A/N Man, it feels good nearing the end. I hope you guys enjoy this!
R&R
Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Things We Hide
"Man, I can't believe we actually pulled it off!" Luan's voice filled with excitement as she pulled her wagon of supplies along. "I for sure thought that I was gonna bomb!"
Lana chuckled. "Hey, don't sell yourself short. Just because it was a tough crowd doesn't mean you were gonna bomb!" She waved a finger at her. "Plus, it was no problem! I had fun doing that stuff ya know!"
"I'm just glad I received the inspiration I need. I only have two more chapters left in this poetry story I'm writing and I needed it to get that little bit of push I needed to get to the end."
"That's nice to hear, sis," Luan gave her a smile. "Just make sure not to block your writing!" Before she quickly rummaged through her supplies and pulled out a small building block. "It might make your work a bit, wooden!" With that, she threw her head back in laughter.
And her sisters couldn't help, but do the same in reply.
With that, they continued on, the soft lights of the day waning as they moved along. Though the rest of the party didn't seem to last so long, the children played on and on until parent after parent decided that enough was enough and it was time to go. The trio of course stayed till the very end to keep the entertainment going.
Eventually though, they too packed up and headed out, with Luan receiving her pay and her sisters smiling as they watched her.
"Thanks for your help you guys, I don't know if I could've done it without you," Luan finally went, her voice filling with appreciation.
Lana smiled and wrapped an arm around her. "Don't mention it," Before she glanced up, the stars slowly showing themselves in the ever purpling sky. "Don't worry Lola, step by step, I'm making the best world for you to come back to! Just you wait!"
"So, Lana, got any plans?" The comedian wrapped an arm around her little sister.
"Nope," She shook her head. "I just wanna make sure you're happy," She scratched the back of her head. "Truth be told, I kinda missed hearing your jokes all the time."
"Heh, well then," She softened her gaze and pulled out a wrench. "Ms. Fix-it-up is on the case!"
Lucy smiled softly as she wrote in her book. "The spirits seem happy… I wonder if we're almost there…" Before she closed it and looked ahead. "Soon…"
A few minutes later, they stepped back into their home, Luan wasting no time to stretch. "Man, it feels great to be home! I just hope we haven't crashed a party! Haha!"
Lana groaned, before snickering. No matter what happens, Luan's puns will always be so bad that they're good. "Anyways, I'll head up. Just tell me when dinner's ready!"
"You got it," Lucy nodded, before hopping on the couch and continuing to work on her newest poem.
With that, the plumber climbed the stairs and pushed into her room, letting out a breath, before smiling and looking towards the paintings once more. "We're almost there, Lola. I know it. Everything's almost ready for you to come back and for us to be twins again!"
And so, she let out a breath and turned, taking a glance out the room door. She closed her eyes and listened, her ears filling with the soft sounds of laughter she had grown so unfamiliar with. "I know you'll love it too."
The Next Day…
"So, you ready to hang out again, Lana?!" Lynn punched the air. "I wanna show off some more of my moves!"
"Heh, maybe," Lana waved her sister off. "Later though."
"Makes sense," Lucy appeared at her side. "Wanna hear a poem?"
The younger girl tilted her head in confusion. "Isn't that usually something Lincoln would do?"
The Goth looked down at her writing pad. "Yeah… but I was just wondering if you wanted to see my progress so far…"
For a moment, Lana rubbed her chin. "Hmm… well then, how about you show me it when you're done?" She motioned towards their brother, who was on the couch playing a game. "After all, I'm sure he'd love to help ya finish it!"
The boy quickly turned to them in confusion. "Huh?"
Yet, before he could even react, Lucy gave a small smile and nodded, before stepping over to him. "Hey Lincoln, I need help," Before she raised her eyes to him, begging him to comply.
And so, he let out a breath in defeat and put his controller down. "Fine! I'll help you!" Before pushing himself to his feet and walking along with Lucy.
"I'm happy for them," The plumber smiled, before turning… only to bump into another sister and fall onto her butt. "Ow!"
"Oh, sorry Lana," Leni quickly picked her supplies off the floor, doing her best not to look into her sister's eyes.
"Uhh, what's that stuff?" The younger girl tilted her head in confusion.
"Nothing!" She hastily replied, turning away, and running upstairs before her little sister could inquire further.
Quickly, Lana steeled her gaze. "I wonder what's going on with her," She rubbed her chin. "Now that I think of it, I really haven't seen her since… the pageant…" She could feel a weight fill the bottom of her stomach. "Dang it Lana! Why didn't you notice?!" She shook her head, before giving chase. "Now's not the time, your job is to cheer up Leni! No matter what!"
With that, she hopped to top of the landing and turned… only to bump into another sister. "What the heck is going on with me?!" She looked up. "Sorry Luna."
"It's all right sis," She pushed herself up and tuned her guitar, before stepping passed and making her way downstairs. "Hey, Luna, what're you up to?"
The older girl turned back and shrugged. "Not sure. Luan's having a lot of fun with her pranks and well… I've been having trouble focusing on stuff."
"So you're trying to give yourself some space away from her?" She asked.
"Yeah…" Before she continued on her way. "I'll be… I dunno, outside if you need me," With that, she moved forward and headed outside.
For a moment, Lana let out a breath. "Luna, Leni and Lori are the only sisters I haven't hung out with…" She raised her eyes up. "And they're gonna need to be happy if Lola's gonna have everything she needs when she gets back!" She pushed forward, wasting no time knocking on the door to her eldest sisters' room. "I'll help Luna later… I hate to see Leni so sad…"
A few moments passed, before it opened up just a bit, allowing the young woman to peek at her visitor. "Hi Lana. Like what's up?"
The young girl paused for a second, taken aback at her rather… low key voice. Usually she would muster up everything she could to say 'hi' even going as far to start rambling about her day! And yet, she seemed… off. Like there was more on her mind than she let on.
"I'm sorry for not talking to you sooner! Don't worry, I'm gonna make it up to you no matter what!" Lana rubbed her arm. "I was just wondering how you were feeling."
"I'm totes all right," She went, slowly inching back as she said so.
"That's good… uhh… do you have any clothes you wanna model?" She softly asked. "I mean, since, ya know, it's been a while since I tried some of your stuff on."
By a while, she meant, "since the pageant"
Leni paused, seemingly considering the idea for a moment, only to shake her head. "No, no, it's fine."
Lana softened her gaze. "Please Leni," She widened her eyes to beg. "I wanna try on the clothes my big sis made!"
In reply, the older girl widened her eyes as well, silently begging for Lana to relent… only to slam the door in her face.
"Dang it," Lana muttered. "Well that could've gone better…" She took a breath and turned. "I need to get into that room and find out what's bugging her! But how?" An idea popped into her mind. "Duh! Lucy!" Before she rushed back down the stairs.
A Few Minutes Later…
"Thanks for the boost," The plumber gave her big sister a thumbs' up, before she turned and peered into the window of her eldest sister's room.
"No problem," Lucy smiled, before disappearing, just as she had always done.
With that, Lana took a breath. "All right Leni, lets figure out what's going on with you…" Before watching as the young woman began to scribble down at her desk, an ordinary task for her, and yet… something seemed off.
After a few seconds, she groaned, before crumpling up the design and throwing it away. She shook her head and turned to her sewing machine, immediately beginning to put something together. Yet, after a moment, she groaned and pulled out what she made, a seemingly random mess of fabrics and colors doing their best to pass as a dress.
"So that's what's going on with her…" She rubbed her chin in realization. "She's lost her inspiration! But how am I supposed to get it back…"
"There is a world, that is beautiful and different! Uhh…" A familiar voice sung out, only to pause. "Dang it! Why can't I remember the lyrics?!"
Lana's eyes went wide in realization, before she stepped over to the edge of the roof. "Hey Luna!"
"Huh?" The young woman looked up. "Lana! What are you doin' up there?"
"Oh nothing much, mind helping me down?"
With that, the young woman placed her guitar on the ground, stepped over to the patio and outstretched her arms, ready to receive her sister. And a moment later, Lana dropped down, allowing Luna to catch her.
"Thanks," She scratched the back of her head. "I didn't think that through huh?"
"Ya think, sis?" Luna chuckled, before placing her down and returning to her guitar. "What were you doing up there anyways?"
"I was wondering what was going on with Leni and stuff, so I decided to see what's going on…" The plumber looked up. "And from the looks of it, you're having the same issue she is."
Luna raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What are you talking about?"
For a moment, Lana thought through her words, before thinking back. She didn't truly convince her back during the pageant, and yet she helped anyways.
"Luna… if you don't mind me asking, why'd you help me out during the pageant?"
The musician took a seat under the tree and shrugged. "Sam convinced me. It wasn't much, but I guess music helped you out, didn't it?"
Lana nodded. "Yeah…" Before she stepped over and took a seat next to her. "So… how's song writing going right now?"
The older girl looked down in disappointment. "Not too good…" She paused and looked away. "I guess… the words just aren't coming to me," She quickly looked back to Lana. "But it's no big deal. It's probably just a bit of writer's block and stuff. I'll work through it!"
The plumber looked into her older sister's eyes. "Luna… how long has this been happening?"
"A while…" her voice trailed off. "But it's just a dry spell…"
"How about I help you out then?" Lana wrapped an arm around her sister. "That why you'll know what to sing!"
"I'm not sure that'll work though?"
The younger girl chuckled. "Come on! It can't hurt, can it?"
Luna considered the idea and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess… but where to even start?"
"She kicked me out because of a song Lola loved…" She looked into Luna's eyes. "Luna, how about a song Lola would enjoy."
She could feel the air tense up with that. Yet… Luna took a breath. There was no running away from this. If she was going to break through this, she'd have to stay and work. "All right then…"
"She loved your fast and lively songs ya know," The younger girl smiled. "Ever since I could remember, she always wanted to fit in…"
"Lana…" Luna looked back into her sister's eyes. "I know I haven't really seemed… anything more than calm given what's been going on…"
"Don't worry about it," Lana waved her off.
"Thanks…" She looked away. "Lana… I know we all had our things going on and while we did hang out a lot, none of us really knew her like you did."
The younger girl looked to her older sister in confusion. "Yeah?"
"What was she like to you?"
For a moment, Lana hesitated. How was she supposed to answer that? She was her sister, her twin! Everything she knew came from her! And yet, she found herself smiling fondly. "She was my everything." She looked aside. "Not gonna lie… I could've been better to her. She always mentioned how lonely she felt sometimes, but I just… never really talked to her about it."
Luna looked to her in confusion.
"I know how she felt at night, But I never really pushed her about it. I just never got it until… until I started sleeping in my room alone."
The musician began to strum.
"I know how she feels at night, standing all alone," She looked to her older sister. "Would you tell me what's real and right, cause I don't know anymore," She shook her head. "And all this is starting to kill me inside, to see these walls are crashing down the heartless acts and the selfish sounds, with all that trying, she stop fighting, while darkness, darkness , it took her away," She slammed her fist against her thighs. "Oh I tried, but I couldn't stop the pain."
"Lana, it wasn't your fault," Luna spoke up.
"Yes it was! It all was!" She shook her head. "I knew she had problems. I knew that she had trouble making friends, and I knew that this wasn't good, but what'd I do? Just throw her away!"
Luna leaned in and whispered. "She likes to look at the bottle, from the bottom, every time she looks at her face at the bottle, from the bottom, she sees a life that was so much different when she, was a young girl, she could stand all the town from the hillside screaming, to the world, to stop the curse, she begged and prayed that someday she'd see a change."
The younger girl looked up. "What?"
Slowly, she wrapped her arms around her. "She loved you no matter what, I know that… please, keep telling me what she was to you."
Lana hesitated. "She said I always knew the truth, and never told anyone. I just closed my eyes, and it was done. And now when the lights go off I say, 'what's goin' on?' And with all that fighting, she stopped trying, to get away from the terrible sounds of the heartbreaks, and earthquakes and life safe's, so far away…"
Luna pushed her forward and looked into Lana's eyes. "She was our sister."
"That's why I want to make it up to her," The younger girl took a breath. "I wanna make the world perfect for her."
The young woman cracked a small smile, before leaning back and playing her guitar. "Please then, finish telling me what she was to you."
"I know how she feels at night…" Lana softly sang. "Standing all alone, and I remember a dark September, when they came and made her surrender," She began to tear up. "They took her to a place that we could never say…"
"She liked to look at the bottle, from the bottom," Luna continued.
"But she was always there for me," The younger girl finished. "She was everything… and I let her down."
Silence overtook the duo with that.
Softly, Luna plucked her strings once more. "Under the tree where the grass don't grow," She looked at Lana. "We made a promise to never get old. You took a chance and you took it on me. And I made a promise that I couldn't keep…"
The younger girl closed her eyes and rested against the tree, allowing her sister's soft singing to fill her ears.
"Spoken promises, laced in red ribbon. Hoping to one day save all of them. Joking around and making silly faces, it was all fun until that day came. Under the surface, how could we have known that our plan would fall to pieces?" With that, she stopped and smiled. "Thanks Lana."
"No problem sis," She nodded, before pushing herself up. "Mind helping me help Leni too?"
"Sure, what's up?"
A Few Minutes Later…
"Leni?" Lana pushed into her big sister's room again.
The young woman didn't reply, her mind too focused on the task at hand to notice her sisters.
Slowly, Luna stepped over and placed a hand on the eldest's shoulder. "Hey, Leni."
"Huh?" She snapped back to reality, before quickly returning to her sewing. "Oh… hi guys… what brings you here?"
Lana looked to her big sister in concern. "Leni… we're worried about you. What's goin' on?"
"Nothing!" She hastily answered. "I'm just… making dresses and stuff!"
Luna looked to the side, taking in the discarded pile of failed designs, before nodded. "Uhh… for who?"
The older girl shook her head. "No one… I'm just… having trouble and stuff. I'll be fine later."
"That's what Luna just said," Lana came on her other side and looked at her current work, a strange mix of colors still attempting to be a pattern of sorts, though without any reason or rhyme to be together. "Leni… please, let us help you."
"How?" She tilted her head in confusion.
"What would Lola do with her…" Lana rubbed her chin.
Luna hummed in reply, before whispering. "You… you'll break my heart. You're gonna tear me apart, but no matter what you do… I'll still be there for you…"
"Lola's dress…" The realization dawned on her, prompting her to run out of the room and come back a moment later holding a familiar garment. "Let's have some fun."
Leni's eyes went wide as she watched Lana rush behind the changing board and came back now clad in her beautiful blue pageant dress. "Aww!"
Luna smiled and turned, entering Leni's closet, before coming out now clad in a purple dress. "Sorry for never trying this on before," She returned and looked at her rear. "Not gonna lie, this is pretty comfortable, sis."
With that, Leni hopped to her feet. "I like, totes have more dresses! Come on!" Before she ran in the closet. "I just… I haven't had anyone to talk to about them!" She smiled. "Thanks you two."
"No problem," Lana answered as Leni threw another dress on her. "Heh, you're so adorable!"
"Don't forget me," Luna spoke up, only for her older sister to push her behind the boards again and shove more dresses in her hands.
"Don't worry Lola. A happy Leni is a good Leni, and she'll be there for you too!"
And with that, the girls continued on, enjoying the dress up that they hadn't done in months.
13-5-12-15-4-9-5-19 15-6 20-8-5 8-5-1-18-20 3-1-14 9-14-19-16-9-18-5 1-14-25-15-14-5!
A/N And there we go! The end is near for this fic! I hope you guys enjoyed it! See ya next week!
Songs used: "From The Bottom" By Shallow Side, "The Days" By Avicii, "Hopes And Dreams" by Aria Rose, "A World Without Danger" by the Subdigitials.
Review Replies (C27):
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks!
SuperParkerBros: The simplest way to start is write it out on a word doc, and make an account on this site so you can post it.
Gamemod: Thanks!
Kirby: Cool.
DreadedCandiru2: Who knows? Maybe she'll be gone for longer.