THE LIGHTNING LEGACYChapter Ten

Who could ever love this?

Welcome back! I’m warning you ahead of time that this has lots of drama. But we’re at double digits! Yay! So sit back, relax and enjoy chapter 10 of the Lightning Legacy!

After Belle had realized who she was growling at, she’d calmed down enough to tell Bellatrix what had happened, then retreated to their room, not wanting to talk about her blunder. Bellatrix had just sighed and retreated under her covers. Belle tried to research her condition, see what it meant and stuff, but none of her books provided answers. How was she going to get out of this?

While life was definitely on the downside for Caleb’s favorite grandchild, the youngest Lightning’s was on the up. Buzz and Peppermint’s relationship was getting more serious.

It was also on the upturn for the eldest. Bellatrix had finally found a guy and she enjoyed having a boyfriend more than she’d expected she would.

Or maybe it was just because there was love in the air, for Batman had proposed to Tiffany and she happily accepted. She even got aspiration points for it. Ka-ching.

It wasn’t long before Bellatrix had fallen head over heels for this guy, who’s name, it transpired, was Gunnar, and his time as a pledge ended. Gunnar was now a full-time member of the Lightning’s greek house.

Buzz even proposed to Peppermint and she happily accepted. Buzz was proud. A call from the simself that morning had revealed that he was to be the heir and he should be really excited because the Creator had built a brand new house for the Lightnings because she hated having two stories to flip back and forth from. Buzz assured her that he was excited and asked what the racket was in the background, and Anna informed him it was Lauren winning at darts for the fifth time in a row.

But we all know that this isn’t a happy fluffy legacy, as seen from Gen-A’s college days and things were bound to go sour soon. Poor Buzz seems oblivious to his fiancé's attraction to his brother.

He wasn’t worried it seemed, probably because he knew that both he and Batman were engaged. Buzz doubted that Batman would ever go back on Tiffany and he knew Peppermint wouldn’t do that to him.

It was the day after sophomore finals when it all went wrong. The day started normal, sort of. Buzz decided to greet it by some pirate-tubbery.He’s not all there, is he? Peppermint thought.

See, there was something Buzz hadn’t noticed after he proposed– the red ring circling Peppermint’s head. She wasn’t a Romance sim, so it didn’t make sense.

“Sing to me,” Peppermint demanded of Batman. “Um, okay…”This in and of itself would not have bothered Buzz—he knew he couldn’t sing. But what did bother him was the way Peppermint was swooning…. And that was when it all clicked sickengly into place.

“Give me my ring back,” Buzz demanded firmly.“Wait-what?”“You heard me.”“Buzz-what did I do?!”“You know what you did.”“But I-I didn’t-” Peppermint put on her best confused and hurt face. This could NOT be happening to her….

Buzz didn’t buy it. “I said, give me my ring back.”“Buzz, hon—” “Don’t call me that,” he said sharply. “And don’t pull that face on me. You won’t trick me into this. I want my ring back to give to someone who actually loves me and isn’t just in it for the kisses and hugs. All non-committal of course, in your case.”“Fine,” Peppermint snarled and chucked the diamond at him and walked away.

It wasn’t long before a fight between brothers broke out. “How could you do this to me?!”“Buzz, just listen, it was all her not me!”“Don’t lie to me!” Buzz yelled and tackled Batman.

Poor Buzz was devastated. He’d found his fiancé wound around someone else’s finger, his brother’s to boot! He’d loved her so much, liked her so much, was so happy when she accepted his proposal. Plus he’d lost the fight to Batman and that did nothing to improve his mood.

He often found himself unable to sleep at night now and decided to spend the time talking to Belle, who was always up and roaming at this hour.“I mean—Belle, what would you do?”“I’m not sure. Maybe you should wait a few days and see what happens. If Peppermint’s truly sorry, maybe you could consider her again,” she offered.“No!” Buzz cut her off. “I can’t. I can’t love her again. I don’t even know if I can love anyone again…”

“I don’t pretend to be an expert on love, Buzz. I mean, look at this face. Who could ever love this?”“Belle—”“You know it’s true,” she said and Buzz looked down at his feet. “But anyways, that’s what I would try to do. And remember that there are other fish in the sea.”“I hate that phrase,” he muttered.Belle chuckled softly. “Just remember-these are supposed to be the best four years of our lives. Time will help you heal.”Buzz sighed. “I hate that phrase too. Best four years? What a joke.”

It seemed that the only kid that had things going for them was Bellatrix. She and Gunnar were still going strong, even with his being a Romance sim. Of course, though, there had been no talk of rings, even if they were both head over heels for each other. But for Bella, it was all she needed to know.

Batman and Buzz happened to come home from classes at the same time one day, and Batman seized the opportunity. “Buzz, I am so sorry—”

Buzz cut him off. “It’s okay. Now that I’ve had a chance to cool down and mull it over, I can see that it wasn’t your fault. You were just kind of in the wrong place at the wrong time, you know what I mean?”Batman nodded, relived. “Buzz? Thanks.”The youngest Lightning smiled and with that, the relationship between the two boys was healed.

Batman decided to confront Peppermint that same day, when she got back from her classes. “Peppermint, even though there was nothing going on between us, I need to call this off. It isn’t right. I’m engaged! Surely you know better than to flirt with a man who’s been claimed since he was born!”Peppermint smiled softly. “I know. I’m sorry it couldn’t work out with the two of us.”“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to Buzz.”

“Okay, hold up, hold up,” Bella insisted. “I have to go to class.”Gunnar smiled and relented on his attack with the pillow. “I’ll be here when you get back,” he said.Bellatrix landed one more hit on him. “I’m counting on that.” She pecked his cheek and walked out the door.

Batman watched, distraught, Gunnar’s lifeless form. He looked up to Death.“Please, Mr. Reaper, sir—”JUST CALL ME DEATH.“Erm, okay. Isn’t there anything to do? He hasn’t even graduated yet.”NO, UNFORTUNETLY. AS MUCH AS I HATE TO SEE YOUNG LIFE GO, IT WAS HIS TIME.With that, Death and Gunnar disappeared in a column of light.

Batman had hoped to intercept his twin before she saw the grave, but to no avail.“What?! No. Not you. Not you. No!”

And with that, she broke down. Why Gunnar? Why couldn’t it have been anyone besides him?

Bellatrix defiantly wiped her eyes. This wasn’t fair, and someday, it was going to change. Gunnar would not be dead forever. She promised herself that.

For the next week or so, the family watched Bellatrix carefully, looking for signs of depression or wanting to commit suicide at the worst. But she seemed to be doing fine, and the worries dissolved from everyone’s consciousness.Except Batman’s. His twin was doing fine, too fine, in fact, and it worried him. If he knew his sister, she’d be plotting something.

Time passed, slowly it seemed for the two aching siblings, the oldest and the youngest legacy children, but pass it did. Buzz decided that the phrase “time heals all wounds” needed to be edited. Time didn’t heal you all the way, rather it made it so it only hurt at certain times and that you could move on, only feeling pain if you thought about it. It didn’t intrude your thoughts anymore, wasn’t the only topic on your brain….

Buzz met a local girl named Jane. She was a pleasantly plump, sweet little family sim, with curly brown hair and rich dark skin. She seemed rather shy and uninterested in Buzz at first, but she never rejected his advances.

Belle continued to research lycanthropy, but to no avail. Some myths got close to what she experienced, but missed on some key crucial points. Some were completely ridiculous, like this one where the wolf could change forms at whim, had a pack that could read his mind while he was a wolf, and the presence of the pack was spurred by a coven of vampires. Belle had burned those books. Huzzah, Belle!

Buzz and Jane continued to do everything together. They’d been on a few dates that’d gone well, but they were still taking it slow. Jane was now a pledge to the Greek house and she and Buzz often worked on their homework and studied together.

Batman was more than thrilled to see that Buzz was moving on and had found someone else. It helped ease his guilt about the whole issue with himself and Peppermint.

It was early one morning when Peppermint finally realized what she’d done.“I really screwed up, didn’t I?”You think?!“Aw, crap. Now I have guilt.”Maybe you should apologize…?“Yeah…”

Peppermint called Buzz to her room that night.“What?” Buzz asked dully.“I’m sorry,” Peppermint said. “Truly sorry.”Buzz shuffled his feet. “I guess. I’m sorry, too.”Peppermint smiled. “Now, about that ring--”“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Buzz exclaimed. “You didn’t let me finish. I’m sorry that I ever let myself fall for you. It was obviously a mistake. As much as I still am attracted to you, I can’t love you again.”Peppermint hung her head. “I understand.”“Good,” Buzz said firmly, and left.

“The first snow,” Buzz remarked, holding Jane’s hands to make them stay warm, for she had no gloves.“The snow is so pretty,” she said, “All fresh and new.”And it was in that moment that Buzz realized that Jane was the one for him. He loved every bit of her, from her plump to her curly hair. He wanted to propose, but still felt a bit worried about that, with what had happened last time, so he kept the box in his pocket.

Still having a special bond with Belle, Buzz decided to consult her that same night after Jane had left.“Buzz, do you want the honest-to-goodness truth, or just what you want to hear?” Belle asked seriously.Buzz replied with the same tone. “The truth.”“Okay then.” Belle took a deep breath. “I think you should just propose to her,” she said.“What?!” Buzz yelped. “What about last time?!”

“But this is a different girl,” Belle pointed out. “And a Family sim at that. Do you really think she’s going to step out on you?”Buzz thought for a minute. “No, she won’t,” he said firmly. “I’ll propose at graduation.”Belle smiled. Her job was done.

When the snow was only dusting the ground lightly, Buzz decided to follow his sister’s advice, a little earlier than planned, and proposed to Jane. The snow on the ground had reminded him of how much he loved her and he had the ring with him, so he decided now was as good a time as graduation.“Jane, I love every particle of your being. Will you marry me?”

“Of course! I’d been wondering when you were going to ask!”Once the ring was on her finger, Buzz stood up and pulled her into a hug.“I love you,” he said.“I love you,” Jane replied.

Buzz came in from his swim that night after Jane had left and sought out Belle.“Belle, Belle! I proposed and Jane said yes!” he exclaimed. “Buzz, that’s wonderful!” Belle replied happily.“And, Belle, I was wondering, since you don’t have any plans after graduation, if you wanted to come back to the legacy house for a bit with me? I could use your support.”“Wait, you mean you’re the heir?” Belle asked.“Yes.”Belle hugged him. “Congratulations! And of course I’ll stay with you. Thanks, Buzz.”

Belle herself was having some action in the romance department, but it was of the negative kind, as this cow kept flirting with her. But she went away once Belle growled at her a couple of times.

I do so love the “Grr!” interaction… :)

Batman was also overjoyed to hear Buzz’s news and was happy for the rest of the night we Buzz told him over dinner.“Congrats, Buzz! Hey, graduation’s coming up soon isn’t it?”Buzz had nodded.Batman grinned. “That means we find out who the heir is soon!”Buzz had nodded again, although rather uncomfortably.

Bellatrix smiled to herself. Finals were this day and she graduated today as well. That meant she was one step closer to getting Gunnar back….

The siblings celebrated the end of school for good with a smustle party. About 30 minutes later, they all sat down on the couches, breathing hard from the dancing. That was when Buzz decided to break the news.

“We’re all friends here, right?” Buzz asked nervously.“Of course, Buzz,” Bellatrix said. “What is it?”“It’s just… I found out the results of the heir poll in our freshman year, but I haven’t told anyone yet—besides Belle. I told her last week.”“So who’s the heir?” Batman asked.Buzz gulped. “Me.”The twins broke out with excited chatter and congratulations, not

to mention some jibes about how they got to stay young while Buzz was going to grow old and wrinkly.Buzz smiled, relief flooding through him. Things were finally looking up for him. All his stress was gone—Jane had agreed to marry him, finals were over, and his siblings were ecstatic at his being chosen as the heir.

He’d even patched up his relationship with Peppermint and they were good friends. Of course, they’d never be what they were, but she’d agreed to place hold.

Buzz, now feeling the responsible party as the fully proclaimed heir, called up the taxi to take them home. (I would’ve had a big graduation party, but my game doesn’t let me throw them for some strange reason.) And with the sparkly lights and a sharp beep-beep from the taxi, Gen-B’s days ended.

Well, that’s it! Wow, Gen-C already. I never expected to get this far. I had so much fun playing college for this generation, I really wish I’d done a Greek house for Gen-A, since part of why I hated their college days was because of the lagginess of their dorm. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and don’t forget to comment!

~Anna