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Chapter Text

"Elise, wait!" Arno shouted and soon laughed, as he saw red-haired girl jumping over the vegetable cart. She was fast and agile, precise and confident, so she was always the one winning all their races. She only shot him a quick smirk but never slowed down to wait for him.

Arno tried his best, but he always focused on his surroundings too much as he was too afraid of risk. He wanted to keep Elise safe, even if there was no safer place for them than Versailles. It was a city they grew up together, through the good and the bad, always side by side, supporting each other and sharing all those secret kisses. Arno loved Elise, and he couldn't wait to be with her officially.

His soulmate tattoo was still a black outline of a single cornflower just above his wrist. It was small, subtle and it fitted Elise just right. He still remembered that the very first flower he gave to her was precisely this one - a single cornflower in a beautiful, deep shade of blue. On that day Elise told him that is was her favourite flower, but sadly, Arno’s tattoo remained empty.

Arno shook off those memories and focused on his race with Elise. He really wanted to win this time, so he decided to risk more than usual. He jumped on barrels standing next to the tavern and soon stood on a roof of a building. He saw Elise running in the distance, and he dashed himself, ready to catch her.

He never expected that the slick roof tiles wouldn't support his weight enough, so he fell off the rooftop suddenly, landing on his back on the hard, dirty ground. The impact took away all the air from his lungs, making him stunned for a few seconds. Above he saw only the blue, cloudless sky. A second later pain pierced his left arm. It wasn’t broken but definitely bruised.

"Are you alright?"

A silent voice made Arno shiver. He tried to stand up as fast as possible and looked at the lady in front of him. He was dumbfounded. The woman, or maybe a young lady, in front of him, was beautiful. Her brown hair in a shade of milk chocolate was combed in a single brain and she was wearing a black dress. She looked at him with concern in her big, green eyes and in the same moment, Arno felt a wave of warmness spreading through his body, accumulating in his wrist. He looked down at his left hand and saw that his tattoo was full now. The cornflower had an elegant, green stem in the colour of the lady’s eyes, and the flower turned blue. But not some average blue. It was the most beautiful shade of deep blue, almost purple, Arno had ever seen. He raised his gaze toward the woman, who was also looking at her hand. On her left wrist, there was a tattoo of a carnation flower. It was white as snow, and the frame of each petal was in a dark, pink colour. Arno recognized this flower immediately. It was the same flower his father put on the grave of his mother.

"I'm-"

"No." Arno interrupted immediately. He was angry. And when he looked in her eyes and felt his heart turning into a tight knot, he got even more upset. It wasn't supposed to be like this!

She couldn't be his soulmate. He refused to believe it! He had Elise - his beautiful, lovely Elise that was winning their race. He couldn't be with some random, meaningless girl.

"No. It can't be you! You can't be MY soulmate!" He screamed. The girl took a step away from him, stunned and shocked. Hurt and disbelief visible in her green eyes that were now shining. She was holding back tears.

"I will never accept you. I will never love you. You will never be part of MY life. I don't care who you are. We will never be together!" He growled and saw the tears run down her cheek.

But he didn't care for her.

He didn't care for a stupid tattoo.

He couldn't.

Arno woke up from a nightmare suddenly, sitting in his bed. His shirt was wet from sweat, his breath sharp and shallow. He felt the pain in his chest, one he knew so well. And then he looked at his left hand. The cornflower was still there, reminding him of his greatest failure. The blue of the flower became a bit weathered, contours not as sharp as they used to be. And the worst part? His soulmate, the woman he was supposed to spend his life with. The woman who hurt him the most was sleeping a few rooms away from him. And she wanted neither to talk to him nor to see him. She wanted him to disappear from her life.

"I will make sure you will keep your promise, Monsieur Dorian and will never be a part of MY life," She growled at him when he saw her for the first time after all those years. It was the first thing she had ever told him. And the last as she denied speaking to him at all.

Arno couldn't sleep anymore, but fortunately, it was already early morning. So, he decided to clean himself before putting on his robes. But as he washed his face, another deep sigh escaped his lips as he saw his tattoo even more weathered than before. The flower looked like a waned picture - grey and blurred. If Arno didn't know it was, once a beautiful, cornflower he wouldn't be able to tell it now. It looked like a picture from a little child - a flower but one that can't be found in the real world.

He ran his fingers gently over the tattoo, thinking about Vivienne. She was so close and yet so far away from him. In return, he soon felt a pinch in the wrist and winced. She always did that. She could feel when he was touching the tattoo and thinking about her, so every time, she made sure it would only bring Arno pain. Whenever he caressed his tattoo, she pinched it back.

His heart was aching, and he could only blame himself, his stupidity and arrogance. Everything that was happening between them was his fault.

Soon he left his room. He needed a distraction, and the best thing he could do was to devote himself to the cause. He was going on a lot of missions lately, accepting every task. But yet, his thoughts were always going back to Viv. To his soulmate.

It was late evening when he came back to the Café Théâtre, he was bruised and tired, but still had been holding a flower in his hand. It was single cornflower he found on his way back and thought it was some kind of a sign as he had never before seen that flower in Paris. So, he took it and decided to give it to Vivienne. Or at least try to. So far, she had never accepted a gift from him. Even when he was leaving them directly in her room, she had always been throwing them all away. He found so many bouquets of flowers in the garbage can. The jewellery on necks and hands of workers of Café Théâtre and children eating all bonbons, all those were presents from him. He tried to say sorry, but she never stopped to listen to him. He tried to write letters, but he always found them in his room again, unopened. But he didn't want to give up on her. He already did this once, and now he had to face the consequences.

"Arno!" he heard the voice of Dimitri. He, Gerard and Philip were his friends. His best friends - the people who had been there for him whenever he needed. Because of them, Arno was not only an assassin, but also found a sense in his life. Without them, he would never be able to pull himself together after what had happened to Elise.

"Where are you going?" asked Philip.

"You look you terrible. Where you again running away from dogs?" asked Gerard, mocking him with a wide smile. Demetri was first to notice the flower in man's hand and frowned.

"You definitely shouldn't do this. Vivienne said she doesn't want you. Stop trying, or she will kill you eventually."

The other Assassins looked at Arno surprised, noticing the flower in his hand.

When Arno joined the assassins, Gerard was the first to find out that Arno had a soulmate. But at first, Arno didn't want to talk about it. He was still in love with Elise even though his feeling were fading away, changing. Arno felt like he finally understood that they weren't meant for each other, but it was hard to accept. Because he still remembered that pretty girl in a blue dress, looking at him with tears in her eyes.

He told them accidentally when after Elise’s death, they found him drunk. He pointed at his tattoo, that already was going grey. And then he lost it and told them about the girl who he had hurt so much. About tears, he saw. About words he said. And then he told them about the worse part. He told them that the assassin who just came back to Paris, Vivienne, was the one who was meant to be with him.

Demetri knew Vivienne the best. They often worked together, and they were good friends. He knew that she had a soulmate, one that she hated the most in the world. So, he tried to do the only thing to help he could; keep Arno and Vivienne far away from each other, which was hard as they served in the same Brotherhood. In the end, Demetri knew the reason why Viv didn't want to be with Arno. But he promised her not to tell anyone.

"Arno. You are our friend, but I'm afraid you have to finally accept that Viv will not accept you."

"I know I hurt her but..."

"There are no buts. Go to Viv if you must but leave her alone if she will tell you no again." Demetri moved away, letting Arno through.

He knew how this would end because both, Arno and Vivienne, were too stubborn to listen.

Arno found Viv in a training room but didn't dare to interrupt her training. He just watched her moves. She looked like she was dancing the dance of death and destruction, the sword was cutting through the air with a whistle, steel shining in the last rays of the sun slipping through the windows. Her moves were fast and precise, but as soon as she saw him, she stopped and looked at him displeased. Arno saw drops of sweat shining on her forehead, few strands of chocolate hair sticking to her face. But she looked beautiful. If only those green eyes looked at him with something else than hatred...

"I'm sorry to interrupt you," Arno said, taking a few steps to close the distance between them but Vivienne raised her sword before he got too close. She never let him near and so it was this time.

"What do you want again?" She asked anger in her voice made Arno's heart sink in his chest. But he couldn't give up. He showed her the flower. A single, blue cornflower, one that should be uniting them.

Viv lowered her sword and came closer to Arno reaching for the flower.

For a few seconds, Arno felt happiness blowing inside his body as he thought that maybe, maybe they can make peace with each other. He looked at her with a smile and hope in his brown eyes. He wanted to show her that his feelings were genuine. He wanted to be with her. To love her.

But Viv took the flower and torn it to shreds, dropping remains on the floor under Arno's feet.

"Are you stupid?! What is so hard to understand when I say I don't want you! Stay the fuck away from me, I hate you! I don't want your stupid flowers, your presents and pathetic letters. You will never be a part of my life, so give up already. I wish I never met you!"

With that final note, she left the room, leaving behind her one torn flower and one broken heart.

Arno dropped on his knees, taking in his hands remains of the flower. He didn't know why his vision was blurry until one single tear fell on his tattoo. His fragile heart shattered into millions in tiny, sharp pieces digging into every organ and every tissue of his body. He bled. He knew he did when he took all the pieces and close them in his hand.

Demetri appeared next to him soon, kneeling next to him and putting his hand on Arno's shoulder. Neither he nor Philip and Gerard wanted to see him broken again.

"I think you should know why she did that."

Chapter Text

"She was 16 when her parents were murdered. Vivienne never wanted to be an assassin. She chose life away from war and her parents supported her. They left the Brotherhood, even though they belonged to the best assassins Paris ever had. They moved to the countryside, raised Vivienne and sent her to school. While she was studying, they moved back to Versailles. When Vivienne came back home... They all had been attacked. As far as I know, she saw her parents dying before the assassins came to the rescue. She was left all alone and then she met you. You appeared in her life in the worst moment, destroying her only chance to be happy. So, she decided to join the Brotherhood as she had nothing more to live for.

Arno was shocked when he heard Demetri's story. He had never thought that Vivienne experienced such a pain. That her life was so hard and so similar to his own.

Suddenly he understood her reasons for treating him like this. But instead of giving up, he decided to try harder and differently. He understood that he couldn't win her with presents. He had to prove to her that he was, in fact, a good man. Ready to do everything for her.

Unfortunately, the next day Vivienne left.

No one knew about her sudden departure except the council that refused to share that knowledge. The only thing they said was simple: "She won't come back."

Arno had never felt such an emptiness in his whole life.

He desperately wanted to find Viv, to fix his mistakes and beg her for forgiveness, but he had no idea where to start. He felt lost. He finally realised he had failed. He lost the woman of his life. He lost everything.

And now all he could do was to gently caress his tattoo every evening. He felt pain afterwards - Vivienne was pinching herself whenever Arno touched his tattoo. So, after two long months, he finally gave up. Arno didn't want Vivienne to hurt herself anymore. He wanted her to be happy, even if her happiness meant they would forever stay apart. He was ready to sacrifice himself for her sake. He was ready to let go.

Another month passed.

Summer came almost to an end. There was no heat that used to make people sweat more than usual. The Sun wasn't hanging that high anymore and days became shorter. During one of those still warm evenings Arno was sitting in his room, looking outside the window. He had no artistic talent, but for the past few weeks, he tried to draw. Simple things. Leaves, flowers, objects in his room. Nothing special. He needed something to distract himself and lately Paris was... calm. Nothing was happening so he was stuck. He had already watched all the performances in Cafe Theatre. He had practised with every kind of a weapon in his training room. He had studied all the maps of Paris. He had sharpened all his blades. Only drawing managed to calm his nerves and he didn't realise when he had become quite good at it.

On that warm evening, while he was drawing a rose, he suddenly felt... that. Something he had never felt in his entire life. He looked at his hand, left wrist. It felt warm. As if someone was gently running a feather against his skin. It was so subtle, so delicate and so... calming. He looked, still amazed, at his arm, and finally, he gathered the strength to touch his tattoo. To run his fingers along the contours of the cornflower that now looked like a grey stain on his hand.

But the second he touched his tattoo, the feeling disappeared.

"No! Vivienne!" he shouted almost desperately, realising she wasn't able to hear him. He swore under his breath.

His thoughts were running in his head like crazy. It was Vivienne, it had to be her. He wouldn't be able to feel the touch of any other person. But why did she do this? Did she want him to go mad? To lose his mind? Or maybe she... No. Arno smiled cynically to himself. She couldn't miss him. She hated him and had every right to do so.

A few days later Arno felt the same sensation. The same warm feeling of someone running a feather against his skin. This time it wasn't as delicate, but no less pleasurable. Vivienne was circling segments of his skin, starting in the middle of a wrist and going up. But before she reached the elbow she stopped and then started again, this time on the side of his wrist. She was stroking him like that for a few minutes until she stopped completely.

Arno looked amused at his hand. This time it couldn't be an accident. So, he decided to risk it and tried to return the caress.

He was surprised to see that his tattoo changed a bit. It was less grey-ish. Sharper. It still had no colours it once had but it started to look like a flower again.

So, Arno ran his fingers along with the line of a stalk, gently massaging his skin. And for the first time, he didn't feel any pain in return. No pinching, no cutting, no hot or cold sensation. He felt only his skin under his fingertips and a weird feeling of calmness that surrounded his body. 

Since that day things changed. He was feeling her touch on his hand every day. Sometimes it was just a quick, gentle peck, sometimes it was an hour of fondling.  Arno tried to return every kind of caress he felt, and he knew something had changed.

Yet, he still was surprised when one day the council told him that Vivienne was coming back.  He had no idea where she was. He only knew that she was coming back finally.

He waited patiently for the day Vivienne was supposed to come back. But Arno felt anxious. What if all he felt for the past weeks was just a figment of his imagination? What if Vivienne still hated him more than anything? He had no answers and that made him nervous.

He tried to stroke his tattoo, but this time he had no response. And on top of that - it was pouring. When it became dark Arno got worried. Vivienne still wasn't in the Café Théâtre and soon it got cold. So, he did the only thing he thought about. He took the umbrella and went to look for her. What else could he do?

He found her after an hour. The rain was even stronger than before, and the temperature dropped rapidly. 

But he found Vivienne standing in the rain, in front of the Notre Dame. She was looking at the rosette, completely soaked. Arno immediately run towards her and opened an umbrella above her head, to prevent rain from falling on her body.

"Vivienne..." he said, looking at her. Her face was pale, lips blue and she looked sad. He felt like she was crying but the rain mixed with the tears so he couldn't tell for sure. Arno’s heart sank down. He had never seen her like this, and it was painful. He had no idea how he was supposed to help her. 

The woman faced him, looking him in the eyes. Arno prepared for an outburst.  He suspected she would start to scream, to insult and blame him. But all he saw was a gentle twitch of her lips. She took a step towards him and simply rested her forehead against his chest.

"I'm soaked, Arno. There is no point of keeping me under the umbrella” she said quietly. And Arno? He felt like this heart was about to explode. It was the first time he touched her. The first time she was so close. The first time she said his name. It was... their first time.

Arno suddenly wrapped his arm around her, closing her in an embrace and rested his cheek against her wet hair.

"I will always, always care for you. I swear it, Vivienne."

But he didn't let her argue. He took her case in his hand and took Vivienne back to the cafe.

Only there, in the warm light of candles, he found out that she was shivering. Immediately he threw away the umbrella and ordered her to undress, giving her the towel and his clothes. They were far too big for her but at least they were dry.

When Vivienne changed, she was ready to thank Arno, but she had no chance as the assassin wrapped her in a soft blanket. He pulled her onto the bed where his hands started to caress her shoulders to make her get warm faster.

"I will bring you some tea."

Arno disappeared from the room before Viv could protest. He went to the kitchen to prepare tea himself. He knew exactly what kind she liked the best, black with sugar and raspberries.

When he was back, he noticed Vivienne was still standing, wrapped in the blanket. Her cheeks became pinker and Arno smiled at the sight. He gave her the tea and sat behind her. He took the towel and immediately started to dry her hair.

"How did you find me?"

"I was told you will come back today. But when you didn’t appear, I got worried. So, I went to look for you, but I had no idea where to start."

Vivienne didn't respond immediately. She was lost in her thoughts.

Arno wanted to say something, but he resigned when he saw her clenching fingers on a teacup.

"My parents were soulmates," She whispered. Her voice was barely audible, so Arno had to lower his head to hear her. She saw it, so she put away the tea and moved toward him, giving silent permission to hug her. Arno, still surprised, wrapped his arms around her body.

"They were killed before my birthday, so they already had prepared a present for me. I found it a few weeks ago when I went back to my home. They planned to give me a book with a story they made themselves. About how they met each other. About how finding a soulmate was the most essential and important thing in life. The last words in the book were: Somewhere there your soulmate is waiting for you. Don't miss your chance." She took a deep breath and looked toward the window. Raining hadn't stopped yet. But she was warm now. She felt so safe.

"I realised that I was stupid. I was making the biggest mistake by ignoring you. And I was making my parents sad. Arno I... I am sorry. I'm truly sorry for the way I treated you. For everything, I had done. You didn't deserve it. So, if... If it's not too late..."

"Wait," Arno interrupted her. He turned her so they could face each other and looked into her green eyes. They were as beautiful as the day he saw them for the first time.

"I deserved everything," He started. And seeing her trying to add something, he rested his finger on her lips. "I deserved it. But I want to fix it. I want to prove you; you can count on me. You are my soulmate, Vivienne. And I am yours. I..."

Once again, Vivienne interrupted him. But this time not with words but with the deed. Her still cool lips pressed against his.

No more words were needed.

Arno wrapped his arms around her waist. She wrapped hers around his neck. Their lips crushed against each other and their tattoos, for the first time after all those years, regained their colours.