Seoul Institute meets London Institute

Chapter 14

Tavi couldn't believe it; her husband was standing right in front of her. She started punching his chest; it wasn't hard, but it was the only thing keeping her from bawling in the middle of LA. "How could you not give me like 50 years to grieve? No, I get back from burying you and Magnus tells me that you are already back?"

"Tavi," he said sweetly, "I had to return as soon as possible. You are a catch, and what if you found someone else?"

"Jinnie, there has never been anyone else. You are it for me, no matter the lifetime, you are my man. I would have loved you even if you returned as a woman."

He gave her his soft smile, which he always does when he has so much to say but can't get it out at once. "I knew you. I'd dream about you. Like, I knew what your favorite ice cream was and that you would sleep on your side with no blankets if you had it your way. I know you love caramel like it's your job, and if you are handed a staff, you can have everyone around you on the ground with few spins. I knew everything about you, but I didn't know you. Does that make any sense? It drove me crazy; my poor parents never understood what was happening."

Tears were flowing now; there was no stopping them. When she looked at him, she saw her Jinnie, not the Do-jin that everyone else sees. Her eyes widened, "oh my God, we have to get home. Church is going to be pissed that I'm late, but if you come too, he might forgive me."

"You kept him?"

Her head cocked to the side a bit, "Not sure that's an accurate representation of what happened; it's more like he decided that I was going to feed him for the rest of our immortal lives. They spent hours catching up; Jin told her about him growing up as a warlock. Tavi told him about their kids. Jin wanted to meet them, they knew that he was coming back, they had always been honest with their kids, even more since they had magic as well and would be immortal. But Jin was nervous, while he had all of the old Jin's memories, they weren't his kids technically. But he loved them so much.

It took time for them to understand what Magnus did for their parents. They visited the graves of his brothers; they were buried together beside his in LA. He wanted to be there since that's where they met, and after Joon went next and wanted to be buried next to his parabatai, the rest followed. It was hard for Tavi, watching people you loved grow old and pass and seeing Jin's eyes fill with tears as he placed flowers on their graves. She was thankful that he was a warlock and she'd never have to bury him again.

Sitting on the couch, Church curled up between them, purring, was everything she'd wanted since he left. "I didn't realize just how lonely I've been since you left. It was like I closed myself off to everything; I didn't want to feel anymore."

"I always felt like I was searching for something. I tried dating and it was always a disaster, as soon as they tried to kiss me I'd freeze up and pull away. Guilt would wash over me like I was doing something wrong, cheating on someone, and I never knew who. All I could see was a girl with purple hair."

Tavi pulled the blonde strands of her hair out to look at them. "It's been a long time since I had purple—so long, in fact, that I'd completely forgotten about it."

"I want to see everything with you. I want everything we couldn't do last time because we were shadowhunters." He was getting frustrated, not able to articulate everything he wanted but knowing everything he did want.

"And we'll do that. We'll do everything, how about we go to London first? It's been a hot minute since I've had Nando's, and I think Jimin would be happy if I ate some spicy rice."

They spent their time together, exploring everything Jin wanted to see. Dragging Church along with them, despite his complaints and grumbles, he loved having his humans with him. Most people treated him like just a cat, but Tavi and Jin treated him like a person. Even if Jin was still struggling to understand what he was saying, he still talked to him.

"I'm not doing it Jin, I don't care if these are your people, I'm not walking the length of the wall."

"What's he saying?"

Tavi was glaring at Church, "you know for a fact that he's Korean and not Chinese, stop being a racist little shit."

"Yah, I told you 100 years ago that I wasn't Chinese; what the hell, cat."

"I know he's not, but it's still funny." Church cocked his head to the side a bit, "but again, I'm not walking the length of the great wall of China." He stuck out his tongue, "It's 10,000 miles long."

"It's 5,500 miles long. We are doing this, the three of us are immortal, and we are doing all the hard shit."

Jin finally understood what Church was complaining about. "Hey, it'll be great practice for when she finally convinces us to climb Mount Everest." He picked Church up and placed him on his shoulder. "If you get tired, you can hang out here, okay?"

"You are spoiling him; you'll carry him the entire time. You know that, right?"

"It's fine; it's not like he's that heavy anyway."

Tavi snorted, "It's like 15 pounds, but whatever, we'll get him that cute cat backpack we saw on the television."

"You are not putting me in that; I am immortal. Not some lazy housecat."

It was Jin's turn to snort once Tavi translated." Says the cat, who will push us out of his way on our bed so he can sleep in the best spot for the sun. Or the cat that runs as soon as he hears a can opening, regardless if it's tuna or baked beans?"

Church jumped down and swiped his tail, his ultimate sign of annoyance, "I'm going to make his life hell, and since we are all immortal, it's going to be long and super fun for me."

"You do that, you have my full permission." She cackled while Jin kept bugging her about what Church said. "Don't worry about it, Jinnie; just know it's going to be oh-so-fun with you and Churchy pants."

"I'm going to regret returning as a warlock," he grumbled.

"Probably, but I'll make it worth it every once in a while." She winked at him before chasing after Church.

Jin looked at his wife. Even if they weren't married in this life yet, you'll always be his wife. He palmed the ring box that was in his pocket. He'll propose soon, and he'll get that devil cat to help. He loved them both, and he's so excited that he gets to spend forever with them.