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 twenty-two: Errors Rectified

Lincoln was actually having a fairly nice time with Luna and Luan over at the restaurant that Lynn Sr. owns. In fact, given the homey atmosphere that the Loud patriarch's restaurant gave off, as well as how Lynn Sr. was handing everything professionally and not allowing personal things, such as the relationship between Bobby (who works at Lynn Sr.'s restaurant) and Lori, get in the way of how he treated/disciplined his employees, the white-haired boy had noticed some of the respect that he had for Lynn Sr. before he (Lincoln) ran away was slow starting to come back.

…Then Lynn Sr., upon learning from Bobby, who was talking to Lori on the phone at the time, that Leni had gone to Odin-Dono's Swedish-Japanese Cuisine, the restaurant that the Ace family owns, for lunch, he instantly became annoyed, bitter, possessive, competitive and everything else like that under the rainbow. The Loud patriarch, blinded by the fact that his restaurant (as well as other restaurants in Royal Woods) was losing customers to the Ace's place, stormed out of his restaurant, intent on dragging his fashionable daughter home in order to berate her for supporting the place that his was slowly losing customers to.

Lynn Sr., without even realizing it, had scuttled what little rapport he had built up with Lincoln up to that point. The Loud patriarch had not only gone and shot himself in the foot, but instead of using a smaller gun such as a Sig Sauer 9MM, he instead opted to go for an AK-47, because from what Lincoln could see, his ex-father would be satisfied with nothing less than blasting his own foot off in his attempt to shoot it.

Later in the afternoon, after Lincoln had returned with Luna and Luan, the three of them, as well as all of the other Loud siblings (some acknowledged by Lincoln, some not), were in Lori and Leni's room for a sibling meeting. The atmosphere of that sibling meeting was heavy, partly due to the fact that Leni, who was lying face down on her bed with her face buried in a pillow, was currently crying her eyes out. Lori, with a troubled, resigned sigh, realized that things had to start in this sibling meeting eventually.

"…In my Boo-Boo Bear's defense," Lori began, her tone sounding mildly troubled and guilty, "I literally forgot to tell him about how dad feels about the Aces and how their restaurant is doing way better than his. Bobby would have kept his mouth shut about what I told him over the phone if I had remembered."

Sighing in a resigned tone, Luna remarked, "Bloody hell. A lot of balls were dropped on this one." Turning her attention over to where Leni was crying her eyes out, Luna turned back to face the rest of her siblings and said, "Either way, it's totally bogus how Pops not only practically dragged Leni out of Odin-Dono's, but he also grounded her when they got home. Something like that just really harshes my mellow, you know?"

"Now you guys see why I was afraid of dad finding out about me having lunch over at Odin-Dono's with Ulfirc and his parents a few days ago," Lynn remarked sheepishly, a shy look of worry on her face.

Lincoln nodded in agreement with his athletic older sister; at first the white-haired boy felt more confused than anything else by far when Lynn had asked her siblings not to tell Mr. Loud about her lunch over at Odin-Dono's with Ulfric Aesir, Lynn's new/current crush, and Ulfric's parents. However, upon seeing Mr. Loud not only flip upon hearing that Leni was currently having lunch over at Odin-Dono's at the time but march straight over to drag her home immediately and even ground her upon getting home, Lincoln now understood why his normally brash and proud older sister had been effectively cowed.

Whimpering a bit out of a mix of mild disappointment and being a bit sad, Lola remarked, "To make things worse, dad doesn't want me or Lana to play with Anna anymore, just because her family's restaurant is doing better than his." Scrunching up a bit while hugging her shins close to her chest, the pageant-winning Loud sister said, "I like playing with Anna."

Nodding in understanding with her younger sister, Lucy said, "Dad has also forbade me from hanging out with Argent. Although I don't see how much dad can do if both Argent and I are over at Rocky's place, since he usually has both of us over at the same time."

"UHHG!" Lori exclaimed, her tone clearly denoting the frustration she was feeling, that all of her sisters were feeling, "This is literally bogus! I can't believe that dad is trying to completely control where we go and who our friends are, just because of the competition between all of the restaurants here in Royal Woods! We are literally our own people, for crying out loud, so what gives him the right to-" Lori stopped short midsentence when she, as well as the other Loud girls, all saw Lincoln get up off of the floor. "…Umm, Lincoln," the oldest Loud girl began, confusion and a hint of mild concern in her tone, "Where are you going?"

"…I'm going to grab Starlit Sky from my bedroom," the white-haired boy remarked, the coolness of his tone masking a brewing storm, "And then I'm going to head on over to Aggro-sensei's place for some Kendo practice with him. The atmosphere here is getting just a little too heavy for my tastes."

Hearing their brother just say that he was planning to head on over to a place that their father had essentially just declare off limits to them made all of the Loud sisters (aside from Leni who still had her face buried in a pillow as she was still crying her eyes out) go wide-eyed with shock, as well as a mix of surprise and worry. As soon as the white-haired boy left Lori and Leni's room, the Loud sisters (that were NOT crying their eyes out) got up and ran to the doorway, just in time to see their brother enter his room at the far end of the hallway.

A few moments later, Lincoln emerged, a backpack slung over his back and his bokken carrying case held in his right hand. Seeing his sisters and some of his ex-sisters in the doorway of Lori and Leni's bedroom, the white-haired boy gave them a single nod of acknowledgement before he turned to go down the stairs. The girls, still worried, proceeded to follow after Lincoln, only for them to stop at the top of the staircase when, looking down to the ground floor, they saw Lincoln was being held up by Lynn Sr., who decided to take the rest of the day off because he felt that he had to 'discipline' at least one of his children.

"Where are you off to, Lincoln?" the Loud patriarch said to Lincoln, sounding more like he was demanding rather than asking.

"I'm going to Aggro-sensei's place to spar with him in Kendo," Lincoln replied in a cool, indifferent tone, speaking as if what he just said was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lynn Sr., with his left hand on his hip, pointed at Lincoln and said in a firm, declaring manner, "You are not allowed to go over that place anymore, young man. You are also going to stop having those martial arts lessons, and you are not allowed to associate with anyone from that family. Do I make myself clear?" Saying nothing while giving the Loud patriarch a monotonous, emotionless stare, the white-haired boy simply walked around him to continue on his trip over to the Ace residence.

"Did you not hear me, young man?" Lynn Sr. nearly exclaimed as he saw Lincoln blatantly defy him, "Those people are trying to ruin us, and I will not just stand by while any of my children tries associating with them!" The Loud patriarch caught up to Lincoln and grasped his left shoulder to try and keep him from leaving, but all this did was prompt Lincoln to spin around and look up at him with an angry, serious look in his eyes.

"WELL THEN IT'S A GOOD THING THAT I'M NOT YOUR CHILD, MR. LOUD!" Lincoln shouted as he smacked his ex-father's hand away, catching Lynn Sr. off guard. The Loud patriarch was not the only one who was surprised by the white-haired boy's shout; the Loud sisters that were at the top of the stairs had also heard their brother's shout, and more than one of them feared that their only brother might try to leave home again.

The Louds that were at the house, both acknowledged by Lincoln and those not, were all too shocked to do anything as Lincoln turned back around and walked out the door, slamming it as he left. The noise made by the door slamming was the only noise heard at the Loud residence for the next few moment.

Although all of those who were present were shocked, none were more shocked that Lynn Sr. himself, as he was at the epicenter. Turning around, the Loud patriarch saw all of his daughters, save for Leni, standing at the top of the stairs. The looks that they were giving him were a mix of disgust, disappointment, and a little bit of sadness and even some fear. None of the girls said even one word as they turned to walk away to their rooms, leaving Lynn Sr. alone to reflect on the consequences that his actions had just wrought.

Later, Lincoln arrived over at the Ace residence. Walking up to the front door, the white-haired boy knocked on it a few times. Within a few brief moments, the door was answered by Aggro, the very teen that Lincoln was hoping to find. "Oh, I wasn't expecting to see you here, Lincoln-kun," the male Ace twin remarked, a bit of surprise in his tone, "Is there anything wrong?"

"Would it be okay if I practiced some Kendo with you?" Lincoln asked, "I needed to get out of my family's house for a bit." Aggro was able to pick up a hint of annoyance in the white-haired boy's tone, a sign that something had made him upset.

Out of a mix of humoring his Kendo pupil's request, a desire to do some Kendo kata anyway and a good dash of concern for Lincoln's curious behavior, Aggro stepped to the side and gestured for Lincoln to enter, an invitation that was graciously accepted. "I'm sorry if this is so sudden," Lincoln apologized as he entered the Ace residence, "But I just had to get out of the house where my family lives for a bit."

The male Ace twin, both understanding the need to occasionally step out for some fresh air and understanding, at least to some extent, the current situation the white-haired boy was going through, gave a single nod. "…Would I be accurate in assuming that at least one of your sisters is being a bit more suffocating towards you?" Aggro asked as he closed the front door behind Lincoln and himself.

Turning around, Lincoln looked up to face his Kendo instructor. Gently shaking his head a bit in the negative, Lincoln replied, "It is not any of the girls, Aggro-sensei." With a hint of annoyance in his tone, the white-haired boy added while making the appropriate finger quotes, "Rather, it's actually my 'dad', if you can call him that."

"Your father's done something to upset you, Lincoln-kun?" Aggro asked, a bit taken back by the surprising bitterness Lincoln had in his tone towards the Loud patriarch.

Sighing in a resigned tone, Lincoln said, "It's a long story, Aggro-sensei…"

After a few minutes were spent between the white-haired boy and the male Ace twin, with the former doing most of the talking, Lincoln said as he finished up his story, "…After I shouted at him, I turned around and left without another word."

Aggro, taking the time to absorb everything Lincoln was telling him, could not hide his surprise and shock with everything that had apparently transpired under the Loud family's roof over the last couple of days. "…Allow me to see if I have everything accurate, Lincoln-kun," Aggro began, a hint of firm disappointment in his tone, "Your father's restaurant, similar to the other dining establishments in Royal Woods such as Bangers and Mosh and the fusion places that isn't the place my family owns, is currently losing business to my family's place, and because of that he's trying to forbid you and your sisters from associating with me or any of my siblings, to the point that he dragged your sister Leni away when she was having lunch at Odin-Dono's."

Lincoln nodded in the affirmative before Aggro continued. "Furthermore," the male Ace twin went on, the hint of firm disappointment in his tone slowly but steadily growing, "You father immediately grounded Leni upon getting her home, and similarly has the rest of your sisters feeling a mix of terrified, upset and frustrated." Once again, the white-haired boy confirmed his Kendo instructor's musings.

Aggro then let out a sigh, one that showed that all of the firm disappointment in his tone was being replaced with one that sounded with genuine surprise. "And that part about Leni having feelings for me," Aggro said, sounding like he was flattered, "Are you sure that's true?"

"I first heard it from Bobby, who was talking on the phone with Lori who told him about how she suspected that Leni has a crush on you," Lincoln explained, "But after I got home, I talked to Lori about it. I was able to straight up confirm that Leni actually does like you, Aggro-sensei."

Letting out a breath, the male Ace twin remarked, "That would certainly explain why she wanted to come over on all of those occasions to watch me tutor you in Kendo." Looking to Lincoln, Aggro remarked with a hint of embarrassment in his tone, "I'm actually rather surprised that any girl would have romantic feelings for me, given that I am, admittedly, somewhat distant from the female populace in my age group."

Looking up at Aggro, the white-haired boy said, "From what I heard from Bobby, there are loads of girls at the high school who are all over wanting to go out with you."

"Yes, but those are all example of what can best be described as school girl crushes," Aggro said, "Like a pink-haired kunoichi having a crush on a raven-haired boy." Folding his arms over his chest, Aggro continued, "Your sister is the first girl who bothered going through such lengths to try and get me to notice her. And yet I was so blind to it, I had no idea about it until you had told me just now."

"So Aggro-sensei," Lincoln began, "What do you want to do?"

The male Ace twin let out a breath as he contemplated what he had been told, as well as a number of related factors. After about a minute or so of deliberation, he said, "Like I had said previously, Leni is the first girl to like me to go through noticeable efforts to try and get my attention. It certainly helps that Kyubi is fond of your sister whenever she comes over, since whenever I notice Kyubi showing open hostility to someone, I eventually find some legitimate reason to not trust that person period." As Aggro and Lincoln spoke, Kyubi, the young adult fox that Aggro keeps as a pet, walked up to Lincoln and slowly rubbed the side of her body against his shins, getting him to see her. With a bit of an amused smile, the white-haired boy bent over to gently scratch the vixen behind her ears.

"Now normally," Aggro began, getting Lincoln to look back up at him, "I would be interested in at least giving the idea of such a relationship with your sister a try." Letting out a mildly troubled sigh, Aggro continued, "But given your father's feelings at the moment, as well as some of the actions he has taken, I do not think that I can get away with having such a relationship with your sister. Not without invoking your father's fury."

"That's reasonable," Lincoln replied, his tone a mix of resignation and dryness, as well as a dash of further disappointment aimed at the Loud patriarch. Lincoln was about to say something else, but he was cut off when there was a knock at the Ace's front door.

Gesturing for Lincoln to wait for a bit, Aggro said, "Hold that thought, Lincoln-kun." The male Ace twin walked over to the front door to answer it; when he did, he came face-to-face with a fairly distraught-looking Lori.

"Aggro, have you seen my younger brother?" the oldest Loud sister asked, looking as if she were about to break down at any given moment, "He ran off after shouting at our dad for literally being full of himself, and every time me or any of my sisters or our mom tries to call him, it goes straight to his voicemail, so we can't get ahold of him. The last thing he said before storming off was something about coming over here to see you, so I was literally hoping you might have seen him recently."

Letting out a mild sigh, Aggro said, "Yeah, I know all about how your father's been acting as of late due to the current competition between the various restaurants in Royal Woods. Lincoln-kun is here, and he told me all about-" The male Ace twin was cut off, as well as letting out a yelp of surprise, when Lori shoved him to the side, ran straight inside, spotted Lincoln standing there, and immediately grabbed him into a (somewhat) crushing hug.

"…So you turned your phone off because you were literally not in any mood to hear anything from dad," Lori said a few minutes later, when she, Lincoln and Aggro sat at the Ace family's dining table. Leaning back a bit, the oldest Loud sister remarked, "That would certainly explain why none of us were able to get ahold of you after you had stormed off. We were afraid that you were literally going to run away again."

Gently shaking his head in the negative, the white-haired boy replied, "Oh no, Lori. I have no intention to try doing that one again." Giving his older ex-sister a knowing look, he added, "Unless, of course, that another stunt similar to the one that compelled me to run away the last time is pulled again."

"We are literally never going to do anything that asinine to you again," Lori said firmly. With a hint of a threatening entering her tone, Lori continued, "And if any of the girls try something like that anyway, I will personally-"

"I think that it's safe to say," Aggro said with a bit of hastiness in his tone, cutting off the oldest Loud sister before she could finish, "That you and all of your sisters are united in making sure that Lincoln-kun is never, even unknowingly, horribly mistreated ever again."

After considering the male Ace twin for a bit, Lori let out a mild sigh before she gave a single, agreeing nod. After a few seconds passed without any speaking, Aggro said, "Lori." When the oldest Loud sister looked at him, Aggro continued, "Your brother had informed me that your sister Leni might have romantic feelings for me, according to what you say. Is this accurate?"

Nodding only once, Lori said, "Yes, Aggro. It's true." Lori spoke with a hint of resigned defeat in her tone, showing how exhausted she was after everything that had transpired in the day. "Leni literally loves you, same as how I literally love my Boo-Boo Bear," Lori continued, then added when giving Aggro a knowing look, "How else would you explain all of the times Leni came along to watch you tutor Lincoln in Kendo?"

"I just assumed that one of your parents wanted to send one of Lincoln-kun's older siblings along to keep an eye on things for them," Aggro admitted with a shrug, "I had no idea that your sister actually liked me to such an extent."

Lori let out another sigh, only this time a bit of amusement was mixed into it. "Well it's literally the truth, Aggro," Lori began, "Leni-" A ringtone went off suddenly, cutting Lori off. Realizing that it was coming from her phone, Lori fished her phone out, saw that it was Luna who was calling her, then answered the call. "Hey, Luna," Lori said, "Yes, I found Lincoln. He went over to the Ace's place, just like he said." After listening to Luna for a bit, Lori said, "No, he turned his phone off because he literally wasn't in the mood to talk to dad. I'm pretty sure Lincoln still is in no mood to talk to him." Looking over to Lincoln, the oldest Loud sister saw him nod a few times in the affirmative.

"Yeah, I just saw him confirm that he doesn't want to speak with dad," Lori said, "Given how literally stupid dad's been acting as of late, I don't think any of us can blame Lincoln." After a bit more listening to the other end, Lori said, "Wait a minute, hold on." Looking to Lincoln, Lori asked, "Lincoln, you are going to come home, right?"

"Not until the old man gets his act together," Lincoln began to reply, his tone suggesting that he would be hearing no argument, "Stops trying to force his ways onto the rest of us, and lets us hang out with our friends." After a bit of consideration, Lincoln added, "Oh, he also has to lift Leni's grounding and not restrict her from dating Aggro-sensei." The last request slash demand that the white-haired boy made prompted Aggro to arch an eyebrow out of mild surprise.

Nodding a few time in agreement, Lori said to her younger brother, "Those are literally all reasonable requests." Going back to her call, Lori said over the phone to Luna, "Yeah, Lincoln says that dad literally has to get his act together before he'll return." After listening to Luna a bit, Lori let out a laugh. "Yeah," the oldest Loud sister remarked in agreement, "Dad is literally one of those. Anyway, I'm going to be heading back now."

After Lori ended her call and put her smartphone away, Aggro remarked, "I believe that I ought to provide you with my number, so that you can call me when your father comes to his senses." Shooting a quick look of knowing understanding to Lincoln, Aggro continued when he turned his attention back to Lori, "I believe that Lincoln won't be all that available for contact until after this whole mess is dealt with." Lori nodded once in appreciation and Aggro got a scrap of paper and quickly wrote his phone number on it.

After receiving Aggro's number, Lori nodded once in t hanks before she got up and took her leave. Once the oldest Loud sister was gone, Aggro turned to regard Lincoln, giving him a knowing look. "…I believe that, due to everything that occurred after you arrived here," Aggro began, "That we never got the chance to have that spar. If you still wish to do so, I believe that we have at least a few minutes." Lincoln could not help but let out a bit of a laugh, finding some amusement in being reminded of why he came to the Ace residence to get away from Mr. Loud in the first place.

The male Ace twin's guess of 'at least a few minutes' turned out to have been underestimating things a bit; he and Lincoln spent close to forty-five minutes, practicing Kendo kata and sparring with each other while using shinai, before Aggro's phone, which he left on a lawn chair in his family's backyard where he and Lincoln were practicing, went off. Calling the sparring to a halt, Aggro went over and answered the call.

Hearing Lori on the other end saying that her mother Rita, who got home a few minutes ago, was told what happened and tore Lynn Sr. a new one, was able to greatly speed up the process of making the Loud patriarch clean his act up, Aggro let out a bit of amused laughter. "I'll tell him the good news, then," Aggro said before he ended the call. Setting the phone back down where he had laid it, Aggro turned to face Lincoln and said, "It appears that your father, thanks in no small part to your mother, has realized his errors and rectified them."

Lincoln let out a bit of a scoff, one aimed at the Loud patriarch, and filled with nothing but annoyance towards him. "…About time that he pulled his head out of his rear," the white-haired boy said. Giving Aggro a respectful bow, Lincoln continued, "Thanks again for putting up with me, Aggro-sensei."

"Give your folks my regards, alright?" Aggro said as he waved at the departing Lincoln. A single nod from Lincoln understood the request from the male Ace twin. Before Lincoln left the Ace family's backyard, Aggro called out, "Wait a minute, Lincoln-kun." Curious, Lincoln decided to turn back around, thus seeing his sensei with a mildly embarrassed look on his face. "Can…can you tell your sister Leni I'm sorry about what she went through?" Aggro asked.

Lincoln only smiled, but it was a smile that confirmed Lincoln would honor Aggro's request.

END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Author's note:

Originally, this chapter ended up diverting in a completely different direction once Lincoln had reached the Ace residence. It was only after a base read-through that I realized such a diversion might not sit so well with a number of people, so I rewrote at least half of the chapter, more than likely a little over half of it. Here's hoping the changes fit better for this chapter. Anyway, the next chapter will be seeing some impacts that the Santiagos not moving to Great Lakes City will have. Lincoln might also reconcile with another ex-family member.