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Honestly Blake thought the whole idea was inane. If your soulmate got harmed, it would show as marks on your own skin. Fortunately the marks didn't hurt. Frankly, all that the marks did, in Blake's opinion, was make you paranoid about your soulmate, and weirdly obsessed with other people's skin.
But when Adam hit her the first time and there wasn't a single blemish on his skin, she at least knew then he wasn't the one.
After Blake moved on from Adam, she felt burnt out on the whole soulmate thing. She only knew one thing about her soulmate...they got hurt...a lot.
The marks were never lasting, but it made her feel like her soulmate was a very physical person, and after Adam, she was certain she didn't want to be with someone like that.
So Blake covered up her skin, moved back into her parents' home, and did her best to hide away.
Blake still saw the occasional new mark on her skin, but they were small and never lasted long, not until one night.
Blake woke up suddenly in the middle of the night and figured out why when she felt how achy her right arm was.
Blake winced. She didn't remember anything that could have caused it to feel this way.
When the ache continued, Blake got out of bed to go to the bathroom. She turned on the light and carefully stripped off her long sleeved shirt.
Blake gasped when she saw the new marks all over her skin, but the worst was a dark thick line which encircled her right bicep.
She had never seen a mark as bad as this one, on anyone, much less her. Whatever happened to her soulmate, it was bad, really really bad.
Blake cried for a person she had never met, yet loved all the same.
A month later, the line on her right arm was still there, completely unchanged. It was unsettling to say the least.
And while Blake was even more set on hiding, her mother had other thoughts. Kali Belladonna stormed into Blake's bedroom and flung open the curtains, letting the morning sun shine directly on Blake.
"Mom!"
"Don't 'mom' me. You're a grown adult. I don't care what you do today, but you are not going to spend another day in bed."
Blake glared at her.
"Nope, that only works on your father. You will get some fresh air today. I mean it, Blake."
Blake acquiesced. "Fine. I'll shower and call Sun, see what he's up to."
"Great!" Kali kissed the top of Blake's head. "Have a great day, sweetie."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Blake?" Sun's voice came over the scroll.
"Hey, Sun. What are you up to today?" asked Blake.
"Your mom kick you out of bed?"
"Yeah," she admitted.
"Well, I'm working this morning if you want to hang out there and we can grab lunch after."
"Are you sure I can be there?"
"I mean I'll ask my clients before, but if they say no, you can bring a book and read in my office."
"Okay, see you in an hour."
"Later, Blake!"
Blake had been to Sun's physical therapy clinic a few times and always enjoyed hanging out with her friend. She supposed it was nice to have a change of scenery from her bedroom.
She met him in his office. "Morning, Sun."
He looked up from his desk computer. "Blake! Great timing. I'm about to head into my next appointment and she already said she's fine having company."
"Great. Can you tell me what's bringing her in?"
His smile fell. "Terrible motorcycle accident. It wasn't her fault, but she got the worst of it. She ended up pinned in the wreck. By the time they got her out...well, they had to amputate part of her arm."
Blake tried to smother down the blaring thoughts in her head and calmly asked, "Her right arm? A month ago?"
Sun gave her a curious look. "How'd you know?"
"... Must have seen it in the news..." Blake replied numbly.
"Probably. She just got a prosthetic for her arm, but she's having trouble adjusting to it. So today I'm going to help her get more comfortable with it and work on some gross motor tasks."
"Gross motor?" Blake asked.
"Big movements. The opposite would be fine motor or small, precise movements."
Blake nodded and tried not to convey her extreme interest in this woman. "What's her name?" she asked as casually as she could.
"Yang. Yang Xiao Long."
Blake was shocked by how right it sounded. But surely it was a coincidence. She was getting ahead of herself. "Well, let's not keep Yang waiting."
Sun walked them into a large physical therapy room complete with exercise machines, parallel bars, and an array of other equipment.
"Yang! Good to see ya!" Sun chimed as he walked in. "I told you about my friend observing today. This is Blake."
The first thing Blake noted was that Yang was gorgeous. All she was wearing was a tank top and shorts and Blake fought to not stare and stay permanently fixed on the expanse of skin in front of her.
Yang didn't seem as reserved. Blake clearly tracked Yang's eyes as she took in this new woman.
Yang grinned brightly. "Sun, you didn't tell me your friend was absolutely stunning," she said, her gaze still trained on Blake.
Sun was busy searching for something. "Stating the obvious, Yang."
"Oh," Yang's smile fell. "Are you two...?"
Blake was quick to answer. "Definitely not. Sun and I are just friends."
"Enough flirting you two. Time to get to work, Yang," said Sun.
"Yeah, yeah," Yang grumbled. She reached into her gym bag and brought out a metal prosthetic arm and attached it with a hiss.
As Blake's own bicep ached, she couldn't stop herself from asking, "Are you okay?"
Yang nodded. "I'm fine. I'm just not used to it connecting to my nerves."
Blake took a step closer to her. "Does it hurt? When you do?"
Yang regarded her for a moment before saying, "Not really? It feels intensely weird though."
The two locked gazes for a long moment, before a nearby voice was shouting...
"Yang! Catch!"
A soft dodgeball flew towards Yang's chest and she caught it with her left hand.
"Sun! Warn a girl!" yelled Yang.
"I did! And you're supposed to catch it with your right hand!"
Yang frowned and tried to move the ball from her left hand to her right hand, but the prosthetic responded sluggishly and she dropped the ball. "Stupid metal piece of shit."
"Actually it's cutting edge tech," said Sun. "Yang, we've been over this."
"I know. I'm the problem."
"That's not what I said," Sun replied. "You just need to get used to it and stop treating it like it doesn't belong to you."
"How the blazes do I do that!?"
"That's what we need to figure out."
Blake had a thought. She turned to Sun. "Can I try something?" she asked Sun.
"What do you think, Yang?" asked Sun.
Remembering Blake was there and a witness to her outburst, she bashfully said, "Sorry for yelling, Blake. What's on your mind?"
A lot, Blake thought, but first things first.
Blake stood in front of Yang and took both of her hands into hers, causing a look of shock to come over Yang's face.
"I think you're overthinking it, making it more difficult, because you don't think it's you." Blake moved their hands so their palms were pressed together. "I want you to copy the motions I make."
Blake started to move her hands and Yang started to copy her.
It was going well for a second before Yang's eyes shifted to her metal hand and its movements started to stutter.
"No," Blake said forcefully. Yang's eyes locked back on hers. "Focus on me. Only me," Blake commanded. Blake continued to move her hands and Yang kept her eyes on Blake's. There was an electricity, an energy to this moment which at the same time captivated and terrified Blake.
Blake focused on how Yang's movements with her right arm were as smooth as her left. She smiled and pulled away when the intensity of the moment became too much for Blake.
"Good. You did great, Yang."
Yang seemed in a daze.
"Yang, catch!" Sun yelled, tossing the ball again at her. Despite her daze, Yang caught it easily...with her right hand.
"Yes!" Sun pumped his fist.
But Yang kept her eyes on Blake. The look of adoration on Yang's face was too much for Blake. Blake stepped back and turned away, but hit her left shin on a wooden box.
"Shit," Blake cursed as she bent down and rubbed her shin.
"Blake, you okay?!" asked Yang, moving to face her again.
"I'm fi... " Blake trailed off as she saw the mark developing on Yang's own left shin, in the exact place Blake had hit her shin. This confirmed it.
Yang was…is her soulmate.
While Blake was reeling from this revelation, Yang was getting increasingly worried at Blake's silence.
"Blake?"
Blake pointed. "Your shin..."
"What?" Yang looked down. "Oh, that's new."
But it didn't seem like Yang got it. Blake would have to show her. Blake took her jacket off and rolled up the sleeve of her right arm.
Blake pointed to the thick dark line. "I got this mark a month ago and it hasn't gone away or even changed." Blake reached out to place a gentle hand on the junction of prosthetic and flesh. "And I don't think it ever will."
Yang's eyes widened as she realized what Blake was saying. She stood up quickly.
"Sun! Punch me!" Yang said.
Blake stood. "What!?"
Sun grinned and punched Yang's left shoulder solidly. Yang winced, but then looked at Blake expectantly.
Blake shook her head at the ridiculousness, but rolled the sleeve of her left arm up. A new mark was starting to show on her shoulder.
"Thanks for not punching her in the face," Blake said to Sun.
Yang approached her. "Blake, we're..."
"Soulmates. Yep." Blake chuckled nervously.
"Blake...I don't even know your last name!" Yang realized.
Blake smiled. "It's Belladonna.''
"Blake Belladonna.. it's as beautiful as you."
Blake blushed. "Thanks."
The third person in the room cleared his throat. "Well Yang, you made great progress today. Let's call it for today," Sun said, grinning widely.
Yang nodded. She offered her metal hand to Blake. "Want to grab some lunch and get to know each other?"
Blake took it and smiled. "Sounds perfect."