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 four: Laughing relief
Lincoln Loud's mood began well enough when he arrived at Royal Woods Elementary School the morning after he had lunch with his grandfather Albert, AKA Pop-Pop, and Albert's girlfriend Myrtle (who is referred to by the Loud kids as Gram-Gram) at one of the many fusion restaurants located in Royal Woods. Lincoln's well enough mood became better as he was met up by some of his friends, Clyde McBride and Rusty Spokes. The three boys got to talking about the kinds of things they always talked about as they waited for the other two members of their group, Zach and Liam, to show up. Lincoln was also looking to catch up on what he had missed while he had lived in Great Lakes City.
"Oh, did you guys hear?" Clyde began, getting the attention of Lincoln and Rusty.
Turning to regard his African American friend, Lincoln replied, "Hear about what, Clyde?"
"That Astrid girl is going to be back in school today," Clyde said as he proceeded to explain, "She's been out sick since sometime last week."
Shaking his head gently in a manner that showed he felt some sympathy for the girl in question, Rusty said, "Man, that poor girl just can't seem to catch a break, can she?"
"Who are we talking about again?" Lincoln asked, clearly looking confused, "You two are going to have to fill me in." Clyde and Rusty both turned to face their white-haired friend.
"We're talking about Astrid Ace," Rusty clarified, "Don't you remember? I mentioned her to you yesterday when her little brother Argent was talking to us."
"I…still don't know about this girl all that much," Lincoln remarked.
"Well that's understandable," Clyde said with an understanding nod, "Given that it's a rare occurrence to see her at school. I don't think she showed up all that often during the two or so months you were gone, bro, so you didn't miss much."
"Maybe I'll finally see what Astrid looks like in class later to-" Lincoln began, but he was cut off when a familiar male voice, one that he wasn't fond of, cut him off.
"I'm going to have to ask you to keep away from her, Lincoln," the familiar voice of Chandler McCann called out, prompting Lincoln's friends to turn and see the red-headed boy himself come walking up to him, accompanied by his two primary friends, red hoodie-wearing Sid and well-fed blonde kid Frank (the word 'friends' is being used very loosely here; those boys are more akin to goons than to anything else). Lincoln, not wanting to deal with any of Chandler's crap this early in the school day, didn't bother to turn and face him yet. "I'm already aiming to get her to like me," Chandler stated as he pointed to himself.
"I'm not in the mood right now, Chandler," the white-haired boy said, his tone already sounding strained.
A look of mild annoyance appeared across Chandler's face since Lincoln wasn't even bothering to turn around and face him. "Hey, what's with you not even bothering to turn around and face me?" Chandler said in an annoyed tone. Placing his hand on Lincoln's shoulder, Chandler said as he forcefully turned the white-haired boy around, "It's rather-" Chandler stopped short from finishing, as when Lincoln was turned to face him, he gave Chandler a very angry, very serious glare. A glare that made the red-headed boy take pause. A glare that set a very high degree of fear into his heart. Sid and Frank were likewise frightened as well, even though Lincoln's glare wasn't actually aimed at either of them.
Gently removing his hand from Lincoln's shoulder, Chandler gulped a little before he somewhat nervously said, "H-hey, come on, Lincoln. I was just playing around."
"…" Lincoln considered the red-headed boy who forcefully grabbed his attention, and could tell that he had, surprisingly, managed to scare Chandler with just his (Lincoln's) glare. Only Ronnie Anne before Lincoln had been able to make others back off just by giving them a very angry look. "…Just give me some space right now, Chandler," Lincoln said in a warning tone, "I'm still not in the mood for any crud from anyone."
"O-okay," Chandler said, the mild hint of fear in his tone still not wavering. The red-headed boy turned around and immediately went the other way, Sid and Frank following close behind him in quick order. After Chandler and his companions were gone, Clyde and Rusty both turned to face their white-haired friend.
"Dude," Clyde said to Lincoln in a concerned tone, "Are you okay?"
Sighing, Lincoln remarked, "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm not in the mood to deal with anything from Chandler right now."
"I can't fault you for that," Rusty replied, "Although in Chandler's defense, he is cleaning up his act, or is at the very least trying very hard to do so." With a look of consideration, the older Spokes boy added, "I'm not really sure if that excuses how his flirting with Astrid gives her the creeps, though."
With an indifferent shrug, Lincoln said, "Hopefully Chandler's apparent efforts in trying to clean up his act will help him take a hint. If not, we can always tell a teacher about his flirting creeping the hell out of that Astrid girl."
"Speaking of teachers," Clyde remarked as he looked at the watch on his right wrist, "We ought to get going over to Mrs. Johnson's class. We can't afford to be late to class, after all."
"Right," Lincoln replied with an agreeing nod as he and Rusty followed Clyde to their first class for the day.
Over at Royal Woods High School, Luan Loud, who is a freshman, was walking in one of the hallways, carrying a box that clearly looked like the kinds of boxes that pies from a bakery come in. As the comedic Loud sister walked, she heard a familiar voice call out to her. To Luan's surprise, she saw Bobby Santiago, the guy who owned the voice that called out to Luan, come walking up to her. Luan had no idea why her sister Lori's boyfriend was apparently wanting to have a word with her, but she figured that she might as well hear the Hispanic teen out.
"Oh, hey Bobby," Luan greeted, sounding as friendly as she could manage, although her greeting made it clear she was a bit on the confused side.
Giving the comedic Loud sister a bit of a glare, Bobby said, "I'm not all that happy with you."
Luan had a bit of a shocked look on her face; she did something to upset Bobby? Hoo boy, Lori was never going to let Luan live this one down.
"Umm…" Luan began, "…Did I do something wrong?"
"Yeah," the Hispanic teen continued, a hint of an accusatory tone seeping into his voice. Pointing a finger at Luan, Bobby said, "You and some of your brat sisters are the reason why Lincoln ran away and was gone for roughly two months."
Luan understood why Bobby would say this; Luan and her sisters had been briefed by Lori on how Lincoln, when he was found in Great Lakes City and was questioned by Bobby and Ronnie Anne, decided to cover up Lori's involvement in the whole 'bad luck' nonsense that Luan and her sisters will forever regret. Lincoln just didn't have it in him to tell the whole truth, as doing so would most likely have cost Lori her relationship with Bobby.
The reason why I said 'the whole truth' is because due to Bobby's line of questioning towards him, Lincoln was expected to name some names. As a result, Lincoln cited Lynn, along with Luan herself, Lola and Lisa, as the ones responsible for driving him to run away, while adding that those four girls tricked the other sisters into thinking that what was going on was some sort of innocent game. Lincoln also went on to say how he didn't really like how he had to throw Luan, Lisa and Lola under the bus like that.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Bobby continued, "It's bad enough that you and those other brats thought it'd be all in good fun to torment Lincoln. But you also had to go so far as to trick Lori and your other sisters in order to continue what you were doing?" Noticing the pie box that the comedic Loud sister held, Bobby pointed at it casually. "The hell is that?" Bobby asked, his tone and choice of language making it clear his mood towards Luan was still on the foul side.
Looking down at the box she held with both of her hands, Luan said, "Oh, this. Umm, I was working on a new recipe for the pies I make for part of my comedy routine, and I had Lincoln taste test a piece, and he suggested that I make a whole pie using the recipe and give said pie to this boy in my class that I have a crush on."
"…" The Hispanic teen continued to glare daggers at the comedic Loud sister for a few moments, making Luan quite nervous. After what seemed like forever, Bobby finally spoke. "…Oh yeah, Lori told me about that," Bobby remarked. Turning around, Bobby said as he left Luan alone, "Try not to screw things up, ya hear?"
After she saw Bobby turn a corner in the hallway, Luan was left alone. Her previous nervousness over trying to give the pie she made to her crush Benny was now stamped out and replaced by an overwhelming sense of guilt and shame. Although Bobby was technically giving her more credit than she deserved due to the fact that he wasn't given the whole story, the Hispanic teen did have a point about how Luan had a share of the fault when it came to Lincoln being driven to run away from home.
Sighing in a resigned tone, Luan then tried her best to perk herself up. After all, she had a crush that she had to give a freshly-baked pie to. It was a good thing that Lincoln reminded Luan about how Benny did have something of a sweet tooth.
Lincoln's helpfulness in that regard made Luan feel all the more guilty about her part in what had happened.
Later that day near Royal Woods Elementary School, as classes were let out for the day, Lincoln was talking with his friends Clyde, Rusty, Liam and Zach as the five boys were making their way back to their respective homes. "Hey dude," Liam said to Lincoln, "I noticed during first and third period today that whenever he looked your way, Chandler seemed like he was about to wet himself out of sheer fright." Giving his friend a curious look, Liam asked, "What exactly did you do to Chandler?"
"Nothing," Lincoln replied honestly, "I just told him to give me some space."
"He also gave Chandler a glare more frightening than any that either of my parents had ever given to me when I'm in trouble," Rusty added, "I swear, if looks could kill, then Chandler would have been on his way to the Royal Woods morgue right now!" The boys aside from Lincoln all proceeded to laugh at the joke Rusty made; Lincoln himself found the joke to be more or less unfunny (but not so much that it was bad/in bad taste).
…After all, it wouldn't have been the first time that the white-haired boy took a life.
As the boys continued to walk and talk, they were met up by a trio of well-off looking boys. They all reminded Lincoln of Chandler prior to the red-headed boy's apparent act cleaning up. The boy in the middle was especially like that; in fact, Lincoln thought that the middle boy kind of resembled Chandler, albeit with dark yellow-blonde hair, a lack of freckles, black-framed glasses with slightly oval-shaped lenses, and a slightly underfed build.
"I overheard the five of you talking about Astrid Ace earlier," the blonde boy began as he addressed Lincoln and his friends, "It's bad enough that I have to compete with McCann, so I really would rather not have to deal with five additional boys." Giving Lincoln and his friends a knowing look, the blonde boy said, "Do we have an understanding here?"
Scoffing in an annoyed tone, Rusty said, "Look Ross, none of the guys and I are interested in Astrid like that. We were just talking about how she hadn't been seen at school in a while."
"Sort of like your white haired friend here?" said one of the boys accompanying Ross; said companion was pointing to Lincoln.
Hearing his companion mention this, Ross turned his attention so that he focuses specifically on Lincoln. "…Oh yeah, you're that Lincoln Loud fellow, aren't you?" Ross asked, "I did hear about how you were gone for about two months. You've been the talk of the school ever since you came back."
Giving the conceited blonde boy a dry look, Lincoln replied, "Your point being?"
Jerking a thumb at himself, Ross continued, "Everyone is supposed to know that I'M the talk of the school. I have no idea what you or that Chandler dork are thinking, but try to stay out of the spotlight." Rubbing the middle knuckles of his right fingers against his chest, Ross continued, "I've never been known as someone who likes to share."
A hint of wryness entering his already dry look, the white-haired boy said, "And I've never been known as someone who likes being held up by pompous, conceited buffoons. And yet you've yet to see me complain."
Ross, along with his two companions, instantly looked ticked off. "I don't think you've been told how to properly address someone like myself," Ross remarked, the coolness of his tone partly masking how utterly angry he was. Holding a hand up as he was about to gesture for his two companions to make a move, Ross said, "I think that the boys here and I ought to take some time here to educate you better on-"
"I don't think you understood what I was getting at," Lincoln interrupted, both the tone of his voice and the look on his face being exactly like that of what he gave Chandler, Sid and Frank earlier. Ross and his companions were not only caught off guard by this sudden shift in the white-haired boy's tone, but it had them cowed in fright. Ross and his companions could not explain it, but Lincoln, this strange white-haired kid who was a nobody as far as Ross cared or was concerned, was exuding Killing Intent.
Continuing to murderously glare at the blonde boy and said blonde boy's companions, Lincoln said, "I am in no mood to deal with stuck up little twats such as yourself. So why don't you and your two stooges here do yourselves a favor and leave my friends and me alone?"
As he and his friends took a few steps back, Ross said, "H-Hey, man, chillax a bit, will ya? I was only asking that you and your friends to let me try to get Astrid to like me." Fully believing that they would all get seriously messed up if they stuck around any longer, Ross and his two friends took their leave. After the three boys were gone, Lincoln's friends all turned to regard the white-haired boy.
"Holy geez, Lincoln," Zach said as he and Lincoln's other friends all gave the white-haired boy surprised looks, "It's like you're some skilled assassin who can kill people just by giving off the vibe that you intend to kill them."
"Yeah, Zach," Rusty remarked while jerking a thumb at Lincoln, "That's what I was trying to tell you and Liam about earlier."
Zach and Liam proceeded to marvel at how utterly awesome Lincoln was in making Ross and his two buffoons back away and take off with their tails between their legs as the boys all proceeded to continue what they were doing prior to being held up by the aforementioned conceited little twat. Lincoln, for his part, actually couldn't care less about how his friends were praising him for what he did.
He just wanted to get going.
When the white-haired boy returned to the Loud residence, he was greeted by his comedic ex-sister Luan, who seemed a bit on the happy and enthusiastic side of things. "You're idea worked, Lincoln!" Luan practically exclaimed at Lincoln, who recoiled a bit because of how loud Luan was being.
"…Pardon?" Lincoln replied, not sure about what the comedic Loud sister was going on about.
"You suggested that I use the new pie recipe that I came up with to make a pie and give it to Benny," Luan clarified, "It actually worked! Benny really likes me now!"
Realizing what Luan was trying to get at, Lincoln found himself unable to help but crack a bit of a smile. Straightening himself up a bit, the white-haired boy replied, "Well I'm glad to see that things worked out for you."
"I don't suppose you'd care to talk about how your day was?" Luan asked.
"Ehh," Lincoln began in a more or less indifferent tone, "Some conceited jerk named Ross, plus two of his goons, tried to hold up me and my friends when we were about halfway away from the school after classes let out for the day."
With a confused look on her face, Luan replied, "Ross? Wait a minute, I thought that the little jerk who likes to mess with you is named Chandler."
Gently shaking his head, Lincoln said, "Actually, Chandler is cleaning his act up from the look of things. But yeah, there's a new self-assured jerk going around, and his name is Ross."
Luan, with a hint of serious determination on her face, asked, "You want I should prank this Ross kid in retaliation for him giving you trouble?"
When Luan made that offer, it caught Lincoln's attention. Looking up at his comedic ex-sister, the white-haired boy remarked in a somewhat dry tone, "I don't think that will be necessary, Luan. Besides, Ross and his goons backed off when I glared at them."
The comedic Loud sister was surprised by how her younger brother was acting; even though some jerk kid harassed him, Lincoln declined Luan's offer to get back as said kid for him. Luan was also hoping that, if she did do something like that for Lincoln's sake, then she'd be that much closer to reconciling with him. Speaking somewhat unsurely, Luan said, "Are you sure that you don't want me to get back at him for you, Lincoln?"
"I'm positive," Lincoln replied, "Although Ross, from what I've been hearing, is bothering some girl named Astrid. If I hear that he's keeping it up, I'll report him." Without another word, the white-haired boy took his leave.
Luan was unsure of what to make of the developments she learned about. It's already bad enough that she and the other Loud sisters collectively drove their only brother to the point that he ran away from home. But now not only is he being harassed by bullies not a few days after coming back home, but he's not letting her (probably won't let any of the other sisters as well) help him out on this one?
Luan feared that, because of what she and her sisters did, Lincoln has lost any and all faith that he ever had in any of them. Luan then realized that, as heartbreaking as it was, if it was the case that she and her sister's lost Lincoln's confidence, then it was no one's fault but their own. After all, given how they collectively treated him, who could blame Lincoln for not trusting any of the girls to help him if he has a problem?
Luan thought that, with all of that in mind that she just had to do something. She owed it to Lincoln for her part in what happened to him. The comedic Loud sister also had to point out to any and all would-be bullies that are out there that picking Lincoln Loud as a target for their aggression was a mistake that no one can walk away from.
…Not without suffering an April fool's-level prank or two, that is.
Over at the Santiago residence, Bobby was sitting at the dining table in the dining room. Sitting in front of him was a high-quality faux leather deck box that had a flap that closed to the one side of the box using hidden magnets. The deck box was currently open, and a few of the cards Bobby kept in said deck box were spread out on the table. "…Hmm," Bobby muttered to himself as he considered his cards, "I'm probably going to have to borrow Aggro's BLS-SOC from him again before the weekly tournament this Sat-"
"What are you doing, Bobby?" the familiar voice of Ronnie Anne said, making Bobby look up from his various cards.
Seeing his little sister standing there, the Hispanic teen replied, "Oh, I'm just making some tweaks to my deck before the tournament at the local card shop this Saturday." Noticing that Ronnie Anne was carrying her skateboard, Bobby asked, "You planning to go to the park to do some more skateboarding?"
"Oh, this?" Ronnie Anne replied as she looked down at the skateboard she was carrying. Looking back up, the Hispanic tomboy replied, "Actually, I was planning on heading over to my friend Astrid's place. Our friend Susan has her birthday coming up, so Astrid and I need to go over a few things concerning what we're going to do for Susan's birthday."
Bobby was about to say something in response, but he was cut off when he and Ronnie Anne heard a knock at the front door. Bobby was the one who went over to answer the door. To his surprise, the Hispanic teen saw Luan standing there. Bobby was still upset/disappointed in Luan and the 'other brats' that drove Lincoln to run away, but Bobby knew that he had to be tactful here; after all, Luan is one of Lori's sisters, and he was sure that if he was unnecessarily harsh to one of Lori's sisters, regardless of reason, then she'd be a bit cross with him.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Luan?" Bobby asked, his tone making it clear that he was hoping Luan would keep her business brief.
"Actually, I was hoping to speak with Ronnie Anne," Luan began to explain, "I recently found out that there's this one kid over at the elementary school who's taken to giving Lincoln and his friends some trouble, and I was hoping that Ronnie Anne would be able to help me identify what the kid looks like."
The Hispanic teen was surprised by the comedic Loud sister's request. With a bit of a confused, unsure look on his face, Bobby turned around and called for Ronnie Anne. A few brief moments later, Ronnie Anne was at the front door. Given that she knows the exact same as what Bobby knows, Ronnie Anne's opinion of Luan was about the same as Bobby's. However, Ronnie Anne tends to express her displeasure in a different manner than what her older brother does.
Giving Luan an annoyed glare as she looked up at her, Ronnie Anne asked, "The hell do you want, Clown? If you're looking to get a black eye, then you'll need to kneel down a bit so I can reach your face."
Luan could not blame the Hispanic tomboy for being so hostile towards her; after all, Ronnie Anne was very much upset with what Lincoln was put through. Luan also found it rather cute that Ronnie Anne, in her own way, was being protective of her (Luan's) younger brother. And it was for that reason that Luan was hoping that the Queen of Pain would be willing to hear her out on what she was going to ask.
"Are you familiar with a boy at your school named Ross?" Luan asked.
Having not expected Luan to inquire (much less even know) about the latest pompous oaf over at RWES, Ronnie Anne gave her a confused look. "Ross?" Ronnie Anne repeated, "You mean that one conceited jerk who is trying to get my friend Astrid to like him? Yeah, I know who Ross is." With a hint of wryness entering her expression, the Hispanic tomboy continued as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Why do you ask?"
"I just found out that this Ross kid was trying to give Lincoln and some of Lincoln's friends some trouble earlier today as they were coming back from school, and I want to get back at him for it," Luan explained, "I was hoping you might be able to help me identify this Ross kid." Ronnie Anne, although initially surprised by the comedic Loud sister's request, calmed down a bit before wearing a relaxed, somewhat amused expression.
"…Let me get my copy of my school's current yearbook," Ronnie Anne replied.
Sometime the following day after classes were out for the day, Lincoln was walking back to his ex-family's house when he noticed (i.e. overheard) Ross talk with one of his goons. "Can you believe it?" Ross said to his companion that was with him, "Astrid Ace actually asked me to meet her over at the park when classes got out today!"
"Ha!" Ross's goon laughed in congratulatory amusement, "Alright, man! This ought to be a real bee in Chandler's underwear!"
"I'll be heading over to the park now," Ross said as he proceeded to turn around, "I can't keep my future girlfriend waiting, now can I?"
Stopping his friend before he went off, Ross's goon asked, "You want I should go with you and be your wingman?"
Gently shaking his head in the negative, Ross replied, "Actually, Astrid's note asked that I come alone." With a curious expression on his face, Ross added, "Also, for some odd reason, the note was written on stationary for some company called 'Funny Business'." Giving his companion a wondering look, Ross asked, "Do you know what that's about?" Ross's goon shook his head in the negative, showing he had no clue about Ross's inquiry.
With an indifferent shrug, Ross said, "Oh well. Maybe I'll ask Astrid about it when I meet her at the park." Without another word, the blonde-haired conceited boy took off.
After he watched Ross's goon take off not long after, Lincoln stood there alone, wondering about what he had just heard. That Astrid girl that Lincoln keeps hearing about actually wrote a love note to that Ross jerk, saying that she liked him and asked him to meet her over at the park after school? From what little the white-haired boy was able to gather on the matter, Astrid was too shy to do something like this, so that was the first sign that something was up. Secondly, Lincoln also knew that Astrid was not fond of Ross (or Chandler, for that matter) in the least, so that was another clue right there that someone was trying to deceive New Chandler.
But Lincoln having overheard that the supposed love note was written on Funny Business stationary was the big clue that gave it away that Ross was actually being pranked. And as the white-haired boy knew, pranks and 'Funny Business' usually go hand in hand with each other, especially considering who was running 'Funny Business'.
"…I thought I told her to drop the subject," Lincoln muttered to himself in an annoyed tone as he proceeded to discreetly follow Ross over to the local park.
It didn't take the white-haired boy long to head over to the local park, and without having been spotted, Lincoln not only saw Ross waiting around near the main fountain in the park, but he also spotted his comedic ex-sister Luan hiding behind a nearby tree, the end of a rope in her right hand. Looking around a bit, Lincoln saw the trap-prank that would have been sprung when Luan pulled on the rope she held.
"You have got to be kidding me," Lincoln thought as he saw Luan waiting to spring her prank-trap on the unsuspecting Ross; the white-haired boy could see that the suspense was practically killing his comedic ex-sister. Moving quickly while taking care not to be spotted by either Ross or Luan, Lincoln made his way over to where the latter was hiding in wait, intending to give her a piece of his mind.
…
Luan couldn't believe it; working (secretly) with Ronnie Anne, Luan managed to trick that Ross kid who was bothering Lincoln into coming alone to the park, where she would spring a prank on him. The prank that the comedic Loud sister had in store for the conceited little jerk was so great that it was on a level comparable to that of some of her more high-leveled April fool's pranks from past years.
"Wow, he must be as dumb as he is a jerk if he actually fell for that note," Luan thought as she waited for just the right moment to spring her prank on Ross; there were a few other people in the park who would bear witness to Ross's impending embarrassment, but Luan wanted there to be a few more people. If some of the witnesses recorded what happened on a phone or some other device like that, then that would be even better. From what Luan was seeing, two more people entered the park and were within witnessing distance of what was about to happen.
"Alright, this is going to be awesome," the comedic Loud sister thought in anticipation of what she was going to do, "This will show him for messing with my younger brother! This is going to be totally hilarious! This'll be great! This'll be…be…" Slowly but surely, Luan was thinking back to when Lincoln declined her offer to get back at Ross for him, saying that he was able to get the conceited blonde boy to back off on his own.
When the realization of what she was doing hit her in full, Luan's grip on the rope she held went slack, allowing the rope to unceremoniously fall out of her hand. "…Going against everything that I believe in when it comes to pulling pranks," Luan thought sadly. She couldn't believe that not only was she pull a prank out of revenge, but was also hoping a witness would record a video of what would have happened and posted it on the internet, something else that goes against what Luan believes in. Additionally, Luan realized that if Lincoln was able to effectively make Ross back off on his own, then the little brat wasn't really worth Luan's time and effort.
Looking down to her left, Luan spotted a stick that was propped up to support something; Luan had designed her intended prank so that if she needed to back out of actually carrying out the prank, she could just knock this stick out and the prank would collapse in on itself in a way that wouldn't harm anyone. The comedic Loud sister kicked the stick away, and aside from the noise of a few things falling against each other, no one in the park noticed anything; most people attributed the noise to a few dogs fighting each other.
With an ashamed look on her face, Luan turned around and slowly walked away, heading straight for home. However, what the comedic Loud sister failed to notice was that her younger brother had not only seen her, but also saw what she looked like she was about to do, as well as witness her doing what she actually did. Lincoln was surprised that Luan actually gave up on pulling a prank. He also saw the look on Luan's face.
The white-haired boy wondered if Luan just had an epiphany.
Later that evening, while Luan was organizing a few things for Funny Business in the Loud family garage, she heard the side door on the garage open. When she looked up to see who it was, Luan was surprised to see that it was Lincoln entering the garage. "Your mom told me about how you were in the garage doing something," the white-haired boy remarked. His words once again reminded Luan about how badly she and the rest of her family had botched things up when it came to caring about the sole Loud boy.
"Hey, Lincoln," Luan replied, her tone sounding defeated and a little lame, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"I found out about how you were going to prank Ross earlier," Lincoln began in a neutral tone, deciding that it was best if he cut to the chase, "I also saw you hiding behind the tree as you were waiting to pull that prank." Luan was not only surprised that she was spotted by her younger brother, but a little bit of the shame she was feeling earlier resurfaced. However, Lincoln then said, "I also saw you dismantle the prank before you even pulled it, before leaving the park entirely." Giving a bit of a wry look, Lincoln said, "It's not like you to give up on a prank. Care to explain?"
Luan figured that there was nothing to hide at this point, so with a resigned sigh she stood up from the box she was looking through. "I was still upset about how some jerk kid was bothering you, so I wanted to try to get back at him anyway," the comedic Loud sister began, "So after I talked to Ronnie Anne and told her what I had in mind, she showed me what Ross looked like in her copy of your school's yearbook before she wrote a fake love note from that Astrid girl she's friends with."
"Wait a minute," Lincoln interrupted, "Ronnie Anne wrote the fake love note that was used to fool Ross?"
With a bit of an embarrassed look on her face, Luan said, "Yeah. I even let her use a sheet from a pad of Funny Business stationary paper to write the note."
Arching an eyebrow as he looked at Luan, the white-haired boy remarked, "You do realize that you were giving yourself away by using some of your specialized stationary paper, right? Also, I'm going to have to have a talk with Ronnie Anne later."
"In her defense, she doesn't really like that Ross kid a lot either," Luan pointed out, "She agreed to help me with the prank mostly because she wanted to get back at that Ross kid for bothering that Astrid girl that she's friends with." With a defeated sigh, Luan continued, "But it doesn't matter. I gave up on even pulling the prank, so nothing is going to come of it."
"Yeah, I'm still curious about that," Lincoln said, "Why did you really give up on pulling that prank?"
"Because I realized that Ross wasn't really worth it," the comedic Loud sister began to explain, "That I was disrespecting your wishes on the matter, that why what I was intending to do would go against everything that I believe in when it comes to pulling-" Luan stopped short suddenly, a look of dawning realization on her face. "…Pranks," Luan said with clear guilt in her tone, "Just like what I've been doing every April fool's for the past few-" Luan once again stopped short, but for a reason that took her by surprise.
Lincoln had suddenly hugged her.
The comedic Loud sister was shocked beyond words that her little brother was actually show such a sign of caring about her. "…Do you know how long not just me, but the rest of your family, have been hoping you'd realize how you've been going too far every April first?" the white-haired boy said as he let go of Luan, "Not to mention the fact that you realized without me telling you that Ross isn't worth it, and that you ultimately respected my wishes on not going after him in revenge."
"…Lincoln…" Luan said, but she was cut off when Lincoln held a hand up in a gesture meant for her to let him finish speaking.
"But overall, you stopped yourself before you actually did anything because you realized that what you were intending to do, what you were about to do, went against who you are as someone who likes comedy," Lincoln said, "You prevented yourself from losing yourself. Not bad, Luan. Not bad at all."
Smiling a bit in appreciation, Luan simply replied, "Thanks, Lincoln." Seeing that Luan was still busy doing what she was up to in the garage, Lincoln offered to help her out, surprising Luan once again. However, Luan, after coming back to her senses, accepted Lincoln's offer.
Like hell she was going to miss out on trying to patch things up with her little brother.
The following day, Lori was sitting at the dining table, accompanied by Leni, Luna and Lynn. As the Loud girls drank coffee (Lori and Luna), a cola (Lynn) and a smoothie (Leni), their mom Rita walked into the dining room. When Lori asked her if she knew where Luan went off to, Rita replied, "Oh, she's performing at a kid's birthday party today."
"Wait a minute," Luna began, "I don't recall her asking any of us to assist her with the party. She always tries to rope one of us into the job."
With a bit of an amused look on her face, Rita explained, "Oh, she left with Lincoln."
Upon hearing what their mom said, the older Loud girls were all surprised. "Wait a minute," Lynn said, "I thought that Lincoln was swearing all of us off forever! Why would he willingly help Luan out with her thing?"
"Lincoln explained to me that he not only reconciled with Luan," Rita clarified, "But that he also managed to get her to permanently cut it out with the April fool's level pranks."
Once again, the older Loud girls were shocked, given that they were just told how Lincoln reconciled with Luan. They were also a little jealous as well, as it wasn't any of them that managed to patch things up with the sole Loud boy, and also they felt relieved that there wouldn't be any more April fool's level pranks. But more than anything else, the older Loud girls felt a bit more hopeful about their situation than they had previously.
END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER FOUR
Author's note:
I figured that with seeing such growth as a person out of Luan, along with the promise of no more April fool's level pranks ever and with seeing her keep herself from losing who she really was, would prompt Lincoln to reconcile with Luan; this puts things at two out of ten sisters reconciled with. Anyway, the next chapter will see Lincoln go to a familiar birthday party at a familiar fusion restaurant.