Leni had been told a lot about growing up. She didn't retain it all, because every time her mother or father or Pop Pop tried to tell her what adult life would be like, she would zone out, their big words barely penetrating her cerebrum. Only Lori seemed able to communicate that stuff to her. Whenever she spoke to Leni about what the future had in store, she had an innate gift for being able to tell when Leni was struggling to follow, and she had the patience to slow down for her sister. She would sigh with annoyance sometimes, but she knew Leni was getting it, and that was all that mattered.

There were two big things Lori had taught her; the first was about time. "Leni, the older you get, the faster time will go by. I can tell you don't understand me from that look on your face, but trust me, once you become a teenager, the days and weeks will feel like they're flying by, and it'll literally only get worse when you become an adult."

When Leni woke up that morning and checked her phone, and realized that it was the first day of summer, she finally understood exactly what Lori meant. "It's June already?" she asked out loud, stirring her older sister from her sleep.

"Ye-Yeah, Leni, it's June," Lori muttered as she sat up. She looked daze, and her hair was an absolute mess, which made Leni giggled lightly. Lori sniffed loudly, gulping all the air she could, before tossing off her blanket and revealing her slender, half-naked form. When Leni saw her sister's exposed stomach, she stopped giggling, and remembered the other thing her sister had told her about…

Love.

"Eventually, Leni, you'll find someone you love. Not the way you love your parents, or the way you love a pet. It's a different type of love, that makes you feel all hot and worried and scared, all at the same time… but you still want to be around the person who makes you feel that way. You'll want to be with them forever…"

Leni was also confused about that for a long time. Different kind of love? And one that makes you hot? Was someone going to set her fire? In that case, she never wanted to fall in love. But then, it just clicked one day, and just like Lori said, it made her hot and worried and scared but also so deeply entranced by them that she never wanted to leave their side.

The only problem was that Leni was sure she wasn't supposed to fall in love with this specific person.

Leni pushed that saddening thought out of her mind as she said "Hey Lori, isn't there something important happening today?"

"Like what kind of important? There's probably some random holiday we've never heard of happening, if that's what you mean."

"No, like, with our family important."

Lori scratched her head for a second until it hit her. "Oh yeah! I literally forgot! Today's the day Lincoln goes off to that summer camp he really wanted to go to. We're supposed to say goodbye to him in a few hours."

"Aww, poor Linky."

"Don't worry about him. He'll have Clyde and the rest of the dorks with him. Which is also good for me, because then I don't have to deal with Clyde," Lori grinned, the thought of a nosebleed-free summer filling her with delight. "I can finally wear my best shoes without any protective bags around them."

"We should do something for Linky before he goes. Let's make some breakfast for him," Leni suggested.

"Sure, that sounds good. He likes pancakes, so make some pancakes for everyone."

I can even make some pancakes for the one I love, Leni thought. With that bursting thought in her heart, she stood up from the bed and saluted her older sister. "Aye Aye, Captain Lori. One batch of pancakes, coming right up."

"You'd need way more than one batch. Especially when Lana gets to the table."

"So how many batches? Two? Three? The one that comes after three? Five?"

Lori rolled her eyes. "How you're going to survive on your own is beyond me."

"I won't need to survive on my own. I'll have her by my side, after all," Leni retorted with a wink before she left the room. Lori grabbed a comb and starting fixing her bedhead, before she turned back to the door that Leni had just walked out of.

"Did she say 'her'?"

Minutes later, a fluffy and sweet aroma began to waft from the kitchen, making its way up the stairs. When it hit the nostrils of her siblings, they rushed down with the hungry speed of a swarm of giant locusts. Lincoln made it to the kitchen first, and he was greeted by the heavenly sight of Leni in a light green apron, holding a plate of flapjacks in her hand. "Good morning, Linky. Here's your food," she handed him the plate.

"Thanks, Leni!" he thanked as he grabbed his food and rushed to the table, scooping up forkfuls of syrup-drenched breakfast and stuffing it down his throat. Leni took a moment to smile, before her attention turned to the sisters that had yet to receive their food.

Especially the one she loved. She stood at the back, staring back at Leni with large, brown eyes that made Leni's knees feel a lot like the jelly she offered Lisa with her pancakes.

She was the last one to get her plate of food. Leni swallowed as she approached, her eyes studying the curvy swaying of her sister's hips as she approached, and the way her coffee-colored hair swished with every step. Her heart thumped as she handed the final plate to her, offering the warmest and largest cakes to her. "G-Good morning, Luan."

The brunette smiled back, and it made Leni's heart skip a beat. "Good morning, Leni. I have to say, when it comes to stacking pancakes, no one stacks up to you. Ha ha. Geddit?"

"O M Gosh, that was so funny," Leni laughed loudly, slapping her empty hand against the counter. It made Luan smile, seeing someone appreciate her jokes for once instead of groaning, and it made Leni smile knowing she made her love happier.

"Well, be careful with that plate you're holding. It's a real balanced breakfast, you know."

Leni snorted, and Luan took a little bow. "Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all night," she said as she took her food from Leni's hand. When she went to sit at the table, Leni regained her composure. It wasn't even that she liked Luan's jokes that much; what she did love was the passion that Luan had for them. She loved the way she told them, the timing for the punchline, and most of all… she loved that it was Luan telling them.

"That's it," Leni said to herself as she made herself a small plate. "I, like, can't keep it up like this. Lori says that if you love someone, you should let them know. Today is totes the day. Today is the day I let Luan know!"

"So you're going to let Luan know you have the hots for her, huh?"

Leni jumped up and screamed from surprise. "Who said that? Are you a ghost?"

"Other side of the counter, sweetheart."

Leni peered over, and found Lola sitting alone at the kiddy table, eating her breakfast while surrounded by an army of dolls and stuffed animals. She looked up at Leni with the look of an opportunistic businesswoman. "I couldn't help but overhear all of that while I was having my early morning tea party. You need to tell Luan you love her, right? Judging from those fake laughs, I assume it's that kind of love. Am I correct?"

"Yes. I… I think. What kind do you mean?"

"The kind that makes you take them out to a movie, get married at a really progressive church, and then adopt a Guatemalan kid and raise them until climate change finally wipes out all life."

"That does sound nice," Leni sighed.

"Listen, sister," Lola began her pitch, "I can tell you need a little help telling the clown dame you like her, so I'm willing to help out. But only for a price."

"Anything."

"You have to make these pancakes for me for a month. I mean, seriously, how do you get them this fluffy?"

"Deal. Anything to help me with Luan. I just… every time I look at her, I just want to hug her and run my hand over her head and then help her take off her clothes so we can touch each other's..."

"Yeesh, I'm still six years old. Calm down with that," Lola grimaced.

"Sorry. So you'll help me?"

Lola took a sip from her warm milk, sighing as she set the cup down on a small plate. She wiped her milk mustache as she nodded. "Not right now, Leni. Let's focus on giving Linky a decent goodbye. Then I'll cook up something for you."

Leni could hardly wait. Her excitement was slightly dampened when the time finally came for Lincoln to leave to summer camp. They all stood before Vanzilla, Lynn Sr. waiting patiently for everyone to say their goodbyes. When Lincoln finished hugging Lucy, he walked over to her and hugged her tightly. "Goodbye, Leni. See you in three months."

"Bye, Linky. Make sure to bring me back a nice pair of boots."

Lincoln looked confused for a moment, before he realized what she was thinking. "Leni, it's not a boot camp. And even if it was, they don't have footwear there."

"Oh. That's a shame."

Lincoln chuckled as they broke the hug. "I'll miss you all. Take care. When I see you guys at the end of the summer, I'll be a hiking, swimming, boxing, ball-playing, knot-tying..."

"You'll just be the same Lame-O twerp you've always been," Lori teased as she ruffled her younger brother's white hair. With a frown, he stepped into Vanzilla and took his seat, waving as his father started the car and began rolling out of the driveway. The sisters watched as the giant vehicle slowly became smaller and smaller, until it finally faded into a tiny dot in the distance.

"Alright, now that Lincoln's gone, we can finally all go to the mall without him whining! Let's get this party of all started!" Lori delcared, as the other girls cheered. "I'll call up Carol, and see if I can borrow her car."

"O-Oh, Carol's going to be here?" Luna stammered, a red blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Psst. Leni," the second oldest girl heard. She looked down, and saw Lola tugging on her seafoam dress. "Now's your chance. You take Luan to some place she'd really like, and just talk to her. And then tell her."

"But what do I talk to her about? Gosh, I'm so nervous..." Leni whispered back.

"Don't be," Lola said, as she reached into her gown's pocket and pulled out a small, crumbled piece of paper. She slipped it into Leni's soft hand, and tapped her fingers. "What I just gave you is a list of puns I made, for nearly every situation. We both know Luan goes cuckoo for puns, so you'd essentially be speaking her language."

"I thought Luan spoke English. Which, come to think of it, is weird because we don't live in England."

Lola actually growled, before regaining her composure. "Just tell her some jokes to make things easy for you, okay? Then you can start talking all lovey-dovey smoochy-smoochy."

"Okay. I understand, Lola."

"Well, that's a first," Lola grumbled as Leni turned away from the child and towards Lola's dazzling older sister. She clutched her chest nervously as she approached Luan, and lightly tapped on the comedienne's shoulder as she was talking to Lori. Luan spun around, and her face lit up with a wide smile when she saw Leni.

The older girl just wanted to melt right there and then.

"Hey Leni. Do you need something?"

"Yes." Leni immediately said, before backing up. "I mean, uh, Luan, would you like to come with me at the mall? There's something I want to say… I mean, show you. There's something totes think you need to see."

Luan squinted, and for a moment Leni felt a bead of sweat roll down her face. Oh no. What if she realizes what I'm doing?

But then, Luan threw her a phrase of salvation.

"Sure, Leni, I'd love to."

And while Leni kept a calm composure on the outside, simply nodding her head… on the inside, she was cheering.

Like, yay!

When they all got to the mall, Leni and Luan separated from the rest of the group to wander around by themselves. Luan was calm and smiling, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed how twitchy and fidgety Leni was. The blonde seemed nervous and shy. But what interested Luan the most was that Leni wasn't doing her usual 'velociraptor' walk, but instead swayed her hands to her sides and even occasionally stretched to try and grab at her hands.

"Uh, Leni… do you want to hold hands or something?"

"If… if you don't mind," Leni said quietly, her cheeks blooming with a rosy blush. Luan smiled and took her older sister's hand in her grasp, and Leni gasped quietly as their skin brushed together.

The two kept walking, hands pressed together, before they came across a flower shop. Leni grinned as she came across. This is, like, the most romantic place in the whole mall, she thought with excited glee. "Hold on, Luan. Let me buy something from here," she stopped both of them in their tracks. Luan stood by patiently as Leni purchased a comely pink rose. When the older girl turned around, she handed it to Luan. "Here. I got you this."

"You bought me a rose?" Luan asked, sniffing the flower. It did smell pretty nice, she had to admit. "That's a little weird. Shouldn't you be buying roses for a crush instead of me?"

"Um… y-yeah. I totes know that. I was just, um, giving you the rose to replace the one on your chest when it dies," Leni fibbed, pointing at the fake prank flower Luan bore on her chest. Luan almost corrected her, but instead she simply laughed lightly and accepted her sister's gift. "Thank you, Leni. It's a lovely flower."

"You're welcome. After all, all you knead is love."

Luan blinked. "What?"

Leni pulled out her pun list and squinted, searching for another item to recite to her sister. "Uh, I loaf you very much?"

"Leni, are you trying to make puns right now? They don't make any sense."

"Really? But this list says that they're flour puns," Leni pointed out, making Luan sigh. When the younger sister rubbed her forehead tiredly, Leni put the list away and hung her head, a sense of shame brewing inside her. "I'm sorry, Luan. I didn't mean to annoy you."

"No, no, it's fine. I just… what's going on with you today? You've been acting really weird around me lately. Your face keeps going red, you want to talk to me more often… are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, Luan. You did nothing wrong. I'm not mad at you. It's the opposite. Luan… I loaf… I mean, I love you."

"Well, I love you too, Leni. I don't see how that's news."

"Luan… I love you."

It took the comic girl a second to understand what Leni was trying to tell her. She looked down at the ornate flower in her hand, and looked back up to her flustered older sister, desperately trying to tell her something. When their eyes met, and Luan saw something deeper and more emotional than usual in those sparkling emeralds, she realized what Leni was trying to tell her.

"Oh. You mean… that kind of love."

"Are you mad?" Leni asked, bracing herself for a rough answer.

"How could you be in love with me?!" Luan asked, her voice full with confusion. "I mean… look at you. You're so tall and beautiful and nice to everyone. You have the best hair I've ever seen in my life. How does someone like you fall for someone like me?"

"What do you mean, Luan? You're a really pretty girl," Leni said with a smile.

"Leni, compare your chest to mine. You have a pair of pillows on there, and my chest is about as flat as the pancakes you made for us earlier. And that's just the tip of the iceberg..."

"Luan, you really don't know what you're saying," Leni spoke calmly, interrupting Luan's bout of self-deprecation. "How could anyone not be in love with you? You're so pretty and cute, and you make people with your really funny jokes… well, okay, you always make me laugh with your jokes. They're really smart and funny."

"You… you really mean that?"

"Yes, I do. You're also so smart. You make, like, these huge trap thingies for us on April Fool's, and you plan for it and everything. I wish I could just be half as smart as you."

"Aw shucks, Leni, you're plenty smart. Maybe you're not good with math or basic logic exercises, but you're good with people. Not to mention your design skills. Do you think a dumb person could make any of the dresses you've made in your room?"

Leni giggled, twirling her finger through her platinum hair. "I guess not."

Luan smiled at her older sister. "I'm still a little shocked, you know. Like even after everything you said, I still don't get how Leni Loud, the girl who comes home with a wheelbarrow of Valentine's notes every year, falls in love with a dorky girl. Her sister, too, of all people. Have you no shame?"

They both laughed, and Leni leaned in, a devious smirk on her face. "I'd tell you, but Lola says to save some mystery for the second date."

"So confident to assume there will be a second date. Wait… this is a date right now?" Luan asked.

"Only if you want it to be. And all dates end with a kiss~"

Luan swallowed as she eyed Leni's pink lips, polished with traces of sweet, fruity lip gloss. She paused and was as still as a statue, before her brand of Luan confidence returned to her. "I think I want it to be," she whispered as she reached up to her sister's cheeks and pulled her face towards her. She was standing on one leg, now, as she kissed Leni with all the world watching.

I feel that the Loudcest fandom doesn't give (non-roommate) sisterXsister ships as much attention as it should. There's ten of them, so ten times ten is... a big number, and I've selected four to highlight in this anthology, heavily inspired by some of Omega's old one-shots (go give those a read if you liked this story. I stole a lot from him hehe). Hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for moar yuricest