Luan in Pine Spirits

Leni was not the only Loud sibling who spent a brisk Saturday afternoon at the Royal Woods Mall; while the blonde teenager worked a shift at Reininger's, one of her little sisters made her way through the mall for one very specific purpose: Christmas shopping. Having decided to kill two birds with one stone, Luan came to the mall to purchase a number of holiday cards for her friends, while also to shop for her Secret Santa Sibling – a task that she was quite certain would be a breeze… little did she know just how much of a breeze it would end up really being. Knowing exactly where she could find holiday cards for her friends, she decided that she would drop by the Wallmark Store first, and then planned to browse around in other stores that may carry things that may be of interest to her Secret Santa Sibling afterwards – a decision that would turn out to have results that were far better than she had anticipated.

Like any other teenager of her generation, Luan was not at all immune to spending a lot of time on any of her electronic devices goofing off on social media with her friends and acquaintances – she was even known as something of a meme queen, because she always had an endless supply of hilarious memes that she would share on her timelines, or PM to her friends. But, the young comedienne could also be something of an old soul at times; there was a simple, yet wholesome pleasure for her to physically hand out paper cards to her friends in person, and being able to spread some holiday cheer to them in a way that was a lot more personal than it was to send something virtually through cyber space. The Royal Woods High theater club had plans to throw a big wrap party after their winter production at the end of the current semester, which was when and where she decided she would pass out cards to her fellow thespians.

Once inside the Wallmark Store, she perused through the incredibly large selection of holiday cards, and true to her form, had to pick out the ones that she found to be the funniest; she picked out a number of humorous Christmas cards for her fellow thespians who she knew also celebrated the holiday, but also picked out some more specific cards for certain others in her club, such as Hanukkah cards for Benny, Shannon, and Mrs. Bernardo, as well as some non-holiday-specific winter celebration cards for Ruby and Parvana. When she was satisfied with the selections that she had made, the antler and red nose-wearing comedienne approached the register, and rested the cards and their envelopes onto the counter for them to be rung up by the genial, elderly cashier.

"Ah, getting ready to send out the Christmas cards, I see…" said the cashier, as she began to ring up her customer's purchases, while she also took a glance at some of the selections she made. "Oh, you picked out some really funny ones!"

"Fir sure! A good, funny Christmas card can really put someone into some pine spirits!" Luan laughed, and then gasped at that realization that she had just cracked not one, but two more Christmas puns. Quickly, she pulled her Christmas pun counter out of her coat pocket, and gave it two more clicks, which had presently brought her total count up to seven – just five more to go; she was really on a roll!

After she returned her counter to her pocket, she waited patiently for the somewhat slow, elderly cashier to finish ringing up her selection of cards, and in doing so, her eyes scanned a display of lock journals on the wall shelves behind the cashier – most of them were an array of colors that were either soothing shades of greens, blues, and violets, or rosy shades of pink... but there was one in particular that caught her eye: it was black as the night, and featured an intricate white trim around the edges of the covers. It was then that she also noticed a little sign that was taped underneath the shelf which advertised having the journals personalized for an extra additional charge. The comedienne was blown away by what very well seemed like an actual Christmas miracle; she wouldn't even have to go browsing in any other store in the mall at this point - this would be the absolute perfect gift for her Secret Santa Sibling.

The cashier finished ringing up her customer's purchases, and asked, "Will that be all for you, dear?"

This had snapped the comedienne out of her brief little trance, and back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, um, actually… there is one other thing… I'd like to buy one of those journals, and have it personalized!" Luan exclaimed, as she pointed to the black one on the shelf behind the cashier.

"Of course, dear," said the cashier, as she turned around, picked the specific journal from the shelf, and rang it up for her customer. "These make wonderful Christmas gifts!"

"Believe me, this will be the perfect Christmas gift for my little sister!" Luan squealed in delight.

The entire transaction was finally completed, and the cashier had placed the cards that Luan had purchased into a flat paper bag for her, but left out the black journal and receipt to hand to her separately.

"If you'd like to have the journal personalized, just take it to the printing shop down in the east wing, and show them your receipt so they'll know you've already paid to have it personalized for you," she instructed her customer.

"Thanks a bunch!" Luan exclaimed, as she merrily skipped out the Wallmark Store, and went about her way to have her Secret Santa Sibling's present personalized for her.

Lincoln Got Swag

One afternoon at Royal Woods Elementary, Lincoln was in the cafeteria, where he had lunch with his gang of buddies, and filled them in on the Secret Santa Siblings program that his family was participating in, even though it did bring about a little bit of confusion for some of them in regards to all of the supposed crises that allegedly had plagued the North Pole this year.

"I dunno, dawg," said Rusty as he rubbed his chin curiously. "We haven't heard anything about Santa not being able to deliver presents this year."

"Yeah, I mean melting polar ice? Elves going on strike? Reindeer falling sick? Nah; I'm not buying it…" said Zach, although that did not stop the pint-sized geek from formulating crazy conspiracy theories of his own. "Now, if the North Pole was invaded and Santa's Workshop was conquered by the Grays or even the Betas, that I could see, and if so, then there ought to be a full-scale investigation!"

Whatever the case may have been, Lincoln shrugged, "Well, my mom and dad said they just heard about it on the news, so I don't really know what's going on… all I know is each of us have to be a Secret Santa for one of our siblings this year…"

"I think that's a keen idea," Liam approved. "We did a Secret Santy on our farm one year when all our kin folk came to spend Christmas with us! It was a lotta fun, and my Pap Paw was a hoot as ol' St. Nick!"

"So, who's your Secret Santa Sibling, Lincoln?" Clyde asked. "Because if it's Lori, I could probably help you come up with some really great ideas of what to get her."

Lincoln merely shot Clyde a leery glare.

"Really?" He thought his best friend had finally grown out of his unconventional infatuation and obsession with his oldest sister after all of these years.

But, as it turned out, it was all just a little joke, as Clyde chuckled, gave Lincoln a pat on his shoulder, and assured him, "I'm just kidding, buddy."

"Well, I'm not too worried," said Lincoln in a rather confident manner. "I may have a lot of them, but I know each of my sisters intimately, and I can say with absolute confidence that my Secret Santa Sibling will be very easy to shop for…"

Contrary to the very popular belief, Lincoln never favored any specific sister of his over any of the others, nor did he think of himself as maintaining a closer bond to certain sisters more so than others; still, being the only brother in a house full of girls, he knew each and every one of his sisters well enough that he would have a pretty good idea of how to shop for any of them, regardless of whose name he had picked as his Secret Santa Sibling.

Indeed, not only would his Secret Santa Sibling be very easy to shop for, but she was also one of his more easy-going sisters – that is, when she did not live up to her reputation of being, perhaps, the loudest Loud of them all. Upon picking her name during the drawing, he already had a number of ideas that came into his mind of what he could possibly give her as a present this Christmas… however, to help him narrow his ideas down, he decided to go the route of seeking out a consultation with somebody else who is particularly close to his Secret Santa Sibling.

When the weekend rolled around, Lincoln dropped by another house in a different part of town, and knocked on the front door to see if whom he wanted to consult with may be home, though the door was eventually answered by somebody else entirely: a small, chubby boy with light blonde hair, who seemed pleasantly surprised to see the taller, snow-capped boy at the door.

"Hi, Lincoln!" Greeted the shorter of the two boys. "Glad you're here! Wanna play Adventures Through Hyper Space III?"

"I would love to, Simon," said Lincoln who turned down the tantalizing offer. "But, I happen to be here in an official capacity; is your sister home?"

"She is, you have but to ask," came another, more feminine-sounding voice which belonged to the older girl who approached the open door, and likewise possessed light blonde hair, which featured a prominent teal highlight that streaked down the middle of her bangs. "What up, Linc?"

"Hey, Sam," replied Lincoln. "I was just wondering if maybe I could get your opinion on a rather important familial matter that I have been tasked with…"

Sam seemed a tad perplexed by this proposal, but decided to help out the boy who she felt as though was like a brother from another mother.

"Um, yeah, totally," she nodded. "Tell ya what, why don't you come in out of the cold and we can discuss what's jingling and jangling around in your brainbox; I just finished heating up some organic apple cider."

The Sharp siblings invited their guest into their humble abode, and within a few short moments, Lincoln and Simon had taken seats at a dining table, over to where Sam rested three glasses of warm apple cider for them to enjoy; during this time, the only Loud brother had explained to them the Secret Santa Siblings program that his family were participating in at their house this Christmas.

"Oh, wow; that sounds like a groovy idea…" said Sam as she slid a glass of cider towards her guest while she also took a seat for herself at the table.

"It's gotten some interesting responses, to say the least…" said Lincoln before he took a sip of the cider, on which he promptly choked as he tried to swallow the warm, tart beverage.

"That cider too strong for ya, bro?" Sam asked in concern.

In actuality, it was… but, Lincoln did not want to be impolite, so he fabricated a little white lie: "No, not at all… it just… went down the wrong pipe…"

"I hate when that happens!" Said Simon, who had no trouble downing his glass of cider.

"So, am I to assume based on your pop-over that a certain someone I know is who your Secret Santa Sibling is?" Sam asked with a playful little wink.

"Your assumption would be correct," nodded Lincoln.

"That's cool!" Sam said, as she too sipped on her cider. "Got any ideas of what you're gonna get her for Christmas?"

"As a matter of fact, I do; not only is Luna easy to shop for, she's also easy to please," said Lincoln. "But, I also got to thinking that maybe it might be a good idea to get some input from somebody else who's particularly close to her, before going off on my own."

Sam's smile widened, and she blushed ever-so-slightly, while Simon could not resist pulling one of his bratty little brother maneuvers at the table in a sing-song voice…

"Sam and Luna sittin' in a tree; K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Sam was not at all amused by the way her little brother made a nuisance of himself, as she began to shoo him away, "Oh, go play one of your games or somethin', Si."

The girl's younger brother chuckled before he ran along and left the other two behind at the kitchen table to resume their conversation.

"So, do you have any insight into anything you think Luna might like to get for Christmas?" Lincoln asked.

"Sure do!" Sam exclaimed. "Although, I doubt it'd be within your price range… it's barely within mine…"

"What do you mean?" Asked a confused Lincoln.

"Let me show you…"

Sam pulled her mobile phone from her jeans pocket, and brought up a certain website for Lincoln to scroll through as she handed her phone to her guest. It was the official website for Where I'm Comin' From: The Mick Swagger Story – an independently-produced documentary film that chronicled the life and career of one of music's biggest rock gods, from his humble beginnings of being expected to follow in his father's footsteps of attending law school, to the formation of his first band, the Cobblestones, to breaking out into his successful solo career, as well as intimate glimpses into his personal life. The documentary only saw a limited public release, where it was screened mostly at film festivals across the country, and in select theaters in larger cities such as New York and Los Angeles. However, copies of the film were available for purchase on DVD in two separate editions: one was a vanilla edition that contained the theatrical version of the film, and only a filmmaker's commentary as a bonus feature; the other was a deluxe boxed set edition that contained an extended director's cut of the film, and a slew of bonus material, which included two complimentary CD's – one of which was a compilation of Mick's greatest hits, and the other contained previously unreleased demo tracks from some of his earliest attempts to break into the music industry as a struggling singer/songwriter.

"I just know Luna would love to have the deluxe boxed set," explained Sam. "I'd love to get that for her as a Christmas present, but as you can see, it comes at a very hefty price…"

Indeed, $150 was quite a hefty price… though, it was to be expected: being a little independent film, obviously, the filmmakers had to make back the money that it had cost to produce the film - not to mention the rarity and value of the bonus material that was included in the set was also a contributing factor in the high price tag.

Lincoln did feel just a tad disheartened over the monetary aspect as well.

"Yeah… something like this would be the perfect Christmas present for Luna… she'd think she died and went to rock-and-roll heaven…" lamented the snow-capped boy. "But, that is really expensive…"

Sam was suddenly struck with a thought, and offered Lincoln a proposition: "You know… maybe we could pool our resources… how much money do you have?"

Lincoln took a brief moment to mentally go over his present finances: "Well... between my allowance... what little bit I saved from when I was my sister, Luan's, clowning assistant... and some of the proceeds left over from a failed business venture between me and my friend, Clyde, that I'd rather not talk about... I think I've got about $50..."

"Yeah, that's about what I have too…" said Sam with a frown. "That means we'd still be about $50 short…"

But, at always, Lincoln Loud was the man with the plan, and he began to ponder on how the extra money could be put toward getting this DVD set for Luna for Christmas... one good look out of the window provided him with an answer, as he witnessed one of the Sharps' neighbors put up a struggle to drive his car out of a snow-covered driveway.

"You know, I could probably make a little extra money by shoveling sidewalks and driveways in the neighborhood…" he surmised.

Sam had suddenly remembered something else that was on her horizon that could possibly help them out, as she explained, ""The Moon Goats have holiday bookings at the Red Herring and the Burnt Bean this weekend; sometimes the customers will make donations to the band that we split between us… if we both could come up with the extra $50, we could go halvsies on the gift together!"

The deal was sealed; Operation: Raise Enough Extra Money To Chip In For The Deluxe DVD Boxed Set Edition Of Where I'm Comin' From: The Mick Swagger Story So Luna Will Have A Christmas She'll Never Forget And Also Think Of A Shorter Name For This Operation was a go. Although there was not a lot of time left with Christmas fast-approaching, Lincoln spent what little free time he had after school, and during the weekends shoveling snow out of the driveways and off of the sidewalks for his various neighbors – although he only charged five dollars per neighbor, there were a number of houses to shovel for, which meant he was able to really clean up, in more ways than one. Likewise, between the two holiday bookings for the Moon Goats at the Red Herring and the Burnt Bean that weekend, generous patrons and concert-goers who contributed donations to the young musicians allowed Sam to procure more than enough in funding to contribute to the purchase of her girlfriend's Christmas present. Between what the two had already previously saved up, with the addition of their recent earnings, they managed to raise a little over $200, collectively. Lincoln was amazed at their good fortune as he met up with Sam at the Sharps' residence again one chilly afternoon.

"Wow, can you believe how much money were able to make?" He marveled at the small pile of green stuff that was on the kitchen table.

"This is amazing!" Sam squealed, as she began to divide the money between them. "Here… I'll chip in half, you'll chip in half; this will cover the cost, and leave both of us with a little left over."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Lincoln said, as took hold of their combined $150, and slipped it into an envelope that he had brought with him.

"You'll have to tell me all about Luna's reaction when she opens her present Christmas morning!" Sam insisted.

"Better yet… I'll send you some pics, so you can see it for yourself!" Lincoln offered.

"You rock, lil' dude!" Sam exclaimed and offered the snow-capped boy an enthusiastic high five.

There was, however, one minor little problem with Lincoln being a minor: for a variety of different reasons, Lincoln was unable to actually order the DVD set for his sister, as he was under the age of eighteen, nor did he have bank account or credit card to actually use to order the set. That did nothing to deter him, though: given the Secret Santa Siblings program was his parents' idea, he was certain that they would be willing to help him out if he explained to them what his intentions were… and he had better act quickly, because time was fast running out.

Before bed that evening, Lincoln requested permission to speak to his parents, where he proceeded to explain to them about his efforts to raise money for a gift that he wanted to order for his Secret Santa Sibling, but that the only way to order it was via the internet, which he was unable to do. Although both Lynn, Sr. and Rita tried to remind their only son that there were still alternatives he could consider as his Christmas present for his Secret Santa Sibling –such as making a homemade gift himself– they at least commended him for his efforts to work and earn enough money to buy something he the he knew said sibling would love to receive for Christmas. The following Monday morning before the Loud family got prepared for school and work, Lincoln and his parents set aside some time to go over their plan: after he dropped off the kids for school, Lynn, Sr. would stop at the bank to deposit the cash into their account before he went to work, and Rita would place the order from home, since she would be working on her new parental advice column on her laptop, anyway.

Everything fell into place, and Lincoln had an amazing feeling of accomplishment in knowing that a certain sibling of his would be most pleasantly surprised Christmas morning. While Rita began to place the order, it had become clear to her that there were some minor, yet crucial details that her son (and presumably his partner in crime) had overlooked: $150 was just the price tag for the item itself… there was also still the matter of sales tax, in addition to a rather steep shipping and handling charge as well, that would bring the order total closer to $200. The matriarch sighed a little; it obviously would take more than just the $150 that was deposited into their bank account to actually cover the total cost of the order, and family finances were still rather tight at the present time because of all of the bills and other household expenses that had to be paid.

At least it appeared that Lincoln actually had no intention of giving up his impromptu snow-shoveling business just because he was able to raise enough to contribute to the $150 cost of the present he wanted to get for his Secret Santa Sibling… if anything, it did seem as though he was learning a sense of fiscal responsibility. Because she felt proud of his efforts to not only raise money for his Secret Santa Sibling's present, but also for taking the Secret Santa Sibling program seriously, Rita's spirits were lifted; she decided to bite the bullet, and place the order, even if it meant the additional charges would have to come out of the family's finances. She and her husband had to agree, knowing the specific sibling that this gift was for (Lincoln didn't even have to mention her by name; just mentioning that the gift had to do with Mick Swagger was enough to give it away), this was sure to be a wonderful surprise for her come Christmas morning.

Once again, I swear none of this has been planned beforehand; I know I've written for the Luan and Lucy pairing in my fanfiction, and I know that the Lincoln and Luna pairing is immensely popular in the Loud House fandom in general, but Lucy and Luna were the names I happened to draw for Luan and Lincoln, respectively (and because of this, yes, I intentionally took a swipe at the fandom concepts of "Guardian Luna" and Luna being Lincoln's closest sister while I wrote his vignette in this chapter; Merry Christmas Lunacoln fans!)