A/N: Again, it's a BIZARRE coincidence that this plot bunny of mine is pretty much almost exactly the same as the upcoming episode "Season's Cheatings." I can't believe it! I'm not even going to watch the episode, because I don't want to run the risk of anything about it possibly influencing my writing process as I carry on with this.

As I mentioned in my previous footnote, to ensure authenticity while writing this, I actually drew the siblings' names at random, mainly so I could challenge myself as a Loud House fanfiction author to think outside of the box in terms of how I can write for certain siblings in regard to having to come up with a Christmas present for certain other siblings whom they may or may not regularly interact with. I swear on Lola's life that I did this. Because I know some of you are going to be reading ensuing chapters and jump to the conclusion that I must have planned some of this in advance before writing. I have not. Nothing in this story was planned; again, this is a rare occasion of me writing something off-the-cuff – I'm pretty much making all of this up as I go along.

And because of this, I'm writing these next chapters in a vignette format (think kind of like Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales): each of the vignettes with the siblings is being written in the order in which they enter my mind (I'm still brain-storming some of these even as of now).

Leni's Treasure Hunt

The following morning, the sounds of various different alarms had detonated throughout the Loud House, which had killed the silence of the previous night's sleep. No sooner had the two eldest sisters arisen from their beds, stretched their arms out into the air, and released loud yawns, when a certain little red-capped girl burst into their bedroom in a mad haste, and ran over to the pink-covered bed where the resident fashionista had previously slumbered in order plead with her.

"Leni, PLEASE, I beg you, don't make me a dress for Christmas! PLEASE!" Lana begged her big sister.

Lori snapped her head over to the two; she may have still been a little groggy in the head after having just awoken from a deep slumber, but she was clear-headed enough to realize what went on here.

"Hey! Mom and Dad said we're supposed to keep our Secret Santa Siblings LITERALLY a SECRET!" She scolded.

Leni gasped, "O-M-Gosh, Lans! How did you know I was going to make you a dress for Christmas?!"

"Uh, I think you made it pretty obvious when you came into my room last night to take my measurements, and ask me what my favorite color was!" Lana noted.

Lori rolled her eyes, and growled in a sarcastic manner, "Very subtle, Leni…"

Leni countered her little sister's argument with her own blonde logic, as she explained "Well, how else am I going to know what kind of dress to make you for Christmas if I don't get your measurements or take notes?"

"But, I don't want a dress! I hate dresses! And clothes are the absolute worst Christmas present any kid could get!" Lana continued to argue.

Leni gasped once again, "Clothes are, like, the best Christmas present ever! And you def could use some new clothes, Lans… your clothes are all icky and dirty and falling apart!"

"I like icky and dirty, and I don't care if they're falling apart," Lana continued to counter. "Heck, I'd rather run around naked if it was socially acceptable!"

As the conservation grew a little more heated, Lori decided to interject in order to neutralize the situation between the two arguing sisters.

"Okay, let's all chill out here… first of all, Lana, Mom and Dad told us not to obsess over what we want for Christmas, but to concentrate on what we can give to our Secret Santa Siblings…"

"But…!" Lana tried to continue her argument, to no avail.

Lori then turned her attention to her roommate and continued, "Secondly, Leni, it's literally none of my business what you do for Lana for Christmas, and I know you mean well, but knowing Lana, making her a dress may not be the best idea for her Christmas present."

"Oh?" Leni responded; she felt more than a little shot down over her plans to make Lana a dress for Christmas, as she further inquired of her little sister, "Well, then what do you want for a Christmas present?"

"Anything, I don't care!" Lana said. "I'll even take an exotic pet like a llama, or an emu, as long as it's not clothes!"

Lori furrowed her brow at how silly their little sister was being; she posed, "And just where is Leni even supposed to find a llama or an emu? You really think Mom and Dad will let you keep a llama or an emu as a pet?"

"What's a llama and an emu?" Leni asked; she had never heard of either of these animals before.

"It doesn't matter," insisted Lana. "I just don't want clothes for Christmas!"

Leni still looked a little hurt, but decided to comply with her Secret Santa Sibling's wishes, and she assured her, "Okay, Lans… I won't make you a dress, or get you any clothes any Christmas."

"Thank you!" Lana exclaimed with much relief.

"Now, get out of our room," ordered Lori. "It's literally too early for this…"

"I'm gone!" Lana said, as she flew out of the room in satisfaction over having made her case.

Unfortunately, Leni was now at a complete loss about what to do in regards to what she could get for a Christmas present for Lana.

"What am I going to do now, Lori?" She asked the oldest sister for advice.

"What do you mean what are you going to do now?" Lori responded as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Just find something that Lana would like to get for Christmas, so long as it's not clothes… simple…"

"But, what would Lana like for Christmas?" Leni asked; as much as the wholesome blonde loved to spend as much time with each of her siblings as she could, some of their interests and hobbies were a might undesirable for her, and that included pretty much anything that the little tomboy loved to get herself into – her pastimes were just far too messy and disgusting for Leni's taste.

Lori threw her arms into the air, as she reluctantly hopped out of bed, and stepped into the closet to pick out the clothes that she would wear for that day.

"Knowing Lana, literally any trash you could find in a dumpster would be treasure to her," she surmised.

One of the unfortunate things about Leni was that she was very, very literal minded: it's best not to make any sarcastic or facetious remarks around her, because she would most likely actually take what you say very, very seriously.

And that was just what she did.

Taking what Lori had said earlier that morning to heart, there were times throughout the rest of the school day in which Leni actually went through whatever garbage receptacle she happened to come into contact with, and collected whatever flotsam and jetsam she could get her hands on – much to her absolute disgust. Why did she have to pick Lana's name for the Secret Santa Siblings program? Why not somebody like Lola, who would actually appreciate her making a dress for her? Regardless if she was in her classrooms, or even in the bathroom, whatever trash receptacle Leni happened upon, she would reach in, grab whatever she could get her hands on, and cram it into her backpack.

By lunchtime, she felt as though that she was completely overwhelmed, as the cafeteria was a veritable smorgasbord of trash… she began to think that she would need a bigger backpack to hold everything she could collect within. After she had finished her lunch, the ditzy blonde held onto her tray of scraps, and as she noticed her friends or other students had gradually finished with their lunches, she went around and collected their trays from them. Many students knew what a sweetheart Leni was, and had assumed she was just trying to do something nice for them… others knew what a kook she was, and found themselves wondering just what it was she was even doing. Within a matter of moments, Leni carried a stack of trays that towered over her head, but it did not even stop there… she approached the large, rolling trashcan on the other side of the cafeteria that the students emptied their trays into; as she sat the stack of trays aside, she quite practically dove into this trashcan, and began to sift through all of the rotting food stuff to gather as much of it as she could, only to have the can roll over onto its side, which spilled out the contents all over the floor along with her… needless to say, the spectacle was quite a sight to behold. The cafeteria echoed with laughter over Leni's unfortunate mishap, but there were those who did not even crack a smile – namely, her sisters, the kitchen staff, and a certain bespectacled young man with a clipboard who stood over her as she worked her way up to her feet once again, and found herself being escorted out of the cafeteria.

"That was totally weird, dudes…" Luna remarked to her other two sisters.

"Yeah, what was that all about?" Luan asked.

Lori merely shook her head and muttered, "I'd hate to tell you…"

Moments later, a dirtied, and certainly smelly Leni sat before Principal Jones in her office, as the middle-aged lady merely glared at her in befuddlement – this was not the first time a Loud girl had been brought into her office –or even the former Principal Rivers' office, for that matter- but of the four high school-aged sisters, Leni was the one least likely to find herself being sent to the office for any reason.

"Child, do I even want to know what you were doing messing around with all that garbage in the cafeteria?" Principal Jones asked.

"I was trying to find a Christmas present for my little sister, Lana!" Leni explained.

Both Principal Jones and Oliver had the most quizzical looks written across their faces, as the principal further questioned the student who was brought to her office, "You think highly enough of your little sister to collect trash for her Christmas present?"

Leni began to ramble on as she continued with her explanation: "Well, you see, I wanted to make her a cute little dress for Christmas, because she could totes use something pretty to wear instead of her old rags, but, she hates dresses and thinks clothes are, like, the worst Christmas present ever, and then my big sister, Lori, said that Lana thinks trash is like treasure, so I've been collecting as much trash as I can all day, hoping I can find something Lana will think is like a treasure so I can give that to her for Christmas."

Those quizzical looks never left either of their faces; Oliver's mouth was nearly agape after he listened to this spiel, and the tips of Principal Jones's fingers met her forehead, as she tried to massage away the stressful headache that she could feel about to come on.

"Okay, Miss Loud… um… whatever you want to do as far as getting your sister a Christmas present is your business…" she said. "But, I'll thank you not to go digging around in the trash here at school..."

"Am I in trouble?" Leni asked in despair.

Principal Jones reluctantly shook her head and answered, "No, Miss Loud, we'll just let it go this time… but, do you mind a word of motherly advice?"

"Is that why some kids call you, 'Mother Jones'?" Leni asked.

"I suppose," shrugged the principal. "As I said, it's really none of my business what you want to get your sister for Christmas… but, if you're having trouble finding something, might I suggest something a little more practical, like a gift card? At least then, your sister could spend however much money is loaded on that card as she pleases…"

Leni smiled and exclaimed, "Wow, that's a great idea, Mother Jones! Maybe if Lana had a gift card, she could finally go and get her a llama or an emu somewhere!"

This was turning out to be another one of those days.

Principal Jones stifled a snicker at the blonde girl's kooky remark and said, "Maybe so. Anyway, you're dismissed now, and do be sure to give yourself a really good bath tonight."

"Oh, believe me, a bath is def the first thing I'm doing when I get home! Thanks, Mother Jones!" Leni squealed, as she hopped out her chair, and dashed out the door, which left the administrative pair to stare into the abyss of the corridor beyond.

"Oliver?" Principal Jones began. "Are all these Loud girls so peculiar?"

The principal's assistant merely sighed and rolled his eyes.

The next time that Leni found herself at the Royal Woods Mall, was when she worked one of her after school shifts at Reininger's; the Christmas music that played over the store speakers, the colorful sweaters that were on display, and the festive decorations everywhere she looked had certainly put her into the holiday spirit – even if she did draw some awkward stares from other customers, she couldn't help but sing along to some of the tunes that she heard throughout the store (even if she did mistake some of the lyrics).

When it came time for her break, rather than join her fellow co-workers, Miguel and Fiona, over at the food court, as was per their usual ritual, the bubbly blonde instead tried to find a store where she believed Lana would like a gift card to; so many of the stores seemed not like any sort of place that the little tomboy would want anything from, so with nothing else in mind, she decided to step into the toy store – all little kids love toy stores… surely, Lana could find something in here that she would like to buy for herself. The teen made her way over to the register where another young lady, who looked to be a few years older, offered to help her.

"Do you have any gift cards?" Leni queried.

"Not too many left, but yeah, we still have a few," said the cashier, as she pointed to what gift cards were still clipped to the thin support beam that ran from the top of the counter to the ceiling. "Any specific dollar amount you wanted?"

Leni looked at the dollar amounts on the front of each card… how much would Lana need to spend on toys? Leni felt rather generous, but she also did not want to blow her entire price margin either, and decided on a middle-tier dollar amount.

"Um, I guess the fifty-dollar card will do…" she noted.

"You got it!" The cashier said, as she unclipped the card from the beam.

As the cashier began to proceed with the transaction, Leni happened to glance over at a large bin full of rather sizeable stuffed animals, and was quite perplexed by one shaggy-looking creature whose protruding neck was so long, it towered over the other stuffed animals contained within.

"Wow! That weird, shaggy, donkey thingy has a neck like a giraffe!" She marveled.

The cashier was puzzled by this remark, as she turned and looked to see what her customer had pointed out.

"What, you mean the llama?" She queried.

Leni gasped as she brought her hands to her lips in amazement and asked, "That's a llama?!"

Sure enough, Leni happily made her way through the crowded corridors of the Royal Woods Mall, as she carried in her hands the large stuffed llama; she could not wait to see the look on Lana's little face when she would meet her new animal friend on Christmas morning.

Lori the Good Sport

One chilly Saturday afternoon, Lori was working a shift at Lynn's Table, and the restaurant was really bustling with business – something that very much pleased its owner and namesake, as he and his sous chef and best friend, Kotaro, worked feverishly to keep up with the orders that kept coming in, while Lori helped them out to the best of her management abilities... which wasn't too difficult for her; prior to her decision to pursue a career in professional golfing, she had shown herself to possess a great knack for business, and had even originally planned on majoring in Business Administration in college. As the afternoon wore on, Lori began to look for an opportunity to grab a break, as she had a rather important errand that she wanted to run while she had access to Vanzilla on that day. Finally, when business began to slack off a bit after the lunch crowd had thinned out; she approached her father in the kitchen.

"Hey, Dad, since things are starting to calm down a bit, would it be alright if I took my break now?" She asked.

"Well, I suppose so… I think K-Dog and I can hold down the fort for a little while," said Lynn, Sr., as he and Kotaro kept their eyes on a large vat of soup as it simmered on the stove.

"No problemo!" Kotaro said while he stirred the vat.

"Thanks! I wanted to get my Christmas shopping for my Secret Santa Sibling done today," explained Lori, as she walked over to grab her coat that hung on the rack by the employee's entrance.

"Oh, that's great to hear!" To hear this had delighted her father immensely. "Do you have any idea what your Secret Santa Sibling may want for Christmas?"

"Oh boy, do I have an idea!" Lori exclaimed.

Without wasting any time, Lori hopped into Vanzilla and drove over to a little sporting goods shop that was appropriately named Good Sport, where upon her entrance into the shop, she made her way straight over to the display of bumpy, orange rubber balls, in pursuit of one very, very specific item that had been on her mind, only to discover that she had quite a bit of difficulty in her search to find it. While she continued her search, a tall young man with wavy light brown hair, and light stubble across his face, approached the blonde girl in the basketball department.

"Can I help you find anything?" He asked the customer. Lori turned to face the young man who approached her, as the two quickly came to recognize each other; Lori may not have been a frequent customer, but she was a customer that the employee, named Jason, remembered quite well. "Hey! It's the future golf champ! How's that swing of yours?"

"It's gotten a lot better," said Lori; she felt a little flattered that this fellow remembered that she was on the verge of beginning a professional golf career. "I am literally looking forward to getting accepted into Fairway University next year!"

"Fairway's great; you should really excel there!" Jason complimented, before he saw his customer browsed the basketball department. "Looking into possibly shooting some hoops as well?"

"Huh? Oh, no; not exactly," said Lori.

"Really?" Jason asked. "With your height and build, you could own the top of the key!"

Not being familiar with the sport, Lori didn't quite understand what Jason meant by his remark, though she did seek out his assistance.

"Well, actually, I was just looking for one of those autographed basketballs by… Shorty McShort-Shorts?"

"Shorty McGillicuddy?" Jason corrected her. "We haven't had those in months, they flew off the shelves!"

"Dang it!" Lori griped as she swung her clenched fist. "You don't have any left? Not even in the back?"

"Are you kidding?" Jason asked. "These were highly valuable collector's items; our entire inventory was sold out within weeks!"

"I was really hoping I could surprise my sister with one for Christmas…" said Lori; her spirit felt a little dampened, as she explained everything to Jason… in flashback form, how else?

It was the middle of summer, and Lori had made a trip over to Good Sport to look for a golfing ensemble for herself; she had never been to the store before, but it was one that Lynn, Jr. frequented quite a bit, and asked to tag along with her on this particular trip, as she wanted to browse around the store to see what kind of new items and gear they may have gotten since her last visit. While Lori looked through a selection of polo shirts and short skorts, Lynn, Jr. wandered around the store, until something in the nearby basketball department had caught her attention.

"NO WAY! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! CHECK IT OUT!" Lynn, Jr. shrieked, as she raced over to a display of basketballs.

Lori was startled by her athletic sister's outburst, as she quickly followed, and queried, "What? What is it?"

"Actual limited edition commemorative basketballs autographed by Shorty McGillicuddy!" Lynn, Jr. marveled, as she held up one of the specially packaged collector's items.

"Literally never heard of him…" said Lori with a shrug.

"Never heard of…" Lynn, Jr. began; she almost felt insulted by her big sister's comment. "Shorty McGillicuddy happens to be one of my BIGGEST idols… which is kinda ironic, given how small he is. But, he's one of the biggest B-ball stars of ALL TIME!"

"Huh. I thought you had to be really tall to play basketball…" said Lori.

"So did the rest of the world… but Shorty McGillicuddy proved them wrong…" Lynn, Jr. began to explain the short player's career – complete with visualizations that resembled a grainy, old-fashioned training film, which focused on a rather diminutive, curly-haired, freckle-faced basketball player who quite seriously looked almost like a kindergartener in comparison to his taller teammates and opponents. "Like many great athletes, Shorty McGillicuddy knew that even in an intense, competitive sport like B-ball, it's 80% mental and 40% physical. What Shorty lacked in height and strength, he more than made up for with brain power! Being closer to the ground, he was built for speed; he could dribble his way down the court so quickly, watching his opponents chase after him was like a bunch of knuckleheads trying to catch a cockroach! He may not have been really strong, but he still had game, it was like he had springs for hands: he could pass and shoot with such pin-point accuracy, no matter what team he played for, he was always their M.V.P. He's a big role model for kids all across the world for proving that you don't have to be a seven foot tall giant to play B-ball!"

After she finished regaling her big sister about the life and times of one of basketball's brightest stars, she began to explain the basketball she held in her hands.

"Shorty retired a few years ago, but the N.B.A. just recognized him with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and to commemorate the honor, he autographed a limited number of B-balls… I knew they were going to be sent to the bigger cities, but I had no idea we'd be seeing any in a Podunk 'burg like Royal Woods! Man, I would LOVE to have something as valuable as… $200?! I can't afford that!"

The hefty price tag on the collector's item was enough to make the color drain from the jock's freckled cheeks.

"Gee, that's a shame, Lynn…" said a sympathetic Lori, before her little sister turned toward her with big, puppy-like eyes.

"Lor… think maybe you could spot me?" Lynn, Jr. asked in the hope that her sister could make a small donation.

Lori frowned and said, "Sorry, Lynn… I literally only have $75 left, and it looks like it's just going to cover my expenses."

Lynn, Jr. sadly sighed, as she reluctantly placed the coveted autographed basketball back onto the shelf among the others that were proudly displayed.

"Struck out…"

After he listened to and witnessed Lori's retelling of her previous visit to the store with her younger sister, Jason nodded understandingly.

"Oh yeah, I remember Lynn came in here a few weeks ago," he explained. "She apparently saved up enough money from her allowance and babysitting jobs to finally buy one, but by then, we had sold them all… she was so disappointed."

"Really? I didn't know…" admitted Lori.

"Sorry…" said Jason before he perked up a little. "You know… I think we have something else that Lynn would probably like to have…"

This peaked Lori's interest; the autographed basketball may be out of the question, but as long as she was here, she might as well see what else she may be able to surprise her Secret Santa Sibling with for Christmas.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" She asked.

"Follow me…" Jason motioned, as he trekked over to the check-out counter at the front of the store, while the pretty blonde followed behind him. "You see, we're not only a sporting goods store, but we also buy, sell, and trade rare sports memorabilia, and we just recently acquired these in a trade that I believe Lynn might be interested in…"

The young employee dug around underneath the counter before he pulled out and rested what appeared to be a rather old shoe box next to the register, of which he removed the lid to show Lori the valuable items contained within that seemed to bring a smile to her face.

So, yeah, the return of my OC, Principal Jones, but the first time I've actually paired her with Oliver; that was... interesting. But don't you fret about this Jason guy – he's definitely not somebody I'm going to keep throwing into any other fanfiction stories; I just needed somebody to actually work at Good Sport for Lori to interact with.