"But Jaaaaaaaaace!" Clary cried. "I don't wanna get out of bed!"

"But Claaaaaaaaaaaary! You have to do some training before you go to schoooool!" Jace replied, laughing.

Clary hated when Jace was right. But the bed was so soft and warm, especially because Jace was in it. She looked up at Jace, who was looking down at her with a grin on his face. Although, she wasn't sure if that was because of what she said, or for the fact that all she had on was the top he was wearing the night before…

She rested her chin on his chest, and just stared at him. Everyday she still wondered how he was hers. Her gaze traveled from his golden tanned skins, marred by the scars from the many runes that Shadowhunters wore. It moved to the top of his head, taking in his brilliant golden hair that no-one else would ever have. Her eyes moved, taking in every detail of his face - even though Clary knew she would never be able to forget what he looked like. And finally, her eyes met his eyes. His brilliant, magnificent eyes. Jace had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, although every time she tried to tell him this, he would say hers were the most beautiful. His eyes sparkled of gold, and held so much adoration in them when he looked at Clary.

Hoping to distract him from making her get up, she angled her head upwards, her mouth heading towards his. Jace happily met her halfway while flipping her over, so she was lying underneath him. Clary's legs wound around Jace's waist on reflex, while her hands were roaming freely over Jace's bare chest, feeling every muscle, scar, and line. Tracing over his many marks, both faded and present. His hands started to reach up her - well, his - shirt, trying to remove it, when they heard the distinctive 'tap, tap, tap' of the heels worn by Maryse Lightwood. It was quickly followed by a single knock on Jace's door.

"Shit." They both looked at each other and groaned, while trying not to laugh to alert Maryse to Clary's presence.

There was one rule that Clary had to follow - no 'sleepovers' in Jace's room, or vice versa. They weren't even allowed to be alone in the same room together. If she or Jace were to break either one of these rule, it would be 'bye, bye' institute for Clary. And, by Clary's count this may have been the fourth time this week that they may have broken this rule, and the third in which they have almost been caught.

Clary and Jace jumped out of the bed, and Clary ran round and collected her clothes while Jace tried to put some on. She ran into the adjoining bathroom, and closed the door just as Jace opened his. Clary could just make out the muffled voices of the two.

"Morning Maryse," Jace fake-yawned. "What's up?"

"I came to see if you knew where Clary was? I went to her room to make sure she was awake, but she didn't seem to be there." Maryse said as she walked into the room. Clary just hoped that she didn't decide to just 'spontaneously' open the bathroom door.

"I'm not sure, I only just woke up a few moments ago. But, I was actually going to go and find her, and start some training before breakfast."

"Well," Maryse said in a too-formal tone for 6 o'clock in the morning. "I suppose I should have known that she wouldn't be here, because both of you know of the rules set out by Jocelyn. And I know that you would hate having to see Clary move back with her mother and Lucian."

"Of course, Maryse. You know us, never one to break the rules!" - at this, Clary slapped the palm of her hand to her forehead - "But seriously, I have not seen my dear Clarissa since I walked her to her bedroom door and bid her goodnight last night, promptly at 9:30pm."

"Okay, Jace. When you find Clary, will you tell her to come and see me after you finish training? I need to speak with her."

"Sure thing! I'll see you at breakfast then?" Clary assumed that Maryse nodded her head, as no more words were spoken between the two as Jace ushered her out of the room and closed the door.

Clary walked back out into the bedroom, but neither Jace nor Clary spoke. They knew that from past experiences that it was more than likely Jace's adoptive mother was waiting outside the door, to see if Clary was actually in the room. For when this happened, Clary had created a rune, one that allowed her to view any person she wished - she named it secundum, which meant 'view' in latin. She drew the rune onto Jace's wall, while thinking Maryse Lightwood. An image then appeared, one of Maryse heading into the kitchen. At that, Jace let out a sigh of relief, while Clary started to giggle.

Clary reached up on her tip-toes and hooked her arms around Jace's neck. "See you in the training room?" she asked, and was given a light peck on the lips in response.

Clary was sitting opposite Maryse, head of the New York Institute - her husband, Robert, was the official Inquisitor and spent most of his time in Idris - in the newly refurbished office. With the dark woods and leather, it reminded her of one that she had seen in a movie once. She had been so busy trying to figure out what was different from the old to the new office, that she had thought she had misheard what Maryse was saying.

"You want me to create a rune? A rune that will find lost Shadowhunters? What do you mean by 'lost' exactly?" Clary asked Maryse. After Jace had finished her morning training, leaving no patch of skin unbruised, Clary had headed to Maryse's office to talk. But this was so not what Clary had expected it to be about.

"I suppose that it will ultimately be up to you, as you will be creating the rune, and it is what you visualise that the rune will be create for. But, in guidance of your question, the Council believes that a choice should be given to all those shadowhunters who do not know of their own heritage, much like yourself, not so long ago."

"So it will find Shadowhunters who have run away from this world? If they have run away, and do not wish to be found, then why do you want a rune to find them?" Although Maryse had made sense, Clary doubted that there were many people raised in a similar situation to herself.

"Well, not exactly. More so for those who do not know that they are part of the Shadow world, such as children put up for adoption through mundane channels and therefore adopted by mundanes. And we hope, also, to find individuals who have potential Shadowhunter lineage - but then for these, extra measures must be taken to make sure that they are capable of holding a rune, without turning into forsaken. Not only would this help with the loss from the Dark War, but it would also help those protect themselves from various demonic forces that are attracted to them."

"Um, I - I'll see what I can do… but for now, may I be excused? I have the big return to the glorious thing mundanes call high school today." Clary started to stand up.

"Of course, Clary. Have a good day," Maryse said with a polite smile.

Clary rushed from the room, and ran straight into Isabelle, her parabatai.

Isabelle looked her up and down, "Are you seriously going to go to your first day of school dressed like that?"

Clary looked at herself. She was wearing a pair of yoga pants and a sports bra. And she was covered in a nice layer of sweat. Of course she wasn't going to dressed like this!

'Isabelle,' Clary asked carefully, "would you like to help me pick an outfit?"

"You know me too well, Clarissa darling."

"No. No. Absolutely not." Clary stared down at the clothes Izzy had gathered while she was in the shower. 'God, if I dressed like this, I wouldn't even make it through the front doors!'

Isabelle had picked out a pair of extremely short denim shorts, and a top that Clary used saved for training as it left her stomach uncovered. And, on top of this, she had found a pair of heels that had to be at least 4 inches tall. Clary didn't think that Isabelle understood the term 'appropriate'.

"Why not? It's hot." And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Isabelle Lightwood.

"Look, Iz. It's cold -"

" - Not if you use a heat rune!"

"Which would make me stand out for all the wrong reasons. I need something that covers me and will keep me warm. Pants, top, jacket, shoes. That's it." Clary explained.

"Fine," she huffed. Clary watched as Isabelle walked over to the closet and rummaged around for a bit. After a few minutes, she returned with a pair of skinny jeans, a plain tank top, and Clary's leather jacket. That was better. Clary rushed to put them on, threw her hair up into a ponytail, and grabbed her converse's as she walked out her bedroom door and made her way down to the kitchen where she everyone else was.

Jace walked over to Clary, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You look beautiful, as always."

Clary felt heat rise to her cheeks. No matter what Jace said, even it was as simple as that, it never failed to make Clary blush. "Well, then, you should have seen what Iz tried to put me in to start with."

"You would have still looked beautiful anyway." Clary felt herself get even redder. She turned around trying to shield her face from the others, because she just knew that they would try to make fun of her about how easily she gets embarrassed. Again. "Anyway, ready for school?"

Clary nodded and grabbed her bag, and said goodbye to the others as they wished her good luck. I don't know why they bother to wish me luck, she thought, it's only school. I've been doing it since I was five. Jace followed her out and took her hand in his. The other day, Jace had so heroically offered to walk Clary to her 'first day of school'. Nobody seems to understand that she has actually been to school before.

When they reached the elevator, Jace backed her up against the wall, muttering something about how they would be separated for a whole seven hours, and that he should get a goodbye kiss, even though Clary was the one who was actually going to be gone. He pressed his lips to hers, kissing her gently. They stayed that way until the elevator reached the ground floor.

Once again, Jace grabbed Clary's hand and they headed off towards Park Slope.