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 thirteen: Tired Athlete, part one
Lincoln Loud was sitting in the living room of his ex-family's house one day in Royal Woods, Michigan. He was skimming through a comic book while Lily, Lola and Luan, the only family members who the white-haired boy had reconciled with so far, were watching something on TV. Lincoln wasn't even paying attention to what the girls were watching, but the white-haired boy highly doubt that it was something other than a show that was along the lines of 'The Dream Boat', a show that even Lincoln himself enjoyed.
When the show went to commercial break, the girls started talking amongst themselves. Well, Lola and Luan started to talk amongst themselves; Lily rolled over onto her back on the floor while trying to stick her left foot into her own mouth. "Hey Luan," Lola began, "Has anything interesting happening lately?"
"Lynn mentioned something about student body elections at Royal Woods Middle School," Luan began to explain, "I don't too know much beyond that, but I'm pretty sure that we can ask Lynn when she gets back from wherever it was that she went off to."
"Student body elections?" Lola repeated, her tone making it clear she was confused.
"Imagine if Royal Woods Middle School was the United States," Luan remarked, "And the students taking part in the student body elections are presidential candidates."
"…So, whoever wins the student body elections at Lynn's school becomes president of the students at the school?" Lola asked.
"Sort of," Luan replied while making the so-so gesture with her right hand, "Although it's a bit more complicated than that. Oh!" With a nod showing that she just remembered something, the comedic Loud sister continued, "Lynn did say that her friend Margo is running for student body president. Lynn also said that she and some of her and Margo's friends plan to-" The comedic Loud sister found herself cut off midsentence when the front door of the Loud family's house was thrown open, seeing Margo, Maya, Paula, Diane, Ulfric and a very clearly steamed Lynn walk into the house.
"What in the hell does that bastard think he's doing?!" Lynn nearly exclaimed at the top of her lungs, "He's got some nerve!"
"Relax, Lynn," Margo said in a reassuring tone, hoping to calm down her friend, "There's no way that I can lose the elections to him, not with you, the rest of the girls here and Ulfric backing me up."
"She's got a point," Ulfric remarked to the sporty Loud sister, "And keep in mind that he still carries some of the stigma that resulted from when his team was disqualified from that one baseball game where they played against your team. I highly doubt that a lot of the students at our school will trust him."
Having heard the commotion that the various middle-schoolers were making, Lincoln and his three sisters looked over to see what was going on. "Hey Lynn," Lincoln called out, getting Lynn and her friends to turn and see Lincoln, Lily, Luan and Lola, "What's going on here? You guys sound like something dumb just happened."
"That's because something dumb did just happen, Lincoln," Lynn replied, "That jerk Francisco is running in the student body elections at Royal Woods Middle School!"
"Really?" Lincoln said, surprised to hear of this turn of events. From what the white-haired boy could remember about him, Francisco did not seem like he'd be the kind of person to do something like compete in a student body election. Might Francisco's budding rivalry with Chandler have something to do with this?
"Well here's hoping that Margo creams him in the primaries," Lola said, pumping a fist into the air, "Jerks like Francisco are jerks!"
Chuckling a bit in an amused manner that carried a hint of appreciation for the support, Margo replied, "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Lynn's little sister."
"Is anyone else running in the student body elections?" Lincoln asked.
"A boy named Jack and a girl named Kendra," Paula replied, "And every person running besides myself has someone running with them as a running mate."
"You haven't picked your running mate yet, Margo?" Luan asked, looking a bit confused.
"Well I was thinking about asking Lynn if she was game," Margo remarked. Patting the sporty Loud sister on the shoulder, Margo continued, "I'm going to need all the backup I can get, and a girl as tough as Lynn sounds like the perfect backup to have."
"Ha, you flatter me," Lynn remarked, letting out a self-amused chuckle. Pounding a fist into her hand, Lynn continued, "Don't worry about a thing, Margo. You're going to cream that bastard in the primaries, just like Lola said."
"Okay, you guys," Paula said to her friends as she clapped her hands together, "We've got to plan out how Margo's going to win this thing!"
"You mean establish her campaign platform?" Lola asked.
"Yeah, that," Paula replied as she pointed in a commending manner at her younger sister. The six middle schoolers then went upstairs to one of the bedrooms to discuss the plan for Margo's bid to win the student body elections. After they were all gone, Lincoln and his sisters turned back around to face each other, aside from Lily who actually fell asleep.
"Wow, student body elections," Luan said, "Sounds like fun."
"Better you than me," Lincoln remarked dryly, "Sorry, but stuff like that just doesn't sound like my cup of tea. I don't really see myself as much of the type of person to run for any sort of office." Stretching a bit, the white-haired boy continued, "That's not to say that I'm not going to give support to Lynn's friend, though. And if the alternative is Chandler's new rival winning, then yeah, I'll be rooting for Margo." Hearing their brother say this brought a measure of relief to Lola and Luan, who both smiled. "But anyway, we ought to leave that business to Lynn and her friends," Lincoln said, "Lola and I go to the elementary school, and you Luan go to the high school. Lynn's school is practically a world away for all of us."
"Yeah, that does make sense," Lola replied as the show just got off of commercial break. Seeing that their show just came back on, Lola and Luan turned their attention to it. Lincoln, smiling in mild amusement at his sisters, picked his comic book back up and resumed reading. It was a new issue of Ace Savvy, and Lincoln wanted to make sure that he gave the latest issue of the world's savviest crime fighter's exploits a thorough read through.
"Hey, Lincoln! Do you want to come to my softball game today?"
Lynn had just caught her younger brother in the hallway at their family's house one morning before one of her sports games. Out of everyone that was in Lynn's family, Lincoln is the only one who has yet to come to one of her games to support her; Pop-Pop and even Aunt Ruth had come out to see one of Lynn's games before (this was before Pop-Pop met Gram-Gram). So naturally, the sporty Loud sister really wanted her younger brother to be there. Lynn noticed her brother grumble something to himself before he spoke up.
Sighing in a resigned tone, Lincoln said, "I'm really sorry about this, Lynn, but I just can't. I've been to various events that our sisters have had non-stop ever since the beginning of this month, and I'm just plain exhausted. I was planning on just staying home today, read some comics, and maybe catch on some sleep that I've missed due to the aforementioned events that our sisters have had."
"Oh, come on!" Lynn said in a tone of complaint, "My team has a winning streak going here! Don't you want to see me cream the competition, Lincoln?"
"Maybe some other time, Lynn," the white-haired boy said, his tone sounding tired, "Just…just not today, alright?" The sporty Loud sister was annoyed, and a little bit dejected, that her little brother didn't want to come out to her game and be there to watch her shine. Lynn really wanted Lincoln to be there, even if she had to use the baseball bat she had with her to make him come, and Lynn, in a rare moment of weakness on her part, was very sorely tempted to use the bat in such a way.
…However, just as she began to raise her bat, the hitting end of the bat barely an inch above the hallway floor, Lynn suddenly stopped short when she realized just what she was about to do; she was about to threaten her little brother, with physical violence no less, into doing something he just said he isn't in the mood to do. Lynn, with a degree of horror in her heart, realized that it made her no better than the various bullies that she protected her siblings from. The sporty Loud sister's grip on her bat's handle slipped, allowing the sports equipment to clatter to the hallway floor. The slipping of Lynn's bat caught Lincoln's attention, startling him just a little bit.
"Lynn?" Lincoln said in a mildly concerned tone as he regarded his athletic older sister, "Are you okay?"
"I…" Lynn began, but she stopped short, then furiously shook her head. Taking a breath to try and steady her nerves, Lynn said, "I'm sorry, Lincoln. Yeah, I understand that you want some time to unwind. Going to all of the events the rest of our sisters have had so far can be pretty tiring." The athletic Loud sister bent over to pick up her fallen bat, straightened up, then patted Lincoln on the shoulder. "…Yeah, hopefully you'll be able to come out to watch me cream the competition next time," Lynn said, "Sorry for trying to be pushy just now."
Lincoln was confused by Lynn's sudden change in attitude. But the apology, plus Lynn relenting and letting him unwind like he said he wanted to do, put a small but appreciative smile on the sole Loud boy's face. "Thanks, Lynn," Lincoln replied, "Good luck at your game today."
"Thanks, bro," Lynn replied with a smile as she headed downstairs to finish up getting ready to head off to her softball game. Although the sporty Loud sister may have wished that her little brother would have come out to the game to support her, she respected the fact that he needed some down time. After all, with a family as big as theirs, they can get worn out rather quick trying to support each other all the time. A bit of rest and relaxation was needed occasionally.
…
The softball game that day ended up in favor of the opposing team. As Lynn rode in the passenger seat of Vanzilla, bummed over her team's loss, she thought that maybe it was a good thing Lincoln wasn't there after all to see her make a fool of herself. Although…maybe if the white-haired boy was there, then his presence might have been something of a good luck charm, giving Lynn just the luck boost that she needed for her team to-
No, that made no sense, Lynn thought as she shook her head to rid her mind of the trail of thought that it was about to go down. Before the game that her team lost today, Lynn's team had won six games in a row, and Lincoln didn't come out to see any of those games. Lincoln didn't come to the games where Lynn had won, and he certainly wasn't at the game today where she lost. That means that Lincoln's being at one of Lynn's game was irrelevant if her team won or lost a game.
"You okay, Junior?" Lynn Sr., the one who was driving Vanzilla at the time, asked as he noticed his sporty daughter and the child named after him shake her head, "You're not upset that your team lost, are you?"
"Well, I would be lying if said that I wasn't upset about losing today's game," Lynn admitted, "But I…I was about to blame Lincoln for my team losing." Sighing in a troubled tone, the thirteen-year-old said, "I was thinking that if Lincoln had been at the game today to support me, then my team wouldn't have lost. But we won the last six games before this one, and Lincoln wasn't at any of them."
"Well sport, your brother did have to go to some grave-digging competition that Lucy took part so he could support her there," Lynn Sr. began to explain, "And he also had to go to some fashion thing of Leni's that I believe your sister said was for charity, and then Lincoln went to that tournament where Lori's varsity golf team played against the varsity golf team of another school, so your brother understandably had quite a lot on his plate as of late." Noticing that his daughter still seemed a bit bummed, Lynn Sr. said, "There's always the next game, Lynn Jr."
"Dad, I…" the sporty Loud sister began, her voice begging to break out what clearly sounded like regret, "…I almost threatened Lincoln into coming to today's game."
"You almost did what?" Lynn Sr. said in a shocked tone, not believing what he had just heard.
"I almost threatened Lincoln!" Lynn exclaimed, the sheer volume of her exclaiming surprising her father a bit as tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes, "I kept getting annoyed with how Lincoln never came out to see any of my games, so I was going to threaten him into coming to the softball game today!" Curling up into a fetal position on the seat that she was sitting in, Lynn rest her forehead against her knees as she sobbed, "What's…what wrong with me, dad?"
"…Not as much as there would have been if you actually ended up going through with bullying your younger brother like that," Lynn Sr. remarked, "Junior, I can't say that I'm proud of what you were considering doing. Threatening your little brother, or any of your siblings, is one of the absolute last things that I ever want to hear about you doing." Lynn knew that her father would say something along these lines, although knowing that it would happen didn't make hearing about it any easier for her. It was also stinging for Lynn to hear her father refer to what she was considering doing to get Lincoln to come to the game as a form of bullying; she really wasn't any better than those bullies, after all.
"…But what I can say that I'm proud of, however," the Loud family patriarch continued, getting Lynn to look up at him in the process, "Is that you realized what you were doing, what you were about to do, and that you stopped yourself before you went too far. That proves that you have a lot of strength as a person, Junior. Not bad at all, young lady. Not bad at all."
Still feeling a bit emotionally conflicted due to what she had almost done to her younger brother earlier that day before the game, Lynn nonetheless smiled, a small and mildly sad but ultimately appreciative smile, due to the words of encouragement that she had gotten from her father. Wiping a tear away from the corner of her right eye, Lynn said, "Thanks, dad. Sorry for being so weird and everything just now, but I still can't believe that I almost became the very thing that I protect my siblings from."
"Yeah, I can understand what you're trying to get at, Junior," Lynn Sr. replied with an understanding nod, "I mean, I'm pretty sure that Lincoln, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa and Lily wouldn't really like it all that much if-"
"Whoever said that me protecting my siblings from bullies was limited to just my younger siblings?" Lynn said, interrupting her dad in the process, "Did you not hear about this one jerk who tried to bother Luna while she was on a date with Sam, and what I did to said jerk?"
"Wait a minute," Lynn Sr. said in a tone that was partly surprised but mostly confused, "I thought that it was Lori who threw that guy head-first into a nearly full garbage can."
With the biggest smile she had since before she left home earlier for the softball game today, Lynn said, "Nope."
…
Lynn was actually having a little bit of trouble believing her luck; her softball team had not only made a recovery from their earlier loss, but they did so by scoring a doubleheader! They were heading straight to the playoffs! To make things even better for the sporty Loud sibling, her entire family was at the game, meaning they had all seen her win it big time; even Gram-Gram, who very recently started relations with Pop-Pop, came to see the game today! As her team cheered down on the field, Lynn looked over to the bleachers where the audience sat, and after a quick scan, Lynn found her family.
Lincoln was sitting there among the rest of the Louds, sandwiched between Luna and Leni.
Having seen her family, Lynn gave them a quick wave before her teammates swept her up into some celebratory running around and all-around revelry. The sporty Loud sister and a teammate of hers even dumped a cooler of water over the head of their coach in celebration. Yeah, this is just how Lynn liked things to be; her team winning, and the whole of her family being there to see them win it big.
No threatening any of them into coming was necessary.
…
"GAAAAAAAA!" Lynn exclaimed suddenly as she jolted awake, surprising Margo, Maya, Paula, Diane and Ulfric in the process; the six middle schoolers were up in the bedroom that Lynn shared with Lucy (who was out at the moment), brainstorming about what to do to help with Margo's campaign in the student body elections. At some point, Lynn drifted to sleep while Margo and the others were talking.
"…Did you sleep well?" Ulfric asked Lynn, a hint of knowing amusement in his tone.
"I…" Lynn began, but she stopped short and shook her head. "…It's nothing," Lynn continued, "So anywho, what did I miss while I was out?"
A few days later, there was some sort of school dance over at Royal Woods Middle School. Lynn, after much internal debate, finally managed to work up the courage to ask Ulfric if he'd go to the dance with her. The foreign-born thirteen-year-old, although he was at first confused because he thought that in the United States it was the boys who asked the girls to events like the dance instead of the girls asking the boys, nonetheless accepted.
As for Margo and the rest of her team that was supporting her in the student body elections, they decided to all come to the dance as friends. "…I don't really think that you should worry about that Francisco guy too much," Paula remarked to Margo in a conversational tone as they stood off to the side near the table with the punch bowl, "That guy is just small potatoes." After draining her cup of punch dry, Paula went on to say, "Now Kendra, on the other hand, is the opponent that you ought to be worrying about. That girl's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell the crazy on her."
"You've…run into Kendra before?" Margo asked, a bit surprised that her friend had such a view on some seemingly random person at their school.
"Margo, girl, trust me," Paula began, "When you've been doing the social ladder tango with the student population of our school for as long as I have, you'll learn who the crazies are, and how to best avoid them." Confused, Margo nonetheless decided that she would follow her friend's warnings, figuring that keeping an eye on Kendra might be in the best interest of her campaign for student body president.
As she and the rest of her team enjoyed themselves where they were at in the dance, Margo eventually spotted Lynn trying to dance with Ulfric. With a bit of a chuckle, Margo nudged the side of Paula's arm, then once Paula was paying attention to her, Margo pointed over to where the sporty Loud sister was trying to dance with the foreign-born thirteen-year-old. "Hey Paula, check it," Margo remarked, "Our girl's trying to make a move on Ulfric the Barbarian."
"Heh, figures that Lynn-sanity would spring for an athlete," Paula commented casually, her tone sounding just as amused as the one Margo was using, "But still, you've got to admit." Shuffling a little bit, Paula continued, "Those two make for an amazing couple. And woe to any sports team that has to play against both Lynn and Ulfric."
"Most likely in football," Margo said, "Given that it's pretty much the only sport Ulfric does."
With a shrug, Paula said, "Although that focus on football has made him better at it than anyone else on the team. Maybe Lynn will take a cue from Ulfric and choose a single sport to put all of her focus in. Sure, Lynn's one hell of a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to sports, but I wouldn't quite say that she's a master at any of them."
Margo nodded in agreement with Paula before saying, "But we can wait on that until later. For now, we ought to let Lynn have her fun." Paula nodded in agreement before she and Margo continued to watch their sporty friend continue trying to chat it up with her new crush.
Over in the area of the gymnasium of Royal Woods Middle School where most of the dancing was taking place, Lynn was talking to her mother Rita, one of the adult chaperones that was needed for the dance, after Ulfric left to go use the bathroom. "Aww, well if isn't this the cutest thing ever!" Rita remarked in a mildly gushing manner, "My daughter asked her boyfriend out to the dance!"
"Mom!" Lynn practically exclaimed in an embarrassed manner, "Ulfric isn't my boyfriend!" Looking down at the floor, Lynn squirmed a bit before saying, "…Well, not yet, at least."
"She's got a point, Mrs. Loud," Lincoln remarked in a cool yet neutral tone; due to the fact that Lincoln would have been left home alone otherwise, the Loud family matriarch had to bring him along. Looking to his ex-family members, the white-haired boy continued, "I'm pretty sure that Lynn would have brought it up at some point if she and Ulfric had become an item."
"Y-yes, Lincoln, you got a point," Rita agreed, hesitating just a bit upon hearing her own son, yet again, refer to her as Mrs. Loud rather than as his mother. It was something that stung painfully at Rita's heart, mostly because she knew full well that she had played a role in making it happen.
"So, Lynn," Lincoln began, getting his sporty ex-sister to focus on him, "How's that student body election thing that your friend Margo is taking part in going?"
"Oh, the elections?" Lynn replied, her tone mildly surprised but mostly confused by the sudden change in topic, "Oh, umm, it's going fine. Last I heard, that Jack guy currently has the least amount of support in the elections, so at least Margo has a good shot at winning."
"Well that's good," Lincoln remarked, the barest hint of interest seeping through his otherwise cool tone, "Glad to see that the team that you're on isn't currently coming in last place. Anyway, I don't suppose you know where the nearest restroom is, do you? I think that I've had one cup of punch too many."
Turing around to face the stage that was in the gymnasium, Lynn explained as she pointed to the stage, "If you go up the stairs on the right-hand side of the stage, and you take a right, walk straight past the racks of folding chairs, head through the doorway with the green exit sign above it, then take a left, you'll find the bathrooms."
"Alright, thanks," replied the white-haired boy as he headed off to follow Lynn's directions. After Lincoln had disappeared into the hidden area off to the side of the stage, Rita turned to look at her athletic daughter.
"Is…is Lincoln starting to get along with you girls again?" Rita asked, sounding as if she were a bit hesitant to ask.
"Well, he's made up with Lily, which I guess is kind of a given since she's a baby," Lynn began to explain, "But Lincoln's also reconciled with Luan and Lola. And from what I've heard, he may soon make up with Lisa and Lori as well."
"So, he's…" Rita began, but stopped short, took a breath to steady herself, then continued, "…He's starting to trust some of us again. That's good." Sighing in a resigned tone, the Loud matriarch continued, "I still can't believe that we let our imaginations run wild on us like that. How could we have treated Lincoln the way that we did?" Looking down at Lynn, Rita remarked in a tone that clearly carried disappointment, "Something else that I still can't believe is that we let you convince the rest of us that your brother was quote unquote 'bad luck'."
Sighing in a resigned, guilty tone, Lynn remarked, "I know, mom. Trust me, I'm still upset with myself over how far I had my head up my ass." Looking onward in the direction that she saw her younger brother head off in to go to the restrooms, the athletic Loud sister said, "At this point, I'd be okay if he made up with everyone other than me."
Rita, although she was upset with Lynn over what her actions ended up leading to, was shocked to hear one of her daughters say that she'd be okay with it if Lincoln never reconciled with her, even if he rebuilt bridges between himself and the rest of the family. Sighing, Rita said, "Young lady, you really ought to not be so pessimistic. I'm sure that your younger brother will eventually come to forgive you."
"Pfft," the sporty Loud sister scoffed in a disbelieving tone, "After what I did, what I put him through? Forget it." Looking back in the direction that Lincoln went off in to go to the restrooms, Lynn looked on with a somber expression on her face.
"I have it coming."
TO BE CONTINUED…
END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Author's note:
Seeing that Luan and Benny are in High School now, I had to change a few things about the student body presidential elections that are taking place at the Middle School. To that end, I grabbed most of Lynn's teammates from that episode where she's drafted onto the basketball team Flip sponsors (only leaving out that Amy girl from the episode so as to not mix her up with Amy Ace), then having Margo run for student body president while Lynn and the rest of the young teens backed her up.
Aside from that, I felt that I had to divide chapter eleven of the original version up into two parts here in the revamped version, given how long it went on for. At least this gives me a chance to expand a few details here and there. Anyway, this now two-parter will pick up next time, starting with a conversation between a rather familiar pair of cousins.