Katie's mom often told her; life was not defined by one or two moments, it was created by many moments big and small that combined and shaped a person's life.

It's just her mom just never told her how many could happen spread apart over years or condense within a handful of months or a few weeks… or how many of them could revolve around only a small handful of people.

The first person to completely flip her world around was; Takashi "Shiro" Shirogama, her father's favourite pupil, and a good friend to her brother. The tall muscular man was practically a legend in her household, both her father and brother often spoke of Shiro at their dinner table, their words filled with high praise, and admiration.

As Matt and Shiro became better friends, the tall man's presence at her home became a semi-regular thing. Katie was always polite to Shiro; he was kind, smart, and never spoke down to her; out of all her brother's friends, he was easily her favourite. She wasn't really talkative with Shiro, but she liked being around him, despite her long list of inept social skill, he had this unexplainable calming aura about him. It sort of drew her to him, often finding herself hanging around him and her brother. Most often when they worked on something, either to help them or just for some company as she worked on some of her own things.

Her personal often work involved building up her application for the garrison, she was still a little too young to join the garrison but she wanted to be prepared as possible.

Katie was going to get in on her own merits and not with her father's recommendations, she could already hear the voices of her future classmates mocking her and claiming she only got in because of her father's help.

Pidge was never sure how, but Shiro got wind of her wanting to join the Garrison. Ever the person to try and build up other people, he offered to help her learn some Japanese, all so she could add multilanguage skills to her application. Shiro openly respected her choice, compared to others who sconed her for taking the 'hard way'. It was the main reason she agreed, and he ended up being a great teacher for her.

She even got to call Shiro by his first name during lessons. After she asked for permission of course. Surprisingly, Shiro seemed touched by the request and almost encouraged her to call him by his first name. Katie guessing it was because most people called Takashi by his nickname over his first name.

One hot summer's day, Takashi was over helping Matt replace the engine in his hoverbike. Katie off to the side, providing 'helpful' peanut gallery comments here and there as she worked on her Laptop, staying off to her own little corner.

Katie never thought the simple act of Shiro rolling up his sleeves, would change her life forever. She usually would have never paid attention to such an action, but Shiro almost always kept his arms covered and the flash of a soft Aqua colour on his arm caught her eyes.

Time felt like it had slowed at that moment as her eyes looked over the Aqua colour Soul mark on his lower right arm; it was in the form of a Carnation, and it's shape and design mirrored her own mark.

Katie swore her heart jump into her throat. It looked so much like hers, it matches up so perfectly, but she wasn't the kind to jump to conclusions... not without research, and with her mark being on her back she needed to double check...

So she did what any good scientist would do… she discreetly captured a picture of Shiro's Soul Mark and spent the next few days comparing it to hers, taking measurements and making digital flat renderings of both. It proved to be an undeniable matched.

All Soul Marks even between soulmates had their differences, Shiro's was a heartwarming Aqua, and looked so much better than the one on her back that was white with splotches of mix match colours.

She could never imagine someone so strong and kind; not to mention already knowing her father and brother, who was almost a part of her family already, would be her soulmate.

After her discovery, Katie spent as much time with Takashi as she could. Now that she was more aware of their bond, some of the strange sensations she got around him made so much more sense. When Katie focused, she started feeling his emotions and being able to sense when he was nearby. It made her feel giddy, it was proof that their bond was growing even if Takashi didn't know it yet.

In hindsight so much about the feelings she had towards Takashi made sense, the comforting sensations she had around him, her intuition to predict where his line of thinking was going, or how she never felt scared or hesitated to trust him.

Katie doing her best to calculate the right moment to tell him. She was never the best at these things, especially person to person, wondering how she could tell Shiro that they were soulmates. She never told her parents or brother, wanting Takashi to be the first she told.

One day Katie joined her brother and father as they went to the garrison, another schedule training session for a future mission still in the planning stages. Katie knowing Takashi would be there as well, not to mention she had assisted her father in programming the latest simulation and wanted to see it in action.

Pidge surprised to see Takashi brought someone else to this simulation, showing around a boy that was about the same age as her with dark hair, wearing a White and Red hoody.

"Who's that?" Katie quietly asked her brother, leaning a little closer to Matt so only he would hear her. Not really one to go out of her way to meet other people if she didn't have to, but her curiosity was buzzy. Katie could swear she had never seen the guy before but something about the guy felt... familiar since the moment she saw him with Takashi.

"Oh, that's Keith, Shiro's soulmate" Matt whispered back, and in that one moment, Pidge felt her life shatter. Takashi had mentioned Keith before, someone with a quick temper and great piloting skills, but never said anything about finding his soulmate… she was supposed to be…

Matt, unfortunately, miss reading his sister's expression, "I know right? I was surprised too, They've known each other for over a year" only a little earlier than when she met Takashi, Katie noted "but Keith always hid his mark and only half a year ago finally showed Shiro-"

Katie tried to listen, but Matt's voice faded away as her mind spiralled. She was a cursed third, a deviant, a taboo love to temp and test the real soulmates. Takashi would hate her, shun her from his life forever if she told him about their shared marks now.

What would her family think? Would they always look at her with pity or worst disappointment for the misfortune of having a third as a daughter? They could never know…no one could ever know.

Katie put on a mask, and watched the simulation like she usually would but kept herself as far away as possible from the Keith guy; thanks to him, her life was twisted and changed forever.

Katie spent the next few months hating Keith, hating that he was Shiro's real soulmate. Taking steps to distances herself from Shiro; stop taking lessons from him so he could focus on the upcoming mission. Even though the mission was over a year away… Change all her applications, she couldn't go to the Garrison anymore, she could never handle being in the same grade or classes as Shiro's real soulmate. Coming up with stories that she wanted to go to a more robotic focused military school. Stop hovering around both her brother and Shiro claiming they were becoming too distracting while she was working. Overhearing her farther once tell Matt and Shiro that she was distancing herself so it wouldn't hurt as much when they would be gone on the Kerberos trip for almost two years… and she let them think that.

Once Katie got into Avem academy; a sister flight combat school of the Garrisons that focused more on robotics, and program enhancements. She spent as much time at school as she could.

But no matter how much a part of her wanted to cut Shiro from her life completely; fearful of what he and her family would do if they discover her secret. She just couldn't...

Shiro had become too much a part of her families life, Katie did take every chase she was given to bury herself in her school work or personal projects, try to avoid Shiro whenever he was over. It wasn't unusual for her to be unsocial or get lost in a project, but every so often… even she couldn't fight the desire to get to know him more, to have a few moments near him even if she didn't say anything.

Eventually, she just felt numb whenever she was around Shiro, feeling tired as she tried burying all her feelings towards Shiro, forget any kind of connection she thought they had, forget he was her soulmate, so deep down she would forget the day she discovered he was her soulmate.

Launch day came and went, nothing more than a brief hug with Shiro before he was tossed into space with her family. Katie putting all her focus on her work instead, it was easy to just drown herself in the work, and forget about everything else, or she at least pretended it was.

Sadly nothing could stop the next time her world shattered and ripped her heart apart. Over half a year later Katie and her mother saw the news; Shiro, along with her Father and Brother we're declared dead, because of a flight accident.

So many emotions filled Katie at once, roaring, burning and flooding through her, through the bombardment of all her emotions she chooses to focus on her anger. How dare they blame Shiro's skills, he was the most amazing pilot the academy had to offer. He would never cause an accident like that, there had to be more.

Katie took time to sit down and think, if it had really been an accident, they would have been personally informed by soldiers from the garrison, showing proof to the next of kin so her mom and she would know they were K.I.A instead of M.I.A. No, what they did was completely against usual protocol. Even putting into account the public side, leaking it to the press? letting the world know before the next of kin did? No, this stuck of a cover-up, they wanted the public and her families attention to all be on 'Shiro's Mistake'.

The world, could fall for the illusion the Garrison was giving them but she never would. Shiro and her family were alive, she could almost feel it.

Katie watched as her Mom fell into depression, while desperately putting on a brave face for so her daughter wouldn't worry about her. Katie wasn't the best at handling other peoples emotions and dove herself more into searching for the truth, knowing the best way to help her mother was to find her brother and father.

Days with little to no sleep passed. Katie doing everything she could with her current equipment to find the truth, to find anything about her family. After hitting wall after wall… even with her hacking skills she quickly discovered she was going to need a direct link into the garrison computers if she was going to find anything.

A new thought suddenly crossed her mind, a person who she spent months hating and even longer childishly pretending he didn't exist, someone who was probably hurting just as much as she was...

Keith; Shiro's soulmate.

A fresh wave of guilt hit her, thinking about how much Keith must have been suffering this last week. She really didn't know Keith well enough to even know how he would have taken the news... He might even have the same feelings as her.

It didn't take long for Katie to find his latest contact information, what took her forever, on the other hand, was crafting the right message... how was she suppose to tell someone she barely knew that their…no...his soulmate; she mentally corrected. Had been wrongly accused, that the garrison, the school he went to, was lying to the whole world. To them about their loved ones? All while making it sound believable and not the ravings of a broken little girl that lost her big brother and Father.

She eventually settled on the most straightforward and short message.

The Garrison is lying about Shiro and my family,

There's no way the ship went down like they said it did, they're hiding the truth.

Are you willing to help me find the truth?

-Katie (Matt's sister)

Sleep refused to come to her that night so she waited for his reply. Katie wondering what kind of person Keith was, would he believe her? Would he want answers like her? Was he so loyal to the Garrison that he wouldn't believe what she said and report her for the accusations?

Katie's mind swirling with possibilities not knowing what to expect from Shiro's real soulmate. The thought made her flinch... the fact that she was not Shiro's real soulmate still left this painful heavy feeling in her chest.

She shook her head, in a vain attempt to get rid of her thoughts at least for a few moments as she looked down at her phone waiting for a reply. Katie had sent the message through an old recycle phone, one she had put back together not too long ago on a board whim. It gave her some deniable if Keith did try to report her.

Katie staring down at the phone, rubbing her fingers over the screen like it would make the message come faster, her other hand absentmindedly petting Bae Bae; her family dog.

When the phone finally buzzed, her body instantly tensed up, startling Bae Bae awake, the pup huffing a little before resting her head back on her human's lap.

Katie held the phone close to her face with both her hands as she quickly opened the phone. A spark of hope filling her as she read the message from Keith:

What do you need me to do?