The scientific explanation of reanimation in the simsverse is a simple one. The afterlife is inherently tied to your remains, which generate upon your death (unless you're Emmett, in which case, you've wasted a lot of supernatural resources).
Because our world can only manage so much activity and information at once, and because we go so against the grain as immortals, we've had to long contain our deceased away from the possibility of returning to us, no matter how much we may have missed them.
Hugging my grandfather for the first time since my prom night was a long awaited thing, only delayed for the good of our mission.
Best of all, he understands. "Rosebud," he says. "I'd do anything for your Granny. She's had me wrapped around her classy little finger since the day she flew at me, a total stranger, and asked how I felt about runaway marriages."
These visits have been good for our souls. We're still waiting for my Dad to arrive. Mom paces around or paints obsessively, never taking her eyes of his urn as soon as the sun goes down, but he has yet to show. It'll be nice when he arrives. One does miss having a strong father around.
The night Allegra's husband arrived, her boisterous, gleeful shouting woke the whole house. Allegra has never been one to mute her enthusiasm.
It's funny. Orlando was one of my first chess opponents and always a good friend, but now he's one of us. He's a Classic.
He said to Mata Hari once, when she was just a little toddler bee with a long braid, he was teaching her to potty, "You're so bright, Bumblebee. Just like your Mommy. I feel like I was in the dark until I met her."
It's important to love and to be loved. I don't just mean romantic love. Little pieces of us are all around Monte Vista. Once a toddler in arms in our home is now a prolific journalist and a fairy. Little Wendy Lopez, still popping in to check in on us and talk cooking with Granny, who taught her to drive.
We've lost a lot of friends too. Bianca Monty died. Ashley Tomlin. Beppe Bianchi. And of course, dear Silvia. All gone. Death hovers around those we love and we must deal with it. This was what drove Champagne to swallow her reservations and go after the man who'd caught her eye. However, much to her disappointment, he was no longer manning the register at the elixir shop.
She couldn't seem to get ahold of him. She questioned herself much.
She did penance in her way.
And finally, one evening while she was taking in a walk at Moonlit Stroll park, she spotted him and understood why he'd been avoiding her.
Braden had gotten old. Older even than her parents. But Champagne is a strong willed girl. She is a Classic. And she had decided he was for her even against his insistence that he was too old, too broken, too common and whatever else.
She wouldn't hear of it.
And why should she? Her parents aren't married. Percy doesn't live in the manor, but still he makes it his home.
So, there's no weakness of character or drive on her father's side. And certainly not on her mother's. A triple agent descended from six immortal women.
This man Braden didn't stand a chance. Nothing builds an irresistible lover like being born to endless generations of irresistible love.
I was asleep while she was at the park that night, but something woke me. It was a full moon, and feeling a bit of neurotic lunacy I'd slept in my bathing things. A chill blew through the room and woke me. While I waited for my eyes to adjust to the dark, I was somehow sure Champagne was sealing her fate.
I know quite a lot about fate, it turns out. For one of the only times in my life, I was for a moment, speechless.
We stole into bed for most of the evening, chatting and reliving the good days, catching up and loving one another.
Champagne meanwhile roped the reluctant Mister Shinn into a relationship.
"Will she marry him, you think, when all is said and done?" Hiram asked me.
"If she likes," I said. "I plan on marrying you again."
When it came time for him to leave, I stood and hugged his smoky form goodbye. "Tell Bug I love her," he said, brushing my hair aside. "And promise me I'll see you again."
"Eden and I are working on a means to restore both corporeal presence and vitality without compromising the supernatural balance," I said, seriously.
He laughed, as he began to fade a bit. "Babe," he said. "English."
