Hey Guys=),
this is chapter 2 of the "Where Fire turns to Water" storyline and as always I DO NOT own any of the characters or the Dark Artifices! I just enjoy evolving a stroyline around the various snippets that Cassandra Clare has given us and therefore try to predict some scenarios or possible plot opportunities. So, i hope you enjoy!xx
Violetta
Chapter 2 "Where Fire turns to Water"
Rays of sunshine were falling through the half closed curtains in Julian's room and were tickling Emma's nose. Yawning and stretching her toned muscles she realized that Julian already had left the bed when her hand was reaching to his side of the bed and found it empty. She could not remember the last time she did wake up before him or even with him still lying in his bed. It was always her, who slept in late. One of the small painful changes, that she had registered the past months and that made her feel hollow in the deep of her throath.
He was very secretive about his early morning whereabouts, but she knew she couldn't blame him. If Julian got up before sunrise so that he had at least a little time of the day all to himself she did not want to bother him, even if she could feel that a part of her was somehow feeling hurt by the fact of beeing left out. This feeling was new to her as she was used to share everything with Julian, even her most embarassing moments.
Like when her new boyfriend Cameron had started to sing a song he had written for her in front of a bung of vampires when he got drunk at a little private party on the sunset strip. Or the one time when she had accidentally ripped the back of her top open in the middle of a demon hunt and was suddenly standing almost bare chested in the middle of a hoard of demons. Back then she had to take public transportation all the way back to the LA Institute with mundanes staring at her as if she was some kind of badass prostitute with all the runes covering her body and Cortana hanging from her hip belt. She remembered the look on his face when she showed up at the entrance of the Institute only wearing her beige lace bra. With Tavy in his arms and tousled hair the only thing he said after a long moment was that he would never let her go hunting demons without him anymore, no matter what, because that was his parabati duty. Thinking about it now made a sudden warmth run down her spine. His look back then was an expression she could not place. One more fact that added up to her list of little changes in their friendship.
Qickly sliding from the bed she put on her training gear and went towards the training room, but not before preparing breakfast for Dru,Ty,Livie and Tavy. There was still no sight of Julian. She first saw him that day while she was already in the training room with all the children except Ty, who refused to train, but instead locked himself up in his room and was probably reading in some ancient books.
She was showing Dru some strategic defence techniques, when he joined them. Looking over Dru's small head their gazes met and she could see that his cheekbones seamed sharper, his eyes had dark shadows and he appeared pale, but his blue-green Blackthorn-eyes were still the same deep intensity as always. Just in that moment she realised that one of his irises had some little gold sprinkles in one corner, that remined her of a hot summer full maze fields. Within a second she lost that thought and gave him a motherly look.
"Good morning Jules. Don't worry I won't eaven ask where you have been, but you should really stopp skipping breakfast and start eating more pancakes, you don't look healthy."
"Yeah, sorry Emma. I will try next time." He said with a reluctance in his voice, that showed that he would really try, but could't make any promises.
"Ok then. so could you show Tavy how to determine a target with the crossbow then?"
Emma asked.
And like that the five of them trained for one and a half hours before Emma and Julian guided the children towards one of the large bathrooms in the first floor.
There Dru and Tavy were having a bath together in the old white metal bath tub in the center of the room. They were playing with little wooden runes meant to teach the children the meaning of each rune, but were missappropriated as bathing toys. Tavy was currently smashing the Voyance rune towards Dru's head while Dru was trying to hide behind the huge mountain of bubble foam between them. Emma couldn't stop herself from laughing at these little shadowhunters, already throwing runes at each other. It were those moments with the Blackthorn children that she loved the most. They were like family to her. No, they were her family, the only family she's got left.
Julian was covered in bubbles and trying to wash Tavy's curls while the little boy always slipt through his fingers. He was giving Emma a look of desperation, but there was a huge grin on the corners of his mouth.
"You know Tavy it is going to take ages until we get you all ready if you don't cooperate."
"And that was exactly what I was going for." The little one said by showing an impish grin.
"Tavy, don't be so excausting! You know that you are really hard on Jules when you behave like this." Livie was shouting through her teeth while she was having her mouth full of toothpast.
Scenes like this were the everyday routine of the family and each morning Emma and Jules were always the last ones getting a shower, while the children already run off to play hide and seek or any kind of shadowhunter child games.
This morning was no different. Tavy nicely groomed and Dru glooming from the grapefruit body lotion were already running down the hall towards Ty's room with Livie running after them trying to talk them out of some stupid idea of asking Ty to adopt a bee hive from a mundane neighbor.
Emma rolled her eyes and gave a loving smile before she started to collect the fresh clothes she had brought with herself from her room and walk towards one of the shower cabinets on the right side and closed the wooden cabinet door behind her. While she started to take of her training clothes in the cabinet she saw that Julian had started collecting the kids' clothes that were spread all over the floor.
"You know what? Cameron asked me last night if I wanted to go with him and his parents on a trip to the Rome Institute this summer. I think I might have to dump him." Emma said while she was unclasping her sportsbra.
„Why that? I thought you liked him? I mean not that I was ever really fond of him." With these words he looked over to her and for a moment Emma thought she had seen him blush lightly.
"You know I hate it when guys get too attached. I mean, I probably should have ended it when he had started singing that stupid song... .He's cute and he's hot and he's good in hunting and other things..., but I don't know."
Emma was turning on the shower and the hot water quickly build up steam in the already damp bathroom.
When she exited the shower cabine with a huge towel wraped around her and a second one in a turban around her hair Julian was already standing in front of the sink and brushing his teeth. His hair in wet curls hanging in his face and a towel wrapped around his hips. He was bare chested. It has been a while since she had seen him topless and somehow the image of him laying in the bed last night came back to her mind. She could not take her eyes of his parabati rune right on his shoulder. Julian must have seen her stare in the mirror's reflexion because he turned around with a shy smile and tried not to look her in the eye. " Emm, you are staring at me."
"I am sorry. I was in thought. I will tell Cameron tomorrow at Tatti's that it's over." Tatti's was a popular Shadowhunter Bistro and bar in LA, where they met up frequently.
Julian didn't give her an answer, but instead turned around again and continued brushing his teeth, but not before passing her her own toothbrush and putting some toothpaste on it. They were standing there besides each other brushing their teeth and gazing at each other now and then.