You Complete Me (Camren - Norminah - Vercy)

Chapter 35: Soulmates (Epilogue)

June 6th, 2080 (55 Years Later)

No One's POV

An 84-year-old Lucy sat at the table in the balcony late Thursday night, sipping on hot coffee and happily looking out over the garden of the retirement home.

"What're you drinking?" Lauren asked, walking out into the balcony with her walking stick and sitting down in the empty chair beside Lucy.

"French Vanilla."

"But I thought you hated coffee."

"I do. But Vero liked it, so I drink it every time I miss her. It makes me feel closer to her."

Fifteen years ago, a 69-year-old Vero had succumbed to a deadlier form of her thyroid cancer.

--Flashback--

"Thanks for bringing me back home. I really didn't want to die in a hospital bed," Vero said, breathing heavily.

"Don't say that. You're not gonna die," Lucy croaked, cuddling Vero close on the bed that they'd shared for more than 35 years. "You're my soulmate, Vero, and soulmates don't leave each other hanging."

"Oh Lucia..."

But knowing exactly what Vero was about to say, Lucy interrupted, "Oh no, please don't start on your soulmate speech again."

Vero chuckled weakly and gathered up all her strength to reach up and kiss Lucy. "But it's your favorite."

"No, it's not," Lucy lied. Okay, so she secretly did like the soulmate speech, but she wasn't going to admit that to Vero. Accepting what Vero was going to say would mean that she would be all right after her partner died. And Lucy couldn't imagine a life without Vero.

"You better listen to me now. Who knows when you're gonna get to hear it next," Vero said, playing the I'm-sick-so-you-better-listen-to-me card.

"I fuckin' hate it when you guilt trip me on purpose."

"But you still love me."

"Unfortunately."

"I love you too, grumps," Vero said with a giggle, kissing Lucy on the cheek. "Anyway, you know how I feel about soulmates, Luce. You know I believe that throughout our lives multiple people connect with our soul. We all have multiple soulmates, babe."

Lucy knew Vero was right, but she shook her head like she usually did when Vero got to this part of the speech.

And Vero continued, "You and me, we're the romantic kind of soulmates. We're two people that understand and accept all the different aspects of each other. Two people that fill each other's voids. And that's why the Universe paired us up. It knew, if given the chance, we'd be able to make a good life together as mates. But think about it Luce, if only one person was enough to cater to your soul, then why would the Universe waste its time and energy putting other people in your life? Each person has so many different interests, passions, hobbies, moods, and identities that it isn't really fair to expect one person to deal with everything. For only one soul to deal with every little aspect of their mate puts them under a lot of pressure, don't you think? We are creatures with so many complex dimensions that the Universe made sure we were surrounded by different people that fulfilled us differently."

Vero took a few deep breaths before continuing, "Like, Camila is one of my soulmates cuz we have similar senses of humor and share a romcom addiction. I mean, you're funny occasionally and you watch cheesy shit with me all the time and, although I appreciate it, I know it's not natural to you. I need a Camila to geek out over cheesy shit and you need a Lauren to watch all your scary movies and social documentaries with. But you and Camila also click and I've always inexplicably clicked with Lauren since we were kids. And that's another thing too, some souls just click with you, and you don't know why, but you just do. The four of us cater to each other's souls in different ways that makes us feel content and at peace whenever we're together. And see, if just between the four of us we fulfill different aspects of one another, just think about how many other friends and loved ones we have that cater to all the other sides of our being. Our kids. Our grandkids. Our other friends and family. And even that asshole cat of ours, cuz soulmates aren't just limited to people. Both of us felt a connection with Crookshanks the second we saw her at the animal shelter. Probably cuz she's an asshole like us. But still."