Tonja – Soulmates AU

Firstly, I am aware that Tonja is no more and I respect their decisions and with them luck with moving on with their lives. This is a one shot and that is all it will ever be.

Secondly, this AU is one that is commonly seen on Tumblr – where soulmates are connected. If one of them does something to their body, such as write on their arm or bump into a doorframe and get bruised – it will appear as a mark on the other person's body. This AU was requested by YamCat

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Tucker

The blaring sound of an alarm clock caused Tucker to bolt upright in bed, his hair all over the place and his heart pounding in fear – a common problem for Tucker since slept lightly, so loud blaring sounds like his alarm clock tended to scare the living daylights out of him. He slammed his hand down on his alarm clock, forcing it into silence and staggered into his bathroom to get ready for the day. Standing in the shower, allowing the cold water to beat down on his head from above allowed Tucker to think a little - now that he was clear of the haze of sleep. Yet another day alone he thought to himself, the empty apartment he lived in constantly reminding him that he had not yet found his soulmate.

Glancing down at his arms, he noticed writing that hadn't been there the night before – various ingredients for yet another complex looking recipe littering his skin. The usual eggs, milk and bread were on the list as well alongside various expensive types of cheese and herbs that drove Tucker to get out of the shower and attempt to guess what his soulmate was going to cook this time. The only cookbooks in his apartment used to be various microwavable meals or cheap recipes that he could make using the ingredients from his nearby corner shop. Now, there were more complex and gourmet recipe books that had stacked up over the years – in a vain attempt for Tucker to gain some form of connection with his soulmate.

Tucker's friends had all found their soulmates recently, one meeting at a job interview and noticing the cute smiley faces that they had been sharing back and forth on the other's palm. Neither of them got the job but that mattered less during that moment. Another pairing were in fact two separate friends of Tucker's, who were both invited to spend New Year's at Tucker's for a little friendly get together. It was all fun and games until one of them attempted to backflip onto Tucker's sofa and ended up spraining their wrist – leaving an identical mark on the other's wrist. Needless to say they ended up making out as the countdown began and the painkillers kicked in.

As much as he was thrilled for his friends, the jealous part of Tucker couldn't help but rear its ugly head every so often, reminding him that this happiness the others had found was still being kept from him. So from then on, Tucker carried around a black marker wherever he went – finding comfort and joy in trading messages back and forth with his soul mate about what they were doing at the time. Neither of them was brave enough to ask one another's names or where they lived – in fear of finding out that their other half lived on the other half of the planet. However, doctors' appointments and boring queues went by a lot faster when you had someone to talk to, even if he did panic whenever his marker ran out of ink.

Grabbing his keys and wallet, Tucker walked out of his apartment and locked the door behind him – prepared for another long day at work, tucking his marker into his shirt pocket before setting out. He strolled down the quiet street, rapidly leaving his apartment building in the distance and heading to the nearby coffee shop that he worked at. Originally it was just meant to be a temporary job to allow him to pay rent whilst he searched for something more economically substantial but he had fallen in love with the café and all those who worked there. Also his landlord was a regular at the coffee shop so if Tucker was late with his rent due to it being a slow week at the café, he understood why and didn't immediately kick him out.

Pulling on his apron, Tucker drew in a deep breath as he prepared himself to put on his happy persona to face the countless customers who came seeking their coffee fix – some of whom really wanted to have a nice conversation with their caffeine to take a break from their frantic day-to-day lives. He walked over to the door and turned the 'Closed' sign to the 'Open' side and prepared for the onslaught to begin. Tucker always took the morning shift just as the café opened and tended to work 8 hour shifts, four times a week as well as a four hour shift on Saturday when the café was especially busy. It was hard work for the small wage he earned but the atmosphere and the tips were great so Tucker found peace working there that others struggled to find in their so called dream jobs.

"Hi there, could I get a medium Cappuccino to go please?"

*-*-*-*

Sonja

"Damn! Why won't this work!"

Sonja pushed the loose strands of hair that had escaped from her ponytail behind her ears, an intense look of concentration causing her brow to furrow. One of her hands was on her laptop's trackpad and the other was reaching for her coffee that she had left on a coaster to her left but grasping nothing. Looking up from her laptop screen, Sonja scanned her desk only to discover that her cup was completely empty – dregs and all. She must've been drinking it whilst she worked; completely unaware of the fact she was doing it. Turning away from the website she was designing, Sonja padded through to the kitchen in search of more caffeine and potentially some food. It was nearly lunchtime and she hadn't eaten anything since around six in the morning, as she had wanted to get an early start and finish the recent website request from a customer.

Work as a freelance programmer meant that Sonja got called to create all sorts of websites and programs for various customers all across the world all from the comfort of her own home. It also gave her lots of spare time to experiment with recipes and food concoctions that she found online. This meant she spent a lot of time hunting shops high and low for the essential ingredients she needed to complete her dishes – often forgetting to make a list and ending up using her arm as a canvas. Opening her coffee cupboard, Sonja was annoyed to see that it was completely empty – not a single bean in sight to satiate her caffeine craving.

Pulling open a drawer, Sonja pulled out a black marker and wrote on her hand "Buy coffee beans", adding to her long list of ingredients she already needed for her tortellini later that week. She pulled on her orange fox hoodie and grabbed her bag off the counter, heading towards the shops to grab what she needed – as well as taking advantage of the time to try and think through the problem with the code that had sparked her whole search for coffee. Coding was infuriating but rewarding, every error message making you want to tear your hair out but every success fuelling your pride in your abilities.

Sonja grabbed a basket from the entrance to the supermarket as well as a wipe from her bag, proceeding around each of the aisles and grabbing what she needed – once each item was in the basket she wiped off the item from the makeshift list on her arm, slowly clearly her arm of marker until only the instruction to get coffee remained. Turning over her hand, Sonja smiled when she saw a little heart suddenly appear in the centre of her palm along with a note:

"Get Arabica beans, they're a lot better quality than the ones you usually buy."

Clearly her soulmate paid more attention to the various shopping lists she wrote on her arm than she gave him credit for. Heading to the check out, Sonja decided to buy the coffee beans from the closest café she could find instead of getting a packet off the shelf that had probably been there for a good week or so. At the rate she went through coffee, freshness was important to her – as well as value for money. She'd test her soulmate's coffee prowess and if it proved false, tease him about it till the end of days. Sonja swiped her card and put in her PIN number, smiling at the cashier who clearly didn't want to be there before heading out the door with her shopping bag on her shoulder.

Reaching into her bag and pulling out her earphones, Sonja walked briskly down the street – her music pounding in her ears to act as a wall from the rest of the world. It wasn't loud enough for the people walking past her to complain about but it was loud enough that she didn't have to awkwardly eavesdrop on random stranger's conversations. Her music taste was rather eccentric, switching from rock to dubstep and back to pop music in the blink of an eye but Sonja didn't mind – she never was one for fitting into one category in life. Complexity was what made her more interesting than her linear cohorts. Every so often she would pass by a coffee shop but something inside her made her walk past them, a feeling that this wasn't where she was meant to be at that moment. Also some of the queues inside were horrendous and Sonja couldn't be bothered to wait.

A uncomfortable warmth spread across Sonja's left arm, causing her to glance down in alarm as the skin turned a painful red and began to blister before her very eyes – she felt no pain as the blisters were merely a projection of what her soulmate was feeling at that very moment. Pulling a marker out of her pocket, she wrote on her left hand – "You ok?" Almost immediately she got a response up near her shoulder, a rather strange location for it to be but clearly the easiest spot for her soulmate to reach without hurting himself more. The response said "Just a little spilt coffee, I'll be fine. Did you get your coffee beans yet?" Sonja smiled and wrote back "Getting them now, you should really stick your arm under the cold tap for at least ten minutes instead of be writing to me."

Thankfully she got no immediate response to that so she had hope he was taking her advice and actually taking care of himself instead of flirting with her. Sonja turned the corner and saw a cute little café on the corner, with little tables outside for customers to enjoy the sunny weather as well as fresh flowers blooming in small pots all along the windowsills. It screamed welcome to her, so she walked right in. A few customers were sat at the various tables inside, some of them reading newspapers and others working steadily at laptops – clearly students taking advantage of the space and the fairly priced coffee. Grabbing a bag of the recommended coffee beans, Sonja walked over to the counter and rang the bell to get the attention of an employee. With her other hand, she grabbed one of her wipes and started cleaning off the writing on her hands and arms – to make space for the next conversation.

*-*-*-*

Tucker

The bell rang, causing Tucker to swear profusely and pull his arm out from under the ice cold water. It was nearing ten minutes anyways and he had customers to serve. Grabbing a couple of paper towels, Tucker soaked them in the cold water and wrapped them around his burn – wincing slightly as the material rubbed against the sensitive skin. The ink on his shoulder remained prominent but if anyone asked he could easily explain it, everyone knew about soulmates communicating even if they hadn't met yet. It meant that he didn't look insane for once, unlike when he tried to explain his career on YouTube and Twitch. Wiping the sweat off his brow, Tucker stepped out from the backroom to be faced with a beautiful young woman wiping some writing from her arm.

"Chatting with your soulmate?"

The young woman flicked her eyes upwards, meeting Tucker's gaze and causing his breath to stop for a moment as he was lost in her eyes. Shaking himself, he offered her a small smile as he gestured to his own arms where the writing remained. He had meant to wipe it off but scalding yourself with boiling hot coffee had the tendency to distract you from your original objective. The girls eyes widened as she read the writing there, her gaze darting frantically back and forth between the fading words on her own skin – disbelief and a hint of supressed joy as if she was scared to celebrate what was right in front of her.

"Did you spill coffee on your arm?"

Tucker's heart began to pound in his chest as he stared at the woman across from him – his burn hidden beneath a dishcloth he had placed there in order not to worry customers as they came in. She couldn't know he had burned himself... could she?

"Yeah... About ten minutes ago. Did... did you come in to buy Arabica coffee beans?"

The woman clutched the coffee beans in her hands tighter, a soft smile crossing her face as she realised that the feeling that had drawn her to this little café was probably the best thing that had happened to her in a long time.

"Yeah I did. My soulmate said they were better than my usual brand. Clearly he pays attention to my various shopping lists."

Tucker chuckled, his chest warming as the realisation finally settled in. It was her. After all these years and all those moments of jealousy, all it took to find his soulmate was some coffee. Ignoring the burning pain in his arm, Tucker reached over the counter and took his soulmate's hand – a small part of him having to make sure that she was really there, that this wasn't some pain fueled fantasy. Her hand was small in his but her grip was strong. She let go slowly, almost reluctantly as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a black marker, muttering to herself:

"One final test."

Her hands shook as she lowered the marker onto her skin, drawing a tiny heart in the centre of her palm and staring in anticipation at the matching spot on Tucker's hand. They both held their breath as they watched, each agonising second ticking by in an eternity – until it finally happened. The tiny heart faded into view on Tucker's hand and it was confirmed. They were soulmates.

Tucker stepped out from behind the counter, walking over to her side and saying:

"My name's Tucker Boner. What's yours?"

She gave him a radiant smile that he knew was reserved only for him from now on and said:

"I'm Sonja Reid. Guess we're together forever now!"

Tucker grinned at her forwardness, leaning forward and capturing her hands in his before leaning down to capture her lips with his own. They kissed softly, tenderly, as if they were afraid the other would disappear from their side if they let go for even a second. The few moments of bliss as their lips moved in sync and their hearts pounded as one left only one final thought in both of their minds.

"This was definitely worth the wait."