Izzy's heels clicked on the pavement as she ran, ran, ran… She didn't know where she was running; she just knew that she had to get away. Tears streamed down her face and obscured her vision- it didn't help that the sky suddenly turned gray, the danger of an oncoming storm evident in the suffocating stillness of the air.

"Isa- Izzy! Wait!" She heard Simon shout in the distance, but without his vampire super-strength, he was no match for one of the best Shadowhunters to have yet existed. Even when she was in heels.

And yet, with her mascara running down her cheeks and her hair getting stuck to her wet face, with her dress constantly catching on her needle-thin shoes and blisters on her feet already starting to form, she didn't feel like an extraordinarily good Shadowhunter. She didn't even feel like an ordinary Shadowhunter. She felt like an ordinary teenage girl with a broken heart.

Finally, the skies broke open and a sheet of rain smashed down on the pavement just as Izzy's heel snapped. Frustrated, she sat down on the curb and took off her shoes. Her dress was already plastered to her body, as was her hair. She was fairly sure you could see her underwear. She was completely sure she didn't care.

Looking down the street, she could see Simon, beginning to catch up.

Simon. He was no longer Simon- or he was, but no longer hers. Izzy was practically elated when Magnus said that there was a way to bring Simon's memories back. He told her not to expect too much, yet she had hoped that their relationship would come back to him, she had hoped…

It didn't matter what she had hoped. She pretended to be happy when Simon at least remembered her name, but inside she was heartbroken (even more than before). And the way Magnus had looked at her, with pity, just made her angry. Wasn't he the High Warlock of Brooklyn? Wasn't he meant to know how to fix this mess his father had made?! She knew it was unfair to blame him, but still…

She told herself he was almost the same as before, that it didn't matter that he called her Isabelle instead of Izzy as if he didn't know her. By the time Jace had finished playing on the piano, she had convinced herself he was the same. And then, just to check, she had asked him if he remembered their night…

He had looked confused, so she said, "You know? When I slept and you told me the entire plot of Star Wars?" By the way his face had crumpled, part confusion and apology and pity, she knew he didn't. And that was what broke her. She sprinted right out of the party and ran as tears sprang out of her eyes. Izzy just couldn't do it, couldn't pretend that everything was great when inside she was shattered to pieces.

For one brief moment, she thought I'd rather still be in Hell, starving right now, as long as it was with my Simon.

And then, the present day Simon plonked down into the puddle next to her.

"Hey," he nudged her shoulder. She didn't nudge him back. Drops fell down on her lap. Tears or rain or both?

"Look," Simon sighed. He looked the exact same, the same glasses and nose and chin and lips… "I might still not remember some -most- of the things that have happened to me related to the Shadow World, and I might not be the same Simon anymore, at all…"

At this, more tears started to form in Izzy's eyes. "- but I remember that I loved you. Fiercely. And I intend to work hard to remember every detail, and I look forward to falling, head over heels, in love with you again. Because I remember that it was the best thing that has ever happened to me." Still, Simon could see the doubt in Izzy's eyes, so he continued. "If I can't remember, we'll make new memories. Better than the ones before. Izzy,"Simon lifted her chin so that she was looking him right in the eye. "Izzy, I still love you. I can feel it inside of me, burning me up and at the same time healing me. Like the heavenly fire in Jace, except harmless and amazing. Yes, I remember that. It's kinda hard to forget…" Simon said at the look of surprise in her eyes. "Izzy, my love for you is devouring and all-consuming. It fills me up, replaces my need for food, water, oxygen, anything. I love you so much that I wouldn't notice if the whole world disappeared right now because I am too busy looking at you. And you feel like - you- you are my whole world. Love is not something even Asmodeus can erase, because a demon can't understand or look for what I feel for you. The sheer force of it would probably kill him. All I need to do now is get to know the person that I love so much, deep inside me, a bit better. And I can only hope that she falls in love with me again because-"

"Oh, Simon! I could never stop loving you! I've loved you since the day I met you, and I loved you when you were a vampire, and I loved you in Hell, and I loved you when you didn't even know I existed, and I love you now, and I will always- always- love you."
At that, Simon pushed the thought away that this was starting to look a lot like The Notebook or some other cheesy rom-com, and quietly asked whether he could kiss her. In response, Izzy grabbed him by the back of his head and crashed their mouths together, all teeth and tongue and hands desperately tied up in hair. The rain fell even harder, and it really looked like nothing in the world existed except for the two of them, kissing fiercely. No cars drove by, and no people on the street appeared. Izzy and Simon kissed, harder and harder, until they were both sure they were going to pass out. When they finally pulled away, foreheads still touching, and smiled at each other, you could only blame the low visibility for them not noticing, at first, the people standing not three feet away from them. Then, a second later, Jace decided that staying undercover was for losers, and started slowly clapping. Soon enough, Magnus and Alec joined in, and it became a thunderous applause, complimented only by Izzy shouting what bitches they all were and lightly hitting all of them in turn. They just laughed and laughed. And, even though she was still hitting them, she wasn't annoyed but beaming, as was Simon.

"Congratulations, mundane," Jace clapped Simon on the back (a little heavier than was comfortable for his, once again, mundane body.) "That speech was almost worthy of a repeat to Clary."
"How long have you even been standing there?" Perhaps Izzy has never seen any cheesy mundane movies, but she still wasn't keen on her friends looking over her's and Simon's PDA (that perhaps got a little more intense than PG.)

As they talked and danced the night away, returning to Jocelyn's and Luke's wedding completely soaked, Izzy started to feel like, for the first time in a long time, she was okay. Not great, but okay. Maybe Max wasn't back, but the gaping wound from his death was slowly healing. She felt like it was bearable to think about him without shutting herself in her room for the rest of the day. Mom's and Dad's divorce- well, she knew it was coming eventually, especially after what happened- no, she was going to say it- especially after Max's death. And she had Simon back- maybe with all of his memories intact, but it was a Simon whom she could spend her days with and who might even become a Shadowhunter. Sebastian was gone, for good this time.

Maybe, she thought as she danced with Simon's hands around her waist and her hands around his shoulders, just maybe, she was going to be okay.