Smoothie Sims, Inc. proudly presents…

A Villainous Apocalypse

Episode 21 - “Interference”

“It’s almost time.”

“How soon?”

“Minutes.”

He joined her at the window, unsure what to say. “The end of the world,” she whispered.

“Hard to imagine.”

“You won’t have to for much longer. We’ll be able to see it from here.”

“Are you still tempted to stop it?” he asked, glancing at her.

For a moment, she was silent. Then, without taking her eyes from the window, she said, “Once I let this happen, I won’t be ableto take it back. Rhys will be stuck. I’m not sure I’m okay with that.”

“I’m definitely not okay with that.”

“You’re his father.”

“And you’re his Author.”

She let out a breath. “If I don’t do this, that makes me a liar, and he won’t learn or ever take me seriously again.”

“Then you have your answer,” he said, slipping an arm around her, as much to receive support as to give it.

She hung on tight. “Here goes, then.”

***

There is never a “good” time to break up with someone, but Elle had chosen a particularly bad one.

Right after her fight with Stuart, Azula had graduated and moved back to Sierra Plains, leaving her with no one she feltshe could talk to about it. She didn’t dare go anywhere except to class, for fear of running into him, and she didn’t feelclose enough to any of her cousins to want to dump on them. As for Billy, she loved him, but they had never had thatkind of relationship. So, she kept quiet.

At first, she threw herself into her studies, working harder than ever to stay on top of her work. Then, a random, suddenthought that reminded her how Stuart had loved the fact that she was a mathematics major deflated her and slowed hermomentum.

It wasn’t long before she began spending her evenings just sprawled out on the couch, feeling sorry for herself.

One such evening was interrupted by a knock on the front door. Elle didn’t want to answer it, but there was no one elsearound to do so, as Billy was out with Snow, so she pushed herself off the couch and slumped over to the door.

To her surprise, relief, and disappointment, the visitor was not Stuart or any of her other friends. It was, however,someone she recognized from three years before. “Oh. Hello.”

“Hi. Elle, right?”

“Yes, that’s me. And you’re Azula’s friend.”

“Yeah, my name’s Tristan. Nice to see you again.” Smiling at her, he hooked his thumbs in his pockets and rockedslightly on the balls of his feet.

“Um, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, well, I haven’t seen Azula in a while, so I thought I’d pop by and surprise her. Is she around?”

Elle shook her head. “She just graduated and moved back home.”

“Oh. I see.” He let out a sheepish chuckle. “Well, I’m sorry I missed her. Maybe I’ll give her a call instead.”

“I’ll tell her you stopped by.” She wanted nothing more than to be rid of him so that she could go back to her wallowing.The fact that there were guys out there, and that she would eventually have to marry one of them and keep the familyline going, was the absolute last thing she wanted to think about just then.

“Thanks.” Tristan turned to go, and then turned back around before she could shut the door. “Hey, are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure? You don’t look so hot.”

“I…” She couldn’t finish, breaking down into tears.

The next thing she knew, there was a gentle hand on her shoulder, and Tristan was steering her toward a seat on thecouch. “What’s the matter?” he asked, looking concerned.

Elle found herself telling him the whole story. There was a part of her that knew sharing her personal problems withstrangers was a bad idea, but she had kept it all bottled up so long that she couldn’t help it. He was there, and she hadto talk about it with someone. “I messed up. I pushed him away instead of trying to work it out, and now I’ve ruinedeverything and he’s not going to take me back.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said fervently. “That must have been awful.”

“I don’t know what to do now. I loved him. I can’t see myself with anyone else.”

“That’s too bad, Elle, really, it is, but…I can’t help thinking that maybe you’re better off without him. You said he wasnever openly affectionate with you, and I feel like guys who really care about a girl shouldn’t be afraid to be, you know?”

“Well, we talked about it. Once. It’s his upbringing, he grew up in a place that was really conservative, and you reallycan’t help the way you’re raised…”

“Did you ever think that maybe that was just an excuse?”

She frowned. “Maybe, I guess, I don’t know. I’m so confused right now.”

“That’s all right. You need some time to recover.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden. “I didn’t mean to dump all that on you.”

“It’s all right,” he said reassuringly. “If I didn’t want to listen, I wouldn’t have stayed. Do you want a glass of water?”

She nodded, he got it for her, and then stayed while she drank it, making small talk, which she was grateful for.Afteward, he excused himself, leaving her feeling a little bit better for having had the opportunity to talk some of it out.

Two days later, he called her. “Hey, I know this is going to seem out of the blue, but I was wondering if you maybe wanted tomeet me somewhere. We could go for a walk, maybe do some window-shopping. You know, if you want.”

“Like a date?” she asked, feeling a smile beginning to form on her face.

There was a pause. “Yeah. Like a date.”

“Sure. Where do you want to meet?”

***

“Hey, Gabriel! I’m home!”

“Miss Azula!” Gabriel immediately put down the phone and hurried over to her. “Welcome home!”

Azula had to smile. She had missed Gabriel’s easy-going exuberance. “Good to be home. How are you? I see the housedidn’t burn down while I was gone.”

“All of my functions are perfoming correctly. Mr. Harry gave me a tune-up yesterday.”

“Lovely. Have we got anything to eat around here?”

“Of course, I will prepare a chef salad for you.” Gabriel glanced over his shoulder. “You must excuse the large bluerabbit in the corner. He appeared quite suddenly, but has said he does not intend to stay long.”

Azula also looked in that direction, and seeing nothing, leaned over to Gabriel. “Gabriel, there’s no one there.”

“Are you certain?”

“Positive.”

“Perhaps some of my circuits are malfunctioning.”

“I’ll get Dad to have a look at you later. Just…ignore it for now, I guess.”

“Certainly.” Gabriel looked over his shoulder again. “Miss Azula has informed me that you do not exist, and I willsummarily be ignoring you.”

The social bunny smirked. “That’s what she thinks.”

Gabriel’s hallucinations were not the only problems at home. Talking to either Harry or Mya proved to be somewhat of achore, and after a day of sporadic, awkward conversation, Azula stopped seeking them out. Harry had finally kicked hisflu, but he still looked constantly exhausted, and she didn’t like seeing it.

Mya, on the other hand, did not seem inclined to speak at all, unless it was to Gabriel in regards to the businesses.Instead, she put all of her energies into her work, which was fine with Azula as it meant less nagging. She needed aclear head to focus on her job.

Not that she was having much luck in that department either. For a while, there were no openings she could use, and outof frustration she eventually took an opening in the Culinary track just for something to do. What she really wanted wasa position in the Law office, but so far, no one was offering, which worried her.

Fortunately for her, she had two uncles who lived just across the street, and her boyfriend happened to be living with oneof them temporarily, so she found quite a few excuses to get out of the house.

“Is the underwear really necessary, Lex?” Dominic asked, with a groan.

“Underwear is always necessary,” Azula said solemnly. “Nice woohoo boxers, uncle. Very fitting.”

Lex laughed. “Thanks, Zuzu. Don’t worry, I’m going to deposit this bowl in the sink and then get out of your way.” Hewinked at Dominic, who coughed and looked away, trying to look innocent and completely failing.

“What’s with you?” she asked him.

“Nothing.”

“Seriously, what was that about?”

“Well…” His eyes took on a mischievous glint. “I got you something for your birthday, but I didn’t want to give it to youuntil we were alone.”

“We could’ve just gone up to your room.”

“It’s always about the bedroom with you.”

“Yeah, and who was the one who practically jumped on me that one--”

“Anyway,” he went on, cheeks reddening, “I hope you like it.”

“Dominic!” She snatched the box out of his hands and opened it, staring in awe at the diamond nestled inside. “Ialready told you, you didn’t have to get me a ring. How did you afford this?”

“I’ve been saving,” he said sheepishly, “and I had a little extra laid by. Do you like it?”

“I love it, but you--”

“Shush. I want you to have it. Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s perfect. Thank you.”

“So you’ll marry me, then?”

“As soon as I can get out of that damn house, regardless of the fact that you got me a ring.”

“Well, you’d better top a career fast, then.”

“You bet I will. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

***

“So I have a date tonight.”

Billy hastily swallowed his bite of salad and looked up, feeling hopeful. “Really? Are you and Stuart back together, then?”

“No,” Elle said quickly. “I met an old friend of Azula’s recently and he asked me out. His name’s Tristan Smith. I don’tknow if you’ve met him.”

Billy had heard the name before, in passing, from Azula, but never met the man. “No, I haven’t. Is he nice?”

“Very.” She smiled, a little ruefully. “You can meet him tonight if you’re not going out.”

“I’m actually headed over to Riku’s in a minute to meet Heidi. She’s in town for a few days, so they’re having a party forher. I was going to ask you if you wanted to go.” Shrugging casually, he took another bite of his salad. He didn’t want tolet on that he was disappointed that she had plans--Stuart would be at the party, and if she had been able to go, theymight have had a chance to talk.

“Yeah, sorry. Well, another time, maybe.”

‘Another time’ proved to be sooner than Billy was expecting, because Tristan very quickly became a fixture around thehouse. He came over nearly every day, and Billy could not walk anywhere in his own home without seeing the two ofthem glued to each other. They barely paid him any attention, seemingly off in their own world.

And she thought Snow and I were bad, he thought, eyeing them disgustedly one morning on his way to the dartboard. ThePDA wasn’t even the worst part, as far as he was concerned, though he was worried that Elle was throwing herself too far,too quickly into this relationship.

The worst part was that he did not like the way Tristan spoke to Elle. “I love that you have long hair,” the man wassaying, stroking said hair during a brief respite from making out. “Women who have long hair are so sexy.”

Elle beamed at the praise, and they started kissing again, much to Billy’s disgust. There was a subtle put-down inalmost everything Tristan said to her, both in word choice and in tone, that he couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed yet,but she was eating it up.

He knew it was none of his business. He knew that nothing was likely to come of a rebound relationship. All the same,he was deeply uncomfortable with the situation and wanted Tristan away from Elle as soon as possible.

It was time to run interference.

“The ‘occasion’ is me finally having the house to myself and getting to have the kind of parties I want to have instead ofhaving to put up with the way the tyrants do things.”

“Your sisters are not tyrants, Edie.”

“You’re only saying that because you’ve never lived with them. Come on. It’ll be awesome. You can meet Yakko, and I’lleven invite the Bigfoot just for you.”

Elle definitely wanted to go. She hadn’t been out in a while, and an opportunity to meet Shaw Bigfoot and Edie’s fianceesounded like fun. She had already made plans with Tristan, however, and didn’t like canceling on him. “Well…can I bringa date?”

“If you really want to, I guess, though I was kind of hoping just to have close friends over for it. A small thing, you know. Philand S--Kahlen are going to come, and Trent might too, I don’t know.”

“Is Stuart going to be there?” she asked, frowning.

“No, of course not,” Edie said, a little too hastily, confirming that Elle really had heard the slip-up.

She sighed. “Edie, I’d love to go, but I already made plans with Tristan. Ask me another time.” Before her cousin couldprotest, she hung up.

Edie glared at her phone for a few seconds, then resignedly dialed another number. “Sorry, Billy. No dice.”

“Yeah, I heard. Thanks anyway, Edie. I’ll try to convince her to go myself.”

“Good luck. Ellie can be damn stubborn when she wants to be.”

“I know. See you.” Ending the call, he sighed heavily. Roundabout attempts to get her to places Stuart was sure to bedid not seem to be working. It was time for a more direct approach.

“Hi, Stuart? This is Billy Fitzhugh. How are you?”

“Ah…I am well, and yourself?”

“I’m okay. Listen, I have a favor to ask.”

“Certainly, what do you need?”

“Um, could you…make it a point to talk to Elle sometime in the near future?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I know. It’s a little out of left field and you probably don’t want to. It’s just that she’s dating this guy right now who’s no good forher and she doesn’t see that and I know she still cares about you--”

“Billy, I will not interfere in your sister’s relationship, and I think it is unfair of you to ask me to do so and to go behindher back in order to do it.”

“It’s none of my business, I know, and I’m not telling you that you should try to get her back. Just…if you see her, can you try tojust talk to her? She can do better than this, and maybe it would make her see that.”

“…if I should happen to meet her somewhere, I would not be averse to speaking with her. I will not make any promisesas to what to say or even to go out of my way to see her, however.”

“Thank you. That’s all I’m asking. Sorry to bother you.”

***

Meanwhile, in Sierra Plains, the season of weddings had begun. Azula had already been to two weddings--Callie’s andRobin’s.

As her own would not be for a while--since the setting the date was contingent on when she could move out--next on thedocket was Mikey’s. He and Elphaba managed to find a sunny day in the middle of winter for their wedding, and had abig crowd come out for it…

…including one or two who hadn’t made it to the others.

After the ceremony, Andrew Pitts ran into his mother and stopped her in her path for a moment. “I’m glad you came,Mom.”

“I still feel like it was too risky,” Marina said quietly.

“Yes, but think about what it meant to Faba to have you here.”

Marina winced at that. She hadn’t forgotten. That was the reason she had even come in the first place, and the onlything keeping her from bolting before then. She had previously been dead set against going, because she knew thatDominic Doran would be there, and the last thing she wanted was for him to see her. “Mom, please, you can’t not come tomy wedding. I really want you there,” her daughter had begged, and her tone was enough to change her mind on theissue.

Glancing to her right, she saw Azula and Dominic standing way too close to her for her comfort and--she hoped casually--threw a hand up to block her face. “I know, and right now I’m on my way to congratulate her and Mikey so I can go. Idon’t want to cause a scene.”

“Okay. I’ll call you later.”

“Thanks, baby. Take care.”

“You know, maybe Mikey and Faba will let us use their arch for our wedding,” Azula was saying. “We’re going to bestaying here while we look for a place, so I assume we’re going to have the ceremony here, and--”

“Hold that thought, hon,” Dominic said, tilting his head to look over her shoulder. “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, damn it,” Marina whispered, knowing he had seen her.

She ran without a second thought, but she didn’t expect Dominic to run after her.

“Hey, wait up!”

She kept running, but he caught up easily and took her by the arm. “Marina, wait.”

“Let go,” she said.

“Why are you running away from me?” He held on tight, trying to get her to look at him, but she stubbornly kept herface turned away.

“I said, let go.”

“Not until you talk to me,” he said. “What are you doing here, and why are you leaving?”

Finally, she half-turned, not quite looking at him, but it was enough for him to see the tears in her eyes and recoil.“You’re making a scene,” she whispered fiercely. “Let go.”

Stunned, he released her, and she hurried away without another word.

“Dom?”

He turned to see that Azula had followed him, and that they had the attention of a few of the other partygoers as well.“What was that about?” she asked.

He bit his lip. “Can we go inside?”

“So wait, you’re telling me that Marina was your next door neighbor when you were little? Dominic, that’s not possible.”

“It isn’t? And why is that?”

“Well, because you and I are the same age, for one thing, and Marina’s lived in Sierra Plains since my great-great-grandfather first came here.”

“Okay, that’s just crazy. First of all, it had to be her. Second, no one lives that long unless they’re a full-blooded elf.”

“Of course they do, there’re a bunch of people around here who have. Her, her husband, loads of her kids, GrampaSpencer…”

“Oh geez.” Dominic closed his eyes momentarily in contemplation. “Look, Azula, I don’t know what’s going on. All I knowis that it was her, and she ran away when she recognized me, and she looked terrified. I don’t know why, and I’mworried, because she always made sure to talk with me whenever she was over, I was like, her favorite of Mom’s kids forsome reason. Which is actually kind of creepy now that I think about it.”

Azula studied him, and then pulled out her phone. “Well, there’s one way to find out.”

***

Marina had never, ever wanted to have this conversation with any of her Sims. At this point, however, it was unavoidable.Her brainless actions at the wedding had led to more confusion on Dominic’s part than if she had just talked to himthen, and she could not explain now without revealing things that applied to more than just him. If any of the Fitzhughshad to know about it, she wanted them to hear it from her, and so she had asked Dominic and Azula to bring theirsiblings and Harry along with them to her house.

Looking at the seven people in front of her, she swallowed, unsure how to begin. “Okay. So…basically, the deal is thatI’m the Creator. Or, rather, the Creator’s avatar. I exist to keep an eye on you all, and I’ve been trying to keep it asecret, but I blew it with Raikov and then again at the wedding because I wasn’t careful enough and freaked out.” Sheaddressed this part of her speech to all of them, but her eyes were fixed on Harry and Dominic, the two people she wasmost worried about. “So I’m sorry for keeping it a secret, but I’ve been trying to stay out of things.”

Harry visibly hesitated, casting a furtive glance at Dominic, who stayed silent for the moment. Turning back to Marina, hesaid, “Why did you think you needed to keep it a secret?”

“Because Rhys asked me not to interfere with his family, and I promised him I would let you take care of the apocalypseon your own. We agreed that he and his wife would not tell anyone else who I was so that you wouldn’t think to ask mefor help.” She explained that she had allowed the apocalypse to happen as Rhys’ punishment for his misdeeds inAuthorland, and that the Dorans were also her Sims, whom she had guided to Sierra Plains after they had separatedfrom their parents because she knew they would be safe there.

“I don’t believe this crap,” Trent said, turning to his brother. “Dom? Are you listening to this?”

“That’s what you call ‘staying out of it?’” Kahlen demanded, eyes narrowed. “Seems a lot like interfering to me. If youwanted us to be safe so bad, why couldn’t you just let us stay where we were?”

“Because I wasn’t the only Creator involved with your family,” Marina said. “It’s…complicated, but once the three of youbecame teenagers, I couldn’t let you stay in Madison. You had to move on. I did the best I could.”

“That is so much bull--”

“Stop yelling at her!” Billy interrupted. “That’s not going to fix anything! She can’t undo it now!”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Kahlen shot back. “You weren’t uprooted from your home and separated from your parents!You didn’t have to live in a tent for years! You didn’t have to constantly move from place to place, scared to death thatpeople who wanted to kill you could find you any second!”

“And attacking Billy isn’t going to change any of that, so stop it,” Dominic said.

Azula glanced at him. “What about you, Dom? What do you think?” It seemed as though she understood that this wasmore about the Dorans than the Fitzhughs, and that her own reaction could wait.

He looked at her for a moment in thought, then turned to Marina. “So you were really just worried I’d find out and blameyou? I think you overreacted. I was actually glad to see you for the split second until you ran.”

“That’s somewhat comforting, thanks.”

“Really, though, you were terrified. You didn’t even want to look at me. Why?”

Marina bit her lip. “I, um…well, I said other Creators were involved. You know your mother was trying to found a Legacy,and in a Legacy, one child is chosen as the heir, to continue the family line. Well, the Legacy continued, but it was kindof unconventional…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You were, for all intents and purposes, the ‘heir,’ and you shifted into the hands of another Creator. A third Creator alsotook charge of the twins. But I liked all three of you, so I decided to create an alternate reality where you stayedtogether and came here. I didn’t know what was going to happen to the other you when I did that.”

Dominic frowned. “There’s another me? What happened to him?”

She swallowed. “He contracted the elven disease that killed your grandfather, lost his family, and died alone.”

“What?”

“I didn’t want to face you after I found out, so I tried to avoid you, except that my daughter married Mikey and shewanted me to be at the wedding, where I knew you’d be.”

Dominic could only stare at her in stunned silence.

The twins, in turn, watched their brother worriedly for a moment. “What happened to us?” Trent asked, without looking atMarina.

“You eventually found somewhere you thought was safe and made a life for yourselves,” she said.

“Did any of us ever see our parents again?”

“No, but the elves never found them and they stayed together until they died.”

“Will they ever come here?”

“No. I couldn’t bring Carli here without Ashley, and another version of him has already died in this reality.”

“Wait…” Elle cut in, “Ashley Pitts? Uncle Andrew’s dad?”

“That was him, yes.”

“So wait, they’re his half-siblings? Sort of? Which makes you sort of their stepmother?”

“Um…I try not to think about that.”

She could tell that latest revelation hadn’t helped her case at all. Kahlen and Trent looked about two seconds away fromletting her have it, and the shock and slight disgust the rest of them were feeling was evident. “I am so sorry,” she said.“I know that’s not going to make it magically okay, or make you understand why I did what I did, but I feel terribleabout it. I can assure you that the elves are never going to come here, so you’re completely safe. And I won’t interfereanymore.”

“You’re damn right, you won’t,” Kahlen snapped. “Because we’re not going to stay here another minute.”

“No, I’m going to leave instead,” Marina said quietly, making a snap decision. “The Fitzhughs don’t need me, so there’sno point in my staying. I don’t want my being here to force you from a place where you’re happy.” She looked atDominic. “Is that acceptable?”

Dominic looked torn. “This is your home.”

“It’s also yours, if you want it to be. I can be anywhere I want.”

He glanced at the twins, and then back at her. “Then I accept your apology, but we’re going to need some space fornow. I’m so angry I can barely even look at you.”

She nodded. “I don’t blame you. I’d be mad at me, too.”

She then turned to Harry. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry that Rhys’ punishment also had to apply to the rest of you.”

Harry looked away. “I think we should go,” he said.

“Okay,” she whispered, and they began to file out.

Elle stayed behind. “Sorry,” she said, once everyone else had gone. “It’s a lot to take in--”

“Ellie, you don’t need to apologize for them,” Marina said. “I understand. I chose to come clean knowing this was goingto happen.”

“And you’re really going to leave?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“You know I’m the heir, right? And about our family and Stuart and Tristan and all that?” Marina nodded. “I don’t knowwhat to do. Do you have any advice you can give me?”

Marina shook her head. “You’re on your own, Ellie. I promised Rhys I would stay out of it, and I intend to keep thatpromise.”

“Marina, I’m going to be head of the family as soon as I graduate, and I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.”

“I can’t tell you what that is. You don’t need me to, anyway. Trust me, Elle. You’ll be fine.” She smiled a little. “You don’tneed me, or anyone else, telling you how to live your own life. Remember that.”

Elle nodded slowly and left.

An hour later, Spencer arrived at the house to find Minerva sulking on the couch and Claudius pacing the floor anxiously.“I got your message. Where is she?”

“Upstairs in our room,” Claudius said, looking a little relieved. “She won’t talk to me, and she won’t come out.”

“I’ll talk to her. Wait here.”

He took the steps two at a time, silently cursing the whole way.

When he reached her room, he walked in without knocking, knowing that she would just tell him to go away if he triedthat and that he could probably make her talk to him if he just went for it. “Marina?”

“Leave me alone.”

“No. Claudius is worried sick, Min’s pissed that you’re going to make her leave.”

“Min can stay here and go to college if she wants. I don’t care.”

“That’s not the point. You need to talk to them.”

“I will. I just want to be alone right now.”

Spencer let the door shut behind him as he walked over to her, silently observing the dark dots on her jeans. “Whydidn’t you wait for me?” he said, after a moment.

“You know why.”

“I’ve been helping you since we came here, Marina.” He had never been truly irritated with his Author before, and hefound it hard to contain, even though he knew yelling at her wouldn’t help. “That’s why you brought me with you. Youshould have let me help this time, too.”

“I didn’t want to drag you down with me.”

“You really think that can be avoided now? I’ve been with you since the beginning. Everybody knows that.”

“But it’s my fault.”

“It’s just as much mine, Marina. I knew what you were going to do, and I stepped back and allowed it to happen. Myhands are as dirty as yours.”

She let out a loud sniff and hunched further into herself. “I really screwed up, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did. Come on, look at me.” He knelt down and nudged her chin up. “It’ll be all right. We’ll fix it. I’ll stayhere, wait for everyone to cool off and try to smooth things over with them. And Selina’s crew will be there if somethinghappens. Okay?”

“Okay.”

***

Dominic didn’t say a word the whole way home.

Azula wasn’t used to silence. Usually, she and Dom could talk for hours about everything under the sun, and the factthat he didn’t seem to want to talk about what had just happened worried her.

“Are you all right?” she asked, when they reached his door.

“Fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” He hesitated. “I was just thinking.”

“What about?”

“How set are you on having a wedding here?”

Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I was just thinking we could use our savings for a vacation instead of a wedding party. Apply for a Sierra Plains license,but have a simple ceremony abroad.”

“I don’t care, Dom. We don’t even have to live here long-term if you don’t want to.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to move now. The last thing I want to do is make you leave your family, and I’m tiredof the constant moving from place to place. I just thought it might be nice to do some traveling for a little while, and dosomething other than the backyard ceremony everyone else seems to be having.”

“Then let’s do it. We’ll make plans later.”

“Thank you, Azula. Are you going to come in?”

“No, I have to get home and see if they have an opening at the Law office yet. If they don’t, I’ll have to go in to worklater.” She made a face. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck. Call me, either way.”

“I will.”

Billy and Elle made it back to the university later that afternoon. Elle was glad when Billy immediately excused himself togo visit Snow, as she needed some time alone to think. Absently, she grabbed a handful of darts from the board andbegan throwing them aimlessly as she considered her options.

Even though she had had no idea about Marina’s real role in the situation, the fact that she was leaving made Elle feellike she had even less support than before. She hadn’t talked about the heirship with anyone since her fight with Stuart.It was something she didn’t like thinking about. However, she would graduate in less than a semester, and then it wouldbecome real. She didn’t want to be unprepared, but she had no idea how to go about it.

Then there was the spouse question. That was her most immediate concern. Ideally, she should be prepared to getmarried soon after she moved home. The problem was that she wasn’t engaged, and if Tristan didn’t see theirrelationship going that far, she would have to start looking again.

She supposed that if she were going to find out, now was the best time.

Frowning, she threw another dart. It was time to take a step she had always been afraid to take with Stuart. She wasn’tany more thrilled about going there with Tristan, either, but she had to have some indication--

Her train of thought stopped abruptly when she realized that she had hit a bullseye completely by accident.

“Hey!” She grinned. “Who’s depth perception sucks now, Billy? Not mine! Ha!”

Oddly enough, it put her back in a cheerful mood, and she pulled out her cell phone after another moment’s thought.“Hey, sweetie. Listen…I was wondering if you’d make a trip home with me so I can introduce you to my parents.”

***

“Thanks for agreeing to do this. It means a lot to me.”

“Thanks for asking me. I’m surprised we didn’t make this visit sooner. Why wouldn’t your parents like me?”

He certainly did make an impression on them. Both Harry and Mya were pleased with Tristan’s manners and hisprospects--it turned out that he had a job in the Politics track as a Lobbyist and seemed to be a favorite in the office,which would work well with Azula’s government plan.

“You seem like a very nice young man, Tristan,” Harry said, after the interview was over. “I’m glad Elle brought you tomeet us.”

“Thank you, sir. It’s great to meet you, too. I’m looking forward to getting to know you and Mrs. Fitzhugh better.”

“Please, call me Harry. Mya will want you to use her first name, as well.”

Tristan smiled. “I’d be happy to.”

“Hang onto him, Elle,” Mya advised. “You don’t often meet men like that.”

“I know, Mom,” Elle said. “I’m glad you and Dad like him.”

“I’m just happy you brought him to meet us before getting too serious. We still don’t know Dominic or Snow very well.”

“I’m sure Zuzu and Billy would be happy to fix that if you mentioned it.” Elle wasn’t sure that was really the case, but shesaid it anyway, choosing to believe the best instead of fixating on the worst.

She could tell that Mya didn’t really believe that, either. “We’ll see.”

“That went well,” Tristan said lightly, as they were leaving.

“Yeah, it did,” Elle agreed. “They really like you.”

“I told you they would. You had nothing to worry about.”

She smiled. “Well, my parents and I sometimes have differing opinions. I was too nervous to do this with my ex. Billyand Zuzu never wanted to do this either. It’s complicated.”

“It seems a bit silly now, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does.”

He kissed her lightly, and she happily returned it, feeling glad for his warmth in the cold evening. “Thank you,” she saidagain.

“You’re welcome,” he replied. “And now, I have something to ask you.”

“Sure, anything.”

The absolute last thing she was expecting was for him to get down on one knee. “Marry me?”

***

It was close to midnight when she got back to the university. She found Billy in the living room, studying for a class.“You didn’t have to wait up,” she said, smiling.

“That’s what brothers do,” he said, nonchalantly, without looking up. “Besides, I have an exam in the morning.”

“Did you just start studying tonight?”

“Not everyone likes it as much as you do, nerd.”

“Procrastinator.”

He looked up and grinned. “Always. So, how did ‘meet the parents’ go?”

“It went well. They like him.”

“Ah, sorry to hear that.”

She snorted. “Yeah, that was funny before, but you’re not allowed to badmouth my fiancee anymore, so watch it.”

“…wait, what?”

“I’m engaged,” she said, an excited grin beginning to pull at the corners of her mouth.

Unsure how to answer, Billy got up from the couch and returned his textbook to the shelf. He heard footsteps behindhim and turned to see that Elle had followed him over, looking worried. “Aren’t you going to congratulate me?”

“Are you kidding me, Elle?” he shot back. “Did you honestly think I was joking? I don’t like Tristan, I never did, and Ithink you’re making a mistake.”

He hadn’t meant to say it like that, and he instantly regretted it when a surprised frown crossed her features. “You don’tget a say in who I marry, Billy,” she said quietly, after a long pause.

“No,” he said, bitterly. “If I did, you would never have dated him in the first place.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but we’re engaged, and we’re going to get married after graduation.”

“That quick? Don’t you think you’re moving a little fast? You met the guy less than a year ago, on the rebound, even.”

“Well, maybe if you and Azula--”

“If me and Azula what, Elle?” he demanded, when she didn’t finish.

She changed her tactic. “If I weren’t the heir, this wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Oh for--you made the decision to take it all on your own. You can’t blame me or Azula for that.”

“Then you can’t blame me for doing what I have to now that I have it,” she said flatly. “You don’t have to like Tristan,but that’s your problem, not mine.”

The truth of the matter struck Billy hard, and he turned away. “I’m going to bed,” he mumbled, before running up thestairs and locking himself in his room.

He didn’t stop to think, reaching for his phone and hurriedly dialing the number he wanted. “Hello? It’s Billy. I’m sorry tocall so late, I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“I was about to retire, but I was not asleep. What do you need?”

“It’s my fault that you and Elle broke up.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“She took heirship because Azula and I wouldn’t, she felt pressured into it, and you two wouldn’t have fought over it if she hadn’tdone it and I’m so sorry and you have to talk to her, please--”

“That’s not how you repair a dishwasher, Riku,” Phil remarked.

“Oh, bite me.”

“You wish.”

“Oy, you lot,” Stuart said, over his shoulder, “pipe down, I’m having a conversation here, if you don’t mind.” He turnedback to the phone. “Billy, I can’t understand you. What are you saying?”

“You guys need to get back together. You should never have broken up in the first place, and now she’s going to marry him if youdon’t do something--”

“…she’s engaged?”

“She just said so.”

“I am sorry, Billy, but if she is engaged, then I cannot help you. Please do not call again.” He hurriedly ended the calland turned off his phone.

“I’m just saying, randomly beating the crap out of that thing isn’t going to fix it.”

“Whatever. Like you know anything about appliances.”

“I know plenty, dumbass--” Phil glanced over at Stuart and frowned. “Stu? You okay, dude?”

“Perfectly fine. I am tired, that is all. Do excuse me.”

***

Azula was beginning to regret ever taking the Culinary job. Fixing the rations, while a useful thing to do, was notsomething she considered immediately necessary, but fate must have decided to be perverse because it turned out thatshe was good at her job. Her superiors loved her and wanted to promote her, but she was holding off, waiting for the Lawjob. If she let them put her up any further, that was what she would be expected to fix.

Yet Law refused to show, and she was growing impatient. Elle would be home to get married soon, and she wanted to beready to leave the house when that happened.

Finally, toward the end of winter, she found an opening as an Entertainment Attorney in the online listings that herdegree just happened to be perfect for. Without a second thought, she snapped it up, and then checked the promotionrequirements.

It turned out that she hadn’t played quite enough chess as a child. She would need one more logic point, and thecarpool would come in less than two hours. “Hell, I can do it,” she muttered, and ran upstairs to the bookcase, grabbinga thinking cap on the way.

She hadn’t considered that she might be interrupted.

“What are you up to so early?” Tristan had moved in the day before to begin working on his lift in earnest and help planthe wedding, and being around him made Azula extremely uncomfortable. She was all too aware of the fact that all shewas wearing at the moment was a thin nightdress intended only for her fiancee’s eyes, and squirmed a little.

“Last-minute skilling,” she answered, hastily. “I took a new job and my shift starts in a couple hours.”

“Do you mind if I join you? I could stand to get in some studying for my promotion, as well.”

“Mmm, you know I think that top looks gorgeous on you, but I think it would look better on the floor…”

She forced a smile. “Yeah, sure, just don’t make a lot of noise.”

She succeeded in tuning him out enough to get her logic point just barely on time, and came home from work later thatday as The Law.

“They loved my proposals, Dad! They want to implement them immediately. I did it!” It was a good feeling. She hadbeen afraid that her position as a Fitzhugh--or her history with men--would mean that her co-workers wouldn’t take herseriously, but she had been able to present her ideas in an intelligent manner, and could now use them to help people.She could hardly believe it.

“I knew you would, princess,” Harry said warmly. “Congratulations. I’m so proud of you.”

Elle moved home the next morning, and Azula was so anxious to get on with the rest of her plans that she barely stayedlong enough to explain what they were. “So Dom and I are taking the first flight out tomorrow morning. Uncle Jon andAunt Suzy agreed to watch our stuff for us while we were gone, and after we get back we’re going to stay with them untilwe find a place.”

“I thought you were going to Mikey’s,” Elle said.

“Yeah, we were, but…it’s not a good time for them to have us there,” Azula said, frowning worriedly. “Elphaba freaked out a bitafter that thing with Marina. She seems to think that Mikey thinks it’s a bigger deal than he does, and between that and the babyshe’s not dealing well at all.”

“How bad is it?”

“Post-partum.”

“Seriously? Isn’t she overrreacting?”

“That was what I said, but Mikey knows better than I do what the deal is and he’s really worried. We decided it would be better tolet them have their space.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Well, at least Uncle Jon has plenty of room, and we hopefully won’t be there long anyway.”

“Miss Ellie?” Gabriel interrupted, frowning at the computer. “There does not seem to be a job opening at the policestation today.”

“That’s okay, Gabriel. I’ll look again tomorrow. It was nice of you to check for me, you didn’t have to.”

“It is my pleasure.”

“So anyway,” Azula continued, “I’m off over there now to help Dom get settled, and we’ll be back for the wedding later.”

“Okay. Good luck with it.”

“You too. Don’t freak out and go Bridezilla on everyone.”

“Would I do that?”

“I don’t know, would you?”

***

Elle hadn’t wanted a large wedding, like some of her cousins had had. An intimate ceremony with her family and closestfriends present was enough for her. Tristan, to her relief, did not object. Their party effectively ended wedding season--Edie did not want a big party, Phil wasn’t getting married at all, and Azula and Dominic were going abroad.

To the relief of most, and the disappointment of some, the ceremony went off without a hitch. Tristan took her name,and everything seemed set for them to continue the work that Rhys had started by bringing in the next generation.

It took every ounce of willpower that Billy had in him to smile and clap, instead of what he wanted to do, which was ripTristan’s face off.

As the obligatory round of congratulations and well-wishing began, Billy hung back, unsure what to do. Snow found himthere and tried her best to comfort him. “It’s none of your business, sweetie,” she said quietly. “This is what your sisterwanted. You have to let her deal with it herself.”

“I know,” he said, “but I can’t shake the feeling that this is not going to end well. It’s a big deal. She can’t take it back.”

“You know I agree with you, but you’ve got to make the best of it. Don’t wait for the worst to happen.”

He swallowed and glanced over at the arch. Elle had started an excited conversation with Azula, while Tristan stood off toone side, smiling in their general direction. A quick shift of his gaze led to his catching Billy’s eye.

Billy sighed. He didn’t like Tristan any more than he ever had, but Snow was right--he had been in the wrong, and now itwas time to eat humble pie and stop contributing to the problem.

He walked over with leaden feet. “Welcome to the family, Tristan,” he said softly.

“Thank you, Billy,” Tristan replied, looking completely sincere. “I’m happy to be a part of it.”

It did seem that he meant it, and Billy could tell that Elle was over the moon, something he hadn’t seen in her for a longtime. Hadn’t that been what he had wanted for her all along?

***

After the wedding, the excitement among the Fitzhugh clan died down significantly. Billy went back to school for hissenior year…

Azula and Dominic took their trip…

…and life at the main house went on as it always had.

“Afternoon, Harry. Is something wrong with Gabriel?”

“Bucket of bolts refuses to learn that he can’t fix the shower,” Harry said, affectionately. “How was work?”

“Pretty standard. Getting up to the top should be no trouble at all.”

“Glad to hear it. I think Elle’s upstairs.”

“Hey, baby. How are you and Junior doing?”

“We’re fine,” Elle said contentedly, as she basked in her husband’s affection. “I think the morning sickness is behindme for good, and he seems pretty settled for the moment. I’ll be glad when this is over, though.”

“You and me both,” Tristan murmured.

He moved around behind her to rub her shoulders, and she sighed happily. “That’s perfect. You’re amazing, Tristan.”

“I know.” He allowed the conversation to lapse into silence for a moment, and then went on in a casual tone. “Hey, Ellie,I’m curious. Where did Azula and Dominic go for their honeymoon? I was thinking about them at work today and Irealized that I never heard anyone actually say where.”

“Really? She didn’t tell you?”

“Not that I can recall.”

“Oh. Well, I guess she wouldn’t mind my telling you, but you can’t tell anyone else, all right?”

“I am the soul of discretion.”

“They’re in Takemizu Village.”

General Raikov looked up at Tristan through narrowed eyes. “You’re certain of this.”

“Absolutely. My darling wife trusts me implicitly. She would have no reason to lie.”

“Well, then.” Raikov’s expression slowly curled into a smirk. “Takemizu. Between that and Marina leaving town, I couldnot have planned this any better. And you’re certain no one suspects?”

“Well, my brother-in-law doesn’t think much of me, but he has no real reason to suspect foul play, and I intend to keepit that way.”

“See that you do. I will handle the rest.”

“Of course, General.”

“Zuzu, you’re going to have to slow down and enunciate more clearly. The connection’s bad. I can barely hear you atall…”

“What do you mean, you can’t come home?”

***

Author’s Note:

Hey, Servos can make snow angels too. Don’t hate.

So…I don’t want to say much about this update because most of the rationale behind it is going into the next two. Butwe finally got another lift and a spouse in, so it’s time to talk stats!

Azula’s Law lift basically means that Law Enforcement, Politics, and Slacker (all of which I am hoping to get out of theway this generation) can be fully lifted now instead of just suppressed. It doesn’t do much else, but at this point in myplan it’s pretty significant.

As for Tristan, yes, he was one of Azula’s boyfriends once upon a time. He was actually meant to be #20 (if you’ll recall,it was Dominic instead due to rebuild stupidity), and he is really as much of a jerk as he seems. I didn’t want either ofthe Fitzhugh girls to have more to do with him than they absolutely had to, so I kept Azula’s relationship with him justhigh enough to move him into the house, and at that time they were one Argue away from falling out of love, thankgoodness.

Tristan is a Romance Taurus who joined the family with several friends and a job as a Lobbyist. He actually moved in afew days earlier than the story says, because I knew he was in the lower rungs of his career and wanted him to have ahead start. He then irritated me by being creepy around Azula and NOT GETTING FREAKING PROMOTED, GRRR. I hatehis guts, and you’re meant to, as well.

But on the bright side, BABIES. This little guy here is the fourth member of generation 6, and the oldest main housebaby. I can’t wait to introduce you to him properly next update.

Finally, this update marks my two-year Apocaversary. I was hoping to be completely done with the Apocalypse by now,but as I’m sure you all know well, life happens. We are in the home stretch, though. All I need is for this generation todo their lifts and for one more baby from Elle, because Law makes FIFTEEN. FIVE MORE TO GO, FOLKS.

I want to thank my cheer team (you guys know who you are) for your encouragement while I was writing this update, andalso to those of you who helped me with Elle’s wardrobe and my outrageous CC requests. You’re all awesome and Iappreciate it so much. :D

So until next time, take care and Happy Simming!

Guest Sims

Dominic, Kahlen, and Trent Doran - The Boolpropian Round Robin Legacy

Stuart Legacy - A Victorian Legacy

Elphaba Uglacy - A Piratical Legacy

Larch Vetinari - The Vetinari Dualegacy

Claudius Caesar - The Ten Caesars

Snow Bohemian - The Bohemian Legacy