Chapter Text
Every day you’d watch the faint red glow of your arm and wonder what he looks like or how you’ll meet. You fantasized about bumping into each other in the street, or lining up behind him at a coffee shop, or being introduced to you by his friends, and all of a sudden both your arms will just give off that simultaneous triple beep. The last sound your timer will ever make before it turns into a faint scar on your arm.
“What do you think he’s like?” you asked your friend.
“Doesn’t matter,” she smirked, “He’s your soulmate. He’s going to be perfect.”
You smile at that and stared longingly at your arm. You brushed your thumb across the translucent numbers, “What if he doesn’t approve of the links?”
Your friend bit her lip, “I don’t know, Y/N. There was an increase in people going to the Fate Sisters for an ‘alteration´ but so far it’s illegal and more and more people are happy with their links.” She looked at you thoughtfully and whispered, “What do you think you’ll do if he doesn’t?”
You stared at the numbers one last time before rolling down your sleeves, “It’s too late for me. I’ve already fallen in love even if it is just with the idea of him. But if he doesn’t want me—“ You held your arm protectively and bit the inside of your cheek. Your friend furrowed her eyebrows and waited for you to continue. You sighed and smiled, “He and I can still be friends, right?”
You never stopped thinking about that conversation. You would always wonder what he’s like and if he approved of the links. You’ve picked up the habit of rubbing your arm where the numbers glowed whenever you think of him.
You could see the red light through most of your clothes and as much as it always caught your attention, you always felt comforted by its warm glow. It was the last thing you’d see before you go to sleep and the first thing you looked at when you wake up.
But you didn’t know what to do when one day your timer just suddenly stopped.
01:10:8:12:27:05
All you felt then was emptiness. You were in a cold dark place with no red glowing lights, no numbers counting down from years to seconds, and no more promise that your soulmate is out there.
“He’s dead…”
You locked yourself inside your room for days. You didn’t leave your bed for hours on end and every day felt like it was getting harder to breathe. It took everything out of you to take that first step out of your house and the moment you did, tears spilled down your cheeks.
It was a hard thing to do, to try to live your life knowing you’ll never get to meet your soulmate, the man given to you by fate. For the first few weeks, you never knew if you could keep going, or if it’s worth it.
But you did. You finally took that long breath and continued with your life. The faint sign on your arm will serve as a reminder that you loved someone unconditionally without ever having met them. It’s proof that you’re capable of feeling for someone so deeply that not even science or logic could explain why.
You gently rub the scar-like numbers on your arm.
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Your thumb lightly tracing every number.
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Your skin tingles from your light touch, until suddenly—
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The numbers—
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Were glowing—
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And counting down again.
You rub all your fingers against them and feel your breath hitch, “That’s impossible… he’s alive.”