Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just the plot.

Clary is six. Jace is seven. They are at a zoo.

April 23, 1996

I looked to my left then to my right, twisting my head around the sea of bodies to find the familiar figure of my mother. She wasn't there.

"Mommy!" I yelled. The adults talked loudly, stepping onto my toes. I backed away from the crowd to one of the zoo exhibits. I was too busy trying not to get stepped on to notice that I was backing into the lion exhibit.

"ROAR!"

I jumped, and ran far away from the lions, not once glancing back. I ran and ran, until I felt like I was going in circles, which I probably was. I stopped and caught my breath. Then I looked up, and saw a tall giraffe. It was more then ten times my height. I held back a scream. Where was my mother?

I began to run again, even though I was getting dizzy from all the sights and sounds. I eventually stopped by the pandas, because I knew from the panda book my teacher read in kindergarten that they only ate bamboo. I sat on the ground and brought my knees to my chest. Before I knew it, I started to cry.

Some people turned their heads toward me, but walked away as if nothing had happened. I was afraid, lost and confused. My mother said she would come back in a minute, but after what felt like a long time, she didn't come. I heard soft footsteps.

"Hi," said a voice. I didn't look up, believing that the person was speaking to someone else. I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Hello?"

I looked up to see a boy around me age. He had light hair, and honey eyes. The boy smiled when I finally saw him.

"Hi! I'm Jace," he said. I didn't say anything; I squirmed away from his attention. "Are you shy?" I nodded. "That's okay." Behind Jace a woman was running toward us. I hugged my knees in fear. Her face looked angry.

"Jace! How many times do I have to tell you that you can't run off without me!" said the woman. Jace rolled his eyes.

"Mom, I told you where I was going," he said.

"Yes, but you have wait for me," his mother argued. Jace huffed.

"Alright, I'll tell you next time," said Jace. He then turned to me, and pointed. "Oh, and I found a girl." His mother turned to look at me. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The woman had the same light hair as Jace did. But her eyes were blue. She crouched down next to me.

"What's your name, sweetie," asked Jace's mother. I didn't answer.

"She little shy," Jace explained.

"Where is your mother?" she asked. I shrugged. Then looked on the ground, upset. "Are you lost?" I nodded.

"Can you please just tell us your name?" asked Jace. Mother always told me not to speak to strangers. But would she be mad if I spoke with these strangers?

"Clary," I whispered. They both came closer.

"What was that, sweetie?" asked Jace's mother.

"Clary," I said a little louder.

"Nice to meet you, Clary. I'm Celine," said Celine. "I can help you find your mother if you come with me. We have to go to zoo people, so that they'll make an announcement." I didn't move.

"Oh, come on, Clary. We'll help you find your mother," said Jace. "Please! You just have to trust us." I was hesitant at first, but then slowly got off the ground. Jace smiled.

"Alright you two stay close to me." Jace took my hand as Celine took Jace's. He smiled again at me. We went back inside the crowd. I stayed close to Jace and his mother, not wanting to be even more lost. After what felt like forever we got out of the crowd, and into a small building. Celine went up to the counter were there were people.

"Is this the information center?" she asked.

"Yes, it is. How may I help you?" said a man.

"I found a lost girl," Celine said as she pointed toward me. The man glanced at me. "And I was wondering if you could make announcement to locate her mother here."

"We can do that, please wait here." He left the front desk and went inside another room. Jace and I went to sit on a bench. All of a sudden I heard the speakers go on.

"Will the mother of a red-haired girl please report to the information center. Will the mother of a red-haired girl please report to the information center, thank you." The speakers went off, and the man came back from the backroom.

"I will ask you three to wait here until her mother comes. If she does not come in a hour I will make another announcement. If her mother does not show up in more than two hours, I will have to call the police to report," said the man.

"Alright, thank you," said Celine, and joined us on the bench.

"What if she didn't hear the announcement?" I whispered. Jace took my hand.

"She will, Clary," reassured Jace. "She will." Seconds after the door of the information office opened, before I could see who it was, I felt someone hugging me. The long curly red hair told me it was my mother.

"Mommy," I whispered. She broke the embrace. On my mother's face there were tears glistening on her cheek. "Why are you crying?"

"Oh honey, I was so worried," she snuffled. Mother then turned to Celine. "Thank you so much for finding her."

"Your welcome, though I wouldn't have found Clary if it weren't for my son, Jace," said Celine.

"Well, thank you Jace for finding Clary," mother said to him. He blushed.

"Your welcome. I'm glad I found her," he said, looking at me. I smiled at him.

"I'm glad you found me, too."

For the rest of the day, Jace and I went to the rest of the zoo exhibits we hadn't gone to, yet. Our mothers looked after us as they talked about things that I was uninterested about. We skipped the lions, for my newfound fear of them. But stopped by the giraffes. Jace said they were vegetarians, so they wouldn't eat me. I sighed in relief. At some point, Jace held my hand and didn't let it go until the end of the day. I was sad when he finally had to.

Important:

**This story is like a one-shot I decided to space out into six chapters to make it easier to understand that they are growing up each chapter.

**This is a sad story, so beware. This chapter probably is the happiest of all the chapters.

If you see a mistake, don't be afraid to tell me.

Review! :)