Author Notes - Alright, the sports arc (mostly) comes to a close, but you know what else happens? Lisa's redemption arc is finally here! HOORAY! Now I can stop writing my favourite character as a transphobic a-hole! There's something somewhat ironic about me writing a story starring my least favourite Loud Sister and having my favourite be a big jerk in a few chapters.

I briefly discuss racism in this chapter, mostly how it overlaps with transgender people. Oh boy, intersectionality! It's a brief discussion because I'm not totally knowledgeable on how the two intersect. Racism in general is one of my... weaker topics, I suppose. I'd rather do a short surface-level talk and move on instead of delving deep but presenting a bunch of incorrect facts. I consider misinformation much more harmful than a lack of info.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - A SCIENTIFIC REDEMPTION

A few months had passed since that conversation. A conversation that Lynn had pretty much forgotten about just a week later. All those complaints about her competing with 'real' girls hadn't stopped, but it seemed like a lot of those complainers found something new to complain about. They were the ones who were yelling at some random cartoon because a one-shot character had two fathers who showed up very briefly. The ones who weren't just chasing after some new thing to rage about, however, stayed and had some rather passionate arguments about it.

For the most part, this entire debate stayed firmly in the back of Lynn's mind. As in, rarely ever the front of it. It only became an issue because Megan liked to remind her of it now and then. But otherwise, it only really came to Lynn's mind during one conversation.

'Hey, Harold, I wanna ask you something…'

Lincoln had gone over to his best friend's house, and Lynn decided to tag along. It was nice to chat to someone else with similar experiences now and then. Yet, it was also a little strange how different those experiences were too. One couldn't imagine why anyone would want to be a boy. The other struggled to believe anyone would want to be a girl.

'Ask away!' Harold said. 'Whether it's about my gender identity or my favourite cookie recipes, I'm glad to answer!'

Lincoln and Clyde were playing some sort of fighting game in the living room. Lynn would never admit to it piquing her interest, especially in front of those dorks. Howard was cleaning up the kitchen, leaving Lynn and Harold alone on the couch together.

'So, uh…' Lynn said, struggling to maintain eye contact. 'You've heard about all that drama about me in the girls' team, right?'

Harold sighed. 'If you're going to ask me if I think you should be on that team, I-'

'No, no. I already know you think I do. And I do too. But, uh, I'm not sure how that debate would work for someone like you. People are debating it cos having a boyish body might give me an advantage or something, but how does something like that work for a trans guy like you?' She paused. 'Would you want to compete with the women?'

Lynn wasn't sure where this question would really get her. It wasn't like Harold was much of a sports guy. Still, it was the only resource she could think of. His utterly stunned expression was not one she was expecting.

'Absolutely not!' He said. 'Do you know what that would look like? People would get so mad that a man was competing with women. Especially if it was something like wrestling!'

'So that's a no,' Lynn said. 'Wait, so when I compete with girls, I'm a boy pretending to be one to cheat. But if you tried to compete with women… you'd be seen as a man beating up women. I don't get it.'

'You want to know what I think? I think a lot of people don't realise that trans guys even exist. They're convinced we're all trans women. Do you know how many times I've had people tell me I will never be a woman?'

Lynn laughed. 'What a strange way to be supportive!'

Her laughter quickly died, however, when that question popped back into her head.

'Wait, no, back to that question,' She said. 'If all these angry people are right and I do have an advantage, wouldn't you be at the same level as the women?'

'Not necessarily,' Harold replied. 'You see, I… How do I explain this in a way you'll understand? Well, there's a chemical our bodies produce that men typically have a lot more of than women. Some women have a lot, but usually men have more. Before I transitioned, I had about the same amount a typical woman would have. But part of my transition was raising my levels of that chemical and lowering the levels of the one women typically have more of.'

Lynn struggled to pay attention to all these words, but let it be known that she was trying her hardest. In contrast to when Lisa started a lecture, where she would zone out immediately.

'And I've been doing this for a few years now,' Harold continued. 'So my levels of both these chemicals are roughly the same as a typical man. That chemical that the men usually have will often make them stronger for it.'

'Sooo…' Lynn said, hoping that she got it all. 'If anything, you would have an advantage over those women, cos their weird chemical levels aren't the same as yours.'

'That's right! So, even if I was a sporty kind of guy, I wouldn't want to compete with women. Not only would it look bad, but it might not be fair. As for you, well… I'm not much of an expert in girls who were told they were boys. That wasn't my experience. But in my experience, that chemical your body would produce as a 'boyish' body isn't that high right now. I think it'll only be a problem once you hit puberty. I repeat, I think. I'm not an expert.'

It was a lot for Lynn to take in, but she was doing a better job with it than she did with most of her school work. If only Lisa could make her lectures with this kind of enthusiasm and 'dumbing-down'.

'I've heard some things, though,' Harold said. 'And they sound so familiar. These arguments about trans women being too strong to compete with the 'delicate' cis women, about bone density and aggression and all that… People used to say the same thing about black women, to stop them from competing with white women.'

Lynn's eyes went wide. Now, it wasn't like she didn't notice that Harold's skin was dark. It was something hard to miss. But it wasn't like she really thought about it. Didn't see colour. Wasn't that a good thing? Wasn't that what most people did? Or was ignoring it the problem instead? It was all a bit much for her to think about, on top of the issue at hand.

'People really said stuff like that?' She asked.

'Oh, they said some stuff that was even worse!' Harold said. 'Any excuse to keep us separated. Sometimes, they'd even say that about me, back when everyone thought I was a woman. They must've been worried that I was going to hurt them.'

'Well that's stupid! Good thing they don't say stuff like that anymore, huh?'

Harold fell silent. The only thing keeping the room from falling into total silence was just how loud Lincoln and Clyde were as they played their game. Yelling about failing combos or unfair opponents. Cheering when they finally passed a level.

Lynn frowned. 'Oh… uh, so, how does this work for me?'

'Like I said, I'm not an expert,' Harold replied. 'I have no idea. You'll have to ask someone who is.'

'Oh, I already have. My little sister Lisa says she'll look into it.'

'Ah, that's gr- wait, little sister?'

And that was the last time Lynn thought about this whole thing for a while. She was quite talented in focusing on more important things. There was no use sulking when she could be spending that energy getting stronger and faster.

The topic only came up again rather abruptly. Lynn just got done relieving herself and doing the bare basics to clean up her hands and toilet. Still left the paper a total mess, though. She gave her whole body a good stretch, opened the door-

'Elder sibling!'

'AHH!'

-and had the daylights scared out of her. The last thing she was expecting to see was her almost-two-year-old littlest sister staring up at her. With that obnoxious 'everyone is an idiot except me' look on her face too.

Lynn let out a powerful groan. 'No, Lisa! You can't watch me take a wizz. Not unless it's a study on how far I can shoot.'

'That is not what I want to discuss with you,' Lisa said, adjusting her glasses. 'Over the past few months, I have been studying whether or not you have an inherent biological advantage by competing with female homo sapiens in contrast to male.'

It took Lynn a while to comprehend what any of those words meant.

'Oh!' She said, finally. 'Right, that thing. So, uh… what was the result?'

'Far more complicated than I was initially expecting. I would like for you to vacate into my residential room, so I can explain this to you in detail.'

'Look, can you just give me the simple answer?'

'There is no simple answer.'

Being invited to Lisa's room never ended well. Last time that happened, Lincoln came out of it with one less appendix. Which she insisted was a totally unnecessary organ, but still. But Lynn just really wanted to hear these dang results, so she followed her youngest sister into 'the lab'.

Lisa's room had changed quite a bit in just a few months. She now had a collection of beakers containing various liquids of different colours, and a few more science-y posters hanging on the walls. A lot of it was in the colour green, which was obviously her favourite colour. Not that she admitted to having a favourite colour, claiming that doing so was beneath her.

Lynn pulled the chair away from the desk and sat down upon it, hoping this wouldn't end with her limbs getting blown off. Lisa pulled out a big whiteboard from her closet (how did it even fit?) and it was covered in all sorts of writing Lynn could hardly understand.

'Uh… interesting,' Lynn said. 'Now, um, can ya translate that into English?'

Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose. 'I haven't even started explaining yet.'

'I'm already bored, so make it simple. But don't talk like I'm three.'

Lisa sighed, that irritating sound she made whenever she got 'fed up' with someone's 'stupidity'. Like everything else about her, it didn't exactly make her pleasant to talk to. Lynn pushed the chair closer to the desk, so she could put her elbow on it and give her head a hand to rest on.

'This study proved more laborious than initially anticipated,' Lisa said. 'I had expected it to be a basic study on human biology, which I had assumed I was already well-versed on. As it turned out, the topic was far more complex than I could have imagined.'

'Meaning?' Lynn asked. 'Is this good for me or not?'

'Short answer… yes and no.'

That managed to pull Lynn from her boredom.

'... What?'

'When I first delved into this topic,' Lisa said. 'I thought there would be a simple answer. A simple line to draw over whether or not individuals who were assigned-male-at-birth, such as yourself, should be allowed to compete with female-at-birth individuals. My research, however, turned up just one conclusion: that there is no 'one' conclusion.'

'... What?'

Lisa had stopped trying to hide her annoyance months ago, and it was showing full-force now.

'Some situations yield what could be described as an 'advantage', and others do not,' She explained. 'It is entirely possible for a male-at-birth individual to have significantly greater muscle mass than their opponents, leading to what any reasonable person could describe as an 'unfair advantage'. But this is not always the case. If an individual has been on oestrogen-increasing hormone replacement therapy for at least two years, the difference is considered negligible. This is due to…'

This was the point where Lynn zoned out. It sounded good and on her side, but otherwise it went in one ear and out the other.

'LYNN!' Lisa shouted.

'U-Uh… listening!' Lynn said. 'Definitely listening. Got the whole thing. … Something about hormones?'

Lisa sighed. 'Clearly, I should've known that the full explanation would be lost on a person like you. I suppose the simpleton way of explaining it would be to say that as you are, you do not possess a major advantage solely due to your biology. Any advantage you have can easily be chalked up to you training hard and putting in the effort. For other male-at-birth individuals, this would also be the case. For others, not so much. All you need to care about, however, is that you are fine to compete with other females.'

Now that Lynn actually (sorta) understood what Lisa was trying to tell her, she could smile. And break out into a totally not annoying victory dance right there in the room. She was right! For herself, at least.

'Oh yeah!' She said. 'I'm right. I'mright-I'mright-I'mright!'

Lisa rolled her eyes. 'I'm going to ignore you thrusting your posterior into the air obnoxiously. This study was, I must admit, far more interesting than I envisioned it being. I had believed that there was a distinct difference between males and females. Well, there is certainly a difference, but it isn't nearly as major as I originally thought. Many of the differences people claim the sexes have are solely due to society shaping them to be that way.'

'UH-HUH! RIIIIIIIIIGHT!'

Lisa sighed for the tenth time that day. Why did she even try? She'd get a more interesting conversation from a brick wall. And, if you asked her, the brick wall probably would've been smarter too.

'Ahem!'

Lynn stopped her victory dance and stared at Lisa mid-pose. It wasn't a very comfortable pose either, but she seemed to be holding it up just fine.

'If you really must perform your asinine victory dance,' Lisa said. 'At least relocate it to your own dwellings. This room is strictly for serious scientific work only.'

Lynn couldn't help laughing. As if she didn't hear East Coast rap blaring from this very room from time to time. As if Lori didn't read the toddler a bedtime story every night. If Lynn didn't want to avoid an even longer lecture, she'd bring any of that up.

'Alright, you're the boss,' She said with an exaggerated shrug. 'It's your room. I'll take my little victory someplace where it can be appreciated.'

She turned around to leave and return to her room. In spite of how annoying Lisa could be, this little venture had proven quite successful. Now she could rub it in people's faces! Surely, there were no holes to the logic of 'my two-year-old sister told me I can compete with you'.

'Wait, Lynn, I request that you stop for a moment,' Lisa said.

Lynn stopped in her tracks and groaned. Now what? She turned around, albeit unenthusiastically, and looked at Lisa once again. The condescending look that was ever present wasn't there at all. If Lynn didn't know any better, she'd say that Lisa looked almost sympathetic.

'There is something I must confess to,' Lisa said.

'How long will this take?' Lynn asked.

'Lynn, please. This is serious. Before I researched this topic, I had assumed that there was no difference between sex and gender. To me, it was basic biology. XX equalled female, and XY equalled male. I know you have no idea what any of that means, but I had foolishly assumed that male bodies were always one way and females another. During my research, however, I realised how wrong I was.'

Lynn blinked at her. 'Ooo-kay. What does any of that mean?'

'I've learnt that sex and gender are two completely different things, often but not necessarily linked. My assumption that there were only two sexes and thus two genders was proven incorrect. Like many aspects of science, there was more to it than the basics. It's far too complicated to get into here, but…'

She cleared her throat. Her voice appeared to crack just a little near the end of her little speech, as though she was tearing up. That emotion wasn't visible in her face at all, but quite obvious in her voice. It threw Lynn off, because she had never heard her voice be so emotional before. To make it stranger, Lisa approached her slowly while staring at the floor.

'The point I'm trying to make is far more simple than its explanation,' She said. 'Due to your biology, I assumed you were my brother. I did not understand that your body does not necessarily have to dictate your identity, because I knew so little of the topic. I spent all this time calling you the wrong thing because of this. I now know that you are not my brother…'

She hesitated. Now, the emotion was becoming clear on her face as well. It must've been the first time in a long while that Lynn saw any kind of emotion on that blank face of hers.

After a while, Lisa worked up the courage to say… 'And that you were right. You are, in fact, my elder sister.'

Out of everything Lynn had heard that day, of all of the words that had come out of Lisa's mouth since she stepped into this room, this was somehow the most shocking part of all. Never before had anyone in this household heard Lisa change her mind.

'I'm sorry,' Lynn said. 'What? I mean, I'm glad you finally realised! But what could have possibly changed your mind?'

'I-I was wrong,' Lisa said. 'Scientifically speaking. But even if transgender people weren't supported by science, it was no excuse for the way I acted. During my research, I learnt that misgendering a transgender individual, such as yourself, can cause great distress. I, too, would not appreciate it if everyone I knew called me a 'boy' when I know I am not one.'

'Lisa… are you okay?'

The answer was quite clearly 'no'. Lisa's eyes were shining underneath the light.

'And I contributed to any hurt you may have been feeling,' She said. 'I… I am typically immune to inane human emotions, and yet, at this current moment… I find myself suffering an intense guilt for inflicting you with more pain. A-And I can't stop.'

Very soon, an uncomfortable reality was presenting itself to Lynn - her littlest sister was about to cry. To say the least, it was somewhat terrifying. Comforting the little ones' emotional distress was something reserved for Lori, or Leni, or even Lincoln. However, Lynn was very good at making it up as she went along. She closed the door to give them both privacy and lifted Lisa up into her arms.

'Alright, alright,' Lynn said, in her best (and thus rather poor) 'comfort' voice. 'Don't worry about it. Guilt is good. It means you realise you did something wrong. And it's about time.'

'I-I do not appreciate the fact that you are c-currently holding me…' Lisa said.

'Yeah, well, you're two.'

'It seems that my ducts are leaking high-salinity fluids. S-Street name, crying.'

'You'll get over it sooner or later.'

Lynn sat down on the bed and held onto Lisa like the world could rip her away. What a way to be reminded of Lisa's young age. Lisa loved to ignore or even deny her youth whenever she could, but - much like science itself - she could not escape reality.

'I, uh, must apologise,' Lisa said, sniffling. 'It seems I may be getting secretions from my mucus membranes on your clothes.'

'That's… fiiiine,' Lynn said, trying not to wince. 'My clothes are already full of sweat.'

Lisa chuckled. 'Believe me. I-It's obvious.'

Lynn stayed there for a while. Longer than she intended to. It was somewhat relaxing to just sit there and enjoy the company of her youngest sister. A sister who, just a week ago, she couldn't stand to be around. Maybe Lisa wasn't so bad after all.

Author Notes - As far as I can tell, what I've said in this chapter is about accurate. I freaking hope so, since the whole point of this story is to educate people on transgender related issues. The whole 'trans women in sports' debate is a tough one and there's really no clear answer, but there was a recent study claiming that trans women who have undergone HRT for long enough have no advantage. So, you know.

This story's main focus is to educate, but I also want it to be entertaining. I understand that whole paragraphs of information can easily get boring, so then no one's gonna read the story and actually get the information. So I sprinkled in a few jokes about Lynn's inability to pay attention, to reflect what my readers might be thinking as soon as Lisa begins a lecture.