Stronger Than Heaven

Epilogue

Jace's eyelids fluttered open and he woke up to a dark room. He looked at the empty bed beside him and then over at the digital clock on the nightstand. 6:17 AM. It was early, but too late to go back to sleep. Silently, he pushed the blankets off of him and kicked his feet over, placing them onto the floor. He sighed, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

He knew what today was. It had been 5 years. 5 years since he made one of the biggest decisions of his life. He also knew where she would be.

He threw on a light sweater and quietly made his way to the door, trying not to wake the others. A few minutes later, he was standing at the window, staring at the familiar redheaded girl and her easel. He smiled at her, appreciating every detail of her face, now a little older, but still the same Clary he fell in love with years ago.

A minute passed and she must have sensed him watching her. She looked up and their eyes met. He suddenly recalled that fateful day in Idris, 5 years ago to this date.

-

Jace walked into the room and looked around curiously. Clary had changed back into the clothes that she had worn at the park, before she portaled to Alicante and all of the events that had happened since. It was hard to believe that it all happened within a matter of days. Now, here they were.

She was neatly folding the clothes she had borrowed and placing them onto the bed. She looked so serene in that moment, her red locks impressively in place after travelling through countless portals. She was beautiful.

She looked up when she heard Jace enter the room and her back instantly straightened. They gazed at each other momentarily before Jace finally walked in, his arms crossed and his face unreadable.

"Is this a good time to talk?" he asked. She nodded and sat down on the bed, her slender arms wrapping around herself.

She spoke first. "I know what Harold said to you... and the object that he gave you." Jace gave her a curious look. "I was right outside of the library, eavesdropping."

Jace laughed softly at this, shaking his head slightly. "I should've known."

She shifted her gaze to the floor, her arms wrapping tighter around herself. "Aline is going to assist me out of Alicante and back to my apartment in New York," she said, her voice tinged with sadness. Jace tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Aline?" he repeated, trying to study her expression. "Clary, I-"

"I guess this is it," she whispered and looked up at him finally, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm so sorry, Jace." A tear escaped then and he automatically reached up to wipe it away. "I know we wanted to hear something different from Harold... an easy... an easy fix, I guess. But I think that was naive for us to think."

Jace went silent for a second. "Naive maybe... but, it was an easy decision for me, Clary." She frowned at this and looked away. "I'm joining you in New York."

Her head shot up and she stared at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I talked to Alec, Isabelle, Simon, and Magnus..." His eyes were intense, boring into hers as if they were never going to see each other again. "I said my goodbyes. It's not like my memory will be gone. We can still see them. I just... won't fight alongside them anymore."

Clary shook her head and stood up, her expression changing from confusion to disbelief. "No, no, no, no. Jace, I can't let you do that."

He frowned. "I've made my decision, Clary. This world doesn't mean anything to me without you. I would give it all up, for you."