Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Restored Image
Chapter seven: Steps
Lincoln Loud was working on some homework one day after school. Even with the amount of school he missed due to having run away a while ago, this homework actually provided the white-haired boy with very little challenge, if any at all. Having finished the last of his homework, which was a ten-question bit concerning American history in the early half of the 1940's, Lincoln put all of his stuff into his backpack. As they were also working on their own homework at the table, Lucy and the twins Lola and Lana saw that their older brother had finished before any of them.
"Wow, you certainly breezed through that, Lincoln," Lana remarked.
"I think I recall hearing Lisa say that one of the reasons she seldom ever helps Lincoln with his schoolwork is because she believes that Lincoln's more than capable of doing his work on his own," Lucy said.
"Huh, well I'll be," Lola said, "Lisa admitted that someone in this house other than herself is smart. Who would have guessed?"
"Come on girls, cut her some slack," Lincoln remarked, his tone carrying a very mild amount of sternness that was mixed with a dash of finding some amount of humor in how the younger girls were acting. After he zipped his backpack closed, Lincoln began to say in an attempt to make conversation, "So girls, I don't suppose any of you know why Lori went through all of that trouble to borrow that particular golf club from that Allison girl at her school?"
"Are you talking about Argent's older sister Allison?" Lucy asked as she mentioned her and Rocky's friend Argent Ace, and Argent's relation to a girl named Allison. After Lincoln nodded in the affirmative to answer her question, Lucy replied, "I wasn't paying too much attention since Lori was talking about stuff related to the varsity golf team she belongs to, but I believe that Lori said something about believing that particular golf club to be lucky."
"…Lucky?" Lincoln repeated in a mildly unamused deadpan; due to the reason concerning why Lincoln ran away a while ago, Lincoln was not in the mood to deal with or listen about anything having to do with any sort or amount of luck.
"I personally don't see what the big deal is," Lucy said as she gently shook her head, "From what I saw, it looked like a plain old four-iron golf club with a dark reddish-brown handle. Nothing too fancy or whatever."
"Must be a golf thing," Lana stated, "And since it's a golf thing, I say we should leave it to Lori and dad." With a chuckle, Lana added, "I still think it's kind of funny how Lori's better at golf than dad, even though he was the one who introduced Lori to the game."
"Well then," Lincoln remarked in a neutral yet cool tone, "If that's the case, then Mr. Loud needs to improve his game." Hearing their older brother refer to their dad as 'Mr. Loud', rather than as his and their dad, made the three younger girls sitting at the table feel regret. Even Lucy, the only one of the family that had been forgiven so far, still felt guilt for her contribution to Lincoln's suffering that resulting in him running away.
"…Lincoln," Lola began, her tone clearly conveying a mix of nervousness and regret, "I know that-" Lola was cut off when a phone on the table started ringing, indicating that a call was coming in. This caught the attention of Lincoln, Lucy and the twins, especially considering who's phone it was; Lori's.
"Nobody move," Lana said, "We go anywhere near that, and Lori will turn all of us into human pre-" Lana was cut off when, to her shock and the shock of Lola and Lucy, Lincoln grabbed Lori's phone and got up from the table.
"I'm going to bring this to her," Lincoln remarked.
"No, don't!" Lola nearly exclaimed, clearly fearing for her older brother's safety.
"Lola's right, bro," Lana said, "Lori will destroy you if she sees you with her phone!"
"Feh," Lincoln scoffed as he turned to head out of the dining room area. His tone sounding with determined resolve mixed with a hint of bitterness, Lincoln said, "I'd like to see her try."
Lori was laying on her bed in her and Leni's room. The previous Saturday, she and the RWHS varsity golf team played against the varsity golf team of a rival school. Lori's team won the game rather handily, especially since Lori played a flawless game, scoring only holes-in-one. Furthermore, whenever Lori was up to hit the golf ball, she only used a four-iron golf club that she borrowed from Allison Ace, a fellow RWHS student who Lori and her friends on the golf team have been trying to recruit for quite some time, due to Allison always playing flawlessly whenever she can be convinced to join them for a round.
Lori, after having played her first ever perfect game of golf that day, was suspecting that Allison's golf club might have some sort of special property after all. As the oldest Loud sibling contemplated this idea, there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" Lori asked.
"It's me," Lincoln's voice called out from behind the door. About one second later, the door opened, revealing Lincoln, who was holding Lori's ringing smartphone. "You left this on the table," Lincoln said in the neutral yet cool tone he's taken to using recently, "It went off while I was finishing up the last of my homework, so I figured that I'd bring it to you."
"Lincoln, I-" Lori began in a tone that clearly conveyed that she wasn't happy that one of her siblings was touching one of her belongings without her permission, but the oldest Loud sibling stopped herself short. Due to her part in driving Lincoln away in the first place, Lori was already on thin ice with her little brother. It was a miracle that, when Bobby questioned Lincoln about why he ran away, Lincoln withheld any and all information that might have prompted Bobby to break up with Lori.
A miracle that Lincoln might very well revoke if he's given a sufficient reason.
Catching herself before she blew her lid at Lincoln, Lori took a breath to steady herself, lest she do something that might come back to bite her in the butt later. "Thank you, Lincoln," Lori said in a gentle and appreciative tone as she held her hand out to receive her smartphone, "I literally have to put it back on its charger soon anyway. I'll do so when I'm done with the call."
"You might want to also consider adding apologizing to the girls to your to-do list," Lincoln added in a knowing tone as he handed Lori's smartphone over.
A confused and mildly curious look on her face, Lori said, "Apologize?"
"Lucy and the twins were sitting with me at the table when your phone went off, given that they were doing their own homework as well," Lincoln explained, "The instant it went off, they all got nervous. Lana is even afraid that you'll inflict grievous bodily harm onto her just because she was near your phone when it went off."
"…Oh," Lori remarked, her subdued tone resonating with guilt, "Umm…can you tell the girls that I'd like to talk to them when I'm done with my call? And by the girls I mean all nine of them, not just Lucy and the twins."
Giving Lori a mildly confused look, Lincoln said, "Uhh, sure."
"I'm also going to want to talk with you later," Lori added in the same tone she was using as she answered her call, "Until then, could you please let me take this call?"
"…Alright," Lincoln replied, respecting Lori's request to take the call. Lincoln took his leave, closing the door behind him and leaving Lori alone.
…
As it turned out, it was Allison who had called Lori, and after the two girls talked for a bit, they said they would see each other later before Lori hung up. Setting her smartphone in its charger, Lori laid out on her bed and just looked up at the ceiling. The oldest Loud sibling was going over in her head how she nearly blew her lid at Lincoln earlier.
She was also going over what Lincoln said in regards to some of the youngest of the Loud girls freaking out due to being in close proximity of Lori's phone when it went off, especially what he said concerning Lana's fears.
The tomboyish Loud twin already has something of a problem with nightmares, something that Lori knows full well since Lana, upon waking from a nightmare, would seek Lori out for comfort, to tell her about the nightmare she had in hopes Lori would help make her feel better. But if what Lincoln said was true, then Lana may stop seeking her out upon waking from nightmares, because Lori herself would be one of Lana's nightmares.
It was a sobering thought for the oldest Loud sibling.
And it wasn't just Lana who had reason to fear her, Lori realized. Due to how she acted in the past, Lori had every reason to believe that all of her siblings might be afraid of her. She certainly hadn't given them any reason to think otherwise for the past…pfft, must have been years at this point. Years since Lori first became the kind of girl that she is today, years since the day that she ceased to be that nerdy, awkward loser in her tween years.
Still, Lori knew what she had to do. It would be very awkward, and no doubt that some of her siblings will call her out on being so damn late to the act. But it was, as far as Lori could tell, as good of a step in the right direction as she was going to get.
"I'm sorry."
The ten youngest of the Loud kids looked at the eleventh and oldest member of their number as she stood in front of all of them, her head bowed in an apologetic display. None of the girls, from Leni to Lily, could make heads or tails of what Lori was doing. Lincoln, the sole boy among the group, had his interest piqued by what Lori was doing, so he wanted to see where this was going.
"You're sorry?" Luan asked, a confused look on her face, "What are you sorry for?"
"Everything," Lori said in a resigned, regretful tone, "Everything I did for the past few years. All of the yelling at you, all of the threats, all of the using my status as oldest to get what I want, just all of it." The other girls all exchanged looks with each other, while Lincoln himself was finding this sudden turn of events to be rather surprising. Lori's apologizing for everything?
"Does this include when you beat me with a loaf of bread when I thought there wasn't any left and I told you as such?" Lynn asked, an eyebrow arched in suspicion.
"And when you blamed me for taking your lipstick when it was really Lucy who was trying to impress Rocky?" Lola asked, her tone similar to that of Lynn's.
"And how you sabotaged Leni's latest attempt to get her driver's license?" Lucy added, her tone sounding rather accusing.
"Wait, how did you find that out?" Lincoln asked suddenly, looking over to his gothic little sister as he was surprised to hear her say that.
"I have my sources," Lucy replied. Turning back to face Lori, Lucy asked, "But seriously. Are you also sorry for that?"
"And for kicking me out of your first party?" Luan asked.
"And for still not getting me that dress?" Leni added.
"And for-" Luna began, but she was cut off before she could finish.
"YES!" Lori exclaimed, tears streaming down the sides of her face, catching her siblings by surprise and making them lean back, as if they were all hit by a great force of wind that was pushing them back. "I'm sorry for everything!" Lori continued, "For trying to keep driving privileges to myself, for the human pretzel threats, for being way too hard about no one going into my room!" Lori fell to her knees and covered her face with her hands as she started to cry. "I'm just sorry!" Lori sobbed.
If the other Loud kids were surprised by Lori suddenly apologizing for how mean she was to them for the past few years, then they were blown out of the water entirely by Lori breaking down and crying in front of them. Even so, however, some of the girls weren't too quick to let Lori off the hook.
"Well given a lot of what you've done," Luan began in a mildly bitter tone, "I don't think that-" Luan was interrupted when she, Lori and the other Loud girls all heard someone clap in applause. Turning their heads in the appropriate direction, the girls saw that it was Lincoln who was applauding.
"This is a step in the right direction, Lori," Lincoln remarked, his tone suggesting that he felt proud, "Granted, this on its own won't be enough to make up for everything, but it's as good of a start as you can make. Bravo." The girls aside from Lori were forced to take pause; some of them, especially the more belligerent ones, were ready to tear Lori a new one for her past actions against them. But since Lincoln, who arguably has the most reason to be upset with Lori, was applauding her, the other girls couldn't continue with what they had planned.
After the girls aside from Lori all said things that went along the lines of 'try to be careful next time', the group dispersed throughout the house. As he went up the stairs, Lincoln was met up by Lola, Lana, Lucy and Lisa. "You seriously gave Lori a thumbs-up for that?" Lola asked.
"I could tell she was being sincere," Lincoln replied, "I believe that we ought to give Lori a chance to prove that she's sorry for how she's acted."
"Does that mean you're forgiving Lori?" Lana asked, a curious look on her face.
"Heh," Lincoln chuckled a bit, "Sorry, but that's a no, Lana. I did say that Lori's apology on its own wouldn't be enough to make up for everything." Turning around, Lincoln proceeded to head up the stairs, but he paused after getting a few steps away from the younger girls.
"…It's still a good start, though," Lincoln added before he continued on his way.
A few days later, Lincoln and the Loud girls who attend RWES got home after a day at school. As some of them were taking their backpacks off, Lola noticed that Lisa hadn't immediately rushed up to her and Lily's room, as she was normally known to do after arriving straight home. "Don't you have some sort of science stuff to do in your room, Lisa?" Lola asked as she regarded her brainy younger sister.
"I do indeed have an experiment or two that I'm aiming to work on, but that's beside the point," Lisa replied as she sat her backpack down, opened it, and pulled out a yearbook. Flipping through the pages, Lisa eventually came to what she wanted to find. "Aha, here we go," Lisa said. Looking up from her yearbook to her older siblings, Lisa asked, "Are any of you familiar with a Hugo Ashveil, who attends the same school as us?"
"I'm familiar with him," Lincoln replied, "Shortly before my…extended absence…I saw Ronnie Anne stop a second-grade boy from picking on a boy in Kindergarten. The boy that Ronnie Anne saved from bullying was Hugo." Giving his brainy ex-sister a curious look, Lincoln asked, "Why do you ask, Lisa? Isn't Hugo in your class? You ought to know him more than any of us."
"Logically, that would be correct to assume," Lisa stated, "However, from what Darcy told me, that Hugo fellow…doesn't leave much of an impression on anyone. Basically, people often have trouble telling that Hugo's even there."
"Like how we occasionally have trouble telling if Lucy's here or not?" Lana asked as she raised a hand.
"Oh ha, ha," Lucy replied, her usual emotionless monotone carrying a hint of annoyance.
"That's…not the point I was trying to make, Lana," Lisa continued, "This Hugo boy is not only invisible to pretty much everyone at school, but he seems to like things being that way, seems to like not having friends." Her face showing more than a hint of concern, the brainy Loud sibling said, "Hugo…reminds me of how I used to be a while ago, and it concerns me."
Lisa's older siblings couldn't believe what they were hearing out of her. Lisa, their stoic, near-immoral scientist of a sister, was not only sympathizing with someone in her class that she hardly knew, but she wanted to help said person? With seemingly nothing for her to gain out of this? The twins and Lucy could only stare blankly at their four-year-old little sister, unable to properly form coherent thoughts. Lincoln, the sole boy among their number, was a different matter however.
At first, at the absolute bare beginning of Lisa confessing how she felt concern for that random boy in her class, Lincoln was just a little ticked off. Lisa was showing this level of concern for someone she hardly even knew, yet back when the bad luck nonsense was going on, she sided with the other girls within quick order; from this, Lincoln drew the conclusion that, as far as Lisa was concerned, her own older brother had a lower priority than a complete and total stranger. Some genius she was. Lincoln was just about to make a statement about this to the supposed genius four-year-old, but Lincoln stopped himself short when he realized something.
Lisa, as smart as she was, is still just a four-year-old child. Kids that age are still trying to learn all the odds and ends about what's right and what's wrong. That being said, Lincoln supposed that Lisa falling for the whole bad luck nonsense from a while ago might, to a certain extent mind you, be excusable. Besides, with this display of empathy that she was showing, Lisa was also showing that she's growing up, that she was staring to learn about all of those odds and ends. There's something about seeing some of the very little people (i.e. young kids) in your family growing up that makes one's heart swell with pride.
With a small but gentle smile, Lincoln walked up to Lisa, knelt down, and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad to see that you're growing up, Lisa," the white-haired boy remarked, "Showing this level of empathy for others proves that you're maturing more as a person." With a nod, Lincoln said, "Glad I was around to see it happen."
"Umm…thanks," Lisa replied, taken back a bit by the words of praise from her older brother. Words of praise that made her feel a bit guilty for her part in driving said older brother to the point of running away a while ago. The brainy Loud sibling wished that she had this level of empathy that Lincoln said she was showing, along with the appropriate level of foresight, to tell that what she and her sister units were doing would have the results that they were having. "Umm, Lincoln," Lisa began, "Can I also take some time here to-"
"You're concerned about this Hugo boy, right?" Lincoln asked, interrupting Lisa in the process. Standing up, Lincoln continued, "Then you, and maybe your friend Darcy if she's up to it, should try to invite Hugo to hang out. Hanging around with others who he can trust should do wonders with helping him break out of his shell." Lisa was a bit disappointed that she wasn't able to apologize, to act on the epiphany that she just had concerning how she contributed to her older brother's past suffering. But still, if Lincoln himself was encouraging her to go through with trying to reach out to Hugo Ashveil, Lisa could not help but wonder…was Lincoln easing up on her for her part in driving him away? The brainy Loud sibling knew full well that this on its own wasn't going to be enough to be forgiven entirely for her role in Lincoln running away.
But, as it was with Lori's apologetic display a few days ago, was it a step in the right direction?
"Seriously, Lisa," Lincoln continued, "I think that you should go for it. Extend an olive branch to Hugo the next time you see him."
"Why should Lisa give that Hugo kid an olive branch, Lincoln?" Lola asked.
"He was using a metaphor, sis," Lana explained in something of an unamused monotone, and with a matching expression.
The following day at RWES, during recess, Lincoln was hanging out with Clyde and Rusty; Liam and Zach were caught up doing something else. "So, dudes, it's like I was saying," Rusty began as he talked to his friends, "If you want to get a girl to like you, then you have to-"
"LINCOLN!" a panicked younger girl's voice cried out; within a few seconds, Lincoln and his friends saw Lola come running up to them. "Lincoln, three fifth-grade boys are fighting Lana three-on-one!" Lola cried.
"WHAT?!" Lincoln exclaimed, clearly alarmed.
Nodding a few times, Lola continued, "Yeah. Those three fifth-grade boys were picking on some Kindergartener, but Lana stepped in and told them to buzz off, and they got angry at her, and now they're fighting her!"
"Yeah, you stay here," Lincoln instructed Lola; despite still not referring to either of the twins as his sisters, Lincoln would still not stand by while one of them gets beaten by three boys in his grade. Lincoln proceeded to head off in the direction that he and his friends saw Lola come running from, with Clyde and Rusty following him. Within short order, the three boys came to a scene that was happening on the playground.
"Hey, Lana!" Lincoln called out, his tone showing he was ready to confront the older boys picking on the tomboyish Loud twin, "Are…you…huh?" Lincoln trailed off, and his tone changed to one of complete bafflement, as he saw the result of the fight where Lana took on three fifth-grade boys; Lana was standing there, a slight bruise on the side of her face but nothing more beyond that, dusting off her hands as Chandler and two of his goon-friends laid on the ground behind her, all clearly beaten, unable to take anymore punishment.
Looking up, Lana said, "Oh, hey, Lincoln." Jerking a thumb over her shoulder, Lana said, "Yeah, these three jerks were being jerks, so I set them straight." Lincoln, Clyde and Rusty once again looked to where Chandler and his two goon-friends laid on the ground in defeat, then looked back to Lana.
"Lola…told me that they were trying to bully a Kindergartener," Lincoln began, his tone showing that he was surprised by what had happened and that it was leaving him confused, "Is that true?"
"Oh yeah," Lana replied, "It was some boy I didn't recognize, and he ran off to the school building as soon as I started giving these three jerks a lesson. I think that-"
"Hey Lana!" Lisa's familiar voice called out, prompting Lincoln, Lana, Clyde and Rusty to turn and see Lisa come running up, accompanied by her friend Darcy Helmandollar. "Lana, what is going on here?" Lisa asked.
"It's like I told Lincoln just now, these three jerks were being jerks, so I set them straight," Lana replied as she jerked a thumb over her shoulder again. Looking over slightly, Lisa saw where Chandler and his two goon-friends were laying on the ground, with at least one of them just starting to pick themselves up.
Turning back to her older sister, Lisa said in a tone of disbelief, "You beat up three boys that are in the fifth grade…by yourself."
"Hey Lisa, I'm just as surprised as you are," Lincoln remarked with a shrug, "Maybe all of that alligator wrestling is paying off for Lana."
"Your older sister wrestles alligators?" Darcy said to Lisa, then added in a concerned tone, "She doesn't wrestle cats, does she? Because I can't stand the idea of cats being hurt."
"Cats are nowhere near enough of a challenge for me," Lana remarked to Lisa's friend, "Don't worry, kid." After gently rubbing the slight bruise on her face, Lana said, "Well anywho, those three guys were bullying some Kindergarten boy, so I decided to step in." Pointing to the school building, Lana said to Lisa and Darcy, "I saw the Kindergartener run into the school crying if you're interested in trying to follow him."
"I suppose checking on him would be logical, given the circumstances," Lisa replied. Turning to face Darcy, Lisa said, "I'm afraid that Hugo is going to have to wait. We have a bullied student in our class to check up on." Darcy nodded in agreement with Lisa before the two of them ran to the school building to try and find their bullied classmate. After the two Kindergartener girls had disappeared into the school building, Lincoln and his friends turned back to face Lana.
Seeing the confused looks that she was getting from her older brother and his friends, Lana asked, "What's up?" In response to Lana's question, Lincoln, Clyde and Rusty clapped in applause, praising the tomboyish Loud twin. Lana only became more confused, however.
A few days later, Lincoln and the younger Loud girls got back from a day at RWES. As they were enjoying some after school snacks, Lisa regaled them with what she and Darcy had been up to. As it turned out, it was that Hugo boy who was being bullied; Lisa and Darcy's teacher advised the two girls to give Hugo a bit of time to himself, but she also encouraged the two girls to continue trying to reach out to Hugo the next day, due to how shy he was. As it currently stands, Lisa and Darcy had successfully reached out to Hugo, helped to break him out of his shell, and can now count him as a good friend.
As Lisa continued with a story about how she, Darcy and Hugo teamed up for a group project, the other elementary school-aged Loud girls listened on while Lincoln merely nodded in a manner that conveyed that he approved of Lisa's developing into a more mature human being. Granted, Lincoln still felt a little bitter about what went down back when the bad luck nonsense was going down, and how it compelled him to run away. He also still felt some resentment towards Lisa for her role in driving him to the point that he ran away.
…But Lisa is still just a four-year-old, so some leniency could be shown towards her. And Lincoln did feel guilty about throwing Lisa, along with Lola and Luan, under the bus when Bobby asked him what happened. Lisa's maturing as a person, on its own, was not going to be enough to earn her Lincoln's forgiveness.
But, similar to Lori's apologetic display from shortly after the game that her varsity golf team won, it was a step in the right direction.
END, RESTORED IMAGE CHAPTER SEVEN
Author's notes:
Lincoln knows full well that his (supposed) family are sorry for what they did, and that they want to make up for it. However, it will take more than just one instance/display of apology/regret from a particular member of the family before Lincoln forgives that particular person, given what the family as a whole did to him, combined with all that he went through while he was living as a runaway. Even so, Lincoln can appreciate when one of them is trying to show regret, trying to make things right with him. One thing on its own won't be enough, but it is a step in the right direction. So even though Lincoln technically hasn't forgiven either of them yet, Lori and Lisa are both on the right track.
Also, I think that some leniency could be shown towards Lisa because, as smart as she is, she's still just a four-year-old child, and kids that age are still learning about what's right and what's wrong. Going along that logic, I think that even more leniency should be shown towards Lily due to her being a baby. In fact, unless I can come up with a proper way for Lily to earn Lincoln's forgiveness, I'm thinking about having Lincoln just forgive Lily, on the basis that she's still a baby, thus she simply doesn't know any better. Also, Lily's status as a baby means she doesn't have a whole lot of autonomy, what with how people usually handle her rather than let her be on her own. One could even make the argument that any blame that Lily would get for what happened to Lincoln could be shifted to Rita, who would logically handle Lily a lot due to being Lily's mom, or either Luna or Leni, who from what my research told me handles Lily the most out of all of the other Loud girls.
The original one-shots that this chapter is based on are more from the point of view of Lori and Lisa respectively; in fact, Lincoln hardly has any presence in either of them. However, since 'Restored Image' focuses a lot more on Lincoln, his presence is heavily expanded here. Anywho, the next chapter will see some of the Loud girls make a more active attempt to atone for what they did to their only brother.
