{Jace POV}

The sun shining through my window woke me up, and I stretched my arms above my head. I'd had another fantastic dream about Clary. In this one, I'd found her in the clearing, her bare back to me, wearing nothing but a tiny pair of shorts that barely covered anything. I'd walked up to her, pulled the shorts off of her, and made love to her, again and again. In the clearing, on the beach, in her room, in my room, behind the waterfall. It was one of the best dreams I'd ever had, and I remembered every single little detail of it with total clarity. If only it were reality . . .

It played through my head over and over again as I got dressed, and I was becoming more and more eager to see her. The past few weeks had gone by amazingly fast and very smoothly, without a single argument between Clary and I. As the days passed, the physical attraction between us had grown stronger and stronger, to the point of just seeing her made my body react. I wanted her so bad, every moment of every day, but I was not going to rush her into anything. I'd lost her once, and even though it was only for a few weeks, I wasn't willing to lose her again. It hurt too much. I needed her by my side, always. I was absolutely crazy about her, and I didn't care who knew it anymore.

I quickly ran around the house to her room, anticipating that moment when I first saw her face. It was my favorite part of every morning. But once I skidded to a stop outside her doorway, I realized her room was completely empty. Her bed was made, the guitar was in the corner, and the clothes she'd worn yesterday were piled neatly near the door so someone could grab them to take them to the river to wash them. I turned away and quickly made my way to the ladder so I could look for her. As soon as my feet touched the soft ground, I spun around and scanned the village, searching for her familiar red hair. But it took me even less than a minute to realize she wasn't there. At least, she wasn't anywhere I could see.

The feeling of someone's eyes on my face had me spinning around so fast I almost fell, but I caught myself just in time. Hope bloomed in my chest that it was Clary, but I realized pretty quickly that it wasn't. I focused on the person who was looking at me, too disappointed to put a name to the face, and the expression in their eyes immediately sent a bolt of fear through me. They were filled with sympathy and concern, but the most prominent emotion was sadness. Looking closer, I realized it wasn't just sadness. It was downright devastation. Looking around the village again, I paid more attention to everyone else this time. And I noticed that they all had that same expression in their eyes. A few people were sneaking glances at me, as well, but they all quickly averted their gazed when they caught me staring back. Suddenly, a bolt of fear shot through me. Something had happened. And it wasn't good.

I ran up to the first person I saw and grabbed their arm. When they turned to face me, I saw that it was Simon, and he was looking at me with the same expression as the rest of them. "Simon, where's my mom? Where's Clary? Why does everyone look so upset?" I asked, my panic clear in my voice. Simon sighed heavily and pulled me into a quick hug.

"Dude, everyone is okay. No one is hurt. And your mom and Clary are down at the beach." I fought the urge to sprint down to the beach to see for myself, with my own eyes, that the people I cared about most were okay. But I needed to know what was going on first.

"Then why does everyone look so fucking sad, Simon?" I demanded, attempting to hide how worried I was behind the emotionless mask that had pissed Clary off so much when I used it on her. But lately, she could see right through it, so I hadn't had the need to use it. I wasn't so sure it was working on Simon either.

"I was told not to tell you, Jace. I'm sorry. Clary wants to tell you herself." My heart clenched in my chest as I sprinted away from him without another word, heading towards the beach. Every worst case scenario possible flitted through my head in rapid succession, until I was practically hyperventilating with worry and fear.

I made it to the beach in record time, and stopped so fast my heels dug into the sand underneath my feet. What I was seeing completely confused me, and I didn't understand what the hell was going on. Standing just a few feet away from the rocks was Clary, but she wasn't alone. There were three other people with her: my mom; a red headed woman who looked extremely familiar, though I knew for a fact that she wasn't from the island; and a man with longish, light hair that I hadn't ever seen before in my life. Nothing was making sense to me. Who are these people? I wondered, too confused to move from where I was standing.

And though I was still pretty far from the group, I could hear small parts of their conversation. And my chest tightened with each word I heard. " . . . so sad to see you go," my mom said, sniffling.

"I'm sad to be going, too, Celine. But . . . my life . . ." Clary responded.

"I know, Clarissa. We'll miss you," my mom replied, pulling Clary into a hug. My eyes flicked to the red haired woman again as realization dawned on me. The woman looked like an older version of Clary, with the same curly hair and green eyes.

"Her mother?" I whispered to myself, my voice filled with shock. I looked at Clary, and stared. She was looking down at the sand beneath her feet, her cheeks red but her eyes dry. And suddenly, anger spread through my veins like a wildfire, setting everything ablaze and turning my vision red. Clary was leaving the island, leaving me, and she didn't even look upset about it. "You're leaving?!" I yelled at her, stalking forward. Everyone in the group immediately looked at me, but I had eyes only for Clary. She looked horrified, her green eyes filled with fear. But that's it. No pain, no sadness. She was afraid of me.

When I reached her, I wrapped my fingers gently around her upper arm and pulled her with me back towards the forest. I could hear her parents yelling at me and my mom telling them that it'd be okay, that I'd never hurt her. But I ignored all of them, until I heard Clary's whimper. "Jace." The sound of my name in her sweet voice cracked my angry shell, but I wouldn't let it completely shatter as I pulled her out of the sight of our parents on the beach.

"You're going back?!" I exclaimed as quietly as I could, resisting the urge to yell at her. I didn't want anyone else to overhear the conversation.

"Jace, I'm going home," she replied without meeting my eyes. "My friends, my house, my life are all back in New York." And her emotionless mask fell from her face. Her green eyes finally filled with tears and I could see how upset she was. The sadness in her eyes chipped at my anger again, replacing it with pain, until I felt like my body was collapsing in on itself. I could barely draw a breath into my lungs as I stared at Clary.

"Home?" I asked, blinking rapidly. My eyes were getting a little wet, just like hers, but I didn't want to cry in front of her. I was still too angry, and the last thing I wanted from her was pity. Actually, the only thing I wanted at all was her to promise me she was mine, the she wasn't leaving. I wanted her to swear to me she'd stay with me forever. "If New York is your 'home', then what is the island to you, huh?" I asked nastily, gritting my teeth. "Just a nice vacationing spot? Somewhere for you to hang out for awhile before you left and forgot all about us?"

"Jace, no-," she started, reaching out to me. I cut her off and backed away from her outstretched hand. I couldn't let her touch me, or I'd break down completely and make a total fool of myself. I needed to get out of there before I could do or say something we'd both regret.

"Whatever, Clary. Do whatever you want. It's over. I hope you enjoy your life in New York, you know, since it's so impossible for you to enjoy it here." With that, I turned around and ran back to the village and flung myself up the ladder and into my room. I didn't look at anyone as I passed them, unwilling to see the pity in their eyes. I collapsed face down onto my pillow and struggled to get the tears at bay again. It took me about ten minutes of laying alone in the room, but I finally got them under control and sat up.

"Are you ready to talk to me, Jonathan?" I jumped. I hadn't even seen my mom sitting on the bed until she'd spoken. She was looking at me with concern and love in her eyes, and I suddenly felt like a little boy again. I wanted to sit on her lap and have her tell me that it was all a bad dream and I'd forget about it tomorrow. But it wasn't a bad dream. And there was nothing she could do to comfort me. Not if I was losing Clary for good.

"No. Go away," I told her hoarsely. She didn't speak for a second, and I exhaled harshly. I knew what she was doing; she was trying to get me to talk by not saying anything, leaving me in the spotlight. And damn it if it wasn't working. It always fucking worked on me. "Fine, mom. What do you want me to say? That I'm glad she's leaving? That I won't miss her with every single fiber of my being? That I'm happy I'll never get to see her again? That my chest doesn't feel like it's about to split in half? Because all of that would be a lie," I grumbled, my voice cracking. I felt her hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles into my shoulder blades, and I leaned back slightly so it was pressed more firmly against me.

"Jonathan," she murmured, and didn't speak again until I looked at her. We stared at each other for a couple of seconds before she spoke again. "Do you love her?" My muscles tensed, and suddenly I just wanted to run away. I did not want to answer that question, not to her and not to myself. Because since Clary was leaving and I'd never see her smiling face again, the answer might have shattered me.

"That has nothing to do with anything, mom. She's leaving. She's going back to New York," I replied, looking away. My mom put her finger under my chin and tilted my face towards her, forcing me to meet her eyes again .

"Jonathan, do you love her?" she asked again, looking back and forth from one of my eyes to the other. I swallowed hard before answering.

"I don't know, mom. I've never thought about it. And what does it matter? She's still leav-." She cut me off and tightened her grip on my face, until I had no choice but to focus on her and her alone. The pressure on my chin stopped me from thinking about my anger at Clary and my unwillingness to think about my feelings for her anymore. I just stared into my mom's eyes as she glared at me, her lips pressed together into a tight line.

"Jonathan. Do you love her?" she said forcibly, over emphasizing so that every single word sounded like its own sentence. My throat felt thick and my eyes were swimming again.

"Yes!" I finally yelled. "Yes, okay? I love her! I love her, and she's leaving. I haven't even told her I love her. I'll never get the chance. Because I'll never see her again!" I jerked my head away from her hand and buried my face against my knees as the tears fell from my eyes in steady streams, soaking into the legs of my shorts. "I fucking love her," I whispered once more, the words muffled to the point where I was positive my mom hadn't heard. If she had, I was sure she would have smacked me in the back of the head for cursing.

"You love her," she said, waiting for me to nod without lifting my head. "Jonathan, haven't I taught you anything?" I raised my head up and looked at her again. Her eyes were filled with tears now, too, and I pulled myself onto the bed next to her and wrapped my arms around her. She hugged me back and pressed her face against my shoulder.

"You've taught me everything," I replied. I didn't know where she was going with the question, but I had a feeling I wasn't going to like it.

"If you love something, set it free. If it's meant to be yours, it will come back. If it's meant to be yours," she repeated against my shoulder. "It will be." I pulled away from her embrace and stared at her.

"You're saying that I have to say goodbye to the girl I love . . . because I love her?" I asked exasperatedly. But I didn't want to let her go. I wanted to hold her in my arms for every second of forever.

"Yes. She needs to go her own way. She needs to do what she wants to do. And if she wants to come back, she'll find a way back to you, Jonathan. You just have to be patient." I bit my lip and looked down at my lap when I realized my mom was right.

If Clary let her parents leave without her, she would never be happy. She would always wonder what would have happened if she decided to move back to New York and pursue her dreams. She would always miss her family and friends and everything about her whole life, until she willingly left it all behind. She would be left thinking about the 'what ifs' and 'could-have-beens'. And I couldn't ask her to do that, not for me. I loved her too much to ask her to be miserable for my own happiness. I loved her too much to beg her to stay like I wanted to. And I loved her too much to ever ask her to make a choice between me and her family, now that it was her choice again.

"You're right. But, mom, I'm going to miss her so much," I whispered brokenly. My mom put her arms around me again and pulled me closer, and I leaned into her. I really needed the support, considering I felt like I was going to pass out at the thought of never seeing Clary again. Just imagining it hurt like almost nothing else ever had before. The only thing that hurt worse was imagining her resenting me for asking her to stay and forget about all the things she'd always wanted.

"I know you will, Jonathan. We all will. The whole village loves that girl. But it'll be okay. I promise." I nodded, and just rested against her for a few moments. We were both lost in thought, staring out into space. I, of course, was thinking of Clary, and of all the things she could do with her talent. At first, the only thing that registered with me was the fact that she'd be doing everything without me for the rest of her life, moving on and doing the things she loves while I was stuck on the island pining after the girl who got away. But when I thought about it a little more, I realized how happy she could be. And that was something I wanted more than my own happiness: hers.

"And what do I do now?" I asked, turning to look at her. She pressed a kiss to my forehead and smiled sadly at me.

"Now, you go and you find the girl you love, make the best of the time you have left together, and get ready to say goodbye."

I'm going to go hide now so you don't kill me . . . :D

Anyway, this is a day late. I know. I'm sorry. And this time, I honestly don't have an excuse other than that I was not satisfied enough with this chapter to post it yesterday. So I spent all day tweaking and changing it, until I thought it was at least better than before :) I hope it's good enough. And again, sorry! Really, it was just because I didn't think the way I'd had it would live up to expectations, if anyone had any.

I love getting all these reviews and alerts and favorites! Seriously. It's an amazing feeling. You are all awesome :D thanks so much, and I'd appreciate it if you kept it up?!

Read and review, because it's coming to the end of the story! I need opinions and stuff! It might affect what happens to Jace and Clary next :D