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Rumi had never actually seen her own soulmark. It was nestled over her sternum, beside her heart and under her demon patterns. It didn’t help that the mark was purple. Not the exact same shade as her patterns, but close enough that she couldn’t see it when her patterns were misbehaving. She had a vague idea of the outline, but it was hard to tell more than that. Certainly not enough to identify a soulmate.
Maybe, if she tried hard enough, she could figure out what it looked like. Maybe. But even then, Rumi hated having to look at them, and she desperately kept them covered. She’d sacrificed so much to hiding her demon side, and she’d let it impact her relationships with the people that meant the most to her. Compared to that, not knowing her soulmark was just a drop in the bucket.
She’d seen Mira’s and Zoey’s identical soulmarks, which lay in the same spot as Rumi’s own. Part of her wondered if hers could match theirs, but she couldn’t be sure, and it wasn’t like she could tell them. If she found out, and she mentioned it, then they would want to see it, and they’d learn about her demon side, and she’d get rejected and lose it all. Maybe she could check after they restored the Honmoon, and her patterns went away. But not before then. Honestly, why bother trying to figure it out if Rumi knew, deep down, it would only make her own yearning worse?
Rumi was well aware of her tendency to isolate herself. She wasn’t surprised when Mira and Zoey ended up closer to each other than either was to her. Especially considering that the pair were soulmates. Still, when Zoey suggested that they get Huntrix ankle tattoos to ‘make their own soulmarks,’ Rumi couldn’t help but feel like it was hollow.
(She still got the tattoo, obviously.)
It didn’t take long for fans to start copying the tattoo, which made the whole thing cheaper. Rumi could only imagine how annoying it would be if it was Zoey or Mira’s actual soulmark. Reporters had been asking the three of them for hints about their soulmarks since the group had gained attention, since it was a bit of a thing for fans to try and find out a celebrity’s mark, and get it tattooed on themselves. Rumi didn’t really see the point, since most people considered their actual marks to be private, and the only guarantee they gave you was that someone would be important in your life.
Furthermore, getting a tattooed soulmark made finding your actual soulmate(s) more difficult, and any celebrity who hadn’t found them yet had no interest. Rumi had gone to plenty of parties, and she knew lots of stars with more interest in parties and cocaine than settling down. Some had even found their soulmate and chosen to ignore it. Huntrix didn’t have that type of partying lifestyle, but Rumi still found that her life was too busy with demon hunting to worry about finding her soulmate. Especially since who she cared about the most, and even had romantic interest in, were around her now. She wasn’t too worried about who she might care about in the future, not with Mira and Zoey in her life.
After defeating Gwi-Ma, Rumi had found soulmarks and soulmates to be far from the forefront of her mind. She’d barely even noticed that her patterns had faded into subtle scars, much less thought about what that could mean for her soulmark. She just wanted to spend time with Mira and Zoey, now that the trio was back together and the world was saved. Everything else was on the backburner.
So, Rumi hadn’t seen her own mark until Zoey pointed it out at the bathhouse.
“Um,” Zoey started. “Rumi, when were you going to tell us about your soulmark?”
“What?” Rumi asked. “I don’t even know what it is, what are you…”
Zoey was staring at her chest. And then Mira started staring too, and at that point, Rumi kind of had to look down.
Right in the center of her chest lay a purple microphone, with swirls of pink and blue. Streams of golden light burst out of it, travelling along the tracks of her patterns. It glowed slightly, in a way that reminded her more of her swords than her patterns.
Rumi recognized that image. Specifically, Rumi recognized it because she’d seen it on both Zoey and Mira, who had always been more comfortable changing around the group than Rumi was. Also, Zoey and Mira had made shitty temporary tattoos of it, and they’d had Rumi wear one on Valentine’s day for three years straight as an inside joke.
“Oh,” was all Rumi could say.
“Oh,” Mira echoed. Somehow, she sounded just as surprised as Rumi felt.
For as long as Huntrix had been around, Rumi had always felt like outsider. A mark wouldn’t change that. And sure, she knew it was partially her fault. Rumi was well aware that she had to let Zoey and Mira in, and that she isolated herself more than they excluded her. She still hadn’t realized that it was possible for her to be a soulmate to both of them, that her bond with either could equal the bond that Zoey and Mira had with each other.
“I guess this band really is fate, huh?” she whispered. Mira and Zoey kept staring for a moment before rushing in to hug her.
“Oh my god, oh my god!” Zoey squealed. “This is incredible!”
“This doesn’t have to change anything,” Mira added, “but it’s still awesome.”
Rumi threw her arms around Mira and Zoey’s shoulders, her hands tangling in their damp hair. It should have felt weird, probably, but the two of them just felt like home. “What do you mean ‘doesn’t have to’?”
“I mean, we all know soulmarks mean people will be close friends a lot of the time,” Mira elaborated. “Sometimes they try to date, and sometimes it works, but a lot of the time it doesn’t.” Rumi had never been perfect at reading Mira, but she was sure she spotted a question in Zoey’s eyes. She was pretty sure Mira’s eyes held the same one. This was an offer being extended to her.
It might be now or never. Rumi was smart enough to take this chance.
“But it could work, couldn’t it?” Rumi suggested in a low voice.
“Do you want it to?” Mira asked. Rumi turned her face towards Mira, feeling how close they were, how their faces were only inches apart. It’d be so easy to close the gap. Mira, who rarely expressed much emotion, had tilted her face, was leaning in. Rumi pulled herself closer to Mira until their lips ghosted over each other.
“Yes,” Rumi replied. “I’ve wanted that for so long.”
She felt Zoey’s head on her shoulder, a hand squeezing her own under the water. Maybe soulmarks didn’t need to hold weight, but maybe, in this instance, Rumi could decide that they did.
Hopefully this would work out. Hopefully, Rumi could have a good thing, and it could stay that way. Rumi loved Mira, and she loved Zoey, and she wanted this to work with every inch of her body. No matter what, however, the three of them were strongest together, and they would find each other. Whether it was platonic or romantic, Zoey and Mira would always matter to Rumi. She knew it in her bones and her soul, and the soulmark confirmed it.
