's one of the most annoying yet best thing about my brother", he laughed. "What are you doing out here so late anyways?"
Sophie shrugged. "Just thinking. I have never seen the night sky from here before. I had never been able to come out here, when I was just a servant. But now I'm not anymore, so. I'd thought I'd check it out", she said. "How about you?"
Gabriel hestisated, but he decided to tell her. "Well..", he started, walking over to sit on the bench next to Sophie. "I don't remember much about my mom, seeing as I was young when she died, but I do remember some things. Nice things. Like when she used to sing to me before I went to sleep. Or when everytime I made a mess of something, and Father yelled at me, she would take my hand and say, 'It's okay. In my eyes, you are perfect'," Gabriel said, with much adoration and pain in his eyes.
"But one thing that sticks out the most was our midnight strolls", he said, with a bright smile burning on his face as he reminisced about his mother.
Sophie looked at him, willing him to continue. "Midnight strolls?", she asked, the curiosity clear on her face.
Gabriel looked down at his hands, taking in a deep breath. "Every Tuesday night, Mother would sneak me out to our garden. Every Tuesday night, we would lay on the grass next to her favorite flowers, and just look at the stars. Some nights we would talk, but others we didn't say a word. We just enjoyed our time together. I guess I should've appreciated the midnight strolls with her", Gabriel said, letting out a shaky breath.
Sophie didn't know what to say. She felt bad for the boy. He lost his mother at such a young age, and it was a terrible death too. All he had to know about her were other people's memories. "I'm sorry, Gabriel", she said.
Gabriel looked at Sophie with such a sad look on his face, his green eyes glowing like a moonlight reflection on swamp water. "It wasn't your fault," he said. "So that's why I'm here, for a midnight stroll," Gabriel said lightly. Now, enough about me. Are you ready for tomorrow?", Gabriel asked.
Sophie was staring off at the pond when he said this. She was so focused on staring, that she didn't even realize what he was talking about. She slowly turned her head towards Gabriel, looking at him in confusion. "Tomorrow?", she asked.
"Don't tell me you've forgotten. Seriously, Sophie", Gabriel said. "The wedding.", he stated.
A little gasp escaped Sophie's mouth. How could she forget about the wedding? That's really why she came out here in the first place, "Oh right. The wedding," she said, letting out a small nervous laugh.
Was she ready? The wedding was tomorrow. As of tomorrow, she was going to be Sophie Lightwood. She was going to be married. It seems like everything was going fast. It still felt like yesterday she was just sweeping the floor, dusting the furnitures, listening to people's orders. Now, she's free. Free of all that. Free of everything, free to do everything.
Besides, how does she know if Gideon's feelings are true? What if he's really just looking to be married? What if he just wants to use her? Or even worse, hurt her? How could she deal with that? But then again, what use would he need of her anyways? Her thoughts were interupted by Gabriel.
"Sophie," he said firmly, trying to capture her attention. "You're not having second thoughts, are you? Listen, I know he can be a little tough sometimes, but that should not matter. You love him, right? I know for a fact you do. And he loves you too. So much. You mean a lot to him."
Sophie looked up at the sky, listening to his words. She did love him.
"You know, he's never been into girls much. In fact, all of the ones he courted was arranged. He has never even given the prettiest shadowhunter a second glance. To be honest, I thought my brother was doomed to having a wife.
"But then he met you. And he was so happy. Happier then I've seen him be since our mother died. He needs you. Please, don't break his heart", Gabriel begged, staring into her eyes.
Sophie stared at Gabriel's face for any signs hinting he was lying. But he wasn't. He was telling the truth. So Gideon really did love her. Sophie felt a brief spark of happiness but it was ruined by more thoughts. What if things don't work out? What if he fell out of love with her? What if he got tired her? Or of people staring at them all the time because of her hideous scar? Out of instinct, Sophie reached up to touch her scar that was slashed on the left side of her face.
"Is that what this is about? Your scar? Sophie, Gideon does not care about that. He only cares about you.", Gabriel assured.
"No. I know. It's just, ever since Master Teddy..", she trailed off, looking down.
"Who? Whoever this Master Teddy is, and what he did, or whatever, doesn't matter. Gideon's not him. So why are you backing out?", he asked, his face full of hope and confusion.
"I'm not. I could never. I love him too much. But it's just... What if things go wrong? What if something happens and I lose him? I can't lose him, I've already lost so much," said Sophie, tears filling up in her eyes, her voice breaking just a bit.
"You won't," Gabriel said.
"You promise?", Sophie asked, half laughing, but in all seriousness.
Gabriel took her hands in one of his. "I promise," he whispered.
Sophie smiled, letting out a breathe of relief she didn't know she was holding, and looked away, towards the night sky and the twinkling stars that seemed to stand out brighter than the moon itself. "The stars... They look beautiful...", she whispered.
Gabriel looked up too, his eyes shining with amazement and wonder, "Yes. They do. My mother always told me..", he trailed off, his eyes moving to look at Sophie, "Midnight stars are the most beautiful."