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Soulmates weren’t always romantic partners. Yes, it was rare, but it did happen. It could be anyone, but most likely it was a twin, or a close friend. When Claire and Chris figured they were soulmates, they weren’t surprised. Their parents died when Claire was a little girl, so she didn’t remember them. To her, Chris was her parent, her best friend and her brother. They were in the orphanage until Chris’ 18th birthday. The boy was surprised that he gained custody of his little sister so easily. As much as it angered him, he didn’t complain. He simply took his sister away and picked up any job that could be there. On some days, Chris skipped eating because Claire wanted something, and he couldn’t tell her no. How could he? He would do anything for her.
They figured out that they were soulmates when Claire was fifteen. To her friends, it was weird. Yes, Chris gave the girl a lot of attention, even with being in the Air Force, but he wasn’t her twin. He was a few years older and at a different stage in his life. However, Claire was over the moon because it wasn’t some stupid boy or a girl she would be stuck with forever, but her big brother. She owed everything to him, despite the older man telling her that she was his little sister and it was his duty to help her. Just like Chris knew Claire would help him, should he need any help in the future.
Claire always thought that she would help Chris with getting a partner or with money if he needed any. Not in her worst nightmares would she imagine helping Chris with exposing Umbrella. When she had heard from Jill what they had been through in the Arkley mountains, Claire couldn’t believe it. Well, she could after what she had seen in Raccoon, but–
Her brother, her soulmate, was suffering in silence and keeping it from her. The girl knew that Chris wanted to protect her, but it hurt nonetheless. The man lied to her when Claire asked him if everything was alright. She had felt weird and was weirdly anxious. Chris told her that it was work stress and apologized for his anxiety. That was the only time Claire had yelled at her brother, saying that he was ridiculous for apologizing. That night she had ignored her date and spent the evening calming Chris and telling him bad jokes she had heard on campus.
Had she known Chris was stressed because of this, she would have dropped everything and rushed to her brother. She would bring Wesker back to kill him again. What kind of psycho uses his team as lab rats? It was disgusting. Claire was glad he was dead. Wesker was always weird, and she got weird vibes from him whenever she visited, but Claire would never have imagined this in her worst nightmares.
“Are you okay?” Leon asked, sitting down next to her.
“My brother lied to me,” she whispered.
“He wanted to protect you,” the blond smiled softly.
“He’s my soulmate, and he lied to me, Leon,” Claire sighed.
“If I was in his place, I would do the same. I know you would, too,” he chuckled when his friend puffed out her cheeks. Claire looked at him suspiciously.
“You have a crush on my brother,” the girl said, looking like a light bulb appeared above her head.
“W–what?!” Leon squeaked, blushing. “N–no!”
“No?” Claire made a face. “That photo in the S.T.A.R.S. Office… He looks ugly there,” she laughed.
“He doesn’t! I–I mean–”
“Yeah, he does,” the girl reached into her pocket and took a picture from her wallet. Surprisingly, she didn’t lose it. The smell, however… Ew. “Here,” Claire handed the man a picture of Chris she took last year. “This one is way better. I tried to set him up with my friend,” she explained.
“She didn’t like him?” Leon frowned, staring at the picture as if he was hypnotized.
“He. Turned out to be an ass. Not my friend anymore,” Claire shrugged her arms.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the blond said softly.
“That’s fine. Chris showed him not to mess with me,” the girl chuckled. “I’m gonna save this story for later,” she smiled. “I’m sleepy. How’s Sherry?” Claire asked.
“Sleeping. I helped her with her clothes and sat outside of the bathroom when she showered,” Leon said softly.
“Is she alone?” the blond shook his head.
“Carlos is with her. I figured you would want to talk about what’s next,” Leon said.
“I’m going to find Chris,” she said determinedly. “I don’t want you to drag Sherry across the ocean. She should be away from all this,” Claire sighed.
“Yeah, I know,” Leon looked away. “I also know she won’t let you go without us. Sherry told me she doesn’t need to be in France exactly, but she wants to be on the same continent at least.”
“She is a stubborn girl,” she chuckled.
“Exactly like someone I know. Did you know she is really determined to find her brother?” Leon smiled.
“Oh, really? Tell her not to be reckless,” Claire played along. “I promise you I won’t be,” she smiled. “Leon?” the redhead asked.
“Yeah?” the blond looked at her again.
“I know we just met, but… I know that you will be my friend forever.”
“I know. I feel the same way,” Leon said cheerfully.
Eventually, Leon and Sherry joined Claire on her journey to look for Chris. Leon took the blond girl to Italy, helping the girl from the side. The redhead went to France and after a while contacted Leon from Rockfort Island. He reached out to Chris, hoping that the older man would find Claire before it was too late.
A few days had passed since. Claire knocked on his door, a man from the photos standing next to her. Sherry greeted Claire and waved at Chris. Leon invited them in and they stayed for a while. The redhead told him about everything that happened since they separated at the airport in London. She cried while talking about Steve and Leon felt sorry for her. Steve seemed like a nice kid.
They fell asleep and Claire was awoken by the nightmares of Rockfort. She went to the kitchen to find her brother there, looking more exhausted than he did when they reunited.
“Did my distress wake you up?” Claire asked.
“No,” Chris shook his head and looked at her. “I couldn’t fall asleep,” his lips formed a thin line.
“Nightmares?”
“I don’t want to see more dead bodies that I have seen already,” he whispered and Claire hugged him. She wished she could take his pain away.
As years passed, Claire felt more distress from their bond. Chris wanted to bring Umbrella down, while also having private life problems with Leon. Claire wanted to desperately help her brother, but didn’t know how. Leon was away, working for the U.S. government for some reason. He changed and Claire couldn’t help that. She had tried, but Leon kept pushing her away, while occasionally having sex with her brother and toying with his heart.
Claire and Chris argued about it multiple times. Her brother told her that she didn’t understand, and that they couldn’t abandon him. The woman couldn’t believe his words. She couldn’t believe that they would be arguing about this. Claire couldn’t believe that after all the years, all the suffering they had been through, Chris had chosen to suffer more and to hurt their bond.
Eventually, the two made up, and Claire asked Chris not to speak of Leon around her anymore. The older man agreed, pain written all over his face. It wasn’t the woman’s fault. Leon chose to push her away, but she wasn’t going to let him hurt her brother.
When Claire found out Chris had disappeared, her world collapsed. Yes, she did feel weird, her head hurt, but the BSAA reassured her that they would take care of her brother, and they would transfer him from European Branch BSAA Hospital to a North American one as soon as they could. However, not so long after that call, she got another one. Piers Nivans, Chris’ lieutenant, told her that her brother fled the hospital not long after he woke up. He told Claire that he would do everything he could to find Chris and that he wouldn’t stop until he did. The woman wanted to go and help the man, but he informed her that Chris was a different person. He didn’t remember anything and was aggressive.
Her brother didn’t remember. He didn’t remember her. He forgot. Claire tried to keep calm, not wanting to push her anxiety and fear on Chris. The older man was as confused as he possibly could. He didn’t need more. If he didn’t remember anything, did Chris even know what a soulmate was? She tried to breathe, but couldn’t.
It was the first time in years that she had contacted Leon. Claire knew that Chris would want him to know, so she informed him while trying not to cry. The blond man said that he ‘doesn’t care’, but she could hear his voice breaking. However, the woman was too busy worrying about her soulmate to think about it longer.
Claire fell asleep from the exhaustion that was caused by crying.
She had spent the next weeks, then months trying to help Nivans in locating Chris. Eventually, the redhead came across a local article about some bar. A man that looked like Chris was in the picture. However, he was in the background, and he had his back turned to the camera. Claire sent the article to Piers, saying that she knew it was a long shot, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.
The local BSAA sent one of their agents to do a recon. It was Chris, but the agent’s report stated him as ‘aggressive’ and ‘ruthless’, whatever it meant. Nivans decided to retrieve the man personally, filling the whole bar with BSAA agents in case Chris tried to run.
Claire booked the first flight to London after being informed that as soon as the Lieutenant retrieved her brother, he would be transported to the European BSAA HQ to be checked out by the doctors. The woman decided not to approach Chris directly, not wanting to confuse him. She simply watched as he was checked out, her heart breaking for him. After all they had been through… Every time, they had each other. This time? Chris was alone. He suffered, was confused and hurt. Claire knew her brother. He was aggressive because he was hiding the pain, his pride too big to admit it.
It pained her to watch her big brother act so differently. It wasn’t the Chris she knew, but he wasn’t himself. Claire couldn’t watch it for any longer. They were treating her soulmate as if he was the biggest threat in the world. She left, trying to compose her anxiety. Her own feelings were mixed with Chris’. Claire passed out, hearing Nivans’ scream for her before everything went dark.
The woman woke up in a hospital bed, groaning loudly. Her head felt like it was going to explode. She looked around to see Chris’ Lieutenant in the chair that was next to her bed.
“Doesn’t look very comfy,” the redhead said, her voice hoarse. Piers opened his eyes, looking at her.
“You’re okay, ma’am?” he asked.
“No ma'am. I’m Claire,” she winced. “Could you–” before Claire had finished, Piers handed her water, helping her drink from the cup.
“Let me go get a doctor,” Piers smiled and got up.
“How’s Chris?” the woman asked.
“Captain is in recovery,” he said and stopped by the door, biting his lip. “They want us in China,” Nivans avoided Claire’s gaze.
“It is your job. You can’t wait for Chris to get better. It will probably take some time,” she frowned.
“They want Captain Redfield on it, too,” he said quietly.
“What?!” Claire screamed. “He doesn’t remember jack shit! How do you want to get him in there?!”
“They checked him in combat and his muscle memory kicked in. Besides, the mission is important–”
“The mission is bullshit!” she argued with anger in her tone. “The only mission those assholes should be thinking about is Chris getting better! It won’t be good if you send a confused, angry man with amnesia onto the field! What if he remembers just a piece of something? Chris isn’t himself right now. I don’t want him to do something he might regret once he remembers. He has suffered enough,” Claire fumed. “I don’t agree to this.”
“I don’t think they will take it into consideration. They have already told Captain Redfield about his greatness and didn’t mention you or the soulmate thing,” Piers explained. “He’s determined to get back to work. He thinks it will make him remember.”
“If my brother doesn’t survive it, if he does something he will regret, I will ruin you all. Got that?! Get out of my sight,” Claire let her own anger mix with the one she felt through her and Chris’ bond.
“Ma’am–”
“Get out!” she yelled.
Piers didn’t come back, however, he sent a doctor. As soon as the woman got cleared, she left. Claire wanted to find Chris and talk to him, but the assholes pulled the you’re not BSAA thing and didn’t let her through. The redhead left with a frown on her face, thinking what they would do if she did go and see Chris when he was being checked by medics. Claire was ready to follow the older man to China, but TerraSave pulled her into an op of her own. During it, she was distracted and all she could think about was Chris.
Claire had terrible mood swings. The anger grew, for some reason, directed at Ada Wong. Since the woman never met the spy, Claire figured out that it was Chris. He must have remembered something. It was confirmed by a secure, quick e–mail from Piers stating that she was right and Chris wasn’t being rational. However, it calmed after a few hours and Claire felt… arousal? Peace? Love? She had only felt that when Chris saw–
Leon. Was he in China, too? What did the government want with China? Or was it someone else? No, no. It had to be Leon. Claire sighed, massaging her temples.
“You’re okay?” her partner for the job asked.
“Yeah. My soulmate has some troubles,” she answered.
“Your brother is okay?”
“Yeah. Can we focus on the job? It’s just a headache,” a headache meant that Chris was remembering something.
Claire went home as soon as the op was finished. She took some pills for the headache and went to sleep. The redhead was awoken at night, a deep feeling of grief flooding through her. The woman knew that it was Chris’ feelings. She frowned, not knowing what it was about. The redhead eventually fell asleep, her feelings all over the place.
A few days later, the grief was still there. She was cooking dinner when someone knocked on her door. When she opened it, Leon and Chris were standing on the other side.
“Can you believe those motherfuckers didn’t tell him that he has a sister?” Leon said, his tone angrier than she had ever heard him.
“I know that. You think I’m not angry?” she asked, staring the blond down.
“Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Chris murmured, his tone dull. What the hell happened?
“Where’s Nivans? He promised me he would get Chris home personally,” Claire frowned, and that was when the grief became unmanageable. Oh.
“Dead. I get that you hate me, but be fucking considerate to your brother,” Leon spat.
“Come in, Chris,” she said, but the older man looked at Leon.
“Go, Chris. She’s your sister,” the blond said softly with a smile. Chris, however, didn’t look so convinced. Claire rolled her eyes.
“Come in, Leon,” she said, not happy to do so. Leon looked at her, but it was when Chris got into the house. Claire’s heart broke because her brother still didn’t remember her. “Are you hungry? I made dinner,” the redhead gritted her teeth, trying not to cry.
“Claire–”
“Don’t touch me,” she interrupted Leon. The blond sighed and looked at Chris.
“I could eat,” the older man said, looking at their photo on the wall. It was from Claire’s graduation day. Despite his tight schedule in S.T.A.R.S., he managed to find time for Claire. He always did. In the photo, they were showing off their soulmate marks. They were so happy and carefree, finally thinking that their life would be good after all years of suffering. However, Chris didn’t remember. Claire could see that it frustrated him, but she didn’t comment, not wanting to overwhelm her brother. The redhead went into the kitchen and prepped three dishes.
“I know you hate me, Claire,” she heard Leon’s voice behind her. “But he wouldn’t go with anyone else. Piers was dead and I–” he took a deep breath. “I just mentioned you. Casually. Like, good that Claire is home already. He asked me who’s Claire and I saw red. When I told him, he was rightfully angry. He wanted to see you immediately, but said that he wouldn’t go without me. Apparently he remembered me or something,” Leon looked at her back.
“I don’t hate you,” Claire answered. “You pushed me away. You keep toying with my brother and for some reason, he didn’t let you go! All he ever said was we can’t leave him. Never told me why. We argued about you so much that we strained our bond. At last, we stopped talking about you. You were a fucking Voldemort in our house,” she said, not turning around. “As soon as Chris gets better, I want you out of here,” the woman added.
“What happened to us, Claire?” the blond whispered. Claire tensed and sighed.
“You pushed me away. You toy with my brother. I don’t know, Leon. What happened?” she asked sarcastically.
“I never toyed with Chris,” he frowned.
“Oh, you didn’t? So all those times he cried because of you, but then proceeded to chase you like a puppy?”
“He didn’t want to leave. He’s stubborn,” Leon said. “Even now, he’s a stubborn man.”
“He is,” Claire nodded. She turned around and that was when she really noticed Leon. He had eye bags and his posture indicated he was going to pass out soon. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just tired,” he mumbled.
“Go to sleep in Chris’ room,” the woman said softly.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I don’t need you passing out and Chris panicking,” Leon simply nodded.
“I’ll go after we eat,” the blond offered Claire a smile and she nodded.
“Chris?” Claire walked up to the older man. He was still staring at the same picture. Chris looked at her, his eyes sad.
“Leon said you’re my sister. My soulmate. I don’t remember,” he said with panic in his eyes.
“It’s okay. I guess it’s time I take care of you,” she smiled sadly. “You always took care of me,” Claire cleared her throat. “Dinner’s ready.”
Chris followed her to the table and the three of them ate.
It took time, but with it, the older man remembered Claire. One morning, he hugged her tight and apologized for forgetting. The woman said he didn’t have to apologize and collapsed in his arms. Every emotion she had been holding, so Chris wouldn’t get confused and let go and Claire cried in Chris’ arms, relieved that her brother remembered her.
Leon left a few days after that, both him and Claire trying to fix their friendship.
With Chris being away for so long, their bond got strained despite Claire’s attempts to prevent it. The older man took personal leave and they spent time together. They watched some of their favorite shitty comedies and went to one of the fairs, Claire laughing when Chris broke the hammer game. Apparently, her brother was too strong for it. She couldn’t stop laughing when the worker told him how much it would cost.
Then, they ate some cotton candy and ice cream. It turned out that much sugar wasn’t good, so they suffered, their stomachs hurting. They laughed at their stupidity and went back home. Chris did the transaction to the fair’s staff for the hammer game and they cooked some dinner.
The next day, they baked cookies and ended up having a food fight after Chris cracked an egg on Claire’s head. The kitchen ended up looking like a war zone, covered in flour and eggs. There was even some milk, since Claire decided to grab a glass of milk and pour it on Chris. Once they were done with their small fight, they finished the cookies and cleaned up the kitchen. Then, each of them took a shower in their bathrooms and the two watched some shitty movie on TV.
While watching it, the two chatted and joked. Claire caught Chris up on what was going on in her life while he was missing. They talked some more and focused on the movie. Claire laughed when she heard Chris snoring. Old man.
Leon and Chris dated briefly and then broke up. The older man didn’t talk about it and the blond asked Claire not to speak of it anymore. It was weird, considering the two looked perfect with each other. However, Claire decided to focus on cheering up her soulmate. She could get it out of them some other day.
Eventually, Chris went on another goose chase. He tracked down Leon, needing his help. The two saved New York from becoming another Raccoon City. When they told her the story, she couldn’t believe it. The woman also paid attention to how close these two were sitting.
Once again, she focused on putting her soulmate back together, smiling when he said Leon’s name in his sleep.
One year later, Claire felt weird excitement throughout their bond. Chris was always excited to go on a date with Leon, but this was a different kind of being happy. When the woman asked him about it, Chris pretended he didn’t know what she was talking about until Claire started describing every feeling she had ever felt through their bond whenever Chris would see Leon. The older man blushed like a teenager and told her to stop, but the woman didn’t until he said what it was about.
Turns out, Chris was going to propose to Leon. With a watch. Claire didn’t comment on the unusual choice of proposal, not wanting to bring Chris’ mood down. The woman decided to choose to support her soulmate and helped him arrange everything.
Eventually, Chris showed her a new watch he got for himself, and that was when Claire got it. He got himself and Leon matching watches. The woman smiled at Chris’ romantic soul. Despite everything they had been through, her soulmate didn’t change one bit and this gesture was a confirmation.
Claire left the house slightly before Leon got there, grabbing some clothes and telling Chris she would stay at Jill and Carlos’. While there, she watched the romantic soulmates, interested in how romantic soulmates were different from platonic ones, except for the obvious.
The woman bit her lip, watching Carlos walking around without a T–shirt since it was a hot day. He was handsome. However, Claire kept to herself. Carlos was Jill’s soulmate and Jill was Claire’s friend. Yes, Claire used to have a crush on Jill, but she was a teen back then and her biggest problem was passing a math test. Well… Claire still thought Jill was a beautiful woman, but… Claire should just mind her business.
The redhead smiled, feeling happiness through her and Chris’ bond, which meant that Leon said yes. She was so busy with being happy for her brother that she didn’t notice the way Jill and Carlos looked at her. Before Claire could think properly, she felt Jill’s lips on her own. She yelped, surprised. The younger woman didn’t kiss back, but her stomach was full of butterflies.
“W–What–” the redhead stuttered, blinking and looking at Carlos.
“We just thought you looked cute,” the man smiled, walking up to the women. “Jill wanted to kiss you before I did,” he chuckled.
“Yeah. I knew you first,” Jill laughed and watched as Carlos kissed Claire.
The next day, when Claire came home, she was in a relationship with her two best friends. Chris smiled when she told him, saying that he was happy that ‘they figured it out’. The two chatted until Leon got into the kitchen, dressed and wearing the watch Chris got for him.
Claire couldn’t have been happier, when, a year later, Chris and Leon did their first, holding her partners’ hands. She was happy that both her and her soulmate found happiness.
Soulmates weren’t always romantic. They could be platonic, too.