Chapter Text
A young Caitlyn walked into the kitchen to see her mother reading a letter with silent tears falling down her face. Caitlyn couldn’t remember the last time she had seen her mother cry so for a moment she was rooted in place at the sight.
“Mum?” Caitlyn asked in a timid voice, unsure if she should leave or stay.
Cassandra raised her head from the letter and smiled a small smile towards Caitlyn. She extended an arm in invitation.
Caitlyn quickly crossed the room and moved to her mother's side, feeling the older woman's arm wrap around her waist and hold her close.
“Mum, why are you crying?”
Cassandra lifted up the paper. “This is from a dear friend I lost a long time ago. I read it on the anniversary of our meeting.”
Caitlyn's eyes darted from the paper to her mother's exposed wrist to the date that was printed on there. Today. Her mind was whirling to put the pieces together as Cassandra waited patiently for her to finish the puzzle before her.
Caitlyn thought back, she had seen her mother's soulmate tattoo all her life. But never had she seen her father's. His wrist was always covered by a watch or sleeves. A frown took residence on her face as she studied her mother's tattoo again. The handwriting certainly looked close to her father's but glancing at the letter in her mother's hand once more she could tell this was the true match.
She looked up and into her mother's eyes. Trying to figure out if this was something that everyone knew but her or if she was being let in on a secret. All she saw was patience and warmth on Cassandra's face which gave her the courage to ask the question that had formed.
“Mum… is Bàba not your soulmate?” Caitlyn's voice was barely above a whisper.
This wasn't something she had even considered could be a possibility. Could one find happiness with someone other than their soulmate? Could one be truly happy with their soulmate if the other could be true?
Cassandra smiled at Caitlyn. “No, your Bàba is not my soulmate. At least not the one my mark led me to. Her name was Grayson and she was my first love. But not my only love nor was she my greatest love.”
Caitlyn sat there, taking in the information given to her. Her mother had a soulmate who wasn't her father. Who had died. Her mother loved again after the loss. Perhaps even loved more than her soulmate and Caitlyn's father.
“I…” Caitlyn struggled to find the words, letting out a confused whine as her mind struggled to make sense of all the new information and possibilities. Her world view on love, what she thought was set in stone, had now been shattered leaving her feeling unsteady and lost. She looked to her mother with wide, tear filled eyes trying to convey what her mind could not put words to just yet.
“Oh my darling.” Cassandra whispered as she pulled her daughter close and held her tightly, tucking Caitlyn's head under her chin while stroking a steady pressure and pace down the child's back.
“It is confusing I'm sure. I will explain as best I can now and when you can ask the questions you want I will answer them. I promise.”
Caitlyn nodded against her mother's shoulder as she felt a kiss being placed against the top of her head.
“I met Grayson when I was a little younger than you. Our eyes met across the market square on this day so many years ago just as the clock struck noon.” Cassandra pointed to her wrist where under the date was the time of 12pm written. “I don't know if I would say it was love at first sight as some say, but it felt like a piece of me was clicking into place. Similar to the final piece of a puzzle clicking in place. We spent time together and as we grew, love grew between us as well.”
Caitlyn had lifted her head to look at her mother as she spoke. “What…what happened? How did you lose her?”
“War. It has such a way of taking things from us that should never have been lost.” Cassandra said sadly. “It also has a way of bringing us together in a way that I do not know is possible in any other way.”
Caitlyn cocked her head not understanding, causing Cassandra to chuckle.
“It is because of the war I went into politics. I wanted to make sure senseless fighting didn't happen. So others would not have to lose what I had lost. And in that process I met hundreds of veterans who had fought in past wars and some who had fought in the same war as Grayson. One soldier, Vander, told me of a doctor who had no training as a soldier or fighter. Who was running into battle dragging the wounded back trying to save as many as he could. This doctor did not care who's side the soldier was on. He simply saw those in need and ran to help. I asked Vander for this man's name so I could meet him. Do you know who that man is, my darling?”
Caitlyn's breath caught; she knew this answer.
“Bàba.” She whispered in awe of the image in her mind. Her quiet father, almost always content to take the peaceful route in any situation, running into danger to save all he could. She had known her father had helped treat the wounded of the war, but she had always assumed it was as far away from the battlefield. Somewhere in one of the shiny hospitals her father worked at.
“Yes my darling. Tobias was a hero in the war and I desperately wanted to meet him. To thank him for doing all he could to save the wounded. Vander introduced us and I thanked your father for all he had done for the wounded.”
Caitlyn knew the rest of the story. She had heard it time and time before. Her parents had met and they knew deep in their bones that they were meant to be together. Or did she?
“Did you know with Bàba? Was it a puzzle piece too like with Grayson?” Caitlyn had to know what the date on her wrist meant. Was fate predestined? If Grayson was Cassandra's soulmate then would the same feeling apply to her father?
Cassandra smiled down at her daughter, full of happiness. “Meeting your father was nothing like that. I did not know it when we first met, but being with your father is like stepping back and seeing the whole puzzle for the first time, my darling. Remember Caitlyn. Fate is what you make it.”
—
Caitlyn was hard pressed to believe in fate. Ever since she discovered the open secret that her parents weren't soulmates, her mother's soulmate dying in war and her father never having a soulmate, she held onto the final thing her mother had told her that day. That fate was what you made it and she had lived by that mantra ever since.
When she had graduated from high school two years early people had called it fate, surely she was meant to find her soulmate in college. The other girls her age swooned over the idea of an older soulmate who surely she would meet in college, in a coffee shop or in the library. Never Caitlyn though.
Her parents had taught her she could do whatever she wanted. Be with whomever she wanted. Or be alone if that's what she wanted.
The date printed on her wrist showed she would be twenty-three when she was to meet her soulmate. Because she finished high school early, maybe she would finish college early too. Then she could potentially meet her soulmate working in politics like her mother, or at a hospital where she worked as a doctor like her father. It would be fate for her to follow in her parents' well respected footsteps.
Instead Caitlyn chose to study art.
She had taken Art History as an elective her first semester and fell in love with the humanity of it all. How people found themselves, expressed themselves with little thought other than they needed or wanted to.
Of course she had always enjoyed art. Drawing, painting, sculpting, photography. Something about being able to create had always allowed her mind to calm down to a quiet place that others seemed to always have but one that she struggled to achieve in any other aspect of her life.
But until she had taken that history class she had never considered it to be a viable pathway in life. When she came home and told her parents she had decided to leave college and find an established artist to study under, her father had merely chuckled as her mother remarked that fate was hers to do with as she pleased.
And here she was twenty-three, living in a modest apartment and a life that she was able to fully support herself with the art she created. All because she was taught fate was what she made it.
The date written on her wrist in a neat but hurried script showed she was destined to meet her soulmate just after 10pm. But because she believed in controlling her own fate, Caitlyn had planned out her evening in a way that would ensure she would see no one at the predestined time.
Her favorite Chinese takeaway, drinks and some cupcakes from the bakery down the street. They were out of the cookies she preferred so she grabbed the cupcakes instead. She wasn't even a fan of cupcakes but felt like something sweet was needed for tonight. All sat in a small picnic basket in front of her as she sat on the roof of her apartment complex. She had reserved the space for a private party that started over an hour before the time indicated on her wrist.
Reserved for a party of one. She thought to herself as she looked at the city view. Her food was currently ignored as she grabbed her sketch pad and pencils to draw the scene in front of her.
Not for the first time, she wondered if she was making a mistake by not allowing fate to take its course.
If it was a mistake, it was hers to make and no one else's.
—
Vi couldn't believe in fate. Was it fate that left her and her sister orphaned as young children? Was it fate that left her adoptive father alone because his own soulmate rejected him? If it was fate then Vi wanted no part in it.
She remembered her parents happy. Her family happy. And then she remembered screaming, and crying.
She couldn't remember if she was the one screaming and if Powder was crying. Or if it was the other way around as they both witnessed the flames engulf their childhood home. Their parents were somewhere trapped inside as the house collapsed around them.
Powder was too young to remember and Vi always thought that was for the best. Powder would only remember Vander taking them in. Vander teaching them how to ride bikes and throw baseballs. Vander buying Powder her first guitar, a beaming smile on his face as he taught her chords to his favorite song. That same look of pride on his face when Vi won her first boxing tournament at 13.
While Vi was the only one with the memories of their birth parents, both girls got to experience the harsh truth that the marked dates on their wrists were not a promise of a happy ending. Just a promise of a choice.
A choice they both witnessed Vander’s soulmate make to walk away when he realized that Vander came with children. Children Vander would have chosen over his own soulmate if the choice had been presented to him. But his soulmate never gave him the opportunity, making the decision for the both of them within moments of seeing the family out at the market one summer day.
Vi knew what day it was. She had been fascinated over Vander’s mark and the fact that he had yet to meet his own soulmate even though he was older than her parents would have been. Vi doubted Vander remembered the day. Ever since he got back from the war he told his daughters his memory wasn't the greatest when it came to small details like dates. The man would use any available calendar to write every important thing down so he would never forget a practice, match or show for the girls.
But with parenthood his own dates would sometimes be forgotten. Vi knew the time was sometime in the next hour when Vander was supposed to meet his soulmate. She knew all of their days and times, had studied the marks and handwriting to try and understand what type of person was fated for her loved ones. Vander was first, less than an hour. The handwriting was done in cursive, fancy and neat. Then Powder, in two years around lunchtime when she would be in the first grade. The handwriting looked better than Vi’s own chicken scratch, like Powder's soulmate practiced very hard to write neatly. Vi would be last. Just after 10pm when she was twenty-five. The handwriting on hers was fluid and slightly smeared, like her soulmate's hand wasn't moving fast enough for their brain.
Vi had no frame of reference as to what to expect. Her parents were neighbors growing up and had met when they were toddlers. Vander was about to meet his. So Vi had no one to ask what it felt like. Did the Earth shift like in the fairy tales? Or was it inconsequential? Blink and you miss it?
Vi had kept her head on a swivel the whole hour, if it was a blink and you missed it she wanted to make sure she caught it.
Vi sometimes wondered if she and Powder still had their parents if things would have been different for Vander and his soulmate.
She saw him first, a tall thin man who was glancing at his wrist before scanning the crowd. His eyes landed on Vander and the same moment her adoptive father looked up from the stand they were in front of. The two men's eyes locked for a single moment. A smile was starting to form on Vander's face when Powder tugged on him, drawing his attention away. Vi saw the man look down at Powder in shock, then back up at Vander. She saw the man grit his teeth before making eye contact with Vander as the taller man finally was able to look back.
Vi could have sworn she saw the man mouth something before turning and walking away from the market and from Vander.
She quickly looked up and saw the heartbreak on Vander’s face as he saw his own soulmate walk away without a single word spoken between them.
When she was older and braver she would ask Vander if it was an Earth shifting feeling or a blink and you miss it. Her father smiled sadly and said that it didn't matter because his fate was to be their father and he was right where he wanted to be.
Powder said it was an Earth shifting feeling. But that could have been because she slipped on a puddle as she met Ekko. Both of them giggling as Ekko tried to help her up only to be pulled down by Powder.
Vi grew up safe and in an environment where she knew she was safe. Vander had taught her and Powder both that anything they wanted in life was theirs to go for. He would be proud of them no matter what. Even when she had made mistakes as a teenager, big mistakes, Vander was still there. And when she figured her shit out he clapped her on the shoulder and told her he was proud of her.
That support to make mistakes and find herself was what she needed to grow into the right version of herself.
Vander also only expected her and Powder to do their best in school which was a massive plus. Because Vi was not built for school. She did well enough but nothing like Powder who was getting ready to start her masters at twenty on a full ride.
Vi did better with her hands anyway.
So once she graduated she reached out to a friend of Vander’s from the war for a mechanic apprenticeship. And here she was seven years later, supporting herself with good work and able to send some extra funds and care packages to Powder when school got stressful. She was also able to buy Vander’s fancy scotch that the man only allowed himself to drink on milestone celebrations. Vi was content with her life in a way she never dreamed she could have as a child.
She had no plans on meeting her soulmate when the time came. Fate didn’t mean a perfect half. It could mean just this. Contentment.
—
After a long day of fixing transmissions and doing oil changes Vi finally made it to her new apartment. She had moved in officially the day before so she hadn't had a chance to meet any of her neighbors yet and that wasn't going to change until at least tomorrow.
Even though Vi had seen two extremes of soulmates, Powder and Ekko were going strong still and crazy in love, she couldn't bring herself to potentially put herself in a situation where her soulmate could walk away from her.
So after taking a quick shower and changing into comfy clothes she packed a backpack full of snacks and her Gameboy before she climbed out on her fire escape. Her new apartment complex had roof access but because she got home late she didn't want to risk running into someone on her way up there to be alone.
Thankfully in her youth she spent time climbing every structure she could and doing parkour so she was confident in reaching the small ladder that was above her little balcony that led to the roof. Plus her working out at the gym multiple times during the week helped in reaching her goal.
Just as Vi reached the top of the building and hauled herself up over the edge in the moments before the written time on her wrist. Take that fate. She thought to herself before she registered she wasn't alone on the roof.
She looked up and felt the breath knocked out of her like she took a punch to the gut.
Sitting directly in front of her was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Dark blue hair that shone like the ocean in the moonlight, piercing eyes and a small gap in between her front teeth that was so fucking cute.
In that one heartbeat Vi felt the world shift. Maybe it was her tripping over her own feet as she stood up. Maybe it was a feeling that settled deep within her. Like her entire being finally complete in a way she didn't know she was missing until this exact moment. Like her lungs finally being able to take in her first real deep breath of fresh air.
She blinked and it was over.
“Uh…” Vi said as she stared at the woman in front of her who looked like she was going through a similar realization as Vi had. “Cupcake.”
The woman's brow furrowed at the word.
“Excuse me?” She said in a posh accent that cut straight through any defense Vi could have pretended she had.
Vi pointed dumbly at the dessert in front of the dark haired woman. “Cupcake.”
Fuck say something else Violet. She scolded herself.
“I like cupcakes.” Fuck really?
The other woman looked utterly confused. Vi couldn’t help but study the woman while her own brain was trying to figure out how to work again. The woman had takeout containers in front of her, not just the cupcake. A sketch pad and some pencils were on the other side of the table.
”—okay?” The posh voice cut through Vi’s inner thoughts.
Her gaze snapped back to meet the eyes of the other woman who looked to be studying her now.
“Sorry Cupcake, what did you say?” she grinned, feeling like she just saved face on the whole cupcake debacle.
“Cup—“ the woman blinked. “My name is Caitlyn. Not cupcake.”
”Caitlyn.” She tasted the name on her tongue and liked the feeling. “Much better than cupcake. I’m Vi. Violet.”
Caitlyn looked at her and then down at her own wrist.
Vi caught the look and pulled out her phone. Just after 10pm.
“Fuck.” They both said at the same time before making eye contact again.
“So this is kinda awkward.” Vi said, scratching the back of her head.
Caitlyn hummed in agreement. “I reserved the rooftop to avoid any potential meetings tonight.”
Vi laughed at the absurdity of it. Caitlyn had gone to lengths to avoid meeting her soulmate the same way that Vi had. What were the chances really.
“Sorry to crash your party. I got home late and didn’t want to run into anyone on my way up here. I didn’t realize it was reserved already.” She shot a half grin to Caitlyn, feeling a little pleased with herself as a small blush appeared on the other woman’s face.
“Do you want to sit?” Caitlyn asked suddenly.
Vi was taken aback slightly, she honestly expected to be told to fuck off and would have understood. She was trying to avoid fate herself. But one look at Caitlyn’s hopeful expression made her glad that the choices she made brought her here at this moment at least. She nodded as she moved to sit opposite of Caitlyn, placing her backpack on the table top careful of Caitlyn’s art supplies.
“So…” Vi looked at Caitlyn, unsure of what to say at this point. Should they address the elephant in the room?
”My parents aren’t soulmates.” Caitlyn said suddenly. “They aren’t soulmates and they are so very much in love with each other. That’s why I decided to be alone tonight.”
Vi realized that Caitlyn wanted to explain everything. Get their reasoning out and into the open. Maybe then they could move forward? Into whatever they decided.
“The marks aren't fate Vi. They're a choice.” Vander had told her once.
“Uh…my parents…” she shook her head. “They were soulmates but the man who raised me and my sister, Pops, I watched his soulmate walk away without saying a word to him because Pops had us. He was never upset, he said. Said if his soulmate had asked him to choose he would have chosen us every time. Made me want to choose for myself too I guess.”
Caitlyn nodded in complete understanding. “Seems like we both have reasons to not want to believe in fate.”
Vi shrugged as she pulled out some of her snacks, noticing she grabbed the matcha flavored cookies she bought on a whim but didn’t like. She offered them to Caitlyn.
”As an apology for crashing your party.” She said with a lopsided grin that turned to a frown as Caitlyn stared at the cookies. “Shit. You don’t like matcha? Me either honestly, no idea why I bought them in the first place.”
”No. I... I really like matcha. Those are my favorite cookies actually.” Caitlyn took them gently from Vi’s offered hand, pushing the cupcake towards Vi. “I don’t like cupcakes. Too much frosting.”
Vi grinned as she took the traded dessert. “The frosting is the best part.”
The two women looked at each other over their newly acquired desserts. A peaceful and comfortable silence between them as they both started eating their sweets.
Once they finished they sat in silence for a moment before Caitlyn broke it.
”Look. I know neither of us have any real reason to believe in this. Especially since we both were actively trying to avoid it. But I can’t lie that…that meeting you. Like this. Makes me feel like maybe fate is real.” Caitlyn took a deep breath. “Would you maybe like to go on a date sometime? See if there is any merit to this whole thing?”
Vi looked at Caitlyn, her gaze dropping to the writing on the other woman’s wrist. A perfect match to her own in every way except her hurried handwriting stared back at her instead of what she assumed was Caitlyn’s own writing.
“You know what my pops always told me cupcake?” Vi grinned at the annoyed look that passed over Caitlyn’s face. “Fate is what you make it.”
With that said she leaned over the table and kissed Caitlyn. Tasting a mix of matcha and strawberry frosting. And for the second time that night, as she felt Caitlyn’s fingers dig into her hair and pull her close, Vi felt the entire world shift.
No tripping necessary.