-DISCLAIMER: I own NOTHING- only this little one-shot. Everything else is Shane Acker's.

Continuation of SOULBOUND (please read it first, if you would).

Please R&R. Not your cup of tea, don't read.

SOULMATE

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"Hey! Behave you two!"

The twins froze, eyes flashing as they stared up at their warrior mother-figure. 7 was perched on one of the shelves over their hooded heads, leaning nonchalantly on her spear, stitched brows furrowed in frustration beneath the beak of her birdskull.

She shook her head. "What am I going to do with you two?"

3 and 4 exchanged glances, their gazes falling on the opened bottle of glue that had previously been fighting over, its contents splattered down their fronts.

7 sighed. "You both get cleaned off," she instructed, stepping toward the platform they used to navigate throughout the library.

They exchanged glances before scurrying off, flashing messages back in forth.

"She has been in a very sour mood the past few days," 4 said to her twin in the visual language that only they could understand.

"Yes, she has," 3 agreed, nodding his head. "I wonder if it has anything to do with how late she returned the other night?"

They both thought of how the warrior had returned to the library rather late a few nights ago, visibly exhausted and withdrawn, clearly something had been bothering her. When they had scurried up to her, trying to figure out what was ailing her, she'd sent them off, claiming that she needed some time to herself. Of course, they'd only thought she'd meant for that night at the time, but she'd been keeping to herself for four, bordering five nights now.

What exsactly had happened that made her so withdrawn? Had she met up with one of the others? Had she fought one of the beasts and something happened that had upset her so?

Letting these thoughts broil in their curious minds, the pair set out to find something to clean the sticky substance from their fabric.

7 watched them go before stepping onto the platform and beginning her decent.

Her mind wandered back to that night she'd spent with 9 in the watchtower. Ever since she'd returned from the cathedral precisely five nights ago, her thoughts often alternated between reality and the memory of that night, this being the reason behind her bad mood.

It wasn't that she hadn't enjoyed that night. Oh, Creator knew that she had. He was such a honest lover and the entire experience had felt so passionate, so right.

No, the true fault of that night had been 5's walking in on them basking in the afterglow of their love making. In all honesty, it wasn't the mechanic's fault, they had chosen to participate in such an act within his watchtower, after all.

7 wasn't sure if it was the embarrassment of being caught after such an intimate moment or the fact that 5, a dear friend to all, had been the one to walk in on them. For years she'd been trying to establish a bit of respect from her ragdoll brethren and it had taken one new male doll to convince her to toss out all that effort and loose all her self control. To have such an honest doll like 5 stumble in on them had only made it worse.

It wasn't that she regretted that night, no, not at all, she just... oh, she just wasn't sure anymore!

The platform came to a halt by the book that 3 and 4 had previously been going through. The warrior stepped off onto the floor, eyes following the thin trail of glue that marked the path that the twins had taken.

She turned to look over the bits of old newspaper articles and journal entries that had been attached to the page the book was currently turned to. Amung all the snippets about the advancing war and various deaths, what caught her eye was the faded picture that had been recently glued to the top right corner of the page. It showed a young man, clad in a soldier's uniform and standing beside a petite female; most likely his wife. Two young children were standing infront of them; a small boy that was clutching the female's hand and a little girl that was clutched to her mother's breast. All four were smiling warmly despite the grim circumstances they had been living in at the time.

7 let another sigh slip through her lips.

"Hello," a voice said.

She tensed, grip tightening on her spear as she whirled around to face whoever was approaching her.

"9?" she said in confusion, the burlap stitchpunk smiling sheepishly at her. She mentally kicked herself for allowing someone to sneak up on her. Never let your guard down, she reminded herself.

The male stepped up behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders, letting his staff fall against the wall, where it stayed, the bulb glowing brightly.

"I haven't seen you in a while," he told her. "I was starting to get a bit worried."

7 stiffened. "There's no need for that- I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." she reminded him defensively, a hint of challenge to her voice.

9 shrugged. "I know, I just couldn't help it."

7 rolled her eyes. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"5 and I were sent out to look for supplies-," 7 cringed at the mention of the mechanic, "-when we saw the twins," he continued, loosening his grip on her when she cringed, thinking that it was his touch she reacted to. He felt a bit hurt. "He's helping them clean glue off their fabric now."

They both stood in silence for a while, 7's gaze fixed on the book infront of her.

"Are you alright?" 9 asked softly. "You seem kind of . . . out of it."

7 shrugged dismissively.

". . . Are you thinking of the other night?" 9 asked, shifting on his feet.

No answer.

"I-if it helps at all, 5 didn't tell anyone. Although, I think 2 might know something . . ." he admitted, recalling the very suspiciously knowing look that the elder had given him that night when he returned to the workshop. 5 on the other hand, had made a point to avoid his friend unless absolutely necessary, only having to glance at him to bring up the unforgettable memories of what he'd seen.

7 shuddered involuntarily as his copper molded hands stroked the sun-bleached fabric of her arms fondly.

Despite the thought of anyone other than the both of them knowing about what had taken place in the watchtower, and the possible trauma they'd caused the mechanic, 7 tried to convince herself that she was being ridiculous about this. Sure 5 had seen them, sure it had been immensely embarrassing, but 5 wasn't one to go around talking about it; he respected his friends' privacy. 2 was the same way, giving he knew anything at all. Of course, she didn't like the thought of him knowing either.

Trying to find some confort in these thoughts, 7 let herself relax, her head falling back against his chest.

"9," she said after a while.

"Hhm?"

"About that night in the watchtower . . . " she trailed off for a moment, but knew that she still had his undivided attention trained on her. "I'm sorry, I don't know-"

9 shushed her. "There's nothing to say," he told her, quoting what she had said to him before she had left five nights ago.

The warrior turned her head to stare up at him, their eyes meeting. That big, goofy grin of his was stretched wide across his burlap face.

The distance between them evaporated completely until their lips met. After a long while, they parted, 7 marveling at the gentle affection that was present in her lover's eyes.

He sighed, shaking his head as if disbelieving, his eyes never straying from her face. "Beautiful . . . " he leaned foreward, recapturing her lips with his own. His lips traveled from hers, leaving a trail of light pecks running down her cheek and down passed her chin.

When he came close to the sensitive spot on the side of her neck, 7 slipped out of his touch teasingly.

She chuckled at the confused expression on his face. She certainly knew what he'd had in mind.

"No," she said, propping her spear up against the wall as she smirked at him flirtatiously. "It's not going to be that easy this time . . . "

9 studied her for a moment, his grin slowly working its way back over his features as her words registered in his artificial brain. He watched intently as she turned and walked away, swinging her hips temptingly. 9 moved toward her, touching her shoulder lightly. She stayed stock still as his fingers massaged at the back of her neck and shoulders. After a few moments, she pulled away, just as his lips had begun to hover close to her fabric.

She smiled at the semi-frustrated expression that was present on his face. Deciding to give him a break, she stepped toward him slowly, 9 taking the opportunity to look over her body, his eyes taking in her every subtle curve and stitch that existed in her fabric.

She smiled up at him, cupping his cheeks as she pulled him close, touching her lips to his.

9 acted fast, coiling his arm around her waist to hold her tightly to him as he lifted his other hand to hold the back of her head, deepening the kiss. 7 blinked, melting in the kiss before snapping back to reality.

She took quick note of just how open a place they were in and jabbed 9 hard in the chest. He grunted in surprise, 7 taking advantage of his distracted state long enough to slide out of his touch.

"W-wait," she said breathlessly, "not here . . . " She motioned for him to follow, stepping toward the rows upon rows of books that were stacked up near the walls. She was determined to avoid another walk-in from another unsuspecting stitchpunk.

The warrior sought out one of the twin's favorite hiding places; somewhere they wouldn't be easily found. She turned, smiling at how closely 9 was trailing after her.

She hooked a finger through his zipper tab, pulling him after her. They slipped in behind a stack of books and into the empty shelf hidden behind them.

They wasted no time.

With hungry vigor, they leaped at each other, 9 quickly discarding the warrior's birdskull and shield. There was little light in the shelf, but that didn't stop ethier of them.

9 soon found himself being pushed down against the wall of the shelf in a sitting position. Purring seductively, 7 kissed him, gripping his zipper pull tab and unzipping him slowly, taking more care as she eased the slider of his zipper over the curious lump at the fork of his legs; she didn't want to damage the delicate device hidden beneath- it was rather important for what they had in mind.

Completely unzipping him, his tool slid out readily, impatient to be put to good use.

9 reached out, grabbing hold of her hips and pulling her down onto his front. Turned away from him with her back pressed to his opened chest, 7 blinked; this wasn't exactly the position she had been going for. She stared down at his shaft, which was poking out between her thighs.

A small, pleasantly erotic sound emitted from the pit of 9's voicebox as he kissed the back of her head tenderly. He lowered his hand, handling himself carefully as he positioned the tip of his tool at the seam that ran between her legs. Parting her folds with copper fingers, he began to push his way inside, 7 rising off him slightly to grant him an easier entry.

9 tossed back his head, his loud moan echoing in the small confined space as the familiar spark of pleasure flowed through him when he plugged into her. 7 groaned, trembling in ecstasy at the wonderful sensation. Creator, how she had missed this!

The burlap ragdoll coiled his arm around her waist, holding her to him as he began bucking his hips. 9 grunted, kissing her shoulder and neck gently as he increased his pace, fingers digging into her hip slightly. Oh, it felt wonderful . . .

9's free hand lifted to stroke her cheek, feeling the soft yet durable texture of her fabric beneath his copper fingers.

7 seized his wrist in her hand, latching her lips on two of the metallic appendages and suckling tenderly, producing soft, pleased sounds from deep within her voicebox. 9 blinked, staring down in surprise at the extremely erotic sight infront of him.

In a sudden burst of boldness, he gently pulled his fingers from her mouth and slid out of her. Lifting her carefully off of him, he moved until the female was beneath him before gently lowering her onto the floor.

7 blinked at the sudden change in position, staring up at him in confusion.

"I-I thought this would be a little easier," he explained quietly, almost afraid he had done something wrong.

The warrior nodded in understanding. She reached up, pulling him into another kiss, impatient to have him back inside.

Splitting her legs apart, he hooked the crooks of his elbows beneath her knees, suspending her legs in the air. He pressed his hips foreward, re-entering her and resuming his thrusts.

7 gasped loudly, throwing her arms around his neck, fingers clawing at his back as he ventured deep, stroking all the right places.

"Ooh! 9! Ahhh!" she moaned.

9 groaned out her number, locking eyes with the female as his thrusts increased in speed and strength. He stared down at her, enjoying all the little sounds and expressions she made in the throes of passion.

She reached up, touching his voice box that was exposed through his opened chest, feeling the small speaker vibrate with each groan or moan he let loose. Creator, how she loved the sound of his voice.

"H-harder . . . !" she pleaded in between moans, rocking her hips in encouragement.

At her bidding, 9 obeyed, the sparks that were set off each time he plugged into her sending waves of pleasure more intense than those even of when they'd made love before. He groaned, burrying his face in her shoulder. His lower back had begun to ache a bit, but he kept at it, determined to bring them both to completion.

"Aahah! Se-seven! You feel s-so good..."

He felt the familiar little coil in his lower stomach tighten rather abruptly, warning him that he was close.

"Sev-seven! Ahh! I-I...!" he started to give her a warning in between gasps. He dug deep, 7 arching her back clear off the wooden boards of the shelf as she climaxed, letting forth a loud, reverberating moan.

9 groaned and shuddered as he reached his peak, feeling a large portion of his energy sap from his body as his DNA surged into her, her inner walls clamping around him to hold him in place as he did so, forbidding him to move inside of her at all.

After a while, her walls relaxed around him and he was unplugged. His shaky arms finally gave way after their climax passed, falling ontop of her exhaustedly. They both took a while to catch their breath before 9 sat up, staring down at the female affectionately as she smiled up at him, looking both content and tired.

"That was wonderful," she said softly, nuzzling optics.

9 chuckled, cupping her face and running his thumbs over her cheeks tenderly. "Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself," he responded. The burlap stitchpunk pressed his lips to hers, allowing the words he'd tried to say that night in the watchtower before she had slipped away slide past his lips.

"I love you," he muttered quietly, 7's hearing sensors just catching it as the words were uttered.

She smiled, kissing him back. "I love you too, 9."

For a long while they lay there, 9 rising onto his elbows and leaning over her chest as he slid easily out of her, 7 making a soft sound as he moved.

"Am I going to see you anytime soon after this," 9 asked, a hint of a joke in his tone of voice, "Or are you going to disappear for five days again?"

7 chuckled, swatting him lightly on his shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll see me soon enough . . . " she coiled her arms around his neck, bringing her lips to his.

9's hands ran down her sides, stroking her fabric gently as he pressed his hips foreward, 7 accepting his re-entry eagerly.

5, walking side by side with the now cleaned twins, stepped hesitantly into the library, struggling to hold the scraps that he and his designated scouting partner had stumbled across. He looked at the pair.

"Are you sure you saw him head this way?" he asked them.

They both nodded simutaniously, eyes sparking.

The mechanic scanned the room, eye falling on the book that was proped up before him. His gaze fell on the spear and staff that were resting against the pages side by side. The staff was a sure sign that his freind had indeed headed this way and the spear . . . he obviously had met up with 7, he realised with a cringe.

He had a pretty good idea what those two would be doing alone together.

"9? Are you here...?" he called out hesitantly, both afraid to interupt something and think about what they were up to.

A book fell over out of the corner of his one eye. Both he and the twins turned toward where it had fallen, spotting a breathless 7 and 9 tucked away in the shelf the book had been covering, both of whom scurried to their feet quickly.

The both of them tried to appear as if they hadn't been doing anything, 9 fumbling clumsily with his zipper while 7 tried to smooth down her messed fabric.

"H-hey 5," 9 said with a sheepish wave.

5's eye twitched at the thought of what they previously had been doing.

Honestly considering leaving 9 here and heading back to the cathedral by himself, he forced himself to grumble, "I think we have enough supplies now, we ought be be heading back . . . "

9 nodded. "R-right," he looked toward 7, who stared back at him. "Uhm . . . see you later . . . ?" he tried, trying to appear casual.

7 nodded, mimicing his attempt at casuallty and pulling it off far better. "Right. See you later."

Smiling at each other, 9 stepped foreward, lifting his staff, which had fallen over onto the floor when both he and the warrior had been spotted, off of the floorboards.

With a final good-bye, he headed off toward the cathedral. Behind him 5 glanced between the warrior and his friend before reluctantly following after him.

The twins flashed in confusion when they spotted the content smile that played on their mother-figure's lips as she watched them go, her eyes focused mainly on 9's retreated form.

Why was she is such a good mood all of a sudden?

If this does as well as the first, I might write another. Although, I'm not sure what I would call it; I want to keep up this whole 'soul' thing.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I might not write a third one-shot. I have an idea of a chaptered story I want to put some time and effort into. But more on that later.