The second and last chapter is here.
But before we begin it is time to answer some questions and react to comments:

Minecraftkid: Thank you.

JamesSunderlandsPillow: Thank you for saying this, I noticed that myself that none of the sisters and brother has a favorite amongst their ranks.

AstralWhip: If you say so. My favorite is Leni.

Talespinner69: I had the idea from the episode "Garage Banned". She let's Lana sleep with her when she as nightmares. If that is not a sign for affection I don't know what is.

The Keeper of Worlds: Your curiosity shall be satisfied with this chapter.

I want to thank ultrabud2 for proofreading this chapter and chapter 1.

Without further ado I hope you enjoy the conclusion of this story.


Chapter 2: Love the many, love the few


If you live in a big family, quiet moments are seldom.
But if somebody from a big family experiences real solitude, they may enjoy it a lot, but eventually they miss the many people and the loud sounds around them. Nevertheless, Lori wasn't thinking about that now. She was lying on her bed, her face studded with little bandages and bruises, thanks to Lola after her attack.

After a short fight with the enraged princess, she brought her and Lana back home, the trip having ended after this disaster. On the way home, they had argued about the incident, throwing the blame at each other, discussing and growling about it.

Before arriving home, Lori and Lola agreed that they wouldn't talk about this incident to their parents. Lana pointed out that they could look the entire incident up on their social media pages, but Lori patiently explained to the tomboy twin that not mentioning the physical battle was more important.

She and Lola hid their injuries with make-up and now she had some peace, quiet and time to think. She had to think about her sibling-relationships.

I am too nice to Lana. Why do I like her more than Lola? Why do I like her more than the others? The others don't deserve to be loved less than her, I have to show my love equally, no more or less love for anymore.

Most were gone now. The twins had a Bluebell Scout-Meeting later that day and the others, except Leni and Luna, were doing their own things elsewhere, while Luna was surprisingly quiet for some reason, listening to classical music as preparation for a special track instead of the usual non-stop rock music, and Leni was sewing something in the cellar.

She tried to command her mind and feelings to love nobody more than everybody else, but Lana always came on top tied with Leni. She couldn't do much against liking Leni at least a little more than the others, she was her roommate and the sibling that was the closest to her in terms of age and the one she was most familiar with.
But Lana was a problem.

She didn't mind Lana, in fact, she was the sibling she was the least annoyed with by their antics, which was surprising because she was often the dirtiest of them, playing in the mud, eating garbage and being a tiny bit too close to animals and pets.

She was also the one who respected her the most, calling her Sir or Ma'am whenever she had to order the entire family around.

Lana was the one who was allowed to climb into Lori's bed whenever she had nightmares.
She remembered the first time it happened well…


Lori was sleeping as she felt something tugging on her blanket.

"Psst, Lori! Are you awake?" a tiny voice whispered to her.

Lori grumbled something, already feeling sour about being woken up at this hour.

Grumbling, she turned around to look at the fool who had dared wake her up at this time of the night.
"Lana?" she noticed still grumbling. "What do you want?"

"I had a nightmare," Lana told her in a timid voice, still shaking a little bit from her bad dream. "An alien shot me with lasers canons. I thought I would die."

"Aliens are not real. Go back to bed," ordered Lori in her sternest voice.

"But I am scared," admitted Lana nervously. "Can I bunk with you?"

"Why do you want to bunk with me?" asked Lori in a tone that was more confused than angry. "You should know the others are more willing to help you with such a thing than I am."

"But… But…."

"But what? Spit it out now!"

"Leni is too naïve, Luna is too wild, Luan would make puns at the monster and Lynn would attack it head on," Lana blurted out. "You are the only one who knows what to do if an alien attacks."

"I… I…" Lori didn't know what to say, so she settled with a: "Thank you."

"Can I come to you know?"

Lori was torn between her wish for solitude in her own rectangle of sleep and the sisterly wish to comfort her little sister. She was thinking how weak she would come across doing this, but in the end, she didn't care what the others might think of her as a softie. She could shatter that image easily enough, at least if they thought she had become a pushover.

"Come here, but don't make any noises," ordered Lori and lifted her blanket.

Lana jumped on the bed, happiness invading her face as she snuggled into Lori's chest. The oldest sister wrapped her blanket around the tomboyish twin and embraced her with her arm, stroking her back.

"Good Night Lana," said Lori in a soft voice. "Sleep well, your big sister will protect you from all aliens."

"Good Night Lori, I love you," came an answer back from the little bundle in her arm who closed her eyes.

Lori did the same, and before she fell back into the land of slumber, she said: "Love you too."


Had that been the start?
It seems likely, Lana confessed that she felt really safe with Lori and that was a big praise for her, receiving so much trust from the little tomboy. How could she not like her after such a declaration of belief and trust in her person?

There was the answer, or at least part of the answer. There was probably more but that event was significant.

Lori knew the source, but didn't know how to solve the situation or what else had caused it. How-

"Lori? Hi?" asked Leni for the fifth time now, standing beside Lori's bed. "Have you seen my dungaree? I wanted to make jeans, but forgot to take them with me."

Lori sat up, surprised by Leni. "Oh, Leni I didn't notice you there," she explained, a little dazed after being torn out of her thoughts that way. "I don't know, sorry sis."

Leni looked worriedly at her older sister. Some people called her dumb, but she knew when one of her family members was eaten up by something and Lori looked very eaten up right now.

"Like, what is going on Lori? You are so absent minded, you may end up wearing ankle boots with jeans."

"I was thinking…" started Lori to say before stopping herself and thought her words through. "I was thinking about the incident you guys witnessed on social media."

"Yes, the Royal Shakespeare Company doesn't want to become friends with Starbucks. Like, it is a shame."

"I was literally talking about the argument I had with Lola," Lori corrected the dimwit forbearing. "I was wondering why I reacted the way I did."

"Do you feel stressed? Were you ashamed about your posting mistakes? Do you have relationship issues with Bobby?"

"The former two points are correct; the last one is not, fortunately."

Leni, ever her helpful self, sat down on the bed beside her sister and patted her hair. "We all make mistakes. Like the time I used social media for the first time and tried ordering Facebook to connect me with my other friends."

"You posted messages on your activity log for over an hour until somebody explained to you how you are supposed to send friend requests."

Leni looked to the side ashamed, but looked up back to her happy seconds later. "You learn from your mistakes."

Lori gave her a nod and smiled. "And you did."

"So, what is your problem big sis?"

Lori sighed and laid back on her bed. "I wonder why I liked, posted and messaged the way I did. I favored Lana, which wasn't my intention. But I don't understand why I tried to deny it so aggressively."

Leni rubbed her chin, looking around the room as if the answer was lurking somewhere there. "Because you can't admit your mistake?"

"A little bit, but I think there was more to it than that."

"Like, something that happened in your past?"

"Yeah, that could literally-"
Lori stopped, her eyes going wide.

"Wait, this IS literally what… Oh, my god!"
She remembered. She remembered it all know!

"What is it Lori?"

Lori looked up to her sister and smiled at her, yet she looked nervous. "I know the source, but I can't talk about it now."

Leni looked even more worried than before and held her right hand to her chest. "Is it something bad? Did something bad happen to you?"

"Well… I… Literally…. No, I am fine, I…. Ergh… Please, I don't want to talk about it."

Leni's look of concern for her sister didn't change but she dropped the subject, saying: "I understand. When you feel ready, you can talk to me anytime."

Lori, looking to the side, nodded. "I see… Thank you Leni, I love you."

"I love you too."


Luna was writing lyrics for a new song as somebody knocked on her door.

"Come in!"

Lori entered the room, looking somber yet determined. Luna saw that something serious was going on the second she beheld the face of the second-in-command.
"Lori, you look miffed, mate, what is troubling you?"

"You were once my favorite, Luna," Lori said honest. "I preferred you over Leni."

Luna was so dumbfounded, she even forgot to use her British accent. "Please, what?"

Lori took a deep breath and threw her arms in the air, saying: "You had been my favorite after you were born. Leni was the most frustrating baby and toddler of all time."

"Calm your… chest, don't bust yourself up." Luna sat down on her bed and offered Lori to seat on the beanbag.

Lori let herself fall down on the comfy beanbag, soaking the comfortable feeling of the seat into her stressed body.

"Also, tell me why I was once your favorite sister," requested Luna interested. "But first, you should tell my why you want to talk about this now."

"Because I have another favorite now," Lori explained with a defeated sigh. "I can't have a favorite. I can't neglect any of you to favor another. Let me literally tell you why."


"Wama!"

"Leni, stop! That isn't mama! Look out, the broken bottle!"

Leni avoided the sharp pieces of the bottle via Lori kicking them away from herat the last second.

Little 2-year-old Lori was running after baby Leni Loud, who was crawling through a crowd towards the stage on which a rock concert was taking place and a blonde man was singing the No. 1 Bad Boy. Lori was wearing a brown T-Shirt with black overalls and sports shoes.

"Wama!" she cooed, thinking the lead-singer was her mother because he had blonde hair like her.

Lori had a difficult time catching up to the baby because she was faster than she looked and Lori had been hindered by concert goers. She had to reach to Leni somehow before something bad would happen to her little sister.

She somehow managed to get onto the stage and then the lead singer's leg before Lori could reach him.

He looked down in confusion as a little baby, saying "Wama" over and over climbed up on him while he tried to continue his song.

"Leni, you get down from there right now or WAAAAH!"

Lori tripped over some prop on the stage and fell directly into the lead singer, both bumped against the amplifier which led to a domino effect that ended in the destruction of the concert.


Luna was dumbfounded. "Leni climbed the leg of Bret Michaels from Poison and then you three destroyed an entire concert?"

Lori sighed, but thinking about the incident in a more casual manner. "Yes, but that wasn't even the worst of it."


Little 2-year-old Leni, who was wearing a pink dress, was staring at the thing in utter fascination but also fear. It had made an unholy sound, a sound she had never heard before, a sound so utterly alien and bizarre, it sounded like the howl of a tortured creature.

"Lori, something is captured in this thing, every time I hit one of the buttons, different creatures calls for help, and I think they are angry!"

Lori, 3 years old and playing with baby Luna, looked at her younger sibling with an annoyed expression.

"For the last time, there is no animal inside the "The farmer says" toy, Leni. Nothing or nobody is imprisoned in it."

"But what else makes those noises?"

"It is…" Lori scratched her head. She didn't know either. "It is something… Somebody captured some voices and put them into this toy."

Leni made an incredibly shocked gasp in response, in fact, she was about to cry. "They stole some helpless animals' voices and put them into this machine? How could they do something like this?!"

"Leni, that is not what I-"

But Leni didn't listen, running away and coming back with a crowbar…


"Until Lana started being interested in the crafts, Mom kept the tools locked up since then."

"That didn't sound so bad, at least in comparison to the first thing," Luna commented.

"Believe it or not, it gets even worse," continued Lori.


Baby Leni had forgotten to breath. For the fifth time this month.

Which led to Lori becoming one of the youngest known users of CPR in history because her parents could never be sure when

ever Leni forgot to breath and Lori had to resuscitate here if they weren't there.

The entire situation would have been more harrowing for Lori if Leni hadn't said "AGAIN!" because she had to pick up that ONE word from that ONE Dinosaur.


"Saying that word again and again ruined any dramatic feeling I could have had about my baby sister dying," grumbled Lori. "Despite Leni almost dying more than once, I could never take it seriously."

Luna, on the other hand looked, horrified. "Leni almost died several times?"

The woman in the cyan shirt shrugged. "Yes, and I was not traumatized by it because "AGAIN!" again and again."

"Did it get any worse?"

"Oh, yes. Here is the worst story:"


"You are LITERALLY THE WORST, Leni Loud!" screamed Lori at the little girl before her.

Baby Luna was crying and little Lori was trying to comfort here.

"Why the heck did you think that it was a good idea to put strawberry L'Oréal in Luna's porridge?"

"It looked so tasty," defended Leni subdued. "If it can leave her clean and smelling good, it should also taste good."

"YOU ARE AN IDIOT FOR BELIEVING THAT!" screamed Lori, stroking Luna's head. "Luna is a way better sister than you will ever be. Just see what you did to her."

"But-"

"Go away and stay away from me and Luna!" the oldest little girl screamed in anger. "I hate you!"

Leni trembled, biting her lips, her mind trying to ignore what Lori just said but she couldn't. She opened her mouth and released a quailed wail of anguish as her eyes started to water, tears rolling out of them as she started to cry.

She ran away, crying for her parents who were upstairs cleaning while they had requested Lori to feed Luna. She had been very responsible and willing to help, so their parents thought she could watch over Luna for a short time, but they didn't count for Leni.

The following events were awkward and confusing for everyone involved. They blamed Lori for screaming at Leni, they berated Leni for putting L'Oréal in her sister's porridge and were frustrated about the situation in general.

In the end, Leni laid in and silently crying in Rita's lap, Lynn was holding Luna, who had calmed down, and Lori stood before both adults, appearing defiant.

"Lori, what you did was wrong," began her father to speak sternly.

"It was wrong for me to scold Leni for feeding Luna with hair shampoo?"

Lynn opened his mouth, before he closed it, thought a second and finally said: "No, not that part. That was the correct thing to do." He turned to Leni. "Sorry, sweetie, that was wrong."

Leni, eyes still red, puffy and wet, looked up and nodded, understanding what he meant.

"But your reaction was badly worded," continued her father. "You don't call your sister stupid or an idiot."

"And you especially don't say you like your sister more than her," added Rita in a stern voice. "That is not right."

"Why?" asked Lori stubbornly. "Leni doesn't deserve my affection. She doesn't deserve it because she is acting so stupid all the time!"

"She is just a little kid, Lori," argued Rita with a frustrated expression. "Making mistakes is just natural for someone her age."

"But she does them non-stop!" exploded Lori. "I have to rescue and help her again and again and again! I can't take it anymore, I won't take it anymore. From now on, I will only help Luna!"

A palm hit raw flesh.

Lori looked over to her father who had been hitting a steak with his bare hand. "I hope I have your attention now."

Lori nodded, though a little confused about her father's action.

"If you have more than one sister, brother or sibling, you don't favor one over the other. You just don't do that."

"Why shouldn't I?" asked Lori once again. "Why should I spend time with somebody I don't like?"

"Do you really hate Leni?" asked my father in his most neutral tone. "Do you really despise your little sister?"

Lori, abashed by those words, looked to the ground and mumbled: "No."

"You hear that, Leni?" Rita indicated to Leni. "She doesn't hate you. She was just very angry."

Leni looked up from her mother's lap and over to Lori, looking hurt, her gaze was also inquisitive, thinking about what could happen next.

"Lori, you can't openly like others and/or treat others worse because you like somebody else more," explained her father in a stern tone. "Your feelings are different, but that doesn't mean people you feel different about don't deserve proper attention or care."

"But I just like Luna more, why is that wrong?"

"Because nobody in this family should feel unloved or unappreciated. The worst thing that could happen to somebody is feeling unloved. Everybody deserves love."

"How bad can Leni feel without my love, mom?"

"Very terrible, love is important. Everyone deserves love, especially your family members," explained her mother in a calm and understanding tone. "Give your love equally to all, don't leave anyone behind. Don't let anyone feel unloved."

Lori needed a few minutes to fully understand what her mother meant by it. She didn't hate Leni, nor wanted her to get in harm's way or feel bad. But she was still incredibly difficult to keep an eye on.

"Can you help me with Leni in the future? I think it is too much for me to watch over her alone."

Lynn nodded. "I guess we can take some of the pressure off of you again, Lori. Don't feel bad about it, we all overestimate ourselves from time to time. Maybe one day you will feel ready for more responsibilities again."

Lori had the feeling that she should watch over her younger siblings as the oldest since the day Leni was born. But Leni had been very high maintenance from day one, and Luna was very easy to watch over in comparison.

Getting some time off was probably the thing she needed and a way to spend more quality time with Leni.

On this day, she swore to herself NEVER to love anyone in her family more or less than any other member.

Except for roommates, but that was kind of unavoidable and an issue Lori wouldn't have to deal with for the moment.


"And this is the reason I can't have favorites."

Luna nodded in understanding. She wasn't shocked about the reveal and the reasons. She was surprised, but not in a negative way. "You think too much about the issue, sis."

Lori blinked in surprise. "What? But I… I just explained the issue to you in great detail!"

"I heard ya mate. I went through the same issue once and found a solution."

"You also had a favorite?" asked Lori, looking up to her. "If it is not me, you can say it, as I made you my favorite when you were a baby, so I don't demand anything from you there."

Luna chuckled. "Do not worry. But let me explain this to you: Aside from Luan, I like to spend a lot of time with Lucy."

"How come?"

"I am into metal rock, she is into dark poetry. Both of those passions cross often. The little dark dudette jams nicely with my rock and roll."

"But does nobody of the others feel neglected by you?"

"Nobody said anything, and I don't hang out with Lucy 24/7, so I guess not."

Lori was still pessimistic, but this information filled her with a little bit more hope. "What about the others? I… don't know how they usually interact with each other these days."
This confession filled her with shame, realizing she may have missed some important information.

Luna either didn't notice, didn't care for or wanted to dismiss that, lest Lori feel even worse about this. Instead she explained: "Lola often hangs out with Leni, since as a professional pageant participant, she also loves fashion, style and makeup. Luan is spending time with Lana AND Lisa to talk about mechanics & craftsmanship and chemistry & physics respectively and Lynn loves to spend time with Lana because she isn't afraid of some rough playtime and both love some spicy food."
And she added after a short pause: "And we all love Lincoln in our own way. He has the most balanced bond with all of us."

Lori couldn't disagree with that logic. Listening to Luna's explanation, she could see how the sisters shared more interests with each other than she would have thought.
She herself shared most of her interests with Leni, meaning there was even more than just their roommate connection. She just never had thought of that before.

"You really think we can have closer bounds with singular siblings without risking the bond with the others in general, Luna?"

"I just told ya sis. We are doing it already," clarified Luna. "It is easy. Just grab your favorite and have a good time with her, will ya? Otherwise, your feelings will overwhelm you and let you to make stupid things like you did today."

The blonde golf player rubbed the back of her head nervously. "B- But what am I supposed to say to L… Eh… You know…"

"You mean Lana?"

Lori jumped up in surprise. "How do you know?"

"You let her into your bed when she has nightmares, and she sits on your lap more often in comparison to the others."

Lori sighed in bemused annoyance. "And I thought my odd behavior from those last few days revealed my true feelings."

Luna shook her head. "No, I just thought that you acted funny for some reason, the reason I do now know."

So much for keeping my true feelings a secret, Lori thought. "I guess I can do nothing to change my feelings. Or even hide them."

"Do you get an autograph from Bret Michaels after Leni climbed his leg?"

"No, I was more worried about bringing Leni to safety and avoiding trouble with the concert's promoters," Lori remembered with a wince. "Mom and Dad also never found out about this incident."

"And I promise you not to tell anyone about that," promised Luna, zipping her mouth, rolling up the glass of the car door and put herself into a safe to make sure-

"Stop it with the Pantomime act. Just don't sing about it while taking a shower."

"Whatever you say, chap."


The second-in-command entered the backyard of Franklin Avenue's loudest house, looking for the little rascal and animal lover. She quickly found her playing with Charles, the dog of the Loud House, by throwing the Frisbee while he tried to catch it in the air, more often failing than succeeding.

Lori took a deep breath.
"Lana, can… can we talk?"

Lana reacted promptly. "Yeah, of course Lori, what is it?"

The older sister carefully put her hands under Lana's armpits and lifted her into the air. She embraced the little plumber with tender and lovely intent.

"Did one of my pets die?"

"Wha-" Lori, irritated, held Lana before her. "No, they are all okay."

"Why the hug then?"

Lori gave her sister a kiss on her forehead. "Because I love you and I want to spend some time with you."

Lana, who was not thinking much about Lori's sudden friendly demeanor, nodded happily in return. "Can we play hide and seek?"

"Of course!"

And the two started to play.

Lori felt free, so free, like she felt only a few times in her past while she counted to 20 with Lana hiding, searched for her, found her and then they started again vice versa.
There was no shame or stigma for having a favorite sibling as long as you do not neglect the others. Her other siblings didn't need her right now or even all the time, so she could take time off to hang out with Lana.

She could take time for her favorite.

"Lana, did you have to hide in the trash can?"

"I like it here, and I was hungry."

Even if that had some downsides


So, it is over, finished.

This was quite the challenge, well especially the ending, I think the ending is a little weak.

I am not the kind of guy who likes to copy others, I strife for original ideas and even when I copy some stuff I want always to add a creative spin to it. Creativity is very important to me.

Like always regular comments, constructive criticism, favs and follows are all appreciated.
I especially would like to know what you guys think of the Aesop at the end, I really hope it worked.

Bis die Tage! (See you later everyone!)

References:

"AGAIN" is from Baby from the Jim Henson Sitcom "Dinosaurs" who had probably the darkest ending to any sitcom ever created.