In the days after the trial of Rita Loud and Lynn Loud Sr., things hadn't changed just for the Loud family. A few other people in the town of Royal Woods were affected. For one, as was expected, the aggressive Super Mart manager was fired from his job by higher-ups under the grounds of outright banning people as well as resisting officers within a courtroom where witnesses could see his outrageous behavior first-hand. It was also likely that the man would be arrested under the pretense of civil disorder. A new store manager took his place, a nicer man more willing to compromise if there was any mischief or trouble in the store. And although Lincoln Loud, though he could be referred to as Lincoln Lone, had moved in with Lyra in Fern Valley, the new manager personally contacted the white-haired boy and offered him a coupon for his bravery should he ever decide to take one last shopping trip to the Super Mart in Royal Woods.
Speaking of moving, Lincoln didn't actually transfer schools once he settled in with Lyra. They agreed for him to finish fifth grade at Royal Woods Elementary School first before transferring to Fern Valley Middle School. This also meant that Lincoln wouldn't be attending the same school as his friends would be, including his best friend Clyde. While he and his two fathers were very happy for Lincoln, Clyde was also downright sad, knowing that the rest of fifth grade would be their last time in a public school together. And Lincoln knew it too. Fortunately, Fern Valley wasn't too far from Royal Woods, but Lincoln still wouldn't quite be able to walk to Clyde's house like he used to. He'd have to at least ride a bike, and fortunately for him, Lyra wasn't exactly overprotective of her new son as Clyde's dads sometimes proved to be for their adopted son. As for getting to school, that was easy enough. Lyra was simply able to drop him off each day, as she worked in Royal Woods anyway. Also, Lincoln and his friend Max would at least be attending middle school together, so Lincoln wouldn't be completely lonely.
Of course, at Royal Woods Elementary School, many other students and teachers knew that Lincoln was now residing in Fern Valley with his new mother, Lyra Lone. Other fifth-grade students knew that he would no longer be with them when they would eventually move up to middle school and it did make them a little sad. Even though it would still be a while, they began wishing him well and said they would do so again at the end of the school year. Until then, they would enjoy the time they had with him. Lincoln gave a heartfelt apology to Cristina regarding his video, explaining exactly why he did it and of course, she respected that he did it out of love for his sisters and after everything he endured, she easily forgave him. They made up with a hug and became good friends, and while Cristina was flattered that Lincoln found her pretty, she didn't switch back to Mrs. Johnson's class, but she did admit that she too would miss Lincoln after elementary school was done. A few other girls gave the white-haired boy hugs as well, including Ronnie Anne, Girl Jordan, and Mollie, a friend of Girl Jordan's.
"I'm so sorry about your mom and dad," Girl Jordan whispered while her arms were around Lincoln. "I was shocked too." They released their hug.
"It's not your fault," said Lincoln. He would forgive her, even if there was nothing to forgive.
"I'll miss you. Take care, okay?"
"Okay." Lincoln gave her a smile to assure her he would be fine and that what happened wasn't her doing by technicality. At the cafeteria during lunch period, on the same day that Lincoln got those hugs, he and his friends Clyde, Liam, Zach, and Rusty for the first time didn't say anything to each other. There were so many mixed feelings that words couldn't describe them.
One month after the trial ended, Lynn Jr. had been released from Hazeltucky's juvenile hall and was allowed to go back to Royal Woods Middle School. There was a rumor that she'd be blocked from graduating, and although Principal Ramirez quickly shot it down, it was still taken with a grain of salt at times, given that the former sports star student was only in seventh grade. Lynn Jr. also found out that one of the teachers, Mr. Bolhofner, was no longer working in his position. They say he had his teaching privileges terminated for his aggressiveness towards students and giving them low marks for things that were unwarranted, such as not being in their right seats. Apparently, the stories of Lincoln's domestic abuse might have spurred students on to finally stand up to him and convince Principal Ramirez and Superintendent Chen to do something. A substitute teacher agreed to take his place for the remainder of the school year while the faculty had to look for an actual replacement for the next school year. As it went on, whichever of the Loud sisters that were taken in by any families in Royal Woods would definitely stay on to finish their education in their home town. For those who moved out of town, such as Luna, it was debatable. In time, the Santiagos moved away for family reasons and their extended family, the Casagrandes would take them in at Great Lakes City, Illinois. Ronnie Anne and Bobby explained to Lincoln that with their mom, Maria, as a nurse, she's hardly around to spend time with her kids, so by getting a new job at Great Lakes City, even while she's away for many hours, their relatives can look after her kids. Ronnie Anne wasn't too keen about moving at first, but something happened that brought her to come to terms with it - Lori paid one last visit, attempting to at least make peace with Bobby. It would be surprising that Lori even being present would help her deal with moving, considering her hand to play in Lincoln's abuse and her being Bobby's ex-girlfriend.
"What are you doing here, Loud?" Ronnie Anne snarled. "Come to break my brother's heart again?"
"It was literally the other way around!" Lori insisted.
"That doesn't mean it didn't hurt him! He didn't want to break up with you! He felt compelled after what you did to lame-o!" Lori sucked it all up and tried once more.
"Look," she said. "Lincoln... made peace with all of us." Ronnie Anne still had her arms folded, not able to look Lori in the eye at first.
"Well, good for lame-o, then," she sneered.
"Would you please stop calling him that?" said Lori, starting to crack. "He's still my little brother. I love him." Ronnie Anne did make eye contact with Lori, but she still had her arms folded.
"So why didn't you think about that months ago?" she said. "You know, back when he got sick with pneumonia and had to go to the hospital?" This of course hurt Lori like a punch to the gut. She was running out of things to say and she really wanted things between Bobby and her to end peacefully so they wouldn't have to stay miserable. That is, if she could even get past his stubborn sister.
"I... I don't know," murmured Lori, close to crying.
"Nini?" Bobby suddenly showed up, so of course he saw Lori there. "Lori?" There was a bit of silence that followed before Lori spoke up.
"Bobby," she started, in tears. "I know you must have mixed feelings about me... but... I came to say goodbye."
"You did?"
"Lincoln was able to forgive all of us... even me. Our family may be divided... but Lincoln wanted to bring us all together... so that we didn't have to hold on to any hard feelings. And... I'm sorry." Ronnie Anne just rolled her eyes at Lori's apology, but to her surprise, Bobby smiled and hugged his ex-girlfriend. Ronnie Anne's jaw just about hit the ground.
"You're right, Lori," said Bobby. "Lincoln's right. It was the least he could do." They broke their hug.
"Well, he did feel awful," said Lori, a bit sheepishly from their hug.
"Lincoln still means a lot to me."
"I know." Lori looked down to the ground, but then saw Bobby extend his hand. He smiled at her again, so Lori gave a small smile of her own and took his hand.
"Goodbye, Lori," said Bobby. "Thank you for our time together, and... best of luck." The handshake was not what Ronnie Anne was expecting at all, so Bobby turned to speak with her one on one after Lori left. "I know you may not forgive Lori now, but it is better not to hold on to hard feelings. You know, what she said. Maybe you'll understand when you're older."
Some time after the Santiagos left Royal Woods, a new girl moved into town, a Filipino-American named Stella Zhau. Within days, she became great friends with Lincoln, Clyde, Rusty, Liam, and Zach, becoming part of their social circle. And of course, she too was filled in on Lincoln's misadventures.
"Wow..." she said. "Lincoln, you must be quite the character. All that and nothing seems to be ending on a bad note. I'm impressed! Now I really feel bad you're not gonna be in the same middle school as us."
"Yeah," said Lincoln, a bit sad. "It is what it is, though... I guess."
"Yeah."
"Hey, you can still meet Lyra if you like!"
"Your new mom? Sure!"
"Can we come too?" asked Zach.
"Of course!" said Lincoln. "I know just the place!"
They all agreed to meet up at the Burnt Bean, Fern Valley's local coffee house. But not only were they there with Lyra and Lily, so too were Lincoln's other sisters, as they were still trying to get together as much as possible.
"I must say it is nice meeting all of you," said Lyra. "And I very much doubt Lincoln will lose touch with all of you once he starts middle school."
"It still won't quite be the same," said Liam.
"That's just something that happens, especially when all of you eventually become adults and find your places in the real world."
"You never lost touch with the one friend you ever had," said Rusty.
"Of course not," said Lyra. "That's always possible, you know that."
"Is this your baby sister, Lincoln?" asked Stella, referring to Lily sitting up on a booster seat.
"Yep," said Lincoln. "Her name's Lily."
"She's beautiful. Can I hold her?"
"Sure can," said Lyra. "Hold her right over the table." Stella did so and she practically fell in love then and there. Lily then reached up and touched her cheek.
"Poo-poo!" she squealed.
"That's right, little one," Stella giggled. "I'm Stella!"
"Seh-ah!" said Lily, trying to repeat the name, which got a laugh out of the others.
"I think she likes you already," Lyra laughed. Meanwhile, the other Loud sisters had occupied two tables, still pondering about their futures, as even if they had stayed together under their old house, in time they would all fly the nest, one by one. But of course, the circumstances in recent months changed things, forcing them to live separately, possibly before they were ready.
"I wonder if we'll literally be able to pull our lives back together," said Lori.
"Do you think you'll still go to Fairway University?" asked Lisa.
"I still want to," replied Lori. "At least our school teachers aren't being hostile enough to deprive us of our grade school education. That former manager from Super Mart would literally want some people out on the streets begging for scraps." The sisters nodded their heads in assent. "I'm just a roommate now," said Lori. "I'll be turning 18 in a few months, which means that there's literally no point in anyone adopting me. In time, I'll be taking care of myself. It won't be the same... without my Boo-Boo Bear..."
"You're still calling him that?" said Lucy. "Perhaps the next chapter in our lives will be even harder than we thought." The sisters all sighed.
"We haven't lost everything, dudes," said Luna.
"She's right," agreed Leni. "I'm working part-time at Reininger's now. So I'm making paychecks! ...What's a paycheck?"
"And Lina said she'd be happy to endorse me," said Luna. "So we might just be makin' music together."
"That's a start," said Lynn Jr. "Meanwhile I'm still debating on returning to playing sports."
"You know that Coach Keck threw you off all those teams," said Luan. "And having spent a month in juvie? That can't be good for your track record."
"Luan..." grumbled Lynn Jr.
"No pun intended! Honest!"
"Thing is, even if I was allowed to play sports again, I still don't know if I should. I've been arrogant and obsessed with winning."
"I still can't believe that it literally took one mistake just to screw everything up like this," said Lori.
"We got quite a crowd today," said the Burnt Bean manager, serving the Loud sisters their beverages. "I can't remember the last time this place was rather lively."
"Well," said Lori, raising her beverage. "Here's to us, I guess. We were the Louds..."
"Amen, sis," said Luna, raising her beverage. "Still loud, still proud."
"To us," the others mumbled, tapping their beverages together and took their first sips.
"In spite of everything, our brother still believes in us," said Lola, looking over. The others did so, and Lincoln smiled warmly, giving them a friendly two-fingered salute. Lyra also looked their way and smiled. This made the Loud sisters smile and they raised their beverages to him.
"He's the reason why maybe things won't be so bad," said Lana.
"I just have one question," said Leni. "What do you think is going to become of our old house?" Outside the Burnt Bean, an old lady known in Royal Woods as Scoots drove past on her red scooter.