Author Notes - While Loud House has certainly had its ups and downs (especially nowadays), one thing I'll always like about it is when the Loud Siblings make it clear that, at the end of the day, they are a family and they truly care about each other. Even in the new episodes, they sometimes give us those precious moments that make the show worth it. There's a reason why episodes like 'No Such Luck' are hated so much.

I'm rambling about this because it has relevance to this chapter, I swear.

CHAPTER ELEVEN - REVENGE, LOUD-HOUSE STYLE

'... and they're literally the worst people in the world!'

Lori had called a sibling meeting in her room, minus Lynn since this whole meeting was about her.

'How can they say that about our little sister?!' She cried.

'Because… they're mean?' Leni answered. 'Did I get that right?'

Lori sighed. 'Yes, Leni. You got it right!'

'Yay!' Leni immediately frowned. 'Wait, that's not a good thing. They're being mean to Lynn!'

'And for what?' Luna asked. 'Because they think that she's pretending? Dude, we've seen what she's been through! There's no way she's pretending!'

'And even if she was,' Lincoln piped up. 'What would be the problem? And, um, why would she?'

They were all scattered around the beds, dealing with their own feelings of anger and frustration as Lori described the situation. The twins were in the room too, but weren't contributing anything. They were too busy trying to beat each other up for this or that reason. Either because Lola tried to spray Lana with perfume, or because Lana tried to throw mud in Lola's face. Probably both.

'So we're gonna kick her butt, right?' Luan said. 'I've heard about being the butt of a joke, but this is-!'

'No,' Lori said, shutting her down immediately. 'Most of us are older than Brittany, and if we even try to kick their butts, we're getting in trouble.'

'But it would be totally worth it!'

'No, dude,' Luna said. 'I know it's tempting, but we might get sent to jail.'

Lori pinched the bridge of her nose. 'Okay, I think I should be the one to deal with this situation. On my own. Because if any of you guys get involved, there's going to be more trouble than we need.'

'But-' Lincoln said.

'No buts! And no kicking butts either, no matter how much you want to!'

The other Loud Kids hung their heads in disappointment, and Luan muttered all the child-friendly 'swears' she could think of.

'And besides,' Lori said. 'If I get in trouble, then you guys won't. I'll take the fall for everyone.'

'Oh, that sounds like a fair trade-off!' Luan said.

No one in that room realised that there was an extra member of the family among them, hiding in the darkness under the bed. A little three-year-old, to be specific, who was not happy with the current situation. Not one little bit.

And she was even more determined than Lori to fix the problem.

Lynn got detention, unsurprisingly. It was a punishment that enraged her, even though she got why she had to have it in the first place. Didn't make her any less angry about it. The only thing that stopped her from completely losing it was knowing that Brittany didn't get off scot-free either, even though she didn't get punished too. Getting punched was considered 'punishment enough', and that was enough for Lynn.

It was only the next day, while Lynn was spending some after-school time with the principal, that Brittany really got what was coming to her. Brittany was walking down the sidewalk with her posse, with nothing but a bruise to show for her 'battle' the day before.

'I can't believe him…' She muttered to her friends. 'How can he think that he's a girl when he smells like that?'

Another girl scoffed. 'Or hits like that. Only boys would solve their problems by punching.'

'He really thinks that we'd be okay with that? It's an embarrassment to all us girls in the school! How dare he think he's one of us!'

Little did she realise that someone was listening to every word that she was saying. Hiding behind some nearby bushes and getting more and more infuriated with every word spoken. Any moment now, they could leap out of the bush and-

'I feel embarrassed for his sisters,' Brittany continued. 'If I were them, I'd be sad to have him as a brother.'

Alright. That was it. Clenching her fists, Lori leapt out from behind the bush and stood right in their way. The younger girls gasped and backed off, reminding Lori that she couldn't be too threatening. A 'fight' between eight-year-olds and a twelve-year-old could only end with the little girls getting the older one in trouble.

'I heard what you were saying about my sister,' Lori said. 'And it's literally the meanest thing I've ever heard in my life!'

'Uh… Lori, is it? You don't have to pretend,' Brittany said. 'Lynn isn't around. You don't have to call him your sister.'

'You might not realise this, but I do. Because she is my sister, and calling her my brother would be wrong. It's as simple as that. Even my little brother gets that, and he's six.'

Lori wasn't sure what she was hoping to accomplish, but Brittany just rolled her eyes at her. It took a lot of restraint on Lori's part not to strangle her.

'You're part of this too?' Brittany asked. 'We're not falling for it. I don't know why your brother wants to embarrass all us real girls, but-'

'Say 'real girls' one more time,' Lori said. 'And I'll have to do something about it.'

'Like what? You know that if you lay a single hand on me, I'm gonna get you in really bad trouble.'

Lori continued to glare at them, hoping that would get the message across. Unfortunately, Brittany didn't believe her bluff at all. Eventually, her arms went limp from defeat. Apparently, once her main method of 'fear' proved ineffective, she didn't have much of a back-up. Something she'd have to remedy.

Brittany groaned. 'Let's just go the long way. It would be less frustrating than this.'

They turned right around, filling Lori with a whole heaping of disappointment. And a slight helping of guilt, knowing that she couldn't do anything to teach this little kid what for. Maybe she should have brought the others along, so the bluff would've been more believable. Her little brother and sisters weren't going to be happy to know that her attempt at fixing things had gone so wrong.

At least, that's what Lori thought. She was torn from her reverie at the sound of three little girls screaming their heads off. Brittany and her little friend group were so spooked that they all jumped into the air and stumbled over backwards. Lori peeked over them, and was quite surprised to find a tiny three-year-old standing before them.

A tiny three-year-old with vampire-pale skin and raven-black hair.

Lori gaped. 'Lucy? What are you doing here? … And how did you get here?'

She could not recall a single time she saw Lucy coming with her. It was as if the little girl had teleported to this spot, even though that was surely impossible. Lucy had a habit of spooking people because she was so quiet, but this was unprecedented.

'W-W-What is that?!' Brittany shrieked, pointing at the offending child.

'I am Lucy,' Lucy replied, in an eerily monotone voice. 'Lynn's little sister. You made her cry. You meanies.'

Once Brittany and her friends realised they were dealing with a toddler, they climbed back onto their feet and looked down on her. Despite having three much taller children glaring down upon her, Lucy didn't even flinch. She stared at them so hard that you could feel her glare through her heavy low-hanging bangs.

Brittany laughed. 'HA! You really think we'd be scared of a little baby like you?'

'Oh no!' Another girl said, as sarcastically as possible. 'We might laugh ourselves to death!'

Lucy hadn't even moved. It was like she was just a statue. That's why all three girls flinched when she took a single step forward.

'Do not make fun of my sister ever again,' She said.

Brittany scoffed. 'And what are you going to do about it?'

Lucy stepped forward once again, grabbing onto the top of Brittany's socks.

'I speak to dead people,' Lucy said, in a frighteningly serene tone. 'And they do not like you. If you do not stop bullying my sister, I will make sure that they send you to an early grave, and no one will ever hear of you again!'

Even Lori was shuddering by the end of this. But Brittany?

'AAAAAHHHHHHHH!'

She let out a blood curdling scream and ran for dear life, her arms flailing around wildly. She was so desperate to escape, in fact, that she smacked into three separate trees in her attempt to flee. The other two girls zipped away so fast that they could almost beat Lynn in a 100m dash. It didn't take long at all until Lucy and Lori were the only ones on the sidewalk. Lori couldn't be sure, because it was never clear, but she could've sworn that Lucy was smiling ever so slightly. So slightly that anyone else would've assumed her expression didn't change at all.

'Wow,' Lori said. 'That was… that was impressive. How did you even get here?'

'Followed you,' Lucy replied.

Well, can't argue with that.

'And you did this, why…?'

'They were bullying my sister,' Lucy said. 'Because they're mean. And I don't want people being mean to Lynn. It isn't right. It's wrong.'

'You got that right.' She chuckled. 'You know, I am so using that threat one day. That was terrifying! And so convincing.'

'I was not lying.'

Lori's laughter went from genuine to frightened and awkward in the span of half a second. Seeing as this situation had hopefully been resolved, she picked up Lucy and held her close to her chest. Now that Lucy was pressed up against her chest, Lori could feel her breathing rather heavily. Lori cringed; Lucy's anaemia meant she had a short breath and more difficulty getting it back. Meaning she was fighting against it to do this.

'You seem tired,' Lori said, walking back home. 'You feeling alright?'

'I am fine,' Lucy said, quietly. 'Just tired.'

'You'll be okay. Don't worry.'

'I'm not worrying.'

For most of the journey home, Lucy remained quiet. Talking took up more energy and more breath, and she didn't have much of that to spare. They had only been walking together for a few minutes before she, somewhat suddenly, asked a question.

'Why do they think Lynn's pretending to be a girl?'

Lori stopped walking mid step, almost tumbling over. Up until this moment, she had entirely forgotten that they hadn't told Lucy about Lynn's 'secret'.

'It's… complicated,' She said. 'And I'm not sure if Lynn would want me to tell you. She might not like it.'

'Why wouldn't she?'

'It's a private matter. It's something she's kinda sensitive about. If I tell you, she might not like that. Maybe you should ask her yourself, and see if she wants to give you the answer. If she doesn't, I'm not going to tell you.'

'Oh. Okay.'

'... And then they ran off screaming!'

Lynn laughed so loudly that the entire household probably heard her from her bedroom. Lori relayed the story to her, and it was the most amazing story she had ever heard. While the story was being told, Lucy was sitting on her bed and seemingly not listening to a single word.

'Wow!' Lynn said. 'You really did all that, Luce?'

'Yes,' Lucy replied. 'I did.'

'She pushed her body to its limit too,' Lori said. 'I could feel how heavy she was breathing by the end of it. She really wanted to do this just for you.'

Lynn would've given Lucy a massive hug if she didn't know that Lucy hated it. As soon as Lori left, Lucy asked the question that had been on her mind for a while.

'Can you tell me why people would think you're pretending to be a girl?'

The laughter came to a dead stop, and Lynn's smile went away.

'Uh… why do you ask?' She asked.

'Lori said I had to ask you,' Lucy replied. 'Because you, um, were sensitive about it. Do you want to tell me?'

'Oh.'

Lynn hopped over to Lucy's bed and gave her a smile. Had anyone else asked her this question, she would've run for the hills. But Lucy was special, something that was obvious since she was born. There was no way Lucy would go through everything she had done that day unless she loved her roommate that dang much.

'Yeah, that,' Lynn said. 'There's a secret, kinda, that we don't really talk about that much. About me. So, uh, you know how there's a lot of us, but Lincoln's our only brother.'

Lucy nodded. The fact that Lincoln was the only boy was surprisingly easy to forget sometimes, since the Loud Sisters loved him and saw him as no different from the rest of them. Heck, Leni would occasionally call him her 'sister' before immediately realising her mistake. Not that Lincoln ever minded.

'Well, when I was born,' Lynn continued. 'People didn't actually realise that Lincoln was the only boy.'

'... He wasn't born yet,' Lucy said.

'Yeah, yeah, I know that. But when I was born, everyone thought that I was actually a boy. Including me! For a little while.'

Lucy gave Lynn… some kind of a look. It was near impossible to discern emotions, since she looked the same when she was happy or sad. But Lynn could detect the difference - this time, it was total confusion.

'... How?' She asked.

'Oh, that's easy,' Lynn replied. 'You see, uh, girl bodies and boy bodies are usually a little different from each other. There's, um, bits I guess that usually belong to girls or boys. Dad and Lincoln have the same bits as each other, and it's different to what you and our sisters and Mom have. Get it?'

'... Yes.'

'But with me, well, something went a little wrong. I'm a girl, and always have been, but I was born with the bits that are usually only for boys. So my body's more like Lincoln's or Dad's, and less like yours or Mom's. So everyone thought I was a boy. One day, I realised I was actually a girl, and told my family.'

Lynn wasn't certain how Lucy would react. It wasn't likely to be mean or cruel, but she wasn't sure if Lucy understood any of that. Heck, Lynn could barely understand her own words.

'Oh,' Lucy said. 'You're still a girl, though.'

This was not a question. There was no hint of a questioning tone, and not just because Lucy hardly ever used a tone to begin with. It was a clear, matter-of-fact statement. No ambiguity at all.

'Damn right, I am!' Lynn yelled. 'And don't tell Mom that I said 'damn'. She'll kill me.'

'Not unless I can kill her first,' Lucy muttered.

The corners of Lynn's mouth went down. Straight down, like a car off a cliff. She inched away just a little.

'You're… you're joking, right?' She asked.

'I am if Mom doesn't hurt you,' Lucy said.

'Which she never would! Mom took a little while to get it, a lot longer than Dad. But she gets it. And you better not hurt her!'

'Not unless you want me to.'

Lynn was just a little bit worried if Lucy actually meant all of this macabre stuff. And, if so, that meant that Lynn had a tiny assassin sleeping in the same room as her, who was like a murderous guardian angel. And that thought was pretty awesome.

'Those girls are mean,' Lucy said. 'Why do they care?'

'Beats me,' Lynn said. 'Apparently they think I'm an insult to all girls or something. Because girls don't smell as bad as I do.'

'Lana does.'

Lynn chuckled. 'Maybe I should introduce Brittany to Lana. If she doesn't get grossed out first! Oh, I would love to hear her talk about 'being a real girl' when she watches Lana eat dog food!'

'That wouldn't work. She'd think Lana was a boy.'

'Shows how much she knows!'

She laughed even more as she imagined dropping off that stink-bomb of a child at Brittany's feet. Either Brittany would deny Lana's girlhood too, even though she wasn't even trans, or would do some crazy gymnastics in order to explain why Lana was a 'real girl' while the equally-smelly Lynn wasn't.

Much later that night, Lynn suddenly woke up to the urge to pee. She groaned almost as soon as her eyes opened. Part of her was tempted - very tempted - to just lay there and deal with the consequences later. The rest of her remembered that the last time she attempted that ended very badly, so she forced herself out of bed. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw her little sister lying in her bed. It brought a smile to her face.

Now more than ever, Lynn was quite thankful that the path to the bathroom was just a straight line. Just a turn to the right and a forward walk. Everyone else was asleep, and only the door to Luna and Luan's room was slightly open. Which meant she had to deal with Luan 'sleep-joking'.

'Why did the scarecrow get an award? … zzz… He was outstanding in his field…'

Lynn simply rolled her eyes and made her way into the bathroom. The light blinded her the moment she turned it on, making her regret every single drop of water she had drank that day. On the bright side, she had already dealt with those spicy meatballs, so it was only 'yellow' she was dealing with today. By this point, she didn't really care that she did it while standing up. If anything, she felt bad for her sisters, who couldn't easily pee on a tree. Not that it stopped Lana, of course. That little girl did her business wherever the heck she wanted, much to her parents' irritation. Including in a bucket she had nicknamed 'Mr Slushie'.

After taking care of that, she headed for the sink. Only because her parents made a big deal out of her not washing her hands. The very moment she finished, she got a peep at the mirror and gasped.

She wasn't wearing her hair extension.

She always took it off at night, because it was easier to sleep that way.

But this was the first time she really noticed it.

There was a boy in that mirror.

Lynn let out a frustrated grunt and turned around immediately, forcing herself to look forward and not glance at that mirror. Because she knew that if she did, she would see a boy looking back at her.

She only looked like a girl if she was wearing that ponytail. If she wasn't wearing it… That thought was shoved aside immediately.

'I am a real girl. I am a real girl. I will always be a real girl.'

She rushed back to her room as soon as possible.

'... zzz… I heard they were really grasping at straws that night…'

Author Notes - Considering how big of a deal I made over Lynn seeing Lucy as 'special' and all that jazz, I felt like I needed to actually do something with it. Otherwise, it would just kind of be lip service. I don't often write Lucy in my Loud House fanfictions, which sucks because she's really fun to write. It's always fun when you allow yourself to be as macabre as possible.

Lucy's anaemia probably won't be mentioned much at all past this point (though you never know), but I really felt the need to bring it up past its introduction. I hear it's a common headcanon for her, to explain her pale skin, but I'm not sure how many fanfics actually address the symptoms of it. From what I know, the symptoms can vary widely, but a short breath is one of the most common. Thus, Lucy pushes her body to its limit.