Silver's Sims: Crystal Legacy - Generation 5 (Part 7)

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.

Citrine: This month’s assignment?

Lucky Penny: Uh-huh. Mr. Pyro gives us an assignment for the month instead of by the week like at the public schools. It’s pretty big, but we get all month to finish it. Like, last month we had to track our colors through the whole family tree!

Moonflower: Which was pretty easy for me, since half my tree is Raw.

Peppermint: Oh! We did something like that back at the public school–we had to figure out where we got our colors from and how many of ‘em would pass down to kids!

Lucky Penny: Yep! Same kinda thing.

Moonflower: *sigh* Lemme guess…now we have to figure out who our families are.

Pyro: That’s exactly right. Your last assignment was to find out what your families are, but now we need to learn who they are.

Lucky Penny: What do you mean?

Moonflower: Family history.

Moonflower: Like, what our parents did, what kind of people our grandparents are, that kinda stuff.

Pyro: Exactly. At least until your Grandparents, though any stories about your great-grandparents or higher would be good, too.

Citrine: From both sides of the family or just one?

Pyro: Both would be best. I know that you and Peppermint are adopted, Citrine, so adopted parents also count, but if you can get anything from your biological parents as well that would be extra credit.

Peppermint: Ha! I got this in the bag!

Citrine: …and…what if we can’t get anything from our biological parents?

Pyro: How do you mean?

Citrine: Well….my donor Mom died before I was born, and…I haven’t heard from my carrier Mom since I was two.

Citrine: She…doesn’t answer any emails or calls, either.

Pyro: Oh. Well, in that case, just your current parents will be more than enough.

Peppermint: You can borrow my folks too, if you want.

Lucky Penny: Pep! You don’t just go borrowing family like that!

Peppermint: Why not? Kids get adopted all the time! It’s the same thing, isn’t it?

Moonflower: Why wouldn’t it be? You can have my parents, too, if you want. They love kids–one more’d be just fine by them.

Citrine: …thanks, guys. I just…

Citrine: I don’t even…know why Mama Solana never writes back…

Peppermint: I still say you’re the best sister ever and she’s really missing out.

Citrine: …yeah. Sure.

Peppermint: Citrine…

Pyro: Well, we can leave that where it is. Whomever you can talk to is more than enough for me, kids.

Pyro: I’ll check in with you on this in a week. For now, it’s time for you all to head home. Remember to turn in your math tests tomorrow morning, and I’ll see you then.

All: See you tomorrow, Mr. Pyro!

The next day…

Sirius: …and that was where your Gramma Stella and I met. Right in the middle of a three planet misunderstanding.

Citrine: Wow…it must have been busy!

Sirius: Oh, it was!

Sirius: Everything hinged on us smoothing feathers over and getting the deal sealed, and that one wrong translation could have undone decades of work. It was one of the most stressful things I’ve ever had to do, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Citrine: You wouldn’t?

Sirius: Of course not!

Sirius; If it hadn’t happened, I never would have met your Gramma, and we never would have fallen in love, or had your Pops, and then I never would have met you! And that, to me, would be a very terrible thing.

Citrine: Oh…well, thanks, Grampa. I’m…glad to hear that.

Sirius: That sounds a bit more sad than glad to me, kiddo. What’s the matter?

Citrine: I just. …d’you promise you won’t get mad?

Sirius: I promise.

Citrine: …I don’t…I don’t really feel like Pops’ daughter sometimes.

Sirius: Because you don’t share any blood with him?

Citrine: Mmhmm. He and Dad talked about having a kid of their own and then I came along and…it feels like I wrecked their plans.

Citrine: Like I wrecked everyone’s plans.

Sirius: Oh, sweetheart…have you talked with your fathers about these feelings?

Citrine: A little.

Sirius: And what did they say?

Citrine: Dad says that I’m his daughter, and Pop’s daughter, and my Moms daughter too, but I just…

Sirius: It’s hard to feel like you can believe it?

Citrine: Yeah. I know he meant it, but it just…

Sirius: It just?

Citrine: …it feels like…it feels like I was just…not wanted, I guess, and they only took me in because of who my Ma is. Was.

Sirius: Well, that feeling is lying to you!

Citrine: How can you be so sure?

Sirius: Because I know my son, and I know that Nova loves you very much. He loves you as much as he would love any biological child. You are his daughter…and I see so much of him in you.

Citrine: We have the same hair color.

Sirius: Well, yes, but. I mean more in how you act, and what you do. Has he ever told you about his childhood when we lived on Kahje?

Citrine: No. I never asked, either.

Sirius: Well, I can assure you, he got into as much trouble as you have! *chuckle* Would you like to hear a story about that?

Citrine: …sure, I guess.

Sirius: Well, when Nova was only a little older than you are now, he had a friend. I forget her name, to be honest, but she didn’t quite fit in with the other children in our hab-dome, either. The wrong race, or the wrong color, or…something, you know how certain children can be.

Citrine: yeah…

Sirius: Well, one day, after school let out, Nova and his friends were leaving school, and the bullies came at the poor girl again. For no good reason, of course, they just started after her for things she couldn’t change. They’d done it for weeks, and do you know what Nova did?

Citrine: …tried to make them stop?

Sirius: Oh, he made them stop! Without warning he just started punching. None of them expected it, so he got them all before they could react. About how things went with you and that Basil boy, if I recall correctly.

Citrine: Pop’s first answer was to punch?

Sirius: Technically, it was his second answer, but yes. Much like your was, I imagine.

Sirius: So when I say I see so much of him in you, I mean it. You’re both courageous, loyal people, my dear, and he loves you. I love you, your Gramma Stella loves you…that matters infinitely more than if we share blood or not.

Citrine: ….Family’s not who you come from…it’s who you choose.

Sirius: Exactly! And I’m going to tell you a secret: you would still be my grandbaby even if your Mothers were here to raise you themselves.

Citrine: What? But, how–

Sirius: Well, your Dad would still be your Uncle, and my boy would still be married to him, so that would make us family right there. And who doesn’t need such a fun Grampa?

Citrine: *laugh* Grampa!

Citrine: …thanks.

Sirius: That’s what I’m here for. Now, how about another story?

Citrine: Yes, please!

Citrine: Pep?

Peppermint: In the study!

Peppermint: Hey, how’d it go with Grampa Sirius?

Citrine: Great. Got plenty of stuff to work with.

Peppermint: You okay? You sound weird.

Citrine: Yeah, I just….*sigh* Could you come outside? I kinda need to talk.

Peppermint: Sure! Just lemme save this real quick…there!

Peppermint: You still feel like you’re not Uncle Cal’s? Citrine!

Citrine: I know it’s stupid, I just…*sigh* I dunno, Pep. It feels weird.

Peppermint: Only ‘cause you’re making it weird! Uncle Cal and Uncle Nova both love you–isn’t that enough?

Citrine: It should be…it is, I just…*sigh* I don’t know what I’m doing….

Citrine: If I could just figure out why Mom didn’t want me, maybe I could fix that part of me…

Peppermint: There’s nothing to–oof–there’s nothing to fix, Cit!

Peppermint: I told you: You’re the best sister ever.

Citrine: Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m the best daughter ever. *sigh* I just…everyone tells me they love me, and that’s enough, but it feels like…it still feels like I messed up and made Mom not love me, so.

Peppermint: You were two!

Peppermint: Worst thing about two year olds is the diapers!

Citrine: …so, what, Mom gave me up because I wasn’t potty trained?

Peppermint: No! …maybe? I dunno! I’m just saying–argh–

Peppermint: I’m just saying that if–if the people you love love you, too, isn’t that enough? What’s it matter what anybody else thinks? Bullies, or–or parents who aren’t around–they don’t matter!

Citrine: …can it really be that easy?

Peppermint: Sure it can!

Peppermint: Got it–*sigh* Listen, Cit, family’s not just blood, okay? Family’s who chooses to stand by you even when everything else has gone wrong. Sure, that’s blood sometimes, but it doesn’t have to be.

Citrine: *snort* You can’t pull off Guardian Mist any better than Dad can, you know.

Peppermint: Oh, shush! You know I’m right.

Peppermint: I’m not saying–don’t miss what you might have had with your Mom or anything, but–Dad and Pop are cool too, right?

Citrine: …yeah, they really are. *deep breath* Okay. Okay. They wanted me, that’s enough for me.

Peppermint: Sure it is! Aaaaannd…

Citrine: And?

Peppermint: Um. Don’t tell them I called them Dad and Pop yet? *snort* Guess you’re not the only one with family issues, huh?

Citrine: *giggle* Guess not. Okay. I won’t tell them. You can tell ‘em yourself.

Citrine: Thanks, Pep. You’re the best sib a girl could ask for.

Peppermint: And don’t you forget it!

*both laugh*

That evening…

Citrine: You’re kidding. It rains that much?!

Nova: Ninety percent of the rotation, yep.

Citrine: How did you stand it?! I’d melt if it rained that much here…

Nova: *laugh* Well, anyone who wasn’t Hanar or of Hanar-descent lived in the habdomes, so we weren’t exactly getting rained on, but…moving here was definitely a change. A good one, though.

Citrine: I bet…does it rain like that anywhere on Maxis?

Nova: Hm, not really. Coastal regions get plenty of rain, but not as much as Kahje. I guess the closest would have to be…well, Selvadorada. It is mostly rainforest.

Citrine: Oh…yeah, they do need a lot of rain.

🎶

Citrine: …Have you ever been to Selva, Pop?

Nova: No, I never had the chance. Your Gramron went when she wasn’t much older than you, but your Dad and I have never been.

Citrine: Would you go if you had the chance?

Calcite: Why would we? We have everything we need right here…

Citrine: Well, yeah, but…

Citrine: Aren’t you curious? It must be so different from the Springs…all the pictures in the books, and those vids and articles…

Nova: *chuckle* Kiddo, anything you haven’t seen is going to be different from the Springs. Heck, Wineburg is different.

Citrine: Yeah, but Wineburg’s just a long train ride away! Selva’s…

Nova: A lot farther than a single train ride. …D’you want to go to Selva someday?

Citrine: I wouldn’t mind going to see it. It must be really cool in person.

Nova: Actually it’s pretty hot.

Citrine: *snort* POP!

Nova: *laugh* What? It gets to like, a hundred degrees or something there, not to mention the humidity…blegh! Wouldn’t you rather stay where it’s dry? So you don’t melt?

Citrine: *laugh* Very funny! I wouldn’t want to live there, but I’d like to see it. Just to visit, you know? The museum in Alam’s full of artifacts, and exhibits, and–

Nova: And the museum here’s got plenty of those, too. We can go see those if you want to.

Citrine: Really?

Nova: Really. We can go tomorrow. Make a day of it.

Citrine: That’d be great! You’re the best, Pops, thanks!

Nova: Anytime. Why don’t you go ask Pep if they want to come along?

Citrine: Going–Pep! Pep, where are you?!

*music stops abruptly*

Calcite: Ugh….you have got to be joking. She’s just like her mother!

Nova: *snort* Well, you can chip a stone out of the vein, but…

Calcite: Please don’t.

Nova: It’s a part of her, babe. She has the right to explore her own heritage, even if you’re scared of it.

Calcite: I am not scared of Selva, I’m just–*sigh* Watcher take us all. I thought we’d have more time…

Nova: LIfe doesn’t wait for anyone, Cal. We’ll just have to make it work. Somehow.

Calcite: Somehow.

The next day…

Peppermint: It’s huge!

Citrine: It’s bigger than our old school, that’s for sure!

Calcite: Two stories and a basement, all full of Selvadoradan history and culture. It’s been here for generations.

Citrine: Wow…and this is my culture, too?

Nova: Yep.

Calcite: Well, here we are. Now…where to start–is that–

Citrine: Oh! Neat!

Calcite: …I would not call a skull neat, kiddo.

Peppermint: *snicker* It’s just a skull, Uncle Cal. The mummies from Al Simhara are creepier.

Calcite: Pep, you–

Nova: Breathe, babe. You good?

Calcite: Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.

Peppermint: Ooh, what’s this?

Citrine: I think it’s a calendar stone! Um…shoot, no signal…I can’t look up the date…

Citrine: Is that a bunny or a skull in the center?

Peppermint: I think it’s a bunny?

Canela: It’s the Konejo, the symbol of the Konejo Dynasty that ruled the Belomisia region over five thousand years ago.

Peppermint: That old?!

Canela: That old. It was found buried in a temple deep in the Belomisia not too long ago.

Calcite: Canela?

Calcite: You’re…still here.

Canela: Where else would I be, Calcite? Someone had to take over after Papa retired. It’s nice to see you again.

Citrine: Where was it found?

Canela: I’m sorry?

Citrine: The stone! You said it was found in the Belomisia, but where? How deep? Did they take a guide to find the temple or was it stumbled on?

Canela: Oh, no, it was found by satellite and then a guide took an expedition in on foot.

Citrine: Do you know which guide? Because I’ve been looking for one and I–

Canela: It wasn’t your mother, chiquita.

Citrine: …how did you know I was going to ask that.

Canela: Because, you look just like your mother.

Citrine: You knew my mother?

Canela: I knew Amber, and I know Solana. So yes, I know your mother.

Citrine: …What’s she like? I know plenty of stories about Ma Amber, but…no one knows Mama Solana, and I….I wonder, is all.

Canela: Solana is…driven, and ambitious. When she has a goal in mind, she never lets it go until she’s seen it finished. She and your Ma were a lot alike that way.

Citrine: Really? So she just..ignores everything around her if it’s not her goal? Is…is that why she’s never emailed us back?

Canela: She’s never–oh, that…no, querida, that’s not…*sigh* I don’t know. I’m sorry.

Citrine: But you said–you said you know her, so how can…

Nova: Citrine.

Citrine: I’m sorry, I just. I know it shouldn’t matter, but I…I just really wonder, that’s all.

Canela: It’s alright. I would wonder, too. But the truth is I don’t know why Solana wouldn’t so much as email you back, after all this time. But I…can guess.

Peppermint: You can?

Canela: …She was there when your mother died, Citrine. It’s…it’s possible that she’s still hurting from that, and seeing you…you look so much like Amber…it may just hurt too much.

Citrine: But–then why doesn’t she just say that?!

Citrine: Why–why leave us waiting all this time?

Nova: Sometimes it’s easier to not face something that hurts, baby. Even when you should.

Canela: I can ask her, if you’d like. We talk for work almost every week, so.

Citrine: So it’s just us she’s ignoring! Great!

Peppermint: Cit…

Citrine: I…argh, I don’t know!

Citrine: I mean, I wanna talk to her, but I don’t know–

Calcite: I need some air.

Canela: Calcite–

Citrine: Daddy?

Canela: You can’t run from your history, Cal! It has a tendency to chase after you!

Calcite: I know!

Canela: Ese hombre…

Nova: Well. That happened. *sigh* I’m sorry, Canela. This wasn’t the plan for today.

Canela: It’s alright. I know this isn’t easy for anyone who was involved.

Nova: …No, it’s not. Maybe we can come back again some other day?

Canela: Of course. I’m always here, and we’re open late on weekends. For now…

Nova: Yeah.

Nova: Come on, kids. Let’s go home.

Canela: I’ll see what I can get out of Solana, Citrine!

Citrine: Thank you!

Canela: …you might not be thanking me when I get through to her. *sigh* Miradora te cuide, chiquita.

Later that day…

Calcite: Citrine?

Nova: She’s in her room.

*Knock on door*

Citrine: Come in!

Calcite: Through with your chapter, kiddo?

Citrine: Uh-huh.

Calcite: Then it’s time we had a talk.

Citrine: Is this about me wondering about Mama Solana?

Calcite: A bit. It’s more…it’s more that it’s time you know the truth. If you want to.

Citrine: …what do you mean?

Calcite: About how your Ma died. And…about what that might mean for how Solana’s treating you.

Citrine: Miss Canela said that Mama was there when Ma died. Was that…was that really what happened?

Calcite: It was.

Citrine: Oh. Um…d’you know how it happened?

Calcite: I do. Do you want to know?

Citrine: I do but I don’t. Does that make sense?

Calcite: A bit. What’s heavier, knowing or not knowing?

Citrine: …not knowing, but. I don’t want to hurt you.

Calcite: Citrine…

Citrine: Dad, I know that talking about Ma hurts…you really miss her and I don’t wanna make that worse and I–

Calcite: Citrine. *tired chuckle* Oh, kiddo…I keep forgetting you’re getting older by the day.

Citrine: Wha…what do you mean?

Calcite: Never mind. Do you want to know what happened to your Ma? Yes or no.

Citrine: …Yes.

Calcite: Alright. Well, from what Solana told us, and from what was in the doctor’s report, your Ma died because of a fast-acting poison that was coating an artifact she found, in a temple that Solana lead her to.

Citrine: Oh…oh, you mean that–that Mama blames herself?!

Calcite: I think so, yes.