The lake was of an utmost clarity, reflecting the shining sun above it. A raft, small and slipshod, was bobbing on the shallow surface. Luke was speaking words of a soldier's farewell, Jem holding his violin in preparation. Liam had his head bowed as if he felt such shame for the funeral of his father. She couldn't believe he was really gone. Gone, as in she'd never hear his voice again, she'd never watch him tuck their children to sleep in their small vehicles they'd find.

"Now, would anyone like to have any last words?" Luke asked the crowd of mourners. Jace began to walk in front of the crowd, shocking her.

"Sebastian, how I would have prefered you to still be here. My father… he was in the military, and before he died, we'd visited the many funerals of his friends. I remember distinctly the words that this priest had spoken at this one man's funeral. I thought to myself, my dad would never deserve this honor, this blessing. But as I think of Sebastian, I know that it is men like him that are granted such a speech, and I can only hope to have such words said upon my still body when I leave this awful, awful world." Jace frowned, bags being evident under his eyes.

"Carried through many nations and many seas,

I arrive, Brother, at these miserable funeral rites,

So that I might bestow you with the final gift of death

And might speak in vain to the silent ash.

Since Fortune has stolen you yourself from me,

Alas, wretched brother stolen undeservedly from me,

Meanwhile, however, receive these which in the ancient custom of our parents

were handed down as a sad gift for funeral rites,

dripping much with fraternal weeping,

And forever, Brother,

ave atque vale.

hail and farewell."

Everyone's faces dropped, and Clary bit her tongue to hold in tears. Theo pulled on the leg of her pants, confusion on his small face as he looked at his father's sad expression. She patted his head, moving to take Jace's place.

Her heart thudded inside her small chest, and she held her stomach, cradling her baby, and began to walk in front of the crowd.

Her eyes skimmed the crowd and their eyes rimmed red without a single drop of tears, even Ava, fighting to stay brave like her father applauded her to be. Liam was sniffling though, looking at her with lidded eyes. She tore her eyes away from them, looking at the raft and the pile of wood above it.

"Sebastian, oh God, I can't do it," Clary whispered, looking at the ground. "This wasn't supposed to happen, none of it. I knew he loved his son, and this only proves it. Only proves that he would have done anything for his children whether it be jumping from a bridge, or running into a forest…" Her thoughts drifted, eyes closing as she heard his last words echo in her head. Watch over our children.

"I caught him once, singing to the twin's, trying to get them to sleep when we'd left the manor. He'd had a rough life, once living in Ireland in his younger years. His father, his father was a man killed while working as a police officer, and it was this song that he would sing to our children. Angel knows how many times I caught him singing it that I actually learned it myself. God help me if I can't sing it correctly." She cleared her throat, closing her eyes.

"Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling

From glen to glen, and down the mountain side…"

...The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying

'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide…" Sebastian was leaning over Liam, singing the tune from his own passion fueled angst. It sounded beautiful to her, and Clary couldn't help but smile at father and son. Finished, Sebastian turned around and blushed at her.

"What?" He asked as if he hadn't known her cause for smiling.

"I've never heard you sing to them." Clary commented, looking at her sleeping child.

"I did it when they were little, or when you were pregnant and I could hear you groaning in your sleep. It worked so I kept doing it." Sebastian shrugged.

"But how did you learn that song? During our entire marriage, I never heard you sing anything of that genre." Clary asked.

"My father would sing that to me when he had to leave at night. It was a dangerous time in ireland, and one night, he didn't come back." He swallowed thickly, burying his guilt in stomach acid. "So I sing it to them if I don't return." Sebastian finished.

"Don't say that," Clary snapped at him, immediately regretting the outlash at the somber look on his face. "I'm sorry, but what am I going to do without you? You're their father." Clary asked him.

"You have Jace, Clary. I'm sure the two of you will raise them just as well as I'd ever be able to." He sighed. Clary shook her head at him in disbelief.

"Neither me or Jace can replace you, Sebastian." Clary vowed.

"Look out the window, and tell me that you won't have to try." Sebastian huffed. She did as he said, seeing a zombie miles away, clawing its way back up to a standing position. Buildings had fallen and the world was of slim recognition compared to what it used to be.

"I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me" She opened her eyes, somber tears

filling them to the brim. Slowly, Jace approached her and walked her back to the crowd next to their children.

Magnus began to pass flowers to everyone in the crowd, dandelions, and gave her a saddened smile when he handed Ava and Liam one of the plants. They held the flowers, forming a line and walking up to the raft as it bobbed slightly; each of them whispering something to the flower of what Sebastian was to them and then blowing the seeds onto the raft. When it was her turn to approach the raft, she barely managed to get the words out of her mouth.

"One of a kind." She blew onto the pile of wood. Once everyone was finished, Luke took their attention, preaching words of faith to the dead man. Jem picked up his violin, the first note smacking her in the chest with a great amount of feelings. Ashokan Farewell he maneuvered with his ancient-looking bow.

Not ten seconds after the song began, Clary was handed a box of matches and began to walk toward the raft once again. The sun was falling rapidly, and it was becoming hard to see everyone with impending darkness and tears. Looking at the raft, she struck a match, lighting it.

"Ave atque vale." She repeated before throwing the burning stick at the raft. The instant it hit, the fire burned up the lighter fluid they'd soaked the wood in. Clary nudged the floating wood with her foot, sending it towards deeper water. The dandelion seeds took off, burning out in mid flight as if they were fireworks. No amount of sunlight touched the sky, reflecting her mood.

Jem's violin hit a high note, and then she felt her eyes sting, the fire becoming a blurred depiction of Sebastian's death.

And they looked so sad to him. His own children, so inanimate as they watched the pile of wood burn across the clear lake. No, he didn't want to be remembered this way. He didn't want the thought of their father bursting into flames to be the last thing they thought of before they slept. He was shocked at the most to see Clary, Jace's Clary, crying for him. He hadn't thought that she still care for him, not enough to mourn him.

But looking at them all now, Jem playing the violin as if he were the god Apollo wielding his instrument. He would have cried, oh he would have. He would have cried about not being able to kiss his children good night, or braid his daughter's hair, or even bicker with Clary as if they were children themselves. Crying, something he'd never thought he'd do until he saw the world without him.

"Sebastian, are you prepared?" A gentle but stern voice asked him. He turned around, looking the dazzling angel in his golden eyes before nodding solemnly. He looked back, one last time. He though to himself that he would've given anything to have them close to him one last time, but he gave everything for his son, and would've done it again should he be given the chance. He waved at Clary, and her eyes bugged out at his hand. He smiled at her, watching her grab Jace and point at him, though it was clear Jace could not see a thing.

He turned to Ithuriel, a silent question on his lips.

"You're welcome." The angel shrugged.

Thoughts?