Thanks to everyone for all the support for this story, now over 11k views, and not to mention that the previous chapter officially made this story my longest one ever! I love all of you! Anyway, sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but in the middle of it, I got writers block really bad, and I had two back-to-back trips that I was going on. I wanted to finish it before those trips, but I guess we know how that turned out. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter of "Kidnapped!"

Chapter 10

Lori was quite taken aback by Leni's response. That's it? Who responds like that when you tell them that they can't have kids? It was almost like she was expecting something drastically different. "What do you mean?"

"That can't be the worst of it. You are way too bothered by this for that to be all there is to it."

"What?"

"I thought you were gonna say that I was gonna die! I was like, totally scared! I was already starting to think about how I would say goodbye to everyone!"

"What? No! Leni, you're not gonna die from this!" Lori now understood Leni's underwhelming, yet surprising reaction. She realized that she would probably do the same thing if she thought that she was going to die. Something like that was not to be joked around with, as they learned a couple months ago. But why did Leni think that was going to happen? Was Lori really overreacting about it that much? One would think that something like never being able to have kids again would be a pretty good reason to be as bothered as Lori was by it. But it still made her think. Why did it come off like that to Leni? Was it something she said previously?

"Lori, don't get me wrong, I really am sad that I can't have kids anymore, but..." Lori now looked up and started listening. "When you said that I didn't have any STD's and that I wasn't pregnant, that was the first thing I thought of, and I couldn't get it out of my head. Then when you said that my blood press wasn't the worst thing, I couldn't think of anything else that could be worse than that... except dying..." She Leni looked down at her bed, seeming to be deep in thought. "I guess that's just how I think about things, isn't it. It's just who I am, I'm just the ditsy sister that's... not even technically related to you guys."

That took a turn for the worse. Lori was definitely not expecting that and was now responsible for making her feel better. "No Leni... You're literally so much more than that." Lori got up off of her bed and made the four foot trek to Leni's. Leni moved from the middle and gave room for Lori to sit down next to her. Has this been the way she's felt this whole time? How did they not notice anything earlier? "I don't think that there's anyone in the entire city that knows as much about fashion as you do, and is as nice and sweet as you are. Not to mention you've been part of this family for longer than almost half of us. If anything, that makes you more family than they are."

Leni sat still listening to the words her sister was saying. They were comforting, sure, but not satisfying. It helped to calm her down, but there was still a hole there, a hole that needed to go away. And she didn't know how to make it disappear. "Thanks Lori... but... I just..." Leni was having trouble gathering the right words together, "I just... don't know..."

"Listen Leni. Family isn't about who you're related to. It's not about having the same mom or dad or the same siblings." Lori took a deep breath in and looked at Leni before she continued. "It's about being there for each other. I know I haven't been the best at doing that, and there's probably some things that I did where it's too late to make up for it. I wasn't always there for you, and to be completely honest, there will probably be some more times like that, hopefully not as often anymore, but I'm here for you now. Whatever you need me to do, it doesn't matter, just tell me."

Leni didn't do anything at first. She just sat there, remaining completely still. Lori turned her head straight forward and let out a deep sigh. Then, Leni leaned her head over onto Lori's shoulder. She didn't do anything else, she didn't look to the side, she didn't close her eyes, she didn't start crying. Leni just lay there with her head resting on Lori's shoulder. Lori was slightly startled when she did that, but didn't do anything else about it. She just lay there as well, letting Leni do whatever she wanted. It was strange, Leni had never acted this way before. She had always known that she was adopted, but had never let it be known that she felt even the slightest out of place. Had she always felt this way? Or did it just now pop up for some reason? Lori started stroking her sister's hair, hoping to help calm her down a little bit.

Leni sighed, keeping her head rested on Lori's shoulder. She didn't mean to say that to Lori. It was just her way of trying to calm herself down after thinking that she was going to die. However, it did trigger a thought that brought itself into her head occasionally. She never really felt like she didn't belong. She knew that she was a Loud just like all the others, but there were times when she just couldn't help but be curious as to what it would be like if her birth parents never died in that wreck. Lori was never around for any of those times so seeing her like this for the first time was probably a little distressing to her.

"I'm sorry..."

Lori looked at Leni as if she was crazy. Another thing to add to list of surprising things that Leni has done today. "What do you mean you're sorry? I should be the one that's sorry for not being there for you more often."

"I'm sorry because I said something that I didn't mean to say. I know I'm a part of the family. When I said that I wasn't even related to you guys, I only said that because of the moment. I shouldn't have said it, I just made everything seem worse... I'm sorry..."

Lori was dumbfounded now. She had no idea that Leni was even capable of thinking something like that. Other than that time when she picked the lock on the briefcase hidden in the backyard, Lori had never had evidence that she was able to think that deeply about anything. It took her even more by surprise. And to top it all off, she could also tell that Lori seemed bothered by what she said, even if it she didn't mean to say it.

"Wow... I... never knew that you could do that..."

"Do what?" Leni asked. She was back again.

"Heh, you're funny Leni." Lori could see the strain on Leni's face from trying to figure that out. "I mean, I never knew that you had thoughts like that, meaningful thoughts. Just goes to show that I haven't been paying as much attention to you guys as I should have."

"Oh... okay."

"So anyways Leni, if that's not what was bothering you, then what was it?"

"Oh yeah. Sometimes, I don't know why, but like... I can't help but wonder what it would be like if I never was adopted. I'm not even upset about it or anything, I just get like, umm... whatever it was that killed the cat."

Lori thought for a moment, then said, "Curious?"

"Yeah, I just get curious sometimes. It's probably not good for me, but I just can't help it."

"Well don't worry about it. You can talk to me about anything, you know that right?"

"Yeah, I know. Thanks Lori."

Leni reached around her sister's shoulder and gave her a hug which Lori returned. Normally Lori wouldn't notice little things like this, but now, she too was noticing how warm Leni's hugs were. Despite the fact it was just a hug from the side, she felt so warm and fuzzy. It really was amazing and so comforting. All of a sudden, it made sense to Lori why Lincoln seemed hesitant to break away from Leni's hug earlier that day, assuming Lincoln felt the same when it happened to him. How did she do it? No matter what kind of mood she was in she was always able to deliver the warmest hugs in the world. Perhaps that was just one of the many mysteries of Leni.

"So..." Leni started again. "I can't ever have children? Like, ever?"

Lori knew this was coming eventually. Even if her original reaction was not expected, Lori knew that she was going to be upset over this. "I'm sorry Leni, but yeah. That's what the doctor told me."

Leni didn't move a muscle, she just kept her arms wrapped around Lori who went back to stroking her little sister's hair. It was right about now that the reality of the situation hit Leni like a ton of bricks. Her expression slowly deformed into one that was completely different. It didn't take too long for Lori to start hearing sniffles and whimpering and before long, she started feeling her shirt becoming slightly moist. Lori began to feel something crawling up from the pit of her stomach as well. She knew that out of all of the Loud sisters, Leni was going to be the best mother of all of them. To have that almost completely stripped away from her must have been dreadful. How was she going to break that kind of news to the rest of the family? How would everyone take it? How would Lincoln take it?

Lori remembered how Lincoln practically blamed himself for Leni's disappearance. He was so upset at himself for that. It wasn't until they visited Leni in the hospital for the first time that Lincoln even considered thinking about anything else. It was possible that he still blamed himself for what happened. Adding Leni's condition onto that heap probably wouldn't be a good idea. If there was one thing that they all knew Lincoln was bad about, it was going to far when he felt bad. No matter how bad he felt in the past, he hadn't yet gotten to the point of feeling so terrible that he would try to do something to himself; cutting himself, physically beating himself, or even worse. But despite the fact that he hadn't done any of those things yet, Lori felt like he got dangerously close these last few days; all it would take is a gentle push in the wrong direction and Lincoln could start hurting himself. Lori would never want that, none of his sisters would.

Leni's mind wandered to Lincoln. He was the one who was there when she was kidnapped. She didn't know entirely how he felt, but she did know that he felt responsible for it, unreasonably so. If he knew what had really happened, maybe it would help him. Of course there was also the possibility that it could just backfire completely, making him feel even worse. She already felt terrible for him having to feel this way, and if she made him feel any worse than he already did, not only would Lincoln have another problem to deal with, but Leni would have to live with the guilt of knowing she was the one who made him feel that way. But she didn't really have much of a choice. He was going to find out eventually and it would be better if he found out sooner.

The more her mind wandered, the more tired she got and it wasn't too long until Leni fell asleep on Lori's shoulder. Lori had a feeling that this was going to happen as soon as she laid back on Leni's bed. It was too late to do anything about it now. Because who would dare disturb the sleep of the amazing Leni Loud. Lori sighed herself and made an attempt to fall asleep. It didn't take long at all to do this and once she was asleep, neither of them woke up until the next morning.

Lana tossed and turned in her bed, struggling to go to sleep. Not even hops right by her side, which normally put her right to sleep, was helping her. Every time that she wants to stay up late, she ends up falling asleep with no problem. Then on the one night that she actually wants to get some sleep, none comes to her. She just laid awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling. There wasn't even the slightest hint of tiredness. No droopy eyes, no fatigued muscles, not even a yawn. Why was this happening? What did she do to deserve this. Santa should be so happy that she's being a good girl and actually trying to go to bed for once. But of course, the one time that she decided to do the right thing, ends up being the one time that she can't even do it, no matter how hard she tried.

Her mind drifted off to Leni. She was curious as to what happened to her. The last time Lana saw her, just earlier that evening, she still had faint bruises on her arms, legs, and even her head. She wouldn't have doubted if she had bruises on her stomach and back too. She cringed just at the mere thought of someone beating up Leni that bad. If it were just a few months ago, she wouldn't have put Lori, Lynn, or even Lola in extreme cases, above hurting her like that. Not anymore though, hopefully they all knew better after nearly having to experience Lincoln dying, but that was far from her mind at the moment.

Why would anyone want to hurt Leni like that? She was so sweet and nice. Lana didn't think it was possible that anyone would want to hurt her, even on accident. Sure she can be a little dull sometimes, but she never wants anyone to suffer because of her. It was almost impossible for Leni to be mean. So why would anyone want to be mean to her? Lana still couldn't figure it out. But she did figure out why she couldn't go to sleep. It was because she was thinking about Leni too much; poor, sweet, innocent Leni. How could someone possibly be so evil? So evil as to hurt someone just because they wanted to. Not even Lola was that bad, even at her worst.

Lana thought that maybe a drink of water would help her go to sleep. So she got up and, leaving her room, went to the bathroom.

Underneath her, the floor squealed with every step she took. Despite the carpet softening the blow of her footsteps, it was still loud enough to gain the attention of anyone who might have still been awake, assuming anyone was even awake at this point. It was well past midnight by now and any noise that was being made from everyone else trying to go to sleep had ceased. No tennis ball bouncing against the wall, no acoustic guitar strumming, no puppet routines or "bobby-boo-boo-bear" calls. Just the sound of the floor squeaking beneath Lana's feet.

The glass of water didn't help.

She got and drank her glass of water then ran back to her room and into her bed before any monsters had a chance to get her. But as she jumped back into her bed, she started thinking about Leni again. She was home now, safe and sound. But why did that have to happen to her? Leni was too nice for anyone to do that. Any of them being kidnapped would have been better than Leni. The more she thought about her ditsy older sister, the more tired she got, although she didn't know it.

"Be careful Lana!"

"Don't worry Leni, I do this all the time."

Lana was climbing up the side of the house to retrieve a frisbee that had been tossed up there on accident. It wasn't the first time she had done something like this and it certainly wouldn't be the last time. Leni was watching in anxiousness as Lana grabbed onto the next ledge and pulled herself up with ease. She had never seen Lana do this before and it was scary thinking that she might fall. But nevertheless, Lana scaled the side of the house with ease and before she knew it, the little girl was standing on top of the house, holding the frisbee in her hand.

"Wow! You're really good at climbing!"

"Thanks Leni. Now catch!" Lana threw the disk and it hit Leni square in the nose, knocking her over. "Oops... Sorry Leni!"

"It's okay!" Leni responded as she stumbled back to her feet. "Can you get down?"

"Yeah!" she responded confidently. Lana started towards the edge of the house and as she was figuring out how to climb down, she drew a blank. She stopped at the edge, trying to remember how she got down last time, but nothing came to her mind. She looked at the grass from the top of the house and her eyes went wide. It never looked this high up before and suddenly, Lana got scared. What if she fell all that way? At best, she would break her arm or leg. At worst? She didn't even want to think about that. However, she told Leni that she could get down, and she wasn't about to let Leni know that she was scared. Besides, she just needed a minute to think of a way down.

"Are you sure you can get down?" Leni asked.

"Pfft, I'm fine! I don't need any help. I just want to... chill up here for a little bit!"

"Okay." Leni had no idea what she meant by chill. It was the middle of the summer and it felt warmer than an oven out there. Leni had never been in an oven before, but she assumed that it probably felt something like this.

A few more minutes passed and Lana was still stuck on top of the roof. Leni was started to get more worried now. She didn't know how long it had been, nor did she know what "chill" meant in this circumstance, but she could tell that something was wrong. Lana kept walking over to the edge of the roof and looking over it, then after a few seconds, her face would crinkle up and she would walk back towards the center.

"Lana, do you need help?"

Lana was once again on the edge of the house when Leni asked, "No Leni! I told you, I can..."

Crack!

"Whoa!" The very edge of the roof where Lana was holding onto gave out underneath her, and Lana started falling. Instinctively, she reached for the nearest ledge and grabbed onto it, barely able to keep her fingers on the ledge, which was creaking and groaning under Lana's fingers. She was already nervous from pacing back and forth on the roof, but now, her whole body was trembling. "Help me Leni!"

Without missing a beat, Leni sprinted over to the spot where Lana was dangling and held her arms out, ready to catch her. "Let go Lana! I'll catch you!"

Leni wasn't completely sure of herself on this matter. As she looked up, the sun glared in her eyes, almost obscuring her view of her little sister. Not to mention at this angle, it was hard for her to tell how far away Lana was. It could have been fifty feet, or just ten. Nevertheless, Lana needed help right now, and Leni was going to do whatever she could. The priority at the moment was Lana.

Another sharp crack was heard and Lana plummeted toward the earth. Everything was moving in slow motion for her. She watched as the wood she was gripping slipped out of her fingers and started falling, hovering just above where she was. She saw the edge that she was holding onto, now with a clear crater where her hand had been, get farther and farther away, faster and faster. Leni kept her eyes on the girl that was descending through the air, slowly getting faster and faster as more seconds ticked by.

To anyone who happened to glance at them, it happened in the blink of an eye; the four year old falling from the roof, the young teen catching her. But to those two, it seemed to take forever. So when Lana finally came to rest in Leni's arms, both of them trembling at this point, it was almost as if they thought it was never going to happen. They looked into each others eyes for a moment, and then Lana buried her head in Leni's chest, wrapping her arms around her.

"Thanks Leni..."

"Don't worry about it... you need to be more careful though." The two of them went back into the house, the older still carrying the younger.

The longer she held onto that memory, the easier it became to fall asleep. All it took was just a few minutes for Lana to fall fast asleep. If she had known that all it would have taken was to think about Leni, she would have been asleep hours ago. Just thinking of that time was comforting to her. She already gave warm hugs in real life, but even the memory of Leni's hugs were enough to feel all warm and fuzzy. It was the most amazing feeling in the world, and Lana didn't think that there was anything comparable to it, not even in the slightest.

Her eyes didn't open again until the next morning.

Well, that's the end of chapter 10. I hope you enjoyed it.

As always, I ask that you would please leave a review, even if you don't have something to critique me on. If you do critique me on something, I ask that you would give me something that I can improve upon, don't just hate on my story (I'll delete your comment if you do anyway). Thanks again and I hope to get the next chapter out soon.