Sugar and Spice

Eight

Eight

*~*~*~*

I kept my eyes trained on the punching bag in front of me, ignoring the stinging pain that rushed through my hands every time they came in contact with the bag's rough material. I knew they would likely be bruised later on, possibly cut here and there, but I didn't care. All I was focused on right now was the bag, trying to keep my mind blank as I trained.

"What did that bag ever do to you?" Izzy's voice sounded from behind me, though I didn't turn around.

"I'm sort of in the middle of something, Iz." I stated the obvious.

"You've been at this for three hours." She pointed out. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Look," I gave the bag one last punch before I turned around to look at my parabatai, finding her watching me with her arms crossed over her chest. "I know why you're here. I don't want to talk about it. Not now, not ever."

"I swear, you're as bad as Alec." She rolled her eyes. "Why can't you just admit that you like my brother?"

"I don't." I denied. "Besides, even if I did, Alec made it perfectly clear last night that he doesn't like me."

"It was a memory of you that the demon took from him." She pointed out.

"Yeah, so he loves me." I shrugged. "We were all raised together, we're best friends, practically siblings. He loves me no differently than he loves you, Max, or Jace."

"Zia," she sighed, following me out of the training room as I headed down the hall. Before she could anything else though, we turned the corner and spotted Clary sitting alone, a frown on her face. I glanced back at the brunette before I headed towards the red head. While I wasn't a fan of her, she would likely keep Izzy from continuing our current conversation.

"Hey," I said, causing Clary to look at us.

"There you are." Izzy shot me a look, silently letting me know that this conversation wasn't over, before she sat down by Clary. "Are you okay?"

"I saw my mom." She said, surprising me while Izzy seemed unfazed. "Then your brother-"

"I heard." Izzy cut her off. "And believe me, there have been many times where I wanted to kill Alec."

"Without a doubt." I nodded in agreement.

"Look, I know my brother can be a real pain in the ass, but he means well." Izzy told her. "That necklace is very dangerous."

"I'll take the risk on my own." Clary shook her head.

"The problem is, you're not on your own, Clary." Izzy reminded her. "You're part of us now."

"I just- I wish I knew what to do." Clary sighed. "All of this, it's so new to me. I just... I'll do anything to save her."

"I get it." I spoke up, causing them both to look at me. "You love her. Trust me, I'd do anything to have my mother back."

"What's your mom like?" Izzy asked the red head.

"She's kind. Fun. Uh, the kinda person you always want to be around." Clary smiled as she thought about her mother. "I have friends who used to always want to hang out at our house, just to hang out with her."

"She sounds more like a friend than a mom." Izzy chuckled.

"She's both." Clary smiled. "She's basically sacrificed her life for me, and I'm willing to do the same for her."