[TLH] The Cruise [wip]

Prologue

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“Are you sure you have everything?”

“Relax, bro.” Luna placed her hand on Lincoln’s shoulder. “I’m used to packing my own gear.”

“I’ll take your word for it, then.” Lincoln smiled, then pulling Luna into a hug. “Hey, stay safe, okay?”

“Will do, bro.” After a brief squeeze Luna pulled back, stepping aside to let Luan past.

Luan brushed a lock of her shoulder-length hair aside. “Thanks for offering to look after everyone while we’re gone.”

“Happy to help.” Lincoln pulled her into a hug as well, letting her go after a minute. He flinched as he felt something hit his shoulder with considerable force.

“Yeah, thanks Linc.” Lynn’s voice added. “I owe ya one.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He replied, ruffling Lynn’s hair. Lynn grabbed his arm and pushed it away with enough force to stagger him.

Lola, dressed in an elegant pink dress, approached him. “Make sure Leia does all her schoolwork, okay?”

“Of course, Lola.”

“And make sure she has fun too.” Lana, dressed in the least elegant button-up shirt and worn jeans, added, with a sly smile.

Lola sighed. “Yes, that too.”

“Bye, Linky~!” Leni approached him and wrapped him a titanic hug. Lincoln almost felt like his spine would snap if she didn’t release him when she did.

“B-bye, Leni.” Lincoln took a moment to catch his breath as Lisa approached, resplendent in a pristine white coat over an oversized green sweater.

“Lincoln, report to me any problems or unusual things that happen with Lulu as soon as they happen.”

“I… will try.” Lincoln replied with a degree of concern in his voice. Something suddenly rammed into his back, nearly toppling him over.

“See ya, Linc!” Lily, wrapping her arms around him from behind, pulled Lincoln close. “Gonna miss you, dude.”

Lincoln turned around. “See ya, Lil.”

“Oh, and lemme know if Lani does anything… weird.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Lincoln turned to the sound of heels clacking on the dock’s concrete. Standing there, with a somewhat imposing presence despite not being as tall as him, was Lori, dressed in a smart casual uniform.

Lincoln smiled. “Hey Lori.”

“Hey.” Lori approached him and pulled him into a hug, pulling back after a moment. “Thanks for taking care of Loan for me.”

“Happy to help. But, why isn’t she staying with the Casagrande's?”

“They already have their hands full with Rosalina, I doubt they’d be able to deal with that literal nervous wreck of a daughter I have.”

“I think you’re being a bit harsh, Lori.”

“Tell me if I’m a bit harsh once you’ve spent more than a month with her. But seriously, thank you.”

Lincoln nodded. “So, I think that’s all of you.”

“You forgot me.”

Lincoln felt a shadow looming behind him. He turned and smiled as the rest of his sisters yelped in surprise, looking at the giant of a woman before him. “Ah, sorry, Lucy.”

Lucy, a few inches taller than him, and dressed not in her usual gothic attire but a more casual (but still black) outfit, with most of her hair tied back, smiled as much as her demeanour would allow. “It’s fine.”

Lincoln pulled her into a hug, letting her go after a moment. “Well, have fun you guys, and stay safe.”

He stepped aside and let the throng of children behind him say their farewells to their mothers. He spend a moment watching each group - Lana and her daughter Lizy were pretty normal, Lizy remarkably calm about the whole ordeal as her mother picked her up and hugged her. Liby and Luan pulled each other into a tight hug and were one of the last ones to let each other go. Liena signed a few things to her mother Leni, which was translated by her brother Lyle, and the trio hugged, with their adopted sister joining in. Luna pulled her two kids close as well, but while Lyra was somewhat reluctant, Lemy was fully accepting of it. The two infants, Lani and Lulu, were picked up by their respective mothers, Lily giving Lani a lot of affection before handing her to Liena, and Lisa spending a moment studying her child before giving her to Liby and telling her a few words. Lynn and her daughters Lacy and Lynn the Third spent a second play-fighting before saying their farewells. Lola knelt down to talk to Leia, saying a few stern words before her expression softened and she brought her into a hug as well. Lucy and Lupa simply spent a moment talking to each other, Lucy patting Lupa’s head much to the white-haired girl’s irritation. Finally, Lori stood in front of her daughter, Loan, merely only saying something to her with a stern look on her face. The nervous expression on Loan’s face pained Lincoln to see.

After their farewells, Lincoln led the kids off, waving to his sisters right up until he rounded a corner. Soon he made his way to his minivan, a newer model since Vanzilla had finally died on him nearly eight years ago, parked on a beachfront parking bay near to the dock. The kids and him mounted up. “Everyone got their seatbelts on?”

After a wave of affirmation, Lincoln started the engine and pulled out carefully.

“Hey Uncle Linc, can we get lunch?” Lemy asked.

“I want ice-cream!” Lizy called out from the back. “Please.”

“Ice-cream for lunch, Liz?”

Lizy spent a moment thinking. “Yeah!”

“Come on, Lizy, you know ice-cream isn’t good for lunch.” Leia replied. “Although, I wouldn’t mind some myself as well as lunch. Mom never lets me have ice-cream.”

Liena signed something, but Lincoln had no idea what she said. “Liena, dear, I can’t hear you while I’m driving.”

Liena repeated to Lyle, who translated. “She’s asking how you’re going to pay for it.”

“Ah, I got a nice bonus for some work I did. But hey, if you guys wanna help chip in I’m not gonna say no.”

Lupa sighed. “So, dad, where do you want to take us for lunch?”

“First off, Lupa, don’t call me dad. I might be your biological father, as all of you know now, but I’d much rather that fact remain secret.”

“Fine.” Lupa groaned.

“Second, I know this nice little place not far from my home. It does a bit of everything.”

“Sweet, options.” Lacy replied. “I’m gonna get myself a biiiiig sandwich with all kinds of stuff on it.”

“I think all of us getting some lunch would be a wonderful idea.” Liby added, playing with Lulu as the infant sat on her lap.

“Hopefully we won’t go all ‘Loud’ on them.” Lyra said, glancing towards Lemy.

“Hey, what are you looking at me for?” Lemy sounded indignant.

“M-mom said I’m not allowed to have junk food…” Loan murmured, barely audible.

“Don’t worry, Loan, it’ll just be this one time. It never hurts to have a special treat once in a while.”

“Yeah, but…”

“Ah, come on, Loan.” Lynn III patted Loan’s leg, the girl flinching a little. “It’ll be fine. Aunt Loan isn’t here to breathe down your neck or whatever.”

“L3, is that supposed to comfort her?” Lyra interjected.

“I don’t see you trying.”

“You trying is going to cause more problems than it’ll solve.”

“You know what, bite me!”

Suddenly, the two erupted into arguing, and more and more of the siblings got involved as they kept their arguing up. Lincoln frowned, veered onto the side of the road, turned on his hazard lights, and slammed his hand on the van’s horn. The kids went dead silent. “Lyra, Lynn, I’m trying to drive!”

“She started it-!”

“I don’t care! Stop arguing now or I’m making both of you walk. And before you ask, yes, I’m absolutely serious about that, Toby can tell you the story.”

The threat seemed to shut them up.

“Nice.” Lupa grinned. Lincoln shot her a glare through the mirror, and she stiffened instantly. “Shutting up.”

Lincoln sighed, and continued his drive. “Okay… I’m good now.”

The drive continued on for a little while, a tense silence falling on them. It soon became so heavy that Lupa groaned under the weight of it. “Is anyone going to say anything at all?” No reply, Lincoln himself concentrating on driving. “Anyone?” No reply. “Fucking hell-”

“Lupa, language.” Lincoln spoke.

“At least one of us is trying to get some conversation going.”

“If people want to talk, they can when they’re comfortable.”

“Why not put the radio on?” Lacy asked.

“Believe me, finding a radio station we can all agree on is impossible. I’ve grown up with ten sisters with wildly different music tastes.”

“Ugh, don’t get me started on Mom’s shitty taste in music.” Lupa started.

“Language.”

“... as I was saying. She likes all this really deep organ music, y’know, the sort of sh… stuff you’d find in those ancient Vampire movies from the nineteen-twenties or something. Just give me some Soundgarden or Nine Inch Nails and I’m happy.”

“How can you listen to that depressing stuff?” Lacy asked.

“Newsflash, Lace, I have depression. And if any of you say ‘just be happier’ or some shit like that I will fucking deck you.”

“Lupa, don’t make me warn you again or you’re walking.”

“It’s instinct at this point. Mom never really told me not to swear. Or really ever bothered to stop me from watching adult stuff.”

“That explains a lot.” Lyra muttered.

“Bite me.”

“At least your mom’s around, Lupa.” Lemy replied. “Mom’s always on tour or at a gig or something, leaving Miss Strict in charge most of the time.”

“I’d consider that lucky.” Lacy started. Lincoln could feel his grip on the steering wheel tightening and it was all he could do to keep himself focussed on driving.. “Mom’s always trying to push me hard, and goes off at anyone she thinks is holding me back. I mean, I’ve had my math teacher intimidated into bumping me up a grade, it’s embarrassing.”

“Well my mom keeps comparing me to when she was as old as me. ‘Leia you gotta wear your hair like this, Leia you can’t wear that, it makes you look fat’, I mean, jeez, Mom, just let me do my own thing every once in a while.”

“I kinda know how you feel, Leia.” Lyle replied. “Mom keeps butting into our life, always praising us and never punishing us harshly. If it wasn’t for Liena I’d probably be an entitled little gremlin. Plus, she keeps forgetting my name and sometimes thinks I’m actually a girl.”

“You do look like one.” Lupa smirked.

“Jeez, you guys seem to have it rough.” Liby said, still focussed on Lulu. “My mom just makes bad jokes and keeps trying to be ‘the cool mom friend’.”

“I feel like Aunt Lily and Aunt Lana are the only normal ones.” Lyra sighed, leaning against the window. “Jeez, and don’t get me started on Aunt Lori, because I know Loan won’t.”

“Lyra, I told you that was private…!”

“It’s hardly a secret.” Leia replied.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Lincoln asked, his anger at having his sisters being slighted now replaced with genuine concern.

“I… I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Lyra frantically replied. “Sorry, Loan.”

“Oh come on, you can’t just say something like that and then drop it.” Lupa interjected.

“No, if Loan doesn’t want to share-”

“Mom hit me.”

Silence dropped like a ton of bricks.

“What the fuck.” Lupa murmured.

“Lupa, what did Uncle Linc say about-” Lyra started

“I’ll let it slide this once.” Lincoln replied. “Loan, are you serious about this?”

“Y… Yes… I-it was only the one time, though. I did kind of mess something up too, but it still hurt...”

“Jeez, I knew she was taking it badly but I didn’t expect it to be that bad…” Lincoln murmured.

“B-but, she does keep yelling at me, trying to make me leave the house to do things. I… I know I should try and do more but I just can’t deal with the pressure…”

Lyra sighed. “Things… haven’t exactly been comfortable at home for Loan.”

“Well, Loan, how about this.” Lincoln offered. “I’ll have a word with Lori when she gets back from the cruise. Will that help?”

“I… Hopefully… thank you…”

“Speaking of, I wonder how things are going for them?” Lacy asked.

“It’s been like fifteen minutes, Lace.” Lupa replied snarkily.

“I’m sure whatever they’re doing, they’re doing fine.”

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Chapter 1

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Day 2, aboard the cruise ship

- - -

“Jeez, how long has it been since we’ve had some time to just chill?”

Luan glanced at her sister as the two of them leaned on the railing of the large cruise ship. Luna’s short hair blew gently in the breeze, and she brushed some of her own hair out of the way. “It hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing.”

Luna stifled a laugh.

Luan turned to face Luna fully, surprise on her face. “Did… Did you just laugh at one of my jokes?”

“Of course, dude.” Luna smiled in reply. “It’s been too long since I’ve heard you make a joke and last time we met you didn’t make a single one.”

Luan sighed. “Yeah, that wasn’t a good time for me.”

A short pause. “You doing okay now?”

“It’s… still rough, but now that I’m spending time with you girls I’m feeling a lot better.” Luan gasped a little. “Oh, I just remembered, I bumped into someone a few days ago.”

Luna tilted her head. “Hm?”

“You remember Maggie, right?”

“You mean your emo ex?”

Luan nodded. “Yep. God, she’s still pretty. She has a kid now, apparently.”

“Wait, I thought she was, like, entirely gay.”

“Guess not. Anyway, she didn’t tell me who the dad was, but the kid’s like eleven years old and is just the most adorable thing.”

“So no dad, huh?” Luna smirked. “Hey, you bet Linc had something to do with that?”

“Dude, don’t joke about that.” Luan replied, although she had a slight smile herself.

“Well, as much as I’m enjoying this, I’m gonna go grab something to eat.”

“Mind if I come with?”

“All good, sis.” The two of them pulled away from the majesty of the ocean and started to head into the cruise ship itself. “Also, no offence, dude, but do you think you’re being a bit clingy?”

“I am?” Luan’s mood immediately dropped. “Sorry.”

“Luan, hey, it’s okay, I’m enjoying the company. Just… y’know, is everything alright?”

“Ah, you’ve already heard me ramble about this before. The whole ‘nobody really talks to me any more’ thing. I’ve just been lonely recently.”

“You should totally hook up with Maggie, then.”

Luan blushed furiously. “Luna!”

“Heh heh, knew that’d happen.” Luna smiled. “But seriously, I think you two could give it another go, seeing as you only really broke up because Maggie moved interstate for a job.”

“I’ll… Maybe. I dunno.”

Soon enough, the pair made their way to the restaurant area of the ship - it wasn’t the fanciest of places, but for what they were all used to, this was quite the luxury.

And they weren’t the only ones there. Currently sitting at the bar were Lori and Lynn, with Lola and Lana, and Lisa, sitting at different tables, eating a wide variety of foods. Lynn was currently trying to challenge another passenger to a drinking competition or an arm wrestling match, it was honestly hard to tell at their distance.

“I’ll grab us a bite. You go and spend time with the others.”

Luan nodded, and moved up to where Lynn was just as the person she was trying to challenge moved away.

“Coward!” Lynn shouted, completely oblivious to societal norms, before turning to Luan as she approached. “Oh hey Luan.”

“Hey.” Luan took a seat. “What’s up?”

“Just trying to get a good arm-wrestling match going on, but nobody’s going for it.”

“Mind if I give you a hand with that?”

Lynn groaned as the pun hit her, but quickly brightened up at the challenge. “Sure, but I gotta warn you, I’m a lot stronger than I used to be.”

Luan placed her arm on the bar and gripped Lynn’s hand. The womanlet had a vice-like grip and she could feel the raw power behind her toned muscles, and she immediately regretted her decision.

“Ready?” Lynn asked.

“Yep.” Luan lied.

“On three. One…”

Luan tensed up, bracing for the inevitable.

“Two…”

Lynn remained relaxed for a moment, but as she opened her mouth to count up her entire visage changed. What replaced her friendly demeanour was a steel-eyed determination to win at all costs, her entire body preparing to launch Luan into next week. Luan knew this expression change well, and she knew that it was all she could do to keep her arm from shattering.

“Three!”

Luan pushed for only a brief moment, and for a split second she seemed to be getting somewhere. But it was quickly replaced with agony as her arm went completely the wrong direction and slammed into the bar at mach speed.

Lynn raised her arms up. “Woo!” She shot her hand out, grabbing Luan’s still-functioning arm and shaking it. “Well done, Luan. You been working out?”

“Lot of lifting books.” Luan replied through pained gasps. “But compared to me, you’re armed and dangerous.”

“Ah hah hah hah.” Lynn’s laughter was obviously fake.

“Still, -ow- you beat me. Let’s give her a hand, everyone.”

Lynn sighed. “You done?”

“I would, but I don’t have my notebook handy.” Luan smirked.

Lynn just gave her a deadpan look and walked away. Part of her knew this was normal, but the pain of isolation stung her deeply nonetheless.

Trying to crush this feeling, she shifted up to Lori, who was sipping some multicoloured drink and flicking through her phone. “Hey Lori.”

“Luan, I am not in the mood for one of your jokes.”

“Really? You used to love them.”

Lori raised an eyebrow. “Maybe so, and maybe I’ll be up for them later on, but for now I’d rather be left alone. It was bad enough having Lynn next to me.”

“Oh, okay.” Luan tried to smile, and was glad Lori couldn’t see her face as she turned around. Just as she did, Lola and Lana both stood up and walked off, sparing a glance at Luan as they did. Lisa left shortly afterwards, and didn’t even look her way.

Luan felt her mood crash through the ship’s decking right to the bottom of the ocean they were on. Desperately trying to keep her optimism up, she moved over to Luna, who was just moving to a table with some food.

“Hey Luna.”

“Hey Luan. Jeez, you look down.”

Luan sighed, no longer trying to fake it. “That obvious, huh?”

“You’re shit at hiding your emotions.”

“Yeah…” Luan fell into her seat. “It’s just that… I dunno, I feel like everyone’s avoiding me.”

“Nah, they’ve just got something else to do or something.”

“Lori just outright told me to leave her alone.”

Luna frowned a little. “Well, she has been through a fair bit. Besides, it’s only the first day, dude. Give everyone some time to warm up again.”

“Yeah…” Luan picked at her food, her appetite as broken as her mood. “But what if none of them really like me anymore? What if they never liked me?”

Luna grabbed her sister’s hand. “Dude. Stop that. I know they still love you, they’re just… it’s just been a while.”

Luan sighed, pulling her hand out of Luna’s grasp and standing up. “I think I’m going to take a short nap.”

“Sis-” Luna started, but Luan had already started to walk away. By the time her brain kicked into gear and realised she could’ve stood up and stopped her, Luan had left the dining hall.

- - -

Luan turned on her side, trying to will herself to close her eyes, but she couldn’t. She balled her fists, fighting the urge to punch herself in the gut for being so weak.

Her mind flashed back to the dining hall, replaying what happened, flickers of the pure scorn she saw behind the eyes of her sisters sharp in her mind. Her eyesight became blurry and unfocused, but the flashbacks were as sharp as they could be.

Her mind then wandered into ‘what-ifs’, imagining herself being yelled at by her sisters. She screwed her eyes shut, tears freely flowing sideways. She tried to fight back, to counter the accusations hurled at her, but she couldn’t. She curled up on herself, failing to stop herself from crying as the voices grew louder and harsher, each word wounding her deeply.

This all stopped suddenly when she heard a knock on her cabin door. “Luan?”

It was Luna’s voice. Luan flipped onto her other side, facing away from the door. “Leave me alone.”

“Dude, seriously, it’s been an hour.”

“I said leave me alone! I don’t want your pity.”

“Pity? Come on, sis, I don’t pity you-”

Luan shot upright. “Oh really? Then why are you the only one who’s actually talked to me?”

“I…”

“Just leave me alone, alright?” She fell back down on her side, turning away from the door.

A long stretch of quiet followed, but just as Luan was about to fall back into the whirlpool of emotional torment, someone spoke. “Luan?”

It was Lynn’s voice. Luan paused, then slowly pulled herself upright.

“I… I had no idea you were feeling this bad.” Lynn sighed. “Look, I’m kinda bad at this sort of thing, so you could’ve just told me-”

“Oh, well done, Lynn, that’s only gonna make her feel worse.” Lola’s voice replied.

“I don’t see you trying.” Lynn snapped back.

“Do you think I didn’t want to? You started before I could-”

“Holy shit, guys, just… Chill, will ya?” Luna added.

“My point is,” Lynn continued after a moment, “is that I’m sorry. We all are.”

“Luna told us what you were going through.” Lana’s voice chipped in. “We kind of know what that’s like, but we’ve all been too focused on our own little worlds.”

Luan slowly pulled herself to the door and slid it open. All the sisters she heard were there, plus Lori, who had just put away her phone into her suit jacket.

“Jeez, you really do look rough-” Lynn was interrupted by an elbow to her arm from Lana. “Heh, sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Luan replied. “I… I should’ve let you guys know what was-”

“Stop.” Lori started. “We should’ve been the ones asking you how you were. Don’t pin the blame on yourself.”

Luan was taken aback by that. For so long she had always thought it was her fault, but to hear that at least one of her sisters thought it was there fault… it took her quite a bit to process that.

“Anyway, to lighten the mood, we were thinking we’d all have a nice big dinner together.” Lana said.

Luan blinked, then smiled. “I’d love that. It should be quite a ful-’filling’ experience.”

Like a well-timed chorus, they all groaned.

Luan beamed. “Get it?”