Disclaimer: I don't own it, I just ship it.

Warning: swearing, male x male pairings, AU, and a touch of OOC (which I'll try to avoid the best I can).

This was inspired by a three-year-old and Star Wars. A kid I work with asked me what it would be like if hearts weren't hearts and could be whatever shape we liked best. Then Star Wars gave me the rest of the story when I saw a surprisingly cool couple's matching necklace (the ones that fit together and become a whole when together). Instead of being a heart and saying 'Best Friends' or 'True Love' it was shaped like the Rebel Alliance symbol with the memorable 'I love you/I know' combo engraved on it. The geek in me ooh'd. The fangirl in me ahh'd. The cheap bastard in me cursed furiously and added it to my wish list.

Lovino will explain the details of the necklaces in this story shortly, so I'll just let you know that even though they're called 'heart piece necklaces' they can come in any shape and form something completely different when combined. In this case, the 'heart' part is referring to the love-inducing organ, not the shape.

Also, here's your friendly reminder that this is AU and everybody's human. I wrote this for Valentine's Day, but whether it will actually get done on or before that day is another matter entirely ;)

oOo

"People's souls come in all shapes and sizes. And as time goes on and a person grows, their soul can change. Their hopes and dreams can change. That's why…there isn't just one type of happiness…That's what we all want, isn't it? To find the person just for you, to find your own happiness…that would be wonderful, wouldn't it?" –CLAMP (A City With No People)

The world is a strange and sometimes lonely place. If you're lucky enough to find the other half of your heart, the other piece of your soul, your one and only soulmate; you are very blessed indeed. When two halves of the heart piece are joined, you become complete. Emptiness and loneliness are erased from your heart and you begin to glow.

Metaphorically speaking of course.

In reality, things were much more complex. Even though people didn't always rely on necklaces given to them the day they were born to determine true love, Lovino had some faith in them. The accuracy rate was higher than the percentage of people Francis had tried hitting on (so over 98.6 percent) and people had to really try to hate the person fate had in mind for them. Although Lovino wasn't familiar with the methods the doctors used to distribute necklaces at birth, he was grateful that his at least knew what he was doing. It made him shudder to think that even the slightest mix up and he could have ended up with his twin brother's necklace…which would leave him stuck with the potato bastard. And that was a fate worse than death.

Each individual had a special necklace with a unique shape called a heart piece. While it was not a literal part of your heart, it supposedly was connected to your feelings somehow. That little shape fit only one other person's in the entire world. Some people searched their entire lives for their soulmate while others were fortunate enough to meet them at a young age and spend their entire lives getting to know each other better.

Lovino ran his finger over the side of his own heart piece. It was under his shirt, but he could still feel the spirals and ridges of the cool metal. This was Fate's consolation prize. If Lovino couldn't have a special someone, at least his necklace was badass. His family often teased him about the upper portion of his heart piece resembling a devil's wing, but it was all in good fun (except for his token crazy aunt, who was convinced he was evil and in league with Satan himself) And speaking of his family…

The Vargas family was a bunch of romantics, headed up by Lovino's slightly nutty grandfather who lived and breathed everything Ancient Roman. To say this influence made family views a little traditional was like saying the black plaque was just a rash. They believed in the power of wine winning over even the most uptight of lovers and the power of the necklaces bringing you your true love. Nothing else even came close. Every marriage in the family resulting from a unified necklace brought the couple happiness and good fortune. The earlier, the better; which was why Lovino still hadn't fully forgiven his brother for beating him so early in life.

I can't believe the little idiot found the potato bastard when they were three freaking years old! Don't these things have age requirements?!

It had been the first time Lovino watched someone's dull, grey necklace interlock with another's, turning them both into a shimmering silver. The second little Ludwig inserted his very…phallic-looking necklace into tiny Feliciano's tear-shaped half of the necklace, Lovino had nearly been blinded by its radiance. Together, the duo had a perfect heart-shaped necklace that sparkled like no other. The damned sun was easier to look at! At least, he was able to take some comfort in the fact that the potato bastard's stupid heart piece looked like a tiny cock…a fact the Italian frequently pointed out to him when the German was being a huge dick.

Lovino was currently on his way to meet said couple, but took his time. It was just a group project meeting. They could wait. It would be a small wonder if they even noticed he wasn't there. Whenever Feliciano and Ludwig were together, the rest of the world seemed to fade away. Even Lovino had to admit he was a little jealous (not that he'd ever admit it, of course). He'd spent all 16 years of his life searching for his special someone, but had no luck as of yet. If his soulmate was out there, he or she was in a galaxy far, far away. Lovino had never even experienced a flicker of warmth from his heart piece; heat being a sign that your destined one was near.

It used to get to him before, but now he was used to the cold metal brushing between his chest and his shirt with each step reminding him that he was that much further away from his soulmate. Over time, Lovino trained himself to stop angsting himself to sleep and to start hiding his heart piece under his clothing. That way he could feel it if it ever changed (yeah, right) and it stayed hidden from the sorry excuses for human beings who sought out "Greys" and teased them endlessly about not having completed their necklace and upgraded to silver.

"Hi, Lovino!" a pretty girl with short blonde hair pulled back in a green headband called him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, Bella," he smiled back. He'd always had a soft spot for her. She was one of the few people who could actually get him to do something and the only reason he hadn't dropped out of school to join the Mafia by now. "What are you up to?"

"Not much, I was just on my way home," she returned the smile. "And you?"

"Group project with my brother and potato bastards 1 and 2."

"You're not keeping them, I hope?"

"Of course not, I'm always perfectly punctual," smirked Lovino, earning him a playful punch in the arm.

"Don't keep them waiting too long."

"I won't…"

oOo

He never told anyone, but the reason he was always late to…well, everything was because he purposely took the long route. That way, he had a better chance of finding his soulmate, despite how desperate it seemed. Or at least that's what he used to think. Currently, he believed he was destined to be alone, if the ice cold heart piece was anything to go by. That thing could be collecting frost for all the hard work and effort Lovino put into finding his special someone.

The Italian may have been doomed to be forever alone, but still took the scenic route to get around. He just chalked it up to habit by now.

"Lovino, you're late again," a stern voice acknowledged him as the brunette approached the picnic table his group was meeting at.

"Can't get anything past you, potato," Lovino sat down beside his brother, not bothered by the scolding tone Ludwig's voice was taking. He'd rather listen to that than watch him make out with his airheaded fratello again. Not all the brain bleach in the world could help him unsee or forget that horrible moment.

"We scheduled this time because it fit best into everyone's schedule. It's important to be on time, so we can finish the group project efficiently," Ludwig continued. "Weren't you listening to my instructions from the last meeting?"

"I was hanging on every word," the brunette pulled out a granola bar to snack on.

"I'm going to assume that was sarcasm?"

"Correct."

"So you weren't listening?" the German exhaled sharply.

"I'm barely listening now."

oOo

One of the perks to being Lovino was his lack of guilt towards others. Because he took so much crap for everything in his life, he had no problem dishing it back out. Since most people found (or at the very least some evidence of) their soulmate before they were 15 (most families and schools took their kids/students on cross-country vacations or field trips under the guise of concerts, track meets, and museum tours specifically for that reason), Lovino often was teased about his heart piece necklace being the same cold metallic gray that it was the day he was born. Clearly, there must be something inherently wrong with him since his perfect twin brother managed to find his true love just after he learned how to toddle. He didn't even want to dwell on the things they said when comparing the brothers' polar opposite personas and abilities. Some of the people ripped on him just to be bastards, while others were his own bastard friends.

He couldn't spend a single morning forgetting about his troubles. Stupid Feliciano and his immaculately sparkling silver heart piece were always there to remind him. And of course, since Feli is a Vargas, and therefore a romantic, he would always go on and on about his theories about love. He'd always done so since the day he and Ludwig found each other so early in life. Lovino already had enough of that garbage.

"Don't worry, Gilbert!" Feliciano patted the albino's hand. "I'm sure you'll find your soulmate one day too!"

Lovino snorted and took a sip of his soda. He barely noticed Gilbert had arrived. Probably because he had done so quietly for a change. Gilbert was another member of the Forever Alone Club, but had been taking it a lot better than Lovi.

"I'm sure one day your heart piece will shine just as brightly as Ludwig's!" the sweeter Italian nodded enthusiastically. "You're already such a good guy, you'll be even happier and, um, sparklier!"

"If love is supposed to be so beautiful, why does the potato bastard's look like a tiny dick?" he asked as innocently as he could manage. On a scale of one to angelic, he would have scored a devil's smirking hellspawn.

"Lovi…" his fratello chided him, then softened. "You shouldn't worry about the necklace thing…You can still find someone nice."

"Yes, because the world is a perfect little picture book filled with happy endings."

"Pessimistic, much?" Gilbert chuckled.

"Whatever."

But Feliciano wasn't done. Once he started spreading his namesake happiness, he wasn't ready to stop until everyone was riding unicorns through fields of rainbows and candy.

"Ve, just look at our parents! They didn't have matching necklaces and they still got married!"

"Followed by a divorce seven years later," Lovino groaned resting his head in his arms.

"Lighten up, Lovi!" Gilbert patted the brunette on the back.

"Don't call me that."

The self-proclaimed Prussian didn't appear to hear him. Or he was just used to ignoring the tsundere's complaints. Either way, he winked and carried on in his joking manner.

"If you want to go on a date, I can always take you out to dinner."

"No way, albino potato," came the blunt response.

"Or we could stay in and you could make me a nice home-cooked meal!" he grinned widely. "Kesesese!"

"Now you just want to date me for my cooking?" Lovino rolled his eyes. "Sounds like a great thing to build a relationship on…"

"You want me to romance you?" Gilbert tickled the younger teen's chin and wagged his eyebrows slightly.

"How 'bout no, you stupid bastard?" the Italian swatted his hand away.

Gilbert was about to retort when he felt his chest heat up. No, it wasn't his chest, it was his necklace. Warmth spread from his chest to his toes upon that realization. It felt like his heart was doing a happy dance inside his chest. He looked up and watched a boy walk past him in the distance. His blond hair fell in waves just past his delicate ears and Gilbert felt the strangest urge to touch it. Was it as silky as it looked? Unfortunately, the boy didn't notice Gilbert all but drooling after him and continued walking.

"Mein gott…Did you see him?!"

"See who, bruder?"

"The blonde angel who just walked by…" the albino replied, still more than a little starry-eyed.

"Uh…" Feliciano began.

Gilbert jumped off the table, barely stopping to pat Lovino's shoulder.

"Sorry, Lovi, but I have to break up with you."

"Fine with me," he waved him off. "I never wanted you in the first place."

"Waaaaaait!" Gilbert tore off after the mystery boy. "Wait for me, my awesome Birdie!"

"I thought he was an angel?" Feliciano furrowed his brow.

"Idiot," the older Vargas snorted. He had the misfortune of knowing that Gilbert's pet name for his 'awesomely destined one' was 'Birdie.' It originated from the wing-shaped pattern on the albino's heart piece. Unlike Lovino's heart piece which only had a small wing on the top, Gilbert's looked like one half of an eagle's wingspan. But still…Birdie? What kind of idiot gives their soulmate a stupid nickname?

As he watched Gilbert run off to make a fool of himself, he wondered what he would say to his own soulmate…assuming they ever met, that is. He'd spent so much time trying to track him or her down, that he never thought of what he'd actually say. Lovino wanted to meet the other person, but began to feel nervous when he realized he had no clue what he'd say or do.

I wonder what my 'true love' even looks like…Hmm…probably Italian.

Someone who would love him without asking for anything in return… Someone who would love him even if he couldn't make their wishes come true… Someone who loved Lovino and Lovino alone… Did someone like that even exist? He figured they'd have to be a saint to put up with him.

As Gilbert rushed off, Antonio arrived at the table. He wasn't exactly part of their group project, but he always went out of his way to visit his friends.

"Wow! Gil took off in a hurry," he laughed. "Did Francis threaten to dye his hair again?"

"No!" Feliciano laughed, barely able to contain his excitement. "His heart piece just reacted! He's going to find his soulmate!"

Really?" excitement bubbled into Antonio's voice as well. "I'm so happy for him! I remember I was nervous when I first met Bella, but even then we knew it was true love.

"True love? Are you kidding me?" exclaimed Lovino. "I was there. You were both in 3rd grade. She was babysitting me!"

"It was magical," the cheery Spaniard grinned.

"You bastards played House until it was time for her to take me back home!"

"Yes, she was the beautiful Mama, I was the handsomely strong Papa, and Lovi was the adorable baby..."

"I was five, dammit!"

"I can still remember the way my heart raced…" Antonio smiled whimsically. "I thought I was sick at first."

"Here we go…" the tsundere rolled his eyes, not pleased with the pace they were heading down memory lane. He'd almost rather be working on the group project. Almost.

"Bella made me happy just by standing near me! She made me feel special just by looking at me! She…"

Lovino tuned him out for about five minutes. He treasured his friends, he really did, but goddamn could they get chatty. He always thought it was a pity Feliciano didn't end up with Antonio. They could entertain each other for hours just by talking. Even better if he didn't have to actively listen to either of them for hours on end.

"To find the person just for you is to find your own happiness!" Antonio finished with flourish.

"I-I had a similar feeling when Ludwig and I discovered our heart pieces fit together…" Feliciano turned a little pink with glee and glanced over to his boyfriend (who was doing his darndest not to make eye contact and be caught blushing himself). "It felt like we were glowing…!"

"That's great and all, but I'll be leaving before I become even more of a third wheel," Lovino tried to escape, but was scooped up into a bear hug, courtesy of his Spanish buddy.

"You just need to be patient and you'll find your somebody just for you ~ " Antonio squeezed him merrily, ignoring the sound of potential bones cracking. "You just have to believe in the words and they will come true one day!"

Lovino managed to shrug out of the hug as Antonio raised his soda can. Slowly the others joined him.

"To the empowerage of words!"

"To the irony of that sentence."

"Cheers!"

"…" Ludwig could only facepalm.

Seconds after taking a long swig of strawberry-flavored…something, Lovino felt a sudden warmth in his chest. He stopped drinking to inspect the soda. Feliciano had picked up drinks for everybody as incentive to make it to the group meeting on time and had been known to choose some very…interesting flavors in his time.

Wait…I recognize this brand. I've had it before and nothing happened.

His next logical thought was that he was hit with a heat ray and had only minutes to live. Bringing a hand up to his shirt to investigate what had to be the gaping hole in his chest, Lovino realized it wasn't his body that was on fire…it was his necklace. His green eyes shot up and raced across the courtyard, looking for anyone new or out of place.

What the literal fuck? This can't really be happening…

He was about to look back down when he laid eyes on a new student walking past the nearby fountain with blond hair, slightly tanned skin, enough muscle to make the potato brothers jealous, and the most gorgeous pair of sky blue eyes Lovino had ever seen in his entire life.

Maybe his brother had been onto something with the blonde hair/blue eye combo after all. The physical manifestation of all Lovino's hopes and dreams brought a hand to his heart piece as well. It wasn't long before his eyes met Lovino's. He smiled.

If my heart is this warm…

If I can be this happy…

Then I have found him…

My someone just for me.

oOo

A/N

And there's chapter one! I have it outlined to be a short story, roughly three chapters. It's kind of a weird concept, but I figured I'd run with it. If there's anything confusing you, just let me know. It's simple fluff, so I will try my best to get this done by Valentine's Day/Massacre All Chocolates Day.

Next chapter is Alfred's take on the whole thing.

-Rajikka

Translations:

Fratello – Brother (It.)

Idiota – Idiot (It.)

Tsundere – a type of character seen in anime or manga known for appearing cold or hostile, but having a hidden sweet side. "Tsun Tsun" is the aloof or irritable side, while "Dere Dere" is the lovey dovey side. (Jp.)

Mein Gott – My God (Ger.)

Bruder – Brother (Ger.)