Granada

Magnus put a few red seeds in Alec's mouth, and Alec closed his eyes for a moment and let the sweet and tangy flavor of the fruit explode like tiny bubbles on his tongue, filling his mouth with the taste of sunshine. Alec inhaled deeply, and the mixture of the citrusy and flowery fragrance of the fruit and the sweet and creamy scent of orange blossoms filtering in through the window filled his senses. Alec had never had pomegranate before, the red rounded fruit with its hard shell and seeds that resembled rubies. But as the tiny arils filled his mouth with their juicy treasure, he thought that mother nature must have been thinking about making love on a warm starry night when she crafted the fruit. For its taste, scent and texture was perfect for a night in the arms of a lover.

Mesmerized, Magnus stared at Alec's pleasure-filled face, and thought, not for the first time, that the Shadowhunter looked like an angel with his eyes closed, his face peaceful, his hair in disarray, and the gentle but suggestive smile that lifted the corner of his mouth. If Magnus could magically give Alec wings, he thought he would make them silver to reflect the sun and the shine in Alec's eyes when he smiled.

When a tiny bead of juice escaped between Alec's lips and colored them in exquisite vermillion, Magnus couldn't resist any longer and hungrily and greedily claimed those lips for himself, the sweet taste of the fruit and of Alec mixing like an elixir that no sane person could resist. He kissed him with more passion than he had anticipated, his tongue and Alec's starting a familiar dance in each other's mouth, a dance that was an invitation and a promise.

"Again warlock?" Alec asked softly during a brief pause in their kissing a few minutes later, his eyes shining, his breathing shallow. "Aren't you sleepy?"

"Not possible to be sleepy with you in my bed," Magnus replied and kissed him again, and this time he wrapped one leg around Alec's hips and pulled him closer, wanting to melt into him and become one with Alec.

They had been in bed practically the whole time since when, hand in hand, they walked home from their visit to the palace the evening before. They had been pretty much cloistered in their bedroom; feeling no need for clothes on a night that was surprisingly warm considering that it was officially winter. They had made love with increasing abandon and surrender; rejoicing in a sense of completeness and connection that was already familiar. They had also talked, laughed and made plans.

At some point, Magnus' stomach had growled loudly, and Alec had laughed. "I think it is time we get some food in you Magnus. I don't want you to faint on me." He had gotten out of bed and, after putting on a t-shirt and track pants, had gone to the kitchen. Magnus had heard him rummaging through the cupboards and the refrigerator, and a few minutes later, he had returned with a tray containing figs, oranges, grapes, cheese, bread and, of course, wine. They had eaten in bed, and Alec had feed Magnus small morsels of cheese and bread dipped in olive oil and they had reminisced about their midnight picnic under the stars in the Atacama Desert all those weeks ago.

"I want to go back and visit Kat the next time we have a chance to get away," Alec had told Magnus, and Magnus had said that would be a great idea because, surprisingly, he missed his friend since she went back home.

"What is this?" Alec had asked and had handed Magnus a pomegranate.

"Don't tell me you have never had pomegranate," Magnus had stated with surprise. "You cannot come to Granada and not eat pomegranate," he had added. "In Spanish, this fruit bears the name of this part of the world." With a simple spell, Magnus had to cut the fruit, removed its luminescent red seeds, and deposited them in a colorful ceramic bowl. Alec had given him a look of surprise and amazement, one of those looks that Alec gave him every time that Magnus performed magic for him in the intimacy of their shared life; one of those looks that told Magnus that Alec didn't take his magic for granted, or felt entitled to it, the way so many Nephilim had done before. It wasn't that Alec forgot that Magnus had powers; rather he never expected Magnus to do magic for him. Even when he hired Magnus' services for Nephilim businesses, Alec always said 'please', 'thank you', and 'only if you feel up to it', which made Magnus feel both free to refuse and compelled to say yes.

Their trip back to Spain had been a surprising request by Alec. After weeks of nonstop efforts to sort out the mess that Annaliese Fen left behind; of trips to Idris to assist in the investigation and appear before the Council; of working incessantly to fix the almost unfixable relationship between the Children of the Angel and Lilith's Children; of countless hours writing reports; of endless meetings to secure the release of wrongly imprisoned warlocks; of quick shared meals and of shared nights that were too short, Alec had finally asked that they go away for a few days.

"I think it is time we finish the vacation that Annaliese Fen so rudely interrupted," Alec had stated one morning over breakfast a few days ago. "You still owe me Granada and the Alhambra, our last stop in our trip."

"Can we take the time to go away?" Magnus had asked fully aware of how busy Alec was with the Institute, as well as how busy he, Magnus, was trying to mend things among the warlocks. He had smiled then realizing, not for the first time, how easily he had begun to speak of his and Alec's life in the plural: our time, our work, our Saturday night plans. Life as a couple was a marvelous experience, one he had thought he would never again have.

"We must make the time," Alec had declared, "or nobody is going to make the time for us."

They had done precisely that. After leaving the Institute in the capable hands of Jace, Clary and Izzy, and rearranging their many commitments, they had portalled to Granada the day before. At Alec's request, they had found a small apartment with a terrace and an unobstructed view of the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada mountains. Alec had even arranged for groceries to be delivered. This would be a quiet and intimate getaway, he had told Magnus: home cooked meals, evening strolling the city or the palace, and absolutely no Shadowhunter or Downworld business.

After a simple meal out in the terrace, they had set out on foot up the hill towards the Alhambra palace. The day was sunny, warm and dry, so different from the winter scenery they had left in New York. As they walked along the trails that led up to the fortress, Magnus had told Alec stories of his previous visits to the Alhambra; of the many people, mundanes and downworlders, he had met in Spain over the centuries; of horseback rides from the coast, along the path that bordered the mountains to visit the Spanish court when it occupied the palace. He also told Alec of the work he did in the 1930s, when a group of archeologists and historians hired him to excavate some of the palace's original reflective pools. The pools had been buried by some of the people who had occupied the palace after the Moors were spelled from the region five hundred years before.

"Where you here when the Moors still occupied Granada Magnus?" Alec had asked when Magnus was telling him about the history of the Alhambra.

"Alexander, I know sometimes I pretend to be older than I am, but the truth is that I am not that old. The Moors were expelled from Granada in the fifteenth century, at least two hundred years before I was born."

"I can't imagine what it is like to speak of centuries as if they were decades," Alec had commented as he looked up towards the palace's walls. Magnus had said nothing because there was nothing he could say. Immortality was so hard to understand for those who didn't get to experience it.

They had spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the rooms, corridors and inner courtyards of the Alhambra, admiring its breathtaking architecture, its column arcades, its fountains and reflecting pools in which water seemed to have been flowing nonstop for the last five hundred years. Magnus explained to Alec the value of the monument as an example of Islamic art, with its Arabic inscriptions, complicated mathematical patterns and intricate mosaics and wooden ceilings. He had told him about being hired once to translate some of the most obscured inscriptions and how that allowed him to spend a few weeks practically living in the palace. He spoke of his friend Gabriela, a young historian and artist, and of an evening picnic by one of the fountains with her, a picnic that included an inordinate amount of wine and that resulted in a few hours Magnus couldn't completely account for.

Alec, as usual had laughed at Magnus's stories, but for some reason, he seemed a little nervous or perhaps absent, as if his thoughts were only partially in the present.

As the sun begun to make its descend towards the horizon, the red bricks walls that made up the fortress, and the red clay that covered the nearby mountains had become almost luminescent and the landscape had been painted in the most spectacular tones of red and orange. "This is why the Moors called the palace Qalat Al-Hamra, The Red One," Magnus had explained as he and Alec admired the scenery from one of the terraces. "The palace closes at sunset," he added, "we should start heading down."

"Can't we not stay a little longer?" Alec had asked. "I can use glamor, or you can use magic to hide us."

"Why Alexander! Are you proposing I use my powers to break the law? When did you turn into me?" Magnus had taken Alec by the hand and pulled him into a dark corner and with a flick of his fingers, had cast a spell that made them both invisible. "What should we do now?" he then asked, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"I can think of a few things," Alec had replied and pushing Magnus against the wall, had sought his lips for a kiss that left them both breathless. As he hooked his fingers on the belt loops of Alec's jeans and pulled him closer to him, Magnus had thanked the universe for the simple invisibility spell that concealed them from the visitors that were slowly beginning to leave the palace. They had kissed long and slow as oblivious to the tourist as the tourist were to them. After a while, they had left their refuge and walked hand in hand towards the gardens that surrounded the palace, and after strolling along pathways and around fountains and flower beds for a while, they had reached a water fountain that stood in the middle of a knot garden.

"This is one of the fountains that I helped dig out," Magnus had commented recognizing the intricate design. He looked at the beautiful water fountain with some nostalgia and wondered whether Gabriela had completed its restauration, and then, remembering how much time it had passed, realized that his friend must have died decades ago.

Alec had stood behind Magnus and wrapped his arms around him, and Magnus had leaned back against the sturdy and sheltering body of the Shadowhunter. "Thank you for bringing me here Magnus," Alec whispered in his ear. "I know that it is not always easy to revisit places that hold so many memories for you, but this trip feels like the end of a process for me, the closure of a stage and the beginning of another."

Magnus had squeezed Alec's hands but had said nothing. Alec was right, this felt like the beginning of a new phase in his life, or rather in their lives. Since they had returned to New York, they had rarely spoken about that night in Venice, or about the effects of the protection spell. Perhaps they felt there was nothing more to say; perhaps they were both still trying to sort out what everything meant, what their future would look like. They had walked back to their apartment at twilight, and Alec had not let go of Magnus' hand despite the fact that they were no longer invisible. As soon as they walked in and closed the door, Alec had guided Magnus to the bedroom and had kissed him long, gently and passionately before slowly taking off his clothes.

"I love you Magnus," he had said. At that moment, Magnus had forgotten his earlier nostalgia for past lives, and only that moment with Alec's existed, only Alec's gentle touch, only the soft feel of his lips, and the sheltering sensation of his strong body.

Magnus now took a few of the pomegranate seeds and sprinkled them over his own chest, the red little jewels gleaming in the soft glow of the many candles he had magically lighted around the room. He gave Alec a mischievous smile, his eyes issuing and invitation or perhaps a dare.

"Is this a challenge, warlock?" Alec asked with a mischievous smile of his own. He then licked one of the seeds off Magnus' golden skin, and the breath caught in the warlock's throat. But rather than continuing, Alec stopped, fixed his eyes on Magnus, gave him a teasing smile, and bit his own lower lip in that way that always made Magnus lose his train of thought.

"Oh, don't tease me Shadowhunter," Magnus retorted, his voice carrying a feigned tone of complain.

"I am sure you can find other enticing places to spill those seeds," Alec whispered in Magnus' ear. He chuckled softly when he saw the goosebumps rising is Magnus' arms and the glamor vanishing from his eyes, gold taking over black as Magnus' pupils constricted. Suddenly, Magnus' eyes sparkled as if they were precious stones, their shine competing with the red glow of the pomegranate seeds. Magnus smiled seductively, grabbed another handful of seeds and, just like Hansel did in the fairytale, began to drop them like breadcrumbs along a path, a trail that clearly demarcated all relevant landmarks in the geography of his body and which Alec was happy to traverse.

Alec slowly licked the seeds off Magnus' skin, following the path the warlock showed him, the sweetness of skin and fruit mixing in his mouth, stoking the fire in the center of his being, that fire that never seemed to completely go out. When Alec thought that he was drunk in the sweet taste of fruit and Magnus, in the scent of forest and fresh mountain air from Magnus' skin, Magnus wrapped his legs around Alec and shifting their positions, pinned him under his own body, the movement catching Alec by surprise.

"I love you," Magnus whispered, his voice husky, his eyes like bottomless pools of gold honey.

"I love you too Magnus, always," replied Alec, and entangling his fingers in Magnus' hair, pulled him closer, seeking his lips.

They got lost then in the texture and taste of each other; in the urgency of their increasing desire; in the sensations of their bodies moving together in a dance only people who truly love one another can ever really master. They should have been surprised that, after making love almost nonstop since they first walked into their room hours before, they could still feel such raging urgency for one another, but they weren't. Instead, they let themselves be carried away by the torrent of their need, by the sounds of their passion which drown all other sound, and by the sight of their pleasure-filled faces which erased everything else. When Alec saw that Magnus gripped the sheets in an attempt to contain the climax he already knew was building like a volcano in the center of Magnus' being, a volcano that no amount of restrain or effort could stop from erupting, he let go of his own attempts at self-control. His body began to move with increasing speed as he urged Magnus to take flight with him, to let go of all ties to the world and allow himself to be transported to that place between heaven and earth in which only they existed. When he heard Magnus calling his name in a tempest of pleasure, he too orgasmed in a chain of loving promises whispered in the warlock's ear.

"Pomegranate is definitely my new favorite fruit," Magnus whispered as his breathing settled, his arms firmly wrapped around Alec, containing and anchoring him, as the last of the aftershocks washed over the Shadowhunter.

They laid in silence for a while and after a few minutes, Alec's breathing changed as he drifted off to sleep, one arm wrapped around Magnus' waist, his head resting on Magnus' shoulder, his nose in the hollow of Magnus' neck. Magnus kissed him on the forehead, the gesture tender and almost paternal and silently thanked him for insisting on this trip. They needed this, he thought: this time without interruptions, without duty or responsibilities.

When he was certain that Alec was deep asleep, he slowly and quietly got up and after donning on his black silk pajama bottoms and one of Alec's t-shirts, he silently opened the French doors and walked out onto the terrace. The full moon looked spectacular as it hung high on the sky, bigger than usual, its silvery shine almost obscuring the lights that illuminated the Alhambra. The night was quiet except for the seductive call of the nightingales. Magnus leaned on the veranda that surrounded the terrace and contemplated the surprising turn his life had taken in the last few months.

Previous to this trip, Magnus and Alec hadn't really had any real time to themselves since, well since those two days they disappeared from the face of the earth right after they returned to New York from Venice. The days and nights following Annaliese's death had been hectic to say the least. The whole team had remained in Venice for a few days, helping with clean-ups and cover-ups to ensure that mundanes remain oblivious to the Shadow World and to the crisis that had so narrowly been averted. They had also welcomed the representatives of The Clave and the Head Inquisitor who, as usual, arrived when it was too late to do anything productive, when it was no longer dangerous for the Nephilim of Idris to step beyond their borders.

Magnus had always thought of himself as capable of adjusting to almost anything. He had, after all, been born during a time and in a place without many of the amenities and comforts of the modern world. However, after six days in an apartment with five Shadowhunters and another warlock, and the constant interruptions of Nephilim walking in and out without regard for privacy, he had been at the edge of insanity. It was funny, Magnus thought, that an apartment that had seemed spacious when he and Alec had stayed there, seemed to be full to bursting when the whole team occupied it.

Magnus had always found Alec's fastidious attention to order, cleanliness and tidiness endearing, but that didn't mean that he was prepared to live with four other Shadowhunters with the same habits. It was just too much. And then, there had been the lack of privacy; the people sleeping on sofas and in sleeping bags in the hallway; the arguments over whose turn it was to use the bathrooms; the constant teasing because Magnus spent too much time doing his hair. Magnus had never had siblings; had never really had a family, and the last time he had lived with others it had been in Annaliese's plantation in Batavia. As a result, he was not prepared and had no inclination to live in close quarters with a bunch of Nephilim.

He and Alec hadn't had a single moment to themselves during those few days. He was all into adventure, but there was no way that he would make love to Alec with all those Shadowhunters sleeping right outside their door, and most nights Alec had been too tired for sex anyway. They had, at the end, resorted to stolen kisses, evening strolls through the city, the brushing of fingers when passing in the hallway, and looks of longing from across the room. Magnus had felt that he was back in time, back when platonic love, looks of desire that promised more than delivered, and little somethings whispered in the ear was the most common way in which people expressed romantic feelings for one another.

There had also been the stares from some of the other Nephilim, the looks of rejection and even revulsion when they saw Alec and Magnus together, and which had reminded Magnus of the bigotry and prejudice of some of the Angel's Chosen. In front of Magnus, Alec had pretended not to notice, but Magnus knew that Alec had gotten into more than one heated argument over their relationship. Magnus wondered about the effect of their relationship on Alec's career and reputation as a Shadowhunter.

Magnus had already decided to return to New York by himself when Alec finally announced that they were going home. Magnus loved Venice, had loved it at different points in its history, and had never imagined that he would want to leave the city with such eagerness.

"Take me home," Alec had whispered in Magnus' ear as soon as they had stepped onto the New York Institute's roof. Turning to his parabatai, Alec had asked Jace to look after things for a couple of days and to not call unless the sky was falling on the Institute, and only if they couldn't figure out how to hold it up.

"Remember that I haven't been back in my penthouse since we left for Europe last summer," Magnus had mentioned as he and Alec walked towards the subway. "Forgive the mess."

At the end, there hadn't been any mess. Catarina, who had returned to New York with Luke and Raphael a couple of days after the battle, had been by and had tidied up and stocked the refrigerator and cupboards with food. However, Magnus didn't think it would have mattered much if his place had been in ruins. For as soon as Magnus closed the door behind them, Alec turned and grabbing him by the lapel of his jacket, pushed him with unbelievable strength and certainty against the wall. He then kissed Magnus with a passion and hunger that took Magnus' breath away and with surprising urgency reached for his belt buckle.

"I couldn't have stayed one more day in that crowded apartment," Alec said when he took a break from kissing Magnus a moment later. "I wanted you so badly that I thought I was going to go crazy."

It was Magnus then the one who had grabbed Alec by his shirt and turning, pinned him against the wall rejoicing in the feel of Alec's strong and tall body against his own. "I know exactly how you feel Alexander" he said as, with his lips and tongue, he began to trace maddening lines along Alec's neck, breathing in the mixture of lemon, soap and desire in Alec's skin. Alec had caught fire and Magnus had burned, and at an almost blinding speed, they had peeled each other's clothes off searching for the feel and taste of each other's skin. In minutes, they laid naked on the soft rug Magnus had bought for his hallway during a trip to India, and they were moving at the rhythm of their uncontained need and passion, searching for a quick release to their accumulated longing. They had possessed one another hastily and with a hunger that made them almost clumsy, and before their minds had a chance to catch up, they had had been climaxing with such intensity that Magnus was sure the neighbors would evict him for disturbing the peace of the building.

Afterwards, Magnus had gotten to his feet, had reached for Alec's hand, and had guided him to the bedroom. By soft candlelight, he had spent the remaining of the night savoring Alec slowly and unhurriedly, and Alec had savored him in the same way. For the next two days and two nights, the apartment had become a place of magic and Magnus and Alec its magic inhabitants. Their room became a place in which gravity didn't always behave as expected; a place without glamor or disguises; a place of shooting stars and tiny full moons, of golden magic lines obscuring runes, reaching out from fingers in search of connection and home.

They had spent two days and two nights completely oblivious to everything else going on in the world, lost in a universe of their own design in which only the other existed and mattered. Alec had, as usual, been as demanding as he had been generous and with his habitual open heart had given and taken pleasure from Magnus in equal measure, possessing and allowing himself to be possessed with no need to dominate or submit. He had laughed openly and wholeheartedly with Magnus' stories and had been, as usual, caring and gentle, bringing Magnus coffee or food, brushing the hair away from his forehead and wrapping his arms around him when they sat on the sofa. He had also been adventurous and inventive in his lovemaking and, once again, Magnus had been surprised that someone for whom this was his very first experience, someone who just a few months ago had been closeted, could be so comfortable with this new intimacy. "I have a good teacher" Alec had answered when Magnus commented on it.

"Can I meet him?" Magnus had teasingly asked.

In those two days, Magnus and Alec had healed the last of the wounds the previous few months had inflicted on them, and by the time Magnus found Alec making coffee and breakfast on the third morning, fully dressed in his usual Shadowhunter clothes, the last barriers Magnus had erected around his heart were a distant memory.

"Can I come back after work tonight?" Alec had asked as he handed Magnus a piece of toast with butter and jam. The question had sounded like a plea, as if Alec didn't feel entitled to Magnus' space or company; as if he was giving Magnus a way out, an opportunity, however unnecessary, to say no, to set boundaries, to put distance between them; as if he was offering his heart without the expectation that Magnus would take it.

"Move in," Magnus had replied without thinking or planning, because it was the most natural of things to suggest; because he wanted to build a home with Alec; because he knew that only with Alec his life felt right. Alec had smiled broadly and had hugged Magnus tightly.

"I will see you tonight," he had said and had kissed Magnus at the door. Since then, Alec's clothes –all of them in the same tones of grey and black –occupied a small corner of Magnus' walk-in closet; his toothbrush had found a home beside Magnus' in the bathroom; and Alec's black socks cheerfully spin with Magnus' more colorful ones in the dryer. Magnus had even emptied the closet by his front door, so Alec could store his weapons when he came home after a night of shadowhunting.

Magnus had lived a long time and would likely live for many centuries still. Yet, with Alec, he felt that his life had found containment, an anchor, something to tether him and keep him from being blown away by the unceasing winds of time. He was in love, he had known it for a long time, and looked forwards to a long life with Alec. Yet, as he now looked up at the moon, he couldn't help thinking that perhaps Alec was being shortchanged in the arrangement. Alexander was a mortal, someone with a limited number of decades to experience life. He, Magnus, had lived so many lifetimes, had seen so many mortals come and go and, thus, had a sense of how short and fragile mortal life was, how little time mortals had to experience living. He had been Alec's first and only relationship, his first date, his first kiss, his first lover. When Magnus had asked Alec to move in with him, he had also asked him to give up his freedom, to close the door to the possibility of other relationships. It wasn't that Magnus had asked Alec to be just with him. He didn't need to ask; he knew that it was in Alec's nature to be faithful. But perhaps Alec deserved to experience more, to live more, to go on adventures, to taste other lips and be in other arms. The thought of Alec being with someone other than him caused Magnus deep despair and a feeling of possessiveness that was new to him. Still, he didn't want Alec to look back on his life one day and wish he had done more, seen more, feel more.

"What are you thinking Magnus?" Alec asked from the doorway, his voice a little hoarse and still heavy with sleep. He was putting on a t-shirt over his track pants. As he approached Magnus, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes with the back of his hand. He then looked up at the moon as Magnus had done before, and the sight of his moonlighted face took Magnus' breath away. Once again, he thought that Alec looked like an angel, and something in his heart melted and spread surprising warmth throughout his body.

"Nothing," he replied. "I thought you were asleep."

"I woke up and you were not there," replied Alec and the words and the expression on his face reminded Magnus of just how young Alec truly was. Alec put one hand over Magnus' which rested on the edge of the veranda, "The moon is beautiful, and you look beautiful under its glow," Alec added and, placing his other hand on Magnus' cheek, kissed him slowly, lovingly and fervently. Magnus rested his free hand on Alec's chest and through his shirt felt Alec's heart beating at the same steady rhythm as its echo on the omamori mark on his own chest. They kissed for a long time, neither of them feeling the need to take things further, contented in the taste and feel of each other's lips, and in the sensations of each other's touch.

"I want to ask you something, Magnus," Alec said after a long while of kissing. He then turned and looked out towards the distance, his shoulder touching Magnus', one hand still resting on Magnus' hand.

"Sure" Magnus replied offhandedly as he too followed Alec's gaze, apparently oblivious to the nervousness that had creeped into Alec's voice.

"You know that I love you and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I am wondering whether you would consider being just with me for the foreseeable future. I mean I know that you have had many relationships before, men and women, and I would understand if you don't want to be exclusively with me, but if you do…" His voice trailed off a little, as if he was unsure how to proceed, and Magnus realized that Alec was unusually nervous, and that his voice contained a tone of uncertainty he hadn't heard in a long time.

"I love you too Alexander, and I don't want to be with anyone else. I told you I am a one-soul-at-the-time kind of man. Why are bringing this up now?"

"Because if you think that you could be with me for the rest of my life, I wonder if you would consider asking me to marry you." With shaking hands, Alec took a small black box from his pants' pocket and presented it to Magnus.

"What?" Magnus asked. He looked down at the box and then back at Alec as if doing a double take to ensure that he had heard correctly. He took the box but didn't open it.

"I would like you to ask me to marry you Magnus," Alec replied, his voice considerably more certain than it had been when this conversation started.

"Alexander, marriage is a big commitment, especially for a Nephilim…"

"I know that," Alec interrupted. "That is why I want us to do it. I want everybody to know that what we have is serious, as serious as any marriage. I mean, we are already closer than most married couples are. Our lives are already bonded together…"

"But that doesn't mean that we have to get married," Magnus retorted. "I didn't cast that spell so you would stay with me forever, Alexander."

"I am not with you because you cast that spell Magnus. Let's agree that neither of us owes the other anything. Let's agree that we are together because we both want this. Unless, of course, you don't want to…" Alec's voiced trailed off again and Magnus' heart broke a little seeing the sudden uncertainty creeping into Alec's voice.

"Alexander," he hastily said. "I love you, you must never doubt that, and if you would have me, I want to build a long life with you. I told you, I look forward to getting old, grey and wrinkled with you. But we don't need marriage for that, and you are still so young. How do you know this is what you want? I mean how do you know that one day you won't want someone else? I am your first relationship, you may want to experience other relationships." His earlier thoughts suddenly weighted heavily in Magnus' mind, and despite knowing how much it would hurt him, he was certain that he didn't want to rob Alec of any chances to live life to the fullest.

"I may be young in comparison to you, Magnus," Alec stated, all uncertainty gone from his voice, "and I may not have all the life experiences you have. I will never know what it is like to count life in centuries, but I know my own heart. This is what I want. I want you to be my life partner. I don't want or need anyone else, and I don't want anybody, Nephilim, mundane or downworlders, to ever doubt my commitment to you."

"But marriage Alexander?" Magnus asked, a knot lodging itself in his throat.

"I plan to marry only once in my life Magnus, and I want to do it with you. I want my people to recognize and honor what we have," Alec replied, his voice full of unquestionable conviction.

"Are you sure? I am not the best choice for a Shadowhunter's husband."

"Do you say that because you are a man?" Alec asked. "I thought we were past that."

"No just because of that, you must know," Magnus replied.

"Because you are a warlock then."

"That too…and because I am not white. I mean, you must know that a marriage with me will raise eyebrows among the Nephilim. Many will object to one of Idris' most beloved sons, a member of a prominent and respectable Shadowhunter family to marry someone who is a warlock, a man and not white, it can't get any more unconventional than that! What would your parents say? What would this mean for your career?"

"Magnus," Alec replied, and as if to quiet his concerns, rested his hand on Magnus' chest, the familiar echo of two heartbeats reminding him of the unbreakable bond between them. "I see everything about you, and I love all of it. I love you because, and not despite, the fact that you are a man of color who is also a magic-maker. Can you love me with everything that I am, despite belonging to a society that still needs to change so much, despite the limitations of my mortal life? If you do, I promise that I will make sure my family and the rest of my people accept us. It is time the Nephilim got over their prejudices, racism and sense of superiority. But if you don't want to ask me to marry you because you are not sure, I will understand." Alec looked down at his hand resting atop Magnus' chest, and the sadness in his expression stirred something in the pit of Magnus' stomach.

"Why do you want me to ask you? You could ask me," Magnus said, and his eyes searched for Alec's eyes, enticing him to look at him again.

"Because I want this partnership to be between equals," Alec replied. "I know that the Nephilim have treated you as if you were inferior, as if you had no choice but to serve them and do what they asked. This is my own imperfect way of telling you that I will never behave like that with you. You don't have to ask me if you are not ready; I just want you to know that if and when you do feel ready, I will say yes because there is nothing else I want more in the world."

Magnus took a deep breath and smiled because, at that moment, he couldn't find any words to convey the feelings that were making his heart beat faster and his thoughts race. As he had seen Alec do in his encounters with other Downworlders, Alec wanted him to know that he had rights and power in their relationship, that he could say no, or make his own choices independently from what he, Alec, wanted. In his own peculiar way, Alec was relinquishing control to Magnus. Magnus looked down at the small black box in his hand, the box that Alec had handed to him with shaking hands. He opened it and inside, nestle if black velvet, he found two rings, two simple white gold wedding bands, heavy and sturdy, without adornment or jewels, but solid just like Alec.

"I saw them in the jewelry store on Ponte Vecchio in Florence when we were there during our vacation," Alec explained. "I told the jeweler to hold them for me and meant to go back to get them, but then things happened, and our life took a turn. Last week, I asked Catarina to portal me back. I know they are not as glamourous as you are used to, but I wanted them to match and I cannot wear anything too intricate while I am at work and I don't want to have to take mine off every time I need to wear gear. If you don't like them, we can choose something else…"

"They are perfect," Magnus interrupted, and he was suddenly seeing Alec through a thin veil of tears. He swallowed and took a deep breath to rein in his emotions and steady his hand. He then looked up into Alec's eyes and smiled.

"Alexander Lightwood," he said, his voice a little shaky, the small black box opened in his hand, the wedding bands reflecting the light from the full moon. "Would you do me, Magnus Bane, the great honor of accepting my hand in marriage? If you say yes, I promise to love you for the rest of my life."

Alec smiled broadly and brightly, and, for a moment, the smile almost outshined the full moon. "Yes, Magnus Bane, I do," he replied and touched his forehead to Magnus' as if wanting to convey that their union would be of heart, body and mind. "I promise to love, honor and protect you with my very life and for as long as I draw breath," he added, his voice carrying the full force of a solemn oath.

Alec and Magnus would marry by mundane, warlock and Nephilim law two years later, and would profess their commitment in vows of love and loyalty in front of all their friends and family. It would take them that long to marry because Alec would spend that time making sure that Nephilim law recognized their bond and their union as equal to any other Nephilim marriage. Theirs would be the first of many such unions that over the years, decades and centuries would slowly change not only the make-up of Nephilim society, but also the relationship between the different peoples that made up the Shadow World.

Yet when, over the years, people asked them about the moment when their relationship was decided, they would not speak of their wedding, or of the night when Alec brought Magnus back from the grip of death by using the magic bond that existed between them. Rather, it would this night and these words that they would recall as the moment when their bond was sealed. They would remember this night under a full moon as the moment when their destinies became one. As Alec closed the distance between him and Magnus and tenderly kissed him, his hand still resting on Magnus' chest, the reassuring sensation of his and Magnus' hearts beating as one, he knew that he would spend the rest of his life doing everything in his power to make sure that Magnus never regretted trusting him with his heart and his life.

Magnus wrapped his arms around Alec's waist and pulled him closer, and for the first time in his very long life, he was not afraid of what the future would bring because he was no longer alone, no longer an orphan, no longer an abandoned child without home or kin. For Alec had claimed him, recognized him as equal, beckoned him to become his partner in life, and in the process, Alec became his home, his country and his kin.