Thanks to Lilietje99, 4everallways, Kelly Herondale, Guest, Guest, and naza546 for reviewing last time! Some of you thought that last chapter was the end, but it's not (obviously). This chapter though, is the last chapter before the epilogue. After the epilogue, it's over unless you guys want me to post some scenes that couldn't make it into the story :)
Clary walked down the empty cobblestone street in Alicante. All she could here, were the sounds of her silver heels clicking against the stones. The heels were something Isabelle would have forced her to wear. The dress was the same too; it was a long one that flowed all the way to her feet. Of course, it was orange, considering that this was for a victory parade.
"Well, don't you look very orange?", she heard someone say behind her. Turning around, she found Simon. He was dressed in a dark blue t-shirt that said: Vampires Suck, black jeans and a black hoodie.
"Simon, I love the way you're showing your spirit. You're using the colour orange really well with defining T-shirt," she sarcastically commented.
"Watch it, Fray. Anyways, I'm not a Shadowhunter. Orange is not needed for me. Whereas you, look like you went a little overboard."
He was obviously saying this because she wore an orange dress that was almost the same shade as her hair, which was tied up in an updo. "Not my fault my hair's orange!"
"Don't listen to Dracula over here. You look beautiful, Clary," Jace said, coming from behind Simon.
"Thank you, Jace," Clary replied.
He smiled for the first time since before the battle.
Soon after, Simon had gone to talk to Maia, leaving Jace and Clary alone. They wouldn't mind. If anything, he was doing them a favor. He found Maia talking to someone else that was probably from Luke's pack. Whoever it was left as Simon approached. Maia looked...different. She wasn't wearing her usual T-shirt and jeans. Instead, she wore an orange sundress that flowed just a little above her knees. She had her brown hair in a curly updo and gold earrings that dangled all the way down to the bottom of her cheeks.
"Oh, hey Simon," she said when he was in front of her.
"Wow, Maia. You look really different."
"I hope that's a compliment."
"It...yeah. It is."
"Well, then thank you."
"No problem. So, how have you been? You know, after Jordan and all."
"Well, I'm still here. I'm still stable-ish. But it hasn't been the same, you know?"
"Yeah, I get it. I can't even stand to be in our old apartment. I just grabbed a bunch of my stuff and left," he confessed.
"Where are you staying?"
"The Institute Sanctuary. It's obviously not as cool as the apartment or my house were, but it's good enough. Of course, it's still really hard."
"Right, because of..."
"Yeah." He still couldn't believe Isabelle Lightwood was dead. Isabelle, who shone wherever she was. Isabelle, who always fought back no matter what. He couldn't believe she was killed. He still wasn't over it.
But he had to accept the fact that she was gone.
And that she would never come back.
As soon as Simon left, Clary turned around to face Jace. For a moment, they just gazed at each other, unaware of their surroundings, completely lost in time and space. She watched him as he raised his hands up to her hair, taking out every hair tie, bobby pin, and hair clip in the process. After dropping them all on the floor, he split her hair into two separate chunks and finally set it down on her shoulders.
"What's with you and letting my hair down?", she asked.
He shrugged. "Beats me. I just like it better when your hair's down," he responded before cupping her face and leaning in. She was sinking into him and it felt like she was drowning in her own feelings. She didn't want to stop, not now. Nothing would make her stop...
...except the clearing throat in the background.
Clary hastily pulled away from Jace and turned to face Magnus and her mother? Great, that just made the situation even more awkward, especially since Jocelyn Fairchild wasn't exactly a huge Jace an.
"Jace?", she asked much to Clary's surprise. "Can I talk to you alone for a moment?"
"Um, sure," Jace replied. He shot Clary a quick worried glance and followed her mother.
Jocelyn led him to a secluded alleyway between two shop buildings. She turned to face him and for just a smidge of a second, she looked exactly how he imagined Clary to look in the future.
"I bet you're wondering why I wanted to talk to you, Jace."
"Yeah. This isn't about my relationship with Clary, is it?"
"Actually, that's exactly what this is about. Listen, I know that you know I was never very fond of you being with my daughter. But now, I see that you would be willing to risk your life to save her. I noticed when I saw you helping her take down Jonathan in the battle."
"What are you saying?" Jace curiously asked.
"I guess what I'm saying is...I support you being with Clary. You have my-"
"Blessing?"
"I was going to say acceptance, but why not?"
"Thank you, Jocelyn."
She smiled.
Clary faced Magnus after her mother and Jace left. Magnus looked a bit...droopy. He didn't look like he was wearing any glitter or eyeliner or anything that was particularly Magnus. Then again, how else would you look like if your significant other just died?
"Tsk, tsk, Clarissa. Hasn't your mother ever told you not to PDA?", he asked. It took her a second to realize that he was talking about what he interrupted between her and Jace.
"If she did, I don't remember. So, how are you doing with all this?"
He hesitated a moment before answering. "Not well at all. I've dodged all potential clients, I have about eighteen messages left on my answering machine, and I'm pretty sure my cat might be on the verge of running away. But other than that, my life is just peachy keen."
Clary left shortly after to go talk to Jace. But Magnus didn't think she went to talk him. If anything, she probably went to make out with him. Tessa came over soon after.
"Ah, Tessa."
"Hello, Magnus. I'm so sorry about Alec," she replied.
"It's...alright. I'm thinking about giving up my immortality."
"What? Why?"
"I want to live the life Alec never got a chance to begin living."
"That so sweet of you, Magnus."
"So tell me, what did you come to say to me?"
"I'm engaged to Jem...again. But this time, I'm actually going to get married. The only problem is that he's mortal now. I'm going to lose him just like I lost my children. Just like I lost...Will."
"Tessa. Stop worrying about the future. Live in the present. Don't think about what you're going to lose. Think of what you'll gain."
"Magnus, you're...you're right. I should stop worrying about who or what I'm going to lose. I should think about what I'm going to get."
"You should. And remember that maybe this one won't hurt as much. After all, the first one always hurts the most."
Clary held Jace's hand and stared into his golden eyes. The night sky never looked so beautiful as it did reflected in his eyes. He must have caught her staring, because he ghosted his thumb over her knuckles. She looked up at him and smiled. Above them, she heard something explode. Looking up at the night sky, she saw flares of red and gold spark across the sky.
Fireworks.
She recalled a moment from the first victory party she went to in Idris. By the Angel, that seemed like a millennium ago. In that memory though, she remembered Isabelle watching the fireworks and mentioning the fact that Max would have loved them. Thinking about it, Clary thought that it wouldn't just be Max that would love these fireworks. Isabelle and Alec probably would too. And just for a moment, just a tiny sliver of a moment...
...she could see the Lightwood children gathered together and staring at the sky. She could see Alec smiling while Max was hitched up on top of his shoulders and Isabelle's arm around her older brother's shoulders. Well, wherever they were; whether it was heaven or oblivion, they were probably right there, watching the firework's flares fall across the starlit sky.
One more chapter left! I'm going to put a mini challenge here where I'll put the lyrics from a song and if you guess it right, I'll give you a sneak peek of the epilogue! Thanks to Lilietje99 for the idea and permission to use it. Okay, here's the song:
Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again
I'll put another one just in case this one's too hard. If you get both right though, you'll get a longer sneak peek!
Song 2:
And still I can't let you be
Most nights I hardly sleep
Don't take what you don't need
From me
Good luck!