Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Restored Image: A tale retold
Chapter two: A rough morning
The morning following his return to Royal Woods, Lincoln made his way down the stairs, made a turn to go through the dining room, quickly fixed up a bowl of cereal, and then brought it out with him to the dining room. Fining a chair at the table, the white-haired boy sat down before he began to eat; Lincoln had a strong feeling that his sudden return to Royal Woods Elementary School would be the talk of the school for at least the rest of the week, and that this first day back would be when that talk would be at its peak.
As such, he figured that it would be best to get something to eat before he faced the day. As he ate his cereal, Lincoln's ex-father, Lynn Sr., who had walked into the dining room, was trying to make small talk with him. "So, umm…" Lynn Sr. began somewhat nervously, unsure on how to go about talking to Lincoln, "…Today's going to be a big day, huh?"
"…I suppose that would be accurate to say, sir," Lincoln replied without even bothering to look away from his modest breakfast.
Giving a nervous chuckle, Lynn Sr. said, "Heh, I didn't figure you'd be so respectful this early in the morning, son."
Unamused, the white-haired boy turned to face the man who had failed when it came to being a proper father, giving him a dry, emotionless look. "Am I?" Lincoln remarked, a mild hint of bitterness that Lynn Sr. failed to recognize seeping into his tone, "Am I really?"
The truth of how Lincoln felt at that moment was completely lost on the oblivious Loud patriarch. "Umm, well yeah," Lynn Sr. answered, "Yeah, you're very respectful, Lincoln."
At first Lincoln thought that he should be surprised, but then the white-haired boy remembered who he was talking to. The self-absorbed oaf sitting across from him at the table was so full of it that he was clearly incapable of not only being able to tell what the mood was, but was similarly unable to comprehend when he might be at fault for something. "…That isn't what I was talking about," Lincoln said, the bitterness in his tone still undetected.
With a confused look on his face, Lynn Sr. asked, "What do you mean?" Before Lincoln could answer, Rita and the Loud sisters walked into the dining area, distracting Lynn Sr. and Lincoln. Seeing his daughter Lynn Jr., who was sporting a bandage on her right cheek, walk in, Lynn Sr. sighed in a resigned tone. Standing up from the table, Lynn Sr. turned to regard his athletic daughter before saying, "Junior, your mother and I need to talk to you."
"Yes, dad," Lynn replied, her tone sounding dejected; the sporty Loud sister knew full well that she was going to be given a good dressing-down by her father.
"Now Junior," Lynn Sr. began in a firm tone that clearly carried a hint of disappointment, "Your mother told me everything that happened last night as we were settling down for bed, so I'm not going to bore the rest of us here with the details. Let me first just say that I am very disappointed in you. What you did to your brother that day was completely uncalled for, and you should be ashamed of yourself." For her part, Lynn didn't even try to object; she knew full well that this reprimand was a long time coming.
"Now originally," Lynn Sr. continued, "Your mother was considering grounding you for about two months, as that was how long Lincoln had been missing before your sister found him over in Great Lakes City." Straightening himself a bit, Lynn Sr. went on, "However, I came up with a different idea that, after your mother and I mulled it over for a bit, we decided to go for instead." Gesturing to Lincoln, Lynn Sr. said, "Junior, we're going to let your brother decide on what your punishment will be. Within reason, of course."
Having heard their dad say that Lincoln was going to decide what Lynn's punishment would be made some of the other Loud sisters all go "OOOOOOOOOOH!" in clearly amused tones. In fact, some of the girls were even kind enough to offer Lincoln a nice variety of suggestions for Lynn's punishment.
"Make her volunteer as a test subject for some of my experiments!" Lisa said.
"Get mom and dad to take her off all of her sports teams!" Luan offered.
"Make her dress up in a superhero costume and go with you to one of your comic book conventions!" Luna suggested.
"Let me gouge her other cheek!" Lola nearly begged.
"Girls, girls, calm down," Lynn Sr. said to his daughters, "This is your brother's decision." Turning back around to face Lincoln, Lynn Sr. said, "So what do you think, Lincoln? If you don't have any ideas right now, you don't have to make a choice. Feel free to give it some time while you're at school today."
Having turned to face his various ex-sisters when they started spouting suggestions for how he could have Lynn punished, Lincoln turned back around to face his ex-father. After regarding Lynn Sr. with his dry, emotionless expression for a few seconds, the white-haired boy remarked after a gentle shake of his head, "Personally, I don't really see why I should even care."
"…Lincoln?" Lynn Sr. said in a concerned tone.
Taking his now empty bowl over to the sink in the kitchen, Lincoln deposited the dishes before turning back around and going back into the dining room. "Why should I care how you punish your daughter, sir?" Lincoln asked the Loud patriarch, "Shouldn't something like that be decided on by you and your wife?" Lynn Sr., upon hearing what his son had just said, felt as if someone had just ripped his heart out, threw it very hard onto the ground, then proceeded to grind it under the heel of their foot. It was then and there that Lynn Sr. realized why Lincoln had suddenly taken to calling him 'sir'.
It was a realization that broke his heart.
Seeing the looks on the respective faces of his ex-parents, as well as seeing Rita cry softly, Lincoln sighed in a resigned tone. "…Go ahead with the original idea of grounding her for two months," Lincoln said with an indifferent wave of his right hand, "Also, feel free to add Lisa's suggestion if you want."
"What about what we offered, bro?" Luna asked as she gestured to herself, Lola and Leni.
Turning to face his musically inclined ex-sister, Lincoln replied in his current tone, "From what I can tell, your sister needs to stay on her various sports teams so that she has some outlet for her energy that doesn't involve violence. As for the other two, I don't think scarring her her is really called for…" Casting a bitter glare at Lynn, Lincoln added, "…And I wouldn't be caught dead at a comic book convention with her. Or anywhere, for that matter." The rest of the family, Lynn especially, could feel the bitterness radiating off of the white-haired boy. Bitterness that they knew full well was their fault.
It was a bitterness that made them guilty beyond measure.
Turning to regard Lori, Lincoln said, "You're going to be driving everyone to school, right? I'm ready to go when everyone else is."
"R-right," the oldest Loud sibling said, her tone sounding mildly unsure, "Let me just get something to eat first." Lincoln nodded once in an understanding manner before the other Loud sisters went about getting something to eat before heading off to school for the day. That was one of the most awkward breakfasts that the Loud sisters ever had.
Sometime later, Lincoln was walking through the halls of Royal Woods Elementary. The white-haired boy felt pangs of nostalgia as he walked through the halls, coming to realize that, despite all but forgetting about his past life in Royal Woods while he lived as a runaway, he had been missing the little things, such as school.
As Lincoln walked through the halls, Rusty Spokes, the first of Lincoln's friends that he had seen since returning, came up to him, and the two boys proceeded to walk and talk. "Man, you have been gone for ages!" Rusty said as the two fifth-grade boys stopped in front of a row of lockers, "What happened to you, dude?"
"It's…not something that I'm really all that comfortable talking about, Rusty," Lincoln replied, the look on his face and the sound of his tone making his discomfort obvious. To his credit, the older Spokes boy recognized that what he was asking was a rather touchy subject for his friend, and decided to let it be. Rusty reached forward and placed his hand on Lincoln's right shoulder, a gesture of reassurance.
"I'm guessing that it's something too personal to talk about?" Rusty asked, sounding like he was saying it rather than asking it. With an understanding nod, Rusty continued, "Don't sweat it, Lincoln. If it's not something you want to talk about, then I won't-"
"Ah, so you're Lincoln," a mysterious voice called out, getting Rusty to stop midsentence and prompting both boys to look around. Eventually, Lincoln and Rusty both spotted a third-grade boy walking up to them. He had brown hair that roughly reached the base of his neck, he wore a reddish-brown long-sleeved shirt under a green t-shirt, and a pair of cargo shorts the same color as his long-sleeved shirt, white socks and black shoes. The third grade boy also wore a pair of glasses. Apparently, Rusty recognized the boy, because he waved at him.
"Oh, hey there, Argent," Rusty greeted, "Rocky told me that the two of you managed to score a pretty good grade on a group project in your class recently."
Turning to face Rusty, the third-grade boy, apparently named Argent, gave a small smile. "Yeah," Argent replied, "Rocky and I got the best grade in class."
"I…take it that this kid here is friends with your little brother, Rusty?" Lincoln asked his friend while gesturing to the third-grade boy that came up to them.
Turning to regard Lincoln, Rusty nodded once in the affirmative before saying, "Yeah, man. This here is Argent Ace. He's in the same third-grade class as Rocky and your little sister Lucy." Lincoln turned to get a look at the third-grade boy. For reasons that escaped him, Lincoln couldn't help but feel as if this Argent kid looked kind of familiar, yet he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.
Oh well. It's no skin off the white-haired boy's nose.
Shifting his gaze to focus on Lincoln specifically, Argent continued, "I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that you're related to that Lucy girl in my class, seeing as how Rocky's brother here just mentioned her by name. That would make sense, seeing as how Lucy's been acting kind of distant over the past few months, and the most that I've been able to gleam from the whole mess is that it had something to do with some boy named Lincoln."
"Yeah Argent," Rusty explained as he proceeded to make the introductions. Gesturing to Lincoln, the older Spokes boy said, "This is my pal Lincoln Loud. He's Lucy's older brother." After hearing the explanation from Rusty, Argent simply shook his head.
"…Yeah, I assumed as much," Argent remarked, a hint of knowingness in his tone, "I figured that one fellow in the fifth grade, Chandler McCann, was lying about someone named Larry. I never trusted a single word that Chandler guy ever said ever since I first saw him."
Giving a nod of approval to the younger boy, Rusty remarked, "You're a smarter kid than most, Argent. It still beats me how that jerk is so popular."
"Not to mention creepy," Argent continued, "My older sister told me about how Chandler has tried to flirt with her on no less than three separate occasions, and that it kind of creeps her out, especially she isn't even all that familiar him."
With a curious look on his face, Lincoln turned to face Argent. "Your sister?" Lincoln said, his tone making it clear that he was going to need some clarification here.
"Oh yeah," Rusty said as he turned to face Lincoln, "Argent here has a sister in the fifth grade, same as you and me." With a look of consideration on his face, the older Spokes boy said, "I think that her name is…Anna?"
"Anna is my sister in the first grade," Argent said as he corrected the older boy, "My sister who is in the fifth grade is Astrid."
"Heh, sorry about that," Rusty replied to the third-grade boy, rubbing the back of his head in an embarrassed manner, "But me and everyone else in my class hardly ever see her."
"Mmm, that's understandable," Argent said as he nodded once in understanding, "Astrid's got some sort of weird kidney problem. I'm not all that familiar with, but I do know that keeps her home sick a lot. But this is kind of getting off subject." Turing to specifically regard Lincoln, Argent continued, "You've been gone for how long?"
"Roughly two months or so," Lincoln replied.
Argent considered what the white-haired boy said for a bit, going over a few things in his head as he did so. "Two months, huh?" Argent remarked, "…Yeah, that'll about do it. You being gone for that length of time, then suddenly reappearing here at school out of the blue, will undoubtedly get the other kids around here talking. Your sudden return will probably be more of a discussion topic during lunch and recess than the rumors that Ronnie Anne Santiago was going to move."
"People were actually talking about that?" Lincoln asked, a mildly surprised look on his face.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Argent explained, "When word gets around school that a girl with a reputation like Ronnie Anne's might be moving out of Royal Woods, then the other students are going to talk about it, especially those who fear the quote unquote 'toughest girl at Royal Woods Elementary'."
"Yeah, I'm kind of afraid of Ronnie Anne myself," Rusty admitted. Turning to face Lincoln, the older Spokes boy added, "Speaking of which, it still beats me how you aren't afraid of Ronnie Anne yourself, dude."
"I…" Lincoln remarked, carefully considering his words before he spoke, lest he give Rusty any ideas (excuses to tease him), "…I have my reasons."
As Lincoln and Rusty talked, a look of piqued interest spread across Agent's face, a sign that he was interested in what the two older boys were talking about. "You were gone for roughly two months then suddenly return," Argent began as he got Lincoln's attention, "And you aren't afraid of Ronnie Anne? Even Chandler and his lackeys give that girl a wide berth, out of fear for their own wellbeing." With a chuckle, Argent continued, "You're pretty cool, Lincoln."
"Uhh, thanks," the white-haired boy replied, surprised by Argent's words of praise, "I guess."
Nodding a few times in acknowledgement, Argent said, "You're welcome. Well anyway, I ought to get going to class now. We're expecting to start another group project in class today, so Rocky and I should discuss what we'll be doing for it." Turning around, Argent said as he walked away, "Later."
After the third-grade boy was out of sight, Rusty turned to face Lincoln. "He's got a point about getting to class, Lincoln," Rusty remarked, "Besides, I bet that everyone will be excited to see you finally back in class, especially Clyde, Zach and Liam." It's true that, due to his being gone for so long, that Lincoln hasn't seen any of his friends. The white-haired boy figured that he and the others had quite a bit to catch up on, preferably sometime during lunch or recess. Nodding in agreement, Lincoln proceeded to follow Rusty over to class.
Sometime during recess later that day, Lincoln was talking to Rusty, Clyde, Liam and Zach, all of whom seemed eager to ask the white-haired boy question after question about what happened to him while he was gone. Of course, given the true nature of why he was gone for so long, as well as what he did while he was gone, Lincoln wisely picked which questions to answer fully, along with which lines of questioning he asked not go any further. As it was with Rusty, the other three boys respected Lincoln's feelings on the matter when he said that he didn't feel comfortable answering a certain question.
"Lincoln, dude," Clyde began, "With all due respect, you're going to have a lot of homework to catch up on. If you want, I can help you out with that."
"There's no need for that, Clyde," Lincoln began to explain, "Form what I've been told, Lisa's apparently been handling all of my homework for me while I was out." The white-haired boy figured that his genius ex-sister did his homework for him while he was gone in hopes that it'd help make things up to him. As far as Lincoln was concerned at the moment, if the four-year-old 'genius' was as smart as she oh-so often claimed, then there should have been no way that she would have even fallen for the whole 'bad luck' bit in the first place.
"Isn't she only four-year-old?" Liam asked, a mildly confused look on his face.
Turning to face Liam, Clyde remarked in a dry, somewhat unamused tone, "You have no idea how smart Lincoln's little sister Lisa is, do you?"
"Well I-" Liam began to say, but he was cut off midsentence when he and the other four boys heard a kid cry out in pain somewhere on the playground, followed by some shouting from a few other kids.
"Sounds like there's a fight breaking out," Zach remarked to Lincoln and the others, prompting the other four boys to nod in agreement with him. As a group, the five boys ran in the direction that they heard the noises come from. When Lincoln and the others arrived where a group of students had formed something of a ring, the five boys had to push their way in towards the center so they could see what was happening.
When they saw what was going on, they were shocked with what they were seeing; Argent Ace, who only Lincoln and Rusty recognized, was covering his left eye with his hand as he stood about several feet away facing a kid that was somewhat bigger than him. This somewhat bigger boy looked like what most people would think of if they're told to imagine a stereotypical schoolyard bully, what with his short hair, somewhat well-fed size, and a general air of meanness that was practically radiating off of him. Seeing that the supposed bully's right hand was curled up into a fist, it didn't take much for Lincoln and his friends to connect all of the dots.
"Feh," Argent said in a casual tone to the boy who stood before him, acting defiant towards this supposed bully, "How typical of you, Biff. Starting trouble like this just because I unknowingly embarrassed you in front of the rest of our class. If you had that much of a problem, then why didn't you consider trying to talk things out with me instead of resorting straight to violence?"
Pointing an accusing finger at Argent, the supposed bully, apparently named Biff, said, "Because you're supposed to know better than to make me look dumb in front of everyone, you little snot." The tone that the bigger boy spoke with clearly conveyed the idea that Biff thought himself to be Argent's superior, as well as the superior of every other kid that he is familiar with at Royal Woods Elementary.
Despite covering what was most likely a black eye, the young Ace boy cracked an amused smile. "Technically, no one ever ran such a memo by me," Argent replied, "So I had no way of knowing that. But for what it's worth, I'm sorry if me giving the correct answer to the question that our teacher asked in class earlier after you gave a wrong answer, even though you volunteered to answer the question first, put you through a bit of embarrassment." As the two boys in the center of the ring of students traded dialogue, Lincoln turned to regard his friends.
"Hey guys," Lincoln whispered to his friends, getting the other four boys to turn to face him, "What's going on here? And who's that kid that talking to Argent?"
"That's Biff Bizowski," Liam whispered back to Lincoln, mild hints of fear and worry in his tone, "He's this third grader with a really nasty reputation for causing the other kids in his grade a lot of grief. There's even a few kids in the fourth and fifth grades that are wary of Biff."
"Wait a minute," Lincoln whispered back in a shocked tone. Pointing to Biff, the white-haired boy continued, "That kid is a third grader? What the heck are they feeding him? He looks big enough to pass for a kid in our grade!" As Liam, Clyde, Rusty and Zach all nodded in agreement with what Lincoln had just said, they were surprised when they heard a vast majority of the kids in the gathered crowd gasp in shock. Turning back around to see what was going on, Lincoln and the others saw that Argent was knocked over, and Biff was on top of him, giving the young Ace boy a good few blows to the face, only to be stopped when Mrs. Johnson, the homeroom teacher for Lincoln and his class, came running over.
"Alright, break it up!" the fifth grade teacher said in a very firm tone, clapping her hands together quickly and loudly to get Biff's attention. When the large third-grade boy got up and let his victim go, Mrs. Johnson said to the large third grader in a stern tone, "You're going to be coming to the principal's office with me, young man. There is no excuse for hitting one of your fellow students like that." More annoyed than anything else that he was going to be punished, Biff reluctantly followed Mrs. Johnson into the school building. After the two of them were out of sight, the students that were still on the playground started to disperse a bit, although Lincoln and his friends went right over to Argent.
"Hey Argent, are you okay?" Rusty asked as he helped Argent up. As Rusty helped the younger boy up, Lincoln and the others saw the extent of the damage that was caused by Biff; Argent had bruising around his left eye, there were a few good bruises in various areas of his face, and his glasses were broken. There was also a small bit of blood coming out of Argent's nose.
"I'll be fine," Argent replied in a calm manner, acting as if he hadn't just been pummeled on the playground, "Buffoons like Biff simply don't know any better."
"Wow, you're taking having been beaten by a bully just now surprisingly well," Clyde remarked, clearly impressed with the maturity that Argent was showing.
"I still say Argent should have let me take a crack at him!" a random male voice called out, prompting Lincoln and his friends to look around in confusion. Argent, who had apparently recognized the voice, sighed in a resigned, knowing tone.
"How many times do I have to say it, Andy?" Argent replied to the voice that had just called out, "You would have gotten into just as much trouble as Biff if you got into a fight with him." At that prompting, another boy came walking up to Lincoln and the others. Somewhat taller than Argent, indicating that he was slightly older, this new boy had scruffy brown hair, wore a red and white jersey with the number 10 in the center, a pair of red sports shorts, white socks and black shoes. This new boy also wore a necklace that had the traditional Thor's hammer charm on it, indicating that he had some interest in Norse mythology.
Aside from the necklace that he wore, Lincoln was put off by this new boy's appearance for reasons that were escaping the white-haired boy.
"Relax, bro," the boy remarked to Argent after reaching the group, "At most, I would have been given some sort of reduced punishment since I had the excuse that I was sticking up for my little brother against a bully."
Turning to face the boy that had just shown up, Liam pointed at him and asked, "Who are you, kid?"
"Oh, I suppose introductions are necessary," Argent remarked to the other boys. Gesturing to the boy that had just shown up, Argent continued, "This is my older brother Andy. He's in the fourth grade." Turning to face Andy, Argent continued in a knowing tone, "And he'd look for any excuse to get into a fight."
With a shrug, Andy said, "Oh come on, Argent. Don't be like that, bro."
"Do you really want to get afterschool detention for the rest of the week?" Argent asked his older brother, "…Again?"
"At most, it would have just been afterschool detention for today," Andy replied, "Because, like I was saying, a bully was beating you up, and you're my little brother, so the teachers wouldn't hold it against me too much if I got into a fight with said bully." With a knowing nod, the older Ace boy added, "Allison would have approved."
"Knowing her, that goes without saying," Argent replied. Turning to face Lincoln and the other fifth-grade boys, Argent said, "Sorry about you guys having to bare witness to this little bit of family business between my brother and I just now."
With a more or less indifferent shrug, Lincoln remarked, "You aren't the only one to have had to deal with family drama like this."
With an amused chuckle, Argent said, "I suppose you got me there." Turning to face his older brother, Argent said, "Hey Andy, if you want to do something to show that you're a good older brother, then it would be nice if you saw me over to the nurse's office. After all, I did get hit in the face a few times, and I'm pretty sure that my nose is bleeding."
Andy nodded in understanding as he proceeded to escort Argent to the nurse's office, although he could be heard muttering, "I'd have liked to have given that jerk a bloody nose myself," under his breath as he and Argent left. After the two Ace boys were out of sight, Lincoln and the others all turned to regard each other.
Pointing in the direction of the school building, Lincoln asked his friends, "Has that Biff kid always been a problem here at school? Because I don't recall anyone like him prior to my…extended absence."
Shaking his head gently, Clyde replied, "No, Lincoln. Biff acting like he owns the place is actually a somewhat recent development here. Biff's brutal behavior started at around the time that rumors of Ronnie Anne moving away started to go around here at school." With a shrug, the African American boy remarked, "I'm guessing that Biff figured that since Ronnie Anne was going to be moving away, he would then be able to take her place and make the school his personal stomping grounds."
Shaking his head gently, the white-haired boy said in a mildly amused tone, "Well, I'm not going to tell Biff that Ronnie Anne isn't going to move. I wouldn't want to burst the kid's bubble."
"Wait a minute," Zach began, a mild hint of fear in the bespectacled boy's tone, "Ronnie Anne's not going to move after all?"
Nodding once in the affirmative, Lincoln said, "I heard it from Lori while she was talking on the phone to Ronnie Anne's older brother. Lori is dating Ronnie Anne's older brother, after all."
"Oh yeah, Lori," Clyde remarked. Giving a love-struck sigh, Clyde continued, "Lori is one beautiful girl. By the way, I'm still available in case Lori's interested."
"Mmm hmm," Lincoln replied casually, knowing that Clyde crushing on Lori was to be expected. Rusty was about to say something to Clyde, but was cut off because the bell rang, indicating the end of recess. Knowing that they had to head back inside, Lincoln and his friends all proceeded to head back into the school building.
That evening after school had let out in Royal Woods for the day, the Loud sisters were all at home, going about their various bits of business. Four of them, Lucy, Lisa, Lynn and Luna, were making their way to the dining room. "When Rocky saw what happened to his friend, he was more shocked than I had ever seen him," Lucy remarked, her emotionless monotone making it difficult to get a good reading on how the gothic Loud sister was feeling.
Pounding a fist into her hand, Lynn said, "Man, I wish I was there. I would have put that Biff brat in his place in next to flat."
"Given how your grades tend to look," Lisa began, "It amazes me that you have never once been held back a grade."
"Hey, wait a minute," Lynn said to the brainy four-year-old in a suspicious tone, "What's that supposed to-"
"Hey, can you girls keep it down?" Lincoln's voice called out when Lynn and the others walked into the dining room, "I'm trying to feed Lily here." Curious, Lynn, Lisa, Lucy and Luna all looked over to see Lincoln; as he had said, he was currently in the middle of feeding the baby Loud sister. "Lily needed to be fed," the white-haired boy began to explain to his ex-sisters, "And something important came up that Mrs. Loud needed to take care of, so I volunteered to take care of it."
"You're…" Lucy began, her emotionless monotone unable to completely mask her shock, "…You're actually feeding Lily?"
Turning back to face his ex-sisters, Lincoln replied, "Well, why wouldn't I look after my little sister here?"
The four girls were surprised; their brother, who had been swearing of them and the rest of the family, had already reconciled with Lily? They were surprised that it was so easy. "So," Lynn began, her tone sounding somewhat unsure, "I'm going to guess that this means that Lily made up for her part, then?"
"Actually, Lily didn't do anything," Lincoln replied to his athletic ex-sister, "But then again, she's just a baby. She can't really be held accountable for what she did." Lincoln turned back to face Lily, and as such he didn't see Lynn, Lucy, Luna and Lisa slump a bit in a defeated manner; it figures that Lily being a baby allowed her to reconcile with Lincoln so easily. It was also a rather logical assumption to make; trying to hold a baby accountable for something did not make a whole lot of sense.
Seeing that the jar of baby food that he was feeding Lily from was now empty, Lincoln proceeded to toss the jar out. Stopping in front of Lynn and the others, the white-haired boy continued, "In fact, one could make the argument that the ones who regularly handle Lily are more at fault, as they were dragging an innocent baby along without any reason." Giving the four girls, Luna in particular, a knowing look, Lincoln continued, "Wouldn't you girls agree?" None of the four girls there could come up with a response, as all of them were feeling too ashamed of themselves to say anything.
"…Now then," Lincoln said, "If you would be so kind excuse me, I need to go make sure that I didn't forget any homework." The four girls parted, with Lynn and Lisa going to Lincoln's left while Lucy and Luna went to Lincoln's right, as he made his way past them, heading right on up to his (formerly boarded-up) bedroom.
END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER TWO
Author's note:
I kind of had to make a point of showing that Lily was the first of the Louds to reconcile with Lincoln, as it's actually going to be something that will come up later down the line (I won't say in what capacity, though). But other than that, yeah, this has been the second chapter. Anyway, the next chapter will be featuring Albert (AKA Pop-Pop) giving some advice to Lincoln on when it comes to reconciling with the rest of the family; also, a hint will be dropped on where the story will be going from here.