Chapter Text
“Mommy, what’s a ‘soulmate’?”
A child with neck length raven hair and a pair of tiny kitty ears atop her head frowned nervously as she approached her mother in their family’s living room. Her mother, with similar features and matching golden eyes, sat with a book in her lap sipping slowly at a small cup of tea. The mother’s expression turned to one of surprise as she gently set the book and cup aside, patting gently on her lap for the small child to crawl up and sit.
“Where did you hear that dear?” Tilting her head curiously, the cat ears atop her own head twitching to match the thoughts, the mother smiled softly at her daughter as she nestled in close.
“I heard some kids in class talking about it! They were talking about all these things I didn’t understand, and they kept saying the word ‘soulmate’!” The daughter’s brows were furrowed in frustration, her own curious nature causing her worry over this unknown term.
“Did I hear something about soulmates?” A sliding door of their home opened, and a towering man with a thick black beard that followed his jawline towards his matching combed back hair stepped in. With golden eyes matching that of his wife and daughter, he looked between the pair with a stern gaze, settling eventually on his daughter.
“It seems so. Little Blake here heard kids at school talking about it, so I guess it’s time we have that talk.” With a soft smile to her husband, Kali Belladonna gestured to the seat beside her, the sizable couch easily fitting the three of them with room to spare.
The stern gaze of Ghira Belladonna fell to one of nervousness as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, a hand matching the massive size of him brushing through thin black locks. His steps through the sizable living room were slow, his mind playing out how best to describe the concept of a soulmate to his one and only daughter.
“I figured we’d have a little more time. Kids these days, they all seem to be in such a hurry to grow up…” Eventually lowering himself to the seat beside his family, Ghira looked between Blake and Kali with a heavy sigh. “Would you like to get started? I think I need a little time.”
“Of course.” Chuckling to herself, Kali gazed over the muscular form of her husband. His rather regal and open purple cloak exposed the powerful build of his torso, a thick patch of black fur in the center of his chest covered thinly by a silver metal band attached to spaulders at his shoulder. From his build, he was a fighter, plain to see to all, but in this moment he was nothing more than a nervous father. “Now then Blake, did the other kids tell you anything about soulmates?”
“No!” Pouting in her seat, Blake’s ears drooped slightly as she grumbled slightly to herself. “Most of them teased me for not knowing about it, nobody would tell me anything!”
“There there.” Patting her daughter’s head gently, Kali gave her daughter a comforting smile. “It’s nothing to worry about, everyone learns at a different age.”
“So what is it!” With eager eyes, Blake looked to her mother, who placed a finger to her chin in contemplation.
“I guess the easiest way to describe it is a feeling. Sometimes, when your mind wanders, you might suddenly feel something and you don’t know why. You can be having the best day ever and for some reason feel sad, or during times of worry find yourself strangely happy. You might find sudden interest in a book you’ve never read, or a food you’ve never eaten before. There’s a lot of different ways you feel a soulmate, and one day, you may even get the chance to meet them.” Turning her gaze to Ghira, Kali gave the man a loving smile, seeing him gently relax as she spoke. He matched her gaze, the two thinking back to the day they met, before Kali felt a tug at her black hakama.
“So it’s a person? But a feeling person?” It was clear Blake’s young mind was having difficulty imagining what her mother was describing, lips still in a pout as she did her best to understand.
“Something like that. Take your father and I for example.” Once again, their gazes met, and Kali remembered her youthful impressions of the man she was destined to fall for. “When I was a girl I was always the shy and quiet one, but one day I suddenly became rather...feisty. I wasn’t sure why, and when your grandmother told me it was likely because of my soulmate I didn’t understand either. Well, as it turns out, your father was a bit of a troublemaker when he was your age, so any time he was causing mischief I would always feel him doing it. I didn’t know who he was at the time, but I got a feeling for the type of person he was.”
“Yes well, times for the faunus were tough. I had to be a little scrappy to get by.” Coughing as he averted his gaze from his wife, Ghira shook his head and turned his attention back to his daughter. “Anyways, much like your mother could feel me, I could feel her as well. No matter how chaotic things around me were, through her I always felt a comforting calm, something that told me things would be alright. It was years before we finally met, but I’d like to think that through our connection your mother kept me happy even when we were so far apart.”
“And when we finally met, it was like magic. In an instant I knew who he was the moment I saw him, though admittedly I was a little worried he’d be nothing but a big brute. As it turned out of course, your father was nothing but a big teddy bear under all that muscle.” With a teasing look to her husband, Kali then looked back down at Blake, who was deep in thought.
“Will my soulmate be a big meany like Daddy was!?” With a worried expression, Blake looked to her mother as her father hung his head in shame. Kali chuckled, shaking her head and shrugging.
“Who knows? Everyone’s soulmate is different, and sometimes it can be hard to tell. Your father and I were different enough that we knew instantly if what we were feeling was through the other, but for some people their soulmate is so much like them that they never really notice the difference. All I can tell you for sure is that one day you’ll find that person who will make your life complete.” Gently brushing her fingers through Blake’s hair, Kali could see her daughter’s eyes light up in excitement.
“So when do I meet them!” Hopping up and down in her mother’s lap, Blake watched as her mother once again shrugged.
“Well, that’s hard to say. For some they meet young, others don’t meet for years, and some people never meet at all…” Kali trailed off as she could see the growing disappointment in her daughter’s eyes, and she quickly backpedaled the thought. “Of course, with the new communication’s technology these days, I think your generation will have the easiest time finding their soulmate. Don’t worry Blake, you’ll find them some day.”
---
That conversation between Blake and her mother had happened a little over 17 years ago. Having just passed her 20th birthday, Blake’s eyes were glossed over as she scrolled through numerous profiles on a soulmate website known as ‘ TwoSouls ’. The site worked by every user creating two profiles, one based on themselves, and the other based on anything and everything they could put regarding the feelings they’d gotten through the bond with their soulmate. After that, the site would look through the dual profiles of other users for sets that matched up, and introduce the pair to one another. While the site only had about a 30% success rate, it was still better than nothing.
Leaning back in her chair, the screen of the computer glowing in the dark of the night, Blake let out a heavy sigh as she scanned over the profile she’d built of her soulmate.
Interests including automotive work, the person had definitely gone through a bit of a partying phase, strong willed…
The list seemed to go on forever, Blake having provided as many details as possible, but by this point the algorithm was desperately providing her profiles with as little as 10% matches to the profile she'd built. To her the entire situation was starting to feel hopeless, and Blake stared at the details she’d provided wondering what else she could possibly put down. Deciding nothing more could be done for the evening, she shut off the computer and began to get ready for bed.
In the washroom, looking herself over in the mirror, Blake couldn’t help but imagine what her soulmate would be like. Judging by the traits she’d picked up on over the years, she imagined at the very least it was likely a guy. Plenty of her schoolmates had found their soulmates over the years, many of them meeting on the small island of Menagerie that her family lived on, and Blake had seen the entire gamut of pairings in that time. She herself knew she wasn’t picky one way or the other, but at the very least figuring out their gender would be a huge help in letting her identify her soulmate. Still, she did her best to remain open minded, knowing that in this day and age gender stereotypes were beginning to mean less and less.
As she continued to gaze across the image of herself in the mirror, her hair grown down to her waist now, Blake fantasized about what kind of traits she'd given off to her soulmate. Maybe the reason the two hadn’t found one another on the site was due to her own poor descriptions of herself. Blake worried that she might’ve been a little biased when filling out her own profile, doing her best to hide certain facts about herself from anyone that might come across it, in particular her taste in books. If there was a chance that her soulmate felt her feelings while reading certain chapters of the novels she owned, they might think her to be some sort of deviant and list their soulmate as such. With a deep sigh, contemplating a revamp of her profile, another thought floated in the back of Blake's mind as well.
What if you just gave up on the whole thing?
It was a conversation she'd had with a close friend who also had yet to find their soulmate. Ilia Amitola had been the closest person in her life, aside from her family, and been the source of a great deal of comfort when she previously vented her frustrations regarding the inability to find her soulmate.
"What do you mean?" In one particular conversation the pair had had on the topic, Ilia had proposed the two of them give up on the whole soulmate process entirely.
"Well, how many people really ever find their soulmate? Plenty of people have to settle and accept they'll never find them, and at the end of the day, if you find happiness elsewhere won't your soulmate feel it too? What more can you really do beyond that?"
The argument was convincing to Blake at the time, and even now she still thought about it a great deal. She could tell that her frustrations in the search were affecting her soulmate, feeling similar frustrations from the other. If she instead simply settled down, found happiness in another, surely that would make her soulmate happy as well?
With her teeth brushed, Blake's eyes lingered on her reflection a few moments longer. At the very least, leaving her profile up a little longer wouldn't hurt anything, and with a defeated sigh she turned off the lights and settled in for the night.
---
Halfway across the world, a blonde haired girl with lilac eyes stretched her arms out as she woke to the world. With a yawn, she felt a strange sense of frustration, and groaned as she started to imagine what part of her day was causing such feelings. Wondering if perhaps she’d put off one too many chores, or that today would be a hectic day at work, Yang Xiao Long began to put the pieces together and let out a sigh.
The past two years she’d felt this constant anxiety within her gut, this constant worry and growing frustration that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She’d long since figured out such feelings must be emanating from her soulmate, and it too began to cause her frustration as well. It felt like a vicious cycle, that the frustrations caused by her bond would lead to her having her own frustrations, which likely flowed back through the bond to the other. It’d taken a great deal of willpower to be able to ignore the ever present feelings, and as more and more time passed Yang found herself repeating a question in her mind.
As she stepped into the kitchen of her home, a modest location where she stayed with her family on the tiny island of Patch, Yang spotted her father through blurry eyes. Her nose twitched, the welcoming smell of coffee drawing her towards him as he sipped from his own cup.
“Morning Yang, sleep well?” Her father had always seemed like a morning person, Taiyang Xiao Long ever ready to take on the day. It was a trait she hadn’t inherited from him, the bags under her eyes begging for more sleep, but the work day ahead meant she wouldn't be able to sleep in. With messy blonde hair, a few shades darker than her own, his blue eyes analyzed her mood as he frowned.
“Sorta. Rough morning is all.” Pouring her own cup, Yang took a steady sniff of the brew, and took a cheerful sip as the warm liquid flowed through her. It wouldn’t kick in right away, but Yang knew that this cup would be what got her through the day.
“Still dealing with soulmate stuff?” Raising his brow, Taiyang looked to his daughter with concern. She’d mentioned the growing frustrations felt through her bond months prior, and while he’d assured her that it was nothing more than a phase for the other person, the fact it had gone on for this long was beginning to fill them both with doubt.
“Yeah, I think so. They just always feel so annoyed and I don’t get it! Are they only annoyed because I’m annoyed at them being annoyed all the time!?” Yang’s voice rose higher than she intended, her still groggy state causing her not to realize how loud she was speaking, and with a sigh she took another sip of her coffee. “Is it possible to change soulmates Dad, cause I think mine is broken.”
“I don’t know about all that.” Chuckling to himself, Taiyang shook his head and placed his mug on the counter. “I still think it’s just a phase, and maybe the both of you should just try a little harder to be a positive influence on the other.”
“Well yours changed didn’t it?” As the minutes ticked by, Yang felt herself steadily waking up more and more, and as she looked to her father she could tell she’d hit a nerve by mistake.
“My situation was...complicated.” Frowning to himself, Taiyang lifted his mug once more and gestured for Yang to follow him to their living room. Each of them took a chair, placing their mugs on a center wooden table with a glass pane set in the center. “When your mother left I honestly didn’t expect to find another, especially so late in the years. Meeting Summer, well, call it a fluke but it was a second chance not many get.”
“Still, it changed didn’t it? Like, my soulmate could be wrong or something right?” Knowing that her father’s love life was still a sensitive topic, Yang did her best to try and keep the discussion based on her own experience.
“I think it was more that your mother and I changed than anything else. A soulmate is, well, it’s supposed to be the person perfect for you. Usually it’s the same person your whole life, but if things happen that change a person enough, on rare occasions your soulmate changes because of it. If I’m honest I don’t think you’ll just get a new soulmate just because you want one.” Chuckling to himself, sensing that Yang wasn’t entirely satisfied with his answer, Taiyang did his best to stay positive even in light of his own personal past.
“I guess. It just really makes me doubt the whole process y’know? I mean, I get that everyone is born with a soulmate, but so many people never meet them that it’s hard not to get annoyed with the whole thing! I can’t even imagine how lucky it was for you to find yours not once but twice , and maybe even…” Yang trailed off, realizing where her rant had gone, her voice lowering to a whisper.
“Despite what you’re thinking, there won’t be a third.” Finishing his daughter’s thought for her, Taiyang found himself surprised that he was smiling.
“Really? I mean like, there isn’t…” Looking to her father, knowing the topic of her stepmother’s passing could be a heavy topic, Yang pursed her lips in concern.
“Nothing. Just me in here now.” Gesturing across himself, Taiyang shrugged, still smiling softly to himself. “But I think that’s a good thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think it means that Summer really was the one . I haven’t rebonded with Raven since Summer’s passing, and given I haven’t bonded with anyone else either I don’t know if I ever will. Summer was indescribable really, and honestly I’m happy that the universe has decided that what we had was as true as love ever gets.” Taking a lengthy pause, the silence between them was broken as the scroll in Yang’s pocket began to sound with an alarm.
“Ah dang, I’m gonna be late…” Quickly realizing the alarm for her to leave for work was going off when she wasn’t even close to ready to go, Yang scrambled from her seat and gulped the remainder of her coffee down as quickly as possible.
“Need a ride? I can get the car ready while-” Somewhat thankful by the interruption to their conversation, Taiyang stood to grab his things, though Yang simply shook her head.
“I got it. Besides, with the way you drive I’ll end up even later.” Yang shouted from down the hall, quickly changing into her work attire and reappearing in the living room moments later madly attempting to comb through her messy hair with her hands.
“The way I drive? You mean following the speed limit?” Raising a brow, Taiyang watched as Yang pulled her glossy yellow motorcycle helmet from the hat stand by the front door, quickly strapping it to her head as she threw her bag over her shoulder.
“Exactly! See, you understand.” Rushing to her father’s side, Yang gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and started to run out the door.
“Hey! Drive careful, you don’t want to get pulled over! And remember, try and stay positive today! I promise it’ll help!” Shouting from their porch, Taiyang watched as Yang wasted no time throwing her leg over her golden bike as the engine roared to life. A few revs later as she back out of the driveway, and from where he stood Taiyang could already tell Yang was blowing past the speed limit before she'd even left the neighborhood.
As the wind ripped and tore past her, her eyes focused intently on the road before her, Yang couldn’t help but begrudgingly repeat the words her father had told her over and over in her mind.
Stay positive...