I used to yearn for her. You know?

I had always wondered what she would be like. I know a lot about her already. A lot that I had learned from my own mom and dad.

You just had to write on your skin on your 16th. Then it would connect to your beloved, no matter the distance. What you wrote would appear on their skin and vice versa.

Mom and dad had met that way. Mom was a few years older, so she had to wait a bit before dad could respond. The link was dormant until both were old enough to connect.

My love would accept me, no matter what. You just clicked. You would connect at a level that was like magic. The bond was magical, scientists even claimed it so since they couldn't find any solid proof on how it worked.

It just did. It worked for my parents, my grandparents, and so on.

So on my 16th, I opened my new pack of Skin Ink, or skink, markers wrote my first word. It was a little messy considering I was shaking so hard. However, it was legable and it was there on the back of my left hand.

[Hello]

I grinned and shook. Excitement had me bouncing in my seat at the kitchen table. Mom and dad were smiling at me. They were squeezing each other's hands as they waited with me.

A minute passed. An hour.

I remember mom, dad, Jess, and Rylie hugging me. I didn't cry. I was just sad. Deflated like a balloon.

I was sad, but I still mustered enough strength to give my parents and little sisters a smile. Mom had to wait two and a half years before dad grew up enough. I could wait twice as long.

I wrote [Hello] or [Hi] every three months. It was all I could do.

Instead, I hung out with friends and played video games. I watched movies and partook in a few hobbies here and there. I tried to keep my mind off it and it was simple.

A year. Three. Five.

It was heartwarming. I was there when Jess and Rylie met their love. Todd and Jacob were amazing. An athlete and an artist. The love that they had as laid eyes on each other was immutable.

Both couples cried as they ran towards each other. Their hugs were fierce as was their bright happiness.

I was so happy for them.

Though it hurt whenever I saw words and letters appear. I pushed it back and down. My friends and family were happy. That is all that mattered.

It was heartwarming. I was there when Jermaine, Sunny, and Alexis found their soulmates. They had a connection that I could almost see as they dated. As they explored each other and combined their lives and friends into a weave that would last them their entire lives.

It was when Alexis met her soulmate, the last of my friends and family to do so, that I had stopped writing on my hand.

Ten years. Many things changed with time. The silence was not one of those things.

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I was alone. It hurt when I had realized it years ago. When I had accepted the fact that I had stopped writing. That I had never received a single dot.

It wasn't that rare. This silence.

Death was something that was close to life. People still died. Terrible things still happened. The world moves regardless of humans.

I had counseling. The government had a system set up to support those who had lost the irreplaceable. My friends and family were faithful to their support and love.

There was a saying that 'Time heals all wounds.' and I had to agree.

The biggest change also helped me cope with the easiest.

My first niece added a new title to my life. Uncle. She was a darling little thing. Sarah was born a healthy seven and a half pounds. Adorable but fussy, Sarah became the new light of my family. Motherhood suited Jess very well.

Not to be outdone. Rylie, my little, little sister also had a girl. Sophie was a larger eight and a half pounds of an adorable but quiet little baby. Jess was jealous but she quickly caved towards those pretty eyes.

My friends were no slouches either. Eight kids among three couples. Sunny was a machine to keep getting pregnant and she had five of the eight.

I was a super uncle. With nieces and nephews. I instead turn that emptiness into a cave that I used to showcase wonder and adventure whenever I played with those adorable brats.

It was on Sarah's tenth birthday that she asked the question that my family dreaded.

"Where is Aunty?"

At first, the nearest adults were confused. Three aunties were in the backyard watching the birthday guests. Another two were in the garage, secretly gathering the cake. Todd had a lot of sisters as well.

Then she pointed at me and asked the question again. Todd to his credit proved his athletic ability as he snorted the cola out of his nose hard enough to wreck a third of the kitchen. We found pop stains up to five meters away, up to the ceiling and on all of the walls.

The kitchen stilled as Jess showed off her superior athletics as she rushed to Sarah and choked. What could she tell her?

I laughed. Sarah met my eyes as I walked over and sat down beside her on the kitchen bar stool. I gave her a hug and she happily returned it. The pink dress and sparkling silver tiara paled in comparison to the smile she gave me.

I had tried dating sites. I had met other women who had also lost. They were mostly great. There were those three that were just awful. The worst I was able to tolerate for an hour before I fled. Maybe the poor sap killed himself instead of the ‘bliss’ of marriage.

The spark of love just never ignited and I had lost interest in ever finding a partner. For me, the silence was too domineering and I had accepted its scars long ago.

I took her small, soft hands into mine. I turned my left hand around to show her my bare ring finger.

“Uncle isn’t married. My soulmate hasn’t said hello yet,” I explained with a grin. Twenty years since that day and I could still remember how the ink felt on my skin.

“Oh. Well, I am sure she will say… Hi?”

I patted her head and I was going to give the birthday girl a slobbery uncle kiss on the cheek when I noticed she was no longer looking at me. She loved and hated the wet kisses and often squirmed her way out them. Or so she tried.

She was looking down at where I was holding her hand. This also stopped me.

My left hand, where I had once written with so much gusto had two letters. Two letters that sent me into shock.

{Hi}

Then I had a heart dotting it.

A scream worthy of a murder scene broke me out of my trance. My mutinous brain must have had a heart attack as I suddenly couldn’t think. I stared at Jess who was holding her cheeks before my eyes returned to confirm what it had seen.

The scream quickly had the other adults rushing in. Jess helpfully pointed out the source of her cry with a quivering arm and a wildly shaking pointing finger. Rylie was the second woman to scream at the top of her lungs as she noticed the new words appear on my arm.

{My name is Elizabeth, what’s yours?}

The words started from my elbow and crawled halfway up my arm. The letters were neat and tidy. My crippled brain noted that it was also perfectly straight. It wondered if Elizabeth had bought one of those arm rulers for superior legibility! Or so the add claimed. Rylie had mixed results when she had bought hers.

The third, and loudest, shriek came from mom. Her voice showcased that while yes, they were her daughters, they were also vastly inferior to the yells of an experienced parent.

Sarah said something but I am pretty sure I was in shock. I could only dumbly nod. I think I might have gone deaf as three, vocally powerful, women had just screamed at me.

Sarah smiled as she grabbed a nearby skink and wrote on my arm.

[Hello]