Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

What she ends up learning

Chapter one: Getting up to speed

Things have never looked better for the town of Royal Woods, Michigan. Although Royal Woods, for the most part, hasn't changed in twenty-one years, there were still more than a few notable differences. Particularly when it came to the Louds, one of the premier families that live in Royal Woods. Twenty-one years ago, the Louds were already a considerably large family, what with the fact that Lynn Sr. and Rita, the patriarch and matriarch respectively of the Loud family, having eleven kids that consisted of ten daughters and one son. There was also Rita's father Albert and Albert's sister (Rita's aunt) Ruth, but they didn't live with the bulk of the family. Considering how Ruth tends to be as a person, the Loud siblings (not so) secretly saw that as a blessing.

But this is getting off point. The point is that Lynn Sr., Rita and their eleven children had some notoriety in Royal Woods due to the sheer size of their family. A family that, although already large enough on its own (some would go so far as to say more than large enough), only grew in size as the aforementioned twenty-one years passed everyone in Royal Woods by.

The oldest of the eleven Loud siblings at now thirty-eight years of age, Lori Loud, now known known as Lori Santiago, was enjoying a happily married life with her beloved husband Bobby. Back in Lori's late teens, Bobby, along with his mother Maria and younger sister Ronnie Anne (more on Ronnie Anne later), moved to some city that was either in the next state over, a three-hour drive away, or both. This move allowed the Santiagos to join with their extended relatives, the Casagrandes. However, due to circumstances that Bobby and his folks are not comfortable talking about, the Santiago-Casagrande family moved to Royal Woods; this was new grounds for some while a return home for others.

After the large extended Hispanic family moved to Royal Woods, Bobby's grandfather Hector, who owned and ran a bodega store in the city where the Santiago-Casagrandes used to live, restarted his business in Royal Woods. It proved to be immensely popular, and because of the massive success, Hector was able to open up a number of other small business all over the Royal Woods area; in addition to a few convenience store-like business such as the relocated bodega store, there was also a pawn shop, a used furniture store, a used book/game/instrument/video game store, a thrift shop, a store that specialized in the handling of manga and anime-related stuff, and even a franchise of Burpin' Burger. Hector had never been wealthier and more affluent in all of his life.

Bobby, who by that point had graduated from college alongside Lori (at the time they had gotten engaged), ended up having to go from supporting Hector to taking over for Hector when the elderly Hispanic gentleman had to step down when his ever-advancing age was starting to really get in the way. Bobby was unsure of himself, unsure of if he could handle the empire of businesses that his grandfather had built up. But Lori, ever the loyal woman to her cherished Boo-Boo Bear, stood by him every step of the way.

The Santiago couple had been through thick and thin since well before they even graduated High School and had stayed that way to this day. Lori helped Bobby as he was learning how to run the practical empire he had been given the reigns on. She was there for him when Hector sadly died during her and Bobby's very early thirties (Hector's cause of death was being stabbed by a man with a bowie knife; it was a mugging gone horribly wrong). And of course, Bobby was there when Lori gave birth to their children; Bobby and Lori Santiago are the parents of twins that are currently nine-years-old. The twins are one boy and one girl, respectively named after their Uncle Lincoln and Aunt Ronnie Anne.

After Lori comes her younger sister Leni, currently thirty-seven. Unlike with what went on between Lori and Bobby, Leni did not have so smooth of a love life; for reasons the ditzy, fashion-loving Loud woman did not want to go into, things between her and her first crush, Chaz, did not work out so well, floundering at a party that Chaz hosted during their teens. Luckily for Leni, she soon afterwards ended up meeting the guy who would be to her what Bobby is to Lori.

This new guy was Aggro Ace, a half-Swedish half-Japanese boy who's a year older than Leni; Aggro and Bobby are also best friends. Leni and Aggro, once the former confessed her love to the latter, became very close. When Leni graduated from a local fashion college and Aggro graduated from the college he went to so he would learn what he needed to take over his family's business, the two of them got engaged. Leni and Aggro married eight months after getting engaged, with Bobby as Aggro's best man, just as Aggro was Bobby's best man at his wedding.

Leni, now going by Leni Ace, has had one child with her husband so far; a daughter, currently seven years of age, named Asagi, which is the name of Aggro's grandmother from his father's side of the family. Leni thought that Asagi was a beautiful name for her and Aggro's daughter and was touched when Aggro explained that Asagi is the name of his grandmother, so of course she was all for the name suggestion that Aggro came up with.

After Leni comes Luna, the third oldest Loud sibling at thirty-six years of age. However, we'll be skipping Luna for the time being, as she and her significant other will be coming up at a later time down the road.

There isn't much to say about Luan, the fourth oldest Loud sibling at thirty-five, other than the fact that she went to community college, graduated with some manner of degree, then went on to have a relatively successful career as a stand-up comedian. There is, however, a bit to say about Luan's crush turned boyfriend turned fiancé turned husband, Benny. Working himself very hard, often to the bone, Benny eventually realized his dream of opening, owning and running a bar slash performance club, where customers would enjoy drinks as they watched people perform on the stage.

Luan, whenever she was not on tour performing in comedy specials, would perform at her husband's bar slash club. As for their personal life, Luan and Benny only have one child, a five-year-old son that, at Benny's insistence, he and Luan named Lynn, after both Luan's father Lynn Sr. and Luan's younger sister Lynn.

Speaking of the latter, Lynn, the fifth oldest of the Loud siblings at thirty-four, ended up marrying longtime crush Ulfric Aesir, who the sporty loud had met after things ended on a rather terrible note concerning Lynn's previous crush Francisco who, last Lynn heard anything about him, was surprisingly currently serving time in a prison somewhere in Arizona. Lynn, after a bit of touch and go, was able to graduate with the qualification she needed to become a gym teacher at a public school. And this was just in time, too; Coach Pacowski, the long-time gym teacher over at Royal Woods Elementary school, suddenly died due to an accidental drowning near where the houseboat he and his mother lived at.

Although not exactly Lynn's dream of being a professional athlete (which Lynn sadly had to give up on due to an undisclosed injury she suffered to the lower part of her right leg), her job as a gym teacher at RWES was oddly satisfying, since she still got to do what she loved, that being exercise and sports. And since she was doing so while molding the minds of the younger generation, Lynn felt more satisfied that she believed she would have been if she actually did succeed in becoming a professional athlete.

Speaking of professional athlete, Ulfric, due to his undeniable prowess as a strong safety in football, managed to score a scholarship to a university with a good college football team. Right after Ulfric learned what he needed for his own goal, that being a history teacher, he was scouted by a professional football scout. Although being a history teacher was Ulfric's goal, Ulfric's dream was to play professional football; not only did he achieve his dream, but he was even drafted onto his favorite team, which has black and gold colors. This was a phenomenal occurrence, given that Ulfric was born in Sweden, immigrating to the United States in his very early teens.

As for personal life, Ulfric and Lynn Aesir have one child, a six-year-old boy named Haldor, which is the name of a relative of Ulfric's living in Norway.

After Lynn came Lincoln, the only boy out of the eleven Loud siblings and sixth oldest at thirty-two. Lincoln had notably more ease and success in his post high school academics than Lynn. This was good for the sole Loud boy, as he ended up getting a career in video game designing and programming. Additionally, Lincoln ended up marrying long time romantic interest Ronnie Anne Santiago, the younger sister of Lori's husband Bobby.

Leni, at first, worried about Lincoln marrying Ronnie Anne, given that Ronnie Anne was Lincoln's sister. Loud sister Lisa (more on her later) pointed out to Leni that Lincoln and Ronnie Anne were in-laws, not blood relatives. Additionally, Lisa also explained to Leni the concept of double in-laws; with everything she heard from Lisa in mind, Leni calmed down, apologizing for freaking out the way that she did.

Lincoln and Ronnie Anne have two children together, one-year-old twins that are one boy and one girl. In a move that struck the Loud family (both base and extended) as amusing, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne named their son Bobby and their daughter Lori. This, however, is the end of the list of kids that are the offspring of the various Loud siblings. At least until we get back to third oldest sibling Luna, that is.

After Lincoln comes Lucy, currently twenty-nine years of age. Lucy graduated from college with some literary degree, then went on to have a successful career as a writer. Although usually sticking to her main area of literary expertise, that being gothic, Lucy also dabbled in a bit of one or two other subjects, especially since she wanted to write a book that her various young nieces and nephews would be able to enjoy.

Lucy, similar to her older sisters Leni and Lynn, did not have too much success when it came to her first crush, a boy named Silas who, similar to Lucy, had embraced the darkness. However, shortly after things between Lucy and Silas went south back when Lucy was eight, Lucy saw her second chance at love when, one day while she was in the third grade, her brother Lincoln, who was eleven at the time, invited his friend Rusty over to help with a project. It was that day that Lucy met Rocky, Rusty's younger brother and the aforementioned second chance at love.

Lucy and Rocky were able to hit it off eventually, and the two had stuck together ever since. Rocky graduated from college at around the same time as Lucy, got a secure and well-paying job of some kind, and eventually he and Lucy married, a union that is still going on strong to this day. Although Rocky and Lucy Spokes do not have any children, that will be changing soon, given that Lucy had recently become pregnant.

After Lucy comes the twins, Lola and Lana, both of which are currently twenty-seven. After both twins had finished their college educations, they went on to jobs in which they were respectively very comfortable in; Lola being a professional model who often dabbled in women's beauty pageants (Lola always won, BTW), and Lana going on to become a mechanic, the finest that the Royal Woods area had seen in years.

As for personal lives, Lola and Lana ended up marrying their respective longtime crushes, Winston and Skippy. In fact, since Lola and Lana are twins and Winston and Skippy are best friends, they ended up having the two ceremonies together in a double wedding, an event that was one of the most exciting events in the history of the Loud family, both base and extended.

Winston and Skippy, similar to their respective wives, have successful careers. Winston became an actor who has starred in three successful movies that have been released so far, with two others on the way. Most of those movies are aimed at older audiences, but one of the aforementioned movies that are set to come out soon is a movie aimed at children; Winston has a major role in that movie, a role he wanted since he wanted to be in a movie that his various young nieces and nephews could enjoy. Winston's sister-in-law Lucy appreciated the reasoning that Winston had for this.

As for Skippy, he is a highly skilled mechanic, same as Lana. There is some debate on which one between Lana and Skippy was the better mechanic, but Lana and Skippy didn't care about this; they really only cared about each other. Lola and Winston have no children; the same goes for Lana and Skippy, although Lana and Skippy do have a few pets.

After the twins came Lisa, the second-youngest Loud sibling at twenty-five. Lisa was already a very highly accomplished person back when she was just four years of age, if the PhD and Nobel Prize she earned back then are any indication. After graduating High School at fourteen (the age where most people start high school rather than finish it), Lisa went on to a very prestigious university, which to Lisa was just as much of a breeze as high school. Lisa ended up graduating from that university with full honors, then went on to become a scientist (not that Lisa wasn't a scientist already, mind you).

Lisa wasn't the only super-genius in this regard; there was also Lisa's longtime crush, David. Essentially the male equivalent of Lisa, David also had astounding accomplishments at a very early age, graduated high school at the same age as Lisa, went to and graduated from the same university as Lisa not only at the same time as her but with all of the same honors as well, then went on to become a scientist, same as Lisa. Rather predictably, Lisa and David got married; Lisa is the latest among her siblings to have gotten married. The two happily married scientists currently work at a lab in the Royal Woods area.

After Lisa comes Lily, the youngest of the Loud siblings at twenty-two. Lily is the baby among her and her siblings, given that she was literally a baby back when she and most of her siblings were skill kids. Lily had just very recently graduated from college and is looking at various jobs at the various businesses in the little but respectable business empire that her brother-in-law Bobby presides over.

Speaking of Bobby, Lily is currently in a dedicated relationship with Bobby's cousin Carlitos. Whereas Lily is an excitable and party-going kind of person, Carlitos is far calmer and more down to earth. Still, the two very much love each other, and Lily is eagerly awaiting the day that Carlitos pops the question to her. Lily intends to say yes, by the way.

Now we can get on with third oldest Loud sibling Luna, who was skipped earlier. Luna, like many of her siblings, enjoys her life, especially since Luna had achieved her dream of attaining rock and roll stardom. What made this especially enjoyable for Luna was that by her side the whole time and to this day is fellow band member Sam, who is Luna's girlfriend turned fiancé turned wife.

Although times change and things become more and more accepted, there was still some touch and go in society when it comes to its views on same sex couples. Luna and Sam, through their fame and success as musicians, managed to dispel the vast majority of doubts in them; only the most absolute hardline people remained firmly in the opinion that marriage should stay between one woman and one man.

Luna and Sam very much love each other, very easily to the point of wanting to have kids together. However, since two women cannot do it and a child will result, this meant that Luna and Sam had to adopt. Sadly, the people running the only orphanage Luna and Sam could find at the time are some of the aforementioned hardline people and, finding Luna and Sam's union as offensive, refused to let the Sharp couple (Luna had taken on Sam's last name of Sharp upon marriage) adopt.

Luckily for the Sharp women, the local fertility clinic in Royal Woods was more than glad to help them become mothers. Luna and Sam decided ahead of time that only one of them would get pregnant, but the clinic, due to rules and procedures, had both women undergo tests anyway to determine if either of them were good to go to give birth. Both Luna and Sam ended up passing these tests. At this point, the only bump in the road was finding someone who could donate the sperm needed for either Luna or Sam to become pregnant.

A donor was found, and roughly nine months or so afterwards, Luna and Sam became the mothers of a beautiful baby girl that they ended up naming Dawn. Out of all of the kids that have a Loud sibling as a parent, Dawn is the oldest at fifteen years of age; she was born when her mothers were both twenty-one.

Dawn is a fair-skinned girl with a slim yet healthy build. She has long brown hair (the style looked exactly like that of Mizore Shirayuki's hair before the haircut) and freckles; the brown hair and freckles were just like that of Dawn's mother Luna, which is odd considering that Dawn's mother Sam is the one who gave birth to her. Dawn also wore a baggy long-sleeved sweatshirt whose neck hole exposed the tops of her shoulders; this sweatshirt had a cream-colored body and light lavender sleeves. Additionally, Dawn wore a pair of studded cargo shorts that were gray in color, a pair of slightly baggy socks, and a pair of brown shoes.

Given that Dawn's mothers are often on tour, what with them being famous rock music artists and all that good jazz, Dawn lived with her Aunt Lori and Uncle Bobby, more or less having been raised by them. Dawn was not all that troubled by this. Bobby and Lori Santiago were very kind, loving and protective guardians to their fifteen-year old niece. In fact, Dawn's Aunt Lori and Uncle Bobby, as well as Aunt Leni and Uncle Aggro, Aunt Luan and Uncle Benny, Aunt Lynn and Uncle Ulfric, and Aunt Ronnie Anne and Uncle Lincoln, were all very protective of their fifteen-year-old niece; granted, all of Dawn's aunts and uncles really cared for her, but the aforementioned pairs were especially protective of the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl.

And this is saying nothing of how fiercely protective Dawn's mothers are of her because, although their work keeps them away close to all of the time, Luna and Sam still very much care for and love their teenage daughter. Likewise, Dawn cares for and loves her mothers. And dab on the haters who think poorly of same sex couples; after all, Dawn's Uncle Ulfric has two mothers as well. Dawn also heard that her Uncle Lincoln had a friend that has two dads, but whenever the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl tried to push for any info in this area, she wasn't given any answers.

She did notice a few resigned, sad looks, though.

Dawn was sitting on her bed in her bedroom in the house where she lived with her Aunt Lori, Uncle Bobby, and cousins Lincoln and Ronnie Anne. It always struck Dawn as just a little bit weird that she has a pair of cousins named Lincoln and Ronnie Anne, as well as an Uncle Lincoln and Aunt Ronnie Anne; Dawn felt similarly about how she also has a pair of cousins named Lori and Bobby, as well as an Aunt Lori and Uncle Bobby. Oh well, at least Dawn didn't have to remember so many relatives' names.

Dawn was making various sketches in a notebook; all of said sketches were of various manga and anime characters. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl had a thing for manga and anime. Because of her dedication to manga and anime, Dawn ended up pushing herself to learn how to speak in Japanese, becoming fluent in the language as a result; Dawn's Uncle Aggro, himself half-Japanese, was very much amused that one of his nieces or nephews could speak in the language that he learned from his late father.

Dawn was at work trying to draw a character from a somewhat older series; the character was an elder lich that lorded over a vast tomb, filled with loyal servants and warriors that were either undead, demons or some other non-human. As Dawn drew, she heard a knock at her door. Looking up from her sketch book, Dawn called out, "Come in!" About a second later, Dawn's younger cousins came in, after little Ronnie Anne had opened the door.

The twin nine-year-old kids had a lot of the looks of the aunt and uncle they are named after, but there were some differences; cousins Lincoln and Ronnie Anne were half-Hispanic half Caucasian, whereas Uncle Lincoln is Caucasian and Aunt Ronnie Anne is Hispanic. Additionally, cousin Lincoln, while his hair was styled just like that of the uncle who he's named after, had yellow-blonde hair, same as Aunt Lori.

Cousin Lincoln wore an orange t-shirt under a green buttoned shirt and a pair of jeans. Cousin Ronnie Anne looked much closer to Aunt Ronnie Anne; cousin Ronnie Anne even wore a hoodie, same as her aunt back then. The only differences between cousin Ronnie Anne and Aunt Ronnie Anne is that cousin Ronnie Anne sported an orange hoodie and is half-Hispanic, as opposed to a mix of purple and yellow hoodies and full Hispanic that Aunt Ronnie Anne had going for her.

With a friendly smile, Dawn said to her younger cousins, "What can I help you two with?"

"I want the last brownie snack cake but Lincoln says it's his!" Ronnie Anne complained as she pointed to her twin brother.

"Mom said it was mine, Ronnie Anne!" Lincoln retorted to his twin sister.

Chuckling in an amused manner, Dawn sat up on her bed (she was laying on her stomach), stood up from her bed, and stood in her room, facing her younger cousins. "I hate to burst your bubble Ronnie Anne, but your mom did say that the last brownie snack cake is Lincoln's," Dawn said, drawing a disappointed moan of complain from the female Santiago twin and a cheer of victory from the male Santiago twin.

"Is there anything else I can help you two with?" Dawn asked, "Because I have to get ready."

Both of the Santiago twins looked up at their older cousin, with Ronnie Anne asking, "Get ready for what, Dawn?"

"I've got some places that I want to go to in town today on my bike," the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl explained, "There's something that I want to figure out, and the places on the list I wrote up last night are places I figure can help me learn what I want to know."

"But didn't mom say you had to stay here and keep an eye on me and Ronnie Anne until she gets back?" Lincoln asked.

"Which is why I'm going to wait until after Aunt Lori gets back," Dawn replied. That last part made Dawn think for a bit; a while ago, Lori had been hesitant to leave Dawn in charge of looking after the Santiago twins for the longest time, always having to find a babysitter to watch both the twins and Dawn. This often led to an aunt or uncle babysitting them; on one occasion, Aunt Lori managed to get Uncle Ulfric to watch over them, and as a result a lot of fans of the football team that Ulfric belongs to stopped by for autographs.

The first time that Dawn was left in charge of the twin was when Lori failed to find someone to babysit and had no other choice. When Lori got back, she was surprised to see that her fifteen-year-old niece was able to hold down the fort without issue. This gave the Santiago woman enough confidence to leave Dawn in charge of the twins the next time she had to leave them alone. Just like the first time, Dawn was able to handle Lincoln and Ronnie Anne without issue. As a result, Dawn ended up being her aunt's choice to leave in charge.

Dawn also saw what she thought was a hint of guilt in her Aunt Lori's face, but Dawn dismissed that as a mistake of the lighting, or something like that.

While the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl was contemplating all of this, she and her younger cousins heard the front door open, followed by a woman's voice calling out, "Kids, I'm back!"

"Mom!" Lincoln and Ronnie Anne called out in unison as the two of them ran out to go greet their mother. Likewise, Dawn went out to greet Aunt Lori as well, although she was a lot more casual than her excited younger cousins. After making her way to the living room, Dawn saw her cousins excitedly jumping up and down in front of their mother, her Aunt Lori.

Despite getting close to forty, Lori looked far younger. In fact, Lori looked like a very slightly older version of herself from when she was seventeen; one would not be able to tell that Lori had ever been pregnant, much less with twins. Lori's standard outfit did change overtime, though; Lori now wore a casual blue t-shirt and a pair of khakis, still retaining the same color scheme of her outfit from when she was seventeen. Also, Lori still wore sandals.

"Hey, Aunt Lori," Dawn began, getting the Santiago woman to look up from the twins to her, "Would it be okay if I took off? There's a few places I want to go." As the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl had anticipated, her Aunt Lori instantly had a concerned look on her face; it never ceased to amaze Dawn how protective her aunts and uncles can be of her.

"Where…where did you want to go?" Lori asked, "If you want, I can give you a lift." This is something else that Dawn had completely anticipated; whenever Dawn wanted to go somewhere, her Aunt Lori, or Uncle Bobby if he was available, would offer to take Dawn to where she wanted to go. However, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl had every reason to suspect that not only would Aunt Lori tell her no to some of the places she had on her list, but Aunt Lori would make sure that Dawn wouldn't leave the house until she gave up on wanting to go to those places.

So, she lied.

"I wanted to swing by Gus' to hit the arcade there," Dawn said, "I was also planning to hit up the manga and anime store that Uncle Bobby has."

"Oh, that shouldn't be a problem," Lori replied, "You want I should drive you?"

"I have a bike, Aunt Lori," Dawn pointed out, a hint of exasperation in her dry tone. Seeing the worry on her aunt's face, Dawn said, "Aunt Lori, you and Uncle Bobby worry too much. I'm going to be just fine. Besides, if push comes to shove, you can just call me, seeing as how I have my phone with me pretty much all the time."

Dawn could see the hesitation in her aunt's face as the Santiago woman contemplated some options in her head. After about a minute or so, Lori sighed in a tone that clearly indicated that she was relenting. "…Very well," Lori said, "You can do your things if you want." In an insisting tone, Lori quickly added, "But be sure to call me whenever you get to any of the places you're going to, as well as when you leave any of those places! Also, don't forget to mention when you are on your way back home!"

Chuckling to herself, Dawn replied, "Got it, Aunt Lori. And thanks." After heading back to her room to get her backpack, Dawn was out the front door. Getting her bike out of the backyard, Dawn rode off of the Santiago family's property and off into Royal Woods, looking for answers to what she wanted to know.

She could not know what said answers were going to be in the end.

END, CHAPTER ONE

Author's notes:

This has been the first chapter of 'What she ends up learning', which I have a feeling will be one of my most mature stories yet, considering the content. This story is going to be my own unique spin on an element in Loud House stories that I've seen pop up multiple times, although I'm not going to say what that element is just yet. If any of you have any guesses, though, please don't leave them in the comments; I want as many readers as possible to come into this story with as fresh of a mind as they could have.

Side note: I'm sorry that most of this chapter was spent building up the story's setting, but it was building that I felt was necessary.