A Destiel AU

"One day someone will walk into your life and make you see colors you have never imagined…"

Castiel Novak's world was black and white. That wasn't a figure of speech, but quite literal. Everyone saw in black and white until they met the person they were meant to be with. It was called the Soulmate Principle. To people who hadn't found their Soulmates yet – people like Cas – the world was comfortable. There was surprising warmth in the colorless world.

Castiel hadn't really given much thought to his Soulmate. He thought of the moment, sure, but his thoughts were more captivated by the idea of color than the thought of meeting his lifelong partner. He tried not to get his hopes up. While the chances of meeting your Soulmate were pretty high, a number of people never did. They went on with their lives in their black and white state, content, but incomplete.

Cas had seen it happen once – the Meeting of Soulmates. It had been during Junior year of high school. There was a new girl in class. A pretty girl named Charlie Bradbury. The teacher was just barely introducing her when the classroom door opened and Emily Johnson (late as always) came running in. She ran smack into Charlie and they both tumbled to the floor. They both gasped almost simultaneously and stood up slowly. Charlie began looking around quickly, desperate to take in as much color as she could. Emily stood gazing at Charlie, eyes wide. Charlie met Emily's eyes and smiled shyly. The teacher began clapping, and soon the whole class broke into applause. For some reason that was customary when one witnessed a Meeting. Charlie and Emily have been inseparable ever since.

That was the closest he'd ever been to a Meeting. He had seen others from a distance, or heard the applause and turned to join in. Joy needed to be shared. But witnessing that Meeting in high school was something Castiel would remember forever. He had seen the change in the girls' eyes; the wonder. Color must have been an amazing thing.

Cas had graduated high school more than two years ago. He was about to start his Junior year of college, and he still hadn't found his Soulmate. It was a little worrisome.

Statistically, the age range most people found their Soulmate was between 15 and 20. There were a few who found theirs' earlier than 15 and some above 20, but once you reached 25 or so the odds of finding your Soulmate dwindled to less than 1%. Castiel was approaching his 21 birthday and would soon be out of that magical range. It scared him. Would he be one of those few who never found his Soulmate? Would he never experience color?

Castiel closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair, stretching his back. He had reached a very poignant bout of writer's block.

Cas really wanted to be a writer; more than anything. Now that his Generals were out of the way he could start work on his Major: Creative Writing. Usually he had an abundance of ideas, but nothing was coming today. He had never told anyone that he was writing a novel. He was afraid they would think it was ridiculous to write his debut novel before he had any proper schooling on the subject. Dark World would be his secret until it got published – if it got published.

He began shuffling things around on his desk, trying to create some semblance of order. He was a little scatter-brained and tended to be quite unorganized. He had been trying to work on that for years but was getting nowhere.

While he was shoving too many pencils and pens into a too-small pencil case, his cell phone began ringing, playing the chorus of Original Prankster. Castiel sighed. That would be his brother Gabriel.

Castiel loved Gabe, but he could be a bit much to deal with at times. Cas contemplated not answering, but gave in with a sigh.

"Hey, Gabe," he answered, trying to make his voice sound light and chipper. "What's up?"

A half shouted string of jumbled words came through the phone in answer. Cas pulled the phone away from his ear quickly, lest his hearing be permanently affected.

"Gabriel, I didn't catch any of that. One more time please?"

The answer came back at a slightly lower decibel. "It happened, Cas!"

Castel furrowed his brow in confusion. "What happened? Are you alright?"

Gabriel laughed. "I've never been better!" he exclaimed excitedly. "It happened! I met him! My Soulmate!"