Chapter 7:

Magalie was excited about the day. She and Max were going to become parabatai today. She had decided a long time ago that she was going to be parabatai with Maxine. They were cousins and best friends. Now she was 12 and her dad had told her that was the age he'd been when he and Uncle Jace became parabatai.

They walked together into the institute where the ceremony would be held. Her dads flanked her on either side. She had practiced the oath over and over so she wouldn't mess it up. It was time for her to say it now. "Wither thou goest, I will go; where thou diest, will I die. And there will I be buried: The Angel do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me."

Max repeated the oath too as they got their marks. The sting was short lived and the warmth flowed through her as she got used to this new sensation. She felt her heart full and she knew that Max lived in there now. Closer than sisters now, forever.

Magalie woke from the dream that was one of her best memories. She had a smile on her face. She stretched out. She had slept hardcore. She didn't even remember Isis getting into the bed. But she was there. Her little kitty cracked open one eye and looked at her. "Don't go anywhere my love, we need to discuss something." She said it playfully but the "we need to talk" message was still ominous to anyone in a relationship. "Give me a few minutes to pry this other eye open."

"Well, I am going to go pee while you work on that." She said getting up. She didn't know what was wrong. Her hands shook when she washed them in the sink. She got back under the blanket. The morning was chilly.

"Do you remember my coming to bed last night?" Isis asked her.

"No. I was out last night. You wore me out all day yesterday." Magi gave her a wink.

"Oh. Well, then you don't remember what you said to me then, huh?"

Oh, angel, what had she confessed to. Had she told her she needed dick in her life? She would have been blunt with it in her sleepy state she was sure. And that had been the last thing on her mind when she fell asleep. The male sex dreams that she had scattered throughout the night alluded to that fact. She shook her head and looked at her hands, ashamedly.

"You told me you love me." Isis said. "I didn't sleep much after that confession."

It was worse somehow than a blunt confession of needing the male member in bed.

"Did you mean it, Magi?"

"Isis, I don't know." She was just going to have to be truthful with her. "I am sixteen. I like guys. I like girls. I love being with you. You make me feel amazing. I love your personality, but I have never been in love. I might be now, with you." She got these amazing skills with words from her father. Dammit, Alec, why weren't you suave so you could pass me some amazing talents! She thought to herself.

Isis surprised her by bringing her into her arms. "You don't have to know." She kissed her. "This is all I need now, just us, uncomplicated. If you love me, it's ok. If you don't, that's fine too." So she was saying this wasn't over and that was the best news to come from a "we need to talk" conversation.

If she could read minds, she would see the love blooming for her in the mind of her Egyptian goddess.

Yes, Isis was in love.

Magi was confused and needed to talk to someone. She kissed Isis. "I'll be back later, ok?" But she didn't wait for a response. She just got up and threw on her clothes. She was going to talk to Max.

{Line Break}

Magi threw herself onto her bed wearing her PJs still and she had bed head. "Max, I almost screwed up big and didn't even know it."

"What happened?"

"I apparently confessed my love to Isis last night when I was asleep, kind of."

"Really? Do you?"

"I have no idea!" She replayed the scene from this morning. "Then I got up and left. I couldn't just stay there. I needed to talk to you. Now that I have, it makes me feel better even though I still have no idea if I mean it or not."

"Well, she seemed to take it well enough." Max shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess." Magi changed the subject. "Are you still all virginal then?"

"Yeah, she is." The answer came from the doorjamb. He leaned there like he belonged there.

"Eavesdropping is not a very flattering occupation." Max said waving him into the room.

"I just got here." He held up the bag in his hand and the cups in the other hand. "I got us breakfast. Muffins and coffee from the coffee shop a couple of blocks down."

Magi grabbed a cup of the hot black coffee and took a blueberry muffin. "What's the deal then?" Magi asked with her mouth full of muffin. "I thought you both would be doing the horizontal polka as soon as you could. By the angel, Max, are you still being all moral about it?" Magi had always thought Max was insane for not living life. As a shadowhunter, you never know when you will leave and never come back. Magi lived life a lot like Isabelle had and Max was more like Alec on that front. It was the opposite of what you would expect from them, really. But they shared the genes.

"No, I told her we could take it slow." Rory was sticking up for her and it was cute.

She kissed him and sat on his lap as he sat in the chair across from her bed, near the closet. "My little white knight, saving my virtue, as it were." She chimed in.

"Little?" Magi and Rory both said. Rory said it with a pout, Magi with a laugh.

Max turned red. "Well, that came out all wrong. You aren't little. He isn't little."

"What do you have to compare it to?" Magi asked.

"Those movies we watched." Her cheeks flamed now. Magi almost choked on her muffin, laughing.

"Well, anyone is little compared to porn stars."

"You watched porn?" Came from Rory.

The both ignored him. "Well, he's not little. He's quite bigger than I expected." How had they even gotten here?

"I am just going to say, I have had no complaints in my life." Rory put in.

"That doesn't make me feel good." Max crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, I will let you two love birds figure this out. I need some sleep. Some that is free of confessions of love." Rory looked confused at Magi but she just left.

She moved to her room and collapsed on the bed. She was not really tired. She had slept well enough last night. She was just kept thinking about those almond shaped eyes and that silky black hair.

She looked around at some of her pictures. She needed to think of something other than Isis. She looked at one picture that was in a bright green frame. She picked it up, and a smile spread across the face. It was a picture of her and Magnus and Alec in France. Magnus had on a black and white striped shirt, tight black pants, a black beret, and a red neck scarf. Alec was dressed as usual. Magi stood between them in a red dress and black cardigan and black ballet flats. They were posed in front of the Eiffel Tower.

She smiled at the memories of that trip. She had been about twelve at the time. She had her first kiss on that trip. His name was Auberon Garnier. Her smile turned into a smirk as she remembered him. He had been fair haired and had gorgeous green eyes that lit up right before he kissed her. He had been older. He had been fourteen. He had been a mundane. And he had been as French and a croissant.

Very charming, she remembered. They had coffee in a little café, and he spoke to her with his accented English. She had fallen for him hard. By the end of the night she had let him kiss her. They had kissed under the lights of the tower. And the next day, he was at the café with another girl. She had been heartbroken. Like she thought, he was very French.

Magnus had bought her chocolate croissants and ice cream and they sat up all night bashing French boys. Alec had laughed at them and just let them dish all night. He ran out and got more food when they ran out. But she could tell he held his tongue all night. He thought his little girl was too young for boys.

Wonder what dad would say about girls? Or warlocks?

And now she was back to thinking about Isis again. She put down the picture and paced around a bit. Like a caged tiger, she moved about her room.

She needed to get out of the institute. She needed some air to clear her head.

She threw on some boots and headed out into the hall toward the elevator. Her sensor and a blade weighed in her pocket. Always be prepared. Then she took to the streets.

It was a great day for a walk. The breeze was light and it brought the smell of flowers from the florist shop just down the street. She smiled. The smell reminded her of the day in the park with Isis and her kiss in the rain. She couldn't get this woman out of her head.

She felt a vibrating in her pocket.

Her hands were fumbling on a sensor that was suddenly alerting her to danger. She moved quickly to her other pocket and reached her phone. "Heads up we got something just about three blocks south of the institute. "

She hung up and slid the phone back in her pocket. She rounded the corner and there he was. Well, there it was. It was a raum demon. At the moment, its suckers were stuck to a boy, and he was lax in its tentacles. Noticing her, he dropped the boy and turned.

Well, shit.

A/N: And the tension builds (well if you haven't read L&L that is.). HAHA. If you have, you will like the added memory of Magi's first kiss.