Silver's Sims: Crystal Legacy - Generation 5 (Part 2)

Abandoned by her mother at an early age, Citrine has always been loved by her family and she loves them all the more in return. But even that love can't fill the hole inside of her, and chasing after her past only leads to more heartbreak.

cw: this section contains bullying and fantasy racism

🎶

On the day I started thinking I’d always walked this path all alone,

I realized there had always been “someone” there, no matter the scene…

Though the feeling of these passing days,

Is invisible, like air.

I don’t need a bouquet or a promise;

All our skies are simply connected by many different loves.

As many lives as there are, there are chances to resonate with someone

In each and every one one of “you” is someone I wish to know.

On the day I started acting tough to protect my weakness,

I noticed “someone” reaching out their hand, even at a time like this…

The sun is rising on this city,

Though the scenery’s changed with the flow of time.

Kindness and love are all right here;

Words that never managed to be communicated are overflowing.

With this memory of you giving me warmth on nights I cried,

Even if I close my eyes, I can see an place where the colors never fade.

No matter how far apart we are, we can believe in one another;

No matter what we lose, our bonds alone will never be shattered.

With just that, our crying faces will smile –

We’re not alone, ’cause everyone is here close by…

I see it so clearly now:

Love shines within that invisible feeling!

I don’t need a bouquet or a promise;

All our skies are simply connected by many different loves

As many lives as there are, there are chances to resonate with someone –

In each and every one one of “you” is someone I wish to know.

No matter how far apart we are, we can believe in one another;

No matter what we lose, our bonds alone will never be shattered.

With just that, our crying faces will smile –

We’re not alone, ’cause everyone is here close by…

Nova: Something on your mind?

Calcite: Not really? Just…thinking, I guess.

Nova: About?

Calcite: How life turned out. I never planned for this, never thought this would be my life. Or ours.

Calcite: I mean…marriage and kids, for sure, but….

Nova: It’s different, I know. Feels…almost like you don’t really know what to do, right?

Calcite: Pretty much.

Calcite: It’s like….it’s like it’s a dance and I don’t know the steps so I keep tripping over everyone else.

Nova: Babe, no one ever knows all the steps. You just find your own rhythm and keep going.

Nova: And who knows? Maybe you make up your own dance along the way, too.

Calcite: Maybe. I guess I just miss having a plan I could follow. Some idea of where life’s going.

Nova: We do, though? Us, together, raising two great kids in a house we love, doing what we love.

Calcite: Just like that?

Nova: Why not just like that?

Calcite: ….I don’t know. Singing someone else’s song, I guess.

Nova: Hey, cover artists exist, babe. There’s nothing wrong with taking a song and putting your own spin on it. Especially if they gave you their blessing?

Calcite: They did. You’re right, you’re right, I just. It still feels…weird.

Nova: I know. But that’s life. You push on through, one step at a time, until you’ve learned where to put your feet and go from there.

Nova: Besides, if life had gone as planned, we wouldn’t have these kids. And I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want that life. Not anymore.

Calcite: Me either. Although…

Nova: No. *laugh* no, two is plenty.

Calcite: *laugh* Okay, okay.

Calcite: …I love you. You know that, right?

Nova: Uh, I let you put a ring on it? Of course I know. I love you too, dork. What brought that up?

Calcite: Just felt like saying it. You’ve been here for me through so much, and I–

Nova: Don’t do that to yourself, babe. I love you, so of course I’ll be here. And besides, you’ve been here for me, too.

Calcite: Yeah?

Nova: Of course. We’re partners, a team. That comes with the territory.

Nova: Things didn’t go exactly to my plan, either, but…there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than here, with you and our family.

Calcite: You big sap.

Calcite: Seriously, Nova….I…

Nova: I know. I love you, too.

Calcite: Well, good. Or we’d be in a heap of trouble.

Nova: We already are, babe. It’s called having two toddlers at once.

Calcite: *laugh*

Some time later….

Calcite: You got ‘em?

Nova: I got ‘em! Citrine stop kicking–

Moonstone: Nova, honey, we have boxes to make a stand…

Saffron: Hush, love. It’s a thing in this family now. I did the same thing with our twins.

Moonstone: And you almost dropped them….

Calcite: That explains so much.

Nova: Cal, babe–

Calcite: Going, going!

Nova: Phew….not going to be able to do that next year. How did they get so big so fast?

Saffron: Ha! Kids do that. You did that too.

Nova: Yeah, but I was just one. Dad was carting me around till I was thirteen or so.

Moonstone: Speaking of your parents…they are still coming by, right?

Nova: They wouldn’t miss it, I promise.

Moonstone: Good, good. Family’s important. The kids should have as much of it as they can.

Calcite: They will, Mama. More of it than they can stand.

*Oven dings*

Nova: Okay, you two! Who wants to blow out their candle first?

Peppermint: Me!

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday, dear Pep

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday, dear Citrine

Happy birthday to you

Polar: Now, who can tell me how a Berry gets their colors?

Citrine: Um…they get one color from their carrier and one from their donor?

Candy Corn: Or they get all their parents colors and become a huge mix?

Candy Corn: That’s what happened with me, anyway.

Basil: *snort*

Peppermint: How does that work, Miss Freeze? Almost everyone’s a mix, right? How do our bodies decide what color goes to what?

Polar: That’s called genetics, and, honestly, when it comes to colors it’s a lot like flipping a coin. Let’s see…your parents were red and aqua, right?

Peppermint: Uh-huh, but my Mom’s got some peach, too. Would that change anything?

Citrine: I bet it does! My Mom was orange and peach, but my other mother’s pure yellow.

Basil: *snort* And you look like someone spilled paint all over your face.

Candy Corn: So…genetics is a bunch of coins flipping at once?

Polar: Pretty much. When we’re born, those coins flip, and whatever side it lands on is what colors we end up being.

Basil: Unless you’re a pure shade, right?

Polar: Well, in that case it’s more that the coin is the same on both sides, but it still flips.

Oceana: Is that how Fauxs come around? Because my Mom’s pure blue, and my Dad doesn’t have bright in him, but my hair’s still…well, brightish?

Polar: That’s exactly how Faux’s come around. One of your grandparents had their coin land on bright and your parent kept that coin, even though theirs landed on blue or dark green. They were still able to pass the bright down to you, even if it didn’t show in them.

Basil: That’s stupid. It should just be your parents, not your grandparents!

Candy Corn: But…Grandparents are part of the family, right? They’re your Mom’s mom, or your Dad’s dad, or…anything, right?

Polar: Right. And we carry little pieces of them inside of us, which sometimes show up in ways we don’t expect. Our parents carry parts of their parents and grandparents, too.

Citrine: So…Pep and me’s Great Granma was pink. Does that mean we could have had pink, too?

Peppermint: Ugh, I hope not. Red’s bad enough with green.

Polar: *chuckle* Well, that’s a matter of opinion, but yes. You two both had a coin for pink, even if it was a really small one that didn’t flip true. It would have been bigger for your parents, and even bigger for your grandparents. But, by the time you two are old enough to have kids, it might be too small to pass down any further, and if those kids have kids it’ll be too small to show up at all.

Citrine: So…yellow would show up in my kids, but probably not my…great great grandkids?

Polar: Exactly. Unless your partner, or your kids partner, is also yellow? The yellow coin will get smaller and smaller over time, until it’s too small to see at all.

Rose: So if you’re a mix, and your partner’s a mix, that means…your kids have a lot of coins, right?

Polar: Right.

Oceana: And if your partner’s a shade, but the same color as one of your colors, that coin’s the biggest?

Polar: Right, and the most likely to flip true.

Basil: That’s how it should be. We should only be shades, not mixes or fauxs.

Candy Corn: Hey! What’s wrong with being a mix, huh?

Polar: Absolutely nothing is wrong with being a mix, Candy Corn. And, Basil, there is no should when it comes to colors. They’re just what we look like on the outside, that’s all.

Polar: No one color is better than any other, and anyone who says otherwise needs to straighten out their priorities.

Citrine: And you know you’re the only pure shade in class, right? Technically that makes you the weird one!

Peppermint: Miss Freeze? Is it true that some raws and shades get sick a lot more?

Polar: It is, which is another reason why pure anything can also be a bad thing. Health concerns, both mental and physical…

Basil: Ha! My Dad says–

Candy Corn: You’re just parroting Daddy, aren’t you? Hmph! Think for yourself, Basil.

Basil: I am. Everyone should be a shade and that’s it. No mixing, ever.

Citrine: That’d be so boring, though. And I don’t wanna be sick because my colors are the same.

Polar: It’s a bit more complicated than that–

*bell rings*

Polar: Alright, we’ll pick that up next time. Remember, your assignment this week is to track your colors as far back as you can, and see which ones are more likely to continue on. I’ll see you all tomorrow–Basil, hold on a second.

Citrine: We’re suppose to trace our colors back as far as they go, right? Does that mean going back to…uh…how many great-granmas ago were Granny Opal and Granny Aurora, Pep?

Peppermint: Um…three? But none of us are white or purple, so.

Rose: I don’t think we have to go back that far. I’m stopping at my Gram, but I’ve got four of them so.

Peppermint: So that’s plenty. And the whole point’s to see what’s going forward, so I don’t think that far back matters.

Oceana: Ugh….I’m gonna have to call Dad for this…Mom doesn’t like talking about him.

Citrine: Oh yeah…your Dad left last year…

Rose: *sigh* We’re all kinda messy like that, though.

Peppermint: That just makes it more fun! Like a mystery we have to solve.

Citrine: …I dunno, Pep. Sometimes mysteries aren’t as fun as the Nutmeg Drew books…

Peppermint: Sure they are! I mean, Gramoony’s side is easy, but what about your Mom? Or my Dad? They’ll be fun because we’ve gotta do that ourselves.

Oceana: Pep, you can still call your Dad to find out what his family’s like. That doesn’t make it fun.

Citrine: And it’s not like I can just…call my Mom, she’s–

*door slams*

Basil: Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Citrine: Uh, Basil?

Basil: You’re all stupid!

Peppermint: Yeesh…what’s with him?

Oceana: Who knows, who cares. Come on, we’re gonna be late for gym.

After school…

Citrine: So how far back are you gonna go?

Peppermint: Uh…probably to my Grandparents. I don’t think I can go farther…they haven’t talk to Dad since I was born.

Peppermint: Kinda hard to get anything out of them if they won’t talk to anyone…

Citrine: …Yeah. *sigh* Maybe we should just go to Gramma Opal. Gramoony should remember enough to tell us about her.

Peppermint: Yeah. …Our family’s kinda weird, isn’t it?

Citrine: Tell me about it.

Citrine: But Gramma Opal’s…four generations back, and maybe we can find her parents somewhere in Granny Spinel’s journals, too. That should be enough, right?

Peppermint: I sure hope so! I don’t know how we could go any further.

Peppermint: It’s gonna be a whole lotta coins once we’re done. I wonder if we’ve still got any from back then…

Citrine: Probably not, but–

Basil: They wouldn’t help you even if you did.

Citrine: Ugh, not again…

Basil: You two would just be even more of a muddled mess if you still had those extra “coins”, you know. And you don’t need any help there!

Peppermint: Basil, we…

Citrine: We can’t all be as boring as you pure shades, you know.

Basil: Boring? Ha! More like perfect.

Basil: Daddy says–

Citrine: Does Daddy know you’re a parrot? Or did your Mom never tell him you hatched from an egg?

Peppermint: Citrine! That was mean…

Basil: Nah, don’t bother. She can’t help it–she’s got no Mom to teach her how to be nice.

Citrine: Why you–

Peppermint: Basil! guys, can’t we just get along?

Citrine: Get along with him? Ha! Don’t be silly, Pep. ‘Sides, it’s not like your Mom ever taught you how to be nice, either.

Basil: My Mom’s taught me plenty! She taught me how to do deal with people like you, too.

Citrine: People like us? Like what, Mixed Berries? *snort* Gimme a break. We’re just the same as you!

Basil: No, you’re freaks. But that’s not your fault, that’s on your parents. Peppermint, your Dad was a pure shade, and he just had to go and–

Peppermint: My parents love each other! That’s all that matters, not their colors!

Basil: Hmph. Can’t say the same for yours, can you Crystal. Neither of your Moms is even still here.

Citrine: ….

Peppermint: …Cit, let’s just go. Let’s just–

Citrine: You…

Citrine: Who taught you to be such a jerk, Basil!? Was that your Daddy, too?!

Basil: Not a jerk if he’s right. And he is. All you mixes’ll go away eventually, and there’ll only be us Shades left. Just the way the Watcher intended.

Peppermint: That can’t be true…