Remember: Jem Carstairs and Will Herondale

Remember

A year after the events of Clockwork Princess (not including the epilogues).

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The Silent City was cold and quiet. A figure, clad in parchment robes, stood like a statue in the distance.

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The balcony was empty, and a restless wind blows. A figure, clad in black, gazes off into the sky.

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It's been a year since the war that tore their lives apart and tore them away from each other. One long year since they had been linked as parabatai; closer than brothers, better than blood.

And so they remember.

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Brother Zachariah remembers, and he remembers his life as Jem.

William Herondale remembers, and he remembers life when he still had a parabatai.

They remember the secret smiles, the daring feats, the melancholy conversations.

They remember sparring in the training room, each bout lasting ages, for they were evenly matched and knew each other's moves perfectly.

"Just give up, Jem, you can't win."

"Nice try, Will, but you can't either."

"Oh really? I know exactly what you're going to do." With a smirk, Will swung his blade at his parabatai's head, but Jem ducked gracefully.

"And I knew you were going to do that. Try all you want, Herondale, there's no way you're getting the upper hand in this bout."

"You're on, Carstairs."

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They remember their hideouts in the giant institute, and just sitting there to talk for hours.

"I swear she had 20 boxes of dresses!"

"20? How? She is a shadowhunter, isn't she?"

"I don't think so."

Will mimicks a high voice, "I'm Jessamine, and I'm so pretty, and I always have to travel with a backup dress. Or a hundred."

Jem laughs and starts to say, "Well, I -" but he was cut short by noises from below.

The two boys were sitting on a ledge near the ceiling of the training room. They had recently found this spot after Will had dared Jem to climb to a supporting beam, and it was now their new favorite.

"Will! Jem!"

Charlotte.

"Where are you? I told you to show Jessamine to a room."

When no reply came, the head of Institute walked out, mumbling something under her breath.

Jem shifted on the ledge. "We did show her to a room. It just wasn't her room."

Will laughed, and Jem joined in. Soon, they were practically in tears. Neither knew why they were so hysterical.

And neither of them noticed that Charlotte had come back in and was watching the boys she never thought would smile again, laugh together.

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They remember the lessons. The memorization Will had no patience for, and Jem had no motivation for.

"You memorize all those books, Will, this should be easy for you."

"Yeah but I actually like the books I read, not this boring stuff. What about you? You can memorize music faster than anything."