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"We need to know, Magnus." Jace said a week later, after putting William to sleep. He had played all afternoon with Simon and Isabelle, as happy as he could be. Since he came back he was showered in so much love that he was always laughing. And with every little smile, he healed a wound in his parents hearts.
It was amazing how much could change in so little time: as soon as Jia had returned to Alicante, she had made known through the Vampire representative that any attempt of hurting the Herondale family would have been considered an act of war toward the Nephilim and would have been dealt accordingly. Facing the likely annihilation of their entire species, the Night Children had wisely decided to back down from their dreams of daywalking and were rewarded with the unspoken forgiveness for having even thought about allying with the Fairies against the Shadowhunters. Of course the werewolves were furious about the unprovoked attacks on their packs, so the vampires weren't in a happy place right now, but the Nephilim were going to let the werewolves have their revenge, at least until they didn't cross the line.
For the first time in months, Clary and Jace felt safe. The fairies were still shocked by the loss of their Queen and were trying to survive and choose a new one among the relatives of the former sovereign. It was weird but the emissary the Seelie fairies sent to the Clave almost looked relieved that the old Queen was dead.
"You wouldn't believe it," Clary had commented when she returned from one of the Council meetings. "I think the fairies were pretty tired of having to put up with the Queen and her hatred for the Shadowhunters. This ambassador actually looks like he's willing to work with us to stabilise the Fairy Kingdom, saying it's time for them to rebuild."
And Jace would know because he was keeping close contact both with the ambassador and with Jia, to make sure that the fairies were spared from further punishments: he owed Kaelie that much.
What neither of them liked was that Spyra, the Unseelie Princess, had made an appearance in Idris, to sustain her brother's claim that the Unseelie fairies wanted to detach from the Seelie ones and be treated as their own species. The Herondales and the Lightwoods were bound by Alec's promise to the Unseelie King to back the claim up, and while they were hating it with all their hearts, they were still doing it. A Shadowhunter never breaks his oaths.
Aside from the Council meetings though, they never went to Idris and they never stayed for more time than necessary. They had more personal matters to attend at home. Such as what to do with Sebastian's daughter.
"Are you sure?" Magnus asked, looking at Jace. "Maybe we can wait a bit more."
"No." Clary was with them, just outside the door of the room where both William and the baby were sleeping. "William won't leave her. He cries if he's not with her, she cries if she's alone. We must face the possibility that they're linked somehow."
"And what if they are?" Alec asked, leaning on the wall beside the door. Isabelle and Simon were there as well, worried faces looking at them.
"I don't know." Jace sighed. "Kaelie said that the baby was always sick, that she was weak but she never even sneezed since she's here. And her eyes are green, not black. Maybe Will really healed her and that bonded them together."
Magnus shook his head looking at him. "I'm pretty sure that's not the case. There has to be an exchange to bond two people together and I don't think the baby ever gave anything to Will. The Queen would have had to shatter the crystal to give William some of the baby's blood because in that case sharing it with magic wouldn't have worked. She would have needed to really extract it from her and that would have weakened her: she wouldn't have risked it until she was sure the baby was healed."
There was a moment of silence before Magnus resumed. "Honestly, I think you should just consider the possibility that they love each other like siblings. Just simple love, no dark magic involved. Will went through a big shock in the last months and he was repeatedly told the baby is his sister. She recognises him because he gave her his blood."
As one weird look was exchanged between Jace and Clary, Simon whistled and nodded. "Oh, I get it, Fray. You two are getting attached to the baby, right? And before you fall irrevocably in love with her, you need to know if she's evil or not."
"I'm not… she's not…" Clary tried, but then looked at her parabatai. "You're frustrating, Simon."
"I just know you. Sometimes more than you know yourself."
"It's just…" Jace ran a hand through his hair in distress. "She was crying earlier today. She was crying and she wouldn't stop. And then Clary picked her up and the baby looked at her and then she grabbed my finger. She relaxed in Clary's arms and she fell asleep holding my finger. She wouldn't let go. So we sat down and then William arrived and he climbed in my lap and just stayed there with this happy smile…"
He looked at his family, then he sighed. "We need to know that she's fine, that she will be… fine. That she won't fall sick or grow up and become some crazy monster we'll be forced to put down. Do you understand?"
"I'll tell you something Jace." Alec quietly said, his arms crossed on his chest. "Do you remember when Hodge died? You asked him why he never told you about Valentine and what he did to you. Do you remember what he answered?"
Jace was silent for a minute before murmuring. "He said that he couldn't be sure of who I really was. And that he hoped that upbringing would matter more than blood."
"If you love this baby, you can make the difference." Alec continued, nodding his head. "Even if Sebastian blood is still in her, you can help her overcome it. Sebastian was raised in hatred and spite, this baby would be cherished. She would know what love means."
"Oh brother, you're such a soft heart." Isabelle whispered, leaning her head on Alec's shoulder. "But he's right. I hated Sebastian, you know that. He killed Max. But honestly, I look at his daughter and I just see a baby. I don't see him at all. She smiles. She laughs. She's innocent."
"And any ritual that I could do to be sure that the demon blood is gone, would hurt her." Magnus added. "I'd have to see if she reacts to anything demonic, and it wouldn't be a piece of cake for her, especially if she's healed and Will's angelic blood replaced her own."
"What if— " Clary asked after a moment of silence. "What if this is a mistake? What if blood is more important than upbringing? What if she grows up and we find out we made the wrong choice?"
"You can't know that." Simon took a step toward her. "Nobody can. Blood isn't the only thing that can turn someone evil, you know. Do you think Darth Vader turned to the Dark Side because it was written in his DNA? Ha!"
Clary hit him on the shoulder, trying not to laugh. "Only you could bring up a Star Wars reference now, Simon."
"Hey, but it's true!" He insisted. "And look what happened. He turned to the Dark Side and did a lot of nasty stuff, but in the end he found himself again, and saved everyone."
"In his nerdy way, he's right, Clary." Isabelle wasn't even pretending not to be laughing. "Stuff happens. Life happens. It can be good and it can be bad, but in the end, all we can do is our best."
Clary was about to reply when a sudden cry of protest rose from the room behind them and she rushed inside to check. Just a second later, the crying stopped and she came out with a soft bundle in her arms. The baby was awake, her green eyes open and curiously looking around, a pacifier in her mouth that she was religiously sucking. One hand grabbed a lock of Clary's red hair and started twirling it between the fingers, fascinated by the texture.
"Will is still asleep. I got her before she woke him." She whispered, carefully holding the baby.
"I say we call her Leia." Simon burst out, looking at the child wrapped in her pink blanket. "So she'll always remember that she can be a Jedi, and not a Sith."
"On my dead body, Lovelace." Jace gave him a cuff on the head. "We already have a name for her, anyway."
Silence fell as they suddenly realised that it was a done deal: giving the baby a name meant that they were keeping her, for better and for worse. They wouldn't subject her to any test, they wouldn't hurt her that way. All they could do was love her, make her part of a family who would cherish her every step of the way. And as weird as it sounded, giving that she was the daughter of their worst enemy, it also felt right in their heart.
"So, what's her name?" Isabelle asked, a smile on her lips.
"She's called Laetitia." Clary softly answered.
"Latin for Joy?" Alec raised his eyebrow, looking at her. "She certainly smiles enough to deserve the name."
"It's for good luck." Jace murmured, coming to Clary's side and caressing the baby's head. "She was born in pain, in hatred and sickness. We wish her joy now, we wish her that she will always feel loved, that she will always smile."
"Besides," he smiled smugly, "I like the way it sounds with my surname. Pretty badass."
"Laetitia Herondale." Clary smiled, leaning down to kiss the baby's forehead. "Our daughter. Welcome home, sweetie."
It was freezing that day in Idris, but the sky was clear. Snow covered the trees, just like two weeks before when Clary had been to Lake Lyn for the last time. And yet everything had changed.
Clary carried the stroller where Laetitia was sleeping toward the water and looked at her husband and son, playing in the snow. William was hitting his father with snowballs and Jace was laughing, playing target.
"Hello Jonathan." She softly called. "I guess you were not expecting me so soon right? After all the last time I was here, I cursed you."
She sighed and gently caressed her daughter's cheek.
"Things changed. Again. And for the better this time. William is back and thanks the Angel he's alright. It was all a cruel trick but I'm somehow grateful for that because at least I know he's healthy. He's speaking again and my greatest joy is hearing him calling for me. Every time he says Mommy, I just melt. Can a boy be cuter than that?"
Looking at the calm water, she continued. "It's been hard. It still is. But I'm healing and I have Jace to thank for that: he's so patient with me, so loving. Sometimes I feel like a teenager with him, counting down the bases we touch in our relationship. And no, I'm not telling you which base we're on now… come on, that would be gross, brother."
She smiled, a secret, pleased light in her eyes. "But it's going well. And it will be better. I won't let Jiliel ruin this for me, like he tried to do. No way I'm giving him that power over me. So yes, I'll be alright."
She gently picked up Laetitia from the stroller and the baby woke up slowly, yawning and stretching. Looking at her, Clary smiled again.
"Today I came because I want you to meet someone special. You never had the chance before, but I think it is important to introduce you two: meet your daughter, Laetitia." She kissed her and held her close to her face. "People think she's an orphan Jace and I adopted after the last battle with the Fairies and that's fine. We're working on making peace with them, so that she'll never have to suffer like Helen and Mark Blackthorn did. I'll raise her as my daughter and I promise you that she'll be loved as if I gave birth to her. She'll be protected, cherished, cared for. Like you should have been, brother. And one day, when she's old enough, Jace and I will tell her the truth and we'll make sure that she knows the real you, the one who never had the chance to exist. I promise you."
Clary hugged Laetitia, stroking her hair and suddenly the baby turned, watching the lake. She smiled and held her little hand out, like she was grabbing something just as a weird, warm breeze brushed her and Clary. Clary closed her eyes, letting the wind touch her cheek and she raised her face to the sun, a soft "Thank you" whispering in her ear before being carried away by the breeze, up in the sky, toward the light.
William laughed behind her and she saw him and Jace walking to them.
Clary kissed her daughter again, put her back in the stroller and joined with her the rest of her family to play in the snow.
THE END
Author's note: And that's all folks. I'm smiling so hard now that my jaw hurts, I'm so happy I made it to here!
I'm so sorry for being late, but the website was down and I couldn't update! I had the chapter ready since lunch time :/
Anyway. As you noticed, there is no time skip to show what will become of Will and Laetitia… that's because I don't know what they will grow up into. I left the door open for the future and I share the hope of both Jace and Clary that Laetitia will grow up to be a joyful, bright young woman because she was loved and cared for since the beginning. That's how I want to imagine her and that's my tribute to Jonathan Morgenstern and the man he could have been if he had been raised in love, instead of spite.
A word about the name Laetitia. Why that name? I wanted a name to wish that baby good luck with her life, so I thought a lot about it. The most obvious choice was Hope, but I didn't like it. Then came Dawn, as the start of a new day/life. And then I came to Joy and that made sense to me. But I didn't like the sound of it ahahah. I looked up for names that meant Joy in different languages and I came across the latin Laetitia. Since latin is common background for the Shadowhunters, I thought, why not? And I liked the sound of it. So Laetitia was chosen :)
I started this fanfiction a year ago, when the first Academy's stories were coming out… and I refused to publish it until I was done because I know myself: I went through long periods of time when I couldn't write a single line because life as a wife and a mom of two little kids is never easy ^^
Also, the Academy stories kept coming out, and I kept adding details taken from them, like with the mention of little Max Lightwood and Simon's surname. I don't even know how many times I edited the chapters, adding things here and there, changing the words… it was a never ending job but I loved it, and I'm happy about my decision to withhold the fanfiction until it was complete: this way I made sure I said everything I wanted and in the way I wanted to. I tried to give you all as perfect a story as possible.
I don't know if I'll ever write another story, as I said my personal little Will and Laetitia keep me very busy, but never say never! I have some ideas but they would probably be completely AU, like my other oneshot. Anyway, if I ever publish something again, at least you know I'll see it through the end, because I'll never publish again a piece without it being already complete: I learnt my lesson with a couple of other fanfics (in another fandom) that are still unfinished.
Well… what can I say more? I loved this story with all my heart and I loved hearing your opinions and making this journey with you all. I hope my fantasy kept you company in this short couple of months.
Thank you all, from my heart! It was a beautiful ride :)