10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10) Mediation Part 1

The sound of Vanzilla's horn blaring caught Luna's attention. She reluctantly got up from her place lounging in her bean bag chair and left her room. As she descended the stairs, she noticed her younger brother sitting in the living room with Clyde. The two boys were watching a rerun of ARGGH! on TV. Between them was a bowl of trail mix that they were sharing and on the table was a pair of juice boxes. A commercial break started and Lincoln looked away from the screen. He saw Luna and for a moment, their eyes met. But he quickly averted his gaze and took interest in the current advertisement that was airing.

Luna felt a small stab of guilt. She continued towards the front door, taking another brief glance at her brother just before she reached it. With slight apprehensiveness, she opened the front door and stepped outside. Lori was the first one she saw, the blonde girl heading her way with her hands full of grocery bags.

"Mom says that she needs all of the cold foods inside first." She said, passing Luna the bags she had and then returning to Vanzilla to grab some more.

As Luna came back inside of the house, Lincoln found his attention once again being diverted from the TV. Clyde noticed this and put his hand onto Lincoln's shoulder.

"Everything alright, buddy?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's just that my mom is home. Which means that Lori is too."

"Oh, I see. Well, if you want to head upstairs for a little while, that's fine. I know that you don't have too much that we can do while you're in Leni's room, but I don't mind."

"No, it's fine. I'd have to face her sooner or later. It might as well be sooner."

"Okay, if you're sure about that. I know that all of this has been really weighing on your mind. It's still hard for me to believe it, even after you showed me your room. I honestly don't even know if I'll be able to see Lori the same way ever again."

The front door opened again and Lori entered with a couple bags of groceries in each hand. She saw the two boys and she stopped briefly to give them a quick wave before continuing her way into the kitchen.

"Hey boys."

"L-L-Lori?!" Clyde blurted out, a spurt of blood launching from his nostrils. "ERROR! ERROR! Systems, shutting...dowwwwn..."

Clyde fell forward. He would have landed face first on the floor if it hadn't been for Lincoln catching him at the last moment. The white-haired boy set his unconscious friend onto the couch, a small smile coming to his lips after he set Clyde's head onto the arm rest.

"Can't say that I'm surprised." he thought aloud. "It's nice to know that at least some things haven't changed around here."

His smile faded. The small comfort he had found in his friend's predictable behavior was quickly replaced by a sense of need. There was something he knew he had to do. Something that he had been waiting to do all morning.

Lincoln went into the kitchen, passing Luna as she was on her way back out to Vanzilla for more things. This time it was Luna who looked away when they saw each other. It made him feel a little bad, but he didn't stop to say anything to her. They could talk later, but right now it was Lori who he wanted to see.

His oldest sister was busy putting various things into the fridge when he entered the kitchen. She didn't notice him at first, even as he stepped closer. But as she suddenly turned to pick up the milk that she had left on the counter, she accidentally bumped into him and elbowed him in the head.

"OW! Lori!"

Lori gasped. "Lincoln! I'm sorry! I didn't see you there!"

She went to check on him. But just as she was about to get a closer look, Luna came in and pushed her aside. It was only enough to move her out of the way, but it still got under Lori's skin all the same. And when Luna started to glare at her, she was more than ready to glare back.

"Before you say anything, Luna Loud, it was an accident." Lori stated calmly. "But if you want to press your luck, then go ahead and get mad at me again. Just keep in mind that our mom is right outside and we're both already in enough trouble as it is."

Luna was mildly surprised by the return of Lori's confidence and attitude. Not that it really mattered to her. She was still planning on holding her ground. And the look Lori was giving her was really waring on her nerves. She wanted nothing more than to just spit right into Lori's face at that moment. But she had to admit that Lori made a fair point. With their mother at home, it didn't matter how badly she wanted to do anything, she wouldn't be able to get away with it.

"Whatever dude." the brunette said, turning to leave the room.

"NO!" came the voice of the only male sibling. "No 'whatevers'! You owe her an apology, Luna!"

Lincoln stepped over to stand by Lori's side. His oldest sister gaped at him. He was just standing there, his arms crossed and glaring expectantly at Luna. Luna, in turn, had lost the fire that had just been fueling her actions. Now she looked just as shocked as Lori was. And also a little hurt too. She was silent for a moment, but then she mumbled out a half-hearted apology before excusing herself to go and get more things out of Vanzilla. But just as she was leaving, she ran into her mother, who was holding a fussy Lily in her arms. Luna shrank back when she saw her mother, the action gaining the woman's attention.

"Is something the matter, Luna? You look like I just caught you doing something wrong. Did I?' Rita asked.

Luna smiled nervously. She knew that she had been backed into a corner now. Instinct told her that she should feign innocence in an attempt to avoid making her mother angry with her again. But common sense told her that it would be in her best interests to just come clean and deal with whatever happened next. Not that her first option had much of a chance with both Lori and Lincoln right there behind her. So it looked like using honesty it was.

"Yes ma'am." Luna admitted. "I was getting up in Lori's face again. But I did say that I was sorry!"

"Uh, yeah, but only after Lincoln told you to!" Lori added hotly. "Before that you were literally acting just like you did earlier!"

Rita gave her third oldest child and unsurprised look, as well as a disappointed sigh. She shifted restless baby in her arms and walked over to the counter.

"I suppose that since we already need to have a talk, that it would be pointless to get angry again. But still, I'm not happy with this. So you can go and get all of the remaining groceries by yourself while I start putting everything away. Lori, could you please see if you could get Lily to settle down? She's been acting up ever since we got home."

"Okay." Lori said, taking Lily from her mother.

"I can see if Blarney is on." Lincoln offered. "That should keep her occupied."

"Good idea, Lincoln. Thank you." Rita said. "Maybe you can sit with her for a little bit? I'm sure having a little company would make her happy too."

Lincoln nodded and ran into the living room so he could change channels on the TV Lori followed him, Lily squirming in her grasp. However, once Lincoln had found the children's program featuring the Irish dinosaur, Lily ceased her fussing. Her eyes locked onto the TV as she became captivated by the show and Lincoln took a seat on the couch beside Clyde's sleeping form. He held out his hands and Lori passed their baby sister to him. Lori then turned to return to the kitchen, but felt something take hold of her arm.

"Lori, wait." Lincoln said softly. "I'm sorry. About how Luna's been treating you."

"Why are you sorry?" Lori asked, turning to look at him with a gentle smile. "It's not like you told her to do anything to me. Right?"

"Of course not! But, I still feel guilty. I know that she's only doing it because she's angry about what you did to me."

"So? That doesn't make you responsible for any of it. It's all her and what she's doing is just between me, her and Mom now. So don't worry about it, okay? But thanks for standing by my side just now, Lincoln. I really appreciate that you did that."

"No problem." Lincoln said, smiling a little. "And I'm sorry about earlier this morning too. For snapping at you when you were only offering to help. It's just that when I saw all of my stuff in garbage bags, it made me angry."

"It's okay. You had every right to feel that way. And you're probably still mad with me about it, right?"

"Yes, I am." Lincoln admitted. "But for whatever it's worth, I don't like being angry. At anyone."

"I literally doubt that anyone does. And if they do, then they're weird." Lori said. "Anyway, I need to go and help Mom now. Let me know if you need anything, okay? I owe you, after all."

"Okay."

Lori left Lincoln and Lily to enjoy their show. Back inside of the kitchen, she joined her mother and began putting away the many food items they had gotten at the supermarket. Luna came in with more bags and set them down for her sister and mother before heading out to grab the next batch. When she came back in with them and set them down, she looked to her mother and stood in place, unsure of how to approach the woman.

"Yes Luna?" Rita asked, taking notice of her child.

"Um, that was the last of the groceries. Should I help put stuff away now?"

"No. You will stand in the corner while Lori and I put everything away. Then we'll all sit down to have our little talk."

Luna obeyed without question and went to stand in the corner. Lori glanced at her younger sister. A part of her sympathized with the other teen, but mostly she felt a sense of comfort knowing that things were finally going to be resolved between her and Luna. With their mother playing the role of mediator, she could feel more capable of addressing the issue without Luna acting out of turn. And once Luna was back on her side, or at the very least no longer intervening, then Lori could purely focus on her main goal of making amends with her brother. At that point, everything would start falling into place. Lori was sure of it.

A short while later, Lori set the last item from the grocery bags into its place in the cupboards. With the task now complete, she took a seat at the kitchen table. Rita joined her and instructed Luna to do the same. Once the brunette had sat down, Rita took a deep breath to prepare herself for what was next. She was hoping things would go smoothly, but she needed to keep in mind that the two of her daughters at the table both could have an attitude. If either of them somehow agitated the other, then she'd need to be ready to intervene.

"Alright, before we begin." She said. "I'm going to just make one thing perfectly clear. I am not going to tolerate any single bit of trouble that either of you may try to start. That means no raising your voices, no belittling one another, no foul language or name-calling and I don't want to hear any unpleasant tones when you speak. Got it?"

"Yes Mom." Luna said, slouching down in her seat, her eyes on the table.

"I understand." Lori said, sitting upright with her hands nearly folded in front of her. "And if it's okay with you, I'd like to go first. I have a point that I'd like to make."

Rita allowed Lori to proceed with whatever it was she had in mind. Lori stood up and asked for Luna to do the same. The two faced each other, Luna refusing to look her sister in the eyes. Instead she looked down at the floor, waiting for Lori to get on with making her 'point' so they could just have it done and out of the way. The sooner this was over, the sooner she could get through having to be reprimanded by her mother.

"Luna, please look at me." Lori requested, taking a moment to allow her sister to comply. "I know that you're obviously still mad at me, and it's literally with good reason that you are. And it's been bugging me a lot to have you treating me the way that you have. But if you really need to get your anger towards me out of your system, then I'll let you slap me in the face."

Both Rita and Luna's jaws dropped, their eyes wide. Neither of them was sure that they had heard Lori right at first, but Rita didn't question it for very long. She stood up, nearly knocking over her chair, and slammed her palms down onto the table.

"Absolutely NOT!" she exclaimed. "There will be none of that!"

"Even though I'm giving her permission to do it?" Lori asked.

"Honestly, I don't consider it any better than provoking her into hitting you. My decision stays the same. No!"

"Mom, I get it. I really do. But please trust me, I know what I'm doing."

Rita took another deep breath and let it out slowly. She leaned with one of her hands still firmly set on the table while she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Lori, I do trust you. But that doesn't mean that I'll just go back against what I said before. I don't care if you're giving Luna permission. She still doesn't have mine. And that is final.

However, I know that you said you have a point to make. And I'm guessing that it has something to do with letting Luna hit you. So how about this? Let's say that, hypothetically, I did allow it. What would you do next?"

"Easy." Lori answered. "If Luna had hit me like I asked, I would have asked her if it made her feel any better. So? What would you say, Luna?"

Luna frowned. "It might make me feel better if I actually got to do it."

"What was that, young lady?" Rita asked, narrowing her eyes at Luna.

"Nothing." Luna answered with a mildly petulant tone. An instant later however, she rethought her response. "I-I mean, I'm sorry."

"Mmm-hmm. That's what I thought. Another slip up like that and I'll be holding onto all of you instruments for a week. Now, Lori, what's the point to whether or not Luna would feel better if she did get to hit you?"

"My point would be that it wouldn't matter if she did feel better." Lori stated. "It wouldn't really change anything. Lincoln's room would still be a wreck and I literally doubt that it would make him feel better to know that it had happened. He'd still be upset with me. And he'd be upset with you too, Luna. He definitely wasn't happy with you just a little while ago."

That last remark made Luna's eyes moisten, just a little. She shook her head, trying to snap out of the oncoming grasp of sadness. But it was no use. Her temper had been dampened and all she could think of was how Lincoln had looked at her earlier. And of how he had stood by Lori's side when Luna was just about to start something with the older girl.

"Yeah...he wasn't too amped, was he?" Luna asked. "It's almost like he forgot that he was mad at you and now suddenly I'm the bad guy."

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course Lincoln's still mad with me! He even said it literally right before I came in here to help Mom put away the groceries." Lori said, swinging her arm up and gesturing towards the living room. "And he'll be upset about it for a while. There's only so much than anyone can do about that. But he doesn't need to be mad at another of his sisters, especially when he doesn't want to be mad at the first one in the first place! You might think that what you've been doing is helping, but it isn't!"

"You think that I don't know that?!" Luna snapped.

"Tone and volume, Luna Loud." Rita warned.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Luna said. "I just can't help it! Everything that happened to Linc yesterday has been bugging me so much! I was up half of the night because I couldn't stop thinking about it! And when I woke up this morning, it was the first thing on my mind!"

Luna's voice was beginning to crack. Tears were threatening to run down her cheeks and she clenched her fists, her hands trembling.

"So, yeah, being mad at you isn't helping. But I don't know what else I can do! Because more than anything else...I...I'M MAD AT MYSELF!"

End of Chapter 10.