Their Souls Entwined

When the Lost Return

The inside of the institute hadn't changed one bit and Clary felt of wave of relief wash over her. She had dreaded coming back to a place that she didn't recognise. The hallway led into the Ops centre which was a big square room filled with screens and radars, and in the middle of the room, talking to a guard, stood Isabelle. She was wearing blue jeans and a fitted t-shirt, which complemented her incredible figure, and of course her signature high heel boots. She turned and spotted them by the door and Clary could just make out the shimmering lines that had begun to trail down her face. "Clary?" She called out, a couple of other people in the room turned to look at her, but by that point, Izzy was already halfway down the hall, her heels clicking as she ran. She embraced Clary in a tight hug and cried into her shoulder, "By the Angel, what are you doing here?" she said in-between sobs. She released Clary and took a moment to look at her clothes, "And also, what are you wearing?" Clary laughed, she had begun to cry at some point, she wasn't quite sure when. "Good to see you too Izzy." Clary and Izzy had become like sisters from the moment they had met, they shared clothes and confided in one another and trusted one another completely. They were even planning on becoming parabatai before Clary lost her memories. Clary told Izzy what happened when she saw Jace at the Academy and as soon as she finished, Izzy turned to Jace and slapped him hard on the shoulder, "How could you not tell me that Clary was back!" Jace looked down at his shoes and Izzy paused, her anger turning into sympathy, "Oh," was all she said before pulling them both into a hug. Izzy had always been a silent advocate of Jace and Clary from day 1 when she had seen the way Jace looked at Clary, she knew they were meant to be. When Clary was dating Simon, Izzy was, as always, supportive, but when Clary reunited with Jace; Izzy couldn't contain her excitement. 

Within 10 minutes, a portal opened and out came a teary-eyed Magnus, and Alec who had a smile on his face. "Biscuit," Magnus whispered as he hugged Clary, who had begun to cry again, tightly. Magnus had become a second father to Clary over the years and she had missed him dearly. "We almost thought the fire message was a cruel joke," said Alec as he pulled Clary into a hug. In the beginning, Clary and Alec did not have the best relationship, he despised her actually. But when he saw how much she loved Jace and how happy she made him, he had warmed up to her and they had become good friends. Simon had arrived, he had been grabbing food at the time and hadn't seen the message Izzy had left for him. When he saw Clary, he dropped the bags he had been carrying and hugged her tightly, silent tears rolling down his face. Simon had been her best friend her whole life, and when she lost her memories, she also lost all memory of him, right from the day they met when they were kids. There had been a time when their friendship had developed into something more, but now when they looked at each other all they saw was their best friend, the one who had stuck by them from infant-hood to adulthood. "Great, nice one Simon, now there's coffee all over the floor," said Jace sarcastically, which Simon responded to with a deadly glare. Jace and Simon had become close after losing Clary, and even though Jace would never admit it to his face, he respected Simon a lot and saw him as a dorky younger brother. Next came Luke and Maryse who Magnus had portalled in from Barbados, they had been on vacation when they received Izzy's message. Both embraced Clary in a tight hug and Maryse, who was in tears, kissed Clary on the cheek and gave her a warm motherly smile. In the beginning, Clary had been a little intimidated by Maryse, but that was a different Maryse then, now she was more like a mother to Clary. Luke was never one to cry, but Clary could see how happy he was from his radiant smile. He had always and would always be her dad, the one who picked her up when she fell, who supported her through thick and thin and who loved her no matter what. "We have to celebrate! How about drinks at the Hunter's Moon tonight?" said Luke, and everyone agreed.

Whilst all this had been going on, Clary had lost sight of Jace and when she looked around the room, she found him leaning against the wall giving her a cheeky grin and she felt her cheeks burn. That grin could make her go weak in the knees. She made her way through the growing crowd and took his hand, discretely sneaking them out and into a corridor, shutting the door behind them. She flattened herself against a wall and pulled him against her before kissing him. "I'm sorry if your plans tonight got ruined," she whispered as he pressed kisses along her neck. Heat was radiating off his body and sparks went through Clary where her bare skin touched his. "Don't be, everyone is so happy that you're back and now they just want to spend time with you, I can't be angry at them for that." He was looking into her deep green eyes and she brought her hands onto his chest and sighed, smiling up at him, "I love you, Jace Herondale." He smiled brilliantly, his eyes glittering, "I love you too, Clary Fairchild," he whispered against her lips. He began to kiss her harder now, his body pinning hers against the wall. The door swung open and out came Izzy who saw them and flushed, "So sorry to interrupt, but I need to borrow Clary," and before Jace could object she took Clary's arm and led her down the corridor and into her bedroom, leaving a very sulky looking Jace alone. 

"Sorry to steal you away but I needed to talk to you and I thought this might be the only chance I get before the party tonight." Apparently, "drinks at the Hunter's Moon" had turned into a full-blown party whilst Clary was away. "That's okay Iz, what's up," Clary said sitting on Izzy's bed which was covered in clothes. "Just over a week ago, Simon proposed to me and I said yes! I know it hasn't been that long but shadowhunters marry young and when something is right you just know it..." When Izzy was nervous, she could talk for days without pausing to breathe. Clary didn't know why Izzy had any reason to be nervous though, anyone could see her and Simon were a perfect fit, well anyone except maybe Jace and Alec, but then they thought no one was worthy of their little sister. Clary jumped off the bed and hugged her tight, "Izzy that's amazing news! I'm so happy for you and Simon!" She was beaming and Izzy broke into tears, "Clary, you don't know how much that means to me." She sighed and sat down on the bed. "For the first couple months after you left, I tried to remain hopeful that you would come back, but as time passed it became harder to believe you would, I gave up on you Clary and I'll never forgive myself that." She put her face in her hands and Clary hugged her again, "Hey, you don't need to explain, I was never angry at you Izzy. I didn't want any of you dwelling on my leaving, I just wanted you all to be happy and live your lives. Honestly, it's okay." Izzy was looking at Clary now with puffy eyes, "You know Jace never gave up on you, even when we all did, he always believed that you would find your way back to him, and you did." Clary smiled and couldn't help the tears that were now rolling down her face, she had cried a lot in the last 24 hours. "On a happier note, I was hoping you could be my maid of honour?" "Izzy nothing would make me happier," and after one last hug, Izzy got up, walked across the bedroom and opened her wardrobe, "Right, now we need to find you something to wear for tonight."