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 three: A lunch with grandparents

After Lincoln and his elementary school-aged ex-sisters all got back from their classes at RWES for the day, the girls were in a talkative mood. Apparently, that third grade bully that Lincoln and his friends had spotted earlier the previous day, Biff Bizowski, was up to his usual antics again, and with the school staff seemingly afraid of giving the large third grader anything more severe than an afterschool detention, it was beginning to look like Biff was going to go on to continue doing whatever he pleases.

The white-haired boy thought that this Biff kid wouldn't have lasted a day as a member of the VYG back in Great Lakes City; it wouldn't have taken all that much from the boy who was once known as Broken Mirror to put a basic bottom punk like Biff in his place.

But that is beside the point. As Lincoln and his younger ex-sisters were having an afternoon snack at the dining room table, Lola began in a conversational tone, "Hey, did any of you guys hear about what happened?"

"Let me guess," Lisa replied in her usual dry monotone, "Something having to do with that Neanderthal of a third grader, Biff Bizowski."

Nodding once in the affirmative to Lisa's guess, Lola went on to say, "I heard that he actually managed to beat up some fifth grader boy named Richie."

"Does this Richie kid have tan skin, black hair, and is usually seen wearing a blue hoodie?" Lincoln asked, surprising his younger ex-sisters as a whole since he was actually talking to them. After Lola nodded a few times in the affirmative, Lincoln said, "Yeah, I actually know who you're talking about, Lola. That Richie kid is one of Chandler's goons."

With a curious look on her face, Lana said, "Wait a minute, Lincoln. Isn't that Chandler guy this conceited jerk that you warned us to stay away from?" Lincoln didn't give a verbal response, as he was focused on eating a small sandwich that he had made. However, he gave a thumbs up to Lana in a gesture to confirm what she had asked about was true.

After swallowing a mouthful of food, Lincoln continued, "Anyway, I don't think we ought to dwell on the matter of this Biff kid too much. Our school staff is being competent in punishing him whenever he acts up, so we ought to put our faith in our teachers, as well as Principal Huggins. They clearly know what-"

The white-haired boy was cut off when he and his younger ex-sisters heard the front door open. Since it happened without someone knocking first, the kids assumed it was one of the older Loud girls, or perhaps either Lynn Sr. or Rita. So, imagine their surprise when they saw Albert, A.K.A Pop-Pop., along with an older woman about Albert's age who Lincoln did not recognize, walk into view from the doorway leading into the dining room.

"Hey kids," Albert greeted in a friendly tone, "I hope you all don't mind us dropping in out of the blue like this!"

"Pop-pop! Gran-Gran!" the younger Loud girls all cheered as they all got up and ran over to their grandfather and the older woman. As both older people were swarmed by the younger Loud girls, Lincoln, with a bit of trepidation, slowly got up; unlike the younger Loud girls, Lincoln was not as quick, and in fact just stay standing there next to the chair he was sitting in, because of some emotional conflict that he was feeling.

Sure, Pop-pop had played no role in how he was treated prior to running away, but how could Lincoln know that? The older white-haired man might have been convinced into joining everyone else on the 'Lincoln is bad luck' bandwagon, for all Lincoln knew; the white-haired boy wouldn't put it past a certain ex-sister of his if she had managed to convince Pop-Pop that he (Lincoln) was bad luck as easily as she had convinced the rest of the family of the subject.

As Lincoln stood there, his lack of running up to Albert had caught the older man's attention. "Come on, Lincoln," Albert said in a gentle tone, "There's no need to be scared. I am not going to bite you or anything."

"Oh yes, deary," the older woman that was with Albert remarked, "There's no way that either of us will hurt you."

Turning to regard the older woman, Lincoln got a good look at her; this older woman was wearing a red sleeveless shirt, brown slacks and white shoes, and she wore some accessories, including some yellow circular earrings and some white bracelets. She was a fair-skinned woman with dark brown hair that she wore up in a beehive style.

"…Umm, I don't mean to be rude or anything, ma'am," Lincoln began as he addressed the older woman, "But who might you be?"

"Oh Lincoln," Lola began to explain to her brother while gesturing to the older woman, "This is Gram-Gram."

"…Did Pop-pop remarry while I was gone?" Lincoln asked, a curious look on his face.

Letting out a good-natured bellowing laugh, Albert said to his grandson, "Oh no, my boy. Myrtle here is just my girlfriend."

Turning to face the two older people again, Lincoln said, "Oh, well that explains it." Gesturing to his grandfather and Myrtle, Lincoln continued, "So, is there anything that I can do-"

"Oh, hey dad," Rita's voice called out, cutting Lincoln off midsentence as he and everyone else in the room saw Rita walk in. Speaking to her father, Rita continued, "I'm glad that you and Myrtle had the time to come by and talk to Lincoln."

"Wait a minute," Lincoln began in a mildly confused tone, "They came here because of me?"

"Well sure," Albert remarked, getting Lincoln to turn to face him and Myrtle. The younger Loud girls let the two older people go as they walked over to Lincoln, with Albert giving him an affectionate ruffle on the top of his head. "Your parents told me about how you may need someone to talk to," Albert continued, then added with a chuckle, "You wouldn't mind if it was us, would you?" The white-haired boy looked up to see his maternal grandfather and his grandfather's lady friend. The kind, gentle tone of Albert's voice, the warm, friendly expression on his and Myrtle's respective faces…all of this made Lincoln feel that he could count on the older people to not fall for the whole bad luck bit that was being spread around a while ago.

"…Well it has been a while since I last saw you," Lincoln replied, "And I would like to know more about the fact that I have a grandmother now apparently." Lincoln's response drew a bark of laughter out of the retired solider, as well as happy, amused giggles from Myrtle.

"Well alright!" Albert remarked in an amused tone. To his daughter, Albert said, "Myrtle and I are going to be bringing Lincoln with me for an hour or two, Rita. Assuming that you won't have any problems with it."

Nodding in agreement, Rita replied, "That's fine. It'll bring Lincoln home roughly in time for dinner."

"We'll be seeing you in an hour or two, then," Albert said. To his grandson, Albert gestured for him to follow him as he said, "Well come on, little lookalike, we ought to get going."

Nodding once in agreement, Lincoln said, "Alright. I'm ready to go when you are." Lincoln left the house with Albert and Myrtle, with the younger sisters and Rita waving them good-bye. Lincoln hopped into the back seat of his grandfather's car, then once both older people and the white-haired boy were all buckled up, the car took off.

As Albert drove to a place that he had in mind, he decided that it was best to clear out the elephant in the room (err, car). "So, Lincoln," the older white-haired man began, "Your mother told me about you running away."

"Wow, he doesn't even try to dance around the topic," Lincoln thought dryly, "Pop-pop gets right to the point." Speaking out loud, Lincoln replied, "Yeah. Yeah, I did."

"…Your mother also explained to me why you ran away," Albert continued. Sighing in a resigned tone, the older man continued, "To speak the plain honest truth, what I heard from her made me rather disappointed. More disappointed than I thought that I would ever be in anyone." Myrtle, who sat in the passenger seat, nodded in agreement, her nodding carrying a mildly grim hint.

"What did she say?" Lincoln asked, sounding somewhat suspicious; if Lincoln's ex-mother had told Pop-Pop the actual truth, then he would actually be surprised. The white-haired boy wouldn't put it past that woman if she had spun some sort of tall tale that painted him as little more than some spoiled brat throwing a tantrum, while painting herself as a flawless saint who was just trying to do her best as a parent.

"Your mother told me how she, your father, and pretty much all of your sisters were treating you like you bore a black spot because they all thought you were nothing but bad luck," Albert replied in a resigned tone, "That they made you sleep in the yard because of that reason, and that they even kicked you out of the house because of it." Shaking his head in a manner that clearly conveyed disappointment, the older white-haired man continued, "If it wasn't for the fact that she's a grown woman now, I would have grounded your mother for her part in what happened to you. As it stands right now, I'm half-tempted to do so anyway."

"I'd like to make her stand with her nose in the corner," Myrtle remarked, "That's an effective way to discipline a misbehaving child."

As the two older adults talked about what Myrtle just said, Lincoln was sitting in the back seat thinking about what his grandfather had said. "…Huh," Lincoln thought in a tone of genuine surprise as he heard his grandfather's explanation, "Well what do you know? I guess that she did tell Pop-Pop the truth."

"Your mother…also mentioned something else to me," Albert went on as he and Myrtle dropped their conversation, "Something that has me concerned." The car came to a stop at a red light, so Albert turned to face his grandson. "She told me that you've apparently taken to not referring to her and your father as your parents, and that you aren't referring to the girls, outside of Lily, as your sisters," Albert said in a concerned tone.

Lincoln figured that this would have come up at some point. Might as well get it out of the way and over with. "…Because they aren't my family," Lincoln replied with a sigh and gentle shake of his head, "A while ago, the girls and I overheard Mr. and Mrs. Loud talk about potentially getting of one of us. As it turned out, they were simply talking about Mr. Loud's tie collection."

"Yeesh, please don't remind me of that tie collection," Albert remarked in a mildly spooked tone, shivering a bit as he spoke as if something had given him a bit of a spook, "That bunny tie still gives me the willies."

After a slight chuckle in response to what his grandfather had said, Lincoln continued, "After everything was settled, Mr. and Mrs. Loud said that they would never consider kicking one of their kids out of the house. That being said, since they kicked me out, it's clear that they don't consider me as one of their kids. If I'm not one of their kids, then they aren't my parents, and that, by extension, means that most of their daughters aren't my sisters."

Sighing, Albert said, "After what your mother and the rest of them did to you, and given how it prompted you to run away for as long as you did, I can't blame you for being so bitter." Giving the steering wheel a slightly tighter grip, Albert said in a concerned tone as he continued to drive when the light turned green, "Am I at least still your grandfather, Lincoln?"

The white-haired boy was shocked with what he heard Pop-Pop say, along with how he sounded when he said it. "You…" Lincoln began, finding himself surprised in having a bit of a pickle in finding his words, "…You never had a hand in how I was treated before I was kicked out and I ran away, did you?"

"No, and let me be the first to tell you that I will never treat you, or any of my family, in such a manner," Albert replied, hit tone sounding with firm determination. Myrtle nodded firmly in agreement with what the retired solider had just declared.

Smiling gently, Lincoln said, "Yeah, you're still my grandfather, Pop-Pop." Looking out the window, Lincoln added, "You, Lily and Gram-Gram here probably the only family that I have right now. …Well, Aunt Ruth as well. She didn't have anything to do with that bad luck stuff either, unless I'm wrong."

Albert nodded in agreement with the point Lincoln made about Ruth as he pulled into the parking lot of someplace that Lincoln wasn't paying attention to right away. As he parked his car and shut the engine off, Albert felt truly awful. How could his little lookalike have become so bitter? What happened to the sweet and fun-loving grandson that he used to know from before all of that 'bad luck' hogwash took place?

The retired solider couldn't remember the last time he shed any tears for any reason other than because he was laughing too hard, but he was actively trying really hard to keep tears from welling up in the corners of his eyes right now. As for Myrtle, she truly felt conflicted; on the one hand, she was ecstatic about not only finding out that she now had a grandson, but that said grandson had accepted her into his life pretty much right off the bat. On the other hand, said grandson was currently rejecting most of his family over how badly they had treated him, and how said treatment prompted him to run away from home.

As the two seniors unbuckled their seatbelts, Lincoln finally looked out the window, thus seeing that his grandfather had taken him to some sort of restaurant that he didn't recognize. "Odin-Dono's Swedish-Japanese Cuisine?" Lincoln said aloud as he read the name of the restaurant that was written above the double doors that led inside. The white-haired boy thought that the exterior of the establishment resembled a mix of a Viking fort and a Samurai castle.

"It's one of those fusion restaurant places that are so popular here in Royal Woods," Albert explained to his grandson, "Odin-Dono's is also getting so popular that it's proving to be some serious competition for the other fusion places, such as Giovanni Chang's and especially Aloha Comrade." As Albert locked up his car, he continued, "As a side note, one of my old war buddies is the aunt of the woman that opened and is currently running this place."

"You don't say, Pop-Pop," Lincoln replied as he followed his grandfather and grandmother into the newly discovered fusion restaurant, his interest piqued as to what this place had to offer.

When Lincoln, Albert and Myrtle entered Odin-Dono's, the white-haired boy felt that the exterior of the place was a good indication of what the interior would look like. The main room of the restaurant resembled a Viking dining hall, or the large open room of an inn in that one video game were a hero learned the language of dragons. As for the choice of décor, armor and weapons representing both Vikings and Samurai could be seen hanging from or mounted to the wall. A complete suit of Samurai armor was on a stand and placed next to one of the posts that extended from the floor to the high ceiling. As Lincoln, Albert and Myrtle walked by that suit of armor, the white-haired boy let out an impressed whistle.

"Have you and Gram-Gram been here before, Pop-Pop?" Lincoln asked as he looked around at all of the décor that caught his eye.

"I've been here myself few times," Albert replied with a smile, "Me and my war buddies usually come here to watch sports on the wall-mounted TVs while enjoying the good brew they serve here. The food's pretty great as well." As the two white-haired guys and the kind older lady walked, they were hailed by an adult woman who looked to be about the same age as Rita, maybe a year or so younger. She had long blonde hair that was nearly as white as the hair Lincoln and Albert had. Although she was dressed like a tavern wench, Lincoln could tell that it was actually something of a uniform for the establishment.

"Albert, welcome back!" The woman said, "I see that you've finally brought that lady friend of yours that I've been hearing about!" The woman then noticed that Lincoln was with Albert and Myrtle. With a confused look on her face, the woman said to Albert while gesturing to Lincoln, "Is this one of your war buddies, Albert? He seems a bit young, does he not?"

"No, no, you got it all wrong, Ashe," Albert replied with a gentle headshake in the negative as he gave a soft chuckle. Patting Lincoln on the shoulder, Albert explained, "This here is my grandson Lincoln." To Lincoln, Albert said while gesturing to the woman, "Lincoln, this is Ashe Ace. Her aunt Sejuani is one of my war buddies."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Ace," Lincoln greeted Ashe as he gave a simple wave of his hand.

With a slight giggle, Ashe replied, "He reminds me of my second-born daughter. In fact, I think that they might be around the same age." Facing Albert and Myrtle specifically, Ashe said, "So, I take it you'll be wanting to be shown to a table now?"

"That would be nice, thanks," Albert replied.

Nodding in understanding, Ashe said, "Alright then. I'll have one of the waiters bring you and the rest of your party some menus once you all have had a chance to settle down." Lincoln and his grandparents proceeded to follow Ashe to a table, with Myrtle even saying how she was looking forward to trying the food they served there at Odin-Dono's.

…

About several minutes later, Lincoln, Albert and Myrtle were having lunch; Albert was having some Swedish dish that Lincoln didn't recognize, Myrtle was having the same that Albert was having, and Lincoln himself was having some noodle-based dish from Japan called oden that, to a person like Lincoln with limited knowledge on the subject, reminded him of ramen, except that the noodles were different. "…Lincoln," Albert began in a serious tone after taking a swig from his drink, "Are you ever going to forgive your parents and sisters for what they did to you?"

"…" Pausing as he had some noodles in his chopsticks about halfway between his bowl and his mouth, Lincoln gave some consideration to what his grandfather had asked. The white-haired boy returned his noodles and chopsticks to his bowl before he sighed in a resigned tone. "I…I'm not sure," Lincoln replied, "I mean, I'm not sure how long it will take me to forgive them. Well, I already forgave Lily, but that's about it. After all, I…" Stopping short, Lincoln shook his head, as if trying to rid his mind of some unpleasant thought. "…It will take us a while before we reach that point," Lincoln said finally.

"Are you're at least giving them a chance, sweetie?" Myrtle asked, concern clear on the older woman's face.

"…I don't suppose Lori told you and Pop-Pop what I did when her boyfriend was asking me about what happened?" Lincoln replied.

"Yeah, your sister told me what you did for her back then," Albert replied, knowing full well what his grandson was talking about. Sighing, Albert continued, "Why did you go through all of that trouble, though, if you're still bitter towards Lori and the rest of them did for what they all did to you?"

With a resigned-sounding sigh, Lincoln began to explain, "At the time, I just didn't care enough to try and ruin Lori's relationship with Bobby. Additionally, this may sound weird, but after I passed out on the sidewalk outside of where the Casagrandes live, I was brought inside. When I started coming to, I noticed that someone was holding me, was crying over me. They sounded regretful, upset with what I had been through. I'm not sure why, but that was what convinced me to at least see if forgiving my ex-family was worth a shot."

"I see," Albert replied as he nodded, knowing full well that it was Lori who had held the white-haired boy back then; the oldest Loud sibling did tell her grandfather everything, after all. Myrtle likewise found herself nodding in agreement, as if she was both impressed and a little touched by the white-haired boy's reasoning for deciding to see if forgiving his family who had wronged him was even worth a shot.

"Heh," Lincoln chuckled despite himself, "That probably sounds like one of the lamest excuses for anything ever. But still…" Lincoln paused, sighed in a resigned tone. "…Maybe I actually want to forgive the rest of them for what they did," the white-haired boy continued, "I'm just not sure how exactly to go about doing that, though."

Giving a warm, understanding smile, Albert patted his grandson on the right shoulder. "It's like you said, Lincoln," the white-haired man said, both his tone and his smile warm, "It'll take you all a while before you all get to that point. It's going to be a team effort between you and your folks. No one's expecting you to give them all a free pass right off the bat. You'd have to be a saint if you did. Your family is going to have to show you just how regretful they are for what they did to you."

Lincoln simply nodded in agreement before saying, "Yeah, I understand that."

"However, it's up to you to recognize when your family is trying to show you how sorry they are for what they did," Albert continued, "Again, no one's expecting you to forgive them after they show their first demonstration of how sorry they are. However, you ought to at least try to appreciate anything that they try to do, alright? Because despite what past experiences may try to tell you, your family does loves you, Lincoln."

"…Do you?" Lincoln asked.

With a mildly confused look on his face, Albert said, "Excuse me?"

"When you said that my family loves me," Lincoln began to clarify, "Were you including yourself with them?" With a mildly unsure look on his face that looked like it carried a hint of sadness, Lincoln asked, "Do you love me? For that matter, what about Gram-Gram?"

Both Albert and Myrtle found themselves struggling not to cry at that moment, sad that the young boy sitting before them was questioning if they cared about him. With a small but gentle smile on his face, Albert nodded a few times in the affirmative. "Of course, I do," Albert said, "You're my grandson, Lincoln, and nothing is ever going to change that."

"And you'd be hard pressed to keep me from caring about you," Myrtle remarked, her tone showing that she was firm in her decision.

Although the look on Lincoln's face as a whole didn't change, the small unsure frown that he had turned to a smile. "Thanks Pop-Pop, Gram-Gram," the white-haired boy replied. Lincoln and his grandparents finished the meal they were having, then after Albert paid for everything, he and Myrtle took Lincoln home.

That evening over at the Loud family residence, Lincoln was laying on his bed in his (formally boarded-up) bedroom, reading a comic book. Although Lincoln was annoyed by the fact that his ex-mother had gotten rid of his furniture while the 'bad luck' nonsense was still at a fever pitch, at least she was able to get everything back. Also, it was only the furniture that Lincoln's ex-mother had gotten rid of; all of Lincoln's other possessions, including clothes, comic books, laptop and various other odds and ends, were all put into plastic storage tubs. Lincoln strongly suspected that his ex-parents were intending to sell some of his stuff at some point.

As Lincoln read, he was going over in his mind what he and his grandfather had talked about while they were at Odin-Dono's earlier. "However, you ought to at least try to appreciate anything that they try to do, alright?" Albert's words echoed in Lincoln's mind. The sole Loud boy hasn't seen any significant show from any of his ex-family for how sorry they-

Lincoln's thought process was cut off when he heard three quick knocks on his bedroom door, followed by his comedic ex-sister Luan calling out, "Hey Lincoln, are you in?" Curious, Lincoln got up off of his bed and opened his door. When he did, he saw Luan standing right there outside of his bedroom door. "I wanted to talk to you," Luan explained when Lincoln opened his door, "But I didn't want to risk making you any more upset than you probably already are by coming in unannounced." Rubbing the back of her head in a manner that conveyed some embarrassment, Luan continued, "It's…a bit of a problem from the past, now that I think about it."

"…Now that you mention it," Lincoln remarked as he began to consider the notion, "I should look into getting a lock for my bedroom door."

"Yeah, that might help," Luan admitted, a hint of defeat in her tone. Holding up a plate with a fork and slice of pie on it, Luan said, "Anyway, I'm experimenting with a new recipe for the pies I make for throwing at people in my routines, especially when I perform at birthday parties. I was hoping to get your opinion on how it tastes."

Giving his comedic ex-sister a wry look, the white-haired boy remarked, "You want me to taste-test a new pie recipe…that you made for the pies that you throw at peoples' faces."

"Well since the pies are thrown at peoples' faces, some of it will get into their mouths," Luan pointed out. With a shrug, Luan continued, "It wouldn't do if any of the pie that they ended up tasting had a bad taste."

Conceding the point, Lincoln accepted the pie slice that was handed to him. He tried a forkful, and to his surprise, it was actually pretty good. If this pie was an example of Luan's baking skills as a whole, then Lincoln would say that she'd have a successful career running a bakery if her chosen path of being a comedian didn't pan out.

Finishing the pie slice, Lincoln said as he looked up at Luan while handing her the dishes, "It's quite a shame, really."

With a confused look mixed with a bit of worry on her face, Luan said, "Huh?"

Gesturing to the now empty plate, Lincoln said, "You're going to be wasting pie that good just to throw it in peoples' faces?" With a gentle shake of his head, the white-haired boy continued, "If you ask me, I think that people would much rather buy the pies made with this recipe than have those pies thrown in their faces."

Luan let out a slight sigh of relief, as well as a bit of an appreciative chuckle, upon hearing Lincoln's explanation. To think that her little brother, who currently does not regard her as his older sister, spoke so highly of her new pie recipe; could this be the comedian's chance to reconcile with her little brother? Dare she even take the risk and ask?

"Hey, Lincoln," Luan began, "I was wondering, if you're not-"

"I'm going to be busy for the foreseeable future," Lincoln said, interrupting his comedic ex-sister in the process, "So whatever it was you were going to ask me for, I'm going to have to say no. I'm still needing a bit of time, anyway." Luan's shoulders visibly slumped, if only just, upon hearing the rejection from her little brother, a rejection that came before she could even properly ask for a chance to reconcile, crushing what hope she had at the moment. However, what Luan heard her younger brother say next put a bit of that aforementioned hope back into her heart.

"...But if I recall correctly, that Benny guy you talked about before has a thing for pie. Why not try making a pie with that recipe and give it to him? Don't throw it at his face, though."

Before Luan could even say anything, Lincoln went back into his room, closing the door behind him. The comedic Loud sister didn't dare try to get Lincoln to come back out, lest she scour what little good faith she might have managed to build up. With a bit of a feeling of defeat, Luan walked away from Lincoln's bedroom door, respecting her younger brother's wishes to be left alone for the time being.

...But he did suggest to her that she should make a pie like that for her crush.

END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER THREE

Author's note:

For the most part up to this point, 'RI:ATR' has been more or less the same as the original 'RI', with the only major difference being Myrtle joining Albert and Lincoln for that talk/lunch at Odin-Dono's, whereas in the original it was just Albert and Lincoln. The next chapter, however, will see the first big change from the story of the original, especially considering what one of Lincoln's ex-sisters does in her bid to reconcile with the white-haired boy.