Unfortunately, it didn't take much time at all for Edwin and Anna's already difficult long-distance relationship – a necessary evil in and of itself - to become decidedly unhappy when the war broke out.

Six more soulmates out there somewhere or not, Edwin couldn't lose Anna, not when they were all one another had. So he forged the necessary papers to get his Jewish soulmate out of war-torn Hungary… and he paid the price. But he got her to the States with the help of Howard Stark, he got her safe… and then he married her.

They made a nice life together… but it was still just the two of them, and most of the time it felt like so much was missing. It was a good life, living the perfect American dream, but their perfect dreams still included six more people.

1942

Steve Rogers didn't necessarily have snow white motives for wanting to join the army. All of the things that he'd been saying to anyone who asked him? Those things were entirely true… but there was something else. Without joining something, somehow, he really wasn't sure that he would ever meet… well, any number of his soulmates.

The maroon words on his right arm, I'm not what you expected, am I, Captain?

The green words between his shoulder blades, It's a real honor to meet you, captain.

The red words on his left leg: Recruits! Attention! Gentlemen, I am Agent Carter; I supervise all operations for this division.

So he fought hard to join up and Dr. Erskine finally gave him a chance.

And – as he had suspected – he met Agent Carter before long… and she was not what he had expected. To say nothing of the fact that the situation was anything but ideal. He was standing in an entire line of recruits, at attention and completely unable to reply. The only reason she even noticed him at all was because he was scrawny!

But he did a perfectly fabulous job of being the center of attention the first time he did speak to her – huddled on the ground, his body wrapped around a grenade as he was.

"Get away! Get back!" he cried frantically, trying to wave Agent Carter away when she hurried over to him, realizing what he meant to do.

But the bomb didn't go off, and he carefully relaxed, looking into her eyes as he sat up. The way she was looking at him… and he knew. They both knew. He had just found his second soulmate.

She was absolutely gorgeous and in that moment they both fell hard for one another.

Steve decided then and there in that split second moment when it was just the two of them in the world staring at one another that fate must love him.

For a lovely little couple of weeks, they got to know one another and it was the best feeling Steve had ever experienced. They got to know one another and Steve made sure to tell her all about Bucky. The conversation about Bucky became one about marks, and she nearly cried when she realized that they shared all the same soulmates.

But that didn't make their relationship easy – not at all. There was a war going on and Erskine had plans for him and Peggy had orders to carry out and after his training, Erskine was quick to put those plans into action.

Before long, Steve wasn't just Steve Rogers; he was Captain America, whom the whole world loved. But when it came to the woman that he loved, he was left unable to do nothing but write letters and pray for the day that they could be together again… with Bucky and their other five soulmates, and wouldn't that just be perfect?

One day…

November, 1943

Peggy knew going into the officer's club to talk to Steve that there was no way he would be there without Bucky. She figured it was unavoidable that she was going to meet Bucky – the second of her seven soulmates. So she dressed accordingly, in the low-cut red dress that made soldiers' expressions morph into looks that she wanted to punch right off of their faces.

But she wouldn't tonight. Tonight she wanted the attention – just from two people in particular – and she knew exactly how to get it.

Honestly, out of all her soulmates, Bucky was the one she'd never been able to make any assumptions with. It wasn't as though one could take a horrible lot away from the small, gray word that she'd been born with above her bellybutton. Ma'am.

Everyone knew better then to allow their first words to someone to be that vague! She was a little upset with Bucky Barnes for that, and she always had been. So using what Steve had told her about Bucky, she'd come up with the perfect retribution.

A pretty dress, ignoring Bucky, and – just because she could – being even more ambiguous then she knew he was going to be.

When she walked over to the two boys – Steve really hadn't downplayed how handsome their soulmate was – Steve said carefully, maybe even as a way of alerting Bucky, "Agent Carter."

She could feel Bucky giving her a quick once over, and she purposely caught his eye while he was doing it. He grinned and nodded at her saying predictably, "Ma'am."

"Hi," she sighed quietly, making sure to look perfectly unimpressed as she turned back to Steve.

But she was very impressed by them both; she wanted to get to know Bucky the way she'd gotten to know Steve. She wanted to get to know them both better. She wanted this war to be over so that they could properly become whatever it was that they were meant to be without any miles and bullets and Nazis and letters between them. But that wasn't at all how things turned out, and if only she'd known in advance how very little time she'd get to spend with Bucky before he fell off a train and died, she wouldn't have been nearly so flippant about their first meeting. She would've acted like she treasured that first moment, and the few the three of them had shared together afterwards, as much as she actually did.