Malec Moments

Paradise: Part 3

Alec sat in front of the vanity mirror, staring at his reflection, and mentally reciting his vows so he wouldn't forget anything. His black hair was about as well-groomed as he could ever remember it being. The deep blue eyes reflected back at him shone with the excitement and nervousness that was coursing through his veins. He desperately wanted to see Magnus, but Magnus had taken refuge in his mother's hut to get himself ready for their wedding. He had no idea what Magnus was planning to wear and knew it could be literally anything. Would he dress to impress, or be covered in glitter from head to toe? No one ever knew with Magnus.

Alec remembered coming home from the Institute one day to see dozens of bridal magazines fanned out over the coffee table in their living room.

"What is all this?" he had demanded.

Magnus smiled brightly up at him. "Ideas."

"Oh, Magnus, please tell me you are not planning to wear one of these ridiculous dresses!"

"What? You don't think it would make me look pretty?" Magnus said, his disappointed expression ruined by the twitching at the corners of his mouth.

"Oh, I have no doubt you would look pretty. Pretty stupid," Alec said scathingly.

Magnus really did pout at that. "Fine. Perhaps you should take a more active role in helping me plan the wedding then," he replied. And from that moment on, Alec had done just that.

They had discussed nearly every detail of the wedding, most of which Alec had deflected to Magnus since he really didn't care how the wedding happened, as long as it did. He did veto some of Magnus's more extravagant ideas, like getting married on top of a volcano, or on the backs of camels in the Sahara Desert. He had a suspicion that these ideas were simply to throw Alec off the trail of what Magnus was really planning, but he made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that he was not getting married on a camel.

At one point, Magnus had said, "I know the Nephilim have specific traditions where weddings are concerned, as do warlocks. But since there is nothing traditional about a gay Shadowhunter marrying his warlock boyfriend, we are free to do anything we want."

Alec had to agree, and he found he really liked the idea of combining elements of tradition and making something that was uniquely their own. Every feature of their wedding, their clothing, rings, vows, and décor, was specifically designed to express their heritage and their individuality.

"We should discuss our vows," Magnus had said.

Alec agreed. He had no idea what he was supposed to say in his vows. He had reoccurring dreams of standing in front of Magnus and everyone they knew and staring stupidly at them, his mind freezing up and giving him nothing to say. Even now, he wasn't convinced that wouldn't happen.

"For the vows to be binding, we must each say the other's full name at the start." Alec nodded his understanding. "Then, say something personal."

"Like what?" Alec said.

"Anything you want. Something that comes from your heart," Magnus replied, placing a hand over Alec's heart. The touch was so tender, Alec's heart leaped in response to it. Alec nodded again, though he thought this was the most frightening part of the entire ceremony. He was not good with words, at least not fancy words. He tended to be blunt and sometimes coarse, which he didn't think was at all what he wanted his wedding vows to be.

Magnus then scrawled a couple of lines on a piece of paper and handed it to Alec. "In the end, when we exchange rings, we'll both say this. Okay?" Alec read the paper and shook his head, pushing the paperback toward Magnus.

"No, Magnus, I won't let you say that. No way."

Magnus caught Alec's wrist. "Listen to me, Alec. This is forever. Our marriage, my love for you, all of it, it's forever. The fact that you are mortal doesn't change anything. I didn't write a single thing on there that isn't true."

He went on to explain about a spell he would perform during the ceremony. Alec had protested more vehemently about that, but Magnus would not listen. The spell was a part of a traditional warlock wedding, and Magnus was determined to perform it. Alec was not concerned about himself. If he were the only one involved in this spell, he accept it without hesitation. His concern was for Magnus, and what would happen to him when Alec's mortality caught up with them, especially after a spell like this. In the end, because Magnus would simply not take no for an answer, Alec agreed to both the words Magnus had written and the spell he wanted to cast.

Alec buttoned his pale gold shirt, trying to decide if he should leave the top button open or close it in a more formal fashion. He glanced at the black shorts Magnus had picked for him to wear tonight and decided to leave the top button undone. Alec ran his fingers along the metallic gold thread that had been used to create the traditional Shadowhunter wedding runes. The runes were slightly raised, similar to the runes that adorned his skin, and Alec marveled at Magnus's attention to detail. Magnus always thought of everything.

Just before sunset, Alec made his way to the beach, where their guests were already gathered. Alec was surprised to see that Magnus had done minimal decorating, mostly using the natural landscape as the backdrop for their wedding. There were several large bouquets of tropical flowers that had not been there earlier, but the beauty of the island itself really couldn't be matched by any decoration. Although, on closer inspection, he seriously doubted those flowers were naturally sprinkled with glitter. He smiled at the thought.

A moment later, Magnus appeared, suddenly, as if by magic. Alec was again surprised to see that Magnus had taken the minimalist approach to his own attire. He wore a deep purple robe, a traditional warlock wedding robe, over a very much non-traditional black frilly dress shirt with a fuchsia handkerchief in his pocket, and shorts that matched Alec's. His hair was spiked, as usual, with traces of silver glitter in it and around his eyes, and his lips were stained dark red, but nothing too outlandish.

Alec and Magnus stood in a circle created by their family and friends, each absorbed in the beauty of the man that he loved. As the sky turned brilliant shades of red, purple, gold, and blue with the sunset, Magnus took Alec's hands and nodded for him to start the ceremony. Nerves seized him in earnest now, so he took a deep, steadying breath, looked into Magnus's eyes and started to speak.

"Magnus Bane, as you know, I'm not eloquent with my words, like you and Jace," Alec paused, briefly catching Jace's eye. "So I struggled a bit in deciding what to say here. How do you make everyone understand why you love someone? How do I make them all see what I see when I look at you? Then I realized what I wanted everyone to know, especially you, Magnus. I want to say thank you. Thank you for seeing the real me, and for helping me to be that person, even when I fought against you. Thank you for understanding what I needed from our relationship, and for having the courage to give it to me. I know how difficult it was for you. Thank you for the extraordinary love that you give me, and for finding ways to make me fall in love with you more every single day. And thank you, so very much, for helping me build this amazing life, and continuing this journey with me."

Alec produced a wedding band and placed it on Magnus's finger. "Take this ring as a symbol of my love for you and as a promise that I will love you every day for the rest of my life."

Alec saw a tear in the corner of Magnus's eye. "You're more eloquent than you think," Magnus whispered before starting his own vows.

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood, I've spent my whole life searching for you. I had nearly given up, too. Then one day, magically, you were there. I had always been afraid of giving my heart to a Nephilim, afraid that I could never live up to the love of someone who was a part angel. And also afraid that I would never be as important as your mandate. In the end, my fear didn't matter, I fell completely, hopelessly in love with you and there was nothing that would change that fact. Then something extraordinary happened. You chose me. You saved my life over and over and over again. You said you didn't want the world, you wanted me. Sometimes I still can't believe this is real, that you are really mine, that you love me as much as I love you. I promise to spend every day trying to live up to that, to be worthy of your love, worthy of the love of my angel."

He placed the band on Alec's finger. "Take this ring as a symbol of my love for you and as a promise that I will love you every day for the rest of my life."

Magnus held Alec's left hand between both of his, and Alec did the same with Magnus's left hand. A small blue flame appeared between their hands. The flames grew, fanning out and enclosing their hands, before slowly traveling up their arms and coalescing over their hearts, glowing with increasing intensity as they spread. There was no heat or pain associated with the flames, but Alec felt a strong sensation, a pull toward Magnus, and realized he was unable to move away from the spell or to break contact with Magnus, not that he wanted to or put any effort into trying. This spell was a traditional warlock wedding spell, used to complete the binding ceremony, similar to the runes Shadowhunters used, but this could be performed safely on non-warlocks, unlike the runes.

A circle of blue flames surrounded the couple, flaring up higher and brighter until they completely engulfed them, hiding them from the view of their guests. The blue flames coalescing over their hearts burned blindingly, then slowly sank into their chests, and disappeared. Alec could feel a slight burning sensation in his chest as the flames engulfed his heart. It was a comforting feeling, similar to the application of a rune. When the burning sensation ended, the circle of flames around them gave one last burst and died.

Magnus drew Alec to him and kissed him. They wrapped their arms around each other, savoring the moment, the sweet sensation of their lips moving together, their hands touching the other. Bright white light erupted around them as all the Nephilim raised their witchlight rune stones, a traditional part of Shadowhunter weddings. The warlock, Catarina Loss, silently emitted soft blue flames from her fingertips, a traditional part of warlock weddings. And the werewolves dropped to their knees, still in human form, as a soft, joyous howl filling the night air, a traditional part of werewolf weddings.

Then Magnus finally released Alec, catching his hand and turning to face their family and friends. A chorus of congratulations erupted from the crowd, as one by one, each guest hugged, clapped the shoulders, or shook the hands of the newly married couple.

To be continued...