And here's the penultimate chapter of "Another Chance", with the final chapter probably coming either this week, or at the very beginning of the next year. But first and foremost, I'd like to thank anybody who's been following this story up to this point. I'm gonna be honest, I had a feeling that giving this story the "turn a one-shot into a full story" probably wouldn't be well received, if received at all, but I'm happy to say everything's been well so far.

So, thanks a lot for the favorites and follows, and without further ado, let's get on with the chapter.

It was the day before Christmas Eve, and at the Royal Woods mall, there was a certain duo in the middle of the mall, ready to give it their all. These were Bobby Santiago, who sat on the Mall Santa chair wearing a Santa outfit, and Giggles, who was dressed as an elf that was holding a candy cane as an actual cane.

"So, be honest with me, am I too thin?" Bobby asked, taking a look at the outfit. "I get the feeling I should've gained some weight before getting this job."

"Don't worry, even if you had tried, there was no way you could've become Santa Claus-fat in a couple months," Giggles chuckled and raised her candy cane. "Luckily, the company had seen this problem coming."

The clown-turned-elf pushed a button on the Santa outfit, and the outfit immediately bloated up to make Bobby look like he was as fat as the actual Santa himself. "Ohoho my!"

"Neat, huh? They told me it took a lot of testing, but I'd say it was worth the effort," the elf then aimed at the door. "Now get in-character, dude, the kids are coming!"

Bobby focused back on the long line of kids coming towards, which did nothing but prove that this job was gonna take a while. Oh well, at least he didn't have to check the list twice, specially since a girl immediately jumped to his lap afterwards.

"I want a pig for Christmas, Santa!" the girl chirped.

"Ohoho, for a pet, I assume?" Bobby asked with a joyous tone.

The girl excitedly shook her head. "Nope, for dinner. Preferrably already cooked."

Bobby and Giggles exchanged shocked looks. This was the first kid to become part of the list? Oh boy, this was certainly gonna take a while. And a while it took, for hours passed, and by the time the last kid arrived, it was already night time, or close to it anyway.

"Did you manage to write down everything?" Bobby asked Giggles, who nodded and showed him the list, prompting the boy to hand her a piece of paper. "Okay, good, here's the location of Lori's house. Go there, and deliver the list."

Giggles read the notes, and gave Bobby the "yes sir!" gesture before she ran off to deliver the list. As she ran, the elf-dressed entertainer dodged all sorts of obstacles: snow, cheapskates, snow-covered cheapskates, and even carolers that just so happened to get in the way. And yet, despite the clear obstacles, Giggles managed to avoid all of them and she reached the Loud house soon afterwards.

She knocked the door, and someone eventually opened the door: Lori.

The eldest Loud looked around before spotting the girl, and then she leaned down and tilted her head. "You're Luan's clown friend Giggles, right?"

"Nope, I'm only Giggles from January to November, during December, I'm Jingles the Christmas elf!" Giggles answered, swinging her candy cane around as she pulled a little pose. "A joyous little elf from the North Pole who's come to spread Christmas cheer to the world!"

Lori couldn't help but laugh at the performance. "You really know how to be in-character, huh?"

"I've taken up acting classes," Giggles took out the list and handed it to Lori. "Anyway, it took us a while, but Bobby and I managed to write a list for you guys to begin your presents spree or whatever you're planning to do. Make sure to read it before you head out, you wouldn't want to make one mistake and have to do it all over again, right?"

"Don't worry, I literally calculated almost everything about this plan to make it almost foolproof," Lori pridefully stated as she read the list. "In fact, I even had Leni proofread it just to be completely sure."

The elf girl raised an eyebrow and took out a piece of paper. "Is that why the plan Bobby and I got has "Library" spelled as "Librarby" instead?"

Lori took the paper, read it to herself, then handed it back before stating, just as Luan arrived in the room, "Okay, maybe I went a bit overboard in doing that, but you get the idea. Anyway, thanks for the help-"

"Oh my gosh, It's Jingles! Giggles' twin sister!" Luan squealed in delight. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came here to deliver something, that's all," Giggles answered with a shrug. "Anyway, I'm gonna go back to the North Pole, tell Santa to check his list tonight just in case somebody new appears on it."

Luan suddenly got on Giggles' way and flailed her arms up and down. "Wait, can you tell Santa to give me an autograph?!"

"Yeah, try to be a nice girl for the entirety of next year, which includes no April Fools Day tomfoolery, and maybe he'll consider doing your request," Giggles sternly answered, all while keeping a smile on her face. "That's what he's been saying ever since you first requested it."

The elf left the house, and Lori took the chance to bring Luan back in and say, "You've been told for years to quit with the whole April Fools Day nightmare schtik, and you still do that stuff?! Why?!"

"Oh, silly Lori, everybody knows that no comedian can resist pulling pranks on April Fools Day," Luan scoffed. "It's like asking you to get your face out of your phone's screen for a second, It's just not gonna happen!"

Luan then strolled away happily, prompting Luan to whistle, causing her siblings, Clyde, and Chandler to present themselves in front of her. This did cause Luan to be caught in the mob and thrown to the ground, but she didn't seem to mind, judging by her laughter.

"Okay, everybody, Bobby just sent the list of the kids and what they want," Lori said as she handed the list to Lisa. "While Lincoln, Clyde, Chandler, Cristina, Lindsey, and I literally go deliver the presents, you'll tell us what kids want what once we're at their house through our earpieces. Then we'll head over to the next house, and we'll repeat the process until the whole list is finished, got it?"

Everybody nodded, and this prompted Lisa to step up and say:

"I also decided to make your job easier by making a little... method of transportation you're bound to like."

Everybody followed Lisa to the backyard, where they saw a sled-like machine that looked a tad more futuristic than the current technology in all of Royal Woods. Not only that, but it also had what looked like a sack in the back, which once Chandler and Lincoln checked it out, revealed it was fully ready to be filled to the brim with the gifts for their classmates.

"This is really neat, Lisa," Lincoln remarked before exclaiming, "Hey, do you girls have the gifts ready?"

Leni, Lynn, Lana, and Luna ran inside the house, then came back out with the gifts, which they threw right into the sack until it was filled with them. Then the remaining sisters went inside and took out sacks of coal. They then walked to the back of the vehicle, and started dumping the coal in it's fuel spot as Lisa explained:

"And the best part of this is, It's powered by coal!"

"Finally we find an use for these things," Lola remarked. "Specially since most of us have some coal one way or another, with some having more than others."

Everybody turned to look at Lola, who just continued shoving the coal before everybody turned to look at Luan, who was whistling and looking elsewhere... causing her to shove the coal at random, even to the point she hit a cat. And so, with eveyrbody ready to go, Lori and the team got on top of the sled... then realized something.

"Wait a minute, I literally don't know how to pilot this thing," Lori remarked.

"That's alright!" Lisa exclaimed before taking out a manual. "I wrote a manual just in case something like that happened!"

Lisa threw the manual as hard as she could... and it plummeted to the ground in an instant. Lynn then walked forward, grabbed the manual and threw it straight into Lori's arms, with the young woman reading it for a moment before she hid it somewhere.

"Okay everybody, we're ready to begin the operation!" Lori exclaimed, with the sisters giving her a thumbs up. "But first, Luna, literally come here."

Luna obliged and jumped on the sled, landing right next to Lori, who whispered, "Does Luan seriously believe Jingles and Giggles are separate people?"

"Yup, It's amazing what a simple change of 'drobe and some make-up can do, right?" Luna chuckled, only to add, "Though, she might also just be playing along. With Luan, you can never know if she's joking or if she's being serious."

The rocker jumped off the sled and landed right on Luan's arms, with the comedian clearly struggling to keep her up as she shouted, "Eitherway, good luck with the plan, dudes!"

Lori gave his sister a thumbs up, and she sat on the driver's seat and activated the sled machine, while Chandler sat next to her. Then, as they got ready to fly off, Lincoln, Cristina, Clyde, and Lindsey waved goodbye to the sisters, who all waved in return except for Lola, who threw a raspberry at Lindsey, which the redhead eagerly returned.

And so, with that said and done, the team blasted off into the skies, while the sisters went back inside to get ready for their part of the plan. As they flew, Lincoln, Cristina, Lindsey, and Clyde leaned against the sides of the machine and looked at the city.

"Man, Royal Woods looks so amazing from here," Cristina remarked, putting a hand on her cheek. "I mean, it already looks pretty great while covered in snow in general, but it looks even better when we can see all of it here in the skies."

"Yeah, not to mention when It's night time," Lincoln added, Cristina nodding in agreement. "On day time, it looks fine, but nothing spectacular, but when night time arrives and people turn on the lights... It's just a marble to behold."

Seeing he had the girl's attention, Lincoln took the chance to say, "By the way, I'm sorry about the whole "video contest" deal. I didn't mean to make you feel like you needed to change schools, let alone make you feel uncomfortable."

"Well, It's a bit upsetting that you bring it up, but It's okay, Lincoln, I forgive you," Cristina said as she patted Lincoln's back. "After all, that was about a year and a half ago anyway, and you know what they say."

Cristina turned back to look at the speeding lights, causing Lincoln to ask, "What do they say?"

"Why are you asking me? I thought you knew," the redhead replied.

The pair exchanged looks, then laughed out loud before wrapping an arm around the other's shoulders and pulling them closer to each other.

Meanwhile, with Lindsey and Clyde, the boy clutched his stomach and looked a bit dizzy as the girl looked at the ground as hard as she could.

"I see... uh... A car, a house, and a pond!" Lindsey exclaimed. "What can you spot from the fast-moving things?"

"Lindsey, I'd love to play with you and entertain you or whatever, but I can't stand heights, specially heights as high as these ones," Clyde caught his breath before adding, "I swear, I feel like I'm about to lose my dinner."

Lindsey looked back at the city, and spotted a certain someone; Flip, the sleazy store owner. "Oh look, Flip's over there."

And then the girl got an idea and leaned Clyde closer to the edge, causing him to slowly feel his lunch escaping his stomach as Lindsey chirped, "Puke on the old man! Puke on the old man!"

Clyde almost stopped himself, only to realize Flip was the target, and a couple of moments later, Clyde's... lunch, landed on top of Flip, who looked around everywhere as the sled flew past his store.

"Heh, well, at least that's taken care of," Clyde remarked as he took out a piece of paper and wiped his mouth.

"Ohohoho, man, you just hurled that stuff right on top of Flip's head!" Lindsey chirped before hugging the geek so he would sit down. "That was amazing!"

Clyde just nervously returned the hug. "Uh thanks, but please, don't do that again."

Lindsey just giggled, which didn't calm Clyde in the slightest.

"Okay, who's the first kid we're supposed to deal with?" Chandler asked as he went to check on the sack.

Cristina heard from her ear piece, and repeated, "Her name's apparently Mabel Hirsh, and she wished for a pig. Not a live one for a pet, but a dead one for dinner."

Everybody turned to Cristina, and she vehemently stated, "That's literally what Luna told me!"

"And that's what's on the list, too," Luna said to Lori from her earpiece. "Apparently either the girl was oddly specific in what she wanted, or Giggles-"

"Jingles!" Luan yelled right on the earpiece. "Jingles hates being confused for Giggles, and you know that!"

"Fine, either the girl was specific or Jingles decided to go a bit more in-depth than usual," Luna corrected herself. "I say the last part 'cuz the rest of the list is fairly normal. Once you deal with her, everything else should be smooth sailing."

The redhead opened the sack and took a quick look around until he found the gift for Mabel. At least, that's what he presumed, seeing how the shape of it suggest it had a dead pig inside. That, and ice, since it felt cold at the moment.

"Okay, the gift's here, and it hasn't rotten yet somehow," Chandler said as he took out the gift and returned to his seat. "Speaking of which, how will we know when we're above her house?"

"Well, according to the manual, we input a character's name in it, press "Search" and it'll take us right into their house. Kinda like the internet, but with literally little chance to seeing a weird, disturbing part of the town," Lori explained. "Go on, write her name and see where it takes us."

Chandler wrote the fabled name, Mabel Hirsch, on the browser, and the instant he pressed the "Search" button, the sled... lead the whole team on top of a green house at top speed, with everybody having to hang on to something not to accidentally fall off. Luckily, once the sled stopped, everybody fall back on the machine, which felt surprisingly softer than It's mechanical outlook implied.

"I think we're here," Lindsey remarked, taking a look from the side of the sled. "Hey! I can see the ground from here!"

"Lindsey, get back here before you tip off and plummet to it!" Cristina shouted, her younger sister obliging as she turned to Chandler and said, "Okay, Chandler, It's your turn."

"Wait, I'm gonna have to go down there alone?" Chandler asked with worry. "As in, go down the chimney, put the gift, and then somehow come out of there without being spotted, all alone?"

"Well, the plan does involve you being the one delivering the gifts," Clyde pointed out, shrugging as he added, "It doesn't work out nearly as well if somebody else does it, really."

"And besides, we have to stay back here just in case you need to leave or something happens," Lori explained, getting everybody's attention. "There's a radar in here that will let us know if somebody other than you is approaching the area, and before you ask how we'll avoid being seen, there's a camouflage option to make sure nobody can see us."

"And most importantly, we believe you can do this," Lincoln added, walking to Chandler's side and patting his back. "So go down there, put the gift, and we'll make sure to help you get out safely."

The boy smiled in relief, then jumped off and landed on the roof, and as the boy walked slowly to the chimney, Clyde took the chance to ask, "You did activate the camouflage mode before we left, right?"

Lori got ready to answer the question, and Chandler went through the chimney as the young woman realized her mistake. Chandler then did the usual Santa Claus schtik: He put the gift under the tree, made sure not to set off any traps, and quickly climbed back up the chimney and leaped back into the sled-mobile.

"So, how did it go?" Lincoln asked.

"It went fine, surprisingly smoothly too," Chandler answered, getting an excited smile. "But, let's not focus on that: How about instead, we immediately go get the rest of this list filled out?"

Everybody raised their fists and exclaimed "yeah!" in excitement, and so their journey to accomplish the task of giving Santa Claus some breather space begun. And though it took a while, the team did manage to deliver every gift to the list, give or take a couple. After all, some kids really were naughty, and didn't deserve the gifts that they asked for.

What they got, though? That's a surprise.

So, the only thing left to do was to bring everybody else back home. First was Clyde, who was left right on the porch of his house, with Lori about to give him a kiss on the cheek, only for the guy to kiss her on the mouth instead. The teenager, though, just decided to give Clyde that one bone and went off to the next house.

The next people to be taken back home were Cristina and Lindsey, who also landed at the porch fo their house. This time, Lindsey kissed Chandler right on the cheeks, and took the chance to boast about it:

"Take that, sis! I kissed Chandler before you did!"

Cristina rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Right, keep thinking that."

And now, Lori drove the slef-mobile back to the Loud house, and parked on the backyard. Lincoln jumped out, but just before Lori did the same, she noticed that Chandler seemed... troubled, somehow. Like he was missing something.

"Let me guess, there's one last gift you wanna deliver?" Lori asked, coming closer to the redhead's side.

"Well, yeah, but It's nothing too important, just something I wanted to give to a friend a long time before she moved away, a friend whose name I'm not comfortable saying," Chandler waved his hands in a dismissive manner. "But, you've already done enough for me, so just taking me back home will suffice."

"Yeah, right," Lori sat back on the driver's seat. "Just tell me where we're going and I'll take you there."

Though surprised for a moment, Chandler did remember that, at this point, he might as well accept any help he could get. So he told Lori the coordinates, and the sled-mobile drove off, right past the borders of Royal Woods, and into a familiar suburbian setting.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, who's this literally secret friend you just need to give a gift to?" Lori asked, gently hitting Chandler... in the cheek, thinking it was his shoulder. "I promise you, I won't tell anybody about it. I'm amazing at keeping secrets."

"Believe me, It'll speak for itself when we get to her new house," Chandler answered before taking out a small gift box from his back. "I can tell you this, though: She moved away so suddenly and without telling me anything. I just want to deliver her a "goodbye" gift so she at least remembers the good times we had."

Lori raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What's in the box?"

"A gift, what else would there be?" the redhead scoffed before turning to look at the city. "Turn around in this corner and stop at the apartment."

The young woman obliged, and Chandler jumped onto a tree branch where he saw the friend he was talking about: Ronnie Anne, sleeping peacefully on her bed. He then slowly moved closer to the window, and gently threw the gift box through it, with it landing right next to the Hispanic tomboy. With that done, he went right back to the sled, and landed right next to Lori.

"I recognize this apartment, It's the house of the Casagrande family," the blonde lady remarked, getting an idea. "Was the friend you were talking about, by any chance, Ronnie Anne?"

"Dunno what gave you that idea, but you're right," Chandler sighed. "She was a friend of mine a couple years ago, and when I found out she was moving out of Royal Woods, I tried to make her a gift she would enjoy, but she left before I could deliver it. But yeah, she's a friend."

Lori smiled in a teasing manner. "Just a friend, or a girlfriend?"

Chandler blushed and shook his head before snapping, "Could you please just take me back home already?! Besides, you'll have an easier time asking Ronnie herself about it."

"Oh really? In that case, I'll literally squeeze every single bit of information I can out of her," Lori chuckled. "But for now, let's go back home."

Lori pulled the lever and the sled drove all the way from where the Casagrandes lived until they were back in Royal Woods. Once there, they slowed down so they didn't accidentally fly past the city and end up in somewhere else, like the North Pole or something.

"So, Chandler, how does it feel?" Lori asked, staying focused on the road as the boy turned to look at her. "Did it feel good become Santa Claus for one night, delivering gifts to convince people you were sorry about what happened?"

The freckled redhead looked at the ground, only to be overwhelmed by the altitude, so he simply backed away and looked at the night sky before answering:

"To be honest, I still think this plan could fail... but if it did, I don't think I'd mind."

Lori, naturally, became worried at the statement. "W-Why do you say that?"

"When you're somebody like me, who allowed popularity to get over their head so badly that they started treating people badly because of it, then once you start to feel sorry about it, people can be quite persistent in making sure you're never forgiven," Chandler sighed and closed his eyes. "Even when you try convince people you're genuine in feeling sorry about it, some people... just aren't convinced, and they continue to hate you either because the damage you did was that bad, or just out of spite."

The eldest sister frowned at the statement, feeling that it dealt with something rather familiar to her: Being ostracized and having her apologies rejected. Maybe she did some things wrong, maybe she made things she regretted, but if there's one thing she could relate to with Chandler, was being rejected, even if her regrets were genuine.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

But nevertheless, the young woman made good on her promise and took Chandler back to his house. As to how she knew how to get there? Let's just say she's had to go there herself to deal with Becky's... eccentricities at times. So she parked the sled-mobile on the ground, and Chandler jumped off.

"Hey, Chandler?" Lori blurted, getting the boy's attention. "Whatever happens tomorrow, remember that neither me nor Lincoln have any problem with you anymore. Also, try and think positive, okay?"

The boy nodded... then added, "And Lori... thank you. For giving me a second chance."

The young woman smiled and returned the nod before she flew back up, and drove all the way back to the Loud house, where she stationed the sled-mobile on the backyard before being surrounded by her siblings.

"Finally you're back, we were starting to get worried!" Lincoln exclaimed as he ran to and hugged his oldest sister, who returned the hug as he asked, "How did everything go with Chandler? Was the secret place one that we've already been to before?"

"Well, you and I have been to that place before..."

Lori looked at Lincoln's curious look and puppy-dog eyes, alongside her sisters' equal puppy-dog eyes, and the girl scoffed:

"Buuut, that's the only hint you're getting from me."

Naturally, the siblings felt ripped-off, though at least Lincoln laughed about it, knowing the girl was just messing around. Still, he probably wasn't gonna earn the answer any time soon, simply because he'd get the information squeezed in a second, so he separated from Lori and went back inside with his sisters. However, just before she went inside as well, Lori looked at the skies and hoped that things would go well on Chandler's end.