Chapter Text
Tim had never believed in a happily ever after.
It wasn't like his parents had ever read him fairytales to encourage such ‘nonsense’ as his mother used to call it.
His mother had also said to ignore soulmate visions, they would be a distraction.
Ironic considering she was with her soulmate.
Tim was six when he got his first vision.
He had been sitting with his tutor working on something he doesn't even remember now.
A blink and he wasn't in his house.
Instead he was in a warm room, pastel pinks, and he could see in front of him a small sewing kit. Clearly meant for someone new.
He could feel the warmth and the love from the lived-in space.
And then he was back in his all too empty house with his tutor scolding him for not paying attention.
After that he loved having visions.
His soulmate seemed like such a sweet person and she seemed so lively, she was a bright spot on his dreary days.
It made him want the warm home that she had.
Of course, meeting Bruce and Jason had its perks too.
Well.
He didn't really meet them… but he had liked to think when he was little that knowing their identities was practically the same.
These days he laughed at how silly he had been.
Watching Robin fly at night was amazing.
Tim could never wait for night to fall so he could slip out of his room and up onto the rooftops of Gotham, camera around his neck.
Then Jason died.
It felt like being dunked into a bucket of ice water.
Cold seeping into his bones.
He always felt so cold and frozen, numb to the world.
Robin wasn't supposed to die, he was Robin for crying out loud!
Without Robin, Batman would go off the deep end.
Tim found solace in his visions during those days.
Dreams of a warm bakery, flour dusting every surface like glitter. Pastel pinks floating through his mind when he was supposed to be paying attention to his mother's instructions. Watching skilled hands create pieces of clothing and bake sweets during galas and events.
His soulmate was this kind and gentle person, Tim could feel the love she put into her work.
She brought light into his dim life.
Tim had to bring light into Batman's life.
The first time he flew he felt a freedom like none other.
It was amazing, the wind in his face was cold but cold in a way that was comfortable. Like sitting in front of a fan on a hot summer day.
Bruce was thoroughly pissed when he'd taken the suit.
For good reason Tim figured.
But Batman needs Robin.
And maybe Tim needed Batman too.
At thirteen Tim got a very concerning vision.
His soulmate was flying.
Flying like him when he was Robin.
He felt familiar exhilaration as he soared through the day's sky.
Tim felt his breath hitch as the Eiffel Tower came into view.
She was Parisian?
He had known she wasn't in the same timezone as him, having gotten enough visions over the years to know for sure.
Tim just hadn't known where.
Red and black was at the edge of his vision before he was back in the cave.
Deep down he knew she was a hero, her soul was too loving to be anything other than that.
He wished her luck, if he'd learned anything it was that it was harder than it looked.
When his parents died and Bruce took him in officially, Tim paid a visit to Jason's grave.
A large part of him felt like he was replacing Jason, for that he was sorry.
He laid some roses on the grave and felt his tears mix with rain that was pouring. After a while Alfred came and brought him inside to warm up.
After the first vision of his soulmate flying, he noticed he rarely got visions after that.
While he was in a warmer place, it seemed she had gone to a darker one.
He'd go months without a single one.
The few he did get were of scattered rooms, tear stained pillows, and highschool bathrooms.
Tim often wondered if she was okay.
Logically he knew they'd have to meet before either of them died, which gave him some solace.
When Bruce had asked about his soulmate Tim hadn't been sure as to what to tell the man.
So he told him that she was a kind girl from France.
It was true.
…Partially.
Becoming Red Robin had been good for him.
Sure Damian still deserved to be tripped off a roof, but he chalked it up to ‘brotherly love’ as Dick lovingly referred to it.
Although he noticed how his feet dragged a little more and that he was quick to yawn if he wasn't keeping busy with a case or on patrol.
It was fine.
Tim missed the visions, he still got them but they were always short and there was never anything to them.
A new shirt, a half finished dress, an old sketch.
Once he saw a peculiar creature passing his soulmate a different thread.
That was weird, though he assumed it had something to do with her hero persona.
That was another thing.
Paris, France was a media dead zone.
He was positive something was up and he had looked into it only to find that the mayor had put a ban on it.
What's worse was what he found.
Some sort of magical emotional manipulator?
Tim snorted, this guy and his mom would've gotten along like a house on fire…
Yet before he could even think of finding a way to assist his soulmate, (who he had learned was the hero of Paris; Ladybug), the ban was lifted.
Bruce had come home that day after an emergency meeting with the Justice League, annoyed that the Paris heros had refused help.
Tim just nodded his head, content to keep his jubilation to himself.
Once the Hawkmoth character was defeated, and Ladybug and her partner Chat Noir officially retired, Tim got more visions again.
Of excited friends, graduation, and boxes.
Lots of them.
He was fully expecting that his lady luck was moving for a fashion college.
She had been sewing since they were six after all…
Yet during one of his visions he noticed an acceptance letter written in English.
While he couldn't read the blurry words, he could tell that she was moving somewhere English speaking.
Deep down he hoped it was close to him, but he refused to get his hopes up.
Yet soon enough he got a vision of a drab apartment, littered with boxes.
Tim laughed to himself when he saw glimpses of Gotham University and a bookstore close by.
She knew!
He was thankful he didn't have to play identity charades.
Of course that would never prepare him for their meeting.
Soulmates would meet as destined, visions being glimpses into their individual lives. For that reason he had never rushed it.
So while he patrolled one night he heard footsteps.
Fully expecting a thug to jump out from an alleyway he was instead greeted with a short girl in her pajamas mumbling.
Something about looking for an alley?
Tim cleared his throat, “Why are you looking for an alley?”
The girl jumped and turned around, gasping softly.
Tim found that she was a pretty girl, blue eyes were deep like the sea and her hair was long and looked soft to the touch.
She looked at him, “You're Red Robin…”
He nodded.
The girl began to laugh, a sound melodic to his ears.
Confused, he asked, “What's so funny?”
Her laughter subsided and she winked at him, shocking him.
Smiling, she looked at him like she'd known him for years, “Would you like to go out for coffee sometime?”
Tim froze, his cape gently shifting in the cold Gotham air.
He blinked, wondering if he'd heard her ridiculous request correctly.
Only to open his eyes and see himself.
He felt warm and happy, and in mere seconds he was back looking at this girl who was his soulmate.
Tim couldn't afford to believe in fairytales, not with the line of work he found himself in. It was too risky and it would only lead to heartbreak.
But this girl…
She was his other half, his compliment.
He looked at her smiling face and saw such a kind soul staring back at him.
“Coffee would be amazing.”