(A/n: You'll know if Kenny is speaking in a Southern accent or not from now on lol Hope you have a good Christmas!

Summary: There is a tradition where people only get matched with their soulmate on holidays. It doesn't happen to everyone, some people are just not meant to have a soulmate. Stan for sure thought that he fell into that category, Kenny also until one Christmas day...

Please enjoy this one-shot soulmate AU despite the possible errors, they will be fixed tomorrow)


Chapter 37: Predestined To Be

Ever since he was young, it has always been Stan's dream to be matched with his soulmate - more specifically when he was 10 years old. The happiness and adoration the couples would always have made him envious, and he wanted to experience it as well. He thought it was going to be possible with Wendy Testaburger, a cute, smart, easy-going, and nice girl. Stan wasn't the only one who underwent the love at first sight feeling, but he felt confident that she was the one for him. When a holiday eventually came up, fate outright declined his affection towards the girl and a boy Stan didn't know was chosen to be her partner instead. That was his very first heartbreak.

Since then on Stan never developed feelings for anyone, he didn't want to go through that pain again. It was already painful enough seeing his older sister and his super best friend get their soulmates.

Stan glares at the ceiling of his bedroom, laying on his bed still in his pajamas. He still can't believe Shelly has a soulmate, even though she's been treating her lover well he for sure thought she was going to be single for the rest of her life. To think their roles would get switched...

Well, at least he still has his friends...kind of. Stan frowns at the realization. Ever since Kyle got matched with Tweek, the redhead has devoted nearly all of his time with his boyfriend. Somehow, the couple managed to make their relationship work despite not really talking to each other much before then, Stan guesses that's why Kyle has been around him often these days. They got together this year on Independence Day. As for Cartman, he doesn't care whether he gets a soulmate or not but what he does care about is being seen as a 'dateless loser' so it's only been just Kenny Stan hangs out with.

Stan is honestly surprised Kenny doesn't have a soulmate, him being poor plays no factor in who he gets matched with. Stan doesn't think anything does actually, it's like an RNG system in a video game. For the past seven years since his first crush, Stan has been having no luck. Kenny has dated a few times before, but stopped altogether once his partners started eventually being matched with their soulmates. That's why Stan avoided dating, if it's not his soulmate then it's not worth the risk nor the heartache.

"Stanley! Come on down for breakfast!"

Heaving a sigh, Stan gets up and trudges out of his room, heading down to the dining room. Once he hears an upbeat carol playing softly from in the kitchen, his heart becomes heavy. Right...today is Christmas day. These holidays have been passing by as normal days for him so it's only natural that he forgot.

"Good morning sweety and Merry Christmas!" His mother greets cheerfully once she sees him coming. His father bids him a Merry Christmas also.

Stan's response is a dismissive grunt as he sits down in a chair across from his father, his parents should know by now that he'll never be in the mood to celebrate any recreations. All throughout breakfast, his parents kept trying to lift his spirits. But no matter the methods, their son refused to crack even a smile.

"Good thing we didn't tell him Shelly and her soulmate are comin' over later," Randy mutters after Stan left. Sharon just rolls her eyes, then starts cleaning up the table.

Stan enters his room with a bitter face, however once he sees his smartphone's dim illuminated screen, he instantly starts to feel a little bit better. Approaching his phone that's resting on top of his nightstand, he grimaces at the lock screen. He seriously needs to change it, in fact he will after he replies back to Kenny. Kenny texted him wondering if he wanted to hang out today or if his parents forced him to spend time with them again. On almost every holiday, Stan's parents would try their damnedest to brighten up his attitude. He appreciated their efforts when he was little, but now that he's older it's become greatly annoying.

Stan messages back that he is down to hang out, eager to get out of the house and away from his parents for awhile. Giving his lock screen image of him, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman a pained frown, he finally switches it to something else. That being a plain colored wallpaper. Shutting his phone off and setting it back down on his nightstand, he goes to take a shower, coming out ten minutes later than putting on some clothes.

Grabbing his phone, he walks out heading downstairs towards the front door. As he puts on his brown jacket, red poof ball hat, red gloves, and sneakers, he lets his parents know that he's going to hang out with Kenny, though he's unsure for how long. But it didn't matter, for his mother simply told him not to stay out too long while he exits the house.

Instantly the crisp gale of Winter thaws the warmth that hugged his body, and he shivers, shoving his hands into his jackets pockets as he starts is trek down the sidewalk. Two or three people - including himself - are out on this cold morning, the snow falling slowly from the grey clouds above, drifting to one direction from the light breeze. Even though they didn't name their meeting location, Stan already has a spot in mind. It's the one place he frequents to help ease his mind off of depressing thoughts - Kenny's carefreeness being additional help.

Stan wonders how Kenny can be so cheerful and optimistic most times, even after his failed relationships plus his living predicament - though his life of poverty is slowly but surely getting better. Stan honestly doesn't know how he does it, but he commends him for being so strong despite his hardships. Stan wouldn't have been able to keep his head held high had he been in Kenny's shoes, him being afraid to generate romantic feelings for someone after having his first love denied by fate is proof that he isn't as unshakeable like his friend. Kenny cried and moped after his breakups, sure, but he was back to being his normal-self in no time. He is the complete opposite of Stan, something Stan likes yet also dislikes about him.

Before long, Stan sees himself nearing his favored spot: A park that's a few blocks away from Stark's Pond, his second favorite spot for relaxation. He's not at all surprised to see someone else at the park, their orange parka standing out like a flame amid the grey and white. In fact, they're the only person there, swinging on one of the swings. Stan waves at them.

"Hey Kenny."

The teen pauses his momentum, waving back at Stan with a muffled 'Hey'. Stan joins him on the other swing, after dusting off the clump of snow. He shudders once his butt makes contact with the cool seat. Silently, the two begin to push themselves into the air, although not too high. This is what they normally do, allow the other - mostly Stan - peace and quiet to rid away the troubling thoughts that plagued their minds. The silence between them is never uncomfortable, sometimes tense depending on what upset them.

After a few minutes, Stan breaks the comforting quietude with a question. "How have you been Kenny?" The last time they did this was on Thanksgiving.

Kenny loosens the strings to his hood to answer him intelligibly. "Good actually, I forgot to tell you that Karen got matched with her soulmate today and you won't believe who it is."

"Oh, good for her. Is it Ike?" Stan guesses.

Kenny shakes his head, grinning. "Nope, it's Craig's lil sister."

Stan skids his swing to a halt. "Wow for real?!"

Kenny stops his swing too, broadening his smile at the shocked noirette. "Yeah, I kinda figured it'd be her seeing as how Karen always talked about her at home. She spent more time with Ruby than with Ike."

Stan blinks his eyes after staring at Kenny as if he'd grown a second head. "Still, that's surprising."

Kenny laughs but then pouts. "But I'm jealous of her though cuz now I'm the only one without a soulmate." He kicks at the snow.

"Now I'm not the only one in the VIP room of the 'Soulmateless' club."

Kenny stifles his laughter, but quickly ends up letting it free. Shortly after, Stan bursts out laughing. This is one of the many reasons Stan enjoys being with Kenny, he'd never be able to consciously joke about his inability to find his soulmate. Kenny is the epitome of a breath of fresh air.

Kenny calms down from his laughing fit. "D-damn, I don't know why that was so funny. That's somethin' I would say."

After Stan stabilizes himself, he catches sight of something out of place. He watches an orange speck leisurely float down to the ground right before his eyes. Before he can ponder if it's existence is real or not, it fades away. He blinks, both confused and astonished.

"Stan?"

Stan blinks again, this time snapping out of his wonderstruck confusement. He feels Kenny's eyes on him, prompting a warm heat to surge up to his already flushed cheeks.

"You wanna walk around an' look at the Christmas decorations?"

Stan looks over at Kenny, feeling his lips mimicking the small smile that formed on Kenny's face. "Sure."

They get up and leave the park, Stan brushing off what he saw just seconds ago as trickery of the eyes. That is, until he sees it again while they're gazing at the glamourous décor around the town.

This time the orange snowdrop doesn't disappear, it lingers in Stan's view like a vivid dot, seemingly growing too. Little by little. Kenny hasn't said anything about it, meaning it's only visible to Stan. It's both relieving and concerning.

Around the mid-afternoon, the glowing bead of snow is twice the size of an eye's pupil. Upon a closer look, it's edges radiate in a hazy yellow. Stan and Kenny are currently resting their legs on the bench at Stark's Pond. The more Stan looks at the opaque snowball, he begins to realize that it's actually quite pretty. But he has a lot of questions regarding it, it may look harmless however he doesn't want to let his guard down around it.

"Stan?"

"Huh?" Stan's shoulders does a faint jolt at the sound of Kenny's voice, looking over at the teen who nudges his head at his jacket.

"Your phone."

That's when Stan registers the sonorous buzzing in his pocket. With a groan, he takes his smartphone out and just as he expected it's a call from his mother. Reluctantly he answers, Kenny waiting patiently for him to finish, stifling a laugh at the noirette's lackluster responses.

Stan ends the call with another groan, pocketing the device back into his jacket. "She wants me home to help her bake cookies."

Just like the previous years. "Why not help her this time? Could be fun."

Stan is quiet for a moment, staring deeply at the clear pond. Then he looks over into Kenny's hazel eyes. "You wanna tag along?" He misses the hovering snowball twitch. Kenny appears taken aback, but he accepts the offer. His folks won't be doing anything this Christmas anyway.

They abscond the area, ambling towards Stan's house. The walk there is spent with small talk, every little second of their conversation the abnormal ball of snow would vaguely become bigger. By the time they're on the Marsh's doorstep, Stan tries not to let it's increased proportion worry him. Kenny still doesn't see it so his parents most likely won't see it either.

Sharon lets them inside after Stan knocked on the door to announce his arrival, surprised to see Kenny here. Him wanting to lend an extra hand was earnestly welcomed, and they got right to it after they'd wash their hands. Randy joined them minutes later, glad that Stan was being a 'compliant' son for once on a holiday.

Kenny was right, baking did turn out to be fun. Hectic, but fun nonetheless. Kenny and Randy slipped up majority of the time, even though Stan was new to baking just like Kenny and apparently his father too, he worked proficiently. He'd only messed up twice, distracted by the occasional twitching of the mystical snowball. But their clumsiness was laughed off, everyone enjoyed themselves and that's all that mattered.

While Sharon put the edible and decently made cookies into the oven, Stan and Kenny go up to the noirette's room, cookie dough, icing, and sprinkles stuck on parts of their skin, hair, and clothes.

"You can clean up first," Stan says heading for his wardrobe closet. "I'll bring you a pair of my clothes."

"K thanks."

Stan catches a glimpse of Kenny stripping off his shirt before entering and closing the bathroom door. The swell of the orange snowball syncs with the sprouting blush on Stan's cheeks, striking him with instant confusion.

Why the hell did he blush after merely looking at Kenny's slightly muscular back? He's seen the other's bare skin before, well primarily in Gym class when they were changing but even then he didn't go pink in the face.

Shaking his head, Stan glances at the spherical clump of orange snow, and widens his eyes. This whole time the thing has been increasing in size! He doesn't understand how or why, just what has been fueling it?

"Hey Stan?" Comes Kenny's voice. "You got the clothes ready?"

"Shit," Stan hisses, then resumes looking through the closet. "A-almost, you're already done?"

"Yeah, drying my hair right now."

Seeing as how they have a similar build, Stan grabs a random shirt and some sweatpants. Nearing the bathroom, he opens the door wide enough to slip the clothes through. After Kenny takes them, he shuts the door and Stan takes out some new clothes for him to wear himself.

Kenny comes out a minute later, his previously worn clothes bundled up in his arms. Knowing that he's going to take them to the laundry room, Stan goes into the bathroom, the orange snowball annoyingly following suit.

By the time he's done cleaning and changing, he sees Kenny sitting on his bed, his back against the pillow with one arm behind his head and the other typing away on his smartphone.

"Kyle said Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah."

Stan's lips curl into a small smile as he dumps his dirty clothes into a basket in the corner of his room. Tweek got Kyle into the customs of celebrating Christmas, and Kyle did the same thing to Tweek with Hanukkah. "Tell him I said thanks and same to him."

"Already did." Kenny then turns off his phone, and silence consumes the room. Stan sits down on his bed, contemplating turning on his television but thinks against it. The quietness isn't awkward and Stan would rather there be no sound so he can figure out what to do with this weirdly beautiful snowball rather than ignore it. There has to be a way to get rid of it somehow.

"Somethin's buggin' you." Kenny wasted no time blurting that out the instant Stan looked thoughtful.

"...I'm that obvious?"

"Dude I've known you since we were kids so of course I'd be able to read you like an open book. Especially since you've been mopey all these years." Stan grimaces, his posture tensing when he feels Kenny situating himself to sit right next to him. "But anyway, what's troubling you? The fact that you still haven't met your soulmate ooor...?"

Stan nips his bottom lip. "It's...-" But he shakes his head, not ready to tell him about the snowball just yet. "It's nothing."

Kenny gives him a hard stare. "Stan, what's wrong?"

Damn it, there's no point keeping the truth contained from Kenny. His assertiveness hardly ever wavers when a friend is doubtlessly in need. Breathing out deeply, Stan tells him about the orange snowball- about how it suddenly fluttered down in front of him then vanished only for it to return once they walked around town, and that it stayed by his side ever since. Mysteriously growing inch by inch. Kenny listened with interest, and also some hope.

"You must think I've gone crazy," Stan mumbles after he's finished.

"I don't." Stan looks over at Kenny, the blonde giving him a soft smile. "Stan, that's your soulmate fragment."

Stan appears dumbfounded, a strong wave of heat igniting inside his chest at the word soulmate. "My...what?"

Kenny goes to explain what soulmate fragments are. They appear as any symbolic representation of a holiday, taking Christmas for example. There's many that can represent Christmas, theirs being a snowball although it's supposed to be a snowflake. For others the soulmate fragment can vary although it's not uncommon for people to have the same thing. The reason Stan and Kenny have a snowball is because Kenny acknowledged his love for Stan when Stan himself didn't, so what they have is an imperfect soulmate fragment. Despite that it can still flourish as long as the person's love continues to strive.

"Mines is blue and I've had it ever since last year."

Stan's mind is in a turmoil of questions, but he'll ask the one that's appropriate to Kenny's last statement. "You...had it for that long? That's possible?"

"Apparently," Kenny shrugs, maintaining his kind smile. He looks off to the side, seemingly staring at his soulmate fragment. "Don't know how long it was gonna stay, guess until I no longer had feelings for you."

Stan can't believe Kenny has liked him for over a year now, he...never even knew. "K-Kenny I-"

"It's okay." Kenny looks him in the eyes again, this time more affectionately. "You like me now, so the wait was worth it."

Stan blushes just as Kenny grips his hand, throughout the corner of his eye he notices his snowball gliding in front of them. Both teens look ahead, watching their imperfect soulmate fragments levitate next to each other. Then, they begin to glow, Stan's snowball a gentle yellow and Kenny's a misty blue. Surprisingly, the intensity of the light isn't blinding, even when the two colors mesh together and somehow become white. Once the light dies down, a single, silver snowflake floats before them, shimmering beautifully as if it's under sunlight.

"Wow..." Kenny breathes out in awe, Stan unable to utter a syllable. To think that even though he liked Wendy back then, turns out he didn't really like her like he thought he did. But he understands why Kenny is his soulmate, he's been by his side even when he fell into a dejected state. Kenny comforted him in any way he could, and did not stop until Stan showed a faintly happy expression. He feels wrong for thinking that when his parents did that he found it irksome, but with Kenny...deep down he cherished his oppressive altruism.

"Boys! The cookies are ready if you wanna eat some!"

Sharing a smile, the newly formed couple walk out of the room. The snowflake whisks away, leaving tiny sparkling particles in the air.

(A/n: I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up soon)