Disclaimer: The Loud House, its characters, its locations, and everything about it does not belong to me. They're the property of Chris Savino andNickelodeon.

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All the small things.
By UnderratedHero

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Luna counted the syllables of the first verse again. Eight on the first bar, seven on the second, seven on the third, eight on the fourth. Perfect, that's the structure she was trying to get for the whole song. So far, so good. Then she checked the rhymes at the end of the bars. "Is falling off", "involved in all", "belonging on", "be longing for". The multi-syllabics were good, but she needed more than good. She needed this to be perfect.

She groaned and threw herself back against her chair, scrubbing her eyes with her hands, careful as to not make too much noise. She looked at the clock. Almost two am. Thank God it wasn't a school night. She had to finish these damn lyrics tonight, no matter what. She and the rest of the gang were supposed to start practicing the next day, and she had offered herself to finish the lyrics before that.

"It'll be easy", she had thought. "I'll have it done in a couple of hours".

Well, eight hours after she started, she still needed to come up with one full eight-bars verse, and she needed to really try to improve the bridge. As it was right now, it felt really simple, some basic rhyming scheme that was lacking complexity and quality. Some might have found the song to be pretty good, especially considering it was made by a band of sophomores, but Luna Loud lived music in a different way.

She liked experimenting, making every single song a masterpiece. She would never set for a "good" song, no; she would try to make it as complex and interesting as possible. What made her different from most people is that she loved all genres of music. She listened to pretty much anything, and she would learn things from each genre. Rock was her absolute favorite, but she knew how to improvise scales thanks to all the hours she spent studying blues, and she knew several lyrics tricks because she also listened to a lot of rap. Music was her passion, and she always wanted to make everything as good as she possibly could.

It was a constant challenge to improve, and as much as she loved doing it, it was certainly something that stressed her out. She looked at the bunk bed. Luan was snoring loudly at the bottom, happily sleeping. Luna wished she could be sleeping too. She was exhausted. But she couldn't quit now, she needed to finish this song. It didn't matter if she was worn out.

Music was always her priority.

She decided to go to the bathroom and wash her face to try and wake herself a bit. As she stood up from her beanbag, her back and legs felt numb. She let out a whispered curse and turned off the flashlight she was using to light her notebook. Feeling groggy and trying to ignore the fact that her body tried to lead her to her bed, she exited the room and went into the bathroom. She quickly washed her face, looking at herself in the mirror.

"Come on, Luns, you're making lyrics, this is what you're all about", she told her reflection. "You gotta love it. You better own it."

Once she exited the bathroom, she realized she needed Lynn to teach her how to do a self-pep talk. As she thought about this, her eyes looked down the hall, into Lynn's bedroom door.

It was then that she spotted a little light escaping from under the door. That was odd. Lynn always slept through the entire night, she always needed to recover from all the energy she spent playing and exercising. And Lucy loved lying in the dark, why would she have lights on? Besides, it was too late for either of them to be awake.

She almost shrugged it off and went into her room to try and finish her lyrics, but she stopped in front of her door. She might as well check on them and make sure everything was alright. She was their older sister after all, even if she didn't get as much respect as Lori did.

She sighed and then walked to the room next to hers. She gently knocked on the door before opening it a few inches.

"Dudes?" She asked in a low voice, sneaking her head inside to take a look.

She was received by the faint lights of candles, lighting up Lucy's desk and the entire room with a grim glow, painting the silhouettes of the furniture and the curtains. She couldn't see Lynn, covered up in her blankets, but she could listen to her loud snoring. The one awake was no other than little Lucy, sitting in front of her desk, with her white shirt reflecting the light of the candle, making her stand out in the middle of the dark room.

The girl slowly turned her head around to look at Luna. Her pale skin absorbed the dim light and made it even gloomier. It was a ghost-like scene, with her black hair and emotionless face making her look even more like an apparition.

"Luce? What are you doing up?" Asked Luna, getting inside her sister's bedroom.

"I'm writing a poem", answered the girl in her usual monotone voice. The fifteen years old girl could see some sheet of papers and a pen on her desk, lighted by the candles.

"It's pretty late, dude", she told her. "You should go to catch some z's and do it in the morning."

"I was sleeping, but my rest was interrupted, and a mind as troubled as mine finds it especially challenging to go back to its slumber."

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Oooookay. Well, you're a big girl, you can do what you want. But if you stay awake all night, tomorrow you're gonna look like a corp- no, wait, never mind. 'Night, Luce."

Luna waved her hand and swiftly left the room. She loved Lucy, but the kid was on a different tune with the rest of the family, she was too spooky and cryptic. Sometimes it was better to just let her be on her own.

She was about to open her bedroom door when she heard something. She looked behind her and almost fainted when she saw that Lucy was two inches behind her.

"Lucy! What the heck, dude?! You wanna give me a heart attack?"

"You don't seem groggy", the eight years old girl pointed out, ignoring the clear frustration her sister was showing. "You weren't sleeping, were you?"

After catching her breath and waiting for her heart rhythm to settle at a healthy pace, Luna answered her.

"Nah, I'm trying to finish some bloody lyrics for a song. I thought I'd have it done hours ago, but I don't think I'm inspired enough."

"Can I go with you?" Lucy suddenly asked.

Luna huffed and shook her head. She needed to be completely focused on what she was doing in order to compose something worth sharing with the rest of the world. Even though Lucy wasn't as obnoxious as Luan with her puns, or as Lynn and her noisy activities, having her there along her would inevitably result in at least some form of conversation. Heck, her mere presence, as silent as it could be, would end up distracting her.

Usually, she wouldn't mind. She would have agreed. But this song was special, it needed to be done and it needed to be perfect.

It was her priority.

"Lucy, I really think you should try to go to sleep. You're only eight, you shouldn't be up this late. Just go and close your eyes, you'll fall asleep eventually, dude."

"You won't even notice I'm there with you", her sister insisted. "I just want to see how you construct your lyrics. I might learn something I can apply to improve my poems."

As emotionless and monotone her voice was, there was a subtle hint of begging in Lucy's voice. It wasn't often that she would act this way, insisting on something. When denied, she would usually let out a loud sigh and resign herself to the unfavorable outcome. Luna might have argued a bit more to send her to her own room, but considering how tired and stressed she was, the last thing she wanted to do was having a sibling fight at two am in the morning.

"Fine", she finally said, dropping her shoulders and closing her eyes, defeated. "Just try not to distract me, alright luv?"

Her little sister nodded in silence, and Luna opened up her bedroom door. She held it open, and Lucy walked inside. Once there were both in there, Luna let herself fall on her bean bag and turned on the flashlight. She picked her pen and notebook from the floor and tried to concentrate.

Lucy decided to stand right behind Luna, staring silently at the notebook, probably reading the lyrics. Luna gave her one look from over her shoulder, and after realizing she wasn't going to sit down anywhere else, she put her focus on the paper. She tried to stop thinking about the real world and entered her lyrics mode.

She put the nib of the pen over the paper and pressed it there. But she couldn't write any letter, any word. She thought for a few minutes. Inspiration would hit, anytime now. She just needed a little time, a lot of patience, and most importantly, peace and qui–

"The lyrics are impressive", observed Lucy, completely ruining her older sister's train of thought. "The metric is consistent, and you're rhyming with more than the last syllable."

She wanted to yell at her, but she couldn't be totally mad when she was praising her work.

"Those are called compound rhymes, Luce."

"Compound..." She repeated, leaning over Luan's shoulder to take a better look at the rhymes. "It never crossed my mind that you could do something like that."

"It's an advance technique in hip-hop. You should try it. Now shush, I need silence."

"Siiiigh. Sorry."

Lucy finally sat down next to the beanbag, with her arms wrapped around her knees, pressing them against her chest. By the corner of her eye, Luna could see her rubbing the exposed part of her arms.

"You need a blanket, dude?"

"I'm okay."

"You sure? Seems like you're kinda cold in there", she insisted.

"Don't worry about me; no one does anyway. Keep writing."

"Pff, whatever."

Lucy was acting way too weird. She needed to get a grip and– Huh, "get a grip". That would sound cool on the song. And she could make more multi-syllabics out of that! "Get a grip", "take the lead", "metal grip", "better in"… Ok, maybe those weren't the best ones, but she could definitely work her way around them to make them sound cooler.

For some good five minutes, she tried to make a coherent verse around those ideas, coming up with a few extra rhymes in the process. For the first time in a couple of hours, she had a smile on her face. There was nothing like working on a song and seeing it all coming together.

As happy as she was, though, Lucy's presence there was still a bit distracting. She would take little peeks to her right to see if she had fallen asleep already, but every time she checked on her, Lucy was staring back at her or her notebook, it was hard to tell with the dark, matted bangs covering her eyes. It's not that she was bothering her. Not at all. She was as quiet as usual. But Luna couldn't help but wonder if everything was okay.

"Lucy?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you stop writing your poem?"

"I wasn't really into it."

"Oh. That's definitely a first."

"I was only doing that because I thought everyone else was asleep. I didn't know you were awake. I would have come here sooner."

That little statement caught Luna's attention. She slowly put her notebook down and tilted her head to get a better look at Lucy. Granted, she wasn't as smart as Lisa, but she could see… something. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together. She couldn't just see the whole picture yet...

"You said you couldn't fall asleep again. And you had your lights on. And you–"

Then it hit her. Everything made sense. Her odd behavior, the fact that she was up so late, how much she insisted to go with her. It should've been obvious.

"Lucy, did you have a nightmare?" Asked Luna, definitely leaving her notebook and pen aside.

The little girl let out one of her loudest sighs ever, and she curled up on her spot, looking even smaller than she was. Much more vulnerable. Much more like a scared eight years old girl. Luna didn't need an answer.

"Don't tell the others", Lucy said in a whisper. "I don't want them to make fun of me."

"Dude, no one's gonna make fun of you!" Luna said, moving from the beanbag and kneeling right in front of her little sister. "Everyone's got nightmares. Hell, I had one the other day and it really messed me up."

"But I'm not like you guys", said the pale girl, her fingers closing tightly around her skinny arms. "You're the ones that call me Miss Gloomy and Spooky. I'm supposed to like nightmares. I shouldn't be scared of a bad dream."

After those words escaped her mouth, Lucy pressed her chin against her chest, burying her face between her arms.

Luan's snoring was the only thing that could be heard in the room, along with the wind whistling as it passed by the window. Luna was faced with a scenario she wasn't accustomed to. Lori was the one that always put up with this type of issues. Even Lincoln had more experience than her dealing with the younger girls problems. For some reason, they never came to Luna, Luan or Lynn for these things.

She considered sending Lucy with her parents. Or maybe even wake Lori up. Lana used to go to the blonde's room when she had nightmares, it's not like Lori would kick Lucy off. She could've done that, delegate the responsibility to someone else, and keep minding her own business, which right now were related to the very important song she needed to finish.

However, just looking at little Lucy like that, curled up on the floor against the beanbag, hiding her face from her, trying to look as small as possible, she realized it was up to her to make this right. The song would be unfinished, yes. But that suddenly became unimportant. It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was the fact that her little sister needed a little help.

And family would always, no matter what, be the number one priority for Luna Loud.

"Come 'ere, luv", she said, gently grabbing Lucy by one of her wrists and pulling her up.

"What are you doing?" Asked the girl, allowing her older sister to make her stand up.

"Climb into my bunk bed. We're gonna get some rest for tonight."

"W-What? You mean, you want me to sleep with you?"

"Yup."

"But… I don't know..."

"Come on, I'll help you fall asleep", she told her, grabbing her by the armpits and lifting her up. It wasn't as easy for her as it was for Lynn, but she managed to help Lucy sit on the bunk bed before she herself climbed up to join her. "I'll sing you a lullaby, what'cha say?"

It was hard to read Lucy's unaltered expression with how little light there was now that the flashlight was off, but it was a fair guess to say that she looked unamused by the idea.

"No offense, but lullabies are not exactly my thing, Luna."

"Nonsense! I used to sing you lullabies to help you fall asleep all the time when you were in kindergarten!" She moved under the blankets and made room for Lucy, who sighed and joined her a little reluctantly. "You'll see, Lucy. Give me two minutes and your conscience will be Over the hills and far away."

Once Lucy lied against her, Luna cover them both with the blankets. She waited for a second for her little sister to get a bit more comfortable, but she was as stiff as a wood plank. Chuckling, she grabbed her and moved her closer, so they were both practically cuddling. Lucy's pale cheeks gained a shade of red, and that made her look even more adorable. The rocker had to stop for a second to chose a song. Baby lullabies wouldn't really work with Lucy, she was too much of a grown up. She would have to try something different. A rock ballad would probably do the trick.

A song came immediately to her mind. Luna smiled and one of her hands began to gently caress Lucy's right shoulder, trying to relax her. The younger girl was still apparently nervous about the closeness to her sibling; she was definitely not used to being this close to anyone. As Luna kept caressing her, though, she relaxed. She even moved her head a little so it would rest comfortably on the side of Luna's chest.

Realizing her little sister was now comfy enough and ready for a song to help her fall asleep, Luna started to sing, and her usually raspy voice became as smooth as velvet, keeping her volume low enough as to not wake Luan up.

"Blues hearted lady, sleepy was she. Love for the devil brought her to me."

With every verse, she kept caressing her little sister, trying to relax her and ease her into sleep. Her singing had an immediate effect on Lucy. She sighed, and along with the air, it was like her tiredness, fears, and worries had all left her body. She was no longer scared of her nightmare. She felt safe, protected, almost as if her mind was reminded of the times when she was a little girl and Luna would sing her to sleep every afternoon. She felt exactly like she did then.

The older girl saw her little sister's physical reaction to her soothing voice. The soft melody of the song –adapted to an even calmer ballad than it already was– was obviously helping her reach that point of no return when your body feels both a little numb and as light as a feather. She could hear Lucy's breathing slowing down, her breath coming out heavier each time.

"Fireflies dance in the heat of, hound dogs that bay at the moon. My ship leaves in the midnight, can't say I'll be back too soon."

By the time Luna sang the second chorus, Lucy was sleeping like a baby. Maybe she was just imagining stuff, but she thought she could see a slight curve on Lucy's lips. Just to make sure that she would completely fall asleep, she sang her another song.

While she was singing to her sleeping little sister, Luna looked down at her beanbag and her unfinished lyrics. She thought about it for a second, but she quickly smiled and shook her head.

It wasn't that important anyway.