The party was in full swing now and everyone was either chatting or dancing or getting another drink.
Kiyoshi and Sakura were having a dance together outside.
Time for the dj! He didn't stay very long. Dominic Fyres of the Spin Masters Club appeared briefly, but then left. He probably had to go to work.
There's one at every party! Look at that Bryon slinging two drinks! Sheesh!
No-one was sure who this was. This sim just showed up out of the blue. Might have been Jacques Villareal or Yuki Behr who are both members of Knights of the Hedge, of which Wolfgang Munch is also a member. Or, some random party crasher.
And it's not a party until someone pees themselves...OMG! River!
Wolfgang came over to Sakura with a drink in his hand.
Wolfgang: "I thought you would be a bit parched after that singing..."
Sakura shook her head and said she really couldn't drink anything else tonight.
(Sakura blows Wolfgang an autonomous kiss.)
Wolfgang: "Sakura, this is a non-alcoholic drink. Just fruity juice. Nothing more. They do have non-alcoholic beverages at the bar, you know. I just wanted to come over and make sure you were okay."
Sakura smiled at him and took the drink, "Thanks...yeah, I'm sorry about before. I just had a panic attack after...when River..."
Wolfgang interrupted her, "It's okay, Sakura...I know...and River...hey, he was just being River, right?"
They both laughed. Just then, Joaquin made another announcement that it was time for Sakura to open her gifts and everyone gathered around.
Sakura looked at all the gifts. There were so many! She couldn't begin to thank everyone enough. Joaquin had said she could leave all the gifts there and he and Sergio would bring them over the next morning.
Sofia had bought Sakura a guitar because she thought that Sakura might like to learn a new instrument, and Sofia could teach her. Yep, a foldable variety. Very handy for travelling.
Luna had bought Sakura a yoga mat and a yoga book, as she had heard that yoga was a good way to relieve anxiety.
Siobhan, Sergio's girlfriend, and leader of the Paragons, had bought Sakura a new outfit and every piece of clothing was pink. Siobhan told Sakura that she would always be an honorary member of the Paragons.
The members of The Plumbobs band had gotten Sakura a black leather jacket with The Plumbobs logo on it, and a signed band poster autographed by all the band members. Sakura had tears in her eyes when she opened it.
Sergio and Joaquin had gotten her a simbit watch, that had a built-in GPS and tracking device.
Joaquin: "Now, Sakura, when you go for a walk, you may lose weight, but we will never lose you again. We can track you with this. It's like...Big Brother...oh oui! We are watching you!" Sakura laughed and Joaquin and Sergio came over and gave her a hug.
Wolfgang, other than arranging the reunion of The Plumbobs band, had gotten her a dozen red roses and a new cellphone. The police had pretty much destroyed her old cellphone looking for clues about her disappearance. Sakura thanked him and said that his surprise was the best thing ever, and that the roses were beautiful. She said it was so thoughtful of him to get her a new cell phone.
Wolfgang: "And you will notice that I've already programmed in my number into the phone for you!"
Kiyoshi asked to see the phone for a moment and Sakura handed it to him, Kiyoshi fiddled with it for a moment and handed it back to her, "There you go, now mine is in there, too!" he laughed.
Everyone thought that was quite humorous and Wolfgang gave Kiyoshi a nudge in the ribs, "Good one there bro...!"
There were so many other gifts, and lastly, Sakura opened Kiyoshi's. There were three gifts on the table from him. The first one was a Wishing Bonsai tree, which Kiyoshi had a rather hard time finding in Windenburg.
Kiyoshi: "This is a special bonsai, and it will bring good luck and harmony to Sakura." There were oohs and ahhs from everyone when he said that.
The second gift consisted of two small white and red envelopes. Sakura opened the first envelope carefully. Inside were two tickets to the Olympic Snowboard Events, being held the end of next month. Kiyoshi told Sakura that one ticket was for her, and the other was for whomever she wanted to bring with her to Mt. Komorebi. The other envelope contained travel and accommodation vouchers for the trip. Sakura looked at the items in her hand. This must have cost Kiyoshi a lot of simoleons. She couldn't believe that she would actually be seeing Kiyoshi compete in person at the Olympics. She was overwhelmed and started to cry.
Kiyoshi held her hands in his and told her that of course, he wanted her to be there when he competed. And then afterwards, they would do the mountain summit together again.
Kiyoshi did tell Sakura that he had one more gift for her, but that he would leave it for her at her house and she couldn't open it until her actual birthday. Sakura felt so lucky to have him as her boyfriend. He really did care for her a lot.
River raised a glass to Sakura and toasted her, "To Sakura, the birthday girl! To a totally awesome year ahead!"
"To Sakura" they all chimed in.
[Wolfgang looked at Sakura and gave a silent toast, "Happy Birthday, Sakura, the most beautiful girl in the room and the one I love..."]
As Sakura made her way around the room thanking everyone again for coming and for their gifts. Joaquin went into the kitchen to prepare the cake.
He came out and was soon calling everyone over to sing Bonne fête (Happy Birthday) to Sakura as he brought out a cake laden with candles.
Sakura smiled. She closed her eyes, made a wish and blew out the candles.
*****Happy Birthday Sakura!*****
After everyone had some cake, the party pretty much started to wind down. Sakura was feeling a bit fatigued, and she and Kiyoshi said their goodbyes and thanked Joaquin and Sergio for hosting the party. Joaquin had told her that Dominic Fyres and Candy Behr of the Spin Masters Club would be throwing Sakura a party on her real birthday at Discoteque Pan Europa. They also thanked Wolfgang for his special surprise, and Kiyoshi expressed additional thanks to Wolfgang for all his help with finding Sakura.
They walked home slowly and at one point, Kiyoshi stopped and took Sakura in his arms and kissed her so slowly and tenderly.
Kiyoshi: "I've been waiting all night to have you alone with me, so I could give you a real kiss...Happy Birthday, Sakura..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Notes - This is a pre-birthday party for Sakura, and she will age up in a few days when it is her "real" birthday. The two photos of Kiyoshi and Sakura dancing are not mods. This was some autonomous action that they did, and I just paused it in time and it looked like they are dancing a jig together.
And yes, some of the sims changed clothes autonomously because I am not controlling them. Some of them decided to go jogging, and presto-magico, they changed. Kiyoshi was guilty of this, as was Bryon. The party also ran on a weeknight, and it ran late, and it was time for school, and they changed into their school clothes to head out, which I stopped them. Anyway, I got the screenshots I wanted, even though they might be in different clothing. Ah sims, you gotta love 'em! lol
@SoulGal7 I'll comment on your whole post a bit later when I have time, but that dancing animation with Sakura and Kiyoshi looks like the "do secret handshake" interaction from parenthood. I thought it might only be a sibling interaction, since I've only noticed it with Dell and Jules, but maybe any strong friendship can do it too, haha. Anyway, it gave me a laugh since it's such a goofy animation.
@permanentrose - Oh my gosh! Thanks, I had no idea what that animation that Kiyoshi and Sakura were doing. But, hey, it looked like they were doing a jig, so I went with it. lol
Unfortunately, as he blocked her, he doesn't know that the girls have been born, though he must know that a baby should have been born by now. He's just not ready to contact Jenny yet, but you'll be seeing more of him and his sister in the next update!
Speaking of updates, I loved yours for a variety of reasons. Kiyoshi, you lost the moral high ground when you messed around in the showers with your ex. At least Sakura wants to be honest with Kiyoshi, but I don't see him trying to be honest with her. I did like the shot of Jenny rocking out! Also, River's drunken ex machina was excellent.
Jenny's weight gain seems to be quite natural, and I think she'll stay curvy (which I don't mind) but yeah, figuring out a way to let Eleanor and Ekram know is quite hard for her. For one, she's worried about their reaction. Rohan blocking her means he actually doesn't know anything about his daughters, and as for how long that's going to continue, I don't know. As for Rohan's sister, who's now an aunt, she's a bit like Lydia Bennet, if I had to show you her personality, so no help from that quarter.
These two are such lovebirds, but they've definitely earned the right to be! Also, thanks for the tip about the dazed thing - I wouldn't have known otherwise and that could have been disastrous!
As for Jenny, her story was meant to be for her daughters, but she's still too angry with Rohan to write him into any story or even think of a good narrative to give the girls. She wants them to know they have a father and she won't interfere with a relationship between them and him, but she's still angry. She's going to haave to think of how to explain things properly.
LYDIA!! Oh my gosh, Lydia's still checking in on Jules? My heart! Also, good on Jules for getting such good grades at the end of the semester! I'm glad she's able to relax and enjoy her student life.
Jenny is trying her best, and she's really stepping up as a mother. She's always going to do her best for her daughters.
I woke up earlier than normal today. I wanted to make sure that my homework was finished before classes and my tutor session. I really wanted to keep my afternoon free so I could have a good work-out with Naoki.
Talking about Naoki... He was giving himself some kind of speech in the mirror to psych himself up. Shouldn't... I be the one doing that? I mean, I’m the one with a bad condition here. He's so fit, why does he need to give himself a speech? But then again, he's the one out of shape right now. So weird.
Another day flew by. Homework done, classes for the day done, tutor session done. I’m almost ready for the workout with Naoki!
But first: a shower!
Just as I was ready, Naoki stormed in and freaked out.
(Naoki) “Bryon!!! You need to hear this!!!”
(Bryon) “Whoa! What is it???"
(Naoki) “My colleague saw my belly this morning and he thinks that I’m impregnated by the aliens!!”
(Bryon) “Wait. What now?”
(Bryon) “That belly… Is a baby?”
I stared a him in disbelief. I was also a little scared, because if what he was telling me was true... How would a baby get out of him????
(Naoki) “I mean… I’m not sure. That’s what my colleague says…”
(Bryon) “Okay, okay. Suppose I believe you. What do you want me to do? Go to the doctor?”
(Naoki) “Can we?”
(Bryon) “Of course. We can go on Saturday, if you want. Tomorrow will be a busy day for me. Final exams…”
(Naoki) “Thank you!!!! That means a lot to me!”
(Bryon) “So… Are we going to exercise now… Or are we just gonna let that slide…? Actually, I don’t mind letting it slide…”
(Naoki) “Hehe, we’ll let it slide, for this time.”
Behind the scenes
As Bryon was in his tutor session, I just zoomed around a little bit, seeing what was happening in the neighborhood.
Is this a sign to age up Kristine soon? xD
I also found this homework. Nobody missing it? No?
Rohan woke up from his nap with a groan. He’d been doing that a lot lately, sleeping in the day, but honestly, ever since he and Jenny had broken up, it hadn’t been a great time for him. Of course, he’d told his grandparents that they’d broken up when he came home, and let them know that she had dumped him, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell them that Jenny was pregnant.
He knew that the baby she carried, or who might even have been born, was their great-grandchild, but he just knew what it would be like. The grief he had received before would be nothing compared to what he would get if he let them know that he’d gotten a girl pregnant like that. Eleanor had been hinting that he should be getting more serious with Jenny just before Jenny had dumped him, and he knew that this news would be more than a slight shock to them both.
“Ro!” His door flew open, and Silvia walked in, still in her school uniform. “Gram wants to know if you’re having dinner.”
His sister looked the very picture of a perfect student, as she always did. Since she’d moved in, the pressure had been on Rohan to move out, and Silvia seemed to know and not care.
“I’ll be down soon.”
“Hey, have you been moping here all day? Lame.” Silvia rolled her eyes. “I mean, hasn’t it been long enough since you got dumped? You should be getting back out there.”
“If that’s supposed to cheer me up, Vee, it’s not working.”
“You’re such a stick-in-the-mud, Ro.” She rolled her eyes again. “I mean, seriously, I know so many guys at my school who would have gotten over it by now. I know you guys were together forever or whatever, but it’s not like you’re waiting for her to come back, right?”
“Can you not be such a nosy brat for once?” Rohan snapped, losing his temper. “And while we’re talking, stop barging into my room.”
“What are you, a kid?” Silvia snorted. “I just came to see if you wanted to eat. If I want a lecture, I’ll ask Gramps.”
“I mean it, Silvia!” He felt his anger rise. “I know that you and your friends wouldn’t recognise a boundary if it paraded in front of you naked, but you need to stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong!”
After all, he knew that Jenny had heard about his grandparents’ argument from Silvia. He’d confronted his sister, who admitted with no guilt that she’d been talking about it with her friends because it was ‘her life too’.
Silvia tried to say something, and he shook his head.
“Just stop asking me those stupid questions.”
“Jeez, okay. It’s not like you could use a girlfriend or anything. Just chillax.” Silvia flounced away, leaving Rohan feeling worse than he had when he woke up.
His grandparents couldn’t find out, and Silvia...he could hardly see her keeping news like that under wraps. He wish he knew how to handle this, but...he didn’t even had the courage to unblock Jenny on his phone.
This party is truly amazing, all the attention to detail is spectacular, and I love how meaningful each gift Sakura received is! You put a lot of thought into what each person go her, and I really loved seeing your creativity there.
Omg, poor River peed himself. Well, with all that "juice," I'm not surprised. And then when he raised a toast to Sakura and hadn't even bothered to change clothes or shower, OMG RIVER Also my heart is melting over that autonomous kiss that Sakura blew Wolfgang. Ugh, those two need to end up together. I'm convinced now.
"When you go for a walk, you may lose weight, but we will never lose you again." LOL, great line, love the humor. Really great update as usual
Bryon really had some great facial expressions in this update lol, especially the one after Naoki says he thinks he's pregnant.
How would a baby get out of him????
OMG THAT IS THE REAL QUESTION THOUGH LOL.
That was probably Jules' homework lol. She always leaves it on the ground. And omg, are you gonna age Kristine up??? Ruby is gonna stay a toddler forever probably
And there's definitely is a crispness to your screenshots now that you're playing on that other computer, your screenshots looks especially lovely today
Nice of you to create a sister for Rohan! Rohan is really spiraling, I want to feel bad for him, but he basically brought this on himself. He needs to start communicating better, period, or else things are gonna continue to be terrible and stressful for him. I do wonder if he will eventually man up and take a role in his daughters' lives though...
Essa and Josh wanted to share the news of their engagement with her family in person. After Essa's classes were over Friday, they had another free weekend, so Essa called her Dad to let him know they were coming for the weekend. Of course he was thrilled, as was L. and Morgyn, and preparations were made for their stay.
"Dad! It's so good to see you again!" "Essa, my sweet child, it's wonderful to see you again too! I'm so glad you can be here all weekend! We have a room ready for you and your young man."
"Thanks Dad!"
"Mom! I've missed you!" "I've missed you too dear. Feels so good to hold you in my arms again. You should come home more often."
"I will, I promise."
"Hey Big Bro, how's it going? Missed you!" "I have missed you as well Essa. So very much."
"We had another reason for our visit. There's something very exciting and wonderful we wanted to share with all of you."
"We're engaged to be married!" Josh and Essa said in unison.
"Josh proposed on the top of Mt. Komorebi last weekend. Here's the ring." "Congratulations! Oh my look at that rock. Great choice Josh. It's lovely."
"Congratulations to you both Essa, Josh. I hope you have many wonderful years together. If you'll excuse me I need to attend to my next class. I'll speak with you later. Congratulations again."
"Bye for now Morgyn." "Married! Well, that's fantastic news! My little girl is so grown up now. Congratulations!"
"Have you set a date yet? Do you have a dress? Would you like some help picking one out if you don't? Oh this is so exciting! A Wedding! I love weddings!"
"Now L., let these two just bask in the excitement of being engaged for awhile. There's no hurry. Essa's still in school."
"Well I was just curious. You know me Simmie Dear."
"It's okay Dad. We really haven't talked about any of that yet. But we'll definitely let you know our plans once we've made them."
"Have you at least thought about where you want to get married? I have an idea about that if you haven't."
"What would you think about getting married here, at HQ? The Magic Realm is so beautiful. We could set something up out back by the bridge over the creek, or by the pond, the portal, oh so many places for a beautiful wedding."
"That sounds like an interesting idea. What do you think Essa?"
"I love the idea! Let's talk some more about it later."
"Alright, we'll talk later. I have to go as well, students are waiting and they tend to get restless and then start casting spells on each other. It's a hoot really, but I have to keep some kind of order. Bye for now dear and Congratulations again to you both."
"Bye for now Mom!" "Thank you...L., uh, Mom? Can I call you that?"
"Yes dear, I would love that very much." L. said with a broad smile before she turned and left the room. "What time does Caster's Alley close Essa, didn't you want to go there tonight?"
"Oh, yes, I did. We should go too. We'll be back later Dad." "Have a nice time. We'll talk later."
When Josh and Essa arrived in Caster's Alley, Essa's friend, Astrid was there. "Essa! Wow, good to see you!"
"Hey Astrid, this is Josh, my fiancée, we just got engaged!" "Wow, Congratulations! That's so exciting. Nice to meet you Josh."
"Nice to meet you too, Astrid."
"I have a favor to ask of you. Josh has never seen me Duel with anyone. There's no Spellcasters in Britechester, at least nobody that will admit it anyway. Would you agree to a friendly Duel?" "Seriously?! Essa, you guys don't have to do that if you don't want to. Though, I admit I love the idea." "I'd love to, go easy on me though, okay?"
"Oh come on, you might beat me this time." "Maybe, but I never have before, so what's different about now?" Astrid said with a laugh.
"HUZZA!" "Oh this is SO hot!" Go Essa! Beat her! Er, sorry Astrid."
"It's okay Josh, I get it. She's your girl!" "Okay, then.... KILL HER ESSA!"
"Okay, no need to kill anybody Babe, just a friendly Duel." "I didn't mean it literally." Josh said with a wink.
"WHOA! Look at you. Essa, you're Magnificent....so freakin' HOT. Oh man...."
"Ahhhh! I knew you'd wiiiiiiiiiin!"
"And that's how it's done!" *Oof* "Woo Hoo! Congrats Beautiful! You whipped her butt!"
"Okay, well great match, Congrats Essa, good to see you, we can... er, alright well I see you're busy. I'll talk to you later. Bye!"
"Oh my gawd!" (Seriously!? Great, now I'm stuck in here until they're done.)
Josh and Essa had no idea Astrid had been using the Research machine located in the room they'd been given by her Dad for their stay. Astrid didn't know it was meant for them since it had previously been a dorm room for students. She wondered a little why the three single beds were gone, but thought perhaps the Sages were just remodeling or something. She was washing her hands in the bathroom when she heard Josh and Essa enter the room and then...yeah. Very obvious what was going on behind that door. The lovers left the room after awhile to check out the gardens and do a little fishing, and Astrid quietly slipped away. They never knew she was there...or did they?
"Hey, did you hear somebody yell, "Oh Gawd!" when we were in the bedroom?" "Yeah, but I just thought it was you."
"Oh, okay, maybe it was." Essa said with a saucy laugh.
Hey everybody! I can't believe I actually posted an entire post before Midnight for once and not just a placeholder screenshot! Yay! I edited it a little after posting, but mostly just to fix typos and add a little to the last screenshot. Anyway, I'll start working on comments next. Hope y'all had a wonderful day/night!
So funny Essa beat Jules too, and with the same topic! Nice how the game gives injured Sims the bandage eh? I wonder why it doesn't in Snowy Escape? Oh well. She didn't even at least say Hi to Mario? They must've both just been VERY busy I guess. Nice of Dell to bring Ruby for a visit on campus. What a treat for Jules. Funny how Terrell was the mascot. Where's his head though?
Congrats to Jules for getting all A+! Great job! Nice to see all those challenge Sims, and Lydia. Yeah, to really understand how horrid dorm life is for most Sims in my opinion, they can't have anywhere else to go to use things, very little money/furnishings/skills, no reward traits, or very few etc. Then you'll see why I abhor dorm life in DU. When they're stuck there with not much of anything, it's a very different experience than what Jules has seen. If you really want a challenge with DU some time, try doing what I did with three of my previous DU students. They started out Rags to Riches, no skills, no simoleans, nothing. I had them get some skills up to Level 3 and a few simoleans before enrolling, but that was it. Very tough, but doable and fun!
The rings are a nice touch if the engagement will be longer, yes. I don't bother with Sims that elope right away. There's no point! Oh man, wait until you hear them in pain while using that thing to share knowledge. It sounds terrible for them. o.O
Yes, that's one reason why I prefer to play with no autonomy. They still do dumb things with that turned on though, which annoys me to no end. They shouldn't do ANYTHING unless I tell them to. *sigh*
Some of the default outfits for NPC dormmates is just atrocious. What's really annoying is if they have the 'Big Dresser' or 'Clothes Horse,' not sure what it's called, hidden trait. Those Sims change outfits constantly and if you try to edit their wardrobe, it doesn't stick. Oh sure, Jules wasn't doing anything wrong, she's single. Just was out of character for her. Love the Beguiling trait. It's so handy when you need two Sims to romance quickly! Especially nice for things like the 100 Baby Challenge.
Cute dance animation that isn't a dance you caught for Sakura and Kyoshi. It certainly looks like a happy dance though. Tsk, Bryon, if you're going to have two drinks at once at least make them the same drink! Mixing drinks up like that is a recipe for disaster. o.O HAHA River certainly is having an, er, interesting night eh?
Sweet of Wolfgang to bring Sakura a drink and chat a bit. Whoa! She blew him a kiss! That's great! Foldable guitar! LOL I love it! Aww and look at Wolfgang behind her, smiling. He's so Smitten with her.
Well, isn't that interesting, the gift from Siobhan. Trying to suck up are we dear? Hmm? Oh man, I love that Essa was the one to give Sakura the gifts from the band. What nice gifts too! I love how you've made Joaquin French and how you have him use French phrases when speaking. Great gift from them too, funny comment about Big Brother watching her.
Great gifts from Wolfgang, so thoughtful and romantic with the roses. Of course Kyoshi had to put his number in there too. Their 'Bro' friendship kind of grinds my gears. I don't understand how Sakura can't see it's all fake. They must be very, very good actors or something.
Very, very nice gifts from Kyoshi for Sakura. Aww, nice toast to Sakura from River, dirty, probably stinky River. LOL Wolfgang's silent toast and the look on his face just makes me want to cry for him and for her. So sad...
Wonderful birthday party, sweet kiss between Kyoshi and Sakura. Gah! I'm still torn I guess. But I'm still leaning toward Wolfgang. No worries about the outfit changes, it happens, you can't control them so might as well just go with it.
Yes, they have earned the right to be so lovey dovey all the time since they were forced to be apart for so long. They're just catching up for lost time. You're welcome about the dazed moodlet. I wouldn't have known either if I hadn't already played in DU a few times and did a ton of research about DU.
I know the story was meant for her daughters, I guess I must've just thought it was to the Grandparents too for some reason since she started out writing to them. I know ideally the girls should know their Father and I hope they do, for their sake. Sadly, I really don't see it happening any time soon. Maybe after Rohan has matured more. Yes it will take time to think exactly how to word telling them. Good luck to Jenny!
Hmm, seems as if Mr. Rohan is feeling a bit guilty eh? Blowing up at his sister like that, and arguing with himself about keeping everything a secret. If anyone is a spoiled brat, it's him. Grow up Rohan, start taking responsibility for your actions. Sheesh! I know he's just a scared kid, but he made that bed, now he needs to lay in it.
So now they're figuring it out thanks to Naoki's co-worker. The look on Bryon's face is priceless in that one screenshot; the fear, confusion, disbelief, it's all there. Great job with that! Loved the letting the exercises slide comments too. So cute!
Poor Randi! Coming from someone with Grandchildren around Kristine's age, I can certainly understand where she's coming from. My poor back... I love the male pregnancy moodlets too, they're fun!
That night after soccer practice, Farrah insisted Jules join her at a party some of her friends were hosting at their off campus house to celebrate the end of term. Jules had wanted to get a head start on packing up her things so she could move back home to Dell and Sofia's house tomorrow, but Farrah was persistent. Farrah was bummed that Jules wouldn't be spending another semester in the dorms, so Jules felt like she owed her friend a fun night out.
Farrah immediately threw herself into party mode.
But Jules felt her stomach flip uncomfortably as she saw several of the people she had been messing around with this past semester. Yeah, she was definitely gonna need a few drinks to make it through the evening...
Soon, a game of spin the bottle began, and Jules found herself coerced into joining.
Ulrike Faust, who Jules had not seen since her days in the Renegades, was the first to spin, and of course, the bottle landed on Jules. And it turned out Ulrike was an excellent kisser.
Jules spun next, and the bottle landed on Sakura Li, a quiet student Jules had seen around campus the past two semesters, and Jules gave her a quick and gentle peck, blushing a bit.
A few more people took their turns, and then, the bottle landed on Jules yet again. You've got to be kidding me, thought Jules, as a ginger boy named Maxwell Pike crawled over to plant his kiss.
The game dispersed soon after, and Jules and Farrah joined a group that had gathered around a bonfire in the backyard.
"Who wants to play truth or dare?" A girl who had introduced herself as Roxanne suggested, so Jules got roped into another game.
First, Roxanne dared Maxwell Pike to go streaking.
Then it was a girl named Jenny's turn, and she picked truth. Maxwell asked her if she had ever kissed a girl.
Jenny blushed a bit and answered. "No, but I wouldn't be opposed to it."
So it really shouldn't have surprised Jules when it came to her turn and she picked dare, Farrah dared her to kiss Jenny.
And really, what was one more kiss? She felt like she starting to lose count
After the game of truth or dare dispersed, Jules went inside to get a slice of pizza, but was intercepted by Adrian Horn, captain of the Debate Guild, slurring his words a bit as he blurted out, "So I hear you've been giving out free kisses tonight."
"Um, actually, not reall-"
He cut her off with a brief, awkward kiss.
And then he immediately ran out of the room in a rush of terror and embarrassment.
(Okay, that last kiss was a bit of a stretch, BUT I WAS GETTING DESPERATE )
And whew! I made it to this stage of the aspiration! I meant to get to 7 BFs/GFs, but I must have miscounted, since I was up to 8 by the time she got all her kisses. I'm gonna wait until a future time to do the three dates part... and that's all I'll say about that
Thanks @SoulGal7 for the suggestion of having a game of spin the bottle and truth or dare. It definitely made this aspiration possible Also thank you to everyone who loaned me their sims for this aspiration - sorry I didn't get around to including Roxanne, @Hermitgirl. Maybe someday
This party isn't quite over, but I'm going to divide it into two updates and post the second part tomorrow.
When they arrived at the house, Sakura felt a panic attack coming on and tensed suddenly. She looked at Kiyoshi and burst into tears.
Kiyoshi immediately took her into his arms.
Kiyoshi: "Shhh...shhh...Sakura. Everything's fine...I think that party may have been a bit too much for you."
Sakura looked up at him, "Oh Kiyoshi...I have to tell you something...something happened and I..."
Kiyoshi: "Shh...Sakura, you're so upset...whatever it is, it will be fine. I'll make some tea and we can sit down and talk about it..."
Sakura: "No, it can't wait...I have to tell you NOW...something happened..."
Kiyoshi: "Whatever it was, it can't be that bad...."
Kiyoshi could see that Sakura was getting near hysterical. He held her hand and brought her inside. She could barely walk as almost every step she took she broke down and sobbed.
Finally, Kiyoshi got her into the conservatory, but she wouldn't sit down.
Kiyoshi: "Sakura, come and sit down...nothing is that bad that we can't talk about it..."
Sakura: "Yes, oh YES, it is..." Sakura then just spilled everything out and told Kiyoshi about the night of The Plumbobs concert and how Astrid wasn't there because she was looking for Pumpkin who had run away, and Jenny had laryngitis....and then they wanted Sakura to sing, and she had stagefright and then Wolfgang had given her the courage to sing her song.
Sakura: "....and then after the song, we just looked at each other, and I thought how grateful I was to him....that I could never have done it without him...and I...and I...oh my gosh....oh Kiyoshi, I'm sorry I did this....I kissed Wolfgang..."
Kiyoshi didn't say a word and just stared at her. He thought back to the party, and remembered what had happened after Sakura and Wolfgang had finished their song, and how they had looked at each other.
Kiyoshi looked at Sakura in disappointment, "So...just that...just one kiss?"
Sakura answered speaking between sobs: "Yes...I just kissed him...I mean...no...I told him I was sorry I had done that right after I kissed him, because I knew it was wrong...and then he....and then he..."
Kiyoshi: "And then he what, Sakura...take your time...it's okay..."
Sakura: "No...no...it's NOT okay...because...Wolfgang kissed me...." she blurted out and sobbed.
Kiyoshi just stared at Sakura, wanting to pound his fist into something, "Is that all that happened?" he asked rather abruptly.
Sakura looked at him, "Oh Kiyoshi...oh my gosh...you wouldn't think that I...that I did anything else, would you? No, that is all we did. We just kissed each other. But I have been feeling so guilty about what I had done, and I just could never forgive myself. I am so sorry, Kiyoshi. It just happened and I wish it hadn't and I immediately regretted it...I'm so sorry..."
[Kiyoshi clenched his teeth and thought, "Dang! So, it was true. He knew it! He knew that something had happened between Sakura and Wolfgang. They had kissed each other, and obviously the kiss had affected Sakura a lot, or else she would not feel so guilt-ridden about it. And Wolfgang had taken advantage of Sakura during a weak moment, a moment when Wolfgang knew her defenses would be down. Kiyoshi knew now that Wolfgang did indeed have deeper feelings for Sakura. He had guessed as much when he saw how Wolfgang looked at Sakura at the hospital, and then again tonight at the party. It was a good thing that Kiyoshi had Wolfgang give him his word that Wolfgang wouldn't try anything with Sakura while Kiyoshi was gone. Kiyoshi knew that Wolfgang cared about Sakura and Wolfgang would not want to do anything to risk Sakura's recovery. It had been a good move on Kiyoshi's part to do that."]
Kiyoshi looked at Sakura. He knew that she deeply regretted what she had done, and it took courage to tell him. She was so frail right now. It was best not to argue about it. He took a deep breath: "Sakura, I can understand how it happened. You were both caught up in the moment, and as best friends, you care about each other, and it was just natural that you showed affection for each other. Yes, I am upset, and I think that Wolfgang may have taken advantage of you. But I do understand how much Wolfgang cares about you, too, and I am indebted to him for helping to find you. But, Sakura. it was a kiss, that's all it was, a kiss between two friends. But, it is best to let go of that incident and move on. And, In another month, you will be coming back to Mt. Komorebi, and that is all that matters to me."
Kiyoshi: "I know this was hard for you to tell me, Sakura. But I'm glad you did. I don't want any secrets between us. I'm still here for you. We are still together, that hasn't changed. Come here, Sakura..."
Kiyoshi held Sakura in his arms hearing her muffled sobs.
Sakura: "Oh Kiyoshi, I am so, so sorry it happened. Will you forgive me...?"
Kiyoshi looked at her with that pleading look in her eyes. Oh why did this have to happen? Kiyoshi knew then that he had to tell Sakura what happened with Kaori. She may find out from someone else, so it was best to do it now. "I trust you and I know that it will not happen again. If I forgive you...will you forgive me? I have something that I need to tell you...something that happened at the camp..."
Sakura closed her eyes and tried to block out the thoughts she was having, but somehow she knew that this involved Kaori.
Naoki started screaming in the middle of the night.
(Naoki) “It’s shining!!! AAHHHH!”
(Bryon) “What is shining, Naoki...?”
(Naoki) “My belly!!! There’s really something in there, Bryon!!”
Naoki went to sit on the bed.
(Naoki) “I’m so scared...”
(Bryon) “Oh, Naoki...”
I went to sit next to him and gave him a little massage.
(Bryon) “Relax. We’ll go to the hospital tomorrow, remember?”
(Naoki) “Yes.. But... What if there’s really an alien baby? I mean, that’s not logically possible, right? How am I-“
(Bryon) “Don’t think about that yet. Jeez, you are more stressed than me, and I’m the one that has to take 3 final exams later.”
(Naoki) “I’m so sorry... You should focus on your studies, and yet here I am with this... Problem...”
(Bryon) “We’ll face everything together, okay?”
In the end, we didn’t sleep anymore. We just talked to each other, the entire night. We laughed. We had a good time. Im tired, but I had a lot of fun.
(Naoki) “When’s your first final exam?”
(Bryon) “It starts at 8am.”
(Naoki) “I think you should get yourself ready then... It’s 7:30”
(Bryon) “7:30 already? Oh man, and I didn't even study... Those final exams are going to be a disaster... Well then, I better get myself ready.”
(Naoki) “Hey, wait!”
(Bryon) “What?”
(Naoki) “You’re the smartest person I know. You’ll be just fine. Okay?”
(Bryon) “Hehe. Okay. Thank you, Naoki.”
(Naoki) “We’ll face everything together, right?”
That made me laugh.
In the end, Naoki was right. Everything was fine. I mean, lol. Straight A+. I bet the Brainiacs helped me in some kind of way...
Anyways. Now that my term has ended on a good note, we could finally concentrate on going to the doctor tomorrow.
Okay. Almost. I first have to enrol myself in my last term.
And I still have this last tutor session... THE LAST ONE! FINALLY!
While at that last tutor session, one of the people I kissed a few days ago called me, saying he had a crush on me. I ehhh... Told him that what I did was a mistake and I only want to be friends.
Luckily he took it pretty well. Yeah, let's indeed pretend nothing happened.
But now I'm wondering... There are still 3 other strangers that I kissed (& apparently asked to be my boy- or girlfriend in the heat of the moment) but never heard from them after that...
Ibara...
Quintin...
Lanuola...
Do I need to worry? Are they secretly plotting something behind my back? Or would they have forgotten about me and moved on with their lives?
Maybe we'll never find out. Dun dun dunnnnn.
Bryon officially reached the last aspiration milestone! I actually got a screenshot of that, but I forgot to turn on my UI-settings so now it's just this, lol. I really need to stop forgetting to turn that on....
@permanentrose - Yeah, good work on that Serial Romantic Aspiration! lol I think that maybe Jules had a magnet or something in that necklace she had on, and it was attracting that bottle to her! lol That pose of Maxwell literally crawling towards Jules for a kiss is priceless. And hilarious at the end with Adrian...he probably wanted to kiss Jules, but didn't want anyone to know he had...you know, he had a reputation to keep, and Jules was a "loose" woman! lol Noo...Jules is just confused. That was a sweet kiss with Sakura...shy...poor girl...I am going to have to loosen her up when she hits uni. I think being raised by her grandfather and always thinking about everyone else's feelings, she is a bit reserved. I love that Roxanne was the one who initiated that truth and dare game. lol And of course, there goes Maxwell streaking. He looked the type to do that. lol
Isn't it funny that we perceive a sim a certain way in our games? @Hermitgirl - Like if Roxanne hadn't been there, @Kanindota and River had, it would have been River instigating that truth or dare challenge. lol River in my game is just cray cray, and Roxanne is very outgoing...I didn't control her in the last chapter, and here she is the first to start singing Happy Birthday. Jules actually behaves herself in my game, but she does always seem to be around when I am trying to take a screenie. She's a diva, and she knows it. lol (just kidding).
April 15 and 16
Roxanne's Thursday and Friday! I decided to wait a day to post on purpose because I'm not telling a story and it gets pretty samey-samey with the grind. I do like it to an extent although for some reason it makes me anxious. No wonder I only took a few classes on my sims at a time! Just posting one picture from this play session and put the the rest under spoilers.
April 15
Roxanne's term ended on a Wednesday and at that time she re-enrolled. Really all she had to do was homework for her two classes by the next day but I start the grind early. So she worked all through the night... 4 homework assignments, term papers, and presentation, by Thursday morning she had gotten everything done at least to normal quality.
On Thursday she had two classes and of course soccer. More work on upgrading in between times and new homework to add to her workload.
She had been injured at soccer practice on but the uncomfortable moodlet never seems to get up enough steam to overpower the rest of her moods during the grind.
I did wonder if the injury balm we got from Snowy escape would help with her injury but I didn't want to send her to fight with a machine.
April 16
On Friday she had two classes. After her first class she decided to use some magic to get feedback on her presentation. The other Roxanne wasn't too sure about it so after a little more work it looked good! After her second class she still had enough time to turn in her presentation. After that she had a few minutes to juggle before the game. Lol... her fitness level is at 8 so since sometimes I'm on pins and needles making sure to send her to class on time she spends a lot of time just before classes juggling. I like it because you can just stop them easily in that activity.
Whew on Friday night it was the weekend... lots to do since I want to work on the aspiration more but no classes to get to on time! I really do feel like taking a full course load (and trying to get A's) would be impossible without some sort of potions, reward traits or something to help them along. Is it even doable?
@Hermitgirl - Love that Roxanne used herself to critique the presentation, but her other self thought it needed work. lol That was funny. And awesome to Roxanne for making an incredible goal! Woot! When I did the uni challenge, I was in all the clubs and had a part-time job...it was rough. @Karababy52 finished that challenge, but my girl never did...and still sits in limbo waiting for me to play her again. lol
@Skeilah - I have never had a male alien pregnancy, so didn't know the stomach glowed. But seriously, do you think that Bryon and Naoki should go to a "regular" doctor. I mean, what happens if Naoki is brought to a science lab to be experimented on...or maybe that's your plan! lol Congrats to Bryon for completing the term without studying and getting all A+'s Woot! Loved that one class - Learning to Fake It! Malevolent Machine Learning - Funny title. And the three that Bryon kissed might have something in mind for him, eh? Hmmm....
@Karababy52 - Congrats again to Essa and Josh on their engagement, and what a nice thing to do to visit Glimmerbrook again and let her Dad and the other Sages know of her engagement. I think that it's a wonderful idea to get married there. And that Essa whipped poor Astrid's butt lol, and...um...Josh...though it was rather hot...and they ended up...yah, well, we all know where that went. lol And I love that joke about did you hear someone say Oh gawd (which was Astrid), and then Josh thought it was Essa (hehehe...). Laughed at that one, and the saucy smile line great chapter.
Oh and comment on your comment on Joaquin being French....he is French! lol His last name is Le Chien, which means Dog. Sergio is Italian.
I love how you wrote everyone's Sims into this update! Jenny is very true to herself, and I love how Jules was able to have a nice party like this...very true of some student life!
Just comments... first I never saw a try for baby option with Rubanoid so I guess not! I really don't want Roxanne to have kids yet anyway. I'll wait till the beginning of her adult life maybe?
Josh and Essa are so cute together. Hot chili tongues!
I've never had them get dazed by sharing knowledge but I know now lol. I might have to use that to get a ghost in the future though! I love the potions we can use between the needs and the emotional stability ones they are machines! I know people complain about it and some would like it gimped but I love using it if I have it. I'm glad Essa beat Josh at debate by the way.. he always wins in gaming it's her turn!
Also just letting you know, I like Josh showing off... without his shirt even more! LOL.
Oh Gawd.. that was funny! In the post where Essa and Josh tell about their engagement. I'd be mad if I were stuck in the bathroom too!
That's so funny that Essa won on the same subject! Kind of makes sense she had more practice! The bandages are great too... I never had a sim in soccer and had never seen it until now.
Grats on her grades too... I don't like living on campus personally it seems to take longer to get places.
For the Kisses post that was a great story way to tell it! Lol .. I'm wondering why the guy was in terror though did he have a paranoid trait?
I'm okay with not getting kissed... really.. no really, I'm okay! *cries* https://youtu.be/VMUz2TNMvL0
Lol great way to mimic a couple dance even if they look a little dorky. I can't wait until we have couple dancing (and we better one day!). What a great party in general too. I loved the present opening.
For the post where Sakura fesses up it really doesn't sound that bad. Just kissing him, thing is she has such confusing feelings too. Can't wait to hear Kioshi's confession though!
I definitely see our sims in certain ways too and our stories and what they've done or our jokes about them have influenced it.
Also another comment I have other uni students in other saves that are going through it but very slowly... also mostly already adults living at home and not experiences the campus stuff at all. I hadn't even ever done the aspiration. So I'm seeing a lot of new stuff here.
Laughed my butt off over the look Bryon gave Naoki when told it might be an alien baby! I love the male pregnancies they are pretty funny.
On the next "It's shining!" post again I laughed hard.. poor Naoki!
Grats on the grades too and getting so far into the aspiration .
@lilypadmeulin -April 12th - I'm so sorry, I thought I commented on this one. So, Rohan has a sister. If he's been sleeping during the day, he is obviously depressed about the situation. I'm surprised that his grandparents aren't noticing anything different about him, but probably think he just needs time to get over Jenny. Meanwhile, Rohan is trying to ignore the whole situation of Jenny and her pregnancy (now birth), He is probably feeling ashamed of himself for having gotten Jenny preggers, and is probably worried about how his grandparents will react when they learn of this. Does Rohan still want to be with Jenny - maybe - maybe not, but he knows that if he is, they will be poor, and maybe that is something he is worried about, that he would have to support the family...that he would never be able to fulfill his dreams. Something's going to happen...either his grandparents will see Jenny and the babies, or his sister will, or a friend of the family's. Rohan has to come clean, because if they hear another way, it will be much worse. My two cents' worth. lol
Get out the Kleenex...more sadness hits Sakura with Kiyoshi's confession.
March 23 - Kiyoshi's Confession
[Sakura looked stricken and thought, "Oh no...it's true...he and Kaori...they're together again...but it doesn't make sense...why is he here...?']
Sakura asked, almost knowing the answer before she heard it, "Does this involve Kaori?"
Kiyoshi was going to try to tell her another way, but if he was going to tell her the truth, he had to tell her everything, "Yes, I'm sorry, it does."
Kiyoshi told Sakura about how he was feeling when he didn't get any letters from her, and thought she had forgotten about him...and how Kaori made him feel so needed because she paid attention to him...and then the party...and the drinking...and how he and Kaori had started kissing and then...it got hot and heavy and Kiyoshi and Kaori ended up messing around in the shower together.
Kiyoshi saw Sakura's shocked face looking at him, her face tear-streaked, and then she cried out loud. The cry sounded like a wounded animal..."WHY? Why did you have to be with HER? WHY? We haven't even been together like THAT....and you were with HER...! With HER! " Sakura shouted, "This wasn't just a kiss, Kiyoshi...you and Kaori...oh my plumbobs...I can't even think of the two of you together...this hurts, Kiyoshi...this hurts so bad...I don't understand why you did this...I know I was wrong because I kissed Wolfgang...but I never did...I never did what you did! I never did THAT! How could you?"
Kiyoshi: "Oh, Sakura, I never meant to hurt you...and if I could, I would erase what happened from my past. I know I was wrong. I hurt you...I cheated on you...and I will never forgive myself for having done what I did. And all I can do now is ask for your forgiveness...and I promise you that this will never happen again...I swear it won't. Please believe me, Sakura. I just want us to be close again, like we have been..."
Sakura was crying openly now, "Kiyoshi, my feelings are a mess...I am just so mad at you...and at her...and at myself. I'm sad. I'm angry, but most of all, I'm really hurt. And I just don't understand how you could have been with her...I don't understand why you came here to search for me...," Sakura put her hands to her head and cried again, "...And your coming here...that...that...shows me that you want to be with me...and you found me...and these past few days have been so good between us," she said as she broke down and cried again, "....and now you tell me...you tell me THIS..."she was crying so much, she was trying to catch her breath between sobs.
[Kiyoshi stood there thinking back to that party..."Why didn't he just tell Kaori no? Why did he have to mess around with her? Dang it...he doesn't even want to think about it anymore...It was wrong...so wrong..."]
Sakura seemed to think about something and looked up at him and asked..."Kiyoshi...was that...was that your first time with Kaori?"
Kiyoshi just nodded his head, "I shouldn't really say, but, no...no...we were together before...it was when we were dating..."
Sakura thought that maybe she shouldn't have asked that question, because now she felt worse than before.
[Sakura put her hand to her face and cried into her hand and thought, "So they had messed around before...Kiyoshi had more of a history with Kaori than he did with me."] And the more Sakura thought about this the more she cried. Her throat hurt and her vision was blurred because she was crying.
Kiyoshi: "Sakura...I'm sorry, I can't change that I was with Kaori before, and that you and I haven't been together THAT way. But the way I was feeling when I was at the camp, that night, at the party, I wanted you to be there. I needed you to be there. But you weren't. I felt so lonely. There were so many times when we were living in Mt. Komorebi that I wanted to be with you in THAT way, but I just wanted to wait...to make it special...I messed up, Sakura, I messed up at the camp...and I can't take that back...I wish I could...and I'm so sorry..."
Sakura wiped her eyes: "Kiyoshi...when I saw you come through that door at the hospital, I just wanted to hold you, I wanted you to hold me, and kiss me and take me away from everything. And those letters you wrote to me...and how you kissed me when we opened them together...my heart was yours. My love for you was so strong. I loved you so much Kiyoshi, I would have done anything for you. Anything! But, my heart is broken now, Kiyoshi, so broken...and I don't know what I can do to unbreak it," she cried again not wanting to continue.
Kiyoshi: "Sakura, I know this is all my fault. I will make it up to you. I swear I will. I don't want to lose you. I made a mistake. A terrible mistake. And, if you need me to leave, I understand..." he said as he broke down.
Sakura looked at Kiyoshi and even though he had hurt her so much, she still had feelings for him. "No, Kiyoshi, I don't want you to go. We had something, you and I, something very special, and now...it's just not the same..."
Kiyoshi: "Oh Sakura, I just want to hold you right now, but I am afraid you will reject me. I care so much about you...when I heard you were missing, I needed to come here to find you...I felt if I found you, everything would be good between us again...and I just want us to move forward from today, from all the bad things that happened in our past. I just want to work on our relationship, to be like we used to be...please Sakura, can we move on from this?"
Sakura's eyes had tears in them as she spoke, "...I will try...Kiyoshi...I will try to forgive you and move forward...but it will take me some time. I'm so hurt right now, I don't think I can talk anymore...I just...I just...I don't know how I'm feeling anymore...I just feel so...empty..."
Sakura looked at Kiyoshi and how grief-stricken he looked, and thought about him coming all this way just to find her "Kiyoshi...please...just hold me..." she said crying, "...just hold me...."
Kiyoshi went to her and embraced her. Kiyoshi held her in his arms and thought of how fragile she was. He kept holding her until Sakura finally pulled away.
Kiyoshi took Sakura's hand and helped her upstairs and they got ready for bed. No one spoke. It was the first time they were in the same bed together. How ironic that they were now together, and yet they were so very far apart.
Sakura had curled up in a fetal position beside him. Kiyoshi gently held her and cradled her in his arms and stroked her hair. He felt her body shake as the sobs wracked her body, and she continued to cry through the night.
Kiyoshi lay awake thinking for most of the night, and thought how different this night could have been between them. Everything was ruined now. Everything that had been built up again in the last few days was gone. Kiyoshi wondered how he could ever get it back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Notes: Kiyoshi just happened to get the teen angst "Time To Wear Black" sad moodlet when they got to the house, and Sakura got a sad moodlet because he was sad.
Hahaha, omg, I love that Roxanne duplicated herself to get feedback on her project. Such a fun idea, and very in character for Roxanne and your game. And I see Roxanne has a soccer injury too. Even if a lot of the same stuff is happening to Roxanne, I always enjoy seeing your posts! I agree, I think that taking a full course load would be hard without some extra help. You guys are lucky to have potions to help with that! I'm definitely utilizing reward traits.
Lol, she totally would have kissed Roxanne, but by the time I saw your comment to offer her up, I had already played for that update since I tend to play ahead. Also to answer your question about Adrian running away in terror - not an autonomous action. So for this party, I used MCCC to make a giant household so I was controlling like 16 people so I wouldn't get frustrated at them not listening to me for my screenshots, and I saw that Adrian had the unflirty trait and thought it would be amusing if his kiss with Jules was super awkward and he freaked out. He's running away because I cheated the terrified moodlet for him and picked "go...here?" So totally a "cheated" response, but I wanted it for story purposes
Aw, so nice of Essa and Josh to go tell her family together, and for Josh to officially go to the realm with her for the first time too! From your screenshots of Glimmerbrook, it looks like a gorgeous place to hold a wedding, so if you end up having it there, I'm sure it will be absolutely lovely. I think it's cute that Astrid and Essa are friends in both your and @AnnoyingTiger's games! And Josh's comments during the duel cracked me up, he got so competitive and invested on Essa's behalf, lol. And poor Astrid accidentally getting stuck there while they were woohooing
Usually I would have Jules say hi to Mario, but I was just so in the zone that I didn't want to cancel the action of her writing her paper so I just let them be, lol. I'm sure they're used to seeing each other casually around campus though since they both attend the same school. And I'm not sure where the lobster head was for Terrell's costume. He had it at first, so I didn't even know it was him, but my lobster mascots tend to take off their heads frequently. I don't think I've ever seen the dragon do it though.
Maybe one day I will try a rags to riches uni challenge and see if can bear it. I can definitely see how it would be a struggle though, kudos to you for doing it!
I don't think I've actually played a male alien pregnancy before. I think I only have one alien baby born by abduction, and I cheated her father into labor since I didn't want to wait, lol. So this is a fun journey to see things like his stomach sparkling lol. I might have to play a proper male pregnancy at some point now. That was cute to have them stay up all night and chat. I think Naoki is definitely the better option out of the two of them to be pregnant though. Even though he's still freaking out, I feel like he's just more relaxed and go with the flow than Bryon, so I think in the end he'll hand this pregnancy best. And then Bryon still did amazing on his exams! Nice work! I'm curious to see what you do for their doctor's appointment tomorrow
Oh man, so much sadness and honesty! And those teenage mood swings! At least they will be a thing of the past for you soon
I am really glad they both decided to be honest with each other. I was nervous Kiyoshi wasn't going to come clean at first, but then he did and I'm proud of him. And that is really hard for poor Sakura. I feel like it's actually kind of better that Kaori and Kiyoshi's first time wasn't in the showers though...I feel like it would have been more meaningful if that had been their first time. And it made me sad to see that she thinks that Kiyoshi and Kaori's history is somehow more important/meaningful since they messed around, when physical intimacy is just one part of a relationship and not the defining factor of what makes a relationship meaningful and important - especially as a teen! Don't feel pressured to mess around, Sakura! Do it on your own terms, and don't rush
Oh man, I wonder where things will go from here though...I think after a conversation like this, I could definitely support her choosing to work things out with Kiyoshi and stay with him. But then there's Wolfgang, who's so hopelessly in love with her, and Sakura also adores him too...man, you made quite the love triangle here!
And I laughed at the poses too for the spin the bottle game. They all gave me a pretty good chuckle. Don't feel pressured to have Sakura loosen up too much though. I love that she's sweet and true to herself!
April - Day 16:"Let's make beautiful music together."
Notes
When the fish stopped biting at the Gardens, Essa would've liked to do some paintings, but she had forgotten to pack the easel. They hadn't brought any cameras either, but luckily they did have their cells phones. The couple took a few selfies and other shots around the gardens and then decided to do a little stargazing.
The stars seemed so much brighter here in the realm and the colors streaming through the sky just enhanced their beauty. When Essa started to get up, so did Josh, but Essa asked him to stay right where he was. She wanted to play the violin for him so he could enjoy music with the magic surrounding them.
Between the stars, the colors, and the way Essa coaxed the violin to sing to the night, it was almost overwhelming. Josh sat up and just watched her, lost in the music she played. She was beautiful and her talent had come so far with the instrument. He stood and snapped a few photos of her as she played, her eyes closed, feeling every note, to capture the treasured moment.
When she was finished they went back to HQ and walked around the back. Essa wanted to show him the bridge and other possible areas on the grounds where they could be married.
They walked hand-in-hand on the bridge until Josh stopped and pulled Essa into his arms for a warm embrace. "I love it here and I love you."
"So, what do you think? Should we get married here?"
"Yes, I do. It's perfect and it's your home."
"It's filled with magic and beauty, just like you. There's no better place than here to marry the woman I love."
Later as Essa was in the bathroom preparing for bed, Josh got online and had a chat with his brothers. He got emotional just writing about their time here and everything they'd experienced.
He felt like the luckiest man alive for having Essa in his life. She was everything to him and he wanted to make her as happy as she'd made him. He couldn't wait for the day they were husband and wife.
L. stopped by to say good night and see if there was anything the needed to make their stay more comfortable. Essa had a chat with her while Josh finished chatting with Joel and Jon.
"Would you like to see some photos we took on the mountain top?" "Oh I would love to, yes!"
"It looks lovely up there, I like the way the snow sparkles from the sun and moonshine. It looks so cold though."
"Oh it was, bitter cold. But we were bundled up and, kept each other warm too."
L. also asked if she could see the ring a little closer. "Oh my, I would guess that's a D clarity solitaire with at least 2 carats."
"I have no idea what any of that means, but I'm guessing it's a good thing?" "Yes Honey, it's magnificent."
"I should go and let you two get some sleep, Simmie, I mean your Dad is probably wondering what happened to me." L. said with a laugh. "Come here and give your Mama a hug!"
"I'd hug you too Josh if your nose wasn't stuck in that computer." L. smirked. "Oh, man, I'm sorry. I was just saying goodbye. Don't go yet."
Josh immediately logged off and stood up with a smile.
"He's very close with his brothers, and wanted to fill them in on everything. They chat every day." "It's alright Sweetie, I understand. Family should share their lives with each other."
"Good night L., I mean...Mom. Thanks for everything. I'm so glad Essa has her family back. She deserves all the love you can give her."
"Thanks too for letting me call you Mom. My parents have been gone for a long time. They were explorers and never came back from a trip into the jungles of Selvadorada when we were just kids. So it means a lot to me to have someone I can call Mom in my life again."
"Such a lovely young man, this one's a keeper Essa. You're very welcome. I've always thought of Essa as my Daughter, and now I have a Son too. Welcome to the family dear."
Sunday was the first day of Spring and their last day in the Realm until after Essa graduates. And, of course, they'd be back for the Wedding one day in the future. They spent some time in Caster's Alley again looking for tomes and brooms Essa hadn't found yet, she showed him the Dueling grounds, they did a little more fishing, spent time with her family and then Josh made a roast chicken with all the trimmings for dinner before they went back home to Britechester.
They told them about their decision to have the Wedding at HQ, and talked about ideas for the day and a variety of other things until it was time for Essa and Josh to go back to their room to pack. Essa would transportalate them from the room, so they said their Goodbyes there, promising to keep in touch.
"Thanks, you're such a sweetheart." "For what?"
"Oh, just, everything. Coming home with me, meeting my family, agreeing to get married here, moving to Britechester, helping me with my studies, being my champion, my best friend. All of that and so much more. It means a lot to me."
"You don't have to thank me for any of that Beautiful. I love you, I'd do anything for you, anything I can to make you happy."
"I know, I just felt like telling you for some reason. It all still doesn't seem real. I lived without any of this for so long, it just makes me grateful that I do now and I don't want to take anything for granted." "I get it. It's cool...are you ready to go back to Britechester now?"
"Yeah, we should get back. I have finals in the morning. That's something else I can't wrap my head around. I'm graduating from university this week. At least I hope so." "You have nothing to worry about. You've been working that cute little butt off. I'm so proud of you Beautiful."
"I'm proud of me too!" Essa laughed. "Alright let's go home."
The next morning, Kiyoshi was up early and had made breakfast for the two of them. Sakura came downstairs and had dark circles under her eyes and had the saddest look on her face. Kiyoshi thought she looked so pale.
When she saw Kiyoshi, she gave him a sad smile.
Kiyoshi" "Sakura, you look really nice this morning. I made your favorite breakfast. Egg ramen. I thought we could sit outside and enjoy the nice day together before I had to leave."
Sakura nodded and said she would make them some tea.
They sat together in the garden, and Kiyoshi told her about the new courier service he had arranged with Kado. He didn't have the heart to tell her what his father had done to prevent him from receiving her letters or from preventing his letters being sent to her. He would tell her when he saw her in Mt. Komorebi. He couldn't tell her now. Yes, another secret, but he just couldn't tell her. She was so fragile and last night, both of their confessions had taken so much out of her. He wanted her to get better, not put her further behind in her recovery.
They talked about Kado then, and Sakura seemed happier. Kiyoshi was glad to see her smile.
But mostly, they didn't talk about anything, and just sat in silence and ate their breakfast. So unlike all the other mornings they had sat together when they could never stop talking to each other.
Before he left, Kiyoshi put the gift box for her birthday on the table in the conservatory. The other gift for Wolfgang was still sitting there. Kiyoshi was almost going to ask what the gift was, but decided against it. It didn't matter now. That was in the past, and he just had to accept that while he was gone, Sakura would probably see Wolfgang. He was, afterall, her best friend. And maybe he should be happy that Wolfgang was such a good friend, because without him, Sakura may not have been found,
Kiyoshi hadn't been able to sleep very well, and had gotten up in the night and had composed a letter to Sakura. On her birthday, he would be at the Training Camp and ex-communicato again. It would be a few days before she got his first letter with the courier service, and he wanted her to have this for her birthday. Sometimes he found it was easier to write down his feelings, rather than say them out loud, and this letter was going to be one of the ways he was going to try and repair the damage he had done. He finished the letter, sealed it and placed it with the gift.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
They said their goodbyes at the ferry dock and he held her hands in his and kissed her goodbye on the cheek.
Kiyoshi headed towards the dock. This was the hardest goodbye he had ever done. He was just about to board the ferry when he heard Sakura call to him.
Suddenly, Sakura ran after him, shouting, "Kiyoshi! Wait!"
Kiyoshi turned around and Sakura grabbed his arm, and pulled him towards her and kissed him on the lips. She released him and Kiyoshi could see that she had tears in her eyes.
This was certainly not the way Kiyoshi had pictured their goodbye, and instinctively he reached up and caressed her cheek,
Sakura took his hands in hers and looked at him, "Write to me, Kiyoshi...I'll see you soon," is all she said, and he squeezed her hand in his and said he would. Maybe, just maybe that kiss she gave him meant that she was ready to forgive him. He hoped that they could get back to how they had felt about each other these last few days...but Kiyoshi was worried that it may not happen. As he boarded the ferry, Kiyoshi had tears in his eyes.
Sakura stayed at the dock until she couldn't see the ferry any more. She stayed there looking out at the water thinking back to the last few days with Kiyoshi. How swiftly things had changed. She broke down and cried again and thought, "He never told me he loved me..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Notes: After Sakura kissed Kiyoshi, he did an autonomous caress cheek. Given the context of this chapter and what had happened between them, this looked like such a sad, parting shot between them.
Comments
Kiyoshi and Sakura were having a dance together outside.
Time for the dj! He didn't stay very long. Dominic Fyres of the Spin Masters Club appeared briefly, but then left. He probably had to go to work.
There's one at every party! Look at that Bryon slinging two drinks! Sheesh!
No-one was sure who this was. This sim just showed up out of the blue. Might have been Jacques Villareal or Yuki Behr who are both members of Knights of the Hedge, of which Wolfgang Munch is also a member. Or, some random party crasher.
And it's not a party until someone pees themselves...OMG! River!
Wolfgang came over to Sakura with a drink in his hand.
Wolfgang: "I thought you would be a bit parched after that singing..."
Sakura shook her head and said she really couldn't drink anything else tonight.
(Sakura blows Wolfgang an autonomous kiss.)
Wolfgang: "Sakura, this is a non-alcoholic drink. Just fruity juice. Nothing more. They do have non-alcoholic beverages at the bar, you know. I just wanted to come over and make sure you were okay."
Sakura smiled at him and took the drink, "Thanks...yeah, I'm sorry about before. I just had a panic attack after...when River..."
Wolfgang interrupted her, "It's okay, Sakura...I know...and River...hey, he was just being River, right?"
They both laughed. Just then, Joaquin made another announcement that it was time for Sakura to open her gifts and everyone gathered around.
Sakura looked at all the gifts. There were so many! She couldn't begin to thank everyone enough. Joaquin had said she could leave all the gifts there and he and Sergio would bring them over the next morning.
Sofia had bought Sakura a guitar because she thought that Sakura might like to learn a new instrument, and Sofia could teach her. Yep, a foldable variety. Very handy for travelling.
Luna had bought Sakura a yoga mat and a yoga book, as she had heard that yoga was a good way to relieve anxiety.
Siobhan, Sergio's girlfriend, and leader of the Paragons, had bought Sakura a new outfit and every piece of clothing was pink. Siobhan told Sakura that she would always be an honorary member of the Paragons.
The members of The Plumbobs band had gotten Sakura a black leather jacket with The Plumbobs logo on it, and a signed band poster autographed by all the band members. Sakura had tears in her eyes when she opened it.
Sergio and Joaquin had gotten her a simbit watch, that had a built-in GPS and tracking device.
Joaquin: "Now, Sakura, when you go for a walk, you may lose weight, but we will never lose you again. We can track you with this. It's like...Big Brother...oh oui! We are watching you!" Sakura laughed and Joaquin and Sergio came over and gave her a hug.
Wolfgang, other than arranging the reunion of The Plumbobs band, had gotten her a dozen red roses and a new cellphone. The police had pretty much destroyed her old cellphone looking for clues about her disappearance. Sakura thanked him and said that his surprise was the best thing ever, and that the roses were beautiful. She said it was so thoughtful of him to get her a new cell phone.
Wolfgang: "And you will notice that I've already programmed in my number into the phone for you!"
Kiyoshi asked to see the phone for a moment and Sakura handed it to him, Kiyoshi fiddled with it for a moment and handed it back to her, "There you go, now mine is in there, too!" he laughed.
Everyone thought that was quite humorous and Wolfgang gave Kiyoshi a nudge in the ribs, "Good one there bro...!"
There were so many other gifts, and lastly, Sakura opened Kiyoshi's. There were three gifts on the table from him. The first one was a Wishing Bonsai tree, which Kiyoshi had a rather hard time finding in Windenburg.
Kiyoshi: "This is a special bonsai, and it will bring good luck and harmony to Sakura." There were oohs and ahhs from everyone when he said that.
The second gift consisted of two small white and red envelopes. Sakura opened the first envelope carefully. Inside were two tickets to the Olympic Snowboard Events, being held the end of next month. Kiyoshi told Sakura that one ticket was for her, and the other was for whomever she wanted to bring with her to Mt. Komorebi. The other envelope contained travel and accommodation vouchers for the trip. Sakura looked at the items in her hand. This must have cost Kiyoshi a lot of simoleons. She couldn't believe that she would actually be seeing Kiyoshi compete in person at the Olympics. She was overwhelmed and started to cry.
Kiyoshi held her hands in his and told her that of course, he wanted her to be there when he competed. And then afterwards, they would do the mountain summit together again.
Kiyoshi did tell Sakura that he had one more gift for her, but that he would leave it for her at her house and she couldn't open it until her actual birthday. Sakura felt so lucky to have him as her boyfriend. He really did care for her a lot.
River raised a glass to Sakura and toasted her, "To Sakura, the birthday girl! To a totally awesome year ahead!"
"To Sakura" they all chimed in.
[Wolfgang looked at Sakura and gave a silent toast, "Happy Birthday, Sakura, the most beautiful girl in the room and the one I love..."]
As Sakura made her way around the room thanking everyone again for coming and for their gifts. Joaquin went into the kitchen to prepare the cake.
He came out and was soon calling everyone over to sing Bonne fête (Happy Birthday) to Sakura as he brought out a cake laden with candles.
Sakura smiled. She closed her eyes, made a wish and blew out the candles.
*****Happy Birthday Sakura!*****
After everyone had some cake, the party pretty much started to wind down. Sakura was feeling a bit fatigued, and she and Kiyoshi said their goodbyes and thanked Joaquin and Sergio for hosting the party. Joaquin had told her that Dominic Fyres and Candy Behr of the Spin Masters Club would be throwing Sakura a party on her real birthday at Discoteque Pan Europa. They also thanked Wolfgang for his special surprise, and Kiyoshi expressed additional thanks to Wolfgang for all his help with finding Sakura.
They walked home slowly and at one point, Kiyoshi stopped and took Sakura in his arms and kissed her so slowly and tenderly.
Kiyoshi: "I've been waiting all night to have you alone with me, so I could give you a real kiss...Happy Birthday, Sakura..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Notes - This is a pre-birthday party for Sakura, and she will age up in a few days when it is her "real" birthday. The two photos of Kiyoshi and Sakura dancing are not mods. This was some autonomous action that they did, and I just paused it in time and it looked like they are dancing a jig together.
And yes, some of the sims changed clothes autonomously because I am not controlling them. Some of them decided to go jogging, and presto-magico, they changed. Kiyoshi was guilty of this, as was Bryon. The party also ran on a weeknight, and it ran late, and it was time for school, and they changed into their school clothes to head out, which I stopped them. Anyway, I got the screenshots I wanted, even though they might be in different clothing. Ah sims, you gotta love 'em! lol
Unfortunately, as he blocked her, he doesn't know that the girls have been born, though he must know that a baby should have been born by now. He's just not ready to contact Jenny yet, but you'll be seeing more of him and his sister in the next update!
Speaking of updates, I loved yours for a variety of reasons. Kiyoshi, you lost the moral high ground when you messed around in the showers with your ex. At least Sakura wants to be honest with Kiyoshi, but I don't see him trying to be honest with her. I did like the shot of Jenny rocking out! Also, River's drunken ex machina was excellent.
@Hermitgirl
Jenny's weight gain seems to be quite natural, and I think she'll stay curvy (which I don't mind) but yeah, figuring out a way to let Eleanor and Ekram know is quite hard for her. For one, she's worried about their reaction. Rohan blocking her means he actually doesn't know anything about his daughters, and as for how long that's going to continue, I don't know. As for Rohan's sister, who's now an aunt, she's a bit like Lydia Bennet, if I had to show you her personality, so no help from that quarter.
@Karababy52
These two are such lovebirds, but they've definitely earned the right to be! Also, thanks for the tip about the dazed thing - I wouldn't have known otherwise and that could have been disastrous!
As for Jenny, her story was meant to be for her daughters, but she's still too angry with Rohan to write him into any story or even think of a good narrative to give the girls. She wants them to know they have a father and she won't interfere with a relationship between them and him, but she's still angry. She's going to haave to think of how to explain things properly.
@permanentrose
LYDIA!! Oh my gosh, Lydia's still checking in on Jules? My heart! Also, good on Jules for getting such good grades at the end of the semester! I'm glad she's able to relax and enjoy her student life.
Jenny is trying her best, and she's really stepping up as a mother. She's always going to do her best for her daughters.
Daughters of Hesperia
Bryons Diary
Talking about Naoki... He was giving himself some kind of speech in the mirror to psych himself up. Shouldn't... I be the one doing that? I mean, I’m the one with a bad condition here. He's so fit, why does he need to give himself a speech? But then again, he's the one out of shape right now. So weird.
Another day flew by. Homework done, classes for the day done, tutor session done. I’m almost ready for the workout with Naoki!
But first: a shower!
Just as I was ready, Naoki stormed in and freaked out.
(Naoki) “Bryon!!! You need to hear this!!!”
(Bryon) “Whoa! What is it???"
(Naoki) “My colleague saw my belly this morning and he thinks that I’m impregnated by the aliens!!”
(Bryon) “Wait. What now?”
(Bryon) “That belly… Is a baby?”
I stared a him in disbelief. I was also a little scared, because if what he was telling me was true... How would a baby get out of him????
(Naoki) “I mean… I’m not sure. That’s what my colleague says…”
(Bryon) “Okay, okay. Suppose I believe you. What do you want me to do? Go to the doctor?”
(Naoki) “Can we?”
(Bryon) “Of course. We can go on Saturday, if you want. Tomorrow will be a busy day for me. Final exams…”
(Naoki) “Thank you!!!! That means a lot to me!”
(Bryon) “So… Are we going to exercise now… Or are we just gonna let that slide…? Actually, I don’t mind letting it slide…”
(Naoki) “Hehe, we’ll let it slide, for this time.”
Behind the scenes
Is this a sign to age up Kristine soon? xD
I also found this homework. Nobody missing it? No?
Jules, did you do that in the background?
(Jules) "Of course not!"
Also, male pregnancy moodlets are hilarious.
Meanwhile
Rohan woke up from his nap with a groan. He’d been doing that a lot lately, sleeping in the day, but honestly, ever since he and Jenny had broken up, it hadn’t been a great time for him. Of course, he’d told his grandparents that they’d broken up when he came home, and let them know that she had dumped him, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell them that Jenny was pregnant.
He knew that the baby she carried, or who might even have been born, was their great-grandchild, but he just knew what it would be like. The grief he had received before would be nothing compared to what he would get if he let them know that he’d gotten a girl pregnant like that. Eleanor had been hinting that he should be getting more serious with Jenny just before Jenny had dumped him, and he knew that this news would be more than a slight shock to them both.
“Ro!” His door flew open, and Silvia walked in, still in her school uniform. “Gram wants to know if you’re having dinner.”
His sister looked the very picture of a perfect student, as she always did. Since she’d moved in, the pressure had been on Rohan to move out, and Silvia seemed to know and not care.
“I’ll be down soon.”
“Hey, have you been moping here all day? Lame.” Silvia rolled her eyes. “I mean, hasn’t it been long enough since you got dumped? You should be getting back out there.”
“If that’s supposed to cheer me up, Vee, it’s not working.”
“You’re such a stick-in-the-mud, Ro.” She rolled her eyes again. “I mean, seriously, I know so many guys at my school who would have gotten over it by now. I know you guys were together forever or whatever, but it’s not like you’re waiting for her to come back, right?”
“Can you not be such a nosy brat for once?” Rohan snapped, losing his temper. “And while we’re talking, stop barging into my room.”
“What are you, a kid?” Silvia snorted. “I just came to see if you wanted to eat. If I want a lecture, I’ll ask Gramps.”
“I mean it, Silvia!” He felt his anger rise. “I know that you and your friends wouldn’t recognise a boundary if it paraded in front of you naked, but you need to stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong!”
After all, he knew that Jenny had heard about his grandparents’ argument from Silvia. He’d confronted his sister, who admitted with no guilt that she’d been talking about it with her friends because it was ‘her life too’.
Silvia tried to say something, and he shook his head.
“Just stop asking me those stupid questions.”
“Jeez, okay. It’s not like you could use a girlfriend or anything. Just chillax.” Silvia flounced away, leaving Rohan feeling worse than he had when he woke up.
His grandparents couldn’t find out, and Silvia...he could hardly see her keeping news like that under wraps. He wish he knew how to handle this, but...he didn’t even had the courage to unblock Jenny on his phone.
Daughters of Hesperia
Omg, poor River peed himself. Well, with all that "juice," I'm not surprised. And then when he raised a toast to Sakura and hadn't even bothered to change clothes or shower, OMG RIVER
"When you go for a walk, you may lose weight, but we will never lose you again." LOL, great line, love the humor. Really great update as usual
@Skeilah
OMG THAT IS THE REAL QUESTION THOUGH LOL.
That was probably Jules' homework lol. She always leaves it on the ground. And omg, are you gonna age Kristine up??? Ruby is gonna stay a toddler forever probably
And there's definitely is a crispness to your screenshots now that you're playing on that other computer, your screenshots looks especially lovely today
@lilypadmeulin
Notes
Essa and Josh wanted to share the news of their engagement with her family in person. After Essa's classes were over Friday, they had another free weekend, so Essa called her Dad to let him know they were coming for the weekend. Of course he was thrilled, as was L. and Morgyn, and preparations were made for their stay.
"Dad! It's so good to see you again!"
"Essa, my sweet child, it's wonderful to see you again too! I'm so glad you can be here all weekend! We have a room ready for you and your young man."
"Thanks Dad!"
"Mom! I've missed you!"
"I've missed you too dear. Feels so good to hold you in my arms again. You should come home more often."
"I will, I promise."
"Hey Big Bro, how's it going? Missed you!"
"I have missed you as well Essa. So very much."
"We had another reason for our visit. There's something very exciting and wonderful we wanted to share with all of you."
"We're engaged to be married!" Josh and Essa said in unison.
"Josh proposed on the top of Mt. Komorebi last weekend. Here's the ring."
"Congratulations! Oh my look at that rock. Great choice Josh. It's lovely."
"Congratulations to you both Essa, Josh. I hope you have many wonderful years together. If you'll excuse me I need to attend to my next class. I'll speak with you later. Congratulations again."
"Bye for now Morgyn."
"Married! Well, that's fantastic news! My little girl is so grown up now. Congratulations!"
"Have you set a date yet? Do you have a dress? Would you like some help picking one out if you don't? Oh this is so exciting! A Wedding! I love weddings!"
"Now L., let these two just bask in the excitement of being engaged for awhile. There's no hurry. Essa's still in school."
"Well I was just curious. You know me Simmie Dear."
"It's okay Dad. We really haven't talked about any of that yet. But we'll definitely let you know our plans once we've made them."
"Have you at least thought about where you want to get married? I have an idea about that if you haven't."
"What would you think about getting married here, at HQ? The Magic Realm is so beautiful. We could set something up out back by the bridge over the creek, or by the pond, the portal, oh so many places for a beautiful wedding."
"That sounds like an interesting idea. What do you think Essa?"
"I love the idea! Let's talk some more about it later."
"Alright, we'll talk later. I have to go as well, students are waiting and they tend to get restless and then start casting spells on each other. It's a hoot really, but I have to keep some kind of order. Bye for now dear and Congratulations again to you both."
"Bye for now Mom!"
"Thank you...L., uh, Mom? Can I call you that?"
"Yes dear, I would love that very much." L. said with a broad smile before she turned and left the room.
"What time does Caster's Alley close Essa, didn't you want to go there tonight?"
"Oh, yes, I did. We should go too. We'll be back later Dad."
"Have a nice time. We'll talk later."
When Josh and Essa arrived in Caster's Alley, Essa's friend, Astrid was there.
"Essa! Wow, good to see you!"
"Hey Astrid, this is Josh, my fiancée, we just got engaged!"
"Wow, Congratulations! That's so exciting. Nice to meet you Josh."
"Nice to meet you too, Astrid."
"I have a favor to ask of you. Josh has never seen me Duel with anyone. There's no Spellcasters in Britechester, at least nobody that will admit it anyway. Would you agree to a friendly Duel?"
"Seriously?! Essa, you guys don't have to do that if you don't want to. Though, I admit I love the idea."
"I'd love to, go easy on me though, okay?"
"Oh come on, you might beat me this time."
"Maybe, but I never have before, so what's different about now?" Astrid said with a laugh.
"HUZZA!"
"Oh this is SO hot!" Go Essa! Beat her! Er, sorry Astrid."
"It's okay Josh, I get it. She's your girl!"
"Okay, then.... KILL HER ESSA!"
"Okay, no need to kill anybody Babe, just a friendly Duel."
"I didn't mean it literally." Josh said with a wink.
"WHOA! Look at you. Essa, you're Magnificent....so freakin' HOT. Oh man...."
"Ahhhh! I knew you'd wiiiiiiiiiin!"
"And that's how it's done!"
*Oof*
"Woo Hoo! Congrats Beautiful! You whipped her butt!"
"Okay, well great match, Congrats Essa, good to see you, we can... er, alright well I see you're busy. I'll talk to you later. Bye!"
"Oh my gawd!"
(Seriously!? Great, now I'm stuck in here until they're done.)
Josh and Essa had no idea Astrid had been using the Research machine located in the room they'd been given by her Dad for their stay. Astrid didn't know it was meant for them since it had previously been a dorm room for students. She wondered a little why the three single beds were gone, but thought perhaps the Sages were just remodeling or something. She was washing her hands in the bathroom when she heard Josh and Essa enter the room and then...yeah. Very obvious what was going on behind that door. The lovers left the room after awhile to check out the gardens and do a little fishing, and Astrid quietly slipped away. They never knew she was there...or did they?
"Hey, did you hear somebody yell, "Oh Gawd!" when we were in the bedroom?"
"Yeah, but I just thought it was you."
"Oh, okay, maybe it was." Essa said with a saucy laugh.
Congrats to Jules for getting all A+! Great job! Nice to see all those challenge Sims, and Lydia.
The rings are a nice touch if the engagement will be longer, yes. I don't bother with Sims that elope right away. There's no point! Oh man, wait until you hear them in pain while using that thing to share knowledge. It sounds terrible for them. o.O
Yes, that's one reason why I prefer to play with no autonomy. They still do dumb things with that turned on though, which annoys me to no end. They shouldn't do ANYTHING unless I tell them to. *sigh*
Some of the default outfits for NPC dormmates is just atrocious. What's really annoying is if they have the 'Big Dresser' or 'Clothes Horse,' not sure what it's called, hidden trait. Those Sims change outfits constantly and if you try to edit their wardrobe, it doesn't stick. Oh sure, Jules wasn't doing anything wrong, she's single. Just was out of character for her. Love the Beguiling trait. It's so handy when you need two Sims to romance quickly! Especially nice for things like the 100 Baby Challenge.
@SoulGal7
Sweet of Wolfgang to bring Sakura a drink and chat a bit. Whoa! She blew him a kiss! That's great! Foldable guitar! LOL I love it! Aww and look at Wolfgang behind her, smiling. He's so Smitten with her.
Well, isn't that interesting, the gift from Siobhan. Trying to suck up are we dear? Hmm? Oh man, I love that Essa was the one to give Sakura the gifts from the band. What nice gifts too! I love how you've made Joaquin French and how you have him use French phrases when speaking. Great gift from them too, funny comment about Big Brother watching her.
Great gifts from Wolfgang, so thoughtful and romantic with the roses. Of course Kyoshi had to put his number in there too. Their 'Bro' friendship kind of grinds my gears. I don't understand how Sakura can't see it's all fake. They must be very, very good actors or something.
Very, very nice gifts from Kyoshi for Sakura. Aww, nice toast to Sakura from River, dirty, probably stinky River. LOL Wolfgang's silent toast and the look on his face just makes me want to cry for him and for her. So sad...
Wonderful birthday party, sweet kiss between Kyoshi and Sakura. Gah! I'm still torn I guess. But I'm still leaning toward Wolfgang.
@lilypadmeulin
I know the story was meant for her daughters, I guess I must've just thought it was to the Grandparents too for some reason since she started out writing to them. I know ideally the girls should know their Father and I hope they do, for their sake. Sadly, I really don't see it happening any time soon. Maybe after Rohan has matured more. Yes it will take time to think exactly how to word telling them. Good luck to Jenny!
Hmm, seems as if Mr. Rohan is feeling a bit guilty eh? Blowing up at his sister like that, and arguing with himself about keeping everything a secret. If anyone is a spoiled brat, it's him. Grow up Rohan, start taking responsibility for your actions. Sheesh! I know he's just a scared kid, but he made that bed, now he needs to lay in it.
@Skeilah
Poor Randi! Coming from someone with Grandchildren around Kristine's age, I can certainly understand where she's coming from.
Notes:
Farrah immediately threw herself into party mode.
But Jules felt her stomach flip uncomfortably as she saw several of the people she had been messing around with this past semester. Yeah, she was definitely gonna need a few drinks to make it through the evening...
Soon, a game of spin the bottle began, and Jules found herself coerced into joining.
Ulrike Faust, who Jules had not seen since her days in the Renegades, was the first to spin, and of course, the bottle landed on Jules. And it turned out Ulrike was an excellent kisser.
Jules spun next, and the bottle landed on Sakura Li, a quiet student Jules had seen around campus the past two semesters, and Jules gave her a quick and gentle peck, blushing a bit.
A few more people took their turns, and then, the bottle landed on Jules yet again. You've got to be kidding me, thought Jules, as a ginger boy named Maxwell Pike crawled over to plant his kiss.
The game dispersed soon after, and Jules and Farrah joined a group that had gathered around a bonfire in the backyard.
"Who wants to play truth or dare?" A girl who had introduced herself as Roxanne suggested, so Jules got roped into another game.
First, Roxanne dared Maxwell Pike to go streaking.
Then it was a girl named Jenny's turn, and she picked truth. Maxwell asked her if she had ever kissed a girl.
Jenny blushed a bit and answered. "No, but I wouldn't be opposed to it."
So it really shouldn't have surprised Jules when it came to her turn and she picked dare, Farrah dared her to kiss Jenny.
And really, what was one more kiss? She felt like she starting to lose count
After the game of truth or dare dispersed, Jules went inside to get a slice of pizza, but was intercepted by Adrian Horn, captain of the Debate Guild, slurring his words a bit as he blurted out, "So I hear you've been giving out free kisses tonight."
"Um, actually, not reall-"
He cut her off with a brief, awkward kiss.
And then he immediately ran out of the room in a rush of terror and embarrassment.
(Okay, that last kiss was a bit of a stretch, BUT I WAS GETTING DESPERATE
And whew! I made it to this stage of the aspiration! I meant to get to 7 BFs/GFs, but I must have miscounted, since I was up to 8 by the time she got all her kisses. I'm gonna wait until a future time to do the three dates part... and that's all I'll say about that
Thanks @SoulGal7 for the suggestion of having a game of spin the bottle and truth or dare. It definitely made this aspiration possible
This party isn't quite over, but I'm going to divide it into two updates and post the second part tomorrow.
Kiyoshi immediately took her into his arms.
Kiyoshi: "Shhh...shhh...Sakura. Everything's fine...I think that party may have been a bit too much for you."
Sakura looked up at him, "Oh Kiyoshi...I have to tell you something...something happened and I..."
Kiyoshi: "Shh...Sakura, you're so upset...whatever it is, it will be fine. I'll make some tea and we can sit down and talk about it..."
Sakura: "No, it can't wait...I have to tell you NOW...something happened..."
Kiyoshi: "Whatever it was, it can't be that bad...."
Kiyoshi could see that Sakura was getting near hysterical. He held her hand and brought her inside. She could barely walk as almost every step she took she broke down and sobbed.
Finally, Kiyoshi got her into the conservatory, but she wouldn't sit down.
Kiyoshi: "Sakura, come and sit down...nothing is that bad that we can't talk about it..."
Sakura: "Yes, oh YES, it is..." Sakura then just spilled everything out and told Kiyoshi about the night of The Plumbobs concert and how Astrid wasn't there because she was looking for Pumpkin who had run away, and Jenny had laryngitis....and then they wanted Sakura to sing, and she had stagefright and then Wolfgang had given her the courage to sing her song.
Sakura: "....and then after the song, we just looked at each other, and I thought how grateful I was to him....that I could never have done it without him...and I...and I...oh my gosh....oh Kiyoshi, I'm sorry I did this....I kissed Wolfgang..."
Kiyoshi didn't say a word and just stared at her. He thought back to the party, and remembered what had happened after Sakura and Wolfgang had finished their song, and how they had looked at each other.
Kiyoshi looked at Sakura in disappointment, "So...just that...just one kiss?"
Sakura answered speaking between sobs: "Yes...I just kissed him...I mean...no...I told him I was sorry I had done that right after I kissed him, because I knew it was wrong...and then he....and then he..."
Kiyoshi: "And then he what, Sakura...take your time...it's okay..."
Sakura: "No...no...it's NOT okay...because...Wolfgang kissed me...." she blurted out and sobbed.
Kiyoshi just stared at Sakura, wanting to pound his fist into something, "Is that all that happened?" he asked rather abruptly.
Sakura looked at him, "Oh Kiyoshi...oh my gosh...you wouldn't think that I...that I did anything else, would you? No, that is all we did. We just kissed each other. But I have been feeling so guilty about what I had done, and I just could never forgive myself. I am so sorry, Kiyoshi. It just happened and I wish it hadn't and I immediately regretted it...I'm so sorry..."
[Kiyoshi clenched his teeth and thought, "Dang! So, it was true. He knew it! He knew that something had happened between Sakura and Wolfgang. They had kissed each other, and obviously the kiss had affected Sakura a lot, or else she would not feel so guilt-ridden about it. And Wolfgang had taken advantage of Sakura during a weak moment, a moment when Wolfgang knew her defenses would be down. Kiyoshi knew now that Wolfgang did indeed have deeper feelings for Sakura. He had guessed as much when he saw how Wolfgang looked at Sakura at the hospital, and then again tonight at the party. It was a good thing that Kiyoshi had Wolfgang give him his word that Wolfgang wouldn't try anything with Sakura while Kiyoshi was gone. Kiyoshi knew that Wolfgang cared about Sakura and Wolfgang would not want to do anything to risk Sakura's recovery. It had been a good move on Kiyoshi's part to do that."]
Kiyoshi looked at Sakura. He knew that she deeply regretted what she had done, and it took courage to tell him. She was so frail right now. It was best not to argue about it. He took a deep breath: "Sakura, I can understand how it happened. You were both caught up in the moment, and as best friends, you care about each other, and it was just natural that you showed affection for each other. Yes, I am upset, and I think that Wolfgang may have taken advantage of you. But I do understand how much Wolfgang cares about you, too, and I am indebted to him for helping to find you. But, Sakura. it was a kiss, that's all it was, a kiss between two friends. But, it is best to let go of that incident and move on. And, In another month, you will be coming back to Mt. Komorebi, and that is all that matters to me."
Kiyoshi: "I know this was hard for you to tell me, Sakura. But I'm glad you did. I don't want any secrets between us. I'm still here for you. We are still together, that hasn't changed. Come here, Sakura..."
Kiyoshi held Sakura in his arms hearing her muffled sobs.
Sakura: "Oh Kiyoshi, I am so, so sorry it happened. Will you forgive me...?"
Kiyoshi looked at her with that pleading look in her eyes. Oh why did this have to happen? Kiyoshi knew then that he had to tell Sakura what happened with Kaori. She may find out from someone else, so it was best to do it now. "I trust you and I know that it will not happen again. If I forgive you...will you forgive me? I have something that I need to tell you...something that happened at the camp..."
Sakura closed her eyes and tried to block out the thoughts she was having, but somehow she knew that this involved Kaori.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Bryons Diary
(Naoki) “It’s shining!!! AAHHHH!”
(Bryon) “What is shining, Naoki...?”
(Naoki) “My belly!!! There’s really something in there, Bryon!!”
Naoki went to sit on the bed.
(Naoki) “I’m so scared...”
(Bryon) “Oh, Naoki...”
I went to sit next to him and gave him a little massage.
(Bryon) “Relax. We’ll go to the hospital tomorrow, remember?”
(Naoki) “Yes.. But... What if there’s really an alien baby? I mean, that’s not logically possible, right? How am I-“
(Bryon) “Don’t think about that yet. Jeez, you are more stressed than me, and I’m the one that has to take 3 final exams later.”
(Naoki) “I’m so sorry... You should focus on your studies, and yet here I am with this... Problem...”
(Bryon) “We’ll face everything together, okay?”
In the end, we didn’t sleep anymore. We just talked to each other, the entire night. We laughed. We had a good time. Im tired, but I had a lot of fun.
(Naoki) “When’s your first final exam?”
(Bryon) “It starts at 8am.”
(Naoki) “I think you should get yourself ready then... It’s 7:30”
(Bryon) “7:30 already? Oh man, and I didn't even study... Those final exams are going to be a disaster... Well then, I better get myself ready.”
(Naoki) “Hey, wait!”
(Bryon) “What?”
(Naoki) “You’re the smartest person I know. You’ll be just fine. Okay?”
(Bryon) “Hehe. Okay. Thank you, Naoki.”
(Naoki) “We’ll face everything together, right?”
That made me laugh.
In the end, Naoki was right. Everything was fine. I mean, lol. Straight A+. I bet the Brainiacs helped me in some kind of way...
Anyways. Now that my term has ended on a good note, we could finally concentrate on going to the doctor tomorrow.
Okay. Almost. I first have to enrol myself in my last term.
And I still have this last tutor session... THE LAST ONE! FINALLY!
While at that last tutor session, one of the people I kissed a few days ago called me, saying he had a crush on me. I ehhh... Told him that what I did was a mistake and I only want to be friends.
Luckily he took it pretty well. Yeah, let's indeed pretend nothing happened.
But now I'm wondering... There are still 3 other strangers that I kissed (& apparently asked to be my boy- or girlfriend in the heat of the moment) but never heard from them after that...
Ibara...
Quintin...
Lanuola...
Do I need to worry? Are they secretly plotting something behind my back? Or would they have forgotten about me and moved on with their lives?
Maybe we'll never find out. Dun dun dunnnnn.
Bryon officially reached the last aspiration milestone! I actually got a screenshot of that, but I forgot to turn on my UI-settings so now it's just this, lol. I really need to stop forgetting to turn that on....
Isn't it funny that we perceive a sim a certain way in our games? @Hermitgirl - Like if Roxanne hadn't been there, @Kanindota and River had, it would have been River instigating that truth or dare challenge. lol River in my game is just cray cray, and Roxanne is very outgoing...I didn't control her in the last chapter, and here she is the first to start singing Happy Birthday. Jules actually behaves herself in my game, but she does always seem to be around when I am trying to take a screenie. She's a diva, and she knows it. lol (just kidding).
Roxanne's Thursday and Friday! I decided to wait a day to post on purpose because I'm not telling a story and it gets pretty samey-samey with the grind. I do like it to an extent although for some reason it makes me anxious. No wonder I only took a few classes on my sims at a time! Just posting one picture from this play session and put the the rest under spoilers.
Roxanne's term ended on a Wednesday and at that time she re-enrolled. Really all she had to do was homework for her two classes by the next day but I start the grind early. So she worked all through the night... 4 homework assignments, term papers, and presentation, by Thursday morning she had gotten everything done at least to normal quality.
On Thursday she had two classes and of course soccer. More work on upgrading in between times and new homework to add to her workload.
She had been injured at soccer practice on but the uncomfortable moodlet never seems to get up enough steam to overpower the rest of her moods during the grind.
I did wonder if the injury balm we got from Snowy escape would help with her injury but I didn't want to send her to fight with a machine.
April 16
On Friday she had two classes. After her first class she decided to use some magic to get feedback on her presentation. The other Roxanne wasn't too sure about it so after a little more work it looked good! After her second class she still had enough time to turn in her presentation. After that she had a few minutes to juggle before the game. Lol... her fitness level is at 8 so since sometimes I'm on pins and needles making sure to send her to class on time she spends a lot of time just before classes juggling. I like it because you can just stop them easily in that activity.
Whew on Friday night it was the weekend... lots to do since I want to work on the aspiration more but no classes to get to on time! I really do feel like taking a full course load (and trying to get A's) would be impossible without some sort of potions, reward traits or something to help them along. Is it even doable?
@Skeilah - I have never had a male alien pregnancy, so didn't know the stomach glowed. But seriously, do you think that Bryon and Naoki should go to a "regular" doctor. I mean, what happens if Naoki is brought to a science lab to be experimented on...or maybe that's your plan! lol Congrats to Bryon for completing the term without studying and getting all A+'s Woot! Loved that one class - Learning to Fake It! Malevolent Machine Learning - Funny title. And the three that Bryon kissed might have something in mind for him, eh? Hmmm....
Oh and comment on your comment on Joaquin being French....he is French! lol His last name is Le Chien, which means Dog. Sergio is Italian.
I love how you wrote everyone's Sims into this update! Jenny is very true to herself, and I love how Jules was able to have a nice party like this...very true of some student life!
Daughters of Hesperia
@Karababy52
I've never had them get dazed by sharing knowledge but I know now lol. I might have to use that to get a ghost in the future though! I love the potions we can use between the needs and the emotional stability ones they are machines! I know people complain about it and some would like it gimped but I love using it if I have it. I'm glad Essa beat Josh at debate by the way.. he always wins in gaming it's her turn!
Also just letting you know, I like Josh showing off... without his shirt even more! LOL.
Oh Gawd.. that was funny! In the post where Essa and Josh tell about their engagement. I'd be mad if I were stuck in the bathroom too!
Grats on her grades too... I don't like living on campus personally it seems to take longer to get places.
For the Kisses post that was a great story way to tell it! Lol .. I'm wondering why the guy was in terror though did he have a paranoid trait?
I'm okay with not getting kissed... really.. no really, I'm okay! *cries*
For the post where Sakura fesses up it really doesn't sound that bad. Just kissing him, thing is she has such confusing feelings too. Can't wait to hear Kioshi's confession though!
I definitely see our sims in certain ways too and our stories and what they've done or our jokes about them have influenced it.
Also another comment I have other uni students in other saves that are going through it but very slowly... also mostly already adults living at home and not experiences the campus stuff at all. I hadn't even ever done the aspiration. So I'm seeing a lot of new stuff here.
On the next "It's shining!" post again I laughed hard.. poor Naoki!
Grats on the grades too and getting so far into the aspiration
March 23 - Kiyoshi's Confession
Sakura asked, almost knowing the answer before she heard it, "Does this involve Kaori?"
Kiyoshi was going to try to tell her another way, but if he was going to tell her the truth, he had to tell her everything, "Yes, I'm sorry, it does."
Kiyoshi told Sakura about how he was feeling when he didn't get any letters from her, and thought she had forgotten about him...and how Kaori made him feel so needed because she paid attention to him...and then the party...and the drinking...and how he and Kaori had started kissing and then...it got hot and heavy and Kiyoshi and Kaori ended up messing around in the shower together.
Kiyoshi saw Sakura's shocked face looking at him, her face tear-streaked, and then she cried out loud. The cry sounded like a wounded animal..."WHY? Why did you have to be with HER? WHY? We haven't even been together like THAT....and you were with HER...! With HER! " Sakura shouted, "This wasn't just a kiss, Kiyoshi...you and Kaori...oh my plumbobs...I can't even think of the two of you together...this hurts, Kiyoshi...this hurts so bad...I don't understand why you did this...I know I was wrong because I kissed Wolfgang...but I never did...I never did what you did! I never did THAT! How could you?"
Kiyoshi: "Oh, Sakura, I never meant to hurt you...and if I could, I would erase what happened from my past. I know I was wrong. I hurt you...I cheated on you...and I will never forgive myself for having done what I did. And all I can do now is ask for your forgiveness...and I promise you that this will never happen again...I swear it won't. Please believe me, Sakura. I just want us to be close again, like we have been..."
Sakura was crying openly now, "Kiyoshi, my feelings are a mess...I am just so mad at you...and at her...and at myself. I'm sad. I'm angry, but most of all, I'm really hurt. And I just don't understand how you could have been with her...I don't understand why you came here to search for me...," Sakura put her hands to her head and cried again, "...And your coming here...that...that...shows me that you want to be with me...and you found me...and these past few days have been so good between us," she said as she broke down and cried again, "....and now you tell me...you tell me THIS..."she was crying so much, she was trying to catch her breath between sobs.
[Kiyoshi stood there thinking back to that party..."Why didn't he just tell Kaori no? Why did he have to mess around with her? Dang it...he doesn't even want to think about it anymore...It was wrong...so wrong..."]
Sakura seemed to think about something and looked up at him and asked..."Kiyoshi...was that...was that your first time with Kaori?"
Kiyoshi just nodded his head, "I shouldn't really say, but, no...no...we were together before...it was when we were dating..."
Sakura thought that maybe she shouldn't have asked that question, because now she felt worse than before.
[Sakura put her hand to her face and cried into her hand and thought, "So they had messed around before...Kiyoshi had more of a history with Kaori than he did with me."] And the more Sakura thought about this the more she cried. Her throat hurt and her vision was blurred because she was crying.
Kiyoshi: "Sakura...I'm sorry, I can't change that I was with Kaori before, and that you and I haven't been together THAT way. But the way I was feeling when I was at the camp, that night, at the party, I wanted you to be there. I needed you to be there. But you weren't. I felt so lonely. There were so many times when we were living in Mt. Komorebi that I wanted to be with you in THAT way, but I just wanted to wait...to make it special...I messed up, Sakura, I messed up at the camp...and I can't take that back...I wish I could...and I'm so sorry..."
Sakura wiped her eyes: "Kiyoshi...when I saw you come through that door at the hospital, I just wanted to hold you, I wanted you to hold me, and kiss me and take me away from everything. And those letters you wrote to me...and how you kissed me when we opened them together...my heart was yours. My love for you was so strong. I loved you so much Kiyoshi, I would have done anything for you. Anything! But, my heart is broken now, Kiyoshi, so broken...and I don't know what I can do to unbreak it," she cried again not wanting to continue.
Kiyoshi: "Sakura, I know this is all my fault. I will make it up to you. I swear I will. I don't want to lose you. I made a mistake. A terrible mistake. And, if you need me to leave, I understand..." he said as he broke down.
Sakura looked at Kiyoshi and even though he had hurt her so much, she still had feelings for him. "No, Kiyoshi, I don't want you to go. We had something, you and I, something very special, and now...it's just not the same..."
Kiyoshi: "Oh Sakura, I just want to hold you right now, but I am afraid you will reject me. I care so much about you...when I heard you were missing, I needed to come here to find you...I felt if I found you, everything would be good between us again...and I just want us to move forward from today, from all the bad things that happened in our past. I just want to work on our relationship, to be like we used to be...please Sakura, can we move on from this?"
Sakura's eyes had tears in them as she spoke, "...I will try...Kiyoshi...I will try to forgive you and move forward...but it will take me some time. I'm so hurt right now, I don't think I can talk anymore...I just...I just...I don't know how I'm feeling anymore...I just feel so...empty..."
Sakura looked at Kiyoshi and how grief-stricken he looked, and thought about him coming all this way just to find her "Kiyoshi...please...just hold me..." she said crying, "...just hold me...."
Kiyoshi went to her and embraced her. Kiyoshi held her in his arms and thought of how fragile she was. He kept holding her until Sakura finally pulled away.
Kiyoshi took Sakura's hand and helped her upstairs and they got ready for bed. No one spoke. It was the first time they were in the same bed together. How ironic that they were now together, and yet they were so very far apart.
Sakura had curled up in a fetal position beside him. Kiyoshi gently held her and cradled her in his arms and stroked her hair. He felt her body shake as the sobs wracked her body, and she continued to cry through the night.
Kiyoshi lay awake thinking for most of the night, and thought how different this night could have been between them. Everything was ruined now. Everything that had been built up again in the last few days was gone. Kiyoshi wondered how he could ever get it back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Notes: Kiyoshi just happened to get the teen angst "Time To Wear Black" sad moodlet when they got to the house, and Sakura got a sad moodlet because he was sad.
Lol, she totally would have kissed Roxanne, but by the time I saw your comment to offer her up, I had already played for that update since I tend to play ahead. Also to answer your question about Adrian running away in terror - not an autonomous action. So for this party, I used MCCC to make a giant household so I was controlling like 16 people so I wouldn't get frustrated at them not listening to me for my screenshots, and I saw that Adrian had the unflirty trait and thought it would be amusing if his kiss with Jules was super awkward and he freaked out. He's running away because I cheated the terrified moodlet for him and picked "go...here?" So totally a "cheated" response, but I wanted it for story purposes
@Karababy52
Usually I would have Jules say hi to Mario, but I was just so in the zone that I didn't want to cancel the action of her writing her paper so I just let them be, lol. I'm sure they're used to seeing each other casually around campus though since they both attend the same school. And I'm not sure where the lobster head was for Terrell's costume. He had it at first, so I didn't even know it was him, but my lobster mascots tend to take off their heads frequently. I don't think I've ever seen the dragon do it though.
Maybe one day I will try a rags to riches uni challenge and see if can bear it. I can definitely see how it would be a struggle though, kudos to you for doing it!
@Skeilah
@SoulGal7
I am really glad they both decided to be honest with each other. I was nervous Kiyoshi wasn't going to come clean at first, but then he did and I'm proud of him. And that is really hard for poor Sakura. I feel like it's actually kind of better that Kaori and Kiyoshi's first time wasn't in the showers though...I feel like it would have been more meaningful if that had been their first time. And it made me sad to see that she thinks that Kiyoshi and Kaori's history is somehow more important/meaningful since they messed around, when physical intimacy is just one part of a relationship and not the defining factor of what makes a relationship meaningful and important - especially as a teen! Don't feel pressured to mess around, Sakura! Do it on your own terms, and don't rush
Oh man, I wonder where things will go from here though...I think after a conversation like this, I could definitely support her choosing to work things out with Kiyoshi and stay with him. But then there's Wolfgang, who's so hopelessly in love with her, and Sakura also adores him too...man, you made quite the love triangle here!
And I laughed at the poses too for the spin the bottle game. They all gave me a pretty good chuckle. Don't feel pressured to have Sakura loosen up too much though. I love that she's sweet and true to herself!
Notes
When the fish stopped biting at the Gardens, Essa would've liked to do some paintings, but she had forgotten to pack the easel. They hadn't brought any cameras either, but luckily they did have their cells phones. The couple took a few selfies and other shots around the gardens and then decided to do a little stargazing.
The stars seemed so much brighter here in the realm and the colors streaming through the sky just enhanced their beauty. When Essa started to get up, so did Josh, but Essa asked him to stay right where he was. She wanted to play the violin for him so he could enjoy music with the magic surrounding them.
Between the stars, the colors, and the way Essa coaxed the violin to sing to the night, it was almost overwhelming. Josh sat up and just watched her, lost in the music she played. She was beautiful and her talent had come so far with the instrument. He stood and snapped a few photos of her as she played, her eyes closed, feeling every note, to capture the treasured moment.
When she was finished they went back to HQ and walked around the back. Essa wanted to show him the bridge and other possible areas on the grounds where they could be married.
They walked hand-in-hand on the bridge until Josh stopped and pulled Essa into his arms for a warm embrace.
"I love it here and I love you."
"So, what do you think? Should we get married here?"
"Yes, I do. It's perfect and it's your home."
"It's filled with magic and beauty, just like you. There's no better place than here to marry the woman I love."
Later as Essa was in the bathroom preparing for bed, Josh got online and had a chat with his brothers. He got emotional just writing about their time here and everything they'd experienced.
He felt like the luckiest man alive for having Essa in his life. She was everything to him and he wanted to make her as happy as she'd made him. He couldn't wait for the day they were husband and wife.
L. stopped by to say good night and see if there was anything the needed to make their stay more comfortable. Essa had a chat with her while Josh finished chatting with Joel and Jon.
"Would you like to see some photos we took on the mountain top?"
"Oh I would love to, yes!"
"It looks lovely up there, I like the way the snow sparkles from the sun and moonshine. It looks so cold though."
"Oh it was, bitter cold. But we were bundled up and, kept each other warm too."
L. also asked if she could see the ring a little closer.
"Oh my, I would guess that's a D clarity solitaire with at least 2 carats."
"I have no idea what any of that means, but I'm guessing it's a good thing?"
"Yes Honey, it's magnificent."
"I should go and let you two get some sleep, Simmie, I mean your Dad is probably wondering what happened to me." L. said with a laugh. "Come here and give your Mama a hug!"
"I'd hug you too Josh if your nose wasn't stuck in that computer." L. smirked.
"Oh, man, I'm sorry. I was just saying goodbye. Don't go yet."
Josh immediately logged off and stood up with a smile.
"He's very close with his brothers, and wanted to fill them in on everything. They chat every day."
"It's alright Sweetie, I understand. Family should share their lives with each other."
"Good night L., I mean...Mom. Thanks for everything. I'm so glad Essa has her family back. She deserves all the love you can give her."
"Thanks too for letting me call you Mom. My parents have been gone for a long time. They were explorers and never came back from a trip into the jungles of Selvadorada when we were just kids. So it means a lot to me to have someone I can call Mom in my life again."
"Such a lovely young man, this one's a keeper Essa. You're very welcome. I've always thought of Essa as my Daughter, and now I have a Son too. Welcome to the family dear."
Sunday was the first day of Spring and their last day in the Realm until after Essa graduates. And, of course, they'd be back for the Wedding one day in the future. They spent some time in Caster's Alley again looking for tomes and brooms Essa hadn't found yet, she showed him the Dueling grounds, they did a little more fishing, spent time with her family and then Josh made a roast chicken with all the trimmings for dinner before they went back home to Britechester.
They told them about their decision to have the Wedding at HQ, and talked about ideas for the day and a variety of other things until it was time for Essa and Josh to go back to their room to pack. Essa would transportalate them from the room, so they said their Goodbyes there, promising to keep in touch.
"Thanks, you're such a sweetheart."
"For what?"
"Oh, just, everything. Coming home with me, meeting my family, agreeing to get married here, moving to Britechester, helping me with my studies, being my champion, my best friend. All of that and so much more. It means a lot to me."
"You don't have to thank me for any of that Beautiful. I love you, I'd do anything for you, anything I can to make you happy."
"I know, I just felt like telling you for some reason. It all still doesn't seem real. I lived without any of this for so long, it just makes me grateful that I do now and I don't want to take anything for granted."
"I get it. It's cool...are you ready to go back to Britechester now?"
"Yeah, we should get back. I have finals in the morning. That's something else I can't wrap my head around. I'm graduating from university this week. At least I hope so."
"You have nothing to worry about. You've been working that cute little butt off. I'm so proud of you Beautiful."
"I'm proud of me too!" Essa laughed. "Alright let's go home."
When she saw Kiyoshi, she gave him a sad smile.
Kiyoshi" "Sakura, you look really nice this morning. I made your favorite breakfast. Egg ramen. I thought we could sit outside and enjoy the nice day together before I had to leave."
Sakura nodded and said she would make them some tea.
They sat together in the garden, and Kiyoshi told her about the new courier service he had arranged with Kado. He didn't have the heart to tell her what his father had done to prevent him from receiving her letters or from preventing his letters being sent to her. He would tell her when he saw her in Mt. Komorebi. He couldn't tell her now. Yes, another secret, but he just couldn't tell her. She was so fragile and last night, both of their confessions had taken so much out of her. He wanted her to get better, not put her further behind in her recovery.
They talked about Kado then, and Sakura seemed happier. Kiyoshi was glad to see her smile.
But mostly, they didn't talk about anything, and just sat in silence and ate their breakfast. So unlike all the other mornings they had sat together when they could never stop talking to each other.
Before he left, Kiyoshi put the gift box for her birthday on the table in the conservatory. The other gift for Wolfgang was still sitting there. Kiyoshi was almost going to ask what the gift was, but decided against it. It didn't matter now. That was in the past, and he just had to accept that while he was gone, Sakura would probably see Wolfgang. He was, afterall, her best friend. And maybe he should be happy that Wolfgang was such a good friend, because without him, Sakura may not have been found,
Kiyoshi hadn't been able to sleep very well, and had gotten up in the night and had composed a letter to Sakura. On her birthday, he would be at the Training Camp and ex-communicato again. It would be a few days before she got his first letter with the courier service, and he wanted her to have this for her birthday. Sometimes he found it was easier to write down his feelings, rather than say them out loud, and this letter was going to be one of the ways he was going to try and repair the damage he had done. He finished the letter, sealed it and placed it with the gift.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
They said their goodbyes at the ferry dock and he held her hands in his and kissed her goodbye on the cheek.
Kiyoshi headed towards the dock. This was the hardest goodbye he had ever done. He was just about to board the ferry when he heard Sakura call to him.
Suddenly, Sakura ran after him, shouting, "Kiyoshi! Wait!"
Kiyoshi turned around and Sakura grabbed his arm, and pulled him towards her and kissed him on the lips. She released him and Kiyoshi could see that she had tears in her eyes.
This was certainly not the way Kiyoshi had pictured their goodbye, and instinctively he reached up and caressed her cheek,
Sakura took his hands in hers and looked at him, "Write to me, Kiyoshi...I'll see you soon," is all she said, and he squeezed her hand in his and said he would. Maybe, just maybe that kiss she gave him meant that she was ready to forgive him. He hoped that they could get back to how they had felt about each other these last few days...but Kiyoshi was worried that it may not happen. As he boarded the ferry, Kiyoshi had tears in his eyes.
[Kiyoshi whispered silently, "Forgive me, Sakura, please forgive me..."]
Sakura stayed at the dock until she couldn't see the ferry any more. She stayed there looking out at the water thinking back to the last few days with Kiyoshi. How swiftly things had changed. She broke down and cried again and thought, "He never told me he loved me..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Notes: After Sakura kissed Kiyoshi, he did an autonomous caress cheek. Given the context of this chapter and what had happened between them, this looked like such a sad, parting shot between them.