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 eleven: Changes in progress

Bobby Santiago, a Hispanic teen that's known for working many jobs, was looking up into the night sky in his hometown of Royal Woods, Michigan one early night as he sat cross-legged on the patio in his family's backyard. The stars had just started coming out, the air was cool…just inhaling through his nose gave the Santiago teen a sense that he was alive. Bobby opened his eyes after inhaling and exhaling, and as he looked up into the starry night sky once again, he couldn't help but wonder…would he have been able to enjoy nights such as this if he, his mother Maria and younger sister Ronnie Anne had moved in with their relatives in Great Lakes City?

Don't get Bobby wrong, he loves his family dearly. In fact, his questioning about the possible move had nothing to do with the Casagrandes; Great Lakes City was far noisier than Royal Woods, which meant that the Hispanic teen wouldn't have been able to enjoy nights such as this. Also, Great Lakes City was getting rather dangerous, what with the local violent youth gang running around, trying to make the city into their personal stomping grounds; there was also the issue of that violent vigilante, Broken Mirror, who went around killing the members of the gang.

Granted, neither the gang nor Broken Mirror have done anything in a while, so a relative peace had settled in Great Lakes City. But the fact that a violent and lethal vigilante is still technically operating in the city still remains. Furthermore, Bobby overheard Maria to her brother (Bobby's uncle) on the phone yesterday about some rather troubling developments in Great Lakes City as of late; the city's citizens of Hispanic heritage are on the receiving end of some less-than-stellar treatment from other racial groups, mostly just African Americans and Caucasians using race as an excuse to vent their frustrations with how Great Lakes City is being run.

Although the bulk of the danger in Great Lakes City seems to have faded out by this point, there was still that underlying hint of danger to address. And now racial tension is being mixed in? Gently shaking his head, Bobby looked up into the sky once again, letting out a resigned sigh. Given what was currently going on over in Great Lakes City, what with violent youth gangs running amok, dangerous vigilantes who took things to logical extremes, and now racial tension, the Hispanic teen was glad that his adorable little sister (Ronnie Anne is adorable no matter how many times she may try to deny it) was not growing up in such a hostile environment. Bobby feared that, with the environment being such a toxic influence over in the city, Ronnie Anne might develop something of a mean streak or, worse yet, become a bully.

Yes, Bobby decided with a gentle nod in the affirmative to himself. The choice to stay here in Royal Woods was a good one, as it was a far less toxic place. …But it still had its troubles, Bobby realized. With a regretful sigh, the teen who worked many jobs reflected upon what has recently happened with the Louds, the family that his beloved girlfriend Lori belongs to.

Roughly two months prior to Bobby's family deciding not to move after all, Lori's younger and only brother, Lincoln, ran away from home due to how four of his sisters were treating him at the time. It was to Bobby's great relief that Lori was not one of those four. However, Lori and the rest of the family were duped by the four sisters who Lincoln had named at Bobby's request into thinking that their mistreating of Lincoln was merely some sort of game. As such, the family members that were tricked still feel guilty over what had happened.

From what Lori had told Bobby on the matter, her family is in the process of trying to reconcile with the white-haired boy, in the hopes that they could all be a family once more. The last time that Bobby heard about any of that, Lincoln had so far reconciled with three of his sisters. Bobby hoped for the Louds' sake that they will all make up for what they had done to Lincoln, that he would be able to let go of what had happened, that at peace with himself.

It's going to be a slow and steady process for the Louds, but with three down so far, Bobby is liking the odds, especially considering how two of the three sisters that's reconciled with Lincoln are two of the four who compelled him to run away in the first place. That has got to be as good of a sign as any.

"Are you okay, Bobby?" a young female voice said from behind the Hispanic teen, making him turn and see his little sister Ronnie Anne standing there behind him, her form standing out against the open sliding glass door that led into the Santiago house's kitchen.

"It's nothing, Nie-Nie," Bobby replied. Turning back around, Bobby looked up into the starry night sky once again. "It's just…" Bobby went on, "…It's just that it sucks with how raw of a deal Lincoln got, what with him running away and why he did so."

"Yeah, I still wanna give each of Lincoln's responsible sisters a bloody nose," Ronnie Anne remarked in a mildly huffy tone as she sat down on the patio next to her older brother. With a chuckle, the Hispanic girl added, "While we're on the subject, I heard that Lincoln's younger sister who likes taking part in pageants tried to gouge out one of Lynn's eyes."

"Oh, I think that's Lola who you're talking about," Bobby remarked, "I'm not entirely sure myself, though. I'll ask Lori later if I remember." After that, the two Santiago siblings, older brother and younger sister, looked up into Royal Wood's beautiful starry night sky for a few moments before any of them said anything else.

"…Do you think he'll be okay, Bobby?" Ronnie Anne asked, more than a hint of concern in her tone, "You know, Lincoln."

"…To be honest, I have no clue, Nie-Nie," the teen who worked many jobs replied in a gentle, understanding tone, shaking his head gently as he did so, "But if what Lori's been telling me is correct, then Lincoln is on the right track to recovering."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Ronnie Anne said with an annoyed look on her face, "I still can't believe that Lame-o let both Luan and Lola off the hook."

With an understanding sigh, Bobby said, "Sis, this is the bro's deal that he has to work with. If he feels that one of his family members who wronged him has done enough to make up for their part in what happened, then he'll think he's ready to reconcile with said person."

"…" the Hispanic tomboy looked to the ground on her left, contemplating what her older brother had just said. Looking up from the ground and over to where Bobby sat, Ronnie Anne said, "…I still don't like what happened to Lincoln, though."

"Heh," Bobby chuckled in a mildly amused tone, "You really do like Lincoln, don't you?" As Ronnie Anne's face started to redden a bit out of embarrassment, Bobby went on in the same amused tone, "You know, Nie-Nie, there is this little thing that's known as double in-laws, which essentially says that even if Lori and I tie the knot, you and Lincoln can still-"

"BOBBY!" Ronnie Anne exclaimed, both her face and her tone clearly conveying that she was very much embarrassed by the teasing (that's what it clearly was) from Bobby. Turning around to see the look on his little sister's face, the Hispanic teen could not help but let out an amused laugh, which made Ronnie Anne blush with embarrassment even more than she already was.

The following day, Lincoln Loud was at the local park, sitting on one of the benches and trying to relax. Lincoln's younger sister Lola went with her white-haired older brother to the park so that she could play in on the jungle gym. Seeing his little sister having fun made Lincoln feel at peace. The white-haired boy let out a sigh; it was not content or resigned, but rather somewhere in between those two feelings.

As Lincoln relaxed, he heard some kids at something of a distance away, talking to each other. Looking over, Lincoln saw that it was two kids approximately his age; one was an African American girl, and the other was a Hispanic boy. The first words Lincoln was able to hear from that conversation was when the girl said, "…they leave Astrid alone already? I'm pretty sure that she made it clear that she doesn't like either of them."

"It takes forever for things to get through the thick skulls of jerks such as Chandler and Ross," the boy replied to his friend, his tone showing that he was agreeing with her.

Leaning back a bit more in his seat on the bench, Lincoln turned his head to face the direction his younger sister was in more directly. "Oh," Lincoln thought to himself, "They're talking about Chandler and Ross, and how they give Astrid the creeps." News like that was nothing new to the white-haired boy, so he was going to get back to relaxing. However, something that he heard the African American girl say caught his attention.

"Since we're on the subject of Chandler," the girl said to her friend, "Did you know that Chandler's dad and Francisco's dad are competing with each other for that head supervisor spot at the local sewage treatment plant where my mom works?"

With a confused look on his face, the boy said, "…Who's Francisco again?"

"He's this somewhat older kid who belongs to that baseball team that was discovered to have committed multiple instances of cheating a short while ago," the girl said as she began to explain, "From what I heard, Francisco himself didn't take part in any of the cheating." With a nod, the girl added, "I was at that game myself, since my older brother belonged to the team that opposed Francisco's team in that game. My brother was, and still kind of is, mildly annoyed at the fact that his team won by default when the other team's cheating was revealed."

"Oh!" the boy said in a tone of realization, "Now I remember who you're talking about! Yeah, to be honest, I'm not too sure if Francisco was telling the truth." With a gentle shake of his head, the boy continued, "So I'm guessing that things are going to develop into a sort-of Francisco vs. Chandler kind-of deal here?"

With a nod in the affirmative, the girl said, "From what I'm hearing about it, some boys from Francisco's baseball team got into trouble because of that video that someone took on their phone, and Chandler's already taking advantage of it." With a gentle shake of her head, the girl said, "If either Chandler or Francisco do something good or bad, it will reflect in an appropriate manner on their family. Their respective dads, to be particular."

"Yeah, I'm going to stay clear away from all of that, thank you very much," the boy remarked, "If those two end up ruining each other, then I want to steer clear of it." The girl nodded in agreement as she and her friend walked off to somewhere else. When the two kids were gone, Lincoln let out a sigh that clearly sounded like he was pondering what was going on.

The respective dads of Chandler and Francisco were competing with each other at work to get a new position, and that competition was trickling down to Chandler and Francisco themselves? If this meant that Chandler would leave him alone, then Lincoln would welcome it with open arms. The only concerns that the white-haired boy had in this was how it might affect Lynn; granted, Lincoln was still rather upset with his athletic ex-sister, but this deal with Chandler was going to involve Lynn's ex-crush. How would the proud athlete react when she hears that her ex-crush is going to have something of a rivalry with the one of the conceited sonsabitches that goes to the elementary school, same as Lincoln?

Knowing Lynn, she'd probably offer to pummel Chandler for Lincoln, and all that he would have to do was ask her. She might even throw in pummeling Francisco pro bono.

Shaking his head gently to rid his mind of that thought, Lincoln took his phone out to check the time. Seeing the time, Lincoln got up off of the bench. "Hey Lola!" Lincoln called out, "It's getting a bit late! We ought to be heading back!"

That evening over at the Loud family residence, Lincoln was sitting on the floor in Lori and Leni's room, as Lori had assembled all of the Loud kids for a meeting. "Okay everyone, this is literally the deal that we're working with right now," the oldest Loud sister said as she began the meeting, "My friends on the varsity golf team and I are still trying to convince Allison to join our team. Although only Leni, Luna, Luan and I go to Royal Woods High, thus putting us in the same school as Allison, if any of you have any ideas that can help, it would be really awesome."

"Why exactly do you want Anna's older sister to join the varsity golf team again?" Lola asked, a mildly confused look on her face as she raised a hand.

"Whenever the girls on the team and I can convince Allison to play a round with us, Allison literally scores nothing but holes in one," Lori replied, "I'm not sure if that's just skill or an obscene amount of luck, but if the team had a player like Allison, then there's literally no way that we would ever lose to the team of another school."

"…Isn't Allison the girl that you borrowed a specific golf club from a short while ago?" Lincoln asked, a curious look with a mild hint of suspicion on his face.

"Yes, Lincoln," Lori replied with a nod in the affirmative, "Allison is the person that I borrowed that golf club from.

"Isn't Allison also the older sister of me and Ronnie Anne's friend Astrid?" Lincoln went on.

"That's correct," Lori replied.

"…Maybe if Allison sees some of us getting along with her siblings," Lincoln began to explain, "Then she may be less opposed to joining the team. I mean, I'm friends with Astrid, and from what Lola has told me, she and Lana are friends with Astrid and Allison's sister Anna."

"Hmm," Lori began as she considered what Lincoln said, "That's literally not a bad idea at all, Lincoln. Thanks."

"And while we're on the subject of Allison and her siblings," Lincoln said, "I think that we might have to inform Allison about how there are these two boys at my school that keep flirting with Astrid, and that the flirting gives Astrid the creeps, and that regardless of what she tries, Astrid can't get either of the boys to leave her alone."

"Wait, I thought you said that Astrid has a crush on either Clyde or Zach," Luan remarked in a mildly confused tone.

"I'm not talking about either Clyde or Zach," Lincoln explained, "The boys that I'm talking about are those jerks Chandler and Ross."

After making a surprised sounding grunt, Lori said, "Wait a minute, there are TWO boys that are bothering Astrid?" Lincoln nodded in the affirmative to Lori's question. "Hmm," Lori continued, "From what I heard on the matter from Allison's brother Aggro, I assumed that there was only one boy who's been bothering Astrid, and Aggro told me he's taken care of the matter." Pulling out her smartphone, Lori said, "I'm going to need you all to literally give me a minute here. I'm going to call Allison."

Everyone watch as Lori dialed up a number, then as the call tried to go through, Lori held the phone to the right side of her head. "…Allison?" Lori said into her phone, "Yeah, it's me, Lori. …No, I'm not calling you in an attempt to get you to join the varsity golf team. The reason that I'm calling you is that I've just been informed by one of my siblings that there's apparently a second boy at Royal Woods Elementary School by the name of Ross who is bothering your younger sister Astrid with flirting that she isn't comfortable with. Are you aware of-"

The oldest Loud sister was cut off, and she had to hold her phone as far away as possible, as angry shouting erupted from the phone. The shouting clearly sounded female, and from a person roughly the same age as Lori. It also sounded like it came from a mighty and powerful warrior woman with very strong Viking-like undertones to it. When the shouting died down, Lori held the phone back to the right side of her head. "…We'll tackle this tomorrow," Lori remarked, "It's a bit late in the evening to do anything about it. …Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

After Lori ended the call, she slipped the phone back into her pocket then turned to face Lincoln. "…I'm guessing that Allison and her siblings didn't know about Ross," Lori remarked.

"Well Astrid did tell me that she was having trouble getting the point across to someone who can help her," the white-haired boy pointed out, "Although I think that Astrid had said that she has not told any of her older siblings yet."

"Well then," Lori remarked to the Loud kids as a whole, "Now that we got that part of this meeting out of the way, I believe that we need to go onto the next topic…"

After the meeting had ended, everyone filed out of the room aside from Lori and Leni, because the meeting took place in their room. As everyone left, Lincoln was met up by Luan and Lola. "I think I remember hearing Anna saying something about some boys in your grade have been bothering her older sister Astrid," Lola said to her older brother, "I'm guessing that what she was saying is true, then."

"Yeah," Lincoln remarked with a nod in the affirmative.

"If a boy was bothering any of us the way those two boys are bothering Anna's older sister," Lola continued, "Would you do anything about it?"

"Provided that I knew what was going on, yes," Lincoln replied, then to both Lola and Luan continued, "What Chandler and Ross have been doing is not something that I'd ever wish on either you or Lily. Or any of your sisters, for that matter. However, I have to know that it's happening, so if something like that pops up, let me know right away, alright?"

"Of course we'd talk about something like that if it was happening, Lincoln," Luan said, "These jerks Chandler and Ross that you're talking about sounds like total creeps. Unlike Benny, of course, because he's by no means like those two little jerks."

"Yeah, and Winston's a perfect gentleman," Lola added. As Lincoln, Lola and Luan made their way down the hallway, they bumped into Lynn, who had just come out of the bathroom. Upon seeing the athletic Loud girl, Lincoln remembered another part of what he had heard at the park earlier that day. A part that he was not quite sure how Lynn would react upon hearing. Well, there was only one way to check to see how his sporty ex-sister would react to the news.

"Hey, Lynn," the white-haired boy said, getting Lynn's attention.

"What's up, Lincoln?" Lynn asked, sounding a bit surprised that Lincoln was actually willingly talking to her right now, and for seemingly no reason.

"You remember what I brought up during the meeting a few minutes ago?" Lincoln began, "You know, about that Chandler guy at my school."

"…I take it that you want me to pummel him for you?" Lynn half-asked half-offered.

"No, no," Lincoln replied, "That's not it." With a bit of a resigned sigh, Lincoln continued, "When I was at the park earlier keeping an eye on Lola, I overheard these two kids saying that Chandler is getting into something of a rivalry with, well…him."

Gasping in a shocked tone that carried a hint of worry, Lynn said, "That little snot is going to try to mess with Ulfric?"

"No, no, not Ulfric," Lincoln replied with a gentle shake of his head, "I mean the guy that you used to like before you started liking Ulfric."

Lynn's expression turned from one of worry to one of indifference. "…Oh," the sporty Loud girl said in an indifferent tone, "You mean Francisco." With a gentle shake of her head, Lynn asked, "Well why didn't you just say so, Lincoln?"

"Given what you did to Lori when she said his name out loud the last time…" Lincoln remarked in a knowing tone.

"Oh yeah, that," Lynn replied, sounding and looking a bit sheepish, "Well, I…I was in a really bad mood that day because of what had happened. I'm over what that cheating enabler did, as well as the jerk himself. Besides which, I've got a new boy at my school who I'm focused on." Giving Lincoln a curious look, Lynn asked, "Why would you worry so much about me when it comes to this bit of news, Lincoln?"

"Since this matter involves your previous crush, I'm worried that it might have had some sort of an impact on you," the white-haired boy replied, "I wouldn't want to see you suffer again like you did the day you came back from the game that day."

Lincoln's words made the athletic Loud girl feel a bit guilty, given that Lincoln still hasn't forgiven her yet for her part in driving him to run away. Even so, they also touched Lynn's heart, while also giving her just a bit of confidence that Lincoln will one day acknowledge her as his sister once more. With a small yet appreciative smile, Lynn said, "Thanks, Lincoln."

The white-haired boy didn't say anything, although he did nod in acknowledgement of Lynn's response. After that, Luan and Lola went off to their respective bedrooms to go to bed. When they were gone, Lincoln turned back around to face Lynn. "…We ought to take a cue from them and go to bed," the white-haired boy said to his ex-older sister.

Lynn nodded in the affirmative, happy that her younger brother was, however briefly it may have been for because he has yet to actually reconcile with her, acknowledging her once again. The sporty Loud girl walked over to the bedroom she shared with Lucy and, standing in the doorway, watched as Lincoln continued to make his way down the hall to his bedroom. Lynn had no idea how she would do so, but she swore to herself that she would, no matter how long it would end up taking her, eventually become Lincoln's sister again.

END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER ELEVEN

Author's note:

The addition of the OC Ross and the change in the order in which Lincoln reconciles with his sisters has had a noticeable difference here, but I feel that the spirit's more or less still the same. Anyway, next time there will be some familiar development for Lori as she helps to put an end to the harassment a certain mixed-heritage eleven-year-old girl is receiving, although she and her friend will be confronting someone new.

Different problem, different brat, same friend, same outcome.