Ch.11

Jace and Clary were walking down the street, holding hands. Jace couldn't stop staring. He couldn't believe his sweet Clary could look like this. Not that he was complaining. She walked with confidence and kept swishing her hair around her face.

"Stop looking at me like that. It's weird." Clary said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Sorry, you just look…so…so…different!" Jace mentally smacked himself. 'Different' was not what he was trying to say.

"I know," She smiled, "I look totally weird, but somehow sexy."

"Definitely not weird and completely sexy." He looked ahead, they were almost at the restaurant. It was a chain restaurant, completely mundane and generic. "I almost feel bad for bringing you here," he admitted, "But, you were right. Tonight is about you and me and being human and mundane." He finished, stopping in front of the building.

"You're kidding me!" Clarys eyes lit up, "Simon and I used to come here all the time! I love this place!" she spun around and kissed him, "I love you!" she laughed. Jace grinned. So far, so good.

888

"So, Natsu." Magnus turned his attention away from his mirror and faced Natsu, "I'm going to be frank about this." Natsu stopped glaring at the wall and looked at Magnus, "You and Lucy are adorable. Why aren't you together?"

"Because Lucy is my friend." Natsu answered. He went back to staring at the wall.

"So? Clary and Jace were brother and sister first, and that didn't stop them." Magnus pointed out, forgetting Natsu didn't know the whole long story.

"They're what?!" Natsu almost fell off the bed in shock.

"They're not actually related. It's a long story." Alec said, tugging at a hole in his shirt.

"So? We've got all night." Natsu leaned back away from the wall. Alec looked up with interest. He wasn't sulking or glaring, or snapping or calling him popsicle. This was an improvement. He decided to capitalize on it and began to tell Natsu about the shadow hunter world, and Valentine, and the rest of their friends. Natsu listened with interest.

"So Clary did have a brother, but he's dead now?" He asked, just to make sure, "And Jace was raised by her father, but they had no idea?"

"Yea, pretty much. There's more to the story, but that's the gist of it."

"A wonderful tale isn't it?" Magnus appeared before them in a swirl of sparkles, "However, we must get going! Clary's party is starting in an hour and Natsu still isn't dressed!" Natsu grabbed his scarf protectively.

"I'm fine!" He glared. If Magnus dared try to put glitter or sparkles on him, and then parade him infront of Lucy…He would die. He felt, he would actually be so embarrassed he would die. 'What's wrong with me? This world is making me really angry.'

"Oh pish. Natsu, Isabelle has Lucy right now. If you think you're the only one who isn't going to dress up, you're sadly mistaken." Magnus grabbed the one sleeve of his jacket, "And as wonderful a statement as this one sleeved coat is, it just won't cut it!"

"It's also the only thing in this apartment that won't burn if you're not careful." Natsu threatened.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic." Alec sighed, "You're almost as bad as Jace when he gets in a mood. Here, put this on." He threw a pair of jeans and tshirt at Natsu."And besides, Lucy will be there looking even prettier than usual. There's no chance Izzy let her out of her sight until she dressed up."

Natsu thought about Lucy for a moment. Prettier than usual? Was that possible? He finally nodded in defeat and pulled his jacket off. Both Magnus and Alec had to look away. This is what the dragon slayer had been hiding under his jacket? Lucky Lucy!

Once Natsu was dressed and forced into matching sneakers, and had his scarf tied neatly around his neck, they were ready to go to Pandemonium.

888

"Jace, thank you. Tonight was fun." Clary said as they left the theatre, "I didn't think it was possible for you to be so relaxed!"

Jace laughed and pulled her close, "We're not done yet, Clary." He smiled. He had been expecting the night to be boring, but it had turned out to be quite enjoyable. The dinner, although not the best, wasn't bad and the company was perfect. The movie had been so bad it was funny, and Clary was absolutely glowing. He felt bad he hadn't taken her out like this before. It had been fun, not talking about shadow hunting, the clave or anything remotely work related.

"What? Where else are we going?" She asked. Jace pulled her to a bench and sat her down, "You'll find out," He smiled, "Clary, I wanted to apologize again, for how I acted before. It wasn't right. I feel like such a jerk."

"I thought we talked about this already?" She tucked her hair behind her ear again. Straight hair really didn't know how to stay in place, "And I already said I forgive you. So what's this about?"

"I love you, Clary. I just want you to know that. And I know this doesn't make up for missing our anniversary and your birthday, but I hope it you like it." He handed her a small rectangular velvet box.

Clary opened the lid, "Jace!" She gasped, "It's beautiful!" She picked up the brand new stele. She had lost her mothers, and had been since using spare steles from the institute. The stele glowed softly in her hand. It was pink crystal with runes carved up and down the sides. A braided rope of silver admas circled around it.

"I had it made especially for you. The admas is like Isabelle's whip, so you can actually wrap it around your wrist. You won't lose it that way." He teased. Clary smiled. She did lose a lot of steles. "Also, we should get going if we want to make it to the last place." He grabbed her hand and led her down the block. He covered her eyes as they neared their destination.

"Jace, let me see!" She laughed.

"Nope!"

Finally, she heard a door open, and was shoved inside. There was pounding mouusic and shouting people. There was an energy in the air she hadn't felt in a year. "Jace! Are we in Pandemonium!?" She had to yell just to be heard. Jace pulled his hands away from her eyes. Across the room, in a "VIP" section, sat her friends. There was balloons and streamers and a specially decorated chair for her to sit in.

"Happy birthday, Clary! I couldn't let the whole night be mundane." He winked and guided her towards the group.

"Surprise, Clary!" Isabelle hugged her. The crab man must have done her hair to. It was curled and pinned half up, yet done messily enough to look sexy and not fancy.

"Thanks, Izzy! And Alec and Magnus! Simon!" She hugged everyone in turn, even Natsu and Lucy who were standing awkwardly to the side.

"Maia and them will be along in a bit! They're just helping Luke at the station." Isabelle explained, looking down at her phone.

"And now, birthday girl, let's dance!" Jace grabbed Clary's hand and led her to the dance floor. The rest of the group followed, except for Lucy and Natsu. They stared at each other for a moment, turned red and looked away.

"So, Lucy…" Natsu started. What should he say? That she looked nice? Nice didn't even cover it. Alec hadn't been lying when he said Lucy would be prettier than usual. She had on a corset top and a long skirt. He had seen her in similar things before, but the way Cancer had done her hair and Izzy her makeup, it was a miracle he had kept his mouth shut when she walked through the door.

"Natsu…" She trailed off as well. He looked good. Really good. And Lucy wasn't sure how she felt about it. The dark jeans and the tshirt really suited him.

"Hey, baby! You look bored! Come dance with us!" A taller boy with broad shoulders and green hair tried grabbing her hand. Lucy pulled it away and shook her head, "C'mon! Don't be a bitch! Come dance with us, gorgeous!" The guy tried again. He blinked as he felt himself being smashed against a wall.

"She said NO," Natsu growled into his ear. The boy gulped and nodded before running off to his friends.

"Thanks, Natsu!" Lucy called over the music. He nodded in response. The music was hurting his ears. Several more boys tried to get Lucy to dance, but she turned down all of them.

"Lucy, come dance with us!" Isabelle appeared, pulling Simon behind her, "It's so fun!" She wiped the sweat off of her brow. Lucy tried to say no again, she couldn't really dance. It was embarrassing. And then Natsu shoved her from behind into Isabelle's open arms. This was going to be good. Lucy hated dancing! If this little endeavor didn't break the tension between them, he wasn't sure what would. What he hadn't counted on, was Lucy grabbing his hand for dear life and pulling him into the throng of people with them. Isabelle was waving her arms in the air and moving her hips in time to the music. Natsu tried to walk away, when some girl came up and grabbed his hands and started moving against him.

"What? Like this?" Natsu yelled to the girl as she tried to teach him to dance. Lucy sighed. She wasn't in the mood to party.

"Lucy? Lucy Heartfilia?" She turned around. A boy stared at her. He had bright blue hair and striking green eyes.

"Yes! Who are you?!" She yelled.

"Come with me!" He shouted, pointing to a closed door. She grabbed Natsu's shoulder and signaled she was going to the room with the stranger. Natsu pushed his new friend away and followed her.

"Who are you?" Lucy asked again, in the quiet privacy of the room.

"I'm from Earthland. I've been sent here to find you and bring you back!"