Chapter 02:
You Are Not Guilty

After the early death of Lincoln Loud, due to Neurofibromatosis (an obscure disease, but paradoxically, always visible through the boy's white hair), the Loud Family plunged into a macabre mourning, with all its members experiencing the same emotions, pains and revolts, each in their own unique way.

Once the most acute period of the grieving process has passed (a process that, obviously, will never end completely throughout life), each Loud sister gradually resumed her old vocations.

Luna decided that Rock 'n Roll would be her tool to exorcise her pain, injecting joy into herself and as many people as she could reach with her music. But no celebrating drugs, alcohol or promiscuity. The key, for her, is to praise life, freedom, love and people. And Sam Sharp would be her partner in that endeavor.

Lynn Jr. dedicated herself to sports with even more seriousness, in the certainty that in doing so, she will be the example that any disillusioned or desperate person can get back on her feet and turn around.

Lisa has completely focused on science and technology, but now she is aware that she is not a superhero (after all, she wasn't able to detect her brother's illness, much less find a cure). On the contrary, she already knows that she's going to be hit and miss several times along the way, which just makes her as human as the rest. Therefore, one or another failure will not represent the end of the world. After all, Science exists to help humanity, and not to boast, and she often forgot about this: people really matter. With that in mind, she continues to use her family members as guinea pigs, but always asking permission first.

Luan, after pondering a lot about the reasons that led her to become a comedian (including her inferiority complex and the bullying she always suffered), chose to follow her promising artistic vein, even because Lincoln would want to see her happy doing what she always liked. She continued to work as presenter, clown, juggler and magician at parties and events, plus providing humor on her YouTube channel, where she now also gives her opinion on more serious matters. And the cruel pranks she played on the family were in the past.

However, one of the Loud sisters no longer took pleasure in what she was doing.

Lola.

Suddenly, a self-persecutory feeling began to haunt the little Miss. Every charming dress, every crown on her head, every perfume she put on, every neat hairstyle, even every exotic animal of the twin sister that she shooed away with class...

It's as if each of these innocuous gestures accused her of being a cold and insensitive monster.

As if her unconscious mind regulated her behavior in such a way that everyone had the duty, or rather, the obligation to serve and adore her.

As if her fascination with pageants and her obsession with always being the prettiest, the preciest and the richest of all girls could have led her to snub her loved ones. Including Lincoln.

As if his death had also been partly caused by her.

Would be possible?

In any case, Lola began to feel guilty about everything she did.

First she abolished her afternoon teas. If no one is happy to have tea with her, whatever. She won't coerce anyone into it anymore, and even she doesn't feel good about it.

Then she stopped with perfumes and makeup. As she has always been obsessed with perfection, it didn't take long for it to become a topic at school (she nearly beat up a classmate who viciously suggested that she stinks like onions, which is why she cries so much). She, who had always loved being the center of attention, gradually came to hate it.

Until a nightmare was the last straw.

Lincoln Loud wins Dancing With The Stars on television and get a giant trophy, much bigger than himself. So he goes looking for Lola to show her his trophy, but he can't find her anywhere in town.

Until he enters an auditorium, where she should compete another Miss contest. Everything is ready, but there is no one around.

He keeps walking there, until a trapdoor opens in the floor and he falls into the dungeon!

At that exact moment, Lindsey Sweetwater, Lola's archrival, leaps from the ceiling, snatches the giant trophy and flies to the podium top!

Once up there, Lindsey rips off her latex mask: she's Lola Loud!

"Only I can shine! My beauty and perfection shall reign perpetually! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

She presses a button and an explosion is heard in the dungeon!

Lola woke up in the middle of the night without screaming.

Shivering and in a cold sweat, she jumped out of bed and looked at herself in the mirror on her dressing table.

Despite the dark circles under her eyes and her disheveled hair, she remained absurdly beautiful.

And every line of beauty, every corner of perfection seemed to betray her inner ugliness and imperfection.

Could just be an instinctive reaction in her mind (as Lisa tried to explain later), but in that instant, Lola perfectly heard Lincoln's voice echoing in her ears:

Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!

Lola, in a confusion of feelings, threw herself on the bedroom floor and started punching the floor, screaming from the depths of her being!

Not even the complaints of the newly awakened Lana prevented Lola from opening the closet and tearing all her beautiful and precious dresses, one by one! Lana lay motionless on the bed, not sure if this was real or if she was still dreaming.

Then Lola left the room, crossed the hall (with a few sisters already watching) and madly descended the stairs, heading for the family's trophy room. She pulled out one of her many Miss trophies and threw it to the ground, breaking it in half! She would certainly break others, if her parents didn't stop her.

With all her family watching her, in a mix of astonishment, curiosity and resignation, Lola, crying profusely, said that a dream had revealed to her that she was the real murderer of Lincoln, and that was why she no longer wanted to be Miss!

It took a long conversation with her parents and many sips of sugar water for her to finally convince herself that neither she nor anyone else was to blame for her brother's death. On the other hand, if she no longer wanted to compete in Miss pageants, there was no problem either. But she shouldn't feel ashamed of her catwalk victories, as they are also part of her life trajectory. Not to mention how many times Lincoln was her coach and biggest supporter (alongside Lori and Leni).

In a way, this is also Lincoln Legacy.

To Be Continued...