"What's happening? I really don't get it. Everyone in the house seem to be happier lately, specially my sisters...what's going on?"

Lana, one half of the only pair of twins in the Loud family. She had noticed several weeks ago that, of all sudden, her sisters looked much more calmed, relaxed and even happier. Not that they had depression or something, but still made her doubt. Should she investigate? Maybe...

"Yeah...I better stay out of the picture. If I dig deeper I might find something I don't want to see."

It was strange that her sisters were sad at one moment, and then the other they were happy, as if nothing ever happened. Take for example Lucy or Lisa; they never told anyone how they felt, they used to hide their feelings under a thick layer of indifference and sarcasm. Now they all act as friendly as Leni. Was it a bad thing? Of course not; she was in fact happy to see her sisters open up more to the people. On the other hand we have Lori, who one day arrived at the house crying and even locked herself away, and the other she was happy, as if she had gotten over her break up overnight. Lana wasn't sure what was happening, all she could do was wonder if that will ever happen to her.

Nah, that's not possible.

Playing with mud was one of those habits we use to have when we were children. Much to our parents' relief, it was something that we stop doing upon reaching certain age. Lana Loud, however, never stopped doing it; even as an teen, she sometimes enjoyed getting herself dirty just for fun.

Several months later after Luna's concert and just a few weeks after Lori's mental breakdown, Lana returned home after one of her now very occasional mud play sessions. She used an old overall and her once usual red hat; not that she didn't change her outfit as time passed, but those clothes reminded her how much she used to love to get dirty. Currently, she was about to enter the house; she walked down the porch leaving mud prints with each step. As soon as she reached for the knob the door blasted open, making her flinch and gasp with surprise.

"Lana Marie Loud!" her mother yelled, looking visibly angry. "Just where have you been?!"

"Well..." Lana tried to reply, but her mother interrupted her.

"Playing with mud again, I see."

"Well, yes, but actually..."

"No buts, young lady! Take off those filthy shoes right now and take a shower!" Rita replied as she stepped aside to let her in. "And be careful not to leave mud in the living room or you'll clean the entire house for one week."

"Okay, okay, geez." Lara replied, taking her shoes off on the porch and heading over for the stairs; as much as she loved to be covered in mud, when the Supreme Commander of the Loud Household gave an order, it had to be done or there would be consequences. As she walked up the stairs, a little bit of mud got inside the overall, right under her panties, which was uncomfortable; as much as she loved mud she had her limits.

Once in the bathroom she took those dirty clothes off and let the hot water run for a little bit. Her body felt tired and she could feel dirt on her hair, which was starting to itch. She didn't know why, but over the last several years she had been leaving behind some of the things that she loved to do; she started to lose interest in being covered in mud, if she did it on a daily basis before, it was now just a couple of times a month. She'd often eat disgusting things, but now she realised how gross that habit was. Her passion for cars still remained to this day, and so did her passion for animals.

These were changes that one acquires with ages. Still, she wasn't sure if they were good or bad.

Even though I like those things I'm still a girl. I'm a fifteen years old girl, I should start to act as such.

She let out a sigh and leaned on the sink. But I still don't feel ready to leave that behind, how can I change that?

She let that thought in the air along with the steam coming from the shower. You know, even when she refused to be clean before, the idea of a hot bath after a long day of playing was really appealing.

Some minutes passed when she came out of the shower feeling like a new person. The hot water washed away her worries along with the dirt and mud. Maybe she was overthinking all this, Yeah, she doesn't like a few things that girly girls do, so what? It doesn't mean she has to give up the other stuff she likes.

After coming out of the shower she dried herself with a towel, enveloping her body and her hair before walking towards the mirror. Lana had a special fear of changing in front of other girls; even though it was a common habit in the locker rooms after gym class, she didn't like to expose her body to the other girls. Some of them tried to encourage her to lose the fear, others said they wish they had her beautiful body.

She couldn't help but take the towel off her body admiring how much she had grown up; her hips were wider, her breast had quite grown and her body overall had a nice hourglass shape. even though she had some attributes that many girls could only dream about, she still had that fear inside her because...

She herself didn't feel like a woman.

It was not a sexual identity problem, she liked boys and stuff, the deal was...well, the other sisters, including Lynn, already knew how to dress properly for, let's say, a formal event; they all had practice with makeup, knew how to chose dresses, knew how to match the accessories with the outfit and many other things a normal girl her age ought to know already. And while she tried not to give it too much attention, it was something that started to bother her recently, to the point where she started to wonder if she was truly a girl. Yeah, physically she was, but then why couldn't she like the same stuff? Was something wrong with her?

And it was not that she didn't try; she had put on skirts several times before but didn't like the sensation of having her legs unprotected. She tried to apply makeup before, but the work done would end up looking like the job of a five years old girl who took her mother's makeup kit. She even thought about participating in a pageant contest like Lola; she had some experience from when Lincoln helped her replace her twin that time she had an accident, she even won! But this time it wouldn't be a simple contest for 6 years old, this was the big leagues where the other participants would eat her alive.

She could always ask her sisters who had much more experience, but she was a girl too, she should, she had to do it herself.

She put on a pair of clean panties, a bra, and fixed her hair in her characteristic pig tails. She then put on a clean t-shirt and a pair of shorts to be more comfortable inside the house, then she heard someone knocking in the door.

"Is somebody there?"

It was Lola.

"She probably wants to put on makeup and neat clothes just to eat dinner." Lana said in a low voice. "And then do it again before going to sleep."

"If nobody answers then I'm going in."

"Alright, I'm coming." Lana replied.

As Lana got out of the bathroom with now clean and comfy clothes, a rush of surprise and jealousy spread throughout her as she appreciated her twin's body; that smile, those beautiful eyes, those neat clothes, that soft, shiny golden hair, the way she confidently walked around, and recently that good attitude... When did she grow up?

Lana was speechless, she didn't know why of all sudden she wanted to be like her. She spent a few moments staring at her twin sister, trying to see what the rest of the world saw in her that was so special. She wondered, she wanted an answer to why couldn't she be as beautiful as Lola even though they shared the exact same body?

Thinking about it, why was she so interested in being beautiful of all sudden?

Because she was growing up. She was in the age where her personal appearance along with the acceptation and approval of the others were highly important. She never thought she'd see the day where she would want to look beautiful but, well, nothing can escape time. Not even the Queen of Eng...oh, nevermind.

"Hello? Lana?" Lola wave a hand in front of her to make her snap back to reality. Seeing it wasn't resulting as she expected, she shrugged and closed the door behind her.

Lana spent the next few minutes listing the many things she loved to do, and trying to identify which ones made her look less feminine. What kind of girl liked to burp and have frogs as pets? What kind of girl liked to play in the mud or fix cars? Most of the girl she knew liked to read magazines, talk about clothes, fashion...boys...

She entered her room, walking towards her bed and falling right over the soft mattress. You know, now that she thought about it, a lot of the girl in high school talked about her brother. She knew he was handsome and much more attractive than when he was eleven. But, was that everything the girls in school thought about him? Just that he was handsome? For her, and she was damn sure it was the same for her sisters, he was more than just a guy...and much more than just a brother.

"Lana," her mother called from the door frame. "You took a bath already?"

"Yeah, mom." Lana replied with a hint of annoyance and rolling her eyes.

Rita entered the room, using a beautiful black dress that remarked her curves. Her hair was neatly done, and the makeup work made her look way younger. "You know, on a normal day I'd let you be covered in mud as much as you wanted, though not inside the house." she said. "But today it's a special day, do you remember why?"

What could her mom be talking about? There were no birthdays this month, there was no... "Oh, right...it's Lola's beauty pageant."

"Yes it is." Rita responded. "Come on, I've chose a beautiful dress for you."

Lana resisted the impulse to tell her mother that she could do it alone; it was just dressing after all, how hard could it be?

Then she remembered that...she knew nothing about clothes and that kind of stuff. Yeah, it was true; she might be able to rebuild a complete engine, but when it came to pick her outfit she just grabbed the first thing available in her closet.

Lana followed her mother to her room, there she had some dresses to choose from: One was a beautiful red sleeved dress, other was a black dress with open back (a little too much for her liking), and a blue navy dress; this was the most simple of the three, and was the one she chose to wear. Mrs. Loud allowed her to do her own hair, and after a couple of minutes she was done; if she didn't take into account a few hairs that were sticking out, she looked perfect. With part of the job done, it was time for the makeup; this time Lana let her mother do it since she had no practice with it. It only took around ten minutes but the results were astonishing. At last, she put on some heels and perfume. She looked amazing.

Lana took a step in front of the full body mirror in her parent's room; she didn't know that it was possible, but she looked stunning beautiful. The way the dress wrapped around her body embracing the natural curves of her body, the way her hair fell over her left shoulder, the way her face looked whit the makeup...was she the girl in the mirror? Or was she another girl.

And while she knew this was too much to ask...she wanted everyone to notice it.

Everything was laughter and happiness in the living room, at leas until the protagonist of the night appeared. Lola shone bright with every step she gave, using a dazzling pink long cleavage dress with a silver necklace and long gloves. Her hair was done so neatly it looked like she just made a shampoo commercial. She looked like a supermodel. Once everyone were ready, they hopped in the van and hit the gas towards the pageant.

The contest didn't take more than three hours, something a lot of people lamented since all the girls looked beautiful this year. While they all had the beauty on their side, some had luck, some other had charisma, Lola had more than ten years of experience on her side, and this assured her the first place. Her pink, long dress, her beautiful loose hair, her sparkling blue eyes, the confidence she inspired, nobody had a doubt that this was one of her best nights.

The prize was carefully accommodated in Vanzilla's trunk, while inside the van everyone congratulated the winner.

The first thing they all did upon arriving home was going straight to bed; it was an occupied night, and they all certainly used quite a lot of their energy cheering for Lola.

One person in special cheered for the blonde as much as his voice allowed him. Lincoln had replayed the contest several times in his head, watching as her sister demonstrated those rookies what preparation and experience could do over charisma and figure. He had given Lola several advices in the past about modelling; while he wasn't an expert, he used to train her for the pageants when she was just six years old. And even when several years have passed, while some things have changed, he saw as she followed each of his advices, he watched as she had used every single move in her ample repertory of tricks to get away with the victory. He couldn't be more proud of her.

But as happy as he could be, his throat felt really sore. Yeah...maybe he should try not to scream so much next time.

Lincoln walked downstairs and headed for the kitchen, serving himself a glass of cold water and drinking it on one big gulp. His throat felt way much better, maybe just in case he should...

A sound coming from the living room caught his attention. It was a strange noise, it sounded like a whimper...no, a sob.

It was weird; the time was 03:17 AM, he swore he saw everyone going to sleep...

"Hello?" he called.

The sobs ceased, but Lincoln had already identified the source. It was Lana, who had her face buried on a cushion over her knees; she had her sleep wear on, but as she turned to see her brother he noticed she still had her hair done (well, kind of) and her face had still makeup; the mascara she used was being flushed away along with her tears. Her cries, through muffled, weren't as quiet as Lori's; they were audible enough to wake up people in the nearby rooms. He wondered why his parents hadn't wake up with them yet...

"Lana, what's wrong?" he asked.

But Lana wasn't in the mood to talk with anyone. She got on her feet and began to walk away. Lincoln, however, was able to stop her in time. "Lana, please tell me what's happening. I'm your brother, you can trust me."

The blonde took a few moments before calming down. Her sobs decreased as she found the strength to talk. "Linky...do...do you think I'm beautiful?"

He gazed at those beautiful blue eyes that denoted sadness. "Of course you are, Lana, why are you asking?"

"Because nobody has ever told me!" she snapped. "Have you ever wondered how I feel when everyone prefer Lola over me? I-I know I haven't given true motives for people to look at me, but today I made my best effort to look good! I truly felt beautiful, I felt like a real woman for once!"

Her fists clenched as she looked down with a bitter mixture of sadness and anger. "I-I wanted to know how it feels to be noticed, to have people complementing my looks, to let everyone know that I'm not just a dirty tomboy who likes to be covered in filth like everyone in school thinks..."

"Come on, Lana, I'm sure nobody thinks that about..."

"Yes they do!" she yelled with impotence. "You haven't heard them, and I'm sure they haven't noticed that I know what they say about me...they often compare me to Lola...they can't believe we're twins, they say she's a princess while I'm nothing but an pig who likes to be covered in dirt..."

To say that Lincoln was surprised to hear this was not necessarily incorrect; he indeed was surprised, but also infuriated. How could people be so mean? It happened to him the first grades of school; his classmates would often make fun of him for his white hair and chipped tooth, they'd say he looked like a rabbit. While those were very childish insults, it did affect him at the time.

But the exact same thing was happening to his sister, and it was worse because she was in high school, guys and girls were way meaner with their words.

"Today I thought I'd finally be able to feel for once how Lola felt every day, I thought I'd be seen as the pretty girl I thought I was...but no one, not even our sisters said a thing about me...I thought I was pretty, but once again I failed..."

This was hitting Lincoln way harder than he thought. Lana was beautiful, he knew it first hand since he lived with her, he saw her grow and become the woman she is now. And while it didn't bother him that nobody noticed, he was enraged to know the mean names they called her in high school.

It was when she lost it. Lana hugged her brother, burying her face on his chest and bitterly cried for a while. Lincoln passed his hand through her hair and patted her back; there was not much he could do to comfort her. After a couple of minutes she finally calmed down.

"So," Lincoln started. "Do you want to be like Lola?"

"No," she responded. "But I have no option..."

"Why?"

"Do you have an idea of how it feels to be the ugly sister? The cheap copy? Do you know how it feels to be labelled as 'Lola's sister'? To have your own identity denied?"

Lana fell on her knees and put her hands on the ground. She closed her eyes to prevent more tears to come out but failed. "There have been times when even I forget my own name..."

Lincoln kneeled in front of her, used his index finger to lift her face and their eyes locked for a moment; he gazed inside her blue eyes seeing nothing but pain and sorrow. Lana looked at his blue eyes, finding a light that she never noticed in his gaze.

"Is that why you want to be like Lola?"

"Y-Yeah...can you help me with that?" she asked with shame.

"Indeed I can." he replied.

Lana's eyes lit with hope and determination, she was about to have one of the biggest changes in her...

"But I won't."

And this was all it took to extinguish that light and shatter that determination in a million pieces.

"What? W-Why?" she asked.

"Because then nobody would see the true beauty of my little sister."

Lana looked away. "Stop lying to me, Lincoln, we both know I'm not beautiful."

Lincoln put his hand on her shoulder, startling her a little bit and making her blush. "Oh yeah? Tell me then, why you think you're not beautiful?"

"How can someone find me beautiful?"

"Being yourself." Lincoln replied with a smile. "You must not change to meet someone else's standards, you are beautiful just the way you are; you're cute, your pigtails move with the wind, and I've always loved your beautiful golden hair. And you know? While other girls worry too much about what other people say about them, you're not afraid to do what you love, even if it's not what a 'real woman' would do. You're extrovert and in some ways you're way funnier that other people. I love you for who you are, and if the people who care for you love you as you are, why can't you love yourself?"

His words had the intended effect in Lana. She never thought about it; she was so focused in changing to be more like Lola that she forgot what made her different from her. Lincoln was right; she might not be as girly as her twin, but she had other ways to prove her self worth.

"You...you really think that, Lincoln?"

"I wouldn't be telling you this if I didn't believe it myself." he replied. "And I'd like you to believe it too."

"I guess you're right, I am special. And if you like me this way...who cares what others think?"

"That's the attitude." He said. "See? it wasn't that hard, was it?"

Lana softly punched his shoulder, and then hugged him. She finally realised why her sister had been so happy lately; they, pretty much as her, were in trouble, felt lost, felt like everything in the world was against them...but he saved them, he reminded them who they were and how much they're worth, he gave them a reason to fight...

He gave them love.

And I'm not willing to give it away, she thought. If I have to fight for it, then so be it.

Lana had a strange feeling, call it good hearing, or instinct if you will. But of all sudden she felt several eyes shooting daggers right at her back; the noise she made had probably woken up her sisters. She didn't care; unlike them, she was gonna leave things clear from the start.

"Lincoln..." she started. "No one had ever told me that I was beautiful."

"That's what a brother do." he replied.

"I know..." she whispered. She wasn't sure if what she was about to do was stupid or the right thing to do. But there was no turning back.

Lincoln noticed the way she looked at him, her eyes no longer reflected pain, they now were full of life, full of light, full of...

Love.

"H-Hey, Lana, what's going on" he asked with nervousness.

"And even if you're my brother, Lincoln..." she slowly moved her head, closing the distance between her and his brother's face. "That won't stop me."

"What are y-" Lincoln started, but his words were silenced as a pair of lips clashed against his. Time stopped right there, Lana eagerly fought his intents of breaking the kiss while holding her ground. And as a counter attack, she even introduced her tongue inside his mouth, fighting his own in what seemed to be a choreographed dance between two lovers in the heat of passion. Lincoln eventually stopped fighting, letting his sister finish what she had planned to do.

Lana was the one who broke the kiss, putting the cutest smile Lincoln had ever seen.

"L-Lana...this isn't-"

"I know this isn't right; if you hate me for this I'll take the blame. But I wanted you to know what my heart feels."

She suddenly launched herself at his arms. Lincoln took his time before shyly returning the hug. He didn't know what just had happened; if he hugged her back it was mere instinct.

He just wanted to make his sisters happy, he just wanted to help. And while his intentions were good, he had no idea of the war he helped to unleash.