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 sixteen: Gazing into the Starlit Sky

Lincoln, once again in the guise of Broken Mirror, watched his target, a member of the violent youth gang who knocked over an elderly woman before snatching her purse and running off, from the shadows. From what the white-haired boy had heard, the violent youth gang has been trying to make Great Lakes City their personal stomping grounds. They were causing significant trouble for everyone in the city; not only that, but local law enforcement was apparently doing nothing about them. It was clear that the gang was never going to stop on their own.

…Which was why he decided to be the one to bring the gang to a stop.

Moving quietly but quickly through the shadows and from behind cover, the white-haired boy went after his target. After a few turns, he eventually caught up to the gang member. Lincoln threw a swift punch to the side of the gang member's head, causing him to stumble a bit and drop the purse he stole. After he recovered, the gang member saw him, and it was clear that he was expecting someone else, due to the confused look on his face.

"Who the hell are you?!" the gang member snapped as he raised his fists to Broken Mirror. Spitting to the side (getting a small bit of blood out of his mouth in the process), the gang member snarled, "You want to go, you little turd?!" The white-haired boy said nothing in response to the gang member's challenge. Instead, with a cool and steady motion, Lincoln took out the butterfly knife that he lifted from a gang hideout he raided a short while ago. The gang member's eyes widened in shock as his eyes fell upon the weapon.

"…The fuck is that?" the gang member said as he pointed to Lincoln's blade. Without an answer, without ever even saying anything, the white-haired boy just ran forward towards the punk, alarming him. "Hey, wait a minute!" the gang member began in a panicking tone that clearly conveyed that he was trying to bargain, "We can work something-"

*SHUK*

Broken Mirror was never in any mood to hear any bargaining from members of the violent youth gang. Not now, not ever. The white-haired boy had a job to do, this much he knew. And wasting time listening to hypocritical begging coming from the mouths of members of the violent youth gang was not something that he could afford. After wiping his blade on the gang member's jacket, Lincoln took out one of his calling cards, laid it on the gang member, went over to collect the stolen purse, set the purse on top of the gang member as well, and then took his leave.

Broken Mirror never stuck around for very long.

…

Lincoln jolted awake from yet another dream with a yelp, another nightmare where he took a life. The white-haired boy remembered that in the dream, he had only taken the life of some random gang member who contributed to Great Lakes City's problem; it wasn't any of Lincoln's ex-sisters, and it thankfully wasn't any of the sisters that Lincoln had since reconciled with for their part in what drove him away in the first place. But the white-haired boy took little comfort from that fact. The fact still remained that he had killed someone in his dream.

As he sat up in bed, Lincoln breathed in and out to catch his breath, a cold sweat brought on by his nightmare coating him here and there. As Lincoln slowly inhaled and exhaled, Lori came running into his room, having been summoned by the sound of Lincoln screaming as he jolted awake. "Are you okay, Lincoln?" Lori asked in a concerned tone.

"It's…it's nothing," Lincoln replied as he reassured the oldest of his ex-sisters, "I just had a bit of a nightmare is all."

Remembering the truth of Lincoln's last major nightmare when she was given the details by Bobby, Lori knew that she had to act carefully. "…The Scottish girl and her arsonist bunny again?" asked the oldest Loud sister.

Gently shaking his head, Lincoln said, "Yeah. The bunny ended up burning down some big fancy tourist attraction."

Lori slowly walked over to her little brother's bed, sat down next to him, and then gently laid a hand on his back. "Still silly, but it still has you literally spooked, huh?" Lori asked.

Lincoln asked his ex-sister while giving her a mildly unamused wry look, "If you repeatedly had nightmares, regardless of how silly said nightmares might ultimately be, wouldn't you also be spooked as all get out?"

Nodding slowly a bit in agreement, Lori remarked, "You got me there, Lincoln." Getting up from where she sat, Lori asked in a concerned tone, "Are you sure you will be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Lincoln replied, "Thank you for the concern." Getting back under the covers of his bed, Lincoln said, "Now then, if you don't mind, I'd like to try to get back to bed."

"Got it," Lori replied as she took the cue to leave, opening Lincoln's bedroom door, and closing it after she exited the room. Alone in his room once again, the white-haired boy, still spooked by the dream that he just woke up from, tried to return to the realm of sleep once more, hoping that he'd have dreams of a more pleasant nature.

…

Lori told the other Loud girls as they stood in the hallway outside of Lincoln's closed bedroom door, "…He's literally still having nightmares, I'm afraid."

"Ooh, can't we do anything to help him?" Leni said in a worried tone, clearly concerned for her younger brother's well-being, "It's, like, totes unfair that Linky has to deal with this."

"Unfair like how the lot of us made him out into a pariah?" Lynn retorted, clearly guilty for her role in what had compelled the sole Loud boy to run away.

"Girls, there's literally nothing we can do right now," Lori said to the other Loud girls, "We ought to tackle this problem in the morning. For now, we should all head back to bed. No use in staying up this late."

The other girls all agreed with what the oldest of their number had said, and thus they proceeded to head on off back to bed. As the group of girls dispersed, Lisa said in her usual dry monotone, "Lynn, I am surprised that you not only know the word 'pariah', but that you know how to use it correctly."

"…Shut up," Lynn retorted in a dry, unamused tone before heading back to her and Lucy's room to go back to bed.

The following day, Lincoln was over in the Ace family's backyard. In recent events, the white-haired boy had taken up practicing Kendo, and he was being tutored by Aggro Ace, the younger twin brother of Allison, who is friends with Lori, the oldest of Lincoln's ex-sisters. The male Ace twin was having Lincoln practice some moves using a bokken; the bokken that Lincoln was using for practice was a few inches shorter than Morning Sun, Aggro's personal bokken, and it was of a whitish wooden color. Additionally, unlike Morning Sun, the bokken that Lincoln was using lacked any sort of wrap around the hilt end. As for Aggro himself, he was also practicing Kendo moves alongside Lincoln, using Morning Sun.

"…We ought to take a break, Lincoln-kun," Aggro said, catching Lincoln off guard a bit, "We've been at this for a fair enough amount of time."

"Alright, Aggro-sensei," Lincoln replied as he straightened up. The male Ace teen led Lincoln into the Ace family residence, and into the kitchen for a snack break.

…

"…Something is troubling you, Lincoln-kun," Aggro remarked as he and Lincoln sat at a dining table across from each other. Lincoln was eating some sort of sweet snack that was provided to him, whereas Aggro was having a can of his favorite brand of Root Beer. When the white-haired boy looked up to him from his snack, Aggro continued, "I've been tutoring you in kendo for the past few weeks now, and today was the first time that I have ever seen you so distracted. I can tell that it's something rather troubling, given how distant you seemed when I had you go over some drills." Straightening up a bit, the male Ace twin said, "Do you wish to talk about it?"

"…I had a rather disturbing nightmare last night," Lincoln replied after a few seconds.

"Another nightmare, huh?" Aggro remarked in a mildly curious tone. After thinking for a bit, Aggro asked, "Might this nightmare of yours be related to the nightmare that you told Bobby and I about back at the birthday party that Astrid's friend had at Odin-Dono's?"

Nodding a bit somberly, Lincoln replied in a bit of a troubled tone, "…Kind of. I chased down and killed someone, similar to the dream I had where I did the same to Lori."

"Would I be correct in assuming that the person from your latest nightmare was another one of your sisters, or some other relative of yours?" Aggro asked.

In response to his Kendo instructor's question, Lincoln gently shook his head. "No. It was a remorseless criminal," the white-haired boy replied.

"A remorseless criminal, you say," Aggro remarked, his interest piqued.

"I can remember from my dream that local police weren't doing anything to stop him," Lincoln went on, "Even though he was a major problem for the city. He also was clearly never going to stop on his own. Before I had gotten to him, he assaulted an old lady and stole her purse. That's when I chased him into an alleyway and…and…"

"Lincoln-kun, relax," Aggro said, getting his student to calm down. After giving a mildly resigned-sounding sigh, the male Ace twin asked, "I don't suppose that Lori ever tell you about the time where I killed a man?"

Upon hearing what his Kendo tutor just said, Lincoln looked up to him with a look of shock on his eleven-year-old face. "You…you actually killed a man, Aggro-sensei?" Lincoln asked, not believing what he had just heard.

Nodding gently a few times in the affirmative, Aggro explained, "This happened roughly five years ago, back when Allison, Lori and I were all still in middle school."

"…That would be during Lori's quote unquote 'awkward phase'," Lincoln remarked.

"If by awkward phase you mean back when Lori still wore braces and glasses, then yes," Aggro replied, "Lori said that she referred to that period of her life as her awkward phase, but we're getting off subject here." Taking a calming breath, the male Ace twin began, "Allison had invited Lori over to spend the night. Sometime during the night, a burglar broke in and was trying to rob the place. Astrid, who was only six years old at the time, saw the burglar and promptly freaked out. I rightly feared for Astrid's safety, so…" Reaching down to where he had something leaning against the table, Aggro grabbed Moring Sun by its hilt in a reverse grip, and held it up just enough for Lincoln to see.

"…I ended up killing the burglar, using Morning Sun to carry out the deed," Aggro said as he finished up his tale. Setting his bokken back where he had it, Aggro continued, "The most the burglar had on hand was a crowbar, which I believe was the main reason I had such an easy time against him. If he had a gun, then I would have been a hell of a lot more frightened. Still, none of that changes the fact that I ended up taking a life back before I had reached my teens." Lincoln nodded in an understanding manner as he listened to his sensei's story. Granted, Lincoln had killed a bit sooner than his sensei, and had claimed more lives than just that of one lone man, but the story still resonated with the white-haired boy to a degree.

Giving Lincoln a gentle, understanding look, Aggro said, "…I believe that your nightmare from last night and the incident back when I was twelve have a lot in common, Lincoln-kun."

A curious and mildly confused look on his face, Lincoln asked, "What do you mean by that, Aggro-sensei?"

"You said the person that you had killed in your nightmare last night was a criminal that not only was never going to stop on his own, but nothing was being done to stop him, correct?" Aggro began, and after Lincoln nodded in the affirmative, Aggro continued, "Although it was a rather violent way to do so, you did what had to be done in your nightmare. That burglar from five years ago not only was going to rob my family, but I had every reason to believe he might have harmed one of my siblings. And my family was still trying to get over my aunt and uncle getting killed in that car crash, which happened a week and a half before the attempted burglary." Giving Lincoln a serious but understanding look, the male Ace twin continued, "If doing so is seriously the only way to keep something much worse from happening or allowing that something worse to continue, then there isn't anything wrong with taking things to their logical extreme. Although I pray that you never have to find yourself in such a spot, Lincoln-kun."

Smiling in a sympathetic manner, Lincoln said, "Thanks, Aggro-sensei." With his mood lightened, if only just a little, the white-haired boy resumed eating his snack, but about midway through, he heard some excited animal noises from the floor next to where he sat. Looking down to his left, Lincoln saw a young adult skunk, moving in place on the floor to the left of Lincoln's seat. "You can't have any, Spirit," Lincoln said to the skunk that was looking up at him, "This food isn't for skunks"

"Heh," Aggro said with an amused chuckle, "I take it that Amy's pet skunk is bothering you?" Before Lincoln could speak, some yipping came from Aggro's side of the table. Looking down to his right, the male Ace twin reached down, picked something up, and placed a young adult red fox on his lap. "And we don't have any food for foxes either, Kyubi," Aggro said the fox on his lap as he gently stoked her head, eliciting a happy-sounding purring of some kind from the fox. Looking to his student, Aggro said, "Now's about the time to make sure there's food in Kyubi's, Spirit's and Fenrir's respective dishes. Would you care to help me, Lincoln-kun?"

"I'm surprised that your twin sister's dog can put away as much food as he does," Lincoln remarked in a tone of agreement as he got up off of his seat. At the same time that Lincoln got up, Aggro set Kyubi down on the floor and got up off of his seat as well.

With a bit of an amused chuckle, Aggro explained as he and Lincoln went about filling the pet food dishes, "That, Lincoln-kun, is what Allison would refer to as a quote unquote 'warrior's appetite'."

One day over at the Ace residence, after Lincoln's practice with Aggro was done for the day, Aggro said as he and Lincoln changed from their Kendo practice outfits back to their regular clothes, "Oh Lincoln-kun, before I forget, there's going to be a Kendo tournament this Saturday over at the youth center. Would you be interested in going to watch?"

"There's a Kendo tournament at the youth center?" Lincoln asked.

Nodding in confirmation, Aggro said as he began to explain, "It's for kids in the Royal Woods area. It'll be similar to the youth group football game in which you and a bunch of kids were playing against a similar team from the next town over." Standing up, Aggro said as he rolled his shoulders, "There is much that you can learn from watching others compete."

Since day one of Lincoln learning Kendo from the male Ace twin, whenever the white-haired boy would go over to the Ace residence for a lesson, his older ex-sister Leni would occasionally (i.e. frequently) come over to watch him practice with Aggro. Today just so happened to be one of the (many) days that Leni had come over to watch the two guys practice the way of the sword, and as such she heard what Aggro had just told Lincoln. "Why can't Linky, like, enter the tournament himself?" Leni asked.

"…Technically, Lincoln-kun could enter if he wants to," Aggro replied in an 'ehh' kind of tone, "And the tournament's basically open to any kid who wishes to enter, regardless of how much training, if any, the kid may have. I'm still trying to figure out what the people organizing the tournament are even thinking with that." To Lincoln, Aggro said, "If you feel confident enough about it, I won't stop you from entering, Lincoln-kun. Although I'd still rather that you spend more time practicing and training before you enter such an event."

"But Linky's had you as his teacher," the fashionable Loud sister pointed out, "And you're, like, the best person in the world at this, Aggro! Surely Linky's ready to make it to the top!"

Laughing in a good-natured tone, Aggro replied, "Thanks for the flattery Leni, but I highly doubt that I'm the best Kendo practitioner in the world." Turning his head to face Lincoln, the male Ace twin said, "Well Lincoln-kun, what do you think? Are you ready to enter the tournament?"

With a shrug, the white-haired boy replied, "There's only one real way to find out."

Smirking in mild amusement, Aggro said, "That's a good attitude. Going to the tournament will be a valuable learning experience either way, but there is more to gleam from doing rather than watching." Stretching his arms upwards, Aggro said, "You'll have to ask one of your parents for the okay to enter, but if you do get the okay, then I'll look into getting you signed up."

"EEEEEE!" Leni squealed excitedly, "This is so exciting! Linky's going to compete in a sword fighting game!" As the fashionable Loud sister hopped up and down in excitement, Aggro merely sighed in a mildly exasperated tone as he pinched the bridge of his nose while muttering about how Kendo was an actual martial art.

When the day of the tournament came, Lincoln and Aggro found themselves at the local youth center, standing in the youth center's gymnasium. "It's a good thing that I was able to sign you up ahead of time," Aggro remarked to his student, "As there's apparently a bit of a shortage when it comes to the Bogu sets. At least they have enough shinai for everyone."

"More than enough, if you ask me," the white-haired boy remarked, "I saw a container with a bunch of shinai sticking out of it."

"Shinai may break or splinter, which would make them unsafe for use," Aggro explained. As Lincoln nodded in understanding to what Aggro had said, the two boys heard Leni's voice call out, getting their attention in the process. The two boys turned to see Rita (who was carrying Lily), Luan, Lola, Lynn and all of Lincoln's ex-sisters come walking up.

"So, Lincoln," Rita began in a tone of mild trepidation, "This…this is your first tournament."

Looking up at her older brother, Lola asked, "Leni said that you're going to be doing a serious version of the play sword fighting that we do whenever Lana and I can convince you to play Knights and castles with us. Is that true, Lincoln? Are you going to be a knight?"

"Well, the tournament I'm going to enter is a serious version of when I play with you girls," Lincoln replied, "Although it's not actually playing. Also, I think I'd be more akin to a samurai than a knight."

"There's something that I'm, like, wondering about," Leni began in a mildly curious tone, "I saw a bunch of swords that look like they're made of bamboo that's tied together sticking out of a few barrels. Are they, like, variations of that bokky sword you and Aggro use for practicing?"

Speaking up, Aggro said began to explain to Leni, "The correct pronunciation is 'bokken', and the swords that you saw are not bokken, they're shinai. Bokken are used when one is practicing Kendo movements on their own, and shinai are used when sparring against an opponent. The kids competing in today's tournament will be using shinai when going up against each other."

"Is that, like, important?" Leni asked.

"Aggro-sensei told me something about how it's kind of dangerous for two people sparring against each other in Kendo to use bokken, so shinai are used instead," Lincoln said.

Nodding in an approving manner to Lincoln, Aggro said, "That's right." Turning to face Rita and the Loud sisters, the male Ace twin continued, "Shinai, similar to bokken, come in varying lengths and weights, but the ones that the kids competing in today's tournament will be using are all the same length and weight."

"I'm guessing that's to make everything fair?" Lynn asked.

"Exactly," Aggro answered, "The people running things today will be keeping an eye on the length and weight of the shinai that are used. I once made it to the final round of a Kendo tournament because my opponent before the final round was discovered to have been using a shinai that was heavier than mine. My opponent ended up being disqualified."

"So that was like cheating," Lynn said.

"More or less," Aggro replied, "Another reason for the people keeping an eye on the shinai being used is in case one of the shinai breaks or splinters, which would render the shinai unsafe for use. There's a reason why so many extra shinai were brought in for the tournament."

Nodding in agreement, Luna remarked, "That sounds like a pretty solid reason."

"This is going to be awesome!" Lana said excitedly as she pumped a fist into the air, "My older brother's going to kick so much butt today!" Lana, along with Lola, both proceeded to talk about a mile a minute, asking Lincoln a million questions. Aggro watched this with some amusement, given how the behavior of the Loud twins reminded him of Anna, the youngest of his sisters and youngest Ace sibling overall.

The Kendo tournament was off to a well enough start, with Lincoln getting past the first few rounds without much difficulty. Rita and the Loud girls all cheered whenever the white-haired boy won a match. The booming cheering that the Loud girls all gave from behind where Aggro sat made him believe that the Louds certainly live up to their family name.

Speaking of Aggro himself, even though he still would have preferred that Lincoln had more training before entering a tournament like this, he was amazed by how Lincoln made it past the first few rounds. That in itself was, as far as the male Ace twin was concerned, praise-worthy, and he fully intended to congratulate his student for the progress that he had shown so far in the tournament, even if Lincoln ended up getting eliminated at some point.

"Well I have certainly been proven wrong," Aggro thought he watched Lincoln win his latest match before an intermission to give the competitors still in the tournament a chance to catch their breath before the matches resumed, as well as give family members a chance to congratulate their kids for getting so far, "I owe him an apology for underestimating him."

To Aggro's amused surprise and the happiness of Lincoln's family (both acknowledged and currently scorned), the white-haired boy made it to the final round of the Kendo tournament. "Hey everyone," Lynn said as she came back to her group after leaving to get a soda from a vending machine. Popping the top off of her drink, Lynn asked, "What did I miss?"

"Lincoln literally made it to the final round," Lori replied, a hint of apprehension in her tone. The oldest Loud sister's apprehension did not go by unnoticed by her sporty younger sister.

With a curious look on her face, Lynn asked, "Why do you sound worried, Lori? I mean, Lincoln is in the final round of a martial arts tournament! What's not to like about that?"

"Lori is concerned because Lincoln-kun's opponent is some boy by the name of Francisco," Aggro explained in a casual tone, "I don't see what the big deal is, though."

Upon hearing the name of her ex-crush, Lynn's eyes shot wide open. "…What?" the sporty Loud sibling said, no discernable emotion in her tone.

"…It appears that I'm going to have to be filled in here," Aggro said to the other Louds.

Sighing in a resigned tone, Lori explained, "That Francisco boy you just mentioned, Aggro. Lynn used to have a crush on him, but then when the baseball team Francisco belonged to tried to cheat in a game against the team that Lynn belonged to, and that cheating was discovered, Lynn was literally devastated, even though Francisco didn't commit any of the actual cheating himself." Crossing her arms over her chest, Lori added, "But after what happened during the student body elections over at Lynn's school, I'm doubting what Francisco said in his own defense, not that I ever believed a single word out of that twerp."

"…Oh my," Aggro remarked in a mildly concerned tone. To Lynn specifically, the male Ace twin asked, "You are doing better now, aren't you?"

Nodding gently in the affirmative, Lynn replied, "I am doing better, yes. And I found someone else who's a much better guy than that bastard I used to like." Shaking her head gently, the sporty Loud sister said, "But that's beside the point. The point here now is that Lincoln is totally going to mop the floor with Francisco."

"One can only hope," Aggro replied as he and everyone he was talking to turned back around so they can watch the match between Lincoln and Francisco. As the two boys stepped up to take their respective places, the cheering in the gymnasium reached a fever pitch, in no small part thanks to a certain family who literally has Loud as their last name, cheering for their only son, their only brother. The Louds gave it their all, in hopes that Lincoln would win.

…

"Game, set and match!" the referee for the Kendo tournament announced, "Francisco wins!" The audience in the youth center gymnasium cheered loudly as Francisco was announced as the winner, although a certain family wasn't all that happy with the thirteen-year-old boy's victory.

"I can't believe that son of a bitch won!" Lynn swore vengefully as she stood up from where she sat rather forcefully, "I ought to put a knuckle sandwich right into his smug fu-"

Looking to Lynn with a look of mildly alarmed worry on his face, Aggro said to the sporty Loud sister, "I understand that you're upset over Lincoln-kun losing the match, and to a boy who broke your heart, no less. But in all fairness, it was a fair match. You should be proud of the fact that Lincoln-kun made it to the final round of the first tournament that he ever entered. Even I wasn't expecting him to get so far, given how recently I've started tutoring him in Kendo."

Sighing in a relenting tone, Lynn replied as she sat back down, "I know. But I still can't-"

"Hey, what are those guys down there talking about talking to the referee about?" Lola asked, cutting Lynn off as she pointed to two men talking to the referee. After a few seconds, the referee called Francisco over, and apparently asked to see his shinai. Receiving the shinai from Lynn's former crush, the referee then picked up one of the shinai that was made standard for the tournament, and proceeded to compare the two bamboo swords, as if to try and see some sort of quality that the two of them had.

Turning around to face the crowd, the referee announced, "Attention everyone! There's been a mistake! Francisco's been disqualified, meaning that the winner is actually Lincoln!"

"Linky actually won?" Leni practically exclaimed, "Hooray!"

"Wait a minute," Lynn began in a suspicious tone, "What did the referee mean by saying that Francisco was disqualified?"

Sighing in a resigned tone, Aggro remarked, "…I was hoping that something like this wouldn't happen in a tournament that Lincoln-kun entered, but since the referee was comparing the shinai he received from that Francisco boy to one of the standard issue shinai for the tournament, I believe that Francisco was using a heavier shinai than the one that Lincoln-kun was using." With a mildly grim look on his face, Aggro said, "Francisco was disqualified for cheating." Turning to face the Louds, Aggro added, "Although if it makes you feel any better, this means that Lincoln-kun won the first Kendo tournament he ever entered."

"…I'm going to destroy Francisco," Lynn said, "Both for cheating in a sporting slash martial art event, and for cheating against my little brother. I will break him, mark my words."

"She'll cool down once I take her and all of her siblings out at the pizza place to celebrate Lincoln winning," Rita said to Aggro. Both the Loud matriarch and the Kendo instructor regarded the sporty Loud girl with looks of concern.

Later that evening over at the Loud family residence, just as stars started to appear in the evening sky above, Lincoln was standing in front of the family's trophy case with Lynn and Leni. Inside of the case in the space reserved for Lincoln was a golden trophy, roughly one foot tall, which signified that the white-haired boy had won a Kendo tournament. "Hey, what happened to that trophy we made for Linky?" Leni asked, noticing that Lincoln's Kendo trophy was alone.

"Lola and Lana were trying to wrestle Charles into some outfit, and in the struggle, they bumped into the trophy case hard enough to make it pop open and cause some of the awards inside to fall out and onto the floor," Lynn explained, "The trophy we made for Lincoln was broken, along with two of my baseball trophies."

"Sorry to hear some of your trophies broke," Lincoln said to his sporty sister.

With a dismissive wave of her hand, Lynn said, "No need to sweat it, bro. They were baseball trophies." Turning back to face the trophy case, Lynn said, "But we're getting off subject here. You won a trophy, Lincoln, and it's a first place one, at that." Lynn then reached up and placed her right hand on the top of Lincoln's head. "Not bad, Lincoln," Lynn said somewhat gently as she ruffled her younger brother's hair, "Not bad at all."

Smiling appreciatively, Lincoln said, "Thanks, Lynn. I still can't believe that-" Lincoln was cut off midsentence when he, his sporty sister and his ditzy ex-sister heard a knock at the front door. The three of them went to the door to answer it, and Leni opened it to reveal Aggro standing there. In addition to the bokken carrying case over Aggro's back that held Morning Sun, there was another bokken carrying case over Aggro's back, peeking out from behind his left shoulder and right hip. This let him give off the aura of a certain dual-wielding swordsman that's known as the Hero of Aincrad.

"I'm sorry if this is an inconvenient time," the male Ace twin began, "But I wanted to bring something by to Lincoln-kun, as a sort of congratulatory present for winning his first Kendo tournament." Taking off the bokken carrying case that didn't hold Morning Sun, Aggro opened it and drew out the bokken that was inside. About an inch shorter than Morning Sun, this second bokken was still just as thick. The second bokken was a whitish wood color, and the faux leather wrapping around the end that served as the hilt had blue threading as opposed to the red threading on Morning Sun's hilt. Placing the second bokken back into its carrying case, Aggro handed it to Lincoln while saying, "Here you go, Lincoln-kun. This is for you."

"You're giving Linky a wooden sword?" Leni asked, clearly shocked that Aggro was showing such generosity.

"It's about high time that Lincoln-kun got his own bokken," Aggro remarked, "I picked this up from a specialty store. Now he can get some practice in here at home, instead of having to rely exclusively on his visits to my family's place."

"Th-thank you, Aggro-sensei," the white-haired boy replied, surprised that his Kendo instructor bothered to go through the trouble of getting him his own bokken, and one that was of such a high quality, no less.

"Does Linky's new wooden sword have a name like yours, Aggro?" Leni asked.

With a mildly amused look on his face, Aggro replied, "That's up to Lincoln-kun to determine. But if I were him, I'd try to some up with a meaningful name."

"How about Idiot Beater?" Lynn suggested, "Because Lincoln should use it to beat Francisco? Or maybe Jerk Wrecker, or-"

"It's your brother's decision, Lynn," Aggro interrupted, "Now then, I believe I've intruded on your time enough, so I'll be taking my leave." Aggro turned around to leave, but he stopped short when he looked up. "…Wow, the night sky's rather clear tonight," Aggro remarked as he looked up into the night sky.

Curious, Lincoln, Lynn and Leni all walked out to where Aggro stood and looked up into the night sky. The skies could not be clearer, allowing the stars above to shine at their brightest. "…A while ago, my family and I went to Lake Superior," Aggro remarked, "At night, when we looked up into the skies, we saw the Aurora Borealis lights. Allison said that the lights were caused by Odin trying to give a worthy warrior a sign of approval."

"Even without those pretty northern lights you're talking about Aggro, this starlit sky is, like, totes pretty," Leni remarked. Looking to her siblings, Leni asked, "What do you guys think?"

"Yeah, Leni," Lincoln agreed, "It's rather-" The white-haired boy stopped short as a look of inspiration crossed his face. "…That's it," Lincoln said.

"What's up?" Lynn asked, turning to face her younger brother.

Looking back down, Lincoln held the carrying case that held his new bokken in both hands. "I know what to name my bokken," Lincoln replied. The white-haired boy took his bokken out of its carrying case, and held it up, his right hand gripping the bokken's hilt, so that it was up against the night sky. "I'm going to name it Starlit Sky," Lincoln said.

With an amused smile on his face, Aggro remarked, "…Now that's as fine of a name as I ever heard of for a sword, Lincoln-kun. Not bad."

"What Leni said just now gave me the idea," Lincoln explained as he returned Starlit Sky back to its carrying case. Looking up at his instructor, Lincoln said, "Thanks again, Aggro-sensei."

"No problem, Lincoln-kun," Aggro replied, "Just don't forget to keep up with your training, alright?" After a few more pleasantries were exchanged, Aggro took his leave for real, leaving Lincoln, Lynn and Leni alone.

"Well, you guys," Lynn said as she turned to face her siblings, "We ought to get back inside." Nodding in agreement with the sporty Loud girl, Lincoln and Leni both followed her back into the Loud family house, and soon afterwards, everyone settled down for bed.

…

Lincoln was once again in one of the alleyways of Great Lakes City, once again in the guise of Broken Mirror. The white-haired boy chased down and killed yet another member of the violent youth gang. Just as he got up from his latest kill, Lincoln came to his senses, stumbling back a bit out of shock of what he had just done.

"Why…" Lincoln thought as he shook his head, "…Why does this keep happening to me…?" Suddenly, a bright flash of light appeared, blinding Lincoln. The white-haired boy then felt himself thrown back by some sort of force. When the light had finally died down, Lincoln stood up. When he did, what he saw shocked him. The first thing that Lincoln saw, lying about a few feet away, was an exact copy of himself, dressed as Broken Mirror. Looking down, Lincoln saw that he himself was dressed as he normally was. The second thing that Lincoln saw, floating horizontally a few feet above the ground of the alleyway, was Starlit Sky.

Broken Mirror, seeing the floating bokken, got up and tried to make a grab for it. But Lincoln was quicker, and not only did he grab Starlit Sky first, but he swung it at Broken Mirror in a diagonal slashing motion, striking the masked vigilante across his body from his right shoulder to his left hip. Broken Mirror, to Lincoln's confusion, then vanished in a swirl of dark purple smoke. After the vigilante was gone, Starlit Sky radiated with a bright, comforting glow.

The white-haired boy's vision went blank white for a moment, but when vision returned to him, Lincoln saw that he was standing in his ex-family's front yard at night. Looking around, Lincoln saw that nothing was off; it was just a typical Royal Woods night as far as he could tell. The only thing different was that Lincoln still held Starlit Sky.

As he stood there, Lincoln held up his bokken and looked at it; it had done away with his vigilante self, then brought him from the cold and unforgiving world of Great Lakes City to the warm and familiar environment of his home town. Lincoln didn't have any idea on how all of this happened, but there was one thing that he did understand.

He was back home.

…

Lincoln woke up with a bit of a start. Looking over at an alarm clock, Lincoln saw that it was roughly five-thirty in the morning. Getting up out of bed, Lincoln walked over to his dresser. Laying across the top of the dresser was Starlit Sky, still in its carrying case. The white-haired boy laid a hand over the carrying case that held his bokken as he let out a sigh. He was having one of his nightmares where he was back to being Broken Mirror. But then Lincoln and Broken Mirror became two separate people, Starlit Sky appeared in the dream, Lincoln took it, and then used it to destroy Broken Mirror.

Would…would Lincoln finally be able to find peace at night now? Would this bokken continue to banish the nightmares, just as it had done now?

Shrugging, the white-haired boy decided to ponder about it as he went back to bed and laid there until the first of the Loud girls got up.

END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Author's note:

This used to be a longer chapter, but I made some serious edits to it. I fixed a number of spelling errors that I found, as well as make a few changes to the chapter so as to better bit the story's new narrative. I also removed two big scenes that was present in the original; one between three grown men, and another between Chandler and his cousin Kara. Speaking of, the two of them will be showing up next time, so until then, take care.