Chapter Text
When Robbie learned about how meeting your soulmate let you see colors, he was excited. He wanted so badly to see the difference between the polka-dotted reds and the swirly blues. Sure, each color had a unique pattern so that you could tell what it was even before you met your soulmate, but he wanted to actually see the colors. He just knew they would be beautiful.
He didn’t want to meet his soulmate just for the colors, though. He often daydreamed of what his soulmate would look like. He tried to imagine the world bursting into color and being able to look into his soulmate’s eyes and know they would be perfect for him. He drew stick figure drawings of his soulmate during art time. He always picked blue as their eye color, even if he couldn’t really see the difference. It was the one thing he felt sure of about his soulmate.
Robbie’s mom told him she always knew her soulmate would be a mechanic. She never knew anything else, but she knew that much. Everyone had something they knew about their soulmate. Robbie just wished he had gotten something useful instead of a color he couldn’t even see.
Robbie was almost five and he was drawing a picture in the sand when LazyTown’s hero first arrived. All he’d gotten was a glimpse of a man sprinting towards something Robbie couldn’t see, flipping over any obstacles in his way. Robbie had gaped, wide-eyed, when he realized the man had just barely saved one of the other kids from getting run over by a car. He had sprinted over as quickly he could, drawing forgotten.
“Are you okay?” the man asked, brows furrowed with concern. The boy – Robbie didn’t know his name, none of the other kids had ever introduced themselves to him – nodded, body trembling with fear.
Panting, Robbie stopped next to the duo and blurted, “How did you do that?”
The hero turned to him with a small frown. “Do what?” Robbie pouted. He hated when adults played dumb.
“How did you know he was in trouble?”
Understanding shone on the man’s face and he smiled. Robbie’s lips twitched in response.
“I have a crystal that tells me when people need help,” he said, and Robbie’s eyes lit up.
“Does that mean you’re a superhero?” The man nodded and Robbie hummed thoughtfully, eyes catching on the number nine on the man’s uniform. He pointed to it, hand waving slightly in his excitement. “What does that number mean?”
The man chuckled softly, crouching down to meet Robbie’s eyes. Robbie beamed at the attention, the other boy long ago forgotten. “This number means that I am the 9th hero in my line of heroes.” Robbie’s brow furrowed in concentration.
“Does that mean there are other heroes too?” Robbie hesitated, but the man was smiling indulgently at him. “Can I see your crystal?”
“Oh my god, Robbie. Just shut up already,” the other boy interrupted before the hero could respond and Robbie flinched, shoulders hunching up around his ears. He shifted his gaze to the ground and missed the small flash of anger on the hero’s face, tears welling up in his eyes.
The hero turned to the other boy, standing up to his full height. “What you just said was not very nice,” he stated calmly, power ringing in his voice. Robbie felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, a tingling anxiety crawling up his spine. He glanced up, but he didn’t see anything strange.
Scoffing, the boy rolled his eyes. “Robbie is always asking too many questions, he never shuts up. No one likes him. Why should I be nice to him?” Robbie squeezed his eyes shut, whimpering.
A hand brushed against the exposed skin of his wrist and Robbie flinched. There was a small hushing noise and he was lifted into the hero’s arms. Robbie curled up as best he could, hiding his face in the soft leather of the man’s shirt. The hero said something more to the other boy but Robbie didn’t want to listen anymore so he ignored it. He simply let himself be carried somewhere else, fingers idly playing with the fabric of the hero’s sleeve.
Robbie was set down on a hard surface but he still refused to open his eyes until the hero softly asked if he was okay, but when he opened his eyes the world was different. He gasped softly at the change, unable to explain it properly. Everything looked so similar to what he normally saw, but not quite. He shifted his gaze to meet the hero’s eyes and all he could think was: not blue.
“Are you my soulmate?” Robbie asked breathily, awed at the idea of having a real superhero for a soulmate. The elf’s face twisted in confusion for a moment before clearing with his dawning realization.
“Oh,” the hero responded, blinking slowly. “I didn’t know children could have adults as soulmates. Or elves,” he murmured, eyes going distant. “I guess I have to stay in this town for a while, then,” he announced, smiling widely. “Robbie, how would you like to be friends?”
Robbie grinned back, eyes sparkling. “Best friends? Mom says that soulmates are best friends.”
The hero laughed. “Of course. Best friends.”
~
By the end of the day, the whole town knew that Nine was his soulmate. Robbie couldn’t stop beaming. Even a month later, on his fifth birthday, Robbie excitedly leapt at Nine upon his arrival, present in hand. The wrapping paper was just as yellow as Nine’s outfit and Robbie could barely contain himself, tearing into the paper as soon as he was given permission. He reached his hand into the box and pulled out a purple hammer, eyes widening.
Nine smiled and explained, “For all those inventions you wanted to make. You’ll need more than just a hammer, of course, but…” Robbie was ecstatic.
Things like that could never last, however. Everything was good for another two months, just long enough for Robbie to get well and truly attached, before Nine shook him awake one night and told him he had to go help the children of BullyTown. He said he’d be back as soon as possible. Robbie nodded tiredly and mumbled an okay, unable to fully open his eyes. The last thing he saw that night was a yellow blur leaving through his window before he fell back asleep.
When he woke up, the world was in black and white again. Nine was dead.