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Prompt: It’s been a busy week and after finally having some time to yourself, you remember to check your soulmate clock and see that it’s already at 00:00:00:00 and you don’t know when that happened because you don’t religiously check your clock either.
Zatanna made it to the top of the stairs before letting out an exasperated sigh. Her father was still talking to her, continuing his lecture about her recent semi-delinquent behavior. She held back an eye roll, although he wouldn’t have been able to see it. The entire way home he rambled on and on about how she could’ve been hurt or how something more dangerous could’ve happened. What could she have possibly been thinking? Didn’t she see the error in her ways? Of course, she did, but a very small part of her cared. She knew she should but adventure just called her name - she was meant for it.
She walked down the short hallway and into her room, not shutting the door just yet. Her dad was still going and she didn’t want to make it any worse than it already was. A few more repetitive sentences later, there was a pause in Giovanni’s speech. She found her chance to end the conversation.
“Okay dad, you’re right. I’m sorry, and I’ll do better next time. Goodnight!” Her sentence was rushed, but she was exhausted and she just wanted to conversation to be over. Saving the world wasn’t an easy task.
“I love you!” Was the last thing she called out. With a wave her hand and a few mumbled words, her door closed behind her and her clothes changed from the magician’s outfit to a pair of black running shorts and a baggy gray t-shirt with her school’s logo on it.
What a night.
Immediately after arriving home from school she walked in on her dad anxiously pacing around their small kitchen. Giovanni wasn’t the best at hiding his emotions from his daughter. The two were close and Zatanna could read her dad like an open book. She asked him probably half a dozen questions about what was going on, all of which he ignored. As a distraction, he had her spend a considerable amount of time practicing her magic, her preferred extracurricular activity, before her mind wandered back to his anxiety. After a few more minutes of pestering, she finally got her answer.
The last few months she’d been bugging him to take her to meet the team of young heroes she’d been reading about online and watching on the news. With the knowledge of her father’s Justice League membership, to say she wanted in was an understatement. It was only fair she was allowed to join the other mentees, wasn’t it? Of course, Giovanni told her no; it was much too dangerous and she was much too inexperienced. When he finally revealed that tonight she’d get her first glimpse into the official protégé life, she was over the moon. Her begging and pleading had finally paid off.
The team was probably the coolest group of people she’d met who were close to her age. That wasn’t saying much, as she did attend an all-girls Catholic high school, but they were the coolest nonetheless. M’gann and Artemis seemed excited to have her around, adding to the girl power. If she recalled, Artemis said she would fit in great. It gave her a warm feeling as if she finally belonged somewhere. Conner, Wally, and Kaldur all also seemed friendly enough. Well, Conner didn’t appear to lean one way or the other but she could tell that was just his personality.
Then there was Robin. She didn’t catch his first name but assumed nobody knew it. He was the Boy Wonder, and after all, identities were secret for a reason. Something about him seemed so...so genuine.
He was the first to introduce himself (though he cut M’gann off), was curious about her affinity for all things magic (in a good way), and even did the word thing where one removed the prefixes and suffixes to make them their opposites (one of her favorite parts about the night). Something about him gave her butterflies she’d never felt before. There wasn’t one thing she could pinpoint though. It was a conglomeration of things; his bright smile, how calm and collected he was handling the mission, the way he made her feel welcome.
Letting out a loud, content sigh, she fell back onto her bed.
“God, if I could pick my own soulmate...” She mumbled to herself as her eyes fluttered shut with a smile on her face. Everything about him made her want to get to know him more. She wasn’t one for love at first sight, but something just clicked.
Barely a second later she bolted up, the thought of the Boy Wonder vanishing as fast as it appeared. She jumped out of bed, quickly running over to her vanity where her small, crystal clock sat. It had been ages since she checked the thing. Between school, magic, and pestering her dad to become a hero, the whole soulmate thing kind of took a backseat.
The countdown was crucial. Many girls in her grade had already met their soulmates, which Zatanna thought was ridiculous. How could you find true love at only fourteen? There was still an entire world unexplored, so many people not met, and so many things unseen. It was mind-boggling but who was she to argue with fate?
Shoving some scattered makeup and half-open hair products out of the way, the magician’s bright blue eyes went wide.
The clock read 00:00:00:00.
“What?” She ran a hand through her dark hair frantically, turning the opposite direction to try and comprehend when in the world this could’ve happened. How did she not notice? She could’ve sworn it just said like, 120 days or something. Then again, that must’ve been weeks, hell, even months ago. She tried not to look at the thing too much. Over the last three months, she’d met at least a dozen, new guys. No telling who her soulmate was, where she met him, how long ago had she met him. She let out a frustrated groan, turning back to face the clock, staring at it in disbelief.
A small sliver of her hoped there was some sort of possibility that maybe today it hit zero. Maybe tonight she met her soulmate. For the hell of it, she let her brain ponder the thought. Conner was out. It was clear he and M’gann were meant to be, despite their more than likely lack of having soulmate clocks. Wally had his mind set on M’gann, that was obvious. Were they soulmates? She didn’t think so. They were certainly not a match made in heaven. Kaldur seemed sweet enough, but she didn’t feel any sort of spark in their few brief conversations. She felt that there should have been the slightest spark, like the one she recalled her dad talking when he told stories of meeting her mom.
That left Robin. The charismatic, funny, insanely intelligent boy who from the get-go caught her attention. Robin. Throughout the night, he had countless efforts to make her feel as though she was part of their team. He was amazed by her native backwards tongue and didn’t find it strange or terrifying. He embraced it. His image slowly crept back into her heart, his voice echoed through her head. Despite not knowing who he was exactly, he was perfect. He was everything she could have ever hoped and dreamt of for her soulmate. He was a package deal. They clicked.
Deep down she knew it didn’t matter whether they clicked or not. Fate was fate, and fate was cruel. It was why her mother was taken from her and her dad. She always tried to relate it to math; they were intersecting lines which met once briefly and then never again. Her mother’s death made her skeptical on if it was really worth having a soulmate. Why love the person who’s meant for you if one day, they’ll be gone? She shoved the thoughts aside though, not wanting to focus on that now.
Her mind wandered back to Robin and soulmates, and the possibility of those lines of her life intersecting.
“I couldn’t be that lucky.” The tone of her voice was defeated. She couldn’t even try to be excited. She looked up at the ceiling as if some Lord of Order would give her an answer. Another frustrated sigh escaped her lips. She went back over and flopped down on her bed, face first, retracing every new encounter from the last few months, but the thought of Robin still lingering in the back of her mind.
Just a few states away, a certain Boy Wonder was having the same conversation with himself regarding the girl he’d met just that evening, whose ability to talk backwards, be herself, and hold her ground left him speechless. Soon enough, they’d realize that fate didn’t always have to be so cruel.