Their Souls Entwined

A Mother's Confession

Izzy and Clary made their way through the busy streets of Manhattan; Isabelle's wedding dress was finally ready and they had gone to check it out. Maryse, who had agreed to meet them at the boutique, gave the two girls a warm smile on arrival before the three of them headed inside. This shop was not unlike the one Clary had been in a couple of weeks earlier with Jace; it had racks full of flowing white dresses and diamond tiaras, but this shop also had pale gold gowns patterned with Shadowhunter runes for love and commitment. Of course, the mundanes were unaware of these creations, a simple glamour saw to that. They were greeted by a young woman with the eyes of a tiger, Celeste; the owner of the shop. Like both Magnus and Caterina, Celeste had lived for many centuries, but she looked a similar age to Clary and Izzy. "My darling girls!" she exclaimed, her voice carrying through the shop, "The dress is ready, and might I say so myself, it looks absolutely stunning." With a click of her fingers, a silver tray with champagne flutes appeared in mid-air, "Please have a drink and take a seat," she said to both Clary and Maryse, "Isabelle and I will be right back". And with that, she took Izzy's hand and led her behind a door with the words Fitting Room painted in a delicate hand. Maryse took a flute and sat on a grand cream and gold high-backed chair; she gave Clary an excited smile as she took a sip of the pale bubbly liquid. Clary reflected on the first time she had met Maryse, back then Maryse had been a completely different person, and so had Clary. Now when Clary looked at Izzy's mother, she didn't see someone cold or distant, instead, she saw someone caring and loving and proud. She saw a mother proud of her kids; of Alec's courage to follow his heart, Izzy's strength and compassion and Jace's pure goodness. Clary took the second flute from the silver tray and seated herself on the matching high-backed chair next to Maryse's.

As Clary took her seat, Maryse turned to her, and looked at her with careful eyes, "Clary, I owe you an apology," she whispered. "When I had first heard about you, I thought you were reckless and that you didn't care about anyone but yourself." She took Clary's hand, and Clary could see the tears forming in the other woman's eyes, "But I was wrong. What you have done for my family, I don't know how to even begin to thank you." Clary felt her throat tighten and she couldn't help the tears that were running down her face, "You don't need to thank me," she replied in a low voice, "After my mom was kidnapped, I had nothing and nowhere to go; Jace, Izzy and Alec saved me, and they became my family". Maryse gave Clary a tender look and patted her hand; she then turned to look out the window, it has begun to rain heavily outside. For a few minutes she said nothing and then in an even lower whisper than before, she spoke, "You know, a mother's dream for her children is that one day they find someone who loves them, heart and soul. For a long time, I worried that Jace would never find that, I worried that he would never let anyone get close enough to love him like that. And then he met you, and something changed inside him." Clary's heart swelled with love as she thought back to the first time they had met outside Pandemonium. Maryse reached up and wiped a tear from Clary's cheek, a motherly gesture, before she spoke again, "I've seen a lot of things in my time, but I have never seen two people who love each other more than you and Jace; and I want to thank you, Clary, I want to thank you for loving my son." Clary set down her glass on the table next to her and moved to hug Maryse. She was instantly reminded of her own mother's hugs; there was something about a mothers' hugs that made you feel, even in your darkest moments, that everything was going to be okay. 

"What happened to you two?" Izzy asked as she emerged from behind the fitting room door. Maryse and Clary broke apart, both of them had tears running down their faces as they looked up at Izzy. The dress she had chosen was an elegant pale gold strapless lace gown; it hugged her hourglass figure and made her dark curls stand our vividly. The dress had a long train with the runes of love and commitment very faintly woven into the fabric; Izzy looked like a bride out of those bridal catalogues that Clary and she, had been looking through for the past couple months. "Oh, Isabelle," Maryse gasped, looking up at her daughter in awe, "You look beautiful". Izzy gave her mother a brilliant smile and began to slowly twirl in her dress like a princess at a ball. Clary just beamed up at her soon-to-be parabatai; in so many ways, Izzy had changed from that fierce girl in the white latex two-piece she had met at Pandemonium, but even standing in her delicate wedding dress now, Isabelle Lightwood was a force to be reckoned with. After a couple more glasses of champagne, the three of them headed out of the shop; Izzy had insisted Maryse come back to the institute with them for dinner, but Maryse had told them that Luke was coming back from a mission tonight and that they had a restaurant reservation. A couple of hugs later, Izzy and Clary made their way back to the institute; it had stopped raining now and the sun hung low in the sky casting lines of deep orange and pale pink across the horizon. 

"I can't believe the wedding is in two weeks," Izzy said as they reached the institute steps. "Nervous?" Clary asked, trying to read the expression on Izzy's face. "About marrying Simon? No. About everything going according to plan? Yes," she replied, sitting down on the highest step outside the double doors. "It will be fine," Clary reassured her, "What's the worst thing that can happen?" She said. Izzy looked up at the sky, "The world could end; I've seen it plenty of times in those action movies Simon watches," she said in a matter-of-fact voice. Clary laughed, "Simon also watches films about intergalactic space wars, and I don't think those are happening," she remarked. Izzy chuckled at this, "Good point," she answered. Clary took the other girl's hand, "It really will be fine," she spoke, in a softer voice, "And if it's not, we'll deal with it". Izzy rested her head on Clary's shoulder, and the two of them sat in silence for a while, watching the colour of the sky turn slowly from pink to purple to blue.