Black

Everyone was born with a little band of color, a little glow of unmet promise that represented their soulmate. When it was yellow, their soulmate was happy. When it was red, their soulmate was angry. When it turned pink, it was a sign the person they had just met was their soulmate.

Lena would never forget the day she met her soulmate. Jack was a gangly youth, all knees, elbows, and a huge adam's apple. At fifteen, he had a mustache that could be bested by drinking a glass of milk, but his eyes were soft, and his voice was gentle. She didn't even realize her soulmark, her ring, had changed at first. She was too busy trying to wipe off the soda Jack had just spilled on her dress. She was about to rip into him for standing there gawking instead of helping her, but that's when she noticed the pink ring on his hand. That's when she noticed hers was glowing pink in return.

He was a kind man, the sort that put others first. Even his work, his life's dream, was helping others. He was good... too good for this world. So as Lena placed the flowers on his grave, she stood and twisted her black ring, the mark of the survivor of a soulmate's death, and she pushed away a single tear. He wouldn't want her mourning year after year. He'd want her to move forward, to move on, but that was easier said than done. There was only one Jack, and Lena was certain she'd never love again.

Oh, she'd done as her mother asked and joined the Black Band Society, an association of other survivors like her. She'd gone out on a date or two and even gone home with someone on occasion, but none of them came close to touching the void in her heart, the spot as black as her ring. None of them were Jack.

<><>

"Lena, you have to be there." Six months ago, Sam Arias had met her soulmate. Four months ago she had given her notice and moved to National City. Two months ago they had gotten engaged and started to plan their wedding. Every day since then, Sam had called or texted and reminded Lena of one thing, "You're my best friend. You have to be the best woman at my wedding."

"Can't someone else do it?"

They'd gone round and round on this ad nauseum. Excited and happy for her friend, Lena had originally agreed to be the maid of honor when Sam had asked. The closer they got to the wedding, the more it weighed on Lena, the more her wedding day that had never come, that would never come, had weighed on her. So she'd paid for a bridal getaway in Vegas but been unable to join them. She'd made an excuse to get out of dress shopping and now had wiggled her way out of the practice dinner, but Sam was unwavering on this topic.

"Can't someone else step in, get a dress to match Ruby's, and be my maid of honor for my wedding? No. Not at this point. My wedding is in two days. Lena, you promised."

"I know but—"

"Jack."

That word hit like a brick. It was the thought that had kept her in the office on so many nights and weekends. It was the excuse behind every excuse she made. It was an ache, painful yet welcome in familiarity. Even discomfort can become a source for contentment if we let it.

"Jack is dead."

"I know, Lena, but you're not. We honor the dead by living not by joining them."

There was more than a grain of truth to that. Though young and healthy, Lena had heard more than one comment about how she had 'one foot in the grave' already. It was impossible to deny when it felt like part of you had already died... but you hadn't. It was a terrible way to live.

"Alright."

"Alright? Alright as in you'll be here, or alright as in—"

"I'll be there, Samantha, just don't... don't bring him up, okay?"

"Deal. You don't make me send Ruby after you. She's ruthless, you know."

"Oh, I know," Lena chuckled. "She'll make one hell of a negotiator. When can I hire her?"

"She has to at least finish high school, and I'd prefer she go to college but—"

"So I'll put her in my calendar for seven years from now?"

With laughter, most of it honest, the two friends wandered to topics more conducive for a bride to be, and the darkness was left behind... mostly. Some loss refused to fade away.

<><>

The brides were beautiful. Sam wore a white dress embroidered with pearls, and her cuffs were a dark blue that matched Alex's vest and tie. Lena had met Alex, an FBI agent, only once before when Sam insisted they tell Lena about the engagement together... not that it was much of a shock to anyone. The girls were soulmates and as happy together as any two people had ever been, as happy together as Lena and—

This was Lena's first time meeting Alex's younger sister, Kara, though waving at a distance while Kara rushed off to assist Alex who was having a fashion emergency (which Lena assumed was code for panic attack) wasn't exactly meeting. They walked down the aisle inches from each other, each with a bouquet in hand, to stand on the side of their bride during the vows. It wasn't until they parted ways again that Lena realized she'd been watching Kara's smile, not Sam, as the vows were made. It wasn't until later that Lena realized she'd smiled back.

"Ahem." Tortoiseshell glasses framed the bluest eyes Lena had even seen, the same blue as the highlights on Kara's black suit, as Kara stood several feet to her side. "Sorry to interrupt you, but they're calling for the maids of honor to dance... only if you want to. If you don't, it's totally cool. No pressure."

Normally, Lena would have jumped at any excuse to avoid others, but there was something in the shy smile, in the slight pink that colored Kara's cheeks, that had Lena rising from her seat. "I'd hate to disappoint the brides."

So they joined Alex and Sam on the dance floor, and for the first time in a long time, Lena felt lighter and let the smile grow upon her face rather than chase it away. They hadn't practiced, and while Lena was learned in a waltz, Kara was.... enthusiastic. It was a joy that spread to Kara's partner, that left Lena chuckling as Kara spun her and pulled her close again. It was something Lena might have called happy if she had remembered how that truly felt.

It was a new beginning, but Lena didn't truly understand until she was pulled from her little moment by Alex's shocked, "Oh my God, Kara!"

Seconds later, Sam joined her with a gasp of, "Lena, your ring!"

Pink. For years Lena's ring had been nothing but black, but today it shone with a pink as bright as any color she had seen. The word 'impossible' remained unspoken on Lena's lips, as she couldn't deny the reality of what she was seeing with her own eyes.

"How?" Kara asked, her gaze glued to the pink glowing band on her own wrist. "How is this possible? It's been black since—"

"So was mine." Lena spoke mainly to herself. It took everything in her power to pull her gaze from the pink band on her ring to the matching one on Kara's wrist to blue eyes that were soft enough to match Kara's gentle voice. It was a face so kind she had only seen one its equal in her whole life. "I didn't know..." Perhaps unprecedented was a better word than impossible, given the circumstances.

"What was their name?" Kara asked, and for once, it wasn't said with pity.

"Jack his name was Jack. And you?"

"Mike. He was kind of a jerk," Kara smiled fondly, "but he was my jerk."

"I'm familiar with that feeling. How do you think...?" Lena didn't have to finish the question. Her raised hand, with the glowing band surging with possibility, finished it for her.

"I have no idea," Kara said, taking Lena's hand in hers and gently stroking the ring with her thumb. "Maybe it's a miracle, but I don't want to waste it. Dance with me?"

"I'd love to," Lena replied, and for the first time in a long time, she meant it.

People who didn't know their story would have said the wedding was rushed. When life gives you a once in a lifetime opportunity for a second time, you don't ask questions, and you don't hesitate. You leap and believe that someone will catch you because you've learned to love again.