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 eight: Familiar Development

Lincoln Loud was working on some homework one day after he and some of his ex-sisters got home from RWES. Even with the amount of school that he had missed due to having run away to Great Lakes City a while ago, his homework this day actually provided the white-haired boy with very little challenge, if any at all. Having finished the last of his homework, which was a ten-question bit concerning American history in the early half of the 1940's, Lincoln put all of his stuff into his backpack. As they were also working on their own homework at the table, Lucy and the twins Lola and Lana saw that their older brother had finished before any of them.

"Wow, Lincoln," Lana remarked in an impressed tone, "You certainly breezed through that."

"I think that Lisa once said something about why one of the reasons she seldom ever helps Lincoln with his schoolwork is because she believes that he's more than capable of doing his homework on his own," Lucy said.

"Huh," Lola remarked in a mildly bemused tone, "Lisa admitted that she isn't the only smart person in the house. Who would have guessed that would have ever happened?"

"Girls, lay off of Lisa," Lincoln remarked, his tone carrying a very mild amount of sternness that was mixed with a dash of finding some amount of humor in how the younger girls were acting. After he zipped his backpack closed, the white-haired boy began to say in an attempt to make conversation, "So girls, I don't suppose that any of you know why Lori went through all of that trouble to borrow that specific golf club from that Allison girl at her school?"

"Are you talking about Argent's older sister Allison?" Lucy asked, mentioning her and Rocky's friend Argent Ace; if what Lucy is implying is true, then Argent is apparently related to some girl named Allison. After Lincoln nodded in the affirmative to answer Lucy's question, the gothic Loud girl replied, "I wasn't paying too much attention to what Lori was talking about since she was going on about stuff related to the varsity golf team that she belongs to, but I believe that Lori said something about believing that particular golf club to be lucky."

"…Lucky, you say?" Lincoln repeated in a mildly unamused deadpan; due to the reason concerning why he ran away to Great Lakes City a while ago, the white-haired boy was not in any mood to deal with or listen about anything having to do with any sort or amount of luck, good or otherwise.

With an indifferent shrug, Lucy said as she gently shook her head, "I personally don't see what the big deal is. From what I saw, it looked like just a plain old four-iron golf club with a dark reddish-brown handle. Nothing too fancy or whatever. I wouldn't be surprised if Lori had a similar golf club of her own."

"It must be some sort of golf thing," Lana stated, "And since it's a golf thing, I say that we should leave that kind of business to Lori and dad." With a bit of a chuckle, the tomboyish Loud twin added, "I still think it's kind of funny how Lori's better at golf than dad, even though he was the one who introduced Lori to the game."

Really, now? Mr. Loud has been surpassed in something that he introduced one of his kids to? Lincoln wondered how his ex-father felt about that. But it was another subject for another time. Gathering what little stuff he had with him, Lincoln remarked in a cool yet neutral tone, "Well then, if that's the case, then Mr. Loud really needs to improve his game." Hearing their older brother refer to their dad as 'Mr. Loud', rather than as his and their dad, made the three younger girls sitting at the table feel regret.

"…Lincoln," Lola began, her nervous tone clearly carrying a hint of regret, "I know that you're still really-" The pageant-winning Loud sister found herself cutoff midsentence when a phone that was lying on the table went off, indicating that a call was coming in. The phone's ringing caught the attention of Lincoln and his ex-sisters that were at the table, especially considering that it was Lori's phone.

"Nobody move," Lana said, sounding as if she and her siblings that were present were dealing with a bomb that they had to diffuse, "If we go anywhere near that, Lori will turn all of us into human pretzels!" One couldn't blame Lana and the present Loud sisters for freaking out; after all, their oldest sister did have a reputation of threatening the other Loud siblings into staying away from her stuff. As a matter of fact, touching Lori's phone was a particularly bad offence as far as the oldest Loud sibling was concerned; a prank that Luan pulled this one time ended up teaching that lesson to the comedic Loud sister the hard way.

While the younger Loud girls were alarmed by Lori's phone going off and fearing what would happen to them if any of them were to touch it, Lincoln just stared at it. When the girls first started to freak, Lincoln's hardened persona from Great Lakes City at first made Lincoln bitter and uncaring about any potential punishment that Lori could have inflicted on him; in fact, if Lori actually tried anything at all, Lincoln was thinking of doing to her what he did to Chandler and Ross, that being exude his Killing Intent to make her back off.

Then Lincoln remembered the dream he had a few nights ago. The dream where he killed Lori.

Regardless of how he felt on any matter, Lori's phone going off was going to be a distraction. Hoping that his having recently returned home will allow him some leeway, Lincoln grabbed Lori's phone and got up from the table. "I'm going to bring this to her," Lincoln remarked as he held the still-ringing phone.

The present Loud girls, seeing their brother holding that which no one is ever allowed to touch, instantly became alarmed. "No, don't do it!" Lola practically exclaimed, very clearly fearing for her older brother's safety.

"Lola's right, Lincoln," Lana said, "Lori is totally going to destroy you if she sees you holding her phone!"

Lincoln, as he proceeded to leave the dining room to head up to Lori and Leni's room, simply replied, "I don't think it will be that bad."

Lori was laying on her bed in her and Leni's room, having just returned from RWHS. The previous Saturday, she and the rest of the varsity golf team at her school played against the varsity golf team of a rival school. Lori's team won the game rather handily, especially since Lori played a flawless game, scoring only holes-in-one the entire day. The oldest Loud sibling still literally couldn't believe that she played a flawless game, something that she heard hardly ever occurred, even for the best of golf players in the world; was the four-iron golf club that Lori borrowed from Allison Ace, a fellow RWHS student who Lori and her friends on the golf team have been trying to recruit for quite some time because she always scored only holes-in-one whenever she was convinced to join them for a game, really that lucky? Since it was literally the only golf club that Lori used that day, she was beginning to think so. As the oldest Loud sibling contemplated this idea, there was a knock at the door, with a bit of what Lori thought sounded like a ringing phone. "Who is it?" Lori called out.

"It's me," Lincoln's voice called out in response from behind the bedroom door. About a second later, the bedroom door opened, revealing the white-haired boy standing there while he was holding Lori's ringing smartphone. "You left your phone on the table," Lincoln explained as he walked into the room to hand over Lori's phone, "It went off while I was finishing up the last of my homework, so I figured that I'd bring it to you."

Right away, Lori instinctively felt annoyed that one of her siblings was touching one of her belongings without her permission, even more so because Lori's possession in question was her much beloved phone. However, the oldest Loud sibling stopped herself short because the sibling in question is Lincoln; due to her part in driving Lincoln away in the first place, Lori was already on thin ice with her little brother.

That status of being on thin ice with Lincoln was two-part; the first part that, back in Great Lakes City after Lincoln was found lying passed out on the sidewalk outside then sub sequentially brought into the Casagrande family's apartment, when Bobby questioned Lincoln about why he ran away, Lincoln withheld any and all information that might have prompted the Santiago teen to break up with Lori. Her in-tact relationship with her Boo-Boo Bear was a miracle that Lori feared her younger brother might very well revoke if he's given sufficient reason to do so.

The second part is that, shortly after a birthday party that was hosted at Odin-Dono's for a friend of Ronnie Anne's, Bobby told Lori (in confidence) that Lincoln told him and his friend Aggro about the dream that he (Lincoln) had, the one supposedly about a Scottish girl and her arsonist pet bunny. As it turned out, that dream of Lincoln's was actually about him killing her (Lori) in cold blood. While Lincoln was missing in Great Lakes City, some of the Loud sisters feared that their only brother was mad enough so that he'd want to kill at least one of them; Lori, upon being told the truth about that dream of Lincoln's, felt that the aforementioned fears of her younger sisters might actually have some claims of legitimacy.

Carefully and while taking a breath to steady herself, Lori caught herself before she accidentally blew her lid at Lincoln, lest she do something that might come back to bite her in the rear later. "Thank you, Lincoln," the oldest Loud sister said in a gentle and appreciative tone as she held her hand out to receive her smartphone, "I literally have to put it back on its charger soon anyway. I'll do that when I'm done with the call."

"You might want to also consider adding apologizing to the girls to your to-do list," Lincoln added as he handed Lori's smartphone over to her.

Lori, with a confused and mildly curious look on her face, repeated, "Apologize?"

"Lucy and the twins were sitting with me at the table when your phone went off, given that they were doing their own homework as well," Lincoln began to explain, "The instant that your phone went off, they all acted like your phone was a bomb that they had to diffuse. Lana is even afraid that you'll inflict grievous bodily harm onto her and the others just because we were all near your phone when it went off."

"…Oh," Lori remarked, her subdued tone resonating with guilt. Looking like she had been humbled, the oldest Loud sister asked, "Umm, Lincoln, can you do me a favor and tell the girls that I'd like to talk to them when I'm done with my call? And by the girls I mean all nine of them, not just Lucy and the twins. I'd also like it if you joined the girls as well. Until then, could you let me take this call?"

"Alright," Lincoln replied, respecting Lori's request to take the call. Lincoln took his leave, closing the door behind him and leaving Lori alone. The white-haired boy was mildly confused by the humbled aura his oldest ex-sister was giving off, but he figured that it was related to guilt on Lori's part for her contribution to driving him to run away. Leaving Lori be, Lincoln made his way to his room to relax for a bit.

…

As it turned out, it was Allison who was calling Lori. The two girls talked for a bit, with Allison asking about how the golf game that took place the previous Saturday went, and then the two girls told one another that they would see each other later before Lori hung up. After she set her smartphone back into its charger, Lori laid out on her bed and just looked up at the ceiling, with a bit of a drained feeling washing over her.

The oldest Loud sibling was going over in her head how she very nearly blew her lid at Lincoln earlier, but had managed to catch herself before she did something that she would regret. Lori was also going over what Lincoln said in regards to some of the youngest of the Loud girls freaking out due to being in close proximity of her phone when it went off, especially what he said concerning Lana's fears.

The tomboyish Loud twin was already suffering from something of a problem when it came to her having nightmares, something that Lori knows full well since Lana, whenever she would wake up from a nightmare, would promptly seek Lori out for comfort, to tell her about the nightmare she had in hopes Lori would help make her feel better. But if what Lincoln said was true, then Lana may stop seeking her out upon waking from nightmares, mostly because Lori herself would be one of Lana's nightmares.

It was a rather sobering thought for the oldest Loud sibling.

And it wasn't just Lana who had reason to fear her either, Lori realized as she sat up on her bed. Due to how she acted in the past, Lori had a very good reason to believe that all of her siblings might be afraid of her. The oldest Loud sibling certainly hadn't given Lincoln and the girls any reason to think otherwise for the past…pfft, must have been years at this point. Years since Lori first became the kind of girl that she is today, years since the day that she ceased to be that nerdy, awkward loser in her tween years.

Still, Lori knew what she had to do. She knew before she even did it that it was going to be a rather awkward affair, and Lori had no doubt that some of her siblings will be calling her out on being so damn late to the act. But it was, as far as Lori was able to tell, a really good step in the right direction.

The direction of repairing her relationship with her siblings.

"I'm sorry."

The ten youngest Loud kids collectively looked at their older sister as she stood in front of all of them, her head bowed in a display of apology. None of the girls, from Lily to Leni, could make heads or tails of what Lori was doing. Lincoln, the sole boy among the group, was curious as to what Lori had in mind, so he wanted to see where this was going.

"You're…sorry?" Luan asked, a curious and mildly confused look on her face, "What are you saying sorry for?"

"Everything," Lori replied as she spoke in a resigned, regretful tone, "Everything that I did over the past couple of years or so. All of the yelling at you, all of the threats, all of the using my status as oldest to get what I want, just…just all of it." The other Loud girls all exchanged mild looks of surprised confusion with each other. Lincoln himself was finding himself to be just as surprised as well; Lori was apologizing for everything?

"Does this include the time that you beat me with a loaf of bread when I thought that there wasn't any left and I told you as such?" Lynn asked, an eyebrow arched in suspicion.

"And the time that you blamed me for taking your lipstick when it was actually Lucy who took it because she was trying to make herself look pretty to impress Rocky?" Lola asked as she put her hands on her hips, her tone similar to the one that Lynn was using.

"And how the time that you sabotaged one of Leni's many attempts to get her driver's license?" Lucy added, her tone sounding rather accusing.

"Wait a minute, Lucy," Lincoln began, looking over to his gothic little sister as he was surprised to hear her say what she said, "How did you find out about that?"

"I have my sources," Lucy replied simply. Turning back to face Lori, Lucy continued, "But seriously. Are you also sorry for what I'm talking about?"

"And for kicking me out of that party you threw that one time?" Luan asked.

"And for still not getting me that dress?" Leni added.

"And for-" Luna began, but she was cut off before she could finish.

"YES!" Lori exclaimed, tears streaming down the sides of her face. Lincoln and the girls were all caught by surprise by Lori's sudden exclamation, which made them lean back as if they had all hit by a great force of wind that was pushing them back. "I'm sorry for everything that I did!" Lori continued, "For trying to keep driving privileges to myself, for all of the human pretzel threats, for being way too hard about no one going into my room even though it's not just my room!" The oldest Loud sibling then fell to her knees and covered her face with her hands as she started to cry. "I'm just sorry!" Lori sobbed.

If the other Loud siblings were surprised by Lori suddenly apologizing for how mean she was to them over the past few years, then they were blown out of the water entirely by Lori breaking down and crying in front of them. Even so, some of the more vindictive of the sisters weren't going to let Lori off the hook so easily. "Well, Lori," Luna began in a mildly bitter tone, crossing her arms over her chest as she spoke, "Given a lot of what you've done to the rest of us over the years, I don't think that-" Luna was interrupted when she, Lori and the other Loud girls all heard someone clap in applause. Turning their heads in the appropriate direction, the girls saw that it was Lincoln who was applauding.

His expression showing that he was mildly but pleasantly surprised, Lincoln said, "This is a step in the right direction, Lori. Granted, this on its own isn't going to be enough to make up for everything, but it's as good of a start as you can make. Not bad." The sisters aside from Lori were forced to take pause; some of them, especially the more belligerent ones, were ready to tear Lori a new one for her past actions against them. But since their brother, who is arguably the one with the most reason to be upset with Lori, was applauding her, the other sisters felt that they couldn't continue with what they had planned.

The other sisters aside from Lori, having been humbled by Lincoln's actions, all said various bits to Lori that went along the lines of 'try to be careful next time', then they all dispersed throughout the house to do their own thing. As he went up the stairs, Lincoln was met up by Lola, Lana, Lucy and Lisa. "You seriously gave Lori a thumbs-up for that?" Lola asked, a look of mild curiosity on her face.

Nodding a bit in the affirmative, Lincoln explained to his younger ex-sisters as a whole, "I could tell that Lori was being sincere. I believe that we all ought to give her a chance to prove that she's sorry for how she's acted."

"Does that mean you're okay with Lori again?" Lana asked, a curious look on her face.

With a gentle headshake, Lincoln replied, "Heh. Sorry, but that's a no, Lana. Remember that I said that Lori's apology on its own isn't going to be enough to make up for everything." Turning around, Lincoln proceeded to head up the stairs, but he paused after getting a few steps away from the younger Loud sisters.

"…Even so," Lincoln added before he continued on his way, "It's still a pretty good start."

A few days later, Lincoln and his ex-sisters who attend RWES got home after school that day. As some of the sisters were taking their backpacks off, Lola noticed that Lisa hadn't immediately rushed up to her and Lily's room, something that the brainy Loud sister was normally known to do after arriving home from school. "Hey, Lisa," Lola began as she regarded her younger sister, "Don't you have some sort of science stuff to do in your room?"

"I do indeed have an experiment or two that I'm aiming to work on," Lisa began as she sat her backpack down, opened it, and pulled out a yearbook, "But that's beside the point." Flipping through the pages of the yearbook she had pulled out, Lisa eventually came to what she was looking for. "Aha, here we go," Lisa said. Looking up from her yearbook, Lisa asked Lincoln and the other girls, "Are any of you familiar with a Hugo Ashveil, who attends Royal Woods Elementary School with us?"

"I'm familiar with him," Lincoln replied to Lisa, getting all of the girls that were present to regard him. "Shortly before my 'extended vacation', I saw Ronnie Anne stop a second-grade boy from picking on a boy in Kindergarten," Lincoln explained, "The boy that Ronnie Anne saved from bullying was that Hugo kid that you're asking about." Giving his brainy ex-sister a curious look, the white-haired boy asked, "Why do you ask, Lisa? Isn't Hugo in your class? You ought to know him more than any of us."

"Logically, that would be a correct assumption to make," Lisa stated, "However, from what my friend Darcy has told me on the matter, that Hugo fellow…doesn't leave all that much of an impression on anyone. Basically, people often have trouble telling that Hugo's even there."

"Oh, sort of like how we occasionally have trouble telling if Lucy's here or not?" Lana asked as she raised a hand.

"Oh ha, ha," Lucy replied, her usual emotionless monotone carrying a hint of annoyance.

"That's…not exactly the point that I'm trying to make here, Lana," Lisa continued, "This Hugo boy is not only invisible to pretty much everyone else at school, but he seems to like things being that way, seems to like not having friends." Her face showing more than a hint of concern, the brainy Loud sibling said, "Hugo…kind of reminds me of how I used to be a while ago, and it has me concerned."

Lisa's older siblings couldn't believe what they were hearing out of her. Lisa, their stoic, near-immoral scientist of a sister, was not only sympathizing with someone in her class that she was hardly even aware of, but she actually wants to help said person? With seemingly nothing for her to gain out of this? The twins and Lucy could only stare blankly Lisa, unable to properly form coherent thoughts. Lincoln, the sole boy among their number, was a different matter however.

At first, at the absolute beginning of Lisa confessing how she felt concern for that random boy in her class, the white-haired boy was a smidge ticked off. Lisa was showing this level of concern for someone she hardly even knew, yet back when all of that bad luck nonsense that drove him (Lincoln) to run away was going on, Lisa sided with the other sisters within quick order. From this, Lincoln couldn't help but draw the conclusion that, as far as Lisa was concerned, her own older brother had less priority than a complete and total stranger. Feh, some genius Lisa turned out to be. Lincoln was just about to state his thoughts on this matter to the supposed genius four-year-old, but he stopped himself short when he remembered something rather important.

Lisa, regardless of how smart she may be, is still just a four-year-old child. Kids that age are still trying to learn all the odds and ends about what's right and what's wrong, and as such, their judgment doesn't tend to be the best in the world. That being said, Lincoln supposed that Lisa falling for the whole bad luck nonsense from a while ago might, to a certain extent, be excusable. Besides, with this display of empathy that she was showing, Lisa was showing that she's starting growing up, that she was staring to learn about all of those odds and ends. There's just something about seeing some of the very little people (i.e. young kids) in one's family grow up that makes one's heart swell with pride.

With a small but gentle smile, Lincoln walked up to Lisa, knelt down, and gently laid a hand on her head, giving her hair a bit of a ruffle. Speaking out loud, the white-haired boy remarked, "I'm glad to see that you're growing up, Lisa. Showing this level of empathy for others proves that you're beginning to mature more as a person." With a simple nod, Lincoln added, "I'm glad that I was around to see it happen."

"Umm…thanks," the genius four-year-old replied, taken back a bit by the words of praise from her older brother. Words of praise that made her feel a bit guilty for her part in driving said older brother to the point of running away a while ago. The brainy Loud sibling really wished that she had this level of empathy that Lincoln said she was showing, along with the appropriate level of foresight, to tell that what she and her sisters were doing would have ended up having the results that they ended up having. "Umm, Lincoln," Lisa began, sounding mildly nervous, "Can I also take some time here to-"

"You're still concerned about Hugo, right?" Lincoln asked, interrupting Lisa in the process. Standing up, Lincoln continued, "Then you, and maybe your friend Darcy if she's up for it, ought to invite Hugo to hang out with you. Hanging around with others who he can trust should do wonders with helping him break out of his shell." Lisa was a bit disappointed that she had been cut off before she was able to apologize, to act on the epiphany that she just had concerning how she contributed to her older brother's past suffering.

But still, if Lincoln himself was encouraging her to go through with trying to reach out to Hugo Ashveil, Lisa could not help but wonder…was Lincoln starting to ease up on her for her part in driving him away? The brainy Loud sibling knew full well that her maturation in this matter, on its own, wasn't going to be enough to let her reconcile with her older brother. But, as it was with Lori's apologetic display a few days ago, Lisa couldn't help but wonder if this was this a step in the right direction for her. "Seriously, Lisa," Lincoln continued, "I think that you should go for it. Extend an olive branch to Hugo the next time you see him."

"Why should Lisa give that Hugo kid an olive branch, Lincoln?" Lola asked.

"He was using a metaphor, sis," Lana explained in something of an unamused monotone, and with a matching expression.

The following day during recess over at RWES, Lincoln was hanging out with his friends Clyde and Rusty; Liam did something that got him detention during recess, and Zach ate something that gave him a mild allergic reaction so he had to go to the nurse's office. "So, dudes, it's like I have been saying this whole time," Rusty said as he was finishing up telling something that he was saying to Lincoln and Clyde, "If you want to get a girl to like you, then the first thing that you have to do is-"

"LINCOLN!" a panicked younger girl's voice cried out, cutting Rusty off midsentence. Within short order, Lincoln and his friends saw Lola come running up to them. "Lincoln, there are these three fifth-grade boys that are fighting Lana three-on-one!" Lola cried.

"WHAT?!" Lincoln exclaimed, clearly alarmed.

Nodding a few times, Lola continued, "Yeah. Those three fifth-grade boys were picking on some kid in Kindergarten, but Lana stepped in and told them to buzz off, and they got angry at her, and now they're fighting her!"

"Yeah, you stay right here, Lola" Lincoln instructed his pageant winning ex-sister; despite still not considering any of his elementary school-aged Loud girls as his sisters, the white-haired boy was not going to stand by while one of them gets beaten by three boys in his grade. Lincoln proceeded to head off in the direction that he and his friends saw Lola come running from, with Clyde and Rusty following him. Within short order, the three boys came to a scene that was happening on the playground, as a group of kids were crowded around whatever it was.

"Hey, Lana!" Lincoln called out, his tone showing he was ready to confront the older boys picking on the tomboyish Loud twin, "Are…you…huh?" Lincoln trailed off, and his tone changed to one of complete bafflement, as he and his friends saw the result of the fight where Lana took on three fifth-grade boys; Lana was standing there, a slight bruise on the side of her face but nothing more beyond that, dusting off her hands as Ross and his two goons laid on the ground behind her, all clearly beaten, unable to take anymore punishment. Did…did Lana, a girl in first grade, really just win a three-on-one fight against fifth graders?

Looking up, Lana said, "Oh, hey, Lincoln." Jerking a thumb over her shoulder, Lana said, "Yeah, these three jerks were being jerks, so I decided to set them straight." Lincoln, Clyde and Rusty once again looked over to where Ross and his two goons laid on the ground in defeat, then looked back to Lana.

"Lola…told me that these boys here were trying to bully a kid in Kindergarten," Lincoln began, his tone showing that he was very much surprised by the fact that three boys in his grade lost a fight on the playground to a lone first-grade girl, and that it was leaving him rather confused, "Is that true?"

"Oh yeah, that," Lana replied, "It was some boy that I didn't recognize." Pointing in the direction of the school building, Lana continued, "He ran off to the school building as soon as I started giving the three jerks behind me a lesson. I think that-"

"Hey Lana!" Lisa's familiar voice called out, cutting Lana off in the process and making her, Lincoln, Clyde and Rusty turn to see Lisa come running up, accompanied by her friend Darcy Helmandollar. "Lana, what is going on here?" Lisa asked.

"It's like I telling Lincoln and his friends just now, these three jerks were being jerks, so I set them straight," Lana replied as she jerked a thumb over her shoulder again. Looking over slightly, Lisa saw where Ross and his two goons were laying on the ground, with at least one of them just starting to pick themselves back up.

Turning back to her older sister, Lisa said in a tone of disbelief, "You beat up three boys that are in the fifth grade…by yourself."

"Hey Lisa, I'm just as surprised as you are," Lincoln remarked with a shrug, "Maybe all of that alligator wrestling that Lana has done is paying off for her."

"Your older sister wrestles alligators?" Darcy said to Lisa, then added in a concerned tone, "She doesn't wrestle cats, does she? Because I can't stand the idea of cats being hurt."

"Cats are nowhere near enough of a challenge for me," Lana remarked to Lisa's friend, "Don't worry, kid." After gently rubbing the slight bruise on her face, Lana said, "Well anywho, those three guys were bullying some Kindergarten boy, so I decided to step in." Pointing to the school building again, Lana said to Lisa and Darcy, "I saw that Kindergarten boy run into the school crying, if you're interested in trying to follow him."

"I suppose that Darcy and I checking on our fellow classmate would be logical, given the circumstances," Lisa replied. Turning to face Darcy, Lisa said, "I'm afraid that Hugo is going to have to wait, Darcy. We have a bullied student in our class to check up on." Darcy nodded in agreement with Lisa before the two of them ran to the school building to try and find their bullied classmate. After the two Kindergarten girls had disappeared into the school building, Lincoln and his friends turned back to face Lana.

Seeing the confused looks that she was getting from her older brother and his friends, Lana asked, "What's up?" In response to Lana's question, Lincoln and his friends proceeded to clap in applause, confusing the tomboyish Loud twin in the process.

A few days later, Lincoln and the younger Loud girls got back from their classes at RWES. As they were enjoying some snacks, Lisa regaled her siblings with what she and Darcy had been up to as of late. As it turned out, it was that Hugo boy who was being bullied by Ross and his goons; Lisa and Darcy's teacher advised the two girls to give Hugo a bit of time to himself, but she also encouraged the two girls to continue trying to reach out to Hugo the next day, due to how shy he was. As it currently stands, Lisa and Darcy had successfully reached out to Hugo, helped to break him out of his shell, and can now count him as a good friend.

As the brainy Loud sister continued with a story about how she, Darcy, Hugo and Lisa's crush David teamed up for a group project in class, the other elementary school-aged Loud girls listened on while Lincoln merely nodded in a manner that conveyed that he approved of Lisa's developing into a more mature human being. Granted, the white-haired boy still felt a smidge bitter about what went down back when all of that bad luck nonsense was going down, and how it compelled him to run away. He also still felt some resentment towards Lisa for her role in driving him to the point that he ran away.

…But then again, Lisa is still just a four-year-old, so you've got to figure. And Lincoln did feel guilty about throwing Lisa, along with Lola and Luan, under the bus the way that he did. Lisa's maturation, her growth as a person, on its own wasn't going to be enough to let her reconcile with Lincoln. But, as it was with Lori's apologetic display from a few days ago, it was a step in the right direction.

END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER EIGHT

Author's note:

I've said it before, and I'll say it again; there's a big difference between being intelligent and being mature, and Lisa, a genius four-year-old, is a good example of that in my opinion. It's also going to take more than simple growth/maturation as a person to let Lori and Lisa reconcile with Lincoln. But they are steps in the right direction, and Lincoln can still appreciate the efforts that two of his ex-sisters are trying to make. Anyway, the next chapter is going to see Lincoln get one step closer to reconciling with his family as a whole.

Not two. One.