I don't own Digimon or the Loud House.

Welcome back to another chapter. Although I have to admit that I'm not entirely happy with how this one turned out. Still, it works to move the story along so in that aspect it works. We're getting real close now to revealing the secret that Lincoln has been hiding and also to see what will happen when they all confess their feelings. In the next chapter we will see them all back in Primary Village and the Sister Meeting w/Sam will begin. After that, Lori will talk to Lincoln. I honestly thought we'd reach this point like 10 chapters ago but as the story continued, it evolved into something more and I couldn't help but add more chapters. Which is a good thing because that just adds to the story in more ways than one.

We're gonna hit a small time skip pretty soon. At least I think we will. Depending on how the next few chapters go, I might put in a time skip in order to help establish a few things that I want to do without writing like 10 extra chapters. Unless you guys want me to add those chapters as filler then I will. Let me know what you guys think.

Also I am working on the Lust For A Loud but it's not my main priority right now. This story is my priority and unfortunately that means that LFAL will be updated when I have time to work on it. Work and family have been eating up a lot of time right now but hopefully come January I will have more time to devout to both of them. I'm planning on finishing up LFAL when I take a break from this story once we finish the File Island Arc of the story. If my estimates are correct then we're looking at like 50ish chapters just for the File Island arc alone. Give or take 5 chapters. That's basically Book 1. Book 2 will take place on the continent of Server and its there that we will be branching out a bit to other things. The return to the real world will happen there as well as a betrayal. There's so many plot twists that I have in store for the next major Arc that I'm hoping to keep you all on the edge of your proverbial seats.

And within a few more chapters we will also be listening to the Prophecy that Devimon referred to a few chapters ago. I'm still working on it, I want it to rhyme so it's taking me a little bit to finish. But I should be done with it by the time the chapter is ready to post. Anyways, enjoy!

The Digi-Loud Adventure

Chapter 38: Happy Reunion?

After Lynn had slapped and hugged Leni, she ran out of the campsite with Clyde and their partners in tow. She didn't want to be seen crying since she viewed it as being weak. But as she came to a stop, she turned around and held onto her partner as she sobbed into his shoulder.

There was a whirlwind of emotions going around inside of her but chief among them was the overwhelming feeling of failure because she couldn't protect her sister. She was supposed to be the strongest Loud. And when her sister needed her the most, she wasn't fast enough to help her. Lincoln was the one who stopped her from killing herself while Lynn was dragging her feet. And even then Lincoln got hurt. She felt as though she couldn't do anything right. And the fact that it was Leni of all people, who gave into despair...Lynn couldn't take it. Leni was one of the purest and kindest people she knew. For her to want to give up her own life...Lynn couldn't even imagine what she had gone through.

"Big Sis?" She heard Clyde say from nearby.

Sniffing, she tried to stop sobbing in order to put on a brave face but she knew that she wouldn't be able to hide the fact that she'd been sobbing.

"H-Hey Clyde..." Lynn said weakly as she pulled away from Guilmon.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Clyde asked.

"Are you mad at Leni?" Guilmon asked.

"Shush, Guilmon, Leni is Lynn's sister, of course she's not mad. She's simply upset." Wormmon said from beside Clyde.

With all three of them staring at her, Lynn began to feel self conscious. She put her right arm across her stomach as she rubbed her left arm.

"I'll be alright...and no, I'm not mad at Leni. I'm just upset..." Lynn said as she looked down at the ground.

"Are you upset with Leni?" Guilmon asked.

But Lynn shook her head. "I'm upset with myself because I wasn't there to protect her."

"Lynn, you know that you can't be there every time that someone is in danger, right?" Clyde asked her. "It's not healthy for you to blame yourself over this."

"He's right, Lynn. Leni was just the unfortunate victim of circumstances that were beyond your control." Wormmon said. "You shouldn't place blame on yourself for what happened."

"Look, I know that okay!" Lynn said as she turned around in order to not look at them. "But even though I know it, I still feel like it was my fault!"

"But Lynn...wouldn't it be my fault as well since I'm your partner?" Guilmon asked, his red ears drooping down as he lowered his head. "Am I a bad Digimon?"

Lynn immediately spun around. "What! No, of course not!" She rushed over to her partner and wrapped her arms around him. "Guilmon, you're a good Digimon. The best Digimon! You don't have anything to feel sad about. Thanks to you were able to save Lincoln when he was poisoned and we arrived in time to help ExVeemon capture that red guy."

"But you still feel bad, right?" Guilmon asked, not convinced by her words. "It really is my fault that Leni got hurt..."

"No...Guilmon..." Lynn raised his head up so that he could look into her eyes. She then pressed her forehead to her partner's. "You're the best Digimon partner a girl could have. I'm sorry that I upset you but please believe me when I say that I'm not upset anymore. In fact, I'm gonna go over to Leni right now and give her another hug."

And with a final pat on the head, Lynn made her way over to their campsite. But as she neared the fire she saw that neither Lincoln nor Leni were keeping watch. The only one still awake was Lex and the Goblimon was staring off towards another direction away from the fire. Lynn followed his gaze and saw Lincoln's white hair peeking out from behind a tree. And she made her way over since Leni was probably with him. But as she got close, she could hear voices coming from behind the tree. Two that sounded similar but something was off.

"...kisses belong to me..."

As Lynn walked around the tree to see her brother and her sister, she was not prepared for the sight she had in store. Leni was leaning down to Lincoln's level with her hands on the sides of his head. And she was pressing her lips to his, kissing him in a way that no normal sister would. And after Lynn got over her momentary feeling of shock, she felt a sudden rage erupt in her as her jealousy kicked in. And as Leni began to deepen the kiss, Lynn rushed over to them.

"Leni, what the HELL!?" She shouted as she shoved her away from their brother.

Leni cried out in shock as she roughly shoved back while Lincoln was pulled back and held at arm's length from Lynn.

"Ouchie...Lynn, that hurt!" Leni whined as she rubbed her chest where Lynn had shoved her. "Why'd you do that?"

"Because!" Lynn said but then she stopped as she found herself at a loss for words. She glanced over her shoulder to look at her brother, who was staring at her with a look of confused and...shame? But as she tried to come up with a reason, she found that she couldn't without revealing the truth that Lori told them to wait on. "Because..."

"Is it because you want to kiss Lincy, too?" Leni guessed correctly.

Embarrassed, Lynn quickly turned towards Lincoln as she began to sputter out words as she tried to figure out what to say. But ultimately, she just sighed as she hung her head.

"To hell with it!" Lynn closed the distance between them and pressed her lips against Lincoln's. It was a chaste kiss, the first that she could remember ever giving to someone she loved. (She didn't count the ones they shared when they were little playing house.) She wanted to show Lincoln how she felt about him without having to come out and say it since she still felt embarrassed by it. Feelings weren't her strong suit after all.

As she pulled away, her cheeks blushing like mad, Lynn mustered up her courage to look her brother in the eye. "...I...kinda like you...a lot..." she muttered meekly.

"Aww, if you wanted to kiss Lincy then you should've just asked, Lynn. You didn't have to shove me." Leni said.

"Well you started kissing him out of nowhere!" Lynn said as she turned towards Leni.

While his two sisters began to talk, Lincoln was in a state of shock as he tried to process what had just happened. Not one but TWO sisters had just kissed him...their own brother. And Lynn had confessed her love for him...sort of. He had already known that Leni felt that way towards him but he never would've imagined that Lynn felt the same way. Who was next? Luna? Lori? Hell, why not just add the rest of his sisters plus Sam as well!

But he as much as he wanted to, he couldn't act on this. It wasn't normal for siblings to kiss and he wouldn't break his promise to himself. He swore that he would keep those feelings buried after what happened...they didn't love him, not really.

Shaking his head, Lincoln walked over to Lynn and Leni and got in between them. He helped out his hands and pushed them apart, placing his hands on their shoulders.

"That's enough, girls!" He said in a stern tone. "Look, I don't know what's gotten into you but what you both just did can't happen again."

"What do you mean, Lincy?" Leni asked. She looked as though she were about to cry again.

"Lincoln...?" Lynn asked. She was confused because she thought he might feel the same way. After all, Lori said that he would.

"What I mean is that siblings aren't supposed to kiss!" Lincoln told them. Sighing, he shook his head before turning towards Leni. "I'm sorry, Leni, but when I married you I thought it was just for pretend." He could see her heart breaking the instant that he finished his sentence. He felt like he had just stabbed himself in the chest with a knife. "And Lynn, what the hell was that? I'm your brother! Just because you think you might have feelings for me that doesn't mean that you can act on them!"

Both girls were in a state of shock but only one of them reacted. Lynn pulled back as she balled her fists. Thought she had feelings!? How DARE he dismiss her heart like that! Lynn felt her eyes sting as angry tears began to burn in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She glared at her little brother and with all the strength she could muster, she took a swing.

"Lincoln, you jerk!"

The fist struck him right on the cheek and for a moment, Lincoln's world disappeared into darkness. The last thing that went through his mind was that Lynn could hit really hard.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

Luna looked from her brother, who was tailing behind them by a few yards with his partner, to her sisters, Leni and Lynn, who were walking at the front. While Leni looked sad and kept stealing glances towards Linc, Lynn looked pissed and she refused to even acknowledge him. Meanwhile Linc was sporting a bruised cheek and black eye that she could only assume came from Lynn. Luna looked at her best friend and both shared a look that said something had gone down after they fell asleep.

Not despite the awkwardness of the situation, they all made their way towards Beetle Land where Lori was waiting for them. Luna had called her after Leni had been saved but they left out the fact that Leni tried to end her own life. Luna couldn't bring herself to say it over the phone and she was pretty sure that she couldn't do it in person either. And as Luna continued to watch over her siblings, she wondered what could have happened between them to drive them apart.

"Dude...I sure hope that Lori is having a better time than we are..." Luna muttered under her breath as she released a sigh.

Sam just rubbed her best friend's back as they all continued their journey.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Around noon they managed to arrive at Beetle Land where Leni had been kidnapped from. As they got close, they had tried calling Lori but she wasn't answering. And once they were about a mile or so away, the Digimon could tell why.

"There's a battle going on ahead!" Veemon said.

"Lori's fighting a bunch of nasty Digimon." Guilmon said as he prepared to take off. His eyes had become slits and he wanted to attack. "Let's go, Lynn!"

"Lynn, take off with Guilmon!" Lincoln said. And with a nod, Lynn and her partner were off. Lincoln then turned towards Sam and Luna. "I need the two of you to bring up the rear with Leni and Lex."

"What about you?" Luna asked. Her partner could Digivolve into Garurumon and he could run hella fast. So she was curious as to why she was being asked to stay behind.

"Clyde and I will fly over with our partners and help out. While we have them distracted, you guys can jump in if it looks like we need help." Lincoln explained.

"Alright, Ace, Jack, be careful." Sam said as she pulled both Clyde and Lincoln into a quick hug. "Go out and deal some justice."

With a nod, they evolved their partners and took off into the sky. Stingmon and ExVeemon flew side by side towards where they could already see smoke rising from a clearing where they could already hear Growlmon fighting. And when they arrived, they could see several large cockroach like Digimon that were battling against several yellow bee like Digimon as well as Growlmon and Lori's partner.

"Lincoln!" Lori flashed him a large smile as they landed near her. Once they touched ground, their partners flew into the fray and began to fight the Roachmon. "You literally could not have arrived at a more perfect time!"

"Are you okay, Lori?" Lincoln asked as he went to hug his sister.
"Of course..." She said as she returned the hug. "But what about you? Why do you have a black eye?"

"Um, guys? Can you have the reunion later? Those Roachmon are closing in!" Clyde said as he pointed towards the south.

"What do these guys want?" Lincoln asked as he pulled out his Digivice.

"They're after the honey reserves within the Hive." Lori explained. She then turned towards Palmon who was standing nearby. "Palmon, tell D squad that they're up!"

"Right!" Palmon, who was holding a walkie talkie, raised it up to her mouth. "D Squad, make it rain!"

And just as the two friends were about to ask what they were referring to, a loud buzzing sound came from above the clouds. Looking up, over 30 FanBeemon descended from above. They aimed their serrated stingers at the two Roachmon that were coming up from the south and they rained down upon them. They swooped down upon the two champions and peppered them in sharp jagged metal and with the overwhelming numbers they took down the two enemies.

"Whoa, I didn't know you had a small army!" Lincoln said as he watched the FanBeemon fly back over head and make their way towards the other Roachmon.

"You haven't seen nothing yet!" Lori said. She turned around and pointed towards her partner. "Just watch Lekismon in action!"

There were five Roachmon left: two were facing off against Growlmon while the others faced off against Lekismon, Stingmon, and ExVeemon. Lekismon was gracefully dodging her opponent like a dancer. She would duck, sidestep, and slide away. Each time her opponent would grow frustrated with his inability to land a hit. The Roachmon were taller than Lekismon by several feet. But they were shorter than both Stingmon and ExVeemon. So it was impressive to see Lekismon control the battlefield with little difficulty.

As she distanced her opponent from the others, she ducked underneath one of his many swings and leaped up to deliver an uppercut to his chin. The Roachmon was knocked backwards but he didn't fall. With a furious growl, he charged at Lekismon again and unleashed a barrage of punches with his four arms. But Lekismon was able to keep dodging them until she jumped high into the air and out of his reach. As he looked up, he failed to see her draw her bow mid jump and that she was already aiming her arrow.

"Tear Arrow!"

A barrage of arrows fired in quick succession were unleashed against the champion Digimon. The Roachmon raised his arms in an attempt to shield himself but it was no use. As each arrow pierced his shell like skin, ice would spread from the point of impact until he was frozen solid. And as Lekismon landed, she spun around and delivered a kick that shattered the frozen Digimon to pieces.

"Whoa..." Lincoln was certainly impressed by his sister's partner. He could see where her ability to freeze her opponents could come in handy.

"Your partner certainly is formidable, Lori." Clyde said. "Just like ours."

Right after Lekismon had finished off her opponent, Stingmon had dealt the finishing blow to his. ExVeemon blasted his opponent as well leaving only Growlmon left. When the two Roachmon saw that their comrades had been destroyed, they tried to run away. But were stopped by Greymon and Garurumon.

"Going somewhere, boys?" Greymon asked as he towered over them.

"They're fast but they don't pack much of a punch." Growlmon said as he stood behind them. "I wanted to see if they could do something other than run their mouths."

"Clearly, they cannot." Garurumon said. "Let's finish them."

Together, the three Champion Digimon unleashed their fiery attacks and the two Roachmon were destroyed within seconds. It wasn't a pretty sight to behold but they had learned that in the Digiworld it was kill or be killed.

"Queen Lori!" the swarm of FanBeemon all came down and began to rush towards her, each of them cheering her name.

While that was going on, Palmon rushed off towards Leni as she emerged with Luna and Sam from the treeline. The two had a tearful reunion as they held onto each other. Leni then introduced Palmon to Lex and the rookie thanked him with a bone crushing, teary hug.

"Oh my god, Leni!" Lori almost tackled her sister to the ground as she neared her. The two shed more tears as they sobbed uncontrollably. For Lori, she was thankful that her baby sister was safe and sound. She had felt like a failure for not being able to protect her. For Leni, she felt like she had let her sister down for attempting to take her own life. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how dumb it had been. She couldn't even imagine how much she would hurt her sister if Lincoln hadn't stopped her.

"L-Lori! I'm so so sorry!" Leni cried.

"Wait, were they calling Lori their Queen?" Clyde asked as Wormmon came back to his side.

"Yes." Lunamon said. "After the demise of their own Queen, they were at a loss of what to do next. So Lori took it upon herself to help out until you returned with Leni. As a result they began to call her their Queen."

"Well she always was a Queen to me." Clyde said as he blushed. While he wasn't as overly in love with her as he once was, Lori would always hold a special place in his heart.

"Dude, that was corny." Luna said as she came up from behind them. She and Sam chuckled as they tried to hide their laughter behind their hands.

"Yea, Jack, that was kind of bad." Sam agreed.

"Well I was just being honest." Clyde said as he tried to hide his blush.

While they were talking, Lincoln made his way towards the edge of the clearing away from everyone. He had glanced over his shoulder and saw that Lynn was staring intently at him. She was still upset with him but she also looked sad. And Lincoln was terrified of the reason why. They had kissed him. Him.

He wasn't a fool, he knew what that meant. But he couldn't act on it. He wouldn't He knew first hand how they really felt about him and he wasn't about to let his heart get broken again. He had been working so hard for the past year and he wasn't about to let all that work go to waste. Ever since that day, the day that he had his heart torn from his chest. Lincoln couldn't allow himself to hope because he knew just what they would do to him if he let his guard down. So he kept his distance from them whenever he could for the past year because he was afraid of being hurt again. Of being reminded just how little they cared about him.

But it was his fault too. He couldn't stop how he felt...god damn him but he still loved them despite what happened. And ever since they arrived in the Digiworld, he had almost forgotten about his plan. But that night when Luan pressed him for answers, he remembered. And now he cursed himself for not keeping with his plan because he let his guard down and Leni and Lynn had slipped past.

"Are you okay, pal?" Veemon asked his partner as they distanced themselves from the others.

"No..." Lincoln said as he shook his head. "But I will be." He glanced over his shoulder and looked at his siblings. He frowned as he thought about that day. "I will be."

End of chapter.

DUN DUN DUN! What could Lincoln be referring to? Find out next time on the Digi-Loud Adventure!