I meant to write this for Lukanette August, but I kinda forgot, sooo….
Here it is!
XOXOXOXOXO
Marinette stuffed her numb fingers into her fleece jacket pocket, searching for change. She was going to be getting coffee again from the same place she always did, and she wanted to give her bartender a tip. Yesterday, her bartender's timer had hit 00:00. She was getting married in a few months.
Every person was born with a timer on their right wrist. It's steady tick felt like a second heartbeat to many people, including Marinette. The timer counted down the hours and minutes until a person met their soulmate.
Marinette checked hers again. 24:36. One day left. The thought almost made her shiver with excitement. Soon she would meet HIM. After that, she would get married, become a mom, grow old together with HIM.
A gust of wind blew a rainbow of dead leaves onto her path. She smoothed out her long woolen jacket and tightened her scarf. The breeze tugged a few locks of her midnight-blue hair from her trademark pigtails.
She paid for her coffee at the counter, giving the bartender a hug and a handful of change. The bartender beamed giddily as Marinette wished her congratulations.
Marinette pressed the warm plastic lid to her cold lips. The searing, bitter liquid flooded her insides like lava. She instantly felt more alert, more alive, and unexplainably perky.
She caught a glimpse of a stranger in the crowd, and she craned her neck so she could get a better look. He had seafoam-turquoise hair that was dyed black at the tips, and periwinkle blue eyes. The joy in the air that morning was palpable. They looked up at each other as they crossed paths. He waved and Marinette couldn't help loving his black fingernails. Marinette shyly waved back.
"Hi"
She mouthed, knowing the roar of the city would drown out their sweet greeting.
"Hey"
Was the mouthed reply.
She decided to blame the raspberry-pink tinge that had come to her face on the cool autumn air. She was pleased to see the same cherry-blossom tinge on his.
She continued walking, her heart thumping like it was a basketball bouncing on a court. A swarm of butterflies, no, ladybugs, floated inside her stomach.
She had only made it a few steps when she stopped. She knew that something was wrong, that something was off. Something was missing; she could feel it in her blood, her bones, her timer.
Her timer!
Her heart almost stopped when she realized that the familiar ticking of her timer was gone. Dumbfounded, she slowly raised her right in front of her face. 24:30 . She stood there in the middle of the sidewalk just staring at it, watching for movement.
Nothing.
It was completely still.
She must have stood there for 2 minutes at least before the realization dawned on her.
Her clock had stopped.
But it wasn't at 00:00 yet.
It could only mean that….
That…..
That her soulmate had died.
An unexpected event may have upset the system.
He was gone.
And she had never even met him.
She didn't realize that she was crying until she felt her shoulders shake and saw a single crystal - azure teardrop land on her arm.
A piercing sob broke the silence, and it took Marinette a few seconds to realize that the sound was coming from her throat.
Quivering, she dragged herself to the corner of the sidewalk. She collapsed against the side of the building, the weight of her grief feeling heavier than the eiffel tower.
Her wails were carried by the now frigid wind.
The entire world had gone blurry because of the cyan tears pouring from her eyes.
Someone sat down next to her on the icy, worn cement. She let them enfold her in their gentle arms.
"What's wrong?"
A male voice asked. His voice was so flooded with genuine concern that it brought her to tears.
"Well…"
She started, immediately being overwhelmed by emotion again. She swallowed her sobs and continued in a choked up voice.
"So….m-m-my timer stopped early. And… um … that means that m-my soulmate d-d-died and now i'll never meet them."
She stopped talking just as a wail rose out of her throat, dispersing in the breeze.
"I-I lost him before I even found him in the first place."
She pressed her wet cheeks into his cotton jacket, stifling her sobs. He stroked her hair with his soft hands.
"Shhhh."
His warm breath tickled her ear as he whispered into it, washing over her and wrapping her tight like a blanket. Slowly but surely, her sobs quietened.
"You said that your timer stopped , right?"
There was that creamy, hot-chocolate-esque voice again. She nodded.
"Can I see it?"
She slid up her jacket sleeve to show him the broken timer.
24:30
A smile spread over his face.
"What?"
She asked, bewildered. Why was he smiling?
He slid up his jacket sleeve and her breath caught.
24:30
His timer.
She looked up into his frost-blue eyes and realized that it was the man from earlier. Her own bluebell eyes were wide. His cherry blossom smile was infectious, and soon her carnation-pink lips had mimicked his.
"So did mine."